The moonlight made Lou Jing’s face look even more exquisite than usual. Xiao Chengjun’s lips turned upwards in a smile as he pushed two small items to Lou Jing. “Take these and put them in the cupboard,” he said.
Lou Jing bent his head, and saw that the items in his hands were a pair of little carved wooden figurines. They were made of camphor wood, and were in the shape of cute little boys, one hugging an ingot, and the other clinging on to a big fish. These were usually things that people put into their clothes cupboards to repel insects, like moths. “Where did you get these?” Lou Jing asked.
Xiao Chengjun indicated the little red box on the small table next to him. “A wedding gift from the Prefectural Governor of Yuezhou,” he said.
Lou Jing took the box and put the two carved figurines into it. “This Yuezhou Prefectural Governor’s quite the interesting fellow,” he said in an amused tone. “Most people would send gold or jewels as wedding gifts, but he sends a pair of wooden carvings.”
“His family has been in the carpentry business for generations,” Xiao Chengjun said, looking at the box with warmth in his eyes.
“Could it be that the Yuezhou Prefectural Governor carved these himself?” Lou Jing said, examining the box curiously. He discovered that there were three lines of text carved underneath the box.
I heard that Dianxia was getting married and was very joyful. Due to the lack of time, I had nothing appropriate to give.
My eyes are blurry, but these were carved by me personally three years ago, and they represent my heartfelt feelings for you.
This old minister is advanced in age. I wish only for Dianxia’s good health and safety, and his success in all things.
(Yuezhou, the eight month of the tenth year of the Chunde Emperor’s reign)
Xiao Chengjun looked up at the half-moon in the sky. “The Prefectural Governor of Yuezhou is Su Fei’s father,” he said calmly.
Lou Jing was speechless. Su Fei’s father was Xiao Chengjun’s maternal grandfather. No wonder he had given something so rich in sentimental value. The three sentences carved on the box were a little disjointed, as if the person carving it had only thought of the next sentence after he had finished carving the earlier one. He could imagine a white-haired old gentleman carving one line of congratulations in the moonlight, then, finding that he still had more to say, carved yet another line.
The wishes of the old for the young were always for good things, but unfortunately for Xiao Chengjun, it was impossible for things to go smoothly for him. As Crown Prince, he was responsible for the whole country, not just his little family with the Crown Prince Consort.
“Zhuoyu, after the Lingnan Hou leaves the Southeastern border, who do you think will be defending our country against the pirates?” the Crown Prince asked. His features looked softer in the moonlight, but also more melancholy. The Lingnan Hou had defended the Southeastern border against pirates for more than a decade, but had ended up being asked to retire and return to the Capital.
The Lingnan Hou was the Empress’ father. The Emperor’s suppression of the Lingnan Hou was actually a move to suppress the Crown Prince’s power. The Lingnan Hou was aware of the Emperor’s intention to take back his military power, and decided to simply surrender it rather than wait for the Emperor’s edict to be passed. The Empress’ words today had also indicated that the Lingnan Hou and his family would likely be back in the Capital next month.
“Enjoying your silver years in comfort isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Lou Jing said. He put the box containing the two figurines back on the small table, and walked to the window to be next to Xiao Chengjun. “My Grandfather isn’t here anymore, but Jinzhou is still safe and sound.”
Xiao Chengjun tore his eyes from the moon and turned to look at his Consort. “Perhaps I am overreacting”, he said, after a long while.
“The Anguo Gong has always defended Jinzhou, but my father doesn’t know how to lead an army. If the Tartars attack Jinzhou again, the Imperial Court will have to send another General there,” Lou Jing said, his voice cold.
“Zhuoyu…” Xiao Chengjun furrowed his brows slightly.
“The pirates at the Southeastern border are unstoppable. If not for the Lingnan Hou, that place would have long been abandoned. Now that the Lingnan Hou has returned to the Capital, there will definitely be another pirate attack within three months,” Lou Jing continued. He didn’t have any intention of holding his tongue tonight after seeing how lonely his Dianxia looked in the moonlight tonight. He felt frustrated for Xiao Chengjun too, that his great talent could not be demonstrated to the world due to the chaotic circumstances of the Chunde Emperor’s reign, and that he had to suffer so much injustice and humiliation in order to hide these talents. It was suffocating.
*T/N: I know these few paras seem a bit contradictory, but that’s how it is in the raw as well.
“The house is already on fire. I can’t put it out alone – my efforts are like a drop in the ocean,” Xiao Chengjun said. His dark eyes looked even darker than usual in the moonlight, and he spoke firmly and resolutely. “Instead of struggling to put out the fire, I think it’s better to let it burn, and let it be reborn from the ashes.”
Lou Jing stared at Xiao Chengjun. In his mind’s eye, he could see Xiao Chengjun standing exactly this way, his hands behind his back, atop a high mountain, surveying his country remade stronger from the ashes of the current dynasty.
In a flash, Lou Jing placed a hand over his heart. “Chen waits for the day when he can rebuild the nation with Dianxia,” he said, a heartfelt smile spreading slowly across his face.
It was already very late, and the two decided to just rest in Chongren Chambers for the night.
The bed in Chongren Chambers was even bigger than the one in Bafeng Hall. Lou Jing scooted closer to the Crown Prince and reached out to enfold him in his arms. He nuzzled Xiao Chengjun’s soft hair with his chin. This man would in future become the wise ruler of his country, but right now, he was sleeping next to him, completely defenceless. Lou Jing felt strangely satisfied at this thought.
The next morning, Xiao Chengjun opened his eyes when sunlight filtered in from the apricot-coloured bedcurtains. He found his Consort plastered to him again, and one misbehaving hand had even reached into his underclothes. He moved to pull Lou Jing’s paw out of his clothes, and as he did so, his cheek accidentally touched Lou Jing’s head.
The hand that was on its way to removing Lou Jing’s hand out of his clothes took a little detour to Lou Jing’s head instead. Xiao Chengjun brushed his fingers lightly against Lou Jing’s long eyelashes. He slowly leaned over and touched his lips to Lou Jing’s ever so gently. He meant to pull back after that very light touch, but the moment their lips met, Xiao Chengjun’s lips were captured by Lou Jing’s.
Lou Jing had been enduring Xiao Chengjun’s ministrations with great difficulty. This was the second time Xiao Chengjun had attempted to kiss him secretly, and he simply couldn’t take it any more. He opened his mouth and held on to Xiao Chengjun’s lips with his own.
“Mmph!” Xiao Chengjun’s eyes widened.
Lou Jing opened his eyes. He pressed one hand to the back of the Crown Prince’s head, foiling his attempt to escape. He sucked and bit gently at Xiao Chengjun’s lips until they were both panting slightly. Only then did he release Xiao Chengjun and push himself up to look at him directly. “Dianxia, why are you seducing me early in the morning?” he asked.
Xiao Chengjun looked at Lou Jing’s beautiful eyes, which were burning like small stars at this moment. He felt rather wrong-footed. There was something wrong about what Lou Jing had just said, but he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly was wrong.
Lou Jing watched as the Crown Prince’s ears, half hidden in his hair, slowly turned a bright red. Paired with the expression of stunned confusion on his face, Lou Jing felt his heart start to trip over its own heartbeat again.
“Ahem. We should get up,” Xiao Chengjun said, sitting up. “I sent a missive to my Father Emperor yesterday, telling him that we would go to Jingyi Mountain to stay for two days.”
Lou Jing continued lying on the bed. He reached out to grasp the corner of the Crown Prince’s sleeve and toyed with it. He knew that Xiao Chengjun was trying to allay the Emperor’s suspicions and give the impression that he knew nothing about what was happening in the Imperial Court. “Sure, Jingyi Mountain should be red with autumn leaves now. It’s a great time to go,” he said.
Jingyi Mountain was in the eastern suburbs of the Capital. There were thick maplewood forests all over the mountain, and every autumn, the whole mountain would be flush in red leaves. It was a beautiful sight, though not many people were able to enjoy it. The Imperial Family’s country villas were situated on this mountain, and entry to the mountain was restricted for security reasons.
The Chunde Emperor had agreed to Xiao Chengjun’s request very quickly, and even specially sent people to inform him that he and his Consort could stay in the Jingyi Mountain Palace whilst they were there.
“I had originally thought to bring you to the Crown Prince’s Mountain Villa. I didn’t think that my Father Emperor would let us use the Mountain Palace,” Xiao Chengjun said. He gave a tip to the young messenger eunuch, then turned to look at his Consort, who was in the middle of changing his clothes.
“That’s great, I’ve never stayed in the Mountain Palace before,” Lou Jing said gaily. As a fourth-ranked official in the Yulin Troops, he had been to the Mountain Palace before, but only as part of the security detail. He had never lived in the Jingyi Mountain Palace as the master of the place before.
The Eastern Palace servants had to head to the Mountain Palace ahead of their two masters to tidy up the Mountain Palace, so the Crown Prince and his Consort had a leisurely breakfast and went to the Fengyi Palace to let the Empress know of their plans before leaving on a carriage after noon.
“Your Majesty, the Qinghe County Magistrate has confessed. He said that in the third month earlier this year, the Crown Prince ordered him to do repairs on the Qingliang Temple, but delayed giving him the silver for it until the fifth month. He then used this silver to repair the Qingliang Temple. He had no idea that the silver was originally meant to repair the river dike,” the Minister of Justice said, taking out the documents for the Emperor to see.
“That sounds like a load of rubbish. Repairing the dike is such an important matter. Someone who has the ability to be the Qinghe County Magistrate surely is able to tell that the dike repairs are more important than temple repairs?” the Minister of Personnel Yang Youting said scornfully. He was a strait-laced man who was very triggered by officials who didn’t do their duties properly.
The Minister of Revenue stepped forward to speak. “Qingliang Temple undergoes repairs once every three years, and uses quite a lot of silver,” he said, annoyed. “The silver for repairing the river dike is disbursed some time away from the silver for temple repairs, and the Crown Prince himself confirmed in the third month that the silver had been disbursed that month.”
“To my mind, this matter should continue to be investigated,” the Minister of the RIght Chen Shichang said, stepping forward and bowing as he spoke.
The Minister of the Left glanced at Chen Shichang, then dropped his gaze.
“Look into it,” the Chunde Emperor said, waving his hands. “Embezzling the silver meant for repairing river dikes cannot be tolerated.”
Shen Lian’s scheming eyes passed coldly over the Minister of the Right. He didn’t say anything.
When the Imperial Court was adjourned, the Minister of the Left Zhao Duan smiled and gestured for the Minister of the Right to go ahead. He himself remained behind.
“Minister of the Left, what do you make of this? What’s there to investigate?” the Minister of Revenue asked in a quiet voice. This was an obvious case of the Qinghe County Magistrate embezzling the silver used for the dike; how did the Ministry of Revenue get dragged into this mess?
The Minister of Personnel Yang Youting strode over. He glared at the Minister of the Right’s retreating back and blew at his upward-curling moustache. “Ulterior motives,” he remarked with a cold sneer.
Even an idiot could see that Chen Shichang had hidden motives in making the request for this matter to be investigated further, but the Chunde Emperor pretended not to see it.
Zhao Duan stroked his beard. “Let’s go back,” he said abruptly. He didn’t wait for the others and just headed straight for the exit. On the way out, he glanced at Shen Lian in a casual-looking manner. Shen Lian was deep in thought, a solemn expression on his face.
The Taizong Emperor had abolished the old system of “Three Provinces and Six Ministries” used by the previous Yu Dynasty, leaving only the positions of Shangshu and Zhongshu. The Shangshu was the Minister of the Left, who oversaw the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Revenue. The Zhongshu was the Minister of the Right, who oversaw the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Works. Subsequently, the Shizong Emperor established the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was not under the Shangshu or the Zhongshu. The Ministry of Internal Affairs’ scope of power was ambiguous, and now that the power-hungry Shen Lian was the Minister of Internal Affairs, he wanted to stick his fingers into every pie he could.
The Minister of Rites Yao Zhu surreptitiously wiped the sweat beading on his forehead. Thankfully, he had listened to the Crown Prince’s advice to get his brother out of town immediately. As the Crown Prince had predicted, people had forced their way into Yao Su’s residence to try and arrest him, only to find that he was no longer there. Judging by the fact that no one raised this as an issue today, it looked like the arrest was not an officially sanctioned one, so no one dared to make a big fuss.
“Lord Benefactor, what should I do next?” Yao Zhu asked quietly, increasing his pace to fall into step with Zhao Duan. When his old mother had heard that the Crown Prince’s advice had saved her son’s life, she had fallen on her knees and kowtowed nine times in the direction of the Eastern Palace, and started fasting for forty-nine days to pray for the Crown Prince’s safety and success.
“Change not, so as to be able to withstand all change,” Zhao Duan said cryptically, giving Yao Zhu a meaningful look.
Jingyi Mountain was thirty li to the east of the Capital. There was a famous nunnery at the foot of the mountain called Qinglian Temple. Many of the women in the Capital often came here to pray and burn incense in offering to Buddha. It was so popular that incense smoke could be seen rising from the temple all year round.
“There’s a temple festival here on the ninth day of the ninth month. We can go down the mountain to have a look,” Lou Jing said, looking at the Qinglian Temple, which wasn’t too far away. His face took on a roguish look.
Xiao Chengjun looked at the mischievous smile on his Consort’s face. “You and I are both men. How can we take part in a nunnery’s festivities?” he asked. The festival celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month was the Zhongyang Festival. The men would usually celebrate by climbing the Northern Mountain, whilst the women would participate in the temple festival.
Lou Jing continued to smile mysteriously and refused to reply. He buried his face in the Crown Prince’s chest and yawned deeply. “This mountain road winds so much that I’m a little dizzy now,” he said.
The Crown Prince looked helplessly at the fellow snuggled at his chest. The mountain roads were bumpy, so they’d decided to ride a horse instead of riding in the carriage. Lou Jing’s legs were still injured, so he had to ride on Xiao Chengjun’s horse. However, ever since they had got on the horse together, Lou Jing hadn’t stopped being touchy-feely; he didn’t seem like someone who was still recovering from injuries at all!
The moonlight made Lou Jing’s face look even more exquisite than usual. Xiao Chengjun’s lips turned upwards in a smile as he pushed two small items to Lou Jing. “Take these and put them in the cupboard,” he said.
Lou Jing bent his head, and saw that the items in his hands were a pair of little carved wooden figurines. They were made of camphor wood, and were in the shape of cute little boys, one hugging an ingot, and the other clinging on to a big fish. These were usually things that people put into their clothes cupboards to repel insects, like moths. “Where did you get these?” Lou Jing asked.
Xiao Chengjun indicated the little red box on the small table next to him. “A wedding gift from the Prefectural Governor of Yuezhou,” he said.
Lou Jing took the box and put the two carved figurines into it. “This Yuezhou Prefectural Governor’s quite the interesting fellow,” he said in an amused tone. “Most people would send gold or jewels as wedding gifts, but he sends a pair of wooden carvings.”
“His family has been in the carpentry business for generations,” Xiao Chengjun said, looking at the box with warmth in his eyes.
“Could it be that the Yuezhou Prefectural Governor carved these himself?” Lou Jing said, examining the box curiously. He discovered that there were three lines of text carved underneath the box.
I heard that Dianxia was getting married and was very joyful. Due to the lack of time, I had nothing appropriate to give.
My eyes are blurry, but these were carved by me personally three years ago, and they represent my heartfelt feelings for you.
This old minister is advanced in age. I wish only for Dianxia’s good health and safety, and his success in all things.
(Yuezhou, the eight month of the tenth year of the Chunde Emperor’s reign)
Xiao Chengjun looked up at the half-moon in the sky. “The Prefectural Governor of Yuezhou is Su Fei’s father,” he said calmly.
Lou Jing was speechless. Su Fei’s father was Xiao Chengjun’s maternal grandfather. No wonder he had given something so rich in sentimental value. The three sentences carved on the box were a little disjointed, as if the person carving it had only thought of the next sentence after he had finished carving the earlier one. He could imagine a white-haired old gentleman carving one line of congratulations in the moonlight, then, finding that he still had more to say, carved yet another line.
The wishes of the old for the young were always for good things, but unfortunately for Xiao Chengjun, it was impossible for things to go smoothly for him. As Crown Prince, he was responsible for the whole country, not just his little family with the Crown Prince Consort.
“Zhuoyu, after the Lingnan Hou leaves the Southeastern border, who do you think will be defending our country against the pirates?” the Crown Prince asked. His features looked softer in the moonlight, but also more melancholy. The Lingnan Hou had defended the Southeastern border against pirates for more than a decade, but had ended up being asked to retire and return to the Capital.
The Lingnan Hou was the Empress’ father. The Emperor’s suppression of the Lingnan Hou was actually a move to suppress the Crown Prince’s power. The Lingnan Hou was aware of the Emperor’s intention to take back his military power, and decided to simply surrender it rather than wait for the Emperor’s edict to be passed. The Empress’ words today had also indicated that the Lingnan Hou and his family would likely be back in the Capital next month.
“Enjoying your silver years in comfort isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Lou Jing said. He put the box containing the two figurines back on the small table, and walked to the window to be next to Xiao Chengjun. “My Grandfather isn’t here anymore, but Jinzhou is still safe and sound.”
Xiao Chengjun tore his eyes from the moon and turned to look at his Consort. “Perhaps I am overreacting”, he said, after a long while.
“The Anguo Gong has always defended Jinzhou, but my father doesn’t know how to lead an army. If the Tartars attack Jinzhou again, the Imperial Court will have to send another General there,” Lou Jing said, his voice cold.
“Zhuoyu…” Xiao Chengjun furrowed his brows slightly.
“The pirates at the Southeastern border are unstoppable. If not for the Lingnan Hou, that place would have long been abandoned. Now that the Lingnan Hou has returned to the Capital, there will definitely be another pirate attack within three months,” Lou Jing continued. He didn’t have any intention of holding his tongue tonight after seeing how lonely his Dianxia looked in the moonlight tonight. He felt frustrated for Xiao Chengjun too, that his great talent could not be demonstrated to the world due to the chaotic circumstances of the Chunde Emperor’s reign, and that he had to suffer so much injustice and humiliation in order to hide these talents. It was suffocating.
*T/N: I know these few paras seem a bit contradictory, but that’s how it is in the raw as well.
“The house is already on fire. I can’t put it out alone – my efforts are like a drop in the ocean,” Xiao Chengjun said. His dark eyes looked even darker than usual in the moonlight, and he spoke firmly and resolutely. “Instead of struggling to put out the fire, I think it’s better to let it burn, and let it be reborn from the ashes.”
Lou Jing stared at Xiao Chengjun. In his mind’s eye, he could see Xiao Chengjun standing exactly this way, his hands behind his back, atop a high mountain, surveying his country remade stronger from the ashes of the current dynasty.
In a flash, Lou Jing placed a hand over his heart. “Chen waits for the day when he can rebuild the nation with Dianxia,” he said, a heartfelt smile spreading slowly across his face.
It was already very late, and the two decided to just rest in Chongren Chambers for the night.
The bed in Chongren Chambers was even bigger than the one in Bafeng Hall. Lou Jing scooted closer to the Crown Prince and reached out to enfold him in his arms. He nuzzled Xiao Chengjun’s soft hair with his chin. This man would in future become the wise ruler of his country, but right now, he was sleeping next to him, completely defenceless. Lou Jing felt strangely satisfied at this thought.
The next morning, Xiao Chengjun opened his eyes when sunlight filtered in from the apricot-coloured bedcurtains. He found his Consort plastered to him again, and one misbehaving hand had even reached into his underclothes. He moved to pull Lou Jing’s paw out of his clothes, and as he did so, his cheek accidentally touched Lou Jing’s head.
The hand that was on its way to removing Lou Jing’s hand out of his clothes took a little detour to Lou Jing’s head instead. Xiao Chengjun brushed his fingers lightly against Lou Jing’s long eyelashes. He slowly leaned over and touched his lips to Lou Jing’s ever so gently. He meant to pull back after that very light touch, but the moment their lips met, Xiao Chengjun’s lips were captured by Lou Jing’s.
Lou Jing had been enduring Xiao Chengjun’s ministrations with great difficulty. This was the second time Xiao Chengjun had attempted to kiss him secretly, and he simply couldn’t take it any more. He opened his mouth and held on to Xiao Chengjun’s lips with his own.
“Mmph!” Xiao Chengjun’s eyes widened.
Lou Jing opened his eyes. He pressed one hand to the back of the Crown Prince’s head, foiling his attempt to escape. He sucked and bit gently at Xiao Chengjun’s lips until they were both panting slightly. Only then did he release Xiao Chengjun and push himself up to look at him directly. “Dianxia, why are you seducing me early in the morning?” he asked.
Xiao Chengjun looked at Lou Jing’s beautiful eyes, which were burning like small stars at this moment. He felt rather wrong-footed. There was something wrong about what Lou Jing had just said, but he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly was wrong.
Lou Jing watched as the Crown Prince’s ears, half hidden in his hair, slowly turned a bright red. Paired with the expression of stunned confusion on his face, Lou Jing felt his heart start to trip over its own heartbeat again.
“Ahem. We should get up,” Xiao Chengjun said, sitting up. “I sent a missive to my Father Emperor yesterday, telling him that we would go to Jingyi Mountain to stay for two days.”
Lou Jing continued lying on the bed. He reached out to grasp the corner of the Crown Prince’s sleeve and toyed with it. He knew that Xiao Chengjun was trying to allay the Emperor’s suspicions and give the impression that he knew nothing about what was happening in the Imperial Court. “Sure, Jingyi Mountain should be red with autumn leaves now. It’s a great time to go,” he said.
Jingyi Mountain was in the eastern suburbs of the Capital. There were thick maplewood forests all over the mountain, and every autumn, the whole mountain would be flush in red leaves. It was a beautiful sight, though not many people were able to enjoy it. The Imperial Family’s country villas were situated on this mountain, and entry to the mountain was restricted for security reasons.
The Chunde Emperor had agreed to Xiao Chengjun’s request very quickly, and even specially sent people to inform him that he and his Consort could stay in the Jingyi Mountain Palace whilst they were there.
“I had originally thought to bring you to the Crown Prince’s Mountain Villa. I didn’t think that my Father Emperor would let us use the Mountain Palace,” Xiao Chengjun said. He gave a tip to the young messenger eunuch, then turned to look at his Consort, who was in the middle of changing his clothes.
“That’s great, I’ve never stayed in the Mountain Palace before,” Lou Jing said gaily. As a fourth-ranked official in the Yulin Troops, he had been to the Mountain Palace before, but only as part of the security detail. He had never lived in the Jingyi Mountain Palace as the master of the place before.
The Eastern Palace servants had to head to the Mountain Palace ahead of their two masters to tidy up the Mountain Palace, so the Crown Prince and his Consort had a leisurely breakfast and went to the Fengyi Palace to let the Empress know of their plans before leaving on a carriage after noon.
“Your Majesty, the Qinghe County Magistrate has confessed. He said that in the third month earlier this year, the Crown Prince ordered him to do repairs on the Qingliang Temple, but delayed giving him the silver for it until the fifth month. He then used this silver to repair the Qingliang Temple. He had no idea that the silver was originally meant to repair the river dike,” the Minister of Justice said, taking out the documents for the Emperor to see.
“That sounds like a load of rubbish. Repairing the dike is such an important matter. Someone who has the ability to be the Qinghe County Magistrate surely is able to tell that the dike repairs are more important than temple repairs?” the Minister of Personnel Yang Youting said scornfully. He was a strait-laced man who was very triggered by officials who didn’t do their duties properly.
The Minister of Revenue stepped forward to speak. “Qingliang Temple undergoes repairs once every three years, and uses quite a lot of silver,” he said, annoyed. “The silver for repairing the river dike is disbursed some time away from the silver for temple repairs, and the Crown Prince himself confirmed in the third month that the silver had been disbursed that month.”
“To my mind, this matter should continue to be investigated,” the Minister of the RIght Chen Shichang said, stepping forward and bowing as he spoke.
The Minister of the Left glanced at Chen Shichang, then dropped his gaze.
“Look into it,” the Chunde Emperor said, waving his hands. “Embezzling the silver meant for repairing river dikes cannot be tolerated.”
Shen Lian’s scheming eyes passed coldly over the Minister of the Right. He didn’t say anything.
When the Imperial Court was adjourned, the Minister of the Left Zhao Duan smiled and gestured for the Minister of the Right to go ahead. He himself remained behind.
“Minister of the Left, what do you make of this? What’s there to investigate?” the Minister of Revenue asked in a quiet voice. This was an obvious case of the Qinghe County Magistrate embezzling the silver used for the dike; how did the Ministry of Revenue get dragged into this mess?
The Minister of Personnel Yang Youting strode over. He glared at the Minister of the Right’s retreating back and blew at his upward-curling moustache. “Ulterior motives,” he remarked with a cold sneer.
Even an idiot could see that Chen Shichang had hidden motives in making the request for this matter to be investigated further, but the Chunde Emperor pretended not to see it.
Zhao Duan stroked his beard. “Let’s go back,” he said abruptly. He didn’t wait for the others and just headed straight for the exit. On the way out, he glanced at Shen Lian in a casual-looking manner. Shen Lian was deep in thought, a solemn expression on his face.
The Taizong Emperor had abolished the old system of “Three Provinces and Six Ministries” used by the previous Yu Dynasty, leaving only the positions of Shangshu and Zhongshu. The Shangshu was the Minister of the Left, who oversaw the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Revenue. The Zhongshu was the Minister of the Right, who oversaw the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Works. Subsequently, the Shizong Emperor established the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was not under the Shangshu or the Zhongshu. The Ministry of Internal Affairs’ scope of power was ambiguous, and now that the power-hungry Shen Lian was the Minister of Internal Affairs, he wanted to stick his fingers into every pie he could.
The Minister of Rites Yao Zhu surreptitiously wiped the sweat beading on his forehead. Thankfully, he had listened to the Crown Prince’s advice to get his brother out of town immediately. As the Crown Prince had predicted, people had forced their way into Yao Su’s residence to try and arrest him, only to find that he was no longer there. Judging by the fact that no one raised this as an issue today, it looked like the arrest was not an officially sanctioned one, so no one dared to make a big fuss.
“Lord Benefactor, what should I do next?” Yao Zhu asked quietly, increasing his pace to fall into step with Zhao Duan. When his old mother had heard that the Crown Prince’s advice had saved her son’s life, she had fallen on her knees and kowtowed nine times in the direction of the Eastern Palace, and started fasting for forty-nine days to pray for the Crown Prince’s safety and success.
“Change not, so as to be able to withstand all change,” Zhao Duan said cryptically, giving Yao Zhu a meaningful look.
Jingyi Mountain was thirty li to the east of the Capital. There was a famous nunnery at the foot of the mountain called Qinglian Temple. Many of the women in the Capital often came here to pray and burn incense in offering to Buddha. It was so popular that incense smoke could be seen rising from the temple all year round.
“There’s a temple festival here on the ninth day of the ninth month. We can go down the mountain to have a look,” Lou Jing said, looking at the Qinglian Temple, which wasn’t too far away. His face took on a roguish look.
Xiao Chengjun looked at the mischievous smile on his Consort’s face. “You and I are both men. How can we take part in a nunnery’s festivities?” he asked. The festival celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month was the Zhongyang Festival. The men would usually celebrate by climbing the Northern Mountain, whilst the women would participate in the temple festival.
Lou Jing continued to smile mysteriously and refused to reply. He buried his face in the Crown Prince’s chest and yawned deeply. “This mountain road winds so much that I’m a little dizzy now,” he said.
The Crown Prince looked helplessly at the fellow snuggled at his chest. The mountain roads were bumpy, so they’d decided to ride a horse instead of riding in the carriage. Lou Jing’s legs were still injured, so he had to ride on Xiao Chengjun’s horse. However, ever since they had got on the horse together, Lou Jing hadn’t stopped being touchy-feely; he didn’t seem like someone who was still recovering from injuries at all!
