If the situation was dire, a military official could, in fact, lead an army into battle even if he was still observing his mourning period. The Minister of Personnel’s purpose in saying this was merely to bring to everyone’s attention that the current Anguo Gong had never been to war and certainly had never fought against the Tartars before.
“The Tartars have broken with precedent and are invading in winter. Chen is of the view that this isn’t a simple matter,” the Minister of the Right Chen Shichang said, stepping forward. “Chen believes that we must be very careful about who we select as the general who leads this battle.”
The news came too suddenly, and no one was able to come up with any good or well-reasoned suggestions. The Chunde Emperor therefore adjourned the issue for discussion at the next day’s Court session, and also directed his ministers to write submissions on the matter by then.
Xiao Chengjun frowned slightly. If the Anguo Gong could not go to war during his mourning period, then logically, Lou Jing should step into his shoes and lead the army into battle. The Jinzhou army was controlled by the Lou family, after all. However, no one had even raised this suggestion.
“The Emperor has been trying to reduce the Lou family’s power and influence in Jinzhou for a few years now,” Lou Jing said, laughing derisively. He had expected that something like this would happen. Even though the Chunde Emperor held his talents in high regard, he wouldn’t be willing to let him lead an army into battle and let him earn merits for the Lou family.
When Xiao Chengjun heard this, his heart thudded ominously in his chest. If his Father Emperor had been trying to weaken the Lou family, then, was he involved in the old Anguo Gong’s death…?
“The Emperor knows about the matter with my grandpa,” Lou Jing said, picking up a xiaolongbao with his chopsticks and putting it on Xiao Chengjun’s plate. Court ended early this morning, and he hadn’t left for the Northern Barracks yet when Xiao Chengjun returned, so he just sat down to eat breakfast with him. “As to who the mastermind is, no one knows at the moment.”
The old Anguo Gong’s death was shrouded in mystery, and the current situation at the borders was extremely abnormal. Xiao Chengjun instinctively sensed danger. “This time, you’re not to go to battle,” he said.
“Don’t worry,” Lou Jing said, taking a bite of a bun. “If they ask me to go, I will definitely be very careful.”
Xiao Chengjun shook his head. Today, the Minister of the Right’s words had made him very suspicious. He doubted that the Minister of the Right had really meant what he said that morning. In any event, he wasn’t going to let Lou Jing go into battle unless things became clearer. If even the old Anguo Gong had fallen prey to these dark schemes, would Lou Jing be able to withstand them?
After eating his breakfast, Lou Jing went to the Northern Barracks. Xiao Chengjun got people to send a message to the Minister of the Left, asking him to meet up at noon.
Chen Shichang went to the Imperial Study after the Court session ended. He brought Sun Liang, the Minister of Defence, along with him.
“Your Majesty, Chen believes that there’s something strange about this whole matter. It might be that the Tartars have some internal conflict,” Chen Shichang said, his expression solemn.”Chen suggests that we should send an envoy forward to try and have a parley with the Tartars.”
“The Tartars are already on our doorstep. How can a parley be possible at this point?” the Chunde Emperor said, his brows creasing. “The Lou family’s Shizi was taught personally by the old Anguo Gong – just get him to go.” This morning, that had been his own view, but unexpectedly, no one had suggested that Lou Jing be the one to go forward and make battle. He could only adjourn the Court early and then drop some hints to these officials.
“Your Majesty, Chen has something to say. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate, however,” Chen Shichang said, hesitating.
“What inappropriateness can there be?” the Chunde Emperor said, waving a hand to indicate that he should just speak up quickly if there was something on his mind.
“Chen heard that when the Anguo Gong Shizi was the Crown Prince Consort, he had a very good relationship with Min Wang Dianxia,” Chen Shichang said, watching the Emperor’s reaction closely. He chose his words very carefully. “The Lou family has many businesses in Jinzhou, and their roots run deep there. Jinzhou is to the Lou family what the Southeastern regions are to the Jingnan Hou family. The matter of who the Crown Prince is has yet to be settled, and Chen cannot help but worry.”
As expected, the moment Chen Shichang said this, the Chunde Emperor started to second-guess himself. If he was honest with himself, the reason why he had deposed Xiao Chengjun was because this son wasn’t close to him, but did things impeccably, and that was a cause of concern for him. The old Anguo Gong was the previous Emperor’s confidante, and since he had ascended the throne, he had wanted to weaken the Lou family’s power and influence, but that old fox was just too slippery. The Emperor couldn’t get any dirt on him at all. Right now, if Lou Jing was close to Xiao Chengjun…
Sun Liang stood quietly to one side. He didn’t say a word until the Minister of the Right gave him a meaningful look. “This time, the ones invading our borders are just small groups of Tartars. There’s no need to mobilise the Jinzhou Army. Chen is of the view that your Majesty only needs to appoint a general and give him twenty thousand men to stabilise the situation,” Sun Liang said.
“If it’s just small groups of invaders, then Chen has a suggestion,” Chen Shichang said, following up on what Sun Liang had just said. “The two younger Imperial Princes have also come of age. Perhaps one of them can be asked to lead the troops into battle, and use their high status to negotiate with the Tartars. Another benefit to doing this is to give an opportunity to the younger princes to prove their mettle and earn merits, which will help your Majesty in deciding who the next Crown Prince should be.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The Chunde Emperor looked at Chen Shichang and ruminated on what he said for a while. “You may take your leave. I have my own views on the matter and will make a decision on it,” he said.
Chen Shichang knew that he couldn’t push this too far; doing too much was as bad as doing too little where this matter was concerned. He didn’t say anything more, and led Sun Liang out of the Imperial Study.
In the evening, Xiao Chengjun received a message from Sun Liang. At the same time that he heaved a sigh of relief for Lou Jing, another worry crept into his mind. What was the Minister of the Right playing at in pushing for the Imperial Princes to be the one to lead the defence of the Empire? What was he trying to achieve? Was he giving the Third Prince an opportunity to earn merits, or was it a scheme to bring down the Fourth Prince? Or…
“I’ve got news from Jinzhou,” Lou Jing said, holding out a letter to Xiao Chengjun. “Have a look.”
The Lou family was very well established in Jinzhou, and the news he got from there was likely to be more accurate than anyone else’s. Xiao Chengjun opened the letter and read its contents. The letter described in detail the time and location at which the Tartars attacked, the damage they left in their wake, and the response from the Imperial Court.
Apparently, a small group of people had looted things on the eighth day of the first lunar month. After that, over ten thousand troops had suddenly appeared and started burning and looting the three northern counties of Jinzhou, killing many people in the process. The troops stationed in Jinzhou were originally under the old Anguo Gong’s command, but with him gone, they now took orders from the Governor of Jinzhou. Thus far, the latter had not made any big moves, and was just blindly responding to the attacks without any real plan.
The Governor was the highest ranking official in a prefecture. He had power over both civil and military matters. When there were no Gongs or Hous stationed in the prefecture to oversee the defences, the Governor was the one who would take command of this. When Wang Jian died a few years back, this current Governor had taken his place. His personality and the way he conducted the prefecture’s affairs were a far cry from Wang Jian’s honest and effective administration.
Xiao Chengjun’s brows knitted together even more tightly. “Why is this Governor of Jinzhou so ineffective?” he asked.
“This man was originally a civil official, and he was born into a poor family. He’s never led any troops into battle before. When he was appointed, the Imperial Court had not thought it would be an issue because there was the Anguo Gong defending Jinzhou, so there was no need to send someone who was skilled at both civil and military matters,” Lou Jing explained, his lips pursed in dissatisfaction. He picked up Min Wang’s teacup and drank a mouthful of tea.
To become a Prefectural Governor, one usually had to have truly outstanding capabilities. The Imperial Court had wrongfully executed the extremely capable Wang Jian and replaced him with this lousy scholar instead, who was of no help to the Anguo Gong and had just stood by and watched when he was killed. Now that the Tartars were invading, he was at a complete loss as to what to do. One really didn’t know who to blame for visiting this calamity upon the empire!
Xiao Chengjun frowned and took out the little notebook that Jing Wang had given him. He flipped through it carefully, looking for something. Before long, he found the Jinzhou Governor’s name listed there. “This man is also one of the people in the Minister of the Right’s camp,” he said.
It made sense when one thought about it. That year, the Ministers of the Left and Right were engaged in a bloody political battle. The Minister of the Right had been particularly ruthless that year, and used trumped up charges to get Wang Jian killed. He naturally would replace Wang Jian with someone from his own camp.
“No need to worry,” Lou Jing said, gathering Xiao Chengjun into his arms and kissing the knot between his brows. “If the Emperor makes you go forward to Jinzhou, I will definitely keep you safe and sound.”
Xiao Chengjun shook his head. “I’ll be heading to my fief in spring. Father Emperor won’t be sending me, that’s for sure. I’m just worried that the Jinzhou troops will fall into the Minister of the Right’s hands,” he said.
Even though the Minister of the Right had managed to replace the Governor with one of his men, he still didn’t have any power over the Jinzhou Army because of the Lou family’s control over the latter. It was only in times of great urgency that he could move part of the Army in defence of the Empire.
“That won’t happen,” Lou Jing said, shaking his head. He pulled Min Wang back to the bedroom. “There are tens of thousands of men in the Jinzhou Army. The Minister of the Right isn’t as dumb as to do something like this now. It would arouse the Emperor’s suspicions for sure.”
The events that happened next proved Lou Jing right.
At the next morning’s Court session, some high officials suggested that an Imperial Prince should be sent to defend the borders in Jinzhou.
“The Tartar invasion this round is very much out of the ordinary. Chen is of the view that someone of high rank, like an Imperial Prince, should be sent forth to respond to this charge. There are two reasons for this. One, it will give the people confidence to see that someone of royal blood has come forward to protect them, and two, an Imperial Prince may be able to force the Tartars to parley,” the Minister of the Right said in ringing tones.
“Chen agrees.”
“Chen also agrees.”
Many high-ranking officials expressed their agreement following this. The threat didn’t seem to be a particularly dangerous one as it was a small group of Tartars attacking this round. It was a good opportunity to earn merits, and the established generals naturally didn’t dare to fight with the Imperial Princes for this easy piece of work.
“Given this, which of the Imperial Princes is willing to rise to the challenge?” the Chunde Emperor asked, his eyes sweeping across the three princes standing in the main hall.
The Fourth Prince hesitated for a moment, thinking back on what his eldest Imperial brother had told him in confidence. “If anyone suggests that you should be the one to go forward and make battle, you must decline, without fail,” Xiao Chengjun had said to him.
Xiao Chengzheng had practiced martial arts since he was young, and he was very much inclined to go to war and kill the empire’s enemies. This was a prime opportunity, and he didn’t want to miss out on it. Also, it had been said previously that he didn’t have any achievements to his name, which was why he couldn’t be made the Crown Prince… he turned and looked at the Third Prince, who looked like he was about to step forward. The Fourth Prince felt very conflicted. Why had his eldest Imperial brother given him that piece of advice?
He suddenly remembered something the Guangcheng Bo Shizi had said to him. Xiao Chengjun had been deposed as the Crown Prince, and there was no way that he wasn’t looking for an opportunity to climb back into that position. He wouldn’t seriously have his other brothers’ best interests at heart, and certainly wouldn’t say or do anything that would bring them one step closer to becoming Crown Prince.
The Third Prince Xiao Chengduo raised a foot and looked like he was about to step forward. Before he could fully step out, the Fourth Prince took a big step and stood in front of the Third Prince.
“Erchen is willing!” the Fourth Prince declared. He turned his head slightly to look at the Third Prince, then realised that the latter had retracted his foot. His heart dropped into his stomach in surprise.
Xiao Chengjun saw this scene and couldn’t help closing his eyes in regret. In the end, his fourth brother had chosen not to believe him.
As only the Fourth Prince volunteered, he was the only choice, and the Emperor appointed him as the general in charge of Jinzhou’s defences on the spot. He praised him with a few sentences, instructed a senior general to go along to assist the Fourth Prince, then ordered them both to leave for Jinzhou three days after.
“Father Empress, have I made a mistake?” the Fourth Prince asked. He didn’t dare to speak to Xiao Chengjun, and had run over to the Fengyi Palace for an audience with the Empress immediately after the Court session was adjourned.
Empress Ji lowered his eyes and didn’t say anything for a long while. “What’s done is done,” he finally said. “Be vigilant in all things.”
“Father Empress, before the morning Court session, eldest Imperial brother had advised me not to step forward…” Xiao Chengzheng said. He didn’t regret his decision at all – this was the opportunity he had been waiting for for a long time now, but Xiao Chengjun’s words and actions had left him rather uneasy.
Ji Zhuo looked at the Fourth Prince, who was uneasy and eager and excited all at the same time. He sighed deeply. “You’re already a father. You should know yourself what you want to do,” Empress Ji said. Even though the Fourth Prince was also a prince that had grown up by his side, when it came to the fight for the throne, at the end of the day, these brothers all couldn’t trust each other an inch.
Three days later, the Fourth Prince Xiao Chengzheng led a hundred troops forth to make battle. As it wasn’t a great army of the empire leaving the Capital for war, the Chunde Emperor didn’t come personally to send them off, and sent Min Wang in his stead.
“Be extra careful,” Xiao Chengjun said, pouring a bowl of wine for the Fourth Prince and drinking a toast to him.
“Brother, do not worry. Didi will definitely earn a great merit and return in glory!” Xiao Chengzheng said, smiling breezily as he threw back the strong liquor in his bowl.
Xiao Chengjun stood with his hands behind his back, watching the hundred soldiers on horseback leave in a cloud of dust. The red tassel on the Fourth Prince’s helmet slowly disappeared into the dusty distance.
“Do you want me to protect him?” Lou Jing asked. He was wearing a simple shirt and pants, pretending to be a servant so that he could be part of this excitement. Jinzhou was completely within his control, and if he just sent word to the Jinzhou Army, the Fourth Prince wouldn’t meet with much difficulties, and would probably be a lot safer there.
Xiao Chengjun shook his head gently. Xiao Chengzheng no longer trusted him, and no matter how good he was to him, Xiao Chengzheng would never believe that anything he did was in his best interests.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there was a family banquet in the palace as usual, but because there was no need to shou sui, the banquet ended around ten o’clock.
Xiao Chengjun walked out of the palace doors and waited for a moment inside his horse carriage. Before long, a person squeezed in and flung himself upon him.
“My legs are breaking after working the whole night,” Lou Jing whined, wanting his Min Wang Dianxia to give him a massage.
“Since you’re so tired, let’s not go and see the lanterns, then,” Xiao Chengjun said, smiling faintly in amusement as he massaged Lou Jing’s legs. There were lanterns lit on Fugui Street today, and they would be on display until one in the morning. Lou Jing had said that he really wanted to see them.
“Dianxia just needs to give me a massage and I’ll be good as new,” Lou Jing said, wiggling his legs immediately. “Look, they’re now as strong as dragons and tigers again! Even if I had to run for eight hundred li through the night on them, it wouldn’t be a problem!”
Xiao Chengjun chuckled, and they set off to set the display of lights.
“Lanterns are also lit on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in Jinzhou, but it’s not as lively as it is here in the Capital,” Lou Jing said, looking at the bright, colourful lanterns on Fugui Street.
A long row of lanterns decorated the whole length of the street, looking like a silver river of stars dotting the night sky. If one didn’t look carefully, it wasn’t possible to tell which little dots of light were lanterns, and which were stars in the sky.
This was the night where people didn’t go to bed at sunset as usual but came out to have fun. The streets were noisy and lively, with many men and their wives walking around with happy faces and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Dancing dragon lanterns, horse-shaped lanterns, lotus flower lanterns, lanterns that were put on the ground, lanterns that hung from tree boughs – you name it, it was on display on Fugui Street. They were all very exquisitely made. Along the street were shops selling tangyuan, shops that you could win prizes from by guessing riddles correctly, shops that sold lanterns, and shops that you could play festival games at.
The street was crowded. It was too packed for anyone to notice what Xiao Chengjun and Lou Jing were doing, so Lou Jing reached out to hold Xiao Chengjun’s hand.
Xiao Chengjun trembled almost imperceptibly. They had never behaved intimately in public before. He turned to look at Lou Jing. The latter was smiling warmly at him, his face lovely in the candlelight. He couldn’t help smiling faintly as he closed his own hand around Lou Jing’s and laced his fingers through his.
Secretly holding hands in a public place actually felt even more embarrassing than being completely naked in front of each other. The two of them felt very happy and excited as they walked hand-in-hand down the long street in a leisurely manner. They both thought that this was the best feeling in the world, and wished that the street would go on forever.
“Lanterns! Get your lanterns here! Gongzi, could I interest you in a lantern?” an old uncle selling lanterns said, smiling merrily at them as he held up a lantern and waved at the two walking down the street.
Xiao Chengjun looked at the lanterns laid out in front of the man. “When Chengjin was small, he always wanted to have a lotus flower lantern, but unfortunately, no one in the palace knew how to make one, and I wasn’t allowed to leave the palace then,” he said. His brother had just been poisoned at that time and was very ill. He wanted to go out and see the lanterns on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, but he couldn’t due to his poor health. He’d grabbed hold of Xiao Chengjun’s sleeve then in desperation, asking pitifully if he would never be able to see a lantern again if he died.
Lou Jing smiled and pulled out some money to buy a lotus flower lantern. “Let’s give this to Jing Wang after this, then,” he said.