SMMW | Chapter 32

One could not be both a Vice Minister of Revenue and the Crown Princess at the same time, so after the marriage, Wen Qing could only remain as Crown Princess.

The work sounded very easy. In that enormous Eastern Palace, there were only two masters. Yuan Hao had never been picky about food or clothing, and there were certainly no melodramas of household infighting or harem scheming to play out.

But even being Crown Princess did not mean he could live in peace.

Today, the Ministry of Rites submitted a memorial stating that Crown Princess Wen Qing was the son born to Lord Jiang of the Ministry of Revenue by an outer-chamber woman, yet he was older than the eldest son of Junzhu Changning. This showed that Lord Jiang’s private virtue was corrupt, that he had concealed his earlier marriage, and that he was greedily insatiable besides, drawing his outer-chamber son into his own household in order to pave a future for him.

The outer-chamber son had deliberately approached the Crown Prince and befriended him, hoping to cling to imperial favor. Truly, like father, like son. Absolutely detestable!

They requested that His Majesty deliver a sacred judgment and punish the Jiang father and son for the crime of deception and concealment.

The memorial had only been submitted during morning court, yet by afternoon the imperial scandal had already spread all through the capital.

And not a single street rumor sounded pleasant.

Some said that the Crown Princess was Lord Jiang’s child, and Lord Jiang was also the Crown Prince’s cousin-aunt’s husband, so the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince were… well… anyway, it could be counted as incest.

Some said that Lord Jiang had some strange art, used it to bewitch the princess, and successfully married into the imperial family. Then, wicked at heart, since he had no daughter, he passed the art on to his son and had his son seduce the Crown Prince. And now, had he not indeed become the Crown Princess?

Some said that Lord Jiang might be a fox demon, seeking to harvest the imperial family’s dragon aura for cultivation. And the Crown Princess was a little fox demon, now setting his sights on the Crown Prince. For all anyone knew, the Crown Prince had already had his mind bewitched and become a puppet.

Some said that monks should be invited to chant sutras and expel the demonic aura from the Crown Prince, and that the Jiang father and son should be sealed inside a Buddhist pagoda.

Some said that since the Crown Prince had promised at the wedding to marry only the Crown Princess, his soul must already have been eaten and there was no saving him. Better to replace him with another prince.

…

The rumors had already veered into the realm of the bizarre and supernatural, spreading from Lord Jiang to Wen Qing, and then from Wen Qing to the Crown Prince.

Eastern Palace Zhanshi Mu Ziyi came strolling over to see Wen Qing.

After all, the Crown Princess was a man, so there was nothing that needed avoiding.

Though she herself was a woman, nobody knew that.

“A fox demon who harvests dragon aura, huh?” Mu Ziyi said with a grin.

Wen Qing smiled helplessly. “The fox demon is just about to be locked beneath a pagoda.”

“No, no, no, your news is already out of date.” Mu Ziyi waved her hand, with the air of someone gossiping at the edge of the fields. “The latest development is that Lord Jiang submitted a memorial confessing guilt, saying that he only married the Junzhu after divorcing his first wife. But his first wife had been pregnant and never told him, secretly giving birth to the child. He himself only began to suspect something after the Crown Princess… that is, after you entered the Ministry of Revenue, but he never dared acknowledge it.

“He says you and the Crown Prince were childhood sweethearts who had known each other since youth, so it’s only normal that mutual feelings grew between you.

“He says he never deceived those above and concealed things below, never shielded anyone for selfish reasons, and never sought to cling to imperial favor.”

As she spoke, Mu Ziyi pulled a visiting card from her robes. “And the freshest first-hand intel is that Lord Jiang has sent a calling card and wants to come pay a visit to recognize you as his son.”

“There’s no need. My father is dead.”

“So decisive?”

“Yes.”

Mu Ziyi pursed her lips and put away the card. “Living off the ruler’s salary means sharing the ruler’s burdens. Even if you don’t want Lord Jiang, I still have to ask whether the Crown Prince wants to pick up a father-in-law. After all, if he comes, it definitely won’t be only to acknowledge kinship. He’ll be coming to offer allegiance too.”

Just then, Yuan Hao came back. Mu Ziyi did not bow. Instead, she took the card back out again. “Crown Prince~ Do you want this father-in-law or not? Minister of Revenue, a proper third-rank high official.”

Yuan Hao did not answer at once. Instead, he first looked toward Wen Qing. “Qingqing, what do you think?”

The moment she heard that form of address, Mu Ziyi dramatically shrank aside and rubbed her arms.

Wen Qing himself still was not used to it and felt a little awkward, but he was still very happy that Yuan Hao had not simply made a decision for the sake of advantage, and had instead asked his opinion first.

“My father is dead.”

Yuan Hao nodded. “Then tear up the card. My father-in-law is dead. There’s no need for Lord Jiang to come claiming kinship.”

“Right away~” With the excitement completely gone, Mu Ziyi regretfully tore up the card, then sent someone to brush off the Jiang household servants.

In any case, the atmosphere was very relaxed, not at all suited to the topic of “my father has been dead for years.”

That night, another distinguished guest arrived at the Eastern Palace.

The visitor wore layered palace skirts and robes, attended by a great number of maidservants and elderly nursemaids, with an imposing display. It was none other than Junzhu Changning, the current Emperor’s only female cousin.

Everyone said the Junzhu had a fiery temper, and once she arrived, it was clear enough that the rumors were true.

After a brief exchange of greetings, the Junzhu went straight to the point and asked directly, “I am now asking the Crown Prince in my capacity as Junzhu, has the Crown Prince accepted Jiang Hong’s declaration of allegiance?”

Yuan Hao answered, “No.”

“Good.” The Junzhu’s expression immediately looked a little better. “Now I ask my nephew as your elder female cousin. How do you intend to handle the ugly rumors now flying around?”

“Reporting to Aunt, the father of the Crown Princess is dead. Lord Jiang’s defensive memorial constitutes the crime of factional attachment and currying favor through kinship, while the Ministry of Rites has gone even further, seizing on shadows and stirring wind, causing rumors to spread without end and failing to protect the imperial family’s honor. The Minister of Rites should be stripped of office and punished.”

Junzhu Changning had not expected Yuan Hao to act so decisively, and reminded him, “The Minister of Rites is from your eldest brother’s wife’s family.”

“I do not know of that relationship. I only speak of public matters by public principles.”

“Hahaha, good. That is what it means to be a child of the Xuanyuan family, not staining yourself with mud for the sake of such petty profit.”

When she said that, the Junzhu sounded both indignant and sorrowful. Then she turned to look at Wen Qing. “Now I ask you in my identity as a woman. Is Jiang Hong truly your birth father?”

Wen Qing stepped forward before the Junzhu and took out a thick stack of letters. “This is the written accusation my mother asked me to deliver to the Junzhu. My mother wishes to accuse Jiang Hong of heartlessness and faithlessness, of deceiving the imperial family, and of casting off his lawful wife in order to marry the Junzhu.

“And then, for the sake of making his reputation sound better, he forced her to feign death and flee far away, while keeping my maternal grandparents detained in the capital. In name, it was affection. In truth, it was surveillance and restraint, leaving them as hostages, causing kin to be torn apart and unable to see one another for twenty years.

“My mother says that after arriving in Jinping Prefecture, she remarried and had children. That husband has since died. Lord Jiang and I are not related by blood.”

“And the truth?” the Junzhu asked through gritted teeth, furious and resentful.

“The truth is…” Wen Qing choked up here. “My mother fled while pregnant back then. He did not know.”

Smash!

The Junzhu hurled her teacup to the ground, her chest rising and falling sharply, clearly enraged beyond measure.

“Animal!” the Junzhu cursed angrily. “Earlier he even dared present himself as the Crown Prince’s father-in-law, making me swallow this filthy water and forcing me to help round out his lies.”

The maidservants and elderly nursemaids around her all hurried to urge the Junzhu to calm her anger.

The Junzhu brushed them all aside and barked, “Hao’er!”

“Yes.”

“I want to divorce my husband. Have you anything to say against it?”

“I will follow Aunt’s wishes in all things.”

“Then bring brush and ink. No need to wait until I return to the Junzhu residence.”

The divorce letter was written in the Eastern Palace. And Lord Jiang was half-beaten to death in the middle of the night, stripped naked, and thrown outside.

At that hour of the night, no shops were open, so he could only make do by spending the night in a brothel.

The next day, the rumor that Lord Jiang had falsely claimed to be the Crown Prince’s father-in-law, that he was a heartless man who had driven away his lawful wife, and that the princess had divorced him, all landed squarely on the breakfast tables of the capital’s citizens.

At court, Lord Jiang, black-and-blue and swollen, knelt beneath the steps, trembling violently.

On the Emperor’s desk lay Madam Wen’s written accusation and Junzhu Changning’s divorce letter.

“Your Majesty! This subject did not lie, Wen Qing truly is this subject’s son!”

“Absurd!” The Emperor slammed his desk hard. “The Wen woman has already said her husband is dead. What child are you coming to claim here?!”

With matters having reached this point, for the sake of the imperial family’s honor, whether Wen Qing truly was or was not, he could no longer be Jiang Hong’s son.

“Jiang Hong, Minister of Revenue, has deceived those above and concealed things below, and has shown contempt for the imperial house. Strip him of his court robes, sentence him to eighty strokes of the cane, exile him to Lingnan, and consign him to lifelong penal labor. Without an imperial edict, he may never return to the capital!”

“The Ministry of Rites!”

The Minister of Rites shakily dropped to his knees beneath the steps, while the Eldest Prince shrank off to one side like a quail, not daring to utter a word.

“You submitted a memorial without proof or evidence, and allowed rumors to spread unchecked in the marketplaces. The imperial family’s face has already been trampled eight hundred times over.”

The Minister of Rites was so frightened that he knocked his head against the ground again and again while begging for mercy.

“In consideration of your years of service, retire to your native home.”

The Minister of Rites had not even gone fully white-haired yet. How could he bear it? He could only go on pleading for mercy.

Seeing that, the Eldest Prince steeled himself and tried to intercede. But the moment he stepped out, the Emperor noticed him.

“Yi’er has also been tired lately. He should rest quietly in his residence for some time.”

How could the Emperor possibly not know of the ties between the Ministry of Rites and the Eldest Prince? This was practically a direct order of confinement.

“…Yes, Father Emperor.” The Eldest Prince meekly assented and did not dare come forward again.

Thus the disturbance came to an end. Wen Qing went home a few more times to visit his mother, and after venting this grievance, she looked much lighter than before. The heavy feeling that used to cling to her had disappeared too.

She even joked with him a few times, saying that back at home she had already noticed how much the Crown Prince cared about Wen Qing, always secretly bringing food for him every day. When she saw it, although she had not liked the idea of him eating food from outside, she had still thought it amusing and had not stopped it. She had simply never imagined that there was this sort of feeling behind it.

Wen Qing could only lower his head and let his mother tease him, unable to say a single word in rebuttal.

After the matter was settled, there was even one unexpected benefit, the imperial clan’s favor toward Yuan Hao rose considerably.

Because Yuan Hao had returned late, the imperial kinsmen had originally preferred the other two princes more. But now they saw that the Crown Prince would rather lose the support of the Ministry of Revenue than fail to protect the Junzhu. He knew how to stand up for his own family. Together with Junzhu Changning’s closeness to him, the imperial clan began to feel that Yuan Hao was quite good indeed.

But life did not pass in peace just like that. One day, visitors came to the Eastern Palace claiming to be the Crown Prince’s maternal cousins. But although they claimed that, there were actually two people who came.

Both looked worn down by travel. The younger one could, by age, indeed count as the Crown Prince’s younger female cousin. But the older one was so aged that she was old enough to be the Crown Prince’s own mother.

“Mother!” Yuan Hao rushed forward and threw his arms around the elderly woman.

“Hao’er.” The woman cried without stopping as she embraced Yuan Hao back.

She was none other than Su-shi, Yuan Hao’s foster mother, who had suddenly disappeared not long after Yuan Hao left the capital. And the younger woman beside her was her niece, Su Xing’er.

“Mother, where did you go?”

As Su-shi wiped away Yuan Hao’s tears, she explained, “After you left, people started asking about your origins. I knew it had to be because you looked too much like the Emperor and people had begun to suspect. So Xing’er and I packed up overnight and ran. We kept hiding in the mountains, staying on one mountain for a while before changing to another. We were never discovered.”

“Xing’er gathered medicinal herbs, and occasionally went down the mountain to exchange them for goods. Then she heard that the Emperor had named a Crown Prince, Xuanyuan Hao, and Mother knew it had to be you.”

At this point, Su-shi cried so hard she could no longer make a sound. What she had heard was not only this. She had also heard about that battlefield where death had nearly come nine times out of ten. She knew that the child she had raised must certainly have suffered very, very much to make it to this point today.

With Yuan Hao comforting her, Su-shi barely managed to stop crying and continue. “I came this time to tell you who the real culprit was who harmed Consort Xian back then.”

Yuan Hao said in shock, “Mother, didn’t you say before that you didn’t know who it was?”

“Mother knew. Mother was only too afraid to say. That person always wore the guise of kindness, and the entire palace praised her. I was afraid that if you learned too early, you would come to hate her and reveal your weakness.”

“Who was it?”

“The Empress.”

Su-shi closed her eyes and spoke that name with enormous hatred.

“After the Empress’s child, meaning the Second Prince, was born, not a single child in the palace was ever born safely again. And even if one was, it would certainly only be a princess. After Consort Xian became pregnant, concubines who were close to her came to warn her. But the Empress had always been very good at pretending, and Consort Xian had a simple disposition, so she did not listen. It was only later, when concubines delivered ironclad evidence, that Consort Xian finally believed.

“But by then, the Emperor had gone out to inspect the spring plowing and was not in the palace, while the Empress Dowager was ill. There was simply no one who could contend with her. So all we could do was be careful, then more careful still. We even prepared a dead infant in advance. In the end, we only managed to save you. We could not protect Consort Xian.”

“When I feigned death and fled with you, I also took those ironclad pieces of evidence with me. Now they are right here. Twenty years have passed. You can finally seek justice for Consort Xian.”