Wish You All the Best - Chapter 102
Chapter 102
The east wind thaws the ice, the rains bring peach blossoms, hibernating insects stir and shake, and the swallows prepare to return; it is spring once again, the eternal cycle recommencing.
This spring began as just another ordinary New Year, but for the officials in the capital, the various princely estates abroad, the civil and military government offices, and even the millions of subjects of the Great Wei, the twenty-sixth of next month was a special, festive day of national celebration.
This year was the sixth year of Zhaoping, and the twenty-sixth of next month marked the Emperor’s fiftieth birthday.
Seven years had passed in the blink of an eye since His Majesty ascended the throne. In the private assessments of his ministers, although there were suspicions of harsh laws and rigorous, unfeeling governance, the Emperor had cultivated and rested the people. Since his ascension, he had never indulged in the luxuries of building projects or sensual pleasures; he was diligent in state affairs, toiling from dawn until dusk. Now, the world was at peace, and the people lived and worked in contentment—this was clear for all to see. Thus, as his fiftieth birthday approached, officials kept submitting memorials, suggesting a general amnesty and proposing that the Ministry of Rites organize a grand birthday ceremony. They requested that the entire nation celebrate together and that all people join in praying for the Emperor’s long life and longevity.
The Emperor had always been disinterested in celebrating his own birthday. Every year, he would merely perform rituals and offer sacrifices within the ancestral temple, and the officials would not offer congratulations; it had been like this every year. But this year, perhaps due to his advancing age or the significance of a fiftieth milestone, the Emperor went against his usual practice and did not voice any objection. Consequently, after the Lantern Festival, the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Clan Court took the lead, with the subordinate Court of Imperial Sacrifices, the Court of Imperial Entertainments, and the Court of Imperial Guests collaborating. The other five ministries and the nine ministers of the court all set aside other tasks to prepare for the longevity celebration on the twenty-sixth of next month. The various suggestions from the ministers—such as setting up altars, conducting Taoist rituals, and building temples to pray for his longevity—were all rejected by the Emperor. The only exception was in the previous year, when a great victory had been achieved in the southeast coastal region in the campaign to suppress the Japanese pirates. They had thoroughly destroyed the pirates' nest hidden on the Penghu islands, slaughtering nearly ten thousand of them and capturing thousands more. The rest, like stray dogs, had fled back to Japan in terror. The coastal pirate menace that had plagued the region for years was finally cleared. The military and civilians were joyful and encouraged, and now they were eagerly awaiting the reopening of the sea bans. The Ministry of War proposed holding a "Ceremony of Presenting Captives" before the Meridian Gate of the Imperial City on the Emperor’s birthday to celebrate his longevity and display the nation’s might. The Emperor approved, and the Ministry of War proceeded with the arrangements.
In the dead of night, as the third watch approached, Li Yuangui hurried into the palace holding a memorial, a faint look of joy on his face. He walked quickly to the entrance of the main hall, looked inside, and seeing it was pitch black, asked a guard eunuch on duty: "Has His Majesty retired?"
The young eunuch whispered: "His Majesty was a bit fatigued. There were not many memorials, so he finished reviewing them during the Hai hour and went to sleep."
Li Yuangui clutched the memorial in his hand and looked toward the inner palace again. While he was hesitating, he suddenly heard the Emperor’s voice from the depths of the dark inner hall: "Is that Li Yuangui?" The voice sounded slightly hoarse.
Li Yuangui quickly responded, tucked the memorial into his robe, went inside, lit a candle, and walked to the dragon bed. He lifted one side of the hanging curtains and hooked them up with a gold hook.
Xiao Lie opened his eyes and slowly sat up. Li Yuangui saw a layer of sweat on the back of his white undergarment, sticking to his spine, and a sheen of moisture on his forehead, as if he had just been startled awake from a dream. He hurriedly took a sweat towel to wipe him off.
Xiao Lie took it and slowly wiped his own forehead.
"Is your head still aching, Your Majesty? You must take care of your imperial health. You absolutely must not take the muddled words of muddled people to heart! The imperial physician also said that your illness is caused by pent-up liver fire and qi knotted in your heart. If you can keep your mind calm and your breath steady in your daily life, your body will naturally improve."
Since last year, Xiao Lie’s health had gradually become worse than in the first few years. He slept lightly at night and often had headaches. Today, after returning from the morning court, the pain had flared up for a while. The reason was the longevity celebration. During the morning court, when the ministers were discussing the preparations, a Hanlin scholar who also served as a Palace Attendant submitted a memorial, stating that the Eastern Palace concerned the integrity of the state and was a matter of great importance, yet the position remained vacant. He claimed the court officials were anxious and that since the deposed Crown Prince had been guarding the ancestral tombs for years, they hoped the Emperor would use this birthday opportunity to show grace, recall him, and provide guidance and instruction, which would be a great fortune for the court and the world.
Although this memorial did not explicitly mention restoring the deposed Crown Prince, the implication was self-evident.
In the seven years since the Emperor ascended the throne, his only son had been deposed from the position of Crown Prince and sent to the ancestral grounds to guard the tombs. All these years, there had been no news from the harem, and according to rumors, the Emperor’s harem was empty in all but name; in recent years, he had never summoned any concubines for intimacy. The court officials were calm on the surface but were secretly making various speculations; there were undercurrents flowing beneath the surface. Especially in these past two years, court officials had become increasingly focused on this matter, gradually speculating that the Emperor likely intended to restore the Crown Prince, but could not find the right opportunity. Now, with the birthday celebrations being organized, keen-eyed individuals—like this Hanlin scholar—seized the opportunity to submit a memorial. He had originally thought he was gauging the Emperor’s intentions to curry favor, but he never expected that, upon hearing it, the Emperor would fly into a rage, remove him from office on the spot, punish him with thirty strokes of the heavy staff in court, and then storm off, ending the morning session. This left the civil and military officials either trembling with fear or shocked beyond measure. When the Emperor returned to the inner palace, his headache struck, and it took the imperial physician quite a long time of effort before he slowly recovered.
Xiao Lie did not reply. He wiped off his sweat, threw down the towel, and asked: "You came seeking me in the middle of the night, for what?"
Li Yuangui hurriedly smiled and said: "Your Majesty, the congratulatory memorial from the Longyou Jiedushi (Military Governor) Office has been delivered overnight. This servant remembered Your Majesty’s instructions and dared not hold it back, so I brought it here just now..."
Xiao Lie immediately turned his head to look at Li Yuangui. Li Yuangui took the memorial sealed with wax from his robe and respectfully presented it with both hands.
The Emperor stared at it for a moment, slowly took it, broke the wax seal, paused for a second, and finally pulled out the memorial from within.
It was a thin sheet of paper with only a few sparse lines of text on it. The Emperor scanned it, his gaze fixing on one spot for a long time without moving. After a long while, a mix of disappointment and anger gradually flowed into his eyes. He threw the memorial onto the floor and sneered: "I knew it! It is just as I thought!"
The memorial fluttered to the ground and landed in front of the dragon bed.
For the Emperor’s grand longevity celebration, all the provincial princely estates and civil and military offices above the seventh rank that could not come to the capital were, according to regulations, required to have their chief officials lead their subordinates in performing rites of congratulations to Heaven locally, after which they were to send in a memorial.
Li Yuangui held his breath and glanced at the memorial, catching sight of the last line: "...Respectfully wishing His Imperial Majesty a long and holy life, may you accept the blessings of Heaven and prosper eternally. Your servant, Pei You'an, and others, with sincere joy and delight, respectfully wish Your Majesty a life of ten thousand times ten thousand years."
It was the standard, generic greeting that officials of this dynasty had always used for the Emperor’s birthday memorials—not a word more, not a word less. These days, dozens of similar memorials from large and small offices from various provinces were delivered daily. The contents were identical; the only difference was the name of the official.
Li Yuangui recognized Pei You'an’s handwriting and realized it had been written by his own hand rather than drafted by a staff member. He breathed a slight sigh of relief and hurriedly picked it up, saying with a forced smile: "Your Majesty, please do not overthink this. This is a birthday memorial; each province has always had strict regulations. How could Magistrate Pei do something unconventional or different? He must also not have forgotten you in his heart. Your Majesty, look at the handwriting—it is written personally by Magistrate Pei. Each character is firm and clear; the traces are there to see, which shows that when he wrote this memorial, he must have been sitting upright and was extremely respectful."
Xiao Lie did not say a word. He slowly got off the bed, put on his shoes, walked to the north window, pushed it open, and stood still, facing the pitch-black night sky toward the north.
Li Yuangui dared not speak again and just stood to one side with his hands hanging down. Suddenly, he heard the Emperor say: "Has there been any news about the child from Cui Yinshui recently?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it was the letter from the end of last year that this servant already presented to you. There is no new news yet. If Your Majesty is worried, this servant will send a message now, ordering him to report back."
The Emperor was silent for a moment and said: "The child was born on the first day of spring in the third year of Zhaoping. Now it is the first day of spring in the sixth year; he is three years old. I really want to see him."
"I will be fifty years old next month. My grandson should be coming back, too."
He turned around, fixed his gaze on Li Yuangui, and said slowly.
Li Yuangui knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said: "This servant receives your command."
...
As spring entered Suye City, the ice and snow gradually melted. In a few days, it would be the Spring Fair.
When the Spring Fair arrived, merchants from the Western Regions and from within the Pass would gather in Suye City to exchange goods and trade. Wine, jade, medicinal herbs, and crucible steel from the Western Regions, along with silk, cotton cloth, porcelain, and even horses from the northern nomadic tribes—a dazzling array of goods from all over the land. During those two weeks, camel caravans and horse teams came and went incessantly, and people from all directions brought their families to attend the fair. The bustle of Suye City was almost comparable to the cities within the Pass.
Because Suye City was located at the intersection of major thoroughfares, this type of Spring Fair where merchants gathered to trade had existed more than a decade ago. However, its scale had always been small, with few people, and it would end in two or three days. But in these past three years, since Pei You'an had taken the position of Longyou Jiedushi, his name had spread throughout the western frontier. He had moved the government office to this location and encouraged merchants from the Western Regions and the interior to come here to trade. Only then did Suye City’s Spring Fair begin to attract many merchants who came for his reputation, and the scale expanded rapidly. Last year, it had lasted for ten days. Although it was still a few days away from the fair this year, merchants had already begun to arrive in succession. The hostels were overcrowded, and the sound of camel bells could be heard everywhere in the streets and alleys of the city; it looked to be even more lively than last year.
Every merchant who came to the city to trade was required to first register at the Jiedushi office in the north of the city. Therefore, early in the morning, the clerks who had set up tables and chairs in front of the office gate became busy, with merchants coming and going in an endless stream. Many, even after registering, were unwilling to leave and lingered in the vicinity, looking for ways to be introduced inside, hoping to pay their respects to that famous Jiedushi.
While the front of the office was so lively, a small military training ground in the back was quiet and still. A young boy had arrived early in the morning to begin his daily practice.
The boy was only three or four years old. He wore a light blue shirt, his features were handsome, and his hair was styled into two knots on top of his head like two little horns, making him look very cute. After arriving, he faced a stick of incense burning on the opposite stand and began to practice the horse stance.
This was the lesson his father had assigned him. His father said that since he had turned three last month, he must begin his studies. On odd-numbered days, every morning, he would read a text and practice writing; on even-numbered days, he would go to the training ground and hold the horse stance for the duration of one stick of incense, then practice shooting twenty arrows.
Today was an even-numbered day. His father was busy and could not accompany him, so the little guy came on his own. Just as he had been taught, he struck the horse stance, serious and precise, doing it just like a pro.
The sun gradually rose higher, and the incense burned down. Because he had just started practicing, sweat soon began to bead on the boy’s forehead. An attendant accompanying him—a fair-faced man without a beard and with a high-pitched voice—was the eunuch Cui Yinshui. Having been with the young master for three years now, he knew it was strenuous and felt very heartbroken. He looked left and right, and seeing that the master was not there, he hurriedly rushed to the incense. Puffed up with determination, he blew hard on the incense, blowing until he was out of breath and his eyes rolled back, and in such weather, sweat was even breaking out on his back. He finally managed to blow out the incense, took a long breath, turned around, and said happily: "Young Master! Look, I blew out the incense for you! You finished the horse stance for the day!"
The boy, who was Pei You'an’s son, acted as if he hadn't heard. He continued to squat in the stance, his little body motionless, his eyes fixed on the black shadow cast on the ground by the weapon rack. Only when the shadow touched the corner of the wall did he straighten his body and kick his slightly sore little legs: "Cui attendant, later when Father comes, if he asks if I practiced for a full stick of incense, I will tell him that you helped me blow it out. I had to look at the sun’s shadow from the day before, and I don't even know if it was a full stick of incense." His voice still carried a touch of childish innocence, sounding soft, but Cui Yinshui was terrified. He let out an "Ouch," knelt on the ground, and began alternatingly slapping his own face with both hands, crying: "Darn your loose mouth!" With a sorrowful face, he added: "Young Master, just spare me this time. I will never dare to do it again!"
The boy watched him slap himself a few times, then went over, pulled his hands away, and said: "Cui attendant, I know you are good to me, but I don't like this. Since I made a promise to Father, I must keep it! I was only scaring you just now. But if you do this again, I will really be angry!"
Cui Yinshui nodded vigorously. Only then did the boy smile again. He picked up a small iron bow that his father had made for him personally from the weapon rack, stood on the ground several yards away, nocked an arrow, pulled the string to its limit, aimed, and shot the flying arrow toward the target in front.
With a "whoosh," the arrowhead nailed into the target. Although it was two inches off the center, at such a young age, his gaze and his posture were exceptionally calm, already vaguely showing the bearing of a master.
After the boy shot one arrow, seeing that it had not hit the center of the target, he continued to practice, one arrow after another. He had long since finished the required twenty arrows, but as if he had set his mind to it, he kept practicing, meticulous and thorough. Gradually warming up, he was drenched in sweat and took off his outer garment.
Cui Yinshui watched from the side, feeling heartbroken again, wishing he could step in and do it for him, but this time he didn't dare make a sound. He just stayed by his side, helping the child pass arrows. At this moment, a slender, graceful beauty in her early twenties walked through the training ground gate. With bright eyes and mist-like hair, she wore a skirt with an autumn-fragrance colored base. Because of the breeze, she felt a bit of a chill, so she draped a short white-fox-collar cape embroidered with begonia patterns over her shoulders. She was breathtakingly beautiful and walked toward them. Hearing footsteps, Cui Yinshui turned his head and saw that the mistress had come. His face filled with joy, he hurriedly went to meet her, gesturing wildly as he talked.
Ci'er had only turned three last month, and already Pei You'an was dragging him to the training ground. Jiafu also felt heartbroken and had tried to stop him at first, but the son wouldn't accept her protest. Jiafu was helpless and had to let him go. Just now, hearing Tanxiang say that the master had gone out on business, she was worried and came to find him. Seeing her son practicing arrow after arrow, she called out to him. Ci'er heard her, and seeing his mother had arrived, hurriedly put down the bow and arrows and ran over.
Jiafu hugged him, and seeing the sweat all over his face, she touched him and felt his back was also damp with sweat. She felt extremely distressed, hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, and asked if he was tired.
In front of his father, Ci'er had the manner of a little adult, but here with Jiafu, he reverted to being a soft little person. He hugged Jiafu’s neck, leaned his little face against her, and nodded.
Jiafu saw the red marks left on his little palms by the bowstring and felt an ache in her heart, unable to stop herself from complaining about Pei You'an. After asking Cui Yinshui and learning that he had long since shot the twenty arrows prescribed by Pei You'an, she took her son back to the room, helped him wipe his body, and changed his clothes.
Muxiang sent over a bowl of snacks, and Jiafu fed him herself. After Ci'er took two bites, Yang Yun came to ask for an audience, saying that the birthday gifts along with the birthday scroll had been sealed and handed over to the express courier to be sent to the capital.
The Emperor’s fiftieth birthday and the celebrations throughout the land had long since reached Longyou. Yet here, Pei You'an had only sent a formal, official-style congratulatory memorial and nothing else, remaining busy every day as usual. Jiafu had rushed to make a birthday scroll and personally crafted a longevity robe, asking Yang Yun to send them to the capital in the name of the Longxi Jiedushi office.
She had not hidden the making of the scroll and the robe from Pei You'an; she had even made sure he saw them that day. He had stared at them for a moment, then walked over with a straight face. Seeing that he did not voice any opposition, once they were finished, she had Yang Yun send them off.
After Yang Yun finished reporting and retreated, Jiafu continued to feed her son, but she noticed Ci'er blinking his eyes and asking curiously: "Mother, where is the capital? What is the Emperor like? Why did you personally make him clothes for his birthday? I saw it that day—why was Father very unhappy?”