Chapter 24: Defying The Edict

The night was quiet and the breeze light, moonlight flowing, the gauze at the window barely stirred, the night birds quietly folding their wings.

This tranquil gentleness was so reluctant to be let go of. One wished it could last longer, a little longer… How could it be broken!

Eunuch Tian pinned the Imperial Eunuch Sun against the table, clamping his hand over the other’s mouth. “Don’t say a word!”

Eunuch Sun, suffocating, dug his fingers into the flesh of Eunuch Tian’s forearm, voice muffled and broken, “Are you crazy? This is literally our job! How could we not say it!”

“You don’t know a damn thing!”

“You are the one who doesn’t know anything! What punishment follows defying an edict? Don’t tell me you don’t know!”

“But it can’t be now! Couldn’t it be later?” Eunuch Tian fretted.

“Once the edict is issued I’ll have to return to the palace! If I’m punished for being late, will you take the blame?” Eunuch Sun snapped angrily.

The two argued without resolution, neither convincing the other. In the scuffle they knocked into the writing desk, the inkstone atop it fell and made a tremendous clatter.

Thud!

Eunuch Tian’s eyes went blank and a chill ran down his spine. He thought to himself, it’s over.

“Who’s making such a racket?” Zhao Cong, seated in his wheelchair, leisurely emerged from behind the treasure pavilion.

Eunuch Sun shoved Eunuch Tian aside, smoothed his garments and hat, plastered a smile on his face. “We’re here to announce an edict. Congratulations, Your Highness! The Emperor has bestowed a marriage on you!”

“Is that so…” Zhao Cong’s swordlike brows lifted slightly, the darkness in his eyes coalescing like an abyssal night sky. “Has Father not given up yet?”

How was anyone supposed to reply to that!

The room’s atmosphere tightened instantly. Eunuch Tian hurried forward. “Your Highness, don’t be rash. Impulsive action could ruin feelings, what then?”

There’s always room to maneuver! Even if the woman the Emperor points to isn’t the one you love, we can manage! Patience smooths things over! Hold back, don’t make a scene! Making one won’t solve anything and will only make matters worse!

Eunuch Tian fluttered his brows and tilted his eyes with all manner of insinuating looks, voice grown thin with urgency. He steadied his lord and couldn’t help but offer Eunuch Sun an apologetic smile. “His Highness just recalled an old acquaintance and cannot help his feelings…”

“No need for you to smooth it over,” Eunuch Sun said, face full of smiles. “We know Your Highness bears no negligence, but this time is different. The girl the Emperor has in mind will surely please Your Highness!”

A tremor ran through Eunuch Tian. He heard his lord’s voice drop slightly, “Who is it?”

Eunuch Sun lifted his head, voice rising from his abdomen. “Miss Tang, the daughter left behind by the eldest son of the House of Earl Xuanning, Tang Wanníng!”

The corner of Zhao Cong’s eye narrowed.

Eunuch Tian was stunned. “Who did you say? Tang…Miss Tang?”

“Congratulations, Your Highness! Soon the House of Prince Xiangyang will have a lady of the household!” Eunuch Sun ignored him and went straight to please his master. “Miss Tang is gentle and virtuous, a perfect match. A gentleman would fit her well. The Empress and the Emperor in the palace are all thinking of Your Highness!”

Zhao Cong’s brow flashed like a blade, the black in his eyes surging. “‘Thinking of’… what a fine way to put it!”

In the next instant his wheelchair turned and he left the room.

Moonlight fell across his shoulders and hair, his profile frosted in the light, his spine taut and resolute like a sword drawn from its sheath!

Eunuch Sun was somewhat frightened. “Your Highness, what are you going to do?” He hadn’t received the edict yet!

Eunuch Tian stamped his foot hard, thinking, you useless thing! What else could he be going to do but defy the edict!

Eunuch Sun didn’t understand the Prince, but he understood his colleague. Seeing the look on Eunuch Tian’s face he immediately trembled. What on earth was happening? Didn’t His Highness like that girl? An imperial marriage grant would only add glory. What could be wrong with that?

Eunuch Tian gave a forced, half-smile. “Matters of our masters are beyond us servants. You rest, I’ll go after His Highness.”

“No! Explain it to me!” Eunuch Sun grabbed him, not letting him go.

“I told you, I don’t know!”

Eunuch Tian pried open Eunuch Sun’s fingers and jogged out after his master, sweat beading on his forehead. What was he going to do? Something big was about to happen!

…

The imperial palace loomed, its gates gaping like the mouths of beasts, the night casting a cold light.

Zhao Cong traversed the austere long steps, passed the gold-armored guards, and went straight into the great hall. “Your son pays respects to his father, the Emperor!”

Emperor Jingyuan, clad in apricot-yellow court dress, was reviewing the day’s remaining memorials and glanced at him coolly. “Storming the palace at midnight, improperly dressed, with an impertinent countenance, causing a commotion. Prince Xiangyang, where are your manners?”

“Your Majesty.” It seemed the Prince’s arrival had been so sudden that Consort Xin hadn’t had the time to excuse herself. She simply held a cup with her fair hand, refilled his tea, and pressed it into Emperor Jingyuan’s palm, voice soft and warm. “Honestly, on such a joyous occasion, are people not allowed to be happy? Boys are like that, they can’t hold back on these matters. His Highness is here to give thanks, don’t keep a stern face and frighten the child.”

The Emperor took the tea, his expression softening slightly. He snorted, “How old is he and still you call him a child? If only he’d been more proper, I would probably live an extra two more years!”

Consort Xin smiled at those in the hall. “Your Majesty has been busy today and vexed by the memorials. The Grand Prince need not worry. Speak sensibly and that will do.”

From the moment he entered the hall Zhao Cong’s expression had not changed. Unafraid of the Emperor’s reproach and unmoved by the Consort’s gentleness, he said boldly, “Your son dares to request that His Majesty withdraw the edict!”

“Pfft—” Emperor Jingyuan spat his tea out, wetting the collar of his robe and the memorials on the table. “What did you say?”

Consort Xin hastily produced a handkerchief to help him clean up. “Your Majesty, don’t be anxious, the Grand Prince surely didn’t mean it…”

The Emperor pushed her aside and narrowed his eyes at Zhao Cong. “What did you just say? Say it again.”

Zhao Cong did not flinch or step back. Under that oppressive gaze he repeated plainly, “Your son said, I ask Father to withdraw the marriage edict.”

Emperor Jingyuan asked, “You don’t consent?”

Zhao Cong responded, “I do not consent.”

With a bang, Emperor Jingyuan kicked over the desk, the memorials, inkstone, and tea cup spilling everywhere. “On what grounds do you refuse!”

The emperor was enraged, and silence fell in all directions. Palace maids and eunuchs knelt everywhere, none daring to raise their heads.

“A man should marry when grown, a woman should be wed when of age. Even commoners know the three great unfilial acts, of which the greatest is having no heirs. You are a prince! If you won’t set an example that’s one thing, but you dare to defy an edict!”

“Isn’t there the Second Prince?” Zhao Cong’s gaze was unaffected. “Prince Ping has already taken a wife, I imagine heirs will soon continue his line and flourish.”

Soft weeping came from the side of the desk, it was Consort Xin. “Grand Prince, you have misunderstood things…from the beginning the Emperor never neglected you, time and time again going through selections, portraits after portraits brought before you, it was just that those girls had no fate with you…the Emperor has been trying to be an ordinary man, a good father, he truly cares for you brothers…”

Emperor Jingyuan’s gaze on Zhao Cong turned even colder. “How old are you already? And you still want to be calculative with your younger brother?”

“Calculative?” Zhao Cong’s lips curled into a mocking arc. “So I was calculative with him before, was I?”

The great hall fell silent for a moment.

There was reason for that. The line struck hard, after all. As the Crown Prince who had single-handedly won half the realm, with military prestige, power, and strategy, he could easily dispose of a court minister, and likewise killing the Second Prince would not have been impossible. If he wanted to be calculative, Zhao Yan would not be alive now.

“Tell me now, who is really being calculative with who?”

How had matters come to this? Why did Emperor Yuan die? Why, after all that blood and sweat had won the nation’s loyalty, were the military officers suppressed and the Crown Prince marginalized to the point where his leg was ruined and he was deposed, his life ebbing? Who was the scheming one, who was plotting? Was that not clear?

Dark depths moved in Zhao Cong’s gaze, the blackness rolling as if through past years, sharp enough to pierce the heart and lungs.

Emperor Jingyuan, however, was unmoved, his gaze cold and severe as ever. “No matter what you think, a ruler does not joke. You must take a wife!”

Zhao Cong’s expression grew even colder. “Marry her off to me only so she can die with me?”

“If you truly are dying soon, then all the more you should leave an heir!”

“Then leave that heir behind to be trampled and bullied along with his mother?”

“You! You wretched son!” With no desk before him, Emperor Jingyuan hurled the bolster at Zhao Cong. “Fine! For all you have left to live, I will grant you one thing: if you do not wish to marry this Tang Wanning, you may choose a wife from outside. As long as she is a woman, and she’s willing, and you are willing to take her too, I will immediately change the name on this edict!”

Not wishing to hear anything else that would unsettle him, Emperor Jingyuan dismissed him, “Dare to defy the edict again and you’ll be charged with treason! Get out!”

The great hall’s doors shut swiftly.

Moonlight cloaked Zhao Cong like solitude. A deep furrow creased his brow.

After a long while, Eunuch Tian cautiously asked, “Your Highness, have you considered that doing this…is not very kind to Miss Tang?”

To be scorned by a man to such an extent would not make for good reputation for a young lady.

Zhao Cong lowered his gaze to the armrest of his chair. “If she married me, it would be worse for her.”

The crescent moon tilted west and would soon be snuffed out, just like the road beneath his feet. It was already at its end, beyond salvation. He was a dying candle in the wind. Why burden others?

Eunuch Tian sighed. The fruit must ripen before it falls, forcing an unripe melon will never make it sweet. This was not the right time! This was supposed to be something that could really become a reality. He had hoped his lord would find a real companion for life, he hoped Miss Tang would see the Prince’s virtues. A slow, warm burn might have worked. But with such a sudden turn, what could be done? When the edict arrived he had hoped the name on it would be Miss Tang, and yet also prayed it would not be. If the name on it wasn’t hers, a struggle might deepen affection and longing, but now…there was nothing he could do. He had hit a dead end.

How on earth were they to get past this? Please don’t tell me there is truly no fate between them…Empress, if you’re in Heaven, please watch over His Highness! Miss Tang must not be missed. Someone as stubborn as His Highness, once he misses his chance there will be no next time!

…

News of the Emperor and his son’s quarrel was somewhat sensitive and would not spread quickly, but the draft of the imperial marriage edict was not considered secret. It was dispatched proudly to Prince Xiangyang’s residence. Though not publicly proclaimed, those with good connections had already received word.

Tang Wanlan, upon hearing, knew it was settled. “Quick! Pack up, I’m going back to my natal home for a visit!”

Since even the Princess Consort was making a move in response to this news, naturally others followed. The residence of Earl Xuanning instantly bustled, people coming and going, joyous and festive. At first people were restrained, but later the congratulations grew blunt and straightforward.

“Two princesses in one house! The Countess is truly blessed…”

“The Countess’ imperial kin connections carry great weight! We await your patronage!”

“Whichever of them steps forward in the future, they’ll assuredly be wrapped in wealth and splendor…”