During this period, Cheng Danruo shut herself in to read and lived peacefully, while Xie Xuanying was in a complete mess.
The concubine sent by Lady Liu was only the beginning. Once he returned to the capital, the storm that had paused for half a year surged back again, as if everyone was urging him – you are not young anymore, it is time to marry; only after establishing a family can one establish a career.
A year earlier, although Xie Xuanying had no interest in the Xu family daughter, when he said he was not interested, Lady Liu immediately asked, “What are you not satisfied with? Is it that she is not beautiful enough, or that her family status is not high enough?”
Xie Xuanying was left speechless.
For a noble young lady like the Xu family daughter, nitpicking was tantamount to offending people. Besides, her grandfather held a high position, her mother came from a prestigious family, and she herself was the legitimate daughter of the eldest branch, so there really was nothing to find fault with.
There was no way out.
When news of the broken engagement came, he let out a huge sigh of relief and hurried off to Jiangnan to find his teacher and avoid the spotlight.
It had been like that before, and now, with someone in his heart, he avoided the topic of marriage even more.
Recently, the marriage pressure from a year ago was playing out again. He was racking his brains to invent excuses when he suddenly discovered that matters seemed even more complicated than he had thought.
“The Empress Dowager’s birthday is approaching, and the various princes are begging to enter the capital to offer congratulations,” Xie Xuanying said slowly. “His Majesty has approved it.”
Cheng Danruo paused and frowned slightly.
Even with her limited knowledge, she knew that the Xia dynasty was similar to the Ming dynasty, with vassal princes enfeoffed in various places and forbidden to leave their fiefdoms without cause.
Entering the capital to offer congratulations seemed strange no matter how one looked at it, especially since the emperor had actually agreed.
Xie Xuanying caught a glimpse of her doubts, glanced at Yan Hongzhi, saw that he was drinking tea, and so took the initiative to explain. “His Majesty’s birth mother is not the Empress Dowager. He was originally the son of Prince Qi.”
The ins and outs of the matter were actually not complicated. The late emperor, being over fifty and without a son, had no children around him and had to consider a successor. He was the eldest son and had been made crown prince. According to the practice of brother succeeding brother, it should have been his second brother, Prince Qi, but Prince Qi died early, and his third brother, Prince Xian, was not on good terms with him and was also not quite up to the task.
Therefore, he decided to adopt.
After a round of selection, the present emperor was chosen – someone who would not have a retired emperor above him, since his own father was already dead.
After the adoption, the late emperor’s empress was his mother in terms of ritual law and was, as customary, honored as Empress Dowager. The emperor had little affection for this mother – filial yet distant – and the Empress Dowager knew this well and did not make much trouble.
This year was the Empress Dowager’s sixtieth full birthday. The various princes memorialized to request permission to offer birthday congratulations. Rather than currying favor, it was more a case of stirring restlessly, wanting to test something.
“His Majesty… has no son.” Noticing that Cheng Danruo had fallen into thought, Xie Xuanying secretly breathed a sigh of relief and continued, “Although no minister has yet formally submitted a memorial, I fear someone has long since floated the idea.”
Mentioning this, Yan Hongzhi also felt helpless. “It is only that he has no son, not that he has no offspring at all. Why such haste!”
Xie Xuanying nodded, his brows slightly furrowed. “His Majesty is in the prime of life. Perhaps in a few days there will be good news. Commandery Prince Feng says he is offering birthday congratulations, but he is truly too impatient. He is not even as good as Prince Qi. If Commandery Princess Jianing enters the capital, it will at least look better.”
“Prince Qi?” Cheng Danruo asked, puzzled.
He explained, “The title of Prince Qi was taken by His Majesty’s brother, so it was not demoted. Commandery Princess Jianing is the daughter of Prince Qi.”
At the founding of the dynasty, Emperor Taizu worried that the noble titles of the imperial clan, if passed down through the generations, would easily lead the clan’s sons and grandsons to seek ease and pleasure and shirk work, so he established a rule that hereditary titles would be demoted with each generation.
That is: the emperor’s brothers were princes of the first rank, the sons of princes of the first rank were commandery princes, and the sons of commandery princes were generals of the state.
But rules were rules, and in practice there was considerable room for maneuver. When Commandery Prince Qi was adopted and became emperor, he raised his younger brother’s title to prince of the first rank.
Cheng Danruo understood. “Commandery Prince Feng is?”
Xie Xuanying replied, “The eldest grandson of Prince Feng. Prince Feng was the late emperor’s fifth younger brother. Back then, ahem, he was the first to submit a memorial inquiring after the imperial health.”
The first Prince Feng ranked fifth, came from a lowly background, and in any case was not in line to compete for the throne. So when the present emperor was adopted and smoothly ascended the throne, he immediately jumped out to declare his loyalty.
The emperor, grateful that he had acted as a representative of the imperial clan, allowed his son to inherit the title of prince of the first rank. The current Commandery Prince Feng is his eldest grandson.
This was the first time Cheng Danruo had glimpsed a corner of the political situation.
She could not help but be curious. “So, by agreeing, does His Majesty intend to repeat the old trick, or is he trying to see who has that idea?”
Xie Xuanying coughed hard.
Yan Hongzhi shot her a glare and admonished. “Do not recklessly speculate about the imperial will.”
“Sorry.” Cheng Danruo immediately felt she had spoken out of turn. She had been listening to royal gossip with such relish that she had momentarily forgotten this was a feudal society, and she hurriedly admitted her mistake. “I was careless.”
Yan Hongzhi did not press the issue. Even ordinary street folk gossiped about which consort the emperor slept with at night – as if anyone could really stop them. He only gave a reminder, and seeing that she had caught on, said no more.
He personally demonstrated the correct way to speculate.
“Has your mother entered the palace?”
“Not yet.” Xie Xuanying spoke slowly. “But it is only a matter of time.”
Cheng Danruo listened while trying to analyze. Xie Xuanying’s mother was the wife of a marquis. Empress Xie had already passed away, so unless it was a festival or a grand ceremony, she would not enter the palace – unless someone in the palace specifically invited her.
The emperor’s consorts were unclear. Was it the Empress Dowager they had mentioned?
What matter could it be? What they had just been discussing was marriage. Matchmaking?
Commandery Princess Jianing was the daughter of the emperor’s brother, his own niece, so she should not be considered a bad match. But Xie Xuanying placed her arrival in the same category as that of the commandery prince, which showed that the marriage might perhaps be more than just a marriage.
A marriage alliance was, in fact, an alliance.
Prince Qi wanted to win over the Xie family. Could it be…
“What are you thinking about, Dan-niang?” Yan Hongzhi asked.
Cheng Danruo hesitated slightly, then probed. “Does the commandery princess have brothers?”
Yan Hongzhi cast her an approving glance. “She has a full younger brother.” He continued to demonstrate. “The commandery princess is entering the capital alone, and the consort dowager is still in the fief. I wonder how she will be settled?”
Xie Xuanying glanced at Cheng Danruo and said, “His Majesty gave the order that she is to stay with Rong’an in Xiefang Palace.”
Yan Hongzhi’s eyes flickered. “Is that so? That is interesting.”
Cheng Danruo did not know the old affairs concerning Princess Rong’an, so she was inevitably puzzled. She glanced toward Xie Xuanying, and he happened to look over as well. Their eyes met, each with their own questions.
“In any case,” Xie Xuanying quickly looked away and said, “I do not agree.”
In fact, the guess Cheng Danruo had just made was the key to the situation – what was the emperor himself thinking? By allowing the various princes to send people to the capital, was he preparing to imitate the late emperor and inspect a potential adoptee in advance? Or was he displeased with his brothers’ calculations and preparing to dig a pit and strike at them?
The former was very possible, and the latter was also possible.
Therefore, favoring Commandery Princess Jianing would be interpreted differently by different people: simple affection for a niece? A hint that she was equal to a princess and that the son of Prince Qi might be adopted in the future? Killing with praise also made sense.
The difficulty of fathoming the ruler’s mind lay precisely here.
Whether out of political instinct or personal feelings, Xie Xuanying did not want to touch this gamble.
But… “Never mind whether this marriage match is good or not, the timing is wrong.” Yan Hongzhi rubbed the rim of his cup and mused, “But I do not know what your father is thinking.”
Xie Xuanying was silent.
His grandfather had backed the right side with Commandery Prince Qi and gained the merit of following the dragon. Would his father want to imitate his grandfather? After all, if they won, it would be a century of wealth and honor; if they lost, it was merely one son.
The Marquis of Jinghai had more than one son.
“Marriage is decided by one’s parents. There is not much I can do to help you.” Yan Hongzhi sighed. “As for court disputes, I resigned from office decades ago, so I fear there is nothing I can teach you either. San-lang, you are clearly in the emperor’s mind. Be prudent in all things.”
Xie Xuanying paused, then nodded in agreement. “Yes. Rest assured, I… I will resolve it.”
Xie Xuanying came and went in haste. After drinking tea at his teacher’s house for about an hour, he hurried off.
Cheng Danruo also ended her day of lessons and returned to her courtyard to continue reading. At about two in the afternoon, she went to give Lady Hong acupuncture. When she was finished and about to return, First Madam arrived.
When she saw Cheng Danruo, she smiled amiably. “Sister, you have worked hard.”
“It is my duty.” Cheng Danruo wanted to leave, but First Madam had no intention of being discreet and said directly, “Mother, the Xu family had quite a lively commotion today.”
Lady Hong was quite interested. “What fresh matter is it? Tell us so we can hear.”
She said “us,” so Cheng Danruo did not leave.
First Madam took the tea handed over by a maid and said with a smile, “Today the Xu family held a incense competition. The incense burned by Xu Yi-niang formed the character ‘heart’ in the air with its smoke. It was truly exquisite workmanship and wonderfully original.”
“Xu Yi-niang has always been the foremost among the young ladies of the boudoir. That is not surprising,” Lady Hong said.
“Mother is right. What is surprising is that the Wang family’s third young lady filled in a ci poem: ‘The heart-seal forms in vain, yet in a turn all is ended; a wave of smoke becomes a dream.'” First Madam could not help laughing. “Poor Xu Yi-niang. I fear she has never suffered such a loss.”
Her enjoyment of the Xu family’s spectacle was, of course, also because of the Yan family’s position.
Xie Xuanying was Yan Hongzhi’s disciple. Having been jilted by the Xu family in this way, Lady Hong likely also felt displeasure. Only then did she dare make such a joke to amuse her mother-in-law.
Lady Hong revealed a faint smile, but also said, “Xu Yi-niang is a good girl. It is this child who has been delayed.” She added of Third Miss Wang, “She truly deserves to be called a talented lady of the Wang family. Her literary talent is brilliant.”
“The Xu and Wang families are fighting more and more fiercely,” First Madam said with feeling. “Earlier the Wang family’s camellia banquet was held beautifully. Today when I went to the Xu family, I saw many famous varieties of chrysanthemums. They could not have been obtained without several hundred taels of silver.”
Lady Hong said, “Grand Secretary Li is advanced in years. In a couple of years he will have to retire. What Minister Xu and Minister Wang are fighting over is not merely face. However, this has nothing to do with us. You must also make it clear to Da-lang, so that he does not get drawn in.”
First Madam quickly said, “Rest assured, Mother. He knows what he is doing. He has always attended only to matters within his duty and is not overly close to them.”
Lady Hong stopped there and said no more about outside affairs. Instead, she asked about the price of firewood and rice.
First Madam said, “It has risen slightly compared with last year. Shall we still stock up on more black charcoal as in previous years?”
“Stock up,” Lady Hong instructed. “If there is a cold year, giving it out will save lives. If the silver in the accounts is not enough to keep things turning over, tell me. I still have some private savings.”
First Madam immediately said, “How could we need your help? Our family has always been frugal. It is entirely enough.”
Cheng Danruo listened silently and took note, thoughtful.
After taking her leave from Lady Hong and returning, she called Xi Que over and asked her, “Minister Wang is the minister of which ministry?”
Xi Que had grown up in the capital and had heard no small amount of common knowledge and gossip. Hearing this, she said, “He should be the Minister of Rites. His eldest son greatly respects the master and came to the house years ago to ask about learning.”
Cheng Danruo nodded. “Thank you. Go and get on with your work.”
Xi Que curtsied and withdrew. When she reached the doorway, she turned her head and saw Cheng Danruo leaning by the table, fiddling with chess pieces one by one. She could not help but sigh. Miss Cheng was an easy mistress to serve, but she was a mistress with no visible future.
Shaking her head inwardly, she lowered the curtain and slipped out without a sound.
Leaving Cheng Danruo alone in the room, placing chess pieces one by one.
This piece was the emperor. He had no son, and many people wanted him to adopt one. This piece was the Xie family, confidants of the emperor, whose marriage involved the struggles of different factions.
Further down: Minister Xu, Minister Wang, Grand Secretary Li… These people were all unfamiliar to her, and in theory had nothing to do with her at all.
In the future she wanted to become a female physician, dealing with inner-household women like Lady Hong and First Madam. But what harm was there in understanding a little more?
Who knew when it might come in useful.
Cheng Danruo picked up a chess piece and tapped it against the board now and then, turning things over in her mind: the Chen family would come to the capital next year. By then, Old Madam Chen might very well bring up the marriage again.
Before that happened, she had to plan out a future for herself.
A future… where would her future lie?
