Chapter 9 The Chess Player
"What do you think, Qing?"
Weiyang Palace, Xuanshi Hall.
Emperor Qi held a cup of tea, sipping it slowly, and although there was no second figure visible in the hall, he still spoke as if talking to himself.
A moment later, he pressed on, "How do I feel..."
"This kid Rong, seems to have matured a bit?"
Upon hearing this question, the shadow hidden behind the curtain at the side of the hall understood Emperor Qi's meaning, and after a brief thought, carefully offered his opinion.
"I remember when the Crown Prince was young, a diviner once cast a Hexagram for him, saying: 'His life will be short, and he will not die a good death.'"
"Normally, the Crown Prince always presented himself as gentle and virtuous, never getting into arguments or speaking ill of others."
"Now..."
"Uh, he seems to have gained some backbone?"
Emperor Qi smiled and shook his head, a hint of amusement and perhaps a touch of pride in his voice, "Even a clay figure has three parts of fire."
"What's more, our imperial bloodline?"
"—Princess was bullying the younger one like that, and A Wu immediately choked him, almost pinning a 'filial impiety' hat on him."
"It's come to this point; if that kid doesn't even have that much temper, then I should really investigate: which commoner's bloodline was mistakenly brought into my Weiyang Palace and mistaken by me for the Crown Prince?"
Hearing this, the shadow thought for a moment and then nodded.
What happened outside the city naturally could not escape Emperor Qi's eyes, which Bai Guan called 'sharp as a torch.'
Sure enough, even before the people had entered the palace, the news had already reached Emperor Qi.
When he learned that Liu Rong, when accused by Liu Wu of 'taking off mourning too early,' not only did not meekly admit his mistake but instead left Prince of Liang, Liu Wu flustered and disoriented, Emperor Qi was actually somewhat pleased.
After all, he was his own flesh and blood, especially his eldest son, who held special significance.
Upon hearing that someone intended to bully his son, not only did his son not suffer a loss, but he even bullied them back!
Regardless of whether it was justified, any father would feel a secret satisfaction.
Just like in later generations, those fathers who would rather happily pay for medical expenses than frown while applying medicine to their son: Emperor Qi also hoped that his own bloodline would possess this somewhat wild assertiveness.
However, thinking of Liu Rong's mother, Consort Li, Emperor Qi sighed softly again, then immediately shifted the topic away from Liu Rong.
"Is there anything amiss with Prince of Liang?"
Regarding the Crown Prince Liu Rong, the shadow behind the curtain clearly did not dare to say much—after all, it concerned the succession, and a slight misstep could easily lead to committing a taboo, resulting in beheading at best, and the wiping out of one's clan at worst.
But when Emperor Qi asked about Prince of Liang, Liu Wu, the shadow's words showed no respect for the Prince or Duke, the Empress Dowager's youngest son, or the Emperor's brother.
"Princess Guantao's plans were not known to Prince of Liang."
"This time, Prince of Liang truly came to Court out of unbearable grief, insisting on coming for the funeral."
"It's just that, in daily life, the literati around Prince of Liang often spoke ill of taboo matters."
"—Prince of Liang heard of it, and was ambivalent..."
Hearing this, Emperor Qi narrowed his eyes slightly and fell into a brief period of contemplation.
Emperor Qi was not worried about his younger brother, Liu Wu.
—As early as when the late emperor was not yet the Han Emperor, but the King of Dai living in the Hengyang Palace, these two brothers, born of the same mother, already had a bond stronger than gold.
At that time, Empress Lu held Court and ruled, and all matters of the world were decided by Lu.
And Dai was located in the bitter and cold northern frontier, directly facing the foreign barbarians of the grasslands: the Xiongnu.
For the border-guarding King on the frontier, Lu, who controlled the Court at that time, basically followed only one principle: if you want money and people, you are arrogant; if there's a change on the border, your life is unpredictable.
In short, the Changan Court would absolutely not provide even a shred of support to the border-guarding Prince or Duke. All the grain, military equipment, and soldiers needed for border defense and resisting enemies had to be completely provided by the border-guarding King himself.
While providing no support, they also demanded that the border-guarding King ensure the stability of the border and that large groups of barbarian cavalry would not appear south of the Great Wall.
To make a horse run without feeding it, the border-guarding Kings of Yan and Dai naturally had unspeakable hardships.
At that time, Empress Lu had already begun to create pretexts, systematically eliminating the descendants of Emperor Gaozu one by one, intending to free up more vassal states to enfeoff her nephews and relatives as kings and marquises.
Therefore, to avoid giving others cause for criticism, and also to preserve his life and property, King of Dai Liu Heng issued the only royal decree in his life: in Dai, all taxes collected by the government were to be sent directly to the North Wall for military expenses; not a single copper coin or grain of millet was allowed to be withheld.
So, the question arose: if all taxes were used for border defense military expenses, what would happen to the large family in the royal palace?
The answer was: the dignified King of Dai Liu Heng personally tilled the land in the royal palace to feed his wife, children, and elders.
His favored concubine, Dou Yifang, raised silkworms, wove cloth, and sewed clothes in the palace chambers to solve the clothing problem for this large family.
—How did Empress Dowager Dou's eye disease come about?
It was from years of working with needles and thread in her early years, and being unwilling to light lamps...
Even though he was young when he was established as the Crown Prince, and now held the esteemed position of Han Emperor, Emperor Qi would never forget those difficult years of lacking food and clothing, sharing a bowl of millet porridge with his younger brother Liu Wu, and taking turns wearing the same piece of clothing.
Emperor Qi knew very well: his younger brother was a 'sincere person' who had been raised with doting care.
When he wanted something, he wouldn't even think about schemes or strategies; instead, he would simply reach out without hesitation: 'Emperor brother/Empress Dowager mother, your younger brother/son wants this thing, please get it for me!'
As for the throne?
If Emperor Qi were truly willing to establish a Crown Prince, Liu Wu might, perhaps, actually have the courage to accept it.
But raising an army to rebel, or even feigning weakness to gain power, was absolutely impossible for him.
"Since Princess hasn't mentioned this matter to Prince of Liang yet, let's wait and see."
"Let's see how Prince of Liang reacts when he learns of it."
"—At most, he'll say no and that he doesn't dare, but secretly be overjoyed, and still wait for me to persuade him repeatedly?"
"Heh..."
It was clear that Emperor Qi had a sufficiently clear understanding of his younger brother's innocent and straightforward nature.
But Emperor Qi also understood what his brother relied on to survive in the imperial family despite his straightforwardness, and even now, to possess the thousand-mile fiefdom of Liang.
—In the past, it was the Emperor father, the Empress mother, and the Crown Prince brother.
Now, it has become the Emperor brother, the Empress Dowager mother...
"And Empress Dowager, still...?"
A meaningful sentence only caused the shadow to shake his head repeatedly, even letting out a sigh that was very uncharacteristic of his image.
"I've tried everything, but I still can't even put a single nail in Changle Palace."
"Presumably, the Empress Dowager has presided over Jiaofang Palace for many years, so she's already well-versed in these palace intrigues?"
Having not held much hope for this in the first place, Emperor Qi merely nodded slightly upon hearing the expected reply.
"Forget it;"
"If something cannot be done, do not force it."
"If Empress Dowager were to find out and develop a rift with me because of it, it would be more loss than gain."
The shadow bowed and cupped his hands, silently accepting the command.
After another moment of silence, seeing that Emperor Qi seemed to have no other instructions, he was about to leave when he heard Emperor Qi say faintly, "Keep an eye on the Crown Prince."
"Don't let that kid's newly developed backbone ruin my important plans."
·
"Keep an eye on the second and third ones too, while you're at it."
"Those three rascals, they grew up wearing the same pair of pants..."
Apologies, apologies, caught a bit of a chill, my head feels a bit heavy, so I've written as much as I could.
I, I, I'm going to sleep for a bit. I'll write the next chapter after I wake up. Please bear with me.