Episode 28
Do you really like this book, mother?
Yes. This travelogue,
it reminds me of
the days before I entered the palace.
The annotations in this book
are they written by this Sir Su you speak so often of?
Yes.
Reading these annotations,
he should be an open-minded and
liberal man.
How come you describe this Sir Su as
a manipulative man
who is talented at plotting?
Sir Su has many faces.
Sometimes he seems so wily that I feel wary,
and sometimes, I feel that he sees much farther than
ordinary people.
Why did mother ask about him?
You're ambitious,
you want to clear the names of your eldest brother and the Lin family,
and you want to help the Empire and unify the courts.
I'm proud of you.
But,
I have no power
and cannot help you much.
Of course I hope
that you have someone loyal and competent by your side
to help you succeed.
I understand mother's intentions.
This Sir Su
seems perfect to me.
He refused the shortcut that the Crown Prince and Prince Yu offered
and chose to help you wholeheartedly.
This is he utmost sincerity.
You have always been kind to others.
I usually don't have to remind you,
but I have a feeling that
a talented individual like Sir Su
is hard to come by.
You must treat him
better than the way you treat others.
No matter what the result is,
never forget that
he chose to assist you from the beginning.
Mother has already told me this.
What?
Not long after you first read this book,
you asked about the annotator.
You also strongly encouraged me
to treat Sir Su well.
and to trust him.
Why did mother repeat these suggestions?
Were you afraid that I had forgotten, or do you think that Sir Su
is really very important?
When people
get older, they get more forgetful.
Look at me. What I've already said
I said once again.
I'm really getting old. Getting old...
I said something wrong. Mother, please forgive me.
Okay, okay.
You're grown up now.
Of course I'm glad you're responsible and ambitious now.
I don't concern myself with what happens out there.
You just need to protect yourself.
As long as you're safe, I'm happy.
I understand.
Madame,
What is it?
Madame, Wuying Hall has sent word that
his Majesty is on his way to our Palace.
Madame, please prepare to receive his Majesty.
Alright.
Come with me.
I prepared two boxes of snacks.
One for you, one for Sir Su.
Just think of it as a present from me to thank him for assisting you.
Thank you, mother.
I'll take my leave now, and I'll come see you again another day.
Let's go, your highness.
What do you mean you didn't get the book back?
Does Jingyan not want to return it to me?
No, no.
That is... Prince Jing said...
that book... was given to C-Consort Jing.
Xiao Shu,
d-don't be worried. Don't worry.
Consort Jing is just a little bored in the palace.
She just wants to kill some time by reading.
Didn't you say that those two words were written really small?
I don't think Consort Jing will notice.
She won't be able to see them.
I'm done.
Hopefully.
Your highness.
Tianzi Battalion has finished reorganizing their ranks.
Should I send them straight to the Ministry of Defense?
Yes.
Your Highness has been investigating this book for many days.
Is there anything special about it?
It's because I can't find anything strange
that I've studied it for this long.
Are there problems with Sir Su's annotations?
I've read these annotations over and over.
I've even copied them out,
split them, rearranged them,
but I still can't find anything.
Isn't it a good thing that there's nothing wrong with it?
Perhaps.
But if it's just an ordinary book,
why would Sir Su, who is always calm and collected, be so concerned with it?
Why would Meng Zhi, who has never really enjoyed reading, come ask me for it?
Especially Mother's reaction...
She's been in the palace for more than twenty years.
What is in this book
that can cause her to become so emotional
and bring up a stranger over and over?
Your Highness,
- Consort Jing has sent two more boxes of snacks. - Okay, leave it in my room.
Whenever Consort Jing sends snacks,
she sends double what she used to.
Deliver this book
to Commander General Meng's place.
Your Highness!
What's wrong? Why are you so frazzled?
Your Highness, someone's here to deliver an imperial decree. Please go receive it.
Why are you like this? It's not like Prince Jing's household has never had someone deliver an imperial decree.
No, the one delivering is... Eunuch Gao.
Eunuch Gao?
Your Highness,
if Eunuch Gao came in person to deliver a decree, it must be...
Seventh Prince Xiao Jingyan
is kind, filial, and honorable.
For your bravery and successes
you shall be awarded the status of Noble Prince of the Third Rank,
and a five-pearl crown.
I thank the Emperor.
Thank you, Eunuch Gao.
Your Highness,
being awarded the status of a Noble Prince of Third Rank is a great honor
After Your Highness accepts the decree,
you need to send a written expression of thanks to the Secretariat office.
The Ministry of Rites has prepared the new robes befitting of Your Highness's new rank.
Tomorrow, Your Highness
should wear the new robes,
to the ceremony to accept the golden seal from His Majesty.
Then, you need to perform the rites at the royal ancestral temple,
and see the Empress at Zhengyang Palace.
Only after that, can you go to Zhiluo Palace.
Please remember these rites and
perform them correctly.
Thank you for the advice, Eunuch Gao.
Announcing the Noble Prince Jing to enter the Hall to receive the gold seal of office..
Your son, greets my Lord Father.
Grant the seal.
I thank you Father for this imperial favor.
A new stage has begun.
Am I right?
You said to conform with Father's wishes,
and to not suppress Prince Jing deliberately.
Now what? He is now
a Noble Prince with the 5 royal pearls crown.
2 more royal pearls and he will be same rank as me.
Then I shall congratulate you.
Prince Jing is now 5 royal pearls prince and you are congratulating me?
Prince Jing is now awarded as 5 royal pearls prince.
That means Crown Prince is about to be abolished.
You wish will come true soon.
Shouldn't I congratulate you?
The Emperor is always trying to balance power the imperial court.
When Crown Prince was first instated,
the Emperor supported you in a similar manner.
To make sure the Imperial Court has two parties to keep the balance.
Now Prince Jing has the support.
It means the Crown Prince will be gone soon.
The Emperor wants to create a new balance, isn't that right?
I know what you mean.
And I know what father is thinking.
I will not accept that after all these years of hard work,
I got nothing from it!
You do have something.
You have defeated the Crown Prince.
He's now in confined Eastern Palace and impossible for him to comeback.
To abolish him,
only a simple reason and an edict is required.
But I have spent 10 years to defeat the Crown Prince.
Do I need another 10 years to defeat Prince Jing?
After I am awarded
your status in the internal court will be different.
The Empress,
Don't you worry about me.
I have been here for more than 20 years.
I know how to protect myself.
Staying quiet doesn't mean that I can be trampled on.
The Empress will understand.
Mother is intelligent.
I never doubt it.
I remember you said that before
when the Eastern Palace was being locked down
Commander General Meng received a favour from Gao-gonggong.
And you suggested to get him to side with you.
That's right.
But Mr Su didn't agree.
He said Gao Zhan always plays it safe,
so it'll be risky to get him to side with me.
Moreover, if the circumstances become clearer in future,
with Gao-gonggong's intelligence
even if he isn't on our side, he'll be on our side.
There is another layer of meaning to Sir Su's words.
Do you know it?
What do you mean?
While there are a drawbacks to recruiting Gao gonggong
but the benefits
cannot be compared to other people.
The reason he is not interested in that plan,
the main reason,
is because he takes in consideration of you.
That's right. To get Gao Zhan side with me
it'll definitely involve you.
That's not something I want to do.
I am pleased that you are able to understand,
Sir Su's intentions.
You are wrong, Your Highness.
The Crown Prince and Prince Jing are not the same.
The Crown Prince is the prince of Eastern Palace, the successor to the throne.
While Prince Jing although awarded 5 royal pearls prince
he has only just come into favor.
Now the position of the Crown Prince will be vacant soon
This is a clear victory for you.
If you don't come forward
if something happened to Emperor in future
Crown Prince will be enthroned.
If you had to fight at that time,
then your actions will be considered treason.
I hope you are right.
Goodbye.
I think Prince Yu won't believe in you this time.
If he suspect something now, then
he wouldn't be the one that had fought against the Eastern Palace for many years.
It is expected that he'll find out eventually.
That means we need to get ourselves ready.
Who knows what crazy things Prince Yu would do when the going gets tough.
I still have you and Li Gang.
With your words
I feel a huge burden on my shoulders.
That's why you all need to treat Fei Liu better.
You know how much burden he has taken from you all.
Right.
Why hasn't Tong Lu come yet?
Slow down.
Be careful.
Slow down.
Let me see.
Let me get a doctor.
No need. Need to spend more money to get doctor.
I just twisted my ankle.
I will feel better if soak in the well water.
Just that I can't help aunt to deliver the dessert.
Don't you worry about that.
It's better I get a doctor to look at you so that you can recover quicker.
Don't worry about money. My shopkeeper
just raised my pay.
You shouldn't spend your money so carelessly.
Save the money
for your future wedding.
I...
I am well now.
You better go home first.
Ok.
You better deliver the goods,
Qi Hong, continue with what you have to say. I'd like to hear,
what tripe can come out of those people.
Yes, I also heard that after Prince Jing has been being awarded
beside what people outside say, in here, the others also comment that it wasn't noticeable before,
but now, when you compare Prince Jing and Prince Yu
there's not much difference.
No difference!? Are they blind?
What does Xiao Jingya have, to be compared with Prince Yu.
Mother, don't get upset first. Let's hear what she has to tell.
The rumor said that the reason why Prince Jing is unknown is
not because he is mediocre but it because of the lack of graces from his Majesty.
If anyone had check, they'd realized that Prince Jing has made many contributions during his long service in the military.
All of the Princes, including Prince Yu, all added up wouldn't be able to compare.
Xiao Jingyan has always been a brute. Who'd compete with him on military achievements.
But some say, that for the past year that he as been in the Capital,
his Majesty gave him a lot of tasks.
So his political achievements are many as well. As for his birth status...
Prior to the New Year, because of the matter of New Year rituals and Noble Consort Yue restoring her status,
Your highness initiated a Court debate which made clear that
the Crown Prince is not a child of the Empress
hence there is no difference between Prince Yu and him; both are sons of concubines.
Both Princes have the same birth rights. Those with ulterior motives have brought it up again, saying that
according to that reasoning then all Princes are born from concubines hence have the same birth right.
Also... also...
What did they say?!
They said that Consort Jing is constantly gaining favor from the Emperor, hence
she might have higher status in future.
Although Your Highness is raised by the Empress
your birth mother, before she passed away...
her rank was Concubine.
Moreover, his Majesty rarely mentions her.
Therefore her status is very lowly.
He's merely 5 royal pearls Prince. What can he do!
Consort Jing is a nobody. She's been cooped up in the Inner Palace for so many years.
When has his Majesty ever paid attention to her! I don't believe
she can fight for favor
as much as Noble Consort Yue was able to back then!
It's just those villains currying favor from those in power.
Please do not be angered your Majesty, your Highness.
Good.
Since it's now Prince Jing competing with me,
then we will compete.
It's not that easy to handle the matters in the Court.
Based on his limited experience, to step on him
I won't need much effort compare to the Crown Prince.
Xiao Jingyan, let's wait and see.
Everyone's arrived, please enter.
- You may leave. - Yes.
Your Majesty, I think we should move to the warm room at Wenhui Palace tomorrow.
You arrange it, but I feel like this year's winter is not as cold.
Even at night, my hands and feet are warm.
Who would have thought that Consort Jing's
herbal baths for Your Majesty is so magical.
- Gao Zhan - Yes
After the morning assembly, summon Prince Yu, the Chief Secretariat and the Minister of State Revenue.
Yes.
And Prince Jing.
At Your Majesty's command.
We are retired from here now.
There are so many things to take care of every day.
Without noticing, the sky's already dark. Your Highness must be tired.
You guys must also be tired.
Before, we never had so many things to attend to.
But everyone's in high spirits. They don't feel tired, in fact, they are more energized than before.
Zhan Ying.
You are the first one here to know that I have the intention to win over the throne.
You must of thought I was crazy then,
you just never said it aloud, right?
It was impossible back then.
I don't know how to say it either. But since Your Highness has decided to do something,
I will follow your lead no matter what.
I know. That's why I only told you.
To be honest, back then,
I was at a loss, and had no confidence.
I even went to Sir Su for his advice.
I ask him, how should I make known my intention
to take the throne, such that it won't scare people off?
How did Sir Su respond?
He said, there's no need to say anything purposefully.
When the time is right, they will figure it out naturally.
But I think our brothers, they are now...
Right now, maybe it's as Sir Su said, the time is right.
I haven't say anything but they all understood.
Even if I stop right now
they will push me forward.
Hearing what you said, I agree too.
Back then, the brothers would only whine
about the pay being cut and the winter clothes are not warm enough.
But now they always discuss
how to improve the military transport system, how to carry out new horse administration policies...
It's really different from before.
But they...
I know.
Even if I never gain power in the Court,
these brothers in arms, they'll never leave me.
I'm glad that your understand your Highness.
Your Highness, the Minister of State Revenue, Minister Shen asks to see you.
Shen Zhui?
It's so late already, why is he here?
Minister Shen, is there any urgent matter to visit me so late?
End of Autumn, the local governments have submitted their autumn harvest report.
All has been come in yesterday and has been submitted to the cabinet.
This is an extract. Please take a look.
These five states had a drought in Spring and Summer and suffered a locust plague in Autumn.
Based upon the states population and disaster situation
I have calculated roughly how much money the State Revenue ministry needs to budget for disaster relief,
and have submitted it to his Majesty today.
Seems that you have already made arrangements for disaster relief.
Then why have you come to see me?
Whenever there is such matters in the past,
his Majesty will ask either Prince Yu or the Crown Prince to take charge.
Once they got the job
they will butcher it up like meat.
But those are people in the 5 states, peoples' lives.
According to the way they and the local officials did things in the past,
it'd be lucky if even 30% of the money makes it to the hands of the victims.
Soon there'll be starving people roaming every where,
and we'll run into the risk of riots.
Are you sure it's that serious?
Your Highness please have a look. This is a description of the situation in Lie state,
where the Crown Prince handled the disaster relief after a snow storm in the 20th year of Kaiwen.
This is from the 3rd year of Chengping, it's a report from a Governor,
it details the situation in 8 states in Qinnan where Prince Yu handled the relief mission.
The person who wrote it died,
before this report even reached the Secretarial office.
- This is from 7th year of Chengpin... - That's enough, Minister Shen.
I know what you mean. What do you want me to do.
Your Highness, I hope that no matter what, please fight for the right to take charge of the disaster relief.
If it falls into Prince Yu's hands again,
when the situation is out of control, he can easily deceive the Emperor by saying it's just rioting mobs.
If that time comes, can your Highness
really raise your arms against this 'rioting mob'?
This is not about striving for power and position.
This is about the people and the imperial court's responsibility.
Your Highness, you are the only hope now.
Please rise Minister Shen.
I admire your thought.
I promised you I will spare no effort to fight for this right at the imperial court tomorrow.
Shen-qing, I have read your report. This year's disaster
although its not as bad compare to the one in the 7th year of Chengping
nonetheless
arrangement for disaster relief needs to be done as soon as possible.
Don't worry Father. The Empire has been at peace for many years and have not had any major expenses. The treasury is in surplus.
Minister Shen also didn't have any objections on the amount budgeted.
What we needed to do now is to assign officers to each state to deal with the disaster relief.
I have experience with doing these tasks, so you need not worry father.
Indeed, this is not the first time you are assisting me in this matter.
I understand you have the experience. You will not be in a frenzy.
Father,
Jingyan, what do you think?
Father, ever since I've been assigned with tasks under your orders, I have seen much improvements in myself.
Disaster relief is a huge responsibility. Although the chief coordinator does not need to attend to everything personally
at least the person will need to visit the disaster areas to better understand the situation.
This time 5 states are affected and certain places are cold and poor.
Prince Yu's precious body will not be able to tolerate such harsh conditions.
But me, I have served in the military for a long time and have better tolerance.
So I hope Father can allow
me to handle the disaster relief this time.
- You are right too. - Father!
I understand Jingyan's good intentions but I can't accept it.
How can I think of being tiered when helping the Emperor and doing work for the people.
Not that I don't trust Jingyan. He doesn't have enough experience.
Handling a disaster relief and comforting the people is not like going to war where you only need strength.
There are victims across the 5 states all waiting for aid from the imperial court
I afraid is not suitable for Jingyan to practice on.
Even though I never handle any disaster relief before at least I know the procedures.
Since Prince Yu has the experience, I believe you can teach me some.
Even if we don't go deep, I'd like to ask Brother, once the aid has been allocated,
to what point can it be considered that the disaster has been relieved?
When the victims have enough food and money to get by, then the disaster is relieved.
I my opinion, the person in charge should
have a holistic view and co-ordinate all officers and resources.
The final goal is to reduce the number of deaths, prevent riots,
survive through the Winter and to not miss the Spring plow.
If any of the points listed cannot be achieved, then the disaster cannot be considered as relieved.
Jingyan's opinion does have much foresight.
Looks like you have thought much about it.
Prince Jing has been a quick study in matters of the Court.
I am very much impressed.
These points sound easy, but will be hard to achieve in reality.
Jingyan, do you have the people required?
Do you know how the processes work in the various states? Remember the new war horse policies you pushed?
You were supposed to be experienced in that. But in the end? It still had so much trouble.
The officials in the area are all different,
it takes time to get to know them and know how to work with them.
The Ministry of Defense was holding back the new war horse policies, hence we had issues.
Anyway, the policies were eventually implemented.
I'm sure this time, the Ministry of State Revenue,
will organize all details necessary.
Naturally, the ministry is bound by duty to do so.
Pushing all fault to the Ministry of Defense?
That's not your usual way of doing things isn't it Jingyan.
Lets take a step back,
say the issues with the war horse policy implementation was due to the Ministry of Defense holding things back.
How can you be sure that there won't be someone holding you back this time?
You are young and have no fame, it's natural that there'll be people who won't respect you.
How to take control of local officials, how to remove resistance and
how to balance people's relations, these are all things you still need to learn.
Since minister Liu says you are a quick study,
so I believe in a year or less you'd be able to learn it all.
But the situation with the disaster is urgent, there's no time for you to learn.
All those things you've mentioned, how to take control of local officials, how to remove resistance and how to how to balance people's relations,
not only will I not learn it this time, but I would never learnt.
The Court has the court laws, and disaster relief has it's procedures.
If you only had your own selfish concerns,
that should not be the culture to encourage on the Court.
What do you mean by this? Father is the Emperor, the Court is orderly, and yet you say that the court has a bad culture?
Jingyan, you are only a Noble Prince, are you so eager to do Father's job for him?
- Brother Yu, why must you deliberately misinterpret my words so, - Enough
Why have you started arguing for no reason.
Can the two of you say something worth listening to?
Father, I did not wish to anger you,
but Jingyans' words are full of barbs. He's always been like this when infront of you Father.
I thought he'd improved in the last 2 years,
You old thing,
my sons are not close to my heart and yet you still laugh as if you've seen a good joke.
The Princes are not inattentive, your highness
they are really after your heart.
In my opinion, Prince Jing's attitude is very good.
He just says what he's thinking and won't hide anything. Even if what he says is incorrect,
your Majesty you can correct and teach him otherwise right.
Well you're the most unconcerned.
Your Majesty your are fortunate yet you don't know. My sons are much more boisterous
but look at me, am I not always happy?
Whatever, whatever.
What's with the two of you, it's not even a big matter. Must the two of you fight like this.
Since you both want to help me, the matter of the disaster relief
Father! Disaster relief is an urgent matter,
since Father you have yet to decide, then the aid from the Ministry will not be released,
I thought of the hardships of the victims and am much saddened. So I've decided,
to reduce the expenditures in my household send 30,000 taels of silver to the victims first.
Once Father has decided, the rest of the aid can then be released from the Ministry.
Jinghuan are you going to contribute from your own stores?
Everything I have is given by you Father,
there is not such thing as my personal stores, they were all rewarded by Father.
Everyone under the heavens is Father's children, how can they not all receive your benevolence.
I have decided on it. I will prepare all the rewards you've grant me,
and use it to cover any short falls.
We cannot allow the shortage of aid to disgrace your good name Father.
Father,
To have such thought, it's very good Jinghuan.
The several times you've handled such matters before I've never had to worry about anything.
While there were rioting mobs wanting more than they deserve,
they were all successfully suppressed.
The disaster relief this time round is very urgent, I will still send you.
Your Majesty!
I accept your order Father.
Disaster relief is a responsibility of the Court. There is no reason for Prince Yu to cover such expenses personally.
Shen-qing, the amount budgeted in your report,
take out 30,000 tales, and release the rest in batches and hand it over to Prince Yu.
Do not delay the disaster relief effort.
That's enough for today. I am tired, you are dismissed.
I will take my leave.