Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Old Matriarch’s Disfavor and the Falsification of the Imperial Decree

A year of bitter complaints made the long parting feel endless; at the Double Seventh she at last began to speak of returning. Floating silk socks glimmered beneath her steps in the clear light, while her freshly adorned face shone in the moon. Tender feeling coaxed out a charming smile, as if starlight bloomed upon her cheeks; unafraid to bare herself, she loosened her cloudlike robes. Yet all she could lament was that the night watches were already running out, and she could only hide her tears as she handled the loom of last night.

The sound of the zither was mournful and wavering. Madam Yu plucked the jade harp while singing a poem by Xu Jingzong.

“Make her shut up,” Xu Jingzong snarled at the servants.

Madam Yu had once been merely a little maidservant at his wife’s side, but she was stunningly beautiful. After his wife died, he immediately changed her surname to Yu and took her as a concubine. She was not yet thirty. There was no need to say that Xu Jingzong was an old man chasing youth; even the other maidservants in the household felt some envy at Madam Yu’s fate. At least as a concubine, she was better off than a maid.

Then Madam Yu’s beauty caught the eye of Xu Ang, his son. No one knew who seduced whom, and in the Xu household the same kind of tragedy as that of Emperor Gaozong and Wu Zetian played itself out.

Old Xu heard of it and flew into a rage, sending his son off to Lingnan, where he remained to this day, still not permitted to return.

Madam Yu was indeed quite comely. She had followed Xu Jingzong’s wife, Lady Pei, and learned to read a great deal of writing, but she lacked Wu Zetian’s monstrous art of preserving beauty. Added to the upheaval, she aged quickly. In just a few years her looks had faded, and Xu Jingzong summoned her less and less often.

So she played the zither and sang Xu Jingzong’s poems, hoping to win back his attention.

She had not expected Xu Jingzong to be so ungrateful. He cried out in gloomy resentment, “My lord, my lord,” and the servants dragged her away.

The courtyard fell quiet again, and the morning cicadas began to chirp in the treetops.

Xu Jingzong took out the letters his son had written and read them one by one, pondering deeply.

As for the son’s mischief, Empress Wu and Emperor Gaozong did not take it to heart. The son was the heir apparent, the crown prince; after all, he was still a sovereign in waiting. If he could not even endure this, how could he ever become a true subject? Besides, if Xu Yanbo was clever and followed the crown prince’s wishes, why should that not also count as an opportunity? What the son had done was not necessarily wrong either; those two rare multicolored pills had both been given to Xu Jingzong.

How important those two pills were could be seen from Xu Jingzong’s attitude toward them. Despite his deep displeasure with the crown prince, he had not been willing to throw them away and instead chose an auspicious hour to swallow them.

With Xu Jingzong’s intelligence, he would certainly understand this point. Moreover, he was fiercely “loyal.”

But what had been overlooked was Xu Jingzong’s state of mind. He was old now, both aged and ill, and yet he wanted to pave the way for his grandson before he died. Once he looked upon the crown prince, the crown prince was already an enemy in his heart.

Reading the letters, he kept brooding.

“The crown prince’s illness has changed him; he is not simple at all, and now he even has several capable advisers to help him...

Where did these people all come from? Yanbo is talented enough, but his mind and judgment are too simple. If this goes on...”

The more he thought, the more frightening the crown prince seemed. That Lady Yang of the Yang clan was laughable, ignorant of affairs; she had once opposed that marriage arrangement, and now she had become the laughingstock of the capital. And Xu Qidan, too, had lost all semblance of propriety this time, actually allowing his daughter to pursue the crown prince all the way to Luoyang.

Then his eyes suddenly brightened.

In truth, the crown prince was not without flaws. He had mutilated Helan Minzhi, forced the royal family into a public scandal, and this time he had wandered idly about the Eastern Capital and then confronted the emperor head-on. Though the strategy behind it was clever, the emperor would surely not like it.

The crown prince was like a Brahmin dance upon the tip of a spear: planting a sharp blade in the ground and dancing barefoot on the point, or even lying upon the blade and rolling and leaping while an exhausting reed flute was blown, a feat of dangerous daring rare throughout the entire Tang dynasty. Such a thing demanded great strength of mind.

But the crown prince was still young, and Lady Yang’s young daughter was as lovely as a flower, a beauty capable of toppling a city, so it was only natural that he should forgive a few minor missteps. Yet the rumors in the capital cared nothing for the crown prince’s feelings.

At that thought, he had his plan.

He drafted a memorial to Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu, saying in essence that Yang Min had been morally corrupt and had long maintained an ambiguous relationship with Helan Minzhi. The affair at Zhongnan Mountain had shocked the whole realm; had it not all been part of Yang Min’s scheme? He also said that Yang Min had once shown the crown prince great disrespect, and only after hearing that the crown prince’s health had improved had her attitude changed. He then asked the empress whether, whenever the emperor had been slightly unwell, she had ever shown him disrespect.

In short, the words were daggers aimed straight at the heart.

Having said this, he went on to argue that a crown princess should value virtue over beauty, and that the young lady of the Yang clan was unfit in morals to become crown princess. Even if she were not crown princess, if the crown prince should one day inherit the great throne, how could such a woman serve as mother of the realm? By contrast, the daughter of Pei Judao was virtuous and gentle. In the upheaval at Zhongnan Mountain, she had been the youngest of the lot, yet she had been the most sensible and astute. The Pei clan was also a great and illustrious house...

His words ran on and on, dense with seeming reason and evidence.

As for the Pei clan, his own wife was from that family, so by marriage he still had a little kinship there. And it seemed that the young lady of the Pei clan also admired the crown prince greatly. Yet looking at the crown prince as a whole, he had some dealings with the young lady of the Xu family, but was rather cold toward the one from the Pei clan.

Young men love beauty.

In truth, the young lady of the Pei clan was still quite pretty, only a little inferior to Xu Qidan’s daughter or Yang Sijian’s daughter.

Here he had misread the matter. Though customs were slowly changing, the young lady of the Pei clan was only thirteen, after all, by nominal age. What thoughts could Li Wei possibly have? Concern breeds confusion. If this memorial reached the Eastern Capital, Emperor Gaozong would likely be angered too. The fate of the Yang girl was beginning to change by decree.

Then the crown prince’s heart would also be thrown into disorder.

As for himself, he was doing this for the state, for the ancestral altars...

...

“Your Highness...”

“Minister Wei, say no more. I know I was wrong,” Li Wei said at once.

These people had sought refuge with him because they valued his kindness and benevolence, but in doing so they had placed their entire fortunes upon his shoulders. His father’s health was not very good, but the palace had no shortage of imperial physicians of eminent skill. As for his mother, perhaps she had no intention of becoming empress regnant; if so, he still did not know how many years he would have to wait.

A single misstep, and the whole board was lost.

They were, in truth, taking on enormous risk.

With that one sentence, Wei Yuanzhong was left with nothing to accuse him of. The crown prince was not bad, only a little young, and he had read too many rigid volumes on ritual and propriety, so his manner of speech and conduct was upright and straightforward. If he admitted his fault honestly, that was only natural. After thinking it over, he said, “Your Highness, though matters are not quite ideal, they are not serious either. Among the two ministers in the Eastern Capital, Lord Yan is not one to make trouble, while Lord Hao is sincerely loyal and bold. Though the two differ in temperament, neither is a treacherous or wicked man. As for the empress, all her conduct has been to conceal matters on Your Highness’s behalf.”

In any case, that day Li Wei had been in considerable danger.

Had there not been so many scruples, the emperor might truly have entertained the thought of deposing the crown prince.

That was why Empress Wu had arranged a family banquet, using kinship to dissolve the anger in Emperor Gaozong’s heart, and why she had ordered the little princess to stay the night in the Eastern Palace. It was meant for the emperor to see: being so kind even to the little princess, a model of both fatherliness and brotherly affection, how could she possibly treat you badly?

The empress... the empress, though she was helping the crown prince, Wei Yuanzhong understood the reason behind it. Her mind, her speed of response, and her wisdom all made him feel a chill.

For now she was helping the crown prince because he had been dutiful toward her lately, and because power still rested chiefly in the emperor’s hands. Of all her sons, only the crown prince had treated her best; replacing him would not suit Empress Wu’s interests either. If the emperor’s health continued to decline and grew worse and worse, then power would inevitably be delegated...

But he did not say so. The time was still early. Instead he said, “With the empress maneuvering within the palace, Your Highness may be at ease. Yet the final words of her message were full of deeper meaning. Since this journey to Mount Song is already sanctioned by the emperor, you may as well go in full view and offer prayers for his blessings. If you can compose one or two heartfelt, filial poems and spread them throughout the land, the situation may yet be reversed.”

A poem of filial devotion, a poem for blessing and prayer—Li Wei searched his memory and still could not think of a single line.

So then, what was not his would never become his. If he were given a narrow task, requiring him to produce a fine poem, he would expose himself at once.

“Still, this is fortunate. Right now the Grand Tutor is in Western Capital, so some matters are beyond his reach.” That was also luck. Xu Jingzong’s retirement had indeed been a helpless one. If he had still been in court, with several people plotting together, he might not necessarily have been Xu Jingzong’s match. Besides, through Wang Caini, a trap had already been laid, just waiting for Xu Jingzong to walk into it.

“Exactly. Let us go to the Xu household again.”

Everyone has a dark side, and these past few days of tormenting Xu Yanbo had made them all very happy.

When they arrived at the Xu residence, Xu Yanbo came out to greet them with a miserable face.

Li Wei said, “I am going to Mount Song at once to pray for Father Emperor’s blessings, and I especially invite the attendant to accompany me.”

“Your Highness, I beg pardon. I came down with a chill last night and am not in good health, so I fear I cannot accompany you,” Xu Yanbo said quickly. In the Eastern Capital, they had already tormented him to the point of exhaustion. A round trip to Mount Song would take who knew how many days. Would he have any life left after that?

“Attendant, I have long suspected that you harbor ill intent toward me.”

“Your Highness, how could I dare think such a thing?”

“Ever since I first invited you, you have been shuffling and evading. This time, to go to Mount Song and pray for the emperor’s blessings is such an honor, and yet you dare claim illness and refuse. Do not forget that I have long been sick myself and know the ways of medicine. You look perfectly healthy; where is this illness you speak of?”

“I truly am unwell, Your Highness.”

“Shall I have you taken to the Eastern Palace for the imperial physicians to examine? If you are truly ill, I will apologize to you. If not, I will report your words to my father and mother exactly as you said them. Besides, this time it is by the emperor and empress’s grace that you are to go.”

That was not entirely true. Empress Wu’s original words were only that after going to the Shaolin Temple, he should not go too far in dealing with Xu Yanbo. The son would certainly drag Xu Yanbo along to Mount Song and enjoy tormenting him to his heart’s content, so she had issued a warning. Yet Li Wei twisted the meaning and turned it into an imperial command, making Xu Yanbo obliged to go to Mount Song.

But Empress Wu had indeed tacitly allowed Li Wei to drag Xu Yanbo to Mount Song.

It would be a painful journey, but also a journey of opportunity. If this Xu Yanbo were shrewd, it would likewise be a rare chance. No need to speak of gentleman or villain; the son also needed one or two loyal and careful men around him to do the dirty work.

Hearing that it was by the emperor and empress’s approval, Xu Yanbo dared not utter another word. He could only answer, “I obey.”

“Then it is settled. Prepare yourself at home. But if I hear that you have taken a cold bath or used some other trick to make yourself ill, I will not be pleased.”

Xu Yanbo was just thinking of some such scheme when he heard this. His expression changed, and he said respectfully, “Your Highness, I would not dare.”

“Hard to say. After what happened with Helan Minzhi, even I no longer know how to judge people. Attendant, I am sincerely seeking your friendship; do not disappoint me.”

Sincerely seeking friendship? Xu Yanbo’s mind was a blur. What part of your conduct showed the slightest sincerity?

Li Wei was mild by nature, but in two lifetimes he had gathered some worldly experience, and he also had the righteous authority of the crown prince behind him. He had simply swallowed Xu Yanbo alive.