Chapter Ninety: Matching Couplets, Capturing the Beauty Alive, Part Two

The two young gentlemen were quite refined, and everyone looked at them again.

Their escort included guards, eunuchs, and palace maids, but among the accompanying officials such as Wei Yuanzhong, Yuan Sigu, and Yao Yuanzhong, all were men of some learning; by comparison, Li Wei was the weakest of the lot. Of course, he could not be measured against them in poetry. If it were lyrics or songs, he would probably be unrivaled throughout the Tang. As for this antithetical couplet, its difficulty was lower than Li Wei’s absurd string of words followed by the five elements.

Yet it was not so easy either. Read from either end, it came out the same, and what was most admirable was that it was not merely a contrivance for symmetry; the conception itself was beautiful as well.

Anyone could string together matching words, but to produce words with true flavor was not something one could think of at once.

Yao Yuanzhong murmured, “This couplet is rather strange.”

As he spoke, he looked at Li Wei with expectation.

But Li Wei only said, “Let’s go.”

He was the crown prince. What of it if he solved it, and what of it if he did not? He held little real power, yet bore too much empty prestige. Better not to solve it than to solve it. Still, that brilliant poem he had composed for his father’s peace and blessing had left him deeply troubled.

After a moment, Princess Li Lingyue’s little legs had gone weak, and she wanted to climb into the carriage.

So be it. That spared Xu Yanbo. Li Wei waved at Shangguan Wan’er and said, “You come up too.”

No one objected. The crown prince had brought this little girl with him; she was said to be clever, and she was plainly a little beauty. In another year or two, she would probably be taken into the inner chambers as well. Li Wei thought this was sinful, though he did not realize that in this age child brides were everywhere, and at least five hundred thousand households across the Tang were busy raising future little wives.

Li Wei held a book and read, while Li Lingyue tugged at his elbow and asked, “Big brother, what about that couplet below?”

Shangguan Wan’er was also gazing at him with longing eyes.

The two little girls adored him at least for the moment.

“I don’t know.”

Li Lingyue was greatly disappointed, but Bi’er could see through it: the crown prince knew the answer, he simply did not want to say it.

They rode in the carriage, while the eunuchs and palace maids crowded into the wagons behind, which had been used for carrying supplies. Their pace quickened.

Yet Li Wei did not wish to hurry so much. He looked at the sky, now edging toward dusk, and then at the scenery beside the road: a chain of low hills, with a small river threading through the foot of the mountains, sparkling in the light. By the river lay a stretch of fertile land planted with many crops; some wheat had already ripened early, and farmers were busy harvesting it. He called out, “Stop.”

The procession halted.

Li Wei said, “Set camp here.”

Wei Zhigu glanced at the sun and said, “Your Highness, it is still early. There is a market town ahead; it would be more convenient to camp there.”

“No need. The little princess is still young; there is no need to rush.”

That was true enough, so the party began to make camp. Xue Na could not sit still, and led more than a dozen guards into the mountains to hunt.

Li Wei strolled over to the fields with interest, watching the farmers cut the wheat. He even asked, “Old uncle, how much grain can one mu of land yield?”

“About a stone and a half.”

“Only a stone and a half?”

“There may be a bit more, young sir. This is river valley land, rich and fertile. In other places the yield is even lower. But when floods come to this region, mountain torrents can wash everything away.” At this, the old farmer sighed helplessly.

In truth, a stone and a half of wheat alone was already quite good. Add another crop of sorghum or something similar, and it counted as excellent output anywhere in the realm. But to Li Wei, this yield was very unsatisfactory. He thought of the imperial estate outside Chang’an and wondered how the sorghum there was doing.

Ximen Chong came over and said, “Your Highness, if we continue east for not very far, we will reach Hulao Pass. Since we are not in a hurry, going by Hulao Pass would follow the main road.”

“Hulao Pass?” Li Wei repeated.

The name was familiar from both past and present: the tale of the Three Heroes versus Lu Bu. Only after coming to the Tang did he understand that that famous battle was nothing compared with Li Shimin’s fight against Dou Jiande before Hulao Pass. He also thought of his own grandfather, bow in hand, riding at the head of the army with such grandeur. Of course, it had been dangerous too. Had Yu Chigong not pressed forward with desperate valor, Li Shimin might well have fallen to Shan Xiongxin’s ruthless hand. At Gushui, Li Shimin’s horse was shot down, and it took Qiu Xinggong’s life-risking rescue to save him. The campaign at Luoyang lasted more than half a year and was unimaginably brutal. Yet when later histories mentioned it, they passed over it almost in a single brushstroke. Was it because Li Shimin had become emperor?

But Hulao Pass could not be visited. To make a needless detour there—was it to pay homage to his grandfather’s heroic deeds? Or was he trying to learn from his grandfather and stage some dazzling palace coup?

Did he even have that ability?

“Not suitable.”

“Just so,” Wei Yuanzhong said from behind.

Ximen Chong blushed and said, “I was raised in Shangzhou and rarely traveled far. I was indeed careless.”

“No matter,” Li Wei replied with a smile.

He immediately understood that this too was not bad. Looking at the ripening crops near and far, though their yields left him dissatisfied, they were still full of the joy of harvest. He said, “This place does not seem like the outskirts of the western capital.”

“The people in the eastern capital have grown more numerous now, and the land is somewhat scarce. In places like Gong County, the common folk do not live very well,” said Wei Yuanzhong. Since Emperor Gaozong had begun to value the eastern capital, people from various places had been relocated to the counties around Luoyang to help defend it. Yet those counties around Luoyang were mountainous to begin with, and on this point Wei Yuanzhong was not entirely in favor. He added, “Still, unlike Guanzhong, Luoyang has the advantage of river transport, so there should be no major issue.”

“Minister Wei, I have heard that fugitives from the registers have been appearing in many places. Why not move them to the wider-settled regions?”

“Your Highness, have you forgotten? His Majesty has issued edicts more than once, encouraging such people to move to the broad lands of the south of the Yangtze. Yet the climate there is damp and hot, and northerners are mostly unwilling to go. A few years ago, in order to strengthen the regions south of the Yangtze and the Yang River basin, more than thirty thousand people were even moved from Goguryeo to open new fields. But Guanzhong really is too densely populated.”

“Do they truly prefer becoming fugitives, or even starving to death, rather than moving to the broader lands?”

“Though being a fugitive brings many inconveniences, it allows them to escape the taxes and labor service of the court.”

It surely was not only that. The matter was probably very complicated, so much so that even Wei Yuanzhong could not explain it clearly. Where exactly lay the problem? He kept pondering it without any result, when Xue Na finally returned.

He had hunted a wild rabbit, two pheasants, and astonishingly, a wild boar. There were still quite a few beasts in the mountains, but to bring down a wild boar in a short time was lucky indeed.

Seeing the boar bristling with more than a dozen arrows, the camp erupted in cheers. Li Lingyue ran over happily, circling around the boar again and again. She had not seen the hunt itself, but seeing such a huge boar brought down made the journey feel worthwhile.

Seeing everyone in high spirits, Li Wei said, “Bi’er, take out some money and have the guards buy some wine.”

At once the guards answered in unison, “Yes!”

Soon the boar was cleaned with water from the river and placed on a spit to roast. It might not even taste particularly good, but the atmosphere was what mattered. Otherwise, back in the day, when Li Chengqian lacked hunting skill, he would simply take palace attendants to steal peasants’ cattle. Chang’an was so vast that there were many fields south of the city, and one did not even need to leave the city to do it. Then the meat would be stolen back and barbecued in the Eastern Palace.

The wine arrived as well. With the state finances tight, the guards in Chang’an lived miserably, and those in Luoyang were not much better. This was a rare feast, and the camp rang with singing and laughter. But Xue Na remained clear-headed and said, “Those on duty tonight must not drink.”

“Yes!” It was an unavoidable matter, and the more than ten guards on watch answered with sour faces.

After the commotion had gone on for a long while, Li Wei walked to the riverbank. In the narrow valley, as night deepened, mist began to rise. He took out a short flute and played a tune called Mist and Dew on the Water. He knew very few instruments, only the short flute and the harmonica, and there was no hope of the latter. As for the zither, it was all a blur to him. In truth, the melody was not necessarily played with perfect accuracy, but the feeling of sadness and the lingering, drifting tune came through nearly intact. It suited his mood at the moment.

When he finished, Yao Yuanzhong asked curiously, “Your Highness, what piece was that?”

“Just something I made up.”

Made up on the spur of the moment, and yet it sounded so pleasant. The crown prince truly did have talent.

“Big brother, it’s time to sleep,” Li Lingyue said as she came over.

Last time she had accompanied her big brother to sleep, it had been wonderfully happy, with two hours of storytelling. Since then it had become the greatest dream of her days.

Naturally, Yao Yuanzhong and the others would not misunderstand anything. After all, Li Lingyue was far too young, and they were siblings. Still, saying it aloud like that sounded very ambiguous and could easily be misunderstood. Li Wei had no choice but to flee in embarrassment.

...

Xu Jingzong finished reading the letter and asked, “When will the crown prince set out?”

A servant replied, “I think he has probably already departed.”

“That fool. Does he not know the crown prince is no benevolent man? Roaming about within the eastern capital would be one thing, but this time he is going to Mount Song in plain dress. If the crown prince wants to kill him, it would be as easy as crushing an ant.” Xu Jingzong was livid. He even called him a fool.

Just as the memorial proposing to dismiss Crown Princess Yang Min and marry Pei Yuhe instead had been submitted to Luoyang, that man had gone off with the crown prince to Mount Song.

He had been thinking about the crown prince for a long time. After that grave illness, the crown prince was no longer the same as before. If not for the fact that the emperor and empress were still alive, he would be no less ruthless than the empress, and his heart was no broader either. Bringing his grandson to Mount Song was plainly a hostage measure, a warning for him not to make trouble behind the scenes. And yet, at just that moment, his own memorial had gone in.

With the crown prince’s power, learning of this was easy enough.

If, in a fit of rage, he made the grandson vanish by some “accident,” whom could he seek out then?

“Is that idiot really my grandson?”

He cursed Xu Yanbo again and again, so fiercely that the servant who had brought the letter was nearly frightened senseless. But after cursing for a long time, he still could not think of a single brilliant plan.