Chapter 35 A bowl of soup dumplings embroidered on the upper of the boot
Xun Shuheng was confined to Jiangxiao Terrace.
That was a dressing room that Madam Xun built especially for her; none of her other sisters in the family had one. The name "Jiangxiao" embodied the family's greatest expectations for Xun Shuheng.
She must rise from the ashes like a phoenix, soaring to the highest heavens, to bring unparalleled glory to her family.
Xianyu and her close maids were originally intended to be sold off, but Xun Shuheng pleaded and swore to heaven that she would never sneak off to the restaurant to drink again, so they were given a lighter sentence and sent to another courtyard to do menial work.
When Chen Liangyu went upstairs, she found that none of the maids serving Xun Shuheng were familiar faces.
"Liangyu, you've arrived."
Xun Shuheng greeted her as usual, her smooth hands skillfully threading a needle, holding what appeared to be a pair of shoe uppers.
She remained serene and dignified.
They ate and drank as usual, as if they were not under any house arrest.
Chen Liangyu mentioned that the Emperor had banned "On Women" and ordered her to dispose of the copy she had.
Read it, keep it in your heart, that's enough.
Xun Shuheng seemed somewhat lost in thought and wasn't listening to what she was saying.
She pushed aside the basket of needles and thread in front of her, rested her chin on her arm, and said, "Liangyu, if I weren't a daughter of the Xun family, would I be freer?"
"That year, the Marquis returned victorious. You rode a red-maned horse, accompanying the Marquis along with your elder brother. I watched you from the second floor of the small building that day, so proud and unrestrained, so spirited."
"Do you know? I've considered you my rival since I was a child. My father always wanted me to surpass you in everything. He said that the Crown Princess would either be me or you. The first time I saw you, you didn't do anything, you just rode away on horseback. I felt a tiny bit of jealousy. But I didn't know that women could live like you. You could ride horses, wear armor, and show yourself to the world without a veil."
"That day I met you while drunk and called out your name. I didn't expect you wouldn't recognize me. How could you not recognize me? I've been secretly competing with you for so many years, making me seem like a joke, performing a one-man show. My father spent his whole life competing with the Marquis, in official rank, in the emperor's heart, in his children, always trying to outdo him. In the end, only one side was serious in this competition. Isn't that ridiculous?"
"As the daughter of a prime minister, I was born to enter the imperial city. Like many noble ladies, I learned the ways of serving the emperor from a young age. Marrying into the palace was my destiny. I thought you were the same, just like me, just like all the noble ladies in the world, learning those formalities, studying the emperor's preferences, waiting for the imperial selection, willingly stepping into the gilded cage, and then locking yourself in, paving the way for the prosperity of your family and the careers of your father's male relatives."
However, Chen Liangyu did not follow this conventional path.
After a brief period of jealousy, she began to admire her, then wanted to befriend her, and later wanted to become her.
"I don't want to be the Crown Princess, nor do I want to be the Empress."
She saw through her fate, unwilling to submit, yet forced to. Faced with the fate of her family, she had no choice.
She could only walk the path chosen for her by her father.
Xun Shuheng could no longer speak, her eyes filled with sorrow.
"If I weren't a daughter of the Xun family, perhaps I could have tried to choose my own beloved!"
Chen Liangyu also leaned over the other side of the table, saying, "The daughters of the Chen family may not be able to marry the men they love, and they will have to go to the palace to be scolded."
Xun Shuheng picked up the unfinished shoe pattern from the basket; judging from the design, it was a pair of men's boots.
"Liangyu, does he have any favorite flowers or birds? I know this is considered a secret exchange, but I want to leave something behind to express my feelings."
“My second brother?” Chen Liangyu said, “He doesn’t like tending to flowers and plants. If you’re going to give him a gift, embroidering a bowl of soup noodles on the shoe should be fine.”
"Soup dumplings?" Xun Shuheng was amused by her, and her heavy mood vanished instantly. "How can you embroider soup dumplings on shoes?"
"He loves to eat."
“Then I’ll try to embroider it.”
"But how did you know what size boots my second brother wears?"
She herself didn't know Chen Luan's shoe size.
Xun Shuheng said, "He is about the same height as my brother, so his shoes and boots should be similar, but he should be a little thinner and slightly smaller. I just don't know if he would wear such boots of unknown origin."
"I'll make him wear it."
Having arranged with Xun Shuheng to pick up the boots on the appointed day, Chen Liangyu rushed back to the Marquis's residence and headed straight for Yan Nian's place.
In the center of the room was a huge table covered with straw paper, weighed down by a triangular ruler. The rice paper was densely covered with lines and small characters.
"Sister-in-law, where is An'er?"
Yan Nian gave birth to a daughter, whom she named Huai'an.
"She kept crying, so the old woman took her to comfort her."
As Yan Nian spoke, her eyes never left the blueprints on the table.
“An’er is only two months old. How can such a small baby not cry? If you find it troublesome, you can take her to my yard.”
Just then, Chen Luan brought Chen Huai'an back, who had stopped crying and making a fuss. Yan Nian had just finished his work and was still muttering, "If the crossbow can be made this time, we can deal with those bandits."
Yan Nian was referring to nomadic tribes such as the Qiudi, Kuirong, and Ximano. These people were skilled at ambushes and raids, were fierce and savage, and were adept at escaping. If they attacked, close combat would result in heavy casualties, and if they attacked from a distance, their arrows would not have enough range.
Therefore, she created a crossbow with a range more than ten times that of a human-drawn crossbow.
Drawing, building, then scrapping, this process repeated for a year until finally a nearly perfect car was built.
She freed her hands to hold the child, and suddenly remembered something. "I heard from my mother that my uncle has a sweetheart. Which family's daughter is she? I'll have to find out when I have time."
Chen Luan said apologetically, "I don't know, I only saw it from afar."
If he said he saw her through the door, it would probably ruin the girl's reputation, so he could only say that he saw her from afar.
Wouldn't Ah Heng be wasting her affections? Chen Liangyu thought to herself.
Now I have no way to explain this.
“Sister-in-law, here’s paper and pen. Draw a picture of the girl.”
Chen Luan hesitated for a long time before picking up his brush and starting to paint. After finishing, he handed the painting to Chen Liangyu and Yan Nian.
Chen Liangyu glanced at it; the Xuan paper was painted with thick ink and colors, and it was barely possible to make out that it was a person.
"Second brother, even if I put a wanted poster on you, I still won't be able to find you, you drew this like this."
Yan Nian said, "His Majesty is ill and cannot hold a large banquet. Otherwise, we can invite all the noble ladies of Yongdu City to An'er's 100-day celebration, and then let my uncle recognize them. Is there any other way now?"
Chen Luan said, "Sister-in-law, you don't need to worry about me. If it's a good match, we will surely meet again."
Chen Liangyu failed to retrieve the boots as promised.
After several years of chaos in Nanzhou, Liang Qiufeng ousted the crown prince Liang Qiuting and took his place. Liang Qiuting then asked Da Huan for military assistance to help him regain the throne. Emperor Xuanyuan originally did not intend to get involved; as a vassal state, as long as it paid its taxes on time, it didn't matter who sat on the throne.
However, Liang Qiufeng's ambition was not only to seize the throne, but also to break away from Da Huan's control and establish his own country as emperor.
Emperor Xuanyuan summoned his ministers to discuss the matter and decided to send troops.
When Chen Liangyu went to the Ministry of Revenue to submit a report on military expenditures, Xun Shutai was in charge of verifying it. At that time, Xun Shutai had been promoted to the position of Vice Minister of Revenue.
As Xun Shutai took a step, his boots were revealed, and the embroidered pattern on the boots was a bowl of soup noodles.
Chen Liangyu stared at them for a moment and said, "Lord Xun, the shoes are nice."
Xun Shutai beamed with joy, as if showing off, and said, "Aheng made these for me. This is the first time Aheng has ever made boots for me in her life. It's just that the size seems to have been measured wrong, as they are a little tight. The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the granaries of the country, and I work in the Ministry of Revenue. The soup dumplings embroidered by Aheng have a very auspicious meaning."
Xun Shuheng had a different account of the matter: "The boots were finished and placed on the table. I took a nap at noon, and my brother came to see me. Seeing that I was asleep, he took them away. Oh well, we were never meant to be together anyway, so why did I do this?"
Fate struck so swiftly, like a hand gripping the throat, tightening suddenly, leaving no room to breathe.
On this day, Xie Yu dismissed Liao Zhongqi, the Left Guard General, on the grounds that he had forgotten to wear his waist sword, and replaced him with Jiang Andong, the Lieutenant of the Imperial Guard.
Emperor Xuanyuan, jolted awake from his illness, rebuked Xie Yu, saying, "Crown Prince, are you in such a hurry? To replace the entire palace with your men?"
Ailing bones weakened even the most powerful emperor.
However, as one thing diminishes, another grows stronger. Consequently, he becomes more fearful of potential dangers and more suspicious of them.
He immediately summoned the Imperial Secretary to draft an edict to remove the Crown Prince's power to assist the state.
If the Crown Prince's power to assist the state is revoked at this critical juncture, it would be tantamount to announcing to the world that the Emperor intends to depose him.
Zhang Diancheng immediately shifted the blame eastward, drawing Emperor Xuanyuan's attention to Xun Xian and Consort Xian.
However, they never mentioned King Shen.
Having served the emperor for many years, he knew that Emperor Xuanyuan was no longer the emperor who would not use those he doubted. He only needed to tell him that Xun Xian and Qiu Renshan, the Minister of Personnel, had colluded to recruit and promote many members of the maternal relatives of the virtuous concubines. Without saying anything else, the emperor would naturally suspect Xie Yuan.
Moreover, King Shen was not innocent either.
Compared to other palaces, Chang Le Palace was not luxurious. After the passing of the late Empress and Empress Huixian, and the banishment of Consort Yao Jiyue to the Cold Palace, the harem did not add any new women except for a few palace maids who had been favored and were granted the title of Imperial Concubine.
Now, Consort Xian is the head of all the consorts and is in charge of the affairs of the six palaces.
Consort Xian attended to the sick last night and did not return to her own palace until noon. Xie Yuan was already waiting for her to return so they could have a meal together.
Before long, Emperor Xuanyuan's imperial carriage stopped in front of Changle Palace.
"Prince Shen, how wonderful! My subjects, my sons, my concubines, are secretly plotting right under my nose! Forming cliques!" Emperor Xuanyuan said with a half-smile. "Consort Xian, I have always thought you were the most virtuous person. I know Xun Xian, what do you think of his daughter who is rumored to be destined to be empress?"
Consort Xian immediately understood what was going on.
Emperor Xuanyuan never intended to depose the crown prince, and his choice of heir apparent never wavered in the slightest.
He always knew what everyone wanted and would throw out bait to provoke conflict. He, on the other hand, remained calm and collected, watching the two tigers fight from the sidelines.
Rong Xieyuan's ability to rival the Crown Prince is merely another person to check the Crown Prince and do his bidding.
He would not easily depose the crown prince; if he did, the censors and historians would not stand idly by.
If the struggle between the snipe and the clam has reached a point of life and death, and he must intervene to eliminate one side, then that person will definitely not be the crown prince.
Emperor Xuanyuan's visit to Yongle Palace despite his illness was not merely to reprimand anyone.
Having grasped Emperor Xuanyuan's thoughts, Consort Xian kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, please grant Yuan'er permission to take up his fiefdom!"
"Are you willing to do that?"
“Of course I am reluctant. Yuan’er is a prince, but more importantly, he is a subject. Although he has absolutely no intention of coveting the throne, his close association with court officials in order to share Your Majesty’s worries is a failure of his duty as a subject. Instead of relieving His Majesty’s worries, he has only added to His Majesty’s troubles. This is his fault. If he is of pure heart, he should stay away from trouble. I beg Your Majesty’s permission!”
Only by having her and Xie Yuan propose this outcome could Emperor Xuanyuan's suspicions be dispelled.
If one were to forcibly go against the Emperor's will and try to feign ignorance to get away with it, the situation would only become more ugly.
Emperor Xuanyuan seemed satisfied.
"By imperial decree, Prince Shen shall marry Lady Xun and immediately depart for his fiefdom of Linxia." Eunuch Sun presented a bright yellow imperial edict, which Emperor Xuanyuan snatched and slammed onto the dining table. "Prince Shen, go!"
In his eyes, factional strife and the fate of the empress were nothing but a farcical spectacle.
He wanted to shatter everything they had planned into dust, whether it was Xun Xian or Prince Shen, to warn those who tried to play tricks on him that if they had ulterior motives, this would be a warning from the past!
As Eunuch Sun helped Emperor Xuanyuan out of Changle Palace, Xie Yuan closed his eyes and clenched his fists. He could only bow to his father's back and say, "Your subject accepts the decree and thanks you!"
Author's note: Thank you for reading this far!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com