Chapter 11 Who is the hostage? The Second Prince? Zhai Ji?
At the juncture of late autumn and early winter, the entire city of Shangyong was covered in a blanket of white snow, and the weather suddenly turned chilly.
Chen Liangyu recalled her days in the northern frontier, where it often snowed in the depths of winter, covering the city in white. When Chen Linjun took her hunting, they always managed to catch many animals that were rarely seen on ordinary days.
There was a tailor shop in the bustling street. The owner was busy, but when he saw Chen Liangyu come in, he immediately put down his work: "Oh, it's you! I didn't recognize you the other day. I didn't know you were the young general of the Marquis of Xuanping. Gu Zi, come and greet the distinguished guest."
The little boy who had been knocked away by Zhang Jialing's horse that day hopped over, still bearing bruises on his brow bone from landing face-first. "Greetings, General."
Chen Liangyu blushed slightly, "I'm not a general yet."
"Yes, it is," the shopkeeper said. "Is the esteemed guest making clothes?"
Chen Liangyu tossed a sample garment onto the counter. "Make a few everyday clothes for all four seasons based on this. The style should be quite nice."
The girls in Shangyong City all wore gorgeous and embroidered clothes. Looking at herself, she was either in military uniform or court dress, and the style had never changed. Her mother had also made two decent outfits for her, but the styles were complicated and it took an incense stick's time to put them on. The time was secondary; the main problem was that they restricted her movements. She usually wore simple and light clothes, but she was tired of those dull and gray casual clothes.
The shopkeeper readily agreed, stretched out the clothes to examine them, and said, "These clothes are a bit too sloppy, the style is outdated, and the color doesn't suit you. We need to make some slight alterations to the style and add some simple embellishments with silk thread. Is that alright?"
That's wonderful; she just found her old casual clothes too boring. Chen Liangyu said, "Please, make yourself at home."
“A household like the Marquis’s mansion has many occasions to attend, so it’s not appropriate for all the clothes to be the same color. Tailoring is my specialty that I’ve been doing for decades, and many high-ranking officials and nobles appreciate my skills. Please take my advice and try a few different fabrics. We just received a few bolts of high-quality silk that aren’t very bright colors, so you should like them.”
The proprietress agreed and instructed two capable employees to carry out a large box from the back.
"Look, these satins are all top-quality tribute satins. We only bring them out when a distinguished guest comes to our shop."
Chen Liangyu glanced at it casually, nodded, and took out her money pouch to pay the deposit. The shopkeeper, while taking her measurements, said, "Don't worry, I'm the best tailor in Shangyong City. I'll deliver it to your door once it's finished."
This section of the long street was a bustling area, a melting pot of all sorts of people. Just one street ahead, as the tailor shop turned the corner, Xie Yuan emerged from an alley. Xie Yuan, wearing a cloak, was about to board his carriage. Clearly not expecting to meet him here, he stood there stunned for a moment, forgetting to speak.
"Greetings, Your Highness Prince Shen." Chen Liangyu's clear voice pulled him back to reality.
There's no need for such formalities between us.
He wasn't wearing ordinary clothes; his attire suggested he was dressed for a palace banquet or as an envoy receiving guests on behalf of the emperor. He must have official business to attend to. The direction he came from led into a residential area for commoners. What kind of official business would require a prince to come here?
"Your Highness, what is this?"
Xie Yuan said, "The hostage from Beiyong has arrived in Shangyong City. My father asked me to go to the post station to receive him and arrange his accommodations. Originally, this was supposed to be done by my second brother, but my father issued an order to investigate Yao Chongshan, and Consort De was imprisoned. My second brother is still under house arrest, so my father temporarily asked me to take over this matter."
After the Yao family narrowly escaped the case of selling official positions and amassing wealth, the Crown Prince then focused his efforts on the embezzlement case at the Yanzhishan Palace. He discovered a huge discrepancy in the palace's accounts. Enraged, Emperor Xuanyuan closed the palace gates of Consort De, confined Prince Qi, and dismissed many Yao family members from their positions at court. While Emperor Xuanyuan might turn a blind eye to embezzlement by the common people, embezzling from the Emperor himself was tantamount to defying the Emperor's authority.
"The hostage of Beiyong?" Chen Liangyu asked.
Seeing that she was unaware, Xie Yuan explained, "Because of the incident where those Northern Yong soldiers kidnapped Jiangning last time, the Northern Yong Emperor was in the wrong. In order to show his sincerity in making peace, he agreed to send the Second Prince of Northern Yong to the Lin Dynasty as a hostage."
When a hostage is sent to another country, the Ministry of Rites usually handles the reception and arrangements. In order to show the sincerity of the peace talks, Bei Yong sent a prince and also gave several boxes of treasures and animal skins as compensation. Emperor Xuanyuan also sent a prince to receive him and returned the few Bei Yong soldiers who were barely alive to the Bei Yong envoy. The envoy immediately executed the men on the spot. After everything was done in one go, both sides were happy and smiling.
Chen Liangyu looked slightly disappointed.
She spared those lives, thinking she could use them as leverage to get Bei Yong to cede another city during negotiations between the two countries, but all she got in return was a useless hostage.
Wait a minute, who? Which prince?
"The Second Prince? Zhai Ji?"
Xie Yuan said, "Indeed, you recognize him?"
A cold wind ruffled her hair. The girl before her was so radiant, her natural and reserved demeanor making it seem as if she had merely passed through this world. "Your Highness also had a brief encounter with him."
Xie Yuan thought for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "It was him?"
The painting depicts a braided boy whose clothes are tattered and covered in blood after being beaten by Chen Liangyu.
No wonder he looked familiar.
Chen Liangyu frowned, deep in thought, utterly perplexed: "Why would the Emperor of Beiyong send him here?"
Xie Yuan said, "I heard that this second prince is not particularly outstanding among the princes of Bei Yong, so he was sent here as a hostage."
After saying this, Xie Yuan felt a deep sense of sorrow. If it had been the Lin Dynasty that had suffered defeat today, he would probably have been the one sent to the enemy country as a hostage.
Chen Liangyu pinched the bridge of her nose.
Not outstanding? Of all the useless children born to the Emperor of Beiyong, only Zhai Ji fully inherited his strategic talents. Among the dwarfs, only such a good radish appeared. Although he had some mud on him, he was still a decent radish. Yet he was sent to another country as a hostage.
This emperor is doing a good job; the downfall of the country is just around the corner.
Xie Yuan caught the hint of apprehension in Chen Liangyu's cautious expression and asked, "Do you have a personal grudge against him?"
"It's not a personal grudge, but I'm mortal enemies with him."
Chen Liangyu wasn't exaggerating; she and Zhai Ji had indeed seriously considered hundreds of gruesome ways for each other to die.
Xie Yuan smiled faintly, perhaps unaware that the corners of his mouth would unconsciously turn up every time he spoke to Chen Liangyu: "It's rare to hear you laugh. The weather is freezing. Do you have official business today?"
"Going to take care of some personal matters."
The two walked side by side for a distance, with carriages following behind. The eunuchs and guards serving the royal family were very observant and kept a considerable distance behind to ensure they could not hear what their master was saying.
Xie Yuan said, "The day you left the Ministry of Justice, a censor named Zhao Xingli from the Censorate impeached Qiu Renshan. This man is upright and fearless, and he is not afraid to offend anyone."
Chen Liangyu kept her head down and remained silent. She had also submitted a memorial on the people's sentiments, but with the cases of selling official positions and embezzlement at Yanzhi Mountain, Emperor Xuanyuan was in a state of utter chaos. To submit a memorial at this time about someone taking a concubine would be tantamount to being out of touch with reality. The atmosphere of officialdom and the morality of officials were certainly important matters when things were peaceful, but in the face of urgent court affairs, they seemed so insignificant. Her memorial and Zhao Xingli's memorial were both thrown into a pile of discarded memorials, gathering dust.
She felt guilty towards the girl named Zhou Pei, and she was just a hair's breadth away from getting justice for her. But at the most crucial moment, she was taken away by the Ministry of Justice and detained for a few days. In just a few days, everything had become irreversible.
Even when she rushed to stop the concubine's sedan chair that day, which was only decorated with a cluster of red silk flowers, she couldn't manage to stop it in time.
"The practice of using one's power to oppress others in the court must not be tolerated and must be rectified," Xie Yuan said.
Chen Liangyu gently shook her head. "Does Your Highness know the old Princess Consort of the Eastern Palace?"
"I know, I've heard that Madam He was once raised by the old Princess Consort."
The Madam He that Xie Yuan mentioned was Chen Liangyu's mother, Madam He. He did not use the subordinate title "your mother," but respectfully addressed her as Madam He, which shows that he had some respect for He Yunzhou himself.
“Indeed, the old princess was known for her virtue when she was young. My mother stayed by her side for a few months. The old princess’s virtue was famous far and wide, and countless young ladies from prominent families tried to emulate her. At that time, when noble families selected new brides, they all used the old princess’s teachings as a standard. But I don’t understand the origin of that reputation for virtue.”
Chen Liangyu snorted, a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, seemingly quite displeased. "The old princess originally had a lover, but she lost her personal embroidered handkerchief, which was found by the old prince who was returning to the capital to report on his duties that year. At that time, the old prince was merely a city garrison commander and had not yet been ennobled for his merits. Naturally, the old princess's family was not satisfied with this marriage and wanted to refuse it. Who knew that the old prince would actually bring the lost handkerchief to the mansion to propose marriage. With such a personal item in the hands of an outsider, it was hard to guarantee that people wouldn't say that men and women were exchanging things in secret, and it would also damage the reputation of the other daughters in the family. In order to preserve the reputation of 'strict family discipline,' they agreed to the marriage. Everyone praised her for not putting on airs as a noble lady after marrying into the family, being filial to her parents-in-law, serving her husband, and, since she could not bear children herself, arranging several virtuous concubines for the old prince. She was not competitive or jealous, and treated the children of the concubines as her own, carefully educating them. Therefore, the old prince's children respected her even more than their own mother."
"The old princess lost her life because of a single unintentional mistake. Was it also because the powerful and wealthy oppressed her? It was all due to the oppression of the world and the ignorance of women, who were blinded by their own minds. The word 'chastity' was enough to trap a woman for life."
Before they knew it, the two had walked quite a distance. Xie Yuan listened quietly to her. This insight was something he had never heard before. The same thing, viewed from different perspectives by different people, could be so vastly different.
Chen Liangyu seemed to have a whole basket of words to say today, and continued, "But women's ignorance is the fault of the world, not their fault. Miss Zhou is frail, but her temperament is fierce. She was determined to seek justice, but even if she gets justice, her only option for the future is to become a nun in the mountains. The world will not tolerate her otherwise. All the injustices are because women are of low status. Women are treated poorly because in the place where the most voice can be heard, the court, there is no place for women. Therefore, the government and laws are biased without them even realizing it."
"I only wish that one day, all people in the world, regardless of gender or social status, will be able to read and understand principles. And that one day, women will be free from shackles, able to enter the Imperial Academy, take the imperial examinations, become officials, engage in commerce, practice medicine, join the army... and do everything that men can do. Only by not depending on others can they have a vast world to explore."
Xie Yuan pondered, gazing at the girl before him. Her unique insight left him speechless; he had never considered this perspective before. Chen Liangyu was extraordinary. On the day he first met her, he saw her methodically arranging her troops. Although she only had twenty soldiers, she lured the second prince of Bei Yong into a trap, as if inviting him into a trap. It was the first time he, a prince raised in the capital, had witnessed the living embodiment of military strategy on paper.
He felt then that this girl was different from others, and now that feeling is even stronger.
When he heard that she had stopped speaking, he continued, "Perhaps one day, a wise and magnanimous monarch will create such a world."
Chen Liangyu suddenly stopped. Xie Yuan took a step and, noticing out of the corner of his eye that she hadn't followed, turned around to wait for her.
The carriages and horses following behind also stopped, halting at a short distance.
In the cool breeze, the girl's eyes were clear as she gazed intently at Xie Yuan and said, word by word, "Would Your Highness be willing to be that wise and magnanimous ruler?"
A note from the author:
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