Chapter 15 Palace Banquet Travels to the Mortal World: A Feast at Hongmen
The noise continued late into the night, and the lights in the guest rooms were all off, but the lamp in Chen Yuanqing's study was lit and remained lit all night.
Yan Baizhang was followed by a pale-faced young man, dressed in thin clothes.
The boy timidly looked at the magnificent building and the handsome marquis who claimed to be his father. He wanted to get closer to the charcoal brazier to warm himself, but was intimidated by the powerful aura and dared not move.
The child's teeth chattered, and it was only when Madam He arrived that she noticed his lips were already blue from the cold. Seeing that he was small in stature, she ordered someone to fetch a winter coat from Chen Liangyu's androgynous clothing, and he put it on for the time being.
Yan Baizhang said with grief, "I followed the clues and searched all the way to Cangnan, but I never expected that Cangnan would be a place where bones were exposed in the wilderness. Everyone who was still alive had fled. I followed the traces of the refugees back to the foot of Yanzhi Mountain outside Shangyong City, and finally found the Second Young Master."
Hearing that the two of them were discussing important matters, Madam He took the young man away and settled him in the secondary residence.
Yan Baizhang stared intently at the direction where the Chen family members were resting for a moment, his brows furrowed with barely suppressed rage. "My lord, this time in Cangnan, I'm afraid..."
Chen Yuanqing tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and looked deeply saddened.
“Chen clansmen,” Yan Baizhang stared at Chen Yuanqing, “Lord Marquis, please make a decision soon!”
After resting for a while, Chen Yuanqing opened his eyes again, his gaze bright and clear. He slammed his palm on the table, leaving a handprint on it. "He deserves to live and die!"
At dawn, the thick frost and fog that had accumulated overnight were divided into spectacular beams of light by the morning sun. Chen Liangyu dismissed the court, went to the Sixteen Guards' offices to assign tasks, and then hurried home.
It was already the end of the year, and the palace was holding a New Year's Eve banquet. All the officials in the capital were preparing to attend. The Crown Prince sent the Eastern Palace guards early to pick up Xie Wenjun and take her to the palace.
This year is not going to be peaceful.
Chen Liangyu rode her horse back to the Xuanping Marquis's residence, feeling something was amiss. After searching around, she found the usually closed gates of her second son's residence wide open. Entering to investigate, she saw a young man sitting alone in the courtyard, wearing her long robe.
Her expression immediately turned cold.
"Who are you? Why are you wearing my clothes?"
Last night, my mother suddenly sent someone to Liangyuan to get clothes. She specifically told her to get new clothes that she had never worn before. She thought it was something urgent, but she ended up putting them on a man outside the house.
"Your... clothes?" The young man was taken aback, looked down at the long robe, and then looked at Chen Liangyu. Although the person in front of him had a high ponytail, simply tied with a jade hair clip, and looked very heroic, she was clearly a pretty girl.
Chen Liangyu must be one of the people who came from Cangnan yesterday, "Take it off."
The boy's face flushed red, almost to the point of bleeding, as he frantically tried to unbutton his clothes as Chen Liangyu had instructed.
She was about to take off the clothes the man had worn and burn them when she heard a thunderous roar behind her.
"You must not be disrespectful to your second brother!"
Chen Liangyu's body trembled. He had been arrogant and domineering just now, but now he was like a bird seeing a vulture, and his arrogance immediately vanished.
"Uncle Yan." She greeted him and waited to the side.
Yan Baizhang and Chen Linjun entered the room, followed by maids and servants, who began to prepare the household items.
What's going on?!
Chen Liangyu was momentarily dizzy and disoriented, then became curious about the boy who had unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt. Second brother? Whose second brother? Where did this second brother come from? She had never heard of her parents having a second son who had been lost to the world.
The boy lowered his head, timid and hesitant. His hands, frozen in the cold wind, were covered in chapped chilblains.
"Pale and thin" would be an understatement; "skin and bones" would be more accurate. Her robe, which still fit her well, seemed loose on the young man, letting in a draft.
This physique has no trace of the spirit of a military family's son or daughter.
"Call someone!" Uncle Yan said to her again.
Before Chen Liangyu could figure out what was going on, he was forced to bow and greet the man, saying, "Second... Brother."
"Go do your thing, we don't need you here."
And so, he was asked to leave his own home.
Chen Liangyu leaned against the corridor, lost in thought, unable to reconcile the idea of the boy with her own blood relative.
After a long while, Chen Linjun arrived, and the doubts were dispelled.
It turned out to be a romantic entanglement from Chen Yuanqing's youth. He redeemed a respectable young woman who had just been sold into prostitution at a brothel. She wasn't brought into the household but kept outside. During the struggle for the throne, Shangyong was in chaos, and the concubine, pregnant, was lost with the refugees. She later gave birth to a child and then died. The child was taken away and disappeared without a trace.
Lady He took pity on the boy and recognized him as her son as soon as he was found. He was recorded as the second legitimate son of the Marquis's family in the register.
The sudden discovery of the person caught Chen Yuanqing and his wife, along with Yan Baizhang, somewhat off guard. In truth, they had no expectations; for over a decade, they had sent countless people and searched countless times, all to no avail.
How can we find her? We've never met her before; we probably wouldn't even recognize her if we did.
With the war in the northern border over, Yan Baizhang withdrew from his duties and insisted on taking matters into his own hands, actually managing to bring the person back. It was truly unexpected; they hadn't even had time to make a winter coat. Madam He went to the market early in the morning to buy one and then sent it over.
"How come Father suddenly has a concubine? I don't think his features resemble Father's, nor do they resemble yours or mine."
Chen Linjun said, "Perhaps he resembles his birth mother."
“Alright, regardless of whether he looks like him or not, no one has ever seen him since he was born. How can Uncle Yan insist that he is Father’s flesh and blood? He’s emaciated, so thin that he’s just a skeleton. He could be recognized as a relative of a monkey if he were perched in a tree.”
Chen Linjun was taken aback by her half-realistic, half-sullen description and straightened up, saying, "A gentleman doesn't talk about others behind their backs! I've never met that concubine either. If you have any doubts, go ask Uncle Yan for the truth."
Chen Liangyu swung her long, firm legs, the soles of her boots scraping the ground, and said grumbling, "If Uncle Yan says so, then so be it."
A shoe peeked out from one of the pillars, revealing the emaciated boy who had been holding a bundle of cloth, his robes neatly folded. "Here's... your clothes back."
Why does this person walk so silently?
"No need." Just as the person who had been gossiping behind someone's back had been caught red-handed, Chen Liangyu felt a pang of pity for the man, who looked like he wouldn't live much longer, and had no intention of taking the clothes back. "It was a military uniform, and men can wear it too."
She didn't have the face to linger any longer, and added, "I've never worn this before," before hurrying away.
At Shenshi (3-5 PM), a night banquet was held.
Yellow curtains were hung over the various seats in Chongzheng Hall, and gold utensils and silver chopsticks were placed there. Seats were set up on the red steps, covered with blue curtains, and bronze utensils were displayed.
The officials from the Inner Palace and the Ministry of Rites were extremely busy.
Chen Liangyu followed his father and brothers to the banquet. The carriage stopped at Taihe Gate, where princes and ministers had already gathered to wait for the banquet. Purple and scarlet court robes fluttered and mingled. As soon as Chen Yuanqing appeared, he was pulled aside for questioning. Needless to say, the conversation inevitably turned to Cangnan.
Chen Liangyu and Chen Linjun then rode to Zhonghe Gate, where officials gathered in small groups to discuss poetry and philosophy.
Looking around, Chen Liangyu felt like an 'outsider' in this territory that belonged to men, completely out of place.
She broke down the absolute barriers of men's control over society, and crossed this conventional, timeless boundary. But from the perspective of those on the other side of the barriers and boundaries, it was like a healthy body growing rotten flesh and festering sores.
Some people reject her, seeing her as a thorn in their flesh, wishing they could gouge her out and remove her, rather than welcome her; others remain indifferent, waiting for this farcical episode to end and for the old order to be restored.
But perhaps her presence here is just the beginning of the collapse of the barriers.
Chen Linjun pulled her forward with difficulty, hoping to find a slightly quieter place to stay. Just as dawn was in sight, Chen Linjun suddenly bumped into someone.
"Ouch."
The man was clearly a civil official, and he couldn't withstand such a solid bump from Chen Linjun. He staggered back a few steps, his leg twisting.
Chen Linjun hurriedly let go of Chen Liangyu and reached out to help the person, and was pulled forward two and a half steps before he regained his footing.
"I'm so sorry, sir."
The man steadied himself, looked up, and was a handsome scholar in a blue official robe. At first glance, he resembled someone.
Chen Linjun looked up and recognized someone. The man in the green robe bowed respectfully and said, "Linjun, why aren't you waiting over there? What brings you to Zhonghe Gate?"
To facilitate the orderliness of the officials in charge of the ceremony, officials of different ranks waited for the banquet at different locations, with those of higher rank naturally waiting at the Taihe Gate.
The man in the green robe was Xun Shutai, the son of the Left Chancellor Xun Xian. He passed the imperial examination this autumn and was appointed as a principal officer in the Ministry of Revenue. Xun Xian and Chen Yuanqing did not get along and did not recognize each other when they met, but they could chat with their sons and became good friends.
Chen Linjun returned the greeting, saying, "I'm accompanying my younger sister."
Xun Shutai pulled Chen Linjun to a secluded spot, surveyed the area, and lowered his voice, saying, "The plight of the people in Cangnan has become a major threat. The joint petition from the Censorate has already been submitted. Tonight, it's clear they're going to interrogate and hold accountable Minister Yao of the Ministry of Works and the Marquis of Xuanping's residence. Why are you still rushing here? At this critical juncture, you should avoid trouble!"
Chen Linjun stood with his hands behind his back and said, "Since it's a matter of accountability, how can we avoid it?"
Xun Shutai, unable to bear it any longer, said, "I consider you a close friend, so I'm speaking from the heart. You may not like it, but you have to listen. What kind of family are you if you're not listed in the family genealogy? What does the misdeeds of the Cangnan Chen family have to do with the Xuanping Marquis's family? Everyone says that the Xuanping Marquis was expelled from his ancestral home because he followed the current emperor and was at odds with his clan. But what is the truth? Do you want your family to go through what the Zhenguo Duke's family suffered in the past?"
But what is the reality?
In reality, Duke Zhenguo He Niangong's achievements were so great that they threatened the emperor, and the late emperor feared him. Under the guise of "purging the emperor's inner circle," treacherous officials fabricated charges against him, and the Duke Zhenguo's family was left waiting for the imperial edict to be issued, ordering the execution of the entire family.
Chen Yuanqing brought a bridal sedan chair to the door and exchanged He Yunzhou, the only daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, for a marriage certificate, bringing her back from the brink of death.
Married daughters were not included in the execution of the entire family, but the Chen clan members, fearing they would be implicated, found an opportunity to send Chen Yuanqing away and forced He Yunzhou to commit suicide on their wedding night.
Fortunately, Old Master Chen was alert and rushed over to dissuade him.
Ultimately, the clan took advantage of the situation, appropriating and dividing half of Chen Yuanqing's family's wealth, and then expelling him from the clan register.
They acted ruthlessly and mercilessly back then, but now they're seeking protection and dragging others down with them.
"The Duke of He, a military genius of his generation, met such an end. You should take this as a warning!" Xun Shutai spoke earnestly and sincerely. He tilted his head slightly towards Chen Liangyu, "Lin Jun, this bloodline has long been severed. Do not harm your true blood relatives for the sake of unrelated people."
The implication was that they should think more about Chen Liangyu's future. If she didn't distance herself from the Xuanping Marquis's mansion, not only would she lose her position as the Crown Princess, but if the mansion fell into trouble, she would be considered the daughter of a disgraced official, and might be exiled or forced into prostitution.
At the start of the palace banquet, the Minister of Rites led the assembled officials to their seats.
Amidst the music, dancing, and clinking of glasses, no one noticed that the last seat was empty.
The censors of the Censorate sat in huddle, their faces devoid of any festive joy of the New Year's banquet, instead appearing as gloomy and deathly still as if their fathers had died.
These civil officials were indignant and critical of the world, always ready to lash out at the people. They would open their mouths and pick up their pens to hurl insults, cursing the decline of morality and the incompetence of those in power. They would often argue with others until they were red in the face and their necks were thick with anger, not to mention when they got drunk at banquets.
During the banquet, the Ministry of Revenue's year-end accounts were reviewed, and as expected, there was another overspending.
Minister of Revenue Su Chasang's temples had turned white, and his brows were always furrowed. The national treasury had been severely depleted in recent years, and for him, who was in charge of the court's finances, the year-end inquiry from Emperor Xuanyuan was a time when his old face would be utterly humiliated.
He knelt down and addressed the emperor, saying, “Your Majesty, half of the national treasury has been used to supply the front lines, and this year we have also carried out major repairs on the Yanzhi Mountain Palace. Budget overruns are inevitable. This old minister suggests that His Highness the Crown Prince’s new tax be postponed for the time being, and that the tax be increased by 10% next year. Once we have overcome this difficult period, we can then implement the new policy.”
The Crown Prince slammed down his wine cup and said, "The military expenditures over the years have been enormous, and taxes have already increased by 20%. Which family hasn't tightened their belts to make ends meet? Now that the war has ended, instead of focusing on rest and recuperation, if taxes are increased again, how will the people survive?"
When the topic turned to the common people, he directly ignited the Censorate's influence.
Jiang Xiantang, the Imperial Censor, led a group of censors to put pressure on Emperor Xuanyuan directly at the palace banquet.
“The people are indeed suffering! Your Majesty, I have a matter to report, which concerns the people’s plight and cannot be delayed.” Jiang Xiantang held up the joint memorial with both hands, and a large number of censors knelt down in unison.
This was the third memorial jointly submitted by the entire Censorate. The ambiguous replies of the first two had clearly angered the Censorate, forcing them to submit a memorial in a manner that offended the Emperor, such as at the New Year's Eve banquet.
An imperial censor stepped forward, presenting an even thicker stack of memorials, and angrily denounced: "Your subject, Zhao Xingli, reports: After the Chen family migrated to Cangnan County, they ruthlessly plundered the people, controlling temples and banks, and seizing farmland. According to my calculations, the Chen family has swallowed up over 40,000 mu of dry land and over 20,000 mu of paddy fields in Cangnan County, and the people's wealth is immeasurable. The money they amassed from the people was then lent out to them at interest. When the people could not repay the principal and interest on time, they could only offer their houses and land as collateral. My investigation has also revealed that although the Chen family holds no official titles, they control the prefecture, the army, salt and iron, canal transport, merchants, banks, temples, and grain supplies through nepotism and marriage. They are the true power holders of Cangnan County."
"The number of refugees in Cangnan County is increasing daily. Many people have lost their land and are forced to sell their children, wear the clothes of cattle and horses, and compete with dogs and pigs for food. Right now, the refugees outside the capital are a disaster, and countless people have frozen to death! A child is carried on a carrying pole with a basket on each end. Your Majesty, that is your people!"
Jiang Xiantang's forehead veins bulged and his temples throbbed; he was practically roaring.
"Your Majesty, I, along with the censors of the Censorate, request that the Prefect of Cangnan, Yao Fucheng, and his Chief Clerk, Zhao Zhouqing, along with other local officials, be dismissed and investigated! I also impeach the Minister of Works, Yao Chong, and the Marquis of Xuanping, Chen Yuanqing, for allowing their relatives to abuse their power and extort money from the people. Their crimes deserve execution. I beseech Your Majesty to make a wise decision!"
After walking along the palace path, Chen Liangyu left the brightly lit palace far behind.
The music stopped.
She mounted her horse and rode without stopping towards the Sixteen Guards' Office.
She had given instructions that morning, and now soldiers were gathered in the open space in front of the main hall of the garrison. They wore long swords at their waists and light armor, the ribbons tied to their swords fluttering in the wind.
Most of them had excited expressions on their faces.
The Sixteen Guards were not valued by Emperor Xuanyuan. Over the years, they had been doing odd jobs that no one else wanted under the Imperial Guards, and eventually they became the errand boys and servants under the Imperial Guards, living a life of humility and deference.
Even those who keep a low profile can't live a peaceful life; they also have to worry about the Sixteen Guards being unexpectedly disbanded one day.
People have been resentful for a long time and have long harbored discontent.
Seeing that the longswords and armor were almost rusted, a big move was made.
When Chen Liangyu gave the order, he only said that two hundred guards should assemble and await further command by the end of Shen Shi (3-5 PM). However, the guards couldn't wait and were already fully equipped and ready to go. They were looking forward to turning their lives around and finally getting their heads held high!
The galloping horse stopped to rest at the entrance of the Sixteen Guards' Office, and Chen Liangyu rushed in like the wind, heading straight for the armory.
"Surround the entire mansion tightly in a moment, and don't let a single mouse escape!"
The soldiers shouted in unison, "Yes, sir!"
Gao Guan followed, swaying his plump waist.
"Commander, everyone's gathered. What are we going to do tonight?"
He grinned, thinking to himself that having connections has its advantages. He might as well rely on his father, as long as he could get a proper job for the Sixteenth Guard.
"Arrest them."
"Where do we get the people? And who do we get?"
Chen Liangyu donned light silver armor and also gripped a long sword, attaching it to his belt.
"Xuanping Marquis's residence, fugitive from Cangnan."
"Alright!" Gao Guan clapped his hands in response and shouted to the fully armed soldiers outside, "Go to the Marquis of Xuanping's residence to arrest the fugitive!"
Crows flew overhead, and the crowd went from excitement to astonishment, and then to looking at each other in dismay.
Gao Guan also sensed something was wrong, and after a moment's thought, he remembered, "Isn't the Marquis of Xuanping's residence your home?"
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