Chapter 60: Trimming the Candle - Qingjing Rectifies the Discipline of the Duke's Mansion, the Art of Flattery...
Silver lamps gleam, crimson candles flicker. The moon shines almost full over the eaves, casting jagged shadows on the trees.
The young couple sat by a newly commissioned screen depicting a poetic scene from "Spring River Flower Moon Night," chatting by candlelight. Li Shimin pondered the screen, which, despite being newly painted, resembled something ten years old, and couldn't help but feel a growing sense of doubt.
"I heard from Madam Liu that you went to great lengths to obtain this screen from a painter in Fengdu City who is fond of drinking and has a somewhat eccentric temper. Why is it so unoriginal? Is there some deeper meaning behind it?"
Changsun Qingjing was carefully reading Yang Guang's collection of poems and essays, and did not want to explain much. He simply said perfunctorily, "I have my reasons. Just listen to me carefully and do as I say, and I will tell you."
"What are you keeping me in suspense for?" Li Shimin scoffed, feigning disdain, but he couldn't help but examine the painting closely. "Why didn't you have the painter depict the courtesans and the Xiang River goddess? If I had known you liked this kind of poetic screen, I would have had Liben paint it for you..."
"You fought wild dogs for half a day, stayed at Zhang Liang's house for one night, wandered around the imperial tomb mound for half a day, and then traveled for an hour on the Mangban Road back to the city. How come you don't feel tired at all?" Changsun Qingjing pushed a cup of clove drink in front of Li Shimin and teased him.
"Nonsense!" Changsun Qingjing turned his face away, rolled his eyes at the sky, and ignored Li Shimin, continuing to make strange marks on the scroll.
The head servant and Lady Liu were on the veranda verifying the young master and lady's whereabouts over the past few days, lest they attract the attention of villains. The two elders complained of lingering fear while also feeling relieved that they had escaped danger.
Having experienced the joy of losing and regaining their love, Lady Liu had no desire to advise the two to sleep peacefully at night and refrain from intimacy; she only wished for their safety and had no other thoughts. Seeing that the two young people were only discussing furniture arrangements and the emperor's incognito travels, and not at all the ambiguous matters that their elders had worried about, she did not urge them to separate while they were having such a pleasant conversation.
Guo Niang reported to Changsun Qingjing that, according to the lady's wishes, the mansion had been cleaned several times, and more poplar and willow trees had been planted to conceal the plum trees behind them, making them inconspicuous and unassuming. The maids were currently cutting green silk and satin overnight, so that the poplar trees could be decorated by tomorrow morning.
“I was worried that the newly added soil would be too obvious, so I mixed in some dry soil and stones. The gardener said that unless you’re nitpicking, no one would notice that the poplar trees were newly planted,” Guoniang said proudly. “This trick was taught to me by my father. He arranged the flowering trees at the Mangshan Villa for my late wife. Please check again tomorrow morning, my lady.”
Changsun Qingjing smiled and nodded. This little maid, whose name was bestowed upon her by Lady Dou, was indeed clever. Although she was illiterate, she knew what to present to the pretentious and hypocritical emperor.
Because Guoniang was efficient, Changsun Qingjing specially rewarded her with his old jacket and skirt. The others, like Guoniang, flattered the painter's young servant, and the gardener who transplanted the poplar trees was also rewarded with money and silk.
She summoned the ladies in charge and inquired about the progress of the servants and laborers while she was away. An idea came to her mind, and she decided to clearly define rewards and punishments and implement them accordingly.
At first, the stewardesses thought the new mistress was just a clever girl dressed in mature clothes. Now, they all admired that the mistress was indeed the mistress, and that her insight and methods had little to do with her age.
Lady Liu was a little worried that Changsun Qingjing might be feeling unwell after working hard for half a day, so she advised, "The old woman is going to be nosy again. It is true that rewards and punishments must be carried out, but my lady, please don't rush it today. If you get angry with the servants and fall ill, your husband will be heartbroken..."
Changsun Qingjing chuckled: "He doesn't care at all. He just runs off to Mangyang to feed the jackals himself, without caring whether we're worried or not."
“Auntie, don’t worry about her,” Li Shimin said with a smile. “Lady Changsun is enjoying herself and doesn’t seem to be having any discomfort at all…”
"I can't control you all..." Madam Liu laughed, "I can't understand what you're saying anyway, I'd better go outside and tease Chanyi..."
Changsun Qingjing kindly shared half of the dried fruit in front of him with the wet nurse.
"Are you sure His Majesty would wear the white dragon robe? This paranoid demeanor is truly frightening!" Li Shimin was bewildered and secretly puzzled.
"What's so strange about His Majesty traveling incognito on the Lantern Festival? Have you heard that His Majesty visited the Duke of Yue's mansion years ago, and the Duke of Yue died that very night? His Majesty also visited the Duke of Xu's mansion before, and seeing the abundance of treasures, he was displeased and distanced himself from the Duke of Xu for a long time. His Majesty also visited the Duke of Cheng's mansion, and felt that the imperial guards and ceremonial guards were rebellious..."
A chill ran down Li Shimin's spine and up to the back of his neck: "Guanyinbi, where did you hear these strange tales? Aren't there any ministers who have been visited by His Majesty without being punished?"
"Yes, why are you in such a hurry to interrupt me?" Changsun Qingjing took out a copper pellet from his sleeve, clenched it tightly in his palm, as if he could draw infinite power from it and generate countless whimsical thoughts.
“Listen carefully, what I am about to say should be recorded in your book.” She tapped the desk with a copper ball. “Be careful, be careful.”
"Whether Pei Yun is a vile villain or a loyal minister, whether he's fabricating charges against Xue Daoheng or trying to cram all the musicians from Liang and Chen into the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to curry favor with the Emperor, in short, if you were in the Emperor's shoes, seeing the Censor-in-Chief taking unfinished cases back to his residence to review them by lamplight, so dedicated and conscientious, wouldn't you be moved and touched?" Changsun Qingjing rested his elbow on the desk, propped his chin on his hand, and asked smugly, fully expecting a satisfactory answer. Then, logically, he could simply have Li Shimin follow suit.
“What I said is wrong. Apart from the Duke of Yue, who has made some contributions to the country but has ruined his reputation in his later years, even if Yuwen Shu, Pei Ju, Pei Yun and their ilk were immediately exiled to Zhuyai County, the dynasty would suffer almost no losses!”
“Young master, let me tell you a story from Han Feizi.” Changsun Qingjing exhaled a breath of angry turbid air and began to tell the story in detail: “There was a dull man in Qin whose head was like an elm tree. When struck, it made a sound like metal or stone. A man from Zhao who was skilled at using an axe heard of this and was amazed. He went to chop at the head, but the axe cut through it and the elm tree head was unharmed.”
"Your copy of Han Feizi is quite interesting; it actually manages to insult people eight hundred years later." Li Shimin wasn't angry. He said smugly, "Guanyinbi, I know you want to persuade me to suppress my emotions and feign humility to flatter the Emperor. Only in this way can I avoid the Emperor's suspicion and his incognito testing... Just tell me, and I'll do as you say." He pulled Changsun Qingjing's clenched fist, which she had made clenched in anger, opened her palm, and returned the pellet to her.
"That's more like it!" Changsun Qingjing raised his head arrogantly. "Otherwise, you can go to Mangbei to farm and build canals by yourself. I'm not going to accompany you..."
"I know I was wrong," Li Shimin apologized jokingly, but he didn't let go of her hand.
"Why are you speaking against my wishes?" Changsun Qingjing's face was a little hot. Most of the maids were busy cutting silk to decorate the poplar trees that had not yet grown new leaves. Liu Niangzi and Chanyi were exhausted from working all day. Through the curtain, one could vaguely see the silhouettes of an old woman and a young girl, who were drowsy.
In the ambiguous atmosphere, Changsun Qingjing was afraid that the two of them would do something inappropriate during the mourning period, so he deliberately changed the subject: "I mean, you know perfectly well what I want you to do, and you even know yourself how to do it in a way that is the best choice for the whole household, but you still have to choose the most unvarnished words to annoy people?"
"Because that's my personality, and because what I've experienced these past two days has been too horrifying..." This statement, a mixture of truth and falsehood, was not without reason, and Changsun Qingjing could barely understand it.
Little did she know that the young man before her harbored unspoken feelings: often, his loneliness and stubbornness were inexplicable; and she was someone who could enter his heart without needing his explanation.
Therefore, he would always playfully and knowingly break the rules, within the bounds of propriety and within the limits of how Changsun Qingjing's anger could dissipate on its own, to argue his point and stubbornly insist on keeping her by his side a little longer.
But this reason is enough to make people blush and shut up. If Changsun Qingjing knew the truth, he would probably make up another story from a distorted version of Zuo Zhuan to mock him for lacking manliness, and then laugh and leave.
Changsun Qingjing looked at Li Shimin with a mixture of belief and doubt. The young man scratched his head and added confidently, "Besides, my father used to tease my mother like this all the time. For example, my mother would say, 'Shude, your new horse is quite nice, why don't you present it to the Emperor?' My father would definitely reply, 'No, that's the work of a treacherous minister!' Actually, he just couldn't bear to part with it. Of course, he could never go against my mother's wishes, and he always did what she asked him to do... Anyway, the aura of the Eight Pillars of the State and the head of the family cannot be lost; we'll deal with the rest later."
Mentioning his mother, Li Shimin was filled with happy memories of the three of them living together. As for the minor unpleasant things that happened when his mother was alive, they no longer mattered to him: "I guess it's because I've seen my parents interact like this so much that I've naturally learned to tease people like my father." He glanced at Changsun Qingjing and said, "Look at me, don't I look a bit like my father?"
Changsun Qingjing shook his head: "I can't tell. Maybe a little. Although you're not the head of the family, you just showed me a bit of the indomitable spirit of a head of the family, which is indeed no less than Father's. Now let's discuss other trivial matters..."
"I will do whatever you command, my lady," Li Shimin replied, bowing in agreement.
"And another thing, don't you dare act all high and mighty like the head of the household again. Otherwise, you'll be going to Beimang alone to starve!"
"It's a deal."
Changsun Qingjing took out a collection of the current emperor's poems and essays that he had compiled himself from his side, and repeated his old tune: "You truly understand people, you don't need me to say it..."
Changsun Qingjing glared at him: "On behalf of His Majesty, I thank you for your praise." After saying that, she personally laid out rattan paper for her husband and prepared the inkstone. "Choose what you like first. I'll copy the ones you don't like for you."
After the two stopped arguing, Li Shimin devoted himself to the self-preservation task of copying Yang Guang's poems and essays. Changsun Qingjing carefully examined his calligraphy and found it to have the ruggedness of a boulder falling from a high peak, the momentum of a crashing wave, and the elegance of a bird flying out of a forest. It had its own strengths and weaknesses compared to his own calligraphy, and he felt a sense of admiration for him.
The dozen or so pages of poems were completed in a short time, yet the strokes were precise and meticulous, prompting Changsun Qingjing to secretly applaud. Not wanting Li Shimin to be too tired, she advised him to rest for a while.
Lady Liu and Chanyi served fruit and cheese. Li Shimin then realized that A Cai, who had always served Changsun Qingjing, had not been seen since his return, nor had his wife asked about her whereabouts. He guessed that she had been assigned to do some important business.
It's best if it's not something that's too closely related to him; if Changsun Qingjing stirs up trouble, he really won't be able to handle it.
Before Liu Niangzi went to Luoyang, her elder female relatives repeatedly instructed her to keep a close eye on the young couple and not let them overstep their bounds during the mourning period. At first, she was uneasy, but tonight she overheard their conversation and found that they were talking about strange national affairs. Although the two often talked about things they really enjoyed, all the clues showed that it had nothing to do with their personal feelings.
Lady Liu felt that the two children acted with propriety and were upright and honest, while she, as an experienced woman, seemed to be worrying unnecessarily and harboring base thoughts.
"Lady Changsun, is Erlang planning to study by candlelight all night long?" Lady Liu said half-jokingly, half-reminding the two of them to get some rest.
"Ah Nai, Lady Changsun is urging me to do something important. I dare not slack off until she tells me to stop." Li Shimin picked up his pen and teased Changsun Qingjing with a playful but not cruel tone.
Lady Liu smiled and said, "My lord is already married. He shouldn't be like a baby, always complaining to others about his wife. Besides, although you, Ah Nai, are not well-educated, you probably know how to urge your husband to be diligent and virtuous... What does my lord have to complain about?"
The three then discussed the recent preparations made in Luoyang for the Lantern Festival and their plans for their homes when the three-day curfew was lifted.
Chanyi noticed the commotion in the corridor and ran to the door to lift the curtain: "Sister Acai, be careful!"
"My lady, Erlang's clothes have been cut and sewn." Acai stepped forward and unfolded the Qi Liang style Wu robe that had already been sewn. The flowing cloud and grass jacquard patterns on the white Wu silk were faintly visible in the candlelight.
"When the tailoring was being done, the whole family was looking for a husband, so we couldn't take measurements. I could only use the old-fashioned size of the robe with missing hem to enlarge the chest, sleeves, and lower garment, and I don't know if it will fit."
"I won't wear it!" Li Shimin decisively rejected this strange and outlandish style of clothing imported from Jiangzuo.
For the first time, he had witnessed that there were people in the world who were even more fond of ostentation and extravagance than himself, and he was completely humbled by Changsun Qingjing.
Author's note: Li Yuan is not at home, and Erfeng is unreliable!
Qingjing began to unite the whole family to deal with Yang Guang, and he was clear about rewards and punishments.
This foreshadows a future where she will have full authority over the affairs of the six palaces and the emperor will not interfere in the harem.
Erfeng's refusal to change clothes is definitely not because the clothes are ugly, but simply because she doesn't want to wear the same style as Guangshen.
Qingjing used her own methods to coax him into changing. [Thumbs up]
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