Secret Edict of Succession
Sima Yao smiled and said, "My brother just smiled and sighed that having a daughter like me is not important at all. He also assured me that as long as he is on the throne, the noble status of the Princess of Langya will be maintained forever, regardless of whether the Prince of Langya has any descendants. No one can shake this fact, so I can rest assured."
She suddenly lowered her head and said sadly, "Whether my brother was truly kind to me or not, he was always very good to me."
In fact, A Qiu could roughly guess Sima Yan's intention in sparing no effort to win over Sima Yao: she was a woman and could never participate in politics, so his lavish favor towards her was a convenient way of currying favor with Sima Jun, the Prince of Langya. Although the Shangguan family, as his maternal relatives, supported him in the court, how could he possibly abandon the support of his own paternal blood relatives?
From this perspective, the fact that the Prince of Langya had no heir, and that Sima Yao was flamboyant and unable to marry, actually put his mind at ease.
A-Qiu listened to these things in a daze, feeling a mix of emotions.
Sima Yao continued, "My brother also said that if I were to remain unmarried for the rest of my life, it wouldn't matter. As long as he is alive, I will be the most honored princess of the Great Huan; if he is gone..." At this point, he looked up at me, his drunken eyes seeming to clear a little.
Sima Yao recalled the look in her elder brother's eyes at that time; it was probably the most clear-headed and rational look she had ever seen in Sima Yan in her entire life, sharp and wild like a wolf's alpha.
He asked softly, "Ayao, if I, like my uncle, have no sons but only daughters, do you think I could let her inherit my throne?"
A strange warmth surged through A-Qiu's heart. She asked urgently, "And what was your answer?"
Sima Yao said, "At that time, I couldn't figure out his intentions, so I could only go along with him. The whole world belongs to my brother, so of course he can give it to whomever he wants. What does it matter if we have sons and daughters? All people under heaven are subjects of the king. If my brother approves, who would dare to object?"
He then said with a wry smile, "Look, I've done a pretty good job as a sycophant, haven't I? I'm a master of flattery and knowing how to read the emperor's mind. Back then, I was a complete expert. With us people keeping him in check day and night, it would have been difficult for my brother not to get into trouble."
Ah Qiu couldn't help but ask again, "So, after hearing your answer, what did he say?"
Sima Yao scratched his head, recalling, "Those were all drunken ramblings, not to be taken seriously. He was indeed very pleased to hear me, and said that if his daughter succeeded to the throne, I, as the most noble member of the imperial clan, would certainly have to support and protect her. I readily agreed. He then said that I was currently only the Princess of Langya, the daughter of a prince, but if his daughter succeeded to the throne, he would bestow upon me the title of Grand Princess, to assist in state affairs and support the young ruler, ha!"
She looked both annoyed and amused, saying, "After saying so much, I just don't know where his daughter is. I think he must be desperate for an heir. As long as there is an heir, he will arrange it regardless of gender, and even made arrangements for entrusting his son to someone else. It's just a pity that I am not Prime Minister Zhuge Liang."
Ah Qiu said blankly, "Perhaps it is precisely because it is a daughter that he has to give her extra instructions and worry about her. If it were a son, he would not need to give her any instructions, and everything would naturally fall into place according to the rules of the imperial family."
Sima Yao, however, remained immersed in the past, saying, "It's not just that. I remember that night, we drank until late into the night, and the more we talked, the more real it became. My imperial brother actually had someone bring paper and pen and drafted an edict, asking me to be a witness, saying it was an edict of succession for his future daughter. Ha, if I were sober, how could I dare to accept his words? Whom could he pass the throne to without the former Grand Secretary? But we were both drunk then, so I went along with him. I remember I personally stamped the seal on it."
She added, "Actually, my willingness to play along with him and coax him is also to vent my own resentment. If this is true, I can finally hold my head high in front of my father. The only regent princess of the Great Huan Dynasty, haha, this title can be obtained without relying on my father or husband. I only need to stand on the side of my elder brother and loyally support the young emperor. Just thinking about it makes me feel relieved."
As she spoke, she stood up and said, "I'll go look for it. Maybe I've kept this old edict somewhere for you to look at."
A-Qiu said from behind her, "Did Aunt Yao really put away this secret edict? Edicts of succession have always been of great importance. Is Aunt really not afraid of getting into trouble?"
Sima Yao turned around and said with a wry smile, "I put it away at the time not because I thought it was some kind of secret edict, but because I knew in my heart that my brother and I were fooling around like this, and we must not leave any evidence in the eyes of those people in the previous dynasty, or we would be scolded. So I was careful to hide this evidence."
He added, "I helped stamp those seals. I took advantage of my brother's inattention and chose a random seal to stamp. It wasn't the real Imperial Seal. I was also on guard against this. Otherwise, if word got out the next day that Princess Langya dared to instigate His Majesty to decide the heir to the throne without the consent of the court officials, regardless of whether such a person even existed, my brother, as the emperor, might be fine, but I would definitely be in deep trouble."
Ah Qiu thought to herself, "Sima Yao was truly meticulous back then. She appeared drunk, but in reality, she was as clear-headed as could be. She accompanied Sima Yan in his foolishness and wild talk, yet she was extremely cautious. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to remain unscathed at the end of the Huan Dynasty. No wonder she was the only surviving member of the Sima clan."
But then she saw Sima Yao rummaging around under the stove for a long time, and A Qiu was surprised: Even if the imperial edict was useless, it was still an old memento. Was she just going to stuff it under the stove like that?
Sima Yao seemed to have guessed what she was thinking and said, "When I first came to this forbidden area of Shangguan, besides practicing swordsmanship, the kitchen was the place I spent the most time in. I even slept on the floor here, so I kept all my important things here."
Ah Qiu stammered, "No wonder your cooking skills are so good." — It turns out it's because of your diligent practice.
As expected, Sima Yao pulled out a round wooden box, about a foot long and blackened by smoke, from the pile of firewood and said, "Look!"
The wooden box has openwork patterns on its surface, with orchids, hibiscus and other designs carved on it. Looking through the charred wood, one can see a glimmer of gold.
A Qiu was pleasantly surprised that Sima Yao could actually find the old item after so many years, and quickly said, "Aunt Yao is really amazing!"
Sima Yao said, "I haven't opened it for many years, and I don't remember what's inside."
As she spoke, she opened the box lid.
Inside, there was a gold hairpin engraved with scrolling patterns and inlaid with a single pearl, a pair of earrings also decorated with pearls, and a jade bracelet, but nothing else. There was also no imperial edict that Sima Yao had mentioned earlier.
But with A-Qiu's keen eye, he could easily tell that these seemingly inconspicuous pieces of jewelry, with their simple designs and inlays, were actually rare and exquisite pieces.
Firstly, although the craftsmanship of the gold hairpin and earrings is simple, it serves to highlight the pearl on them. The pearl itself is pure white, yet it also has a cool blue luster. Its texture is warm and smooth, and it shimmers with seven colors from any angle. Over the years, its luster remains dazzlingly bright. In comparison, even the gold inlaid with it seems to have lost its color and become dull and old.
The finest pearls A Qiu had ever seen were the ten bushels of pearls that Hulü Guang claimed to have presented as a betrothal gift to the Southern Dynasty. But she was certain that, even disregarding the luster of the pearls and judging only by size, none of the pearls on this hairpin and the two pendants could compare to these three pearls from those ten bushels.
Although the jade bracelet was completely undecorated, it was extremely thick and heavy, carved from a single piece of jade as green as spring water. Its luster was rich and varied, occasionally revealing a cat's-eye effect. Even among the current Consort Chen and Mu Huaying, A Qiu had never seen a treasure that could rival it.
These treasures were simply stuffed under the stove by Sima Yao over the years and left there for so many years.
Upon seeing these treasures, Sima Yao casually reached out and flipped through them a few times, then sighed, "They're not here! I must have misremembered. Perhaps I intended to, but didn't have time to put them away. Alas, if they had been left in the palace, they would probably have been burned to ashes. I still really wanted to get them. Besides the succession document, there was also my imperial brother's decree bestowing upon me the title of Grand Princess. I remember the title he proposed for me was 'Jueyi'."
Ah Qiu thought to herself, no wonder she had to secretly keep it. If such a treasonous edict of succession were to be circulated, Sima Yan might not really be in any trouble, since he was the emperor and the Son of Heaven, and no one could criticize the emperor for going against the will of Heaven. But her younger sister would really be regarded by the ministers as an ambitious and usurper, and it would be good if she wasn't drowned in their spittle.
However, Sima Yao seemed oblivious to these treasures, instead dwelling on a "secret edict" game she and her brother had played while drunk years ago. Her disappointment was so evident that what Sima Yao cherished most were those few warm and precious memories, rather than jewels and status that symbolized power.
Seeing that A Qiu was staring blankly at the hairpins and jade bracelets, Sima Yao said casually, "If you like these things, you can take them. I am no longer the little girl I used to be, and I don't need these anymore."
A-Qiu was taken aback and immediately declined, saying, "These are all extremely valuable, A-Qiu dares not accept them. I was distracted because I have never seen such magnificent treasures in the palace. Thinking of the splendor of the past dynasty, I was lost in thought."
As an assassin, she never wore jewelry. Later, when she entered the palace as a dancer, she did wear several floral ornaments given to her by Gongyi Xiu to cover the flowers on her forehead. Later still, Gu Yi gave her a set of chrysoberyl cat's-eye gemstones, and Zhao Lingying gave her a gold hairpin, all of which are now left at Jinlingtai.
As for Sima Yao's current possessions, let alone the fact that she doesn't love gold and silver jewelry, even if she did, she would never dare to wear them: such top-tier luxury items are something even Consort Chen doesn't have. If she were to wear them in public, it would be a clear act of overstepping her bounds.
Thinking of this, Aqiu suddenly felt both sad and amused: Why was she still concerned about these things? Could she possibly wear them back to the palace?
It's clear that those people... their every smile and frown had long been ingrained in her mind and soul, becoming a habit, to the point that she would think of them no matter what she did.
Sima Yao looked at the gems but showed no excitement. She simply sighed and said, "I've only heard that the extravagance of my brother's reign was the highest in history. I doubt your new dynasty would be so wasteful and extravagant."
He added, “These were all gifts from my elder brother. I am the most illustrious and important Princess Langya among the imperial clan, so of course he would choose the best ones to reward me.”
He then recalled, “I was already quite carefree. When I entered the forbidden area, I had already taken off all my fine clothes and ornaments. Only these few pieces were my most cherished items at the time. You have an eye for quality. These pieces are simply carved, but the beads and jade are of excellent quality. I doubt that even the Southern Dynasty today has the same quality. I couldn’t bear to leave them outside, so I brought them in and hid them away as treasures. But you see, so many years have passed, and I’ve just forgotten about them.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
