Chapter 15 Eat and drink well, and always be happy.
When Su Chan arrived in Yangyi, north of Shangjun, she realized that her parents were not as harmonious as they seemed.
They only had her as their daughter, and everyone said they were a perfect match, a match made in heaven.
Mother was the youngest sister of the late emperor, the esteemed Princess Yangyi.
At the age of marriageable age, among the many men she sought, she set her sights on Su Dan.
Su Dan came from a declining family, but his ancestors had followed the founding emperor in establishing the country and had made contributions to the country.
But now that the emperor has passed down to the sixth generation, the imperial favor bestowed upon him by the time he reached the Marquis has become as diluted as salt water.
He lost his father at a young age, lived with relatives and friends, and traveled to Chang'an to study the Spring and Autumn Annals.
Just as the late emperor was promoting the recommendation system and establishing the Imperial Academy, he passed the imperial examination with top honors. When he first met his mother at Siqi Garden, he had just been granted an official position, but was merely a Doctor with a salary equivalent to 600 shi (a unit of grain).
Later, her mother told Su Chan, who was a child, that her father had great ambitions and the potential to become a nobleman.
Later, Su Dan was indeed granted the title of Marquis of Yangxin, with a fief of five hundred households.
This title also contains the character "Yang," which may be an intentional or unintentional reminder that this marquisate was obtained by marrying a princess.
All Su Chan saw was her mother smiling as she linked arms with her father, with her, who was five or six years old, following behind.
They went together to Siqi Garden, a place teeming with learned scholars.
However, after going a few times, his father stopped liking to go.
He said it was far too noisy there.
He said the people there were too numerous and varied.
Su Chan still remembers that he was wearing a black robe in the official robes of a scholar, with a tall black cap, and he dusted off the light dust that had accumulated on the cold mat on the high platform in Siqi Garden after sitting for half a day.
Su Chan disagreed; she loved the place.
Although she was embarrassed to say it was because Xiao Yu was there, she was afraid that she would never be able to go to Siqi Garden again, so she argued with a flushed face that there were many great heroes, learned men, and upright and virtuous people there.
She looked up at her father, and her mother also looked at her father.
Her father, with his handsome features and refined demeanor, suddenly frowned and said, "What scholar, what upright and virtuous man? What do you know? Do you even know what uprightness or virtue means?"
His mother could only say that he was like a proud, solitary crane.
Su Chan, however, felt that he was dressed in a black fur coat and looked more like the nine-tailed fox from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
The nine-tailed fox has countless appearances.
Su Dan was the same.
Upon arriving at Yangyi County in Shangjun, the father's usual gentle demeanor vanished. Grabbing Su Chan's hand, veins bulging on his forehead, he roared at her, "You are my daughter, Su Dan's daughter! The fortune teller said you are destined to be a phoenix! Remember this: you must return to Weiyang Palace and become the Empress! Be the Empress!"
He added angrily, "It's all your mother's fault for spoiling you!"
Su Chan was stunned when she saw Su Dan looking like this for the first time.
After a long while, she remembered that it was the day of the Emperor and Empress's wedding.
Upon hearing this, the Grand Princess stood protectively in front of Su Chan and said to her, "This has nothing to do with you."
She had her attendant take Su Chan out and closed the door.
When Su Chan was being dragged away, she heard her father and mother arguing, her mother crying, and the sound of cups and saucers smashing against the wall and falling to the ground.
Her hands were soaked with sweat in the late autumn air.
She recalled that the discord between her father and mother had already been foreshadowed when they decided whether or not to go to Siqi Garden.
Three years after the Tian Shou, their relationship went from being respectful to distant to being cold and distant.
Now that we've gone as far north as the land of the dead, even the respect for elders is gone.
At that time, one of them lived in the Su family mansion on the outskirts of Chang'an City, and the other lived in the mansion of the Princess next to Weiyang Palace.
After Xiao Xun was made crown prince, the Grand Princess, under the pretext of taking care of the young crown prince, lived in the Moon Chamber of Chang Le Palace for a long time.
As a child, Su Chan thought that the Su family mansion was too simple. Compared with the magnificent Princess's mansion, Chang Le Palace, and Si Qi Garden, it was simply a humble dwelling. Her mother, the princess, who had grown up in luxury and ease, naturally couldn't get used to living there.
She grew up with her mother in the palace. She often climbed the palace wall to look at the Princess's residence, but she could never see the Su family's mansion.
...
Looking out from the palace wall, Xiao Xun's four-horse chariot had already left Xi'an Gate.
He traveled incognito this time, keeping to a low profile.
With the New Year approaching, the Emperor's grand visit would inevitably disturb the people. The edict he sent back to the Kingdom of Huaiyang merely urged the King of Huaiyang and his prime minister to do their utmost in disaster relief, sparing no expense to resettle the victims, and that an envoy would soon inspect the disaster-stricken areas, but he made no mention of his own personal visit.
This edict also did not specify when or how the court would allocate funds and provisions for disaster relief.
Xiao Xun closed his eyes. He could imagine that the Prince of Huaiyang and the Prime Minister were now struggling with this edict.
The prime minister's true intention in coming to report was to obtain some support from the court.
Now they have to squeeze money out of the treasury of the Prince of Huaiyang's mansion.
Is it to save money on singing and dancing during the New Year's Day celebrations, or to reduce the cost of inlaying glazed tiles on the stone pavilions in the garden?
The carriage driven by Gongsun Zhao, the Grand Master of the Palace, was very stable, with Ling Feng, the Minister of the Imperial Household, following behind with a dozen or so Imperial Guards.
Li Shun and another eunuch, Wang Lu, rode in a separate carriage.
Wang Lu is Wang Fu's apprentice. The two have a relationship that goes beyond that of master and apprentice. In private, they also address each other as "godfather" and "adopted son".
Wang Lu entered the palace at the age of ten. His surname was Wang, and he had a childhood name called Yao'er, which was given to him by Wang Fu.
Wang Fu joked that he had given him a name so that when he got old, he would have to rely on Wang Lu.
Wang Lu readily agreed, but he never expected that his godfather would "get old" before he was even fifty.
After Wang Fu left the palace, Wang Lu was filled with trepidation, fearing that he would be implicated. After a few days, he was actually given the opportunity to travel incognito with His Majesty.
He was driving the carriage with great enthusiasm.
Li Shun, who was standing nearby, was cold and sleepy, and could barely open his eyes in the snow and wind.
The carriage carried His Majesty's imperial horse, a golden-coated Ferghana horse that could travel a thousand miles a day, named "Treading Clouds".
—Although at this moment it was clattering on the wooden planks of the carriage and the soft haystacks.
The vast expanse of white snow was utterly still, not even the sound of horses' hooves could be heard.
Although this carriage was not as grand as the emperor's, it was spacious and comfortable, and inside the curtained room, a Boshan incense burner emitted a faint fragrance.
Surrounded by warmth, Xiao Xun began to dream.
On the dark road, he carried a bronze lantern and walked alone.
There was no moon in the sky, and the few stars were as faint as the light of a lantern.
The sounds of bells and chimes in the front hall had faded away and drifted into the distance.
It's Lunar New Year's Eve.
This has been the case every Lunar New Year's Eve since I ascended the throne.
After the banquet to celebrate the New Year, the officials went home.
They have family banquets, New Year's greetings, and staying up all night on New Year's Eve.
The liveliness is fleeting, leaving behind a desolation as vast as the sky and earth without light.
But he was already used to it.
He started walking this road when he was less than eight years old.
Even after they got married, he never made Qu Qingru wait for him.
He said considerately, "The Empress is holding a grand banquet for female guests in the inner palace. She must be exhausted. She should rest early."
The lamps in Jiaofang Palace burned persistently for several years, but then they were extinguished early on.
What good will it do if it doesn't go out?
Rather than going to the Jiaofang Palace, where a single tree of lights only reflected the loneliness of two people facing each other in silence, he preferred to walk alone under the vast sky.
But what we're seeing now seems to be the Jiaofang Palace.
The Jiaofang Palace, now in slumber.
He stepped inside.
It's almost midnight.
The maids on duty all closed their eyes at the foot of the wall.
Inside the Zichen Pavilion, a winged lamp flickered wearily, and even he was tired of watching it.
He placed the lamp on the table and called Wang Fu to change his clothes.
"Your Majesty." The bright voice rang out in the dimly lit hall, seemingly out of place, "Today is New Year's Eve. Aren't you staying up to welcome the new year?"
Staying up all night on New Year's Eve?
He was feeling dejected, but unwilling to waste words, he simply remarked, "Looking out at the bare sky? There aren't even any stars."
Seeing the woman in front of him speechless, he couldn't help but find it amusing.
Lin Yuan's eyes flickered, and she lowered her gaze, saying, "Your Majesty has drunk quite a bit of wine. Have some hangover soup and then rest."
Xiao Xun kept Lin Yuan in the Zichen Pavilion, a side hall of the Jiaofang Palace, to serve him because he knew about the Empress and Lady Qu's scheme.
This time, the Qu family used aphrodisiac incense; next time, they might use aphrodisiac wine.
He went along with it and kept Lin Yuan around, hoping to at least bring some peace for a year or two.
This palace maid, at least, wasn't one of the Qu family's people.
However, it is more appropriate for a woman to serve than a eunuch.
Even though Wang Fu had taken care of him for so many years, he would never have been so meticulous. He took the smell of the light, clear liquor as if it were a momentous event.
Lin Yuan returned quickly, bringing over some hangover soup.
The soup was made with pear juice, which masked the medicinal taste and gave it a slightly sweet flavor—a thoughtful touch perhaps only a woman would have.
Xiao Xun didn't dislike the bitterness of the medicine, but the sudden sweetness was ultimately pleasant.
He unconsciously raised the corners of his lips slightly, sweeping away half of the chill and weariness.
"Your Majesty, look, the stars."
Xiao Xun was surprised and turned his head to see that the straight-lattice window was open.
The wind is not strong.
He saw stars. Countless stars.
The swaying stars.
It hung from the bare branches of the trees in the forest.
Lin Yuan's eyes reflected the stars that the lanterns had transformed into, and she said, "Since I was little, my parents have told me that if I stay up all night on New Year's Eve, all my wishes will come true."
Xiao Xun's gaze shifted from the rows of lanterns to her face, and he asked, "So, what is your wish?"
Lin Yuan smiled shyly: "Yes, eat and drink well, and always have a smile on your face."
Xiao Xun smiled too.
Laughter continued, ushering in the red sun of the new year.
Those stars were later obscured by the misty fog.
On New Year's Eve once again, he drank less wine and returned to the Jiaofang Palace early.
Lin Yuan prepared a steaming hot pot. She cooked mutton for Xiao Xun and explained with a smile, "Home is where the heart is."
Yes, home.
Another year has passed, and he continues walking and walking towards home.
He walked very fast, even feeling it wasn't fast enough, so he mounted his horse, galloped across the dark road, passed through the curtains in the palace, and pushed open the door.
There were no lights, no stars, and no people.
He saw a mess, medicine stains splattered everywhere, and broken cups stained with blood.
...
A sudden jolt woke Xiao Xun, who called out to Gongsun Zhao, "Where are we?"
"Your Majesty, we are about to reach Yangdi County in Yingchuan Commandery."
Night fell heavily.
Let's stop there for a while.
A note from the author:
----------------------
The next update will be on Saturday morning at 9:00 AM. I'm so sorry, the number of favorites has been increasing so slowly, I have to keep the word count low. I'm so sorry to all the readers who are following me. I'll be sending out red envelopes to everyone.
① 罽幕: ji, a curtain made of felt.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
