The Child Emperor

The peak of summer was approaching. The capture of Prince Qi was big news in the Capital. Batches after batches of officials rode their carriages to Guan-dong to clean up the mess left behind. The battles involving soldiers and generals were coming to an end; the battles involving thorough investigations and prosecutions were just about to begin. Armorless civil officials sharpened their blades, swearing to dig out every single traitor.

Small scale skirmishes had already begun in the Capital. Almost every day, some official would be arrested, and some matter from his past dug out — some year, some month, some date, he met with or talked to or wrote to someone from  Qi — that was evidence of guilt.

The campaign to purge traitors was like wildfire as to spread towards the Princedom of Qi, and then to the entire realm. It even spread to the insides of the Imperial Palace. Han Ruzi found out that the eunuchs attending to him were being changed with increasing frequency. Every day, he would see a new face, while the old faces would appear even more cautious and weary. At first, some of them might sneak in a break from time to time. Now, the whole lot of them stood outside the Soaring Clouds Pavilion, nobody daring to say a word, nobody daring to leave their posts. Zhang Yanghao and the others had no chance to play dice for the past few days.

The third afternoon after meeting with Zuo Ji, Han Ruzi found the change to speak to the Grand Consort.

“Zuo Ji said that there was a servant-girl who might have known how the Thoughtful Emperor died. But he did not know her name.”

“I do know. Her name was Chen Anshu. Not long after the Thoughtful Emperor passed away, she committed suicide by jumping into a well. Apparently she had been interrogated by Yang Feng, and was overly terrified.”

Han Ruzi had intentionally not brought up Yang Feng, yet the Grand Consort had brought him up of her own accord. He casually gestured his hand and said, “Yang Feng was loyal to the Thoughtful Emperor, and was even willing to die for him. He must have been suspicious over his death, and hence relentless in his investigation. Perhaps that is why the Empress Dowager sent him out of the Capital.”

Han Ruzi did not believe that Yang Feng was someone who would commit regicide — the Grand Consort’s words made him even more certain. At the same time, he felt a tiny tinge of jealousy. The person Yang Feng had truly wished to serve the Thoughtful Emperor, and only helped him now because he had no choice. Perhaps that was why he was in two minds about it.

“What should I do next?” Han Ruzi did not mention the matter with Zhang Yanghao to the Grand Consort, choosing to keep his guard up and see how matters proceeded.

“Does that mean Your Majesty is willing to believe me?”

Han Ruzi nodded. Honestly, he was not particularly interested in the Thoughtful Emperor’s death. But now, he believed that there truly was enmity between the Grand Consort and the Empress Dowager.

The Grand Consort waited for a while before lowering her voice. “The officials in the court are weary, and wish to take action quickly.”

“Who are these officials you speak of?” asked Han Ruzi.

The Grand Consort smiled. “I am only responsible for contacting Your Majesty within the palace, as well as for protecting your personal safety in times of emergencies. Matters outside the palace are handled by Teacher Luo. Your Majesty may ask him during your lessons. Even if he could not speak directly, he would give some hints.”

Han Ruzi nodded again.

“The plan was also formulated by Teacher Luo. The crux to seizing power lies not with the Empress Dowager, but with the Grand Marshal of the Southern Army — Shang-guan Xu. During this period of time, he has been trying to get support from the army. About half a month later, Grand Tutor Cui Hong would return to the Capital — Shang-guan Xu would surely be there to receive him. The officials intend to take that chance to take action, and seize both their Seals of office of both of them.”

“Grand Tutor Cui’s seal will be seized as well?”

“The Cui clan is too powerful, and have rendered great service in putting down the rebellion. If their power is not seized, they would be a second Empress Dowager.”

Han Ruzi nodded again.

“But just taking the seals of office is not enough. Without an Imperial Edict from Your Majesty, the other officials and the soldiers of the army will not listen to orders.”

“You need me to write an Imperial Edict? But the Imperial Seal is not with me. Just my written words alone would not be enough, no?”

“That is what Your Majesty and I would have to do. We have to find a way to get the Imperial Seal and write an authentic Imperial Edict. By acting within the palace, we coordinate with the officials outside. Then our plan may succeed.”

This sounded like a plan with a good chance of success, but Han Ruzi was hesitant. Perhaps it was because the Grand Consort had lied to him, so his trust did not go far. After thinking for a while, he said, “Let me consider it.”

“Your Majesty, this opportunity must not be missed. At the moment, with the Qi rebellion just recently suppressed, matters are chaotic. A rallying call by Your Majesty would be welcomed. After a while, once matters have completely stablizied, the officials would not be so easy to rally any more. Have Your Majesty not discovered something from your daily visits to the Hall of Diligent Administration? Almost every day, a new official takes office. More than half of them are nominated by Shang-guan Xu and his faction members. In the long run, the Shang-guan clan would be yet another Cui clan.”

“Isn’t Shang-guan Xu your older brother as well?”

The Grand Consort snickered coldly. “The entire Shang-guan clan has eyes only for the Empress Dowager. But I would still ask for mercy on their behalf — once the matter is done, may Your Majesty demote them to a commoner status but spare their lives.”

“I would still have to consider things. Isn’t there half a month’s time? There should be enough time.”

“The Imperial Seal is currently under the custody of Jing Yao. It would not be an easy matter to get a hold of it…” The Grand Consort changed her mind mid-sentence. She smiled and bowed. “It is good to be cautious. Indeed, Your Majesty ought to consider matters. If Your Majesty comes to a decision, you may just let me know. I will think of a way to get the imperial seal, while the imperial edict would have to be written by you personally.”

The Grand Consort then took her leave.

When he went to bed, Han Ruzi suddenly understood why he did not trust the Grand Consort. It was not because she had lied, but because Yang Feng had once warned him: the person who first takes the initiative to approach the Emperor would have ulterior motives.

Up to this point, a few people had approached the Emperor: Meng E wanted a favor which only the Empress Dowager or the Emperor could give. What exactly, she was not willing to say. Dong Qing E’s “motives” were more straightforward, and she was being forced. What about Luo Huan-zhang and the Grand Consort? These two persons had massive goals but little desire — not for fame or fortune or rank — one wished to support the imperial clan out of a sense of righteousness, the other wished for vengeance.

Unbelievable, Han Ruzi said to himself. This was not believable. If Yang Feng were here, he would surely be able to tell what the true motives of these two were. But he could only find them suspicious.

Now more than ever he wished to get a reply from his mother.

The next day, the person giving lessons was coincidentally Luo Huan-zhang. He had just finished talking about the Accomplished Emperor, and now began to talk about the third and fourth Emperor of Chu: the Peaceful Emperor and the Fiery Emperor respectively.

The Peaceful Emperor was weak in body, and died after four years on the throne. He did not accomplish much. However, his son, the Fiery Emperor, had done much. If it were not for the Martial Emperor’s later accomplishments, he would be the Chu Emperor with the most military accomplishments.

The Fiery Emperor reigned for sixteen years. It was not a long time, but during that time, he had suppressed rebellion from feudal lords, expelled the Xiongnu from the north, battled the Yue tribes in the south, and got rid of the Ma clan, the Imperial In-laws of his time.

“The Ma clan held power, and overstepped their proper boundaries to a limitless extent. There were even officials who called themselves “Ma clan officials”, and took pride in that term. The Fiery Emperor was wise, and he could tell that the officials were not completely controlled by the Ma clan. Hence, he found a wave to ride on, and with a single edict, the Ma clan were completely captured within ten days.”

“If the Ma clan had held power, then why were there officials who were not controlled?” Han Ruzi asked. Ever since his escape the last time, there were now four eunuchs who entered the pavilion to attend to the Emperor. But they did not understand national history, nor were the interested. They just looked on at the Emperor.

“As the saying goes, ‘He who lacks standing lacks legitimacy; he who lacks legitimacy will not accomplish his goals.’ The more the Ma clan overstepped boundaries, the more they lacked standing. For every ‘Ma clan official’ they appointed, they would offend a batch of ‘imperial officials’. Those who sided with the Ma clan were those who sought wealth and power, hence they would turn tail once things look grim. But those who supported the Emperor were concerned with righteousness and acted out of principle. They charged forward, unafraid of death, only because the Emperor was the one and only person with the standing and legitimacy to be sovereign of the realm.”

Luo Huan-zhang’s words made sense. Was Sealbearer Liu Jie not one such loyal subject who had charged forward? But another saying echoed within Han Ruzi’s mind — one must not be so selfish as to believe that others are not selfish. Yang Feng was not present, but his influence was. Han Ruzi still wished to know what Luo Huan-zhang’s and the Grand Consort’s personal motives were.

The lesson was rather awkward. Luo Huan-zhang could not speak too directly, so he could only keep praising the Fiery Emperor’s decisiveness, as a way to obliquely persuade the Emperor.

In the Hall of Diligent Administration, Han Ruzi observed carefully and indeed there were personnel changes in the imperial bureaucracy. Whether it was a promotion or demotion, regardless who had made the proposal, it did not appear to be related to Shang-guan Xu on the surface. But when the senior officials looked at a certain petition, they would occasionally crease their brows, or exchange looks. But nobody raised any objections.

This was the most important reason why the Empress Dowager had gotten Grand Tutor Cui out of the Capital — to nurture her own faction within the imperial court while he was not around. But was the Empress Dowager truly not afraid that Cui Hong would surrender to Prince Qi? Han Ruzi suddenly felt that the Empress Dowager liked taking risks. Every step she had taken was a risk, but what was at stake was not just her life and her position, but the Chu Empire itself.

Han Ruzi was rather anxious as well. The Chu Empire was nominally his. If the Empress Dowager destroyed it, he would lose the most.

But he still wanted to wait, at least until his mother replied.

Another three days went by. There were news of victory from Guan-dong every day. Grand Tutor Cui’s army was swiftly wiping out remnants of the rebel army. The civil officials dispatched from the Capital were also singing their tunes of victory while uncovering hidden traitors, one after the other. Just as Prince Donghai had expected, there were unimaginably numerous “incitors” of Prince Qi’s rebellion. Especially those of close association, nearly all of them were “incitors”. And every incitor would lead to yet more incitors or followers. In just a week, a thousand people were implicated.

At afternoon, Han Ruzi finally got a reply from his mother. He did not receive it from Prince Donghai. Marquis Junyang’s youngest son, Tiger King Hua,[1] secretly handed a folded letter to the Emperor.

At that time, Trainer Liu was teaching everyone more skills with the blade and shield. The young nobles were more interested in the war in Guan-dong, and were asking each other for news. The situations was rather chaotic, so Tiger King Hua took the chance to approach the Emperor.

Tiger King Hua averted his gaze elsewhere, deliberately avoiding looking at the Emperor. As he handed over the letter, he said softly, “The Hua clan is loyal to Your Majesty.” Marquis Junyang, Hua Bin, was famed for his gallantry and honor. Apparently, he was somewhat implicated by Prince Qi, but was not arrested because many senior officials had vouched for him.

This was the first official who took the initiative in expressing support for the Emperor. Hua Bin’s personal motives were evident, and hence he was more believable. The only thing Han Ruzi was unsure of was whether there was a connection between the Hua clan and Luo Huan-zhang.

Han Ruzi was distracted during martial lessons in the afternoon. In the evening, when he returned to his palace, he had no appetite. Finally, he found a chance to take out the letter and he quickly opened it.

It was not a letter from his mother. Instead, Tiger King Hua had written, “A few days ago, my mother sent some people to the manor. It was empty. Whereabouts unknown.”

A fiery rage rose from Han Ruzi’s heart. The Empress Dowager had taken his mother away!

[1] This guy was previously sometimes translated as “Tiger King Wang”. This is a translation error that occurred because the Chinese character for ‘king’ is also a common surname Wang. I actually got it correct in the earlier chapters but got it wrong somewhere along the way.