Evolution - Chapter 34
Chapter 34
A month later, the victory proclamation reached the capital. A great victory in Jingbei!
The Emperor decreed that the Commandery Princess of the Zhenbei Royal Residence be summoned to the capital for an audience. The reasons were twofold: first, to escort the coffins of the men of the Zhenbei Royal Residence back to the capital for a grand burial, and second, to receive her rewards.
In the seventh month, the barbarians had breached the borders. In the ninth month, all the men of the Zhenbei Royal Residence had died in battle. In the tenth month, the Jingbei army routed the barbarians.
Each event had been reported to the Imperial Capital by swift courier. For the first two, the imperial court had played dead. But after the victory proclamation arrived, they suddenly reacted with great speed.
Ji Changqing regarded the imperial envoy with amusement. “In the seventh month, when the barbarians breached the pass, the Jingbei army sent an urgent dispatch requesting provisions and supplies from the court, while also sending a plea for aid to the Dingbian army. To this day, the provisions have not arrived, nor has a single soldier from the Dingbian army been seen. They say even an emperor doesn't send hungry soldiers to fight. The Emperor has not yet assumed personal rule, so is this how the esteemed ministers of the court handle their affairs? My lord, you’ve traveled all this way. How did you find the journey?”
The imperial envoy’s expression remained unchanged. He cupped his hands and said, “Jingbei is harsh and cold, yet the army and the people are in perfect harmony. The Zhenbei Royal Residence deserves the highest credit.”
Ji Changqing couldn’t be bothered with the barb in his words. Instead, she sighed deeply. “What other choice did we have? When it’s your own home, others can afford to ignore it, but you have to fight desperately to protect it yourself. When that happens, harmony comes naturally.”
The envoy felt a tightness in his chest, as if he’d been choked. Did this Commandery Princess win the war with her sharp tongue? he wondered. Her words were like daggers, each one striking a vital point.
And yet, even he had to admit that the ministers had indeed gone too far. The people of Jingbei were subjects of the Great Zhou, after all.
How could it have come to this?
He sighed internally. What a pity. If the Grand Tutor had listened to his advice and sent troops to support Jingbei the moment the men of the Zhenbei Royal Residence had all fallen, they could have both defended the city from the barbarians and smoothly taken control of the Jingbei army.
Now, the opportunity was well and truly lost. Who could have imagined that the Commandery Princess of the Zhenbei Royal Residence would not only rise to the occasion and turn the tide, but also consolidate her control over Jingbei in just two or three short months?
He thought back to the idle chatter he’d overheard from the soldiers and civilians of Jingbei on his journey. The barbarians had breached the pass, and the court had done nothing. The Emperor was still young, so it must be those treacherous regents, entrusted with his care, who were trying to eliminate the young Emperor’s relatives one by one. That way, no capable family members would be left to speak up for him or back him up.
Everyone knew the Zhenbei Royal Residence had always been unwaveringly loyal, didn’t they?
Oh, you say we’re talking nonsense, that matters of the court aren’t so trivial?
Please. We common folk don’t understand grand matters of state, but we’ve seen plenty of people bullying orphans and widows to seize their inheritance. What’s so different about the royal family? Isn’t it just a much larger inheritance? We get it.
You try to talk to them about matters of state, and they talk to you about the ways of the world. It was just shameless sophistry!
The ministers’ plans, he feared, were unlikely to succeed.
After tearing into the envoy, Ji Changqing adopted a look of deep concern, sighing and shaking her head. “Winter arrives in Jingbei in the tenth month. The ministers at court are so inconsiderate. Why would they, with the weather so freezing and the new year approaching, send you out of the capital to suffer like this?”
A man chosen as an imperial envoy was naturally handsome, as he represented the face of the Son of Heaven. He treated the young princess’s earlier words as a light breeze, blowing past and vanishing without a trace. He urged her earnestly, “His Majesty and the Empress Dowager were heartbroken to learn that the Prince and his sons died in battle. When they heard that you routed the barbarians, they praised you for upholding the honor of your father and ancestors. They hope for your swift return to the capital, so that the Prince and the others may be laid to rest.”
In short: Commandery Princess, please begin your journey back to the capital with the coffins as soon as possible.
“Depart now? Surely you jest, my lord? Look, Jingbei is already beginning to freeze over. The post-war reconstruction is a complicated affair. Setting aside whether I can even get away, my Zhenbei Royal Residence is now full of women and children, including several pregnant women. If we were to set out now, I fear Their Majesties would have to arrange several more funerals for our family before we even reached the capital.” Ji Changqing’s voice was faint, but a chill had settled in the depths of her eyes. “I hear His Majesty and the Empress Dowager have never left the capital, so it’s understandable they might not know the local conditions. But are the ministers of the court also unaware of Jingbei’s bitter cold?”
The handsome envoy thought dismissively, It seems the Commandery Princess is still a bit naive. What good is a sharp tongue? I just have to endure a few unpleasant words to achieve my goal.
He was about to offer a defense for the repeatedly maligned ministers, but Ji Changqing’s expression suddenly turned hostile.
She slammed her hand on the table and rose, her voice sharp with anger. “If the ministers of the court are unaware of Jingbei’s bitter cold, how can such obtuse men be entrusted with the great responsibility of assisting in state affairs? And if they do know but failed to inform the Emperor, then their conduct is a disgrace to their role as teachers, let alone as tutors to the Emperor himself!”
The envoy opened his mouth to speak, but the Commandery Princess, having finally reached the part of the performance where she could fly into a rage, had no interest in listening further. “As for when I shall depart, I will submit a petition to explain myself and beg forgiveness. His Majesty and the Empress Dowager are my own kin; I am sure they will not mind. You, my lord, are strong and healthy, and no doubt eager to return to the capital for the new year. I won’t keep you.”
Get out!
It wasn’t until he was being escorted out of the city that the handsome envoy realized Ji Changqing was serious. Not only was she refusing the imperial edict to return to the capital, she was actually expelling an imperial envoy. He trembled with rage, feeling he had lost all face, his dignity swept away. Composing himself, he cursed Ji Changqing internally while thinking that this act alone was enough to constitute gross disrespect.
Just you wait, he fumed. When I return to the capital, I will denounce you before the throne!
Unfortunately, once winter set in, Jingbei was frequently beset by wind and snow, making the roads treacherous. The journey for him and his retinue was incredibly arduous. He couldn’t help but think that if the Zhenbei Royal Residence had truly accepted the edict and set off immediately with the coffins, never mind a group of women and children, even able-bodied men would not have been able to endure it.
By the time the envoy made it back to the capital, the new year had already passed. Far outside the city gates, he was intercepted and given a thorough dressing-down for having botched such a straightforward assignment.
The envoy, who had been tormented on the road until he resembled a piece of dried, salted vegetable, could no longer be bothered with his handsome appearance. He began to curse Ji Changqing for lodging a malicious complaint first.
What kind of royal princess behaved with such shameless audacity? Calling her a shrew from the marketplace would be a compliment.
As he ranted, it suddenly occurred to him: all petitions had to pass through the cabinet. How could one be presented directly at the grand court assembly?
The man sent to intercept and scold him looked at him with a complicated expression.
She was a royal princess. She came with a bloodline that broke the rules. Not only did she have the right to submit petitions, but hers could also go directly before the throne.
Ji Changqing had carefully selected a drama queen who wore his heart on his sleeve. After countless rehearsals, she was finally satisfied and dispatched him to the capital with her petition for forgiveness. Amidst a sea of stuffy, literary petitions, hers was a breath of fresh air—written entirely in plain, colloquial language, easy to understand and recite.
It was a single stone that stirred a thousand waves.
First, she pleaded for forgiveness, explaining that due to post-war reconstruction and pacification efforts, the bitter cold of Jingbei’s winter after the tenth month, the treacherous snowy roads, and a household full of women and children, including three pregnant women, she could not depart immediately upon receiving the edict, lest they have to hold more funerals before even reaching the capital. She would obey the decree and return to the capital the following year in the third month, when the weather turned warmer.
Then, she changed tack, mentioning that the Emperor and Empress Dowager were her family. She was sure that even if they longed for a family reunion, they would not have the heart to see their relatives risk danger by traveling through wind and snow. She then expressed her concern over the ability and foresight of the ministers at court.
Finally, she launched a direct attack. The edict summoned her to the capital, and the imperial envoy had ordered her to depart immediately. She just wanted to ask: His Majesty was still young and might not know of Jingbei’s bitter cold and treacherous snowy roads, but were the esteemed ministers also unaware? From the drafting of the edict to its delivery, it must have passed through their hands. With an edict like this, were they trying to tarnish His Majesty’s name at such a young age, to have the world curse him for being harsh to his own kin and cruel to a meritorious subject?
Furthermore, a teacher’s duty is to impart knowledge, instruct in skills, and resolve doubts. The esteemed ministers were charged with assisting in governance and educating His Majesty. Could they currently accomplish even one of these three things? If they could neither impart knowledge, instruct, nor resolve doubts, how could they call themselves teachers?
And at the very, very end, she excoriated the imperial clan. You worthless lot! As family and kin, you have a natural duty to support and nurture your own. Just because the late Emperor didn’t give you explicit, hand-holding instructions, you completely entrust His Majesty’s education to outsiders? You don’t even care if his teachers are doing their jobs?
I trouble you to get a move on. If you can, find some worthy teachers for His Majesty as soon as possible. And if you can’t find good ones right away, you must at least strictly evaluate the current imperial tutors. You cannot let these teachers continue on like this.
When this petition—a plea for forgiveness in name but a vicious tongue-lashing in reality—was read aloud at the grand court assembly by the drama queen with theatrical flair and emotion, the Grand Tutor and his faction looked ready to collapse.
The imperial relatives had been scolded, but they were thrilled. They immediately pleaded for forgiveness as well, declaring that Ji Changqing was absolutely right, that they were ashamed of themselves, and that they would be diligent in their duties from now on.
The young emperor, sitting on the Dragon Throne, looked from one person to another, feeling a little pleased. He usually couldn’t understand what these people were talking about, but he had understood every word of today’s petition. And he thought his distant cousin was absolutely right.
The Empress Dowager’s feelings were complex. After a long silence, she finally smiled and said, “Since we are family, there is no need for such ceremony. It was I and His Majesty who were inconsiderate. Let us wait for the Commandery Princess to come to the capital next spring.”
With a single petition, she had delivered a satisfying tirade and successfully tied the imperial relatives to her war chariot, drawing them into the fray at court.
As for the regent ministers, their reputation among the scholar-officials took a bit of a hit, with rumors insinuating they were “treacherous officials” beginning to circulate.
Ji Changqing, who had torn away everyone’s pretense of peace and harmony with a single petition, successfully earned the title of the Great Zhou Dynasty’s number one pot-stirrer and a spot on the blacklist of several powerful figures.
In the third month, the capital was a picture of spring. Swallows darted like scissors, and slender willows seemed cut from silk. The spring breeze intoxicated the city’s wanderers. Dashing young men on fine horses and gentle young maidens with hearts full of spring took advantage of the fine weather to go on outings.
On this day, the main street from the city gate to the palace was cleared and sprinkled with water early in the morning. Before the sun had even risen, it was already teeming with people. The rich and powerful had booked private rooms in the teahouses and inns lining the street, while those who couldn’t get a room simply lined both sides of the street, craning their necks in anticipation.
Everyone in the capital knew: the Commandery Princess of the Zhenbei Royal Residence, who had led the army to a great victory over the barbarians, was arriving today, escorting the coffins of her family from Jingbei.
Zhong Lan, Lin Huang, and The First had known the date of Ji Changqing’s arrival for some time. While Ji Changqing had been fighting the war and then rebuilding and pacifying the region, they had been in the capital, helping to gather and analyze information on the various court factions. For instance, they were the ones who had uncovered the discreet connection between the thoroughly humiliated imperial envoy and the Grand Tutor.
The First’s artisan family had been bought out of their servitude and granted commoner status early on. But no longer being an artisan didn’t mean The First stopped interacting with them; the scattered bits of information gleaned from the artisan class were incredibly useful.
The three of them had booked a private room in a teahouse near the main street, preparing to get a close-up look at Ji Changqing’s heroic bearing.
As they waited anxiously, voices drifted over from the next room, which seemed to have been booked by a group of noble ladies.
“The Twin Jewels of Great Zhou, once so highly praised by the late Emperor: Ji Changqing and Yu Zhiyao. Now that Ji Changqing’s father and brothers are all dead, I’m afraid she won’t be ‘evergreen’ for long. But Yu Zhiyao is still the beautiful jade of the Yu family.”
Zhong Lan’s eyes went wide with shock. She turned her head frantically to look at Lin Huang.
No way. It can’t mean what I think it means, right?
She whipped her head around so fast it made a crack sound, which was alarming enough for even The First to hear.
Lin Huang was equally stunned, her face ashen.
The First thought the two of them were acting strangely. Their expressions had changed so suddenly, it was making her nervous too. “What’s wrong?”
No, don’t ask, I’m begging you.
Zhong Lan and Lin Huang were panicking, a storm of tears raging in their hearts. What’s wrong? We’d like to know what’s wrong, too!
Who the hell knew why Yu Zhiyao was in this instance too?!
Oh, Your Majesty, our poor, poor Majesty… Maybe we should just kill ourselves and go back.
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