Chapter 16: Counterattack
Inside a dilapidated Taoist temple far away, a Taoist priest with grey hair is meditating beside a sleeping child. Suddenly his eyes opened and he counted with his fingers in some confusion. After a long time, he said to the sleeping child, "There is a change in fortune that you may perceive?"
The sleeping child naturally did not respond. The old Taoist priest sighed: "The wind rises at the end of the green weeds, without breath or shadow, and cannot be known by anyone who is not able to see the way of heaven, so naturally you do not understand." He looked at the broken window and pondered for a long time before finally closing his eyes again and continuing to meditate.
In the Grand Prince's residence, the Grand Prince was in a good mood: the Emperor had decreed that the Grand Prince was to be made Crown Prince on the grounds that he was "Di(legitimate,first), Eldest and virtuous", and the Ministry of Rites would arrange the exact time of the enthronement ceremony. At the ceremony to be held, the Emperor will gather all the ministers, give a public lecture on the establishment of the crown prince and appoint officials to assist him. The Crown Prince will then move into the Chao Hua Hall in the Forbidden City, and the surrounding palace compound will henceforth be referred to as the Eastern Palace.
Once he became the Crown Prince, the "Three Preceptors and Three juniors" (Tai Shi, Tai Fu, Tai Bao),( Shao Shi, Shao Fu and Shao Bao), who were appointed by the Emperor for the Crown Prince, would train the Crown Prince to rule the world in the future. These are the Crown Prince's teachers, responsible for improving the quality of his mind and teaching him the principles of governance, but the Grand Prince has already turned eighteen and these people are doing more to assist in guiding rather than educating and enlightening.
According to historical precedent, the Crown Prince was second only to the Emperor himself and had his own Eastern Palace, similar to that of the imperial court. The official configuration of the Eastern Palace is completely modeled on the system of the imperial court. There are attendants such as Zhanshi(household heir apparent), Chunfang(secretariat and archive), and chamberlain, and a private guard similar to the emperor's forbidden army " Crown Prince Zhushu" (Tang system).All of these men would help the Crown Prince to become familiar with the affairs of state and to master the ways of ruling. Once the crown prince had ascended to the throne, these men would become the new emperor's trusted advisers.
From then on, the Crown Prince would formally intervene in the imperial government, listen to the ministers' presentations, read the memorials, and sometimes make decisions on political affairs under the supervision of the Emperor. In the future, he would be able to oversee the state, lead the army, and inspect the provinces in the emperor's stead, so he would be the official heir to the throne. How could the Grand Prince be in an unhappy mood?
The concubines of the Crown Prince were also given official titles, just like the concubines of the Emperor. The Crown Prince's new wife would be named the Taizi fei, in addition to the Crown Prince's Side Concubines(cefei), Noble Concubines(guifei), Crown Prince's Concubines, Liangdi, Liangyuan, Chenghui, Zhaoxun, Fengyi, Ruren, etc.
Although the formal enthronement ceremony had not yet taken place in front of the ministers, the decree had already been issued, making the Grand Prince the crown prince, and the entire Grand Prince's residence was filled with a festive atmosphere, both inside and outside.
But the Grand Prince, who should have been filled with joy, was upset over a few very minor matters:
After that National Go player, Ji Wenzhao, arrived in the capital, the Grand Prince's people solicited him several times, but the other party played deaf and did not respond.
The Fourth Prince had left the palace in disguise and returned late and very tired one day when his whereabouts were unknown. That day was the period when the children of the Marquis of Zhenbei were trekking in the countryside, but the eyes of the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence did not see the Fourth Prince. It should just be a coincidence.
Also, the eldest daughter of the marquis's family was on a trip and suddenly had abdominal pain, so the eldest son, Shen Yi, returned to the house a day early with his people.The Marquis' residence was heavily patrolled that night, people inside didn't know what arrangements had been made, so they didn't rush out to report the news, thinking that it would be fine to report the next day, so their own people didn't get the news in time. And the spy inside the guards who were left in the suburbs could not have returned to the city to deliver the news. As a result, when the Marquis Guards returned the next day, their own side still took the reputation of women to trouble as originally arranged, There were no women in the team at all, and in full view of the public, the lie was exposed, so naturally none of it made things happen.
As for people arranged to it, the men were beaten half to death and a few women from the youth house were taken to the magistrate's yamen office. As the men had told that they had been instructed by someone, they were all silenced for fear of being pursued by the Marquis Mansion. As for those women, they are only the popular prostitutes in the Wan Hua House, they were only given silver to make trouble this time, and they were not told whose idea it was, so there is no fear of them talking nonsense. They already told the magistrate to deal with them leniently and let them go back after a few days of imprisonment, so that they would not say that they were instructed by others.
The Grand Prince felt as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly. It was reasonable to say that on such a big day, these small inferiorities should be completely ignored, but he was just uncomfortable, his face was gloomy and he did not speak.
At this moment, those who could be in the room were all members of the inner circle, all of whom would soon have official titles and were happy in their hearts, but when they saw the Grand Prince's expression, they looked at each other, somewhat puzzled by the Prince's gloom.
A staff member said carefully, "Your Highness, regarding Ji Wenzhao, it will probably be enough to wait until after the Crown Prince's enthronement ceremony, when the Eastern Palace is officially equipped with official positions, and then we will be invited with high official positions."
The Grand Prince still did not soothe his expression, and another member of his staff, guessing what the Grand Prince was thinking, said tentatively, "The incident at the Marquis' residence is not enough, we can arrange for it later. Besides, the youngest daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei is only seven years old now, wouldn't it be better to ruin her reputation when she becomes an adult? It's never too late for a gentleman to take revenge, Your Highness can wait."
The Grand Prince breathed a slow sigh of relief, and so did the handyman; it seemed that he had guessed correctly. But in his heart, he wondered, " Wasn't it just a couple of words? What kind of enmity is this? Why did the Grand Prince take this matter so seriously? It should be Ji Wenzhao's case that is more important.
There was also some confusion in the Grand Prince's mind:How could his desire for the destruction of that stupid-looking girl be so fierce? If it weren't for the military authority of Marquis Zhenbei, he would really want to kill that girl. Where did this anger come from?
The Grand Prince said in as calm a tone as possible"Tell our people at the Marquis residence to be diligent and report everything in a timely manner, so that no more such loopholes occur! Otherwise, tell them to be more careful!"
All nodded their heads in agreement. A flash of thought crossed the mind of one of the handlers: was it because the Marquis Residence was on guard that the Grand Prince's arrangement had fallen through? Was that First young lady's illness an excuse? ......
But after looking at the Grand Prince's relaxed expression, he still didn't say anything: Whether the Marquis Residence is on guard or not will not change the fact that the Grand Prince has become the Crown Prince, and the reputation of that youngest daughter is even less of an immediate concern; there is no need to upset the Grand Prince any further because of it.
That night, Shen Wen wore a simple maid's bun, a short dark maid's dress, and anointed her face with incense ash. Su Wanniang helped her get ready while she repeated in detail a few locations where guests would normally pass. Shen Wen half-listened and did not tell her that she had already chosen the location - the Pure Room! Only there could people not go and see what was going on as soon as they heard the sound.
Shen Wen was afraid that if she told Su Wanniang, she would probably pinch her face again.
Just before midnight, Shen Wen arrived at Wanhua House. She first broke two branches in the garden, and after choosing the purification room, she sat down on a nearby roof and waited for the person to whom she wanted to deliver a message. An old uncle of about fifty was helped over by two maids; this man probably couldn't even hear the others, and Shen Wen didn't move. A drunken man who was seven times too drunk was dragged by a boy and Shen Wen let him pass. The next few groups of people came in quick succession and Shen Wen did not take any chances.
The two young men came over while joking and laughing, with no servants beside them: "That Fang'er from second room is very ......"
"You don't say, when she sang that tune ......" The two men went into the net room.
Shen Wen felt around and found that there was no one else close by, so he jumped off the roof, put on heavier footsteps, and walked step by step towards the side of the net room, while hitting the branches in both hands on the ground in turn with his footsteps, imitating the sound of another person's footsteps.
She first asked in a shrill voice with anxious emotion, "...... What do you think, will those sisters who were arrested in the court be alright? They are stopping the caravan of the Marquis of Zhenbei!" She mobilized her consciousness power to enhance the vibration frequency of her sound waves, and her voice, which was obviously not too loud, penetrated people's ears, but was clearly audible.
The vague laughter of the two men in the clear room ceased.
Shen Wen thickened her voice again and took on a contemptuous tone, "How could anything happen? Don't you know who sent them to do this?" She was already an adult and spoke in a more mature tone, even if her voice was a little thin and distinctly different from the one before her.
Shen Wen asked in a thin voice, "Who is it? Who dares to find trouble with the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence?"
Shen Wen said in a coarse voice, "The Marquis of Zhenbei's residence? Is it bigger than the Grand Prince?"
The thin voice asked again, "The Grand Prince? Why would the Grand Prince want to fix the young lady of the Marquis of Zhenbei?"
Shen Wen thickened her voice and coughed: "I told you, don't talk nonsense, in the first month, the Grand Prince's sister, the Fourth Princess, and the youngest daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei had a quarrel, who doesn't know this? The Grand Prince doesn't like the Marquis of Zhenbei. He asked the sisters in our house to make a scene while she was away, to embarrass the young lady who had quarreled with his sister. But who knows, the lady was not in the car and our sisters were arrested. It's okay, they'll be back in a couple of days, just wait. The Grand Prince is very powerful!"
The thin-voiced man said happily, "That's great!"
Shen Wen, who had already walked past the purification room, said in a thick voice, "Of course! The person who sent the letter is a relative of my family, and whatever the Grand Prince wants to do, there is nothing he can't do. It's bad luck for that young lady from the Marquis, who told her to quarrel with the Fourth Princess? Sooner or later, she will be made infamous ......"
Away from the room, Shen Wen threw the branch and leapt up onto the ridge, returning to the room with a few leaps.
After a few moments, the two men came out of the netting room and looked around before talking in a low voice, saying:
"Is it true? Is it true that the Grand Prince has taken action against the Marquis of Zhenbei? It's because a girl had a fight with the Fourth Princess?"
"In fact, I heard about this long ago, but not only with the Fourth Princess, the Grand Prince was also present at that time. It is said that that girl is stupid and dumb, speaks regardless and has no upbringing at all."
"How old is she?"
"Seven years old, I think."
"Seven years old? What does seven years old know? The Grand Prince is also too ......"
"Hush, don't say anything nonsense, this one is about to become the Crown Prince."
"Isn't this just the two of us talking in private? Do you believe that the Grand Prince has borrowed the hand of the Wan Hua House to tarnish that girl's reputation?"
"I heard that this old prostitute from the Wan hua House went out into the street and stopped the caravan of the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence without reason, and was sent to the official court. Think about it, if the Grand Prince hadn't taken action, what is the position of the Marquis of Zhenbei? The capital court would have had to give face to the Marquis's family and give the women a misdemeanour, or at least a few strokes of the board. But if the Grand Prince had really been behind this, the prostitutes would have returned unscathed. That's telling everyone that the jibberish they said about stopping the caravan was true."
"Oh! That's the arrangement! How brilliant! It's just a pity that it was used on a girl ......"
"You're drunk, aren't you? Don't you remember?"
"I should be beaten, with that mouth of mine! I just thought ......"
The two men walked away, and Shen Wen also got up and left the Wanhua House, running back to the Marquis Mansion.
