Chapter 700: The Emperor's Art of Rule

"The Marquis left already?"

He Sisi walked over and asked with some surprise. She had originally thought Zheng Fan would stay for a meal, at the very least sit with her husband for one more dinner and one more drink.

The butcher's daughter had been a Princess Consort for several years now.

Her vision was naturally nothing like it had once been.

She understood perfectly well what kind of situation her husband was facing.

More than that... she understood what kind of choice now stood before their entire household.

She did not try to persuade her husband to stop fighting.

Wouldn't it be nice to simply live an ordinary peaceful life?

She never said anything that foolish.

Because she still remembered something her father had once said back in Nan'an County:

"This street can have one butcher shop, and only one. Ours!"

Even a butcher fighting over storefront space had to raise his pig-killing knife.

When imperial princes fought over the throne... how could anyone simply say "withdraw" and actually withdraw?

Trying to persuade him to back down now would be the truly stupid choice.

"Mm. He went back."

Ji Chengjue smiled and nodded.

In truth, for that bastard Zheng to come over at all had taken quite a bit of trouble.

A disguise.

The Sword Saint suppressing their presence.

Zheng Fan had not appeared to accomplish much.

Nor had he handed Ji Chengjue some miraculous stratagem in a brocade pouch.

But the fact that he came... was already the greatest support.

Ji Chengjue's entire state of mind had settled again.

That was the power of a real friend.

It sounded sentimental.

But when Ji Old Sixth stood alone facing the Eastern Palace, and perhaps even the suffocating pressure radiating from the Dragon Throne itself... having someone run up behind you, even if all he did was kick you in the ass... was still precious support.

He Sisi could tell that her husband's mood had improved considerably.

The words "that bastard Zheng" were constantly on her husband's lips.

Naturally... the man was different.

He could even do something she, as his woman, could not.

"Lingxiang."

"Master, this servant is here."

Lingxiang stepped out from behind He Sisi.

"Go to Lady Fengxin's residence. Take Chuanye some more clothes, and bring Old Madam Lu some gifts. Oh, right. Didn't a new batch of medicinal herbs arrive from the west? I've already had some set aside. Take them over for Old Madam Lu to nourish her health.

"Go openly. Make it look to outsiders as though our household is about to fall and we're already making arrangements to entrust our orphaned child to someone else."

"Yes. This servant understands."

The words sounded grim.

Yet neither woman showed shock or fear.

Because the tone in which their man spoke still carried the feeling that everything remained within his grasp.

"And give Old Madam Lu my regards. Ask after her blessings and health."

Lingxiang showed a trace of surprise.

Instinct told her that sentence must contain some deeper meaning.

She could not guess what it was.

But that did not matter.

She had already married into the prince's residence.

She belonged to Ji Chengjue now.

At dusk... a carriage left the residence.

Inside sat the Side Consort who had received her title after giving birth to a child.

The Lu Residence opened its main gate and allowed the carriage directly inside.

Lingxiang soon entered the Buddhist hall in the rear residence.

Yesterday, Ji Chuanye had gone to the First Prince's residence with Ji Chuanshi. He did not return to his own home afterward, and He Sisi had him sent back to Lady Fengxin's residence.

At this moment...

Ji Chuanye sat practicing calligraphy.

Old Madam Lu reclined against the couch, slowly turning prayer beads in her hand.

The atmosphere inside the Buddhist hall was peaceful.

Before Old Madam Lu, Ji Chuanye did not dare behave mischievously in the slightest.

He looked completely different from the excited child who had met Marquis Pingxi yesterday.

A maid led Lingxiang inside.

Then withdrew.

From beginning to end... none of the other Lu family members appeared.

Not because they deliberately refused to see her.

Old Madam Lu had given the order in advance:

If someone came from the prince's residence, bring them directly to her.

No one else was to delay them.

Her body sat inside a Buddhist hall.

Her heart was anything but peaceful.

Only half a day had passed since the grand court audience.

But news had already spread throughout Yanjing.

Sixth Highness won a great victory.

The Crown Prince suffered a disastrous defeat.

Yet the Crown Prince's foundations had grown even steadier.

Meanwhile, the Sixth Master's faction looked like eggplants beaten by frost.

Court politics were strange and unpredictable.

This was the perfect example.

The Lu family's household culture... to be truthful... was nothing exceptional.

Old Madam Lu knew that perfectly well.

The family had risen because she had served as the Emperor's wet nurse.

It was not a military house.

Not an aristocratic clan.

Her son Lu Bing was excellent.

But inside the Lu family... he was the one clear seedling growing straight.

The rest were mostly crooked melons and split dates.

Some deep family heritage?

Brilliant descendants whose intelligence approached the demonic?

Naturally... there was none of that.

The Lu family had not been fortunate enough to receive that many excellent seeds.

At minimum, another two or three generations of cultivation would be required.

Earlier, the Lu family had assumed its relationship with Sixth Master was quite good.

They had also hoped Sixth Master would topple the Eastern Palace, allowing their own household to gain benefits through He Sisi's nominal connection to the Lu family as her "natal family."

The greater the expectation had been... the greater the disappointment now.

Old Madam Lu truly did not want to waste attention slapping the younger generation around at a time like this.

She also feared they might display contempt or say some thoughtless nonsense.

So she simply confined them all to their rooms.

"This servant greets Old Ancestress."

Lingxiang knelt before Old Madam Lu.

She had once been a maid raised beside the old woman.

When He Sisi married, the Lu family had served as her nominal natal household, and Lingxiang had been the personal maid Old Madam Lu sent with her.

More precisely... a prospective bedchamber maid.

Now...

Lingxiang could be considered to have finally made something of herself.

Old Madam Lu remained seated and accepted the kowtow.

"Cough... cough..."

Then the old woman began coughing and tried to rise.

There were no other maids in the room, so Lingxiang hurriedly stood and helped her up.

"Come. This old woman should salute you as well."

"You mustn't! You absolutely mustn't, Old Ancestress. Are you trying to force this servant to die?"

"Sigh."

Old Madam Lu sighed and shook her head.

Then... she nodded solemnly.

Lingxiang, who was supporting her, felt the old woman's weight dip slightly downward.

Only after that did Old Madam Lu settle back onto the couch.

The meaning was obvious.

The salute had been given.

"Girl, by rights, you grew up beside me. You kowtowing to me is proper. Perfectly natural. But let's speak plainly.

"How much longer do I have to live?

"If I keep accepting all these perfectly natural kowtows, then when I leave, your relationship with the Lu family will slowly fade too.

"So for every salute you give me...

"I'll return one.

"Save them.

"Let my sons and grandsons use them later."

"Old Ancestress, what are you saying? The Lu Residence is this servant's natal home. The Lu family are this servant's own family."

"Enough, enough. You're a Side Consort now, aren't you? Your status is different.

"This old woman asks only one thing.

"For the sake of the opportunity I gave you back then... for the sake of everything I taught you... and for the sake of the warning I gave you not to enter His Highness's bed before Miss He gave birth to an imperial grandson... if the younger members of the Lu family still aren't completely beyond saving in the future, lend them a hand.

"If they're truly mud that won't stick to a wall... then let them rot."

"Old Ancestress, don't worry. Don't worry."

"All right, girl. Come sit here."

Lingxiang sat beside Old Madam Lu at the edge of the couch.

Joy surged quietly inside her.

Not because Old Madam Lu was treating her as someone important.

Not because the old woman was speaking to her so politely.

But because Old Madam Lu had just said she hoped Lingxiang might help support the Lu family in the future.

What did that mean?

It meant that in Old Madam Lu's eyes...

Lingxiang had a future.

This Side Consort had a future.

And therefore the entire prince's residence... her husband, Sixth Highness himself... still had a future.

The chain of logic could not have been clearer.

And Lingxiang stood at its lowest end.

If her husband was gone... what would she amount to?

Then Lingxiang suddenly understood something else.

What did it mean to ask her to support the Lu family?

Those words sounded as though they were addressed to her.

In truth...

Old Madam Lu merely wanted her to act as a messenger.

To carry the old woman's conditions and the Lu family's conditions back to her husband.

She... was only a carrier pigeon.

How ridiculous that she had felt so pleased with herself just now.

Old Madam Lu took Lingxiang's hand.

"In the old days, I saw plenty of exquisite young girls. Pretty faces. Clever hearts. Very lovable."

"Old Ancestress, you mean...?"

"The late Empress.

"And Consort Min."

"..." Lingxiang.

Lingxiang immediately understood.

The scolding was coming next.

"Girl, I probably won't have many more chances to tell you these things. I hope you live well.

"Once you've married into the imperial family, you need to learn four words:

"Contentment brings happiness.

"I'm not telling you never to fight for anything.

"Nor am I telling you to spend your entire life the way I did.

"Before you make a decision... think about yourself.

"Think about your child.

"Then think about Consort Min.

"And the late Empress.

"You are fortunate.

"Little Sixth... is different."

Different from whom?

Naturally... different from His Majesty.

"Be content. Learn contentment."

"Yes, Old Ancestress. This servant will remember."

"Mm."

Old Madam Lu nodded.

Then asked:

"Was there a message?"

Lingxiang nodded.

"His Highness asked this servant to convey his wishes for Old Ancestress's blessings and health."

"Aiya."

Old Madam Lu smacked her lips.

"Little Sixth has really been driven into a corner."

"Old Ancestress, please help my husband. He... he has had such a difficult life."

"Who in this world lives easily?"

Old Madam Lu closed her eyes.

"Go back and tell him this old woman's body probably won't enjoy blessings and health for much longer."

"Old Ancestress?"

The old woman, eyes already closed, waved a hand.

Lingxiang rose.

She knelt below the couch and kowtowed twice more.

Only then did she stand and leave the Buddhist hall.

"Farewell, Auntie."

Ji Chuanye obediently saluted Lingxiang.

Lingxiang stopped in front of him, bent down, and stroked his head.

"Chuanye, be good."

"Mm."

Lingxiang left.

Her work as a carrier pigeon was complete.

But she had no idea what would happen next.

After Lingxiang departed... a man wearing armor entered through the rear door of the Buddhist hall.

He carried a mask in one hand.

"Mother."

"You're back."

"Yes. Your son is back."

Lu Bing had returned.

He was extremely busy today.

But his mother had still sent someone to summon him home.

Lu Bing had always respected and trusted his mother.

This was no longer merely the emotional bond between mother and son.

It was closer to the sympathy between the only two people in the entire family who possessed functioning brains.

"Did you hear what we said just now?"

"I heard it, Mother."

"Do you remember what Little Sixth said to you when he came yesterday?"

"I remember."

"And what do you think?"

"Your son will still follow Mother's old teaching. Your son is loyal only to His Majesty."

Wei Zhonghe's Secret Intelligence Department stood in the light.

Lu Bing's yamen operated in the shadows.

Every imperial prince understood how enormous an advantage Lu Bing's support would be.

The aging Emperor had spent so long recuperating in the Rear Garden, yet upon returning he had quickly regained control of the situation.

One reason was his overwhelming imperial authority.

The other was that the Secret Intelligence Department and Lu Bing's hidden yamen still helped him hold the tentacles of power in an iron grip.

Old Madam Lu shook her head.

Lu Bing looked confused.

"His Majesty will leave us in the end. His body failed long ago. Now that the Northern and Southern Princes have returned, the breath His Majesty had been holding inside his chest has finally loosened."

Once that breath was gone... the days remaining would naturally be few.

"What does Mother mean by this?"

"Son."

"I'm here."

"Your mother wants to renew one more bond of old favor for our Lu family."

"Mother."

Lu Bing knelt.

His forehead touched the floor.

"Mother, today your son personally arrested Ji Changwang's entire household."

Had Ji Changwang not also wanted to renew a bond of old favor?

As for whether the dragon robe and imperial jade seal were real... how could Lu Bing himself possibly not know?

Old Madam Lu said nothing.

Lu Bing waited a long time.

Then raised his head.

His mother still reclined against the couch, watching him.

"Mother..."

"Did His Majesty ever drink Ji Changwang's milk?"

"..." Lu Bing.

"His Majesty drank mine."

"Yes, Mother."

Lu Bing could only accept that sentence.

"All of you think His Majesty has no feelings. But your mother understands better than anyone. His Majesty values old affection very deeply."

"..." Lu Bing.

They were mother and son.

And Lu Bing, as one of the Emperor of Yan's intelligence chiefs, could at least ensure that no one was secretly listening inside his own home.

So... he did not agree with that sentence merely to flatter her.

Old Madam Lu sighed.

She shifted her gaze from her son to the beams of the Buddhist hall.

"Son. You were one of the boys who climbed over the Tian family wall with His Majesty and Liangting all those years ago.

"You also met the Min family's girl.

"That girl would come running over to me and call me Mother without the slightest hesitation.

"His Majesty stood beside us watching.

"He laughed too.

"Your mother could feel it.

"The two women His Majesty loved most in this life... were those two girls.

"And toward both of them...

"His feelings were genuine."

Old Madam Lu opened her mouth.

Then sighed again.

"Everyone says the Southern Prince exterminated his own clan. Even you once said privately that no one beneath Heaven lived more bitterly than the Southern Prince.

"But no matter how bitter Tian Wujing's life became... he could still charge beyond the frontier.

"Still gallop across battlefields.

"His Majesty?

"All he could do was move from the imperial palace to the Rear Garden... then from the Rear Garden back to the imperial palace.

"He had to stay alive.

"Alive where the world could see him.

"He had to let his ministers and his people see him from time to time, so they would know he was still there.

"Still standing.

"When the Southern Prince returns to his residence, he can disappear cleanly into its deepest rooms. He doesn't even need to receive imperial edicts.

"His Majesty... still has to attend court.

"Still has to face the civil and military officials.

"That day His Majesty slept here at noon... your mother saw the spots on his body.

"They say... the previous Emperor also ruined his body and died because he swallowed these medicinal pills."

"Your son is slow. What does Mother mean?"

"I always taught you to be His Majesty's blade.

"You could be loyal only to His Majesty.

"One sovereign, one generation of ministers. That rule is real.

"While His Majesty remains, a blade like you must naturally follow His Majesty's will.

"His Majesty has said nothing.

"But he does not have many days left.

"His Majesty remembers old affection.

"Your mother has preserved this old bond for you, and for the Lu family, all these years.

"Whether that bond can continue into the next reign... will depend on you."

"Mother is still forcing your son to choose a side." Lu Bing shook his head. "Forgive your son's disobedience. This time I won't listen.

"One generation ago, the Lu family were commoners.

"Now our lives are already vastly better than before.

"Your son does not believe the Lu family is destined for scarlet robes and purple nobility.

"Our present life is already good.

"We should know contentment."

Old Madam Lu nodded.

"Your son still has matters outside."

Lu Bing rose.

Turned.

Prepared to leave.

At that moment, Old Madam Lu spoke.

"Son.

"When you have a blade you no longer intend to use... do you hide it away?

"Throw it into some corner?

"Or... destroy it?

"Because if you leave it lying around... won't you still worry that one day someone else might pick it up and use it to wound you?"

"..." Lu Bing.

Old Madam Lu smiled.

"When His Majesty was in the prime of life, you did not step down.

"Now... you think you can simply retire because you want to?

"There are indeed plenty of ministers in the court who do not need to choose a side. They can simply stand there and wait until the situation becomes clear.

"But son... you cannot.

"If you refuse to choose... you are waiting to die.

"Waiting for the Lu family to be destroyed.

"The new sovereign will fear you.

"And he will have no bond of old favor with you.

"A blade with no bond of old favor... why would an Emperor keep it?

"Your mother is not telling you to betray His Majesty.

"What I mean is... the opportunity...

"His Majesty already gave you long ago.

"Son... perhaps you've spent too many years as His Majesty's subject.

"In the end, you grew distant from him.

"You can no longer understand what His Majesty means."

Lu Bing turned around and looked at his mother.

"Why did he hand Ji Changwang's matter to you?

"Why did he allow you to appear in the Golden Hall wearing armor?

"You truly don't understand?

"His Majesty was giving you an opportunity.

"An opportunity to stand in the sunlight.

"Wei Zhonghe's position will inevitably be replaced.

"But you... are different.

"Now that you have stepped into the sunlight... either... you become the next Grand Commander of the Secret Intelligence Department and merge the two yamens for the new sovereign's use... or... this blazing sun dries you out and kills you where you stand!

"What is an Emperor?

"An Emperor gives you favor with one hand... and prepares the oil cauldron with the other!

"You truly thought you could stand there, do nothing, and somehow purchase peace of mind?"

Lu Bing closed his eyes.

He hesitated.

Struggled.

"Listen to your mother, son.

"When the time comes, His Majesty will be here.

"I will be here.

"You will be here.

"Then... you can ask His Majesty yourself.

"And even taking ten thousand steps backward... our Lu family may have plenty of people, but from top to bottom, only you and I have working brains.

"Those fools have followed the two of us and enjoyed years of easy Lu-family living.

"If we mother and son truly choose wrong... if we stand on the wrong side... and disaster descends upon the whole family... then they deserve their share of it.

"There's no reason they can follow us to enjoy fortune... but refuse to share hardship."

"Mother, there is something your son has always wanted to ask."

"Ask."

"From the very beginning...

"Mother intended to stand with Sixth Highness, didn't you?"

"Your mother has always stood with His Majesty."

"Yes.

"Your son understands."

"This is the gift list. Look at the medicinal herbs on it. I remember you once read some medical texts."

Lu Bing picked up the gift list Lingxiang had left on the tea table.

His gaze swept across the medicinal herbs.

His brow furrowed slightly.

"Several of these herbs appear to nourish blood and qi. Their medicinal nature is mild as well.

"But if combined... they will cause the blood and qi to run backward into disorder and leave a person unconscious."

"Go decoct the medicine. In two days, prepare to report it to the palace.

"Whether His Majesty comes to visit... will be His Majesty's own decision."

"Mother is old. Your body may not withstand a medicine like this.

"Your son cannot watch Mother damage her own body for the fate of the Lu family.

"Your son still possesses that much conscience.

"That much of a bottom line."

Lu Bing refused without hesitation.

"Mother is old.

"Truly old."

"No matter how old you become, you are still my mother.

"Your son will never do such a thing.

"Never."

A smile appeared at the corner of Old Madam Lu's mouth.

"Mother means...

"I'm old.

"My health is poor.

"If I suddenly die... wouldn't that be perfectly normal?"

Lu Bing continued shaking his head.

Old Madam Lu added:

"So His Majesty would think it perfectly normal too.

"Because His Majesty is old as well.

"Perhaps he'd simply decide to wait until we're both below before calling me over to fan him again... and be too lazy to come see me now."

"This..."

Lu Bing suddenly felt that he had misunderstood something.

"Little Sixth sent that girl Lingxiang to ask after Mother's blessings and health.

"Mother's blessings and health are perfectly fine.

"But...

"Mother is not the only person living in this Buddhist hall."

At that point...

Old Madam Lu called toward the outside:

"Chuanye.

"Have you finished today's copybook practice?"

[End of Chapter 700]