Chapter 931: The Prince Enters the Capital

“Four portions of rice mixed with lard.”

“Oh? Guest, you’ve been here before, haven’t you?” the stall owner asked with a smile.

“Mm. I have. I only just got back to the capital, and this was the first thing I started craving.”

“Well, you’re really giving us face. Everyone else who comes through the capital is thinking about Quande Restaurant’s roast duck, and you’re actually remembering our little bits of pork crackling.”

“They smell good.”

Zheng Fan smiled.

“Wait a moment. I’ll make you a plate of dressed vegetables too. On the house.”

“Boss Lady, that’s generous.”

“You’re too polite.”

Zheng Fan sat down.

Siniang sat to his left.

Tian Tian sat to his right.

The Sword Saint occupied the remaining side.

This time, Zheng Fan had brought Tian Tian with him to the capital.

The Tian Clan’s ancestral homeland lay in Tiancheng Commandery, which was part of the capital region.

In truth, Zheng Fan had hesitated over whether to bring Tian Tian.

Some things could be allowed to pass.

Pretend they had never happened.

But in the end, Zheng Fan still brought him.

Sooner or later, the boy would have to face his own origins.

And deliberately hiding and concealing them would only leave them looking weaker.

Tian Tian had grown up.

It was time for him to make his own judgment.

Most importantly, in this life Tian Tian had Zheng Fan, his “father,” beside him.

He would not be tormented by some so-called heart demon and end up walking that path again.

The owner moved quickly.

Rice mixed with lard was simple enough to prepare.

But the free side dish turned out to be wild greens tossed with sliced pig’s head meat.

That was genuinely generous.

The owner set down the bowl and handed over a pair of chopsticks.

Then she said to Tian Tian:

“For the young master.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

Tian Tian was unfailingly polite no matter the occasion.

“Heh.”

The owner laughed and went back to her work.

Everyone began eating.

Tian Tian ate with great appetite.

“Son, good?” Zheng Fan asked as he placed a piece of pork snout into the boy’s bowl.

“Really fragrant, Dad.”

Tian Tian had already begun proper martial training.

A half-grown boy could eat his father poor even under ordinary circumstances.

Add martial cultivation on top of that, and his appetite was genuinely astonishing.

And ever since childhood, aside from his particular love for shaqima, he had never been picky about food.

“Here. Eat Dad’s bowl too.”

Zheng Fan pushed the large bowl of lard-mixed rice in front of him toward Tian Tian.

Tian Tian raised his head.

“Dad, you’re not eating?”

“I’d rather go hungry than let my son go hungry.”

Zheng Fan displayed the warm smile of a loving father.

“Thank you, Dad.”

Tian Tian knew perfectly well that their household could hardly lack the money for one bowl of rice mixed with lard.

But he still enjoyed the warmth of a father pushing his own food toward his son.

Naturally... the real reason was that Prince Pingxi possessed a delicate stomach and simply could not tolerate such greasy food.

The woman busily greeting customers at the front of the stall was named Bihe.

Strictly speaking, she counted as an imperial relative.

Her sister-in-law was the present Empress.

Ji Old Sixth had chosen a butcher’s daughter as his wife.

Zheng Fan believed the two genuinely loved one another.

But if someone told him Ji Old Sixth had never thought the matter through in advance, that he had chosen a commoner girl purely because true love had struck him like lightning from a clear sky...

Zheng Fan did not believe that for a second.

The extermination of the Min Clan and the Tian Clan had already been an extremely clear political signal from the late Emperor.

From then onward, the principal Empress should be chosen from among the common people.

In that respect, the policy resembled the old Zhu family in another time and space.

And the effect truly was excellent.

The possibility of maternal relatives interfering in government was reduced to the absolute minimum.

At that moment...

Old He walked over.

He stopped beside Zheng Fan’s table and looked at him for a moment.

The four people at Zheng Fan’s table were not dressed in anything outrageously rich or luxurious.

But there was an effortless comfort to their appearance.

Among the high officials and nobles of this age, very few truly possessed refined taste.

People still considered parading through the streets in gold and silver the height of fashion.

To dress with real elegance and restraint generally meant the owner of those clothes had already reached a certain level.

Over the past few years, Old He had often been summoned into the palace to see his imperial grandson.

The level of people he encountered had naturally risen.

And little by little, he had developed a kind of instinct.

Or rather... he saw in Zheng Fan something that resembled the feeling his own son-in-law gave him.

Old He did not remember Zheng Fan.

Nor did he go over and start a conversation.

He simply cupped his hands toward Zheng Fan in greeting.

Zheng Fan inclined his head slightly in return.

“Hahaha! Not late. Not late!”

Another old man came over.

It was Old Guang.

The two old men were in-laws.

Whenever the weather was good, they usually met at this little stall and shared a small table.

Four liang of wine.

Two little dishes.

They drank, talked, and let an afternoon pass.

Old Guang’s eldest son had always been capable.

His second son had now risen to Deputy Commander of the Yuqian Palace Guard.

The family could hardly be called enormously wealthy or noble.

But it had at least squeezed into the ranks of minor official households.

There was no real pressure left.

The rest of his life could be lived freely and comfortably.

Old He was even more relaxed than Old Guang.

His biological daughter was Empress.

His biological grandson was Crown Prince.

His son had married long ago.

His own grandson could already walk and call him Grandpa.

He too had reached an age where there was little left to worry about.

The two old men sat down.

Bihe brought over wine and side dishes.

Old Guang first clinked cups with Old He and took a small sip.

Then he said:

“I thought you wouldn’t come today. Huge numbers of people went east of the city to watch Prince Pingxi enter the capital. His Majesty sent the Crown Prince in place of the imperial presence to welcome him outside the western side of the city.”

Old He smiled.

“I’m not going to squeeze into that crowd.”

“Exactly. No point joining the commotion. We wouldn’t be able to push close enough anyway. Better to sit here, sip some wine, and enjoy ourselves.”

“Mm. But Old Brother, tell me something. Why did Prince Pingxi suddenly decide to enter the capital?”

“That’s hard to say. Hard to say.”

Old Guang stroked his thoughts for a moment.

Old He asked:

“I heard Prince Pingxi didn’t bring any troops with him this time. Two years ago, when Prince Pingxi entered the capital, didn’t he have ten thousand Jingnan iron cavalry beside him?”

“Ha. Old Brother, that just means you don’t understand. Prince Pingxi has more than a hundred thousand cavalry beneath him in eastern Jin, and those hundred thousand are all real elites. What difference does it make whether they’re in eastern Jin or camped beneath the walls of Yanjing? So long as they exist, they’re Prince Pingxi’s best protective talisman!”

Commoners in the capital loved discussing affairs of court, army, and state more than anything else.

And once they began analyzing... they could sound remarkably convincing.

“Oh. So that’s how it is.”

Old He suddenly understood.

Most of the information he heard about these matters came from Old Guang.

After all... he could hardly go ask his son-in-law about state affairs directly.

“Ah. Some people say Prince Pingxi came to the capital this time to repay the favor from His Majesty’s Eastern Inspection last year. That the Prince understands the situation and has come to bow his head to the court.”

“That sounds good to me. His Highness is still a Prince of our Great Yan. With the Prince there, we ordinary people feel steadier inside.”

“Exactly. Right now Prince Pingxi is basically the Sea-Stabilizing Pillar of our Great Yan. Great Yan actually has plenty of famous generals. But if you want a second man who can simply sit somewhere and instantly steady the hearts of the people while making the entire army fight for him... you really can’t find one.”

“Exactly. Exactly.”

“But I also heard a group of students from the Imperial Academy have been submitting memorials together. Their meaning seems to be that they want to take advantage of Prince Pingxi entering the capital to have him...”

Old Guang trailed off and made a light slicing motion with one hand.

“What?!”

Old He nearly jumped.

“They want to kill the Prince?”

Only then did Old Guang realize his gesture had been wildly misleading.

He immediately waved both hands.

“How could that be? How could that possibly be? Those students are petitioning together because they hope Prince Pingxi will move his princely Residence to the capital and enter the Grand Secretariat. They even say Prince Pingxi possesses eight dou of talent and is a literary genius praised even by Qian’s Literary Saint. They want to invite Prince Pingxi to become their Headmaster.”

The matter was no secret.

For several days already, students of the Imperial Academy had been organizing petitions and gatherings.

Even the Academy’s Director had voluntarily proposed the idea and offered to step aside for a worthier man.

In short... the commotion had become enormous.

But behind it, there was undoubtedly approval from higher levels.

Many officials at court believed that eastern Jin’s present condition—especially the existence of two systems of law inside one state—would eventually lead to Great Yan splitting apart if allowed to continue indefinitely.

That would unquestionably be a disaster for the state.

But those officials were not idiots.

They had no intention of pushing some extreme method.

Set aside the hundred thousand-plus iron cavalry in eastern Jin loyal to Prince Pingxi.

If a Prince born among commoners, a man who had rendered enormous military service to Great Yan, were lured into the capital and slaughtered... what would Great Yan’s military think?

Even if one intended to cook up charges against him, things could not be done that crudely.

A ready-made precedent already existed.

Years ago, Qian’s Tattooed Chancellor, founder of the Western Army, had possessed military authority and the loyalty of the troops.

Even he had first been gloriously promoted into the Privy Council and made a Chancellor before being thrown into prison.

There had to be a buffer.

A process.

As for Prince Pingxi... these officials loyal to Great Yan had no intention of killing the donkey after it finished grinding.

They were not as shortsighted as Qian.

So long as Prince Pingxi was willing to leave his fief and reside in the capital... they would even be willing to surrender their own authority to him.

During the late Emperor’s reign, the court had been purged and cleaned repeatedly.

In the two years since the new sovereign ascended the throne, he too had promoted many officials who genuinely handled affairs.

So Great Yan’s present court remained relatively clean.

To borrow Qian’s phrasing... the court was genuinely “filled with upright men.”

Everyone truly believed they were thinking for the state.

And they hoped Prince Pingxi himself would understand the situation as well.

Everyone could settle the hidden danger that might one day threaten the state peacefully and harmoniously.

Even if Prince Pingxi were directly made Chief Grand Secretary... they would accept it.

“The great officials have far more things to think about than people like us,” Old Guang could only say. “But if we reason it out, the Savages have already been subdued and the Chu no longer dare make trouble. I actually think Prince Pingxi could come live in the capital for a while. If another war truly comes later, His Highness can always come out of retirement again.”

Old Guang belonged to the imperial clan.

His position naturally leaned toward protecting the stability of the Ji family’s rule.

He understood the danger of an overgrown military fief.

Perhaps Prince Pingxi continuing to guard eastern Jin was presently good for Great Yan.

But for the Ji family... it remained an enormous hidden danger.

Old He offered no opinion.

He simply felt Prince Pingxi had been doing perfectly well in eastern Jin.

With the Prince there, the Jin lands remained stable.

If the Prince returned to the capital and disorder rose again, what then?

A man’s reputation cast the shadow of a great tree.

Still, Old He could not be bothered arguing the point with Old Guang.

At that moment, Old Guang suddenly pointed behind him.

“Old Brother. Your son-in-law is here.”

The man approaching was none other than Ji Chengjue.

Eunuch Wei followed behind him.

Ji Chengjue nodded toward the two old men.

Old He immediately lifted his backside from the stool and returned the greeting.

Old Guang had long since stopped finding this complete absence of father-in-law dignity unusual.

He had lectured Old He about it before.

It had never helped.

Then...

Old He watched his son-in-law sit down at that other table.

More precisely... he sat on the same bench as the man in white brocade.

The man in white even looked somewhat disgusted and clearly did not want to share the bench.

His son-in-law simply bumped his way over and insisted on sitting there.

“...” Old He.

Old He nearly petrified.

His son-in-law was Emperor of Great Yan.

The most, most, most exalted existence beneath Heaven.

Someone qualified to treat his son-in-law like this...

Fortunately, when he had first entered the capital, the late Emperor had often dropped by his home.

Old He possessed no great abilities otherwise.

But he had at least trained himself a pair of fiery golden eyes for recognizing enormous figures.

For a moment... he more or less guessed the man’s identity.

It was obvious enough.

At this exact moment, his biological grandson was outside the western side of the city welcoming Prince Pingxi into the capital.

Meanwhile, his son-in-law had run here to squeeze onto the same bench as another man.

There was only one person who possessed that qualification.

...

“Ha! I knew you bastard couldn’t handle this stuff.”

Ji Chengjue looked at the empty space before Zheng Fan where no bowl of lard-mixed rice sat and immediately laughed.

The bastard surnamed Zheng had always taken “food must be refined, slicing must be fine” to heart.

Ji Chengjue had learned that firsthand.

As he spoke, he reached out and rubbed Tian Tian’s head.

“Half a year and you’ve grown taller again. Eat more.”

“Mm-hm, Elder Brother.”

“...” Ji Chengjue.

Ji Chengjue knew perfectly well the boy was doing it deliberately.

But he still could not argue over the form of address.

He could only blame that bastard Zheng for being shameless enough not to teach the boy proper generations.

“Surnamed Zheng, I’ve arranged everything.”

Ji Chengjue picked up a pair of chopsticks, took a piece of pig’s head meat, and put it into his mouth.

Chewing, he continued:

“I arranged it for the Rear Garden. The official explanation is that I intend to spend half a month in the Rear Garden with you, discussing Great Yan’s future knee-to-knee. As for court affairs, we’ll hand them to the Grand Secretariat and let the ministers handle matters themselves. What do you think? Back then, my Imperial Father also spent time alone with Li Liangting in the Rear Garden like that.”

Zheng Fan looked faintly disgusted.

“I’m afraid my reputation will be ruined.”

“I’m the Emperor and even I’m not afraid. What are you afraid of? Besides, don’t pretend you don’t know your own reputation. Relax. A thousand years from now, anyone reading unofficial histories will only know that you, Zheng Fan, liked married women. A man famous for liking married women... how could anyone think he also favored the Jin fashion? You really do possess foresight. You set the tone for yourself in advance.”

Zheng Fan rolled his eyes at Ji Chengjue.

Their relationship had grown much closer after the Emperor’s Eastern Inspection half a year earlier.

The Son of Heaven had abandoned the Imperial Guards and entered Prince Pingxi Residence with the Empress.

The Son of Heaven had learned from Prince Pingxi that something was growing inside his brain and would shorten his life.

The Prince said it.

So the Emperor believed it.

Sometimes... you genuinely could not avoid admitting that the old Ji family possessed a hereditary craft for making people willing to stake their lives on them.

Here...

Prince Pingxi and the Emperor sat in a tiny street stall inside Yanjing, eating and chatting.

Meanwhile, outside the eastern side of the capital, the Crown Prince led the civil and military officials, surrounded by a vast sea of commoners, solemnly welcoming Prince Pingxi’s procession into the city.

The Crown Prince read the imperial decree with extraordinary gravity.

The decree specially permitted Prince Pingxi not to leave his carriage when receiving it.

After the decree was read, the Crown Prince performed the proper salute of a nephew toward his paternal uncle before the carriage.

Then he personally climbed aboard.

He was supposed to accompany Prince Pingxi into the capital and the imperial palace.

Many ministers nearby thought Prince Pingxi had become far too arrogant.

The decree might have permitted him not to dismount.

But to truly remain inside the carriage while the decree was read... was excessive.

Inside the carriage, however...

Crown Prince Ji Chuanye looked at the completely empty interior.

He had already expected this.

He found a seat.

Sat down.

Then released an old and weary sigh far beyond his years.

“Ah.”

...

Zheng Fan and Ji Chengjue eventually climbed into another carriage.

Inside, Zheng Fan asked the Emperor:

“When are we entering the Rear Garden?”

“We still have to wait a few days. There are several court matters that need to be settled first.”

“I don’t have time.”

Zheng Fan had entered the capital this time specifically to perform surgery on the Emperor.

The Blind Man had pressed him on the timing as well.

The Blind Man understood that with the Demon Kings coordinating, the Emperor’s operation was not actually very difficult.

That little tumor had grown in a location almost absurdly considerate toward Little Sixth.

But six months was about the longest they should delay.

Wait much longer... and if something changed, nobody could say what would happen.

“There are matters I must finish before I can free myself to enter the Rear Garden and let you treat me.”

“Finish them and come find me. I’ll stay in the Rear Garden.”

“No. You have to walk a few public rounds beside me first. Several of these matters cannot be done without you.”

“What matters?”

The Prince’s impatience was obvious.

The Emperor smiled.

“In front of the civil and military officials. In front of everyone beneath Heaven. I am going to establish you, Zheng Fan... as the Regent Prince for the Crown Prince of Great Yan.”

“Are you sick?”

“You damned bastard. Weren’t you the one who told me I’m sick?”

“You’re still alive. What the hell kind of Regent Prince am I supposed to be? There’s no precedent for that.”

A regency generally existed because the Emperor was too young to govern.

The problem was Ji Old Sixth was a fully grown Emperor sitting right here.

It violated both rite and convention.

“Rules are made by people.”

Ji Chengjue reached out and placed his hand over Zheng Fan’s.

The Prince pulled his hand away.

The Emperor sighed helplessly.

Then grabbed Zheng Fan by the shoulder instead.

“Surnamed Zheng, this is my only demand. I will personally announce to the officials and to the realm that my dragon body is unwell and that I intend to enter the Rear Garden to recuperate, just as Imperial Father did years ago. Then I will have the Crown Prince oversee the government. And you, Zheng Fan, will rise from Prince Pingxi of Great Yan... to Regent Prince of Great Yan. Only then... if something unexpected happens while you treat me in the Rear Garden, the court will not fall into chaos. It cannot fall into chaos. With you holding the situation down... Chuanye will be able to sit securely upon the dragon throne. And taking ten thousand steps backward... if you decide you want that chair yourself, then you’ll still be able to arrange a proper future for Chuanye and for my wife without hurry. Relax. I have already left several secret decrees with Wei Zhonghe. If the worst outcome occurs, those decrees will be sent to every regional commander under the court. I will personally prove that your authority is legitimate. I didn’t even summon my Eldest Brother back!”

Zheng Fan threw his arm free.

Then cursed:

“Stop pulling this damned routine with me. This is only a small oper... After half a year of preparation, the chance of an accident is already extremely, extremely low.”

“Surnamed Zheng, if you refuse, then I won’t enter the Rear Garden. You can stay in the palace with me, eat what we should eat, drink what we should drink, play until we’re done. Then you return to eastern Jin. I continue being Emperor. If I die young, I accept it.”

“From ancient times to now, an Emperor using his own life to threaten a military Prince... you’re the only damned one.”

Most powerful military Princes beneath Heaven probably dreamed of the Emperor suddenly dropping dead.

“Someone has to dare to be first beneath Heaven.”

The Emperor did not care in the slightest.

“You understand perfectly well that I, Zheng Fan, have hated being threatened more than anything else in my life.”

The Emperor looked at the Prince.

A moment passed.

The Prince sighed.

Then said:

“Never again.”

[End of Chapter 931]