The wild joy on Emperor Tiansheng’s face gradually faded.
Eunuch Li had served at the emperor’s side for decades, so he naturally knew how to read the situation.
He immediately flicked the snow-white horsetail whisk in his hand.
The dozen or so tall eunuchs surrounding them quickly dispersed. With their heads lowered and their steps small and hurried, they retreated into the shadows on either side of the great hall.
With the human wall gone, the air inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony began to circulate again.
But the oppressive atmosphere came rushing back with twice the force.
The civil and military officials of the entire court held their breath, not daring to make a sound.
Emperor Tiansheng paid no attention to their gazes.
With both hands clasped behind his back, he slowly climbed the vermilion steps.
Then he turned, flicked back the front of his dragon robe, and sat down upon the imperial throne.
The emperor gazed deeply at Xu Qinghuan below.
“Xu Qinghuan.”
Emperor Tiansheng spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, but it reverberated through the vast hall with a humming echo.
“I am here.” Xu Qinghuan bowed.
The emperor’s fingers tapped lightly against the armrest of his throne.
His brows drew together slightly, and his tone held an unusual trace of awkwardness.
There was even a hint of the coaxing manner a senior might use when discussing something with a younger person.
“Earlier, in a moment of excitement, I made an exception and bestowed upon you the title of First-Rank Noble Lady.”
Emperor Tiansheng paused, his tone becoming somewhat hesitant.
“Now that I think about it, this matter… was indeed somewhat improper.”
The moment those words were spoken, an invisible tempest swept through the hall.
Improper?
The officials stared in astonishment.
Just moments ago, the Son of Heaven had pushed through the human wall and personally called Xu Qinghuan “the Nation’s Auspicious Minister.”
How had he returned to the throne only to say that the reward was improper?
Had the secret memorial violated some imperial taboo? Or had Xu Qinghuan become arrogant with favor and angered the emperor?
Zhao Zhuo, Vice Minister of Works, clenched his hands tightly, his heart pounding.
Suppressing the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, he thought to himself:
That girl must have offered some inhuman, utterly destructive scheme and crossed His Majesty’s bottom line! Serves her right!
Xu Zhan’s face suddenly went deathly pale. He instinctively moved to step out of formation and take the blame for his younger sister.
An elderly general beside him reacted quickly, grabbing Xu Zhan firmly by the hem of his robe and hissing in a low voice:
“My lord! Don’t move! Listen to His Majesty!”
Xu Qinghuan stood in the center of the hall without so much as a flutter of her eyelashes, still maintaining her bowed posture.
She knew that old fox on the throne far too well.
The art of imperial manipulation always began by suppressing expectations before raising them.
Sure enough, Emperor Tiansheng looked at the officials below, each lost in his own thoughts.
He sighed softly and continued, “According to the laws of Great Qian, the title of First-Rank Noble Lady has traditionally been used to honor the mother or lawful wife of a meritorious official.”
The emperor’s gaze fell upon Xu Qinghuan, and his tone became earnest.
“You have never married. To bear the title of highest-ranking noblewoman would run contrary to propriety.”
“Furthermore…” Emperor Tiansheng waved his hand and spoke with startling frankness. “With the title of First-Rank Noble Lady over your head, once you reach the age of marriage, which young gentleman in the capital would dare set foot through the gates of the Xu family? Would that not ruin your prospects for marriage entirely?”
At that, the officials’ hearts, which had been lodged in their throats, finally dropped back into their chests.
Zhao Zhuo nearly ground his teeth to pieces.
Wasn’t His Majesty supposed to punish her? How had this turned into the Son of Heaven worrying about a subject’s marriage prospects?
Since ancient times, how many officials had ever received such personal attention from the emperor regarding their marital affairs? What an extraordinary imperial favor!
Xu Zhan also breathed a sigh of relief. His tense body relaxed, though a layer of cold sweat had already formed on his forehead.
Emperor Tiansheng watched Xu Qinghuan and leaned back against the throne. His tone became remarkably indulgent.
“So, I must take back the title of First-Rank Noble Lady. But you have rendered such an extraordinary service that I cannot leave you unrewarded.”
Zhao Zhuo froze.
Oh. So His Majesty was merely… apologizing.
The emperor pointed at Xu Qinghuan.
“Tell me, what would you like? Gold, silver, estates, rare treasures—so long as you ask, I shall grant it.”
The ball had been kicked back into Xu Qinghuan’s court.
Xu Qinghuan straightened and met the emperor’s assessing gaze.
Her mind raced at high speed.
Ask for money? The treasury was already empty, so empty that they could not even scrape together enough silver to build ships.
If she asked for money now, she would only appear ignorant of the situation and publicly embarrass the emperor.
Ask for power?
Since the founding of Great Qian, there had never been a precedent for a woman entering the imperial court as an official.
Insisting on an official post would provoke fierce denunciations from the entire court and create enemies for no reason.
That matter could not be rushed.
They had not even established anything resembling compulsory education yet!
Ugh. Forget it. She would just kick the ball back.
“Thunder and rain are both the grace of the sovereign.” Xu Qinghuan spoke without the slightest affectation.
“Everything I did at Zhenbei Pass was merely fulfilling my duty as one who eats of Your Majesty’s bounty and bears Your Majesty’s worries.”
“I have no other requests. As for my reward, I leave everything to Your Majesty’s divine discretion.”
Her words were flawless.
She had returned all authority over the decision to the emperor—a subject’s safest course of action.
Emperor Tiansheng stared at Xu Qinghuan, who knelt before him, and a look of profound admiration flashed through his eyes.
She neither claimed credit nor relied on imperial favor.
Such detachment was something even the old foxes who had spent decades in the imperial court might not have been able to achieve.
The emperor was immensely pleased with Xu Qinghuan.
“What a fine saying: ‘Thunder and rain are both the grace of the sovereign.’” Emperor Tiansheng stroked his beard beneath his chin.
As he spoke, he searched through his memories.
Before long, his eyes suddenly lit up.
“I seem to recall that when you were in Jiangning Prefecture, I once issued an edict granting you the title of Jiangning County Princess?”
Xu Qinghuan lowered her head and replied, “In answer to Your Majesty, that is indeed so.”
Emperor Tiansheng slapped his thigh and laughed heartily.
“Since you already possess the title of County Princess, we shall simply raise you by one rank! Eunuch Li, prepare the edict!”
Eunuch Li immediately held up his horsetail whisk, bent at the waist, and hurried in small steps to the imperial desk. With practiced efficiency, he spread out a blank sheet of imperial decree and lifted the vermilion-tipped brush.
The breathing of every civil and military official in the hall stopped once more. All of them pricked up their ears.
Emperor Tiansheng rose, clasped his hands behind his back, and spoke in a booming voice that carried to every corner of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
“Xu Qinghuan, daughter of Earl Chengyi, has presented an extraordinary strategy that broke the deadlock and saved tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, earning merit that shall endure for generations! By special decree, her title of First-Rank Noble Lady is revoked.”
The emperor deliberately paused, his gaze sweeping across the assembled officials.
“She is raised by one rank and granted the title of Princess Wanping, of the second rank! She is bestowed the honorific ‘Wanping,’ granted a fief of one thousand households, and awarded a princess’s residence!”
When his words fell, the officials throughout the Hall of Supreme Harmony fell into deep thought.
A princess!
An imperial princess by adoption!
In the hundred years since Great Qian was founded, apart from the two daughters of the founding emperor’s sworn brothers, whom he had made princesses when they helped him conquer the realm, there had never been another princess of a different surname.
A noblewoman’s title was, in the end, merely a nominal honor bestowed upon the family of an outside official.
But a princess was a member of the imperial clan!
Her name would be entered into the imperial genealogy, and she would enjoy the incense and offerings of the imperial ancestral temples.
Xu Jie suddenly opened his eyes wide.
He looked at Emperor Tiansheng standing beside the imperial desk, and an uncontrollable sense of dread surged through him.
The emperor’s move was too ruthless! Too ingenious!
Xu Jie saw the situation at court more clearly than anyone.
The astonishing talent Xu Qinghuan had displayed in the hall that day had already made the great Jiangnan clans green with envy.
The Xie, Zhao, and Cui families would certainly be trampling one another to get through the gates of the Xu family.
They would fight tooth and nail to marry this genius who could create mountains of gold and silver into their clan.
But now, Xu Qinghuan had become Princess Wanping of the second rank!
According to the laws of Great Qian, marrying a princess was known as “taking a princess as one’s wife.”
A scion of a noble family who became a princess’s consort would be barred for life from holding any real position of power at court. He could only take some sinecure and muddle through his days until death.
Which great aristocratic clan would be willing to offer up its most promising direct heir to marry a princess?
That would amount to destroying the next generation’s political future outright!
The emperor had used a nominal second-rank title of County Princess, along with a residence, to completely sever any notion the great aristocratic clans might have had of forming marriage alliances with the Xu family.
From this day forward, Xu Qinghuan—and the entire Xu family—could only bind themselves tightly to the chariot of imperial authority.
They would become the sharpest and purest blade in the hands of Emperor Tiansheng!
Zhao Zhuo and the other officials from Jiangnan also saw through this layer of meaning.
Their faces instantly turned deathly pale. The thoughts they had been entertaining about having their own sons approach Xu Qinghuan were now doused with a basin of ice-cold water, chilling them to the bone.
Standing high atop the palace steps, Emperor Tiansheng took in the reactions of all the officials. He immediately understood what they were thinking.
Er… was it possible that…
My esteemed subjects, you’re overthinking this.
