Chapter 109
After Bu Yu explained everything, Cui Lanyin had no more to say.
If Cui Lanting had merely wanted to marry into a prestigious family, it would not have been difficult. Even without Cui Lanyin’s involvement, Lady Chang could have managed it by invoking her name.
The reason nothing had come of it was that Cui Lanting herself was unwilling to cooperate. What she longed for was a marriage like Hong Ji and Cui Lanzhi’s—a good man whose heart would remain true to hers. As for the status of her husband’s family, that was secondary. A family of middling rank would do.
Hong Ji had never even taken a maid as a bedmate. As for someone like Cheng Gui, who had visited brothels on the Wu-Yang River before he was even married, Cui Lanyin had already ruled him out on Cui Lanting’s behalf.
She declined tactfully. “Third Sister-in-law, our Miss Ting is a straightforward girl. Someone too carefree and flirtatious would not suit her. Let’s forget about this.”
Princess Consort An, however, knew the truth. “Your Highness must have misunderstood. Cheng Gui usually enjoys gathering friends for fun, and he has rented pleasure boats several times. He often crosses to the other side of the Wu-Yang River to host drinking parties, but I can assure you that he has never done anything with those courtesans. He is unusually fastidious—even when using the privy, he cannot stand sharing it with anyone else, let alone anything more intimate. Your Highness need only send someone to investigate and you will know.”
Cui Lanyin still gave no definite answer. “I’ll ask Miss Ting what she thinks.”
Princess Consort An had said all that needed to be said. She was not especially skilled at social maneuvering, so after exchanging a few more words, she rose to take her leave.
Cui Lanyin had Bu Yu see her out. She planned to have Geng Dayou investigate Cheng Gui’s background when he came the next day.
She understood perfectly why Prince An had made this proposal. Since the Emperor had assigned Prince Duan an official task, Prince An also wanted to use her connections to secure one for himself. Marriage between the two families was the easiest way to draw closer.
Since ascending the throne, the Emperor had kept all his brothers at arm’s length. Prince Duan was the first to be given an official appointment.
After seeing Princess Consort An off, Cui Lanyin went to Funing Palace to keep Grand Empress Dowager Chen company.
At first, Grand Empress Dowager Chen had been afraid that Cui Lanyin would exhaust herself and had not allowed her to visit every day. But after hearing Imperial Physician Cao say that more walking during pregnancy would make for an easier delivery, she stopped trying to hold her back.
Aunt Gao had led the people of Funing Palace in making a great many clothes and other needlework for the Little Princess. The western bedroom’s wardrobe had been completely emptied of Grand Empress Dowager Chen’s garments and was now filled exclusively with clothes made for the Little Princess.
Looking at the piles and piles of things, Cui Lanyin could not help thinking that the Little Princess would never be able to wear them all.
She took Aunt Gao by the hand. “There’s more than enough. You don’t need to make any more.”
“How could we stop?” Aunt Gao replied. “We must at least prepare enough for the Little Princess to wear until she is three. That is the proper grandeur befitting a princess of royal blood.”
“Don’t concern yourself with that. The western bedroom’s wardrobe must be filled to the brim.” Grand Empress Dowager Chen stuffed a pastry into Cui Lanyin’s hand before she could say anything more.
That was not all. Grand Empress Dowager Chen continued, “We must hurry and arrange a room for the Little Princess. You should set up one in your residence, and she should have a room of her own here for when she comes to play. When she is older, if she prefers to live in the gardens with you, we can have Tanyue Residence refurbished for her.”
At that, Cui Lanyin began to worry. With Grand Empress Dowager Chen spoiling the child so thoroughly, would she be willing to let the Emperor teach the Little Princess martial arts? Would the two of them end up quarreling over it?
When Cui Lanyin arrived at Funing Palace, Empress Dowager Xu, Dowager Concubine Wan, and Consort Dowager Hui were all there. Consort Dowager Shu had not come because she was caring for Li Yijin during her confinement.
Consort Dowager Hui did not often visit Grand Empress Dowager Chen. Usually, she came only once every five or eight days.
She had been there just two days ago and had come again today, so she must have something on her mind.
Sure enough, not long after Cui Lanyin sat down, Consort Dowager Hui began complaining to her. “Prince Duan already has a son, yet Prince Ping, his elder brother, still has no marriage prospects. I urged him to ask His Majesty to arrange a marriage for him, but he always says that His Majesty is busy with state affairs and that he cannot trouble him with something like this.
“I asked my family to look into several candidates, but he refuses even to meet them. I truly have no idea what to do with him, so I have come to ask the Empress to arrange a marriage for him.”
Cui Lanyin recalled that Prince Ping had once set his heart on Li Yixin. Now Li Yixin had gone to the Temple of Returning Truth to become a Daoist nun, Chief Minister Li claimed to be ill and stayed away from court, and Grand Empress Dowager Li remained quietly in the palace, never showing herself unless something important occurred.
Had Prince Ping decided that the Li family had lost power and that his hopes were impossible, so he was preparing to settle down as a wealthy and idle prince?
Cui Lanyin said to Consort Dowager Hui, “I cannot make this decision myself. I’ll ask His Majesty.”
Consort Dowager Hui was still unwilling to give up. “Our Emperor would never know anything about marriage arrangements. You are his elder sister-in-law, and you are the most suitable person to decide.
“I would not dare trouble the Empress and make you weary. My family has already found several suitable households. Since Prince Ping has refused to meet the young ladies, why not have the girls come to my palace and keep me company for a while? Then, whenever Prince Ping comes to pay his respects, he will see them. After they meet a few times, surely one of them will catch his eye. Wouldn’t his marriage then fall naturally into place?”
Empress Dowager Xu glanced at Consort Dowager Hui. “That would be improper. There is no precedent for it.”
Consort Dowager Hui promptly took Empress Dowager Xu by the arm. “I know that a mere consort dowager like me has no such authority. But you, Elder Sister, certainly do. Please help me and let those young ladies stay with you for a while. I can move in as well and keep you company.”
Empress Dowager Xu was no longer the woman she had been before. During Emperor Xuanning’s reign, she had tolerated everyone and everything for the sake of protecting herself. Now, however, she was not about to wrong herself for someone else’s benefit.
“The late Emperor is gone. I no longer need to pretend to be a virtuous empress. You have come to the wrong person.”
“Elder Sister?” The smile on Consort Dowager Hui’s face froze. “But you are Prince Ping’s imperial mother…”
“He has a biological grandmother. It is not the place of someone as useless as me to interfere.” Empress Dowager Xu pointed at Cui Lanyin. “The Empress is pregnant. You should stop ordering her about and making her work.”
Grand Empress Dowager Chen’s expression darkened as she looked at Consort Dowager Hui. “You have been arranging things for him for so long, yet Prince Ping still refuses. He is quite unfilial.”
How could she afford to acquire a reputation for having an unfilial son? Consort Dowager Hui gave an awkward laugh. “I have simply been too eager to hold my grandchild. Prince Ping wants to establish his career before starting a family. He is only nineteen. There are plenty of men who do not marry until they are twenty. The Empress’s younger brother also said that he would not consider marriage until after he turned twenty.”
Cui Lanyin realized that she had overestimated Consort Dowager Hui. The woman was only clever on the surface. She had assumed that, with Grand Empress Dowager Chen and Empress Dowager Xu present, she could manipulate the Empress into doing her bidding. Did she take the two of them for mere ornaments?
After the Emperor returned, Cui Lanyin told him about both matters.
Although they could never reach an agreement about whether they should start over, that did not prevent them from discussing serious affairs.
Moreover, whenever they had official business to discuss, the Emperor did not make any of those unbearable advances that left her at a loss. Therefore, whenever he came back, Cui Lanyin would find one matter or another to discuss with him, even if she had to invent something.
She even hoped that if she brought every little matter to him, the Emperor would eventually grow tired of it.
She simply wanted to show him that if he persisted in pestering her, she could return the favor in kind.
Unfortunately, even now, the Emperor remained remarkably patient.
“Your birthday is on the ninth day of the second month. At that time, have all the unmarried young men and women of suitable age from the various families enter the palace. We can arrange for them all to meet at once.”
When had the Emperor ever taken an interest in such matters? Cui Lanyin asked, “Has some family asked you to play matchmaker as well?”
“Mm,” the Emperor replied. “Most of the younger members of the Yao family are still unmarried, and they want you to help select suitable matches.”
The Yao family was the Emperor’s maternal family. Fourth Master Yao and Fifth Master Yao both held important positions, and the Yao family carried tremendous prestige in Jiangnan. The Yao family’s sons and daughters should have been the most sought-after matches in the capital. As long as the Yao family was willing, they could choose whichever household they pleased.
Cui Lanyin was somewhat suspicious, so the Emperor explained, “The Yao family is being overly cautious. They are afraid I will suspect them of forming a faction under the pretext of marriage alliances.”
“Then…” Cui Lanyin still could not determine what the Emperor was thinking.
“The emperor must be wary of court officials strengthening their influence through marriage alliances, too.”
“If I have to rely on such balancing acts, I might as well give up the throne.” The emperor looked at her with an enigmatic smile. “Let them choose their own matches. When the time comes, you can issue the imperial edict arranging the marriages.”
Afraid he would take offense at her suspicions again, Cui Lanyin hastily changed the subject. “Have you found anything about Liansheng? Does she have any connection to the Jiutong Trading House?”
The emperor cast her a sidelong, amused glance but did not take issue with her. “One of the Jiutong Trading House’s major proprietors wanted to drive out the Fang family, so he hired the dismissed head steward surnamed Ji to carry it out.”
So it was Ji Sheng? If she had not intervened, Ji Sheng would still be the unchallenged head steward of the Jiutong Trading House, earning a fortune.
Taking away someone’s livelihood was tantamount to killing their parents. It was perfectly understandable that Ji Sheng would want revenge.
“Then why would Liansheng do Ji Sheng’s bidding?”
“Wasn’t there also someone called Zheliu? The two of them were lovers.” The emperor brushed over it in a single sentence.
No doubt Ji Sheng had threatened Liansheng with Zheliu. Cui Lanyin thought it over repeatedly before looking at the emperor. “Everything sounds plausible, but I still feel that something is wrong.”
“Yinyin is becoming more and more perceptive.” The emperor praised her. “Even Yuan Tao wouldn’t dare offend the Jiutong Trading House. Where would they have found the courage to challenge imperial authority?”
Although the emperor called her that every day, Cui Lanyin still was not used to hearing him call her “Yinyin.”
She asked only, “Have they gone to Guangzhou to arrest the people involved?”
“The man surnamed Ji was in the vicinity of Yingcheng. By the time the Imperial Guards arrived, he had already taken poison and ended his life.
“As for Guangzhou, Fang Dai had already received a letter from his family. The proprietor involved fled overseas with his entire household overnight and disappeared without a trace. When the Imperial Guards arrived, there was no one left to arrest.”
“So all the leads have been cut off?”
“If the trail had gone cold, would I be unable to investigate?” The emperor scoffed disdainfully.
Cui Lanyin trusted him completely. “There is nothing in this world that my uncle wants to know but cannot find out.”
Her words pleased the emperor, and he chuckled. “Yinyin, you trust me that much?”
The more she thought about it, the more terrifying the other party’s scheme seemed. Their calculations had been truly vicious.
If they succeeded, eliminating the Fang family and her would only be part of it. If the emperor flew into a rage and wiped out the Jiutong Trading House, the merchants who paid their commercial taxes to the Office of Commercial Taxation would likely withdraw as well. That would mean all their previous efforts had come to nothing.
“Could it be the Li family?”
“The Li family has deep ties in every direction.”
Cui Lanyin understood. Even if the Li family had not acted personally, whoever was behind this shared the Li family’s interests.
She had never understood why, despite having forced Chief Minister Li back home to recuperate and seemingly having the entire court under his control after only a few moves, the emperor did not take advantage of the opportunity to uproot the Li family once and for all.
Now she realized how naive she had been. If the Li family were so easy to deal with, they would not have held power over the court for so many years.
It was easy to move against the Li family, but what came afterward would be one problem after another. An incident like Liansheng’s would hardly count as anything. Those were the things the emperor truly feared.
The Li family understood that, and so did the emperor. That was why Chief Minister Li and Grand Empress Dowager Li remained firmly seated in their positions.
For the first time, Cui Lanyin felt that being emperor must be an exhausting task.
“What about Prince Ping?”
“There has been no unusual activity from Prince Ping’s side for now.”
Cui Lanyin thought of Empress Dowager Li and decided she could not let the woman live too comfortably. “Why not have the young ladies chosen by Consort Dowager Hui move into Fu’an Palace? And let Consort Dowager Hui move there as well?”
“You may handle the palace affairs as you see fit.”
As he spoke, the emperor removed his outer robe, leaving himself in only his inner garment as he leaned back against the daybed.
Not again. Cui Lanyin knew that if she counted to ten, the ties of the emperor’s inner garment would come undone.
This could not continue.
She climbed onto the daybed in two steps, grabbed a loose robe lying nearby, and pulled it over the emperor’s head. “I’m hot.”
The emperor gave a low chuckle and tried to pull it off.
“You’re not hot.” Cui Lanyin chuckled as well. “Put it on. I have something to say.”
“Go ahead.” The emperor hurriedly put on the loose robe.
Now that everything that needed covering was covered, Cui Lanyin did not press him any further.
“Uncle, I’ve thought about it a great deal these past few days. What you suggested—starting over—is impossible.
“We’ve already slept together, and I’m carrying your child. How could we pretend none of that happened and return to the way we felt at the beginning? You may be capable of doing what no one else can, but I’m not.”
“Uncle, have you simply grown tired and wanted to find something novel to indulge in?”
“How could you think that?”
“Because your behavior lately has been so unlike you. Taking me strolling down Dazhong Street and around the Confucius Temple, dining with me at Yunlai Restaurant—none of those are things you would normally do. Then you even chartered a pleasure boat and spent the night there with me. If I didn’t know that nothing escaped your control, I might have suspected that you had done something terribly wrong behind my back.”
“Was I not good to you before?”
“You were. But the things you gave me were all tangible benefits. Companionship and idle leisure like this… that isn’t something you would normally offer.”
“That is precisely why I wanted to make it up to you.”
“Is that so?” Cui Lanyin could not bring herself to say she did not believe him, but neither could she say that she did.
The emperor was silent for a while before speaking. “Since we have brought it up, can you tell me everything you’re thinking? I know you keep many things to yourself.”
A little late for that. [Wicked grin]
