Chapter 120
As evening fell, Yao Qin came to find Yao Zheng, and the two of them got into the same carriage to head home.
The carriage had barely turned out of the street corner when a procession of horse-drawn carriages emerged from the Duan Gate. Yao Qin recognized the lead figure at once. "The palace gates are about to close any minute now, what is Qian He doing coming out at this hour?"
Yao Zheng remained seated calmly, his demeanor unruffled. "That is no business for us to pry into. We need only fulfill our duties as loyal subjects."
Yao Qin turned his gaze away and sighed softly. "His Majesty will not divert his attention elsewhere for the next year or two. I am afraid he will be fawning over the Empress the entire time."
Just then, a personal attendant who was riding alongside the carriage leaned in to report. "Fourth Master Yao, Fifth Master Yao, Chief Eunuch Qian's procession is moving slowly ahead of us. Should we urge the coachman to overtake them?"
Yao Zheng and Yao Qin hurriedly leaned out of the carriage window to look ahead. Sure enough, Qian He's procession was crawling along at a snail's pace—those fine, strong horses from the imperial stables were moving no faster than an old ox pulling a rickety cart.
Yao Zheng instructed the attendant, "Just follow behind them slowly. It is not as if we are in such a rush."
Fortunately, when they reached the Dazhong Bridge, Qian He's procession pulled over to the side of the road to stop. The Yao family's carriage seized the chance to speed past and get ahead of them.
The two brothers had already agreed on the way home that the entire family would gather for dinner that evening at Fourth Elder Lady's residence, the Hall of Joy and Peace.
Ever since they had returned from the palace the previous day, Fourth Elder Lady had ordered the gates of the Hall of Joy and Peace locked, refusing to let anyone come in.
She was the only elder of the older generation left in the Yao clan, and everyone in the household respected and deferred to her. Outside the Yao residence, as the Emperor's maternal aunt, she was treated with even greater deference and flattery by others. The old lady had never once been treated with discourtesy in her life, let alone suffered such public humiliation.
Moreover, the two brothers knew they themselves bore some responsibility for what had happened the day before, having failed to prevent the situation. After reflecting on their actions, they no longer held any lingering resentment toward Fourth Elder Lady.
Their top priority now was to persuade Fourth Elder Lady to send the two illegitimate daughters of the Shu family back to their home.
The Shu family had not raised those two girls properly. No respectable household would ever agree to take them in as proper wives, and what was more, the two girls themselves were bent on entering noble households to become favored concubines. If they were left at the Shu family home, there was no telling what mischief they might stir up.
They knew the old lady could not bear to hear harsh, blunt words, so they planned to gently persuade her when the whole family gathered for the evening meal.
Yao Zheng and Yao Qin first went back to their respective courtyards to change into casual home robes. Before long, all the members of the two branches of the family had arrived at the Hall of Joy and Peace.
Fourth Elder Lady looked rather dejected, though there was no sign she had fallen ill.
Yao Zheng felt a wave of relief. He stepped forward first, leading the members of both households to pay their respects to her.
Fourth Elder Lady bid them all take their seats, then looked over at her son and her nephew and asked, "Did His Majesty send for you two today to question you about anything?"
Fourth Madam Yao had already heard the news about the dissolution of the Imperial Cabinet, and her temper was frayed thin with frustration. Not caring that Yao Zheng might reproach her later, she spoke up before anyone else could. "To tell you the truth, Mother, His Majesty dismissed the Imperial Cabinet today. All the court officials are saying this happened because our family offended the Empress. From now on, you really should stop behaving as if you are the Emperor's own maternal aunt—you are only making the whole family a laughingstock."
Fourth Elder Lady was shocked and furious. She ignored her daughter-in-law and turned straight to her son. "Is that true?"
Yao Zheng shot Fourth Madam Yao a sharp, warning look, then turned back to Fourth Elder Lady, forcing a smile that came out looking rather bitter. "Not only did His Majesty dissolve the Imperial Cabinet, he also transferred Fifth Brother from the Court of Imperial Entertainments to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."
Fourth Elder Lady was seized with bitter remorse. She glanced over at the two Shu girls, who were standing respectfully at her side, and began, "Perhaps..."
"Old Madam, Fourth Master, Fifth Master!" the gatekeeper's maid came rushing in, calling out breathlessly. "Chief Eunuch Qian is here with an oral edict from Grand Empress Dowager Chen. He wants everyone to go to the front courtyard to receive it."
Yao Zheng and Yao Qin's hearts both skipped a beat. So Qian He had been heading to the Yao residence all along! No wonder his procession had stopped at the Dazhong Bridge earlier.
When the maid finally stepped into the room, she was pale with anxiety, twisting her hands together in distress, too flustered to get the rest of her words out.
Yao Zheng snapped at her, "What else is there? Speak!"
The maid still stammered, unable to explain clearly. "Fourth Master, you had better go to the front gate and see for yourself."
There was no time to waste asking more questions. The whole family hurriedly put on their formal outer robes, helped Fourth Elder Lady to her feet, and escorted her to the front of the residence.
Qian He was standing right in the middle of the outer courtyard. Behind him, the main gates of the Yao residence were standing wide open, and the chirping, flirtatious voices of women drifted in through the entrance. When the Yao family drew closer to look, they saw a whole crowd of young men and women, all heavily made up with thick layers of face powder, arched painted eyebrows, dark lined eyes, and bright red lip rouge painted on their lips. A strong, cloying scent of expensive perfume wafted over them on the breeze. These people were clearly not from any decent background.
Yao Zheng's vision swam for a moment as he finally realized why the gatekeeper's maid had been so distraught.
He could not bear to imagine how many spectators had lined the streets to watch Qian He parade this raucous group all the way to the Yao residence. If the Yao family's prestigious name had not kept most onlookers at bay, the streets outside the gates would have been packed with gawkers by now.
Fourth Madam Yao and Fifth Madam Yao hurried to hide themselves while shielding the young ladies of the Yao family, and trying to block the young masters of the house from craning their necks to look out at the spectacle.
Yao Zheng forced a strained smile and stepped forward. "Eunuch Qian, may I trouble you to give me a moment to close the main gates first before we receive the Grand Empress Dowager's oral edict?"
Qian He smiled amiably, but his tone left no room for negotiation. "Closing them only to open them again later would just be twice the trouble. There is no need for that."
His expression turned solemn then, and he called out loudly, "Since everyone is here, receive the Grand Empress Dowager's oral edict!"
The entire Yao household quickly arranged themselves in proper order and knelt down. Qian He deliberately cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Grand Empress Dowager Chen's oral edict: I have heard word that the Yao family intended to present the two illegitimate daughters of their Shu family in-laws to the Emperor to serve him. It is a pity that the Emperor has never cared much for feminine charms.
But women that the Yao family thinks highly of must surely be of extraordinary quality. It would be such a waste to send them back to their own family home. As the old saying goes, good water should not flow to outsiders' fields. On my own authority, I decree that the two Shu girls shall remain here in the Yao household.
But since these two girls were once intended for the Emperor, we cannot treat them with undue familiarity by giving them to a generation lower than his. It would only be proper to marry them to the two Masters Yao. But wait, I have just learned that these two Shu girls are grand-nieces of Lady Shu, which makes them of the same generation as the Fifth Young Master Yao and Sixth Young Master Yao. That creates quite a dilemma. Therefore, I order that Fourth Elder Lady shall confer with her daughter-in-law and her niece-in-law to make the proper arrangements.
A good deed should not be delayed. The two couples shall consummate their marriages and complete the happy ceremony this very night."
Grand Empress Dowager Chen's edict was utterly absurd. Not only did it force the two Shu illegitimate daughters to stay in the Yao household, it left Fourth Elder Lady to decide with Fourth Madam Yao and Fifth Madam Yao whether the girls should be married to the two senior Masters of the Yao family, or to the two young masters of the next generation.
Fourth Madam Yao and Fifth Madam Yao were both on the verge of total breakdown. The choice was between their own sons and their own husbands—how were they ever supposed to pick?
Everyone understood that Qian He was representing the Emperor by delivering Grand Empress Dowager Chen's edict, which meant the Emperor had fully sanctioned this ridiculous arrangement. There was no room left to negotiate.
The only way out would be for the entire Yao clan to pack up all their belongings and move back to their ancestral home in Suzhou, but the Yao family could not afford to go into seclusion and lose all their hard-won status again.
The metropolitan imperial examination was just around the corner, and both Fifth Young Master Yao and Sixth Young Master Yao were planning to sit for the exam. This sudden, outrageous turn of events had left Fourth Madam Yao and Fifth Madam Yao completely distraught.
They looked over at Fourth Elder Lady, who was being supported by Sixth Miss Yao and Eighth Miss Yao. The old lady was clutching her chest, trembling with shock and rage as she tried to catch her breath.
Blinded by fury, Fourth Madam Yao forgot all about Qian He standing right there in the courtyard, and all the spectators lingering just outside the wide-open main gates. She stormed straight toward Fourth Elder Lady. "Mother, look at the mess you have made! You have ruined the peaceful lives of this entire family. Are you finally satisfied now?"
Yao Zheng lunged forward and grabbed her, yanking her back. "How dare you speak to the elder lady with such disrespect!"
"Then what do you expect us to do?" Fourth Madam Yao shouted back at him. She stared straight at Yao Zheng and demanded, "If you take one of them as your concubine, that girl is your own cousin's daughter—she shares your bloodline! That is nothing like what happened between His Majesty and the Empress. Do you want to become a laughingstock for the entire city? And if our Sixth Young Master takes one as his concubine, what respectable family will ever agree to marry their daughter to him in the future?"
Fifth Madam Yao, who had stood by watching the earlier trouble with detached indifference, was now wracked with regret. She whispered to herself in a daze, "Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself. This is the karmic retribution for my selfishness, isn't it?"
Seeing that the timing was just right, Qian He stepped forward, his tone now surprisingly amiable. "There's still plenty of time. There's no need to rush to a decision this very moment."
Turning the tables to take charge, he instructed the Yao family's servants, "Go bring some chairs over for your masters to sit on."
The servants did not dare to refuse, and quickly brought over a set of chairs. Qian He gestured with his hand and said, "Everyone, please be seated."
Then he turned to Sixth Miss Yao and Eighth Miss Yao, saying, "Our Her Majesty is a very nostalgic person, so the two of you may head back now."
Yao Zheng and Yao Qin knew clearly that if they did not follow Qian He's arrangements today, this matter would never come to an end. They signaled for the two young ladies to step down, then went over to help Fourth Elder Lady take a seat on one of the chairs.
Once every member of the Yao family was seated, Qian He clapped his hands a few times. Outside the Yao family's main gate, Buyu directed a group of gorgeously dressed young men and women to file into the residence. It was then that the Yao family realized some of these people were carrying drums and holding pipas.
Buyu arranged the performers to stand in orderly lines, and Qian He faced the Yao family with a smile. "Yesterday, Her Majesty invited all the noble ladies over to taste fine wine and watch song and dance performances. Everyone had such a wonderful time that they all begged Her Majesty to arrange another gathering like that soon before they left.
The Grand Empress Dowager felt very guilty that your family was left out of the fun, so early this morning, Her Majesty sent Bailin across the Wuyang River to find these skilled song and dance performers. And do remember, this is a treat the Grand Empress Dowager arranged on Her Majesty's behalf."
He waved his hand, and Buyu clapped his hands to call out to the troupe, "Alright, start the performance now!"
Yao Zheng felt his vision swim with dizziness. He rushed forward to stop the performers from coming any closer, repeatedly cupping his hands in salute to Qian He. "Eunuch, you must not do this! Having people from such disreputable quarters step through our doors would be a disgrace to our scholarly reputation. Our Yao family is the emperor's maternal relatives, for heaven's sake!"
"Oh, sir, you must not slander us," a fair-faced young man stepped out, holding his fingers in a delicate orchid gesture. "We are running a perfectly legitimate business performing songs and dances. If the Imperial Music Bureau can do it, so can we. What makes us unfit to enter your residence? Besides, all the money has already been paid in full, there is no way we are turning back now."
He was clearly the leader of the troupe. He gave Fourth Elder Lady a coquettish smile and said, "Old Madam, I have the most beautiful singing voice."
Without a glance at Fourth Elder Lady, who looked on the verge of fainting, he struck a pose and began to sing.
Fortunately, the tune he sang was a proper, respectable one. Since they had no way to turn the performers away, Yao Zheng and Yao Qin could only console themselves with this thought.
When Fourth Madam Yao and Fifth Madam Yao covered their ears and turned their faces away, refusing to watch or listen, Qian He spoke up. "If even one person here doesn't enjoy the performance, I won't be able to report back to my superior properly, and we'll have to start all over again from the top."
With that threat hanging over their heads, no matter how burning with shame and fury they were, everyone gritted their teeth and forced themselves to watch.
Good news never travels far, but bad news spreads fast. A number of onlookers had followed the troupe to the Yao residence, and by dawn the next day, the whole story had spread to every alley and street in Yingcheng.
Yao Zheng and Yao Qin were, in the end, doting fathers who did not want their sons' marriage prospects to be ruined. So each of them took one of the Shu family's nieces as a concubine.
The Yao family became the most talked-about topic in Yingcheng these days. To avoid being gawked at and pointed at by passersby, Yao Zheng and Yao Qin only went out when they had to attend to official duties outside the yamen, and the whole family kept their doors shut and stayed home most of the time.
This whole mess calmed down quickly, all thanks to Cui Lanyin, who had wandered along the banks of the Wuyang River a few times and never thought the story of the Yao family's female relatives being treated to performances by reformed entertainers was a big deal. The jokes died down after just two days.
But all the families that had previously been considering arranging a match with the Yao family now pulled out of their talks. The marriage prospects for the Yao family's young men and young ladies were put on hold indefinitely.
Even Yao Ying, who had already married out of the family, was affected. Lady Xiang started finding fault with her over every little thing. Not wanting to disturb Tan Shao's mood as he prepared for the imperial examination, Yao Ying could only bear the unfair treatment for the time being.
Sixth Miss Yao's marriage was also impacted. The wedding date that had already been agreed upon was put off for some flimsy excuse the groom's family came up with.
While the Yao family was running into one misfortune after another, the Cui family was enjoying one piece of good news after another.
First, Cui Jian, Cui Yu, and Cui Chong all passed the first round of the county-level imperial examination. When the remaining four rounds were all completed, all three of them achieved outstanding results. The most surprising news was that Cui Jian ranked first in the county, earning him the official status of a xiucai, which meant he was qualified to take the additional provincial-level autumn examination in August.
Here I come [let me see]
