Erecting a stele can make one's name known through the ages, and an imperial plaque with words of praise can be passed down as a family heirloom from generation to generation, bringing glory to one's ancestors.
Even the two prime ministers, who held the highest positions in the court, had never received such an honor. Watching two eunuchs carry the plaque down the steps, and seeing the four characters "Wholeheartedly for the People" written by the Yongchang Emperor himself getting closer and closer, the high-ranking officials in the front row all revealed expressions of envy.
The plaque stopped in front of Xu Dongyang.
Xu Dongyang raised his head. Two lines of clear tears hung on his upright face, which was tanned even darker than the two princes due to running around the mountains and fields for two consecutive years. Looking up at the emperor on the platform, Xu Dongyang slowed his speech to conceal his choking sobs: "This humble subject will never forget Your Majesty's words, and will hold fast to a heart for the people for the rest of my life. However, this humble subject is ashamed to receive Your Majesty's reward and absolutely dare not accept it."
No one noticed that after he said these words, the eyelids of Prince Hui, who was sitting in a wheelchair, lowered even further.
The Yongchang Emperor just looked at Xu Dongyang with a smile and said, "There is no need to decline. I have always been clear in meting out rewards and punishments. Today, you have been a good local magistrate, so I reward you. In the future, if you become lax and negligent, causing the mountains of huangjing to fail on the verge of success, and disappoint the expectations I have placed on you, the silver issued by the imperial court, and the hard work of the local people, I will also take back the plaque bestowed today and punish you severely."
Xu Dongyang kowtowed and said, "This humble subject would not dare. This humble subject will definitely do my utmost to ensure a bountiful harvest for those thousands of acres of huangjing. However, the great talent who investigated the growth conditions of huangjing, opened up a small plot of land for trial planting, and proposed clearing wasteland around the entire Mount Ling to plant medicine is someone else. This humble subject was merely entrusted by him to push this matter forward with all my heart. Therefore, since Your Majesty attributes all the credit to this humble subject alone, I am truly ashamed and dare not accept it."
The civil and military officials: "..."
Why did this scene seem somewhat familiar?
On the high platform, Prince Kang and Prince Qing simultaneously looked at Prince Hui sitting between them. The former's eyes were filled with shock, while the latter was both shocked and resentful. He knew it! This was his second brother's doing again. It was hateful that he had even asked his second brother to his face, and his second brother had actually deceived him!
On the female family members' side, Yao Huang's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Was Xu Dongyang going to reveal Prince Hui?
At this point, Yao Huang actually didn't dare to look at Prince Hui, only secretly clenching her hands.
The officials buzzed with discussion for a while. Looking again at the Yongchang Emperor on the high platform, they saw that the emperor had changed his previous cheerful expression and looked displeased: "Is that so? Which great talent is hiding his abilities, causing me to praise the wrong person and bestow the plaque wrongly?"
Starting from the Left Prime Minister, the Yongchang Emperor swept his cold gaze over them one by one.
As he looked, they knelt one by one. Just as Xu Dongyang was about to clarify, Prince Hui in the wheelchair spoke up with shame: "This son is guilty of deceiving the sovereign. I beg Imperial Father for punishment."
The Yongchang Emperor turned around and saw his second son gripping the armrests of his wheelchair, posturing to kneel down to him. He said coldly, "Enough, just sit and speak. Why is it you again this time?"
Zhao Sui released the strength in his arms. Of course he had to answer his Imperial Father's question, but how to begin and where to start with this kind of self-praise wasn't something he could just say casually. Especially since his Imperial Father had known about this for a long time, and was only asking him to cooperate in putting on an act at this moment.
Prince Hui could not bring himself to boast. Sitting quietly with his eyes lowered while being stared at by everyone made him look like a criminal. Yao Huang, who did not know that the Yongchang Emperor was only feigning anger, could not bear to watch any longer. She stood up and said, "Imperial Father, your daughter-in-law knows the whole story from when His Second Highness came up with this method to when he entrusted this matter to Magistrate Xu. His Second Highness is not good with words; would Imperial Father care to listen to your daughter-in-law?"
The Yongchang Emperor sneered and glared at her, saying, "Good, you husband and wife colluded with Xu Dongyang to deceive me. Do you think it's fun watching me make a fool of myself here?"
Yao Huang's heart trembled from the scolding. She finally understood what it meant by accompanying a monarch is like accompanying a tiger. In the past, when this emperor father-in-law gave her various rewards, he was so generous and amiable. Now...
Empress Zhou stepped forward in time, soothingly holding Yao Huang's hand, and then said to the Yongchang Emperor, "Your Majesty, Prince Hui is absolutely not someone who would intentionally deceive the sovereign. Why not first listen to the Princess Consort explain the causes and consequences clearly? If Prince Hui is truly at fault, it won't be too late for Your Majesty to punish him then. Don't you agree?"
The Yongchang Emperor snorted, returned to sit on his dragon throne, and let his daughter-in-law speak.
Yao Huang was indeed frightened by the Yongchang Emperor's heavenly majesty, but she did not feel guilty about this matter at all. Giving Empress Zhou a grateful look, Yao Huang walked to the side of Prince Hui's wheelchair and loudly began her story from when the couple was escaping the summer heat at Mount Ling, and one day Prince Hui suddenly kept staring at the mountain: "...I thought His Second Highness wanted to climb the mountain. Who would have thought that a few days later, His Second Highness called Doctor Li Dechun from the manor over and sent him to the mountain to observe the huangjing..."
"After knowing this, I thought His Second Highness wanted to buy a mountain peak himself to plant huangjing to sell for money. I was even happy that the manor was going to have an additional property. However, His Second Highness said that the common people live close to the mountains, so it's more convenient for them to plant huangjing, and if they plant it well, they can also have an extra source of income."
"When His Second Highness wanted to yield the credit to Magistrate Xu, I felt a little wronged for him, because the idea was thought up by His Second Highness. I wanted the people of Mount Ling to all praise His Second Highness's goodness. His Second Highness said that this was originally the duty of the local magistrate, and he could not overstep his authority. I said, 'Then ask Imperial Father for the position of an imperial envoy; Imperial Father will definitely agree.' His Second Highness then said that this matter would take five or six years, and he didn't have the energy..."
"His Second Highness also enlightened me, telling me not to just think about the benefits of success. Opening up wasteland would require Magistrate Xu to go through a lot of trouble to implement... His Second Highness said that he is already a prince of the blood and doesn't need political achievements to add flowers to brocade. It would be better to temper a magistrate through this matter. If it succeeds, the imperial court can also gain another practical official..."
Having listened a lot to the way storytellers in teahouses told stories, Yao Huang spoke of this matter vividly, thoroughly displaying the Princess Consort's several moments of surprise and disappointment, as well as Prince Hui's indifference to fame and fortune. It made the officials below feel as if they had also felt wronged along with the Princess Consort, and then became indifferent to worldly gains along with Prince Hui.
Even the Yongchang Emperor had already heard his second son talk about it, but listening to his daughter-in-law tell it now, he still listened with keen interest, yet he had to pretend to be unmoved.
Seeing this, Yao Huang said softly, "It is right for Imperial Father to be angry at His Second Highness's concealment. But His Second Highness was also acting according to Imperial Father's teachings of being wholeheartedly for the people without seeking fame or fortune. With his merits offsetting his faults, could Imperial Father just look at the sake of those mountains full of huangjing and stop being angry?"
The Yongchang Emperor said lightly, "You certainly talk a lot."
Yao Huang then smiled as if she had received a compliment.
The Yongchang Emperor motioned with his eyes for his daughter-in-law to sit back down. He returned to the front of the high platform and said to Xu Dongyang, who was still kneeling below, "Prince Hui does not need this credit, and indeed, all he did was move his mouth. You were the one who did all the work, and you were the one who marked out those thousands of acres of mountain forest acre by acre. Therefore, my bestowing this plaque upon you is not a mistake. Accept it."
Xu Dongyang shed tears of gratitude: "This humble subject kowtows and thanks Your Majesty for this great grace!"
.
After eating the palace banquet and watching the afternoon polo match, the nobles of royal descent as well as the civil and military officials were about to leave the palace.
The subjects walked through the Donghua Gate, while the princes and princess consorts walked through the Xihua Gate.
Prince Kang pushed Prince Hui's wheelchair at the very front, Yao Huang walked in the middle arm-in-arm with Chen Ying, and Prince Qing and his wife, still shrouded in a deathly gloom, walked stiffly at the very back. Ever since the canal excavation incident came to light, the couple understood that the titles of Crown Prince and Empress were no longer within their reach. Therefore, whether Prince Hui stole the spotlight today or not mattered little to Prince Qing, while Zheng Yuanzhen was still focused on securing her and her mother's survival, leaving her no time to worry about Prince Hui.
Prince Kang, however, was different. Last time, when Di Xian built the canal and Yan Lun attributed the merit of recommending such talent to his second brother, he truly had not thought much of it. But today, with Xu Dongyang once again attributing the heart for the people, which their imperial father had so highly praised, to his second brother, could it be that their imperial father had truly known nothing about it beforehand?
If their imperial father had that intention, what was his second brother thinking?
Over the past three years, Prince Kang had only seen his second brother as a crippled sibling who needed care. Yet now, numerous facts were telling him that aside from his inconvenient legs requiring assistance, his second brother was still the same man who outshone him in every possible way.
Their imperial father...
If their imperial father truly knew about his second brother's contributions to these two matters all along, why did he still send him to do those inspection tasks? Was it just so he could claim some trivial merit, only to feel inadequate in the face of his second brother's paramount achievements?
Prince Kang tilted his head up slightly, directing his slowly reddening eyes toward the clear skies of early summer.
The speed of the wheelchair remained unchanged from any other day, but Zhao Sui could sense Prince Kang's excessive silence.
Zhao Sui did not know what he could say. His princess consort had already clearly explained the entire process of planting Huangjing from beginning to end; for him to bring it up again would merely be boasting. As for the matters their imperial father had not yet made explicit, it was even more inappropriate for him to speak of them.
They arrived at the palace gates.
Prince Kang smiled as he pushed his second brother's wheelchair to the Prince Hui Manor's carriage, smiled as he teased Yun'er, who was being held by the wet nurse of Prince Hui's manor, and smiled again as he bid farewell to his second brother and his wife.
Having been steeped in officialdom for eight years, putting on a fake smile was something Prince Kang could still manage.
In the brief time it took to say goodbye, Yao Huang could not possibly stare at Prince Kang the entire time, so she did not notice anything unusual about his smile. Watching the wet nurse steadily carry Yun'er onto the carriage behind them, Yao Huang then pushed Prince Hui onto their own carriage.
After securing the wheelchair, Yao Huang sat on Prince Hui's lap and teased his handsome face, You clearly did a good deed, yet you still received a scolding from Imperial Father. Does Your Highness feel wronged this time?
Of course, Zhao Sui did not feel wronged, but he was not used to such occasions. He was not used to the evaluating gazes cast by the officials at the palace banquet, nor was he used to Prince Kang's silence on the way out of the palace.
However, all those various discomforts he had borne for the better part of the day melted away in the clear, bright eyes of his princess consort, quickly dissipating into nothingness.
He explained, Imperial Father was not truly angry.
Yao Huang replied, I know. I realized it later on. Imperial Father hopes to have more good officials who are wholeheartedly devoted to the people. To finally discover that he has such a wonderful son right by his side, Imperial Father must be incredibly happy and proud in his heart.
Zhao Sui was speechless.
He pressed his princess consort, who could always find new and creative ways to praise him, into his embrace.
The princess consort's face rested obediently against his shoulder, but her right hand slithered up like a little snake, slowly touching his cheek. Your Highness is feeling shy again.
Zhao Sui caught his princess consort's hand and kissed her fingertips one by one.
His princess consort had praised him endlessly, but he wondered if his imperial father and those ministers could realize that it was the princess consort who first took him to Mount Ling, and it was the princess consort who first told him about the value of Huangjing, which ultimately sparked his idea to open up wasteland and plant it.
Without his princess consort, he would probably still be living in seclusion within the quiet bamboo grove in the manor's rear garden today.
Prince Hui was entirely absorbed in his kissing, and the princess consort being kissed grew softer and softer in his arms. However, before they could take an afternoon nap upon returning to the manor, Yao Huang first made a trip to the study. When she returned, she held her hands behind her back and smiled at Prince Hui, who was leaning against the headboard. Imperial Father is biased. Xu Dongyang received a reward, and the First Prince received a reward, yet Your Highness got nothing. So, allow me to make up for it and give Your Highness a reward.
Zhao Sui's gaze fell upon his princess consort's waist.
Yao Huang unrolled a long, carefully cut strip of rice paper. On it were four characters that, while lacking in vigorous strokes, were written large enough: Wholeheartedly for the people.
Prince Hui, who at this moment only wanted to take an afternoon nap with his princess consort: ...
