If moving into the Eastern Palace was the Crown Prince's first great joy in the second half of this year, then the armory finally testing out a heavy gunpowder formula powerful enough to blow up a house right before the Mid-Autumn Festival was the second great joy for him, Emperor Yongchang, and the imperial court.
The capital's armory was originally divided into the East and West workshops, both located outside the city. Because they had to produce weapons and royal items in large quantities, keeping them far from the commoners prevented any disturbances. After Zhao Sui received the imperial decree to research and test the heavy gunpowder formula, he specially built a new, separate gunpowder workshop in the northeast of the capital. He then recruited over a hundred alchemists from various prefectures who were skilled in making fireworks and familiar with medicinal stones to come to the capital and work for the gunpowder workshop.
From above, Emperor Yongchang allocated silver and sent minerals like saltpeter and sulfur to the gunpowder workshop; in the middle, the Crown Prince supervised its operations and safety measures; and from below, the hundred or so craftsmen and alchemists pooled their wisdom and efforts. Busy from March to August, expending nearly half a year of manpower and resources, the gunpowder workshop finally made significant progress.
Emperor Yongchang was so overjoyed that he held a grand banquet for his officials. He even sent a handsome reward to the family of the Daoist Yu in Jin Prefecture—the very man who had blown himself up but inadvertently provided the imperial court with the opportunity to develop heavy gunpowder. Of course, the greatest credit belonged to the Crown Prince. In a bizarre case known to all the civil and military officials, only the Crown Prince had discovered the monumental benefits hidden within Daoist Yu's deadly formula.
Gold, silver, jewels, and fine silks were ordinary rewards that the Crown Prince wouldn't care much for. As for the Crown Prince's birth mother, Lady Wen, she had already been posthumously honored as Consort Shu when he was anointed as the Crown Prince. Lady Wen was a pitiful orphan who couldn't even remember who her parents were; because she was a beauty in the making at a very young age, she was sent into the palace to learn arts. This meant that even if Emperor Yongchang wanted to reward the Crown Prince's maternal family now, he wouldn't know whom to reward.
Since the Crown Prince had no maternal family, the only option was to reward his wife's family, the Yao family.
Thus, Emperor Yongchang bestowed upon Yao Zhenhu the noble title of Count Chengfu.
Emperor Yongchang considered himself fair. His second son was able to achieve such merit entirely because he had married a good wife who helped him regain his fighting spirit. And this good wife was raised by the Yao family. Therefore, Yao Zhenhu and his wife had indeed contributed to the royal family and the imperial court; they fully deserved the title of Count Chengfu!
The decree was directly issued by Emperor Yongchang during the morning court session. He first praised the Crown Princess for her merits as a virtuous helpmate to the Crown Prince, and then praised Yao Zhenhu and his wife for their merit in raising such a fine daughter. Bestowing a countship upon them thus became a matter of course.
Zhao Sui deliberately did not send anyone to pass the news to the Crown Princess.
Having a noble title suddenly fall into their laps, Yao Zhenhu and Luo Jinhua hurried into the palace to express their gratitude. Emperor Yongchang gave the couple some brief words of encouragement before dismissing them. The couple then went to thank Empress Zhou, and finally, Empress Zhou smilingly arranged for palace servants to escort them to the Eastern Palace to thank the Crown Princess.
Yao Huang was currently practicing her swordsmanship over by the deer park, having the wet nurse, Aji, and others take Yun'er far away to watch.
Her brothers and male cousins at home were able to pass the military imperial examinations because her father had started teaching them martial arts very early on. Yao Huang planned to make Yun'er develop a yearning for martial arts early on as well. Since the Crown Prince was mobility-impaired, she, his mother—who also knew spearmanship and swordsmanship—would first open Yun'er's eyes. When he grew older, famous masters selected by the royal family could teach him hand-in-hand.
Yun'er, who couldn't even crawl yet, blinked his clear, black-and-white phoenix eyes, following the figure of his mother wielding her sword.
"Your Highness, the Count and Countess have come to express their gratitude!" Qiuchan ran over from the main hall, happily announcing, "This morning, the Emperor just granted Lord Yao and his wife a noble title!"
Yao Huang, who was just puzzling over where this Count and Countess came from: "..."
She dazedly took Yun'er back to the main hall.
The palace servants arranged by Empress Zhou were still accompanying them on the side. Yao Zhenhu and Luo Jinhua solidly performed a kneeling bow to their daughter.
Yao Huang personally helped her parents up. Eunuch Cao smilingly slipped some reward money to the eunuch from the Empress's palace, taking the opportunity to see him out of the Eastern Palace.
Luo Jinhua, feeling dizzy, had the equally dizzy Yao Zhenhu take out the imperial decree to show their daughter.
Yao Huang could now understand those scholarly words of reward, and subsequently guessed that her family's new noble title was riding on the coattails of the Crown Prince's great merit in creating heavy gunpowder.
Since Emperor Yongchang was willing to reward them, Yao Huang told her parents to accept it with peace of mind. They should just continue living their lives as they always had, and make sure not to use their power to bully others.
When the Crown Prince returned at dusk, Yao Huang gleefully calculated an account for His Highness: "For my brother's marriage, my mother emptied out the family's savings. Now we rely entirely on my father and brother's combined monthly salary of fifteen taels to support the household. But my sister-in-law is a noble lady from the Duke of Zhenguo's residence. Although she isn't picky about her clothes, jewelry, or daily meals, my mother always feels embarrassed. Now it's wonderful. Father Emperor has bestowed a noble title, and my father suddenly has an annual noble stipend of eight hundred taels. My mother finally doesn't have to worry about silver anymore."
Chengfu, Chengfu—receiving fortune. Emperor Yongchang meant to praise her as a lucky star. So Yao Huang felt that Emperor Yongchang was the God of Wealth descending upon her family. But why did Emperor Yongchang only act as the God of Wealth for the Yao family? Because she had first coaxed the God of Wealth's young master into a good mood!
Zhao Sui, who was being treated as the young master of the God of Wealth, looked at the Crown Princess's smiling, crescent-shaped eyes and brought up a matter that might dampen her spirits: "The corresponding power of different amounts of heavy gunpowder still needs to be tested on a few mountains. Father Emperor and I have finally settled on the area around Mount Yingyu."
It happened to be a time of clear autumn skies and crisp air. The large and small mountains around the capital all had commoners touring and enjoying the scenery, making them unsuitable for testing the power of heavy gunpowder. The mountains within dozens of miles around the imperial traveling palace had long been forbidden to commoners and hunters. Testing over there would absolutely not result in any accidental casualties.
Yao Huang knew of Mount Yingyu: "Is it just to the east of the Northern Park?"
Zhao Sui: "Yes, it's about twenty miles away. Father Emperor wants me to set off the day after tomorrow and stay at the traveling palace until the testing is finished. Counting the travel time, I should be able to return by the end of the month."
Yao Huang observed the Crown Prince's expression and said unhappily, "Your Highness doesn't plan to take me with you?"
Zhao Sui lowered his eyes: "I thought you would rather stay in the palace to accompany Yun'er."
Yao Huang poked his leg and said with her head down, "Yun'er is only a few months old. His eating, drinking, and toileting are all taken care of by the wet nurses and palace maids. A wet nurse holding a rattle drum is enough to keep him happy for half the day, and he kicks his legs in joy when she pushes him to the deer park or the gardens. Why would he need me to specially accompany him? I would much rather accompany Yun'er's father."
Zhao Sui raised his eyes and saw that the Crown Princess's face was red.
He explained, "Even if I stay at the traveling palace, I will be leaving early and returning late. I won't be able to accompany you for leisure."
Yao Huang: "Then I'll accompany Your Highness to test the gunpowder. I also want to see if the heavy gunpowder has the power to split mountains."
Because the couple usually had no occasions to be separated, it was only today that Zhao Sui discovered the Crown Princess actually loved clinging to him so much.
He grasped the Crown Princess's randomly poking hand: "Alright, you will come with me."
Yao Huang happily threw herself into his arms. However, having sorted out the Crown Prince, she began to worry that her emperor father-in-law would be dissatisfied. After all, the Crown Prince was undertaking official business.
Zhao Sui: "We will just say that you need to accompany me to take care of my daily life. Father Emperor will not mind."
Yao Huang thought about it and smiled, "You don't need to say anything. I have a better reason."
The next morning, Yao Huang pushed Yun'er in a carriage to stroll through the Imperial Garden. There, they ran into Noble Consort Du and the Second Princess, who were out for a walk to relax. Yao Huang actually quite enjoyed seeing Noble Consort Du's expression, disliking her yet completely unable to do anything about it. This was especially true now that the Second Princess was taking Yao Huang's side. After killing some time with the mother and daughter, Yao Huang continued her stroll through the garden. When the sun grew too hot, she went to visit Empress Zhou.
Empress Zhou adored Yun'er. The imperial grandmother was much better at coaxing children than the imperial grandfather, and she kept Yun'er giggling happily.
Yao Huang had originally planned to take Yun'er to pay their respects to the imperial grandfather on their way out. Unexpectedly, upon hearing that his little imperial grandson had come to the Central Palace, Emperor Yongchang strolled over on his own accord.
Yao Huang immediately stood up, yielding her seat on the couch to Emperor Yongchang.
A palace maid brought tea. Yao Huang intercepted it halfway and personally served it to Emperor Yongchang.
She played the role of a filial daughter-in-law to the fullest, and Emperor Yongchang caught on. After taking a sip of tea, he teased Yun'er and said, If you have something on your mind, just say it.
Yao Huang feigned surprise. I am always filial to you, Imperial Father. How is it that just by serving tea today, you can tell I am hiding something?
Emperor Yongchang smiled at his grandson. Your kind of filial piety usually involves sending local specialties and speaking clever words. This is the first time you have actually served me tea.
Yao Huang put on an expression of deep admiration. In front of Imperial Father, my little tricks are indeed nothing. Since you have seen right through me, may I speak my mind?
Emperor Yongchang had already guessed it. You want to accompany the Crown Prince to the temporary palace?
Yao Huang admitted frankly, Yes, but Imperial Father could never guess why I want to go.
Emperor Yongchang's interest was piqued. Aside from clinging to the Crown Prince, could there possibly be another reason?
Yao Huang certainly had one. Leaning close to Empress Zhou and hugging her arm, she said, Last year, while watching the hunt at the temporary palace, I promised my two younger sisters that after I gave birth, I would teach them archery and take them hunting in the suburbs of the capital. But as Imperial Father knows, there is hardly any good game in the hills around the capital. We might wander around for half a day without finding a single rabbit. Going deep into the mountains is not worth it, and the younger sisters would not be able to endure the exhaustion.
Yesterday, when the Crown Prince mentioned he would stay at the temporary palace while testing the heavy gunpowder, I immediately thought of the promise I made to the two sisters. The Northern Park is spacious, making it convenient for both archery practice and hunting in the enclosure. We would not release any fierce animals like wolves, just some pheasants and rabbits for the fun of it. What does Imperial Father think?
Emperor Yongchang immediately thought of his two princesses.
He still remembered how joyful the two princesses had looked playing with his second son's wife in the Northern Park, like two caged birds finally gaining their freedom.
It was a child's nature to love to play, but the imperial palace had the most rules in the entire world.
The Eldest Princess had only been married for a little over three months, and the Second Princess was about to get married. It was rare for his second daughter-in-law to be willing to take them out for a few days of fun. It would be better to let them have a thoroughly good time before they became mothers themselves.
Having made up his mind, Emperor Yongchang said to his daughter-in-law, I have assigned three thousand imperial guards to escort the Crown Prince, and your brother Yao Lin is among them. Since you want to teach the princesses horseback archery, you might as well bring your sister-in-law along too. Then, each of you can guide one of them.
Empress Zhou chimed in, Since Your Majesty is being so considerate, why not send the two prince consorts to accompany them as well? Yu Shen is meticulous, and Fan Ruochuan is skilled in martial arts. They can keep the Crown Prince company while he is on duty. When he has some free time, these young married and soon-to-be-married couples can all go hunting together and take the opportunity to deepen their affection.
Yao Huang added, It is also a perfect chance to let the two prince consorts witness the power of our Great Qi's heavy gunpowder. I guarantee that after marriage, they will be completely obedient to the sisters and would never dare entertain the thought of bullying them.
If anyone dared to disrespect the princesses, they would be given a taste of the heavy gunpowder's might!
Looking at his daughter-in-law's domineering posture of backing up the two princesses, Emperor Yongchang asked, The prince consorts would not dare bully the princesses, but how do you treat the Crown Prince?
His second son had a very good temper, after all.
Yao Huang replied without a trace of guilt, The goodness with which I treat the Crown Prince is probably more than the two prince consorts combined.
Although she occasionally stepped on the Crown Prince's toes and even had him fetch her tea and water from his wheelchair, those were all things the Crown Prince was perfectly happy to do!
