Striking while the iron was hot, Yao Huang wanted Prince Hui to take out his waist tag right now and hand it to Eunuch Cao. She wanted Eunuch Cao to make a trip to the Armory immediately, to prevent Prince Hui from suddenly changing his mind after a night's sleep.
Zhao Sui glanced at the sky and said, "The Armory should have already stopped work to rest, and tomorrow morning I still need to submit a memorial to ask for Royal Father's permission."
Yao Huang feigned ignorance. "You still need to ask for permission? Last time I wanted to forge a new spear, Guo Shu said I could just go directly to the Armory and give the order."
Zhao Sui replied, "A spear is a small item, and the Armory is already highly skilled at making them. Forging an extra one on short notice isn't troublesome. However, the forging process for the chair wheels is complex and will inevitably take a long time. It's best to inform Royal Father, lest it delay the Armory's official duties."
Hearing this, Yao Huang felt that Prince Hui's concerns were reasonable. Even clerks in a small shop would shirk responsibility onto each other when trouble arose. The Armory was responsible for forging all the military equipment for the Great Qi dynasty, as well as supplying the imperial palace. If an official delayed their duties due to other matters and suddenly decided to blame the delay on Prince Hui making them forge gold wheels, wouldn't Prince Hui be forced to take the blame? Even if the truth could be uncovered eventually, it would ruin his mood and reputation in the meantime.
"Fortunately, Your Highness is so thoughtful. Otherwise, if something really happened, it would be me implicating Your Highness."
Zhao Sui lowered his head and saw a trace of lingering fear in the princess consort's clear eyes, but mostly, it was admiration.
The princess consort often looked at him with such a gaze, as if the things he knew were truly astonishing talents.
"You were also thinking of me. How could it be considered implicating?"
Yao Huang smiled and pointed at the stone table in the courtyard. "Then Your Highness should write the memorial right now. Can I watch? I've never seen a memorial before."
Zhao Sui gestured for her to step back first, then had Qingai and Feiquan fetch the memorial booklet and the four treasures of the study.
The autumn days were beginning to grow shorter. By the light of the setting sun, Zhao Sui concisely finished writing the memorial.
Yao Huang looked at Prince Hui's elegant handwriting and whispered, "The matter is what it is, but I'm just afraid Royal Father will feel that you are treating him too much like a stranger."
Zhao Sui tactfully reminded the princess consort, "We are ruler and subject first, and father and son second. The rules that should be followed must still be followed."
Yao Huang was, after all, a frequent patron of teahouses and knew that some princes of the previous dynasty had been too impolite with their emperor fathers, resulting in them being suspected, given the cold shoulder, or even deposed and beheaded.
However, Prince Hui only wanted two wheels. That was a hundred and eight thousand miles away from those situations, right?
The next day, in the palace.
After morning court and breakfast, Emperor Yongchang was reviewing the memorials submitted by the Secretariat when Eunuch Wang arrived, holding several new memorials in both hands.
Aside from princes of the first rank who could submit memorials directly to the emperor, some officials who answered directly to the emperor could also bypass the Secretariat.
Eunuch Wang respectfully placed the memorials on one side of the imperial desk.
Emperor Yongchang casually glanced over and saw that the first one was actually from his second son, Prince Hui, again.
Emperor Yongchang smiled. Ever since his second son married the princess consort, he had spoken to him much more. In the past, he would never submit a memorial unless it was for official business.
Since this was the third time this year, Emperor Yongchang wasn't as excited as he was when he received Prince Hui's first memorial. He finished reviewing the memorial in his hand first before opening this third one. The words were still brief: Reporting to Royal Father, your son has obtained a diagram for improving wheelchairs. Limited by civilian craftsmanship, I need to request the Armory to develop and forge gold chair wheels. Your son is willing to bear the cost of the gold materials consumed during this process. I hope Royal Father will grant permission.
Staring at this memorial, Emperor Yongchang fell into a long silence.
His eldest son, who would only move when pushed by Consort Xian, had at least asked him for a kite when he was young. His third and fourth sons, spoiled by their mother, were even bolder in their requests. Only his second son, starting from his third birthday, would always shake his head whenever he asked if there was anything he wanted, looking stiff and completely devoid of desires.
It was just stiffness, not the cowering of someone who had been scolded by the Noble Consort for wanting gifts and didn't dare to ask, nor the apprehension of being rejected by his royal father.
Now, his second son had finally opened his mouth, asking for the palace craftsmen's help to forge chair wheels, and even talking about bearing the costs himself!
If he didn't know his second son's temperament, Emperor Yongchang would have thought this son was deliberately mocking his royal father for being stingy and miserly!
Emperor Yongchang tossed the memorial down and began pacing around the study with his hands behind his back.
As he paced, Emperor Yongchang thought of the large red sandalwood wheelchair his second son previously used. Who made it? The people in his second son's estate probably found civilian craftsmen to make it themselves, right? And the wooden ramps for crossing thresholds that his second son brought along when entering the palace...
Emperor Yongchang could no longer pace. He slumped down onto a nearby chair.
He wasn't stingy, and his heart truly ached for his second son's legs, but aside from heartache, what else had he ever given his second son?
.
Prince Hui's Estate.
Yao Huang woke up very early. Although the prince said that for this kind of memorial, Emperor Yongchang would at most write the word "Approved" and send it back, rather than sending a verbal edict like last time, Yao Huang was still very expectant.
Zhao Sui did not wait with the princess consort. The princess consort found those two three-wheeled wheelchairs with push-wheels to be bulky, but Zhao Sui was very satisfied and still found the novelty fresh; he wanted to test them out some more.
Considering that the princess consort would come looking for him in the Bamboo Courtyard after receiving Royal Father's replied memorial, Zhao Sui just pushed slowly, maintaining a force and duration that wouldn't cause his body to sweat.
After doing a lap around the backyard, Zhao Sui looked at the sky, guessing that his royal father was busy with political affairs today and perhaps hadn't seen his memorial yet.
Zhao Sui switched back to the red sandalwood wheelchair and had Qingai push him to Ming'an Hall. He wanted to persuade the princess consort to do something else.
Upon arriving at the backyard of Ming'an Hall, Zhao Sui found the princess consort playing with Jinbao. She had set up a crossbar about half a foot high in the middle of the courtyard and was crouching on one side, coaxing Jinbao on the other side to jump over. Jinbao didn't understand, so the princess consort actually lifted her skirt and jumped back and forth to demonstrate it herself. After jumping and realizing Jinbao still didn't get it, she was about to scold Jinbao when she finally noticed him parked in the corner of the veranda.
Qingai stood behind the wheelchair. Being familiar with the princess consort's temperament and having noticed the prince's indulgence towards her, it had been a long time since he felt this kind of heart-pounding terror. However, watching the princess consort's gracefully jumping feet and noticing the prince's gaze practically glued to the ankles above her embroidered shoes, Qingai felt as if there were two drumsticks beating wildly in his own chest.
Yao Huang was solely focused on her prince. She glanced at the sun and explained, "The memorial hasn't been sent back yet. Perhaps Royal Father is quite busy today."
Zhao Sui said, "No rush."
Yao Huang pushed him to a spot where he could bask in the sunlight and continued training Jinbao. Just as a great general or a top scholar could emerge from the common people, Yao Huang hoped Jinbao could also grow into a majestic hunting dog.
Mere words were useless. Yao Huang told Aji to fetch a plate of sliced soy-braised meat from the kitchen. She had Aji stand on one side with Jinbao. If Jinbao knocked over the crossbar, he got no meat; if Aji jumped high over it, he got some. Because the soy-braised meat smelled so fragrant, Yao Huang also ate a slice herself, then stretched out her arm and stuffed a bite into Prince Hui's mouth.
Jinbao barked continuously, practically drooling with greed.
Zhao Sui: "..."
After being tempted several times, Jinbao finally understood that he needed to jump over. Yao Huang happily shared the soy-braised meat with him, then smiled triumphantly at Prince Hui.
Right at this moment, several figures suddenly walked over from the other end of the veranda. Leading them was Emperor Yongchang in casual attire. Eunuch Wang walked behind with a slight bow, while Qingai and Eunuch Cao brought up the rear with nervous expressions.
Prince Hui and his wife were both stunned. Jinbao, who had been eating meat, saw a stranger and started barking loudly. Yao Huang quickly pulled him over and covered his snout, then looked at Emperor Yongchang with pleasant surprise, Royal Father, what brings you here?
Emperor Yongchang waived the formalities for his son, daughter-in-law, and the little maid beside them. He smiled and said, After finishing with the memorials, I saw the autumn sun shining so brightly outside, so I decided to come out and stretch my legs. Is this the dog you are raising?
Yao Huang replied, Yes, we brought him back from Lingshan. I named him Jinbao.
Emperor Yongchang paused. ...It is a good name. It sounds very auspicious and festive.
Yao Huang had Aji carry Jinbao away, then pushed Prince Hui closer to the corridor.
Emperor Yongchang chatted with the young couple about everyday matters and asked about the new wheelchair. Learning from his son that both improvements to the wheelchair were overseen by his daughter-in-law and executed by Master Deng, the Emperor's gaze toward his daughter-in-law grew even more affectionate. So what if she came from a humble military family? So what if her etiquette wasn't perfectly dignified? His daughter-in-law poured her heart into everything for his son, and in his eyes, there was nothing to criticize.
The group moved to the front courtyard. Only then did Yao Huang notice three officials standing in the yard who had accompanied Emperor Yongchang.
I, Ji Zhun, Minister of the Armory Bureau, pay my respects to Your Highnesses.
We, Zhou Wei and Ding Sixiao, Supervising Officials of the Armory Bureau, pay our respects to Your Highnesses.
Yao Huang was speechless.
Zhao Sui told the three men to dispense with the formalities and looked at his royal father with complicated feelings. It is just a wheelchair, Royal Father...
Emperor Yongchang grasped his son's shoulder and smiled. Just a wheelchair, indeed. Sui-er, you do not need to be a stranger with your father. Come, tell me how you improved the wheelchair, and let them listen carefully so they can pass down the orders later.
Zhao Sui had no choice but to ask Qingai and Feiquan to go to the Bamboo Courtyard to fetch Master Deng's box of blueprints, and to bring over a new four-wheeled wheelchair and a new three-wheeled wheelchair while they were at it.
The blueprints might have been difficult to understand, but with the two wheelchairs placed right in front of them, Emperor Yongchang and the three officials from the Armory Bureau immediately understood how to forge better metal wheels.
Emperor Yongchang even tested the two wheelchairs himself. Being in his fifties and increasingly neglecting his martial arts practice—at most riding a horse and drawing a bow a few times during the autumn hunt—the Emperor's arm strength was only slightly greater than Yao Huang's. He managed to push the three-wheeled rattan chair about a dozen steps.
It takes this much effort? The metal wheels must be forged.
Truly understanding the hardship of his son's mobility, Emperor Yongchang issued a strict order to the Armory Bureau. Having only blueprints wouldn't suffice; he commanded the three officials to take Master Deng to the Armory Bureau to work together on forging the new wheels. They were to use the shortest amount of time possible to create the most durable, easy-to-push, and aesthetically pleasing large metal wheels.
Fearing that the Armory Bureau would focus all their attention on the wheelchair, Zhao Sui had to remind them not to delay their official duties.
Minister Ji Zhun of the Armory Bureau said, Please rest assured, Your Majesty and Your Highness. I will certainly make proper arrangements so that neither side is delayed.
The three officials took their leave. Emperor Yongchang did not want his son and daughter-in-law to feel constrained by his presence, so he prepared to return to the palace as well. Right before leaving, he took Prince Hui's memorial from his chest pocket and tossed it onto his son's lap with a hint of feigned anger.
Zhao Sui, not understanding the reason, could only pick up the memorial and watch his royal father board the carriage.
Once the imperial carriage turned out of the alley, Yao Huang pushed Prince Hui back into the first courtyard of the estate and urged him curiously, Your Highness, take a look quickly. Royal Father's temper just now must have something to do with your memorial.
Hearing this, Eunuch Cao, Guo Shu, Qingai, and the others who were still outside the main gate immediately hid themselves on both sides of the estate's courtyard walls.
Zhao Sui looked back, then finally opened the memorial.
In the blank space of the memorial, there was an additional line of vermilion imperial commentary, written with the vigorous momentum of soaring dragons and leaping tigers: I am your father, and I can still afford to support you!
Zhao Sui was speechless.
After Yao Huang finished reading it, she doubled over with laughter behind Prince Hui's back.
In the imperial carriage that had already gone far away, Emperor Yongchang sat alone. Imagining his second son's stunned expression upon seeing the commentary, the Emperor first smiled. But as he smiled, he closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
His son had grown up long ago and no longer needed his royal father's care. All he could give him now were merely worldly possessions.
