Chapter 27: Entering the Palace as a Consort

Jia Baoyu hurried into the Grandmother’s chambers, and the moment he stepped through the door, he heard his cousin, Jia Lian, speaking:

"The situation outside is chaotic. Everyone knows the imperial court intends to surrender to King Qian. Every official in the capital is preoccupied with how to preserve their own wealth and status. Prince Zhongshun is heading out of the city tomorrow to negotiate with King Qian personally, and I hear that many officials are scrambling to follow him just to get an audience!"

Everyone in the room understood the implication: only days ago, they had been cursing him as a "rebel king," yet now they were fighting to be the first to pay their respects!

Jia Baoyu entered and performed a formal kowtow to the Grandmother. The others were so absorbed in Jia Lian's words that no one paid him any mind—not even the Grandmother.

Baoyu sat to one side and asked, "Second Brother, when will this 'rebel king' break into the city?"

The maids and matrons in the room all turned to stare at him in unison.

Jia Lian hurriedly corrected him: "Baoyu, remember from now on to call him King Qian. You must never call him a rebel king again. There is no such thing as a rebel king! King Qian follows the mandate of heaven, has raised the banner of righteousness, and leads an army of justice. He is on the verge of entering the capital to ascend the throne; he is the new sovereign!"

*The new sovereign!*

The words grated harshly on Baoyu’s ears. He retorted, "What kind of new sovereign is he? Lin Meimei’s father was killed in Yangzhou by the rebel army he leads. We don't even know if his remains have been laid to rest, and you know how many times poor Lin Meimei has wept for him!"

Everyone present knew he was suffering from one of his bouts of obsession, especially concerning matters involving Lin Daiyu. He had, on several occasions, even smashed his own jade pendant and wept in fury.

"Baoyu, stop this nonsense at once!"

Even the Grandmother, who usually doted on him, reprimanded him with uncharacteristic sternness. Baoyu sullenly fell silent. Just then, his father, Jia Zheng, returned from outside. Baoyu stood up immediately, keeping his head bowed.

"What were you saying just now to make your grandmother angry?" Jia Zheng asked, his face dark after paying respects to his mother.

Baoyu remained silent, trembling slightly.

"He is just a child, what does he know?" the Grandmother interceded. "He has never held office and knows nothing of the affairs outside."

Jia Zheng let the matter drop and sat in Baoyu’s chair, leaving the boy to stand.

"Father," Jia Lian asked, getting straight to the point, "is there any news from the palace?"

"The palace... is even more chaotic than the city," Jia Zheng sighed. "The Old Sage, seeing that things are coming to an end, has returned to his alchemy. The Emperor remains in the inner palace and refuses to meet with his ministers. The court officials are huddled around Prince Zhongshun, debating tomorrow’s events. Word has come from the Empress Dowager: she has issued an edict for Prince Zhongshun to negotiate with King Qian, offering terms similar to the abdication of Emperor Xian of Han—to be granted a fief of ten thousand households, to be ranked above the feudal lords, to be exempt from calling himself a subject when memorializing, and to be exempt from bowing upon receiving imperial decrees."

Most of the women in the room—Lady Wang, Lady Xing, and Wang Xifeng—had read little history. Even Jia She, who was present, was no scholar.

The Grandmother, however, frowned. After a long silence, she remarked, "Emperor Xian of Han was over a millennium ago. In recent dynastic changes, things have not been as amicable as those ancient abdications."

Since the Jin Dynasty, morals had decayed and the hearts of the people had changed. Struggles for the throne had always been matters of cold steel and blood; after breaking into a capital, the slaughter of the previous dynasty’s clans was common. Yet, the current Emperor of the Shun Dynasty was demanding that King Qian follow the ancient Han rituals of abdication, complete with a massive fief and immunity from customary subservience.

"The ministers said exactly the same thing as you, Grandmother," Jia Zheng replied. "My brother-in-law told me privately that, based on his understanding of King Qian, he likely won't even grant the ten thousand households."

The room fell quiet. Wang Xifeng twisted her handkerchief, and after a long while, she asked, "Then what about our family..."

Everyone knew what she wanted to ask, but no one could answer. The only person who could was not here; he was outside the city.

King Qian, Chu Yan, would decide the life and death, the glory and ruin of the Jia family!

"Father!" Jia Lian gritted his teeth. "When I accompanied the delegation outside the city to meet King Qian, His Highness had learned not only the names of our young ladies from Leng Zixing, but also... he knew of their talents and beauty."

In the room, Lady Wang, Lady Xing, Wang Xifeng, and all the maids and matrons turned their gazes toward him.

"Judging by the tone of His Highness, he is... quite interested in our young ladies!"

Jia Lian had finished his bombshell. A heavy silence descended upon the room. Yuan-yang, who was massaging the Grandmother’s legs, glanced around, feeling a sense of relief that the young ladies were not present; otherwise, they would have been mortified to hear such words from the Second Master.

"Lian'er!" Lady Xing was the first to speak, asking urgently, "Which of our young ladies did King Qian ask about?"

"This..." Lady Wang’s expression was hesitant. She had already sent one daughter into the palace; how could she bear to send more?

"This cannot be!" Baoyu, who had been stunned, finally regained his senses and protested vehemently: "To take pure, innocent girls and send them to be defiled by a rebel king! We have always prided ourselves on our family's—"

"Once King Qian ascends the throne, he will no longer be a rebel king, but the Emperor of a new dynasty!" Jia Lian interrupted sharply.

"How is this any different from selling one's daughters for glory?!"

Baoyu’s angry outburst left everyone silent.

"Baoyu, go back and attend to your studies," Lady Wang commanded, dismissing him. Baoyu had no choice but to leave.

A while later, Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian also left. Once they were home, Xifeng complained, "Why did you say those things in front of the Grandmother and Lady Wang? You know how the Grandmother dotes on the girls, and Baoyu grew up playing with them. If you insist on sending them to the palace and it makes Baoyu ill, how could the Grandmother ever forgive you?"

Jia Lian slapped the table in frustration. "What do you know? We are facing a catastrophe that could wipe out our entire clan! This is truly the shortsightedness of a woman. You don't even know enough to cry out when the rebel’s blade is already at your throat!"

"Even so, you shouldn't have said it in front of the Grandmother!"

"Hmph, I had to say it. Do you even know which young lady King Qian wants?"

"Which one?" Xifeng asked urgently. Even she knew that if they could send someone into the palace and she gained favor, the Jia family might survive this calamity.

Jia Lian didn't answer.

"Don't tell me," Xifeng gasped, "King Qian wants your cousin, Lin Daiyu?!"

Within the Prospect Garden, Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, and Xue Baoqin were the most outstanding in talent and beauty, but none of them could be sent to the palace. The two Xue girls were not of the Jia bloodline. As for Lin Daiyu, if they tried to send her to the palace, Baoyu would surely tear the Rongguo Mansion down!

***

At the Xiaoxiang Lodge:

"Second Master Bao, the young lady has already retired!" Zijuan said, intercepting him as he approached with a lantern.

"I only have two words for Lin Meimei!" Baoyu stood beneath the gauze window and spoke into the room: "Lin Meimei, are you asleep?"

Daiyu had not yet laid down, but she was still annoyed by his departure earlier without a word, so she had told Zijuan not to let him in.

"Good sister, I only need to say two things to you," Baoyu muttered to himself outside the window. "The rebel king has not even entered the city yet, but he is already coveting the sisters in the garden. He wants them to enter the palace."

Inside, Daiyu pretended to be asleep. Baoyu, however, grew panicked, fearing she was tempted like the others. "Lin Meimei, do... do you wish to enter the palace and become the concubine of that rebel king?"

Hearing this, Daiyu was overcome with rage and sorrow. She began to cough violently, her insides feeling as if they were being torn apart.

"I, I shouldn't have doubted you," Baoyu continued outside. "But our family is facing annihilation, and neither of us is in control of our fate. My heart is so heavy, and while that wolf-like rebel king spies on the city, I am unable to keep my sisters safe."

Daiyu calmed slightly, realizing he only spoke of her becoming a concubine out of sheer panic. Yet, she remained grieving. She had always considered him her soulmate and assumed he understood she would rather die than submit to a rebel.

"Baoyu," Daiyu said, sitting up on her bed from behind the window, "I only ask you one thing: if I were to be forcibly abducted into the palace by the rebels, what would you do?"

"I... I would enter the palace to save you! Even if it meant I died, I would die closer to Lin Meimei!"

In the past, Daiyu would have been moved by his words. But for some reason, she remembered how, only days ago, he had gone to practice in armor and had slacked off before the day was even over. If she were truly abducted by King Qian, would he really wear armor to save her?

"You need not die for me," Daiyu said. "You have your parents and grandmother to honor; how can you speak of death so lightly?" She was different—she had no parents left.

Baoyu was silent for a moment. "Then... I shall become a monk!"

Daiyu had heard him threaten to become a monk three times before. She smiled sadly, "If you become a monk, I will not accompany you."

"Where would Lin Meimei go?"

"I would go to the palace to become a concubine~"

Daiyu said it only to mock his earlier question, but to Baoyu, the words were like a thunderbolt from the heavens. "Lin Meimei, you... you are like Cousin Baochai? You also wish to enter the palace and become the Emperor's concubine?!"

Daiyu was stunned.

When she heard no further sound from him, she ordered Zijuan to go out and check. Zijuan reported that the Second Master had already left, looking as though he had lost his very soul.

Daiyu lay back on her bed, her tears falling in torrents. Baoyu was not the soulmate she had believed him to be. He was wonderful in ordinary times, but the moment a disaster loomed, he had turned his suspicions toward her.

How could he ever think she would sacrifice her integrity for glory and wealth just to become a concubine?