Chapter 44: Send for the Empress

After a moment, Chu Yan picked up another official document and asked the princess, who was still massaging his shoulders, "Why did you come to see me?"

Qinghe instinctively wanted to step in front of him to reply, but hesitating for a moment, she continued to massage his shoulders. Her softly parted, rosy lips opened slightly as she said in a crisp, gentle voice, "This handmaiden has a favor to ask of the Great King."

"Speak."

Chu Yan was quite receptive to this title of "Great King." Princess Qinghe was just at the age for marriage, a young maiden in the bud of youth. Her voice was also very pleasant, matching her gentle and delicate temperament; the crisp, melodious sound of a young girl was truly enchanting.

"This handmaiden has heard that the sages once said: filial piety and fraternal love are the foundation of benevolence. The Great King now possesses the realm, rules over the four seas, and commands awe throughout the universe. Although the old dynasty's imperial clan has been subdued and placed under guard by the Great King, only the elders of this handmaiden in the palace remain. Most of them are advanced in years; the Dowager Consort is nearing eighty, and my mother the Empress is already sixty-five. The Great King has conquered the realm with the edge of your sword. If you can now govern the realm with benevolence and filial piety, why worry that people's hearts will not submit?"

Princess Qinghe spoke at length in a sweet, clear voice. Hearing this, Chu Yan could not help but laugh and turned back to look at her.

Qinghe lowered her head, her delicate, pretty face flushing slightly, tinged with a hint of apprehension.

"Did the Princess sleep poorly last night?" Chu Yan noticed the exhaustion in her expression.

Hearing this, Qinghe remembered that she had not slept a wink all night, and even now she felt no drowsiness at all, save for a slight, stabbing pain in her temples.

She said softly, "This handmaiden thanks the Great King for your concern." Gathering her courage, she added, "With our country fallen and our family destroyed, how could this handmaiden possibly sleep peacefully?" Then, stammering slightly, she continued, "Fortu—fortunately, the Great King is enlightened, and the lives of my family have been spared."

Her three brief sentences twisted and turned in a thousand ways, revealing the sensitive and delicate mind of Princess Qinghe.

Chu Yan smiled. "I can hear the resentment in your heart, but the victory of the king and the defeat of the bandit has been the rule since ancient times. The Chen family could sit upon this throne, and so can I."

Qinghe bit her cherry lips and offered no further reply.

Chu Yan had no intention of throwing his weight around in front of a young woman, nor did he intend to persuade her. Instead, he shifted to matters of state:

"What you said earlier has some merit. I seized your family's empire through rebellion, and everyone in the world worries that I am a tyrannical ruler. No sooner had I led my troops out than the scholars in Jinling who have pledged allegiance to me, led by Zhao Deming, began discussing the worship of Confucius. Chuanqi originally said he wanted to send the descendants of Confucius to the capital so that I could bestow a title upon him, and only then perform the sacrificial rites to Confucius, thereby pacifying the scholars of the realm."

Qinghe had heard of this Zhao Deming, a prominent scholar from the Jiangnan region who had once passed the imperial examinations at the provincial level but found no satisfaction in official service, retiring early. Yet he was highly sought after among the scholars of Jiangnan, having co-founded the Nanshan Academy with a group of Confucian scholars. He was quite famous in Jiangnan, and many ministers in the imperial court hailed from that academy.

She could not help but feel sorrow and indignation. Those scholars of Jiangnan had surrendered to the King of Qian so early, even before the King of Qian had fought his way into the capital, and were already plotting strategies for him to govern the realm!

Chu Yan pondered for a moment and said, "I wish to see the realm pacified and the hearts of the scholars won, but I do not wish to perform the sacrifices to Confucius... Never mind, first summon the descendants of Confucius to the capital."

With that, he took up his brush and wrote a line of text on the memorial: "Approved for him to come to the capital; all other matters shall be discussed upon arrival in the imperial city."

Qinghe happened to see the words he wrote and felt a strange perplexity. "Approved"?

Chu Yan picked up another memorial, also from Jiangnan. During the fighting some time ago, thousands of memorials had piled up, and only now did he have time to process them.

As he read, he asked her, "Did anything else happen in the palace? I am referring to when the imperial concubines were relocated."

***

Qinghe hurriedly replied, "Both the Elder Consort and the Empress Dowager were willing to relocate and dared not disobey the Great King's orders... However, some of the consorts and young concubines made appeals to the Virtuous Consort and my Imperial Sister-in-law, and the Virtuous Consort went to discuss it with my Sister-in-law."

"What did the Virtuous Consort say?"

"She also believed that the Great King might perform an act of benevolence and filial piety by treating the older consorts over the age of sixty with kindness, temporarily placing them in a separate palace. Fearing that the imperial consorts in the palace would have no one to care for them, she sent a palace maid in to wait upon them, and was just about to report this back to the Great King."

"Oh, is there anything else?" Chu Yan nodded expressionlessly.

Qinghe continued, "The Virtuous Consort wishes to write a letter to her family, telling them that the Great King is magnanimous and merciful, so that they need not worry."

"Anything else?"

"..."

Qinghe finally realized that the King of Qian was not satisfied with their actions.

"Why aren't you speaking?"

With a sudden stretch of his arm, Chu Yan pulled Qinghe—who had been massaging his shoulders—from behind to the front. She looked like a startled rabbit, her face draining of color in fright.

Holding her smooth, slender, jade-like hand, Chu Yan looked at her pretty, obedient appearance and the unique, noble aura cultivated by the imperial family, stirring the fire within his belly.

Ever since he led the northern expeditionary army from Jinling, it had been over a month, and his desires were burning fiercely.

Originally, he had intended to wait until after his enthronement, but seeing Princess Qinghe's frail, delicate-flower demeanor and hearing her words just now, Chu Yan decided he needed to give a warning to the consorts of the former dynasty's inner court, lest they think they could act recklessly just because the blade was not yet at their throats.

"Go back."

Chu Yan instructed her calmly, "Tell the Virtuous Consort that the Empress Dowager, the Elder Consort, and the consorts over the age of sixty may temporarily be spared from relocation. Furthermore, this King will have a late-night snack tonight at the亥 hour (9:00 PM to 11:00 PM). Order the young consorts of the palace, from the Empress down to you, to come to the Qianqing Palace to entertain this King!"

Qinghe widened her eyes, looking even more terrified.

Entertain him?!

From her Imperial Sister-in-law... down to her?

Qinghe's hands and feet grew cold, and she had no idea how she had walked out of the Linjing Hall, drifting dazed and bewildered back with the palace maids and eunuchs. As she reached the Qianqing Gate, Xia Shouzhong hurried over to speak another word to her: "By decree of the King of Qian, please convey to the Virtuous Consort that she must bring her zither tonight, and also inform Empress Zhang, Imperial Concubine Wu, and the others that during tonight's late-night snack, they are to perform a song and dance for the King of Qian!"

Ah... to entertain, so that was what it meant?

Recovering her wits, Qinghe blurted out, "How preposterous! My Imperial Sister-in-law holds the noble position of an Empress of the realm; how could she possibly stoop to such posturing and flirtatious dancing... If the King of Qian wishes to watch singing and dancing, why not summon the palace's Bureau of Music? There are still several opera troupes in the palace who usually perform for the Elder Consort and the Empress Dowager; you could summon them instead. Why must you torment my Imperial Sister-in-law and the others?!"

Xia Shouzhong wore a look of utter helplessness and sighed, "Princess, it is not just them; even you must wait upon the King of Qian tonight... However, the King of Qian also said that since you are yet unmarried, you need not dance tonight; you only need to continue massaging the King of Qian's legs and shoulders."

***

With that, Xia Shouzhong bowed. "This slave will return first to wait upon His Highness the King of Qian. Princess, this slave advises you to look at things more lightly and be careful, lest trouble arises from your words."

Qinghe watched the departing figure of Xia Shouzhong with a vacant heart, regretting whether she had said the wrong thing and displeased the King of Qian.

Making the Empress of a realm sing and dance for amusement...

How was she going to face her Imperial Sister-in-law when she returned?!

...

Kunining Palace.

"Imperial Sister-in-law...!"

Upon seeing Empress Zhang and Jia Yuanchun sitting together in the palace, Qinghe could no longer hold back and burst into tears. Her jade-like hand wiped away the tears streaming down her fair, tender cheeks as she threw herself into Empress Zhang's arms and sobbed bitterly.

When all was said and done, she was merely a young maiden awaiting marriage in her chambers; being able to walk out of the Linjing Hall alive was already a miracle.

"Seventeenth girl, you..." Empress Zhang embraced her, immediately checking to see if her clothes were disheveled or if there were any signs of defilement around her neck and chest. Finding none, she let out a sigh of relief and asked what had happened.

Jia Yuanchun was also deeply worried. Because she was extremely concerned about her family, she had written a letter to Qinghe, asking her to take it to the King of Qian and beg for permission to send it out of the palace.

Had Qinghe been scolded by the King of Qian because of this?

"Imperial Sister-in-law..."

With tear-filled eyes, Qinghe stammered, "The King of Qian said, said... that you, along with the Virtuous Consort and all the young consorts in the palace, must go to him tonight to sing and dance for his amusement..."

Ah!

Jia Yuanchun's fair, slender hand covered her rosy lips, her eyes widening in a nearly ungraceful shriek of horror.

Empress Zhang was also stunned into shock for a long moment before she pushed Qinghe away and instructed the palace maid Green Yan, "Find me a strip of white silk! It is far more proper for me to hang myself from the beam than to suffer his humiliation!"

"Imperial Sister-in-law!!"

Qinghe threw herself back into her arms, weeping and refusing to let go.