Chapter 122

Xie Xinghan's argument had some truth in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, where knowledge was monopolized and the people were uneducated. Looking at people this way, the difference between the gentry and the commoners probably really couldn't escape her eyes.

But she could never have imagined that Wang Yang had traveled from more than 1,500 years later. His vision, scope, insight, and talent could not be measured by normal standards, so her method of distinguishing between noble and commoner failed when applied to Wang Yang.

This was also one of the important reasons why Wang Yang's noble identity could be disguised until today.

Xie Xinghan had a look of having everything under control and continued: "Furthermore—"

"Furthermore, your poetry can also verify your identity. 'The dance lowers the moon in the heart of the willow tower, the song exhausts the wind under the peach blossom fan.' This line alone shows the charm of a great family. Nowadays, ordinary people writing about wealth must write about gold and jade, not knowing that it is inferior. For example, Bao Zhao: 'Embroidered rafters and golden lotus flowers, cinnamon pillars and jade coiled dragons.' This poem of his is titled 'In Place of the Prince of Chen Si, Luoyang Chapter,' saying it was written on behalf of the Prince, but he was someone who didn't understand wealth. True wealth is like the Prince of Chen Si's 'Pulling clothes to go out of the inner chamber, wandering and walking between the two pillars,' 'Autumn orchids cover the long slope, red flowers cover the green pond.' This is true wealth. Noble spirit is in the bones, not in the form; piling up gold and jade, brocade and sable furs, are not as good as a line about the moon in the heart of the tower or the wind under the fan."

Wang Yang was a bit embarrassed. This poem wasn't written by him, and you are analyzing it here, analyzing it for nothing.

However, the original author of this lyric, Yan Jidao, was the son of a prime minister, so he naturally had seen the world. Saying it had a noble spirit was not wrong. But Yan Jidao's family background was not prominent; although his father, Yan Shu, became a prime minister, his grandfather was only a minor official. If measured by the standards of the Southern Dynasties' family status, the Yan family couldn't even be considered a commoner family. Even if Yan Shu alone succeeded, he probably wouldn't have been looked upon by the high-ranking gentry.

Xie Xinghan was so intelligent that seeing Wang Yang was distracted, her beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly: "Why, do you think I'm wrong?"

"That's not it. It's just... what if your judgment is wrong? I'm not saying you're wrong. I mean, a wise man thinks a thousand times and must have one mistake; do you believe in your judgment so much? What if your judgment is wrong and I really am an impostor of the Langya Wang family, then what will you do?"

"What do you mean, what will I do?"

"You committed perjury in front of the Prince of Badong and so many scholars and officials; aren't you afraid of being implicated?" Wang Yang deliberately emphasized the word "perjury" to test whether the household registration records were handled by Xie Xinghan.

Xie Xinghan was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "What perjury! It's neither a government investigation nor an official public matter! I just recognized an old friend at the banquet; what is there to be afraid of? If you really are an impostor, at worst I just recognized the wrong person. I am a daughter of the Chen Jun Xie family, and my father is the Secretariat Supervisor; who could punish me just because I recognized someone wrong?"

Wang Yang looked at her righteous appearance and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Speaking of being unreasonable, it seems this little beauty is no less than me!

However, looking at Xie Xinghan's attitude toward perjury, it wasn't that she didn't care, but that she emphasized she wasn't committing perjury, so the household registration matter should have nothing to do with her.

At this point, the two questions Wang Yang wanted to probe had all been verified.

"Also, I want to remind you of two things; will you listen?" Xie Xinghan raised her snowy neck like a proud little swan.

Wang Yang played along: "Of course I will listen! I'm all ears!"

"First, don't get too close to the Prince of Badong. This person, the Prince of Badong, acts without restraint and is moody. He might be on good terms with you today, but he might turn against you tomorrow; he turns against people faster than flipping a book! You saw it at the banquet just now. Although you were lucky enough to pass this time, you must never be presumptuous with him in the future!"

"What did the Prince of Badong mean when he said 'If I had known you two years earlier, I would have borrowed your words to throw at those Censors'? What happened two years ago?" Wang Yang was very curious at the time, but didn't have the opportunity to ask.

"You don't know?"

"I don't know much about court affairs."

Xie Xinghan became even more certain of her judgment. She guessed that Wang Yang was an illegitimate son secretly raised by some powerful figure of the Langya Wang family, who couldn't be seen for some reason before, and now that his talent was complete, he was preparing to open up the situation from Jingzhou.

Due to the special environment in which he grew up, on one hand, he didn't have many constraints, so he could develop a free and easy personality; on the other hand, he was too far from the political center, so he knew very little about personnel and court affairs.

She explained to Wang Yang:

"Two years ago, the Prince of Badong served as the Commander of the Central Guard and concurrently as a Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary. At that time, the Son of Heaven had just completed the Shouchang Hall, and the officials wrote odes to praise it. In the Prince of Badong's ode, he quoted a sentence from Ban Gu's 'Ode on the Obscure and Penetrating': 'Kong forgets the taste for a thousand years.'"

"Actually, everyone knows that the Prince of Badong is not good at literature, so this ode must have been written by someone else and then copied by him. It's just that he copied it too carelessly and actually copied this sentence as 'Forgetting Kong's taste for a thousand years'! So he was impeached by the Censors for 'slandering the monarch and father, and slandering Confucianism.' Many ministers also took this opportunity to attack the Prince of Badong."

"And the Prince of Badong was even more daring; he actually punched a Censor after the court meeting!"

"The Son of Heaven was furious and imprisoned the Prince of Badong in the Louhu Garden in Xinlin for three months. After he was released, he was stripped of his position as Commander of the Central Guard and sent to garrison Jiangzhou."

Wang Yang laughed: "So that's it. I was wondering why he made such a big deal out of me saying the word 'Yan'; it turns out he learned it from the Censors. It seems the Censors' skill in picking faults left a shadow on the Prince of Badong."

Xie Xinghan said seriously: "It's not that simple. If one wanted to pick faults, the Prince of Badong had plenty of them; no one had been holding onto them before, so why was it such a big deal this time?"

Seeing Xie Xinghan say this, Wang Yang knew there was some inside story, so he humbly said: "I ask for your guidance, Lady."

Xie Xinghan had originally wanted to use this matter to point out the court situation to Wang Yang, so he wouldn't suffer losses in the future, so she explained in detail:

"Our dynasty currently has two princes known as virtuous princes: one is the second son, the Prince of Jingling, and the other is the Emperor's younger brother, the Prince of Yuzhang. The Prince of Yuzhang is the Son of Heaven's younger brother by the same mother, and the Son of Heaven treats him very well. Previously, the Prince of Yuzhang had no sons, so the Son of Heaven adopted the Prince of Badong to the Prince of Yuzhang as his heir. At that time, the Prince of Badong had not yet been enfeoffed as a prince and was young. The Prince of Yuzhang raised him with care, treating him as his own. Later, the Prince of Yuzhang had sons in succession, so the problem of having no heir no longer existed. He then requested to return the Prince of Badong to his original lineage."

"Perhaps feeling indebted, or perhaps because of the Prince of Yuzhang, as soon as the Prince of Badong restored his status as an imperial prince, he was enfeoffed as a prince, transferred to Commander of the Central Guard, led the capital's garrison, and added the title of Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, with unparalleled glory. The Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary wears the sable and cicada crown, enters and exits the palace without prohibition, and has the responsibility of attending to the Son of Heaven, so the Prince of Badong often entered the palace to accompany the Emperor and followed the Emperor on hunts. The Son of Heaven admired his bravery and once said: 'This is my yellow-bearded son!'"..."

Wang Yang thought: This "yellow-bearded son" is the "nickname" of Cao Zhang, the son of Cao Cao, who was historically known for his immense strength and ability to "fight wild beasts with his bare hands." The Emperor compared the Prince of Badong to Cao Zhang; it seems the Prince of Badong's combat value is indeed high.

"From the Prince of Badong returning to his lineage, to being appointed Commander of the Central Guard, to being favored while accompanying the Emperor, to being impeached, and finally to being sent to garrison Jiangzhou, all happened in the same year, which was the sixth year of Yongming." Xie Xinghan looked at Wang Yang meaningfully.

Wang Yang realized something and said: "In other words, the Prince of Badong was hated by others after returning to his lineage, so he was squeezed out of the capital?"

Xie Xinghan didn't answer, but suddenly blurted out: "Some people say that the impeachment of the Prince of Badong was pushed by the Crown Prince."

"Could it be because the Prince of Badong returned to his lineage, and the Crown Prince worried that he had designs on the succession?"

"Not really. With the Prince of Badong's reputation, he absolutely couldn't threaten the Crown Prince. But it is rumored that the Prince of Yuzhang and the Crown Prince were not on good terms. This is what the scholars in the capital call 'doubts between the palace and the government.'"

"Doubts between the palace and the government?" Wang Yang, in order to integrate into ancient times and better disguise his identity, often guided the conversation and collected information when talking to people, but he had never heard this term.

"The palace is the Eastern Palace, and the government is the Eastern Government. The Prince of Yuzhang is the Inspector of Yang Province, garrisoning the Eastern Government city."

Wang Yang understood immediately. Jiankang belongs to Yang Province, and the Inspector of Yang Province is equivalent to the governor of the capital province. The Prince of Yuzhang, with the dignity of the Emperor's younger brother, manages Yang Province, which is a bit like Zhao Guangyi, the younger brother of Zhao Kuangyin, serving as the Mayor of Kaifeng.

Linking this to the relationship between the Prince of Badong and the Prince of Yuzhang... Wang Yang understood: "So the Crown Prince attacked the Prince of Badong, actually striking at the Prince of Yuzhang's power?"

Xie Xinghan didn't commit, but once again solemnly instructed: "Therefore, do not get too close to the Prince of Badong."