Chapter 600: Love and Grace

It was the farming season. Across the vast fields under the spring sun, farmers were already turning the soil. To the left of the road, the imperial procession returning to the capital came to a brief halt. Shielded by yellow silk held up by two palace eunuchs, Liu Chengyou unfastened his trousers and began to relieve himself.

The pale yellow stream, fine and slender, traced an elegant arc, steaming as it splashed against a patch of soil. The "gurgle, gurgle" sound carried real force, and Liu Chengyou's face wore an expression of unburdened relief.

He shook himself off and tucked himself away, then cast his gaze across the plain. The fields lay in neat, orderly rows, crisscrossed by ditches that had clearly been repaired, already holding water. The sight lifted his spirits a notch.

"You—go call that farmer over. I want to ask him something!" Liu Chengyou gestured to a eunuch at his side, adding with emphasis: "And mind your manners!"

"Yes!"

Receiving the order, the eunuch scurried off eagerly and, almost entirely under Liu Chengyou's watchful eye, summoned the anxious old farmer before him to be questioned about agricultural matters. What Liu Chengyou asked were all trivial details, probing indirectly at how the local officials governed. The results left him quite satisfied.

"One glimpse of a spot reveals the whole leopard. Just from this—not delaying the farming season and the reputation he enjoys among these common folk—it's clear this Prefectural Administrator Lü lives up to his reputation. The Ministry of Personnel's assessment was indeed well-founded!" Liu Chengyou remarked with feeling.

The imperial procession was in Puzhou, whose Prefectural Administrator was named Lü Yin, courtesy name Yuqing. After the Puzhou case in the fourth year of Qianyou, recommended by Guo Rong, he had been promoted directly from an ordinary prefectural clerk to head of an entire prefecture. Young in years yet widely renowned, in his two years in office his governance and reputation had both been solid.

Yesterday, Liu Chengyou had specially received Lü Yin in audience. After a round of questions and answers, the man had found favor in the emperor's heart—promotion was not far off.

"Let's go!" With that command, Liu Chengyou stepped onto the low stool and mounted the imperial carriage.

Pure Consort Zhou, the young lady, was reclining inside the spacious carriage, her beautiful eyes gazing at the scenery outside through a gap in the curtains. She radiated an air of refined elegance, demure and composed.

Seeing Liu Chengyou enter, she immediately shifted her delicate form and helped him remove his boots, which bore a bit of spring mud—and perhaps a splash of something else.

"I'm a bit tired. Give me a massage!" Liu Chengyou said mildly, then lay down, resting his head on the young lady's thigh.

The consorts of the Han palace had basically all trained themselves in the art of massage, because the emperor enjoyed it. The young Lady Zhou's skill clearly still needed improvement, but the softness of her small hands was nonetheless worth savoring. Perhaps he was simply tired—before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.

When Liu Chengyou slowly woke, a faint, fragrant scent lingered around his nose. Opening his eyes, he found the young lady with one hand resting on his face, the other holding a scroll, reading with focused attention.

He shifted his head, startling her. She gave a soft cry: "Your Majesty!"

He answered with a gentle murmur, then took her jade-like hand, stroking its fine skin and feeling the softness and tenderness it conveyed. "Using these hands that pluck the zither and strum the strings to knead my shoulders and pound my legs—that's like burning a zither to cook a crane, wasting heaven's gifts!"

The young Lady Zhou set down her scroll and answered timidly: "Serving Your Majesty is this humble one's duty. I only fear my strength is poorly judged and I cannot ease Your Majesty's fatigue!"

Liu Chengyou smiled slightly and glanced at the scroll in her hand—it was the newly presented *Veritable Records of Emperor Shao of Jin*, offered by Su Yugui. Speaking of Emperor Shao of Jin, Shi Chonggui—he had been released back to the Central Plains by the Khitan the year before last, and after returning to court Liu Chengyou had personally received him, the man trembling with anxiety. Toward this last emperor, Liu Chengyou showed great leniency, comforting him with kind words, enfeoffing him as a Duke, and moving him to Luoyang, where he became a neighbor of Duke Xun, Li Congyi.

Speaking of Li Congyi, one could not help but mention his mother, Pure Consort Wang. Though she was known as Hua Jianxiu, hailed as "the number one beauty of the Five Dynasties," she was after all a woman of fifty or sixty now...

"These past six months, I've neglected you. You've been wronged!" Liu Chengyou said to the young Lady Zhou in a gentle tone.

The soft-spoken words startled the attending young Lady Zhou. Meeting his gaze, so full of tender affection, she was somewhat taken aback—the last time the emperor had treated her with such gentle consideration was during those early days after she first entered the palace.

Breaking into a smile, Lady Zhou answered in a low voice: "Your Majesty is a wise and sagely sovereign, rising before dawn and retiring after dark, laboring tirelessly for the well-being of all under heaven. Having no time for other matters is only to be understood. For this humble one to stand at the palace gate and gaze out longingly is already more than enough—how could I speak of being wronged?"

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou was amused. He sat up and appraised the beautiful young lady, saying: "Your words are both flattering me and lodging a complaint against me!"

The young lady instinctively lowered her head and said in a coquettish voice: "This humble one would never dare!"

At this moment, however, Liu Chengyou felt his interest stir. As the young lady gave a soft cry, his hand found her waist, and with a sudden pull he drew her into his embrace. His lips pressed against her delicate ear as he whispered suggestively: "From now on, I'll visit Shulan Hall more often!"

Feeling his actions and hearing his words, a flush of crimson gradually spread across her fair cheeks. The young Lady Zhou's bright eyes seemed to hold spring water, growing ever more alluring. "Thank you, Your Majesty!" she said.

"I hear you've composed a new piece of music and dance. When we return to the palace, dance it for me to see..."

"Yes..."

As they whispered to each other, cheek to cheek, Liu Chengyou's hand had already grown restless, stirring the maiden's heartstrings. He pressed himself upon her, and then...

By the time Liu Chengyou completed his tour and returned to the Eastern Capital, it was already mid-spring. He did not have the consorts or the hundred officials come out to welcome him, but entered the city and returned to the palace with quiet discretion. The first thing he did upon returning was to distribute, as gifts, various folk implements and goods he had purchased in Daming Prefecture to the Empress Dowager and the consorts of the palace. Liu Chengyou figured that on this tour, having brought only Pure Consort with him, his beautiful ladies could hardly help but feel a pang of jealousy—they needed soothing.

"Zhao Yan!" Returning to the main hall, Liu Chengyou summoned Zhao Yan, one of the Chongzheng Academicians and the tanhua of the five-year-cycle examination.

"What does Your Majesty command?"

Gazing at him and considering for a moment, Liu Chengyou said: "From today onward, you shall be the head of the Chongzheng Hall academicians—lecturing, studying alongside me, and organizing confidential affairs!"

Hearing this, Zhao Yan was greatly surprised, but he immediately replied: "Your subject's talents are shallow and virtue thin, and I have only just entered officialdom. I truly dare not bear such a heavy responsibility. Please, Your Majesty, select another worthy talent!"

Liu Chengyou was somewhat surprised as well. Had it been anyone else, they would likely have been overcome with excitement and prostrated themselves in gratitude. He could not help but take a serious look at the man—very young, with a face like polished jade, elegant and distinguished. In terms of appearance, Liu Chengyou could not compare with him at all.

Somewhat curious, he asked: "This post and this duty are what others would beg for in vain! I hold you in high regard—why do you flee from it?"

"To answer Your Majesty, your subject has self-knowledge. When it comes to composing writings, I have confidence. But to assist in governing affairs and handling confidential matters, I have neither experience nor insight. My own honor or disgrace matters little—I only fear harming the public business!" Zhao Yan replied with a bow.

"Moreover, among the Chongzheng academicians there are many who are my seniors in talent. Placed among them, I am but a junior novice—how could I command their respect?" Zhao Yan added: "And I am young—truly unfit for such a weighty charge!"

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou roughly understood his concerns. He could not help but think to himself—at such an age, where did all this caution come from? Could he have learned it from his father?

He could not help but smile and ask: "Then who do you think could be recommended?"

Seeming not to notice the emperor's growing coolness, Zhao Yan replied: "I dare not judge others, but last year's zhuangyuan, Young Master Dong, has learning and insight both above mine!"

"Dong Chun—he's too much the bookish scholar. He can't handle mundane affairs for now!" Saying this, Liu Chengyou fixed Zhao Yan with a cold, sharp gaze: "No one is born knowing everything. I'm giving you this responsibility because I see potential in you. No experience? Isn't this precisely the chance to hone and accumulate it?"

Finally sensing the change in the emperor's tone, Zhao Yan could not help but shudder and lower his head.

"As for age—back then, Wang Qiwu, Wang Zhu, and Li Fang—which of them wasn't young?" Liu Chengyou scrutinized Zhao Yan: "If you dare refuse again, you need not remain in the Eastern Capital!"

"Your subject would not dare!" Zhao Yan was badly startled and prostrated himself: "Your subject thanks Your Majesty for the favor!"

Today, the tanhua had truly experienced the tension of "attending the sovereign is like attending a tiger." The emperor had wished to bestow favor and promotion; he had merely been modest, yet he had nearly provoked the emperor's wrath...

Seeing his submission, Liu Chengyou's expression finally softened and returned to calm. "Go," he said. "Organize the memorials and petitions that the Hall of State Affairs has approved and submitted since I left the capital. I wish to review them!"

"Yes!"