Chapter 639: The Young Prince Wei

In the ninth month of the seventh year of Qianyou, the great victory at Liangquan coincided with Empress Fu giving birth to a son—two joys arriving at once.

"Father!" Inside the Kunning Hall, catching sight of the bright-yellow figure entering through the parted curtain, Liu Yang immediately trotted over on his little legs and threw himself forward.

The child was only five or six years old. Liu Chengyou scooped him up with one arm, held him close, and habitually pinched his chubby cheeks, asking, "This is the hour for study—why aren't you at the study hall with your tutor?"

At the question, Liu Yang tilted his head and replied, "Mother has given birth to a younger brother and needs to recuperate. The tutor once taught that a son should fulfill his filial duty, so I asked leave from the tutor and am attending Mother here in the hall..."

Hearing this, Liu Chengyou's brows involuntarily rose. He glanced inside and could see the elder Lady Fu lying on her side. Looking at the Second Prince's earnest little face, he said in a low voice, "Tell Father—who taught you to say these words?"

Little Liu Yang was taken aback, blinking his eyes with a puzzled expression. He scratched his head before saying, "The tutor taught me, of course?"

His eyes rolling for a moment, Liu Chengyou asked, "What have you brothers been studying with the tutor lately?"

Liu Yang understood the question now and answered, "The Thousand Character Classic and the Classic of Filial Piety."

Only then did Liu Chengyou nod. He bounced Liu Yang in his arms as he walked inside, chuckling, "With these little arms and legs of yours, how exactly do you plan to fulfill your filial duty to your mother?"

"I fed Mother some soup just now!" Liu Yang replied.

"Is that so!" Liu Chengyou laughed heartily. Sitting down at the edge of the phoenix couch, he looked at the elder Lady Fu: "It seems sending him to study has indeed taught him quite a lot!"

Winter had already set in, and the elder Lady Fu had not been long delivered of her child; her body still needed to recuperate, and the room was kept warm. Perhaps it was the stuffiness, but her jade-like face was flushed, carrying a charm all its own. Looking at Liu Yang, her beautiful eyes could not conceal her affection, and she said, "This child—he's quite the little rascal!"

"No matter how mischievous he is, he can hardly outdo that brat Liu Fang!" Liu Chengyou said with a light laugh.

His gaze swept over and noticed an ornament tied at Liu Yang's waist. He picked it up for a look—it turned out to be a wooden dagger. Liu Chengyou asked, "Where did this come from?"

Liu Yang tilted his head up and said, "Fourth Brother has a dagger, a very beautiful one, given by Old Lord Zhe. When Grandfather came to the palace to see Mother, I asked him for one too, and this is one Grandfather carved himself."

As he spoke, his mouth puckered: "Too bad it's not a real one!"

"You want a real one?" Liu Chengyou scolded: "You little tyke, running wild through the palace—how could you be allowed to carry a blade!"

With that, he returned the wooden dagger to Liu Yang and patted his little bottom: "Go out and play. I need to speak with your mother..."

After Liu Yang left, Liu Chengyou turned his gaze back to the elder Lady Fu. Reaching out to gently stroke her flushed cheeks, he asked, "Lately all my energy has gone to the Yellow River floods and the military situation in Qinfeng, and I've neglected you. How is your body?"

"It's not the first time—I have experience. After resting a while longer, I'll be fine!" The elder Lady Fu shook her head. Feeling that Liu Chengyou's hands were a bit cold, she lifted the brocade quilt and tucked them against her chest to warm them.

The warm, soft sensation immediately stirred something in Liu Chengyou. Though he feared chilling his worthy wife's bosom, his hands very honestly lingered there, even giving a squeeze, earning him a reproachful glare from the elder Lady Fu...

"I have attendants to serve me here, and Second Sister comes to visit from time to time!" The elder Lady Fu looked at Liu Chengyou and said softly: "Since the state is beset with many affairs, I appreciate Second Brother's concern and am deeply grateful—but there's no need to take time from your myriad duties to come to the inner palace."

"I often tell people that I have a good wife at home and a worthy empress in the state..." Looking at Empress Fu, Liu Chengyou said with feeling: "No matter how much I praise you, it's never enough!"

These words made the elder Lady Fu embarrassed. Pressing down on the mischievous hand resting on her increasingly full bosom, she said with a coquettish laugh, "Second Brother saying such things—I can hardly bear it."

"In my eyes, you can bear the finest praise in the world! In days to come, if I am the greatest emperor of a thousand ages, you shall be the greatest empress of a thousand ages, praised together with me for a hundred generations, lauded for a thousand!" Liu Chengyou declared, and rather uncharacteristically revealed a hint of "simp" behavior.

Clearly, Empress Fu was quite unaccustomed to this. Her beautiful eyes held a trace of surprise mixed with curiosity: "Second Brother, you seem rather strange today—why are you heaping such flattery and praise on this woman of the inner palace?"

"I was merely speaking from the heart!" Liu Chengyou replied.

Noting his expression, the elder Lady Fu's gentle, water-soft gaze settled on Liu Chengyou's face as she asked, "Have the Yellow River flood conditions still not eased?"

Waving his hand, Liu Chengyou said, "It's already much better!"

Still, mentioning the matter, Liu Chengyou could not help a bout of lamentation: "I have always placed great importance on flood control and river works. Whenever the court's finances allowed a little slack, I allocated funds for dredging, embankment construction, and reinforcement. In recent years, both the central government and the localities have repeatedly allocated money and grain and mobilized labor to inspect the dikes.

I have also investigated—the various officials and river workers have not been negligent; most have done their utmost. Yet every year, flood reports still land on my desk. Especially that hundred-li stretch of dike from Yangliu Ford to Bozhou—it keeps breaching eastward. Now the waters have spread for several hundred li, merging into a great marsh.

The old northeast dike has been repaired to no avail. Qi and Zi prefectures are flooded wholesale, the waters extending to the seacoast, drowning countless people's homes, fields, and forests. According to reports from the prefectures, censors, and the Wude Office, vast numbers of people can only gather wild rice and catch fish to feed themselves..."

The problem of the Yellow River's breaches had in recent years truly given Liu Chengyou no end of headaches. Hampered by the constant breaks, Liu Chengyou had already sent people to implement diversion measures based on the river's conditions. He did not hope for a permanent solution—only to temporarily slow the damage. Even a few decades of peace would be enough.

Of course, this was a colossal project, larger in scale than any major undertaking since Liu Chengyou had ascended the throne. Just thinking about tackling the Yellow River problem made Liu Chengyou's scalp tingle, yet it was something he had to do.

"The Yellow River keeps breaching, and dikes are useless. According to those prophecies and heretical sayings, I, this emperor, have lost virtue and misgoverned!" Liu Chengyou lamented.

"Second Brother, you're taking this too seriously! You are a wise sovereign of this age—who among the officials and people of the realm does not know it?" Seeing Liu Chengyou in low spirits, the elder Lady Fu immediately spoke to console him: "The Yellow River's calamity is the great force of nature. Every dynasty in history has suffered from it—how could it be your doing?"

"Heh! Hearing you speak thus, my mood has improved considerably!" Liu Chengyou's expression changed quickly, swiftly recovering his composure, and he even said lightly to Empress Fu: "As for that theory of heaven-and-man correspondence, I truly don't subscribe to it, but there are always those who firmly believe it and wish to interpret scriptures and classics by it..."

"Second Brother, what business do you actually have coming to the Kunning Hall today?" Hearing Liu Chengyou rambling this way and that, the elder Lady Fu could not help asking.

"I came to see you, and to see our little prince!" Liu Chengyou replied. As he spoke, he picked up the newborn prince. The swaddled infant was fast asleep and was nearly woken by Liu Chengyou.

"Look—the nose and eyes rather resemble me!" Looking at the elder Lady Fu, Liu Chengyou said somewhat absent-mindedly.

Meeting the elder Lady Fu's gaze, Liu Chengyou pondered for a moment, finally ceasing his idle chatter. He sat back down at the side of the couch and said gravely, "The Empress Dowager raised a matter with me—she wishes to select one of my sons to be adopted by Eldest Brother, to carry on his line."

At Liu Chengyou's mention of this, the elder Lady Fu's delicate brows immediately knit together. Her expression turned serious as she stared fixedly at him.

Subconsciously stroking his short beard, Liu Chengyou continued: "Eldest Brother was kind and benevolent by nature, and he looked after me well in his lifetime. It's only a pity he was frail and sickly, dying young, leaving no sons. Sister-in-law has lived as a widow in the manor for many years, quite lonely and forlorn—thinking of it, I find it hard to bear..."

"Second Brother is upholding the virtues of fraternal duty and filial piety—it is only right!" Hearing Liu Chengyou say this, the elder Lady Fu sat up, took the little prince from his hands, and held him in her arms, saying softly: "If Your Majesty wishes to give a son in adoption to Eldest Brother, Liu Xu is a fine choice. He is an innocent child without a mother, and Sister-in-law will surely treat him well..."

Seeing her reaction, Liu Chengyou kept his smile and said, "I had that intention myself, but Liu Xu has long been fostered in the Ciming Hall, and I fear the Empress Dowager cannot bear to part with him. So..."

Seeing Liu Chengyou's hesitant manner, the elder Lady Fu could not help but sigh and said quietly, "I understand what you mean—you wish to choose one of my two sons to carry on the line?"

At this moment, the elder Lady Fu's expression was cold, her gaze sharp, and Liu Chengyou found himself somewhat embarrassed to meet her eyes. Still, he nodded: "You are the Empress, and you have now borne two sons. After much deliberation, only a child from your womb is most fitting!"

Her eyes involuntarily reddening, the elder Lady Fu said, "I have only just given birth, and Your Majesty already wishes to take him from my side?"

"You exaggerate! You exaggerate!" Liu Chengyou gave an awkward laugh: "It's only a matter of title—he would be raised in the Prince Wei's manor, and you and your son could see each other at any time. I would even enfeoff him as a Prince, to inherit Eldest Brother's title."

No matter what Liu Chengyou said, the elder Lady Fu remained silent. After a long silence, when Liu Chengyou's expression had begun to cool, Empress Fu finally spoke: "A small infant is fragile and should not be disturbed. He cannot be sent out of the palace before he learns to speak!"

"As you say! As long as you don't oppose this matter, I'll grant whatever conditions you have!" Liu Chengyou said directly, then offered further gentle words of comfort.

That very day, Liu Chengyou issued an edict, making the Sixth Prince the heir of the late Prince Wei, and bestowed upon him the name Min.