Chapter 1426: Xuanye, Take Your Father Back!

Laoshan Palace, the Hall of Imperial Supremacy.

Today the great hall was filled with a rare liveliness and festivity.

Not only were the chief and deputy officials of the Grand Secretariat, the Grand Marshal's Office, the Deliberative Council, the Censorate, the Court of Judicial Review, and other government offices all assembled in full attendance — even the Retired Emperor Chongzhen, who had long since withdrawn from affairs of state, was seated on a chair placed to the left of the Emperor, Zhu Cilang.

There was even a rare guest who almost never appeared before the assembled civil and military officials — Noble Consort Ning, Ajige, who was thirty-two years old this year.

Noble Consort Ning ranked last among the eight imperial consorts bearing the titles Worthy, Virtuous, Dignified, Reverent, Gracious, Compliant, Healthy, and Tranquil. Her rank seemed not low, but among Zhu Cilang's consorts she was in fact near the bottom.

For Zhu Cilang's rear palace was not large — in all, only a dozen or so consorts. The highest in rank was, of course, the Empress, Wu Sanmei. Below her was the Imperial Noble Consort, Zheng Chagu.

Below the Imperial Noble Consort were four Noble Consorts, in order: Noble Consort Wu Ake, who had not yet entered the palace; Noble Consort Nisha; Noble Consort Ning Xiangyu; and Noble Consort Fei Zhen'e.

Below the Noble Consorts, by regulation, came the eight titled imperial consorts — Worthy, Virtuous, Dignified, Reverent, Gracious, Compliant, Healthy, and Tranquil. But Zhu Cilang did not have enough women to fill the quota of eight imperial consorts, and had only enfeoffed Dong'e as Consort Worthy, Xu Erlin as Consort Virtuous, Xu Gaozi as Consort Dignified, and Ajige as Consort Tranquil.

And below Consort Tranquil Ajige were Virtuous Concubine Natali, Worthy Concubine Takata Miho, and Selected Attendant Kong Sizhen.

That is to say, not counting the royal mistress Marie Mancini, Ajige's rank in Zhu Cilang's rear palace was only fourth from the bottom — she could hardly be called a favored consort.

But if one were to leaf through the Inner Records of Daily Life, one would find that in the dozen or more years since Ajige entered the palace, in the number of times she had attended the Emperor in bed, she absolutely ranked among the top four... and her ranking had remained very stable, with the gap between her and third place gradually narrowing — she was unquestionably in favor.

Yet this favored consort, at this moment, sat unpainted and with a face full of worry on an embroidered stool to the right of Zhu Cilang. She looked as though calamity were about to strike again.

Apart from Ajige, everyone else in the great hall wore expressions of delight — at a glance one could tell that the Great Ming had met with another happy event!

The happy event, of course, was that the false Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing, who had been a fugitive for over a decade, had at last been captured and brought to justice, and had moreover been escorted to the capital. Soon he would be delivered to the square outside the Hall of Imperial Supremacy, for Zhu Cilang and the assembled civil and military officials to view.

And Shunzhi's own younger sister, Ajige, was to be responsible for identifying him...

Amid a burst of noise and bustle, Commandery Prince of Luoshan, Zhu Ci'en, strode into the Hall of Imperial Supremacy together with an accompanying Embroidered Uniform Guard officer.

After performing a bow of salutation to Zhu Cilang and the Retired Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Ci'en steeled himself and loudly reported: "I report to my Imperial Elder Brother: the eastern barbarians' false emperor Fulin has been escorted to the outside of the Hall of Imperial Supremacy, and awaits Your disposal!"

Zhu Cilang nodded and said with a smile: "Twenty thousand li there and back — Ninth Brother has truly worked hard."

He then turned his head to the woman on his right and said: "Ajige, accompany Us to take a look. What do you say?"

"This consort obeys the decree." Ajige rose as she spoke, and let out a soft sigh, looking utterly heartbroken and grieved.

Zhu Cilang turned again and asked Chongzhen: "Imperial Father, let us go and see together!"

"Very well!" Chongzhen laughed. "We have long wished to see what the chieftain of the eastern barbarians looks like."

Zhu Cilang respectfully extended a hand. "Imperial Father, please."

Chongzhen smiled and nodded, then strode out of the great hall with long steps. Zhu Cilang and Ajige followed him out, and after them came the civil and military officials, in order of rank and precedence, filing out behind Zhu Cilang in a long procession, all going to see the "Shunzhi" locked in a cage.

"Wah-yah-yah! I am Shunzhi, the number-one Baturu of the Manchus..."

The moment he stepped out of the Hall of Imperial Supremacy, Zhu Cilang heard a loud voice in a Shaanxi accent proclaiming itself to be "the number-one Baturu of the Manchus, Shunzhi"... What was going on? Why did Shunzhi have a Shaanxi flavor? Why would he call himself the number-one Baturu of the Manchus? Wasn't that Oboi?

At that thought he quickened his pace down the steps and arrived at the square outside the Hall of Imperial Supremacy, where three prisoner cages were lined up in a row.

Each of the three cages held a person... How could there be three Shunzhis?

Zhu Cilang was taken aback. The edict he had given the Third Crown Prince and Zhu Ci'en contained only the line "Escort Fulin and the others to the capital." It had not specified who "the others" were, much less said that Jin Boguo and Jin Xuanye should be locked in prisoner cages as well... He had not even stripped the two of their noble titles!

Even if they were to be escorted to Yingtian Prefecture, they could not be put in cages.

So Zhu Cilang had not expected the Third Crown Prince to act on his own authority and arrest Jin Boguo and Jin Xuanye as well. He had assumed they had caught three suspected Shunzhis, and that he was to pick the one that looked most like him.

With that thought, the Zhu Emperor walked up to the three prisoner cages and began to choose.

The man doing all the shouting was locked in the middle cage — a fierce-looking, burly fellow with a savage face. With that Shaanxi accent alone he could not possibly be Shunzhi — admitting it himself was useless! He didn't look the part, and his accent was wrong. The wise sovereign Zhu Cilang would not be fooled!

The cage on the right held a dark-faced, pockmarked man (sun-darkened), who at first glance somewhat resembled Kangxi. He was very young — he could not be Shunzhi either...

Then he looked at the cage on the left. Inside was a middle-aged man with a stubbly beard, a gray, haggard face, and loose, sagging skin, looking utterly down and out — yes, this one was Shunzhi!

"Ajige," Zhu Cilang called, then pointed at the "successfully slimmed-down" Jin Boguo. "Does he look like Shunzhi?"

Ajige did not recognize him as Jin Boguo either — when Jin Boguo had left Yingtian Prefecture, he had been a huge fat man!

But looking at that "thin Boguo," she still found him very familiar, and he did somewhat resemble the Shunzhi in her memory — they were blood brothers, after all; how could there be no resemblance at all?

Ajige pointed at Jin Boguo and declared loudly: "It is him! He is Fulin!"

Jin Boguo, who had cried and fussed the whole way and had eaten almost nothing, was already somewhat dazed, so when he saw Zhu Cilang he did not even call out "Father." Now, with Ajige pointing at his nose and declaring him to be Fulin, he was thoroughly confused.

"How can I be Fulin? How could I possibly be Fulin? I am Bolguo!" By now he was fully awake, and had also noticed Zhu Cilang watching him with a curious expression. He hastily cried out: "Imperial Father, your son is Jin Boguo! Your son has been wronged! Your son truly did not collude with the traitor Fulin!"

Zhu Cilang finally recognized Jin Boguo, and asked in astonishment: "Boguo, how did you get yourself arrested and locked up?" He turned to look at Zhu Ci'en, who was already stunned and at a loss. "Ninth Brother, what is the meaning of this? How did Prince Gong end up in a prisoner cage?"

"P-Prince Gong?" Zhu Ci'en also sensed something was wrong. His eldest brother apparently had not yet stripped Jin Boguo of his princely title!

The man was still a Prince, while Zhu Ci'en was only a Commandery Prince. A Commandery Prince had, on his own authority, treated a Prince as a prisoner and escorted him to the capital! Nothing like this had happened since the founding of the dynasty, had it?

"That was all Third Brother's idea — it has nothing to do with me! It was Third Brother who said to put Jin Boguo and Jin Xuanye both in prisoner cages!" Zhu Ci'en hastily shifted the blame.

"What? Jin Xuanye too?" Zhu Cilang was startled again. "Where is the Marquis of Yan'en?"

"Your Majesty, this subject is the Marquis of Yan'en!" Xuanye hastened to cry out, his voice already tinged with tears. He had been grievously wronged!

Zhu Cilang looked closely — sure enough, it was Xuanye, just a bit darker, a bit thinner, and a bit more down and out.

"Then who is Shunzhi?" Zhu Cilang asked.

The fake Shunzhi, upon hearing the question, began shouting again: "I am Shunzhi! I am Shunzhi, the number-one hero of the Great Qing! Which of you dares come and fight me!"

Zhu Cilang looked at that roving-bandit version of Shunzhi, then turned back to look at Zhu Ci'en, furious in his heart! Three hundred fifty thousand taels! And this is how you handled the assignment? Not only did you fail to smooth things over, but when told to produce a fake Shunzhi, you went and produced a fake Li Zicheng!

"A fine job you've done!" Zhu Cilang glared at his younger brother, then said to Ajige: "Ajige, then you identify him again. Take a look at this so-called number-one hero — is he Fulin?"

Ajige walked a few steps to the fake Shunzhi's cage, examined him carefully, then nodded earnestly and said: "Your Majesty, he is Fulin! He is this consort's sixth elder brother, Fulin!" As she spoke, Ajige made a show of wiping away tears. "Sixth Brother, these days, wandering outside, you must have suffered greatly?"

Zhu Cilang let out a breath. Having a passable Shunzhi would do — no need to scrutinize further. It was, after all, just a pretext for manufacturing a false case.

With that thought, Zhu Cilang pointed at the fake Shunzhi in the cage and said to Jin Xuanye: "Xuanye, your aunt has completed the identification. This is your father, Fulin. You needn't stay in the prisoner cage any longer. You have handled this assignment well — you are awarded five thousand taels of silver, and you shall remain Marquis of Yan'en!

Furthermore, take your father back to the marquis's residence and look after him well. He must not be allowed to escape, nor may any mishap befall him! Do you understand?"

(End of Chapter)