Chapter 358: Dejection

The next day, in the afternoon, the spring sunlight was both bright and dazzling. Zhao Jiu, having changed into slightly lighter clothes, finished his midday snack and was pacing in the rear garden.

At this moment, looking out from the rear garden where the imperial residence was located, one could clearly see a huge, spherical object, completely different in style from the surrounding landscape, swaying among the southern halls. It was the hot air balloon that had been dragged back from Guoqiao Town last night using several large carts. It had been re-launched early this morning, but this time it was firmly tethered in all four directions with thick ropes, securely tied down under the corridor in front of the Xuan De Tower... Whenever its power was insufficient and it wobbled, someone would climb a ladder to add some charcoal to maintain its "soaring" posture.

Under these circumstances, the grand spectacle at the Xuan De Tower went without saying. In fact, even from such a distance, far away in the rear garden, one could seemingly hear the commotion from over there.

Actually, according to reason, or according to the original plan, yesterday the imperial residence should have, after the experiment, popularized the concept of temperature on the Xuan De Tower to those high-ranking court officials who understood or didn't understand... This was a systematic result that had been brewing ever since Lu Benzhong's tabloid previously discussed the three states of matter.

The so-called water freezing as zero, water boiling as one hundred, establishing a new system of weights and measures, even leaving foreshadowing to be combined with the previous concept of atmospheric pressure from the Magdeburg hemispheres... It could be recorded in the history of science and technology anywhere.

Moreover, this was also the first time Zhao Jiu had decided to publish original scientific results in his own name, which was of great significance.

But after that incident with the tribute gift yesterday, this imperial residence had no mood to personally give the explanation, only letting Lu Benzhong, that amateur, handle the publicity.

As for Zhao Jiu, who had something on his mind, he was now in casual clothes, wandering idly in the secluded parts of the rear palace with only a few guards... And unconsciously, he crossed the fish pond, turned out through the northwest corner gate, entered the Yanfu Palace, passed by the martial arts school where he usually practiced archery in the morning without entering, and then unconsciously climbed to the highest point of the rear palace, Xinggang. Then, at the thatched pavilion on the hilltop, he stood with his hands behind his back, looking around.

But his mind was undoubtedly still on yesterday's events.

Moreover, yesterday's events had many possibilities and were destined to be a Rashomon without a definite answer:

Thinking of it simply, it was likely a clumsy probe by Consort Pan after the secret establishment of the heir, which encountered a simple betrayal by a sycophant who thought himself clever—that Cai Mao had probably caught a whiff of something, learning of the overwhelming advantage of the eldest imperial prince, Yuanzuo, and the Wu family, so after using the Pan family to reach him, the imperial residence, he directly kicked the Pan family aside, choosing to take a risky turn towards speculation.

Thinking of it complexly, it might be that Cai Mao was one step ahead, using this method to provoke him, the imperial residence, implementing a strategy of sowing discord, wanting to plant a thorn in Zhao Jiu's heart regarding the eldest son's "popularity."

Of course, in Zhao Jiu's view, the former was more likely.

Because if it were the latter, then Cai Mao should be considered a high-level player, but if such a high-level person did this, what could he himself gain? Didn't such a high-level person know that Consort Pan's son, Dezuo, still had a slim chance?

Besides, a child in swaddling clothes was at the most innocent time of father-son affection; how effective could sowing discord really be?

Apart from this, one could also tell from Lu Benzhong's attitude that Cai Mao himself was probably not a high-end figure... There weren't many people that even Lu Benzhong would openly look down upon.

Of course, there was another possibility, with an even lower probability... that this "long-lasting original blessing" was entirely instigated by Consort Pan herself, or that she knew from the start the principle of this kind of fatal flattery, at the very least knew about this "long-lasting original blessing," and there was no betrayal between her and Cai Mao.

However, not to mention how low this possibility was, even if it were true, someone else was probably instigating it. And if that were the case, Zhao Jiu would only feel even more guilty, because he knew very well that he bore an undeniable responsibility for Consort Pan's current situation.

It was his laissez-faire attitude and coldness that had led to Consort Pan being so politically clueless.

Besides, compared to Consort Wu, he felt an extra layer of slight shame towards Consort Pan.

"Your Majesty..."

A voice awakened Zhao Jiu from his contemplation. Turning around, it was Yang Yizhong.

"How is it?" Zhao Jiu turned and asked seriously.

Yang Yizhong glanced at the Imperial Bodyguards on both sides and remained silent.

Zhao Jiu understood and waved his hand. The surrounding bodyguards immediately left the hilltop, moving a few dozen steps down.

"As I said before, your servant is guilty..." As soon as the others left, Yang Yizhong bowed his head in embarrassment. "It was your servant's negligence."

Zhao Jiu sighed. Unexpectedly, he did not forgive the other party, but responded with a sigh: "I am even more guilty."

This exchange between the two seemed incomprehensible, but there was a reason for it.

It turned out that before this incident, the connection between Consort Pan and Cai Mao was not particularly secret. Yang Yizhong and his Imperial City Agency had definitely detected it.

But the problem was that Yang Yizhong had not taken the matter seriously at all, nor had he reported it in detail. And although Zhao Jiu had received a rough piece of related information, he had not reacted much either.

Why was that?

The reason was extremely simple. Don't forget, before this, when Zhao Jiu was in Nanyang and in the early days of returning to Dongjing, Consort Pan had once lived in Yangzhou, attending to the Empress Dowager Yuan You. It wasn't until that imperial heir was frightened to death that she returned to Dongjing through multiple special requests... In other words, Consort Pan and her family should have had deep vested interests with the Empress Dowager Yuan You and this last batch of Yangzhou refugee nobles. If they had no connection, or if they returned and didn't contact her, that would be abnormal.

Therefore, before the Lantern Festival, when the Empress Dowager Yuan You arrived in Dongjing, followed by the last batch of old nobles, it was expected, even semi-public, that Consort Pan herself, her family, and these people would have contact... Yang Yizhong knew about this but didn't pay it any mind, only giving a general report, which was a normal response.

In fact, Zhao Jiu himself had sensed a hint of possible political risk in this general report and had mentally prepared himself, but he still chose to ignore it, even allowing a certain degree of indulgence... After all, he had always thought it would only go as far as a red silk robe, never imagining there would be an ancient seal that truly touched his emotions.

"How is this matter related to Your Majesty?"

Yang Yizhong, hearing something amiss, quickly reiterated his own responsibility. "It was your servant's negligence, unable to discern the details, leading to such an oversight. In fact, the meeting between Cai Mao's wife, Feng Jing's daughter, and the Consort at the Consort's residence was unusually obvious. As for Your Majesty, you have been busy with that flying divine lamp all these days..."

"Is that what they call it outside?" Zhao Jiu interrupted him.

"Yes."

"Not a bit of originality." Zhao Jiu sneered, but then his expression darkened. "You don't need to say more about this. It is indeed my responsibility... Zhengfu, there are some things I can't say to outsiders, because even if I did, they themselves probably wouldn't understand."

Yang Yizhong stood frozen in place. The words he was about to continue reporting got stuck in his throat and he swallowed them back. His whole body relaxed, because he suddenly realized that the imperial residence didn't want to discuss how to handle this matter now, but rather wanted to find someone to confide in.

"I know what's happening now. It's because I indulged her time and again. If I had been stricter before, or publicly warned those people, how could today's situation have come about?"

Zhao Jiu turned around with his hands behind his back and began pacing slowly back and forth under the apricot tree beside the thatched pavilion.

"But this kind of thing, it looks like favoritism and indulgence, but in reality, it's more a kind of coldness. Those with discerning eyes might also detect the meaning behind it, and might even think I am 'suppressing Duan at Yuyan'!"

Yang Yizhong did not speak, but nodded slightly... because that was what he thought.

"However..." Zhao Jiu did not look at Yang Yizhong, nor did he notice the other's nod, but continued to sigh. "They only think I am cold, but they don't know that I did this because I genuinely thought it was good for Consort Pan... Zhengfu, do you know? Compared to the present situation, what I fear more in my heart is actually Consort Pan and Consort Wu both turning into those virtuous consorts and enlightened empresses like Empress Cao, Empress Gao, and Empress Xiang! This fear is both political and personal."

Yang Yizhong felt a moment of astonishment, but this astonishment immediately disappeared, replaced by a feeling that, although absurd, was perfectly logical.

This imperial residence, from the very core, had a different view of some things from the masses.

"Actually, it's not that I haven't thought about pulling them completely to the other side. But the problem is, they themselves internally believe that kind of puppet-like outcome is correct. Even if it conflicts with their nature, they still vaguely regard those wooden puppets and clay idols as role models and goals in their hearts... because from childhood to adulthood, that's what everyone told them."

"And I, precisely because I am the so-called imperial residence, standing still is already a vortex. Every time I move, it affects thousands, and I often end up making things worse..."

"So, as things progressed, I discovered that the more I tried to pull them out, the easier it was to push them over, to that position of 'virtuous consort and enlightened empress'... The most obvious is Consort Wu. I actually quite liked her liveliness in Nanyang, but as soon as we returned to Dongjing, her father, a clever man, brought the family close, which immediately turned her into a puppet. The more opportunities I gave her, the faster she became 'enlightened.'" Saying this, Zhao Jiu shook his head with a bitter smile. "In the past, in Nanyang, when she was tired from work, she knew how to complain secretly, even wiping away tears at night. In Dongjing, she never complained to me anymore... With this lesson in mind, when it came to Consort Pan, I harbored a bit of a dilemma... I suppose that's my selfishness."

Yang Yizhong had absolutely no idea how to respond.

"Of course." Having said this, Zhao Jiu finally stopped pacing. He stood still with his back to Yang Yizhong, but his tone became even more somber. "When it comes down to it, it's also because my mind has never really been in the rear palace... Half the year, I'm in the military camp. When I return to the capital, my mind is on court personnel, raising funds for the northern expedition. In my spare time, I have to write half a chapter of *Water Margin* or make a flying divine lamp... When and where have I truly invested energy and emotion in those two? Little Wu step by step became a virtuous consort, and Consort Pan ended up in today's situation. It's still because I didn't take responsibility for them, treating them like objects."

"Your Majesty toils for state affairs... some things, for the greater good, cannot be helped." Yang Yizhong finally found a chance to interject.

However, he himself realized that this topic shouldn't have been interrupted. Even if there was an opening, he shouldn't have interrupted. Interrupting was a mistake.

But Yang Zhengfu had never seen the Zhao imperial residence in such low spirits before, and he simply couldn't allow himself not to react.

The Zhao imperial residence still shook his head with his back turned: "Actually, I should have realized this long ago... It's not like I'm the only one who has encountered such things. In recent times, wasn't it similar for Emperor Renzong and his consorts? The result of becoming a clay idol like Empress Cao, where the relationship between husband and wife was like going through the motions, was certainly a tragedy. But was Consort Zhang dying so young a good outcome either?"

"It won't come to that..." Yang Yizhong was startled and responded hastily, but then he realized that he really shouldn't have spoken this time.

And so, the lord and his subject fell silent simultaneously. Inside and outside the thatched pavilion, it was quiet for a long time, with only the spring breeze gently swaying the branches of the apricot tree, which had just begun to show green, bringing a slight rustle.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Jiu finally collected his emotions and turned around to look at him: "At this point, saying more is useless. Since something has come up, we have to deal with it... I'll trouble you, Zhengfu, to muddy the waters and catch this whole group in one net!" Saying this, Zhao Jiu suddenly became serious, and his voice regained its usual high pitch and brightness. "The state needs a windfall, petty men like Cai Mao need to be punished, and Consort Pan needs a formal and stern warning! Do you understand my meaning?"

Yang Yizhong immediately nodded: "I already have a lead. Last night, just after I returned, some clever person saw an opportunity. The former Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Wang Shuzhan, came to me, saying that these people from Yangzhou wanted to interfere in the establishment of the heir. He had heard some talk... It seems Cai Mao and others were planning to unite and petition to establish the eldest legitimate son, in order to curry favor with the Wu family... He is willing to obtain a list and facilitate the matter!"

"These people are all clever... only Consort Pan is the foolish one!" Zhao Jiu pulled a long face. "Tell Wang Shuzhan that I am a reasonable man. If this matter is accomplished, I have a good post for him... let him first transfer to the Public Bureau and serve as the President of the Maritime Shipping Company... if he can get this assignment running smoothly for me before the Northern Expedition, it may not be impossible to later fill a Vice Minister post and grant him a Secret Pavilion identity."

"As you command!" Yang Yizhong bowed his head in response.

Immediately afterward, the lord and his minister were again silent. After a moment, Yang Zhengfu carefully took his leave on his own initiative.

And Zhao Jiu, watching the other leave Xinggang, once again clasped his hands behind his back and stood beneath the apricot tree beside the thatched pavilion, his expression unavoidably darkening again—as his most trusted man, he could say many things in front of Yang Yizhong that he could not say before others, and reveal many feelings he could not reveal before others, but some words, some matters, some emotions, could not be fully brought out even in front of this person.

Just now, when Zhao Jiu had fallen silent and his mood had darkened to that degree, on the one hand it was certainly a sense of shame toward Pan and Wu—sorrow at his inability to stop these two people from being step by step swallowed by so-called feudal rites and ethics, assimilated by things like Virtuous Consort and Enlightened Empress, that is, gradually turning into so-called fish eyes... on the other hand, was it not also reasoning by analogy, thinking of himself?

Had he, Zhao Jiu, been swallowed by this era?

Had he been assimilated by this identity of His Majesty?

If so, in this process, had he, like those two women, developed some kind of willingness, or rather a feeling of identification?

Was it worth it?

It seemed to be worth it, because of the great situation of the realm.

Zhao Jiu stood there the entire afternoon, and finally went back, burying the day's gloom and shame deep in his heart.

He became once again that His Majesty who controlled everything.

The next day, Cai Mao was promoted to Hanlin Academician, and Minister of Justice Ma Shen was given an additional assignment to inspect the spring plowing in Jingxi.

Three days later, as more and more people attached themselves to Cai Mao, rumors faintly spread, and Imperial Consort Pan began to show obvious panic, not knowing what to do.

Fortunately, His Majesty Zhao spent almost every night in Consort Pan's palace, which gave the latter some comfort.

Ten days later, in the latter part of the first month, the weather gradually warmed. His Majesty Zhao, who spent his days entirely shooting arrows, listening to intelligence reports, and writing Original Learning essays, seeing Consort Pan's violent emotional fluctuations and unwilling to delay, simply used the weather as an excuse and impatiently had Yang Yizhong set things in motion.

It could only be said that Cai Mao's promotion, along with His Majesty's deliberate ambiguous attitude, plus the so-called establishing the eldest son by right of seniority—that small clique advocating for the Crown Prince had already grown quite substantial... Yet these people were all swept up in one net by the Imperial Personal Guard after a cuju match, over seventy men, over fifty households, eighty percent of them old hands who had returned from Yangzhou, all imprisoned on charges of alienating the imperial clan and plotting treason. They were quickly tried by Kaifeng Prefecture, Cai Mao was sentenced to immediate execution by beheading, and the rest were all exiled and their properties confiscated.

In total, over two million strings of cash were obtained.

And among this, several hundred thousand strings' worth of national debt documents were, as per precedent, returned to the women and children.

After this case, Empress Dowager Yuanyou was momentarily terrified and almost requested on her own to have her honorific title removed. Unexpectedly, His Majesty Zhao had early on brought Imperial Consort Pan to pay respects, and invited the other two empresses dowager, Grand Councilor Lü Haowen, and the four chief ministers to come. When the three empresses dowager and five lords had all arrived, His Majesty Zhao on the spot produced the jade seal obtained that day, explained the full circumstances of the matter, stating clearly that it had nothing to do with the empress dowager—it was the petty man Cai Mao, seeking profit and emolument, speculating through the Crown Prince, and Consort Pan, in her foolishness, being used by others.

His Majesty spoke so bluntly, and the other two empresses dowager urged her earnestly, only then did Empress Dowager Yuanyou calm down slightly.

Immediately afterward, this His Majesty took an iron mace and smashed the jade seal to pieces in public. Ignoring the shock and doubt of the three empresses dowager and five lords, he took the pale-faced Imperial Consort Pan by the hand and told her face to face that everything was fine, that in this life he would never betray the bond of following him at Mingdao Palace, or else he would be as utterly broken as this seal.

After a brief pause, while Consort Pan was still in tears, Zhao Jiu again on the spot requested an edict from the three empresses dowager, with Grand Councilor Lü Haowen transmitting it on his behalf, and on the spot stripped Imperial Consort Pan of her Consort title, demoting her back to Virtuous Consort.

The five lords departed, glossed over the news, and announced it. The court and the realm erupted in joy for a time, all praising His Majesty's sagely brilliance for harmonizing the inner palace and stabilizing the realm.

The connection between harmonizing the inner palace and stabilizing the realm is hard to say, but the fact was that before the unstable factor in the inner palace was exposed, the entire realm already had a certain faint air of stability and prosperity... This did not seem to have changed because of this incident. Minister of Justice Ma Shen, returning to court and realizing he had been sent away, only made a fuss for a while, with no substantial disorder.

In the spring of the eighth year of Jianyan, the realm was stable and peaceful, the great situation was in sight. It seemed that after just another two or three years, once the court had accumulated enough wealth and military supplies, a great Northern Expedition could be launched, achieving unparalleled merit... at least on the surface, it was so.

PS: Thank you to the big shot slyshen for the Silver Alliance! Thank you to the big shot Not the Top, Not Lingyun for the Upper Alliance.

By the way, there is a book club activity this month, a crossover with Ji Cha's "This Is My Planet." Everyone go check out the review section... Finally, continuing to wish everyone a Happy New Year!