Chapter 19: Bi Maokang

There was not a single person he could speak to, not a single person he could ask a question of — the Tianqi Emperor truly understood what it meant to be a solitary sovereign.

"What should I do..." Zhu Youxiao sat there in a daze, murmuring to himself involuntarily.

Liu Shimin had been standing there respectfully with his ears pricked up the whole time. Although he knew full well the Emperor was not asking him, he hesitated briefly before speaking softly: "Your Majesty, if I may — shall we summon Grand Secretary Ye to the palace to ask him?"

"Summon?" Zhu Youxiao's brows furrowed slightly. Ye Xianggao was known for his impartiality, but in truth he leaned toward the Donglin Faction and was a pillar of the pure stream. If he were summoned, it would most likely be going along with the pure stream's wishes.

Zhu Youxiao sat in a daze for a while longer, then rose listlessly and said, "Let's go, take a look at the palace gate. And mind you — keep out of sight."

Liu Shimin immediately acknowledged and went out ahead to make arrangements.

Zhu Youxiao walked slowly, his expression weary, dejected and dispirited.

Arriving not far from Jingyang Gate, Zhu Youxiao looked up and saw a dozen or more officials pacing back and forth, occasionally glancing toward the palace gate.

Zhu Youxiao let out a sigh, his expression despondent. He knew that the moment he showed himself, half the court's officials would likely appear and block his way.

"Let's go back." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand, somewhat resigned, and said: "Summon the Grand Secretary to the palace."

Liu Shimin also felt that expelling Wei Zhongxian and the others from the palace was right, but pressing the Emperor like this — appearing loyal and patriotic on the surface — was in truth deceiving the sovereign!

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Liu Shimin glanced at Zhu Youxiao, acknowledged the order, and sent someone to summon Ye Xianggao.

Less than half an hour after Zhu Xu entered the palace, the Emperor's decree went out through the Grand Secretariat as an open edict.

The gist of it: Zhou Jianzong and the others were to be released without charge and given consolation; Wei Zhongxian was stripped of his post as brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and sent out of the palace to procure nanmu wood in Yunnan; the Lady Who Serves the Sage was to move to Cloud Mist Mountain outside the city. Liu Shimin was appointed brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and concurrently Superintendent of the Eastern Depot.

Listening to Cao Huachun's report, Zhu Xu shook his head inwardly. 'So this is the result of the Emperor's negotiation with the Grand Secretary — both sides gave a step. But the root of disaster lies here. If the pure stream is celebrating, it's far too early.'

"Your Highness," Yao Qingqing poured Zhu Xu a cup of tea and asked, "How should the evening meal be arranged?"

Zhu Xu looked around the room, clicking his tongue in admiration. Indeed, having a woman in the house made all the difference — everything was clean and tidy, taking on the look of a real home. Now there was even someone to arrange how meals were eaten.

Zhu Xu thought for a moment, then suddenly looked at her and said, "Before this, everything was sent over from the imperial kitchen. Do you know how to cook? If you do, let's make our own."

"I can make a few things." Yao Qingqing said softly. Every move she made was full of proper decorum.

"Good, then you cook. Everything in this palace — except my bedchamber — you're free to come and go as you please." Zhu Xu said with a smile.

Yao Qingqing was still very constrained. She glanced at Cao Huachun, then gave a slight bow and turned to walk inside.

Zhu Xu stretched lazily, looked at Cao Huachun before him, and said: "Now we can have some leisure for a while. Xiao Cao, get close to Eunuch Liu." Eunuch Liu referred to Liu Shimin, the newly appointed brush-holding eunuch.

"Yes, Your Highness." Although Cao Huachun did not understand the reason, he still agreed.

Zhu Xu lay on the lounging chair, squinting at the outside, and murmured: "The eunuch faction has fallen for now. Now it's the pure stream's turn to wear each other down. But you've made His Majesty swallow this anger — that anger will come out sooner or later, and when it does, you won't be having a good time..."

Sure enough, the court was rocked by an earthquake the very next day.

Minister of Personnel Zhang Wenda, Minister of Works Yao Siren, Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall and Minister of Revenue Zhu Guozuo, including the Minister of Rites over in Nanjing and others — seven second-rank officials alone. Emperor Zhu Youxiao, from the memorials requesting retirement that he found among the submissions, did not play the usual game of three offers and three refusals — he approved them all in one go!

Wei Guangwei and Gu Bingqian were promoted simultaneously, and other members of the eunuch faction received various advancements as well, throwing fuel on the court debate that had just seemed to be calming down, making it burn even more fiercely.

Naturally, the pure stream would not accept this. The Censorate in an instant turned the factional strife into an attack on the Emperor himself. Zhu Youxiao was naturally furious and wanted to severely punish the censors of the Censorate, but was blocked by the entire court of civil and military officials. In the end, the matter was concluded with the Left and Right Censor-in-Chief having three months of salary docked.

"Truly a fine show." Zhu Xu clicked his tongue in wonder. To be fair, the Ming emperors before this had all been masters at controlling the court situation. Not to mention anything else — their grandfather, the Wanli Emperor, had not held court for over twenty years, and no one dared bully him like this.

But the Tianqi Emperor happened to dislike state affairs, and the later Chongzhen Emperor was diligent enough, yet he happened to abolish the Embroidered Uniform Guard, losing his tool for controlling the court officials. Though the decay of the court situation was a deep-rooted problem beyond easy remedy, these two emperors bore a great deal of responsibility for it as well.

Zhu Xu was powerless over all this as well. Taking advantage of the Emperor being too troubled to find time to discuss 'academic' matters with him, he spent some time at the Empress's residence paying his respects, then found another excuse to slip out of the palace.

Just past the afternoon meal time, Zhu Xu quietly arrived at the home of his maternal uncle, Fu Changzong.

Fu Changzong's expression was somewhat grave. He always felt that Zhu Xu's approach to this matter was too unorthodox and would not end well. But their fortunes were tied together, and Zhu Xu was still the lofty His Highness Prince Hui — Fu Changzong's own position had been arranged by Zhu Xu — so he could not muster much confidence.

After thinking for a long while, he said, "Don't show your face in this matter. I'll handle it. If things go wrong, I alone will bear the responsibility. No one will likely guess that you're behind it."

Zhu Xu chuckled softly. It wasn't that no one would guess — it was that he was too young, and in most people's eyes, incapable of plotting such things.

After a brief pause, Zhu Xu said, "Very well. Don't say too much — as long as he nods, just arrange for him to go over."

Fu Changzong nodded. He glanced at Zhu Xu, and a strange thought suddenly rose in his mind, but quickly a chill ran through his body and he shook his head violently, casting that terrifying thought firmly aside. Steadying his mind, he said slowly, "The scale must be kept small — just research and examination. We cannot produce too many."

Zhu Xu naturally understood Fu Changzong's concerns and nodded without hesitation, though inwardly he thought, 'Once it's established, won't I be the one calling the shots?'

Fu Changzong suppressed his agitated mind and discussed the details with Zhu Xu. Finally, Fu Changzong sent someone to invite this Lord Bi, who had just received the Emperor's approval to resign and return to his hometown.

Bi Maokang received Fu Changzong's invitation, his expression strange as he sat in the main hall deep in thought.

With the two factions locked in struggle, he was the innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. Not only had his resignation been approved, but even the customary treatment for retiring to one's hometown had been stripped away. Now it looked less like he had voluntarily requested retirement and more like he had been dismissed from office.

Logically, no one should be approaching him under these circumstances — especially a Bureau Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue whom he had only met a few times.

"Husband, what's wrong? Headache?" Bi Maokang's wife walked out and reached out to feel his forehead.

"It's nothing. I received an invitation from a colleague." Bi Maokang said, allowing his wife's gesture, though his brow furrowed involuntarily.

Bi Maokang and his wife had been betrothed as children. His wife was a peasant woman — rough, brash, and ignorant of proper etiquette. By all rights she should not have been a match for a scholar of his jinshi background. But in his early years Bi Maokang's family had been poor, and it was only through his wife's hard labor that he had been supported through to passing the provincial examination. The hardships along the way he could never forget in a lifetime. Most importantly, his wife devoted herself wholly to him — she had even taken a bandit's blade for him and saved his life.

Therefore, despite his deep feelings for Yao Qingqing, he did not dare bring her home as a wife, for fear of hurting his wife's heart.

"Then go," Bi Maokang's wife said, sitting down across from him in her careless manner. "We're going back to the countryside anyway. We might never see anyone again after this."

Bi Maokang naturally would not explain the intricacies to his wife. He thought for a moment, then said to her, "Don't rush to pack. Wait until I return."

Having said this, Bi Maokang stood up and walked outside, his mind turning over the matter of Yao Qingqing.