Chapter 376: Ten days later, the passenger boat docked at the Tongzhou wharf

After settling Chen Yuanyuan in, Tian Wan recounted to Tian Hongyu what had happened on the trip to Jiangnan.

After praising him, Tian Hongyu also cautioned him not to act rashly in the future—this time it was fortunate that he had handled things properly by knowing to seek help from the imperial guards; otherwise, who knew what the outcome might have been.

Tian Hongyu then took time to go see Chen Yuanyuan, and before that peerlessly beautiful face, the old man couldn't help but sigh inwardly—his son had finally accomplished one great matter.

Just as he was looking for an excuse to enter the palace to inform his daughter of this matter, the imperial decree arrived inviting meritorious nobles and relatives to a banquet in the palace.

"Father, would your daughter ever be someone so unreasonable? His Majesty is noble as the master of Great Ming—let alone taking one such consort, even ten or a hundred, your daughter would never harbor the slightest jealousy! His Majesty is truly too self-restrained in matters of women; the harem currently holds only a handful of consorts, fewer than the wives and concubines of a great household. Who knows what the people outside the palace are saying about us—likely all claiming the harem is jealous, and that is why His Majesty's progeny are so few!"

After Consort Tian finished speaking with a smile, she held her still-slumbering son close, lowered her head, and planted a kiss on that tender little face, love she could not conceal shining in her eyes and on her features.

"Haha! My daughter is indeed one who knows books and propriety and understands reason—with such a heart, why worry that your position as Noble Consort is not secure! Your father has already thought it through: in a few days, once the woman surnamed Chen is familiar with the household, I shall adopt her as a righteous daughter, and from then on you will be her elder sister! After she has been raised in our Tian household for a few years, she will be sent into the palace, giving you an additional source of support within the palace, and your father will worry far less outside it!"

Seeing that his daughter would not be angered by his acting on his own initiative, Tian Hongyu could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Father, this matter should preferably be reported to His Majesty first, for since the imperial guards were involved this time, His Majesty is certain to know of it already—better to be frank. When will Mother, Elder Brother, and Younger Brother's family enter the palace?"

Noticing that the hour had already reached the end of the si hour (9–11 AM), and that her mother Tian Li and her elder and younger brothers had not yet arrived, Consort Tian asked with concern.

"Reporting to the Noble Consort—His Majesty has come!"

Before Tian Hongyu could answer, Consort Tian's personal female attendant Lü E hurried in from the outer hall, saluted Consort Tian and Tian Hongyu, and reported.

Consort Tian hastily handed the infant in her arms to the wet nurse, straightened her garments, and prepared to go out to greet him at the hall entrance; Tian Hongyu likewise rose quickly, adjusted his cap and robes, and followed behind.

Before the two had even reached the door of the bedchamber, Zhu Youjian strode into the hall with his hands clasped behind his back, Wang Cheng'en following behind with both hands tucked into his sleeves.

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty!"

Consort Tian performed a curtsey toward Zhu Youjian, while Tian Hongyu made a grand ceremonial bow.

"Beloved consort, rise; Left Commissioner-in-Chief, rise as well!"

After accepting their salutes with a smile, Zhu Youjian strode briskly to the brocade couch and sat down.

"Mm, a sip of hot tea on a winter's day—the chill in one's body immediately feels much relieved. Beloved consort and Left Commissioner-in-Chief, please be seated. Is little Yun still sleeping? I had nothing to do, so I took Kunxing for a stroll around—that girl is by the pond feeding the koi at the moment, heh heh! Have the Left Commissioner-in-Chief's family members not yet entered the palace?"

Zhu Youjian took a sip of the hot tea Lü E presented, then asked with a smile.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, my family members are presently preparing congratulatory gifts for young Xi'an; I estimate they should be able to enter the palace shortly. We are grateful for Your Majesty's concern!"

Tian Hongyu, who rarely had the chance to see Zhu Youjian, rose nervously and bowed with clasped hands.

"Left Commissioner-in-Chief, remain seated while you answer—we are all family, why stand on ceremony! Though I and the Left Commissioner-in-Chief have seldom met, I know that while you have occasionally committed small errors out of chivalrous spirit, in matters of great principle you are highly commendable, and the Tian household as a whole is likewise very self-disciplined, with nothing overly out of line in your conduct—of all such things I am well aware!"

Zhu Youjian gestured for Tian Hongyu to sit back in his original seat, then praised him a few words with a smile.

Both Consort Tian and Tian Hongyu felt joy well up in their hearts upon hearing this.

To receive from the Emperor's heart an assessment of no failing in great principles was already a rather glorious matter.

"How is the progress on the residence the Left Commissioner-in-Chief is building in the Western City? Since I decreed the abolition of the Nanjing留守 offices, all their authority has been gathered into Jiangsu Province and the newly established Nanjing Prefecture. Officials are expected to begin arriving in the capital after the new year—their lodgings are a pressing matter and must be built with haste!"

The Nanjing offices were vast in scale and governed numerous affairs, and since both Jiangsu Province and Nanjing Prefecture were newly established, the officials' assumption of posts, the reorganization of personnel in their subordinate departments, and the handover of affairs from the original Nanjing offices all required a complex and lengthy process.

Given the efficiency of Great Ming officials, completing this enormous and arduous work would take at least half a year or more.

After considering this point, Zhu Youjian issued another decree, listing the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Court of the Imperial Stud—departments whose own affairs were relatively light—as the first wave of the northward relocation, requiring them to complete their handovers and moves before the third month of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, on pain of being deemed to have voluntarily relinquished their posts.

Other relatively important ministries and departments such as the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works were also to complete their northward relocation by the end of the sixth month of next year.

Li Ruolian and Li Banghua, by imperial decree, both remained in Nanjing to oversee the relocation and prevent any mishaps.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, from the second half of last year to now, over a year in total, more than thirty residences of various sizes have been built in the Western City; by the count of the principal officials of each Nanjing department, it should be roughly sufficient. The construction teams organized by your servant, the Earl of household retainers, and Commissioner-in-Chief Yuan are accelerating their progress; judging by the current situation, the housing problem should be resolved. Your servant must here thank Your Majesty for your concern for us—it has benefited us greatly! Speaking of which, your servant still has one matter to report to Your Majesty. Though this matter was done on your servant's own initiative, the original intention was for the sake of the imperial house—I hope Your Majesty will not hold it against me!"

"Oh? What matter? Let me hear it—am I the sort of sovereign who punishes people without cause?"

Zhu Youjian spoke with a smile, feigning ignorance.

Before Chen Yuanyuan had even entered the Tian residence after disembarking at Tongzhou, Zhu Youjian had already learned of the matter.

Toward this great beauty, widely known in later ages, he still felt a very strong curiosity.

"The six armies all in mourning white wept aloud; one rage for a beauty made him dash his cap aside,"

This verse, full of artistic exaggeration, was said to be inextricably connected with himself as well.

Judging from the unofficial histories of later ages, a woman who could make a general commanding heavy forces fly into such a rage—what peerless beauty must she have possessed?

But the first line, though it described the death of Emperor Sizong in the previous life, seemed to have no connection whatsoever with the second line.

Could it be that the superimposition of the two events led to Wu Sangui's opening the pass and surrendering to the Qing?

But from the official histories and the comprehensive analyses of later ages, Wu Meicun's poem described the grief, indignation, and unwillingness after the fall of Great Ming; the so-called "rage for a beauty" was merely an associative imagining, a conventional technique of exaggeration in literary creation.

Still, since it could earn the praise of so many literati and famous scholars, Chen Yuanyuan must indeed have possessed sufficiently powerful charm—perhaps not enough to topple cities and states, but enough to captivate countless men was certainly possible.

Tian Hongyu naturally understood that the Emperor already knew of the matter, but he still recounted it in full from beginning to end, though he did not directly say it was to help Consort Tian secure favor.

"Heh heh, the Left Commissioner-in-Chief has been thoughtful, but I have no excessive thoughts regarding women, and moreover all my beloved consorts in the harem are beauties pleasing to the eye, so I have not dwelt on this matter. But since the Left Commissioner-in-Chief has this intention, let her be kept at your residence for the time being!"

Zhu Youjian's statement completely set at ease Tian Hongyu, who had feared he might be displeased.

Whether or not His Majesty selected other consorts in the coming years, once Chen Yuanyuan entered the palace she would surely outshine all others and receive sole favor—the Tian family's wealth and honor would thus gain yet another layer of security.

After the three sat chatting for a while, a eunuch came to report that the Marquis of Yangwu, the Marquis of Xinle, and others had all entered the palace; Zhu Youjian then rose and departed for the Qianqing Palace, leaving the palace guests to be entertained by Empress Zhou and the Crown Prince.