Chapter 1498: The Noble Consort

The moment he heard the Emperor say their lessons would be tested, Zhao Hu immediately hung his head, not even daring to speak. Prince of Qi Zhao Hu, true to his name, was a very robust child, and not particularly fond of studying, preferring to play with spears and staves. His schoolwork had always been rather poor, causing the Empress considerable worry. Although he was only a prince of the blood, and the Emperor and Empress did not hold him to the same standards as the Crown Prince, the situation still weighed heavily on their minds.

"Exactly. If we don't test you, you'll just think about playing. There's no such easy bargain," the Empress chimed in agreement. "Tomorrow, if any of you performs poorly, come to me on your own to accept punishment!"

Hearing the Empress speak this way, the several princes all grew somewhat uneasy. They lowered their heads to eat and no longer dared to chatter, afraid of being scolded again the next day.

To ease the atmosphere, the Duke of Wei deliberately broke the silence. "After the New Year celebrations are over, the Crown Prince should accompany me to the western suburbs. The mountain forests there are lush and teeming with game, convenient for the Crown Prince to hunt. Moreover, the scenery of the mountains and waters there is quite fine. I will also be selecting a site for the detached palace then, so I can accompany the Crown Prince in treading through the mountain forests and properly appreciating the landscape of our realm."

As Minister of Works, he had been specially summoned back to the Grand Secretariat a few days prior by the Grand Chancellor, the Duke of Yong, Wang Zhaojing, who then informed him that they had already memorialized the Emperor to build a detached palace in the capital's outskirts and had obtained imperial approval. After his initial shock, he immediately endorsed the decision, just as the Grand Chancellor had hoped, and requested to personally oversee the project. The Grand Chancellor readily agreed, delegating full authority over the project to this Minister of Works.

After receiving this assignment, the Minister of Works immediately set about preparing for this grand project.

The first issue was naturally site selection, and this did not stump the Minister of Works. Because he had recently been responsible for the defense works around the capital, he had long since traversed every part of the capital region and knew the strategic topography of each area by heart. Thus, without much deliberation, he decided to place the detached palace in the Western Hills area.

Around the capital's Western Hills, the mountains were layered in emerald green, the forests vast and hazy, and the flowing springs gurgled. The scenery could be described as profoundly secluded and beautiful, and the terrain was also majestic, possessing the aura of an emperor. Furthermore, the area was sparsely traveled, which would allow for maximizing the detached palace's scope without the worry of disturbances.

In addition, that area had been chosen by imperial families since ancient times for building royal gardens, most notably by Emperor Zhangzong of the Jin dynasty. This peaceful sovereign of the Jin state greatly enjoyed touring mountains and waters and often lingered in the Western Hills region. Consequently, he built many temporary palaces and gardens there, such as the Lotus Palace and other temporary palaces. Moreover, during the former Ming dynasty, many powerful and wealthy families had built private gardens there. After the change of dynasties, many had been requisitioned by the court and could now be taken out and renovated, greatly reducing the cost of building the detached palace.

"A detached palace? What is that?" Hearing this term, both the Empress and the Noble Consort were somewhat surprised. The Emperor had not yet had the chance to inform them of this decision.

"It is a detached palace built in the outskirts." Seeing that his elder sister did not yet know, the Duke of Wei quickly explained to her, "The Grand Secretariat feels that the imperial family's continued residence in common dwellings and secondary gardens damages the imperial family's dignity. Moreover, a part of the Forbidden City has already been given over to the Grand Secretariat for offices, so the imperial family continuing to live here might be somewhat undignified. Therefore, the Grand Chancellor and the Minister of Finance urged the Emperor to build a detached palace in the capital's outskirts, to reassure the hearts of all under Heaven…"

"This… this is…" Completely caught off guard, the Empress still had trouble reacting. "What is your view on this?"

"Your servant naturally thinks the same. These past years, the imperial family has lived very frugally for the sake of the realm's stability. When the world was in turmoil, it was only right for the imperial family to set an example. However, now that the world is pacified and the four seas are returning to peace, the imperial family should also live the life befitting an imperial family. There is no need for excessive frugality; otherwise, would it not grieve us, your servants and ministers?" Xu Housheng said to the Empress with a face full of sincerity. "Now that the world is peaceful and the Grand Secretariat's budget has loosened considerably, allocating funds to build a detached palace is affordable. Once the detached palace is completed, the imperial family can move in. Daily life, food, clothing, and receiving foreign envoys can all reflect the imperial family's grandeur, worthy of our Great Han's national prestige!"

The Duke of Wei spoke with such fervor that the Empress was slightly swayed. Over these years, although the realm had been secured, the imperial family's life had been very austere. Originally, for the sake of the Emperor's great cause, she had been happy to make some sacrifices and willingly lived a life unbefitting the mother of a nation. However, now that she was gradually getting older, she honestly felt some dissatisfaction in her heart about frequently not being able to see her husband. Moreover, their children had all grown up now, and most had been granted the titles of Prince or Princess. They could not keep squeezing into common dwellings forever, could they?

Not only she, but the Emperor's other consorts and concubines actually felt the same way in their hearts. It was just that no one dared risk being criticized inside and outside the court by telling the Emperor. Now, upon hearing that the Grand Secretariat had actually reached a unified opinion and wanted to build a detached palace for the imperial family, they all felt an irrepressible joy and exchanged glances with one another.

The empress and consorts did not object to this sudden pleasant surprise; the only person they needed to worry about was someone else.

"Your Majesty… this… what is your opinion?" The Empress looked at the Emperor somewhat hesitantly, inwardly a little worried that he would truly disagree.

"The Grand Secretariat has already agreed, and they all came to me to plead their case. How could I disagree?" the Emperor replied with a smile. "Since they all say the national finances can bear it, then let them build it. You have all followed me for so many years. Having finally won the realm, you shouldn't have to continue enduring hardship with me, should you?"

"Thank… thank you, Your Majesty!" The Empress could not help but break into a smile, but immediately resumed her solemnity. "It is only right for us, your servants, to share weal and woe with Your Majesty. Please do not say such things, lest the people of the world ridicule us…"

Then, she looked sternly at her younger brother. "Duke of Wei, although the detached palace can be built, you must absolutely not be excessively wasteful or mobilize too much labor, lest you harm the state's financial resources and cause unrest among the people. Although the imperial family needs a residence, there is no need to make it overly extravagant…"

In the Empress's heart, she felt that the dynasty had, after all, only recently risen to prominence. Even if building a detached palace was necessary, it was still best to spend as little money as possible. Besides, even if the detached palace was a bit simple and hastily built, it was still a palace after all. Its regulations and scale would not be small, and it would be considerably more dignified than the imperial family always living in common dwellings, which could already meet the imperial family's current needs.

"Your servant understands Your Majesty's meaning. Please rest assured, Your Majesty. We, your servants, are not frivolous or reckless individuals and will absolutely not act carelessly, nor will we ever misuse the people's labor." The Duke of Wei hastily agreed, to set his sister's mind at ease. "The defense works around the capital have already achieved initial success. Many bastion forts have been completed, leaving many craftsmen and workers idle. After they finish the New Year, I plan to transfer a portion of them to assist in building the detached palace, thereby reducing the need for corvée labor. Additionally, regarding the scale of the detached palace, I will also instruct the architects below to consult together and have them produce a design as quickly as possible that can both reflect the imperial family's grandeur and not be excessively costly."

"To be both grand and not excessively costly—isn't your requirement a bit too high?" The Wood Noble Consort found this amusing and could not help but laugh. "Alright, none of us are fond of extravagance. Just do your best with care; it doesn't need to be made so grand and magnificent."

"Yes, yes… your servant understands." The Duke of Wei nodded repeatedly.

But although he agreed repeatedly on the surface, he did not think so in his heart. The Empress was his elder sister, and the Emperor was his brother-in-law. How could he possibly not put his heart into building a residence for his sister and brother-in-law? Moreover, the Emperor was the sovereign of a nation and should even more so embody the imperial family's spirit. When the Grand Chancellor and the Grand Secretariat notified him of this decision, they had already secretly exhorted him to do it with care and not to be too afraid of spending money. And with this assurance from the Grand Secretariat as his backing, he had long since secretly resolved in his heart to build a fine residence for the imperial family.

It did not necessarily require spending a great deal of money now, but he could first build a foundation and leave space for future expansion—as time passed, the Great Han imperial family's

"By the way, you have some Western craftsmen in your hands, don't you?" Just then, Consort Hui Meng seemed to think of something as well and looked at the Duke of Wei with curiosity. "Are there any among them who know how to build Western-style buildings? I've heard that Western palaces are quite interesting. Could you perhaps reference them when building the detached palace?"

"Consort Hui is correct. When we were building the bastion forts, we hired many experienced Western craftsmen—the West is currently plagued by frequent wars, so there is an abundance of such talent." The Duke of Wei nodded and patiently answered Consort Hui Meng's question. "These Western craftsmen do not only know how to build bastion forts and gun towers. Quite a few among them have also participated in building Western palaces. Therefore, to draw on their experience, when designing the detached palace, I will specially convene them for consultation. If the Emperor permits, your servant thinks… your servant thinks we could also build some Western-style buildings, to embody our imperial dynasty's spirit of embracing diversity and accommodating all rivers."

"That is good. A new dynasty should have the air of all nations coming to court!" The Empress praised, but then still exhorted, "However, you must economize as much as possible. Don't build too much. The imperial family only has so many people anyway; even if we all moved in, we wouldn't use that many rooms…"

The Duke of Wei nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"Right, it's not that Westerners cannot be used, but they must be used with caution." At this moment, the Noble Consort remembered something else and solemnly reminded the Duke of Wei. "Most of those Westerners believe in their foreign religion. Among these craftsmen, it's quite possible some want to use the opportunity to proselytize. You must be careful. The people can be used, but the religion must not be spread!"

As she said this, the Noble Consort adopted a rarely seen stern tone. As a religious leader, she had always greatly disliked other religions spreading in the Great Han, especially those of foreign barbarians. It was not only she who took this seriously; the religious officials of the New Incense Sect had always been very vigilant against the proselytizing of those Westerners. Although because Western scholars, officers, and craftsmen were currently of considerable help to the Great Han court, they could not openly demand their expulsion or detention, the precautions taken behind the scenes had never been few, and the Western religion was especially forbidden from infiltrating the military.