Chapter 765: A Letter from the Capital, Part 1

As for the wedding, meeting the elders and brothers was one part of it, but the proper rites could not be omitted. Mu Shulan had returned to the bridal chamber early to wait. It was rare for the Zhao Camp to have such a casual occasion, and Zhao Jin was truly made to drink quite a few cups. When he headed back, his steps were a little unsteady. After entering the bridal chamber, he lifted Mu Shulan's veil and saw the girl smiling with great happiness. Mu Shulan's smile at that moment held no artifice or falseness whatsoever; it came straight from the heart — she was truly, deeply happy.

"Brother Jin, these past few years Xiaolan has often dreamed of this very scene before her eyes. Back then I thought it could only happen in dreams, never imagined it could come true today." Xiaolan smiled, utterly radiant with joy.

Yet these words made Zhao Jin's heart ache. It truly had been difficult — just a hair's breadth away, and the two of them would never have seen each other again. Zhao Jin opened his arms and gathered Mu Shulan into his embrace. The girl lay quietly against Zhao Jin's chest. The room was very still. They stayed like that for a while, until Mu Shulan, nestled in Zhao Jin's arms, suddenly couldn't hold back a laugh. Laughing as she spoke, she said, "Brother Jin, you're holding on too tight — how much longer are you going to hold me?"

After the excitement came weariness, but Zhao Jin and Mu Shulan felt no drowsiness at all. They simply lay there, chatting in low voices.

"Brother Jin, Xu Hongru wants to be emperor, and that Wang Haoxian in Luanzhou wants to be emperor too — what do you want to be?" Mu Shulan asked softly in Zhao Jin's arms.

Zhao Jin was quite relaxed at this moment. In front of Mu Shulan, there was nothing he couldn't say. Yet his answer evaded the question: "I'm only twenty this year. No rush."

Mu Shulan was quiet for a moment, then burrowed deeper into Zhao Jin's embrace and murmured, "Brother Jin, Xiaolan can more or less guess why you won't kill Xu Hongru."

"There's some blood I cannot stain my hands with..." Zhao Jin's reply likewise evaded the question, but by now drowsiness was overtaking him.

After hearing Xu Zhenzhen's assessment of Mu Shulan, Zhao Jin had been somewhat worried, afraid the two wouldn't get along and would make the household restless. He hadn't expected that, talk aside, Xu Zhenzhen and Mu Shulan got on quite harmoniously. Moreover, Zhao Feng was especially fond of Mu Shulan — after their very first meeting, she clung to Mu Shulan all day and wouldn't let go. If there was anything that displeased Xu Zhenzhen, this was one thing, though on the surface she didn't show it.

With the new year fast approaching, the Zhao Camp was developing steadily, and Cloud Mountain Trading was raking in enormous profits. Year-end was the time for settling accounts. From Haizhou, from Yangzhou, from Qingjiangpu — great sums of silver converged from every direction upon Xuzhou. Chen Hong was so busy he scarcely had a moment to breathe, dark circles under his eyes all day long, his fingers sore and aching from working the abacus and keeping the books, yet he still went around beaming from ear to ear the whole time.

Zhao Jin and the others, however, felt somewhat ill at ease. This unease wasn't physical but concerned the Zhao Camp itself. That year, Ma Chonghao had led his forces north, and Zhao Jin had already prepared to openly array his troops for a major confrontation. He had never imagined the other side would collapse and scatter before the battle even began. But with matters having escalated to this point, there was no reason it would end quietly and be smoothly resolved. No matter how low-key the Zhao Camp usually kept itself, this time they probably couldn't escape notice — government runners and troops would come swarming in.

What no one had expected was that the Wanli Emperor would pass away, and then the Taichang Emperor would pass away after a mere month on the throne. The political situation at court was violently convulsing, the officialdom in constant upheaval — who would still bother with the doings of a local strongman in Xuzhou? The Zhao Camp had marshaled its forces and prepared for war, on the highest alert, only to find in the end that their punch had struck empty air. It was truly a wretched feeling.

"If we don't fight, the household troops' edge will be worn away sooner or later. Once the Smelling Incense Sect in the four counties of Shandong is completely cleared out, send the companies from each regiment out on bandit suppression and criminal apprehension next. They must always have battles to fight, must always see blood." Zhao Jin was growing somewhat helpless.

As the twelfth month drew near, every department was busy with year-end settlements and reorganizations. Zhao Jin, however, found himself with a rare bit of leisure. At last he could settle down and handle routine affairs, and there was more time to read the gazette transcripts and listen to Wang Zhaojing read letters aloud.

"The political situation is in turmoil, and the officialdom is perilous in the extreme. Right now everything in Xuzhou is going smoothly. Finding an informant or the like in the capital wouldn't be hard — better to have your father return to Xuzhou quickly. If any danger befalls him in the capital, there's truly little we can do to help." At this stage, Wang Youshan could no longer be considered a protector of the Zhao Camp; on the contrary, he was liable to be implicated by them. If he were truly convicted and thrown into prison in the capital, the Zhao Camp really wouldn't have many options.

Hearing Zhao Jin bring this up, Wang Zhaojing gave a bitter smile and answered helplessly, "My father can't bear to leave the capital. He says that in all his years as an official, this is the first time he's witnessed such a grand drama. If he cannot watch it through to the end from close range, it will be the regret of a lifetime."

"... In the eighth month, Taichang fell gravely ill. The Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial concurrently in charge of the Imperial Pharmacy, Eunuch Cui Wensheng, administered a purgative. After taking it, the Son of Heaven's condition worsened further — in a single day and night he rose thirty to forty times, his body growing ever more feeble. The court officials all denounced Cui Wensheng for his ignorance of medicine and reckless administration of pills. Some also suspected that it was at the instigation of the Wanli Emperor's Noble Consort Zheng. On the twenty-ninth day of the eighth month, Taichang's illness intensified further. The Vice Director of the Court of State Ceremonial, Li Kezhuo, presented a 'red pill.' After taking it, Taichang fell ill and died on the first day of the ninth month. Inside and outside the court, discussion seethed. Censor Wang Anshun was the first to submit a memorial, requesting severe punishment for Li Kezhuo. Following him, Censor Zheng Zongzhou, Guo Ruchu, Feng Sanyuan, Jiao Yuanpu, Supervising Secretaries Wei Yingjia and Hui Shiyang, Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices Cao Guang, Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments Gao Panlong, Secretary Lü Weiqi, and others successively submitted memorials requesting the investigation and punishment of the treacherous faction of Cui and Li. In the end, Cui Wensheng was banished to Nanjing, and Li Kezhuo was sentenced to military exile..."

"... On the first day of the ninth month, Taichang passed away. The eldest imperial son, Zhu Youxiao, already sixteen years of age, was to be established as the new ruler. At that time, Taichang's Attendant Li still resided in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, while Zhu Youxiao dwelt in the Palace of Compassionate Blessings. Attendant Li colluded with the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, scheming to exploit Zhu Youxiao's youth to monopolize power and refusing to move out of the Palace of Heavenly Purity. On the second day of the ninth month, Chief Supervising Secretary Yang Lian was the first to raise the challenge, submitting a memorial opposing Attendant Li's continued residence in the Palace of Heavenly Purity; he impeached her for disrespect toward the eldest imperial son and argued that the eldest imperial son could not be entrusted to her. Censor Zuo Guangdou also submitted a memorial, stating: The inner court's Palace of Heavenly Purity is like the outer court's Hall of Imperial Supremacy — only the emperor and empress may reside there; all other consorts are forbidden to dwell within. He requested Attendant Li to move to the Hall of Singing Phoenixes within the Palace of Benevolent Longevity, a place for consorts to retire in old age. Upon reading Zuo Guangdou's memorial, Attendant Li flew into a rage and repeatedly sent messengers to summon him. Zuo Guangdou adamantly refused to appear. Attendant Li grew even angrier and demanded Zhu Youxiao deliberate on the matter. Zhu Youxiao held that Zuo Guangdou's words were entirely correct and urged the selection of an auspicious day and hour to move palaces. After the vigorous struggle by Yang, Zuo, and others, on the fifth day of the ninth month Attendant Li moved to the Hall of Singing Phoenixes, and the Crown Prince Zhu Youxiao returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity..."

Just as before and after the Battle of Sarhu in the forty-sixth and forty-seventh years of Wanli, this time too the letters Wang Youshan wrote to Xuzhou were exceedingly numerous, thick as a bound volume. The time needed to read the letters and explain them was truly considerable, which was why Wang Zhaojing had waited until Zhao Jin had finished arranging his marriage to Mu Shulan before beginning to recount them. The incidents of Taichang dying after taking medicine and Attendant Li moving palaces had already been given names in the capital — one called the "Red Pill Case," the other the "Palace Removal Case" — the so-called Two Great Suspicious Cases. Although the letters laid out the full sequence of events very clearly, Wang Youshan also wrote in his letters that everyone in the capital knew what he knew, yet none dared say this was the truth. There were many points of doubt, but threads could still be traced within them, especially as both the court and the commonalty had begun linking the "Red Pill Case" and the "Palace Removal Case" to the case from the forty-third year of Wanli, when a madman bludgeoned the Crown Prince.

Around the Wanli era, people were fond of linking everything to this number three — there were the Three Great Campaigns, and now they were forcibly stringing together Three Great Cases. In his letters, Wang Youshan explained the "Bludgeon Case" in detail. In his view, the more Zhao Jin, Wang Zhaojing, and the younger generation knew about court politics, the more beneficial it would be. However, Wang Youshan was now alone in the capital. His faction had completely collapsed. No one got close to him; everyone assumed Wang Youshan's official post would not be kept for long, and no one engaged with him in any deep discourse. Perhaps this, too, was a reason he poured out his thoughts in letters.

"... In the fifth month of the forty-third year of Wanli, a man from outside the palace named Zhang Chai, wielding a wooden club, broke into the great inner compound through the Eastern Glorious Gate and fought his way all the way to the Palace of Compassionate Blessings where the Crown Prince resided, before being captured by the inner guards. Regarding Zhang Chai's bludgeoning of the Crown Prince's palace, debate within the court was divided. The officials who supported Noble Consort Zheng and favored the Prince of Fu as Crown Prince held that it was the act of Zhang Chai's madness; the ministers who supported the Crown Prince held that it was a conspiracy to harm the Crown Prince. After a joint trial by the Thirteen Circuits of the Ministry of Justice, it was ascertained that Zhang Chai was a member of the Red Seal Sect, a branch of the White Lotus Sect active around the capital region. Its leaders were Ma Sandao and Li Shoucai, who colluded with the eunuchs Pang Bao and Liu Cheng from Noble Consort Zheng's palace, dispatching Zhang Chai to infiltrate the palace and bludgeon the Crown Prince..."

"... The outbreak of this case shocked the palace and the entire realm. Linked to an incident in the forty-first year of Wanli where Noble Consort Zheng's inner attendants colluded with villains to curse the Crown Prince, it was unavoidable that the Bludgeon Case would implicate Noble Consort Zheng. The Wanli Emperor exerted himself to mediate the conflict between the Crown Prince and Noble Consort Zheng. On one hand, he angrily rebuked Noble Consort Zheng; on the other, he pressured the Crown Prince to change his stance, from 'Zhang Chai's actions must have had a mastermind' to 'let this matter end with Zhang Chai alone, and that will suffice.' Furthermore, the Wanli Emperor summoned the assembled ministers, expressing his remembrance of the Crown Prince's protector, the Empress Dowager, to demonstrate his sincerity in establishing the Crown Prince. He explicitly decreed that apart from punishing Zhang Chai and the others, 'the innocent are not to be implicated,' in order to exonerate Noble Consort Zheng..."

Wang Youshan's letter made it very clear: the Bludgeon Case of a few years ago and the present Red Pill Case and Palace Removal Case seemed unconnected on the surface, but upon closer investigation, one would find they could not be separated from two parties — one side was the multitude of Donglin ministers, the other was Noble Consort Zheng and the Zheng family. Moreover, whether the truth behind these Three Great Cases was real or not, in reality no one cared. All the debates and mutual attacks were solely aimed at bringing down the opposing side and putting one's own people in power.

During the Wanli reign, the assembled ministers had fought over the Root of the State. The Donglin faction and the Zhe, Chu, and Qi factions were irreconcilably opposed. The Donglin faction fought to establish the Crown Prince Zhu Youxiao — who was none other than the Taichang Emperor who passed away after a single month on the throne — while the other side was naturally close to the Prince of Fu's mother, Noble Consort Zheng. This was also why the Bludgeon Case was said to have Noble Consort Zheng behind it, why the Red Pill Case was said to be a conspiracy of Noble Consort Zheng's faction, and why the Palace Removal Case was also said to be orchestrated by Noble Consort Zheng. Once the Wanli Emperor died, Noble Consort Zheng was a dead tiger, utterly incapable of exerting any influence over court politics. The reason the Donglin faction dragged Noble Consort Zheng out time and again was nothing more than to strike at the various factions that held different stances from their own.

Thanks to the old friends "Yuan Heng Li Zhen, User Cold Night, Wu Liulang, Mu Ming" for their tips. Thanks to everyone for your subscriptions and monthly tickets. Thank you all.