Chapter 2
The New Year’s banquet was held in Hanyuan Hall beside Taiye Lake.
I excused myself, saying that my bad leg was troubling me.
During our three years at Yun’an Temple, the winters had been cold and damp, and I still had to chop wood and do chores.
By now, the medicines from the Imperial Medical Bureau had mostly restored my health.
I simply did not want to see the imperial relatives and hereditary nobles.
I held neither office nor title.
At the palace banquets, the military officials had no dealings with me, while the civil officials subjected me to sneers.
The Xie clan, so proud of its moral purity, considered me an utter disgrace.
What was a son of a great family doing skulking in the palace, his position so ill-defined?
Xiao Shunzi carried my message back and returned shortly afterward.
He held a vase of wintersweet: gnarled branches, their buds half open.
“The wintersweet at Hanyuan Hall is lovely this year. His Majesty cut a few branches himself for you to display, my lord.”
I took the flowers and smelled them.
Xiao Shunzi added,
“His Majesty also said to have wine ready and wait for him.”
I agreed.
I set the wine to warm and leaned by the window to wait.
Before the wine had warmed through, trouble broke out at Hanyuan Hall.
Halfway through the banquet, Grand Secretary Chen rose shakily once more.
“Your Majesty has reigned for four years, and the harem has stood empty for four years.”
“We dare no longer urge you to appoint an empress.”
“We ask only that Your Majesty choose a few virtuous ladies to enter the palace. If not to fill the empress’s seat, then at least to continue the imperial line.”
Everyone watched the young Son of Heaven on his throne.
Pei Guannan put down his wine cup. There was no avoiding it.
“I have said that this matter is not to be raised again.”
“Your Majesty!” Grand Secretary Chen shuffled forward on his knees, tears streaming down his aged face.
“When yin and yang are out of balance, heaven and earth cannot unite. When the harem stands empty, the foundations of the state have no support.”
“Xie Yuanzhen is a commoner, yet he has long resided in the palace, throwing the court into disorder!”
“We beg Your Majesty to consider the realm!”
Pei Guannan’s expression turned cold. “I remember a memorial you submitted in the year I ascended the throne.”
“You said Xie Yuanzhen had served me loyally and asked me to reward him.”
Grand Secretary Chen did not deny it. “I did!”
“At the time, I believed Xie Yuanzhen had merely accompanied Your Majesty through hardship as your study companion. Having rendered service to the realm, he naturally deserved a reward!”
“But I never imagined…”
“That he… that he had won your favor with his body!”
Pei Guannan’s face darkened at those words.
But one minister after another stepped forward to agree.
“I second Grand Secretary Chen. I beg Your Majesty to consider the dynasty and the realm!”
“I beg Your Majesty to take consorts and continue the imperial line!”
“I beg Your Majesty to send Xie Yuanzhen out of the palace!”
The voices grew louder. More men joined in.
Pei Guannan remained still.
Until a newly appointed young censor stepped forward.
And said something he should not have said.
“Your Majesty, I have heard that during your confinement at Yun’an Temple, you spent three years in Xie Yuanzhen’s company, day and night.”
“Were three years of filth still not enough for Your Majesty?”
The censor finished speaking.
Pei Guannan gave a cold laugh and leaned forward a little.
“What is your name?”
“I am Xue Mingyuan, a newly qualified graduate of the imperial examinations.”
Pei Guannan nodded. “Take him out. Thirty strokes of the rod in the courtyard.”
As Xue Mingyuan was dragged away, his cries rang back, each fiercer than the last.
“Your Majesty trusts a wicked favorite and silences honest counsel!”
“My death is of no consequence! I fear only that the Great Fu dynasty’s century of achievement will be destroyed at Xie Yuanzhen’s hands!”
With the banquet spoiled, Pei Guannan simply stood.
“Let me make myself clear today.”
“Xie Yuanzhen is going nowhere.”
Without looking at anyone again, he turned and left.