В погоне за радугами

Глава 26

Nowadays, when the royal family marries off their daughters, they often choose from the "declining families" indicated by Empress Liu, the late Emperor Zhangxian Mingsu. These families are either originally founding heroes, but their descendants are no longer high-ranking officials or ministers. Alternatively, they can marry off commoners who have been ministers for three generations, but the prerequisite is that their relatives do not hold high positions in the current dynasty.

Of course, even if the pool of potential husbands is narrowed down to families of fallen officials and commoners who are of high rank, there are still outstanding young men who are suitable to be the princess's spouse.

On one occasion, Consort Miao probed the Emperor's intentions regarding choosing a son-in-law. The Emperor replied, "When you return to the palace on the thirteenth day to pay your respects and when the relatives of the emperor come to offer their congratulations, I will let you meet one of them."

After the wedding, the son-in-law returns to the bride's home to pay respects to his parents-in-law, a custom known as "paying respects at the door." If he goes the next day, it is called "returning to pay respects at the door." When Miss Gao gets married, she is considered the "Empress's daughter," and travels from the palace to her husband's home with half of a princess's ceremonial regalia. Therefore, the thirteenth regiment commander will return to the palace the next day for a "returning to pay respects at the door," and on that day, relatives of the imperial family and other powerful clans will enter the palace to offer congratulations. Judging from the Emperor's words, it seems the consort will be chosen from among these relatives.

Later, Consort Miao told Consort Yu about the Emperor's reply. Consort Yu smiled and said, "Your Majesty, are you referring to the eldest son of the Cao family? I heard from the Empress that the Cao family will bring two sons to the palace that day. The eldest son is the same age as the princess and they are quite a match in talent and appearance."

Consort Miao was overjoyed, put her hands together in prayer, and said, "Amitabha, if only it were Young Master Cao!"

"Cao Lang" refers to Cao Yi, the grandson of Cao Bin, a founding hero of the Song Dynasty, and the younger brother of the Empress. He was gentle and easy-going, knowledgeable in music, skilled in chess and archery, and excelled in poetry, prose, and calligraphy.

Moreover, he was extremely handsome. The Empress possessed a refined elegance, like a fragrant orchid in a deep valley, her beauty undiminished even in solitude, but her appearance alone was not the kind that would immediately captivate. Cao Yi, on the other hand, was a beauty that no one could ignore. He had fair skin and hair of an unusual dark blue-green color, subtly tinged with red, leading people to describe him as a celestial being. Although his features were exquisite, he was not weak; he was agile in riding, archery, and swordsmanship, his demeanor elegant, unrestrained, and heroic.

From his youth, he frequently entered and exited the palace during banquets, and all the concubines and palace women were delighted to see him, vying to peek through the beaded curtains at Cao Lang. When I first witnessed this spectacle, I thought that even the beauties described in the "Appearance and Demeanor" section of "A New Account of the World" were no more than this.

Despite being a member of the imperial clan, he showed no arrogance, his eyes clear and bright, seemingly devoid of desire. It is said that when the current emperor first spoke with him, he discovered that the man loved reading Laozi and Zhuangzi, advocating only tranquility, naturalness, and non-interference in governance. The emperor was greatly pleased and bestowed many rewards upon him, but the man remained neither surprised nor delighted, merely bowing in thanks. Therefore, the current emperor often praised him to others, saying, "Cao Lang's fine character and handsome demeanor will surely be recorded in the national history."

Cao Yi was just turning thirty when he had two sons, the elder named Ping and the younger named You. Cao Ping was only ten years old, but at such a young age, he already showed great talent in both literature and martial arts, much like his father. He loved reading books on literature and history, had beautiful handwriting, and was especially good at archery. Even after the candle had been extinguished at night, he could still hit the target with his bow. This was well-known in the palace, so Consort Miao was overjoyed and looked forward to choosing him as her son-in-law.

In the early summer of that year, the Thirteenth Militia Commander and Miss Gao were married by imperial decree. As it was the son of an "official" marrying the daughter of an "empress," the occasion was naturally grand, with the people of Tokyo flooding the streets, and tens of thousands vying to witness the procession.

The following day, the thirteenth militia led their new brides back to the palace to pay their respects to the new brides. The imperial relatives and their families also entered the palace to offer their congratulations. The Empress received the relatives in a pavilion in the rear garden. A beaded curtain hung in front of the throne, and Consort Miao and her daughter sat behind the curtain beside the Empress.

Because of the custom of choosing a son-in-law, I paid closer attention to Cao Yi and his son. Although Cao Yi was the Empress's younger brother, the Empress showed him no special treatment. They remained separated by a beaded curtain, about two zhang apart, exchanging nothing more than pleasantries. When the Empress asked a question, Cao Yi answered from outside. He was gentle and his voice was not loud, but his enunciation was clear, and everyone inside and outside the beaded curtain could hear him.

Cao Ping and Cao You accompanied their father. Because the two sons were young, the Empress summoned them behind a curtain and gently inquired about their studies. The two sons answered calmly, displaying a refined demeanor. Consort Miao had been paying close attention to the two young masters. After the Empress finished her questions, she called them to her side, looked them over carefully, and beamed with delight. She ordered her servants to bring out the gifts that had been prepared for them, but the Empress stopped her.

The Empress smiled and said, "They are little boys who are always jumping around. It would be a waste to put these gold locks and jade pendants on them. It would be better to just give them some candy."

He then ordered someone to present the reward to his two nephews—it was real candy, two lactose lions, a much smaller gift than what was given to other children.

Zhaorong then inquired about the two sons' birth dates. Seeing that Cao Ping was two months older than the princess, she asked the princess to call him "brother." The princess nodded and called him "Brother Cao." Cao Ping immediately bowed respectfully, still addressing her as "Princess." The princess smiled and then called Cao You "Little Brother Cao." Cao You cleverly addressed her as "Princess Sister." Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. At that moment, I thought the princess's happy marriage was already sealed.

After paying their respects to the Emperor in the front hall, the Thirteenth Regiment and Miss Gao came over. The Empress asked them to stay in the waterside pavilion to chat. Seeing that there was still some time before the banquet, and that I was the closest in age to the two young masters among the eunuchs around me, she asked me to take them to play in the garden and rest for a while.

The fields for archery, polo, and marbles in the Imperial Garden were all prepared for the enjoyment of the imperial family and nobles. Colorful flags fluttered in the marbles field, and two young princes stopped to watch. Seeing that they seemed very interested, I asked someone to bring several sets of bats of different sizes, and let them each choose one to enter the field to play marbles.

They didn't start with a competition; they just casually swung their sticks and hit the pellets. I watched silently and noticed their skill; they were clearly used to the game. After a while, they got bored and asked if I knew how to play. I had played several times over the past two years and said yes. They then suggested I join them and play against them. Seeing that there were only three of us in the arena, I said, "If we want to compete, we need at least one more person."

"I'll go!" I suddenly heard someone say from outside the arena. I turned around and saw that it was the princess.

Before we could answer, she ran into the field, stood next to me, and said with a smile to the young master of the Cao family, "Brother Cao and Brother Cao are in one group, and Huaiji and I are in another."

Cao Ping hesitated for a moment, but Cao You, being young, didn't have so many concerns. She clapped her hands and cheered, "So Princess Sister can also play polo!"

The princess smiled confidently at him, as if she had everything under control, and then said to me, "Pick a baseball bat for me."

I asked her in a low voice, "Does the princess know how to play this ball?"

She lowered her voice as well: "You can teach me."

It's difficult to get her to give up something when she's really into it. On second thought, although the young master of the Cao family is a boy, he's still quite young, and besides, there's no physical contact between the players in this kind of sport. The women in the palace sometimes play it too, so I finally agreed and went to choose a baseball bat and handed it to her.

If the game is played in teams, each team scores a point if they manage to hit the ball into the designated hole within three hits. The winner is determined by the number of points scored by each team. The princess's initial performance was naturally disastrous; her first hit didn't even touch the ball, and a large patch of innocent grass was cleared away. Later, although she hit the ball, she couldn't find its landing point in front of her, even with her eyes wide open, because the ball landed behind her…

The game couldn't proceed without that, so the three of us gathered around her and each started teaching her the basics, correcting her stance, grip, swing, and the angle of contact with the ball. Fortunately, the princess was quite quick to learn, and soon she started to play better.

With her arm extended upwards, the club reached above her right shoulder, and she swung down, the clubface striking the ball directly on one side. After striking the ball, the club rose smoothly, returning to the back of her head from the upper left, tracing a fluid arc... After completing all the movements correctly, the princess delivered a perfect shot, the ball flying like a meteor and landing far away near the cradle.

We cheered in unison. The princess was overjoyed and happily ran over, swinging the bat in the same way as before. Her movements were so fast that I didn't have time to remind her. Since the ball was very close to the rim, there was no need to swing this time; she only needed to switch bats to putt...

As a result, with a swing of the bat, the agate ball spun through the air, flew over the cradle, and headed straight for the edge of the field.

I had a bad feeling. I looked at where the ball had landed, which should have been a passageway for pedestrians.

The princess must have realized this too, and hurriedly ran in that direction. I followed suit and went to check. She first ran to the edge of the field, where there was a small hill. She stopped and looked down at the path outside the field from the hillside. As if she had seen something, she stood there motionless.

I strode over with my baseball bat, stopped behind her, and quickly glanced down. Sure enough, I saw someone who looked like they had been hit by the ball, rubbing their forehead and staring blankly upwards.

He was a boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old. He was not tall, but he was very strong. He had a simple face like a farmer's child, with slightly dark skin and rosy cheeks. His slightly thick mouth was half open. After staring blankly at the princess for a long time, he shifted his gaze to me.

I haven't guessed his identity yet. His appearance is quite different from that of a nobleman like the young master of the Cao family, but he is wearing a very expensive silk robe with a floral pattern, and since he entered the palace today, he should also be a member of the imperial family.

"Young master, did that ball hurt you?" I asked him.

He seemed to take a moment to process my words, then rubbed his forehead before pointing to the ground beside him and muttering, "The ball landed there, bounced up, and hit my head... It's okay, it's okay..."

"Put your hand down so I can see," the princess said, her tone somewhat commanding. "Is it bleeding?"

The boy shook his head and obediently lowered his hand. The princess leaned over to take a closer look and was relieved: "It's alright, it's just a little red."

Seeing that I also breathed a sigh of relief, the princess laughed without any restraint and pointed at the boy, saying, "Look at him, doesn't he look like a silly rabbit?"

It was then that I noticed that the boy was wearing a cotton hood with a pair of upright wings like a traditional Chinese turban, but because it was made of cloth, it looked particularly thick and wide, and did indeed look somewhat like rabbit ears.

I didn't respond to the princess. Instead, I bowed my head and briefly explained the situation of the polo match to the boy, and apologized on behalf of the princess. He seemed uninterested in what I said, but rather very interested in the polo bat in my hand, staring at it for a long time.

His focused expression made me glance down at the baseball bat. The lower part of the bat was hook-shaped, and the whole thing looked like a long-handled wooden spoon. The shaft was edged with gold, and the top was decorated with jade, which was quite dazzling.

"Why don't you come up here and play polo with us, brother?" Cao Ping suddenly said. He also came over with his younger brother, standing beside me and looking down at the boy on the hillside with a gentle gaze.

The young man silently scrutinized the Cao brothers and me, then looked at the princess, hesitant. He was standing in a drafty spot, and after being exposed to the wind for a while, he couldn't help but sneeze, spitting out some clear snot. He immediately raised his hand and wiped the snot away with the back of his hand.

The princess frowned slightly.

Just then, a palace attendant rushed over and said to the young man, "Young Master Li, so you're here! Madam Li has been looking for you everywhere and wants to take you to see the Empress and Lady Miao..."