В погоне за радугами

Глава 39

The princess remained silent, her eyes slowly turning as she surveyed her surroundings. After a moment, she smiled and instructed Zhang Chengzhao, "Go to the back garden and pick a bunch of pear blossoms for me, then find a white, rough porcelain vase to put them in."

Zhang Chengzhao was taken aback: "Use a white, coarse porcelain vase?"

“Yes,” the princess said, “the uglier the vase, the better…it should have a broken or chipped edge at the end. If not, you can smash one open.”

Zhang Chengzhao quickly picked pear blossoms, but finding a vase that met the princess's requirements proved quite time-consuming. Finally, he ran out and found one in a cook's room. He smashed the notch to fit the princess's needs, happily arranged the pear blossoms, and presented it to the princess.

The princess placed the vase in the most conspicuous place in the pavilion, so that the emperor would notice it as soon as he entered.

"These pear blossoms are beautiful, but the vase doesn't match," the Emperor said. "Both the flowers and the vase are white, but they're not the same color. The snow-white flowers make the vase look even dirtier, and the chipped vase is quite an eyesore. Go and replace it quickly."

“Daughter doesn’t have a vase to exchange!” the princess replied irritably. “Father clearly has a fine Dingzhou red porcelain vase but won’t give it to me.”

The Emperor asked in surprise, "Father, where do you have a Dingzhou red porcelain vase? You often go to Funing Palace, have you seen it there before?"

“Fu Ning Palace doesn’t have one, but Ning Hua Palace does!” the princess said, tugging at her father’s sleeve. “Father is biased. He gave the Dingzhou red porcelain vase to Lady Zhang but not to me. Of course, I can only find a broken vase to put the flowers in.”

The Emperor frowned: "Does Ninghua Palace have Dingzhou red porcelain?"

The princess nodded: "Yes, many people saw it."

The Emperor suddenly stood up and strode out the door. The princess chased after him, and when her father was out of sight, she turned back to me and playfully stuck out her tongue.

The following day, everyone in the palace heard the news that the Emperor had smashed Dingzhou red porcelain in the Consort's Pavilion.

It is said that upon entering the Ninghua Palace and the Consort's Pavilion, the Emperor looked around as if searching for something. Later, seeing the red porcelain vase that Consort Zhang had just displayed, he asked her where it came from. Consort Zhang replied that it was a gift from Wang Gongchen. The Emperor was furious and rebuked her, saying, "I warned you not to accept gifts from officials, why didn't you listen!" With that, he picked up a pillar axe and smashed the vase. Consort Zhang was terrified and knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness. The Emperor made her kneel for a long time before allowing her to rise.

“I never expected Father to be so angry,” the princess later told me. “Actually, I just wanted him to scold Lady Zhang for being extravagant, so that other people in the palace would follow suit and forbid her from using that vase. I wanted to upset her and also let you vent your anger.”

I brushed away a stray hair from her brow: "Princess, you needn't do these things for me. The matter of the glass cup happened a long time ago, and besides, it didn't have any negative impact on me at the time."

The princess shook her head and said, "But the thought of her bullying you makes me so angry, even angrier than when she bullied me." Then, she squeezed my hand and said earnestly, "If anyone bullies you again, you must let me know. I know you'll take a deep breath, but I just want to protect you."

(to be continued)

The Lonely City Closes (A Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) The waters of the Canglang River Wash My Tassels 30. Morning Post

Chapter word count: 6716 Update time: 08-09-13 15:37

30. Morning Post

Three days later, Zhang Chengzhao brought me a court report and happily told me, "The Emperor has sent Wang Gongchen back to Yingzhou."

The court gazette was a collection of news documents edited by the Imperial Secretariat, recording the emperor's recent edicts, daily life, appointments and removals of officials, memorials from officials, battle reports, etc. After being reviewed by the Privy Council, the Imperial Secretariat would then copy and transcribe it for circulation throughout the country, and distribute it to various departments in the court and local officials for reading.

When I opened today's document, I saw that the first item in yesterday's news was: "Wang Gongchen, Vice Minister of Rites, Hanlin Academician, and Academician of the Longtu Pavilion, left the capital and was concurrently appointed as the Pacification Commissioner of Gaoyang Pass Road and Prefect of Yingzhou."

This was exactly what I expected. Now that the Emperor knows about his presentation of Dingzhou red porcelain to Consort Zhang, he will surely be furious and will no longer keep him as an official in the capital.

It's a real pity; he doesn't really seem like a sycophant. I sighed inwardly. Perhaps it was because he was isolated and helpless, and seeing Consort Zhang taking the initiative to befriend him, that he reciprocated. Besides, he must have known what kind of impression his previous actions would leave on the Empress, so he used a generous gift to express his inclination towards the Empress. Unfortunately, he did it too obviously, violating the Emperor's greatest taboo.

The news reports in the court gazettes were extremely brief, and the memorials only quoted a few important sentences. Further down, most of the reports were about someone being dismissed, someone being transferred, or someone being admitted to the imperial court. The slightly more unusual one was about the palace examination: "The Emperor plans to hold the examination of the Jinshi candidates recommended by the Ministry of Rites in the Chongzheng Hall on the day of Yisi in the third month." Below that was a list of the top ten Jinshi candidates recommended by the Ministry of Rites.

Zhang Chengzhao leaned closer, glancing at the court reports while observing my expression. After a moment, he said, "The court reports these days aren't very good. Everything is glossed over with a single sentence, without any details. If it were when Su Shunqin was in charge of the Imperial Academy, and he wrote about Wang Gongchen leaving the capital, he would definitely have included a description of the Emperor's anger at smashing the red porcelain from Dingzhou. The list of successful candidates submitted by the Ministry of Rites would also usually have a sentence or two of introduction added under each person's name..."

He wasn't wrong. Back then, Su Shunqin was the chief editor of the court gazette. He described major events in great detail, using concise language while clearly explaining the causes and consequences, sometimes even adding commentary. However, this also led to his impeachment. People accused him of making unwarranted comments in the gazette, then presenting them to the emperor and disseminating them far and wide—both overstepping his bounds and attempting to speak for the emperor. Ultimately, the current emperor ordered the Secretariat and the Privy Council to draft a standard format for the court gazette, forbidding the Court of Memorials from making any alterations. Thus, the court gazette became the simple format it is today. Su Shunqin was framed and dismissed, "never to be reinstated," partly because, in his role overseeing the gazette, his selection of news and memorials favored the New Policies faction, thus offending many.

I put down the newspaper and asked Zhang Chengzhao, "How did you get your hands on today's morning paper?"

He laughed and said, "I went to see my brother who serves in the Imperial Secretariat today. I saw him organizing the court reports, preparing to send them to the various departments. I glanced at them and saw a message about Wang Gongchen. I thought you would be interested, so I took a copy."

I couldn't help but smile, but I still reminded him, "Don't take things so casually anymore. We're working in the inner palace now, and it wouldn't be good if people knew we were reading the court newspaper."

He waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, with my skills, how could I be discovered? As long as you don't say anything..."

Before the words were finished, a person suddenly pushed the door open and burst in, laughing loudly, "I've found out!"

We were all startled, but thankfully we soon realized that it was the princess who had entered.

She walked quickly up to me, held out her hand and asked for the newspaper: "Let me see it, or I'll tell others."

I had no choice but to hand her the newspaper. She glanced at it and immediately saw the article about Wang Gongchen. After reading it, she asked me, somewhat puzzled, "Is this Wang Gongchen a good person? My father told me about his resignation as the top scholar, praising him for his integrity, but the fact that he gave Madam Zhang such an expensive vase doesn't seem like something a good official would do..."

In her clear eyes, the ways of the world and the hearts of men were now only black and white. She could only distinguish between officials in the court as "good officials" or "bad officials." Therefore, her question left me quite hesitant, and I couldn't find a suitable answer for the time being.

Zhang Chengzhao spoke first: "Princess, I heard that the Emperor has asked you to recite 'The Yueyang Tower' and 'The Drunken Pavilion' these past two days?"

“Yes,” the princess said, distressed, “it’s so hard to memorize. I spent a whole day memorizing it and it seemed like I remembered it, but after taking a nap, all I could remember about the Yueyang Tower was ‘Be the first to worry about the world’s troubles and the last to enjoy its pleasures.’ The Drunken Pavilion was even worse; I could only remember the prefect’s joys and sorrows, but I couldn’t remember why he was happy at all… Father wants me to recite it to him tomorrow. What am I going to do? I feel like banging my head against the wall!”

Zhang Chengzhao listened attentively, feigning sympathy, but what he said next sounded like a threat to the princess: "Princess, please take care of yourself. Don't overwork yourself while reciting, or how will you continue reciting 'The Record of Canglang Pavilion' tomorrow?"

The princess was shocked: "Do I have to recite 'The Record of Canglang Pavilion'?"

Zhang Chengzhao said, "That's right, I've figured out how His Majesty chose the texts for the princess to recite."

The princess pressed on, "How was the selection made?"

Zhang Chengzhao pointed to Wang Gongchen's name in the imperial gazette: "Whoever Wang Gongchen harmed, the emperor will make you recite their article."

The princess was taken aback. Zhang Chengzhao continued to explain: "Back then, Wang Gongchen impeached Fan Zhongyan's friend Teng Zongliang, accusing him of embezzling public funds, and ordered him to be demoted to Baling County. After much back and forth, Fan Zhongyan was also demoted to Dengzhou. The following year, Teng Zongliang repaired Yueyang Tower and specially asked Fan Zhongyan to write 'The Record of Yueyang Tower.' Then Wang Gongchen instructed his subordinates and cronies to impeach Ouyang Xiu. They failed the first time, so they tried a second time, finally demoting him to Chuzhou. As a result, Ouyang Xiu wrote 'The Record of the Drunken Pavilion' there... Therefore, the Emperor will definitely make the princess memorize 'The Record of the Canglang Pavilion,' because Su Shunqin went to Suzhou to write this article, entirely thanks to Wang Gongchen."

Upon hearing this, the princess sighed, "That Wang Gongchen is really annoying."

Zhang Chengzhao immediately nodded in agreement, saying, "He is indeed annoying. If he hadn't stirred up so much trouble, why would the princess need to memorize these texts now? So the princess should know whether he is a good official or a bad official, right?"

The princess laughed and said, "Making me memorize so many articles, of course he's a bad official!"