Chapter 113: Newcomer At The Prince’s Mansion
Yue Tang took two horse carriages and left Prince Jingyang’s Mansion.
A Li saw her off all the way to outside the door. Despite Yue Tang’s best efforts to dispel the atmosphere of parting, A Li was still quieter than usual. He watched them go far down the street before his eyes reddened and Yan Bei led him back.
Yan Bei was also somewhat listless. He returned to his room and sat for a while, looking over a few official documents, but felt that the mansion was especially empty today. When he caught sight of Jiang Shao entering out of the corner of his eye, he set the documents down.
“Prince! Do you remember that passerby the Princess took down in the alley on the night of the incident?”
Jiang Shao asked as soon as he entered the door.
Yan Bei held a cup in his hand and bit tea leaves in his mouth: “How so?”
On the night of the incident, when Yue Tang went to the riverbank with a plan in mind, she captured a passerby halfway there. Following the principle of better to mistakenly take than to let go, she sent him to the Supreme Court. Yan Bei naturally knew about this.
Jiang Shao stepped closer and said: “That man is still locked up in prison. This morning, Lord Dou had him brought out, questioned him, checked his travel permit, found nothing wrong, and wanted to ask the Princess to release him.”
“Then go find her. Why ask me?” Yan Bei said irritably.
Jiang Shao turned: “Then this subordinate will go to Prince Duan’s Mansion!”
“Hold on!”
Yan Bei stood up. “Prepare the horse. I’ll go to the yamen to take a look.”
……
The two mansions were half a city apart.
At Prince Duan’s Mansion, Chu Yan’s corpse had already been cleared away. When Lan Qin came to consult that morning, Yue Tang had her pass a message to Guo Yin in charge of handling it: put her in a coffin and send her off.
The coffin was part of Chu Yan’s dowry.
For all other things besides the coffin, Yue Tang had Lan Qin organize them with people, seal them, and make a notebook first. After a year and a half, if no better place, donate to the orphanage.
But Chu Yan had managed the household for these three years, so inventorying the vast mansion was not easy.
When the horse carriage entered Prince Duan’s Mansion, Lan Qin and the others were busy in full swing.
“Why such a big commotion?” Yue Tang looked at the bustling crowd around.
The mansion’s chief clerk, bailiffs, and all on-duty officials had ties to the Chu Family earlier, so all were replaced.
But still half the guards and maidservants were transferred from the palace, and these people had once followed Chu Yan or even Chu Xin, so they weren’t entirely reassuring.
A couple days ago, she had Wei Zhang and Xiao Huo summon all the guards for observation, and under the pretext of some being physically unfit for duty, first requested imperial approval to replace thirty percent. The maidservants sent from the palace were also replaced in a batch.
The imperial clan had its rules; replacing them all at once would be defiance.
But Yue Tang still had them strike while the iron is hot and find opportunities.
Regardless of whether the Emperor knew of the Mu Family’s conspiracy, the murder case of Yue Tang had already spread far and wide, and with the mastermind from a heavy minister of the Imperial Court, public discussion had long boiled over. The Emperor had to show an attitude to earn reputation.
So at this crucial moment, as long as the requests weren’t excessive, the Emperor would usually allow them.
The people Lan Qin and the others were directing now were this newly replaced batch.
“The houses inside and out, utensils, and accounts all need to be inventoried anyway. This morning the Imperial Household Department sent this batch of new guards and maidservants, so this servant had them make a booklet together.
“First to let them familiarize with the place, second so this servant could check if any reliable ones could be picked out.”
Lan Qin accompanied her past the large spirit wall and walked through the ceremonial gate leading to Yin An Hall.
Yin An Hall was the main hall of the mansion, used for major banquets or ceremonies.
At this time, people from the Imperial Guard Department stood on both sides of the open space in front of the hall.
In the wide-open main hall, Xiao Huo was talking to several new guards who obviously just arrived. He turned his head, saw Yue Tang, and immediately called them over to pay respects:
“This subordinate pays respects to the Princess!”
“Rise.”
Yue Tang sized up these few; their every move was proper, their builds qualified. The Imperial Household Department hadn’t skimped.
After Huo Yun sent them away, she instructed: “Get the resumes of all the new people, check them one by one, see if there’s any trace of Mu Family involvement.
“Any impropriety, send back immediately.
“Even those not exposed, keep extra watch.”
Huo Yun crisply acknowledged and left.
Yue Tang rubbed her hands and let out a long breath: “Still better to have military power in hand. Those court-sent people in Prince Jingyang’s Mansion were long washed clean down to their grandchildren, right?”
Lan Qin smiled at her: “Is the Princess envious?”
“How could I not be envious?” She crossed the central courtyard and ascended the jade steps. “All becoming one’s own people makes things convenient.”
The former Prince Duan’s Mansion was the same; none who could appear before Prince Duan were untrustworthy. But times changed; those people were dead or scattered.
“Princess.”
Just under the plaque of Yin An Hall, Wei Zhang’s voice came from under the side corridor.
He brought several mansion subordinate officials in official robes: “This is the newly appointed chief clerk Han Yi. These are the lords in charge of various divisions.”
The latter several repeatedly said they didn’t dare, and knelt one after another to salute Yue Tang.
Yue Tang called for them to rise.
Han Yi stepped back half a step, lifted his robes, and knelt: “Minister Han Yi, from today, will serve the Princess as vanguard and rearguard.”
Yue Tang had Xiao Huo beside her help him up, then sized him up: “How old is Lord Han this year?”
Han Yi straightened his slightly thin frame, gave her a mild glance, then lowered his eyes: “In response to the Princess, this minister is twenty-three this year.”
“Which year’s jinshi?”
“This minister is a jinshi of this class.”
“Oh.”
Yue Tang raised a brow, eyeing his official robes without a single wrinkle, and his upright serious face like seeing a Buddha in a temple.
Han Yi paused, bowed with hands clasped, gazing at the ground: “Though this minister’s qualifications are shallow, he will exert himself to relieve the Princess’s worries.”
Yue Tang only smiled without speaking.
After entering the door, she looked around the solemn main hall, then passed through it, up two steps, and sat in the main seat.
She looked levelly at Han Yi standing below the steps: “Lord Han, how long do you think I can sit in this position?”
Han Yi was just in the middle of the hall, a zhang away from her on the throne.
At this time, sunlight outside the window shone brightly into the room, illuminating her lounging casually in the chair with lips slightly curved, radiant as gold and jade, her bright eyes reflecting fleeting glints as she glanced about.
“Lord Han, the Princess is asking you.”
Lan Qin beside her reminded with a smile.
Han Yi straightened slightly, meeting Yue Tang’s gaze again: “The Princess is the helmsman of Prince Duan’s Mansion and can choose to sit as long as she wishes.
“If a deadline must be set, this minister can only say it will surely be longer than this minister’s term.”
Yue Tang was the helmsman, but had not inherited the title after all.
Her sitting in this seat theoretically only meant acting temporarily for the future Prince Duan.
How long she “could sit”? It depended on the limit of her control over power.
It also depended on whether this mansion would have an heir in the future.
First meeting between lord and minister, this was not a good topic.
But hearing Han Yi’s answer, Lan Qin quickly glanced at him, then at Yue Tang.
A hard topic to answer, yet given by this new jinshi like Xu He who had just entered officialdom.
Sit as long as she wanted—that acknowledged Yue Tang’s currently unquestionable status and power.
Up to her to choose—that implied even more.
And surely longer than his term—didn’t that mean the longer his term, the longer she sat on this throne?
Though Yue Tang had never thought of gripping Prince Duan’s Mansion forever, hearing this she looked straight at him and smiled: “What place in the jinshi?”
Han Yi paused, then answered: “Second class ninth place.”
“Good ranking.” Yue Tang lightly tapped the armrest with her finger. “Such a good rank, why condescend to be a subordinate official in the mansion?”
Han Yi lowered his head: “This minister doesn’t feel aggrieved. To serve under the Princess is this minister’s honor.”
Yue Tang glanced sideways: “Tell the truth.”
Han Yi’s figure paused slightly, his voice unconsciously lower: “This minister’s ancestors erred, were demoted, and the family wandered destitute for years. This minister relied on his widowed mother’s odd jobs for meager pay to study and take the exam.”
Xu He as top scholar still needed to curry favor with Du Minghuan; second class ninth without background naturally harder to advance. Coming to the mansion as subordinate official wasn’t strange.
Yue Tang looked at him: “What was your grandfather’s name? What office did he once hold?”
“My family ancestor’s name taboos on Xu character, once served in the Imperial Secretariat. But that was twenty years ago.”
Yue Tang nodded and said to him: “Send the household registration file over later for me to see.”
Han Yi reached into his bosom, took out a notebook, and presented it with both hands: “Please review, Princess.”
Yue Tang flipped two pages, closed it: “Starting tomorrow, come to Yong Qing Hall to see me twice a day at set times. Morning at chenshi, afternoon at shenshi; for urgent matters, come report anytime.
“Inner quarters matters find Lan Qin, outer hall matters if unfamiliar, find Wei Zhang.”
“As ordered.”
“Go handle affairs.”
Yue Tang stood.
After he left, she also stepped out of the main hall and said to Lan Qin behind: “Arrange a courtyard for Han Yi a bit closer to me, to save travel time.
“Also these few days have Xiao Huo follow him, show him the mansion layout. Let him get up to speed on managing affairs quickly.”
Lan Qin agreed.
The two left Yin An Hall and continued through the gate tower with the “An Xing Gate” plaque, heading to Yong Qing Hall in the inner quarters area.
With An Xing Gate as boundary, further in was the mansion’s inner quarters; outside guests often stopped here.
Yong Qing Hall was the main hall, Yue Tang’s current residence, and where she kept all memories of her parents.
Along the way, maidservants and eunuchs knelt the whole path, none daring to raise heads, but on the other side, an elderly nanny came over.
“Reporting to the Princess, Lady He seeks an audience at the east gate.”
Yue Tang stopped, Lan Qin exclaimed “Ah”: “It’s Lady He. These days she’s been staying in our house, asked me several times when you’d return to Prince Duan’s Mansion. This servant told her to come again today.”
Yue Tang said: “Then why not invite her in quickly?”
At that time after He Shi divorced Xu He, Yue Tang originally let her choose her own path. But this woman still wanted to stay in the Capital City and follow Yue Tang.
Yue Tang couldn’t think how to place her and certainly wouldn’t make her a slave, so temporarily let her stay in the original house.
Unexpectedly her resolve was so firm, still waiting for her.
With such sincerity, naturally couldn’t disappoint.
In no time, He Shi followed Lan Qin in.
“Paying respects to the Princess.”
She knelt to salute; Yue Tang smiled: “Have you been well lately?”
He Shi’s face was rosy: “Thanks to the Princess’s grace, this common woman has been quite stable lately. Xu He came to make trouble twice, but this common woman ignored him.”
After speaking, she glanced at Yue Tang: “Heard the Princess encountered mishap again; hope no serious harm?”
Since decisively divorcing, she had become even more poised.
“No harm.” Yue Tang chatted a few words, then got to the point: “I remember you can write. Lan Qin happens to need a helper; would you be willing to be a female scribe in my mansion?”
He Shi, who had been articulate, suddenly stammered: “This common woman knows characters but hasn’t read much. I don’t know, I don’t know if I can…”
“You can learn.” Yue Tang smiled, took a booklet from nearby: “This is the booklet they made inventorying utensils earlier; see if you can do it.”
He Shi flipped through, nodded: “If just copying the records, not difficult.”
“Then it’s settled.” Yue Tang said, “The mansion’s female scribes are proper goodfolk status, drawing salary, not slaves.
“Mainly handling writing tasks by my side. Need clear head, good at coping, no errors in writing.
“But formal appointment requires exam; first learn from Lan Qin, next quarter’s inner palace supervisor exam, you can try.
“Pass, and you can do this job permanently, draw salary.”
He Shi’s cheeks flushed: “When is the next quarter?”
Yue Tang curved her lips: “Just into October now; one more before year’s end.”
“Good!”
She quickly clutched the booklet. “This common woman knows nothing else but hard work! Please rest assured, Princess; this common woman won’t disappoint your expectations!”
Lan Qin smilingly took her hand: “I’ll first take you to find lodging.”
Yue Tang watched them leave, then looked up at the surroundings.
All furnishings in the room were exactly as back then, just changed curtains and bedding.
Windows newly papered; in the courtyard outside, various chrysanthemums arranged, eunuchs and maidservants shuttling through flowers, moving her luggage back and forth.
After entering the palace tomorrow for audience, Prince Duan’s Mansion would face the world with a new face.
Thinking this, she went to the inner room, took out the ceremonial robes, and spread them flat on the couch.
The couch temporarily held piles of silk fabrics and exquisitely made boxes.
These were gifts from Prince Jingyang’s Mansion in its name when leaving.
She moved the boxes; unexpectedly one long box in the middle was especially heavy.
Opening it, a radiant precious sword appeared!
Seeing this all-too-familiar sword, her heart seized; she swiftly picked it up.
No mistake—it was the Spirit Spring Sword granted by the Former Emperor that she placed on A Xiu’s corpse three years ago!
But she hadn’t even had time to inquire about this sword’s whereabouts!
“Wei Zhang!” She turned to the doorway.
“Princess!” Wei Zhang entered.
“Who gave this?”
“The Prince!” Wei Zhang also stunned seeing the sword, then pointed to the box: “This morning when the Prince brought A Li to see the Princess, he casually put it on her luggage; this subordinate recognizes it.”
“It was him…”
Yue Tang drew the sword, closely examining the gleaming sword blade, a trace of tenderness rising on her curved lips.
