CH 13

It was still dark when he heard footsteps outside the door. Zhao Yelan woke up right away. He hadn’t slept soundly at all, and a single sound could easily wake him up. The first thing to do after getting up was to step on Yan Mingting’s body: “Get out.”

Yan Mingting got up in two or three movements, arrived at the door in strong and vigorous form, and asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Xiao Gao.” Gao Tan knocked on the door. “My lord, are you going to court today?”

“I’m going,” Zhao Yelan replied.

He hadn’t gone to the morning court for many days in a row, and if he didn’t go again, those people might think he was dead.

Gao Tan opened the door and came to dress him in court clothes. The purple robes fit his upper body snugly. After being specially fumigated with incense, there was a faint fragrance left behind, and the robes were embroidered with cranes spreading their wings. A gold and jade belt adorned the waistline, and a gold fish pouch[1] hung at the waist.

After returning to Beijing, Yan Mingting also went to court several times, but looking around, there was no one in the civil or military courts who could wear court clothes with such an awe-inspiring aura.

He couldn’t help but look a few more times before going to change his clothes.

The official uniforms of Yan Mingting and Zhao Yelan were very similar. They were both purple, symbolizing honor and glory, but the military general’s robes were embroidered with a tiger, and he could carry a sword to court. Ordinary military officials could only wear one, but generals could wear two.

He randomly picked two swords to wear and said to Zhao Yelan with emotion when they went out: “It’s a pity that my good sword was lost by you in the gambling house.”

The corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched as he sat in the sedan chair, but Yan Mingting stood outside and persuaded: “It’s such a short distance, just walk over to exercise your body.”

“Raise the sedan chair.” Zhao Yelan ruthlessly lowered the curtain, letting him walk alone in the cold wind blowing outside.

When he arrived outside the palace gates, he ran into many colleagues, and one of them enthusiastically took the initiative to greet him and say, “Having not seen the General for many days, I feel refreshed.”

He and Yan Mingting smiled. 

The sedan chair at the side stopped, and Zhao Yelan walked out expressionlessly without even looking at them, walking straight to the palace gates.

The colleague was embarrassed for a moment and immediately found an excuse to leave, slipping in from the other side, disheartened.

“Who was that person just now?” Yan Mingting asked in a low voice, catching up with Zhao Yelan.

“Senior Neisi, he’s only seventh rank,” Zhao Yelan said flatly. “He’s good at brown-nosing.”

Yan Mingting laughed softly. “What about you, Zhao-daren, what are you good at?”

Zhao Yelan slanted a look at him and said coldly, “If you want to know, you can come and give it a test.”

“Then I’d rather be obedient than respectful.” Yan Mingting suddenly raised his hand.

Zhao Yelan subconsciously wanted to block, but his opponent’s hand only landed on his shoulder, and he pulled himself a little further into his space, almost leaning against him.

“What are you doing!” Zhao Yelan gritted his teeth.

“Someone is watching us,” Yan Mingting said, looking forward. He had only returned to court a short while ago, and many people hadn’t fully recognized him yet, but he could still perceive sightlines from all directions.

Zhao Yelan looked around and saw that his colleagues were secretly looking at the two of them, and not far away, the Imperial Censor was staring at them blatantly. He batted Yan Mingting’s hand away and said in a low voice, “If you don’t want to bring disaster upon yourself, stay away from me.”

Soon, Yan Mingting knew the deep meaning behind his words.

Civil and military officials stood in the hall in an orderly manner, separated on the right and left sides, and behind them were officials in various colors of court uniforms. Yan Mingting also had a high position and authority, so he didn’t have a fixed position and stood next to Zhao Yelan.

Not long after, the Emperor came to preside over the court meeting.

The main business was to discuss the shaking of Mount Tai. After the local officials reported the situation, the Emperor was a little relieved and arranged for manpower to take care of the aftermath. 

The second matter was the death of Yu Junliang, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials. There was a vacancy and someone had to be selected, so there was a lot of noise in the hall for a while, and everyone had a recommendation.

Chen Haoyi was like an ant on a hot pan. Seeing that several opponents were recommended by others, he hurriedly looked at Zhao Yelan, hoping that he would do as he promised.

Zhao Yelan gave him a soothing look, then cupped his hands and said: “This minister thinks that the left official of the Ministry of Officials is worthy of this important task. He has been in office for many years, and is very familiar with the government affairs of the Ministry of Officials.”

Chen Haoyi breathed a sigh of relief.

But somebody immediately objected: “The right official, Kan Chuan, is also familiar with government affairs. Moreover, he is young and strong, and has more energy to serve the Emperor. Chen Haoyi has been in office for many years, and has he made any political achievements? This is just taking advantage of one’s seniority. From my point of view, Zhao-daren, you are clearly in collusion with Chen-daren, right?”

Zhao Yelan didn’t answer, but Chen Haoyi became anxious first: “Who do you think is colluding! Zhao-daren is upright and plainspoken, you are clearly just jealous!”

Zhao Yelan shook his head inwardly. He thought this person had some wits, but he didn’t expect that he was really the mud that couldn’t support the wall.[2]

His rebuttal just confirmed the fact of collusion. Zhao Xuan was originally trying to prevent Zhao Yelan from forming a clique for personal gain, but now it was almost impossible to give Chen Haoyi any chance. However, Chen Haoyi was still complacent, thinking that Zhao Yelan would be able to secure victory if he helped him speak out.

There were many complicated matters discussed at the court meeting, ranging from major national affairs to minor officials taking concubines, and officials had to refute each other from time to time.

Yan Mingting was just bored and felt drowsy now and then. He subconsciously glanced at Zhao Yelan, but the other party was watching with great interest as the Imperial Censor impeached a certain official for taking a brothel woman as a concubine.

After endless arguments, the Emperor listened for a long time and looked down at the people standing in the first row, asking, “Prime Minister, what do you think of this matter?”

The Prime Minister was over fifty years old. His biggest hobbies had always been reciting poetry and composing poetic essays, and because of his qualifications as a minister for three generations, he somehow reached the position of Prime Minister. But when it came to politics, he hid whenever he could.

“Answering Your Majesty, I think that this matter should be……left to Zhao-daren to judge.”

Civil and military officials: “……”

Besides Zhao Yelan’s overwhelming power, there was also this reason that the position of Prime Minister was useless.

Zhao Yelan cupped his hands calmly, glanced at the impeached official, and said: “Fang-daren, I have heard a little bit about this matter. That woman was originally a girl from a good family, but she was inadvertently abducted and deceived into the brothel. Fang-daren’s intent was to save a person from disaster, which is really not poor style.”

Fang-daren nodded again and again: “That is exactly the case, the Emperor has insight and vision!”

It would be impossible for a while to investigate whether the woman was truly abducted. Disinclined to bother with the officials’ housework, Zhao Xuan waved his hand: “That is all, let this matter be over.”

Seeing that his memorial was rejected, the Imperial Censor turned his head to look back despondently. Seeing that Fang-daren was giving Zhao Yelan a meaningful look, it was clear that he was colluding, so he immediately knelt down on his knees: “Your Majesty, I have one more thing to tell you!”

“Speak.”

“Since the Deputy Prime Minister has married General Yan, according to the regulations, people in the back residence are not to participate in court affairs.”

Hundreds of officials whispered to each other. Zhao Yelan’s accomplices stood forward to speak for him one after another, but he habitually made many enemies in court, and now even more people expressed opposition.

Yan Mingting didn’t make a statement, but just looked sideways at Zhao Yelan. He saw that he was listening calmly to the quarreling crowd, but when the Emperor looked over, his expression shifted slightly. With a faithful and devoted look, as if he wished he could demonstrate his sincere convictions through death, he saluted respectfully: “This minister has absolutely no ambiguity towards His Majesty. The heavens and earth can testify that he would never conspire with the General to plot against the law.”

At this time, Kan Chuan, the right official of the Ministry of Officials, stood forward to speak. He knelt down with a plop and made a big salute: “Your Majesty, this one earnestly requests that Zhao Yelan be abolished as the Deputy Prime Minister. Zhao Yelan conducted himself improperly, and behaved intimately with the General inside the palace; he concealed the true state of affairs from those above and below him and executed Minister Yu privately; he formed cliques of private interests, colluding with officials for personal gain. Your Majesty, please reconsider!”

For a moment, everyone was stunned.

Kan Chuan was not very old, but he often argued with Zhao Yelan in court, and this time he made a bold proposal that shocked people into speechlessness. Soon, some people followed suit and knelt down, requesting the abolition of Zhao Yelan’s position.

“All right.” Zhao Xuan finally spoke, “Now that Minister Zhao is married to General Yan, it is indeed difficult to weigh the affairs of the court and the government. Therefore, in the future, he will manage the affairs of the back house for General Yan, so that he can lead the troops with peace of mind and maintain the safety of the people. This can be regarded as fulfilling his duties for the country and society. Do you agree?”

“Yes.” Zhao Yelan hung his head.

Seeing that he was so obedient and never went against his orders, Zhao Xuan felt compassion and said: “But you married General Yan for the sake of the country and the people. In light of your meritorious service and your literary excellence, you are specially approved to enter the Imperial Academy as an Imperial Editor.[3] What do you say?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the silence in the hall was so profound that one could hear the sound of a needle falling, and everyone glanced at each other with their own thoughts.

The officials who opposed the Zhao party had impeached Zhao Yelan many times without success. This time, they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity his marriage afforded and pull him off his horse in one fell swoop, completely crushing him. Unexpectedly, the Emperor still couldn’t bear it and demoted him to the Imperial Academy. However, they were already satisfied with the result of him dropping directly from first rank to seventh rank, and no longer having the ability to attend court to charm and confuse the attendants.

Those who supported the Zhao party were greatly disappointed. They had originally relied on Zhao Yelan’s shadow to gain a firm foothold, but now the tree had fallen. Everyone’s complexions became grayer and grayer. But after some thought, that the Emperor did not uproot and kill them all was already lucky.

As a result, the court meeting ended with the results of both gains and losses.

Zhao Yelan walked out of the hall and looked up at the sky. The sun couldn’t be seen and dark clouds piled up in the sky, threatening rain.

There were whispers behind him. The officials were talking in low voices about today’s events, which had undoubtedly caused a sensation in the entire court.

“Let’s go back.” Yan Mingting walked to his side, glancing at him sideways and seeing his inattentive appearance. He didn’t seem to be affected at all, and his thoughts became more and more elusive.

When the Emperor demoted him just now, his expression was fragile and fearful, as if the sky was falling. Unlike now, when he still had a mind to give him a blank look.

“Stay away from me.” If it wasn’t for the moment when Yan Mingting grabbed his shoulder, the rumors of him being intimate with Yan Mingting wouldn’t have spread.

Zhao Yelan scoffed coldly and glanced back at those colleagues who were muttering gossip, and soon the discussions stopped. Some people, even if the tiger fell from the mountain, would still be terrified.

At this moment, Kan Chuan, the right official of the Ministry of Officials, stepped out from among the trembling crowd, looked straight at Zhao Yelan, and said: “Zhao-daren, I look forward to seeing you again in court.”

Others heard the sarcasm in his words and inwardly thought that newborn calves did not fear tigers.[4] People who had been immersed in officialdom for many years still knew how to conduct themselves and stay in line, but this sort of high-spirited young man dared to challenge him directly.

A sneer appeared on Zhao Yelan’s mouth: “When I return, you had best still be living.”

The people around were shocked. He dared to openly threaten the lives of his colleagues in the palace, how shameful!

“I certainly will be,” Kan Chuan said.

Someone grabbed Kan Chuan and separated them to try to smooth things over.

Zhao Yelan watched the group of them leave. But Chen Haoyi and his like were still staying nearby, and only now came forth to express their concern. Gathering around him as they walked out, they asked him about what to do in the future.

“I have already done all I can do for you. From now on, you can figure out what to do in the court,” Zhao Yelan said calmly.

“Zhao-daren, please stop!”

Everyone paused, then looked back at the person who had arrived. Eunuch Gao, who was waving his whisk, trotted over and said in a low voice: “My lord, the Emperor extends an invitation to you.”

Zhao Yelan nodded, bid farewell to the others, and followed Eunuch Gao to see the Emperor, arriving at the palace hall soon after.

“I looked into the Imperial dining room today and saw your favorite Linglong Jade dumplings for breakfast, so I called you here,” Zhao Xuan said.

“Many thanks, Your Majesty.”

The two sat down at the table. Zhao Xuan watched him pick up a dumpling, blow on it, and only then put it in his mouth. He couldn’t help laughing: “The first time you ate these dumplings, you burned your mouth and learned a lesson.”

Zhao Yelan smiled: “One cannot be fooled twice.”

Zhao Xuan paused, sighed, and said slowly: “Recently, I often miss the old days when you would grind ink for me and contribute good ideas without so many complications. Nothing could come between us, and we were the best of companions, unlike the mutual suspicion of today.”

Zhao Yelan nodded: “As Your Majesty says, from now on when I am in the Imperial Academy, it will be the same as before, only doing things for Your Majesty.”

Zhao Xuan was silent for a moment. Seeing his expression shift, as if he was reminiscing about the past, he smiled lightly: “Very good. After all these years, only you are in my heart.”

“Your Majesty, don’t worry that I will feel resentful. The life of this official is yours, so how can I care about mere official positions? As long as I can do things for you, that is my greatest wish.” Zhao Yelan naturally knew what he was worried about, and spoke sincerely, picking up a piece of horseshoe cake and putting it on his plate.

“The horseshoe cake is delicious.” Zhao Xuan laughed, recalling some past events with him, and casually mentioned another matter. “Today the Imperial Censor said that you and General Yan are very affectionate? It seems that my marriage decree was truly correct?”

“Not at all,” Zhao Yelan denied. “It was not a matter of a day or two for the Lord Censor to impeach me. He just latched onto a trivial matter and spread it.”

“But aren’t you having conjugal relations? I heard from the people in the General’s Mansion that you have been very affectionate these two days.”

Zhao Yelan’s movements froze, and the jade dumpling he had just picked up fell back into the bowl. He almost couldn’t control his expression: “That’s just a rumor, I am not so familiar with him.”

Zhao Xuan laughed: “Forget it, let’s not mention this matter. Hurry up and eat, there are still so many left.”

The two finished their meal in harmony. Zhao Xuan needed to review the memorials, so only then did Zhao Yelan leave.

As soon as he stepped out of the door, the corners of his mouth quickly pursed. There was no emotion in his eyes, and the spring-like smile from just now vanished completely.

There was some distance from here to the gates of the palace. He straightened his back and stepped on every brick slowly.

The guard at the gate saw him and was ignorant to what had gone on in the court meeting, so he saluted respectfully: “Minister Zhao.”

Zhao Yelan walked through the gate without looking to the side. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he noticed Yan Mingting leaning against the city wall and asked in a daze, “Why are you here?”

Hearing the sound, Yan Mingting came over. The swords at his waist made a clashing sound, with a heroic spirit just like the expression on his face: “Since we came together, of course we have to go back together.”

After getting on the sedan chair, the other party followed suit.

Zhao Yelan asked suspiciously, “Waiting here for me and then sitting in the sedan chair with me, what is your purpose?”

“I waited because I thought you would come out soon, but I didn’t expect to wait for so long. The sedan chair is because I’m tired from all the waiting. I wouldn’t sit just for nothing.” Yan Mingting was astonished. “Why can you not recognize kindness?”[5]

Zhao Yelan still looked at him with scrutiny.

“Humph.” Yan Mingting strongly expressed that he was offended.

Zhao Yelan looked away.

Suddenly, Yan Mingting’s nose twitched. He moved closer to him and sniffed: “I smell food, have you already eaten?”

“Why?’

“I’ve been waiting for you for so long, but you’ve already eaten!” Yan Mingting sat back, folded his arms, and said nothing.

Zhao Yelan glanced at him: “I’m not full, do you want to eat together?”

“You still aren’t full from the Imperial dining room?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan lowered his eyes and said nonchalantly, “I had no appetite.”

“Then what do you want to eat?”

Zhao Yelan thought for a while and said, “Stuffed steamed buns.”

“Then we’ll go straight back to the mansion. The buns made by the cook are delicious,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan had just nodded, but immediately denied: “No, I want to eat Ming Ji restaurant’s buns.”

“Is it more delicious than other places?”

“No, just more expensive.”

“……” Seeing that the sedan chair was almost at the General’s Mansion, Yan Mingting was really too lazy to go to the east of the city to buy buns, so he dragged Zhao Yelan off the sedan chair.

Zhao Yelan held on tightly to the sedan chair and refused to get off.

The bearers were all dumbfounded.

“You bastard, let go! If you don’t want to go, I’ll go by myself!” Zhao Yelan cursed loudly.

“Let’s go back to the mansion, you can have as much as you want. Why waste the money? Do you know if you have to cut down on food and clothing now?”

“I have infinite silver!” 

“Do you have this?” Yan Mingting pointed to his swords, and Zhao Yelan became much quieter.

He smiled triumphantly, wrapped his arm around Zhao Yelan, and brought him back to the mansion. Imitating his official authority, he said threateningly: “Don’t mess with me, I’m a first-rank general. You’d better be obedient, you’re only seventh-rank.”

Zhao Yelan: “……”

“You’re good at being ostentatious,” Yan Mingting added.

Zhao Yelan: “…………”

[1] The gold fish pouch is like an ID card for officials. Those of the highest rank wore a pouch decorated with gold fish, those just below them wore one decorated with silver fish, and lower ranks didn’t wear them at all. Zhao Yelan’s clothing also indicates his rank, with the purple robes being worn only by officials of the highest rank, and the cranes symbolizing a high ranking civil official. While civil officials wore birds on their clothing, military officials would wear beasts such as tigers and lions. ⮐

[2] “The mud that couldn’t support the wall,” (烂泥扶不上墙) means that someone is useless/inept. ⮐

[3] The duties of an Imperial Editor could range from drafting Imperial edicts, compiling historical books, and doing other daily work for the Imperial court. ⮐

[4] The idiom “Newborn claves do not fear tigers” (初生牛犊不怕虎) is an idiom that means ‘The young are fearless and dare to act.’ ⮐

[5] This is the second half of the idiom 狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心, “The dog snaps and snarls at Lu Dong Bin and doesn’t recognize his kindness.” ⮐