The Child Emperor

Zuo Ji had a weakness that made him susceptible to blackmail. The Grand Consort did not say what it was, but asked the Emperor to be prepared. Only when we was willing to take action would the Grand Consort be willing to tell him the details.

Han Ruzi did not intend to act immediately. He needed to proceed with another plan and get into contact with his mother.

The seventh day after the wedding, the Emperor’s life had reverted to normal. When he ate lunch at the Soaring Cloud Pavilion, he took the chance to hand Prince Donghai a pearl when the eunuch was not around.

This is a pearl from the hat that I wore when I entered the palace. My mother sewed it on herself — she would surely recognize it.” Han Ruzi said while smiling, not willing to show emotions of sadness in front of Prince Donghai.

Prince Donghai kept the pearl. “You were really… poor. I kind of feel bad for you.”

“I would rather things back to the way they were.” Han Ruzi pointed to the dishes on the table and looked at the imperial gardens outside the window. “At least the pearl belongs to me. What else in this palace would truly belong to me?”

Prince Donghai had no response to that. His situation was even worse than the Emperor — he did not even have the title of Emperor. After a while, he asked, “Are you sure you did not touch the Empress?”

“You may ask her.” Han Ruzi had a clear conscience. For the following nights, he had always slept on the couch. The Empress Cui Xiaojun was rather confused at first, but she accepted it subsequently without any further questions. It seemed like she did not like sharing the bed with someone else as well — he had returned to the Empress quarters, Qiuxin Palace, and the two had not met since.

“She resides at Qiuxin Palace. There are many people surrounding, which would surely include the Empress Dowager’s spies. I cannot approach her now — your word is good enough.”

“I give my word. Should you not take action soon?”

“To see the Empress?”

“No. To find someone who would take the pearl to my mother.”

“Oh. Just a pearl? Not a letter or message of some kind?”

“There is no need. I have nothing to say anyways.” Han Ruzi was cautious. If the plan was exposed, he did not want to bring too much trouble to his mother. Following that, he remembered a term that he had heard in the Hall of Diligent Administration. He asked, “What is a fate seer?”

“You have not even heard of the fate seers?” Prince Donghai’s eyes were wide with surprise. “Fate seers — they are able to see your fortune — auspicious fortune, noble fortune, calamitous fortune. They are useful for choosing your place of residence or burial site. It is said that the most powerful fate seers can even see what would happen in the next few years, or even next few decades. Not long after I was born, a fate seer said that I would be incomparably noble one day…”

Prince Donghai shut his  mouth. The only person who could be said to be “incomparably noble” was the Emperor.

Han Ruzi did not think much of it. He now understood who had incited Prince Qi into rebellion. But he still had his doubts — would a fate seer have that much persuasive power?”

The Meng siblings were not present for the afternoon’s martial lessons. It was a different trainer who came — trainer Liu. He said that he was that trainer of the saber and spear for the Southern Army, and appeared to have a forthright personality, which was even displayed before the Emperor. “I dare not be called ‘Teacher’ by Your Majesty. Your Majesty may call me ‘trainer’, or ‘Old Liu’, or just ‘Black Bear Liu’.”

The Emperor laughed, and the attendants laughed as well. Even though they had not seen Trainer Liu’s skills, he was more personable than Meng Che.

Unlike the Meng siblings who came from the pugilist world, Trainer Liu’s taught the skills of an infantry soldier. On the first day, only one move was taught — raising a small shield on the left hand to block, while swinging with a saber on the right.

Both the saber and the shield were made of wood, so they were quite light. Initially, everyone thought that it would be easy, but since the Emperor was present, nobody said anything. But half an hour later, nobody dared to claim that the saber and shield were too light — the wooden gear grew heavier in one’s hand, and it became increasingly difficult to move them.

“What is the point of learning this?” Prince Donghai could not help but complain.

Trainer Liu’s weather-worn face always held a smile, and he would not be impatient. But neither would he go easy on his students. “That’s right. What’s the point of the saber and shield? We have the bow and crossbow for range, and the spear and halberd for melee. Nor would the saber and shield be useful in pursuing a routed enemy or for assaulting a fortified position. But one must be prepared for contingencies. Who knows when one might encounter an enemy in a crammed position — bows and spears would be useless. In that case, one would have to rely on one’s saber and shield.”

“Then should we not learn a light-foot technique? We can run away and use a bow after gaining distance.” Prince Donghai was the only one who dared to speak in front of the many eunuchs surrounding them.

Trainer Liu kept a smile on his face and he was not angry in the lease. “If you were a pugilist in the pugilist world, yes, you could run and fight another time. If you succeed you would be lauded as a hero. But you all are scions of noble clans, you are expected to lead armies of men in the future. If you display even the slightest hint of fear when faced with walls of spears and rains of arrow, the morale of your army would collapse. Run away? Before you gain any distance, all your men would desert.”

“Anyone who runs away faster than me would be executed by military law.” Prince Donghai was just trying to get the verbal upper hand. After practicing for a while, his waist and legs were sore. He whispered to the Emperor, “If we are to lead armies, why don’t we learn how to command? What’s the point of learning this? Would we even get into actual fights with the enemy?”

Han Ruzi was tired as well, but he had learned from young not to stop if he was not told to. Moreover, he was took his training seriously and diligently. He said, panting, “Training in this is so that we know the travails of the ordinary soldier.”

Trainer Liu bowed to the Emperor respectfully. “It is the fortune of the soldiers of the Chu Empire that Your Majesty thinks that way. It makes it worth it for all of us soldiers.”

“Ass kisser.” Prince Donghai said softly. He could not bear it any longer and threw his saber and shield on the ground. “If I never choose to be a general, can I be exempt from this training?”

Trainer Liu only smiled and did not stop him.

With Prince Donghai taking the lead, the other young nobles followed suit. They all had the same thing in mind: given their noble birth, why would they need to join the army? Would it not be better to be a civil official?

Only a few of them continued training with the Emperor, their heads filled with sweat. These nobles were from clans with a military tradition — they had to display the proper martial spirit.

The grandson of Marquis Piyuan, Zhang Yanghao, was one of them. He was slightly older, and often trained in martial arts. His body was well-built and he had no trouble wielding the saber and shield.

Han Ruzi also noticed another young noble attendant. His build was even and did not look very muscular, but his movements were agile, moving the saber and shield with even greater ease than Zhang Yanghao. This person was often seen around the hostages sent by other countries, so he was probably some prince of some foreign country.

His guess was right. Prince Donghai was with some other nobles who had given up training, and he started shouting, “Zhang Yanghao, don’t train by yourself. Come fight with this Xiongnu brat.”

Zhang Yanghao and the Xiongnu prince both stopped. They looked at each other with no intent to come to blows.

Trainer Liu quickly laughed and said, “This is just the first day so there is no need to spar. There will be chances in the future.”

Prince Donghai refused to back down.”It is our first time training, but that’s not case for the Xiongnu. Look at how smug he is. If we don’t teach him a lesson, he would think that the Chu Empire is talentless.”

The Xiongnu prince was not smug, but amongst the pale and panting nobles, he did stand out somewhat.

Trainer Liu was caught between the two of them, but he still shook his head. “No fighting, no fighting…”

Han Ruzi was confused as to why Prince Donghai was picking a fight, and looked at him. But he soon realized that Prince Donghai was up to his old tricks, causing some chaos so that he could execute his plan.

The one standing next to Prince Donghai was probably “Tiger King” Wang. His skin was fair and his eyes handsome. He did not look like the stalwart Marquis Junyang, nor did he have the aura of a “tiger king”. Han Ruzi did not really take note of him previously.

“We are rather tired. Why don’t we let them spar. It is just wooden sabers and shields, it will be fine.” Han Ruzi knew that without the Emperor’s approval, Trainer Liu did not dare okay the spar.

Trainer Liu was torn and undecided, but Zhang Yanghao took it as though the Emperor had given him a command. He grabbed his saber and lifted his shield, bypassing Trainer Liu and charging towards the Xiongnu prince.

The Xiongnu prince did not falter. He raised his saber and shield and entered into battle. The two of them exchanged blows and Trainer Liu could only move back and watch, ready to step in if necessary.

The Xiongnu prince was younger. He was good at training when he was just waving his saber and shield in the air, but soon found himself at a disadvantage when pit in an actual fight. He found himself on the back foot as Zhang Yanghao pressed in closer and closer.

A few rounds later, Han Ruzi finally understood. Prince Donghai did not call these two out by chance. Zhang Yanghao appeared to have enmity with the Xiongnu prince. His teeth were clenched as he gave his all, as though he held a true saber and shield in his heads.

“That is fine. Stop.” Han Ruzi called out before anything could happen.

Trainer Liu had long awaited this. He quickly ran in to separate the two, and even suffered a few blows as a result. Nevertheless, his smile never wavered as he praised them. “Truly scions of renown clans.”

The onlookers were not satisfied, especially Zhang Yanghao and the Xiongnu prince. They glared at each other with fury, evidently trying to control their anger.

Until the end, nobody told the Emperor what the name of the Xiongnu prince was.

As they returned to the inner palace together, Han Ruzi said to Prince Donghai softly, “You should not have incited them to a fight. The Xiongnu prince is a foreigner…”

“All the more we must not be weak in front of the foreigner. Does Your Majesty know how evil the Xiongnu are? With the rebellion in Qi, the Xiongnu are watching and ready to make trouble at the border. If my uncle had not defeated the rebel army timeously, the Xiongnu would already be at the border. Don’t worry — that Xiongnu brat does not dare cause trouble. When they exit the palace, Zhang Yanghao and Tiger King Wang will teach him a lesson.”

Han Ruzi once again found himself ignorant. Even though the young nobles in his entourage appeared amicable, they had their own conflicts. As someone who had stayed shut away at home since young, he did not understand this.

Prince Donghai knocked into the Emperor lightly and blinked his eyes. This was his signal that everything had went well and Tiger King Wang had taken the pearl.

Han Ruzi’s worries were just beginning. After all, Tiger King Wang was but a youth in his teens. If he told this matter to his family, Marquis Junyang may well make the same choice as the Minister of Rites Yuan Jiuding and hand the pearl to some eunuch in the palace.

How could a Marquis clan produce a heroic pugilist? Han Ruzi did not place much faith in Marquis Junyang’s clan.

Yet what’s done is done: spilled water could not be kept away. He could only quietly await the outcome.

The one in charge of the eunuchs today was Zuo Ji. He caught up from behind and smiled to the Emperor. “Your Majesty should stay at Qiuxin Palace tonight. Why don’t you have your meal there?”

Here it comes again. Han Ruzi was annoyed, but he could not let it show. He quickly stole a glance at Prince Donghai, who remained expressionless and did well in keeping pretences. Han Ruzi said, “Very well, Lord Zuo.”

Zuo Ji smiled and withdrew. Han Ruzi held back his curiosity. He was alone in the palace, and could not afford to behave recklessly. He needed to hear from his mother before deciding whether to take action against this eunuch.

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