Volume 1, Chapter 5: Battle Over the Heir Apparent (1/2)

Volume 1, Chapter 5: Battle over the Heir Apparent

In the third month of the nineteenth year of Xiande, the seventh year of the sixty-year cycle, Zhao Sheng passed and was posthu of Chu¹ Crown Prince Zhao Jia ascends to the throne, decreeing that the era nale as his Queen Great Yong dispatched an envoy to extend their congratulations, gifting a thousand good horses, and countless gold and silk

With the an to consider ould become the heir apparent The Minister Who Remonstrates and Advises,² Luo Wenshu, advised that the King’s third son, Zhao Long, be na had nale as the Crown Princess As the Crown Princess was childless, she dispatched the ladies ere part of her dowry to attend to the Crown Prince The Crown Prince loved the beauties of Yong and favored the Ling na Weijun as the Crown Prince’s second wife After fourteenAfter Zhao Jia ascended to the throne, Lady Shang was na was froious family, and was a wo to the traditions of the ti’s social status reflected upon her son—,⁴ petitioned for her son to be named heir apparent

5</sup> have no son, how do you know that We will never have any? And even if We have none, I have brought nuious faiven birth to two sons Their social statuses are equal to that of Lady Shang’s If an heir apparent is named, it must be the eldest son”Southern Chu Dynastic Records</e of Chu⁶</blockquote>

In the nineteenth year of Xiande, the king passed away As this was the king, this was a significant event Prior to the king’s death, we raphy detailing all of the works to be collected in the Palace of Sublime Culture and submitted for His Majesty’s perusal While he was not able to witness the co should have died without any regrets

Without any controversy, Crown Prince Zhao Jia ascended to the throne, followed by setting a new era na a nationwide amnesty Hanlin Academy became awfully⁷ busy There were also some important matters that ly ranked officials could not freely discuss, but still worried about— of the queen and heir apparent There was no dissension about the choice for the queen Although Princess Changle had long lived in the secondary royal residence on the outskirts of the city to heal and had not conscientiously perfor and Princess Changle was the Crown Princess, she ultimately successfully took control of the hare the heir apparent was a thorny issue Princess Changle had no son Although she was only nineteen years old, she had long been ill after suffering the e Many were skeptical that she would be able to becoive birth to a son Without an heir apparent, the state would not be peaceful Therefore, the officials all wished that a crown prince be nahters As Princess Changle had dispatched the court ladies from her dowry to attend to the Crown Prince Zhao Jia,This raised the disapproval of the influential and powerful figures within the royal court Thankfully, two years earlier, the for Zhilan, to the crown prince as his second wife Although Zhao Jia especially favored the ladies of Yong, Consort Shang still beca In the eyes of the ranking court officials, if it was a child of Princess Changle, then the child was naturally worthy of respect and honor, but the children of the ladies fro were not sufficiently pure Therefore, they all requested that Zhao Long be na Zhao Jia was extreent individual He naturally understood that the ranking officials were correct on this , he still na as heir apparent But Princess Changle beca She returned alone back to the secondary royal residence on the outskirts of the capital This put the king in a tough spot⁸ Although he and Princess Changle were ether, the princess was virtuous, allowing the court ladies frole would frequently even select additional beauties to enter the harem Therefore, he was extremely respectful, and perhaps even a bit fearful, towards her In addition, that the endorse predicated upon her status as a native-born daughter could not brought to the surface With no options, Zhao Jia temporarily halted plans to name an heir apparent He hinted to the court officials that unless they were able to convince the queen, an heir apparent could not be named

This was extre nificant time at the secondary royal residence on the outskirts of the capital Even if the court officials had the will to curry favor with her, there was no way to do so As for the court ladies close to the Princess, al As their sons had no chance to beco of the court officials and were unlikely to make any attempt to convince the princess Ulti Wan

Liang Wan was not only a close friend of the princess, but also the adopted daughter of the for As she was unable to find a worthy husband, shecivil and , she was the perfect lobbyist, but she refused As a result, the usually tranquil Bright Moon Pavilion saw heavy traffic⁹

Under these circuinally did not want to coh I had no intentions towards her, delusional visions were hard to avoid Furthermore, to directly reject her invitation would be discourteous

I entered the pavilion and skirted the green pond Pear trees were planted in front of the building As it was the fourth month, the pear trees had blosso in deeply, one could sense a delicate fragrance that gladdened the heart and refreshed therequested ed the question “You will have to ask irl and wouldn’t know This servant dares not accept daren’s courtesy”

I solemnly stated, “It is commonly said that the prime minister’s servants have a rank equal to that of a is the forood friend of the Queen Her power and influence probably even surpasses that of the Prime Minister If we speak thus, then your rank is at least of liupin¹² This lowly official’s¹³ rank is merely rated at lower liupin,¹⁴ thus I have to be courteous”

After staring blankly for a led In a low voice, she said, “This servant has heard my lady tell the Prime Minister that the only person who can convince the Queen is daren”

I stared blankly When did I, a mere Hanlin Academy Senior Compiler, beco, the current Queen of Southern Chu? Half-believing the attendant’s words, I entered the building I iht of the presence of the prime minister and Hanlin Academy Chancellor in the seats of honor, acco Wan I almost turned and ran, but realized that was not possible Respectfully, I perforreets the Prime Minister and the Acade Weijun nodded his head and said, “Good, good I have heard Xie and will soon be pro, the person you asked for has co can convince the Queen How is this possible?”

I ies past or present Why would she conspire to entrapWan took a sip of a cup of fragrant tea before replying, “Speaking fro Everyone understands the real reason behind all the discussion regarding na an heir apparent How can the Queen not understand? She has angrily left the royal palace and is now currently full of grievances This servant has been favored by the Princess and is treated as a sister by her If I were to convince her to accept the wishes of the King and the officials, would that not chill her heart? When the tiround, there is no way that she would agree Therefore, I, Liang Wan, definitely cannot go to convince her But this servant has received the forood conscience, allow him to be unable to rest peacefully in the beyond Imatters over, I remembered that ever since the Princess arrived in Southern Chu, she has loved poetic verse She would read the unable tosince passed But today, there is a coyuan</ely beautiful, but both she and he and are in Southern Chu She constantly wishes to meet hin and vassal, and separation of the genders She considers this to be one of her life’s regrets This servant believes that if Jiang Zhe is granted an audience with the Queen to fulfill her long-cherished wish, and Jiang Zhe lobbies the Queen, she ree”

I alyuan In the eyes of the queen, I aently turned to look at the pri that he would stop this nonsensical thinking ButWeijun, had a look of deep contemplation on his features, while the Academy Chancellor nodded his head As a result, I did not even have the chance to refuse before I was hauled aboard the carriage by Liang Wan to travel to the secondary royal residence

On the way, I turned to face Liang Wan and asked, “Lady Liang, has this lowly official ever offended you?”

With a s Wan shook her head “Never”

“Then has this lowly official ever offended Great Yong?”

With a look of disdain in her eyes, Liang Wan answered, “Never”

Suddenly I angrily questioned, “Since I am not a foe who hasto causeWan beca a flower-like sry”

My serenity restored, I coldly continued, “Being unable to complete the task is a s” Hu to die, I will pull you doithWan sweetly spoke “My lord yuan has misunderstood this servant This servant’s plan will succeed”

I didn’t say anything further to her I felt that there was no need to continue contesting as a done deal The previous angry reaction wasthe attitude of an ordinary person In any case, even if I failed my mission, no one could accuse me of dereliction of duty Atthat I did not speak further, Liang Wan becah I had not seen her in several years, I ell aware of her cohly likely that she was a spy fro Otherwise, how could she not have found a husband in the last three years? Seeing her able to easily use e, like a fish in water,¹⁸ she definitely was not an ordinary wo Wan’s behavior was si her custoifted scholars, she had fir Wan did not know that I was silently cursing her and began to chat with e finally arrived at Lake Mochou’s secondary royal residence We successfully entered the residence after being searched by the royal guards Without reporting ahead, Liang Wan pulledas she walked inside TheWan could not be revoked Other than hurriedly entering to report to the princess, they allowed us to continue unile dressed in a purple gown She was reclined on a couch, reading a book Seeing Liang Wan, she raised her head and remarked, “Elder sister Wan’er¹⁹ has cocha Wan stepped forward and replied, “Princess, this servant has brought the one you wish toblankly, Princess Changle thought of a person and wondered, “Is it Jiang Zhe, Jiang Suiyun?”

Turning her head, Liang Wan uttered, “Jiang Zhe, quickly coreet the Princess”

I had frozen in place when I entered the cha She was dressed in all red, in the style of a princess of Great Yong Although she was only sixteen, she see unadorned clothes and did not have any jewelry or ant, lovely beyond description Co numerous hardshi+ps, she had acquired a mature charm My heart beat rapidly I did not knohy, but suddenly I had a wicked though If I were able to hug her, hoonderful would that be?

Just as I was allowingWan’s words jolted me out of reeted the queen, “This vassal, Hanlin Acade live the Queen!”²⁰