Chapter 6 (1/2)
Please let me knohere my translations can be improved!
Chapter 6 – Imperial Summons
This year was destined to be restless As the end of the year approached, i case of the Eastern Tatar diplo an aan to quietly spread a with the speed anda prairie fire——
The Marquis of Jing Ning Fu Shen was a cutsleeve with the passion of Longyang and the penchant for bitten peach1
This news appeared strange and of questionable validity, but upon careful consideration, there were some areas that warranted deliberation Moreover, it was the nature of people not to fear using the , a vivid and colorful account of Fu Shen's ro the hout the noble families For certain people, it even became the topic of idle conversation after meals
In the state of Great Zhou, this preference for the , and the common people were particularly tolerant But when this sort ofer as simple as a ”recreational interest”
The previous dynasty was called “Yue,” and had held the throne forthees for his romance, posthumously titled2 Ancestor Su
Before Ancestor Su was made crown prince, he bestowed favor on a beauty surna to the throne, he not only sealed Lady Han as a noble Consort, but also granted titles to her father and brothers noble Consort Han's younger brother, naraceful and elegant in appearance, with the looks of a beautiful woht pearls and fine jade” Because of his elder sister, Han Cang entered the Luan honor guard While escorting the ee on a tour, he showed his face before the eht After returning to the palace, Ancestor Su was unable to forget that face, and actually disregarded the traditional worldly custoh he ever-increasingly received the emperor's favor, he was excluded from the status of imperial concubine, so Ancestor Su established a title of “noble Gentleman3“ equal in title to noble Consort, so this older sister and younger brother both attended upon the same monarch
The Great Yue Dynasty had never had such a precedent, so froh courts to the common people, there were none ere not shocked The civil and military officials aliketo form a line and ko theh Ancestor Su was a universally shocking ro aside that second identity, he was first and foremost the emperor, the lord of the entire state He could not tolerate being criticized by a bunch of good-for-nothings for ae scholar-officials to take male concubines, and officials above the sixth level4 to take a male wife equal in status to a proper wife
Whenever those above obtain benefits, those beloill inevitably follow As soon as this precedent was established, although bystanders took the an to praise the cutsleeve passion as refined and sophisticated The common people thus followed suit, and this southern wind has continued to flourish ever since, showing no signs of weakening Ancestor Su remained on the throne for nearly thirty years, and none of the great ministers dared to petition the emperor to abolish this decree
Later when the previous Yue dynasty grew increasingly feeble, the emperor at the time, Ancestor Xuan, felt this southern wind had become a rampant fad that violated the traditional heavenly principles and caused population decline, pluriculture As a result, he issued a decree prohibitingthe common people This imperial edict released male concubines ho them to become re-naturalized as heads of their own households However, there were still exceptions er allowed men with the status of proper wife to rerace: Of officials from the sixth rank or above, dukes and h meritorious service, and members of the imperial family… those who volunteered to marry a rant therace became Ancestor Xuan's trump card to check and balance the various powerful ministers and noble relatives In particular, for those with titles of nobility passed through inheritance, itimate children As a result, the noble title would have no valid heritors and would be taken back by the imperial court after death
After the demise of the Yue Dynasty, this “soft knife that slewblood” saw continued use up to the present day due to its outstanding efficacy Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there had been reat es by the eh positions and heavy importance, and held the power to stir up the winds and clouds
The co, the eldest son of the Duke of Ying… what all these identities most feared was the phrase “cutsleeve”
Howtheir prey? The e about a lack of excuse to take back theup a the upper-class now, precisely at this critical juncture?
Fu Shen was leading a quiet and peaceful life in retire with relatives and friends, so he naturally had no way to know about these rumors His subordinates had already heard far toowitnessed the entire ant e since stopped paying any attention no e these tales becailance, they should never have allowed this rumor to spread in such an unrestrained way
Thetheir sword in the dark, while the actual protagonist of the affair was conorant
When the soilant Yan Xiaohan heard this ruon Guard, his heart immediately sped up and his instinct warned hiht, he did not wait for Fu Shen's answer Given this specific situation, even the most tenacious person would not remain unshaken Yan Xiaohan had taken the upper hand in their long standing disagreement, but unfortunately this did not actually make hi Dragon Guard to take the case of the Eastern Tatar diplo an aate in private The doubts spanning his heart had not disappeared Even though Fu Shen had said Yan Xiaohan held too high an opinion of hi to such an a in a water tank And that ithoutthe unusual and inexplicable elements written all over this aon Guard at his disposal, Yan Xiaohan was still unable to identify the mastermind
Fu Shen's attitude made him suspect that there were some other secrets behind this case, and Yan Xiaohan needed to find the truth lying behind it
It was not because of justice, nor because of morality, but because he wielded an incomparably sharp blade in the emperor's name Only when he could see the turbulent undercurrent hidden under the water's surface would he be able to control the direction of the blade, instead of being countered by its edge or swept away by the undercurrent
Successive generations of this dynasty's emperors had all placed extreuard The internal holdings of the Iuarded by the troops of the Golden Crow, the Luan Cere Cavalry, and the Leopard Scabbard7 Each of these five troops were then split into Left and Right branches, for a total of ten guardsup the ”Ten Protectors of the Southern Office” Within the imperial palace itself were Feather Forest, the Divine Pivot, and the Divine Martial, each of which were also split into Left and Right divisions These six troops were specialized as bodyguards, and together they were called the ”Six Ar Dragon Guard held inspector powers over all officials andofficer of the Flying Dragon Guard was a Higher 3rd-rank4 official known as the Royal Inspector Envoy, with the power to secretly present petitions and memorials to the foot of the eenerals of the Northern Office Aron Guard As the Royal Inspector Envoy, Yan Xiaohan was ranked above the other generals, and therefore held the real power as commander over all the Imperial Guards of the Northern Office
The ru was a cutsleeve” had been brought into the ieneral of the Left Divine Pivot, Wei Xuzhou The Wei fae, with numerous in-laws and relatives to the point where it could claim familial connections with the majority of the noble families in the capital General Wei was even more blessed by heaven—within the Imperial Guards, one could not find anotherossip and hearsay
The discord between Yan Xiaohan and Fu Shen ell known in the Flying Dragon Guard, so Wei Xuzhou gloated in the latter'sat the Marquis of Jing Ning's usual aloof and noble spirit, I originally thought he was going to have to spend his whole lifetiht hands for company hahahaha…”
Yan Xiaohan's brows furrowed deeply: ”Where did this news come froer sister's husband's cousin9… that is, the wife of the Marquis of Liu En The Marquis's fahter who had taken a fancy to the Marquis of Jing Ning It took so around in private before they learned there was such a secret”
Yan Xiaohanabsolutely no desire to talk to this fellow
“Sir,” Wei Xuzhou circled around hi Ning hi such a hobby, how coe Too strange
Aa co out of luck10… What had Fu Shen done to arouse the wrath of heaven and the anger ofout like a swar countless tricks and ainst hi off about this matter Brother Wei, if I may trouble you to check where exactly this news about the Marquis of Jing Ning being a cutsleeve originated fro eunuch in blue robes suddenly entered the outer hall This newco Eunuch12 for the e his arrival, the two ue and went forward to listen to his words That little eunuch spoke the verbal instructions he had been given: ”His Majesty orders Sir Yan to present himself before the e this, Wei Xuzhou consciously esture to hi11 please wait for a moment, I have a feords of official business I wish to hand over to General Wei”
The little eunuch's reply was unreasonable: “This is an order from the emperor himself Does Sir Yan wish to have His Majesty wait for you?”