The Fox Spirit Raised by the Old Man
With the message coming from Imperial Concubine Yun’s side, Zhang Yuan began laughing loudly and quickly called for the table of meat to be taken away. He then had someone call for the imperial kitchen to make some dishes of vegetables. With a smile, he looked at the Emperor and said: “How is that, this servant can’t do anything about you, but someone can!”
The Emperor had drank a bit of wine earlier, and the alcohol was taking a bit of effect. He became bolder and immediately slapped the table: “How could she know what We are eating? What is it, do the imperial concubines of the inner palace feel braver and even dare to secretly place people here to observe Us? Go and call all of Heavenly Hall’s servants for Us. We must solve this case today and see who the spy is!”
With him having drank too much and exploding like this, Zhang Yuan did not move in the slightest. He just stood in place without saying a word, as the palace maid from Winter Moon Palace bowed to the Emperor and calmly said: “Your Majesty, please calm down. Imperial Concubine smelled the fragrance of the meat that came from this side and sent this servant to take a look. Imperial concubine also said that Your Majesty would definitely say that she had placed a spy here, but even if someone was installed here in secret, what of it? This is imperial concubine’s way of showing concern. If Your Majesty does not like it, we will pull them back.”
The Emperor immediately stopped playing around and repeatedly waved his hand: “Don’t pull them back, showing concern is good. Showing concern is good. How about you send a few more people over? How about this, this Heavenly Hall you see, aside from little Yuan, switch out everyone else. Change them all for people from Winter Moon Palace. How about it? When you go back, ask your imperial concubine if this is alright. If it is, just take care of this matter today.”
Zhang Yuan stood to the side and rolled his eyes, “You might as well swap out this servant too. This servant wants to go and take care of Imperial Concubine Yun and does not want to stay in this Heavenly Hall.”
“Shut your mouth.” The Emperor did not spare his emotions at all, “Even if you die, you will die in Heavenly Hall for Us. Stop wasting your breath.” He then looked at the palace maid with a look of hope.
As a result, the palace maid shook her head, “No good, we don’t have the people to take care of this side. Moreover, they’re all palace maids. Could it be that Your Majesty intends to have some more young girls come here and take care of you?”
The Emperor nearly bit off his tongue. How did it end up being no good no matter what was said? Looking toward Feng Yu Heng for help, Feng Yu Heng helplessly spoke up for him: “Father Emperor’s meaning is that he’s very happy that Imperial Concubine Mother is thinking about it and is willing to send people to take care of him. Would Miss tell Imperial Concubine Mother that the meat here has already been taken away and been swapped out for vegetables. In a while, His Highness and I will be going to pay respects to Imperial Concubine Mother.”
The palace maid smiled and nodded, “Imperial Concubine is waiting for His Highness and Imperial Daughter.” After saying this, she saluted to the Emperor and left.
The Emperor let out a long sigh then looked at the table full of green vegetables. He no longer had an appetite. Xuan Tian Ming became excited and told Zhang Yuan to give the Emperor a bit of everything. Watching the Emperor eat it all, he nodded, “It’s good that you ate it. Otherwise, when Imperial Concubine Mother asks about it later, I wouldn’t have any way of explaining. It’s no wonder you got so much fatter in the few months that I was away. It turns out that you’ve been eating like this every day. Are you not afraid…” He asked Feng Yu Heng: “What was that disease called again?”
Feng Yu Heng said: “The three highs! High blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol.”
“Right!” Xuan Tian Ming nodded, “It’s an incurable disease, so you do as you see fit!” After saying this, he did not wait for the Emperor to respond, as he changed the topic and suddenly said to Zhang Yuan: “Call someone and have that… She’s Noble Lady Yuan now, right? Have Noble Lady Yuan invited here. Just say that His Highness the eighth prince entrusted this prince with giving her something.”
Zhang Yuan received the order and left. The Emperor frowned and expressed his dissatisfaction: “Just have a servant deliver it. Why call her over?”
“Imperial Concubine Shu was demoted to noble lady, and she can be considered a newcomer. We should meet and take a look.” Xuan Tian Ming shrugged and coldly said: “I heard that in the short time I was away from the capital, they used some underhanded methods against Heng Heng.”
The Emperor laughed, “Don’t worry. Your wife won’t be bullied. We are supporting her.” After saying this, he looked at Feng Yu Heng, “Isn’t that right?”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “Right, Father Emperor supported me very well.”
The Emperor drank another two cups in happiness. Not long later, Noble Lady Yuan arrived. Upon arriving, she was a bit panicked. Upon seeing the Emperor, she quickly kneeled and emotionally said: “This concubine greets Your Majesty. Your Majesty called in such an urgent manner that this concubine did not have a chance to put on makeup. Would Your Majesty please not mind.”
The Emperor did not even look at her and very cunningly picked out some of the meat from the vegetables and said: “You can wear whatever you want. We don’t have any desire to look at you. The person that called you today was not Us. It was Old Eighth that had something and asked Old Ninth to bring it back for you. You can just speak to him.”
Noble Lady Yuan had an embarrassed expression on her face; however, she could not act up. She could only look at Xuan Tian Ming and politely say: “Did Ming’er have a smooth trip to the South?”
How could Xuan Tian Ming be in the mood to chat with her? He just stared at her for a while then asked in confusion: “What did noble lady call this prince? Ming’er?” He then asked Zhang Yuan: “When did Da Shun change its rules? Even a noble lady in the court can call a prince by his name?”
Da Shun had a rule that when a prince met an imperial concubine of the court, they had to call them imperial concubine mother, but this only applied to imperial concubines and concubines. This did not include lower ranked people of the noble lady rank. Conversely, when a noble lady met a prince, they had to politely say “Your Highness.” Noble Lady Yuan stood there and had called Xuan Tian Ming “Ming’er,” and everyone knew that she had grown accustomed to being an imperial concubine over the course of 20 years and had not yet changed the way she spoke, but making a mistake was making a mistake. Nobody would consider why she had made it. Now that Xuan Tian Ming had questioned it, Noble Lady Yuan stood in place and was dazed. Her legs trembled, and she immediately kneeled: “Your Majesty, this concubine misspoke.”
The Emperor did not intend to speak up and just silently poured himself some wine. Noble Lady Yuan saw that this path was a dead end and quickly said to Xuan Tian Ming: “Would Your Highness the ninth prince forgive this crime.”
Xuan Tian Ming nodded and just said: “Knowing the mistake is good.” However, he did not call for her to stand up, as he continued to speak: “This prince met with eighth brother a few times on this trip to the South. Eighth brother is very satisfied with the marriage arranged by Noble Lady Yuan, and he asked this prince to pass along a message to Noble Lady. He said that he will definitely treat Young Miss Lu very well and will definitely show filial piety to Noble Lady Yuan. Also, eighth prince obtained quite a few things from the South, and he asked this prince to bring them back. One portion is for noble lady and another is for the Lu family’s young miss. The things have already been placed outside the hall. When noble lady heads back, there will be servants that will bring them back to your palace. Alright, this prince has brought them here for eighth brother. It’s not convenient for noble lady to stay too much longer. You may go back.”
Finishing what he had to say with ease, he had poked at her heart and caused her vexation. After he finished speaking, he immediately chased her out. Noble Lady Yuan felt as if she was on the verge of coughing up blood, and she desperately held it down. At the same time, she thought about Feng Jin Yuan’s “family of three” and what sort of thing would happen once they reached the South. Only then could she manage to relieve the strain on her heart. But no matter how much relief she felt, she still felt flustered. After looking at Xuan Tian Ming’s appearance and Feng Yu Heng’s appearance and the Emperor, who only focused on eating and drinking wine, Noble Lady Yuan suddenly felt that her continuing to kneel was excessive! That group of three really worked well together. With her kneeling here, why was it like a fox spirit being raised by an old man?*
Just as she realized that she was a fox spirit, on the other side, the Emperor spoke up and said to Xuan Tian Ming: “This dish is quite good. Let’s have the imperial kitchen make more later. When you go over, you can bring some for your imperial concubine mother. She will definitely like it. We remember that your imperial concubine mother liked eating these sorts of things made using vegetables grown in the wild while we were living in the mountains. In the coming year, once Spring comes around, if you two have a chance, just go into the mountains and take a stroll to bring some vegetables back.”
Xuan Tian Ming nodded and did not say anything. It was Feng Yu Heng that spoke up: “Father Emperor need not worry. Once Spring comes around, and the fourth month is upon us, the vegetables in the mountains will begin to appear. At that time, even if His Highness does not have time, A-Heng will bring people to get some. Imperial Concubine Mother will also be told that this was given by Father Emperor. Imperial Concubine Mother will definitely be happy.”
The Emperor was so happy that he could not stop smiling, as he wholeheartedly praised Feng Yu Heng for being understanding and being likable. The three sat in a circle and enjoyed a warm atmosphere. Zhang Yuan glanced at Noble Lady Yuan and moved to her side, asking her: “Noble Lady, you’re still here. What are you waiting for that you’re still kneeling here?”
Noble Lady Yuan recovered and fiercely glared at Zhang Yuan. She then kowtowed toward the Emperor. Without a word, she stood up and quickly left the hall.
Outside Heavenly Hall, the servants that Xuan Tian Ming had brought into the palace were holding gifts while waiting there. Seeing Noble Lady Yuan come out, they saluted then quietly followed along behind her. In truth, Noble Lady Yuan really wanted to have all of these things thrown away, but after some thought, they were given to her by her own son. She could not bring herself to throw them away and could only submit to the humiliation and accept them. But when she returned to her own palace and sat down, no matter how she thought about it, it all felt off. Looking at the things that were brought back from the South, she did not throw them away, but leaving them there would be an eyesore. Even if the thought of Fu Ya rushing to the South was in her mind, she still felt that it was difficult to swallow this anger.
Yue Xiu advised her: “Master, a person should remain calm. Either way, it will be the new year in just over ten days. His Highness the eighth prince is also on his way back to the capital. When His Highness returns, everything will be fine.”
“Hmph.” Noble Lady Yuan coldly snorted, “What sort of situation is it right now? I don’t even dare send a letter for fear of something happening to it along the way. When the new year comes around, the Emperor will sanction the marriage between Mo’er and the Lu family’s girl. When that time comes, the imperial order will come, and how can things be changed?”
“Master.” Yue Xiu took a step forward and quietly said: “In the end, this marriage requires both people to be present for the Emperor to sanction it. It would not be good for you to make an appearance for His Highness and for Prime Minister Lu to make an appearance for the Lu family. If that was not the case, this matter would have been handled on that day at the hunting ground. That’s why if this marriage is to be canceled or delayed, it needs to be handled from the top.”
“How should it be handled?” Noble Lady Yuan frowned and said: “Mo’er is already on the way back. Could it be that we can tell him to go back? Moreover, it’s not safe for us to be sending letters. Last time, the contents of the letter were changed. Now, who knows how many people are waiting to intercept it along the way?”
“Master.” Yue Xiu gently tugged at her, “We don’t necessarily need to set our sights on His Highness the eighth prince’s side! Isn’t there still the Lu family’s young miss. How about we…”
*TN: No clue what this is a reference to or what it means. The term fox spirit usually describes a seductive or beautiful woman. In “Investiture of the Gods” a fox spirit is sent to bring ruin to a king and his dynasty by seducing him.