Prince Consort Li’s Blood
After a great rain, the glazed roof tiles had been washed clean until they shone bright and smooth. Rain beads hung from the eaves, seeming about to fall yet not quite falling, and the air itself carried a fresh scent.
Lu Rongze passed through the winding corridors. When the young eunuch at the entrance saw him approach, he bowed in greeting, then bent low and pushed open the vermilion palace doors.
Inside the hall, the light was dim. The windows and doors were all shut tight. A dense smell of medicinal herbs floated through the air, mixed with dragon’s saliva incense, damp and heavy, stifling and oppressive. It made him instantly think of the years when he had lain sick in bed, entangled in illness.
Lu Rongze stopped at the doorway. Eunuch Yuan Sheng came out from within, bent at the waist, and said in a low voice, “Your Highness has finally come. His Majesty has been speaking of you for quite some time. Please go in at once.”
Lu Rongze nodded. There was not much expression on his pale, gaunt face. He stepped inside, went around the gold-and-jade inlaid screen, and entered the inner hall.
Emperor Hongjia reclined against a soft pillow, dressed in bright yellow sleeping robes. His hair was almost entirely white, his mouth slightly open, and his coarse, uneven breathing could be heard clearly.
Lu Rongze walked slowly to his side and bowed. “This son greets Father Emperor.”
Emperor Hongjia coughed several times, then said with difficulty, “Sit. Has the matter been handled?”
Lu Rongze lowered his eyes. “This son has already carried it out according to Father Emperor’s decree. The Jinlin Guards are secretly watching Prince Li’s Residence. If anything happens, they will immediately report it back to Father Emperor.”
Emperor Hongjia’s anxiety eased but did not entirely dissipate.
He stared at the bright yellow canopy above. There were only the two of them in the inner hall. Suddenly, he spoke softly, in a tone difficult to read. “Fourth Son, tell Zhen, is Third Son unwilling to return because he blames Zhen for refusing to return military authority to him?”
Lu Rongze suppressed the itch in his throat, his face calm and pale. “This son does not know.”
“Then in your view, should Zhen return military authority to him?”
Lu Rongze did not answer the question directly. “Third Brother may simply wish to amuse himself outside for a while. Perhaps after some days, he will return.”
Emperor Hongjia gave a heavy snort through his nose.
“The war in the Northern Frontier has long since ended. Yet now it is already the fourth month, and he still refuses to return to the capital. Instead, he has gone off to the Western Frontier on his own authority. In Zhen’s view, he simply does not place Zhen, his imperial father, in his eyes at all. Go issue another decree. Tell him to return at once.”
After saying this, Emperor Hongjia began coughing violently. It seemed as though phlegm were lodged in his throat. He could not catch his breath, and his face flushed to a pig-liver color.
Lu Rongze raised a hand to pat his back. Emperor Hongjia seized his wrist in one hand, harsh rasping sounds issuing from his throat.
“Quick... go light... light the candle...” His trembling hand pointed toward the gilded stand by the bedside, where a red candle of extremely vivid color had been set.
Lu Rongze glanced at it and calmly lit the candle.
As soon as the flame was lit, a strange fragrance quickly spread through the room, a scent difficult to name. Emperor Hongjia strained desperately toward the candle. The moment he smelled that fragrance, the tension in his face visibly eased.
He leaned half his body over the bedside, stretching his neck to greedily inhale the scent. There was not the slightest trace of imperial bearing left in him. Rather, he looked like some crazed drunk in the pleasure quarters, addicted to Five-Stone Powder.
Lu Rongze stood beside him, gazing down with cool eyes. His expression was utterly indifferent. His face remained pale, and over these past months, assisting Emperor Hongjia with state affairs had visibly thinned him still further. Yet of that, Emperor Hongjia had not spoken so much as a single word.
“This red candle was brought to Zhen by the ruler of Chu when he came this time. Fourth Son, do you know what treasure this is?” Emperor Hongjia leaned back against the soft pillow again. He turned his head to stare at the slowly flickering flame, then took the teacup Lu Rongze handed him and used it to moisten his throat.
“This son is ignorant and ill-informed. This son does not recognize it.”
Emperor Hongjia smiled smugly. “Some days ago, Zhen could scarcely rise from bed. Ever since this candle was lit, Zhen’s spirits have improved day by day. Zhen can even get down and walk about for a little while now. This treasure comes from the Southern Sacred Sea and is rarely seen in the world. It is only natural that you have never heard of it.”
“It is only that the ruler of Chu said this: Zhen was previously deceived by that wretch Zhengqing, and the dragon body was harmed. If one relies on the candle alone, the effect will likely be slow. If Zhen wishes to recover sooner, another thing is still needed...”
Emperor Hongjia had said only half before he abruptly halted the topic. He instructed Lu Rongze, “Convey Zhen’s decree. Tell Third Son’s consort to enter the palace tomorrow.”
Lu Rongze inclined his head, his expression meek and obedient, asking no further questions.
Emperor Hongjia liked this quality in him very much. He did not ask what ought not to be asked. He knew how to advance and retreat, and he observed propriety. If not for his body being so poor, handing the throne to him might not have been impossible.
Lu Rongze soon withdrew.
Once the palace doors were closed again, the room fell into silence. Emperor Hongjia stared blankly at the bed curtains.
Ever since his illness, nightmares often tormented him. He could not sleep at night. His body weakened day by day, decaying at alarming speed. The Imperial Medical Institute could do nothing. The medicines they prescribed had no effect at all after being swallowed.
Before the Wanchao Hui, he had even once believed that death would soon come for him.
Yet the arrival of the ruler of Chu rekindled hope within him.
He truly had brought a red candle.
That very night, after smelling its fragrance for one hour, Emperor Hongjia had already sensed a lightness in his previously heavy body. After smelling it for three days, he himself was very clear on the changes in his condition.
In his excitement, he ordered the Jinlin Guards to ride at the fastest speed to the Northern Suburbs Palace and invite the ruler of Chu into the imperial palace.
They spoke in the hall until deep into the night. When the ruler of Chu finally left, he said several words of great significance.
“If Your Majesty wishes the dragon body to recover, the candle alone will not suffice. One important medicinal catalyst is still lacking.”
Emperor Hongjia urgently asked, “What is it? Zhen will immediately have someone prepare it.”
The ruler of Chu said, “This catalyst does not exist in Your Majesty’s palace. It exists in Prince Li’s Residence.”
“What?”
“Prince Consort Li’s blood.”
Lu Rongze made another trip to Consort Xu’s residence.
By the time he returned to the palace hall where he was staying temporarily, the sky had already darkened.
“Your Highness, these are the memorials that were just delivered back.” A guard opened the door to the study, where many memorials had already been laid out on the desk.
Lu Rongze walked straight over but did not so much as look at them. He went instead to the window and looked toward the horizon beyond the towering red palace walls.
The evening shine was richly brilliant. The red sun was blocked by the palace walls, and only half its outline could still be seen.
His personal attendant came over, added several pieces of silver-thread charcoal to the brazier by the wall, and brought over a cloak as well.
“Set it aside. This body will not die just yet,” Lu Rongze said mildly, stopping his movement.
The attendant had followed him for many years and was devoted without reservation. Seeing how indifferent Lu Rongze appeared, he felt both sorrow and heartache.
The season had already turned warm with spring in bloom, yet His Highness’s hands and feet were still icy cold, and the brazier in the room had to remain burning. The illness had seeped deep into the marrow and bones, beyond all remedy.
The attendant forced back his tears and strove to raise a smile. “Your Highness is blessed by Heaven. Last year there were even quack physicians who declared that Your Highness would not survive the winter, yet did not Your Highness endure it all the same? Your Highness will surely turn calamity into fortune and live a long life of a hundred years.”
The corner of Lu Rongze’s mouth twitched slightly, but no trace of a smile entered his eyes. He dismissed the attendant and summoned the guard inside.
“This subordinate greets Your Highness.”
Lu Rongze kept his gaze on the horizon, his voice remote and drifting. “Has it been confirmed?”
The guard’s face showed difficulty.
“Speak.”
“It... it was Prince Consort Li.”
Lu Rongze said nothing. He merely let out a soft, lingering sigh. He was not too surprised by this result.
The guard continued, “Earlier, Her Highness sent people to watch Prince Consort Li, but they were nearly discovered by Prince Consort Li. It was our people who rescued them. This subordinate cannot understand how Prince Consort Li investigated matters all the way to Your Highness.”
Only when someone began tracing matters to the servants in the residence did they abruptly realize there was a problem. They investigated for months before finally tracing it back to Prince Consort Li.
“Your Highness, should this matter be reported to Her Highness?”
Lu Rongze waved a hand. “No need. Go to Prince Li’s Residence and deliver word. Father Emperor is summoning Prince Consort Li to the palace tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
When the guard departed, he closed the door behind him.
Lu Rongze lowered his head. Looking at the slender bamboo growing thick outside the window, he saw that in the darkening light the bamboo leaves seemed veiled by smoke, indistinct and unclear.
He extended a hand outside the window and let his fingertips touch the tip of one bamboo leaf.
“So the two of you had already begun suspecting me long ago.”
As he murmured those words softly, he snapped that length of bamboo with one hand and threw it into the brazier.
On the twentieth day of the fourth month, the warm wind flowed gently and all things grew in proud abundance.
Only three days earlier, the people of Sang Cheng had finally learned that the one whom General Bai had personally escorted into the city at that time was Prince Li, together with his family.
Prince Li, who at the beginning of the year had beaten the northern tribes until they submitted.
This astonishing news instantly spread through Sang Cheng. In less than a day, it transformed into a rumor that Prince Li had come to the Western Frontier to wage war. The more timid townspeople had already begun packing their bundles, intending to flee by night.
They lived very near Lu Cheng. Once the flames of war rose, there was no guarantee they would not be drawn into it as well.
Just as the people were in a state of alarm and unrest, another piece of news rolled into every household like thunder.
Prince Li was going to hold a hundred-day banquet on the city tower.
“A hundred-day banquet? Whose hundred-day banquet?” the townspeople asked, bewildered.
Those in the know answered, “Whose else could it be? Naturally it is the young prince’s.”
Though Sang Cheng lay far from Ye Jing, it was not wholly cut off. The people here also knew that Prince Li had married a male consort. Even the storybooks that had once sold like fire in Ye Jing had become hot sellers here as well.
“But the Prince Consort is a man. Where did they get a child from?”
“Er... that I do not know, but I can guarantee that His Highness said it himself. He said he was holding a hundred-day banquet for his son.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“His Highness often goes to Lu Cheng. After growing familiar with the soldiers in the camp, he told them there. My cousin is in the army. He said everyone in the camp received Prince Li’s invitation card.”
“Perhaps... this child was born by Prince Li with someone else, and then passed under the Prince Consort’s name to be raised.”
While everyone argued and guessed, festive red silk was hung across the city tower of Sang Cheng, and even the battle banners were pasted with gilded characters for “fortune.” From the city tower all the way to the residence where Prince Li lived, both sides of the road were hung with red lanterns.
Prince Li was going to lay out a flowing-water banquet here, inviting all the soldiers and all the townspeople of the city.
On the twentieth day of the fourth month, lively music from gongs and drums began sounding from early morning. Lu Ronghuai had invited musicians from both Sang Cheng and Lu Cheng, and they took turns playing music and zithers atop the city tower.
By noon, all the dishes had been set out, and all who had come to attend the feast had arrived. The four distinguished elders tasked with recording the gift register were so busy they scarcely had time even to drink water.
The people of Sang Cheng in truth had no real acquaintance with Prince Li. In earlier times they had only known him by his ill reputation, bloodthirsty and brutal, but as an imperial prince, he had existed in a sphere so far above them that ordinary people had no means of approaching him.
Later, Prince Li’s reputation improved, and he gained the title of doting husband. Added to that were his heroic displays upon the battlefield. The people no longer feared him. On the contrary, they were filled with curiosity about him.
Thus, once they learned that Prince Li intended to hold the young heir’s hundred-day banquet here, everyone threw aside the work in their hands, prepared gifts, and came to attend the feast.
The thunderous crack of firecrackers sounded for a long time, from one end of the street to the other. There was also the din of lively conversation and the laughter of children. For a time, it seemed even more festive than the New Year.
Lu Ronghuai held Lu Duoyu in his left arm and clasped Chu Yuan’s hand with his right as they slowly ascended the city tower.
The moment the family of three appeared upon the tower, the clamorous noise below instantly vanished.
Everyone lifted their heads to gaze at the people standing atop the tower, as though immortals had descended to earth. Expressions of astonishment spread over every face, and for a long while no one recovered.
White robes lined in red, waists adorned with red tassels bound in golden threads, jade crowns securing their hair, beauty granted by Heaven itself. They were a match beyond compare.
The two looked at one another and smiled.
Lu Ronghuai turned his gaze toward the vast crowd below. His voice, wrapped in profound inner force, entered the ears of every single person present.
The bearing of mountains shaken and seas trodden underfoot, deep and resonant as sun and moon.
“Welcome, all of you.”
“To the Hundred Days banquet of my son, Wuyin.”
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
I decided on the name Lu Wuyin very early on. As for the reason... there is one. It is connected to the previous life, but I am too lazy to explain it, hehe.
I have to work tomorrow morning, then rush back to my hometown in the afternoon for the New Year, and I will not be back at night, so there will be no update tomorrow. Let me wish everyone a Happy New Year in advance. May all your wishes come true, and may everything go as you desire.
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