The Rebirth of an ill-Fated Consort

Ten days later, Xiao Shao led 100,000 Jinyi Guards to battle against Tian Jin and at the same time, General Zhao set off together with the Zhao family’s three sons towards Xirong. Recently, there had been frequent incidents at the border caused by Xirong, thus it was inevitable that these actions would give rise to certain notions. The Emperor’s thoughts were hard to pin down, and so no one knew why he had decided to send out the Zhao family at this time. Consequently, there were only three people remaining in the Zhao family left in the capital: Zhao Yi, Zhao Yulong and Zhao Feizhou. On their own, they did not have the means to pose any threats because the three of them lacked military and political power. As such, if someone with ill-intentions were to strike at this critical juncture- while they were at their lowest point[1]– the Zhao family would be hard pressed[2] and badly affected.

[1] 落井下石 (luòjǐngxiàshí) – to throw stones at somebody who has fallen down a well (idiom) / to hit a person when he’s down.

[2] 焦头烂额 (jiāotóulàn’é) – lit. badly burned about the head (from trying to put out a fire) (idiom); fig. hard-pressed / under pressure (from a heavy workload, creditors etc).

However, no one dared to disobey the Emperor’s edict. Furthermore, the Zhao family was loyal and courageous and had no reason to refuse. Thus, they left the capital on the same day as Xiao Shao, who was leading his Jinyi Guard.

Jinying Wang had left to command this military campaign, but his yet-to-be-wed fiancee was still in his house. According to the customs of the Great Jin dynasty, when one’s husband-to-be was leading a military campaign, the woman could stay in her future husband’s fu. Still, the Empress Dowager took pity on Hong’an Junzhu and issued an edict allowing Hong’an Junzhu to officially stay in the Jinying Wangfu.

Furthermore, Hong’an Junzhu’s maiden family, the Jiang fu, had recently encountered a series of unfortunate incidents. First, Minister Jiang accidentally injured his own yiniang, who was so grievously hurt that she died not long afterwards. Then, the missing Second Miss was found. She had been captured by mountain bandits, and had committed suicide in order to protect her purity. In this way, a generation of beautiful women suddenly died in their prime. Although Jiang Su Su’s reputation had not been great when she was alive, death can pardon everything, and people are always more tolerant towards beauties.

What shocked people the most was that Jiang Furen was taken ill for a long time, and eventually died. And yet, Jiang Furen’s maiden family, the Xia clan, did not even wait three months before sending a distant relative, a maternal cousin, to the Jiang fu – which then welcomed a new furen.

Originally, people thought that after Jiang Furen’s death, the last connection between the Jiang family and the Xia family would be severed. No one expected that the Xia family would personally send a new furen to the Jiang family. In this way, the marriage alliance between the Xia and Jiang families was maintained, and many of the people who were looking forward to watching some ‘excitement’ suddenly found themselves empty-handed.

However, although the relationship between the Xia family and the Jiang family had not broken down, because of these circumstances, Minister Jiang was denounced by the people. In particular, the Imperial Censor’s petitions for impeachment landed on the Emperor’s table one after another, every word censuring Minister Jiang for taking a new bride before the main furen’s corpse had grown cold; this was truly not something people who professed to be in a loving relationship for many years would do.

For so many years, the Jiang family had stood firm in the imperial court, with a reputation among the people for being upright and honest. Up to this point, there had only been a small degree of damage to their reputation, but now, with the way Jiang Quan had taken a new wife, what remained of that good name had completely disintegrated. From now on, when people brought up the Jiang fu, what was spoken of was never that it was an upright noble family, but rather, the unsettled inner chamber of a muddle-headed minister.

These changes slowly infested the environment bit by bit. Although no one was paying attention, when even the principal characters involved remained unaware, every small situation, left unattended, would eventually blow up into chaos[3]. However, everything was just beginning..

[3] 千里之堤毁于蚁穴 (qiānlǐ zhī dī huǐ yú yǐ xué) – lit. the embankment of a thousand miles collapsed in an ant’s nest, that is, very long dams will eventually be destroyed because of the gnawing of little ants; fig. A metaphor that not paying attention to small things will lead to catastrophes or not paying attention to small things will cause serious losses.

If there was anything to be happy about in the capital, it was that the previous structure of the imperial harem had been completely disrupted. The positions of three of the imperial concubines lay vacant, and a new group of talented ladies was gradually becoming prominent; a few ladies were already the current new favourites[4].

[4] 炙手可热 (zhìshǒukěrè) – lit. burn your hand, feel the heat (idiom) / fig. arrogance of the powerful / a mighty figure no-one dares approach / hot (exciting or in favour).

These three ladies were: the youngest di daughter of a Hanlin[5] family, Wang Lian’er; the shu daughter of the first wife of the Yingwu Marquis fu, Mu Xi Rou; and the fourth shu daughter of the Jiang family, Jiang Dan.

[5] 翰林 (Hànlín) – refers to academics employed as imperial secretaries from the Tang onwards, forming the Hanlin Imperial Academy.

When a monarch’s foundation was not yet stable, the women he doted on would generally be connected to the powerful forces which supported him, and they represented the influence of whichever fu it was. When the monarch had achieved success in his great undertaking, when nothing could shake his hold on power and his position, then he would no longer dote on these women from such illustrious backgrounds. Conversely, he would select those women without any foundation, and even those without any background to speak of, to dote on. Such women were weak and had no one to rely on; they would not set off any storms, and could only survive in the palace by relying on the monarch’s good favour. From time immemorial, monarchs have always been paranoid, and only such women were completely harmless, and would not entertain other thoughts.

For these three ladies, either their families looked good but had no real power, or they were unimportant shu daughters, not valued by their families. Thus, to the Emperor, they were just the right type – without threat. Moreover, the three ladies had truly distinguished themselves from the rest of the talented ladies.

Wang Lian’er was best at understanding poetic sentiment and the beauty of literary works, and the Emperor appreciated her as an intelligent and empathetic beauty. She had a gentle and subdued temperament, and the feeling she gave was like that of a beautiful woman passing by, holding an umbrella in the misty rain over Jiangnan- this was similar to the original impression given by Imperial Consort Chen.

Mu Xi Rou was the most beautiful of them, like an orchid blooming in a secluded valley. However, her natural temperament was somewhat cold and indifferent, and her manner while waiting upon the Emperor was just as cold. Even so, it was precisely this cold indifference which piqued the Emperor’s interest, and she was now regarded as the cold beauty of the palace.

Of the three, Jiang Dan’s appearance was the most unremarkable, and her temperament was nowhere near being gentle or empathetic. Her initial encounter with the Emperor had been a result of coincidence. That night, she had been praying to the moon in the courtyard, and every word uttered had been for the safety and well-being of her family; her words had been simple and straightforward. The Emperor was accustomed to meeting all kinds of beauties, but it was highly uncommon that he would encounter such a simple and innocent woman. Thus, he had concealed his identity and conversed with her the entire night. The more they talked, the more he felt that this woman’s temperament shone brightly. The next day, he had sent someone to give her the imperial edict of promotion.

Now, these three ladies had moved from insignifiant beauties to fourth-rank beauties in just one step. For shu daughters, this truly was like reaching heaven in one bound. At the moment, among the three ladies Wang Lian’er was the favourite, and the Emperor had the least interest in Mu Xi Rou . Jiang Dan had not received the Emperor’s summons even after her promotion, but this did not discourage her at all, and she remained very joyful. Jiang Dan’s palace servants were all anxious. Hoping that their mistress would gain the Emperor’s favour, they advised her to think of a way to meet him once again, so that no one would be able to snatch his favour from her. However, for reasons unknown, Jiang Dan continued tending to her own matters each day, seemingly content and unhurried, causing all her palace servants to be beside themselves in helpless worry.

Today, Jiang Dan was in the imperial garden viewing flowers. Perhaps weary of looking at flowers, she walked to the pavilion to sit down and rest. Although she seemed tired, her mood suddenly lifted and she tasked her servants to collect the flowers which had fallen to the ground and to see if they could gather some early morning dew, in order that she could brew Baihua wine[6] later. Not content with simply watching her servants work, she gathered her skirt, stood up, and joined the crowd of palace servants.

[6] 百花酒 (Bǎihuā jiǔ) – lit. Hundred Flower wine, Baihua wine is a traditional famous wine in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, and belongs to the yellow wine category. With sour, sweet, bitter, spicy taste. Its raw materials are brewed with glutinous rice, fine wheat koji and nearly 100 kinds of wild flowers, which are nutritious and healthy.

As she sought happiness in the crowd, she did not notice a man standing at the far end of the garden, closely observing her every move. Jiang Chao lowered his head and spoke to Xuan Li, who was standing in front of him. “Your Highness has thoroughly thought this through, is it really her?” With some doubt, he continued, “Your Highness, why not choose someone else? Jiang Dan is truly. . . using her would truly be too risky.”

Xuan Li closed his eyes slightly and said, slowly, “Eh? You talk about risk; what is your opinion of her?”

Jiang Chao pondered momentailty, seemingly doing his best to remember his interactions with Jiang Dan. Unfortunately, he and this Fourth Sister had only had a superficial relationship, so he was unable to think of anything. After some time, he shook his head and said, “My Fourth Sister – she was born of a concubine, and was raised at the side of the former Furen from a young age; her temperament is extremely timid. Ordinarily, loud sounds and speech in the fu would startle her. She is truly not of much use.” He paused, then said, “Moreover, she’s not very smart. How did Your Highness come to choose her to be our person?”

Xuan Li shook his head and said, “Jiang Chao, do you know why, despite being by my side for so long, you have time and again been unable to achieve a better position, and have been unable to grasp hold of any of the opportunities I have given you? And, what’s more, you’ve allowed others to possess those key opportunities?”

Jiang Chao trembled inwardly, but he said, resolutely, “Begging Your Highness to give advice!”

“You are sufficiently ruthless, and you do things methodically. But – and it is such a pity – you are overwhelmingly conceited.” Shaking his head, Xuan Li said, “You have never seriously observed the people around you, to the extent that you look down on them and underestimate them. For example, right now, you are underestimating the person right before you, Jiang Dan.”

“Your Highness, this subordinate does not understand.” Jiang Chao said, “Even taking into consideration that my Fourth Sister has entered the palace as a beauty, that is due to my father’s social status and her own good fortune. But, she has no ambition. Doesn’t Your Highness say that a person without ambition is not useful? My Fourth Sister plainly received the Emperor’s edict for promotion, but did not know how to use this to fight for her own advancement, and thus wasted the opportunity. As a result, among the three beauties, Wang Lian’er and Mu Xi Rou are more highly favoured compared to her.”

Xuan Li shook his head. “This is where you are wrong. You only saw Minister Jiang sending Jiang Dan into the palace, but did you not see how much effort Jiang Dan put in? Did you actually think that the encounter between Jiang Dan and Imperial Father was really as what others have said, a mere coincidence, and Jiang Dan’s good fortune?”

Jiang Chao remained silent. It was not that he had not had his suspicions, but in his heart, Jiang Dan had always been useless, so useless to the point that he couldn’t have any suspicions about her at all. With Jiang Dan’s temperament and skill – or lack thereof – how would she be able to scheme her way to winning over the ruler of the land?

“You see, you have only yourself to blame.” Xuan Li sighed and said, “In my opinion, Minister Jiang does an exceptional job of raising his daughters; the Jiang family’s Eldest Miss and Fourth Miss are truly one in a million.” He looked at Jiang Chao with an ambiguous smile while saying, “This Fourth Sister of yours is a poisonous snake, and I fear she understands silent endurance and dormancy better than you do. Look -” He nodded in Jiang Dan’s direction.

Jiang Chao followed his line of sight and saw Jiang Dan laughing with a group of palace maids, looking nothing at all like a palace beauty, nothing at all . . . his heart jumped as he saw a figure dressed in bright yellow robes making its way unhurriedly from behind Jiang Dan.

It was the Emperor.

Today, the Emperor had been casually walking in the garden, when he heard the sound of female laughter from a distance. The sound was as crisp and sweet as that of silver bells, and the second he heard it, he seemed to have been infected by its happiness. His heart was moved, and he deliberately made a loop around the garden to see who the person was.

One look rendered him a little stunned. He saw a woman standing among palace maids, a flower basket in one hand, while the other hand was holding a whole crabapple flower which had just dropped off the branch. There was a slight smile on her face, and her eyes were so full of mirth that they were like crescent moons, brightly shining, and utterly adorable. She was wearing an embroidered short jacket and skirt in peach, with a jade-green loose coat. The effect was enthrallingly fresh and colourful, with a charm that was distinctive of youth. She presented a dainty appearance, but her every move was uniquely beautiful and charming, and this charm did not seem artificial, but was natural and full of vitality. Even though she was among a crowd of palace maids, she drew attention at one glance.

Crabapple flower

The Emperor walked forward to ask, “What is your name?”

The woman appeared to have received a shock, for she jumped slightly before turning around. She blushed the second she saw the Emperor. Perhaps because she had been laughing for some time, drops of perspiration sparkled on her forehead, and she looked truly adorable. She lowered her head, as if somewhat flustered and at a loss as to what to do. After a moment, she then said, “This concubine . . . this concubine is called Jiang Dan.”

“It’s you —-” By her skillful speech, the Emperor had already recognised her face. “That night, the person who accompanied zhen in conversation all night was you.”

The Emperor was always busy with affairs of government, and he met far too many beauties every day. Countless numbers of them were exceptionally beautiful and talented, and any one he selected from within the three palaces, six courtyards and seventy-two concubines within his authority would be one of the best. As such, it was very difficult for anyone to make an impression on him. Moreover, the simple and unaffected young woman he had encountered that night had only left a brief, though graceful, trace upon his heart; once he had raised her rank, he had completely forgotten about her. Meeting her out of the blue today had somewhat taken his breath away. It would be very difficult for the Emperor not to pay attention to her at this point. If it could be said that their previous encounter was a mere prelude, then, the Jiang Dan of this time had already left a unique impression on the Emperor. This impression was totally different from the impression left by Wang Meiren and Mu Meiren. As the Emperor was used to intelligent, literary beauties and cold beauties by now, this brand of charming and lovable vitality would be a breath of fresh air for him.

He smiled as he said, “Come, rise, and accompany zhen on a walk.”

From afar, Xuan Li raised his eyebrows. “Did you see that? This is your Fourth Sister’s craftiness.”

Jiang Chao stared incredulously at Jiang Dan, who was walking side by side with the Emperor in the distance. Right at that moment, Jiang Dan laughed so adorably and charmingly that even Jiang Chao was astonished at witnessing it. This Fourth Sister had had only one expression in the fu, and that was to be terrified and timid. He was baffled by what he had just seen, for this Jiang Dan and the Jiang Dan he saw every day almost seemed to be two different people.

“It’s not that she didn’t want to fight for it, rather she was biding her time.” With a slight smile, Xuan Li said, “She is an expert in laying dormant until the time is right; if something is not guaranteed, she will not do anything. See for yourself, this Jiang Meiren will be the new favourite very soon.”

“But,” Jiang Chao said as he suppressed the shock he felt,” why would she collude with us?”

“Her eyes are full of ambition,” Xuan Li replied. “A person with ambition will not be timid. Jiang Chao, when you are free, spend more time with this Fourth Sister of yours. She will definitely be tempted because she wants to achieve a higher position. As for us, we need someone who can speak for us in front of Imperial Father.”

When Imperial Consort Chen was around, Xuan Li could do anything without impunity. This was because Imperial Consort Chen merely had to whisper to the Emperor during pillow talk, and the Emperor would regard him with a greater degree of tenderness. However, now that Imperial Consort Chen had lost power, the Empress and Imperial Consort Xian would never speak well of him, and so the Emperor had become increasingly distant with him, to the extent that the usually unflappable Xuan Li had become somewhat anxious.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Jiang Chao said as he lowered his head. “That Jinying Wang and Zhao Guang have been away for more than two months, and should be at the battlefield by now. The spies from the front came in to report yesterday that the war situation is now under control. If this is the case, then, going forward . . .” He stopped there. The better the war situation at the front, the more unfavourable it was for them. They could not afford to allow Jinying Wang this tremendous opportunity to gain great merit. Xiao Shao had almost made it clear that he would not stand with them at present; such a person could not be used, and must therefore be destroyed.

“No need to worry,” Xuan Li said lightly. “They can’t win this battle; they will definitely be defeated, so why give them any attention?” His eyes glinted murderously, and he stroked his sleeves as he said, “Notify Xia Cheng, he can take action.”

“Your Highness?” Jiang Chao said in shock. “So soon?”

“The longer the night, the more dreams there are[7],” Xuan Li responded with an icy smile.

[7] 夜长梦多 (ye chang meng duo) – lit. long night, many dreams; fig. Long delays give rise to more complications.

* * *

In the Jinying Wangfu, Jiang Ruan was sitting at Xiao Shao’s study table, reading.

She had been residing at the Jinying Wangfu for two months, and the servants there had changed their ways in order to enable her to live comfortably, perhaps even too comfortably, such that she had almost unconsciously become too used to the way of life there. Over the past two months, she had returned to the Jiang fu to mourn Xia Yan and Jiang Su Su in sackcloth, and had also seen the Jiang fu’s new Furen, Xia Wei, a beautiful woman with a big smile and evil intentions. However, since she was no longer living in the Jiang fu, these matters had nothing to do with her.

Xiao Shao’s study was like a treasure trove, with all kinds of books, thus Jiang Ruan spent most of her time there. She looked at Xiao Shao’s handwritten notes which set her mind in a whirl, for clues to some of her long-held suspicions gradually surfaced. Nevertheless, she did not conjecture any further. Everyone had their own secrets, including Xiao Shao. What seized her attention at present was the war in Tian Jin.

At this time in her previous life, she had been engaged in an agonising struggle and thus didn’t care much about the war in Tian Jin. The letter she had written Jiang Xin Zhi had contained everything she could remember which might possibly help him. As for the rest, she was truly powerless.

However, one thing was certain – it was a given that Xuan Li would make his move at this time. Now that the Zhao family was in a weakened state and Xiao Shao was not in the capital, Xuan Li’s natural ability to take advantage of the misfortune of others would not allow him to relinquish this excellent opportunity. The structure of the imperial court and household were at their most vulnerable point, and a slight movement would cause earth-shattering change. She could guess, to a reasonable degree, what Xuan Li was planning to do.

As she was deep in thought, she heard the guard outside the door say, “Ai, Fourth Young Master, Young Furen is within.”

A gruff, deep male voice said, “It’s all right, I’ll just go in and see.”

Jiang Ruan silently looked at the person who entered as the door was pushed open with a creak. This person had arrived unexpectedly, full of curiosity about the “Young Furen” who was the centre of many rumours. On opening the door, he saw a young lady sitting upright at the study table with the light behind her, looking at him steadily. Her appearance was made somewhat unreal due to the backlight, and her eyes, clear, bright, and brimming with wisdom, seemed to convey a kind of mockery of reality. She was watching him calmly and indifferently.

There was something hypnotising about being watched by those eyes. The new arrival rubbed his nose and coughed before saying, “Third Sister-in-law? I am Fourth Brother Qi, Third Brother asked me to come.”

Jiang Ruan’s eyes glinted as she assessed the person opposite her. He was also a young man in his twenties, clad in a purple gown embroidered with lotus flowers. He could be said to be handsome, with a bright, honest appearance, apart from the long moustache and beard which he sported, for whatever reason. It was as if a perfectly good-looking young man had been ruined, and it was quite jarring. However, his smile was warm, and his eyes were long, very much like peach blossom eyes. In his gaze there was no sign of frivolity; instead, there was uprightness.

This was Xiao Shao’s fellow disciple Qi Feng, ranked fourth, who had studied the art of politics while on Mt. Jianan. It was a pity that he had mastered this field, but could not easily bring to fruition what he knew. Over the past few years he had been secretly assisting Xiao Shao with the Jinyi Guard and now Xiao Shao had asked him to come back to the capital, which was highly unexpected.

Qi Feng appraised Jiang Ruan seriously. Abruptly, he smiled and said, “Third Sister-in-law is indeed a national beauty[8]. At first, I thought that Third Brother’s recall of Fifth Brother Xia and myself to the capital to protect Third Sister-in-law was much ado about nothing. However, upon looking at the situation now, it is Fourth Brother’s (i.e. himself) good fortune.”

[8] 国色天香 (guósètiānxiāng) – national grace, divine fragrance (idiom); an outstanding beauty.