Holding the Emperor Hostage : Chapter 74: A Game of Chess

While Yin Shuhuai was speaking with Fan Juan, he saw Shentu Yang walk into Chongde Hall wearing only inner garments, with Yin Shuhuai’s usual half-worn red greatcloak draped over his shoulders, looking carefree and at ease.

Fan Juan, who had been reporting intelligence to Yin Shuhuai, immediately fell silent and looked with a subtle expression at the Duke of Yan, whose behavior was even more subtle.

Shentu Yang’s sashes billowed in the wind, his gaze fixed straight ahead. He did not even spare Fan Juan a sidelong glance as he walked up to Yin Shuhuai. His eyes moved between Yin Shuhuai and Fan Juan, then settled on Yin Shuhuai’s face: “Your Majesty abandoned me and left, just to see him?”

Before the words had finished, Fan Juan felt every hair on his body stand on end and hurriedly lowered his head.

Yin Shuhuai could not hold back a laugh: “Stop making a fuss.”

“I am not making a fuss,” Shentu Yang said, flicking his greatcloak aside and sitting down beside Yin Shuhuai. “I am simply curious. What could have made Your Majesty leave me in such haste?”

Fan Juan, who had been deliberately caught in the crossfire by Shentu Yang, looked utterly innocent. But he did not pick up Shentu Yang’s thread of conversation. Instead he looked respectfully at Yin Shuhuai and asked inquiringly: “Your Majesty?”

Yin Shuhuai gave a slight nod and handed the intelligence gathered by the Night Owl secret guard to Shentu Yang: “Have a look.”

Shentu Yang raised an eyebrow, took the intelligence, and began to read. A moment later, he put it down with a calm expression.

There were always petty men trying to drive a wedge between him and His Majesty. Shentu Yang was not surprised by this at all. And that His Majesty knew some people harbored ill intentions yet deliberately allowed the petty men to spread rumors, Shentu Yang was not surprised by that either. That His Majesty controlled a hidden band of death agents in the shadows was a secret known to many. Yet no one had ever pierced that layer of window paper.

Shentu Yang was simply curious. When Chen Yong, Wang Su, and the others spread rumors in the capital, did they know that their every move was being watched by His Majesty’s secret guard?

Even if they knew, they probably did not care. Power struggles had always been like this. Rumors and gossip gambled on human nature. Shentu Yang did not take it to heart. But since those great clans and meritorious nobles dared to take advantage of his unconscious serious illness to sneak in attacks, they had best be prepared for retaliation.

Shentu Yang leaned against Yin Shuhuai with a bored air, his posture soft but his tone hard: “Your Majesty need not trouble yourself over them. This humble minister will help Your Majesty teach them a proper lesson.”

And so, at the first court session after his recovery from serious illness, Shentu Yang launched a fierce attack on the great clans and meritorious nobles.

Several censors presented conclusive evidence that Chen Pei, the eldest son of Chen Yong, the Libationer of the Imperial Academy, had cruelly killed maidservants and treated human life like grass. They impeached Chen Yong for failing to teach his son properly. On the grounds that Chen Yong’s virtue was insufficient, they earnestly requested that His Majesty dismiss Chen Yong from his post as Libationer of the Imperial Academy, lest he corrupt the atmosphere of the Imperial Academy and set a bad example for its students.

Yin Shuhuai, seated high in the bright hall, looked at Chen Yong with a grave expression: “What does my dear minister have to say for himself?”

With that, Yin Shuhuai had Zhuang Wuwei hand over the evidence and testimonies presented by the censors to Chen Yong. This evidence had been uncovered by Night Owl secret agents posing as servants in the Chen household.

Chen Yong’s eldest son, Chen Pei, was thirty years old this year. Although he had been recommended as Filial and Incorrupt, he had never taken office, only studying at home. Thanks to his family’s scholarly tradition and his own extensive learning and strong memory, he was praised throughout the realm for his talent and quick wit. On the surface, this man appeared to be a paragon of open and noble character, a learned master of classical studies. Very few people knew that he was obsessed with taking medicinal powders and was a hopeless drunk. Every time he drank too much, it was as if he became a different person. He would whip servants and abuse slaves at the slightest provocation. Yet because the Chen family maintained strict household discipline, this was not known to outsiders.

But there were no walls in the world that did not let wind through. No matter how strict a family’s conduct, it could not stop the Night Owl secret guard, who found their way in everywhere. This was also an important reason why, when the Night Owl guard was at its peak decades ago, the great clans and powerful families all lived in fear.

Now the Night Owl secret agents hidden in the Chen family brought the secrets the Chen family had concealed for years onto the court. The evidence was as solid as a mountain. Even if Chen Yong had a tongue of silver, he could not argue before such conclusive evidence that those maidservants and household servants had not been beaten to death by his son. Shentu Yang’s old subordinates were even more eager and ready for action. Chen Yong feared that if the matter was pressed further, even more evidence unfavorable to the Chen family would be brought forth. He could only allow His Majesty to dismiss him from his post as Libationer of the Imperial Academy on the charge of failing to discipline his household properly. And his son Chen Pei was imprisoned in the imperial prison on the charge of murder.

Chen Yong actually did not care much about this matter. The Yin dynasty had always had the tradition that nobles who broke the law could redeem their crimes with gold. Even if one committed a capital crime, it was merely a small matter of producing two and eight-tenths catties of gold to redeem oneself. This was the privilege of the great clans and meritorious nobles. It was also a law that Yin Shuhuai, even though he disapproved, did not dare to abolish lightly. Because that would offend the fundamental interests of everyone. Even Huo Quan and Shentu Yang, who had always supported him, did not dare to support His Majesty in abolishing the redemption of crimes by gold, for fear of bringing down the wrath of all under heaven.

Apart from treason and usurpation, punishment did not reach high officials, and nobles could not be put to death. This was the consensus of all under heaven.

So Chen Yong did not care about Shentu Yang’s sudden attack. Compared to Shentu Yang’s measured warning and retaliation, what angered Chen Yong more was that Zhao Bushi had not given him any advance warning. As the head of the Censorate, Zhao Bushi had known that Shentu Yang was instructing the censors to impeach his son, yet had not said a word to him. This caused Chen Yong to be dismissed from his post as Libationer of the Imperial Academy in an extremely passive situation, and brought disgrace upon the Chen clan’s reputation. How could Chen Yong not be furious?

They were all great clans and meritorious nobles together. How dare Zhao Bushi keep himself out of harm’s way?

Moreover, they had all spread rumors and sown discord together. The other great clans and meritorious nobles were all safe and sound. Wang Su, the Commandant of the Palace Guards, who had jumped even higher, was completely unharmed. Only Chen Yong had been dismissed from office, and his eldest son had been ruined beyond redemption… As the saying goes, it is not poverty that troubles people, but inequality!

Chen Yong, who had been sent home by this pair of ruler and minister working hand in hand, felt nothing but rage!

And this rage reached its peak on the day of Wang Su’s seventieth birthday, when the Duke of Yan Shentu Yang personally attended the banquet, and His Majesty, who rarely left the palace, bestowed longevity peaches to congratulate Wang Su on his birthday, and promoted Wang Su’s youngest son, Wang Lang, who had just turned sixteen, to join the imperial guard as a palace attendant.

They had all done bad things together. Why was Chen Yong the only one who was punished, while this old man could actually make peace with the enemy? And his useless son could actually be selected for the imperial guard and become a close attendant of His Majesty?

Why!

Chen Yong’s mentality completely collapsed! Even though he knew full well that His Majesty and the Duke of Yan were certainly trying to drive a wedge between him and Wang Su, Chen Yong still took the bait.

Before family honor and his son’s future prospects, Chen Yong could not afford to be magnanimous and rational. He knew that the reason His Majesty and the Duke of Yan suppressed the Chen family while puffing up the Wang family was certainly because they intended to use him to deal with the great clans and meritorious nobles. But Chen Yong had no choice but to cooperate.

Because circumstances were stronger than men.

The court of today was no longer a place where the great clans and meritorious nobles sat high above, holding out for the best price. Ever since the court established elementary schools in various places and widely opened the imperial examinations in Jiangnan, His Majesty’s channels for selecting talent were no longer limited to the great clans and meritorious nobles. Commoner scholars had become His Majesty’s alternatives, and were the greatest threat and competitors to the sons of the great clans and meritorious nobles seeking office.

If the great clans and meritorious nobles did not wish to sit by and watch their power being nibbled away step by step, or even be gradually squeezed out of the court by commoner examination candidates, they had to actively jump into the game and seek benefits for themselves. And once people had desires and ambitions, they had to find ways to get things done. They had to cater to the preferences of those above them, even if it meant turning themselves into a sharp knife and stabbing their former allies in the back.

Chen Yong thought with sorrow that the good old days of the great clans and meritorious nobles enjoying the fruits of others’ labor were probably gone forever. From now on, civil and military officials who wanted to climb higher would have to fight like wild dogs over the meat bones in His Majesty’s hand. And the Chen family was the one who started it all!

No, Zhao Bushi and the Zhao clan of Xuzhou were the ones who started it all!

As a great clan yet willing to serve as His Majesty’s hunting hawk and hound, the sacrifices of the Zhao family could not be called small. But in the end, the Zhao family still got what they wanted. Within a single family, they had produced one of the Three Excellencies plus a provincial governor at the same time. What kind of dazzling prominence was that! To say they were as splendid as brocade flowers, as intense as fire cooking oil would not be an exaggeration!

It was because Chen Yong had seen the rich rewards reaped by Zhao Bushi and the Zhao clan of Xuzhou that his heart had been stirred.

And so, three months after being dismissed as Libationer of the Imperial Academy, Yin Shuhuai waited in Chongde Hall for Chen Yong, who had voluntarily entered the palace to request an audience.

At that time, Yin Shuhuai and Shentu Yang were playing a game of chess in Chongde Hall. Given that Yin Shuhuai was an ancient person who had transmigrated from the modern era, and Shentu Yang’s cultivation of the six arts was even more concerning, the two of them were actually playing gomoku.

An ivory-carved chessboard, with pieces of white jade and black jade, gave off a warm luster in the sunlight. Yin Shuhuai and Shentu Yang sat cross-legged on the heated platform, earnestly holding their pieces and playing against each other. The battle quickly became deadlocked.

Just at this moment, a young eunuch announced that Chen Yong was requesting an audience at the palace gates…

Shentu Yang and Yin Shuhuai exchanged a look and let out a snort of laughter: “This old man, he certainly knows which way the wind blows.”

Yin Shuhuai smiled but said nothing. The great clans and meritorious nobles had been passed down for hundreds of years. How could they not know how to trim their sails? In Emperor Li’s reign, they had all been officials who competed so fiercely they could squeeze flowers out of it. Yet in his reign, they had begun to pay lip service while doing nothing, occupying posts without doing the work. At the root of it, they were simply bullying him because he was a puppet emperor who could not act on his own and had no other choices.

Now that they sensed the threat, now that they saw the carrot dangling before their eyes, their attitude immediately changed. Who said there were no capable men among the great clans and meritorious nobles? They were not stupid. They were too clever by half.

“What would you like to eat at noon?” Yin Shuhuai did not pay attention to Chen Yong, who was waiting outside the door requesting an audience. Instead he turned to ask Shentu Yang.

Shentu Yang thought carefully and asked His Majesty: “How about crab roe lion’s head meatballs?”

Yin Shuhuai smiled.

Because some time ago, Shentu Yang had often described the customs and scenery of Jiangnan to him in memorials. Yin Shuhuai had actually dreamed of his past life’s travels to Suzhou and Hangzhou.

The misty rains of Jiangnan, the ten-li long embankment, the white walls and black tiles, the lake and mountain scenery… and finally, that West Lake vinegar fish which Yin Shuhuai would remember for a thousand years. The scene was so intensely sour that Yin Shuhuai actually woke up from the dream with a start.

After waking up, Yin Shuhuai began to miss the Huaiyang cuisine he had eaten during his past life’s travels. The next morning, he put pressure on the cooks of the Honglu Temple. He wanted to eat crab roe lion’s head meatballs, soft兜long fish, Wensi tofu, grand stewed dried tofu, eight-treasure gourd duck, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, Longjing shrimp, cherry pork…

Yin Shuhuai listed a whole stack of dishes. The Honglu Temple cooks, who had long grown accustomed to His Majesty’s pursuit of fine food, refusing nothing and mincing nothing too finely, immediately buried themselves in research. Fortunately, His Majesty’s instructions were usually clear enough, often accompanied by recipes and preparation methods. The imperial cooks could draw inferences from one example and produce something more or less close to the mark.

It so happened that some time ago, when the Duke of Yan had “caught a chill by chance,” the Chief Imperial Physician had advised that sick people should eat a light diet. Yin Shuhuai had the Honglu Temple prepare Huaiyang cuisine for Shentu Yang.

Shentu Yang had spent nearly a year in Jiangnan yet had never eaten such refined “local specialty dishes.” At first he was somewhat unaccustomed to such bland and tasteless fancy-looking food. But after eating it for a while, he grew used to it. After a few days without it, he actually found himself missing it.