Holding the Emperor Hostage : Chapter 2: Pay Me More

After a long silence, Commandant Dong Wan asked in bewilderment: “That fool, that little emperor, how did he do it?”

To be able to ignore three thousand palace guards and, without alerting the Grand Commandant or the layers of guards at their own residences, silently slip white flowers and notes into their chests. Could there truly be someone in this world with such ability?

Everyone exchanged glances, feeling a chill creep up from the base of their spines.

Pure martial prowess was not frightening. What was frightening was a cold arrow hidden in the dark. Just like the three white flowers and notes that had appeared quietly tonight perhaps tomorrow night, they would become three sharp blades, just as silently piercing their hearts.

Who wouldn’t be afraid of that?

Advisor Fan Juan suddenly spoke: “I have heard that when Emperor Li was on the throne, he once established a Night Owl Guard to monitor officials and feudal lords, specializing in espionage and assassination. Perhaps… His Majesty has inherited this Night Owl Guard?”

“Impossible!” Colonel Director Jiang Yang immediately said: “Wasn’t it said that those secret guards were all buried with the previous emperor when Emperor Li passed away?” Buried with him in name, but in reality, this guard had committed too many killings under Emperor Li’s command. Once Emperor Li died, the court officials, aristocratic families, and even the feudal princes stationed outside the capital began settling old scores. They forced the Night Owl Guard to their deaths under the pretense of burial. Even the Crown Prince, who had been on extremely close terms with the Night Owl commander Fu Hanzhang, suddenly died the night before his own enthronement.

After the Crown Prince’s sudden death, the court officials supported the third prince, who had been raised under Empress Huo’s name, to ascend the throne. He would be known in history as Emperor You. Emperor You was debauched and dissolute, and less than a year into his reign, he suddenly died while dallying with a beauty. Empress Dowager Huo flew into a rage and ordered all concubines in the harem to be buried with Emperor You. She then supported Emperor You’s son the posthumously named Emperor Shang, who had been born less than two months prior as emperor.

Several months later, Emperor Shang died of cold sickness. His birth mother, Empress Dowager He, was overcome with grief and soon after died of melancholy. The now Grand Empress Dowager Huo, with the support of her maternal relatives and the eunuchs, installed Emperor Li’s sixth son, the five year old Yin Kaiyang, as emperor.

Yin Kaiyang was on the throne for eight years. The elderly Grand Empress Dowager passed away from cold sickness. Not long after, the young emperor accidentally fell into the water while drinking wine and boating in the imperial garden. By the time the eunuchs and guards pulled him out, he had no breath left. His posthumous title was Emperor Ai.

After Emperor Ai’s death, the aristocratic officials who had grasped the court’s situation joined forces with the powerful eunuchs in the palace and decided to support Emperor Li’s posthumous son the nine year old young emperor to ascend the throne.

Three years later, the twelve year old young emperor secretly contacted loyal officials in the court, intending to execute the powerful eunuchs and treacherous ministers. But the plot was leaked, and he was instead poisoned by the powerful eunuch Zhang Jian.

After Zhang Jian poisoned the young emperor, he recommended Emperor Li’s legitimate son—the fifth prince Yin Shuhai—to succeed to the throne. His original intention was probably to install this fool Yin Shuhai as emperor and control the realm by manipulating the puppet. But he never expected that his secret poisoning of the young emperor would be leaked, and he would instead be executed by Grand Commandant Huo Yan under the charge of “cunningly manipulating power and coveting the throne.”

“Truly, if you don’t pull the weeds out by the roots, they’ll grow back when the spring wind blows…” Grand Commandant Huo Yan sighed, then suddenly spoke: “When Emperor Li passed away, the only ones buried with him were the Night Owl commander Fu Hanzhang and the Night Owl Guard that he openly commanded. The rest of his lackeys vanished without a trace.”

At the height of its power, the Night Owl Guard had spies and informants spread throughout the realm. According to rumor, every court official and every feudal lord’s household had Night Owl spies. But aside from Emperor Li and Fu Hanzhang, no one knew the full roster of the Night Owl Guard.

Commandant Dong Wan scratched his head, still feeling something was off: “But it has been thirteen years since Emperor Li passed away…”

If the Yin royal family still controlled this secret guard, why had the previous four emperors chosen to sit and wait for death?

“Don’t forget, the previous few… were all children.” The youngest one had even died before reaching one year of age.

And when Yin Shuhai ascended the throne, he was already sixteen. Moreover, due to congenital foolishness, he had always been raised outside the palace.

Only at this moment did everyone suddenly realize that throughout the court and the realm, no one actually knew the true background of Yin Shuhai.

Colonel Director Jiang Yang stroked his beard, lost in thought: “So you’re saying our esteemed Majesty has been deliberately playing the fool, deceiving all of us?”

In their view, if Yin Shuhai hadn’t always acted foolish and stupid, utterly worthless, the powerful eunuch Zhang Jian wouldn’t have deliberately supported him to the throne. Unfortunately, less than a year after Yin Shuhai’s enthronement, the powerful eunuch Zhang Jian was killed by the Grand Commandant. Now that it was Huo Yan’s turn to hold power, he naturally couldn’t tolerate the puppet installed by Zhang Jian to continue as emperor. And the Prince of Dai that Grand Commandant Huo Yan favored was the legitimate son of Prince Dai Yin Changgeng Emperor Li’s younger brother named Yin Heng. He was only seven years old this year, but already showed the makings of a wise ruler.

Yin Shuhai probably also knew that being deposed wouldn’t lead to any good end for him, which was why he stopped pretending?

Viewed this way, this Majesty could indeed be called one who had endured humiliation to bide his time.

Thinking of this, everyone exchanged glances.

Huo Yan’s expression shifted between dark and uncertain. After a long while, he suddenly sneered coldly: “Whether he’s playing the fool or just putting on a show, I’ll find out with one test.”

…

“Your willingness to try makes me very happy. But the request you made puts me in a very difficult position!”

Inside the Chongde Hall, Yin Shuhai, refreshed after a good night’s sleep, looked somewhat regretfully at the kneeling eunuch Zhuang Wuwei.

Although last night, Yin Shuhai had been terrified that his reign as emperor would end before it barely began, upon waking up he figured that since things had come to this, worrying was useless. He might as well eat first.

But he never expected that this meal would cause him extreme suffering.

The Yin Dynasty’s official system and clothing were similar to the Qin and Han periods, and the food was much the same. Unfortunately, the cooking methods were far too limited. Even in the palace, there was nothing that could be called fine cuisine.

Yin Shuhai’s breakfast was a bowl of millet rice, a bowl of meat stew made from unidentifiable meat, a plate of greasy steamed meat, a dish of pickled radish strips, and a steamed salted fish whose flavor defied description.

After finishing this meal, Yin Shuhai became genuinely depressed he hadn’t been this upset even when he learned from the palace servants last night that he was about to be deposed.

After all, being deposed or poisoned was just a matter of a cup of poisoned wine. But if he had to eat this kind of stuff every day, that would be nothing short of slow suicide.

Yin Shuhai, whose foodie attribute was maxed out, couldn’t tolerate this for even a moment.

So he put down his chopsticks and gave suggestions to the palace servants he wanted to drink soy milk and eat fried dough sticks, or have a bowl of millet porridge with two big meat buns. At the very least, give him two boiled eggs!

A good breakfast leads to a full lunch and a light dinner only then is it the way of health. Since breakfast wasn’t good, shouldn’t lunch at least have some braised pork hock, sweet and sour pork, stewed lamb chops, big plate chicken, roast duck, roast fish, roast pigeon, sweet and sour spare ribs, stewed pig trotters…

The starving Emperor’s mind wandered, drooling as he started reciting dishes. As he recited, he realized many of these dishes couldn’t be made with current cooking techniques, so he thought of first making a few iron woks, iron plates, and wire racks.

The attending eunuchs exchanged bewildered glances. A young eunuch named Zhuang Wuwei immediately knelt down and said his ancestors had been blacksmiths, and before entering the palace he had learned weapon forging from his grandfather. Although he had never made iron woks, iron plates, or wire racks, as long as His Majesty gave him the chance, he would definitely work hard to forge ironware that would satisfy His Majesty.

Yin Shuhai was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately ordered Zhuang Wuwei to forge him an iron wok. But before the matter could even begin, he encountered an obstacle

It turned out that when Emperor Li was on the throne, he had issued an order nationalizing salt and iron. Throughout the court and realm, without imperial permission, no one was allowed to privately operate salt or iron businesses. After Emperor Li’s death, the subsequent emperors were either too young and ignorant or too weak and incompetent, causing power to fall into others’ hands. The right to operate salt and iron was moved from the Privy Purse (the emperor’s private treasury) to the state treasury. Now, if the palace wanted to forge ironware, they needed to request permission from the Grand Commandant…

As Yin Shuhai listened, he was on the verge of tears. Look at what kind of emperor he was not only a political puppet, but wanting to forge an iron wok required begging someone. The key was that he had no confidence in making Huo Yan listen to him after all, the man was about to depose him as emperor.

“I hope the Grand Commandant will let me eat one last meal cooked in an iron wok before he kills me,” Yin Shuhai wailed, covering his face.

The eunuchs were greatly alarmed upon hearing this and immediately knelt down with their heads bowed. Zhuang Wuwei, who had unintentionally touched upon the Emperor’s sorrow, also kowtowed for mercy: “Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This servant deserves ten thousand deaths!”

“What is there to deserve ten thousand deaths for?” Yin Shuhai waved his hand, his face full of tragic emotion: “Rise. Better a live dog than a dead lion. I only hope that after my death, the Grand Commandant will get what he wants and spare you innocent people.”

Upon hearing these words, the eunuchs wept even louder.

The wails shook the heavens. Jiang Yang, who had just arrived outside the palace, paused in his steps, his brows tightly furrowed.

A young eunuch at the door wiped his eyes with his sleeve and announced from outside the hall that Colonel Director Jiang Yang requested an audience.

Jiang Yang?

Yin Shuhai (tea-scented edition) paused slightly in his action of wiping away tears. Wasn’t that the Colonel Director who had colluded with Grand Commandant Huo Yan at last night’s banquet to depose him as emperor?

Yin Shuhai didn’t know why the other party was entering the palace at this moment. Thinking of the Flying Flower Message he had sent last night, Yin Shuhai stood up and said in a drawn-out voice: “Let him in.”

Jiang Yang removed his shoes and ascended the hall, meeting the evasive or resentful gazes of the many eunuchs. His sharp eyes subtly sized up the Emperor sitting properly at the head. No matter how he looked, he couldn’t see how this puppet emperor with nothing but a pretty face resembled someone who controlled the remnants of the Night Owl Guard. But the white flowers and notes the three of them had received last night were not fake.

His life and fortune hanging in someone else’s hands, the slightest misstep could cost him his head. This sense of urgency, like a sword hanging over his head, made Jiang Yang’s eyes narrow slightly. He paid his respects to the Emperor, and before Yin Shuhai could speak, he directly presented a memorial requesting that the Emperor additionally appoint Grand Commandant Huo Yan as Chancellor.

“Since Cao Cen was killed by the treacherous eunuch Zhang Jian last year, the position of Chancellor has remained vacant. The Grand Commandant possesses both virtue and talent, and his merits and hard work are great…” As Jiang Yang spoke, he carefully observed the little emperor’s expression.

Presenting this memorial to respectfully request (coerce) the Emperor to appoint Huo Yan as Chancellor was the test that Huo Yan and his advisors had devised.

The Yin Dynasty inherited the previous dynasty’s system of Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers. The Grand Commandant managed military affairs, the Chancellor managed political affairs, and the Imperial Censor supervised officials. Now that Huo Yan was already Grand Commandant, if he wanted to further expand his power, he naturally needed to firmly grasp the Chancellor position—the highest administrative post in a feudal dynasty. But according to ancestral law, the Grand Commandant and Chancellor absolutely could not be held by one person.

Huo Yan deliberately posed such a difficult problem at this moment precisely to test whether Yin Shuhai was putting on a show or truly had confidence.

If Yin Shuhai was just putting on a show, he definitely wouldn’t dare refuse Jiang Yang’s memorial request. But if Yin Shuhai truly refused, he would necessarily have to propose who should serve as Chancellor. This person would need to be of high moral standing and noble character, able to silence the gossip of the entire court, and capable of standing as a rival to the Grand Commandant.

If the little emperor really couldn’t hold his tongue and spoke up, Huo Yan could use this opportunity to see who was supporting the Emperor behind the scenes, and perhaps even dig out the remnants of the Night Owl Guard hidden in the shadows.

Huo Yan and his advisors had thought everything through carefully, but they never expected that Yin Shuhai had a third option: “The position of Chancellor requires overseeing all officials and managing national political affairs. With such great authority, how could it be held concurrently with the Grand Commandant…”

A cold smile tugged at the corner of Jiang Yang’s lips, but then he heard the little emperor ponder for a moment and resolutely declare: “…unless you pay me more.”

Jiang Yang didn’t react in time, his gaze going blank: “Huh?”