Chapter 22: Trample Her Face!

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“Your nephew is an outsider official. Would it not be rather inconvenient for me to see your sister-in-law now?”

Wu An asked instinctively. He did not dislike dealing with women, especially young women like Shangguan Wan’er, who appeared shrewd and inscrutable but were, in truth, guileless and straightforward.

But Lady Pei had been the deceased Crown Prince’s woman. There were certain proprieties to observe, and it was best not to involve himself.

“Since we are family, what harm could there be in meeting her?”

Wu An rose and said courteously, “I imagine my sister-in-law will need some time to prepare her hair and clothes. I may as well use the interval to fetch Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy. I shall pay my respects properly when I return.”

Pei Judo felt that this young man was flattering his family at every turn. His words were certainly cautious, yet never so humble as to become obsequious. It was a manner that put the listener at ease.

The work left behind by Wang Xizhi was a gift worth far more than the other valuables, yet it had not been listed among the presents.

Wu An had already prepared an answer in his mind. He did not know whether Pei Judo had failed to consider this point or had simply chosen to overlook it, but the older man asked no further questions.

After he left, a figure dressed all in white quietly entered the room and said with some helplessness, “It is not as though no one has tried to draw close to our family through calligraphy and paintings before. Why did Father lose his composure today?”

“You do not understand. Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy is no ordinary piece of writing. It is something very special…”

Pei Judo gave an embarrassed laugh and gestured for his daughter to sit. After a moment’s thought, he slowly said, “I have never possessed great ambitions. I entered officialdom through the privilege of my family name and became a general. As long as I can provide my family with a comfortable life, I shall be perfectly content.”

“Then…”

The young woman’s lovely brows drew together. She did not quite understand her father’s actions.

“That calligraphy is not something a man like Wu An could produce on his own. Behind him there is either the Wu family or the Empress. We need not fear offending them…”

Pei Judo paused, then added, “But it would be best not to offend them. Our family may share a certain bond with the imperial house, but do you truly think the Empress is the sort of person who will speak to you on the strength of old affection?”

If the Pei family had some matter to place before the imperial court, the court would certainly help. That was the proper use of such personal regard.

But if the Emperor or the Empress had some matter to request of the Pei family, and one dared to flaunt their past connection as a bargaining chip, that would be nothing short of courting death.

In essence, such favor was much like a token promising exemption from execution. It could never be used in the place where, in theory, it ought to be used.

The young woman silently repeated the name Wu An to herself, committing it to memory. Then she said slowly, “He certainly knows how to speak. Among the guests of the Eastern Palace in years past, few were as perceptive as he.”

She was not an ignorant girl. Having spent years at the Eastern Palace, she had absorbed more than a little of what went on around her. She could therefore tell that the man was deliberately lowering himself to make himself agreeable.

Her father believed he had the upper hand, but in truth, he had been led by the nose from beginning to end.

Father and daughter exchanged a few words from time to time, each harboring private thoughts of their own. Aside from a trace of embarrassment, Pei Judo felt mostly pleased. It was not good for his daughter to remain shut away in the inner quarters forever.

Before long, a maid’s announcement sounded outside. A moment later, Wu An stepped into the room once more, dressed in a black robe.

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His expression was gentle and his features refined. The black robe he wore formed an eerie complement to the white-clad woman kneeling before the writing table. He looked like an elegant young gentleman, yet when he spoke, his words rang like clashing blades, and a trace of disdainful authority flickered between his brows.

Wu An bowed to the father and daughter seated behind the table.

“Your nephew pays his respects to his uncle.”

Then he looked toward the young woman before him, his gaze resting on her for a brief moment.

“Your servant pays his respects… to the Crown Princess.”

At the title, the young woman almost burst into tears. Ever since the Crown Prince’s death, no one had called her that for a very long time.

But she drew a deep breath and still managed to produce a stiff, courteous smile. In modern terms, she had spent so many years hidden away at home that she had developed severe social anxiety; naturally, she was unaccustomed to meeting outsiders.

Her lips moved hesitantly, and she forced out a couple of perfunctory replies.

Wu An smiled and sat down. After exchanging only a few simple words with her, he watched a flush of color slowly spread across the young woman’s pale, haggard face.

…

“What a rare visitor.”

A languid voice drifted from the imperial couch, hidden behind layer upon layer of curtains.

The Prince of Han, Li Yuanjia, merely stood some distance away and listened. Not once did he show the slightest displeasure at the other man’s discourtesy.

Yet whenever he spoke of Wu An, even his careful restraint could not prevent the resentment in his voice from spilling over. He added a few embellishments to the story.

He claimed that the Empress had deliberately ordered the young scoundrel to provoke him, and that the target was not merely his personal dignity, but the dignity of the imperial house itself.

“Those are the Empress’s exact words?”

The man concealed behind the curtains still spoke in that listless tone. At this, Prince Li Yuanjia’s fire went out, and he did not say yes.

An insinuation was one thing. The moment he gave it voice, however, he could easily find the charge of sowing discord thrown at his head.

“Heh…”

“Your Majesty, that young scoundrel is truly overbearing. He is only a low-ranking military officer, yet he dared to deploy weapons in the middle of the street. Ever since the late Emperor Taizong, the imperial clan and senior officials have always been treated with special consideration. Setting aside the Empress for the moment, if this young scoundrel is not disciplined promptly, how can we answer to the late Emperor Taizong’s final injunctions?”

Through the layers of curtains, one could make out a languid-looking middle-aged man reclining on the couch. Listening to Prince Han’s endless complaints, he gave an amused smile.

“Then why have I heard that the Empress had already issued a clear edict ordering the man’s arrest, while you and several ministers privately agreed to obstruct the officers and soldiers in the street and prevent the prisoner from being taken away?

“From the way you tell it now, one would think she had deliberately come looking for you merely to humiliate you.”

Li Yuanjia’s body trembled. He heard the displeasure in the Emperor’s words and immediately prostrated himself on the floor.

Although Li Yuanjia was a princely member of the imperial clan and had no need to navigate the subtleties of official society, he could still judge the situation clearly.

Hao Chujun could not be saved.

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The Emperor had shown no objection whatsoever to the Empress acting with unchecked authority…

At that thought, cold sweat broke out across Prince Han Li Yuanjia’s forehead.

I really am an idiot. Truly.

This matter might very well have been carried out at the Emperor’s command, rather than being an excuse the Empress had seized upon to strike back at her enemies.

But he had already agreed to fulfill the other party’s request. If he returned empty-handed, his dignity and prestige would suffer a severe blow.

With no alternative, Prince Han Li Yuanjia knelt on the ground and immediately said, “I merely felt that the members of the Wu family have become somewhat too arrogant of late. Leaving aside the Duke of Zhou and the others, who are greedy for wealth and lust, even Wu An is a rebellious and insolent sort. Whatever the case, he openly shouted insults at me in the street today and nearly drew weapons against me.”

Although the Prince of Han was the Emperor’s uncle, by the time he had said this much, he was utterly helpless.

I will not interfere any further—but you must at least give me something to save face. Punishing a minor soldier should not be difficult.

The Emperor shifted into a more comfortable position on the imperial couch and gave a quiet assent.

“This child has indeed gone too far.”

“Summon him to the palace. I shall reprimand him in person, then have him beaten with the palace staff until he cannot rise from bed for several months. Will that satisfy you, Uncle?”

Recalling the young man’s arrogant face, a flicker of satisfaction passed through Li Yuanjia’s heart. Yet he remained kneeling and said with calculated reluctance, “I know Your Majesty is merciful. Perhaps we should let the matter go?”

The Emperor said nothing more. A young eunuch standing nearby spoke in a cold voice.

“His Majesty’s words are the law of Heaven. Do you think you may alter them?”

“I am guilty. I am guilty…”

After leaving the main hall, Li Yuanjia found someone waiting outside. It was none other than the purple-robed Chancellor, Xue Zhen.

“What happened?”

“His Majesty’s words are the law of Heaven.” Li Yuanjia gave a cold laugh and lowered his voice. “That filthy lackey—this time, even if he summoned the Empress herself, she could not save him from this beating.”

“Only a beating?”

Xue Zhen considered the matter in silence, then suddenly said, “You and I are expected to wait here and watch him be punished. Why not take advantage of the fact that even the Empress cannot shield him? Let us give him another push. Have him beaten first, then stripped of his office.”

“Perhaps we should forget it?”

Li Yuanjia was being most considerate. “Let the fellow suffer a little, and that should be enough. Do not offend the Empress. She is not someone we can afford to provoke…”

“Offend her?”

Xue Zhen gave an almost imperceptible laugh, his voice dripping with derision.

“She is old and faded. How could she compare with the young consorts in the palace? Before the Emperor as he is now, no one has the standing to interfere in today’s affair. We are going to make her lose face—thoroughly.”