Thousand Verdant Mountains – Chapter 79 Part 2
Chapter 79 Part 2
Pei Xiaoyuan suddenly opened his eyes and sat up in shock. In the darkness, he felt his mouth was dry and sweat run all over his body, his heart was beating so fast that it kept hitting his chest.
Qingtou had no chance to approach his master during the day, and tonight he followed He Jin to have a drink and had just came back. At first he thought his master hadn’t return, but then he saw that he had. He couldn’t hold back his excitement that had been stirred all day, and even though he knew he would wake up his master, he didn’t care. He came to the room where his master was resting, listened through the door, and asked, “Master, are you awake? You know, Miss Ye is actually a princess!”
There was no response from inside.
Although Qingtou had a thousand words to say to his master, he did not dare to force his way in to talk to him if his master was not awake. He waited for a moment and muttered in confusion: “Strange, Master never slept so deeply before… What happened tonight…”
The various noises made by the servant outside the door finally disappeared, and finally, everything returned to silence.
Pei Xiaoyuan slowly lowered his head and found that his body had completely gone out of control along with the unbridled dream just now.
He did not fall asleep for the rest of the night, just closed his eyes and waited for dawn.
At the fifth watch, he got up.
The Cangshan hunting ground was dozens of miles away. With the speed at which the emperor traveled, it would take half a day to get there. As they would be hunting for three days, they had to camp overnight in the hunting ground area and return three days later. Since they would to set out in the morning, and there were many chores to do, he went out early to prepare.
He opened the door, but was surprised to find that Qingtou had gotten up earlier than him, was already dressed, and squatted outside the door, as if waiting for him to come out. As soon as he saw him, he jumped up from the ground impatiently, quickly brought water for washing, and then kept sighing in his master’s ear.
“Master! Miss Ye is actually Princess Shouchang! Oh my God! When I first heard about this yesterday, I was so happy that I almost went crazy. I did several somersaults in a row. Do you believe it, Master? But I am not surprised at all. Do you believe it, Master? It’s true! I am not surprised at all! I said, who else in the world can be worthy of being a princess except Miss Ye? What’s more, His Majesty was so good to her before! In fact, I have seen it a long time ago, this must be the way! His Majesty must have known her identity a long time ago, and Master, you must have known it a long time ago, am I right?”
Pei Xiaoyuan let the servant circle around him happily like a fly. After washing up, he changed into his clothes for the day without saying a word.
Qingtou followed closely and helped his master get dressed. Suddenly, he felt something was wrong and looked at his master’s face: “Master, why don’t you look happy at all? Miss Ye is a princess, are you not happy for her?”
Pei Xiaoyuan’s face finally twitched: “Happy. You go out. I don’t need you here.”
Qingtou stared at him doubtfully again, feeling that his expression was suspicious and he didn’t look happy at all.
“Master, I heard that many people proposed to the princess at the Qingyuan Hall banquet last night! If you had succeeded in Ganliang before, it would not have been their turn!”
Qingtou thought about it for a while, but his dream was finally shattered. He sighed deeply, “Alas, what a pity, such a great opportunity is gone! Master, don’t you regret it at all? If you hadn’t offended the young lady at the beginning, the young lady might not have broken off the engagement. Then, wouldn’t the princess be my lady now? My God—”
Being able to become a servant to the princess was the most glorious career peak that Qingtou could think of in his life.
Pei Xiaoyuan had a blank expression on his face. After finished tidying up, he turned to leave. As soon as he left, he ran into Eunuch Cao, who was leading a palace attendant with a cheerful smile. Seeing him, he hurriedly said, “Chief Pei, up so early? This servant is here to collect the congratulatory poem! If it’s a bit later, things will get chaotic with the departure, and something might get overlooked. Chief Pei, have you finished your poem?”
Pei Xiaoyuan’s face remained impassive as he paused for a moment. Then, without a word, he turned back inside. After grinding some ink and dipping his brush, he quickly wrote a few lines under the title Untitled. Once the ink dried, he handed it over and left hastily.
Everything went as planned that day. At noon, a large number of more than a thousand people arrived at the hunting ground. The emperor took a short rest in the tent and changed into hunting clothes. Then, surrounded by the crowd, he rode to the hunting ground. As was customary, the event began with the ancient Three Drives ritual, symbolizing the heavens’ benevolence and the principle of sparing life rather than hunting to extinction. Following this, the hunt officially commenced.
Although there was only half a day left and it was just a small hunt—a mere warm-up hunt to loosen the body and prepare for the days ahead—but this did not dampen everyone’s enthusiasm at all, especially the young men from various guards. In order to show off their archery and martial arts in front of the princess who came with them, everyone was very competitive. Each strove to outdo the others, fearing the embarrassment of a lesser haul compared to their peers.
At dusk, everyone finished hunting and returned one after another to count the prey. The Crown Prince and Prince Kang, needless to say, brought at least a dozen followers with them and had a very good harvest. The two of them were equally matched. The rest of the people naturally couldn’t compare, but Hedu, Chengping, Yuwen Zhi, Lantai and others also had a lot of prey in their bags.
The emperor repeatedly praised the young heroes. After looking at the prey presented by everyone, he ordered that an extra bag of imperial wine be given to each of them at tonight’s hunting banquet as a reward.
Everyone bowed in unison to express their gratitude.
The hunting scene in the front was extremely lively, but Han Kerang was so angry that he was fuming.
He never expected that Pei Xiaoyuan, whom he had high hopes for, did nothing after arriving that day.
He did not participate in the hunting as ordered, but continued to work as usual, and spent most of his time outside. Therefore, no one saw him show up during the day, including Han Kerang.
Fuming with frustration, Han Kerang sought him out after the emperor had retired to rest in his tent. Dragging him to a secluded spot and reprimanded him: “What’s wrong with you? I really don’t understand you anymore! They all want to show off their skills in front of His Majesty, and what did you do? When I told you to stay away from the little painter before, you didn’t listen and stuck close anyway! And now that I tell you to go, you retreat instead! Even if you’re not participating in the hunt, you could at least stay close to His Majesty! Let him see you! But no, you retreat to the outskirts! Do you think His Majesty has eyes that see for a thousand miles? Is this how you’re supposed to perform?”
Pei Xiaoyuan accepted his superior’s reprimand and said, “General, please be patient. The hunting ground is large and it’s the first day of arrival. It’s easier to make mistakes on the outskirts. I’m worried, so I went out to take a look.”
Han Kerang paused for a moment, completely speechless. After a long while, he could only point his finger at Pei Xiaoyuan, nodded a few times, turned around, and put his hands behind his back.
It was getting dark. Cui Daosi, who had followed the emperor, was naturally not as strong as the young men, and by now, he was exhausted.
Originally, he wanted to stay in the palace like Prince Ning and not come for this hunting trip. But the princess’s return to the court made him realize that the emperor’s purpose for the summer retreat to Cangshan might be for the princess. And she still had a close relationship with his nephew. Thinking of this, he must survive even if he died. So he gritted his teeth and followed today. At this moment, most people were still drinking and having fun outside. He went back to his tent early and lay down. He asked an old servant to massage his waist, and was still resting when Yang Zai’en suddenly came and called outside, saying that the emperor wanted him to come over.
Cui Daosi did not dare to delay, and hurriedly stood up, dressed himself up again, and put on the crown of virtue that the emperor had given him last night, which was specially bestowed on his favorite ministers. Then he hurriedly followed Yang Zai’en to the imperial tent.
On the way, he didn’t feel at ease and asked what happened. He was relieved when he heard Yang Zai’en say that the emperor had nothing to do in the tent at night, so he read the poems and essays submitted by everyone. Knowing that his literature knowledge was outstanding, he specially called him to review it together. He hurried over and entered the imperial tent. It was quiet inside, and the huge candle lit up as bright as day. The emperor was leaning on a couch. As Yang Zai’en said, he was flipping through the many poems stacked on the desk.
Not only the emperor, but also the princess was there. She was beside him, using a small stove to boil medicine with the old palace eunuch Zhao Zhongfang. The tent was filled with a strange smell of bitter medicine and ambergris, but it didn’t smell unpleasant, but rather refreshing.
“Minister Cui is here? Come quickly. Last night, Zhen was in a good mood and said something casually, and today Zhen was handed all of this. Looking at it os enough to make Zhen’s head spin. But not reading it, afraid Zhen will fail to honor the effort everyone has put into them. Then Zhen thinking of you, Minister Cui, you passed the imperial examination as a jinshi when you were young and later became a historian at the Zhaowen Academy. That’s why Zhen specially summoned you to help review these.”
When the emperor saw him, he greeted him with a smile and told him not to be formal and to sit anywhere.
Cui Daosi had a feeling that the emperor who had appeared in public these two days since the princess came back was like a completely different person compared to before.
The emperor could show his friendliness, but as a courtier, he could not relax at any time. How could he not understand this truth? He still followed the rules and bowed to the emperor and the princess, then sat down next to the emperor, took the stack of poems handed to him, and began to read.
To be honest, he had seen plenty of this kind of palace poems, including the one he had written in front of everyone at the banquet last night, which were written purely to please the emperor. The content was almost the same, praising the princess and the emperor and singing their praises. Last night, many ministers went back, and some of them probably asked their people to write it, and they were pretty good. He picked out the ones that were pleasing to the eye and put them aside for the emperor to choose from. Among them was the poem of Prince Xin’an, Li Hui.
Suddenly, the emperor handed him a manuscript and asked him to see how it was written.
Cui Daosi took it and saw that it was an untitled ancient style poem, with loose handwriting, dripping ink, and a slightly sloppy look, which was obviously written in a hurry.
A jade maiden descends from the celestial palace. Graceful as a flower, her beauty divine.
Five-colored clouds reflect starlight. All creation gathers at the springtime terrace.
Her sword moves, dragons roar through frost. Her flute plays, phoenixes dance in flight.
In days of old, there was the “Yi Lan Melody,” The Five Classics are like the deep ocean.
Though the Milky Way spans great distance. This heart lingers, wandering endlessly.
After reading it, Cui Daosi fell silent. At this moment, he heard the emperor’s voice above him: “What? With your talent and knowledge, you don’t have your own opinion?”
Cui Daosi raised his eyes and met two scrutinizing gazes from the emperor.
He knew that the emperor had studied under many great scholars when he was young, such as the late Empress Zhaode’s father, who had been his teacher at an early age. He thought that the emperor would not be without thoughts, so he said truthfully: “This poem is very literary and cites classics, but after reading it carefully, this minister seems to read some dissatisfaction and complaints.”
“Go on.”
“Your Majesty, look at the line ‘In days of old, there was the “Yi Lan Melody,” The Five Classics are like the deep ocean’ in the poem. Yi Lan Melody refers to the noble aspirations of Confucius. ‘The Five Classics are like the deep ocean’ comes from , and the original sentence says that the Five Classics are like the deep ocean of morality. Plus the last line, ‘This heart lingers, wandering endlessly.’ What is he wandering about? It clearly means that the court is now confused and morality is not upheld!” Cui Daosi explained.
“Even you think so. It seems it’s not Zhen who’s misreading.” The emperor said slowly.
Cui Daosi looked at the handwriting again, and he did not recognize it. There was no signature on the manuscript. He hesitated and said, “Your Majesty, can you tell this minister which bold lunatic wrote this poem? He dared to take advantage of the princess’s return to give Your Majesty such a poem with ulterior motives. He deserves death!”
The emperor looked at him and said, “It was written by your good nephew Pei Er himself.”
Cui Daosi was shocked, and cold sweat broke out on his back, soaking his clothes. He subconsciously looked at the princess and saw that she was looking at him with a half-smile on her face. Realizing the situation, he hurriedly knelt before the emperor, bowing his head in a fluster and then changed his words: “Your Majesty, please forgive this minister! Just now, this minister spoke recklessly without proper thought because this minister strained his back and legs from today’s travels and felt very exhausted. On further reflection, this minister thought that this poem really expresses long-cherished love for someone close to the poet’s heart!”
“Oh? How does it express long-cherished love for someone close to the poet’s heart? Minister Cui, why don’t you elaborate further?” Fortunately, the emperor did not lose his temper on the spot.
Cui Daosi quickly revised his interpretation: “The first four lines are praises for the person of the poet’s affection. It cleverly uses Prince Wang Rong of Jin Dynasty’s “Preface to Qushui Poetry”. ‘Clouds moistening and stars shining, and winds stirring the moon,’ subtly allude to the Princess’s former title Zanxing. The lines about ‘swords stirring with dragon roars’ and ‘flutes rising as phoenixes flutter’ borrow the tale of Xiao Shi and Nongyu, metaphorically expressing admiration and love for the one in the poet’s heart. As for the last four lines they lament the separation between the two—mountains and rivers standing as barriers, making it impossible to fulfill their desires. The poet can only hold this affection deeply within, trapped in unresolved longing and solitary sorrow.
“The poem says, ‘A graceful lady, a gentleman desires.’ When young, it is natural for feelings to awaken and for one to be unable to suppress them. This is but human nature. If the words in the poem have inadvertently offended the Princess, this minister beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness!”
After Cui Daosi finished his defense, he knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe.
After a while, just when he felt he could no longer endure, he heard the emperor say calmly: “Then summon that fine nephew of yours as well. Let us question him directly and see what exactly he meant by writing such a thing and submitting it just to make up the numbers and fool Zhen.”