Chapter 33: CH 32

The Shang-guan clan was not as powerful as the Cui clan, but neither was it an ordinary clan. Its members had held official positions in the court from time to time, and its lineage could be traced back to the time when the previous dynasty was at its peak. The position its members held ranged from Prefect at the highest, and Magistrate at the lowest. They were a classic aristocratic clan.

In Year 26 of the Zhong-miao era of the Martial Emperor’s reign, the eldest daughter of the Shang-guan clan, then fifteen years old, married the then Prince Donghai, also known as Prince E of Donghai. When she was married as a consort, she and her younger sister parted with tears. The elder sister promised that she would fetch her to be by her side. Three years later, this promise was kept, and the younger sister was also married to Prince Donghai as a consort, holding the rank of Virtuous Lady in the Prince’s harem.

The children of the Shang-guan clan had a strict upbringing. Their daughters never had immodest names. The elder daughter was Xian, while the younger was Duan. In the Prince’s manor, they were Virtuous Lady Xian, and Virtuous Lady Duan.

Prince E of Donghai had a principal wife, holding the title of Princess Consort. But she died not long after being married. Back then, the prince was not yet the Crown Prince, and he was enfeoffed to a distant, coastal region.[1] He was far from the Imperial Court, and could only enter the Capital in spring to pay his respects to the Emperor. When he did so, he could only stay in the Capital for ten days. Hence, there was little chance of him receiving the favour of the Martial Emperor. Hence, no powerful clan was willing to marry their daughters to Prince Donghai to be his Princess Consort.

But in the prince’s manor, the title of Princess Consort and the position of principal wife was the object of conflict between the various Virtuous Ladies of the harem.

Virtuous Lady Duan understood the situation the moment she entered the manor. Whomever could birth the firstborn son of the prince would be the Princess Consort. That was nearly a certainty. Her elder sister had arranged for her to enter the manor to increase the chances of victory.

This was a merciless battle. The participants had no weapons other than their beauty and their wombs. Virtuous Lady Xian’s beauty was impeccable, and she had many talents. She could recite poetry, she could dance, she could even engage the prince on matters of state. She was much favored by the prince. The only thing missing was that she had yet to get pregnant after several years of marriage.

In the autumn of Year 29 of the Zhong-miao era, the Shang-guan sisters were visited by great fortune. Both of them became pregnant, the younger sister becoming pregnant half a month earlier.

Initially, this was a joyous matter. Everyone in the manor was cheerful. Even the other Virtuous Ladies in contention were willing to accept their defeat. Prince Donghai awarded his entire household with lavish gifts consisting of gold and silver, cloths and silks, amounting to a total value of ten thousand taels of silver.

A few months later, the relationship between the two Shang-guan sisters grew a little awkward. The younger sister had no intention of fighting for the position of Princess Consort, but it was not up to them, nor was it entirely up to Prince Donghai. The Imperial Court had a presence in the Princedom of Donghai, and the Bureau of Imperial Clan Affairs would act only in accordance with precedent. According to them, Prince Donghai’s personal preferences were immaterial, neither did it matter whether it was the elder or younger sister who would be the principal wife. The only principle was that a mother’s nobility is dependent on her son: whomever gives birth to the firstborn son would be the Princess Consort — no arguments necessary.

One night in the winter of that year, the two sisters had a long talk in the night. One month later, the younger sister, Virtuous Lady Duan, suffered from a miscarriage. Another few months later, the elder sister, Virtuous Lady Xian, successful gave birth to a son, and legitimately became the Princess Consort of Donghai.

Virtuous Lady Duan never spoke of the contents of the conversation that night. Even though she was now the Grand Consort, speaking to the Emperor, she only glossed over the matter.

But Han Ruzi could only shudder with fear. “What if… what if the Empress Dowager had given birth to a daughter?”

“She was willing to take the risk. What was important was not losing to me.” The Grand Consort spoke of the past nonchalantly. Nobody could tell the extent to which she was affected by the events of the past.

“But couldn’t you have refused back then. Surely… surely the Empress Dowager would not use force?” Han Ruzi was not sure about that.

“Of course not. I am her younger sister by blood.” The Grand Consort laughed, but the mirth slowly disappeared. She was like an abandoned well: a dried leaf would occasionally fall, causing a slight ripple before everything fell back to silence. “I am her younger sister. Because of her promise, I did not marry for three years. When I entered the prince’s manor at the age of seventeen, my sister’s words meant more to me than my parents’. Even if she had told me to kill myself, I would have done so without any hesitation.”

After siring his first son, Prince Donghai’s fortune grew for the better. When he entered the Capital the following year to pay his respects, he was one of ten or so brothers who obtained special dispensation to remain in the Capital. This was the first sign that the Martial Emperor had intentions of deposing the Crown Prince. Many people could tell, including the powerful Cui clan.

Hence, the Cui clan married a daughter to Prince Donghai. They did not even require her to hold the title of Princess Consort — so was just a Virtuous Lady. But rumors were rife that this was but a temporary measure, that Virtuous Lady Cui would replace Princess Consort Shang-guan sooner or later.

It was from that time that the elder Shang-guan sister began to have a change in personality. She grew paranoid, believing that everyone in the manor had been bribed by the Cui clan. The only person she could trust was her younger sister: Lady Duan.

The young princeling who was just a year old was handed over to be raised by Lady Duan, while Princess Consort Shang-guan focused her energies on keeping the attentions of her husband. The Grand Consort was not willing to divulge too many details, but she emphasized one point: The Thoughtful Emperor was raised by me. I had always treated him as my own son, standing in place of the child that I had lost. The Thoughtful Emperor also attached to me, while remaining distant to his birth mother.”

Han Ruzi could imagine the situation back then.

Princess Consort Shang-guan had succeeded. Prince E of Donghai had showered his affections on her, ignoring the other Virtuous Ladies, including Lady Cui. But he was ultimately a man, and would occasionally bed women other than the Princess Consort. Whenever this happened, Princess Consort Shang-guan would be terribly anxious, like she had fallen terribly ill. She would grab her sister’s hand and cry, asking her sister to swear to take care of the prince in the future.

Nearly every consort who had been bedded by Prince E of Donghai would receive a nourishing soup from Lady Duan. Unlike her jealous older sister, Lady Duan had a gentle personality and a good reputation. Nobody suspected her of ulterior motives.

“The soup contained abortive herbs. It was what I drank that time, I still have the herbal recipe. I do not know how many miscarriages I caused. I was like my sister’s trowel. Not only did I get rid of weeds, I also got rid of saplings. I did all these things, not for my sister, but for the Thoughtful Emperor. He had grown up under my care. I did not want him to have competition.”

The Grand Consort showed no remorse as she recounted these matters, as cold and merciless as a true trowel.

Han Ruzi felt chills in his body before a question arose in his mind: why was he and Prince Donghai not gotten rid of?

The two of them were born out of a series of coincidences and accidents.

The Shang-guan sisters controlled nearly everyone in the prince’s manor, with one exception: Lady Cui. She had the backing of her powerful clan, and her maid servants were brought over from her clan. Nobody could touch them.

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Lady Cui never hid her ambitions for the position of Princess Consort. She would openly say that the Cui clan would support Prince Donghai’s bid for the throne, the only condition being that she would be the Empress when he ascended to the throne.

Lady Cui thought poorly of everyone else, especially the Shang-guan sisters. Hence, when she was pregnant, Lady Xian’s ploy with the soup did not work.

Prince E of Donghai seldom bedded Lady Cui. Before he became the Crown Prince, he did not like the arrogant and overbearing Cui clan. Under the influence of the Princess Consort, he grew to have a poor impression of Lady Cui, and even regretted marrying her. But he could not send her back, so he tried his best not to see her.

Just like ordinary husband and wives, Prince Donghai and the Princess Consort had their fights. They were for minor matters, usually due to the Princess Consort’s jealousy. But their arguments would always end with the Princess Consort being a weeping beauty and Prince Donghai compromising.

But there was once when the fight was more intense, and lasted for half a month. Even to this day, Grand Consort Shang-guan suspected that Prince Donghai was causing a conflict on purpose, with the objective of escaping the Princess Consort’s supervision so that he may bed another woman.

“The Graceful Emperor was a good husband and a good Emperor. But he was also a man. It was good that he refrained from temptations outside his household. It would be too much to expect him to refrain from women in his own household.”

Looking at the confused Emperor, the Grand Consort laughed. “How silly of me to speak of such matters to you.”

It was during that fight that Prince Donghai bedded a few Virtuous Ladies and some servant-girls. Two of them became pregnant within less than ten days of each other, causing a great fight within the prince’s manor.

The ones who were pregnant were Virtuous Lady Cui and Han Ruzi’s mother, a servant-girl.

Princess Consort Shang-guan threw a big fuss but it was of no use. No matter how much Prince Donghai liked her, he could not get rid of his own child. The Princess Consort changed her tactics, and exerted all her influence to spread rumors about Lady Cui. This was not difficult, since Lady Cui was regularly arrogant and overbearing. Finally, Prince Donghai swore to the heavens that he would not replace the Princess Consort. Not long later, the young princeling obtained the title of Heir.

Things settled down for a while. While in-fighting was going on in the manor, the pregnant servant-girl surnamed Wang went unnoticed by everyone. She did not disclose her pregnancy to anyone. She waited until her pregnancy could no longer be hidden before taking an extremely bold act: she went to kneel before the Princess Consort, professing her guilt, and letting the Princess Consort do as she wished to the child in her.

The Princess Consort had no other choice. Since she could not get rid of the child in Lady Cui’s tummy, doing so to a mere servant-girl would be pointless. The Princess Consort spoke kindly to the servant-girl, announcing to  all that she would treat the child as her own. When she found out that servant-girl Wang had become pregnant a few days earlier than Lady Cui, she had even more reasons to retain the servant-girl’s child.

Han Ruzi listened to the story with shivers. He did not know that his life was nearly over before he had been born. It was hard to imagine the amount of pressure his mother was under, and the wisdom and bravery needed to face the Princess Consort directly.

Han Ruzi missed his mother, as he felt an ache in his heart.

Prince Donghai’s two sons were successfully born. One was called Han Song, the other Han Shu.[2]

Lady Cui was worried that her son would be harmed, hence she constantly found reasons to send her son to the Cui clan. Every time he went, he would be there for a few months.

Servant-girl Wang had no family in the Capital, and had no backing at all. She did not get any titles despite giving birth to a son, though she did not need to work as a servant-girl any longer. The Princess Consort arranged for her to live in some small quarters, living life like a prisoner.

Han Ruzi had some memory of those quarters. Good memories.

In Year 36 of the Zhong-miao era, the Martial Emperor summoned all his male descendants. Han Ruzi went as well, an event of which he had a vague memory that he had spoken of before. But that event was actually something that was fought for.

When Han Ruzi was born, he was not recorded in the register of the Imperial Clan. To the Imperial Clan, he did not exist. Servant-girl Wang had found out about the Martial Emperor’s summons from somewhere, and gave up everything she owned to bribe a servant-girl. The servant-girl got her family to pass a secret message to the Bureau of Imperial Clan Affairs, informing them that Prince Donghai had an unrecorded son.

This was verified by the Bureau, which entered Han Song into the Imperial Clan register.  They also dispatched a formal order admonishing the Princess Consort of being jealous and unvirtuous and ordering her to repent and change her ways.

Han Ruzi finally got to meet his grandfather, the Martial Emperor. After that, his position stabilized. However, his mother was the subject of a series of retaliations by the Princess Consort. It was truly not easy for her to have survived until now.

“The Empress Dowager is a vengeful person. Once she controls all power, she will continue her revenge,” said the Grand Consort.

Han Ruzi grew increasingly fearful, and also increasingly confused. “What about you? Do you wish to avenge your unborn child from all those years ago?”

The Grand Consort shook her head. “I have a son. Not the one whom I aborted in a moment of folly. The one whom I raised with my own hands — the Thoughtful Emperor. I wish to avenge him.”

[1] The distant, coastal region being referred to here is Donghai, which literally translates to Eastern Sea.

[2] This is a reveal of Han Ruzi’s actual given name. It was previously stated that Prince Donghai’s name was Han Shu. Hence, Han Song is Han Ruzi’s actual name.

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