Hearing about his son, the Crown Prince’s smile became tender. “What happened to Yu’er? Is something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. The young prince misses you. This old slave came specially to remind Your Highness—after seeing His Majesty, go see the young prince,” Eunuch Qi said.
The Crown Prince laughed heartily. “Who told him to only want to study? If he went to the training grounds, he could see me every day.”
Eunuch Qi quickly cautioned, “You mustn’t take the young prince to the training grounds. Last time he injured his arm—have you forgotten how His Majesty punished you?”
“When I was young, I injured my arm countless times, but I didn’t see Grandfather punish Father,” the Crown Prince said with a smile.
Eunuch Qi pretended to be annoyed. “How are you slandering His Majesty again? If you say more, this old slave will go tell His Majesty.”
The Crown Prince paid no mind, laughing heartily as he strode inward. The officials and guards on both sides of the palace gate were invisible to him.
He strode inside, and the others hurried to follow. Eunuch Zhu swallowed his unfinished words, glanced at Deng Yi, and quickly followed as well.
Deng Yi seemed completely unaware, bowing respectfully as the group passed. But when another gaze fell upon him, he raised his head and met Eunuch Qi’s backward glance—
Deng Yi withdrew his gaze and bowed down again, offering a solemn salute, as if bidding the Crown Prince a respectful farewell once more.
Eunuch Qi smiled slightly, withdrew his gaze, and said to the Crown Prince, “His Majesty just took his medicine. Please don’t anger him. This old slave will go to the young prince. You must remember—don’t rush off in a hurry again.”
The Crown Prince waved without turning back. “I know, I know. Ah, Old Qi, you really do get more long-winded with age.”
“When one grows old, one does become long-winded,” Eunuch Qi said with a smile, bowing and taking his leave.
……
……
When Eunuch Qi arrived at the Emperor’s sleeping quarters, the Crown Prince had already left. The Emperor was leaning against the soft couch with his eyes closed, being fed sweet congee by a beautiful palace maid.
He ate languidly, one mouthful at a time.
Eunuch Qi stepped forward and took over. The palace maid lowered her head and withdrew.
“Did His Highness rush off again?” he said helplessly. “It’s good this old slave didn’t tell the young prince.”
The Emperor snorted. “He seized an opportunity—arrested a hundred or so scholars, calling them bandits and rebels. He’s rushing to make Third Prince jump with frustration.”
Eunuch Qi asked, “Are they really bandits and rebels? Did they infiltrate through Third Prince’s literary gathering?”
“Does it matter whether they’re real or fake?” The Emperor opened his eyes. “Who told Third Prince to hold a literary gathering where even a young girl could steal the spotlight? Anyone and everyone attended, all sorts of riffraff.”
Eunuch Qi shook his head helplessly. “Your Majesty, won’t you intervene? You just let them fight like this?”
The Emperor sat up straight. His face, having grown thinner, looked even more listless, but his eyes were deep and flashed with a trace of manic light. “If he can’t even subdue one brother, how can he be Crown Prince? And if he wants to be Crown Prince by relying on his old man to help him, well, his old man can’t help him for a lifetime.”
What this statement meant, Eunuch Qi understood perfectly. One sentence contained two “he’s,” and they didn’t refer to the same person.
And the “tempering” His Majesty spoke of also concealed cruelty.
Treating one’s sons as playthings, like watching young beasts fight in a hunting ground—for an aging man whose youth had passed, this was a dark pleasure that could not be spoken aloud.
Eunuch Qi dared not say more about matters between father and son, between the Son of Heaven and his subjects. He only said, “Your Majesty, the Imperial Noble Consort said you mustn’t eat too much of this.”
The Emperor was displeased. “Now that I’m old, I’m being controlled by others.”
Eunuch Qi laughed heartily and took away the bowl.
“Why did you personally go to the palace gate to receive the Crown Prince?” the Emperor suddenly asked.
Although he had already explained it was to ask after the young prince’s father, when the Emperor asked now, it wasn’t senile confusion—
Eunuch Qi said in a low voice, “This old slave went to protect someone.”
The Emperor raised his eyelids and asked, “What person?”
Eunuch Qi said, “A palace gate guard, Deng Yi.”
The Emperor made a sound of acknowledgment, lowered his eyelids, and asked no more, as if it had just been a casual question.
His Majesty asked no more, but Eunuch Qi continued, “This Deng Yi is new here, quite reckless in temperament. He actually dared to stop the Crown Prince’s men. The Crown Prince naturally doesn’t mind, but petty people are troublesome. I’m afraid those petty people will deliberately cause trouble, which would instead harm the Crown Prince’s reputation.”
The Emperor smiled slightly. “You’re already old, yet you still have so much idle concern.”
Eunuch Qi chuckled. “This old slave is old—idle concern is all he has left. There’s nothing else for him to do anyway.”
The Emperor glanced at him. “It’s fine if you slack off and do nothing here with me, but don’t you dare slack off with Yu’er’s studies and daily care.”
Eunuch Qi smiled and answered yes. Seeing the Emperor say nothing more, this time he bowed and withdrew.