Events proved that given both the opportunity and the means, Fuchun was indeed someone who knew how to get things done.
The very next afternoon he came again to Zhaoxia Palace. The palace attendants had already received Lin Fei’s instructions, and the moment he arrived he was led directly before Xie Yuzhang.
Fuchun first kowtowed to Xie Yuzhang. “Today Hanliang Hall is very busy. This servant only has a little time and has seized a gap to come report to Your Highness.”
“First, the Mobei Khanate’s delegation entered the city yesterday evening. The Emperor received them this morning and held a small banquet at noon; there will be a formal banquet this evening.”
“Second, Your Highness’s inquiry — this servant has already found out. The Military Governor of Hexi, Li Ming, has a residence on the south side of Vermilion Bird Square’s main street, where they stay whenever they come to the capital. From the time the two young General Li’s arrived in Yunjing, they have frequently attended banquets and socialized with the sons of the hereditary noble families. However, the two of them are unfamiliar with the customs of our Yunjing. The sons of the noble families look down on them somewhat.”
“Third, yesterday when the delegation entered the city, the two young General Li’s had a conflict with the adopted son of the Military Governor of Shuofang who had accompanied the delegation into the capital. If the Crown Prince and the Fifth Prince had not intervened, both sides would have come to blows. Oh my — these frontier generals all seem to have been born with explosive tempers.”
Truly, Fuchun’s tongue was as quick and fluent as could be.
Had Xie Yuzhang not foreseen what was to come, she would have been tempted to have him transferred to Zhaoxia Palace right then.
“You are this sharp and capable. Why have you never gotten ahead over at the Zichen Hall?” she could not help but ask.
Fuchun said repeatedly that he “dared not accept such a remark,” and said, “The senior eunuchs over at Zichen Hall are each and every one of them brilliantly clever. There is no way this servant could possibly get ahead there.”
After being modest, he was afraid Xie Yuzhang might take him at his word, so he explained: “This servant originally had a godfather in service, but the year before last, during the cold epidemic, he passed away along with the late Crown Prince.”
Finding a godfather was not so simple a thing, and Fuchun was now getting on in age. Senior eunuchs with standing felt that someone this old would be too difficult to shape into the right habits, and were unwilling to take him on. He had become like a small cabbage patch weed — even the work he had done before had been taken away by others. He was actually doing worse now than when he was young.
Xie Yuzhang suddenly understood.
“Very well, I know now. From now on, if there are any interesting happenings, don’t forget to come and tell me about them.” She said. “Hanliang Hall is busy today. You may go.”
In summer the heat was intense. In years past the Emperor always went to the detached palace to escape the heat, but this year he had kept putting it off, and had simply moved to Hanliang Hall by the water.
Fuchun reached into his bosom and pulled out the little box. “This…”
Xie Yuzhang gave a slight smile. “It was given to you as a reward. Why have you brought it back?”
The information Fuchun had gathered about the outside world had cost only half a silver ingot. All the rest was his to keep.
Since his godfather had been gone, when had Fuchun ever had a chance like this — to appear before a person of rank, to be seen and rewarded? Pressing down the excitement in his heart, he kowtowed to give thanks.
Before he left, Xie Yuzhang called him back once more.
“I have noticed you are quick-witted and pleasing — you brighten the mood of those around you,” she said. “If in the future you find yourself in a difficult situation, you may come to Zhaoxia Palace and say a word.”
When Fuchun left, he was practically floating.
After he had gone, Lin Fei said, puzzled, “If you find him agreeable, you could simply request him transferred here through the Bureau of Internal Affairs.”
Xie Yuzhang deflected: “He is a man of Zichen Hall. How could I just take him away so easily? If everyone did that, Father Emperor would have no one left to order about.”
“A’Fei, open the storeroom,” she changed the subject. “I am looking for something.”
Xie Yuzhang’s possessions were truly numerous, each item a treasure. But most of the jewelry and ornaments were things for women to wear. She rummaged through the storeroom for a while and found a pair of jade plaques.
“When did this come into my possession?” She had so many things she could not even remember.
But Lin Fei could recall. She said, “That year you saw it at the Emperor’s quarters, said you liked it, and had the Emperor give it to you. This is the workmanship of Master Lu of the former dynasty.”
Master Lu was a renowned jade craftsman of the former dynasty. The works he left behind in the world were all priceless treasures.
Yet in Princess Baohua Xie Yuzhang’s keeping, they were no more than a forgotten piece in her collection.
“Oh.” Xie Yuzhang said. “These are beautiful. Fitting for a man.”
The pair of mutton-fat jade plaques were flawless throughout, cut from a single piece of jade. The two plaques were symmetrical, each carved with a fierce tiger. The lines were clean and plain, yet from them a fierce and powerful spirit seemed to leap forth — truly a treasure.
Lin Fei guessed: “These are to be given to…”
Xie Yuzhang did not conceal it. Among those around her, what could she hide from anyone if not from Lin Fei — unless she distanced herself from Lin Fei and refused to let her come close.
That would inevitably make Lin Fei unhappy, and how could she ever bring herself to do that.
“I would like to give them to the two young General Li’s. What do you think?” she asked.
Lin Fei actually suspected her true intention was to give the jade plaque to the “handsome” Li Gu, and that sending both together was just to provide some cover. It seemed Xie Yuzhang truly had quite a liking for this Li Gu.
Lin Fei was not particularly worried. Da Zhao had an open-minded culture and did not place heavy constraints on women. When young men and women began to feel attraction in their youth, so long as nothing improper came of it, the adults generally turned a blind eye.
In upper-class society, it was not unheard of for noble ladies to keep handsome male companions in their households.
Given Xie Yuzhang’s status, even if she kept a few such companions, no one would dare say a word.
As that saying went — if the sky fell, there was her imperial father to hold it up.
So Lin Fei laughed and said, “I hear those two are quite impressive. I think these plaques suit them well. So — shall we go out of the palace?”
Lin Fei assumed that since Xie Yuzhang had her eye on this Li Gu, she would naturally want to find an opportunity to go out and see him in person. To her surprise, Xie Yuzhang said, “No. I will not go. Go to the Duke of Meritorious Service manor on my behalf.”
The Duke of Meritorious Service manor — the Yang Family, the maternal family of the late Empress.
Xie Yuzhang knew she could go out herself to cultivate a connection with Li Gu and Li Weifeng, but she was not living in this world alone. This chance to build goodwill with a future emperor and a great general — she wanted to leave it for her mother’s family.
“Go and see Second Cousin Huaishen. Tell him this is something I am entrusting to him and that he must see it done.”
---
That night, Li Gu and Li Weifeng made a new friend at a banquet.
“Yang, of the Duke of Meritorious Service manor — second son, given name Huaishen, courtesy name Jingshan.” The man stood tall and handsome, and introduced himself with a smile. “The late Empress was my aunt.”
Li Gu and Li Weifeng had actually never been able to sort out the bewildering tangle of kinship relations among the capital’s hereditary noble families, but Yang Huaishen had given his introduction in the clearest and most direct of terms. Whatever else could be said, the late Empress — even though she had long since passed on — meant this was a proper, genuine connection to the household of a national uncle.