TGP Ch 47: Dispute
If you don’t believe me, then kill me.
Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan were walking outside of the palace together, when Li Rong suddenly remembered, “You didn’t go to the imperial bureau today?”
“I had some matters to discuss with you,” Pei Wenxuan explained. “Fortunately, I heard you were at the palace, so I came here directly.”
Li Rong was a little surprised. “Oh? What could be so urgent to make you come here?”
“Big news from the court,” Pei Wenxuan drew out, “victory at the frontline.”
Li Rong cocked an eyebrow but continued listening anyway.
“However, there was a dispute over Xiao Su’s nomination of generals to receive awards for meritorious service.”
Li Rong understood at once.
Xiao Su was Consort Rou’s elder brother, and originally was just a commoner, but after studying for several years, he was able to rely on Consort Fei to be promoted directly to power.
Recently, Li Ming had denounced the Yang clan and sent Li Chuan to the battlefront. Because of Li Chuan, the aristocratic clans were obliged to give assistance and exerted much effort to stabilize the Northwest. As a result, on the eve of victory, Li Ming summoned Li Chuan back and sent Xiao Su to be the general of the Northwest. Without a doubt, this matter still stung at the clans’ hearts.
The Shangguan clan had been so influential for a hundred years, and there were countless relatives scattered throughout the aristocratic clans. In this struggle against the Yang clan, the aristocratic clans could only join in and expend their energy.
The common-born Xiao Su was but Li Ming’s blade to suppress these clans. Even if all those on the list were not his, they could not possibly be from the aristocratic clans. After squandering all their efforts earlier, wouldn’t it be a waste if they didn’t take this chance to recoup their losses?
Now that victory was in hand, and awards were to be distributed, it was inevitable for the clans to clash with Li Ming.
“Then what did they say?”
Li Rong played with a small fan in her hand, pondering, “Xiao Su and his side are powerless right now, Consort Rou is in great favor. If they wanted to do something, they would have done it earlier. They can only pinch soft persimmons1 now.”
While saying this, Li Rong stopped. “Who did Xiao Su nominate?”
“There are a total of seventeen officers nominated,” Pei Wenxuan replied. “In short, they all come from the imperial exam, common families, or the minor aristocratic clans.”
“Is Qin Lin on there?” Li Rong immediately asked, but Pei Wenxuan shook his head.
“He isn’t, but Qin Feng is. I heard the battle report, Xiao Su was probably afraid Qin Lin’s qualifications were too poor and attributed it to his uncle2. Regardless, it doesn’t matter, they’re from the same family.”
Li Rong made a sound of agreement. Qin Lin was yet young, right now it would do no good to be too outstanding. So long as the Qin clan could gain a foothold in the Northwest, it was only a matter of time before Qin Lin could shine.
“Then,” Li Rong started, lightly tapping her fingers on the table. “The aristocratic clans may look to make trouble for these common-born generals. The emperor won’t just sit back and watch.”
“Correct,” Pei Wenxuan responded. “The emperor summoned my second uncle after morning court today.”
Beginning with Pei Lizhi, the Pei clan had been specifically supported by Li Ming to resist the aristocratic clans. After the death of Pei Lizhi, Pei Lixian continued in his footsteps. Even if Pei Lixian wasn’t as capable as Pei Lizhi, he was still the Minister of the Chancellery.
This position wasn’t as prestigious as Pei Lizhi’s Left Deputy Prime Minister of the Department of State Affairs, which supervised all six ministries and held actual executive power, including the powers of sealing and reviewing, not to mention being held in esteem by the emperor.
For Li Ming to summon Pei Lixian, he must want to deliberate on how to fight the aristocratic clans over the big pie of the Northwest.
Li Rong didn’t say another word, so Pei Wenxuan sat down beside her, waiting a bit before saying, “What is Your Highness thinking of?”
“I had a disagreement with Mother Empress today.”
Li Rong mildly said, “She is determined to tie Chuan’er with the Shangguan clan, specifically Shangguan Ya. The incident at yesterday’s banquet quite angered her, and she scolded Chuan’er and me.”
“What does Your Highness mean?”
Pei Wenxuan knew that Li Rong would not yield to Shangguan Yue like this, and directly asked how Li Rong handled it.
“I laid out the advantages and disadvantages of Chuan’er marrying Shangguan Ya to Mother Empress. This marriage will only invite disaster. Nonetheless, she will not listen to me.”
“It’s out of the question for the Empress to listen.”
Pei Wenxuan blithely sipped his tea.
“After all, the Empress is a daughter of the Shangguan Clan, and is inseparable from the clan. This time, the aristocratic families really lost too much in the Northwest. The crown prince is an offering of appeasement, otherwise, the Shangguan Clan will really feel wronged, and the Empress will feel burdened.”
Li Rong fell silent, but Pei Wenxuan knew that she was just thinking. After a moment, he couldn’t help laughing, “Why is Your Highness worried?”
Puzzled, Li Rong lifted her head with curiosity sparking in her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“In truth, this matter doesn’t really concern Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan explained. “Let the Shangguan Clan have their quarrel with the Emperor. If the Shangguan Clan gains the upper hand, they will of course support the Crown Prince. If it’s the Emperor that wins, of Xiao Su’s list, some of those names are ours, and the rest we have means of dealing with. So why should Your Highness worry?”
Li Rong pondered this, and after a while, slowly said, “Do you really think that after the Shangguan Clan repositions their people in the Northwest, we will still have allies amongst them?”
Pei Wenxuan smiled wordlessly and lowered his head to pour tea. Seeing his unresponsive, Li Rong couldn’t help but ask, “Why won’t you answer?”
“Your Highness, I beg of you, do not ask me this.”
“Why not?”
“In Your Highness’ last life,” said Pei Wenxuan, face impassive. “Weren’t they just a family in the end?”
From the day that Li Rong became the Grand Princess and Li Chuan ascended the throne, they had already started walking their separate paths.
“In Your Highness’ last life, wasn’t the power you grasped equal to the power of the Crown Prince?”
Li Rong was speechless.
With both hands folded in his sleeves, Pei Wenxuan smiled faintly. “Only when I was alive did Your Highness have an adversary, need the Crown Prince’s power, stand united with the Crown Prince. But if one day I am gone, and the Grand Princess reigns supreme over the court, it may be the Crown Prince that the Grand Princess that points her sharp blade at.
Raising her eyes, Li Rong gaze focused on Pei Wenxuan silently. After a long pause, she finally spoke. “Then, what about you now?”3
“Who knows what tomorrow will bring. But as of this moment,” Pei Wenxuan said with sincerety. “This Pei Wenxuan is Your Highness’ person.”
Li Rong was taken aback. Looking at Pei Wenxuan’s sober eyes, he clearly only referred to politics, but her heart couldn’t help but beat faster.
She turned her head to look out the window, tracing the patterns on her gold fan. “Once you contact Qin Lin, if he needs any assistance, just give it to him. I’ll handle the court and convince Tuoba Yan to help the Qin Clan in secret, but no one else can know about it. The Crown Prince must believe there bears no relation between the Qin clan and me.
“Understood.”
Having said that, the two of them didn’t have much else to discuss. After a while, Li Rong turned around, weighing Pei Wenxuan with her eyes, but after some time, just huffed and turned back.
Bewildered, Pei Wenxuan couldn’t help but ask, “What does Your Highness mean by that?”
“Pei Wenxuan,” said Li Rong, exasperated. “Why have you not been promoted yet?”
These suffocating words only prompted Pei Wenxuan flick his eyes at Li Rong. “Your Highness, you yourself are not in great favour. Still, I will undoubtedly be promoted soon.”
“Watch your mouth,” Li Rong delicately rapped the back of Pei Wenxuan’s hand with her fan. “It really is a vexing thing.”
Pei Wenxuan smiled while ignoring Li Rong and took out a small paper book. He lowered his head then didn’t speak again.
Over the next few days, Li Rong kept an eye on every movement of the court, while they debated ceaselessly on the issue of awarding which generals. At the heart of the conflict lay not money, but status.
Every turnip to its hole4, one person’s rise would bar another’s. After the fall of the Yang clan, who didn’t want to take a bite of the fatty meat that was the Northwest? To this end, the aristocratic clans bickered tirelessly over the generals nominated by Xiao Su. Each time Li Ming resolved to award so-and-so, they would find issue with the nominee and materialize faults to criticize. Li Ming would try to force the nomination to go through, but the Department of the Secretariat refused to issue the decree. Only, once the Department of the Secretariat capitulated, then even the Department of the Chancellery refused, citing more issues.
Li Ming was angered to the point of smashing things in the palace all night. When the aristocratic families proposed their own nominations, Li Ming directly tore the list and refused.
The two sides stalemated for several days, quarreling nonstop.
In the Imperial Censor, although Pei Wenxuan did not have a very powerful position, he was still Li Ming’s sharpest blade. After all, be it one argument or ten, Pei Wenxuan had no problem pressuring the other side to back down. Those days, Pei Wenxuan returned home tired to death, falling asleep the minute he closed his eyes.
Li Rong had no intention of disturbing Pei Wenxuan, but each time she came to their bedside, Pei Wenxuan would call out in a daze, “You’ve returned? How was your day?”5
Li Rong herself was unsure if Pei Wenxuan was sleep-talking or not, but each time he asked, she answered. Anyhow, she slept soundly every night and was in good spirits every day, Li Rong could afford to answer Pei Wenxuan’s questions.
Compared to Pei Wenxuan, Li Rong spent her days in the height of luxury. The most she did was stroll around, call upon friends and acquaintances, or visit the tea houses to hear the scholars debate and check if there were any talents to be discovered.
Perhaps her days were so dull, Li Rong could just speak a few words and Pei Wenxuan would have already fallen asleep.
Li Rong couldn’t help but find this hilarious. What she didn’t know was that it was essential for Pei Wenxuan to talk with Li Rong at the end of the day otherwise, he couldn’t sleep a wink.
In the blink of an eye, almost a week6 had passed, and Li Rong secretly paid Shangguan Ya a visit to hear if there was any news. She reckoned that the aristocratic families couldn’t hold out for much longer, so she ought to act now.
Xiao Su and Li Ming’s positions were unassailable. Li Rong’s only recourse was to make an example of one of the nominated generals and force those two to retreat. Before all else, Li Rong must ascertain who among this batch of soft persimmons would be easiest to intimidate, but still had a high enough status to be worth the effort.
Reviewing the list of nominees, Li Rong speculated that the aristocratic families planned on moving against a Shannan Jiang member who was highly regarded by Xiao Su. Otherwise, it should be some other close confidant of his.
Once the aristocratic families moved against this person, it was tantamount to challenging Li Ming’s authority. How could he leave the matter at that, knowing that they would only continue fighting twice as fiercely. Li Rong knew it was only a matter of time before the aristocratic families and Li Ming would falter. Then, she could swoop in to play both sides into supplanting their candidate with her pick of some second-tier noble.
Who would have thought that, on the eighth day, just when Li Rong finished scheming and prepared her own candidates, there would come the sound of urgent footsteps right before Li Rong fell asleep?
That evening it stormed so heavily that the rain drowned out all sound from the outside. Li Rong only vaguely heard the sound of rain and voices intertwined. Through the haze of sleep, a hand, Pei Wenxuan’s, covered her eyes, before he reminded her, “The lights are lit.”
As Li Rong came to, Pei Wenxuan gingerly lowered his hand to allow her to adjust to the lighting. He got up, saying, “I’ll go outside to check.”
Having said this, Pei Wenxuan put on some more clothes to go out of the room.
Once Jing Lan entered to light the room, Li Rong surmised something bad must have happened. Still, she got dressed in no great hurry, and just as she was putting on her outer clothes, Pei Wenxuan returned.
His expression was extremely unsightly, and in his hands, he grasped a document. Pei Wenxuan coldly said, “The Ministry of Justice has denounced the Qin clan.”
Startled, Li Rong jerked her head up.
“What?”
“Yesterday, the Imperial Censor submitted a memorial implicating the Qin clan in collusion with the Yang clan in conspiring with the enemy to commit treason. They issued it at night, and all three of the Ministry of Justice, Imperial Censor, and Court of Judicial Review signed it. At this very moment, they have the Qin mansion surrounded by the Southern army.
“Then what are you standing here for!”
Li Rong shouted, “Go to the palace immediately to speak with Father Emperor. I’ll take people to go over there.”
“If I don’t appear, they will have all the evidence they need after their search! And you still care about being exposed?”
Li Rong pushed Pei Wenxuan away, not even bothering to take an umbrella before flying out of the room while barking orders at servants.
Pei Wenxuan gritted his teeth and took his token of authority to enter the palace.
Li Rong led her people rushing all the way to the Qin mansion. There, the air was filled with the sound of wailing. The soldiers encircled the mansion so tightly, Li Rong didn’t dare barge in. She hid off to the side, deliberating on a course of action.
It was hard to through the murkiness of the the thick fog from the storm. There Li Rong stood, in shock and fury.
How could the Qin clan be targeted?
Li Rong had long since arranged for Tuoba Yan to sort out the aristocratic clans’ affairs, but the Qin clan was not as conspicuous as the Shannan Jiang or even the other clans. If the aristocratic clans wanted to take measures, they shouldn’t have started with the Qin.
Li Rong took a deep breath. She couldn’t bother with that, for now, she had to stall for time. Right as Li Rong took a step, a hand shot out, grabbing her skirt. It came from under a nearby bamboo basket.
Turning the basket over, Li Rong caught sight of a young, maybe ten-year-old, girl, trembling from head to toe, face deathly white. Li Rong instantly recognized her as Qin Zhenzhen’s personal maid. Crouching down, Li Rong bluntly stated, “Qin Lin and I are familiar. I’m here to save the Qin, where is Qin Zhenzhen?”
The maid’s lips trembled as she pointed northwards, stuttering, “Ran…”
Straightaway, Li Rong stood up, leading her people in pursuit.
Although Qin Zhenzhen may be naïve, Li Rong knew she was not stupid. Escaping so recklessly, Qin Zhenzhen must have had some inkling of what was happening and left with something.
Investigating, Li Rong spotted blade marks marking the alley walls, and followed the trail. It wasn’t long before she caught sight of blood, the rain swiftly washing it away. In the darkness of the night, Li Rong struggled to distinguish the rain, blood, and traces of fighting.
The traces extended all the way down the narrow alleyway. It seemed that commoners used this alley to discard their junk, the trash piling halfway up the walls so people subconsciously ducked behind the piles.
Li Rong stood at the mouth of the alley, sweeping her eyes across before fixing her attention on a wooden chest at the centre of the junk.
Advancing quickly, Li Rong lifted the lid and at that instant, a cold flash glinted in the rain. A blood-stained sword hovered near Li Rong’s throat.
Qin Zhenzhen examined Li Rong, sword steady in her hand.
Li Rong regarded her beastly appearance and steady eyes, before flatly saying, “Put the sword down.”
“I’m here to save you.”
“What reason do I have to believe you?” Qin Zhenzhen rasped out.
Li Rong gazed at her coolly, not in the least bit alarmed. “If you don’t believe me, then kill me.”
Qin Zhenzhen didn’t say a word, clutching her sword tighter. It took a long time for her to lower her sword, then she got out with great difficulty from the wooden chest.
Li Rong supported her, but as soon as Qin Zhenzhen began to move, she started to bleed. Pressing down on her wound and gasping, Qin Zhenzhen could only say, “Run.”
1 捡软柿子 lit. pick soft persimmons, fig. bullying the weak
2 father’s younger brother
3 orig. Does your power belong to me?
4 lit. every person has their own place
5 orig. What did you do today?
6 orig. 5 or 6 days
Last updated: March 28, 2023
Qiqi Translations 
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