Chapter 62: Birthday
Zheng Biyu’s heartstrings trembled. A long while later, she sat up briskly: “Complete nonsense!”
Empress Xie was an influential clan’s di daughter. How could she have an affair with someone?
The maid did not dare to utter a word.
Zheng Biyu was lost in thought for a while then asked, “Who else heard Concubine Rong’s nonsense?”
The maid returned: “Only Noble Consort Xue and a few palace maids beside her heard. Noble Consort Xue had laughed, saying Concubine Rong had gone insane and began to spout nonsense. However, these days, she had quietly sent away the palace maids who were present, leaving only a trusted confidant.”
The trusted confidant happened to be this maid’s godsister, one of the Eastern Palace’s spies.
Zheng Biyu’s fingers were numb. She instructed the maid: “Concubine Rong is crazy. She hated Princess Wenzhao. Before dying, she deliberately said such nonsense to discredit Empress Xie. Noble Consort Xue handled it well; this matter must not be spread.”
The maid bowed her head and answered yes.
Zheng Biyu’s eyes flickered, and asked in a low voice: “What did Concubine Rong say?”
The maid replied: “Before she died, Concubine Rong was raining curses on Princess Wenzhao, saying that all the sons and daughters of His Majesty were strong and sturdy, all the girls tall and plump. Why was Princess Wenzhao the only one who was weak since childhood and could not stand until she was three years old? Why was she unable to stop taking medicine since she was a child, and must take Ninglu pills every month? Why are Princess Wenzhao’s eyes the only one that do not resemble the eyes of the Li family?
“Noble Consort Xue refuted Concubine Rong, saying it was because Princess Wenzhao was born naturally weak.
“Concubine Rong laughed heartily and said that Princess Wenzhao was fundamentally not the bloodline of His Majesty, because she was not born to Empress Xie.”
Zheng Biyu’s mouth opened slightly, completely surprised.
She thought Concubine Rong was implying that Empress Xie was unfaithful, but it turned out that she was saying that Li Yaoying was not born to Empress Xie.
The maid continued on: “Concubine Rong said that in those days, the clansmen all supported the Second Prince… Xie Zhongqian as shizi. Empress Xie’s maid made some sarcastic comments to Empress Tang and Empress Tang killed herself in anger. His Majesty’s hair turned white overnight, and even during the war he did not participate, rushing back to Wei County to take care of Empress Tang’s funeral. At that time, Empress Xie was also pregnant, so His Majesty could not punish her.
“Concubine Rong told Noble Consort Xue that Empress Xie was not, in fact, pregnant at all at that time. Empress Xie’s wet nurse, fearing that His Majesty would take his anger out on the Empress, told the Empress to lie that she was several months pregnant. Empress Xie did as she was instructed.”
Because Li De returned to Wei County a few months prior and stayed in Empress Xie’s courtyard every night, and also considering Empress Xie that lived in deep seclusion, no one suspected a thing.
“Concubine Rong said that Princess Wenzhao was by no means a golden branch and jade leaves. She was a child brought back by the Duke of Wei.”
The Duke of Wei was Xie Wuqiang.
Li Yaoying married to the Yelu tribe. Li De decreed that Xie Wuliang be posthumously conferred Duke of Wei. Li Zhongqian would be adopted to the Xie family and would directly inherit the title of Duke of Wei—the name was weighty, but it carried no real power.
The maid finally said, “Concubine Rong said she had long suspected the Seventh Princess’s birth. Only because she feared Xie Zhongqian’s retaliation did she not dare to voice it.”
Zheng Biyu’s mind turned. Leaning back, she did not utter a word for a long time.
Her intuition told her that what Concubine Rong said was true.
Zheng Biyu instructed the maid: “Chief Historian Wei cannot hear the slightest talk about this matter.”
The maid responded yes and said, “Your Highness, Concubine Rong was talking nonsense. There is no evidence. Even if word gets out, it does not matter.”
Noble Consort Xue relied on Li Yaoying to get her position as deputy Empress. She would definitely not leak this matter.
Even if it was leaked, it did not matter. Concubine Rong’s ravings before her death, who would take it seriously? Without evidence, no matter how honest the truth, it was just a crazy person’s crazy words.
Moreover, Princess Wenzhao married away in the capacity of a Li family’s princess. Even if she was not the emperor’s own daughter, she was now.
Zheng Biyu murmured: “Whether others believe or not, it does not matter…”
The key was whether this matter should be told to the Crown Prince?
The reason why the prince loathed Li Yaoying was precisely because Li Yaoying was Xie shi‘s daughter. If he knew that Li Yaoying was not born to Xie shi…
Zheng Biyu’s brow was furrowed.
After marrying into the Li family, she asked around about the situation when Tang shi killed herself.
The men of the Li family were often away on campaigns. Tang shi and Xie shi stayed in Wei County, and Li De would come home every few months to visit his two wives.
The day Tang shi killed herself, Li Xuanzhen happened to return home. He saw, with his own eyes, his mother, who had been burned beyond recognition, fling herself out of the fire and fall at his feet.
In fact, the one who should have returned to Wei County that day was Li De. He promised to return home to spend the festival together with his two wives when he left home, but later sent only his eldest son home because the situation was critical.
Therefore, the Tang family’s servant had whispered to Zheng Biyu, Tang Ying originally intended to burn to death in front of Li De.
As a result of the unexpected turn of events, Li Xuanzhen was made to witness her tragic death.
Before she died, she was nearly insane, telling Li Xuanzhen over and over again to avenge her death.
For more than a decade, Li Xuanzhen had nightmares about his mother’s nearing-death appearance nearly every night.
Zheng Biyu had tactfully advised Li Xuanzhen to let go of his hatred.
Although Tang Ying had killed herself in anger after a verbal dispute with a clan elder and Empress Xie’s maid, in the final analysis, her death was not caused by Xie shi. Why did he have to target Noble Consort Xie and her children?
He was able to listen to advice on other matters; even Zhu Luyun’s matters could be compromised. Matters involving Xie shi, why was he so extreme?
Li Xuanzhen sneered and had not explained a thing to Zheng Biyu.
Zheng Biyu has a vague guess in her heart.
There may be some unknown inside story about the incident back then, and Li Xuanzhen had concealed something in order to protect Tang Ying.
For this reason, he obviously did not hate the Seventh Princess as a person, but he hurt the Seventh Princess again and again.
Zheng Biyu thought over the past and future, considered the pros and cons, before deciding to tell Li Xuanzhen what Concubine Rong said.
The Seventh Princess was innocent.
She got up and went to the study and took up the pen to write a letter to Li Xuanzhen.
After the marriage decree was officially issued, Li Xuanzhen led the Wei army to Liangzhou and attacked the He clan from three directions with the cavalry of the various Hu tribes. After the victory, he stayed in Liangzhou and had not returned to the capital.
Zheng Biyu finished the letter and handed it to a servant, instructing him to personally deliver it to Li Xuanzhen.
The servant respectfully answered yes.
…
Half a month after Qin Fei’s departure, Yaoying arrived near Liangzhou with the Yelu tribesmen.
Tribal Chief Yelu had already departed from Liangzhou. Before long, he would join them on the banks of the river where the Yelu tribe made camp every winter to complete the wedding in the Yelu custom.
In ancient times, Liangzhou was known as Yongzhou. The terrain was flat and vast, and had been a fertile land “people flocked to where the mulberry was thick” since ancient times, and a major northwest trading port where “carriages and horses intermingled and various songs were played”. In ancient times, it was known as a strategic location crossing through the desert that could jeopardize five counties.
In the Tang Dynasty, Venerable Xuanzang passed through Liangzhou as he traveled west for scriptures. At that time, there was no stopping the monks and merchants from having dealings in Liangzhou.
Until a few decades ago, Liangzhou was still one of the most bustling towns in the north.
Later, when the Chinese dynasty declined and the world was in turmoil, the northwest was invaded by the powerful Tubo and various emerging tribes. The former Zhu clan failed to regain the northwest when their empire was established, and the Silk Road, with its weaving merchants and echoing camel bells, had been cut off for many years.
Yaoying sat in the carriage, occasionally lifting the curtain to look out. Before her eyes was a boundless world, a blanket of desolation.
Within a hundred-mile radius, there was no sign of human habitation.
The further northwest they went, the worse the weather became. The gloomy sky gradually had indications of wind and snow. The summits of the jagged mountains to the horizon were snow-capped, like a dormant dragon.
The Qinling mountains veiled in drifting clouds, home cannot be seen; the Blue Pass embraced by snow, horses do not advance1.
The road was getting more and more rugged and difficult to travel.
She was waited upon by attentive Hu maidservants, and it could not be considered roughing it. But, for Yaoying who had been continuously pampered, it was still quite hard.
When they had to go over the mountains, she had to get off the carriage and ride a horse like the others.
Li Zhongqian had taught her to ride and often accompanied her on horseback runs, but those were on level, wide plains in the bright, sunny spring days. Not the bumpy, rugged mountain roads and ice-cold and bitterly windy late autumn days.
Riding a horse on a mountain road was far more arduous than riding a horse on flat land. Moreover, in order to avoid the wind and snow and to find a safe place to spend the night before dark, they often traveled all day.
Yaoying’s thighs were rubbed until bruises formed. The wounds scabbed then split open, and strangled by the reins, her delicate fingers developed bloody blisters.
Whenever the group stopped to rest, she sat on the saddle. Her bones felt like they were falling out of her body, and she couldn’t even lift her fingers. Tali and Ayi each had to hold one arm to help her dismount her horse.
Author’s Note:
The sentence “Liangzhou… was known as” was quoted from “Silk Road Liangzhou Farming Civilization”.
“The merchant couple traveled to and fro, and there was no stopping” is from “Great Tang Records on the Western Regions”.
1 Line from a Chinese poem written by Han Yu. I got some Google help but I still butchered this verse.