From CEO to Concubine-Chapter 183: On His Side

Chapter 183: On His Side

"Long live our emperor for ten thousand years!"

Liu Yao took his seat on the dragon throne and looked down upon the sea of officials that kowtowed before him, signalling the start of morning court.

Long live their emperor? He had to laugh at that. If that was what they truly wished for, they would stop going out of their way to drive him to an early grave.

His thoughts flickered briefly over to his conversation with Ah Yun earlier in the morning. The young man had stirred awake as Liu Yao started getting dressed in his court regalia, those beautiful fawn-like eyes still bleary with exhaustion from staying up all night discussing the troubling situation they were in.

Ah Yun had taken over from Cao Mingbao, deft fingers making quick work of Liu Yao’s belt now that he’d become an expert at donning and doffing the dragon robe for his husband.

"Go back to sleep."

Ah Yun had shaken his head. "How could I?" he’d replied. Then with a small furrow of worry on his brow, he’d added, "Your Majesty, if they press you too hard later on, it’s okay to give me up first and buy more time."

Give up. Buy time. Ah Yun was referring to delay tactics, the art of negotiation. Liu Yao was no stranger to the concept. It was even touching that Ah Yun trusted him enough to place his life in his hands so wholly, believing Liu Yao willing and capable enough to save him.

Still, Liu Yao didn’t like the idea. As a prince, he’d refused to barter the happiness of the person he loved in exchange for securing his position. His Ziyu had died as a result.

He had to admit that he’d made a mistake. But it wasn’t his failure to compromise. It was his failure to amass enough power in time to keep Ziyu safe.

In many senses, the very court that wrestled Liu Yao daily for political influence had driven him to fight for the throne.

Now, as the emperor he hadn’t even intended to become, Liu Yao refused to accept that he still couldn’t protect his beloved on his terms.

"Your Majesty! This lowly subject beseeches you to please investigate the horrific incident in the inner palace!"

"A demon that has infiltrated the imperial city, caution, Your Majesty, this is no trifling matter."

"The deaths of the Wu Family’s legitimate son and daughter are rife with suspicion, this subject is of the humble opinion that they should be looked into by the different departments of justice!"

"Indeed, the arrests of the Minister of Rites and his entire household at this point...please reconsider your decision three times, in case there are other aspects of the case that might suggest the Wu Family to be the victims, Your Majesty, please be careful not to freeze the hearts1 of your people!"

The uproar was expected. He would have been disappointed in them if they had held their peace. From Lower Five to Upper Two, from all walks of life, everyone wanted to weigh in with their opinion, each barbed comment all but insinuating that Liu Yao was scapegoating innocents to help cover the tracks of the true perpetrator.

Inverting black and white1. His court had truly perfected the art thereof.

He scrutinised the speakers and realised that he couldn’t even place all of them in a faction. Was his father’s reign like this as well? Where the emperor could only tell who was loyal to him by process of elimination?

Some days, Liu Yao suspected the dynasty would end with him. The only thing keeping him from giving up and conceding defeat was the slew of nightmares that kept him awake at night, images of millions of innocents drowning in a sea of suffering interspersed with the limp lifeless bodies of his loved ones littered across the ground, their unnaturally glassy eyes staring up at him accusatorily, as if to ask him why he’d abandoned them.

He exchanged a glance with Cao Mingbao, who raised his voice to a shrill cry to try and restore a semblance of order.

Weiyang Hall fell silent but the atmosphere was tenser than ever.

Liu Yao allowed the lull to drag on for long enough to become uncomfortable before saying, "On the way over, this sovereign has pondered how to inform all my beloved subjects about the incident that had occurred in the inner palace on the Festival of Ten Thousand Years. To preserve the integrity of the case’s investigation, this sovereign had commanded that the details should be kept confidential until I had the opportunity to officially inform all of you in morning courts."

He paused again, enjoying the unease that rippled through the ranks before him.

"Little did this sovereign know," he continued, "my beloved subjects are so thoughtful that you’ve spared me the effort of informing all of you of a matter that everyone seems to know more details of than even me. Why, if this sovereign didn’t know better, I’d suspect that you’re all so up to date on my problems because you’ve all played a hand in causing them." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

He held up a hand to stem the flood of frantic denials he’d anticipated. His burst of laughter was soft but audible in the pin-drop silence.

"Why do this sovereign’s beloved subjects race to defend themselves at my little jest? It can’t be out of guilt, surely?"

His manner of speech was deliberately slow and measured, designed to pull them down to his pace, ramp up their impatience in a bid to heighten their rashness, force those lying in wait for him to slip up and catch themselves in a trap instead.

"Your Majesty, this old subject is afraid that this issue is not so easily dismissed." It was Right Prime Minister Ren who took the lead for the officials, his brow knitted in well-meaning worry. "The leak of information from within the inner palace is indeed concerning but not the most pressing problem at hand. This old subject believes that investigating the truth behind the murders of the Wu siblings is pivotal to redeeming the situation. Your Majesty’s reputation is at stake—"

"Your Majesty, this subject humbly begs to differ."

Liu Yao had to contain the smile that threatened to spread across his face. Although he didn’t appreciate the tradition of selecting beauties for the imperial harem to strengthen the political affiliation between the emperor and his officials, he had to agree that on the rare occasion, it did lead to very successful alliances, such as binding Left Prime Minister Zhao Xu, so firmly to his camp. It was true that the Zhao Family had always inclined themselves with the imperial family but as their head, Left Prime Minister Zhao also had the welfare of his clan to consider. By making use of his one weakness—his favourite daughter— and promising her a brighter future than any other emperor could give to her, Liu Yao knew that his left prime minister’s loyalty was carved in stone.

To prove his point, here was his dear beloved subject Zhao speaking up in a rare display of aggressiveness against his counterpart.

"Right Prime Minister, this Zhao1 agrees that His Majesty’s reputation will be affected if the situation if we fail to handle the situation delicately." In one sentence, he managed to subtly redirect Liu Yao’s culpability back to the entire morning court, reminding his listeners that the onus didn’t just lie on the emperor’s shoulders, that Liu Yao wasn’t there to answer to them, wasn’t there for them to point fingers at, sit back, and judge. "It is of this Zhao’s opinion that information leak is the crux of the problem. Without the piecemeal rumours flowing out and distorting the truth, there would be no leeway for His Majesty to be misconstrued."

"This subject concurs." A chorus of assents from the imperial camp broke out, led by Grand Preceptor Du and ending with Counsellor of the Ministry of Rites Tang.

Liu Yao nodded. "As this information leak occurred within the inner palace, it falls within the purview of Imperial Noble Consort Yue as well as the Eastern Depot." He continued smoothly over the disagreeing voices, "However, as this sovereign does not wish for Imperial Noble Consort Yue to become involved in matters that may endanger him, the Eastern Depot will have full authority over the investigation, reporting back to this sovereign directly."

"Your Majesty, please forgive this subject for his impudence but would that truly be the wisest decision?" The official who spoke up was from the Ministry of Finance, who hadn’t seemed to realise that his superior’s conspicuous absence wasn’t due to a sudden illness. "History has shown that according the eunuchs of the palace too much power has dire consequences, their reach into the harem far too great to be overlooked lightly. Who is to say that wouldn’t be capable of colluding from within? This subject beseeches Your Majesty to think thrice!"

"These subjects beseech Your Majesty to think thrice!"

Right Prime Minister Ren shot a thorough glance at Cao Mingbao.

"This old subject understands the trust Your Majesty has placed in the Chief of the Eastern Depot as well as other select members of the inner palace departments," he said sombrely, words well-meaning on the surface but indirectly reminding the rest of the court that Liu Yao preferred to confide in those they deemed lesser. "But Your Majesty, to raise a tiger is to invite calamity. Forgive this subject his directness but the nature of rumours that have escaped the palace do not spark confidence in the innocence of the Eastern Depot or...Imperial Noble Consort Yue, for that matter."

Finally, someone had said it.

"Ah, about that," Liu Yao said lightly, drumming his fingers on the armrests of his throne. "Could it be that my beloved subjects have heard about Attendant Wu’s preposterous attempt to pin the blame on Imperial Noble Consort Yue with the use of a mere letter, staying alive long enough to complete her accusations before conveniently ending her own life?"

It truly was rather ’convenient’. Liu Yao had timed it perfectly. If there was one lesson he’d learnt from his beloved subjects, it was that the best crimes had no witnesses.

A thin, solemn figure stepped out onto the aisle and bowed.

"Is Minister of Justice Ren here to shed insight on the laws of the land?" Liu Yao asked with faux patience. There were too many Rens in court. If they were going to stand up one after another to throw arguments at him, they would be here all day.

Minister of Justice Ren lowered his head in a show of deference. But his words were anything but. "This subject wouldn’t dream of it," he said. "This subject merely wishes to point out that it would be appropriate for one of the institutions of justice to examine the evidence, just to ensure that no stone is left unturned in the investigations."

Liu Yao chuckled. "You’re all very persistent, are you not? Very well." He motioned for Cao Mingbao, who in turn indicated for a pair of young eunuchs to carry forth a long low table and lay it down at the foot of his dais. Floor cushions were soon brought over too and laid out in front of a set of exquisite brushes and the finest of parchments.

Soft muttering all around. Liu Yao pretended not to hear it.

"Tang Yuqin," he called. "Ren Mingde. Hua Pei. Zhang Xiu. Guo Haoyu."

The young officials he listed stepped out of their designated standing positions, expressions a mix of stoic and discomfited. Apart from Tang Yuqin, whom everyone knew to be firmly on Liu Yao’s side, they were all the most promising of talent from prominent noble families, only a few years since obtaining the privilege of attending morning court.

"Pick up the brush and write," Liu Yao commanded. "Write as your twelve-year-old self would. He whose writing matches that of his youthful attempts close enough to be passed off as counterfeit, this sovereign will promote up a rank."

A short commotion broke out.

"Your Majesty, a court promotion is not to be trifled with—"

Liu Yao interjected before they could recommence their protests. "Fret not, Minister of Personnel Zhang," he said bluntly. Zhang Xiu’s father was far more inflexible than his son and Liu Yao wondered whether, in the near future, his remaining childhood companion would be forced to choose between country and family. "No one is getting a promotion today."

He made it clear that he didn’t believe anyone capable of fulfilling his request and sure enough, even after the group of young promising officials he’d singled out took to their seats with reluctance, they hesitated before laying down each brush stroke, clearly unable to recall what a less polished version of their writing resembled.

When the incense Cao Mingbao lit burnt to the ground, Liu Yao signalled for them to wrap up. A row of eunuchs stepped up to politely retrieve the attempts at replicating their childhood writing, each one more pathetic than the last. Tang Yuqin remained unperturbed, the parchment before him blank apart from his name but the others wore deep frowns on their faces, Ren Mingde, in particular, had paled.

Liu Yao noticed all these little details. He chose to keep them to himself for now.

"Cao Mingbao, be so kind as to show them some common sense."

Cao Mingbao practically leapt at the opportunity. "Yes, Your Majesty," he intoned loudly before giving two perfunctory claps. The eunuchs fell into a line before the court officials, each holding a piece of parchment in either hand, holding them out for the ministers to compare. Tang Yuqin’s script from the provincial imperial examination back when he’d been a child of thirteen summers, a discursive thesis written by Ren Mingde when he attended the Imperial College1 at fifteen summers, a poem on orchids scribbled hastily by Zhang Xiu in calligraphy so clumsy could only have been done by a child, so on and so forth.

The last eunuch, however, carried two nearly identical styles of writing. One began with the sentence ’Big Brother Wu Bin, a day of separation is as long as three autumns’. The other was an interpretation of Confucian ideology, where the writer’s idealistic opinions gave away his age.

Liu Yao sat back and observed with satisfaction as the expressions of certain individuals darkened with each eunuch that passed them by.

"Now that this sovereign has gone through all that trouble, Minister of Justice Ren, are you next going to tell me that Imperial Noble Consort Yue must have gone to extreme lengths to procure a copy of his old writing just to use it to write a letter that his bamboo horse Compiler Wu would recognise, knowing fully well that there is a high chance it would implicate him in the future?" Liu Yao cocked his head. "That requires a level of stupidity that this sovereign thinks we all agree doesn’t apply to anyone in the imperial city."

Minister of Justice Ren clenched his jaw. "This subject has nothing to say, Your Majesty," he replied stiffly.

"Oh? Then it’s this sovereign’s turn to state my piece." Swift enough to catch them off-balance, his tone changed from relaxed to frosty. "Forging Imperial Noble Consort Yue’s handwriting in a blatant attempt to incriminate him, this technique of sabotage is getting old. Need this sovereign remind all of you that Prime Minister Yan was also arrested for treason based on some letters he denied ever writing?" He’d shifted to the edge of his seat, the vice-like grip he had on his armrests yet another sign that his temper was about to be unleashed. "Come to think of it, Imperial Noble Consort Yue doesn’t have access to his childhood writing but a lot of people in this room do, including this sovereign."

Yan Yun had been a very bright child. There were one or two pieces of his best works of poetry and argumentative essays kept in the Imperial College even though he hadn’t taken the imperial examinations yet. This was where Liu Yao had obtained his sample from. After he’d left Attendant Wu to die, he had ordered Kaiming to dig them out from the archives without alerting anyone.

But apart from that, there had also been an entire collection of Yan Yun’s studies found in the prime minister’s estate when it had been ransacked all those years ago. Liu Yao had assumed that they were destroyed after the Yan Family’s execution but now he wasn’t so sure.

"Well? Would anyone like to confess that they were responsible for orchestrating the entire incident or are the next rumours to spread through the capital going to be about how this sovereign fabricated this entire ruse for the sole purpose of getting rid of the lot of you?"

If only. Liu Yao wished he were half that enterprising.

A phrase that means to bitterly disappoint. An idiom that means to distort the truth. A very difficult term of self-address to translate hahaha. A direct translation would be closer to ’a person from the Zhao Family’ but that would be a mouthful, wouldn’t it? Depending on the era, different educational institutions held the name ’Imperial College’. In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial college was the title given to the princes’ schoolroom, where they would study with their chosen companions. In the Sui Dynasty, Imperial College was changed to represent the highest educational body in the country, accepting students who performed extraordinarily in the provincial and county examinations.