Chapter 369: Heavenly Secrets

It was not until early the next morning that the high officials and civil and military officials learned the worst news—Princess Wang had passed away!
Traditionally, the funeral of an imperial concubine would result in a one-day suspension of court affairs, followed by the conferment of a posthumous title. Yet this time, Zhu Di ordered a five-day suspension. On the first day of mourning, the emperor, princes, and princesses offered sacrifices at three altars. Soon after, the posthumous title “Zhaoxian” was granted. Five days later, although Zhu Di resumed handling state affairs, his face remained grim. Any mistake in reports led to severe punishment, and even when officials from the six ministries or cabinet members met with him, they rarely received a kind reception. As a result, Renshou Palace became a place no one wanted to enter.
Even Yang Rong, known for his sharpness and adaptability, felt uneasy as he arrived at Renshou Palace that day. After all, he had encountered many setbacks lately. It took him a whole cup of tea’s time before someone came out. When their eyes met, he recognized it was Princess Chenliu, Zhu Ning. He raised his eyebrows slightly, recalling that a eunuch had privately told him that since Princess Wang’s death, the emperor ignored all advice from others, and only Zhu Ning’s words were occasionally heeded.
“I pay my respects to Princess Chenliu.”
Since the Western Palace was a separate residence, the distinction between inner and outer palaces was not as clear as in the main imperial palace. Moreover, Zhu Ning had been raised as a boy since childhood, so it was common for her to enter Renshou Palace. Seeing Yang Rong bow, she returned the gesture. After pondering for a moment, she said, “Zhang Yue is playing chess with the emperor. Scholar Yang might as well wait a while longer. The emperor’s mood is better today than in recent days, and he might listen if you report something.”
This was clearly a hint. Yang Rong understood immediately and bowed in gratitude. Watching Zhu Ning descend the steps with two maids and leave through the corridor, he put away his smile and thought to himself that Zhu Ning was the daughter of the King of Zhou. Since the emperor ascended the throne, he had used both force and persuasion to weaken the power of the regional princes. Now, there were no more powerful regional fiefdoms like those of the Yan clan, and only a few princes still retained protective forces. Although the King of Zhou was the emperor’s direct younger brother, the emperor was often suspicious. Why then was he so fond of Zhu Ning?

Anyway, he had already experienced playing chess against the emperor. Even though Zhu Ning said the emperor was in a fairly good mood, who knew if Zhang Yue might make some mistake halfway through the game. He had only played three games against Zhu Di: the first time, the emperor refused to undo a mistake, smashing the chessboard halfway through; the second time, it ended in a draw, but the emperor was extremely displeased; the third time, he simply lost. After that, he managed to avoid this tedious task. This was the first time in his life, and it seemed like a very difficult challenge.

Yang Rong was only half right. At that moment, Zhang Yue in the East Warm Pavilion of Renshou Palace was indeed sweating profusely from playing chess. It wasn’t from the heat or fear, but from anxiety, because Zhu Di had called him not to play go, but chess. His go skills came from Du Zhen, and they were quite decent, but how could he know how to play chess?

Being a complete novice, he played five games in a row against Zhu Di, losing each time miserably, with the game boards in a terrible state. He really didn’t understand why Zhu Di, knowing his terrible chess skills, kept forcing him to play game after game—was it just to watch him suffer?

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had such fun!”

After the sixth game, Zhu Di finally stretched lazily and stood up to move his limbs. Seeing Zhang Yue’s forehead covered in beads of sweat and his utterly dejected expression, Zhu Di, who hadn’t smiled in over half a month, suddenly felt an urge to laugh, but he suppressed it. He remembered playing chess with Monk Daoyan—the old monk was excellent at go, but far inferior at chess. Back then, whenever he lost one game of go, he had to win three games of chess to make up for it. Since the old monk fell ill, he hadn’t touched chess for a long time. Today, he just decided to play with Zhang Yue on a whim.

He casually ordered a eunuch to fetch a towel for Zhang Yue. Only after seeing him wipe his shiny forehead clean did he say indifferently, “Go has its killing intent hidden within, while chess reveals it openly. Though the principles differ, they share a common ground. You might as well learn it properly when you have time. You must have arranged the guards from Changshan by now. How do you think these soldiers compare to those in the capital?”

Earlier, Go and chess were mentioned, and now suddenly the Changshan Guards came up. Zhang Yue was truly amazed by this erratic way of thinking on the part of the emperor. Fortunately, he had regained his composure by then and quickly replied, “Your Majesty, the three Changshan Guards are part of the prince’s guard force. They did not accompany him on either of the two northern expeditions, nor have they been to battle for many years. How can their combat skills be compared to those of the capital garrison?”
“What about Meng Xian, who almost became your father-in-law?”
He had managed to maintain a calm expression until now, but Zhang Yue was truly at a loss for words, even more embarrassed than when he was utterly defeated earlier. After a long while, he finally managed to say the truth: “Compared to the commanders of the left and right Changshan Guards, Lord Meng is far more skilled in leading troops. But Lord Meng has never been to battle, while Marquis Anyuan has numerous military achievements. It would be unfair to compare them.”
“Liu Sheng is brave by nature and relies solely on his enthusiasm in battle, but few can withstand his momentum. He can still be considered a famous general. Meng Xian entered officialdom through favoritism, so naturally he cannot compare to him.”
As Zhu Di spoke, his tone softened. Although Liu Sheng was not among the meritorious officials who helped in the Jingnan Campaign, and his rank was gradually elevated from earl to marquis, he was still appointed as the commander of the central army on both northern expeditions, surpassing many of the veteran officials from that campaign. Liu Sheng was loyal and brave in his prime, and though he had his flaws, his straightforward nature made him trustworthy, which is why Zhu Di kept assigning him to oversee the capital garrison. Even when eunuch supervisors complained, he often ignored them. Reappointing Meng Xian was simply due to Meng Xian’s past merits, plus the fact that the Changshan Guards had been in disarray for the past two years, and someone needed to take control and restore order.
No matter how unqualified he was, Zhu Gaoxu was still his son!
These past few days, he had been preoccupied and unable to focus on reviewing documents or handling state affairs. Zhu Di also didn’t want to engage in other activities during the mourning period for Consort Wang. So, aside from daydreaming or getting angry, he spent his time reading, including reviewing several new memorials sent by Zhang Yue. But now, with his mood extremely poor, he had no interest in any state affairs and was too lazy to bring it up. When Zhang Yue began to routinely report on matters related to the Armaments Bureau and the Armory Department, he listened indifferently before suddenly uttering a few words.

“The heroes who followed me in conquering the land inevitably had some conflicts when dealing with the officials of the Ministry of War. That’s why I appointed you as an official in that ministry. After all, considering the relationship with the Duke of Ying, those fierce generals at least won’t trouble you, as you were once comrades in battle. Additionally, I have issued an order to summon the Crown Prince and Grand Crown Prince to Beijing. The decree to move the capital will be issued soon. Naturally, some people in Beijing may have ulterior motives, so you must keep a close eye on the military forces in Beijing, as well as the Changshan Guard and the Beijing Military Command during this transition period. During the last chaos caused by the White Lotus Sect in Qingzhou, someone smuggled weapons from the military camps. So I want you to take preventive measures early. Do you understand?”
Inside, Zhu Di was earnestly explaining matters to Zhang Yue, while Yang Rong, waiting outside, grew increasingly anxious. The weather in October wasn’t too cold, but wearing only a black gauze hat and a layered robe, he was exposed to gusts of cold wind and gradually found it unbearable. It wasn’t just the cold that bothered him, but also his unease.
In recent days, he had truly felt immense pressure. He certainly knew Zhu Di was temperamental and couldn’t tolerate the slightest mistake, and he knew some issues shouldn’t be confronted head-on with the emperor. But having his proposals rejected one after another, with any slight error leading to harsh criticism, was something he had never experienced before.
When the Wenyuan Pavilion was first established, there were seven people in total. But just as troops come and go, only three of them remained—Jie Jin died of cold in the snow, Hu Guang died of illness, and the others were replaced or removed. The three who took office two months ago were dismissed for offending the emperor. Now, in the entire Wenyuan Pavilion, only he and Jin Youzi were left!
Even Yang Rong now couldn’t help but envy Yang Shiqi, who was alone in Nanjing serving the Crown Prince. Although the emperor would sometimes be suspicious, Yang Shiqi was extremely skilled at handling such situations; even if he was imprisoned by the Jinyiwei, he could be released in no time. In contrast, though Yang Rong seemed to enjoy constant favor, he faced direct pressure from the emperor—a burden no outsider could truly understand.
“Lord Yang.”
Hearing this voice, Yang Rong immediately snapped out of his thoughts. Seeing Zhang Yue standing before him bowing, he nodded in return. As he was about to go in, he stopped and asked, “How did you fare playing chess with the emperor?”
Realizing it must have been Zhu Ning who revealed the secret, Zhang Yue’s expression turned unpleasant, and he could only mumble an answer, “The emperor is an excellent chess player. Of course, I was defeated.”

Seeing Zhang Yue leave in a hurry, Yang Rong was both impressed and puzzled. It was natural for a subject and emperor to end a game in a draw at best, and with Zhu Di’s chess skills, it wasn’t easy to lose even one game. Yet Zhang Yue seemed to have lost several games. It wasn’t until he entered the main hall with a flurry of thoughts that he put them aside, for he had a very important matter to discuss today and needed to use every trick at his disposal to get things clarified.

The post road from Nanjing to Beijing had been repaired several times since Zhu Di ascended the throne. For urgent matters, a fast horse could cover the distance in three days day and night. Since Zhu Di had ordered the Jinyiwei to select the most capable people as messengers, the people in the Eastern Palace learned of Princess Wang’s death right away. But before they could process this news, another imperial order to go to Beijing arrived promptly.

Although Princess Wang was only a concubine, upon learning that the funeral arrangements set by the emperor followed the old customs of Empress Chengmu of the Taizu era, Zhu Gaochi immediately ordered Crown Princess Zhang to prepare mourning clothes and instructed Zhu Zhanji and Yang Shiji to prepare for the journey north and to stay behind. Despite having capable wife and son, as the crown prince, he was still extremely busy. After meeting Duke Cheng, Zhu Yong, that day, he returned to Duanjing Hall. Shortly after sitting down, his trusted eunuch Zhong Huai quietly approached.

“Your Highness, Scholar Yang from Beijing sent a message.”

Zhu Gaochi, who had been resting with one hand on the armrest and eyes closed, immediately opened them and stared at Zhong Huai for a while before asking calmly, “What did he say?”

Zhong Huai had already sent everyone else out of the room. He bowed deeply and spoke carefully, word by word: “Lord Yang said the emperor believes that Prince Zhao is still young and the youngest son. Used to being unrestrained in his behavior, if he were to rule, it might lead to chaos like that of Prince Han. It would be better to keep him nearby for easier control for now.”

At that moment, Zhu Gaochi, with his plump face, narrowed his eyes sharply and then ordered, “Tell the messenger that I understand.”