Chapter 431: Brilliant Glory
The baby’s third bath ceremony and full-month celebration were both held in great pomp and festivity. Although Zhang Zhuo, the grandfather, was occupied with official duties and could not return, he sent a letter from Nanjing just a few days after the child’s birth, with a name already chosen. If it was a son, the male lineage would bear the character “Ye,” meaning “brilliant glory,” which Zhang Zhuo had selected; if it was a daughter, the name would be “Xuan,” derived from the chrysanthemum symbolizing the forgetting of worries. Though everyone was satisfied with these names, everyone in the family continued to call the child by their nickname.
After all, even though the doctors said Zhang Ye was strong and healthy, the Gu family still feared that a child born into such wealth might die young, so they ordered that no formal titles be used for the child until the age of ten. Thus, “Jingguan” became the two characters everyone in the family referred to. Yet, while everyone was rejoicing at this happy event, Zhang Yue, who had just become a father, had to deal with matters related to his uncle Zhang You’s assignment to Jiaozhi, as well as military deployments across the region.
At the end of June, Emperor Zhu Di ordered Zhu Rong, the commander of Liaodong, to select 5,000 elite troops from his units and the Tatar and Jurchen tribes, to be led to Beijing in July. He also ordered Liu Zhong, the commander of Shandong, to lead 3,000 elite troops to Beijing on the first day of August. Although Zhu Di claimed he was only preparing to conduct a northern inspection of Xinghe and Kaiping, such a large-scale mobilization clearly showed the emperor’s aggressive military intentions.
Amidst the widespread discussions about a northern campaign, the Dong family could not help but express their complaints in private. That evening, after saying goodnight and leaving the main house in the northern courtyard, and since Zhang You had been busy with official duties and had not returned home, she stopped Zhang Yue at the courtyard gate. Ignoring the presence of her son and daughter-in-law, she spoke directly:
“Brother Yue, though I’m a woman, I still understand some of the affairs outside. When it comes to recognizing merits in the military department, first are the achievements of those leading troops in the north, then those in Jiaozhi and Liaodong, followed by those in the southwest among the Miao and Yi tribes, and finally those in the interior regions. Now that war seems imminent in the north, joining the army is the safest option. Besides, one can return within a year, which is better than going to that dark place in Jiaozhi. You work in the military department and are favored by the emperor—you should choose a good place for your uncle…”
Before she could finish speaking, Zhang Chao frowned. “Mother, at this time, what nonsense are you talking about? Father’s appointment as commander in Jiaozhi is about to be finalized. How can we treat court affairs as a joke? Moreover, it’s Father’s own choice—what does it have to do with my third brother?”
“What do you mean irrelevant? Do you think I don’t know anything?” Dongfang Shi was already annoyed, and now she was even more furious. “If not for his memorial on pacifying Jiaozhi, how would the Emperor think of your father? If not for his showing off, how could your father have managed to get out of that place in the first place, only to go back and suffer there? He already has the title of Marquis of Yangwu—what more could he possibly want, that he still wants to risk everything?”
Seeing Zhang Qi sweating profusely as he tried to persuade her, and Zhang Chao turning red from Dongfang Shi’s words, Zhang Yue also grew angry. Although he usually respected his elders, he could only show reluctant respect for such a second aunt. Now, seeing her speak without restraint, he had no choice but to become stern.
“Second aunt, you’re being too presumptuous! You should know better than I do what kind of person your second uncle is. He’s always been competitive. Just because he was granted a title for suppressing the Japanese pirates, it doesn’t mean he stands out among the nobles. How could he not want to strive further? It’s true that northern expeditions are the highest way to earn merits in the military, but do you realize how many nobles and officers accompany each expedition? There are positions like commander-in-chief, left and right guards, left and right scouts, and vanguard—dozens of leadership roles that many people fight over. Your second uncle is just a newly appointed marquis—can he compete with others? If it’s just to be a minor general, can he outperform someone who’s fighting alone in Jiaozhi?”
Dongfang Shi was left speechless by Zhang Yue’s words, while Zhang Chao and Zhang Qi nodded repeatedly. Even so, Zhang Yue knew he had to strike hard at this second aunt—without hesitation—to crush her arrogance. So he intensified his tone: “As my elder brother just said, court affairs cannot be taken lightly. Others may see guarding Jiaozhi as a demotion, but your second uncle doesn’t see it that way. He wants to go there on his own and make a real difference! If those words get out, they’ll sound like complaints. If your second uncle hears them, will he be happy? If he can achieve more and receive rewards, wouldn’t it be for you, your elder brother, and your second brother?”
Seeing Zhang Yue bow deeply and walk away without looking back, Dongfang Shi felt both angry and anxious. She couldn’t help but glare fiercely at her two sons: “Look at you! At a time like this, you only know how to defend others! He… he has no respect for elders at all!”
Zhang Chao and Zhang Qi had no choice but to stay silent. Li Yun had never been one to speak too much in front of her mother-in-law, but Zhao Fen was not the kind to keep things simple. Zhang Yue’s words earlier were both a warning and a reprimand, which she found extremely satisfying. She immediately interjected, “Madam, please don’t disappoint Third Brother’s good intentions. Everyone knows Master’s temperament—he’s decisive and strict. Ever since he was appointed, he even seems more cheerful. If Madam’s words reached his ears, he would surely be unhappy. Besides, Aunt Fang’s father is a chieftain from the southwest; he certainly won’t hold things back in this matter…”
“Shut up!” Although Zhang Qi was usually carefree, he always respected his mother. He immediately stopped his daughter-in-law from speaking. Seeing Dong Fang’s face turn ashen with anger, he awkwardly tried to persuade her a few times, before finally blurting out something irrelevant, “Mother, if Father hadn’t been unable to take me and Eldest Brother this time, we would have wanted to go too…”
This time, it was Li Yun and Zhao Fen whose faces turned pale. After hearing such a clear indication, Dong Fang could no longer speak. She only clenched her fists, gradually realizing that her husband had spent those nights in Fang Shuixin’s room. She thought of the woman as the daughter of a barbarian chieftain and recalled the argument earlier that had made her feel pleased at others’ misfortune… She even began to wonder whether Zhang You would take this woman with him on his campaign, feeling both worried and resentful.
Du Wan, who had already finished her postpartum recovery and had ample milk, decided to breastfeed the child herself. Zhang Yue naturally had no objections to this. Sun Shi remembered that she had also breastfed her son herself, so she turned a blind eye. The wet nurse, receiving a generous monthly salary, had no complaints either. When Zhang Yue pulled back the curtain and entered the east room, he saw Du Wan with her clothes open, breastfeeding the child, and he stood by the door with a smile.
With Jingguan added to the third branch of the family, Gu Shi sent Lingxi back to help out. Lingxi happened to enter at that moment. Seeing Zhang Yue standing there with a smile, she teased him, “Young master, are you still not satisfied after watching day and night?”
Zhang Yue didn’t care about such teasing. He smiled and said, “It’s said that women are most radiant when breastfeeding, and it’s truly true. Not to mention me—haven’t you seen how delighted Little Jingguan is always with his mother? How could he ever get enough of it?”
At first, Du Wan didn’t even notice there was an extra person. Hearing that, she immediately looked up. Though, in Zhang Yue’s words, they were already an old married couple with no need to avoid suspicion, she still couldn’t help turning slightly and muttering irritably, “Stop talking nonsense.” After the child finished eating, Hu Bo picked him up and placed him in a bamboo crib nearby. She fastened her clothes and stood up, ready to roll her eyes at Zhang Yue. But he had already walked over to the crib and started teasing Jing Guan, who was now ready to sleep after eating and drinking. Before long, he made the child cry loudly. At that moment, he found the child’s cries to be truly splendid.
“There’s no father like you in the world!”
Seeing this, Du Wan quickly stepped forward to push Zhang Yue away and comforted the child for a while until Little Jing Guan opened his big dark eyes and smiled. She still didn’t want to put him down, so she continued holding the baby in her arms. When she sat back down on the kang, she pointed at the other side and said, “Sit over there. Don’t come over and make the child cry again.”
“Okay, okay. Can’t I just do as you say?”
Seeing Du Wan’s rare display of petulance, Zhang Yue had no choice but to sit across from her. Seeing the little one close his eyes and fall back into deep sleep, he couldn’t help but sigh at his son’s good fortune. Regaining his composure, he said, “My second uncle will probably leave in a few days. There will inevitably be all sorts of matters to deal with. Unless it’s necessary, you might as well use Jing Guan as an excuse to take a break, so as not to be pestered by my second aunt again, just like last time. The emperor has already ordered troops to be conscripted from Liaodong and Shandong; I’m afraid other regions will follow soon. I’ll be busy for another while. Mother will probably go to Nanjing in a couple of days. It’s up to you to take care of everything at home.”
“There are so many people in our family, but you make it seem like I’m the only one.” Du Wan finally rolled her eyes as she said this, then reverted to her usual expression. “Although you’re in the Ministry of War, if the emperor really decides to launch a northern campaign, you’ll surely be involved in raising funds for the troops. But mother mentioned when she came to see me that father doesn’t agree to another imperial campaign—firstly because the emperor is getting old, and secondly because it would cost too much. There are so many great generals in the court, and the Duke of Yingguo is especially renowned as a skilled commander. Why can’t we just choose one of them to lead the campaign?”
“The Emperor still harbors resentment over Qiu Fu’s initial defeat,” Zhang Yue glanced at Hu Bo, seeing that she was merely bent over her needlework, so he turned his gaze away. “In the Emperor’s eyes, the Duke of Britain has achieved great feats in the southern campaigns, but his performance in the northern expeditions isn’t necessarily reliable, let alone that of others. Moreover, if one general continues to bear all the responsibility alone in the court, it will surely lead to gossip. Besides, my second uncle is also going to garrison Jiaozhi—we can’t let the Zhang family get all the good fortune. Furthermore, the Emperor isn’t the kind to stay idle in the palace; rather than a northern expedition, it’s more like he’s seeking back the sense of adventure he once had on the battlefield. Even if we try to persuade him, it must be done gradually, not hastily.”
Although he knew his father-in-law wasn’t the type to speak out recklessly without consideration, thinking of those civil officials who had been executed, imprisoned, or exiled in the past, Zhang Yue added, “I’ll try to remind my father-in-law. If my mother-in-law comes, please give her some advice as well. Since the destruction of the Three Great Halls, the Emperor’s temper has become even more volatile. If we persuade him improperly, it could backfire.”
Even for this brilliant little one, he had to do his utmost.