Chapter 839: A Downfallen Phoenix Is Not Worth a Chicken

Wuding Marquis Hutong was located south of Fuchengmen Street in Jinchengfang, just over a hundred steps away from the western city wall of the capital. Since the position of Wuding Marquis had remained vacant for twenty years before being inherited by Guo Xuan, the land and mansion belonging to the Wuding Marquis household were granted by Zhu Gaochi during the Hongxi era. At that time, many concubines were conferred high ranks, with Guo Guifei being the foremost among them. Later, three generations of the Zhang Empress were posthumously honored, and the Zhang Empress’s brother was made the hereditary Pengcheng Marquis. Meanwhile, Guo Xuan inherited the title of Wuding Marquis as the brother of Guo Guifei. For a time, the Wuding Marquis household was considered one of the most prominent noble families in the capital, on par with those who governed the five major ministries.

Guo Xuan originally believed he could revive his family’s fortunes and restore its glory from the Hongwu era—when his grandfather Guo Ying’s sister, Guo Ningfei, gave birth to the Prince of Lu, and his two daughters married the Prince of Liao and the Princess of Ying respectively. His eldest son, Guo Zhen, was married to the Princess of Yongjia and enjoyed even greater favor than the dukes. If Emperor Renzong, Zhu Gaochi, had lived another two years, it might have been possible, thanks to the favoritism toward Guo Guifei. Unfortunately, the emperor who granted him the marquis title passed away just a few months into his reign, taking Guo Guifei with him in his death. Without imperial support and with a weak foundation, the Wuding Marquis household naturally saw few visitors.

Yet, it wasn’t entirely deserted. Around the early hours of the morning, when Wuding Marquis Guo Xuan led his entourage across Fengcheng Hutong and crossed the bridge, he saw a row of carriages parked in front of his house. He rode into the west gate, where a gatekeeper immediately approached and said cautiously, “The Princess of Yongjia and the Second Old Lady have arrived.”

Hearing this, Guo Xuan, who was already in a bad mood, felt even more distressed and almost wanted to turn around and leave immediately. If it had been other members of his family, he wouldn’t have feared anything and would have simply walked by with a cold expression. But the Princess of Yongjia, his maternal aunt, was different—she was a noble of the imperial family, even the great-grandmother of the current emperor. He knew well that if not for his sister Guo Guifei’s quick death and the need to preserve the imperial face, he would have lost his title long ago!

“Marquis…”

Although he wanted to avoid them, Guo Xuan knew that he had already been seen upon entering, so he couldn’t just turn back at the mention of two elders being there. He forced himself to keep walking forward with a stern expression. When he dismounted at the second gate, he saw Lady Li personally bringing out the two women and hurried forward to pay his respects.

“Aunt, Second Aunt.”

The Grand Princess of Yongjia was now in her sixties, with almost all her hair turned white. Since Zhu Di had been angered by Guo Ying leading the southern army during his reign, Guo Ying died suddenly not long after Zhu Di ascended the throne. Although he was posthumously granted the title of Duke of Yingguo, many of Guo Ying’s descendants died under mysterious circumstances, and Guo Zhen was also banished far from the capital. Though she was a princess, not being of the same mother as Zhu Di, she had to move around with him, leaving the Marquis title of Wuding vacant. It was not until the fifth year of the Yongle era that two of Guo’s granddaughters married the crown prince and the King of Han as concubines, allowing their brothers, Guo Cong and Guo Xian, to hold the nominal position of deputy commander. By then, she was still suffering outside.

At this moment, her sharp gaze swept over Guo Xian, then she slammed her purple sandalwood cane on the ground and sneered, “Get up. I can’t stand your formalities! There’s a difference between legitimate and illegitimate, and between elders and juniors. Now the Guo family seems to be doing well, even ignoring these distinctions! I, an old woman, have nothing else to say but lament my poor fate. Sister-in-law, why are you still standing here? Let’s go!”

The second old lady was the mother of the King of Han’s concubine, Guo, and also Guo Ying’s second daughter-in-law. Guo had died early, so the family wasn’t greatly affected by the King of Han’s rebellion. But seeing Guo Xian inherit the title so quickly, and thinking of her own son who only held a nominal position, she filled with hatred. Suppressing her urge to speak harshly, she stepped forward to help the Grand Princess of Yongjia, saying, “The Princess is right. Things change over time—today’s nobles may not be in power tomorrow.”

Seeing that the servants had already sent someone to bring a carriage, the two old ladies stood there, staring at him with piercing eyes. Guo Xian wished he could leave them immediately. Finally, once they were in the carriage and the curtains were drawn, he rushed inside, but after taking a few steps, a cold voice came from behind.

“Justice always exists in this world. The natural order of legitimacy and hierarchy cannot be ignored!”

With these words firmly lodged in his heart, Guo Xian’s face remained gloomy even after entering the main room. When a maid brought him tea, he was about to drink it when he suddenly asked Lady Li beside him, “I sent you to English Park. Have you been there? What’s it like there?”

“How dare I neglect the Marquis’s orders? It’s quite a coincidence that I met the Duchess of Cheng and the Duchess of Wu’an outside today. When we all arrived at the garden, the women in Minister Zhang’s household happened to be there as well.” Seeing her husband in a bad mood, Lady Li deliberately spoke in a gentler tone. “I tried to gauge the Duchess’s attitude, and it seems her niece has a very bad temper, and she can’t control her. Later, that Miss Jing came out to see the guests. She wasn’t ugly, but she was arrogant, insisting that only someone like her brother would be suitable for her as a husband. How can a young lady be so disrespectful? By the way, on the way here, the Duchess of Cheng mentioned there was also a sister…”

Guo Xuan, the Marquis of Wuding, was already filled with anger. Hearing this, he finally lost control and smashed his teacup violently on the ground. In an instant, the delicate Ru kiln teacup shattered into pieces, scattering everywhere. The scalding tea spilled all over, including onto Guo Xuan’s clothes and Lady Li’s garments.

The maids in the room knew this was a sign that their master was furious. They quickly lowered their heads and held their breath, not daring to approach and clean up the mess. Lady Li was so frightened that she trembled and hurriedly stood up.

“How could I entrust such an important task to you, a short-sighted woman! This… you’re trying to kill me!”

Thinking of the imperial troops and the East Depot’s tyranny these past few days, Guo Xuan swallowed hard and pointed at Lady Li’s nose, cursing, “I told you to speak kindly and settle things first, so I could send someone to propose marriage later. But what have you done? The sister of the Duchess of Cheng… Don’t you know who the Duke of Qian is, and who I am! The Princess of Zhao is the daughter of the Duke of Qian, and so is the Duchess of Cheng. Why would his daughter want to marry your son?”

As the head of the household, though usually afraid of her husband, Lady Li couldn’t bear such scolding anymore. “My son Cong is the legitimate eldest son of you, the Marquis of Wuding. Which daughter wouldn’t be worthy of him?”

“Tch! Look at the attitude of the first and second branches of the family—they’d rather devour us alive! Just because one is the legitimate eldest son doesn’t mean they’ll inherit the title. Why didn’t the Marquisship of Wuding go to the first branch but to me? A fallen phoenix is no better than a chicken—do you understand that?”

In a fit of anger, Guo Xuan blurted out even words he shouldn’t have said, his expression instantly turning dark. He cast a cold glance at the maids in the room, determined to deal with them all once this ordeal was over. Then, with a grim face, he said, “Go find a noblewoman you know well tomorrow and send someone to Lord Zhang’s residence to propose marriage right away!”
“Tomorrow?”
Even though Lady Li had already sensed some grave crisis from Guo Xuan’s words, she was stunned upon hearing this. Before she could ask further, Guo Xuan simply snorted and strode away. Watching the pine-colored silk curtain rise and fall abruptly, she couldn’t help but shiver again, then took a deep breath.
“Not a word of what you just heard may be revealed! If I hear even a hint of gossip outside, not only will you all die, but your parents as well!”
Yet, the next day, when Lady Li prepared generous gifts to ask Lady Guangning to intercede on their behalf, she waited and waited for her to return, only to be told with sighs that the girl had already been married—her suitor being the son of a distant relative, even though the marriage was arranged by Lady Yingguo the previous day. Though relieved upon hearing this, when Guo Xuan returned, everything in their home was ruined. Lady Li’s fine clothes and accessories, meant for guests, could no longer be worn.
Such matters of the noble household are naturally not for others to know.
Although the Jinyiwei was now far less powerful than during the Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu cases at the end of the Hongwu era, nor as ostentatious under Ji Gang’s leadership, it did not mean they had lost their formidable strength. Zhang Bu sent someone to the Jinyiwei headquarters, and by the next morning, two more clerks from the Ministry of War who had fled the capital to the suburbs were captured. One was silenced, while the other, by sheer luck, managed to escape punishment and confessed everything. However, what he knew was limited—he only said it was a task assigned to him by a clerk from the Left Army Command.

A tiny amount on the surface, but a large number underground. In just five days, the whole capital seemed to have gone through a purge—yamen clerks from Shuntian Prefecture, inspectors from the Censorate, military officers from the Beijing Garrison, officers from the Military Commission… In short, pulling out one radish always brings up a lot of mud, yet the Ministry of War, which had first caused the chaos, strangely fell quiet. The Censorate wanted to impeach them, but Gu Zuo warned them time and again, so these most active people could only quietly wait and see how things turned out.

After observing the situation, those with sharp minds realized that the hottest topic in the court at the moment was not the corruption in the military recruitment system of the Ministry of War, but rather the military situation in the north—although it was merely a skirmish between rival groups, both sides had taken their disputes all the way to the Ming Dynasty. Oirat Toghon asked to send envoys for tribute and trade under the pretext of reclaiming lost lands, while Tatar Altan cried out that the Oirats were occupying his land and begged to move south to graze. Moreover, the Wulangha people also seemed to be taking revenge on their former ally Altan. Thus, the emperor’s northern inspection carried no real danger; it was merely a small, foolish tribe that ruined itself by attacking the Ming emperor, allowing the Doyan tribe to take advantage and gain more slaves.

Under such circumstances, although Chai Chu still held his position, the new director of the Military Recruitment Department had already started working at the yamen. Shi An’s appointment was extremely low-key, drawing no attention. Few narrow-minded people would associate him with the Zhang faction, after all, he had been promoted by Li Qing, the Minister of War in Nanjing. He had only worked with Zhang Yue for a few months before being transferred from the Nanjing Ministry of War to the Ministry of Rites in the capital, also through Li Qing’s recommendation. Yet Shi An knew that Zhang Yue had played a key role in getting him to head the Military Recruitment Department.

At that moment, he and Chen Yong, who had been seconded from the Department of Geography, were sorting through years-old case files. With no one else in the room, he whispered, “With this secondment, will you stay here from now on?”

“How could that be? The Department of Geography is short of staff. Lord Zhang certainly won’t let me go,” Chen Yong replied while brushing dust off the files. Then he continued, “You need to act quickly. Chai Shucao is always very conscientious. I’m afraid he’ll leave as soon as the handover is done—he won’t linger in his position… He’s really unlucky. This matter shouldn’t have fallen on him at all. Do you know? Lord Zhang originally wanted to protect him, but it didn’t work.”

“Did Lord Zhang really protect him?”

After asking another question, Shi An saw Chen Yong nod and couldn’t help but smile bitterly. The two packed up their things and came out. Shi An went to hand over the items at the cart, while Chen Yong headed straight to Zhang Yue’s office inside the three gates. As soon as he entered, he saw Zhang Yue giving orders to an official from the armory department, so he quietly pulled back the curtain and waited outside.

After a while, the person inside came out, and then Shi An entered. He first spoke about taking over his position, before asking, “Seeing the master holding that box—has the Ministry of Works produced any new firearms?”

Recalling how busy he had been in the supposedly idle yet wealthy armory department, Zhang Yue had long thought that the officials there were too idle. After all, no large-scale replacement of firearms had taken place since his time there. He casually flipped through the few documents Shi An had brought and tossed them on the table.

“That’s right. The Ministry of Works will send someone over, and the armory department will surely be busy for a while. They’ve been too idle for too long. By the way, do you still remember the Ruan siblings from Jiaozhi? Marquis Anyuan sent people to escort them along with some skilled firearm craftsmen—they should arrive in a few days. The person in charge of the new firearms from the Ministry of Works this time is Li Cheng. He recently lost his wife and is still in mourning, but with new people arriving, he probably won’t dare neglect his duties.”

“Everyone knows how dedicated your lordship is. Li Cheng will surely go all out to handle this. Besides, since there are family ties between the two sides, it might not be possible to strengthen those ties any further. Speaking of which, I heard your lordship’s family just arranged a marriage—many in the capital must be sighing with regret. When I was on business at the Left Army Command, I heard that Marquis Wuding was quite upset for a while. Even in the Ministry of War, two talented young officials were whispering behind their backs.”

“Let them worry about my precious sister!” Zhang Yue thought to himself with a smirk, then suddenly remembered how Marquis Wuding had even rushed to propose marriage. There were many nobles in the capital who wanted to form alliances with his family, mostly because they saw the Duke of Ying as a backer and him as someone favored by the emperor. But the only one who had boldly come forward to propose was Marquis Wuding.

It seemed he needed to pay closer attention to the Guo family’s situation.