Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 624 The Undercurrents of Hanyang (Part 4)

“No.” Zhang Wan shook her head and said seriously, “I think that although Li Deyu’s words have some merit, they cannot be used as a reason to violate etiquette, distort the truth, or act as an accomplice to evil. Moreover, the Grand Consort Wang was appointed as the second consort by the late emperor’s decree. The ceremony was complete, there were official documents and seals, and the Ministry of Rites also recorded it. If we were to report to the imperial court and request the removal of the mother, the superior country would surely send an envoy to inquire. At this critical moment, wouldn’t sending an envoy from the Ministry of Rites create unnecessary trouble?” Zhang Wan emphasized each time she said “Ministry of Rites.”

"What does Lord Luoxi mean?" Cui Mingji's expression seemed to have softened, but he still frowned.

“Of course, we should accept what is true and reject what is not,” Zhang Wan said. “Perhaps it is true, as Li Deyu said, that His Majesty does have concerns about certain things. But times have changed. The most important task now is to execute generals and burn books to appease His Majesty. Since Li Deyu can realize that ‘the wrath of the Tang Dynasty is brewing in the heavens, and the shame of Jili is imminent,’ His Majesty must also be clear about this. We only need to clearly advise him on the ‘what is more important’, and His Majesty will surely, certainly, gladly accept it.”

"So, in other words," Li Shibai continued, "we're not going to ask Judge Li for reinforcements?"

“We could talk to him again,” Zhang Wan said, narrowing her eyes slightly. “If Li Deyu insists on bringing up the ‘Disparaging Program’ as a condition, then we’ll do it ourselves.”

"Brother Dunshi is still thinking about getting help from the West?" Cui Mingji glared at Li Shibai with displeasure. "It's good enough that the old scoundrel isn't interfering!"

"Probably not. As the saying goes, when a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. Since Judge Li has sworn an oath to the lamp, he shouldn't do that." Li Shibai looked at Zheng Zhongxin with a forced smile, hoping for a word of agreement, but Zheng Zhongxin didn't respond.

"How can you believe the oaths of such a person!" Cui Mingji said excitedly.

“Li Deyu is indeed not a trustworthy person!” Zhang Wan quickly interjected, “But he shouldn’t make a foolish move in this matter. Ziqian, don’t forget, it was he who strongly advocated for aiding China and upholding his duties as a vassal. His current precarious situation probably started from that time.”

Cui Mingji was taken aback, and his anger subsided considerably.

Zhang Wan continued, "The country is currently facing many difficulties, and people like Pu Liu are blindly pandering to the emperor without any principles. Helping them to overthrow Li is tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin. Of course, I'm not saying we should just let Li Deyu continue to run rampant, but if we want to bring him down, we must first get through this crisis. Before the emperor's mind is at peace, we might as well put aside those old grudges." As she spoke, Zhang Wan looked at Zheng Zhongxin: "That's feasible. What do you think?"

Zheng Zhongxin's pupils contracted. "Your subordinate will obey Lord Luoxi's every command."

Zhang Wan smiled with relief and then turned her gaze to Cui Mingji.

Cui Mingji neither agreed nor refused, but simply sighed softly.

"Lord Luoxi," Zheng Zhongxin asked, "Since we still need to discuss this, should I submit my resignation and memorial to the emperor the day after tomorrow?"

Zhang Wan thought for a moment. "Let's do it the day after tomorrow. Manpu needs you. Tomorrow, I'll go and talk to Li Deyu myself. If we can reach an agreement, we'll ask him for help," Zhang Wan first looked at Li Shibai, then at Cui Mingji. "If we can't reach an agreement, we'll submit the memorial according to the original plan."

Zheng Zhongxin nodded. "How should the petition be written? Please enlighten me, Lord Luo Xi."

“You don’t need to worry about the report,” Zhang Wan said. “I’ll find someone to write it for you. You just need to copy it and sign it.”

“Alright.” Although Zheng Zhongxin was a military graduate from a regular family and had read books like the Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu, and Shiji, he still couldn’t write articles that were full of allusions and eloquent prose. Even if Zhang Wan asked him to write it himself, he would find a proper Confucian scholar to polish his writing.

“Dunshi, Ziqian,” Zhang Wan turned his head and said, “Your joint petitions must be carefully worded, and you must not offend the King. In any case, Li Deyu is right about one thing. Jiang Hongli and Jin Jingrui are the ones the King insisted on using, and to the King, they are a stain! We cannot let the King feel that executing Jiang and Jin is a sin against himself.” Zhang Wan’s lips twitched involuntarily, but he managed to hold back and not let out a cold laugh.

“We should try to guide the king so that he thinks that executing Jiang and Jin was a wise and decisive act, thus erasing any stain on his reputation,” Li Shibai said.

"It's probably hard to gauge the right balance," Zhang Wan sighed sadly.

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Tuk-tuk-tuk.

The Zhang family's door had barely been closed for less than fifteen minutes when it was knocked on again.

The gatekeeper answered the door, but froze as soon as he opened it. "Envoy Zheng? Did you forget something?"

“No, that’s not it,” Zheng Zhongxin said with a smile. “There’s something I forgot to mention. I’d like to see Lord Luoxi again. Could you please go and inform him again?”

"Is it something important?" The doorman continued to pull open the door.

"It's not a big deal," Zheng Zhongxin shook his head.

"Then you might as well tell me, and I can pass it on for you," the doorman said with a smile.

“Thank you for your kindness. However, although this matter is not a big deal, it is difficult to explain in just a few words. Please go and inform him.” Zheng Zhongxin added, “If Lord Luoxi has already retired for the night, then I will not disturb you any further.”

"Then please come and sit in the gatehouse for a while," the gatekeeper said, opening the gate and making room for him. "I'll go take a look."

"Thank you for your trouble." Zheng Zhongxin bowed before stepping over the threshold.

When the doorman found Zhang Wan in the study, Zhang Wan had already changed out of her usual formal attire and into casual home clothes.

"Master," the doorman called softly from the study doorway.

"Who's here?" Zhang Wan paused, but didn't look up.

"Envoy Zheng has returned again. He said there's a small matter that can't be explained in a few words, and he forgot to mention it. Do you still want to see him?" the gatekeeper said simply.

"Please invite him in. Just bring him here," Zhang Wan said.

"Yes." The gatekeeper turned and left, bringing Zheng Zhongxin over in a short while.

"Your subordinate pays respects to Lord Luoxi." Zheng Zhongxin stood at the door and bowed.

"Come in and have a seat." Zhang Wan put down his pen and gestured across the desk to the nearest guest seat. Then, he beckoned to the doorman. "Close the door."

"Yes." Zheng Zhongxin stepped over the threshold, and the doorman closed the door and left. The two walked away from each other but spoke in unison.

"Excuse me." After entering, Zheng Zhongxin bowed again before sitting down in the spot Zhang Wan had designated.

“That’s feasible,” Zhang Wan said, taking the initiative. “What you’re about to say isn’t something you forgot to mention, but rather something you can only say to me, right?”

Zheng Zhongxin paused for a moment, but wasn't entirely surprised. "Lord Luoxi is as astute as ever." Zheng Zhongxin and Zhang Wan were old acquaintances. In the thirtieth year of the Wanli reign, Zhang Wan went to the capital to pay homage to the emperor as a deputy envoy, and Zheng Zhongxin was one of the military officers accompanying him.

Zhang Wan smiled faintly. "What is it that you have to keep from them?"

“There might be a ‘Cao Wushang’ planted by Judge Li by your side.” Zheng Zhongxin’s eyes suddenly turned sharp.

"What Cao Wushang?" Zhang Wan didn't react immediately either.

"Cao Wushang at the Feast at Hongmen." Zheng Zhongxin smiled inexplicably.

Zhang Wan's eyes widened. "You mean, Li Deyu bribed the people around me?" "Yes!" Zheng Zhongxin nodded heavily.

"Who?" Zhang Wan immediately asked.

"Your subordinate..." Zheng Zhongxin paused for a moment. "I don't know yet."

"Then why do you say that?" Zhang Wanli said solemnly, "I don't want to hear about unfounded rumors."

“This is not just hearsay,” Zheng Zhongxin quickly explained. “This is what Judge Li told his subordinates himself.”

"He would tell you this?" Zhang Wan instinctively didn't believe it.

“Absolutely true!” Zheng Zhongxin said, “Shortly after I explained my purpose to Judge Li, he told me about my drunken ramblings.”

"What drunken ramblings?"

"It is my regret that I did not, on the way to the capital, take the initiative to kill generals and burn books to avert national calamities," Zheng Zhongxin said.

"So that's what it was about." Zhang Wan thought it was hindsight and didn't take it to heart at all. "Why did Li Deyu expose this?"

"I don't know either." Zheng Zhongxin lowered his head, a faint look of guilt on his face. "Perhaps he truly regrets and resents that I brought this scourge to the capital."

"Heh," Zhang Wan chuckled, tearing out a sheet of white paper. "What did he tell you? Explain the whole story clearly."

"Yes." Zheng Zhongxin recounted his conversation with Li Erzhan from the beginning, in detail. He spoke with particular care this time, covering almost everything except for the instigating remark he deliberately omitted.

Zhang Wan listened and took notes. Although he only wrote down some simple words and phrases, he was able to piece together the entire conversation based on those words and phrases.

"That's all?" Zheng Zhongxin stopped speaking, and Zhang Wan also put down her pen.

"Gone."

"Where have you said this before?" Zhang Wan stared at the "hindsight" statement on the paper.

"I only said it once at the banquet that day. I didn't dare to say it on any other occasions." Although Zheng Zhongxin was a military man, he still knew his limits and knew what to say in different situations.

Zhang Wan was silent for a while, then suddenly sighed, "If only Li Deyu were really Xiang Yu."

"What?" Zhang Wan murmured softly, and Zheng Zhongxin didn't quite hear her.

“I mean,” Zhang Wan said with a wry smile, “if Li Deyu were as outspoken as Xiang Yu, he could just say ‘Cao Wushang’ directly.”

"Even Lord Luoxi couldn't have guessed who this 'Cao Wushang' was?" Zheng Zhongxin said.

“Although there weren’t many people at the banquet that day, if you include the cooks, servants, and the opera troupe and dancers who were there, there must have been at least a dozen or twenty people,” Zhang Wan said. “Many of them could be bribed.”

Zheng Zhongxin said hesitantly, "I have a guess about this 'Cao Wushang'."

"Who!" Zhang Wan's brows furrowed, revealing a stern expression.

Zheng Zhongxin said cautiously, "Li Yan'an."

Zhang Wan frowned. "You mean Dunshi?"

Li Yan'an is Li Shibai. Because his ancestral home was Yan'an in Huanghai Road, he could also be called Li Yan'an.

“Yes.” Zheng Zhongxin nodded.

"Why do you think that?" Zhang Wan asked.

"He was also a student of Ao Seongbu-jun, yet he strongly advocated for bringing in Judge Li as an ally, even at the cost of clashing with Choi Jeon-ju for it," Jeong Chung-shin explained. "I also heard that his sister, who is now a nun, has climbed up the social ladder to the position of Lady Kim. So I wondered if Li Yan'an and his son had already sided with Jeong and Li."

“Don’t forget that five years ago, Li Yuru was exiled to Gangwon Province on fabricated charges by Li Deyu simply because he met with Cui Yi in private,” Zhang Wan said. “He only returned to the capital two years ago and is still unemployed.”

"Perhaps it was because of this calamity that..."

"I don't think so. Don't make wild guesses." Zhang Wan interrupted Zheng Zhongxin, but a light gloom settled over his own heart. This wasn't the first time he'd heard that Li Yan'an and his son had become close to Jin Shanggong.

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Just as Zhang Wan was seriously considering whether Li Gui and his son Li Shibai truly intended to pledge allegiance to Li Erzhan, Li Shibai also returned to his home in Wangjing under the last rays of the setting sun.

As soon as Li Shibai entered the Second Hospital, he saw his fourth half-brother, Li Shiying.

At this moment, Li Shiying was sitting in the courtyard, reading a book while digesting his food.

"You can still see clearly in this sky?" Li Shibai walked up to Li Shiying and snatched the book from his hand. At a glance, it was indeed the book that Li Shiying had read countless times, "The Peony Pavilion: The Return of the Soul".

"Let's save some lamp oil," Li Shiying said, turning over and chuckling. "When did you get back, brother?"

"Just now," Li Shibai patted the book cover. "Is this legend really that good?"

"It's thrilling, ingenious, and refreshing every time you read it." Li Shiying smiled first, then sighed, "It's a pity that the man is gone. I wonder when such a masterpiece will be published again."

The Peony Pavilion was finalized as early as the 26th year of the Wanli reign, the same year the Dingyou Rebellion was quelled. However, in the early days, the Peony Pavilion circulated slowly among the literati in Jiangnan in the form of manuscripts. It was not until the 45th year of the Wanli reign, when the Shilin woodblock print edition was published, that the Peony Pavilion began to spread widely throughout the world and overseas.

In the 47th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Li Gui, who had spent three years in exile in Gangwon Province, was released and returned to the capital with Li Shibai and Li Shiying. Not long after arriving in the capital, Li Shiying heard about this book at a gathering. Coincidentally, Li Tinggui's delegation was in court to "defend against false accusations," so Li Shiying asked a friend accompanying the delegation to find him the finest printed edition.

In the 48th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, the Li Tinggui mission returned to Korea, bringing back significant news to the Joseon court, including the death of Empress Wang, the Emperor's illness, the explosion of the Liaoyang gunpowder depot, and the exile of the "traitorous minister" Xu Guangqi to Tongzhou for military training. The friend, as promised, brought back a beautifully bound copy of *The Peony Pavilion* for Li Shiying. However, the friend also brought heartbreaking news for the talented scholars and ladies—Tang Xianzu, the creator of *The Peony Pavilion*, had died as early as the 44th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, the same year the Li family was exiled.

"Read something serious." Li Shibai flipped through it a few times and then shoved the slightly crumpled copy of "The Peony Pavilion" back into Li Shiying's hands. "Where's the old man?"

"It's in the study." Li Shiying tucked the book into his pocket and followed his brother toward the study.

(End of this chapter)