Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 497 Promotion to Three Ranks
After the Prince of Shou dressed up as a celestial child to perform for the birthday celebration, the atmosphere inside the Flower Calyx Tower reached its first climax.

After the Prince of Shou finished his performance, Zhang Yue immediately led his ministers to respectfully request that the Emperor's birthday be designated as the Qianqiu Festival. Although this had already been secretly decided long ago, the Emperor's mood became even more joyful after the Qianqiu Festival was officially established.

The emperor was overjoyed and even led Prince Shou back to the imperial bed to sit down together. At this time, the hall was still filled with the fragrance of immortals. Although the peaches on Jade Mountain were gone, the dancers were still dancing around Jade Mountain.

When the second rendition of the Brahman Song was played, the saint and his ministers, who were well-versed in music, immediately recognized the essence of the arrangement, especially since it took place in the temple. With the addition of the celestial children's birthday celebration in the middle and later sections, it was truly a stunning performance.

"Who taught my son to perform this wonderful play?"

The emperor looked at Prince Shou, who was sitting respectfully on one side of the imperial bed and dared not share a seat with his father, and his affection for him grew even stronger. So he asked again.

"It was the two Assistant Musicians of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Zhang, who composed the lyrics, and Song, who supervised the choreography of the song and dance. It was thanks to the assistance of these two talented individuals that I was able to express my heartfelt wishes and celebrate my father's birthday!"

When Prince Shou was in front of the emperor, he was still somewhat restrained and timid. After all, he lacked the experience of spending time with his father since childhood, and there was a certain distance between them in terms of psychology and feelings.

The sage did not notice this minor detail. This program, from its arrangement to its performance, was exactly to his liking. Therefore, upon hearing what the Prince of Shou said, he immediately raised his hand and said, "Summon these two to the palace!"

Soon Zhang Dai and Song Zhuo were led up. Judging from the atmosphere in the hall and the expressions on everyone's faces, Zhang Dai knew that the performance had been a great success. He immediately gestured to the still somewhat reserved Song Zhuo to bow to the emperor in the hall and said, "Your subjects, Zhang Dai and Song Zhuo, pay our respects to Your Majesty and wish Your Majesty a long and prosperous life! May the celestial children offer you longevity and may your immortal reign be long and enduring!"

Despite having heard the birthday wishes many times today, the Emperor couldn't help but smile broadly upon hearing these words again. He then pointed at Zhang Dai and said, "Having seen Zhang Dai, I knew this matter must have been orchestrated by you. Your ingenious ideas are truly extraordinary. The gentlemen in the hall have also praised you highly. Zhang Dai has rendered meritorious service in this play and has lived up to his expectations!"

"Your Majesty, we are fortunate to have a wise ruler, and joy has been bestowed upon our subjects. All under heaven are bathed in this grace. This birthday celebration play is the result of our heartfelt efforts and collective wisdom of the music troupe. We recommended the play based on the pure and filial heart of the Prince of Shou, and thus this play was created."

Upon hearing the emperor's praise, Zhang Dai immediately bowed and said, "Without this holy ruler, without this prosperous era, without this filial king, without these loyal officials and actors, this play would not have been possible. Therefore, I dare not presume to presume upon this, but only to frankly present the principles of loyalty and filial piety to the emperor!"

"I am deeply moved by this loyalty and filial piety. All the actors who participated in the play, Zhang Dai and Song Zhuo, shall be granted an honorary official rank of one grade, and the rest shall be granted ten gifts!"

Upon hearing Zhang Dai's response, the sage's smile deepened, and he waved and laughed again.

So, he got promoted just like that?

Upon hearing the Emperor's reward, Song Zhuo was momentarily stunned.

As Song Jing's grandson, he was used to following the rules and not taking shortcuts since childhood. He was used to having to work hard for a long time to get positive feedback. He had never experienced being promoted one level just because of a show.

After realizing what was happening, Song Zhuo hurriedly tried to bow and express his gratitude, but knowing that he was not good at dealing with such a situation, he kept in mind that after entering the hall, all his words and actions should follow Zhang Dai's lead. When he saw out of the corner of his eye that Zhang Dai had not yet made a move, he also stiffened his shoulders and back and dared not move.

"We are overjoyed to receive such a great favor, but all our efforts would not have been appreciated by Your Majesty without the sincere contributions of Prince Shou. Since Your Majesty has not rewarded us, we dare not accept it with shame."

Zhang Dai spoke up again, saying, "Since we are going to be part of Prince Shou's faction, we must be proper in our attitude. Prince Shou hasn't even received his reward yet, how can we abandon the King and claim the reward ourselves?"

The halls of Hua'e Tower were not actually separated by walls, only by curtains and screens for some concealment. As long as the curtains were rolled up, the view from both sides was visible. Since the performance had just taken place inside the hall, the curtains on both sides were also rolled up, and Consort Wu Hui and other noblewomen from both inside and outside the palace were watching the scene inside the main hall.

When Consort Wu Hui saw Zhang Dai's statement, she was even more moved and sighed repeatedly, "This child, this child is so stubborn that it breaks my heart. Sometimes he is shrewd, sometimes he is foolish! Since the emperor has rewarded his officials so generously, how could he not reward his own sons as well?"

As soon as Consort Wu Hui finished speaking, the Emperor laughed loudly, patted Prince Shou on the shoulder, and gestured for him to enter the hall to join Zhang Dai and the others. At the same time, he said with a smile, "My son is truly blessed to have such a righteous neighbor and such a righteous assistant!"

As he spoke, he raised his hand and summoned the Imperial Secretary, announcing the rewards for Prince Shou, Zhang Dai, and Song Zhuo in front of all the civil and military officials in the hall: "Prince Shou is pure in his service to the emperor and commendable in his loyalty and filial piety. He is hereby appointed as the Governor of Jingzhao and concurrently as the General of the Left Guard. Zhang Dai and Song Zhuo, the Assistant Musicians, are each promoted to the position of Libationer of the East Pavilion and Libationer of the West Pavilion of Prince Shou's Palace. Their honorary titles are each increased by one rank, and the rest remain unchanged!" As the emperor finished announcing the rewards, a buzz of discussion arose among the officials in the hall. Zhang Dai gave Prince Shou a push and gave Song Zhuo a look. The three of them quickly bowed and danced in the hall to express their gratitude.

Leaving aside the rewards given to Zhang Dai and the other two minor officials, the changes in the two titles of the Prince of Shou not only caused the officials in the hall to show different expressions, but also made the Crown Prince and other princes in the other hall look even more surprised.

The fifteenth year of the Kaiyuan era was a time of internal and external troubles. In order to appease the people, the emperor bestowed upon the princes the titles of governor, commander-in-chief, and military governor. Prince Shou was appointed as the Grand Commander of Yizhou and the Military Governor of Jiannan.

Of course, these titles were all nominal and didn't have much significance. If there was anything unusual about them, it was that the position of governor of the three prefectures of Jingzhao, Henan, and Taiyuan sounded better than that of the Grand General of the various prefectures, and those who were granted this position were older and favored princes.

For example, Consort Liu's sons, Prince Rong and Prince Yi, were respectively appointed as governors of Jingzhao and Henan. This shows that Consort Liu, as one of the three consorts in the harem, still enjoyed considerable favor from the emperor even after the death of Consort Zhao and the rise of Consort Wu Hui.

But now, in his great joy, the sage has transferred the title of Governor of Jingzhao, which had already been granted to Prince Rong, to Prince Shou. If these appointments had not been particularly significant before, they now have.

Clearly, in the emperor's mind, the governor of Jingzhao was more special than other governors and commanders, so he bestowed this title upon Prince Shou to express his affection for him.

In addition, Prince Shou was also granted the title of Left Guard General, a first among all the princes.

Although according to the official system of the Tang Dynasty, the Grand General of the Sixteen Guards of the Southern Army was only a third-rank official, it was a legitimate court position, unlike the governors and grand commanders who had become honorary titles, or the military governors who served as envoys.

The Left Guard General was the most important general in the Southern Court, the head of the Southern Court's military headquarters. Although the Southern Court was now practically defunct, the Left and Right Guards still retained their status as close relatives and officials to the Three Guards, commonly known as the Three Guards. The sons of high-ranking officials inherited their positions and often joined the Three Guards, so the Left and Right Guards still had soldiers on duty, albeit only as ceremonial guards.

Prior to this, no prince, regardless of their official position, had ever been appointed as the Grand General of the Southern Army, especially the Grand General of the Left and Right Guards. Prince Shou was the first to set this precedent, and regardless of whether he actually performed the duties of the Grand General of the Left Guard, he could be considered to have received special favor.

Therefore, when Consort Wu Hui in the side hall heard that her son had been granted an imperial decree, she was immediately excited and subconsciously glanced at Consort Liu Hua, who was sitting in the side seat.

Although Consort Liu was one of the three consorts in the harem, she was a rather low-key person, and in recent years, her beauty had faded and the emperor's favor had waned. She had no intention of competing for the emperor's favor with the rising star, Consort Wu Hui. Therefore, when she noticed Consort Wu Hui's gaze, she simply bowed slightly to show her respect.

Consort Liu's lack of ambition and ambition did not mean that others shared her thoughts, especially her second son, Prince Rong, who had been suddenly stripped of his post and was naturally very agitated.

Among the sage's sons, Prince Rong was one of the older ones. Unlike the other princes who were not enfeoffed until the thirteenth year of the Kaiyuan era, he was enfeoffed as a prince as early as the second year of the Kaiyuan era. He was also a handsome young man who was deeply loved by the sage, which is why he was appointed as the governor of Jingzhao.

Now, I have clearly done nothing wrong, I just ate a meal, and as a result, my title has been stripped and given to someone else. Who could accept this?
Therefore, upon hearing the emperor bestow titles upon Prince Shou in the main hall, Prince Rong immediately felt embarrassed, his eyes blazing with anger, and he raised his wine cup to sip the wine in a low voice.

The Crown Prince was also somewhat unsettled. If he hadn't had a clear and objective understanding of his situation before, the previous turmoil in the Eastern Palace made him realize that with the passing of his mother, Consort Zhao, he was no longer the Crown Prince who enjoyed exclusive favor and whose position was as solid as a rock!
Consort Wu Hui was already enjoying great influence in the harem, and now her son, Prince Shou, was also receiving special favor. Even the oblivious Crown Prince couldn't help but feel a sense of crisis. When he saw Prince Rong, who was also silent, his eyes flickered.

Regardless of the changing moods among the people in the side hall, the main hall remained a scene of joy and celebration. After receiving their rewards, Zhang Dai and the others obediently withdrew from the hall to continue arranging various performances.

The birthday banquet lasted from the afternoon until late at night. Even the civil and military officials in the palace gradually became drunk before the emperor finally announced the end of the banquet with satisfaction.

At the end of the banquet, the emperor announced the rewards for the various departments of rites and music. All the officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices were promoted one rank, and Zhang Dai was specially rewarded with another rank for his outstanding performance.

As the banquet progressed, Zhang Dai was promoted three ranks, from the original eighth-rank lower-ranking official to the seventh-rank upper-ranking official. Although his official position was not a major leap, his salary and benefits would see a significant increase.

(End of this chapter)