The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Carpenter Prince!

The 18th day of the twelfth lunar month, at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM).

Side hall of the East Palace.

The fire in the charcoal brazier was kept at a moderate level, and a layer of grayish-white morning light shone through the window paper. The snow had stopped last night, and a thin layer of snow remained under the eaves, just a finger's width thick.

Zhu Youxiao put down the last memorial he had been reviewing and neatly arranged the sealed documents on the left side of his desk. A regular report on the grain transport arrived from the Office of Transmission, and Fang Congzhe drafted a six-character comment: "As usual, nothing much has happened." After reading it, he did not write anything in red ink and simply sent it back to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

He picked up his teacup. The tea was already half-cooled.

The footsteps outside the curtain were extremely light, pausing only briefly.

"Your Highness."

"Come in."

Liu Shun lifted the curtain and entered, then stepped forward in a low voice and stood three steps away from the table.

"I have three matters to attend to on this trip, and I dare not delay."

"explain."

"Firstly, last night at the third watch, the guards at Chongwen Gate were gossiping that an official horse came from the direction of Hejian Prefecture, circled around the east side of the city, and entered Chongwen Gate. There was no official document box or badge on the horse. I didn't find out where it stopped, but I heard that it was riding very fast and didn't stop along the way."

Zhu Youxiao tapped the edge of the table lightly with his knuckles.

Hejian Mansion.

The inspection team is currently in Hejian Prefecture. If Wang Tiezhu had obtained anything yesterday, according to regulations, he should have traveled by post road to the capital in three days. Entering Chongwen Gate at night without a pass or box, and then disappearing eastward around the city, this is not a postal service.

"The second one."

"At the Imperial Pharmacy, besides Liu Er, Wei Liangqing has been bringing a new face in and out these past two days. Chen Lu has peeked at the door twice; the person isn't part of the Imperial Pharmacy's staff. He seems to be someone who comes in to deliver something but refuses to leave."

"The third one."

"On Eunuch Wang's end, the prescription has changed again. Today, Imperial Physician Lin added Schisandra chinensis."

Zhu Youxiao put down his teacup and placed his palm on the table without moving.

The charcoal fire popped with a loud crack.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

"Let's put the first one aside for now." He looked up. "The second one, that new face, what's his background?"

Liu Shun was prepared.

"Last night I asked Chen Lu and also asked Xiao Su to inquire. The man's surname is Wei, and his given name is Chao. He is not from the Imperial Pharmacy, but was recently transferred from the Directorate of Ceremonial to fill a vacancy in the corridor of the Qianqing Palace. These past few days, with the Grand Eunuch ill, most of the errands for delivering medicine and messages in the corridor have been handled by him. These past two days, he has been going to the Imperial Pharmacy frequently, and he always speaks in a low voice when he talks to Wei Liangqing."

After Liu Shun finished reporting, he lowered his head and waited.

Wei Dynasty.

Zhu Youxiao silently repeated the two words to himself, his face remaining completely expressionless.

He picked up the teacup again, but did not drink the tea.

The half-finished elm wood on the table remained in its original place, a thin layer of wood shavings pressed against it by the carving knife. Zhu Youxiao pressed his hand on the knife handle for a moment, without lifting it.

Chen Lu had previously reported this matter. A new doctor named Wei Liangqing had joined the Imperial Pharmacy. He spoke with a Beijing accent mixed with Zhili accent and was from Hejian Prefecture. On the day he entered the pharmacy, Li Jinzhong went to the tea room and exchanged a few words with him.

Now, another woman named Ke has appeared in the corridor of Qianqing Palace. At the same time, the emperor is ill, so the job of delivering medicine and messages in the corridor has fallen to him.

The two men shared the same surname, suggesting they were from the same clan. One served under Li Jinzhong in the Imperial Pharmacy, while the other guarded the corridor where the Grand Chamberlain used to stand. The two heads were laid out side by side, and the formation they created was immediately recognizable to me.

The struggles within the court were never grand narratives, but rather trivial matters of personnel maneuvering. While you fought desperately on the front lines, they were behind the scenes replacing your medicine bottles and intercepting your messengers. When Wei Chao entered the corridor, he severed not only the Grand Chamberlain's connections but also the Emperor's spies. This kind of subtle, underhanded approach was the truly deadly and ruthless tactic.

The snow under the outer eaves had not yet melted.

Li Jinzhong is casting his second net towards Daban.

Zhu Youxiao neither picked up the vermilion pen nor touched the engraving knife.

He glanced out the window, then looked away.

"Liu Shun".

"This servant is here."

"You must find out for me everything about Wei Chao's work schedule, which days he works and which days he rests, which batch of fellow villagers he belongs to, and who he usually talks to and who he doesn't. Don't disturb anyone, don't ask any questions, just observe, don't inquire."

"This servant understands."

"Another matter. Along the osmanthus cake route, we'll create another opening under the corridor of the Qianqing Palace. Chen Lu will keep an eye on Wei Liangqing's comings and goings, and also keep an ear in the corridor for me. If Wei Chao has any private contact with Wei Liangqing, Chen Lu will only record the number of times, and nothing else."

"This servant will take care of it immediately."

"Wait a minute."

Liu Shun stopped.

"Chen Lu goes through the side gate, changing the time every other day. The cake doesn't matter; what's important is letting him know that someone is watching me."

"This servant understands."

"First thing. Don't investigate where that horse stopped at Chongwen Gate. Tell Old Zhou to stop gossiping. Give him a few taels of silver for me and say that the Crown Prince heard about this and there's no need for him to gossip anymore."

Liu Shun raised his eyelids slightly, then lowered them again.

If an official horse is found lying unmarked and without a treasury at night, its owner will naturally come forward. Investigating it now would only alert the culprit.

"I've got it."

"Go."

Liu Shun lifted the curtain and stepped back.

The hall returned to silence.

Zhu Youxiao picked up his teacup again and took a sip. The tea was completely cold, leaving only a slight bitterness on his tongue.

The elm wood on the table had a clear grain, so he didn't touch it again.

…………

There weren't many exam papers to review in the afternoon. Fang Congzhe's drafts were all very thorough, and Zhu Youxiao flipped through them faster than usual.

After resting briefly at noon, he wrote two lines to Chen Wenju of the training institute. The note asked which transfer station the grain transport had reached in the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli reign. He only asked about the matter and left no message, instructing Liu Shun to deliver the note.

I put down my pen after writing.

He got up, walked a few steps inside the hall, and then sat down again.

Schisandra chinensis.

The prescription was modified the day before yesterday by adding Ophiopogon japonicus to moisten the lungs. Today, Schisandra chinensis was added to astringe the lungs, stop coughing, and calm the mind. This change in medication by Imperial Physician Lin indicates that the eldest son's cough has worsened and he is having trouble sleeping at night.

He should have gone to visit them in person at that time.

He couldn't leave. Fang Congzhe was watching the Crown Prince's every move. If the Crown Prince were to suddenly visit Eunuch Wang's residence today, the news would reach the Wenhua Hall duty room before midnight. The sixth sheet of white paper on Fang Congzhe's desk was waiting for a concrete action.

Therefore, he cannot go.

Then let's send someone else.

…………

At dusk, Zhu Youjian came around from the back hall, holding a piece of paper about half a palm's width in his hand. On the paper were two lines written by Zhu Youxiao himself that morning, asking how Wang An's cough was and how he slept last night. The note was unsigned.

"elder brother."

"Did you bring it?"

"I brought it." Zhu Youjian put the note back into his sleeve. "Grandma has already packed two packets of Ophiopogon japonicus for me. The medicine is at the door."

"The post only goes through Xiao Suzi; give it directly to him and have him pass it on to Da Ban."

"I understand."

"Let's not say anything more."

"I understand."

Zhu Youjian bowed respectfully, then lifted the curtain and went out.

…………

At the beginning of the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), in the side hall.

An oil lamp was lit inside the hall.

When Zhu Youjian returned, his expression was a little more tense than when he left.

He put the two packets of Ophiopogon japonicus back on the table, then took out the invitation from his sleeve, untouched, and handed it back to his brother.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at his younger brother.

"It wasn't handed over?"

"Not submitted." Zhu Youjian lowered his voice to a very low level.

Zhu Youxiao put down his teacup.

"Xiao Suzi isn't on the porch?"

"He's not here." Zhu Youjian took off his small hat and weighed it in his hand. "There's a different eunuch in the corridor; I've never seen him before. I asked him if Xiao Su was here today, and he said that Xiao Su had been transferred elsewhere yesterday, and he's taking over the work in the corridor now. I then asked him under which eunuch he was working, and he said that Eunuch Wei had assigned him to this shift."

"Eunuch Wei."

"Hmm." Zhu Youjian paused for a moment. "His accent has a Zhili flavor."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

The flames in the charcoal brazier flickered twice.

"How did you respond?"

"I told him that the invitation and medicine were sent by my brother on his way here, and since my husband wasn't in the corridor, I would deliver them another day. I brought back the two packets of Ophiopogon japonicus, but I didn't hand over the invitation."

"well done."

Zhu Youjian let out a long breath.

"I said one more thing."

"Um?"

"I told my brother that I had a headache today and didn't want to deal with things outside. I just asked my husband if he had coughed."

Zhu Youxiao looked at his younger brother and remained silent for a long time.

The nine-year-old brother brought back a postcard unopened, without saying a single unnecessary word, but instead added, "Headache."

That one sentence extricated him from the matter. If the unfamiliar eunuch in the corridor were to report back to Eunuch Wei, all he could say was, "The Crown Prince's younger brother came to deliver medicine today, but left before the shift change in the corridor was over, and the Crown Prince is having a headache."

He cleaned up the mess for his brother even more thoroughly than his brother had instructed.

Born into the royal family, even a nine-year-old child would have the instinct to avoid disaster and seek good fortune ingrained in their bones. Zhu Youjian's exclamation of "headache" not only covered for his brother but also subtly rebuffed him. In the cutthroat world of the palace, mere cleverness was useless; the ability to know when to "retreat" and assess the situation was the key to survival.

"come over."

Zhu Youjian took two steps closer.

Zhu Youxiao raised his hand and touched the top of his younger brother's head.

"Are you cold?"

"It's not cold."

"I'll rewrite this later. You can sleep peacefully tonight."

"Um."

Zhu Youjian hesitated for a moment, then spoke again:

"elder brother."

"Um?"

"The unfamiliar person stood guard under the corridor, looking at people with a sidelong glance."

Zhu Youxiao placed his hand on his younger brother's hair without moving.

"Just remember his face," he said in a very flat voice. "Never mention him again."

"I understand."

The younger brother picked up the letter box and left. Before the curtain fell, he turned his head back one last time.

"Brother, get some rest."

"Um."

The curtains closed gently.

…………

Zhu Youxiao sat alone behind his desk.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered steadily.

He neither touched the teacup nor picked up the carving knife again. The elm wood grain on the table extended northward, the knife blade stopping halfway through.

Wei Liangqing is in the Imperial Pharmacy. Wei Chao is in the corridor of the Qianqing Palace. The Grand Eunuch added Schisandra chinensis to today's prescription. Xiao Suzi was transferred elsewhere yesterday, and a new eunuch with a Zhili accent has taken his place in the corridor.

Both nets were cast very smoothly.

The first net fell into the hands of the person dispensing the medicine. The second net fell into the hands of the person delivering the medicine. The medicine was still the same medicine, but the person carrying it had changed.

Imperial Physician Lin prescribed the medicine, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy verified it, the Imperial Pharmacy dispensed the medicine, and the servants in the corridor carried it. He had personally locked the first three of the four checkpoints. The officials in charge of weighing the medicine changed every half month, and the list of heads of the Imperial Medical Academy was sealed with a private seal, ensuring that Imperial Physician Lin's prescriptions did not pass through the Imperial Pharmacy.

Only the fourth checkpoint, where medicine is delivered, was one I forgot to be wary of.

The message my younger brother brought back earlier, "Eunuch Wei told him to guard this shift," is now stuck at this checkpoint.

Zhu Youxiao tapped the edge of the table lightly with his knuckles.

Daban is ill.

Did you bring the medicine today?

Zhu Youxiao sat behind his desk for a long time without moving.