Chapter 126

Chapter 126: A Hug

Huo Zheng said: “I do have a personal motive,” and the emperor was half angry, half amused.

Huo Yuan said with a thin smile: “At least you are honest.”

Knowing he could not hide it from his Emperor Father, Huo Zheng spoke plainly. He said: “It’s true I brought up the Prosper-the-People Edict again with a personal motive, but not only for that. The State Treasury has been growing emptier for more than ten years, and now it seems Mu Qing Shan’s idea back then was far-sighted.”

Keeping to the facts, Huo Zheng explained to the emperor the many benefits of the Prosper-the-People Edict. He also said that when Mu Qing Shan was punished long ago, it was not only for offending the throne. Because he pushed the edict, he offended many great clans and nobles first. They attacked him together, and angering the emperor became the excuse.

Huo Yuan heard Huo Zheng repeat Mu Qing Shan’s name again and again. Looking back, there had been a time when he and Mu Qing Shan worked well as ruler and minister. When Huo Yuan was still a prince, he was neither the legal heir nor the eldest. Few officials stood with him at first. When Mu Qing Shan was the third-ranked scholar, everyone courted him, yet before he had joined any faction he already dared to speak up for Huo Yuan.

Huo Yuan had once liked Mu Qing Shan’s upright, stubborn nature very much. But after Huo Yuan became emperor, he wanted every minister to bow their heads. Mu Qing Shan never learned to read faces or bend with the wind. Once the seed of dislike was planted, it took root and grew. In the end, when Mu Qing Shan pushed hard to carry out the Prosper-the-People Edict, it sparked imperial wrath. People say when the Son of Heaven gets angry, bodies float for a hundred li.

Even so, Huo Yuan could not bring himself to kill Mu Qing Shan back then. He only ordered the family’s goods seized and sent him into exile.

More than ten years have passed. Ji Jun, who took the exams the same year as Mu Qing Shan, is now Chancellor Ji. The brilliant third-ranked scholar of those days has almost faded from memory. Being mentioned now by Huo Zheng was likely also because of his daughter. [His feelings were hard to name.]

Seeing the emperor’s expression soften a little, Huo Zheng knelt and gave a deep bow: “I humbly beg Emperor Father to summon Mu Qing Shan back to the Capital.”

Huo Yuan came back from his thoughts and said slowly: “I will think about it. Go back for now.”

“Emperor Father…” Huo Zheng started to add more.

Huo Yuan raised a hand to stop him, signaling him to withdraw.

Huo Zheng swallowed the rest of his words, rose, and said: “Your son takes his leave.”

Outside, heavy clouds pressed low, like a storm about to break. He hurried out of the palace. The moment he stepped into his carriage, raindrops as big as beans began to fall.

After court, the ministers had already left in ones and twos. Only the carriage of the Prince of Chang’an Manor remained in front of the Palace Gate.

Huo Zheng told the coachman: “Go to Song Manor.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The coachman had been driving the Prince of Chang’an every day for a while now. He was used to stopping at Song Manor after the day’s business.

Even in the downpour, they kept to the routine.

The carriage crossed street after street and soon stopped at the gate of Song Manor. Rain poured on and on; water pooled across the ground. Each drop burst into a small splash.

Lifting the curtain, Huo Zheng saw Chun Zhi waiting at the gate. Under the storm-black sky, lamps were already lit at the entrance. Standing in that warm glow, she spotted him, opened an oil-paper umbrella, and ran over. She stood by the carriage and held the umbrella high.

He stepped down, took the umbrella to shield her from wind and rain, and said in a low voice: “It’s raining so hard. Why did you come out?”

Chun Zhi said with simple ease: “Because it’s raining so hard, I came to meet you.”

She spoke like it was only natural.

They entered together. Huo Zheng leaned toward her and said: “Next time don’t stand at the door in the wind. You might catch a chill.”

Chun Zhi said: “I won’t. I’m very healthy.”

They walked down the corridor while the wind and rain crept in along the eaves. Huo Zheng tilted the umbrella toward her to block the gusts and spray. House servants met them and stopped to salute. Chun Zhi nodded back and told them: “Be careful, the floor is slippery.”

After they had gone far enough that no one was ahead, she finally asked in a quiet voice: “When you brought up Official Mu today in the Grand Court Assembly, did Emperor Father blame you?”

“No,” said Huo Zheng.

She searched his face and asked again: “Truly not?”

He smiled and looked at her out of the corner of his eye: “If Emperor Father had blamed me, what would you do?”

“I…” Chun Zhi thought hard, then said very seriously: “I would give you a hug.”

Huo Zheng stopped and lifted the umbrella higher: “Then hug me.”

[She knew mentioning Mu Qing Shan in the Grand Court Assembly would make the emperor unhappy. Huo Zheng must have expected that too, but when the time came, he still had to do it.] She opened her arms and hugged him there under the swaying rain.

She knew that if he had not wanted to marry her, none of this trouble would have happened. But he never once complained.

“Chun Zhi,” he said softly by her ear, “bringing up Mu Qing Shan before Emperor Father was bound to happen sooner or later. I did it not only for you, but for the people of the realm.” [So you don’t need to blame yourself.]

He did not speak that last line out loud, but Chun Zhi understood. She hugged him tighter and asked in a whisper: “Huo Zheng, are you hungry? Let me cook for you, all right?”

He answered at her ear: “All right.”

She walked him to the front hall, then took the umbrella and went to the kitchen.

He watched her go, then turned and entered the hall. Song An Lan was waiting there.

“The prince has arrived,” Song An Lan said, rising to greet him. “How did things go in the Grand Court Assembly today?”

“I asked Minister Zhang to raise Official Mu’s case in public,” said Huo Zheng. “Vice Minister Zhao immediately said that yesterday someone sent an anonymous letter accusing Chun Zhi of being the daughter of the disgraced Mu Qing Shan. Prince of Rui and my ninth brother also had plenty to say. The ministers argued fiercely.”

In a few words, he laid out the scene in court. Song An Lan frowned slightly: “Whoever exposed Chun Zhi moved faster than we expected.”

“Vice Minister Zhao is Chancellor Ji Jun’s protégé,” said Huo Zheng. “Ji Jun and Official Mu took the same exams, but their views have always been different. If Official Mu had not offended the throne and been exiled to the Northern Frontier, the person sitting as Chancellor today might not be Ji Jun.”

Ji Jun and Mu Qing Shan had been political rivals for years. If the issue were only that Ji Jun’s son-in-law, Lu Jing Yun, wanted to take the Grand Preceptor’s daughter Wang Yi Yue as a co-wife, Chancellor Ji would not have stepped in. But if Mu Qing Shan returns to service, the impact on Ji Jun would be huge. He would not want the emperor to reuse Mu Qing Shan.

Song An Lan understood. He said: “This matter will likely keep the Imperial Court arguing for quite some time.”

“That is certain,” said Huo Zheng. “No matter how long they argue, there will be an answer in the end.”

Seeing Huo Zheng calm as ever, Song An Lan’s heart settled too.

Outside, wind and rain roared. Candle flames trembled in the hall. After a long while, Chun Zhi came with an umbrella, pushed open the door, and said to them: “Huo Zheng, elder brother, dinner is ready.”