Deposed 1

Chapter 1. The Crown Prince

With the passing of the last wave of late spring cold, the imperial capital truly warmed.

Early in the morning, Gao Jili led the servants of the Crown Prince’s residence in preparing the day’s attire for His Highness.

“This one is too dull in color; this one’s fabric isn’t quite comfortable. Let’s go with the moon-white one; the style is flattering, and it accentuates the waist. Take it and have it pressed properly. There must not be a single wrinkle.”

He was a veteran of the Crown Prince’s household and knew well that the young Highness he served was truly raised in the lap of luxury. From the hair on his head to the tips of his toes, there was not a single feature that was not exquisitely formed, especially his skin, as fair and flawless as jade, which would likely make even women envious.

Beautiful things always deserve to be paired with even more beautiful things, so they can complement each other and dazzle the eyes of onlookers. Therefore, in Gao Jili’s view, selecting the most beautiful clothes and the most exquisite accessories each day, and dressing His Highness to be handsome, elegant, and outstanding was his undeniable duty as the head steward.

Having delightfully selected the clothes and accessories, Gao Jili carried a bowl of steamed milk custard, a plate of yellow millet cake, and four light side dishes towards the study pavilion. Seeing the light still on inside from afar, his heart skipped a beat. He grabbed a nearby guard and asked, “Did His Highness not sleep again all night?”

The guard reported truthfully, “He did not. He even leaned on the window sill for half an hour in the middle of the night, looking at the stars.”

Gao Jili was shocked and heartbroken.

The wind was so strong in the middle of the night. Even he felt cold with two quilts, who in their right mind would look at the stars? It must be that the news of the Marquis of Dingbei’s return to the capital frightened His Highness, causing him to look at the stars to dispel the anxiety and fear in his heart.

How pitiful, how helpless.

“Quick, quick, have the kitchen make a bowl of ginger soup, and make sure it’s a large bowl.”

Gao Jili made a large circle with his hands.

The guard looked at the size, which resembled a washbasin, and nodded solemnly, “Understood.”

Gao Jili gently pushed open the door and entered. When he saw the scene inside, his heart shattered. His little Highness was not resting on the couch but was wrapped in a thin blanket edged with silver fox fur, lying on the desk, curled up like a silkworm with his head buried in his arms, sound asleep. The snow-white, wide sleeves flowed down to his knees like clouds. He held a white jade brush, the ink long dried, and a folded document lay scattered beside him.

From Gao Jili’s perspective, he looked particularly weak, pitiful, and helpless.

Gao Jili sighed with melancholy.

His little Highness was perfect in every way, but his background was truly a bit pitiful. His Highness was not the Emperor’s own flesh and blood, but the blood of the Emperor’s brother, the late Emperor Xiao Wu. He was made Crown Prince at birth and, according to seniority, should address the Emperor as “Imperial Uncle.” It was said that Emperor Xiao Wu greatly loved this late-born legitimate son and youngest child. He used only the finest things for him, bathed him in fresh cow and sheep milk, and personally taught him to read, write, and practice martial arts.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last. Emperor Wu, as an emperor, was far too fond of military force and warfare! He refused to use words when force could solve a problem. He not only frightened his enemies but also his own people. The ministers of Emperor Wu’s court knelt daily before Chengqing Hall, weeping and wailing, but they could not stop the Emperor’s determination to expand the territory and slaughter his way across the land. During Emperor Wu’s reign, the Mu Dynasty’s territory doubled, but the national treasury was depleted eightfold. A beautiful land was driven to a state of utter chaos and despair.

In the thirteenth year of Emperor Wu’s reign, the northern Hu barbarians colluded with rebels within the country and besieged the imperial capital under the banner of “overthrowing tyranny and driving out the tyrant.” The imperial capital was in grave danger. Emperor Wu, enraged and ill, seeing the impending doom of his empire, had no choice but to summon his younger brother, the Prince of Anshun, who was far away in the southwest, to come north to his rescue. The current Emperor did not disappoint. Within a few months, he lifted the siege of the capital. The calls for the current Emperor to ascend the throne grew louder. Emperor Wu, knowing that his time was up and only worried about his young Crown Prince, summoned the current Emperor and the clan elders to his bedside before his death. He publicly entrusted the Crown Prince to their care, begging the current Emperor to consider their kinship and to nurture the Crown Prince. The current Emperor, unable to bear his brother’s dying without peace, after his ascension, went against the majority and still made the blood of Emperor Wu—His Highness—the Crown Prince.

The current Emperor was benevolent and treated His Highness very well. The rewards given to the Crown Prince’s residence were even more generous than those given to his own sons. To foster harmony among the princes, he even had the Crown Prince address him as “Imperial Father,” truly going to great lengths.

The situation with the previous court and the other princes was not so optimistic. Especially those old ministers from Emperor Wu’s court, each one like a long-suffering daughter-in-law finally becoming a mother-in-law. Since the “evil mother-in-law,” Emperor Wu, who had once oppressed them, was already dead, they vented all the anger, resentment, and frustration they had accumulated during the Emperor Wu’s era onto His Highness, the blood of Emperor Wu. They would impeach him one day and then again the next, dreaming of pulling him down from the position of heir apparent. If it were not for Emperor Wu’s dying decree and the pressure from the old clan elders, they would have likely devoured His Highness alive.

Life was already very difficult.

Who would have thought that at this juncture, the Marquis of Dingbei would return to the capital?

What is meant by adding frost to snow, or one disaster after another? It perfectly describes the current situation.

The deep grudge between His Highness and the Marquis of Dingbei was formed just after Emperor Wu’s death.

After Emperor Wu passed away, his coffin was initially placed in Chengqing Hall. However, as the country could not be without a ruler for a single day, to make room for the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the new Emperor’s enthronement ceremony as soon as possible, the ministers agreed to move Emperor Wu’s coffin to Hanwu Hall. The current Emperor, though feeling guilt towards his brother, agreed for the sake of the overall situation. Who would have thought that on the day of the coffin’s removal, His Highness, who had been keeping vigil in Chengqing Hall, would stubbornly cling to Emperor Wu’s coffin, refusing to let the eunuchs move the late Emperor’s body.

The situation was at an impasse. At this critical moment, it was the Marquis of Dingbei who stepped forward and pulled His Highness away, allowing the Ministry of Rites to proceed with the coffin’s removal. It was thought that the matter was over, but on the very next day, when the Emperor led the officials to Hanwu Hall to pay respects to the late Emperor, His Highness suddenly, with bloodshot eyes, drew a long sword from a guard’s waist and plunged it into the Marquis of Dingbei’s left chest. Later, according to the imperial physicians, it was fortunate that His Highness was overly emotional and his arm was unsteady, causing the blade to deviate by an inch. Otherwise, the Marquis of Dingbei would have died on the spot.

Although his life was saved, the Marquis of Dingbei was wounded in his heart by that stab. He had to go into seclusion for treatment every so often, and it seemed that he had not fully recovered even after all these years, which was quite tragic.

The more Gao Jili thought about it, the more worried he became.

Back then, it happened to be when the northern Hu barbarians were encroaching on the border. After the Marquis of Dingbei recovered, he had no time to settle the score and went to the northern frontier. Now, the other party has distinguished himself in battle, already becoming a Marquis with hundreds of thousands of troops under his command. He’s highly favored and trusted by His Majesty. If he is determined to avenge that stab from years ago, what should they do?

It is said that among the Rong people, there was a fierce general named Aluda. During a battle, because he shot a hidden arrow and injured the Marquis of Dingbei’s close friend, the military advisor of the northern frontier camp, Wu Han, he was hacked into mincemeat by the vengeful Marquis of Dingbei, who then used the meat to make dumplings for the soldiers to eat.

There are many such stories in the capital’s folk tales.

Every time Gao Jili reads them, he breaks out in a cold sweat. He can’t help but deeply worry. If the Marquis of Dingbei was this vengeful over a friend’s injury, what about that stab His Highness delivered years ago, piercing directly into the Marquis’s heart and nearly costing him his life? Would the Marquis of Dingbei, in a fit of bestial rage, also chop His Highness into mincemeat to make dumplings?

***

Mu Yun was always a light sleeper. The slightest noise woke him. He sat up, stretched slowly, then yawned widely, before half-opening his eyes like a lazy kitten, asking, “What time is it now?”

Gao Jili quickly dispelled the distracting thoughts from his mind. Seeing the fine, glistening sweat on his forehead and his damp, black hair, he assumed it was from fear, and his heart ached even more. “It’s almost the hour of Mao (5-7 am). How about this servant sends someone to the palace to ask for leave? You don’t have to go to the morning court?”

Anyway, he was almost late.

“It’s fine.”

Mu Yun yawned again, then stood up and said, “Prepare for washing and dressing.”
The eunuchs who served the Crown Prince had been waiting outside for a long time. Hearing the summons, they immediately filed in, some to wash his face, some to dress him, some to tie his hair. Gao Jili personally hung the Kirin scepter, symbolizing the status of the Crown Prince, and the Flying Luan (Phoenix) token, symbolizing the commander of the Imperial Guard, on Mu Yun’s waist. Looking at the noble and handsome young man in the bronze mirror, he was delighted, cheerful, and beaming from ear to ear.

Today, His Highness is once again so handsome, elegant, and the envy of everyone.

Shortly after, the kitchen sent over the ginger soup. Mu Yun stared at the large bowl for a moment, then slowly sipped two mouthfuls with some candied fruit. Only then did he seemingly casually ask, “By the count of days, the Marquis of Dingbei should be arriving in the capital soon, right?”

Gao Jili’s smile froze. He couldn’t help it. Now, whenever he heard these three words, his head throbbed. He felt dizzy for a moment, and then said with a heavy heart, “Yes, it should be within these two or three days.”

“Hmm.”

Mu Yun nodded, pursed his lips slightly, and said no more.

This pretense of strength in Gao Jili’s eyes made him even more endearing and heart-wrenching. With a formidable enemy at hand, eyeing them like a tiger, these past two days, His Highness must have been counting the days with his fingers. Every time the sun sets and the moon rises, marking the end of another day, who knows how he must be suffering inside. No wonder he braved the strong wind last night to look at those darn stars. It’s truly too pitiful.

Fortunately, the Marquis of Dingbei was still three days away from the capital. Otherwise, if they met at the morning court, he would surely come at His Highness with a thirty-meter-long blade.

“When our residence encountered joyous events in the past, how did we celebrate?”

Mu Yun suddenly spoke again.

“Ah?” The head steward was still immersed in immense grief, looking at His Highness in a daze.

The air was silent for a long time. Under the continuous barrage from his little Highness’s pure, innocent, and expectant beautiful eyes, Gao Jili really couldn’t bear to say that since the establishment of the residence, they had encountered quite a few troublesome matters, but there hadn’t really been any joyous events. He could only force himself to make something up with a straight face, “The celebratory methods are quite varied. Either buying firecrackers to set off, or rewarding everyone in the household with some silver, or… giving everyone two days off.”

Considering the increasingly tight financial situation of the Crown Prince’s residence, the head steward sincerely suggested, “Setting off firecrackers is the most festive. Ordinary households do it this way.”

Mu Yun first nodded, “Then buy a string of firecrackers.”

Then he shook his head, “No, one string is too few, buy a hundred strings.”

Gao Jili: “…..”

Wait, could you first tell him what joyous event has occurred in the residence? As the head steward who is second only to one and above many, why is he completely unaware?!

But after only a moment of confusion, Head Steward Gao was immediately engulfed by an immense and surging sadness!

He was such a pig-brain. How could he have forgotten that setting off firecrackers, as a custom that has been popular throughout various dynasties, besides celebrating, also has another important function – driving away evil.

His Highness must be frightened by the Marquis of Dingbei but, for the sake of his pride, he doesn’t want to say it outright. So, he’s indirectly asking him to find a way to dispel the bad luck. Perhaps if they are sincere enough, it might move the heavens and blast the Marquis of Dingbei back to the northern frontier.

One hundred strings are too few, at least two hundred!