Chapter 3 – His Majesty Loses a Handkerchief

Gu Yuanbai finished half a pot of good tea when the Cuju match outside was about to end. Very slowly, he got up with the support of the stone table. The back of his hands, as white as jade, was covered with pale green veins. Gu Yuanbai coughed a few times and dismissed the attendant who wanted to come forward, “It’s alright.”

Marquis of Pingchang looked at him anxiously, “Your Majesty, your dragon’s body has just recovered, it shouldn’t get blown by the wind. You ought to take good care of yourself.”

Gu Yuanbai raised his lips. Although he was ill, he had a blooming vitality when he smiled, “Ginseng, velvet antler, tortoiseshell, tiger bone, lingzhi1, caterpillar fungus2… The way Zhen sees it, no one in the country takes better care of himself than me.”

“Marquis of Pingchang, there is no one in the world who cherishes his life more than me,” Gu Yuanbai said before laughing happily. “Although those medicinal materials are precious, something has to be said; they don’t taste very good. Zhen always wants to throw a basket of licorice root in [my mouth] every time I take the medicine.”

Marquis of Pingchang couldn’t help but lament at the fate ordained by the Will of Heaven. His Majesty has been dormant for so many years. His patience and sophistry are different from that of a normal person, and his vision is so optimistic and clear. Why do the Heavens insist on teasing the young Son of Heaven and give His Majesty such an inconvenient body?

Immediately afterward, he laughed and warmly exchanged a few words with His Majesty.

Soon, someone came to inform which side won and lost. Gu Yuanbai nodded as he listened and said, “Reward.”

The Captain of the Imperial Bodyguard took a look at the sky and went forward to persuade Gu Yuanbai to return to the palace in a low voice. The Imperial Court Session of the Great Heng Dynasty was only once every two days, and he came to see the Cuju match today because there was nothing to attend to. Gu Yuanbai originally wanted to take a stroll in the capital city but gave up the idea after persuasion. He left several palace attendants here as he was escorted to the carriage by the Imperial Bodyguards.

Marquis of Pingchang sent the emperor away. When he wanted to take his son back home, he heard that his son had gone somewhere with the eldest gongzi of the Minister of Revenue. Marquis of Pingchang was startled and his anger rose again. He went back alone with a calm face.

*
Only when it was dark that the shizi walked into the residence of the Marquis of Pingchang. Marquis of Pingchang had asked someone to wait in the front yard. As soon as Li Yan stepped into the entrance, he was called to the study by his father.

“I only knew that you left ahead of time after His Majesty’s departure today,” Marquis of Pingchang said angrily. “You dare to leave before His Majesty even moves. You truly got some big nerves!”

Li Yan gulped when the emperor was mentioned. Afraid that he would be found out, he said quickly, “Father, guess what I saw today? When I was strolling in the street, I saw that Xue Yuan guy3 galloping in the downtown area. He’s too rampant!”

Marquis of Pingchang frowned, “Galloping in the downtown area? That’s not good, I’ll have to write a report to His Majesty.”

Li Yan quietly withdrew from the study and returned to his room. He let everyone around him go out. As soon as the door was closed and the candle was lit, the warm painting scroll in his clothes was spread on the table.

It’s a big treacherous thing to keep the emperor’s painting scroll in private. How could such a sacred face be kept hidden in a little student’s bedroom at will?

As the son of the Marquis of Pingchang, Li Yan naturally knew this truth. However, he just couldn’t control himself. His heart stirred and felt so excited. When he directly faced the emperor, he was afraid and nervous, yet he was unwilling to move his eyes away from the emperor.

He didn’t have any bad thoughts nor intended to do anything bad with the portrait. He just felt that the emperor was truly beautiful and that it would be a pity not to paint it down.

Li Yan’s movement was very gentle and careful. In the painting scroll was a very honorable man. The man’s eyebrows and eyes were painted according to Li Yan’s description. The ink mark below the face was very light for concealment. No one could know that part of the painting was the emperor except for him and Tang Mian.

The eyebrows and eyes of the emperor had a special charm, but the painter had never seen it with his own eyes. Li Yan looked at it for a while and said in dismay, “Said to be the best painter in the capital city, but what’s this painting? Similar in form but not lifelike. Not as good as my painting skill.”

After cursing for a while, he carefully put away the painting scroll and put it in the secret drawer at the head of the bed. Li Yan went to the couch and recalled the scene of him meeting the emperor today.

He didn’t know if the emperor disliked him because of his discourteous, nor did he know what he looked like while playing Cuju today. He was surely reddened to the tip of his ears. The emperor praised him for his good looks, but no matter how handsome he was, he could not look good when playing Cuju.

Thoughts came and went before Li Yan fell asleep in a daze.

*

Gu Yuanbai had no idea what the boy was thinking. He had been washed and changed clothes by the attendants. At night, his complexion looked somewhat pale. Tian Fusheng asked in a low voice, “[May] This little one kneads Your Majesty’s head?”

On the bright yellow dragon couch, three beautiful palace maids in thin clothes knelt beside Gu Yuanbai, quietly wiping the emperor’s damp black hair with towels.

“No need,” Gu Yuanbai closed his eyes and endured the discomfort in his body. “Let your little apprentice come over and beat Zhen’s legs.”

Tian Fusheng called the little apprentice. The little eunuch knelt under the dragon couch and skillfully beat the legs. Inwardly, he could not help but be pleased with himself that the emperor liked his technique.

After the black hair was wiped dry, the three palace maids quietly got out of the couch and went out barefoot.

“Tian Fusheng,” Gu Yuanbai spoke suddenly. His voice sounded languid, seemingly about to fall asleep, “How is the matter I asked you to do?”

Tian Fusheng: “Your Majesty, everything is going well.”

“En,” Gu Yuan said, “every one of those people who were sent out before was my painstaking efforts. Let them pay attention to their actions. Never mind the information, the most important thing is to stay alive.”

“Yes, this little one will pass it to them tomorrow.”

Three years ago, Gu Yuanbai secretly sent someone to adopt a group of orphans. They were fed, clothed, and housed. They were taught how to read, write, and kill enemies. After the continuous brainwashing education, they eventually became a sharp blade in Gu Yuanbai’s hands.

They only listened to the emperor’s words and did what the emperor asked them to do. A year ago, Gu Yuanbai singled out 400 of them with the highest loyalty, and let them infiltrated into the residences of various officials, as well as the frontier and the garrison in various regions. Not only that, but these people also hid within the Forbidden Army4 and the Imperial Bodyguards around him. This blade played an important role for him to be capable of pulling down the powerful minister, Lu Feng, at that time.

Gu Yuanbai secretly named it the Supervision Bureau. A huge net spread in the dark on the land of Great Heng. Among the people sent out by the Supervision Bureau, the excellent ones had already achieved military achievements, while the incompetents were still looking for opportunities for improvement in the ministers’ residences. From the news they sent back, their skill had begun to have an alarming power.

It had only been a year, Gu Yuanbai was not in a hurry. Drowsiness crept over him: “Settle it.”

The Ming Dynasty had the Embroidered Uniform Guard5 and the Qing Dynasty had the Imperial Guard of Honor. Gu Yuanbai also wanted to form an overt elite troop of strong and compelling soldiers who only listened to his words. The various ideas in his mind were endless. The Supervision Bureau and the overt elite troop could complement and supervise each other. He even thought of a good name, which called Eastern Feather Guard; the eagle with sharp eyes and sharp talons within his hands. Unfortunately, no matter how much he thought about it, he still lacked the capital of the revolution.

Gu Yuanbai didn’t know what he could do before he died, but if he didn’t do anything, he felt very miserable.

Tian Fusheng put out the light and quietly retired. When he got outside the palace hall, he nodded to the Captain of the Imperial Bodyguard and said in a low voice, “His Majesty is tired today.”

The Captain of the Imperial Bodyguard’s surname was Zhang and named as Zhang Xu. Besides looking outstandingly valiant, he was also endowed with extraordinary talents and became the Captain of the Imperial Bodyguard selected personally by the emperor from the Forbidden Army. Zhang Xu was grateful for the emperor’s appreciation and decided to guard the safety of the emperor. He was infinitely loyal to the emperor, which could be described as fully devoted.

The Captain of the Imperial Bodyguard sighed deeply and fondly said, “His Majesty is happy today.”

Tian Fusheng couldn’t help nodding, “If there’s such a thing next time, this little one will beg His Majesty to go and see it. If His Majesty can be happy, even if this little one breaks [my] waist, [I] will be on the field and play Cuju to show His Majesty.”

The Captain of the Imperial Bodyguard was silent for a while. The Imperial Bodyguards opposite him were busy winking and making signals at him. The Captain minced for a while before he said, “Us brothers are also good at playing Cuju.”

Moreover, many of them even specially trained Cuju because the emperor liked it. Each of them was an expert who played showily and impressively.

Tian Fusheng chuckled, which made his face wrinkled, “Since Bodyguard Zhang said that, this little one will remember it. When His Majesty asks later, this little one will tell him about it. Then this little one will be able to bask in the light6 of His Majesty and see the skill of you all, the Imperial Bodyguards.”

The few of them were talking and laughing when Tian Fusheng heard a few meows in the corner of the wall. He trotted over without a change of expression. A moment later, he walked back with joy on his face, “Bodyguard Zhang, a famous doctor has entered the capital city!”

*

According to the information from the Supervision Bureau, a traveling doctor came to the capital city from Huainan. He was skillful but never treated the influential officials. When Tian Fusheng told Gu Yuanbai the news, Gu Yuanbai didn’t look happy. He squinted slightly. He was still wearing the heavy dragon robe when he attended the imperial court.

This dragon robe was cumbersome. His face was ruddy because he was encumbered by the heavyweight. It seemed that there was no time to be beautiful as his face looked conspicuously exhausted.

During the imperial court today, many people participated in the issue of General Xue’s son, Xue Yuan, galloping in the downtown area. This matter was neither big nor small, but Gu Yuanbai was very upset.

This future Prince Regent was excessively rampant.

He penalized General Xue with a three-month salary cut and ordered him to discipline his son. Just because he remembered Xue Yuan, the male protagonist in this book, he was in a bad mood again.

However, he still had to see the famous doctor. Gu Yuanbai let the attendants change him into indigo casual clothes, and took a few people out of the palace in a low-key way.

In fact, Gu Yuanbai didn’t have much hope in his heart. The imperial doctors in the palace were the best in the country, but they couldn’t do anything about him. Could this traveling doctor be better than his imperial doctors?

“Gongzi, it’s here,” The Captain of the Imperial Bodyguard pointed to the wooden door at the front.

The corner of Gu Yuanbai’s lips arched in a smile and let him knock on the door. Not a short while later, a child opened the door and looked at them through the crack of the door, “Are you here for treatment?”

The Captain of the Imperial Bodyguard said, “Yes.”

The child asked, “Who needs the treatment?”

Gu Yuanbai came out from behind the Imperial Bodyguard. Dressed in normal clothes made his body as long as bamboo. He gave a wee smile to the child, “It’s me.”

The child looked at him with his mouth wide open, and asked foolishly, “An Immortal get sick too?”

“I don’t know if the Immortal will get sick or not,” Gu Yuanbai said with a smile, “but I am sick.”

The child led Gu Yuanbai in. There were many other people inside came to see the doctor. Each of them was dressed in coarse clothing, with a yellow face and rough hands. They looked at his group of people curiously.

The Imperial Bodyguards were full of vigor and their momentum unlike that of the ordinary people, let alone Gu Yuanbai. He was carefully protected in the center as he walked in a leisurely pace. Even if his face was pale, he couldn’t hide the gripping noble aura.

The traveling doctor took a look at them and knew that they must not be ordinary people, but he didn’t expose them. Instead, he silently motioned Gu Yuanbai to sit down. Gu Yuanbai stretched out his hand with a small part of his wrist exposed. The famous doctor took a quarter of an hour’s pulse. His brows gradually creased.

When he moved his hand away, he said straightforwardly, “Can’t cure it. [The illness] can only be suspended with tonic.”

The faces of the following attendants secretly sunk. Gu Yuanbai sighed deeply and asked someone to leave the money as he got up to leave.

Contrary to expectation, he didn’t feel so bad.

The emperor walked casually and slowly came to the river. He looked down and saw that the face reflected on the water had the color of peach blossom. This body was not good anywhere. Only this face was outstanding, but Gu Yuanbai didn’t like it.

He looked at it for a moment. He reached the back and the attendant gave him a handkerchief. Gu Yuanbai wiped his wrists and hands. He saw that a mother bird was feeding the little birds in the tree. He was fascinated for a moment, and the handkerchief was blown into the river by the wind.

“Zhen’s good handkerchief is wasted,” Gu Yuanbai sighed deeply, “let’s go back to the palace.”

The water surface was tranquil. The handkerchief was carried away into the distance by the water. When the group of people disappeared, there was suddenly a movement under the water. A man dragged a woman onto the riverbank. They were soaked through and cut an extremely sorry figure, but the eyes of the man dressed up in satin were shining. He brushed away the water stains on his face, which appeared red as though he had a sweet dream.

Note:

reishi mushroom; Ganoderma lucidum
Cordyceps sinensis
he used the pejorative word 厮
The Imperial Army that guard the palace and capital city
The imperial secret police that served the emperors of the Ming dynasty. It was founded by the Hongwu Emperor in 1368 to serve as his bodyguards.
to benefit from association with sb or sth; reflected glory