I Rely on Beauty to Stabilize the Country

After the exams, imperial preceptor Li Bao went to meet His Majesty again, and this time His Majesty finally stopped rejecting him, and finally summoned the world-famous imperial teacher.

After coming out of the palace, Li Bao had tears in his eyes, and returned home needing to be supported. After Li Huan heard him coming back, he was taken to his father.

“Father,” although he was half-dead from the interrogation, Li Huan was very spirited. He stared at Li Bao, his eyes full of anticipation. “What did His Majesty say?”

Li Bao was angry when he saw him, but he still felt distressed about his injuries, so he said coldly: “What do you care about what this old man and the emperor spoke about!”

“Alright, this son won’t ask anymore,” Li Huan asked, changing the subject. “Father, how did His Majesty look today?”

His Majesty had been furious with him that day, his lips and ears were red with anger. It made Li Huan worry about His Majesty’s body. His Highness was not as resilient as he himself was, so he couldn’t avoid it.

Li Bao said, “How could I look directly at His Majesty’s face?”

Li Huan sighed, only to feel a vague pain throughout his body. He made himself look away, and his fingers touched the incense bag that hung from his waist, which contained His Majesty’s hair. Taking a step back, he asked: “Father, then you should at least have noticed whether His Majesty coughed when he spoke to you today, right?”

“Not really,” said Li Bao, “Alright, stop asking, go back and lie down.”

Li Huan was driven back to his room. He lay on the bed and sighed quietly.

“Father is so careless.”

His Majesty allowed his father into the palace, yet his father did not even spare a thought about His Majesty’s health. He had such a stupid father, but he still was Li Huan’s biological father.

Li Huan shook his head helplessly.

After sending away the tearful imperial preceptor Li Bao, the palace received once again the visit from an ill-faced Prince He.1

Gu Yuanbai received him, and Prince He stood stiffly in front of His Majesty. His tone was as hard as a stone. “That task that His Majesty asked me to do, I have completed it.”

On the second day of the examinations, there was a cold spring rain. Prince He happened to enter the palace to ask about Grand Imperial Concubine Wan. Gu Yuanbai had felt upset when he saw his sarcastic face, so he ordered Prince He to send someone to cook ginger soup and send it to the candidates in the Examination Hall for two days, to drive away the cold.

There was a smile on His Majesty’s face, and the appealing visage looked like a beautiful jade. He reached out to lift a porcelain cup and drink tea. “We can always rest assured when Prince He does things.”2

Prince He couldn’t hold back a sneer.

Prince He was good at fighting and leading soldiers. His title of prince had been awarded by the previous emperor for his military merits. Now a royal man who was used to fighting on the battlefield was trapped in the capital to do such menial things. Gu Yuanbai knew that Prince He probably hated him to death.

But how can military power be in the hands of a prince? Let alone this guy who didn’t like his older brother. Not just the son of the main wife, but also the eldest.

Gu Yuanbai held the porcelain-white tea set with his slender fingers. For a while, he wasn’t sure which one was whiter.

Prince He watched him drinking tea slowly. He felt uncomfortable. He would drink water when thirsty and eat meat when hungry. However, everyone in the capital behaved very carefully, and, among them, Prince He was like a cow drinking peonies.

Gu Yuanbai saw that he did not speak. He raised his eyes to look at him, and chuckled. “Prince He, what is that face that you are making? If you are thirsty, just say so, how could We not have a cup of tea for you? Tian Fusheng!”

Tian Fusheng hurriedly had people put on chairs and brought new tea. Prince He sat down abruptly with his tea and, taking just a sip, gave it back to the servant lady by his side, speaking barbed words. “The two bowls of ginger tea rewarded by Your Highness have moved those scholars to death. Now the whole capital is boasting about the Emperor’s benevolence. I am afraid that, even if Your Highness said to let them die, they will still call it generous and righteous.”

The emperor frowned slightly.

Tian Fusheng and his little apprentice stood to the side. The little apprentice felt uncomfortable when he saw the Emperor frowning. He whispered to his master: “How can Prince He always say such things and make the Emperor uncomfortable?”

Tian Fusheng was also quite dissatisfied. He snorted coldly, but he still lectured the little apprentice first. “Keep your head down and watch your nose. Is Prince He someone you and I can be dissatisfied with?”

In fact, the person who is most dissatisfied with Prince He was Tian Fusheng himself.

They wanted to hold the Emperor in their palms, in fear that the Emperor would get blown by a small breeze or a couple drops would fall on him, and the Emperor wanted to eat tea made with plum’s snow and morning dew.

The ministers of the court, Imperial preceptor Li Bao who had just visited the palace to see the Emperor, which one wasn’t a respectable person? Prince He was the only one who had such an unpleasant temperament.

“What did you say?” The emperor’s tone was neither bitter nor light. “Prince He, those are your words.”

Prince He smiled without smiling: “If Your Highness doesn’t believe it, then go out with me and have a look. I’m afraid that when the candidates go back home, the Emperor’s compassionate and kind deeds towards the scholars will be known all over the world.”

Gu Yuanbai looked outside the door, looking a little tempted. Tian Fusheng hurriedly stepped forward to remind him in a low voice, “Your Highness, the people of the Qin Tianjian3have calculated that it will rain today, and it is not a good day to go out of the palace.”

Prince He sneered. The sun was shining bright outside. The people of Qin Tianjian were such cowards that they spoke nonsense without opening their eyes.

Gu Yuanbai glanced at Prince He and simply stood up from behind the table. “It’s not a big deal, I’ll just go out and check out what Prince He mentioned.”

Zhuangyuan building.4

Gu Yuanbai and Prince He were led to the second floor to sit down by a window. The restaurant was full of scholars in blue shirts. The scent of literature drifted around, making Gu Yuanbai feel a little drowsy.

Occasionally one or two lines of poetry would be heard. Although the guards surrounding them had tense faces, guarding around the table like a mountain range, they could not block these literary voices.

The waiter stood tensely by the table, “What would the two masters like to order?”

Gu Yuanbai asked with a smile, “What do you have here?”

The waiter put himself together and recited the menu he had memorized. Gu Yuanbai pondered for a while, ordered three dishes, and asked Prince He, “Older brother, want to order anything else?”5

Prince He got startled when he was called, and he choked out: “Get two pots of good wine.”

The Zhuangyuan Building had a lot of scholars, and, just as Prince He had said, the praises of these scholars to the Emperor were practically endless, especially from those who had left the Examination Hall safely thanks to that ginger soup. Gu Yuanbai himself got goosebumps all over from hearing them.

Prince He’s face was all green and there were sparks in his eyes. He, Prince He, had made the soup, or at least been ordered to do so as a punishment. Hearing these words now, with Gu Yuanbai sitting across him, he felt like the butt of the joke. His complexion became more and more ugly, as he looked as if he was planning to give these scholars a good beating.

“Older brother, you invited me out, didn’t you just want me to hear these things?” Gu Yuanbai’s mouth twitched, and he spoke evilly. “These students were able to safely leave the Examination Hall. Your credit cannot be ignored.”

Prince He laughed and refused to reply.

Gu Yuanbai chuckled. Unable to help himself anymore, he leaned on the window frame, stifling his laughter and trying to allow Prince He to save face and not let out a loud laugh. The blue silk on his back shook, and his exposed fingertips flushed with a pleasant pink color.

Prince He’s face went blue and purple. He lowered his head and squeezed the porcelain cup, snorting coldly.

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Originally, the two of them had attracted a lot of attention when they entered the Zhuangyuan Building with a group of guards. Many people, both openly and secretly, had their eyes on the table. Gu Yuanbai and Prince He both had a noble and extraordinary demeanor. Since they were in the capital, they might be a princely minister or a powerful heir. Now that Gu Yuanbai smiled, some young white-faced scholars blushed, both  ashamed to peek in their direction and unable to look away.

This childe was dressed in blue and looked dignified and calm. However, the blue clothes couldn’t suppress his light, so he shone.

As they looked more, those mountains of robust guards glared over angrily, obstructing their line of sight. The captain of the guard, Zhang Xu, was vigilantly looking in every direction with an heroic and outstanding face, vowing to protect the safety of the Emperor.

Gu Yuanbai finally stopped laughing and slowly pulled himself up. He propped his elbow on the window, resting his face on his hand. Just from a big laugh, he was already feeling weak. His chest rose and fell slightly. Gu Yuanbai tried his best to slow down his breaths and calm down.

Prince He said in a cold voice, “It is better for your Lordship not to laugh.”

Gu Yuanbai smiled crookedly, not caring. Although he was this weak at the moment, he didn’t want others to see it. Every man wanted to save face, and it would be unsightly if Gu Yuanbai had to live so carefully because of his health.

“Brother, don’t worry about it,” Gu Yuanbai said. “This younger brother’s body can still endure a laugh.”6

After a while, the waiter delivered food. Gu Yuanbai had no appetite for eating. He sipped his tea and looked out the window.

The capital, under the emperor’s feet, was prosperous and stable. The Great Heng Dynasty was open to folk customs, and the status of women wasn’t low, so it was possible to see women walking in groups of two and three around the market.

Gu Yuanbai liked this peaceful picture. He leaned against the wall, holding his cup of tea, and for a moment he looked lost in thought.

Chu Wei was heading to the academy with a classmate. When they walked past the Zhuangyuan building, they saw many people looking up. With a frown, he looked up to see what they were staring at.

Sitting by the window on the second floor was a young man dressed in blue, with black hair topped by a jade crown. He was looking into the distance while holding a white porcelain cup in his hand. Both men and women had craned their necks up to look at the beautiful man, who turned out to be none other than the Emperor.

He was so good looking, even if it was hard to appreciate it, they couldn’t look away from the beauty. But Chu Wei hated people who started at him, and hated the vulgar people who only thought about beauty.

Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for the Emperor, to be stared at like this?

His classmate followed and said cheerfully: “Zihu, it seems that your title of the most beautiful man in the capital is under threat.”

Chu Wei said coldly: “Whoever wants it, they can take it.”

The classmate laughed, but he dragged Chu Wei to the base of the Zhuangyuan building, finding a good position to look up at the young man upstairs by the window. He sighed: “In the old days, there was Pan An getting fruit thrown at his car, and seeing that you could kill someone at Wei Jie’s level, I thought your looks were already magnificent. However, I didn’t expect that such a handsome childe could exist.”7

Chu Wei: “It’s just a facade.”

The classmate smiled and said: “I know you don’t appreciate beauty, and you don’t like others to stare at you. But Chu Zihu, even with a childe that looks like this, you still think it’s just superficial?”

Chu Wei raised his eyes to look at the Emperor. His eyebrows were flat, his black eyes unmoved. He stood straight, cold as snow. “What else?”

Gu Yuanbai seemed to perceive his gaze. He looked out into the distance, then lowered his head a little, spotting Chu Wei, who was standing in front of the shop selling red knots across the street.

A handsome literati stood beside Chu Wei. Gu Yuanbai narrowed his eyes, and calmly looked away, holding the tea set and taking a sip of warm tea.

The hand holding the cup was so pale that it seemed transparent. As soon as he saw the Emperor’s hands, Chu Wei couldn’t help recalling them painfully gripping bright yellow sheets, the image of the folds of satin under the warm yellow candlelight, the fingertips pale and feeble. He lowered his eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, and he quietly dragged his classmate and left.

Prince He saw that Gu Yuanbai had been looking out the window. Following the look with a glance, he suddenly spotted many people outside looking up furtively. He pressed his lips, displeased. “Who dares to stare at Your Majesty?”

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Even though he didn’t like Gu Yuanbai, Prince He would not hesitate to defend his royal majesty.

“The act is not culpable unless the mind is guilty.” Gu Yuanbai smiled and changed the subject. “How do you find these dishes, brother?”

Prince He took a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, and said tastelessly, “They’re nothing special.”

Whether it was a dish or a person, talk is only talk. The words of these students talking in the Zhangyuan building were also shallow. Empty talk was great, but prodding seriously will reveal there’s nothing underneath, and even though their feet weren’t grounded, they still dared to speak mouthfuls of nonsense.

Originally, he’d wanted to poke at Gu Yuanbai to let him know what sort of admiration he received. In the end, it was him who ended up feeling uncomfortable.

Gu Yuanbai had two goals as he listened to the many students talk and talk. It was hard to not get disappointed, but it was one of the drawbacks of the Imperial Examination. For the Emperor, the first drawback was the apparition of cliques and use of connections, and the second was that the state might not be able to put to use the talents it received.

For the society to truly develop, they could still focus on building up the economy. Compared with other ancient countries, China was always ahead until the British Industrial Revolution. Yet, a single revolution had made the gap between the two a hundred times bigger.8 At the end of the day, science and technology were the primary push for development. Businessmen and craftsmen could impulse the development of a society and its economy. However, in this era, farmers and food were the basis of the country’s economy.

If they could have potatoes, corn, hybrid rice,9 etc, then the basic workers would be available, the storehouses would be full for sure, and other major works could begin to be carried out.

Gu Yuanbai stood up suddenly. The palace attendants hurriedly stepped forward to support him, tidy up the wrinkles on his clothes and straighten the jade pendant on his waist. Gu Yuanbai said leisurely: “Brother, walk with me.”

Prince He stood up silently, walking half a step behind as the Emperor came out of the Zhuangyuan building.

The street market was busy but not chaotic, the ground was clean and tidy, and Prince He had a calm face, looking more intimidating than the guards that stood on the side.

“Where does Your Highness want to go?”

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“If We remember correctly, you have several acres of fertile land in the capital, and there is a hamlet with a hot spring to grow fruits and vegetables?” Gu Yuanbai said. “Earlier, when raining Lu Feng’s house, We also remembered that We once rewarded you with a spring house.”

Prince He said stiffly, “That manor is far from the city, so if Your Majesty wants to go, I’m afraid it’ll be inconvenient to get there today.”

The guards protecting the Emperor secretly glared at Prince He, wishing that His Majesty would hurry and give them an order to teach him a good lesson on his behalf.

How dare anyone talk to His Majesty like that?!

Gu Yuanbai’s expression remained unchanged. He waved his hand behind him, and the guards and palace attendants took two steps back, giving the two most noble royal people in the world space to talk privately.

“Prince He,” Gu Yuanbai said slowly, “you give Us face so that We can give you face.”

Prince He had an ugly look on his face, and had to hold himself back from brushing him off.

“Previously, I asked you to help Us, so as to wipe out Lu Feng.” His Majesty spoke in a light tone. “Even the emperor’s relatives have to grovel before powerful officials. Your clan and the imperial authority are connected together. If I am weak, you are also weak. I thought you were a smart person, who would have known you’re this stupid? You now blame me for keeping you in the capital, where you can only seek enjoyment day and night. We ask you, when We gave you the opportunity, who was the one not able to grasp it? ”

Prince He, with blue veins popping on his forehead, restrained himself and spoke between gritted teeth. “——I arrived!

“You’re too late!” Gu Yuanbai shouted angrily, “We already killed him, what did you arrive for? You want to make Us wait until dinner goes cold?”

Prince He was frightened by the sudden loud shout, and lost his momentum.

Gu Yuanbai breathed quickly in and out, and it took him a long time before he calmed down. “Prince He, the late emperor once gave me some warning words. He spoke about you. You’re unaware of what he said.”

Prince He breathed in and turned his head to stare fiercely at Gu Yuanbai. “What did the late emperor say?”

The corners of Gu Yuanbai’s pale mouth suddenly hooked up, and he said harshly, “We won’t tell you.”

Prince He “…”

With a “bang”, a loud noise suddenly echoed across the sky.

The sky instantly dimmed down, a flash of light splitting it in half. The sudden brightness was followed by a sudden darkness, rolling up in gusts of wind.

Tian Fusheng walked up to them in a panic. “Your Majesty, it’s going to rain!”

Before the rainstorm arrived, the wind was already surging up. Gu Yuanbai’s clothes were blown up and his hair was thrown around, some strands hitting his face and obstructing his vision. Gu Yuanbai frowned and pulled the hair that was in the way aside. “Zhang Xu, where can we take shelter nearby?”

Zhang Xu felt anxious as well. He held onto the saber around his waist and forcibly calmed himself down, “Emperor, we are very close to General Xue’s residence. We can go to Xue Mansion to shelter from the rain.”

Xue Mansion?

Gu Yuanbai pondered for a while, “Let’s go, we should rush over before the rain falls.”

Author’s note:10

Gu Yuanbai: This rain is so unlucky, and Our bad weather isn’t improving soon.

Xue Yuan: What’s so cool about Prince He?

Xue Yuan: Is he, is he interesting or snarky like me?

Hello! I’m Barebones, the new translator for this project. It’s scary to take over a historical novel. The previous translator did a great job and our styles might be a bit different, but I’ll do my best!

Read chapters 1 to 10 here!

And if you’re interested, here’s my ko-fi!

Footnotes

After much pondering, He Qinwang title has been translated instead of kept in pinyin because once his real name and the members of his household begin to pop up it was getting confusing. 和亲王 means Prince of the first rank He, originally a title given only to direct sons of the Emperor but in later periods and dynasties it was more freely distributed. Thanking Daed for the advice on the matter!朕/Zhen/Imperial first person pronoun will be translated as Royal we from this chapter onwards. The Royal we has been used by kings, emperors and popes all through Europe, it dates all the way back to Ancient Rome, so it’s grammatically the closest equivalent in Western langages. It should be noted that sometimes Gu Yuanbai does switch to 我 (common modern day first person singular) mid sentence.Bureau in charge of astronomy and calendars and, presumably, reading the weather too.Zhuangyuan is the title obtained by the number one scholar in the examinations, but it’s also used for businesses a lot. Presumably this is an establishment frequented by scholar and candidates in the examinations.Prince He is getting addressed as 兄长 because they’re going incognito, it’s a casual address for men older than the speaker. Author specifies that they’re not siblings, the title of Prince He was likely granted specifically or passed on from his own father.He addresses himself as 弟弟 even though Prince He doesnt.Pan An and Wei Jie are both famously handsome men from ancient China. Pan An would get girls throwing fruits at his cart, so throwing fruit at a man became a compliment about his looks.The author mentions in a footnote that this line was taken originally from Professor Jin Canrong in his speech “The Great Change of the Century and China’s Opportunity”. In China, hybrid rice is estimated to be planted on more than 50% of rice-growing land there and it is credited with helping the country increase its rice yields, which are among the highest within Asia.Which seems to be a bit pun-heavy.