Chapter 45: Princess?

"A marriage alliance princess? How did We not know Shejin sent someone for a marriage alliance?" Jiang Changbai felt it was absurd; could it be that the King of Shejin believed that the person who sat on the imperial throne now was still that emperor who only knew covetousness and pleasure-seeking? More than that, the two nations weren't in any military conflict now, and there was no need for this traditional method of bringing about peace. And, even if the two nations had been at war, Jiang Changbai would equally have thought that sending a marriage alliance princess to seek for peace was the most detestable action.

The maid, head lowered, replied, "Replying to Bixia, this servant isn't certain of the specific situation either, but the person who came to the Palace gates to report is waiting right outside of the hall right now."

"Call her in." Jiang Changbai closed her eyes, and walked a few steps to sit down on the low couch. An imperial bodyguard, wearing deep green attire, was called in; perhaps because she often stood guard outside the Imperial Palace, her skin had become the colour of wheat, and she was even taller than the average person. "It was you who said there's a Shejin princess outside the Palace asking for an audience?"

"Replying to Bixia, it was this subject. She said she's called Liang Jiwen, and that she set out from Shejin at the start of the autumn of the seventeenth year of Hejing in order to come to the capital to be married off to Emperor Tai as a marriage alliance princess." The guard had probably never had an audience with an emperor before, and even if she strove to keep herself calm, anyone could easily hear the tremble in her voice.

Jiang Changbai, hearing this, was somewhat astonished, and only after thinking it over carefully for a while did she think of it, as if having suddenly come to an understanding. A few months before, when she'd only just ascended the throne, this matter really had come up from Shejin; in fact, it was because of this that they'd invaded the border. It was just that, at that time, the capital was still a mass of tangled skeins and confusion, and it had been too busy to attend to it. After the fact, Jiang Changbai had merely taken it to mean that, in the midst of battle, she'd unfortunately lost her life, and had sent envoys to take gold and silver and precious jewels, and the matter had ended without being settled.

Now, the topic having been raised again, Jiang Changbai was unexpectedly somewhat distracted. She looked at Song Juguang, standing by her side, but only saw that her expression seemed to have grown a bit colder.

Although this matter had come up by chance, that she was alive was a fortunate thing; she'd already come, and it wouldn't do to make her stand under the sun outside the Palace gates forever. A journey that, at its slowest, would have taken only two months, had taken almost half a year; Jiang Changbai didn't need to think to guess that her way had been filled with the hardships and terror, and so she couldn't help but feel pity, and ordered, "Instruct the Minister of Rites to receive her, and have everything done to the highest standards."

"But Bixia," the guard said, hesitant; though she'd heard Jiang Changbai's order clearly, she still remained in place.

"If you have something to say, simply say it; don't hem and haw."

"Understood," the guard said, kneeling as soon as she heard these words; her head pressed against the ground, not daring to look at Jiang Changbai directly, and she stammered, "the Princess said she knows the customs of the Great Li as well; the first day she was in the capital, she sent a message to the Minister of Rites' residence, but she never received a reply. The past few days, the nanny who followed along with the Princess went to the Minister of Rites' residence to pay a visit, but was chased away. The two of them, master and servant, already pawned away the goods on them before, and, only being desperate, came to the gates of the Palace to request an audience."

"And where did that come from?" Jiang Changbai leaned against the low couch, looking at the guard as if she were examining her closely, and felt her words really were strange.

"Who is it!"

Suddenly, there was a burst of noise outside, and after a loud shout, the sound of disarrayed footsteps followed. It seemed as if someone hiding in the dark had been discovered. It was in fact the case, and Qing Huai, who had just gone out, returned to the hall. "Bixia, just now, we discovered an assassin."

Jiang Changbai had yet to speak before Song Juguang, face frigid, made her way towards the door. But before she could step over the threshold, she heard a high-pitched woman's voice outside call out. "I'm not an assassin, I'm a guard of the Imperial City, and I want to see her highness!"

The gazes of those within the hall fell onto Jiang Changbai, all waiting for her to make a decision. Lian Zhigao had been executed, and now, Jiang Changbai's mood was just right; she waved her hand, and said, "Bring her in."

Song Juguang's expression grew even colder; she returned to Jiang Chanbgai's side, the hand gripping her folding fan growing even tighter. Jiang Changbai could see her guardedness, and exasperatedly raised a hand to gently pat her waist. If she were to be able to be assassinated in the Imperial Palace, then she may as well not be the Emperor.

The guards brought a restrained woman in; the woman wore deep green attire, no different from the guard who had come in just then to make the report. The guard pupils of the guard who'd come in first, seeing who'd come in, grew wide, and with a "pu-teng", she fell to the ground, kowtowing ceaselessly. "Bixia, your excellency, she'd a guard who patrols with this subject, she couldn't be an assassin!"

"Oh?" Jiang Changbai looked at the two kneeling on the ground, unexpectedly somewhat curious. "What are your names?"

"Replying to Bixia, this subject is called Wen Qing; she's called Wen Song. Previously, we were both on duty in the Rear Court, and only once you ascended the throne were we transferred to be imperial guards," the guard who'd been firmly restrained said; her voice was high-pitched, yet her tone carried deference.

"The names are quite pleasing, but she was here to report, so why did you rush over as furtively as a ghost, hm? We seem to remember that when you are on duty, you can't run about as you please."

"This subject," Wen Qing was somewhat hesitant, but she still continued, "this subject believes that that person at the Palace gates isn't truly any Shejin princess. Wen Song was deceived by her to come report, and this subject feared that she would make the offence of deceiving your highness, and only so took the risk of slipping in, wanting to stop her, but I couldn't have imagined that I would be too late."

When she finished speaking, Wen Qing raised her head to look at Jiang Changbai, and only once she saw that she didn't have the intent to cut her off, did she continue, "Though this subject has no first-hand knowledge, I've see foreign princesses come to the Great Li to make an alliance of marriage before. Which ones came without carriage after carriage of dowries, with cadres and convoys of servants and retainers? But that princess at the Palace gates now, her clothes are unspeakably tattered and ragged, and she only has a nanny following after her; it's truly strange."

"You're saying she's a fake?"

"This subject believes so," Wen Qing said, her reply decisive and resolute.

Jiang Changbai laughed quietly, and unhurriedly picked up a knickknack^[1] on the table to fiddle with, her gaze falling onto Wen Song. "Your names are similar; presumably, in the past, you were both on duty in the same place. If she could see it, then could you not?" The words sprang from Jiang Changbai's mouth as light as a feature, yet they pressed down on Wen Song like a mountain, making her unable to raise her head. She remained prostrate on the ground, as if her entire body were about to fuse together with the smooth flagstones.

Jiang Changbai didn't say anything more, raising the cup of tea on the table and taking a sip, gazing at Wen Song, prostrate on the ground, as if watching a play. Even the backs of Wen Song's hands were sweating from anxiety, and only after a long while did she say, "This subject saw that she truly did look like someone from Shejin in appearance, and when she spoke, it was also in Shejinese. Looking at her ragged clothes, she was truly pitiful. Thinking, what if she really were a princess, and fearing that, were she to remain outside the palace, there would be even more trouble, only then was I impulsive." Here, Wen Song halted; Jiang Changbai understood her meaning. If she were in Wen Song's position, she'd probably have been just as impulsive.

But now, she was the Emperor.

Jiang Changbai set the teacup down, still speaking lightly. "Then, according to what you say, couldn't any foreigner say that they themselves are a princess come to make a marriage alliance? More than that, if you've always had a post in the Palace, how could you know how Shejinese is spoken?"

Wen Song unexpectedly didn't ponder this time, and immediately explained, "This subject previously served in the Rear Court, and was only selected to be an imperial guard in the Imperial Palace, on patrol in all places. The nanny who looked after this subject when I had just entered the Palace would often carry about a book in Shejinese, and from hearing it often, this subject learnt it."

"Nanny," Jiang Changbai said, feeling it was somewhat strange, and then asked, "then which palace is she serving in now?"

"She," Wen Song's words were hesitant, "she already passed away."

Jiang Changbai felt neither the two of Wen Song nor Wen Qing's words were too believable; it seemed that, matters having come to this point, she herself going to take a look was the only option; so, Jiang Chanbgai stood from the low couch, and said, "Ah, send her to the Shengru Palace; We will have to take a good look at what she's like."

Yet Song Juguang, who'd been silent for a long while, now spoke; as she spoke, she blocked Jiang Changbai, pulling at her sleeve and shaking her head. "Bixia, you mustn't."

"En?" Jiang Changbai was puzzled, yet she paused her steps obediently. With a tacit understanding, she read the worry in Song Juguang's eyes, and in the next moment, waved a hand to send everyone else in the room out first. "Now can you say it?" Jiang Changbai asked, looking somewhat helplessly at Song Juguang.

Song Juguang nodded, not the slightest bit of embarrassment on her face at having had her thoughts seen through. She only lowered her voice, and said, "Bixia, according to the rites, regardless of which country a princess came from for a marriage alliance, they always ought to be received by the Minister of Rites."

"I know," Jiang Changbai said, some disappointment unexpectedly flashing through her eyes; she'd assumed that Song Juguang had had some sort of solution to the issue, and hadn't imagined that it seemed as if she were as restrained by ritual as Lin Yingqing was, she had to say. "But in the end, this time isn't quite the same as before; it isn't clear whether her identity is genuine or false. I'll take a personal look, and avoid anyone else being deceived.

However, Song Juguang still pulled at Jiang Changbai's sleeve. "A mere marriage alliance princess needs your personal reception? If one day, the King of Shejin is to come, then who ought to go receive him? This minister knows you can't trust in others, fearing to bring about some unexpected incidents. But this minister wants to ask—can you trust in this minister?"

Looking at Song Juguang asking a question she knew full well the answer to here, the corners of Jiang Changbai's mouth curved up in a slight arc. If it were some other matter, she truly probably wouldn't have been able to trust in Song Juguang. But this time, she actually wasn't worried; after all, even at the highest, Liang Jiwen was only a princess in dire straits. She'd been sent to make a marriage alliance; what genuine power could she be said to have? As for telling genuine from false, Jiang Changbai felt that, if Song Juguang couldn't manage to distinguish it, then going herself would merely be futile.

So, Jiang Changbai nodded, and said with a smile, "Then I'll trouble A Guang to go take a look for me. With a regent like you receiving her, it wouldn't count as wronging her in the slightest."

Song Juguang's face, having received what she desired, was no longer as grave as it had been before. The hand grasping Jiang Changbai's sleeve let go, and she took a step back, making a show of being earnest as she said, "This minister will most certainly not disappoint Bixia's expectations."

---

In barely the blink of an eye, Song Juguang changed her attire. On the outward-folded sleeves were embroidered with a four-clawed golden mang serpent,^[2] signifying her status; she sat on the mahogany chair in the Shengru Palace like so, looking downwards, might without fury. Only after a bit longer did Liang Jiwen and her nanny enter, guided by Wen Song.

No wonder Wen Qing had thought she wasn't a genuine princess; actually, now, Liang Jiwen's outer appearance was far and a way different from the impression of a princess in the minds of the masses. The bridge of her nose was high, her eyes deep-set, which was actually the features of the Shejin people. But the colour of her skin had been darkened by the sun, and in some places on her face, the skin had been cracked by the scorch of it. Her hands were somewhat rough as well, and she only wore a single layer of rough cloth clothing, the type that was worn by the most miserable of the poor, not even as valuable as the clothes that Wen Song, behind them, wore. Probably because she'd been under the sun outside for too long, her forehead was sheened with sweat, and her lips were dry and cracked. The nanny who followed after her was in an even more wretched state, black bags beneath her eyes, her cheeks gaunt and sunken in, and even if her headful of white hair were to be combed with utmost care, it would be hard to cover up how it was receding.

Truly, they didn't look the part.

Liang Jiwen could only speak the Shejinese, and was even less knowledgeable about the culture and customs of the Great Li. Every matter on this journey, she'd relied on the old nanny behind her to translate for her. That was, it could be said that, without this old nanny, she would most certainly not have been able to make it to the capital.

As soon as she entered the hall, seeing Song Juguang sitting calmly on the mahogany chair, she mistook her for the current emperor of the Great Li. Even if she'd left her home long ago, Liang Jiwen remembered the matter that her Royal Father had instructed her on. The Great Li had a State Preceptor who was skilled in battle; in all of Shejin, there was no one who could match her. Only Liang Jiwen could strive for the Great Li's Emperor's affection, and so be able to protect Shejin from encroachment, and protect her Consort Mother and Royal Father. For Liang Jiwen, who the emperor of the Great Li was wasn't important. So, even if she could see that Song Juguang was a woman, she still threw herself towards her, on the verge of weeping. As she walked, she used her poor skills to call out, "Your highness".

Song Juguang's expression, seeing she was rushing over, was so dark it could practically storm. She promptly rose and avoided her, and ordered Wen Song, as if revolted, "Stop her!"

Though Wen Song pitied Liang Jiwen, at this moment, she could tell the severity. With quick steps, she pulled Liang Jiwen, who was about to knock against the chair, away, and dragged her back to the nanny's side.

That nanny spoke in Shejinese to Liang Jiwen, and then deferentially made obeisance to Song Juguang. "How may this one refer to Dianxia?"

And the words this nanny spoke were in the language of the Great Li, so correct they couldn't be any better.

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Translator's notes:

[1]: 手把件 (shou bajian) are usually made of a material like jade, wood, stone, etc, carved into interesting shapes, and displayed on one's desk or table; they're decorative in nature, and meant to be picked up and fiddled with.

[2]: The five-clawed serpent is considered a dragon, which could only be worn the imperial line; ministers were allowed to wear serpents with four claws, one of which being the mang (蟒) serpent.