Troublemaker Prince C45
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 45
When Xie Yi was originally enfeoffed as the Marquis of Pingyang, according to his noble rank he was qualified to attend court. At the same time, he also held the idle position of Purple and Gold Guanglu Dafu, which the emperor had bestowed upon him as a mark of favor—according to this official position, he was also qualified to attend court.
(TL: 光禄大夫 (Guānglù Dàifu) was a real official rank/title in China going back to the Han dynasty, originally a senior advisor/minister rank.
When someone was honored with 金紫光禄大夫 / 紫金光禄大夫, it meant they were elevated with special court rank and ceremonial status — often tied to wearing gold and purple robes, symbols of high prestige.)
However, after Xie Yi went into seclusion over a decade ago, he had never set foot in the court hall. This time, his sudden appearance in the court hall—not wearing official robes and being held by the sleeve by Grand Preceptor Gu beside him to prevent him from leaving—naturally made everyone extremely curious.
Lord Xie was truly speechless as he looked up at the heavens. Who could have imagined that this great Confucian scholar of the age would actually do something like breaking down doors in the middle of the night, barging into someone's home, and dragging him out of bed? Before he could even ask what was going on, this old fellow had dragged him to the Xuanzheng Hall in the imperial palace.
Xie Yi let out a deep sigh. After glancing at You Yusui, who was sitting in a chair displaying an "I'm being very well-behaved" demeanor, he finally showed a slight smile. Coming to see his grandson wasn't so bad after all.
You Yusui never imagined that Grand Preceptor Gu would actually drag his maternal grandfather to the court hall. Wasn't this deliberately preventing him from catching up on sleep during morning court?
In the eyes of others, however, Lord Xie's appearance in the court hall made them think of many things, especially You Yuyi, who had the most on his mind—countless thoughts flashed through his mind in that moment.
Could it be that Father Emperor wanted to bring the Xie family back to the center of power, and then support the Crown Prince's succession? But...
You Yuyi looked toward the Crown Prince sitting in a chair with a pale complexion who needed to be carried or supported when walking. Whether such a body could even survive to adulthood was still unknown.
Just as everyone was lost in their various thoughts, You Fengyun finally emerged from the rear hall. As the assembled officials called out "Long live the Emperor," everyone's wonderful day began from this moment.
As soon as You Fengyun emerged, he almost immediately noticed Lord Xie standing among the crowd. In his pale blue outer robe with his white hair and white beard, he looked exactly like a transcendent expert from beyond the mortal world, utterly out of place among the assembled officials in Xuanzheng Hall.
When You Fengyun saw Gu Shen holding onto Xie Yi's sleeve, he knew roughly what had happened. Probably dissatisfied with being suddenly summoned to court, Gu Shen had dragged over the already-retired Lord Xie.
"Why has Lord Xie come today?" You Fengyun asked with a smile on his face.
Xie Yi glanced at the emperor on the dragon throne and replied, "This subject has been remiss. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Gu Shen beside him spoke directly, "It was this subject who dragged Lord Xie here. Please do not blame Lord Xie, Your Majesty."
After all, a large group of people were all wearing official robes, and only Xie Yi was in casual clothes, which was truly improper.
"No harm done. How could Zhen blame Lord Xie?" You Fengyun softened his voice, his tone appearing somewhat gentle.
After Xie Yi and Gu Shen apologized to You Fengyun, they returned to the ranks, then calmly closed their eyes and began attending court.
Seeing this, You Yusui, who was sitting in his chair, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, then also closed his eyes.
For a time, three people in the court hall began sleeping without restraint.
You Fengyun, who was the emperor: ...
Watching from the side, Prince Yan You Yuyi and Prince Wu You Yushan once again felt the disparity in the world. The officials nearby also remained silent. Since His Majesty had not spoken, they had no need to criticize Xie Yi and Gu Shen for openly sleeping in the court hall.
Moreover, Xie Yi and Gu Shen's status and prestige were lofty—even His Majesty could not easily criticize them. If they went forward, they would only be beaten.
As for the Crown Prince, they dared even less. When the Crown Prince woke up, he made them lose a year's income—it was better to let His Highness the Crown Prince continue sleeping.
You Yusui had no idea that he had actually gained the privilege of sleeping freely in the court hall. At this moment, he was hugging the pillow Huo Xiling had prepared for him, completely satisfied, with furs bestowed by You Fengyun draped over his legs—he was absolutely delighted.
You Fengyun glanced at You Yusui, who had already begun sleeping without restraint. For some reason, he actually felt somewhat envious—the dragon throne beneath him wasn't even as soft as the cushion beneath the Crown Prince.
"Begin court session." You Fengyun began considering whether he should also add a soft cushion to the dragon throne.
If You Yusui knew what You Fengyun was thinking, he would definitely want to say that people will degenerate—for instance, right now he wanted a footrest, as it would be more comfortable for his feet.
Just as You Yusui was sleeping without knowing heaven from earth, he was awakened by a commotion.
"What happened?" You Yusui opened his sleepy eyes and looked down below.
They were actually fighting!
He saw his teacher, Grand Preceptor Gu, full of martial virtue and vigorous despite his age, immediately swinging his fists and landing two solid punches on a young official beside him, beating the official until he grimaced in pain. As for his maternal grandfather, he appeared to be breaking up the fight but was actually launching sneak attacks on that young official. Xie Tan was even more extreme—he only restrained the young official while scolding the surrounding officials to quickly hold the young official back lest he injure the two elderly gentlemen.
You Yusui's face was full of confusion. What had happened?
You Fengyun, sitting on the dragon throne, lowered his eyes to look at the newly awakened You Yusui and said, "Awake?"
You Fengyun's voice was low and gentle, seemingly carrying a hint of amusement, but You Yusui detected a bone-chilling feeling from it.
"Mm." You Yusui hugged the small pillow Huo Xiling had stuffed into his hands earlier and responded with a muffled sound.
Although he felt that after being reborn over a dozen times, he was already sufficiently at ease when facing You Fengyun, even able to use You Fengyun to scheme against the Imperial Noble Consort, You Yusui still felt a trace of fear toward You Fengyun.
Perhaps among his dozen or so deaths, You Fengyun had played an important role—whether as an instigator or merely allowing it to happen, he didn't know. He only knew that in those dozen lifetimes, his Father Emperor did not want him alive.
Now, only the small pillow Huo Xiling had given him, held in his arms, gave him some sense of security.
Watching such a Crown Prince, You Fengyun actually found him somewhat obedient, so he said to the young eunuch beside him, "Go tell the Crown Prince what happened."
The young eunuch quickly complied, then walked down the steps to explain the whole story to You Yusui.
It turned out that You Fengyun had decided to give You Yusui a Juxian Pavilion to allow You Yusui to recruit talented people from throughout the realm, which had sparked controversy among the hundred officials.
(TL: “聚賢閣” (Jùxián Gé) literally means “Pavilion for Gathering the Wise/Talented”.)
The First Prince's faction and the Third Prince's faction thought: we have to recruit talent secretly and stealthily, and even then we have to rely on our maternal families—why should the Crown Prince be able to recruit talent openly and above board? Moreover, the Great Jing had no such precedent.
Thus, when You Fengyun asked "what do all my beloved officials think," intense controversy erupted.
You Yusui felt somewhat speechless hearing this. He didn't want that Juxian Pavilion thing. This thing sounded like nothing good at first hearing—it was definitely something his good Father Emperor was using to test whether he had ulterior motives.
After the controversy erupted, a hothead from the First Prince's faction directly said the Crown Prince was unworthy, bluntly stating that the Crown Prince was lazy and negligent, had no one to discipline him, did not cultivate virtue, and was unworthy of having the power to recruit talented people from throughout the realm.
The result was that this hothead was beaten by the hot-tempered Grand Preceptor Gu, who beat him while cursing, "You say my student has no one to discipline him—do you think this old man is dead?"
If Gu Shen weren't still somewhat restrained, he definitely would have grabbed this hothead and said, "The Crown Prince has no one to discipline him—do you think His Majesty is dead?"
Thus the fight broke out. You Yusui's maternal grandfather also couldn't bear to hear such words. If his daughter were still alive, if the Empress were still alive, how could his grandson be said to have no one to discipline him? So he immediately joined the battlefield, appearing to break up the fight but actually kicking that hothead with all his kicks.
Finally, You Fengyun had watched enough of the show. He coughed a few times, and Eunuch An Hai immediately understood and had people pull apart the crowd still engaged in group combat.
This group fight had nearly drawn in all the hundred officials. Everyone had disheveled hair and disarrayed clothing, and some had even had their shoes trampled off.
"Don't be angry, don't be angry." Xie Yi said with a smile to Gu Shen beside him.
"If I were twenty years younger, I'd definitely crack his skull open." Gu Shen cursed while straightening his clothing.
After the hundred officials returned to their positions, You Fengyun finally spoke again, "What does Prime Minister Su think of this matter?"
Prime Minister Su, who had been called upon, slowly stepped out from the crowd. His body was somewhat unsteady, and the official beside him quickly supported him.
Prime Minister Su held up his tablet and said, "This subject believes it is inappropriate."
You Fengyun quietly looked at Prime Minister Su. Inappropriate? Was it inappropriate because of the First Prince? You Fengyun was asking Prime Minister Su to test his personal bias—was he leaning toward the First Prince, or toward himself?
"Your Majesty, the Great Jing has no such precedent, and recruiting talented people from throughout the realm is a power that only Your Majesty should have. Giving this power to His Highness the Crown Prince is inappropriate." Having said this, Prime Minister Su began coughing, a muffled sound like a worn-out bellows.
He didn't want to let the Crown Prince obtain this power. A Crown Prince with this power would only be more justified when recruiting poor scholars, which would be disadvantageous to the First Prince, so he had to stop His Majesty.
You Fengyun supported his chin with his hand. He swept his gaze across the assembled officials and suddenly laughed coldly.
"Precedent? Ancestral law?"
The assembled officials fell silent. Not one person dared to respond.
"Zhen is the Emperor. Zhen is the rules. Do all my beloved officials understand?"
You Fengyun's decisions had never been changed by anyone. This emperor was obstinate and arrogant. Before him, the masses could only obey. And his humble acceptance of advice and courteous treatment were only built upon the foundation of one being able to bring enormous contributions to this empire.
You Yusui recalled how he had once disagreed with You Fengyun politically and argued with reason, and felt like laughing. Too young.
In the end, the matter of You Fengyun giving the Crown Prince the Juxian Pavilion to recruit talent was thus settled. As for the officials' opposition, You Fengyun had never taken it to heart.
You Fengyun left, the officials dispersed. Whether it was You Yusui's maternal grandfather, cousin, or teacher, all were worried for him, fearing that You Fengyun was turning You Yusui into a whetstone for the other princes.
As for the First Prince and Third Prince factions, they were contemplating what You Fengyun was thinking and how they should respond.
You Yusui returned to the Eastern Palace exhausted in body and mind and collapsed on Huo Xiling. Huo Xiling rubbed You Yusui's shoulders and said, "Your Highness, actually I have secretly gathered some people for Your Highness."
The gold and silver You Yusui had bestowed upon him, he had taken it all out to win over poor scholars—no, it should be said to provide relief to them. If His Highness's Juxian Pavilion was to recruit talent, he could have them all go to the Juxian Pavilion to serve His Highness the Crown Prince.
"No need." You Yusui suddenly sat up and said, "Go help me recruit a few suona players at the Juxian Pavilion."
"Huh?" Huo Xiling was bewildered.
You Yusui said with a completely serious expression, "Gong and drum players are fine too. Even magicians will do."
"Your Highness, that's the Juxian Pavilion—His Majesty gave it to you for recruiting talent." Huo Xiling said with difficulty.
In You Yusui's eyes, it wasn't called the Juxian Pavilion—it was called the emperor's detector of people's hearts. Touch it and you're dead.
"Ah, but I only want these kinds of talent."
What was wrong with finding people in advance to play funeral music for himself?