Troublemaker Prince C47
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 47
One of life's three great illusions was "I can do it too." So when Zhang Xuan, a scholar of humble origins who had been bribed by the Third Prince, saw that a middle-aged man who could play the suona was able to enter Juxian Pavilion, his heart gave rise to the thought that he could do just as well. After all, he was well-read, eloquent, a capable speaker, and had made quite a decent name for himself in literary circles.
After the middle-aged man who played the suona went in, the others also grew eager to try. They were nothing more than common folk who had come merely to watch the excitement, but when they saw that Juxian Pavilion would actually recruit someone who played the suona, their hearts stirred with temptation.
After all, the treatment offered by Juxian Pavilion was truly generous — the silver paid was enough for a family of three to eat and drink well in Chang'an for two or three months. Who could remain unmoved by that?
So just as Zhang Xuan was trying to push through the crowd to register, a surge of people suddenly rushed forward in excitement, trampling his shoe clean off, and on top of that, his sleeve was torn. Zhang Xuan was so furious his face twisted.
"Officer, look at me — I can play the erhu! No technique whatsoever, just pure feeling!"
"Well, I know how to help sows give birth. Cows too. As long as it's a female animal, I can handle it."
"I can really cook! The neighbors all praise my food. I wouldn't say it rivals the biggest restaurant in Chang'an, but it's certainly up there with an ordinary restaurant."
"Officer, I do woodwork! The mechanical bird I made can fly several circles in the air."
Standing to the side, Zhang Xuan watched the crowd's frenzied excitement and couldn't help but reach out and touch the only decent piece of clothing he had on his body, muttering, "How utterly disgraceful. Utterly disgraceful."
Over on the other side, Huo Xiling, surrounded by the crowd, looked at the man who claimed he could play the erhu and asked, "Can you play right now?"
The man found himself a patch of ground to sit on and said, "Officer, just watch."
He placed the bow against the strings of the erhu and drew it across. A mournful sound rose gently into the air, and the noisy crowd fell quiet, turning to look at the man sitting on the ground.
The erhu's voice drifted out, wailing and desolate, filled with sorrow — like leaves stripped from trees by the autumn wind, cold and still. When the man's tempo quickened, the listeners felt goosebumps rise along their backs, and some could not help but let tears fall.
"I miss my mother… wuu wuu wuu wuu."
"My grandfather has been gone for ten years now, I suppose."
"Cuihua, Cuihua — when will I ever see you again!"
Amid the erhu's playing — no technique, only feeling — the crowd wept one after another.
You Yusui, sitting beside the window on the second floor of Juxian Pavilion, was thinking to himself: He plays well. Most fitting for funeral music. Have him accompany the mourning — everyone will cry genuinely and sincerely.
When the piece ended, everyone present except Huo Xiling had been reduced to tearful messes. Even Zhang Xuan could not stop himself from wiping his eyes with his sleeve — then halfway through, he caught himself, and his expression turned ashen as he pulled his arm back.
"Officer, will I do?" the man who had just finished playing asked Huo Xiling.
"You'll do. Go on in," Huo Xiling said without the slightest hesitation, for this man met You Yusui's selection standards completely.
"Many thanks, Officer!" The man immediately straightened up, head held high, and walked into Juxian Pavilion.
"And what special skill do you have?" Huo Xiling turned to look at the next person.
"I know magic tricks," came the reply. As the words fell, a young man with refined features produced a red camellia from thin air right in front of Huo Xiling.
"This flower is offered to the honored one upstairs for their enjoyment," the young man said with a bright smile.
Huo Xiling regarded the young man before him with a stern expression, then stared at the camellia for a moment before turning to a young eunuch at his side and saying, "Take it up."
At his words, the young eunuch immediately took the flower from the young man's hands and carried it carefully upstairs.
You Yusui, seated on the second floor, received the camellia from the young eunuch and found it rather amusing. He couldn't help but pay a little more attention to the young man below.
"And what else can you do?" Huo Xiling asked.
"I can speak the language of birds, to amuse the honored one." As his words fell, the young man imitated birdsong and drew every bird in the surrounding area to him.
The birds gathered and flew around the young man, calling out to one another in response, and everyone present watched the scene with awed admiration.
Huo Xiling, however, furrowed his brows, hesitating over whether or not to keep the young man on.
Just then, the young eunuch who had gone up with the flower came back down and whispered something in Huo Xiling's ear. When Huo Xiling looked up at the young man again, he said, "Stay."
It was the Crown Prince's wish — he would not go against it.
The young man smiled upon hearing this and gave Huo Xiling a respectful bow of thanks.
"What is your name?" Huo Xiling asked.
"Jiang Yan," the young man answered. "The yan from nightmare."
Huo Xiling found it somewhat strange — who would give themselves a name like that?
Before Huo Xiling could think further on it, Zhang Xuan finally found his opening and pushed his way to the front, planting himself before Huo Xiling.
Huo Xiling looked at the slightly disheveled Zhang Xuan and felt at a loss for words. When he glanced toward where Jiang Yan had been standing, the young man had already been led upstairs by the young eunuch.
In an instant, Huo Xiling's brow furrowed deeply.
"Good sir," Zhang Xuan began, composing himself into an air of polished courtesy, "this one hails from Beihai Commandery, and studied under…"
"State your special skill," Huo Xiling cut him off directly.
At Huo Xiling's words, Zhang Xuan's tongue seemed to tie itself in a knot and he couldn't get a word out.
"I…" Zhang Xuan began. "I am well-read and widely learned."
"His Highness has no shortage of well-read and widely learned men at his side," Huo Xiling replied without even lifting his head.
"I…" Zhang Xuan began struggling to think of his own special skills.
"Do you know strategy and tactics?" Huo Xiling asked.
"No," Zhang Xuan answered, his expression stiff.
"Then do you know how to govern a commandery, manage local administration, and oversee the people's livelihood?" Huo Xiling pressed on.
"No," Zhang Xuan said, his expression now visibly darkening.
"Do you understand hydraulic engineering? Do you know how to deploy troops and arrange formations? Are you well-versed in divination, the Eight Trigrams, and the Book of Changes?" Huo Xiling fired off the questions in rapid succession.
Zhang Xuan's answer to all of them was no. He had only studied Confucian teachings, and all he was good at was talking big.
Huo Xiling, seated behind the table, drew a deep breath and asked, "Can you at least keep accounts and do sums?"
"That too, no," Zhang Xuan snapped back in exasperation. He wasn't going to be a bookkeeper — why would he ever need to know such things?
"If you know nothing, what are you doing here?" Huo Xiling demanded. "Juxian Pavilion recruits men of talent, not men with nothing to offer."
Zhang Xuan suddenly remembered the purpose of his visit, and raised his voice. "Since ancient times, those in high positions have always been hungry for talent! Those with true ability have always been welcomed with respect and courtesy! The way you interrogate me like this and speak to me so rudely — it would seem that His Highness the Crown Prince is not genuinely seeking talent after all. His manner is arrogant, and he does not treat us with proper courtesy. This is truly…"
Before Zhang Xuan could finish, the onlooking commoners broke out in retorts:
"You know nothing at all and still expect people to treat you with respect and courtesy? Keep dreaming!"
"My boy, small as he is, already knows how to keep accounts — and you, a grown scholar, can't even do that."
"You know nothing and you come here for what? I bet you can't even farm."
"I can't stand you lot, the kind who jabber on and on — no real skill, just hiding behind fine words."
There and then, Zhang Xuan was roundly berated by every commoner present and had absolutely no way to fight back. He could only cover his face and flee.
Meanwhile, You Yusui on the upper floor paid no mind to the commotion below. He only looked at Jiang Yan, who had been brought up by the young eunuch, and said, "This prince wants your method for training birds."
With Huo Xiling working outside, using birds to carry messages always carried the risk of exposure. But if he could obtain this bird-training method and relay information through the calls of birds, the risk of messages being leaked would be greatly reduced.
Jiang Yan, upon hearing this, bowed low and said, "I am willing to serve Your Highness as a loyal hound and horse."
You Yusui leaned against the window frame and regarded Jiang Yan before him. "Jiang Yan — nightmare. Whose nightmare do you intend to become?"
Just as Jiang Yan was about to reply, You Yusui waved a hand and said, "Never mind. This prince has no interest in other people's stories. As long as you do not threaten those this prince holds dear, then all is well. Otherwise…"
The young man smiled and said, "Jiang Yan understands. And Jiang Yan stands on the same side as Your Highness."
"Good," You Yusui said. "Go and change your clothes. Come back to the Eastern Palace later and keep this prince entertained."
"Yes, Your Highness," Jiang Yan said compliantly, and was led away by the young eunuch at You Yusui's side.
Not long after, Huo Xiling came up from the floor below. When he saw that You Yusui was still toying with the camellia, he immediately snatched it away and threw it to the ground.
"Oh, you," You Yusui said with a laugh, letting Huo Xiling pull him into his arms. "How can you even be jealous over a flower?"
"How are things going downstairs?" You Yusui asked.
"With those guards keeping watch, nothing will go wrong," Huo Xiling replied.
You Yusui nodded and said, "Once the recruitment is done, keep them and train them up. From now on, all the weddings and funerals in Chang'an will be handled by Juxian Pavilion."
Huo Xiling looked at You Yusui long and hard upon hearing this. With you like this — will His Majesty really not be infuriated to death?
Within just a few days, You Yusui had assembled an eclectic gathering of shamans, physicians, musicians, and craftsmen of all trades — people who covered every aspect of daily life. The most important among them, of course, were those who could sing, play instruments, and dance, along with those who could cook.
When they all heard that they would also be handling weddings and funerals for others, not one of them had the slightest reluctance. After all, they hadn't come to eat for free — His Highness the Crown Prince was already feeding and keeping them, so how could they not give something back?
Funeral music and wedding music — let them both play. Banquets for the living and feasts for the dead — let them all be done.
And so several days passed. The Emperor, You Fengyun, who had handed Juxian Pavilion over to You Yusui and then thought no more of it, finally remembered the matter.
"How goes the Crown Prince's Juxian Pavilion?" You Fengyun set down the memorial he had been reading and asked.
Palace Eunuch An Hai weighed his words carefully before responding, "Word has it that it is… quite lively."
With suonas, bronze gongs, and erhus all going at once — how could it not be lively?
"It seems the Crown Prince must have recruited a great many talented people," You Fengyun said with a smile.
"Come, let us go find the Crown Prince and see how this Juxian Pavilion of his is getting on." With that, You Fengyun rose to his feet.
An Hai thought to himself: …Yes, Your Majesty.
Meanwhile, on the other side, You Yusui was in the Eastern Palace playing with birds when a young eunuch arrived with a message.
"Your Highness, it is not good — His Majesty wishes for you to take him to see Juxian Pavilion."
You Yusui thought: ?? What's not good about that?