Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Striking while the iron is hot, Yao Huang urged Prince Hui to hand over his waist plaque to Eunuch Cao immediately, so that Eunuch Cao could make a trip to the weapons workshop, lest Prince Hui change his mind the next day after a night's delay.

Zhao Sui glanced at the sky and said, "The weapons workshop should have already closed for the day, and tomorrow morning I still need to submit a memorial to seek His Majesty's approval."

Yao Huang feigned ignorance: "Still need approval? Last time I wanted to make a new spear, Guo Shu said I could just go to the weapons workshop and place the order directly."

Zhao Sui: "A spear is a small item, and the weapons workshop has long been familiar with making them. Crafting one temporarily is not troublesome. The craftsmanship for wheelchair wheels is complex and time-consuming, so it's best to notify His Majesty to avoid delaying the workshop's primary tasks."

Yao Huang, upon hearing this, felt that Prince Hui's concerns were reasonable. Even the workers in a small shop would pass the buck when encountering trouble. The weapons workshop is responsible for the entire military armaments of the Great Qi and the needs of the palace. What if some official, delayed by other matters, opportunistically shifts the blame to Prince Hui for having them forge gold wheels? Even if it could be clarified, it would still tarnish his mood and reputation.

"Fortunately, Your Highness is so considerate. Otherwise, if something really happened, it would be my fault for dragging you into this."

Zhao Sui lowered his head and saw a hint of fear in his consort's bright eyes, but more than that, admiration.

The consort often looked at him with such eyes, as if the things he could do were truly extraordinary skills.

"You were thinking for me, how could it be your fault?"

Yao Huang smiled and pointed to the stone table in the yard: "Then Your Highness should write the memorial now. Can I watch? I've never seen a memorial before."

Zhao Sui signaled her to move aside first, then had Qing Ai and Fei Quan retrieve the memorial stationery and the four treasures of the study.

The autumn days were getting shorter. Under the glow of the setting sun, Zhao Sui concisely completed the memorial.

Yao Huang looked at Prince Hui's elegant handwriting and whispered, "This is the matter, but I'm afraid His Majesty might think you are too distant with him."

Zhao Sui gently reminded his consort: "First, we are sovereign and subject, then father and son. The proper decorum must be maintained."

Yao Huang, being a regular at the teahouse, knew that some princes in the previous dynasty were too informal with the emperor, which led to suspicion, neglect, and even being stripped of their titles and executed.

But Prince Hui only wanted two wheels, which is a world away from those situations, right?

The next day, in the palace.

After the morning court and breakfast, Emperor Yongchang was perusing the memorials submitted by the Secretariat. Eunuch Wang came in with several new memorials in his hands.

Besides the princes, some ministers directly under the emperor could also circumvent the Secretariat to submit memorials.

Eunuch Wang respectfully placed the memorials on one side of the imperial desk.

Emperor Yongchang glanced casually and saw that the first one was again from his second son, Prince Hui.

Emperor Yongchang smiled. Since marrying his consort, his second son had been communicating more with him, whereas before he would only submit memorials for official matters.

After all, this was the third time this year. Emperor Yongchang was not as excited as the first time he received a memorial from Prince Hui. He finished reviewing the current memorial in hand before opening this third one. The handwriting was still sparse: "Your Majesty, I have obtained a design to improve a wheelchair. Due to the limitations of civilian craftsmanship, I need to request the weapons workshop to develop gold wheelchair wheels. I am willing to bear the cost of the gold materials used. I humbly request Your Majesty's approval."

Emperor Yongchang fell into a long silence as he read this memorial.

His eldest son, who only moved when pushed by his virtuous consort, had asked for a kite when he was a child. The third and fourth sons, pampered by their mothers, were even bolder in their requests. Only the second son, since his third birthday, whenever asked if he wanted anything, would shake his head, appearing indifferent and rigid.

It was rigidity, not the fear of being scolded by the imperial consort for wanting a gift, nor the anxiety of being rejected by the emperor.

Now, the second son had finally spoken up, asking the palace craftsmen to help forge wheelchair wheels, and even offering to bear the cost himself!

If not for knowing his second son's character, Emperor Yongchang would have thought the son was deliberately mocking him for being a stingy father!

Emperor Yongchang put down the memorial and began pacing around the study with his hands behind his back.

As he paced, Emperor Yongchang thought of the large red sandalwood wheelchair that Prince Hui had previously sat in. Who had made it? Perhaps someone from Prince Hui's household had commissioned a local craftsman. And the wooden plank Prince Hui brought to step over the threshold when entering the palace...

Emperor Yongchang stopped pacing and slumped into a nearby chair.

He wasn't ungenerous, and he truly cared about Prince Hui's legs, but besides caring, what else had he given to Prince Hui?

At the residence of Prince Hui.

Yao Huang had gotten up early. Although the prince said Emperor Yongchang would likely just write "Approved" on the memorial and send it back, unlike the last time when an oral decree was issued, Yao Huang was still full of anticipation.

Zhao Sui didn't wait with his wife. The princess found the two three-wheeled push wheelchairs bulky, but Zhao Sui was quite pleased and still enthusiastic about them, wanting to try them again.

Considering that the princess would come to the bamboo courtyard to find him after receiving the emperor's reply to the memorial, Zhao Sui pushed slowly, keeping a pace that wouldn't cause him to sweat.

After circling the backyard, Zhao Sui looked at the sky, assuming his father might be too occupied with state affairs today to have seen his memorial yet.

Zhao Sui returned to the red sandalwood wheelchair and had Qing Ai push him to Ming'an Hall, hoping to convince the princess to do something else.

Arriving at the backyard of Ming'an Hall, Zhao Sui found the princess playing with Jinbao. She had placed a half-foot-high bar in the center of the yard, crouching on one side to coax Jinbao to jump over from the other side. Jinbao didn't understand, so the princess, lifting her skirt, jumped back and forth to show him. After jumping, she realized Jinbao still couldn't do it and was about to reprimand him when she noticed him standing in the corner of the corridor.

Qing Ai was standing behind the wheelchair. Knowing the princess's nature and having observed the prince's leniency towards her, he hadn't been this anxious in a long time. But seeing the princess's graceful jumps and noticing the prince's gaze fixed on her embroidered shoes and ankles, Qing Ai felt as if there were two drumsticks beating in his heart.

Yao Huang's attention was solely on her prince. Looking at the sun, she said, "The memorial hasn't been sent back yet, maybe His Majesty is busy today."

Zhao Sui: "No rush."

Yao Huang pushed him to a sunny spot and continued training Jinbao. Just as common people could produce great generals and top scholars, Yao Huang hoped Jinbao could grow into a majestic hunting dog.

Words weren't enough, so Yao Huang asked A Ji to bring a plate of braised meat from the kitchen. She had A Ji stand on one side with Jinbao. Jinbao wouldn't get any meat if he knocked over the bar, but A Ji would if she jumped over it. Because the meat smelled so good, Yao Huang also ate a slice and then stretched her arm to feed a piece to Prince Hui.

Jinbao barked eagerly.

Zhao Sui: "..."

After a few attempts, Jinbao finally understood and jumped over. Yao Huang happily gave him some meat and then smiled triumphantly at Prince Hui.

At that moment, several figures suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor, led by Emperor Yongchang in casual attire, with Eunuch Wang slightly bowing behind him, and Qing Ai and Eunuch Cao looking nervous at the end.

The couple was stunned. Jinbao, who was eating meat, saw strangers and barked. Yao Huang quickly pulled him over and covered his snout, then exclaimed in surprise to Emperor Yongchang, "Father, why have you come?"

Emperor Yongchang excused the couple and the little maid from formalities and smiled, "After finishing the memorials, I saw the bright autumn sun outside and decided to stretch my legs. Is this your dog?"

Yao Huang: "Yes, we brought him back from Ling Mountain. I named him Jinbao."

Emperor Yongchang: "...It's a good name, sounding auspicious and festive."

Yao Huang had A Ji take Jinbao away and pushed Prince Hui closer to the corridor.

Emperor Yongchang chatted with the couple about family matters and inquired about the new wheelchair. Learning from his son that the improvements to the wheelchair were both urged by his daughter-in-law and made by Master Deng, Emperor Yongchang looked at his daughter-in-law with increasing affection. No matter her humble origins or lack of formal etiquette, she was devoted to his son in every way, and in his eyes, she was beyond reproach.

The group moved to the front yard, where Yao Huang noticed three officials who had come with Emperor Yongchang.

"Your humble servant, Ji Zhun, the minister of the Armory, pays his respects to the prince and princess."

"Your humble servants, Zhou Wei and Ding Sixiao, the supervisors of the Armory, pay their respects to the prince and princess."

Yao Huang: "..."

Zhao Sui excused the three from formalities and looked at his father with mixed feelings: "It's just a wheelchair, Father..."

Emperor Yongchang grasped his son's shoulder and smiled, "It's merely a wheelchair, Sui'er, no need to stand on ceremony with your father. Come on, tell me how you’ve improved the wheelchair, and let them listen carefully so they can report back later."

Zhao Sui had no choice but to send Qing Ai and Fei Quan to the bamboo courtyard to fetch Master Deng's box of designs and to bring along a new four-wheeled wheelchair and a new three-wheeled wheelchair.

The designs might be difficult to understand, but with the two wheelchairs in front of them, Emperor Yongchang and the three officials from the weapons workshop could all see how to craft better metal wheels for the chairs.

Emperor Yongchang personally tried out both wheelchairs. At over fifty years old, he had increasingly neglected martial training, only riding horses and drawing bows during autumn hunts, which left his arm strength only slightly stronger than Yao Huang's. He managed to push the three-wheeled rattan chair only about ten steps.

"This is too much effort; we’ve got to make those metal wheels."

Truly understanding the hardship of his son's actions, Emperor Yongchang issued strict orders to the weapons workshop. Just having the designs wasn’t enough; he also commanded the three officials to take Master Deng to the weapons workshop to craft new chair wheels together, to make the most durable, easy-to-push, and good-looking large metal wheels in the shortest time possible.

Zhao Sui worried that the weapons workshop might get too caught up with the wheelchairs and could only remind them not to neglect official duties.

The official Ji Zhun from the weapons workshop said, "Your Majesty, Your Highness, please don’t worry. I will arrange everything properly without neglecting either side."

The three officials took their leave, and Emperor Yongchang, not wanting his son and daughter-in-law to feel constrained because of him, also prepared to return to the palace. Before leaving, he pulled out Prince Hui’s memorial from his chest and tossed it onto his son’s lap, clearly annoyed.

Zhao Sui, puzzled, could only pick up the memorial and watch as his father boarded the carriage.

As the imperial carriage turned out of the alley, Yao Huang pushed Prince Hui back to the first courtyard of the palace, urging curiously, "Your Highness, quickly see, His Majesty’s mood must have something to do with your memorial."

Eunuch Cao, Guo Shu, Qing Ai, and others who remained outside the gate immediately hid on either side of the palace wall.

Zhao Sui looked back, then opened the memorial.

In the blank space of the memorial, there was an additional line of imperial red ink, bold and powerful like a dragon and tiger: "I am your father, and I can still afford to support you!"

Zhao Sui: "..."

Yao Huang read it and burst out laughing behind Prince Hui.

On the distant imperial carriage, Emperor Yongchang sat alone, imagining his second son's stunned expression upon seeing the reply. He chuckled at first, then closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

His son had long grown up and no longer needed his father's care. All he could offer were some material things.