Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Qingyang didn't stay long in Qianyuan Palace. She soon returned to Chongwen Pavilion for her math class, finishing at the same time as her eldest and third brothers.

With Qin Bing absent, Qin Ren was the most talkative. He asked his sister, "Where's Second Brother?"

Qingyang: "Father punished Second Brother to reflect on his mistakes in confinement."

Qin Ren: "What about Yuan Chongli?"

Qingyang: "He went home to recover from his injuries. He'll be back once he's healed."

Qin Liang: "Did His Majesty mention the Marquis of Pingliang's case?"

Qingyang: "That's a court matter. I can't tell you. If anyone wants to know, they should ask Father themselves."

Qin Liang fell silent.

Qin Hong: "Alright, let's not pry into court affairs. Let's go back for lunch."

Chongwen Pavilion didn't provide lunch for the princes. The three princes returned to their respective palaces to eat meals prepared by their private kitchens. After lunch and a short rest, they would head to the training grounds for their martial arts class.

Previously, Qingyang finished classes early and always went to eat with her father and mother. But since they were all together today, she followed her third brother.

Qin Ren: "Aren't you going to see Mother, little sister?"

Qingyang: "I'll go after eating. I want to see how Second Brother is reflecting during his confinement."

Qin Hong and Qin Ren exchanged glances.

Qin Bing's Jinghe Palace was located east of Qin Hong's Chongyuan Palace. Qin Ren, eager to satisfy his sister's curiosity, looked at his elder brother as they approached Chongyuan Palace: "Big Brother, are you coming?"

Though also curious, the fourteen-year-old Crown Prince Qin Hong, who considered himself mature and responsible, restrained himself from agreeing. Adopting an elder brother's demeanor, he advised, "Just take a quick look. Don't linger too long."

Qin Ren: "Okay, we'll just take a peek."

Bidding farewell to their eldest brother, Qin Ren led his sister ahead while Zhang Su followed three steps behind.

Qin Hong stood still for a moment before turning into his own Chongyuan Palace. Qin Liang, walking beside him, said quietly, "After such a severe beating, I thought His Majesty would assign Second Prince a new study companion."

Qin Hong didn't respond. When Qin Liang first became his study companion, he had genuinely grown close to his cousin for a time. They were practically inseparable and shared everything. But after several incidents where Qin Liang inadvertently revealed his words to their father, resulting in criticism from the emperor, Qin Hong had learned to be wary of Qin Liang even without his elder sister's reminders.

"I'm hungry. Let's hurry and eat," Qin Hong said, quickening his pace into the palace, cherishing the daily moments when he didn't have to face Qin Liang directly.

Jinghe Palace.

The idle Qin Bing had already eaten lunch. Head Eunuch Chang Ji, strictly adhering to the emperor's verbal orders, had locked him in the inner rooms. Unable to escape, Qin Bing could only lie in bed trying to sleep. However, the kicks Yuan Chongli gave him still hurt despite medication, and the frustration of being confined made it impossible to sleep. He kept replaying the morning's events, eventually directing all his anger toward the two talkative palace attendants.

Voices sounded in the courtyard—it was his third brother and little sister visiting. Qin Bing rolled out of bed, ran to the window, and pushed one open.

Head Eunuch Chang Ji, who had been greeting the two young royals, was startled.

His heart jumped nervously. He rushed over, intending to close the window from the outside to prevent the third prince and little princess from inadvertently mentioning it in front of the emperor, which might lead to the emperor blaming his master for not reflecting sincerely.

Qin Bing pushed his hand away, glaring. "Father only said to reflect behind closed doors. He didn't say I can't open the window. Move!"

Chang Ji threw a meaningful glance toward the third prince and his sister.

Qin Ren: "...Second Brother, don't worry. Little sister and I are just here to see you. We won't say anything."

Qin Bing waved his younger siblings closer. "Chang Ji worries too much. Don't I trust you? Little sister, never mind these two days, but on the evening of the nineteenth, please put in a good word for me in front of Father. If you can coax him into taking me to see the Yellow River, Second Brother will give you a piggyback ride for two hundred steps."

Qingyang: "I don't like it when you hit people, Second Brother. You made Yuan Chongli cry."

Qingyang had seen her second brother's fury when he first started hitting, and it had frightened her.

Qin Bing: "...Alright, Second Brother promises not to hit people easily in the future. Then remember to plead for me."

Qingyang: "No. Father is the emperor. The emperor's word is final. He punished you to three days of confinement, so it must be three days."

Qin Bing: "That depends on the situation. To outsiders, his word is law, but we're family. We don't need to be so strict. Before, when I made you angry, you said you'd never speak to me again. But because Second Brother was good to you, you forgave me, right?"

Qingyang: "But you fought with Yuan Chongli. Yuan Chongli is an outsider. He heard Father punish you for three days."

Unable to win the argument, Qin Bing grew anxious and threatened with a glare: "If you won't plead for me, then I won't play with you either. I'll never give you a piggyback ride again."

Qingyang didn't care. If Second Brother wouldn't play with her, she still had Third Brother, Zhang Su, and Jie Yu. Sometimes even her father gave her piggyback rides.

Qin Bing: "...You won't help? Fine, leave! I don't want to see you!"

Her fierce second brother was utterly unlikable. Perfectly happy, Qingyang took her third brother's hand and left. Zhang Su was still waiting outside.

Qin Bing: "..."

Soon it was the morning of the twentieth. Emperor Xingwu summoned both imperial consorts and three children to Qianyuan Palace for breakfast together, only excluding the second son under confinement.

Consort Li glanced at the Noble Consort with some embarrassment. After learning about the incident, she had pleaded for the second prince. During the meal, she asked the emperor, who lightly told her not to interfere. Later, when they were intimate and the emperor was in a good mood, she pleaded again, but the emperor patted her shoulder and still told her not to get involved.

The Noble Consort responded to Consort Li with a faint smile. What was there to plead for? She fully supported the emperor's decision to punish their son. It was wrong for the second son to hit someone, and even more wrong for a child to meddle in state affairs. He deserved punishment!

As for the children, the little princess focused on eating breakfast, her thoughts mostly on the Yellow River, not dwelling on the second brother who had yelled at her.

Since even his younger sister had refused Second Brother's request, Qin Ren, who knew he wasn't particularly favored by his father, didn't dare say anything either. What if he got scolded?

Having decided not to interfere, Qin Ren also ate intently.

Crown Prince Qin Hong, however, ate distractedly. As the eldest brother, if he didn't look out for his younger siblings, would Father think him too cold-hearted? But if he spoke up, would Father truly praise him for being a good elder brother?

Hesitating back and forth, the family gradually finished their meal. As the Noble Consort and Consort Li departed side by side and Father prepared to take them on the trip, Qin Hong, sweating nervously, stepped forward and said respectfully, "Father, ever since little sister mentioned you taking us to the Yellow River, Second Brother has been looking forward to it. Could you please..."

Emperor Xingwu: "I know he's been looking forward to it, which is why I'm punishing him. If he gets rewarded with a trip outside the palace for misbehaving, he'll dare to do wrong again next time."

Qin Hong: "...Yes."

Quietly stepping back, Qin Hong secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had fulfilled his duty as an elder brother and could rest with a clear conscience.

The journey to the Yellow River bank was over fifty li (about 25 kilometers). Emperor Xingwu took the three children in one carriage. Peeking through the curtains at the commoners in the city streets, chatting about daily trivialities, the emperor held his daughter after the carriage had left the city for a while and posed a question to the eldest and third sons: "Regarding Second Son hitting Yuan Chongli, tell me, what mistakes did he make?"

Qin Hong grew nervous again. Though Qin Ren was also somewhat nervous, his elder brother was there to answer first, giving him time to think slowly.

The little princess, who had heard Tutor Du speak on etiquette among classmates and her father on brotherly bonds and the duty between ruler and subject, had little interest in the topic. She moved to the window to continue observing the outside.

Emperor Xingwu, while keeping an eye on his daughter, used this incident to teach his two sons, specifically explaining why he needed to treat the Marquis of Pingliang leniently.

Qin Hong understood: "The empire has only recently been pacified. The Marquis of Pingliang holds military authority. The court should focus on appeasement, trying to avoid armed conflict."

Emperor Xingwu nodded slightly.

Qin Ren sighed: "Everyone makes mistakes. I hope the Marquis of Pingliang can understand Father's painstaking efforts and not persist in his errors."

Emperor Xingwu frowned. The third prince’s words made sense, but something about them felt off.

.

The winter Yellow River had reduced water flow, exposing large stretches of mudflats on both sides, losing much of its majesty as a great river. After seeing it once, Qingyang no longer dwelled on it.

At the Marquis of Pingliang's residence in the capital, the Marquise, heartbroken and resentful, wrote a letter to her husband far away, detailing how their youngest son was beaten and the emperor’s response.

By the end of the month, Yuan Zhaoxiong, the Marquis of Pingliang who was in Wuwei, received the letter. After reading it, he took out a letter Emperor Xingwu had personally written to him a few days earlier, frowned deeply, and sent for his trusted steward.

Upon learning that the young master had been beaten, the steward speculated, "Could it be that the emperor deliberately arranged for the second prince to beat our young master as a threat to make you comply?"

Yuan Zhaoxiong shook his head. "The emperor is broad-minded and upright. He wouldn’t take his anger out on a child. His reprimand of the second prince made me deeply ashamed. I shouldn’t have been so shortsighted for temporary gain and betrayed the emperor’s trust."

The steward asked, "Then, does this mean you truly intend to hand over the land? Wouldn’t that be admitting to corruption?"

This was precisely Yuan Zhaoxiong’s dilemma. He wanted to return the land to make amends but didn’t want to bear the stigma of corruption.

After asking a few more questions and confirming the marquis was determined not to keep the land, the steward smiled and said, "It’s actually quite simple. Your Lordship can expose the local officials who came up with clever pretexts to gift you land. Tell the emperor you deliberately set a trap for yourself to test how many corrupt officials were still hidden in Liangzhou. This way, you return the land and preserve your reputation as a loyal minister."

Yuan Zhaoxiong replied, "...That sounds good, but wouldn’t officials dare to show me favors in the future?"

The steward said, "...If you don’t want to betray the emperor’s trust, this is the only way to resolve it. But don’t worry, Your Lordship. Corrupt officials are like weeds—you can’t get rid of them all—when one batch is gone, another will emerge. Next time, we’ll learn our lesson and avoid obvious things like land."

Yuan Zhaoxiong smiled and tasked the steward with compiling a list of corrupt officials.

In early December, Emperor Xingwu received Yuan Zhaoxiong’s explanation and a list of corrupt officials in Liangzhou.

At the court assembly, Emperor Xingwu cleared the Marquis of Pingliang’s name and rewarded the Yuan family with three thousand acres of fertile land and numerous jewels and silks.

When the news reached the imperial princes, Yuan Chongli finally felt he could hold his head high, walking with pride. Qin Bing also resumed being friendly with him.

In the afternoon, Qingyang sneaked into the imperial study again and asked, "Father, is the Marquis of Pingliang truly a loyal minister?"

Emperor Xingwu replied, "It’s a tactical move. I don’t want to push him into rebelling, and he fears my authority and the army. Coupled with our past camaraderie from fighting side by side, since I’ve caught him in a wrongdoing, he has no choice but to act the part of the loyal minister."

Qingyang asked, "Will he continue to be corrupt in the future?"

Emperor Xingwu said, "A leopard can’t change its spots. Most likely, yes."

Before the little princess could ask further, Emperor Xingwu answered first, "He engages in minor corruption, which I can tolerate. But if his greed severely impacts the livelihoods of the people, I will not condone it."

Brotherhood is one thing, but the bond between ruler and subject is another.