Chapter 172
Book 16 Chapter 01 - Empress Dowager Yanyan
Amongst the palaces Xiang Shaolong has seen, the scale of the Chu palace is second only to that of the Xianyang palace, but it is the most tightly guarded.
The palace city is surrounded by thirty foot high walls with an elaborate tower in each of the four corners. The walls are completely encircled by a fifty foot wide moat with clear waters that allow one to see the bottom. The most formidable are the wooden stakes that stick out of the middle of the moat, making it difficult for one to swim across. There are two city gates which can be raised or lowered for traffic.
Behind the high walls are layers upon layers of palace halls and rooms which are mostly either part of the outer Royal Court or the inner palace courtyard. The central enclosure is bounded by an inner wall with two bell drum-towers. An inner palace gate is set in the link-way between the outer Royal Court and the inner courtyard.
The overall layout is symmetrical about a central axis, with a main street connecting the North and South city gates and the inner palace gate. Eight large palace halls and close to sixty courtyard houses are laid out tidily around the central axis on both sides of the main street, with marble fishponds, foot bridges, running water and ancient trees reaching the sky, magnificent and handsome.
Xiang Shaolong and Li Yuan entered the palace through the North entrance. They traversed a large square and a bridge over a transverse brook before reaching the two main palace halls 'Political Discourse' and 'Rites and Ceremonies'. Both halls were built on white stone terraces with encircling paths and railings. The atmosphere was solemn and magnificent.
Of the six other smaller palace halls, four were part of the outer Royal Court and two were part of the inner palace courtyard. They were all named after characters from the Chu mythology. The outer Royal Court halls were named 'Fire G.o.d', 'River G.o.ddess', 'The G.o.d of Punishment' and 'Fate'.
The inner courtyard halls were named 'Fragrant Martyr' and 'Witch'.
As he was listening to Li Yuan's introductions, the hall which left the greatest impression on Xiang Shaolong was the 'Witch' Hall. Simply going by these names, it can be seen that amongst the nations, the Chu people were the most ingenious and romantic. One could forget about such audacious and innovative names for palace halls in the other states.
At the same time, his heart was charged with electricity.
Earlier, Li Yuan had raised the issue of killing Lord Chunshen, then side-tracked to another topic, apparently to give him time to digest this hard-to-swallow proposal. He thus recalled Li Yuan's worries.
Lord Chunshen has wielded power for a long time after all, with a thousand lackeys under his wing. He has a lot of prestige in Chu, is strong in every department, and has hard stems and deep roots.
If Li Yuan kills him personally, he could incite unrest. He therefore has to find a scape goat, that man being Xiang Shaolong.
Once he reached Shouchun, he had unyieldingly chased away the Li Chuangwen who had forcibly seized the Dian King's Mansion, appearing to be completely oblivious to the consequences. In Li Yuan's eyes, he looked like a heroic and straightforward person.
If he could prompt Xiang Shaolong to a.s.sa.s.sinate Lord Chunshen, he could push all accusations onto Wan Ruiguang. In this way, he could also neutralize the Zhuang family's attempt to reclaim their country and even take Madam Zhuang for himself, killing three birds with one stone. There was no stratagem that was more malicious than this.
Those who stood on the side of Chu all wished to use Li Ling's hand to flatten the va.s.sal state and bring it back under Chu's control*. It appears that Li Yuan, Lord Chunshen and Li Ling were like snakes and mice in the same nest, merely paying lip service to the beauty Madam Zhuang!
* We need to remember that the va.s.sal states had stopped abiding by Chu after King Xiaolie took over, and were subjects in name only.
The horse carriage entered the inner palace gate into the inner palace courtyard. This was where the Chu King handled daily government affairs and lived his daily life. The main buildings were the two palace halls 'Fragrant Martyr' and 'Witch', and six palaces** to the East and West. Each palace was composed of four courtyard houses. There were also three gardens, the 'Imperial Garden' on the main street and the East and West Gardens on the East and West streets. The scenery was harmonious and boundless.
** Ok so there is the whole complex which is called the 'Palace'. Within the Palace there are many 'palaces'. To simplify everything, we will call everything 'palace'. The context should be sufficient to distinguish the two.
Li Yuan was clearly learned, explaining the folklore behind the names of the palace halls one by one. His style of conversation was elegant and filled with an enchanting charisma. It is no wonder that even though her heart belonged to him, Xiang Shaolong, and even knowing that Li Yuan was not a good guy, Madam Zhuang was unable to restrain her emotions with him.
At this point, he was talking about the River G.o.ddess and the Witch, and with a laughing voice said: "Our two most beautiful G.o.ddesses. the River G.o.d and the Witch, do not inhabit Chu's borders, but are from Han's Luo River and Qin's Mount Wu respectively. Laughing with the lips and eyes, indistinct and abstract as spirits, inhabiting distant rivers and mountains, it is fascinating to think about."
(Ok so the Witch 巫女 is from Mount Wu 巫山. I can't really figure out whether it should be Lady Wu from Mount Wu or the Witch from Witch Mountain. Anyone?)
Xiang Shaolong said: "Regarding the matter about Lord Chunshen that Imperial Uncle mentioned…." Li Yuan patted his own brows amiably and said: "Lets discuss this again at a later date. I think Brother Wan should first spend more time to clearly recognize Lord Chunshen's true face and verify that I, Li Yuan, am not slandering a good person. Brother Wan can then make his decision. Brother Wan should nonetheless remember that this is a matter between us men. If the ladies knew about this, not only will they reveal it in their countenance, it will cause them to worry all day, doing more harm than good."
Xiang Shaolong silently praised this brilliant move, and naturally nodded his head in agreement.
Li Yuan is trying to deceive him, he is also trying to deceive Li Yuan, t.i.t-for-tat, both sides should not have any cause to grumble.
At this moment, the horse carriage was following the East road. The question was where was Tian Dan's location?
Li Yuan laughed and said: "I have an official residence outside the palace that is ten times the size. I prefer to stay within the palace nonetheless, and I spend the large proportion of my time here.
Xiang Shaolong mused: the real reason is that you want to be close by to control Li Yanyan.
As the guardian opened the carriage door, Xiang Shaolong collected his disparate thoughts and followed Li Yuan down.
Li Yuan and Xiang Shaolong sat down within the main hall as host and guest. A pretty servant maid proffered some fragrant tea.
As Xiang Shaolong's eyes took a sweep of the place, he realized that Li Yuan was a man of taste.
In the direction of the Royal Court and the central axis is a row of eighteen doors with louvre windows. The pond on the terrace was adorned with miniature pavilions and rock mountains, and was forded by a stone bridge. The courtyard was wider than five hundred paces, and planted with Camellias and Chinese Cinnamon. It was just before summer and the Camellias were in full bloom. With the smell of ca.s.sia and tangerines floating in the air, the red and white strived with each other, creating a colorful scene of Spring.
The furniture in the hall were all made of intricately carved fragrant pear wood, with the seats were covered with brocade. All kinds of decorative ancient porcelain and engraved screens could be found everywhere. Xiang Shaolong knew that his taste was not at this level.
If not for the fact that he had obtained Ji Yanran's affections first and that they had shared all kinds of extraordinary circ.u.mstances, he might really have lost to Li Yuan in that contest for Ji Yanran.
Because the North hall faced away from the Sun and was close to the pond, it was cool and refres.h.i.+ng, relieving the summer heat.
As Xiang Shaolong and Li Yuan sat calmly in the middle of the hall enjoying the fragrant tea, for a moment he felt it difficult to treat this apparently honorable, bright and talented man as an enemy.
To think that this chap was so formidable, feigning closeness as family and brothers to attack the heart of this forsaken and homeless man. Of course he couldn't 'disappoint' him.
As he was about to feign thankfulness, Li Yuan clapped his hands lightly and said in a crisp voice: "Brother Wan should take a bit of time to observe the situation, then think over my story. Ai! Li Yuan is not afraid of having