Jianglü wailed for a while, until Zhao Ji, suppressing her laughter, sent someone to mediate.
Before long, Zhao Furen brought the still-sniffling boy back to apologize to Ying Yang.
Ying Yang had seen herself in a mirror. She looked like an ordinary little girl. Jianglü had probably said what he did because he was a brat with an excessive fixation on looks.
Besides, he was only three and a half in actual years. What was the point of holding a grudge against him?
“Later I’ll have a few jars of tooth powder sent to all my A-Jie and A-Xiong.” Taking the opportunity, Ying Yang stroked Jianglü’s round cheek. “Bamboo-salt tooth powder tastes a little sweet and a little salty. It isn’t bitter. There’s also bamboo-salt toothpaste made with cooked honey, but you mustn’t swallow it!”
“R-really? Th-thank you, little sister! Waaaah, I’ll never call you ugly again! Ah! Eldest Brother, why are you stepping on my foot?”
“Just be quiet, Jianglü!”
“What’s bamboo salt?”
“Wu Niang, I don’t want honey powder! I want the bitter powder! The bitter powder is delicious!”
The little children crowded around Ying Yang, chattering all at once. Even Fusu blushed and quietly confessed that he liked mint. Might he have some tooth powder with mint in it?
Zhao Ji and the consorts watched this heartwarming scene with smiles.
“In a little while, you and the younger children may ride in one carriage,” Zhao Ji told Mi Furen, turning her head. “A-Ran and Changjun will ride with me.”
“It has been so long since I returned to Xianyang. I’ve missed you all terribly.”
The small commotion had cost them little time. The company boarded their carriages and proceeded to Bushou Palace to visit Huayang Taihou.
Huayang Taihou was suffering from a slight indisposition. She received the younger generations’ greetings from behind a curtain. Upon accepting Ying Yang’s gift, she said softly, “Wu Gongzhu is filial,” and added that complete recovery from an illness was a fortunate thing. She bestowed a hundred bolts of silk, managed a few words of polite conversation, and dismissed them.
After leaving Bushou Palace, the carriages traveled for some distance before Ying Yang could no longer contain her curiosity.
“Aren’t we going to Bugao Palace to pay our respects to Xia Taihou? Why are we going back the way we came?”
Fusu replied, “Bugao Palace stands beside Ganquan Palace. That’s why we must turn back.”
“Oh, oh.” Ying Yang nodded, half understanding. A question rose to her lips, only to be suppressed by an obscure instinct.
Something about this isn’t right…
Looking out through the raised window of the carriage, she smacked her lips thoughtfully.
In truth, Huayang Taihou had originally been the only Taihou Ying Yang knew anything about. She was a famous example of the historical saying that a son might gain status through his mother!
If Ying Yang’s mother in this life had not belonged to the Xia family, and if she had not grown up hearing her mother talk about Xia Taihou’s formidable governance and the power and glory the Xia clan owed to her, she would never have realized how formidable this woman—barely visible in the historical records—had been.
Huayang Taihou’s younger brother, for instance, had been enfeoffed early as Yangquan Jun. But Xia Taihou’s brothers were hardly inferior. Two of them had been made Jun!
Ying Yang’s maternal great-grandfather was Shaoyang Jun of the Xia clan, while Xia Furen’s grandfather was Changyang Jun.
When Changyang Jun died, Xia Taihou ordered that his eldest legitimate son inherit his title. Court and country raised no objection, and the decree passed without disturbance.
In the year Ying Yang was born, Xia Taihou had also arranged military merit for Chengjiao, the son born to her niece and the former king, and the present king’s second younger brother. The plan had succeeded splendidly: he received the title Chang’an Jun.
And where was Chang’an?
A county town separated from Xianyang by a single river. It stood squarely in the heart of the royal domain, practically beside the king’s own bed.
Such a strategically vital place had actually been given to the king’s younger brother as his fief! Even the Zhou royal house had not been so generous!
Hey, hey, hey! Were they trying to recreate the stories of the old Wu Gong and De Gong?
Who knew? Perhaps Chang’an Jun would become another Mu Gong and make Great Qin great again! Better for the meat to stay in the family pot than for the powerful minister Lü Buwei to usurp authority and throw the government into chaos, right?
The years when Ying Yang had been unable to speak had contained quite a few hidden “Easter eggs.”
The powerful might not regard servants as people, but servants were people all the same. They had eyes, ears, and mouths.
Where their masters could neither see nor hear them, those who bowed their heads and pretended to be invisible would gather and talk. Sometimes they discussed matters concerning attendants, servants, and slaves; sometimes they discussed their betters.
The maids and eunuchs would speculate about whether Xia Taihou intended to follow in the footsteps of Xuan Taihou. Then they would lament Huayang Taihou’s plight. Had it not been for her, how could the late King Zhuangxiang ever have caught the eye of the late King Xiaowen and been chosen as his designated heir?
Who could have imagined that a day would come when Huayang Taihou’s nephew could not even inherit his father’s title of Yangquan Jun? Ah, how tragic!
And to think that Huayang Taihou had moved into Bushou Palace with the late King Xiaowen only three days before losing her husband! How tragic!
True, the daughters of the late Yangquan Jun had married two sons born to the late King Xiaowen’s sister and King Kaolie of Chu. Yet the men of Huayang Taihou’s paternal family no longer held the titles of Jun or Hou! How tragic!
From all this, it sounded as though Huayang Taihou had been pushed to the margins and reduced to a pitiable condition.
Ying Yang was only half convinced.
In her experience, creatures known as Taihou ranged from venerable, auspicious figureheads at their weakest to formidable women capable of deposing and killing emperors at their strongest. Even the moderately powerful ones could set the throne itself trembling.
Once Ying Yang learned that her own reputation was poor, the thought of meeting and dealing with three Taihou—each openly or secretly formidable—made her nervous.
What if I say or do something wrong and they drag me away to “die suddenly”?!
She had yet to understand that elderly women were seldom particularly familiar with, or interested in, granddaughters and great-granddaughters who were neither eldest nor born of the principal wife.
Unaware that she was worrying over nothing, Ying Yang continued her earnest deductions.
We’re turning back and traveling extra distance just to greet Huayang Taihou first. Her status must still be very high!
And it seems to be a position of some enduring, unshakable kind?
Anyway, she’s a boss. Must show respect!
I hope Huayang Taihou doesn’t dislike an insignificant little nobody like me because of the celestial omen at my birth. People from Chu seem pretty superstitious.
And I hope my formidable great-grandmother by blood doesn’t hate me either!
Her formidable great-grandmother did not even meet her.
By the time they reached Bugao Palace, its attendants wore anxious expressions and hurried about with quick steps.
They waited a while. Then a bearded man wearing an official cap came striding toward them, his face grave.
After saluting Mu Taihou and the consorts, he announced solemnly, “Xia Taihou has been suddenly stricken by a grave illness and cannot receive visitors.”
Ying Yang’s fingers twitched. She restrained the urge to open the System interface and check whether her popularity points or reputation had changed.
“Has Junggu’s head ailment returned?” Zhao Ji asked with evident concern. “Xia Zhanshi, have the physicians been summoned?”
Every Qin Taihou’s establishment necessarily included two high officials of qing rank: a Zhanshi and a Jiangxing.
The Zhanshi performed duties comparable to those of the Shaofu, administering the Taihou’s finances and household affairs. The Jiangxing, whose office would later receive the more elegant name Dachangqiu, oversaw personnel and edicts within her palace.
Now that Xia Taihou was seriously ill, the Jiangxing could not leave his post without unsettling the household. Thus Xia Zhanshi had come out to make the announcement.
Xia Zhanshi replied with utmost respect, “The Taiyi Ling, his deputy, and the physicians specializing in illness have already been urgently summoned.”
Zhao Ji nodded, asked about the illness, and expressed her concern and anxiety for Junggu. With a sigh, she declared her desire to attend upon the patient.
The consorts likewise spoke of their aching hearts and their wish to nurse the sick Taihou.
Naturally, Xia Zhanshi was not about to accept on Xia Taihou’s behalf!
Instead, speaking for Xia Taihou, he professed himself deeply moved. Sighing sorrowfully, he said how wonderful it would be if the gods granted their protection, the shamans performed their rites, the medicinal decoctions took effect, and Xia Taihou recovered.
But if Xia Taihou could not appear, while Huayang Taihou was also unwell, Mu Taihou would have to undertake the arduous responsibility of presiding over the Summer Solstice sacrifices and banquets.
Naturally, Mu Taihou could not simply agree.
“Alas! With Junggu ill, my heart is full of worry. How could I possibly have the heart to officiate at the sacrifices, much less attend a banquet?”
Turning her head slightly, she added, “Cancel today’s welcoming banquet.”
Xia Zhanshi repeatedly praised Mu Taihou’s filial devotion. With such a Guomu, he declared, Xia Taihou could rest easy even in her illness!
Ying Yang pricked up her ears and diligently studied their techniques of verbal maneuvering.
Events proved that she had been very clever to do so.
Once Mu Taihou finished her round of polite sparring, Xia Furen took her turn. When Xia Furen finished, Mi Furen began…
Every woman and child present had to take the “stage” and perform. They went through the entire company, one after another.
Ying Yang’s eyes grew vacant.
The smallest children had it comparatively easy. They could sleep soundly in their wet nurses’ arms or whimper and fuss. But the older ones…
Mengyuan, the eldest Gongzhu, clutched her mother’s hand and secretly closed her eyes to doze.
Shuhua, the third Gongzhu, lowered her head and counted ants.
Fusu maintained his dignity while staring blankly at Ying Yang, who stared blankly back.
Jianglü made no pretense of refinement and began gnawing on his hand.
For the children, these three quarters of an hour were an ordeal. For the adults, however, every moment was occupied with listening closely to words, studying expressions, and gathering intelligence.
No matter how exalted a person might be, no matter how much power they held, human life was like a candle flame. It seemed to burn brightly, yet an unexpected gust of wind could extinguish it without warning.
Xia Taihou was not merely indisposed. She was not merely ailing. She was ill.
A slight discomfort was an *indisposition*; a condition with distinct symptoms was an ailment. To say someone was ill, in this context, was a polite way of saying, There is no saving her. Prepare for the end.
Once a physician pronounced someone gravely ill, an ordinary family could begin preparing the funeral arrangements.
But this was no ordinary family.
If the most powerful Taihou involved in governing the state was ill, how many of those dependent upon her would be thrown into panic?
Even loyal ministers who supported the present king would find little comfort in the news. In another two years, Xia Taihou was supposed to return the reins of government to the king. Everyone was accustomed to dealing with the Xia clan! They had quietly made all their preparations!
What if Xia Taihou died before then?
Which Taihou would next preside over affairs of state? Would the two remaining Taihou and the factions behind them quarrel? Would their struggle become fierce? What sort of talent and temperament would the victor possess? And when the two years had passed, would that victor willingly surrender power?
The consorts, meanwhile, were concerned with what Xia Taihou’s illness would mean for their husband.
Would Dawang personally attend upon the patient, or select consorts to do so? Should one strive to be chosen and earn some of Dawang’s favor? If Xia Taihou died, would Dawang cast aside the Xia women? Might another consort have an opportunity to become a Furen? Could one’s sisters, relations by marriage, or loyal followers at least obtain the rank of Bazi?
And they would have to find a way to warn their fathers and brothers outside the palace. This was no time to offend Dawang!
Everyone was busy, except the children.
But the child Ying Yang had business of her own.
[Current task: Complete one journey (1/1); prepare one culinary creation (1/1); obtain ten genuine favorable reviews (4/10).]
Three more favorable reviews!
The task had made enormous progress. Ying Yang was pleasantly surprised. Surely one of those reviews had come from Third Sister.
Who would have thought? Eldest Sister and Eldest Brother complained that the tooth powder was bitter, but apparently they actually liked the bitterness!
I’ll send them some of the bitter medicinal powder as a gift next time.
Fusu and Mengyuan suddenly sneezed.
The adults instantly came back to themselves.
Xia Zhanshi promptly declared that the assembled nobles’ filial devotion was sincere, but they must also take care of their health. Otherwise, Xia Taihou would be unable to rest easy even in her illness, and the palace officials would have failed in their duty to offer proper counsel.
Only then did the gathering disperse.
Back in Huicao Hall, Ying Yang went down on all fours. She crawled across the low couch and over the rush mats, pondering as she went how she might obtain the remaining six favorable reviews.
Author’s Note
Some of the official titles in our Qin are rather plain and straightforward. The Han dynasty later gave them prettier names. _(:з」∠)_
Bugao Palace and Bushou Palace were real Qin palaces, though their precise locations remain uncertain. For this novel, I’ve placed them both in the area south of the Wei River. The Taihou all live in the southern palaces, and the famous Zhangtai is also to the south.
One of these palaces was once occupied by King Xiaowen, the other by King Zhuangxiang.
Xianyang Palace stands north of the Wei River, and Brother Zheng currently resides there most of the time.
Translator’s Notes
– Junggu (君姑): A kinship form of address for a husband’s mother or a senior female relative by marriage, retained in pinyin.
– Xuan Taihou: A powerful earlier Qin dowager, invoked here as a possible model for Xia Taihou’s political ambitions.
– Three quarters of an hour: A rendering of 三刻钟, approximately forty-five minutes in the time reckoning used by the narrative.