In Beijing, residences were divided according to banner affiliations: the two Yellow Banners were located in the northern sector, the two Red Banners in the western sector, and Qiyese’s Bordered Red Banner was situated in the northwest corner. Their clansmen also resided within this district, making it quite convenient for visiting relatives.
Qiyese was not particularly old, but his seniority was high; there were no elders within the clan who required him to personally pay New Year greetings to them, leaving only the clan leader, Pengchun, who was also his eldest paternal cousin, as the person he needed to visit.
For this cousin, Qiyese held a profound sense of respect. His cousin had inherited the peerage in his teens, subsequently participating in the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, the Albazin Campaign, and the Dzungar Wars with peerless valor, raising the third-class duke peerage passed down from their ancestors to a first-class duke. Regrettably, after years of military campaigns, his cousin had accumulated a lifetime of lingering aches and pains, forcing him to step down from the imperial court.
Wuyunzhu also felt a touch of inward emotion, never expecting her family to be so closely intertwined with the Struggle for the Nine Princes.
Back in the modern era, due to the immense popularity of Qing dynasty palace dramas featuring a “very busy Fourth Master,” Wuyunzhu had been forced to familiarize herself with the tale of the Struggle of the Nine Princes. In this succession storm, the Fourth Prince’s faction achieved a sweeping victory, the Eighth Prince’s faction suffered heavy casualties and losses, and the remaining princes were all placed under house arrest.
Among those placed under house arrest was the Third Prince, Yinzhi, who happened to be her eldest paternal cousin-in-law.
The greatest misfortune within good fortune was that it was merely the Third Prince, rather than the Yongzheng Emperor’s most deeply detested Eighth Prince and Ninth Prince. If the Dongge estate had become the wife’s family to those two princes, that truly would have… Wuyunzhu shivered just thinking about it.
The following day, they visited Lady Jioro’s maiden family.
Lady Jioro was a descendant of the lineage of Amin, one of the Four Great Beiles in the early Qing dynasty; however, Lady Jioro’s grandfather had been dissatisfied with Dorgon’s regency back then, resulting in his peerage being stripped and his execution, while his descendants were also stripped of their yellow sashes and reduced to ordinary idle Ajuo (imperial clansmen). Lady Jioro’s father had likewise passed away early, and she was a posthumous child when she was born, with her eldest brother being only seven years old at the time.
Due to the loss of peerage and the loss of a father, Lady Jioro’s maiden family had fared quite poorly over the years, finding themselves somewhat straitened financially.
Lady Jioro had intended to help her nephew by arranging a position for him to work in her own shop, only to discover during an audit that her nephew had embezzled one thousand taels of silver. In just half a year, he had embezzled a thousand taels—enough to buy two top-tier commercial properties!
Furious, Lady Jioro chased her nephew out and thereafter cut off contact with her maiden family for half a year, only visiting them anew as the festive season arrived.
On the third day, Qiyese and Lady Jioro waited at home for their married eldest daughter to return, but when noon arrived without a sign of her, they grew anxious and dispatched someone to make inquiries, only to receive the news that their daughter had fallen ill. Half-doubtful and half-worried, the couple promptly had the carriage harnessed and drove to the estate of Prince Sunu.
Arriving at the Prince’s estate, Sunu hurried out to offer apologies, but Qiyese refused to give him any face, his tiger-like eyes fixed intently upon his son-in-law, Lechen.
“For no good reason, how did Wulinzhu end up fainting?”
Lechen felt a prick of guilt under his father-in-law’s stare, stammering softly, “The physician said Wulinzhu is with child and fainted due to physical weakness.”
“Wulinzhu is with child?” Qiyese was slightly stunned—was the incense at Hongluo Temple really that efficacious?
He and his wife had only prayed a month ago, and their eldest daughter, who had been barren for three years, had now received good news of a pregnancy! He had also prayed for a good marriage for Wuyunzhu at the time, so he figured the Bodhisattva would grant that too. He needed to find time to go back to the temple to fulfill his vow; when would be a good time? No, right now was the time to discipline his son-in-law; the date for fulfilling vows could be chosen later.
Rejecting his son-in-law’s explanation, Qiyese chided, “Bollocks! Your mother-in-law has been pregnant five times and I’ve never seen her faint once. Speak, was it one of your sisters-in-law who let loose with a sour remark and upset Wulinzhu?”
As it turned out, his guess was spot on. Inside Wulinzhu’s bedchamber, Lady Jioro had uncovered the cause from the servants’ mouths.
Early that morning, the daughter and son-in-law were supposed to set out to return to the Commander’s Estate, but when departure time arrived, they discovered that the carriage prepared earlier and the gifts inside had vanished. Rushing to send people to look for them, the head steward reported that the items had been borrowed by the Second Young Mistress of the household.
This second young master was born of Prince Sunu’s primary principal consort, had always considered himself the heir-apparent, and was notoriously overbearing in the estate. Now he had actually seized the gifts his sister-in-law had prepared for her maiden family!
Thinking that this older brother would inherit the peerage in the future and wishing to avoid conflict with him, Lechen had urged Wulinzhu to be magnanimous while he went to prepare gifts anew.
Recalling past moments of forbearance, Wulinzhu felt an escalating sense of grievance and injustice. She ran to the second sister-in-law’s courtyard to demand the items back, and an argument ensued. Inadvertently, Wulinzhu was pushed down, blood stains appeared beneath her, and the resulting fright among the onlookers finally brought the farce to an abrupt halt.
Hearing the whole account, Lady Jioro flew into a towering rage. Disregarding the presence of Prince Sunu’s Consort, she slapped the Second Young Mistress right on the spot.
“If anything happens to my daughter, I will certainly not spare you!”
With that, she turned her look to Wulinzhu. “In my view, this Prince’s estate is no place to live. Come home with Mother!”
With tears swimming in her eyes, Wulinzhu nodded in agreement: “Daughter obeys Mother.”
Seeing that Lady Jioro was about to take her daughter away, Prince Sunu’s Consort panicked. Once word of this got out, the Prince’s estate would become the absolute laughingstock of Beijing, and how would she maintain her footing in the household? She urged, “Madam, why go this far? Besides, Wulinzhu’s body is weak and she is unfit to be moved; it’s better to let her stay in the estate to recuperate.”
Lady Jioro sneered, “Stay in this wolf den to recuperate? I fear my daughter would end up bullied to death by then, leaving not even a skeleton behind. If I recall correctly, you are Prince Sunu’s fourth consort, and heaven knows how the preceding consorts met their ends. You’d better pray for your own blessings.”
Upon hearing this, Prince Sunu’s Consort froze in place—could it be, could it be that the deaths of the previous consorts involved some dark, unsavory secrets?
Taking her daughter out of the inner courtyard, Lady Jioro had someone notify Qiyese before walking straight out of the Prince’s estate.
Upon hearing the story, Qiyese immediately subjected Lechen to a fierce thrashing. Once he vented his anger, he cast the man aside with utter disdain and snapped, “Useless trash, unable even to protect your own wife and child.”
Sunu dared not stop him, knowing they were in the wrong on this matter, but hearing that Qiyese and his wife were taking their daughter-in-law away, he offered a parting persuasion: “Brother Qi, Lechen and Wulinzhu were bestowed in marriage by the Emperor after all. If this blows up into an unmanageable spectacle, not only will both our estates lose face, but I fear the Emperor will inevitably let his thoughts wander, assuming you and I harbor some grievance or dissatisfaction toward him?”
“Sunu, stop trying to use the Emperor to pressure me. I dote on my own daughter, what wrong have I done?” Sunu sized him up. “It’s you who condoned your eldest daughter-in-law bullying your youngest daughter-in-law with lax household discipline; I’m going to impeach you before the Emperor.”
Without another glance at Sunu, he strode away.
Learning of the matter, Wuyunzhu and Shoushan rushed over to visit their eldest sister and offer thorough comfort. Seeing her fall asleep, the family finally stepped outside the room.
In the courtyard, Shoushan looked at Qiyese. “Father, the Prince’s estate has gone too far. I want to round up a few of my older brothers and go demand an explanation.”
Qiyese shook his head. “There’s no need for now; Father has already given Lechen a beating, and he won’t be able to get out of bed for three to five days. If you go storming back into the Prince’s estate right now, Sunu might think we are being overly aggressive. Just wait a few days and see what kind of proposal Sunu comes up with over there.”
Sunu had lost his father before turning one year old and lacked close brothers, making him exceptionally protective of family ties. Even with grandchildren born, he still hadn’t made his sons split into separate households. Of course, it was also possible that the sons couldn’t bear to leave; after all, Sunu’s peerage had risen to that of a Prince (Beile), and going out into society under the identity of a Prince’s son made socializing much easier. But with such a massive household living together, how could conflicts be avoided?
Qiyese had made up his mind this time to teach his son-in-law a lesson and demand that Sunu establish a proper framework.
“Understood, Father.”
Though hearing Qiyese’s words, the brother and sister still felt unsettled. Returning to the martial arts training ground, they picked up their respective weapons and sparred fiercely, clashing with murderous momentum.
Qiyese even came over to personally instruct his daughter, telling her that if she was ever bullied by her husband’s family after getting married in the future, she should beat them right back. If she broke anything, he would take the blame. He truly regretted pitying Wulinzhu in the past and failing to let her learn martial arts; if she possessed genuine skill, how could she have been bullied over and over again?
After resting and recovering at her maiden family for three or four days, Wulinzhu’s complexion improved, and everyone in the estate finally set aside their worries and began busying themselves with their own affairs.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, auspicious for opening businesses, “Yun’s Desserts” shop on Fuchengmen Street finally opened its doors.
With the promotional efforts of Wuyunzhu and her sisters-in-law, business on opening day was quite robust within the shop. The small pastries previously sent out as New Year gifts sold very well, but the cakes that had universally stunned everyone remained completely unsold.
Watching from the upper floor for a while, Wuyunzhu spotted a problem. The cakes were made with exquisite craftsmanship, attracting many people to admire them. Their gazes were filled with genuine awe and curiosity, but upon seeing the price tag beside them, they would all shake their heads and walk away.
Perhaps the price was set too high?
Lowering prices? That was out of the question. Making a cake consumed an immense amount of labor, with a maximum yield of four per day. Furthermore, the cake display area used glass. That glass was a Western novelty; a tiny piece cost a hundred taels of silver. The few pieces of glass in the shop, totaling less than a square meter, had cost nearly a thousand taels.
Actually, seeing how profitable Western glass was, Wuyunzhu had once thought about opening a glass-making workshop, but considering the massive upfront investment, she had to temporarily shelve the idea.
Pondering for a moment, she summoned the shopkeeper and gave him a few instructions.
Listening to her directions, the shopkeeper returned inside the shop and struck the gong behind him, causing everyone present to turn their heads toward him.
He announced: “Our modest shop is opening today, and thanks to the patronage of all esteemed guests, we have prepared a small token gift. Every customer making a purchase will receive a complimentary portion of cake upon settling their bill~”
“Cake? Such expensive pastries, and they’re actually willing to give them away for free?”
“Aren’t they just trying to trick us?”
“Whether it’s true or not, won’t we know after trying?”
The crowd waited for someone to give it a try, watching him settle his bill, seeing him pick up a pastry gift box, and then receiving a square piece of cake from the clerk’s hands.
“Oh, so the complimentary portion is this small?”
“Be content with what you get—it’s free, did you expect a whole one?”
“I wonder how that cake tastes?”
Without the barrier of glass, everyone could see the pristine white delicacy of the cake even more clearly, while the sweet aroma permeated every nook and cranny.
The purple-robed customer who had secured the giveaway didn’t hold back either, popping it straight into his mouth on the spot.
“How does it taste?”
The purple-robed man replied: “Exquisitely delicious, truly a peerless delicacy.”
The onlookers felt this description sounded somewhat exaggerated.
“This fellow is probably planted by the proprietor, specifically here to brag and deceive us.”
The shopkeeper’s beard twitched—they had planted people, but those actors hadn’t even gone on stage yet.
Someone else chimed in: “That man is probably poor at home and has never eaten any fine food, which is why he says that.”
Hearing the remarks nearby, the purple-robed man rolled his eyes. These people simply lacked an eye for quality! After finishing his complimentary portion, he instructed the shopkeeper to pack up the remaining three cakes—he wanted the entire lot!
Gasps!
The crowd stared in astonishment. Such an expensive cake, and he was buying them all out in one go. What an opulent and aggressive stroke of spending!
It seemed that the cake truly must be extraordinarily delicious.
Among the crowd, quite a few people felt a wave of regret. They didn’t lack that little bit of money, so why had they been a step too slow?
While they were still lamenting, several other customers who had received complimentary portions upon checkout were already placing advance orders with the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper grinned from ear to ear, recording the accounts with one hand while explaining the shop’s purchase limit policy with the other…
Hearing this explanation, the customers who managed to buy a cake felt immensely smug, while those who missed out were deeply frustrated, and an even greater number of people felt a rising surge of curiosity. For several days running, the shop was thronged with guests, and business blazed with prosperity.
Wuyunzhu went to keep an eye on things for a few days, and seeing that the shop was running smoothly, she stopped going every single day. The bride selection was about to begin, and she needed to stay home to study palace etiquette.
After the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the holiday ended, and all government offices and ministries reopened for official business.
Qiyese also grew busy. He had to serve as an examiner for the replacement selection examinations of banner men, and personally review and verify the documentation and subsidy applications of the banner maidens. Keeping this busy caused the weight he had gained over the festive season to melt right back off.
By early February, the replacement selection examinations for the Bordered Red Banner concluded. Shoushan achieved top grades across all three examination categories—horsemanship, foot archery, and Manchu-Han translation—and filled a vacancy in the Vanguard Division. The Vanguard Division was the absolute best posting available, falling under the direct jurisdiction of the Emperor. It enjoyed the finest treatment, offered the fastest promotions, and was extremely difficult to secure, with only two slots per banner each year. Consequently, the household celebrated Shoushan’s achievement with a small festivity.
Inside the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing Palace), Kangxi flipped through the Vanguard Division rosters submitted by the various banners this year. Catching sight of “Shoushan” from the Bordered Red Banner, he felt a flicker of familiarity and looked toward Liang Jiugong.
Liang Jiugong reminded him, “Before the New Year when the Ninth Prince went out of the city, it was thanks to this young Master Shoushan’s assistance.”
Kangxi immediately remembered. Saving the Ninth Prince was a major feat and warranted a reward, but since the boy was young and lacked an official post, he had temporarily banked the merit.
Noticing that Shoushan had scored top grades across all three exams, Kangxi felt quite satisfied and circled the name with his vermilion brush: “Promote Shoushan to a Third-Class Imperial Bodyguard and bestow upon him a yellow riding jacket.”
When the news was relayed back to the Commander’s Estate, everyone in the household was left feeling dizzy from this pie falling out of the sky.
How did he suddenly become a Third-Class Bodyguard? That was a genuine Fifth-Rank official post, and Shoushan was only sixteen years old!
Aside from the eldest brother Zhuliang, who was a Fourth-Rank official, Shoushan’s other older brothers were still minor sixth- or seventh-rank officials. Filled with envy, the brothers dragged Shoushan off and gave him a mock thrashing.
That evening within the Commander’s Estate, another banquet was set to celebrate.
In mid-February, spring returned to the earth, river ice thawed, and maidens from various regions journeyed northward by boat to enter the capital and participate in the bride selection.
Yintang, who had spent two months laid up in bed recovering, finally received clearance from the imperial physicians to return to the Upper Study for classes.
Seeing that her son could move naturally, Consort Yi figured some matters could no longer be delayed. As soon as classes ended that day, she dispatched a senior eunuch to invite Yintang over.
Author’s notes:
Participating in the bride selection came with subsidies meant to offset travel expenses and attire/makeup costs. However, it was quite minimal—around a few taels of silver (by comparison, the monthly wage of a skilled female worker in the Suzhou Imperial Manufactory during the Kangxi era was about one tael and four mace).