Once the carriage carrying the two royals had gone far, Zhang Jie walked at the rear of the group with his youngest son.
Zhang Su looked at his father’s unreadable face, feeling a little nervous.
“Father, was I wrong?”
Zhang Jie shook his head.
“You weren’t wrong. In fact, when it comes to observing proper conduct, you’ve done better than I did at your age. It’s my fault, I forgot that Princess Qingyang is still a child.”
“You need to take the initiative in avoiding impropriety, but if the princess wants you to hold hands or do other small things for her, just go along with it. Once she gets older and understands the difference between men and women, she’ll stop being so close.”
Zhang Su nodded.
Zhang Jie, noticing how overly cautious his son was, added, “Etiquette must be observed, but you also need to be flexible. The princess holds the higher status, so long as her requests don’t seriously violate decorum or morality, you should try your best to fulfill them. Otherwise, you’ll suffer for nothing.”
Zhang Su: “…Yes, Father.”
As soon as she returned to the palace, Qingyang forgot all about what had happened at the Duke’s residence.
She followed Third Brother back to Consort Li’s Xianfu Palace, then later in the evening joined him again to dine at Qianyuan Hall.
Emperor Xingwu had summoned all five children and asked, “Did you all try on the cloth garments I had sent over?”
Crown Prince Qin Hong replied, “We did. The sizes fit perfectly.”
Second Prince Qin Bing asked, “Father, why do we have to wear cloth garments? There are wealthy families in the capital who can afford silk and satin too.”
Emperor Xingwu said, “I was born in cloth. I wore cloth garments for nearly thirty years without complaint, and you can’t handle just one time? If you can’t, stay in the palace and don’t go anywhere.”
Qin Bing: “……”
Qingyang had wanted to complain that the cloth outfit was ugly, but seeing her second brother get scolded, she wisely kept her mouth shut.
After all, going outside the palace was more important than a set of clothes.
Emperor Xingwu continued to remind them, “Once you’re outside the palace, you can only call me ‘Dad,’ or we’ll be exposed. We’ll start practicing now, during this meal. Every time someone slips and calls me ‘Father Emperor,’ they lose a point. Lose three, and you’re staying in the palace tomorrow. Come on, each of you try calling me Dad.”
Qin Bing shouted a hearty “Dad!” Qingyang went second, her voice sweet and childlike, so much so that Emperor Xingwu scooped her into his arms and ruffled her hair as he looked at the other three.
Yongkang, Qin Hong, and Qin Ren all called him “Dad” in proper, composed voices.
After a simple practice, the next morning at the second quarter of the hour of Chen, the children gathered at Qianyuan Hall to have breakfast with Emperor Xingwu.
Once they finished eating, the six of them, all dressed in plain cloth, set out immediately.
It had been over three full years since the founding of Great Qi, and the capital, being beneath the emperor’s feet, was the first place to regain its former prosperity.
Emperor Xingwu brought his children to Nanshi, the most prominent of the four great markets.
It was near the hour of Si, and the morning food stalls had not yet packed up.
Restaurants, taverns, and teahouses were already opening for business.
The shouts of vendors mixed with the laughter and chatter of pedestrians, filling the marketplace with a lively atmosphere absent from the palace.
Qingyang rested against her father’s shoulder, easily able to look around in all directions.
Qin Bing dashed about, while Yongkang and Qin Hong each held onto eight-year-old Qin Ren behind them.
With three pairs of eyes looking every which way, they’d occasionally scatter a bit, but with hidden guards nearby, Emperor Xingwu had no real worries.
They bought some little trinkets here and there.
Then, at the emperor’s suggestion, they headed to the jewelry shop.
Qingyang was too young, and only looked around for fun, but Yongkang, now seventeen and at an age to appreciate beauty, was much more thoughtful in her selection.
After she had looked through the entire first floor, Emperor Xingwu smiled and said, “The items down here are just common goods. Let’s go see the second floor.”
Yongkang happily took her father’s free left arm, a little shy as she said, “Thank you, Dad.”
So Emperor Xingwu carried his youngest daughter in one arm and let his eldest daughter cling to the other, smiling as he went upstairs to the private viewing room.
Qin Hong and the others weren’t interested in jewelry and simply tagged along.
Two ke later, Emperor Xingwu had chosen an entire set of jewelry for his eldest daughter, while the younger one had only picked a single gold bracelet inlaid with gemstones.
The shopkeeper, visibly thrilled, quoted the price: “Two thousand six hundred and eighty taels.”
Yongkang’s palms were sweating with nerves.
As a princess, her monthly allowance was only fifty taels, yet today her father was suddenly willing to spend so much on her all at once?
Qingyang had some understanding of silver now, because her mother’s monthly allowance was eighty taels, and every time it was payday, her mother would be especially happy.
She leaned close to her father’s ear and asked in a whisper, “Dad, two thousand six hundred and eighty taels, how many months of allowance would that give Mother Consort?”
Emperor Xingwu replied, “…Over thirty months, I suppose. Why?”
Yongkang, overhearing her sister’s question, quietly clenched her fingers.
Qingyang’s eyes widened as she realized how expensive the jewelry was.
She leaned in again and whispered, “Mother said the whole realm belongs to you. So these jewels are yours too. Why do you have to spend money on them?”
Yongkang: “……”
Emperor Xingwu burst into laughter. Glancing at the bewildered shopkeeper, he cradled his youngest daughter and gestured for the other four children to follow him to a windowed corner.
There, he spoke in a low voice, “It’s true the realm is mine, but the people of this realm, the merchants, officials, and commoners, are all my subjects. I have the power to command them to do things as I see fit, and I have the right to punish them when they break the law. But I also have the duty to make sure they are fed, clothed, and able to live a prosperous, stable life.”
The four older children all nodded.
Emperor Xingwu rotated the gold bracelet already on his youngest daughter’s wrist and pointed at the engraving on it.
“This is gold. In the beginning, it wasn’t this pure or pretty. First, miners had to dig raw ore from deep inside the mountains. Then craftsmen had to extract and purify the gold from the ore. Once it became pure gold, other craftsmen had to forge it into beautiful, intricate jewelry.”
“Then shopkeepers had to open stores, hire assistants, and handle the business. Every step of the way takes a huge amount of labor and resources. If I didn’t pay them, they’d stop mining, stop refining gold, stop making jewelry. Same goes for the farmers who grow crops and the embroiderers who make clothes, if they all stopped working, what would we eat, wear, or use?”
Qingyang nodded along with her brothers and sister.
Emperor Xingwu continued, “Even when you have silver, you can’t spend it recklessly. I give you each fifty taels a month because you live in the palace and don’t have many expenses, fifty is enough. Once you get married, I’ll give you more.”
“Today, I spent over two thousand taels all at once for your eldest sister’s jewelry, because she’s the one I’ve spent the least time with. Since I can’t make it up to her with time, I can only spend more silver to make her happy. But I won’t always spoil you like this. Understand?”
All five children nodded again, except Yongkang, whose eyes had gone red.
After explaining all that, Emperor Xingwu led the children back to the counter.
He took out an envelope from his robe, pulled out two one-thousand-tael silver notes and six one-hundred-tael notes, and said to the shopkeeper, “I didn’t haggle with you, so the eighty-tael change…”
The shopkeeper quickly said it wasn’t necessary, he’d already made more than enough on this sale.
The box containing the jewelry was handed off to a waiting guard, and the family moved on to a nearby bookstore.
Qingyang wriggled down from her father’s arms and went off on her own to look at books she could reach.
A shop assistant nervously warned, “Little one, don’t mess things up. If you damage a book, you’ll have to pay for it. Adults, keep an eye on your child.”
Qin Bing looked gleefully toward their father. Emperor Xingwu, who had just opened a storybook: “……”
Qin Ren promptly stepped to his sister’s side. Seeing this, Qin Hong and Yongkang each went off to look for books they were interested in, after all, it was rare to leave the palace, and no one wanted to waste the opportunity.
The bookstore wasn’t crowded, and it was quiet.
Noticing how seriously the children were browsing, Emperor Xingwu personally took his youngest daughter’s hand to wander around, telling his third son to go pick out some books as well.
Just then, a plainly dressed scholar entered the shop, a middle-aged man with a desolate look.
With time to spare, Emperor Xingwu naturally turned his attention to this newcomer.
The scholar pulled a stack of manuscripts from his satchel and handed them to the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper frowned after reading just the first page.
“Scholar Wang, this is still way too obvious. The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is named Liu Wenzhi, and you’ve changed it to Liu Wenzhi. The story’s clearly about the Liu family’s son.”
“If I publish this and word gets back to the Liu family, what do you think will happen to me? Out, out, just go. Don’t bring me trouble.”
Scholar Wang’s eyes were red as he pleaded, “If you understand how hard this is for me, then please help me. The Liu family is threatening my parents’ lives. I don’t dare report it to the authorities, I can only record their crimes in writing…”
The shopkeeper sighed.
“You have aging parents, I don’t? Please, don’t impose what you wouldn’t want done to yourself. I’m begging you!”
With that, he began pushing the scholar toward the door.
The scholar’s helpless gaze drifted inside the shop to the plainly dressed man holding his daughter’s hand.
Seeing that the man turned slightly away, clearly unwilling to get involved, the scholar gave a bitter smile and left in despair.
Only then did Emperor Xingwu glance at one of the guards posted inside the bookstore and give him a discreet signal.