Winter was arriving, colder with each day. Qingyang, who had plenty of time to sleep in, once again drew envy and teasing from Second Brother Qin Bing: “You only know how to compare studies with us. If you’re so capable, get up at dawn tomorrow too?”
Qin Hong scolded him: “You could sleep in when you were three. You’re grown now. What’s there to compete about with the young miss?”
Qin Ren said, “Exactly, little sister. Don’t listen to him.”
Qingyang thought big brother and third brother were right and was about to nod when second brother spoke again: “The little lazy worm can’t get up at all, can he?”
Qingyang was angry: “You’re the little lazy worm!”
To avoid second brother’s teasing, Qingyang specially instructed Jie Yu before bed to make sure she woke her up at dawn.
Jie Yu smiled and asked, “Getting up early is fine, but Tutor Guo only arrives at the lecture hall at dawn. Why does Your Highness need to go so early?”
Qingyang: “I also have morning reading. I’m reciting the Thousand Character Classic.”
Jie Yu: “Alright then, go to bed early. No stories tonight, or you won’t get up in the morning.”
The Little Princess obediently closed her eyes.
Jie Yu calculated that the princess’s sleep of five “shichen” (traditional time units) was enough.
At dawn, still pitch black in the dead of winter, Jie Yu and the wet nurse came as promised to help Qingyang get up.
Upon hearing Jie Yu mention Second Brother, Qingyang immediately perked up, finished washing, and instead of looking for Third Brother or Zhang Su, led the way to Second Brother’s residence at Jinghe Palace.
The Little Princess even went to the front court; the palace servants dared not stop her.
She dashed straight into Second Brother’s room and found him still wrapped in blankets, refusing to get up. Qingyang leaned against the bed, laughing nonstop, “Big lazy worm! Big lazy worm!”
Qin Bing ignored palace servants telling him to be quiet and shouting at his sister; annoyed by her continuous laughter, he had no choice but to throw off the covers and get up, asking his sister to help put on his socks.
Able to distinguish between fragrant and stinky, Qingyang turned and ran off, laughing all the way back to Chanyuan Palace to eat breakfast with sleepy Third Brother and the sharp-eyed Zhang Su.
After eating, Qin Ren coaxed his sister: “Second Brother already knows you’re not a little lazy worm. You should go back and rest a bit. The morning lecture hall doesn’t burn the ‘earth dragon’ [heating device]; it’s too cold.”
The Emperor was ruthless, fearing they would oversleep.
The room for early reading was icy cold; Qin Ren had to tuck his sleeves in and stomp his feet while reciting.
The spirited Little Princess said, “No, I want to go.”
Qin Ren had no choice but to take his sister along.
Qin Hong waited on the palace path outside Chongwen Hall for his brothers. Seeing a little tail following Third Brother, he smiled.
The cold dawn wind roared along the narrow palace path, stiffening everyone’s faces.
Qingyang wanted Third Brother to carry her, but eight-year-old Qin Ren was powerless to help and again urged his siblings to return.
Qin Bing loudly teased, “If you can’t endure this little hardship, how will you get up early every day?”
Qin Hong hushed him: “Lower your voice. Father is holding court now. Do you want the Emperor to hear?”
Nearby was the eastern wall of Qianyuan Hall.
The front hall for court meetings was only about two hundred steps away. In such quietness, even a whisper was clear.
Qin Bing immediately zipped his lips.
Qingyang indeed wasn’t interested in hopping around the cold room for morning reading.
Now hearing that Father was holding court, she immediately let go of Third Brother and ran to have Jie Yu carry her, hiding her whole head in the hood of her cloak, saying to her brothers, “I’m going back. You all go on.”
Qin Bing quietly shouted, “Little lazy worm!”
Qingyang ignored him.
After her brothers left, her figure blurred under the flickering dim light.
Qingyang nimbly wriggled free from Jie Yu’s arms, not minding the cold, and ran back against the wind to a side gate leading to Qianyuan Hall she had just passed.
The two guards at the gate instinctively moved to block the Little Princess.
Qingyang lifted half of her cloak, revealing the Kirin Waist Token fastened at her waist.
“Father gave this to me. Have you forgotten?”
The guards dared not stop her but still advised, “Your Highness, the Emperor and ministers are in…”
Qingyang: “I’m not here to cause trouble.”
Even Jie Yu couldn’t persuade her.
Qingyang went straight through the gate.
The open space in front of Qianyuan Hall was pitch black, lit only by a row of palace lanterns before the hall.
The massive doors were wide open, spilling bright light.
Qingyang ran confidently toward the hall, all the way to the tall white marble steps.
Jie Yu held a lantern, kneeling to block the Little Princess’s path, panting as he said, “Your Highness, if you enter, the Emperor will be displeased. After that, I might not be able to serve you anymore.”
Qingyang couldn’t bear to hear that and comforted him, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t go in.”
Jie Yu: “Really?”
Qingyang held out a little finger.
After making a pinky promise, Jie Yu let the Little Princess go ahead.
Yet he didn’t dare to sneak behind the hall to eavesdrop on state affairs, anxiously waiting below, eyes fixed on the small figure high above.
A row of armed Royal Guards stood before the hall, all under the Imperial Guards Office’s command.
Because the Little Princess often visited the Imperial Guards Office, almost every one of the thirty guards recognized her.
They couldn’t make noise.
A few guards nearby made faces and quietly urged Qingyang to leave, but in the end, they could only watch her with reluctant eyes as she stepped past them and approached the open front door of the hall.
Inside the hall, all the ministers faced north, except Emperor Xingwu, who sat on the Longyi facing south.
At this moment, the Ministry of Revenue was reporting on the distribution of land in the northern regions of Great Qi to poor peasants.
Since Emperor Xingwu ascended the throne, he had decreed officials to remeasure and summarize abandoned, ownerless lands in northern provinces, as well as lands seized from the previous dynasty’s nobles and corrupt officials.
After totaling, some of this land would be set aside as official or military land; the rest would be divided among poor tenant farmers.
More than three years had passed, and land division across northern counties had gradually been completed.
But the submitted land registers were not always completely clean.
The Minister of Revenue had just finished reporting when the Censorate immediately accused more than a dozen officials of hiding land and embezzling it.
The foremost among them was Yuan Zhaoxiong, Marquis of Pingliang, whom Emperor Xingwu had dispatched to guard the northwest.
The Censorate accused him of accepting bribes from local officials, illegally possessing at least thirty qing (about 300,000 mu) of land.
Prince Yong frowned and asked, “Is there evidence? Could some be deliberately slandering a meritorious official?”
Imperial Censor-in-Chief Nie Bie, personally promoted by Emperor Xingwu and a loyal official of the previous dynasty who was once executed by a tyrant for honest advice, showed no change in expression.
He took a scroll from his sleeve and raised it toward the throne: “I have here a secret letter detailing the Pingliang Marquis’s land holdings and distribution. Whether it is slander or truth, the Emperor’s men can verify with a single investigation.”
Emperor Xingwu gave a subtle signal to He Yuanjing.
He Yuanjing descended the steps, took the letter from Nie Bie, and respectfully presented it to the Emperor.
After quickly reading the letter, Emperor Xingwu was about to speak when he looked up and saw a small head peeking from the south side doorway—his daughter with two small buns revealing most of her little face.
Startled and filled with affection, yet under the watchful eyes of ministers, Emperor Xingwu suppressed his urge to call out.
To avoid the ministers noticing the daring little princess playing here, he refocused on the letter, saying gravely, “The Marquis of Pingliang risked his life to break through the siege. I trust him as my own brother. How can I suspect him on mere words? Therefore, he will be summoned to explain this letter in person.”
“If he is falsely accused, his innocence will be restored. If he did indeed succumb to greed, as long as he sincerely returns the ill-gotten land and repents, I will not pursue the matter further out of old friendship.”
The ministers murmured in agreement, approving the Emperor’s decision.
Other officials would be investigated thoroughly without mercy.
Emperor Xingwu noticed the little head outside hadn’t retreated.
He motioned for He Yuanjing to approach and whispered instructions.
He Yuanjing quietly withdrew, letting his disciple Zhao Cai temporarily take his place.
He circled behind the hall and knelt behind the Little Princess, gently pulling her shoulder back and trying to coax her away.
Qingyang refused to leave.
She loved hearing these matters and especially enjoyed listening to how Father handled and arranged them.
According to Jie Yu, all the emperors recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian had died, but her father was the only living emperor she had seen—how impressive!
He Yuanjing was helpless.
He patted the Little Princess’s small hand, chilled from leaning against the door frame in the wind, and said, “Then come with me, Your Highness, to the back corridor of the hall to listen. It’s warmer there. But you must obey and not peek around. If the Emperor finds out you’re here, he will take back the waist token he gave you.”
Qingyang: “Okay.”
He Yuanjing specially had a warm tiger pelt mat laid at one end of the western side of the back corridor, ensuring the Little Princess could see Emperor Xingwu on the throne without being seen by the ministers below.
Only then did he return to guard near the Emperor.
The court session lasted a full hour. When it ended, Emperor Xingwu rose from the throne, heart heavy and anxious.
As he neared the corridor, he saw his daughter had already fallen asleep, sprawled on the fluffy tiger pelt mat.
He was ruthless with his sons but also harsh with himself and his ministers—never allowing the heating device to be lit during early court sessions.
Heart aching, he picked up the little girl, first checking her forehead for fever before hurriedly leaving.