Liu Wenzhi, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was one of the founding contributors to Emperor Xingwu’s rise and had rendered his service directly before the emperor himself.
Because of this, Emperor Xingwu knew him very well.
After ascending the throne in the capital, the emperor personally placed Liu Wenzhi in the high-ranking post just below the Minister of Revenue.
Now it seemed that the Liu family had become entangled in a civilian lawsuit.
Emperor Xingwu cared about this greatly, but since he had finally made time to spend with his five children, he didn’t want to spoil their mood.
He kept his expression calm and continued strolling through the Southern Market with the children.
It wasn’t until after they’d had lunch at a restaurant and returned to the palace that Emperor Xingwu turned to the attendant who had followed them and asked, “Is he in the palace?”
“Yes, temporarily held in the Imperial Guards’ office.”
“Bring him in.”
***
Qingyang had just woken up from her nap, holding the little wooden goose she’d personally picked out at a street stall in the Southern Market.
After washing up, she grabbed the goose and wanted to go play with Father Emperor.
She saw Mother Consort every day, but now she liked clinging to Father Emperor even more, he had just returned to the capital not long ago, and he was so strong that even after holding her for a long time, he never got tired.
Consort Li thought that since Emperor Xingwu was free today and doted on his daughter, he would surely be happy to entertain her.
So she told the nursemaid and Xie Yu to take the princess over.
Qianyuan Hall was surrounded by a circle of palace walls and tightly guarded, but that was only for outsiders.
For the two consorts and the children within the inner court, Emperor Xingwu had long instructed the outer guards not to obstruct them.
The two consorts and the princes and princess could pass through freely to the front of Qianyuan Hall.
The palace attendants would report their arrival, and the emperor would then decide whether or not to receive them based on how busy he was.
And so, Qingyang arrived at the central hall of Qianyuan Hall without a hitch.
As soon as she entered the front gate, she saw three people kneeling in the courtyard.
Two were commoners dressed in rough clothes, huddled closely together.
The third, a man in silk, knelt far away on the other side.
Qingyang had occasionally seen eunuchs or maids being punished by kneeling, but these three were clearly outsiders.
She found it all very novel and ignored Xie Yu’s attempts to stop her, wobbling over curiously to get a closer look at the three.
The man and woman in plain clothes were crying.
The man in silk had half his face red and swollen, blood at the corner of his mouth, and he kept his eyes averted, not daring to look at her.
Qingyang immediately disliked him and curiously asked the woman in plain clothes, “Why are you crying?”
The moment she asked, the woman cried even harder, collapsing into the man’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
The man choked up along with her.
Neither of them answered Qingyang.
That only made Qingyang feel even sorrier for them.
Suddenly, a furious roar came from the Imperial Study: “You still dare to deny it? That’s your son! He’s been forcing himself on another man’s wife for six months already, how could you, his father, not know?”
“Your Majesty, I truly…”
“Bullshit! If you knew and let it happen, you’re guilty. If you didn’t know your own son was abusing commoners, then you’re blind and deaf. Whether you’re wicked or just stupid, I’m beyond disappointed in you!”
“Zhou Xu, take this father and son to the Court of Judicial Review and investigate thoroughly. If anything is left unchecked, you won’t be serving as Chief Judge anymore!”
“Understood, Your Majesty! Rest assured, I’ll get to the bottom of this case!”
Chief Eunuch He Yuan respectfully escorted the two officials out, only then noticing the little princess standing beside Scholar Wang and his wife.
He was startled and hurried over, bending down as he coaxed, “When did Your Highness arrive? Were you frightened?”
Qingyang shook her head and looked toward the window of the Imperial Study.
“Is Father Emperor angry?”
Before He Yuan could reply, Emperor Xingwu’s strong figure appeared at the front of the hall.
His sword-like brows were tightly furrowed, his gaze cold as ice, as if it could pierce two holes through Liu Wenzhi’s back.
But before that sharp gaze could land on Liu Wenzhi, it first caught sight of his little daughter standing just a few steps away.
Meeting her daughter’s clear, innocent black eyes, a twitch ran through the corner of Emperor Xingwu’s eye.
It took great effort before he could force a smile.
“Lin’er, you’re here?”
Qingyang dropped He Yuan’s hand and ran toward Father Emperor, clutching her little goose.
When Emperor Xingwu saw the goose, his fury eased slightly.
He lifted her into his arms and said to Scholar Wang and his wife, “Go to the Court of Judicial Review and cooperate with the investigation. Once they’ve found the truth, I will personally give you an explanation.”
The couple tearfully kowtowed in gratitude.
As the group followed Zhou Xu away, Emperor Xingwu carried his daughter into the Imperial Study.
Qingyang held the little goose in both hands and asked curiously, “Father Emperor, what did they do?”
Emperor Xingwu already knew his little princess loved asking questions.
And since the anger in his chest hadn’t yet subsided, he set her down on the couch by the window, stood beside her, and began gesturing as he explained everything from the beginning.
It went back to the early days of his uprising, when his military and financial power were far inferior to what they would later become.
Once, during a campaign, Emperor Xingwu and three thousand soldiers were surrounded by enemy troops in the mountains.
Supplies ran short; the warhorses were gone, and they had to resort to eating rats and sparrows just to survive.
It was so dire they were on the brink of starving to death.
At that critical moment, Deputy Quartermaster Liu Wenzhi brought two thousand freshly recruited militia and launched a nighttime raid on the enemy, cutting open a bloody path for Emperor Xingwu and his men.
Emperor Xingwu said, “If not for Liu Wenzhi, Father Emperor would’ve either starved or failed to break out and been killed by the enemy. He saved my life. Would you say that’s a great merit?”
Qingyang listened intently.
“Yes. A great one.”
Emperor Xingwu’s eyes turned red at the corners.
“Winning the world was hard. The ministers around Father Emperor are all capable men. I favored each of them. After becoming emperor, I gave them high ranks and great rewards because I wanted them to enjoy prosperity with me and continue helping me govern the empire well.”
“And what happened? Liu Wenzhi went so far as to let his son steal another man’s wife…”
Qingyang asked, “The wife, that’s the woman who was crying just now?”
Emperor Xingwu paused.
“…Yes. She’s the wife of Scholar Wang Bo. Just like your mother consort is to me. Now imagine this, your mother consort and I are living happily together, and suddenly some bad man snatches her away, bullies her every day, and won’t even let her come home to be with me and you. Wouldn’t our whole family cry every day in sorrow? Wouldn’t that bad man be hateful?”
Qingyang shouted angrily, “Hateful! No one is allowed to take away Mother Consort!”
Emperor Xingwu said, “What’s even more hateful is this: the commoners all know Liu Wenzhi is a high-ranking official promoted by Father Emperor. If Liu Wenzhi lets his son act like a villain for over half a year and both of them are still fine, the people will surely think that Father Emperor, and the officials I appointed, are protecting them.”
“They’ll think Father Emperor is just like the corrupt rulers of the previous dynasty, and that this imperial court exists only to trample the people!”
Qingyang said, “Father Emperor isn’t a foolish ruler. Father Emperor doesn’t even steal the shopkeeper’s gold jewelry.”
Emperor Xingwu was stunned.
Then, looking at his daughter’s puffed-up little face, angry on his behalf, all the rage and lingering sorrow over his old minister’s betrayal suddenly faded away.
He picked her up and said, “That’s right. Father Emperor isn’t a foolish ruler. As long as Father Emperor punishes the bad people, the people will know I’m not one of them.”
Qingyang looked anxiously at his face.
“Is Father Emperor still angry?”
Emperor Xingwu smiled.
“Not anymore. Anger hurts the body. We can’t let someone else’s wrongdoing harm ourselves.”
Qingyang was relieved and lifted the little goose in her hand.
“Then Father Emperor play with me! I’ll be the little goose, and you’ll be the little fish.”
Emperor Xingwu glanced at the adorably carved wooden goose, then set her down and played along, pretending to be a little fish swimming around the Imperial Study, waiting for his daughter to catch him.
Because of the official’s crime, Emperor Xingwu chose to sleep alone in Qianyuan Hall that night.
Seeing that Father Emperor wasn’t around, Qingyang clung to Mother Consort and insisted on sleeping with her.
Consort Li, of course, would never say no to her daughter.
Inside the canopy, all was quiet.
Qingyang lay nestled in her mother’s arms for a while, then suddenly asked, “Mother Consort, why did Lord Liu’s son try to steal someone else’s wife?”
Consort Li froze.
“…Where did you hear that?”
Qingyang recounted the part she remembered, and Consort Li finally understood the full story.
Consort Li sighed.
“Some men are lustful. When they see a beautiful woman, they only dare to look and don’t dare to steal, because they don’t want to break the law and get caught.”
“But some men are both lustful and bold. When they see a beautiful woman, they want to take her for themselves, even if it means breaking the law.”
Qingyang said, “I don’t like them.”
Consort Li replied, “No one likes them. They’re all scoundrels.”
Qingyang asked, “Will someone come to take Mother Consort away?”
Consort Li laughed and stroked her daughter’s little head.
“If Mother Consort lived in a regular commoner’s home, she might run into that kind of scoundrel. But I married Father Emperor. Father Emperor is the most powerful man in the world. No one would dare to steal me from him.”
Qingyang grew curious again.
“Why is Father Emperor so powerful?”