Chapter 17
Edward Quan ·
Yunzhou was poorer than I imagined.
Yellow sand everywhere. Dry, cracked land. Thin, sallow people in ragged clothes.
Our “princely residence” was a ruined little courtyard open to the wind.
On our first day, local officials came with countless gifts. Their words were dismissive and perfunctory.
They thought the capital had abandoned us. We would never recover.
Xiao Jingyan didn’t rage.
He returned every gift untouched.
Then he took me across every inch of Yunzhou.
In the fields, he discussed improving the soil and irrigation with old farmers.
In the markets, he talked to merchants about opening trade routes so local goods could be sold elsewhere.
He even opened a school and personally taught poor children to read and write.
No longer an idle prince concerned only with elegant pleasures.
He began learning responsibility, as a man and as an imperial son.
I wasn’t idle either.
With the dowry I had brought, I opened a clinic that treated poor people free.
I taught local women to spin and weave, giving them a skill to support themselves and their families.
I distributed good seeds from the capital and taught farmers how to plant them.
He managed affairs outside, I those within. Like two tireless old oxen, we quietly worked this barren land.
Yunzhou changed little by little.
Green rice fields rose from desolation.
Once-empty markets grew busy.
Children’s clear reading voices rang above our courtyard.
Smiles appeared on people’s faces.
They stopped calling him the disgraced prince.
Affectionately, he became “our prince.”
They stopped calling me Her Highness.
Respectfully, they called me Madam Shen.
We still had few tender words.
Yet whenever I returned exhausted in the evening, a bowl of hot noodles waited on the table.
He sat reading quietly beneath the lamp, waiting.
Seeing me, he looked up and smiled.
A clear, warm smile, like rare winter sunshine in Yunzhou.
I knew something once sealed in ice was slowly thawing.
12
Three years later.
The north won a great victory. Father returned in triumph.
Delighted, the emperor summoned Prince Yan, Xiao Jingyan, and his consort Shen Qingning to report in the capital.
On the day the decree arrived, Yunzhou had its first heavy rain of the year.
The people gathered at the city gates to see us off.
They brought eggs and baked cakes, filling our carriage.
A white-haired old woman gripped my hand, tears falling.
“Madam Shen, Your Highness, you must come back!”
Xiao Jingyan looked at them and bowed deeply.
“Rest assured. Yunzhou is always our home. We will return.”
The journey to the capital took a full month.
Seeing it again felt like another lifetime.
The emperor held a welcoming banquet.
Looking at the transformed Xiao Jingyan and my healthy complexion, his eyes filled with pleasure.
“You’ve done well these three years, Jingyan. I’ve read every report from Yunzhou.”
“I’ll restore all your offices. Stay in the capital and serve in the Six Ministries. Give your best to the nation.”
An extraordinary reward.
Everyone expected him to kneel in wild delight and give thanks.
He did kneel.
Then spoke calmly.
“Thank you for your great favor, Father. But I want to return to Yunzhou.”
The hall stirred.
Even the emperor paused.
“Why? Is the capital not good?”