Chapter 2
Edward Quan ·
All these years, despite Jingze’s foolishness and lack of ambition, his mother had looked after us by herself. She was certainly no meek, defenseless woman.
Sure enough, her voice soon came from inside.
“I hear that when you took soup to His Majesty last time, you didn’t even get to see him.”
“He rather enjoys the soup I make.”
“Oh dear. Some people were plain even in their youth. Age has only made things sadder.”
“And you, Consort Xu. I hear the Fourth Prince made a mess of things at the Ministry of Revenue. His Majesty scolded him and removed him from his post.”
“True, my fifth son has no talent. But at least he doesn’t worry me. No corruption, no abuse of the law, no bullying the people until I have to kneel and beg His Majesty to pardon him.”
A little later, the other consorts emerged in a fury.
Jingze and I stepped aside.
Once inside, he looked stricken.
“Mother, it’s my fault. I’m useless, and they mock you for it.”
She gave him a disgusted glance.
“As though I only discovered you were useless today.”
“That’s enough. Stop pulling that face.”
“It’s just as well you aren’t competing for the throne. A peaceful life is a blessing too.”
She held out her arms.
“Now, let me hold my darling grandson.”
Hui obligingly smiled and said sweetly, “Grandmother is beautiful.”
She blinked, then laughed.
“My darling looks much cleverer than either of you.”
We felt a little hurt. Hui had never smiled that sweetly at us.
With his grandmother, he showed only a little intelligence. She was delighted that her grandson differed from her son, but didn’t think much more of it.
Not until the birthday celebration, when Hui began choosing from the objects laid out for him, did she discover just how clever he was.
6
The most important part of the first-birthday celebration was the choosing ceremony.
Brushes, ink, an abacus, a jade sword, sweets, toys, and other things were arranged around Hui.
Hearing a one-year-old speak so fluently had drawn more of the Emperor’s attention to him.
“Here. Put this over there.”
He produced his personal seal.
Everyone’s expression changed.
The Second and Third Princes looked especially hostile.
I was anxious, but secretly relieved that we’d warned Hui beforehand.
He certainly wouldn’t take the seal.
The chief eunuch set it down.
Hui promptly crawled straight toward it.
My heart leaped into my throat. I could scarcely breathe.
Fortunately, he only glanced at the seal before crawling over to the abacus.
That was all right. An abacus was better than the Emperor’s seal.
Just when everyone thought he would pick it up, he moved to the jade sword.
In the end, he surveyed all the objects and chose none.
The Second Prince couldn’t help laughing.
“Is our fifth brother’s son an idiot?”
Others laughed too.
“A coward for a father, an idiot for a son.”
The Emperor frowned slightly.
Our hearts sank.
Had Hui taken pretending to be stupid too far?
His grandmother looked worried and was about to smooth things over.
Then Hui moved.
He staggered to his feet and took a step.
Jingze and I jumped. Neither of us knew he could stand and walk on his own.
His steps were unsteady. I watched in distress, wanting to rush over and help.
The Emperor spoke.
“Don’t move. Let him do it himself.”
No one dared approach. The maids and young eunuchs beside him watched without blinking.
Hui’s first few steps were very shaky. Then he grew steadier.
The Second Prince’s face turned ugly.
Hui walked up to the Emperor and tilted his little head back.
We had dressed him in red for his birthday. He looked like a little doll of good fortune.
The Emperor bent down.
“Instead of choosing one of those amusing things, why have you come to your imperial grandfather?”
Hui reached out and grabbed his robe.
His little voice rang out.
“Hui likes Grandfather best!”
The Emperor paused for a few breaths, then burst out laughing.
He lifted Hui into his arms.
“What a fine boy. Quite a weight, too.”
Only then did he glance at us.
“Not bad. You’ve raised this child well.”
It must have been the first time Jingze had ever received praise from his father. His eyes reddened with emotion.
The Emperor held Hui all evening. I didn’t know what the child was saying, but every so often, he made his grandfather laugh aloud.
The Second and Third Princes were green with anger.
The Third Prince gave us a dark look.
“Well, well. I never imagined our fifth brother and his wife were the most cunning of all.”
We weren’t! We hadn’t done anything!