Chapter 5: Family Bonds

Gao Yang was the emperor, and he was also a human being, though most of the time he behaved like anything but.

Since he was human, he had his joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures like anyone else. In that respect, commoners and sovereigns were no different: both used plain speech and ordinary forms of address. This was especially true of those rulers who had not been born to imperial blood, but had risen by their own hands and sat astride the throne. They still kept the colloquial speech they had used before their ascension. Liu Xiu called himself “I”; Zhu Yuanzhang referred to himself as “we.” No one fussed over it, and no one dared. Only in formal court edicts would the exalted “we” of the throne be used.

So Yang Yin’s meaning was this: if Gao Yang truly meant to replace the crown prince, he ought to have begun the matter through the proper machinery of court procedure and opened a formal deliberation. That would have been the conduct of an emperor. To let such words slip in private would only spread rumors and breed unease.

At last Gao Yang loosened his grip and stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “What the Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent says is quite right.”

Wei Shou, Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent, was counted together with Wen Zisheng and Xing Shao as one of the Three Talents of the Northern Lands. Yet after Wen Zisheng became entangled in a case of treason and was executed, Wei Shou began to rise in favor. By now he had already become the author of the Book of Wei, was tutor to Gao Yin, and had been ordered to supervise the compilation of the dynastic history. He understood how to flatter Gao Yang’s temperament, and so he enjoyed great favor.

“For the Grand Tutor’s sake, let us end it here for today.”

Yang Yin let out a breath. He did not particularly like Wei Shou, but all of them were on the crown prince’s ship, and none of them wished harm to come to him.

The ministers rose in scattered fashion and withdrew in orderly sequence, just as years of serving the emperor had taught them. If they departed too quickly, the emperor would seize on some pretext to humiliate them, beat them, or even kill them.

Gao Yang patted his younger brother’s cheek. “You go back too. Your elder brother has drunk too much today; do not hold it against me.”

“How would I dare...” Gao Yan said with an awkward smile.

On the side, Gao Zhan dismissed the attendants, helped Gao Yan to his feet himself, and said with a bright smile, “Whatever second brother does is surely reasonable. We certainly trust second brother.”

If another man had said such a thing, it would have been sycophantic and greasy to the bone. But when it came from a younger brother of the same mother, Gao Yang did not find it offensive at all. He asked casually, “I hear you have another son lately? What did you name him?”

“Thank you for remembering, second brother. The third boy is called A Yan. The little rascal is quite a handful; I even feel for the wet nurses.”

Gao Yang laughed heartily. “Now that you are a father, you should have the bearing of one. Do not be as frivolous as you were before! How old is Wei’er now?”

Gao Zhan held up his fingers. “Just a little over two. When I get back, I will tell Wei’er that the emperor remembers him and asked after him today!”

A rare warmth appeared on Gao Yang’s face. He looked at Gao Yan in Gao Zhan’s arms and remembered that Gao Yan’s son, Gao Bainian, was also a little over two years old.

“The day after tomorrow, do not drink. Bring Bainian, Wei’er, and the others to pay respects to the Empress Dowager. We shall have a family meal.”

Gao Zhan was frightened by this, but still smiled and said, “Excellent! Excellent! A family should gather more often! I wonder whether the crown prince will attend?”

At the mention of this, Gao Yang could not help smiling. “He will come.”

With that, he swept his sleeve and turned away, departing amid a cluster of attendants and guards.

Only after he had left Golden Phoenix Terrace and the attendants behind him had quietly reported that the Prince of Changshan and the Prince of Changguang had remained with heads bowed in the pose of seeing him off did Gao Yang finally feel somewhat relieved.

The one he had set up was certainly Crown Prince Gao Yin, not Shaode, and even less the Prince of Changshan. What he had done today was only a test.

He had spoken in drink more than once about such matters before, but unfortunately Gao Yan had never taken up the thread. Otherwise, even if Gao Yang did not kill him, he would have had ample reason to depose him.

Under their mother’s protection, it was truly difficult to strike. If his younger brothers could continue in this same humble manner and serve Yin’er faithfully, then he would have no need to move against them.

A sudden feeling of suffocation and dull pain came from his chest and abdomen. Though not severe, it was like a warning bell. Gao Yang reminded himself that he did not have much time left; the road for the crown prince had not yet been paved, and there were still many people who must be removed on his behalf.

Gao Yang had spent the first half of his life walking through weakness and foolishness for twenty years, and he would spend the rest of his years in madness and demonic frenzy. He did not wish that road to be walked by himself alone, only to end as a lone tyrant reviled by the world.

If the foundation he had taken from father and brothers were then seized again by his mother and handed to his younger brothers, who would be willing to accept that?

Why had Gao Yang come into this world? Was it merely to be a usurper whose achievements fell short even of Qin Shi Huang, yet whose cruelty far exceeded his?

A flicker of hope stirred in Gao Yang’s heart. He wanted the crown prince to give him some small surprise, so that he might feel his own choice had not been wholly wrong.

Thinking of this, he asked the attendant, “After the crown prince woke, what was he doing?”

The attendants looked at one another. “It seemed the crown prince was... writing a book.”

“Oh?”

Gao Yang felt a little displeased, but before he could ask further, drowsiness surged over him. He did not return to the Hall of Radiant Sun, but instead went back to the Hall of Splendid Light north of the Imperial Alley.

Empress Li Zu’e came out to greet him in person. Gao Yang was always domineering, but toward his own empress he maintained rare and deep respect.

He drank the sobering broth, spoke with his wife for a while, and then entered the proper round of rites. After a bout of dragon vaulting and phoenix cries over Mount Qi, Gao Yang felt so comfortable that he sprawled his limbs wide and lay lazily upon the bed, just about to sink into sleep.

Li Zu’e gently shook him awake. That one gesture alone won the envy of countless concubines. “Your Majesty, I have something I wish to discuss with you.”

If they were still on the road, Gao Yang’s spirits could have held for at least another half hour. But the broth had been drunk, the bowl had been set aside, and at once he grew groggy. With his eyes closed, he murmured, “Talk... tomorrow...”

“Who knows when Your Majesty will leave? Often I open my eyes and find Your Majesty already gone, and then for three or four days I do not see you at all.”

Gao Yang was actually a little irritated, but the speaker carried extraordinary weight in his heart. She was family in every sense that mattered to him. So he sat up and forced his eyes open. “If it is not important, your father will punish you!”

Li Zu’e gave a sweet laugh and burrowed into Gao Yang’s embrace, using his arm to cradle her head. “It is important. Our Yin’er has now come of age, so should we not seek him a worthy match?”

According to the rites of Zhou, a man came of age at twenty, but Gao Yin was the crown prince, so following the precedent of King Wen of Zhou, he had been crowned last year at the age of twelve.

Gao Yang was momentarily dazed before remembering this. He had not expected that the little child from back then would already be about to start a family.

His guard was raised. His wife was not bringing up the matter for idle conversation; she must have come prepared.

“Since you say so, you must already have someone in mind.”

“Of course you could not be fooled, Your Majesty.” Li Zu’e lay in Gao Yang’s arms, and from that angle he could not see her expression. “I think that if we always rely on the Xianbei, Yin’er will continue to suffer under them in the future. Since we have entered the Central Plains and become lords of the land east of the pass, we ought to make greater use of the Central Plains people, which would also make governing them easier. So how could Yin’er’s consort, his future empress, still be Xianbei?”

Gao Yang rubbed his temples hard. “What are you suggesting?”

“My niece is called Nansheng, Your Majesty—you have met her before. She is now nine, and one can already see that she has a proper, graceful bearing. Her nature is gentle, and she is not willful or arrogant. She would make an excellent virtuous consort for Yin’er... What do you think, Your Majesty?”

Gao Yang thought it would not do. He remembered that she was the daughter of Li Zuzun. That man was greedy and arrogant by nature, with little talent to speak of. Gao Yang had wanted to promote him, but there was no way to do it, and in the end he was dismissed from office on multiple charges of embezzlement and abuse of funds. Gao Yang had even suspected whether he and the empress were truly siblings of the same mother.

With a man like that, it was difficult to imagine his daughter as having much of a fine character.

But then he thought of Gao Yin. With that personality of his, if he married another gentle woman, then the two of them would be nothing but slabs of leavened dough. He would at least need to marry him a woman of fiery spirit to give him some warmth.

And that was only in terms of temperament. If one considered family background, the matter became even more troublesome. Even he himself could not abandon the support he drew from the Jinyang faction; for Yin’er, it would become a question of whether the other side even deemed him worthy.

“Let us speak of this again. Bring her into the palace some day and let me have a look. Rest now.”

“Mm.”

Li Zu’e answered obediently. Those words were enough for now; if she pressed too eagerly, it might backfire.

She could not wait to add another talisman of protection around Yin’er’s neck. As an empress of Han descent, the most she could do was try her best to win the support of the Han gentry for her son.