Chapter 54: Lushuang
After that illness, her mother's health was never the same. Due to the previous scandal involving cheating in the imperial examinations, she dedicated herself to closing the loopholes in the system. From having the chief and deputy examiners enter the examination hall early to compose the questions, to anonymizing the exam papers, to having the Imperial City Guard supervise the entire process—there were numerous small details that greatly pleased Her Majesty, who awarded Gao Yunqu a senior eighth-rank hereditary post.
Gao Yunqu, for her part, began to study diligently. She could have entered service directly with her hereditary rank, but she was young and ambitious; if she was going to do something, she would do it to the best of her ability. Within three years, she successively passed the examinations to become a Imperial Examination Candidate, a Prefectural Graduate, and a Provincial Graduate.
In the twelfth year of the Yanxing era, Gao Chen died of illness while serving as the Minister of Rites. Her Majesty bestowed upon her extremely generous posthumous honors and raised Gao Yunqu's honorary hereditary post to the senior seventh rank. Gao Yunqu escorted the funeral procession back to her hometown to observe the mourning period.
Another three years passed, and Gao Yunqu seemed to have become a different person, studying with the utmost diligence. She had originally been of a carefree disposition, and neither her grandfather nor her mother had restrained her in her youth; she would often sleep until nine in the morning before rising. But after resolving to enter official life, she changed. Every day, she practiced martial arts at five in the morning and began her studies at seven, regardless of wind or rain. The year her mourning period ended coincided with the new emperor's ascension. Gao Yunqu, having just reached the age of her capping ceremony, traveled to the Capital City for the examination and placed third, becoming the Tanhua.
On the day the new Palace Graduates paraded through the streets on horseback, Gao Yunqu passed through the familiar lanes of the Capital City with a sense of melancholy. Countless young men and women threw fruit at her, but the people who should have been there to see it were gone. That night, dressed in her Palace Graduate's robes, she brought wine and food to the small ancestral hall and stayed for a night with her grandfather's and mother's spirit tablets. The next day, when Gao Yuan came looking for her, she found her sprawled out on the floor of the hall, sleeping without any semblance of propriety. The bright red robe was wrapped around her thin frame, spread out on the blue-gray brick floor, a sight both brilliant and jarring.
She already held a seventh-rank honorary post, and after becoming the Tanhua, her position was set as a junior fifth-rank Attendant-in-Waiting. Due to her skill in poetry and literature, Gao Yunqu was assigned to lecture and clarify texts for Her Majesty as soon as she took office. At this time, Wei Qi was only sixteen years old. She had already been the crown prince for six years before ascending the throne and appeared very composed. Wei Zhi was fourteen and attended the lessons with her, but she could never sit still. The bulk of Wei Qi's curriculum consisted of statecraft and historical discourse, taught by the two chancellors and six ministers in rotation. The classics and poetry were less critical, so she simply studied them alongside Wei Zhi as a form of rest and diversion. Gao Yunqu was young and one of the first Palace Graduates of Wei Qi's reign. Her title of Tanhua had been personally bestowed by Wei Qi, who treated her with warmth and familiarity.
One day, Wei Qi suddenly asked her, "Has Young Lord Gao read the Commentary on the Water Classic?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, this subject read it in my youth."
"When I read books like the Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Commentary on the Water Classic, I always wonder just how vast this world is. It would be wonderful if I could go and see it." Wei Qi had not yet come of age. Though she was the emperor, she sometimes had moments of youthful fancy. As she said this, her eyes shone with light. "Has Young Lord Gao been to see this world?"
"I have not." Gao Yunqu also felt a touch of wistfulness. In her youth, she too had wanted to find solace in mountains and rivers, but after all these years of twists and turns, she had hardly visited any. She empathized and offered comfort, "If Your Majesty becomes a wise ruler and brings peace and clarity to the realm, then even if you cannot see it in person, you will surely be able to feel the beauty of this world."
"Young Lord Gao is right." Wei Qi then asked another question. "Why did Young Lord Gao enter official service?"
Gao Yunqu was caught off guard by the question. After a moment of thought, she answered, "My mother hoped I would reach a high position and control my own destiny."
The answer was unexpected. Wei Qi was taken aback for a moment, then savored the words before sighing, "Minister Gao planned far ahead for you." She too had recently lost her mother, and her voice couldn't help but soften.
Gao Yunqu suddenly felt a little closer to Wei Qi. She spoke somewhat presumptuously, "Your Majesty, our mothers are watching us from heaven. They are waiting for us to become the people they wanted us to be."
"Ah, you're right." Wei Qi broke free from the somber atmosphere and gave Gao Yunqu a smile.
After that, Wei Qi and Gao Yunqu grew closer. She had not yet assumed personal rule; state affairs were overseen by several regents. Although they were diligent in teaching Wei Qi, she felt constrained. She had not yet learned the art of being an emperor, but she instinctively knew that she had to hold on to talented people like Gao Yunqu, who were young and had clean backgrounds.
"Gao Qing, I always feel that what Chancellor Cai teaches me is different from what I think." Wei Qi had invited Gao Yunqu for a game of Go. Halfway through the match, she hesitantly lowered her voice and asked.
"Why does Your Majesty say so?" Gao Yunqu calmly placed a stone on the board.
"The other day, Chancellor Cai spoke to me about taxation, saying we should allow the people to recuperate by levying light taxes. But then I recalled the Minister of Revenue previously mentioning that the national treasury's expenditures exceed its income, and the pressure is growing daily. So I asked, how can the treasury be maintained without tax revenue? Chancellor Cai then sternly reprimanded me. I naturally understand that the people are more important than the ruler, but I don't understand the contradiction. How can the nation prosper? It's not as if I want to fill my own private coffers." Wei Qi sounded a little aggrieved as she spoke. "Then I said, if we don't collect taxes from the common people, can't we collect them from wealthy merchants and large households? Chancellor Cai again said that the ancestral laws cannot be changed and that there is no precedent for it. He lectured me for an hour on how 'governing a large state is like cooking a small fish.' If a state can be governed through inaction, then what is the need for ministers?"
"Your Majesty, speak cautiously!" The Go stone in Gao Yunqu's hand slipped back into the bowl. She glanced around and, seeing no one nearby, breathed a sigh of relief. "Your Majesty, state affairs are complex; a single move can affect the entire situation. Often, if a good idea is implemented rashly without refinement, it becomes distorted by the time it reaches the lower levels, and what was good turns bad. It is a good thing that Your Majesty is so thoughtful, but now is not yet the time."
Wei Qi nodded in agreement, then asked, "Then what does Gao Qing think I should do?"
"Forgive this subject for overstepping," Gao Yunqu glanced at Wei Qi, who gestured for her to speak freely. She then chose her words carefully, "Chancellor Cai is old, so it is natural for him to be more conservative. But an old minister has an old minister's experience, and it is worth listening to him. In this subject's opinion, Your Majesty should first focus on understanding every aspect of this court. There is always a reason behind every matter, and only by understanding the reason can one act effectively. Your Majesty is still young; there is no need to rush."
"Good." Wei Qi smiled. "Come, let's continue the game. We haven't determined a winner yet."
Wei Qi had often been by the late emperor's side receiving instruction and was being diligently taught by the chancellors. She matured day by day, and her conflicts with the old ministers grew. She sent Gao Yunqu to the Censorate and placed many of the new Palace Graduates in departments with real authority—positions that were not high-ranking but were excellent for tempering one's skills. She was eager to build her own base of support.
In the third year of the Yongxing era, Wei Qi assumed personal rule.
Two years passed. She had grown taller and more composed. Gao Yunqu increasingly felt that she had grown into a true emperor.
"Gao Qing, I can't bear it much longer." Wei Qi stood before a desk covered in memorials and spoke to Gao Yunqu. "Chancellor Cai is truly getting old. He actually made Guo Song the Minister of Personnel. What has that scoundrel been doing? Using the power of his high office to form cliques and engage in cronyism, treating the official posts of my court as his personal gifts to be handed out! And Right Chancellor Ma Jiwen, he's also a senior regent who often lectures me on frugality. My evening meal consists of no more than six dishes and one soup, but him? I fear his home is filled with mountains of gold and silver!"
Gao Yunqu stood respectfully to one side, listening carefully. She said, "Your Majesty has been wronged. But is now truly a good time for a falling out?"
Wei Qi suppressed her anger and changed the subject. "Gao Qing, I trust you. I trust you as a person, and I trust in the three generations of loyalty from your Gao family. You tell me, is this court, this world, truly as peaceful and prosperous as they claim?"
Gao Yunqu fell silent. She could not see the common people below, but she could see the court. This court was like a giant tree; it looked fine from the outside, but it had already begun to decay from within, and new shoots were not yet able to grow.
"Gao Qing, oh, Gao Qing, in my eyes, this world is still far from a state of peace and clarity." Wei Qi leaned on the desk and looked at Gao Yunqu. "Gao Qing, in this life, I must cleanse this filthy court, and I must ensure this dynasty endures for ten thousand years! Gao Qing, are you willing to join me?"
Gao Yunqu had once told Wei Qi that she should observe clearly before making a decision. While Wei Qi was quietly observing, so was she. The more she watched, the more she understood Wei Qi's urgency. Emperor Yanxing had relaxed the relatively strict controls on officials from Emperor Yongchu's time, giving the ministers breathing room, but it had also inflated their ambitions. In the final years of Emperor Yanxing's reign, the court was mired in attacks and strife. The emperor was plagued by illness and powerless to clean up the mess. It was Cai Quan who had emerged and skillfully held the various factions together, but it was merely a fragile bond. Beneath the calm surface was chaos and incompetence. It wasn't just Wei Qi who felt something was wrong; Gao Yunqu, being in the midst of it, also felt it. She too wondered, how did it come to this?
She couldn't figure it out just yet, but that didn't stop her from wanting to do something. When Wei Qi extended the invitation, Gao Yunqu accepted it without hesitation.
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
She had been pushed into this position, but by a strange twist of fate, she felt a kind of excitement she had never experienced before. This path was difficult, but it was also immensely interesting. She couldn't wait to see the day when the world was pure and clear.
Grandfather, this is likely the path I must walk.
In the summer of the third year of the Yongxing era, at the grand court assembly, Gao Yunqu impeached Right Chancellor Ma Jiwen for corruption and bribery. The sums were enormous, the evidence was detailed, and her speech was like a surging tide crashing against the shore—powerful, resonant, and resounding. She berated Ma Jiwen until he covered his face and fled. Her Majesty was furious. In the Council of State, in front of all the chancellors, she furiously scolded Ma Jiwen for a full hour. Ma Jiwen knelt and begged for mercy, voluntarily offering to surrender his family fortune and requesting to be dismissed from his post. Her Majesty, mindful of his meritorious service as a regent, allowed him to redeem himself and did not pursue criminal punishment. The following month, the ministers, through Court Recommendation, appointed Grand Tutor Meng Tingsheng as the new Right Chancellor.
In the autumn of the third year of the Yongxing era, Investigating Censor Gao Yunqu, Court of Judicial Review Registrar Dai Yao, and Office of Transmission Director Hu Dayou jointly impeached Minister of Personnel Guo Song for selling offices and forming cliques: "...When jackals and wolves block the path, they must be driven out first. When treacherous villains are in the court, how can impeachment dare to lag behind? What Song has done is unpardonable by the laws of governance and condemned by both gods and men. We humbly request that he be sentenced, to appease all within and without the realm!1" The three of them knelt and removed their official hats, offering themselves as a sharp blade for the sovereign they served.
The case of Guo Song involved months of political maneuvering and had wide-reaching implications. Her Majesty wanted to depose him; the powerful clans wanted to protect him. Cai Quan, weighing the two sides, chose to sacrifice Guo Song to preserve the broader stability. Guo Song's assets were confiscated, and he was sentenced to death. Cai Quan's student, Lu Songnian, was promoted to Minister of Personnel. Her Majesty's favored candidates, Fan Ying and Cheng Ji, were appointed as Ministers of Revenue and Works, respectively. Of the six ministries, Cai Quan's faction held four, while the emperor's faction held two. Gao Yunqu and the others each received rewards.
As her name suggested, Gao Yunqu rode Her Majesty's east wind and soared straight up into the high clouds. But she was also gambling with herself, willingly becoming the sharp sword in Wei Qi's hand. The emperor's heart was difficult to fathom, and she did not know how long this favor would last. It was common for a high climb to end in a heavy fall, but at the end of the day, she was a solitary person. What was the harm in taking this gamble? She didn't care how high she went, nor how difficult the path was. She simply wanted to see if she and Her Majesty could achieve the clear and honest world they desired.
Author's Notes
1From a memorial by Lu Hui of the Northern Song dynasty, impeaching Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu during the Puyi controversy.
I originally wanted to cover Lord Gao's past in a single chapter, but I found that one chapter wasn't enough. The previous chapter was about her entering officialdom, and this chapter is about her relationship with the sovereign, filling in some of the details that were only touched upon before. The next chapter will be about Young Lord Fang from Lord Gao's perspective.
After writing this part, I realized that every character I write has some similarities. Wei Qi is like Gao Yunqu, and Fang Jian is also a bit like Gao Yunqu. I hesitated about whether to write them this way, but then I thought, birds of a feather flock together. People need to have a similar resonance to become friends, right? So it seems reasonable. It gives a kind of metaphysical feeling of a fateful cycle. I wonder what you all think.
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