PROLOGUE
In the 135th year of the Southern Qi Dynasty, the time when the emperor was weak after two generations of Queens from the Xu Family, the imperial in-laws were given great influence that the imperial family’s power was weakened.
The queen's incompetence and jealousy also led to lack of competent imperial heirs.
While the emperor was struggling to deal with his in-laws, the Northern Zhou Dynasty took the opportunity to raise troops, with millions of soldiers and horses. The menacing force threatened the Southern Qi border making it an emergency.
The Southern Qi empire, for a hundred of years since its establishment, successive emperors advocated to rule the state by civil authority, serving people with virtue, morality and placing heavy emphasis on literature rather than military. As a result, the majority of the imperial court are literary ministers and very few military generals. General Su, the only military general, resigned from his post and moved his family out of the capital city, due to the death of the Duke of Rong’an and his wife 12 years ago. So, facing the Northern Zhou Army, the civil and military forces of the Southern Qi could not choose one person to fight for the war.
Even though the Emperor was angry, there was nothing else he could do, and his hair turned white due to anxiety.
Seeing the grave situation, the emperor’s father-in-law recommended his grandson, Xu Yun Chu, to lead the army in the war, but he was opposed by half of the central ministers that support the imperial family and its future. The Xu family already had two queens in their family, and now has become influential. If the Xu family was allowed to also gain military power, then even if the Northern Qi was defeated, it would be hard to guarantee that the Xu family will not overstep its authority and take over the Southern Qi empire.
What’s more is that Xu Yun was still inexperienced. Although he is known to be talented all over the capital, and acknowledged as the No. 1 noble son in the city, he has never been into a military camp. How can he bring soldiers? or fight a war?
The Empress dowager and the Queen were also not happy when they heard about it.
Xu Yun is such a talented and outstanding descendant of the Xu family. His mother's family is their pillar in the harem. How can they let him go to the border to die? As the saying goes, the sword has no eyes. In case he don't return and dies in the battle field, then who will support the Xu family in the future?
(TL’s note: the knife has no eyes implies that the battlefield is dangerous and there is a risk of Xu Yun Chu dying since anyone could meet their demise there regardless of their talents or standing in life.)
In the midst of conflict, the Prime Minister spoke up and recommended Ye Xiang, the son of Rong’an Palace.
The Rong’an royal family is a branch of the Imperial Clan and, therefore, it belongs to the Imperial family. The Rong’an king and his wife were good at military strategy. Twelve years ago they won in a battle with the Northern Zhou army, but the two also died together on the battlefield. At that time, only a young child, Ye Xiang, was left behind.
The Duchess of Rong'an's maiden family was the notable Ye family of the Jiangnan Wang Clan. When King Rong'an proposed marriage, the Lord of the Ye family stated that the daughter of the Ye family would not marry a member of the imperial family. King Rong'an sincerely asked for marriage, and finally promised that their first son will have the Ye family's surname. Only then did the lord of the Ye family approved of their marriage. So, although Ye Xiang is a descendant of the imperial clan, he is not surnamed Liu, but Ye.
The Emperor paid tribute to King Rong'an and the princess for their deaths for the country. After their death, they were given the title of King Rong'an as the hereditary title, and Ye Xiang was named as their heir. After Ye Xiang’s coming of age ceremony, he inherited the title of King Rong'an.
However, this year, Ye Xiang is even less than a weakling and is also inexperienced.
When the Prime Minister recommended the only son of Rong’an Palace, Ye Xiang, the entirety of the court also greatly opposed the idea.
Saying that if Xu Yun Chu is the greatest noble son in the Imperial capital , then Ye Xiang would be the Imperial capital’s #1 prodigal son.
In the huge Rong’an manor, Ye Xiang was in-charge of everything in the house, coupled with the Emperor’s favor and Empress Dowager’s pity, since he lost his mother in such a young age, no one can control him. This made him drink alcohol and write poems all day long, linger in the gentle land of pink flowers, snow and moon (brothel), and play with a group of prodigals all day long. It's absurd and ridiculous.
Such Ye Xiang, naturally, cannot lead troops to war.
Not to mention the court ministers’ opposition, even the Emperor shook his head after hearing the Prime Minister’s recommendation.
“Twelve years ago, the Duke and the Duchess of Rong’an defeated the Northern Zhou, their name was known throughout the land. There’s also a saying that the so-called tiger father has no dog son. Although Ye Shi-Zi has never been in his right mind, he still has the blood of Duke Rong'an's bravery and good fighting skills. If the Northern Zhou Dynasty heard that Ye Shi-zi was leading the troops, they would have to weigh it. In addition, although Ye Shizi carried his mother's family name, he’s a member of the royal family by blood. So, him leading the troops will show that our Southern Qi’s imperial family could not be trampled on.”, the Prime Minister added.
(TL’s note: Ye Shi-Zi is the honorific name of Ye Xiang)
When the courtiers heard this, some of them felt it was justified, but some were still unsure and felt uneasy about it.
Even so, can Ye Xiang really lead the troops of the army and fight a battle?
In order to sway the majority’s opinion, the Prime Minister recommended for General Su Che to accompany Ye Xiang to the border. When the ministers heard Su Che's name, their eyes lit up in unison, but quickly dimmed again.
Su Che is a rare military genius in Southern Qi. Even the Emperor who advocated civil rule was very fond of him. At a young age, he was honored with the special title of Commander General, and his residence was given the special title of Commander General’s Manor. Although the general of Southern Qi was low in status, his status was not low at all across the entire court and no one dared to look down on him.
But because of the battle against the Northern Zhou Army twelve years ago, the death of the Duke and his wife, caused him to be filled with guilt, blaming himself for mistakes in his plans which he thinks to be the cause of the couple’s demise. Even though the Emperor and all the court officials thought that he was not at fault and that it was the devious Northern Zhou who used the evil scheme, he still could not pass the pain in his heart and resigned from his post.
At that time, the Emperor tried his best to keep him, but Su Che was determined to leave, so the Emperor had no choice but to allow it.
Now that twelve years have passed, can Su Che return to the capital and go to the border to defend against the enemy?
The court officials were not sure, and for a while, there was no voice of opposition.
The Prime Minister spoke again, saying, “Back then, Su Che left the Imperial City with guilt because of the deaths of the Duke and Duchess of Rong’an, but now if the heir of Rong’an's palace is leading the army, how could Su Che refuse?”
After hearing this, the court ministers nodded. For them it made sense. Although Ye Xiang was muddled, if Su Che was there, they would be able to defeat the Northern Zhou.
The Emperor saw the rare unity of his officials, and except for sending Ye Xiang and Su Che, there was a slim chance against the invading Northern Zhou Army. He nodded his head in approval of the Prime Minister’s suggestion and sent someone to announce the decree and summon Ye Xiang into the Palace.
The eunuch who delivered the decree rushed to the Rong’an Mansion, but Ye Xiang was not there. He took a break and after asking around, he learned that Ye Xiang had gone to the Hongfan Building, so he hurried to the Hongfan Building and found Ye Xiang sprawled all over the floor.
This time, Ye Chang was drunk soundly asleep while holding a big white cat in his arms.
The eunuch who’s sent to announce the decree could not wake up this lord, so he ordered some servants to carry him into the palace to see the Emperor. The Emperor, looking at the appearance of Ye Xiang, was angered. He ordered his people to shout at him, but he still won’t wake up. They splashed water, pinched him, they exhausted all methods, still, he’s sound asleep. The Emperor asked the imperial physician to take a look at him, only to learn that he had drunk Sanyuezui, a wine called that Three Months Drunk
As the name suggests, it is a drink that will make you feel fluttering and drunk for three months with just one cup. There is no medicine that could cure it.
Waiting for him to wake up for three months, they’re afraid that the army of Northern Zhou has already marched to the gates of Southern Qi’s border. The dishes are already cold.
(TL’s note: The dishes are already cold implies that it was already too late)
The Emperor was angry, but he couldn't do anything about it. Ye Xiang had always been ill-mannered, and it’s not like this happened only once or twice. He could only hurriedly call for the Prime Minister to discuss. The prime Minister looked at Ye Xiang's sleeping appearance, shook his head and sighed. After thinking about it, he asked the emperor for Ye Xiang to be carried and go seek Su Che to go to the battlefield. The Emperor approved it.
And so, the Prime Minister ordered the servants to carry Ye Xiang and depart overnight to Su Che’s residence.
Three days later, they arrived at Su Che’s residence. The Prime Minister met with Su Che and explained the reason for their arrival. Su Che saw Ye Xiang who was drunk and unconscious, and after a long silence, he nodded and agreed to lead the troops to fight, but on the condition that Ye Xiang won’t have to follow him. He didn’t want to let Ye Xiang go and repeat the same fate of his parents who died at the border.
The Prime Minister happily agreed. As long as Su Che went to war, whether Ye Xiang would go to the border or not, it didn't matter much. He carried Ye Shang and went through all the trouble just to convince Su Che. With Su Che leading the troops, then, it is certain that the land of the Southern Qi Empire will be protected.
So, the prime minister took the drunken Ye Xiang back to the capital again, and Su Che took the Tiger General Seal and led the troops to the border.
Two months later, news came back from the border that General Su had defeated the Northern Zhou. The whole empire rejoiced. The emperor was pleased and sent someone to pick up Su Che's family back to Imperial City. The message said: After the departure of the Great General, the General’s Manor has been kept, and was cleaned from time to time. Since the General has been reinstated, his family, naturally, will not be left in the countryside.
So, half a month later, Su's family members were taken into the Imperial City and moved back to Su's residence in the General’s Manor.
Su Che had three sons and a daughter. All of his children went to the border with him. Only his wife was taken into the Imperial City. The emperor had personally summoned Madam Su and learned that his youngest daughter, Su Feng Nuan, was of suitable age, and had never been married. The plan to grant marriage arose.
When the Empress Dowager learned about the Emperor's intention, she too was quite interested and had the same thoughts. Their mind was along the same thought even without discussion.
As a result, rumors that the Emperor and the Empress Dowager would choose one of the noble sons of manors in the Imperial City to marry Su Feng Nuan began to spread in the capital.
There was a lot of speculation about who would be the final candidate, and this became the hot topic for a while.
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Hello, translator here! This is my first time doing translations and all this stuff, although I've been an avid reader of Asian novels (CN, KR, JP).
My translation is not the official translation, thus, not 100% accurate. Please bear with me😅😅 for I am not a native speaker of both language. You may report to me any mistakes or errors that you encounter with this site. You have my gratitude 🧡
Thank you!
🏵️ Eli