Extra 3-8: The uncrowned king

Ji Yanming, who was traveling on official business for the emperor, was away for three to five days.

Tao Sheng’s life had changed. She now went to court in the morning, worked in the afternoon, and played cards with the queen in the evenings.

Ever since Tao Sheng and Ji Yanming became known for their skills in a card game shortly after their marriage, no one had invited them to play cards for nearly a year. But when the Queen’s palace was short of card players, Tao Sheng was invited back.

Everyone quickly realized that Tao Sheng was good at cards, and they began inviting her to play again.

Tao Sheng had a strong relationship with the royal family, dating back to when Xiao Ze was still the King of Chu. She was favored by the Empress Dowager Qiao. She spent time with the Queen, playing cards and staying in various palaces. Her life was busy but fulfilling.

Tao Sheng’s former maids had all reached marriageable age. After marrying Ji Yanming, she asked Luo Xin to help find good families for them to marry into.

Later, new maids joined Tao Sheng’s household. She still called them by their original names: Qing Xing, Liu Mian, Fang Cao, and Xiao Man.

Qing Xing, a lively sixteen-year-old, accompanied Tao Sheng to the palace. She enjoyed the time there, playing with other palace maids, eating yogurt and ice cream. When Ji Yanming was about to return and Tao Sheng was preparing to leave, Qing Xing excitedly chatted about her experiences.

“In the palace, everyone is very nice—the emperor, empress, and queen mother. Master Luo is beautiful and kind-hearted. No wonder everyone likes her.”

Tao Sheng saw Ji Yanming waiting for her, and subtly told Qing Xing to quiet down. But Ji Yanming overheard and asked, “You’ve been in the palace for three days?”

Tao Sheng nodded softly.

“Did you have fun?”

Tao Sheng sensed something in Ji Yanming’s voice and quickly responded, “It wasn’t that bad.”

Qing Xing, trying to ease the tension, added, “Master Luo was very happy in the palace. She even had an extra bowl of rice last night in the Queen Mother’s palace. The Queen said she’d invite her over next time.”

Ji Yanming glanced at them coldly.

Tao Sheng, trying to lighten the mood, playfully covered his eyes with her hands. “Don’t look at me like that!”

It seemed that when Ji Yanming was away, Tao Sheng had become a little restless, but in reality, she had done nothing wrong.

It was all Xiao Ze’s fault. He had gotten too close to Ji Yanming in the palace, and in ordinary families, when female relatives visit the palace and establish ties with the empress and queen mother, they receive praise. However, Xiao Ze’s constant focus on “I rely only on my Xiao Ji” had led to Ji Yanming not taking these things seriously and getting annoyed, as they took up his time.

At that moment, a chief eunuch arrived with eight young palace maids.

The eunuch, who had previously served Concubine Chun, recognized Tao Sheng and Ji Yanming and hurried to pay his respects.

“Eunuch Cao, please excuse me,” Tao Sheng said, signaling for him to rise. “Are these new maids? I haven’t seen them before.”

The eunuch replied, “The maids from Xuanzheng Palace and Qingning Palace are old, so the Empress has released them. These are the finest maids selected from the palace garden, ready to be sent to the Emperor and Empress.”

Tao Sheng observed the maids and noted that they were indeed striking. They seemed to be prepared for the palace’s top officials.

Among them, there was one girl who seemed familiar, though Tao Sheng couldn’t quite place why.

Ji Yanming noticed Tao Sheng’s gaze and, after the group left, asked, “What was it about the maid?”

Tao Sheng still couldn’t figure out what was wrong with this palace maid. She shook her head gently: “Nothing, maybe I’m overthinking it.”

Tao Sheng originally thought this issue would just pass without more trouble.

It wasn’t until more than half a month later that the queen’s aunt suddenly asked Tao Sheng and Lord Luo to go to Shanglin Garden for a discussion.

Tao Sheng knew that Xiao Ze had been visiting Shanglin Garden often lately.

One reason was that the renovation of Shanglin Garden was the first task he received after being reinstated, and it was important for his comeback, so it stood out from other places. The other reason was his deep affection for Xiao Feng, and he missed her even though she was gone, so he liked going to Shanglin Garden to talk to her.

Earlier, Xiao Ze had invited Tao Sheng and Ji Yanming to visit Shanglin Garden twice, where they spent time with Xiao Feng.

After all, Xiao Feng had been raised in their home for six or seven years, and they had a special bond. Xiao Feng had always favored Tao Sheng. Later, when Xiao Feng left, he kept chasing Tao Sheng until he was finally comforted and returned with Xiao Ze.

But now, being invited to Shanglin Garden felt odd, especially since the invitation came from the queen, not the emperor.

Tao Sheng hurried over.

When Tao Sheng arrived at the Youlan Pavilion in Shanglin Garden, she found both the empress and the emperor there, and Xiao Feng was sitting between them with a smug expression.

Not long after Tao Sheng sat down, Ji Yanming was also invited by the queen.

Tao Sheng felt more and more confused about the situation.

The queen smiled and invited Ji Yanming to sit, explaining that a small incident had happened a few days ago. She hadn’t told anyone earlier because she didn’t want to disturb them, but now that the truth was clear, she wanted to discuss it.

The queen then recounted what had happened.

Last month, when she was reviewing the rosters of concubines and maids in each palace, she noticed that some palace maids had reached the age where they could leave the palace. According to palace rules, those who were 25 could be released, and new ones would be chosen to train.

The Inner Court first selected twenty palace maids from the reserved group and sent them to the palace. Then, they selected some palace maids with good qualities from various places and sent them to serve in the palace.

Several of these palace maids were arranged to serve Xiao Ze in the Xuan Zheng Hall.

Xiao Ze was the emperor now, and he often traveled with a large group of people.

Since Xiao Ze was a man, there were more eunuchs and guards around him, so the new palace maids could only follow behind.

When they arrived at Shanglin Garden one day, Xiao Feng suddenly rushed out and bit the handkerchief of a palace maid named Ling’er, refusing to let go.

The palace maid, likely frightened, kicked at Xiao Feng in desperation. However, Xiao Feng dodged quickly and ran to Xiao Ze with the handkerchief in his mouth.

When Xiao Ze saw this, he squatted down, picked up Xiao Feng, and comforted him.

But the queen thought Xiao Feng’s behavior was unusual.

It’s said that animals have a sharper sense of smell than humans. Perhaps Xiao Feng acted strangely because he sensed something unusual.

For example, the palace maid might have put aphrodisiac perfume on herself to affect the emperor’s judgment.

Not to mention that such perfumes were prohibited in the palace. With Xiao Ze still in mourning, any slip in his behavior could lead to criticism from the censors and affect his future reputation.

To avoid alarming anyone, the queen asked her nanny to take the maid away for investigation, claiming the maid had frightened the emperor due to her poor manners.

This investigation uncovered something shocking.

The crime of Prince Rui was exposed, and many of Princess Rui’s family’s wrongdoings were revealed by the censors. Among them, the males were exiled, and the females were sent to the palace.

One of these females was Ling’er, a thirteen-year-old palace maid at the time, who was the one Xiao Feng had been pulling on her handkerchief.

The camellia lace on the handkerchief was unique, and after investigation, it was found to match exactly the handkerchief Princess Rui had carried when she visited Ji’s house.

Xiao Feng recognized it at first glance.

When the Inner Court sent palace maids to serve in the palace, their identities were carefully checked. With Ling’er’s sensitive background, she shouldn’t have been allowed to serve in the palace.

But one of the selected palace maids got a rash from eating lotus root powder. Since Ling’er lived in the same room, she was chosen to replace her temporarily, as she was known for her good manners and skills.

In order to avoid responsibility, the Inner Court didn’t say much and let it pass.

Later, the Ministry of Punishment found out that Ling’er had known the palace maid would have a reaction to the lotus root powder and had purposely obtained it from outside the palace, using it to make the palace maid ill.

This clearly showed that Ling’er had plans to harm the palace maids and had other malicious intentions.

After the investigation, Ling’er was taken to Yunting Palace for questioning, and it was revealed that she had deliberately approached the emperor with ill intentions, resentful of Xiao Ze’s rise to power. She had even planned to sabotage him by placing a needle in the dragon robe or poisoning his tea.

Xiao Ze was horrified when he read the report from Ye Ting Palace.

If the needle had been inserted, the emperor could have been gravely harmed. If poison had been added to the tea, it could have been fatal.

These people were truly mad.

In the end, Xiao Feng, who had contributed greatly, became the focus of Shanglin Garden, praised as the real “uncrowned king.” Whether it was raising leopards, tigers, elephants, or other beasts, the palace staff now respected Xiao Feng.

On the day the investigation concluded, Xiao Ze awarded Xiao Feng a special gold medal for meritorious service, increased his allowance, and assigned two eunuchs to serve him.

This time, I invited Ji Yanming and Tao Sheng to visit the garden and have a meal with me as a way to thank them.

When Tao Sheng heard this, she felt something was off: “Your Majesty, what are you thanking us for?”

Xiao Ze answered casually: “It’s because you trained Xiao Feng well when he lived with you, which helped him get to where he is now. I have to thank you for that.”

Tao Sheng waved her hands: “Your Majesty, you are too kind. Xiao Feng is naturally clever. It’s not because of any training. The main reason is that you chose a good rooster.”

Xiao Ze replied, “A red flower looks brighter next to another red flower, and a black flower looks darker near a black flower. Xiao Feng has been influenced by your family for years, so it’s no surprise he achieved great things.”

The two exchanged polite words, and the Queen, watching from the side, was pleased and kept nodding and smiling.

At that moment, Ji Yanming realized that Tao Sheng was good with words. Her humor and balanced attitude when dealing with those in higher positions made her pleasant to talk to.

This must be why the late emperor liked her so much—not just because she played the zither well, but because of her personal charm.

After the conversation about praise ended, Xiao Ze started discussing something more serious: “Last time I said I would give Xiao Tao a higher title, and now I have a plan.”

Tao Sheng was aware of this.

Xiao Ze, when he ascended the throne, wanted to reward his loyal people, including her and Ji Yanming. However, because she was a woman and not in a position of real power, many ministers opposed this.

Although Xiao Ze was persistent, being a new emperor, he didn’t yet have enough experience or power to deal with the opposition. So, he chose to wait for the right time.

After becoming emperor, Xiao Ze knew he had to reward people, but also punish others. To keep the court and country stable, he followed Tao Sheng’s and Ji Yanming’s advice, dealing with some officials harshly, while being lenient with others.

It was later said that the families of the pardoned officials had all bought Tao Sheng’s music scores, and this may have helped them avoid punishment. This news led those who opposed Tao Sheng’s promotion to realize they needed to rely on her to survive.

So, the court strongly requested that Tao Sheng be given a title.

Now that Xiao Ze brought it up again, Tao Sheng only needed to express her thanks.

Tao Sheng stood up to thank him and offered a cup of tea instead of wine.

Xiao Ze waved his hands: “Xiao Tao, please sit down. We can still be the same as before. No need for these formalities just because I’m the emperor.”

Tao Sheng thought: … 

At home, she always thanked Mother Tang when receiving something. But now, even after being promoted to the third rank, she wasn’t allowed to say thank you?

Xiao Ze continued: “Xiao Tao, Xiao Ji is now a second-rank prince’s guard. In a few years, he’ll probably be promoted to first rank. Since you two are married, you need to work hard too. Your position is only fourth rank now, and there’s still a long way to go.”

Tao Sheng replied sincerely: “Actually, I feel fine with things as they are.”

Though Tao Sheng had been in this ancient world for years, she still compared things to her past life. Being a fourth-rank official was already good enough for her—like a department-level position in modern society. She didn’t aim for first-rank positions or higher.

Xiao Ze encouraged her: “Don’t think like that. We are the first partners. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our names went down in history? Xiao Tao, why don’t you think that way?”

For the rest of the meal, Xiao Ze kept urging Tao Sheng to aim higher, encouraging her to become a general or a prime minister, like Ji Yanming, and his right-hand person.

Tao Sheng thought: …

She never cared about being president of the student union, so why did Xiao Ze think she’d want to be a top official in court?

Tao Sheng had a particularly difficult meal that day.

After saying goodbye to the Emperor and Empress, Xiao Ze’s chief eunuch Fulai came out and said the Emperor had arranged a sedan chair for them if they were tired.

Tao Sheng politely refused: “Please tell His Majesty I appreciate the offer. I just want to walk with Master Ji.”

Seeing that Tao Sheng had something on her mind, Ji Yanming asked, “What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”

Tao Sheng nodded: “It was His Majesty’s words today. They made me feel stressed.”

“Don’t worry,” Ji Yanming said. “All official ranks are similar. If you can be a fourth-rank official, you can do other things too.”

Being an official, especially a high-ranking one, required ability, means, and ambition. Ji Yanming had all of these, so it was easy for him.

But Tao Sheng still looked worried. Ji Yanming then said, “When we visited Grand Master Luo, he invited me for tea and mentioned that when he went to Qingyun Temple for divination, he also had one done for you. He said you will become a famous minister who benefits the people.”

Even Ji Yanming’s words didn’t comfort her, and now he was using divination to cheer her up?

Tao Sheng sighed.

It seemed even more melancholic.