The Human Emperor c1-2382

by Huangfu Qi (皇甫奇)

  In his previous life, Yang Zhao’s reputation as a scrooge was known throughout the world.

  While Yang Zhao was uneducated and inept in all other aspects, perhaps due to the result of him frequenting gambling dens, he showed exceptional acuity in matters regarding finance.

  And his acuity seemed to have built to his calculative nature.

  It was impossible for a person of his character to spit out something that he had accepted.

  “Lord Yang is being too polite. Since I’ve already given it to you, it’s yours. It’s also a gesture of goodwill on my part so there’s no need for you to be so formal.”

  Wang Chong replied.

  “Since that’s the case, I won’t be polite then.”

  Yang Zhao was just speaking for the sake of politeness. If Wang Chong really intended to collect the sum from him, he didn’t have a single tael to give him.

  “Right. Actually, I came here bearing a mission. Gongzi, this is a letter from Her Highness so do look through it.”

  “Oh?”

  Wang Chong glanced at Yang Zhao in astonishment.

  He didn’t expect that the only who was truly interested in meeting him was Consort Taizhen.

  He took the envelope from Yang Zhao’s hands and glanced at it. The words on the envelope were elegant, possessing the refinement belonging to a distinguished family.

  “It is Consort Taizhen’s personal handwriting!”

  Coming to a realization, Wang Chong was taken aback.

  Consort Taizhen had the habit of having others write in her place. As such, there were very few people who possessed Consort Taizhen’s handwritten letters in his previous life.

  Wang Chong didn’t expect to receive such a rare commodity.

  Consort Taizhen’s strokes were slightly slim, bearing some resemblance the crane script. However, there was a feminine touch to it. Taking a slight whiff, one could vaguely smell the fragrance belonging to a demure lady, causing one’s heart to flutter.

  Wang Chong’s heart jolted. He hurriedly calmed his heart and tore the envelope to take a look.

  The content of Consort Taizhen’s letter was extremely ordinary.

  She first berated Wang Chong for his boldness in impersonating King Song before complimenting him on the poem.

  She said that his poem was extremely beautiful and soulful, and complimented his verses.

  And the final line wrote:

  “Since the poem is named Song of Purity and Peace 1, there must be a second part to it. Gongzi is a talented poet and your work is exceptional. Thus, I would like to urge you for the latter portion so as to savor it!”

  “There isn’t just a second part to the Song of Purity and Peace, there are three parts in total!”

  At this point, Wang Chong finally understood Yang Zhao’s purpose here. It seemed like the prowess of the 《Song of Purity and Peace》 was indeed formidable.

  From the looks of it, Wang Chong wasn’t the only one who suffered from the three months of imprisonment. If that wasn’t the case, Consort Taizhen wouldn’t have hurriedly sent Yang Zhao over to request for the poem as soon as Wang Chong was released.

  After all, that person was a true poem fanatic!

  “Hehe, I don’t know much about poems, and I don’t know how to appreciate them either. However, Her Highness said that the poems you made are extraordinary. If gongzi is free, I do hope that you can pay Yuzhen Palace a visit.”

  Yang Zhao said sheepishly as he rubbed his nose.

  What Yang Zhao was interested in was money, but Consort Taizhen just had to send him here to request for a ‘poem’. Yang Zhao possessed no talent whatsoever in this field so there was nothing much for him to talk about.

  If Wang Chong were to start talking about poetry to him, he would only be exposing his own shortcomings. Thus, he felt a little awkward and embarrassed.

  “Hehe, Lord Yang is being too polite. If Her Highness is interested, I’ll write it right now.”

  Wang Chong didn’t jab at the other party’s shortcomings. Instead, he contemplated for a moment before using the tools in the study to write down Song of Purity and Peace 2.

  The reason why Wang Chong was hesitant to pass this poem to Consort Taizhen wasn’t to leave her hanging or to brag his talents. Rather, it was because the content of this poem was treading on the dangerous zones.

  In another time-space continuum, a verse in the second part mentioned ‘Zhao Feiyan’, and that nearly caused Li Bai’s death. It was due to this reason that Wang Chong was hesitant to write the second part.

  (Li Bai -> Original poet of Song of Purity and Peace)

  However, in the past three months, Wang Chong managed to find a solution.

  It did not take long for Wang Chong to finish writing the acclaimed Song of Purity and Peace 2.

  “A branch of crimson glamor, the peony appears embalmed in dew.”

  “A reverie of a reunion with the goddess of Wu Mountain woefully illudes.”

  “Who of the Spring and Autumn could match her grace?”

  “Alas, pity the lovely Xi Shi’s crestfallen silhouette.”

  …

  Four lines consisting a total of forty-two words took only several breaths to complete. Yang Zhao couldn’t help but feel impressed. He might be uneducated, but he was not completely ignorant.

  Even a genius would require some time to build up their emotions and sieve their words before they could write a poem. Despite the very few words in this poem, it would still take at least an hour usually.

  However, Wang Chong finished it in just a few breaths. This astonishing capability left even Yang Zhao dumbfounded.

  He finally understood the extent of Wang Chong’s ‘poetry talent’.

  The young man before him was not a person who could be comprehended through common sense!

  “Incredible!”

  Yang Zhao complimented. He was uncouth, but that didn’t impede him from respecting capable people.

  There are various styles to calligraphy, and crane script is one of them.

  Zhao Feiyan was an empress during the Han Dynasty.

  (Her name translates into flying swallow)

  She was known to be a great beauty, and there was a saying ‘The plump Huan and the slim Yan’ to refer to these two beauties, Yang Yuhuan and Zhao Feiyan.

  The poem should have meant that only Zhao Feiyan could match up to Consort Taizhen’s grace, but Zhao Feiyan happened to have a horrid reputation. Thus, some found the poem offensive.

  Thus, Wang Chong replaced the poem with another one of the Four Great Beauties of China during the Spring and Autumn period, Xi Shi (Xi Zi).

  “A branch of crimson glamour, the peony appears embalmed in dew.”

  “A reverie of a reunion with the goddess of Wu Mountain woefully illudes.”

  “Who of the Spring and Autumn could match her grace?”

  “Alas, pity the lovely Xi Zi crestfallen silhouette.”

  The first verse was a reference to peony.

  The second verse refers to one of the Chinese legends, depicting the legend of Chu Wang (King Chu) with a goddess at the top of Mountain Wu, and it is lamenting that despite everything, it was just a work of fiction.

  Partly referenced from: https://28utscprojects.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/318/

  Chapter 179: Wang Chong’s Sworn Brother

  Oblivious to Yang Zhao’s reaction, Wang Chong glanced at the《Song of Purity and Peace 2》 written beneath his brush and nodded his satisfaction.

  In another time-space continuum, Li Bai had written this poem in a drunken state under the orders of the emperor. Even though his work was overflowing with talent, he was unable to think straight then and wrote ‘Who of the Great Han could match her grace? Perhaps only when the lovely swallow (Feiyan) dons her facade.”

  Back then, when Wang Chong read this poem, he thought that Li Bai was praising Yang Taizhen’s beauty to as surpassing that of Zhao Feiyan. However, after looking into it, he realized that it was not the case.r />
  In the poem, the word ‘pity’ had the meaning of ‘cute’ whereas ‘facade’ referred to the coy expression of a beauty. He was comparing Yang Taizhen to the Han dynasty’s ‘Zhao Feiyan’.

  Who was Zhao Feiyan?

  She was the empress of Emperor Cheng of Han.

  Legend has it that Zhao Feiyan could dance on the extended hand of the Emperor Cheng of Han, granting her the title of ‘Lithe Palmtop Dancer’.

  Her beauty was also often a topic of compliment.

  Comparing Yang Taizhen to Zhao Feiyan was a compliment. However, how could he have known that other than her slim figure and her ability to dance on palmtop, she was also the origin of the phrase ‘swallow pecking off the royal offsprings’ written within the 《Memorial For Xu Jingye Against Wu Zhao》 by Luo Binwang. It was eventually compiled within 《Records of Ancient Text》, thus ‘leaving her mark in history’!

  Even though Zhao Feiyan was known to have the beauty that could make a fish sink, a goose plummet, the moon pale, and a flower blush, and she possessed grace that none could match up to, capable of dancing on a palmtop, hidden beneath her alluring exterior was a poisonous heart.

  Emperor Cheng of Han was poisoned by her, and the number of royal offsprings she killed was uncountable.

  Li Bai had compared Yang Taizhen to the vile Zhao Feiyan who poisoned the emperor and the royal offsprings, was this not courting death?

  If not for his superior literary skills, he would have died then.

  Even though Li Bai and Du Fu did not exist in this world, Emperor Cheng of Han and Zhao Feiyan did.

  Consort Taizhen was well-learned in poetry verses, and if the 《Song of Purity and Peace 2》 that Wang Chong wrote were to refer her to the vile Zhao Feiyan, he would have truly offended her thoroughly.

  All of the goodwill he earned as the author of the 《Song and Purity and Peace 1》 would only be converted into hostility; Wang Chong would truly be a fool if he were to present such a work to her.

  However, after a slight edit, it should be fine.

  ‘Xi Zi’ referred to ‘Xi Shi’, and she was on of the Four Great Beauties. The very phrase ‘a fish sink, a goose plummet, the moon pale, and a flower blush’ came from her. It was said that her beauty had truly reached the pinnacle of the world, and when she tidied herself up by the river, the fishes would suffocate upon seeing her beauty and sink to the bottom of the river. Flowers would close their petals upon her presence, not daring to compete with her.

  Xi Zi’s beauty was unimaginable!

  More importantly, she served was an emperor as well. As for what kind of possible allegory that could result from ‘Xi Zi’ and what kind of connections one could make, Wang Chong could not be bothered anymore.

  Li Bai was still way too timid; he only dared to compare Yang Taizhen to Zhao Feiyan. On the other hand, Wang Chong went on to put her above ‘Xi Zi’. Given that, no problem could pose a problem anymore.

  “Hehe, Her Highness has just been inducted into the palace and conferred as a consort, but Wang Chong has yet to congratulate her yet. I’ll write another poem for her as a gift then.”

  Wang Chong suddenly said. Since he had already written down the 《Song of Purity and Peace 2》, he might as well write the 《Song of Purity and Peace 3》 too.

  “Good! Good! Good! That’ll be for the best. Her Highness will be delighted.”

  Yang Zhao’s eyes lit up and he immediately clapped in encouragement.

  This was not flattery. Only those within the palace knew how much Her Highness was fond of poems. Despite Wang Chong’s squiggly words in the first letter, she still kept it by her side at all times, valuing it as though treasure, taking it out every day to look at it.

  She would definitely be overjoyed to see two poems from Wang Chong at a single go.

  On top of that, Wang Chong’s poems were not ordinary. Perhaps Wang Chong himself was unaware of it but his poems possessed great power. Take for example the poem he wrote the previous time, it crafted Her Highness’s name as the number one beauty in the palace.

  If he could write a few more of such poems, wouldn’t that help Her Highness to stabilize her standing in the royal court? If Her Highness’s standing becomes stable, so would his.

  Yang Zhao still understood this kind of basic concept.

  “He is indeed a great person!”

  Seeing Wang Chong lift his brush, Yang Zhao couldn’t help but feel agitated.

  On the other hand, seated behind the study table, Wang Chong lifted his brush, and without any hesitation, he began writing the 《Song of Purity and Peace 3》.

  Compared to the 《Song of Purity and Peace 2》, which was filled with contention and nearly caused Li Bai’s head to be lopped off, this poem was much more peaceful.

  However, there was a specific order to the three poems of the Song of Purity and Peace.

  Without the second poem, Wang Chong dared not to take out the third one.

  “Consort Taizhen is already conferred as a consort at this point, so the 《Song of Purity and Peace 3》 fits the context well.”

  Wang Chong thought as he started writing.

  “The queen of flowers and all forsaking beauty are befitting company of jollity.”

  The words were squiggly, but somehow, there was a refreshing grace to it, bringing out very unique aesthetics. Without any hesitation, Wang Chong continued on.

  “That often has the smiling Emperor happily look on.”

  “Released into infinite spring breezes are his countless worries.”

  “Together they recline against the northern balustrade of the Aloewood Pavilion.”

  Finishing the four lines of forty-two words, Wang Chong felt as though he was relieved of a heavy burden.

  “I heard that the Aloewood Pavilion within the palace is extremely beautiful. Lord Yang, you should advise Her Highness to visit there occasionally to savor the scenery when she has time.”

  After finishing those words, Wang Chong picked up the two papers and passed it over to Yang Zhao.

  “Thank you!”

  Yang Zhao hurriedly took them and rolled them up carefully before keeping them in his sleeves.

  “Wang gongzi is indeed a man of great talents. You are capable in both business and academics. On top of that, you have King Song’s trust and the protection of the hundreds of officials. I hope that we can interact more in the future.”

  “Of course, of course. Lord Yang, feel free to come here. Wang Chong welcomes you here anytime.”

  Wang Chong bowed politely in return.

  The current Yang Zhao was already on the route to becoming ‘Guozhong’. From what Wang Chong remembered, he was less than a year away from becoming the Imperial Uncle, and thus making the leap from Yang Zhao to ‘Yang Guozhong’.

  At the same time, ‘Consort Taizhen’s’ conferment would be raised from that of a Virtuous Consort to a Noble Consort as well.

  The gears of history were already turning, and Wang Chong could do little to stop it. All he could do now was to adapt and make use of it!

  “Shen Hai! Bring five thousand gold taels here and gift them to Lord Yang.”

  Harboring such thoughts, Wang Chong instructed.

  “Yes, I’ll work on it now!”

  Footsteps sounded, and Shen Hai quickly disappeared from sight.

  “This… How can I accept your gift?”

  Yang Zhao was taken aback at first before a smile gradually bloomed on his face.

  “There’s no need for Lord Yang to be so polite. It’s a token of my goodwill, so there’s no need for Lord Yang to think too much of it.”

  Wang Chong waved his hands casually.

  “Hehe, there’s no need to address me as Lord Yang or that sort, just call me Brother Yang. Wang gongzi, since we seem to get along well, why don’t we become sworn brothers?”

  Staring at Wang Chong, a thought flashed across Yang Zhao’s mind and he suddenly proposed an idea.

  “Become sworn brothers?”

  W
ang Chong was stunned. His first reaction was that Yang Zhao was joking with him. After all, Yang Zhao was already approaching forty whereas he was only a fifteen-year-old kid. How could they become sworn brothers given the disparity in age?

  He had heard of friendship transcending age, but he had never heard of sworn brotherhood transcending it as well!

  However, looking straight into Yang Zhao’s eyes, Wang Chong realized that the other party regarded the matter seriously.

  After the initial bewilderment, joy gradually crept into Wang Chong’s heart.

  Isn’t this what he wanted?

  This fellow was bound to become a great figure in the future. Wang Chong had only intended to gift the other party some money to win his goodwill, but the other party went further to propose a sworn brotherhood. He suddenly realized that conventions didn’t matter a thing to Yang Zhao.

  In that instant, Wang Chong felt utmost respect for this future Imperial Brother. Compared to him, be it means or shamelessness, Wang Chong realized he was far too lacking.

  It was no wonder why the other party was able to become a powerful force in Great Tang in the future.

  “Why? Is Wang gongzi unwilling?”

  Yang Zhao asked. He had only proposed the idea on a whim, intending to only give it a try. If Wang Chong was unwilling, he wouldn’t force it on him.

  “Hehe, how can that be?”

  Wang Chong chuckled lightly.

  “It’s just that I didn’t think big brother will hold me with such high regard, I am overjoyed. Since that’s the case, why don’t we conduct the ceremony today?”

  “Hahaha, seems like our thoughts coincide. Good! Let’s become swear to brotherhood today then!”

  Yang Zhao replied delightfully.

  Wang Chong was an offspring of Duke Jiu, a member of a distinguished clan. On top of that, he possessed King Song’s trust, and his memorial had won him the respect of the officials of the royal court and the admiration of the border generals. He was the rising star in the royal court, and his future would definitely be great.

  In terms of position, Wang Chong was far superior to him.

  Honestly, Yang Zhao had only proposed the brotherhood to try his luck. He didn’t think that Wang Chong would agree to it so readily. To him, this was an unexpected gain.