True Sincerity

That night, Prince Zhou was happier than ever. The light Xuan Miao had driven into his soul allowed him to enter anyone's dreams at will.

If he had not been bound to Prince Zhou's Mansion, he truly would have drifted all the way to the Capital City for a rendezvous in dreams with the little emperor.

Still, he was quite busy that night. After leaving Doctor Zhang's dream and confirming that Doctor Zhang had agreed to go to the capital first thing in the morning to plead his case, he went to find the Princess Consort.

Prince Zhou spread his favor evenly. He visited not only the Princess Consort's dream, but those of all six concubines as well, not to mention Zhu Zijin and his two brothers.

The three brothers were keeping vigil. Even when exhausted, they remained half-asleep and half-awake, their heads bobbing down only to jerk back up. Prince Zhou had thought he would be unable to enter their dreams, yet the instant the thought arose, he entered all three dreams at once.

Prince Zhou was astonished.

The three brothers, each dreaming of Prince Zhou and the other two, were equally astonished.

Once the shock passed, all four of them clasped each other and wept bitterly in the dream.

No one knew what Prince Zhou discussed with them. In any case, they spoke for quite a long time. When Zhu Zijin awoke, the three brothers exchanged glances and confirmed that they had all had the same dream. Their brotherly bond grew even stronger.

The estrangement created by more than ten years of separation had faded considerably in that moment.

Prince Zhou, who had spread his favor far and wide, also went to visit his younger brother in a dream. Pan Yun had no idea what they discussed either, but after returning from Zhu Youjue, Prince Zhou became much quieter, and the exuberant joy of freedom around him dimmed considerably.

Seeing that he had finally settled down, Pan Yun pointed at her own head. "Come, enter a dream."

Prince Zhou came back to himself and looked her over. "Have you gone stupid?"

Pan Yun sat upright, solemn and proper. "I want to see how her spell differs from mine."

Prince Zhou said, "Why not just ask her? Isn't she your Senior Sister?"

Pan Yun lied with her eyes wide open. "Even fellow disciples have their own secrets."

Prince Zhou said, "Peering into another person's secrets is not a good habit."

Pan Yun merely looked at him quietly.

"Fine, fine, I'll enter it," Prince Zhou said, striking a pose. "Go to sleep."

Pan Yun lay down, closed her eyes, and went to sleep. After a long while, neither person nor ghost made any movement.

The black cat, which had been silently crouching on the beam, could not resist mocking them and let out a meow.

Pan Yun opened her eyes and sat up from the bed.

Prince Zhou himself was nearly asleep. "This has nothing to do with me. I enter dreams just by thinking of it. I've been thinking for ages and still couldn't enter yours. You can't blame me because you can't fall asleep, can you?"

"I don't," Pan Yun said. "Wait. I'll meditate."

Pan Yun adjusted her breathing and sat in meditation. She did not cultivate, but instead emptied her thoughts. Then she began weaving a dreamscape for herself within her mind. Gradually, she entered a state halfway between dreaming and waking.

Prince Zhou still could not get in and could only pace around the room.

As he paced and paced, dawn arrived.

Prince Zhou seemed to sense something. The knack that let him enter dreams appeared to have vanished. He looked toward Pan Yun.

Pan Yun opened her eyes as well. The first ray of morning sunlight fell directly upon her.

One person and one ghost exchanged a glance. Prince Zhou's figure gradually faded as he returned to the mourning hall.

Pan Yun sighed and asked the black cat on the beam, "Why can't he enter my dream?"

Pan Little Black said, "Meow. Your will is firm, and your Mud Pill Palace is as solid as a rock. Ghosts and demons cannot invade it. Isn't that a good thing?"

Pan Yun no longer dwelled on the matter. She decided that, if the chance arose, she would exchange this spell with Xuan Miao.

This method of entering dreams was highly adaptable. It was far more natural than her dream-weaving and much more convincing as a ghost's dream visitation.

Doctor Zhang and Eunuch Qian, who had been pinned beneath ghosts in their beds and held face-to-face, heartfelt exchanges with Prince Zhou, believed it completely. At dawn, they went to take their leave of Zhu Zijin.

They were willing to speak for Prince Zhou's Mansion and plead its case...

The moment Zhu Zijin heard this, he immediately handed the two men the memorial he had copied out yesterday, along with the gifts Prince Zhou had instructed him to send the night before.

Eunuch Qian received a box of small gold ornaments: gold ingots of every sort, gold melon seeds, all gleaming brilliantly and especially beautiful.

Doctor Zhang, meanwhile, received a cookbook, said to be a palace recipe collection from the previous dynasty.

In any event, it was something from the previous dynasty, so gifting it did not violate any regulations.

Both men were very pleased with their respective gifts. Taking the memorials, they immediately set out.

Zhu Zijin saw them out through the mansion gates. Zhu Youjue hurried over, only to catch sight of their retreating backs as they were about to vanish from view.

Uncle and nephew exchanged a look and thought of last night's dream at the same time.

Zhu Zijin thought, Father truly did not deceive me. He must have arranged everything in the dream last night.

Zhu Youjue, however, was half-convinced and half-doubtful. It had actually turned out almost exactly as elder brother had said in the dream last night. Could there truly be foreknowledge and ghosts entering dreams in this world?

Starting that day, mourners gradually began arriving at Prince Zhou's Mansion.

The Princess Consort led the six concubines in keeping vigil and mourning. The six women came and went together every day, and at night, three of them slept in each room. Not a single mishap occurred.

When the imperial clansmen who came to mourn did not see a list of those for Martyrdom Sacrifice, they asked around and learned that no one had yet been sacrificed. They could not help but become dissatisfied with Zhu Zijin.

"Though he was not your biological father, he raised you to adulthood. Knowing that you had suffered, he even deliberately brought you back to inherit the title. For that alone, you should not be unfilial.

"Your father has been dead for three days, yet you have not prepared anyone for Martyrdom Sacrifice. Do you mean to make your father go ahead and clear the path for a group of servants instead?"

Zhu Zijin repeatedly agreed, replying humbly, "Father could not bear to have the living die with him. He has already submitted a memorial to His Majesty. We are only waiting for His Majesty's Imperial Decree."

The emperor had already received Zhu Zijin's memorial by then.

Learning that Doctor Zhang and the others had arrived at just the right time and seen Prince Zhou one last time, he sighed to Wang Zhen, "Fortunately, we did not drag our feet when deliberating the Heir. Otherwise, would Prince Zhou not have died full of regret?"

Naturally, Wang Zhen smiled and praised His Majesty's wisdom.

"Draft the Imperial Decree conferring rewards upon the Heir of Prince Zhou. Since Doctor Zhang has become practiced at it, let him deliver and proclaim the decree again."

Doctor Zhang: ...I truly do not want to go again.

But Doctor Zhang could only accept the order.

Wang Zhen stopped him. "Why must Your Majesty be in such a hurry? The Heir of Prince Zhou must observe mourning now. It would be better to wait until he has observed it for a year before issuing the decree. Otherwise, Prince Zhou has only just passed away, and he immediately succeeds as Prince Zhou. He can neither grieve properly nor rejoice properly, and it would instead damage his filial piety toward Prince Zhou."

Doctor Zhang, waiting to one side: ...What sort of muddled nonsense is this? When the Former Emperor died, the new emperor ascended the throne at once. Does that make the new emperor unfilial?

But the emperor thought Wang Zhen was right and nodded repeatedly. "Good. We shall do that. Issue the decree only after he has completed a full year of mourning."

A year later, would the little emperor still remember Zhu Zijin?

Doctor Zhang swiftly glanced at Wang Zhen. He feared that when the time came for the Heir of Prince Zhou to succeed, they would have to spend a vast sum to ask Wang Zhen to intervene.

Doctor Zhang then thought of the gifts he had received on this trip and hurriedly brought up Prince Zhou's final wish, hinting, "Prince Zhou's Mansion knows that His Majesty wishes to fulfill Prince Zhou's last wish. That is why they have held off on the matter of Martyrdom Sacrifice, awaiting only His Majesty's instructions."

Eunuch Qian repeatedly agreed and spoke of how Prince Zhou had begged and fretted before his death. "Prince Zhou was kind-hearted and could not bear to see killing. Even on his deathbed, he could not stop thinking of this matter. The moment Zhao Yuansong returned, he asked about it. When he learned that His Majesty intended to issue a decree granting it in court, he was so happy that he ate two bowls of rice. His face was full of smiles when he left."

Upon hearing that, the emperor immediately said, "Then hurry and issue the decree. Do not miss Prince Zhou's seventh day after death."

Wang Zhen narrowed his eyes, looked at Eunuch Qian, then at Doctor Zhang, and sneered inwardly.

But seeing the emperor eagerly preparing to write the Imperial Decree himself, he could not well speak again to stop him.

To the little emperor, this was a novel matter that broke the rules set by the ancestors, and it was also a good deed. Thus, he was very willing to write this Imperial Decree personally.

Naturally, it still had to be sent to the Grand Secretariat for review before it could be sealed and issued.

This time, the little emperor once again sent people from the Ministry of Rites and the Directorate of Ceremonial to proclaim the decree.

Wang Zhen, the brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, proposed Eunuch Qian. "The first time is unfamiliar, the second time familiar. He has gone once already. Sending him again will make the road easier."

Hearing this, the Ministry of Rites also recommended Doctor Zhang along with the flow.

Doctor Zhang and Eunuch Qian: ...

Though proclaiming an Imperial Decree might offer a chance to make some money, such a long official journey was still far too exhausting. Especially since, once they got there, they might run into Prince Zhou again.

What if Prince Zhou asked why they had not brought the document confirming the Heir of Prince Zhou's succession?

Yet Doctor Zhang and Eunuch Qian still forced out smiles, pretended to be delighted, accepted the Imperial Decree returned from the Grand Secretariat, and left the palace.

That was right. Official travel was this miserable. Though they had only just returned, they had not even entered their own homes.

Their luggage was already packed. Though it was a little dirty and a little smelly, they could pick it up and leave immediately.

It was still better than being posted out of the capital as a court official.

That very day, some capital officials received news of their postings elsewhere. The instant they got their documents, they climbed into donkey carts and left the city, without even a change of clothes on them.

The two groups met at the city gate. Doctor Zhang found the other party familiar. After exchanging tearful looks, they left the city one after the other.

Doctor Zhang waited on the road and said softly, "Brother, return to the city in a while. Please have your family send word to mine that I will be home in ten days at most."

"Easy enough, easy enough. I have decided to enter later, when the city gates are about to close. Alas, the decree came down so suddenly, and my family has no money. Could Brother Zhang lend me some for temporary expenses?"

Doctor Zhang asked, "Where are you taking up your post?"

"Guangxin Prefecture, Jiangxi."

"Easy enough, easy enough. I'll write you a note and have my wife find a way to scrape together twenty taels of silver for you."

Twenty taels was no small sum, enough to settle down.

The other man agreed. After the two whispered together for a while, they parted ways.

Eunuch Qian was used to such things.

Taizu had established rules to prevent capital officials posted elsewhere from accepting bribes or borrowing money before leaving. He had specifically ordered that, once capital officials received their documents and official seals, they were to leave the city immediately.

Anyone who dared go home would be seized at once and held accountable.

But officials could not truly set out with only the meager travel allowance given by the Imperial Court. After all, they needed food and drink on the road, and they needed to establish households once they arrived.

Thus, while those above had policies, those below had countermeasures.

After leaving the capital, officials would always secretly sneak back in. Those who needed money took money, and those who needed loans borrowed money.

It was an unspoken understanding. So long as no trouble came of it, everyone kept one eye open and one eye shut.

Even the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial knew about it. Everyone in court knew it perfectly well; only the one sitting on the dragon throne was kept in the dark.

Doctor Zhang had lent out twenty taels of silver and had no idea when he would get it back, so he was in a poor mood.

After traveling without pause, his mood worsened even further.

Thus, when he returned to Prince Zhou's Mansion, his expression was as foul as it could be. The people in the mansion grew uneasy, unable to tell whether he brought good news or bad.

The Princess Consort and Zhu Zijin led everyone in the mansion to receive the decree before the mourning hall. Once they clearly heard that the emperor respected Prince Zhou's final wish and exempted everyone in Prince Zhou's Mansion from Martyrdom Sacrifice, all of them went weak in the back.

After pausing briefly, the six concubines burst into tears, beating the ground and wailing, "My lord—my lord, how could you leave us behind—"

The mansion servants behind them also began sobbing loudly. Prince Zhou's personal attendants in particular wept as though their own parents had died. Never before had they mourned Prince Zhou with such true sincerity.