Word of spring

The New Year celebrations were not yet over. Several red lanterns beneath the eaves of the Hall of Mental Cultivation had been blown crooked by the north wind. Liu An led the servants in straightening them and added a few newly papered rabbit lanterns. Xiao Huaijin ran out of the side hall, holding up a freshly written character for "fortune." The ink had not quite dried, and the wind curled the corners of the paper. He held it against a corridor pillar to see how it looked, then called back into the hall, "Father-can I put it here?"

Xiao Lin looked up from his memorials and glanced through the open doors at the little figure in apricot yellow holding the red paper beneath the eaves.

"It's crooked. The left side is a little too high."

Xiao Huaijin raised his hand a little and examined it from both sides before asking Liu An to help paste it up. This was his first time writing Spring Festival couplets himself. Although he had only written a single character for "fortune," he had begun practicing in the twelfth lunar month, ruining a thick stack of paper before finally choosing this sheet-the horizontal strokes were level and the vertical strokes straight, with only the central vertical stroke in the "field" component leaning the slightest bit to the left. Zhou Rucheng called this "artless charm." He did not understand what artless charm meant, but anything the Grand Tutor praised could hardly be wrong.

After putting up the fortune character, he ran back to the side hall and gathered the other sets of couplets on his desk-one for Consort Jing's palace, one for Consort Xian's, one for Consort De's, and one for Concubine Li and the Third Princess. He rolled them up one set at a time and handed them to Liu An to deliver, then returned to the low table, spread out fresh paper, and began his lessons for the day.

More than a month had passed since the Shen Clan's case concluded, and the inner palace had grown much quieter. Consort Jing and Consort Xian jointly managed its affairs, with Consort Jing overseeing personnel and Consort Xian handling money. Consort Jing had taken Xiao Yu into her palace. Rather than making him live alone in a side hall, she first had Xiao Lan move in with Xiao Rui for a few days and gave Xiao Yu the warm chamber nearest the main hall, where he could find someone if he woke at night. When Xiao Yu first arrived, he refused to sleep all night, so Consort Jing sat beside his bed, humming lullabies to coax him to sleep and stroking his head as she told him not to be afraid. Consort Xian brought pastries every other day. Concubine Li dug out Xiao Rui's old books and brought them for Xiao Yu to read. Consort De had also visited twice, each time bringing a packet of tangerine peel she had dried herself.

Xiao Yu had grown noticeably thinner. His once-round chin had become pointed. His dimples remained, but his smile no longer filled his whole face as it once had. He no longer ran to the Hall of Mental Cultivation every day. He already knew what the Shen Clan had done, and for several days after what happened to his mother, he had not dared see his crown prince brother. He was afraid his brother hated him.

On the afternoon of the fifth day of the first lunar month, Xiao Huaijin came.

He brought Xiao Lan a small box of new charcoal pencils, then walked to the door of Xiao Yu's warm chamber. Xiao Yu was sitting on the couch, leafing through the Three Character Classic. When he saw Xiao Huaijin come in, he closed the book and shifted aside, leaving half the seat for his crown prince brother.

"Second Brother, I learned to write Spring Festival couplets today-I wrote a set for you."

He unrolled the red paper. Written on it were the words, "Winter's cold reveals the pine and cypress; spring's warmth brings tidings of peace." He had practiced those ten characters for several days. Every one was neat and upright, his strokes steadier than usual. Xiao Yu looked down at them for a long time before raising his head. "Crown Prince Brother, what does this mean?"

Xiao Huaijin pointed to the characters and explained them one by one. "'Winter's cold reveals the pine and cypress' means you only find out which trees aren't afraid of the cold when the weather turns cold."

Xiao Huaijin sat down beside him. "Father told me. Pines and cypresses aren't afraid of the cold. In winter, all the other trees lose their leaves, but they stay green. You're the same-you didn't fall even after something so painful. You're even stronger than the pines and cypresses."

Xiao Yu said nothing. He held the couplets and read them again, then rolled them up and placed them beside his pillow.

The two children sat silently beside the couch for a while before Xiao Yu suddenly spoke. "Crown Prince Brother, the day Mother left, she told me to follow you. She said I should learn from you properly." He paused, his voice growing softer.

Xiao Huaijin said nothing. He took a packet of osmanthus cakes from his sleeve, opened it, and set it beside Xiao Yu's hand. "Then learn from me properly from now on. Writing, archery, reading-I'll teach you all of it."

Xiao Yu looked at the cakes, then at his crown prince brother, and finally gave his first full smile in over a month. His dimples were still deep. Though his face had grown thinner, his smile looked exactly as it had before. He picked up an osmanthus cake, took a bite, and mumbled, "Crown Prince Brother, you won't stop talking to me someday, will you?"

"I won't."

"Forever?"

"Forever."

The two children hooked pinkies-Xiao Yu's little finger curled around Xiao Huaijin's, and they shook them three times. Afterward, Xiao Yu felt the promise was very formal, so he pressed his thumb against Xiao Huaijin's to add a seal. His thumb pressed hard enough to hurt a little, but Xiao Huaijin did not pull his hand away.

After leaving Consort Jing's palace, Xiao Huaijin did not go straight back to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. He stood in the passageway for a long while, suddenly feeling a prickling in his nose.

That evening, Xiao Lin tested him on his lessons. Zhou Rucheng had taught the passage "He who practices benevolence through virtue becomes a true king" from Mencius: Gongsun Chou, Part One that day. After reciting the text, Xiao Huaijin explained his understanding of it. "The Grand Tutor said that if you subdue people through force, they fear you; if you win them over through virtue, they respect you. People who fear you won't truly help you. Only those who respect you will."

Seated behind the imperial desk, Xiao Lin asked him what a ruler should use to win people over. Xiao Huaijin thought for a moment. "Virtue. But he must have strength first-if virtue has no strength behind it, people will neither fear nor respect him."

Xiao Lin's brow stirred slightly. Zhou Rucheng had not taught him that-when teaching Mencius, Zhou Rucheng never spoke of "strength," only "benevolence."

"Who taught you that?"

"No one. When I watched Father deal with the Shen Clan a few days ago, not a single person in court dared speak up for Shen Boyong. That was because Father had the Imperial Guards, Kong Wu, and Minister Sun's account books. Only with strength can virtue win people over."

Xiao Lin looked at this child who had only just turned six. In his previous life, he had stood in court for so many years, yet no one had ever taught him these things. In this life, Xiao Lin had laid everything he ought to see before him. His aptitude was quite good.

"I told you to read the Shen Clan's case files. How much have you read?"

"Only a little less than half. There are lots of characters I don't know."

Xiao Huaijin admitted it honestly. "Shen Boyong embezzled eight hundred and sixty thousand taels of military pay. He dared do it because he thought Father didn't know. Father let him think that, so he stole more and more. Once he had laid out all the evidence himself, Father drew in the net."

Xiao Lin was silent for a long time. Then he pushed a memorial over from the corner of the desk and told him to read it. Xiao Huaijin took it and opened it. It concerned filling the vacant prefect's post in Hejian Prefecture. He did not recognize all the official titles and place names, but he read it to the end. Closing it, he asked two questions: why had this man been chosen, and what had he done in Hejian Prefecture? Xiao Lin did not answer, telling him to investigate for himself.

Xiao Huaijin put the memorial away and nodded. That night, he spent a long time bent over the low table, leafing through the Gazetteer of Hejian Prefecture and working his way through the names in its list of officials. Halfway through, he discovered that the proposed prefect's name appeared on a batch of tax-silver receipts from three years earlier. Copies of those receipts were tucked into the appendices of the account books Sun Jingtang had sent over; he had just looked through them a few days before. He traced that line of small characters with his finger, then folded down the corner of the page.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Xiao Yu began attending lessons with Xiao Huaijin. Zhou Rucheng assigned the two children different work-Xiao Huaijin wrote policy essays, while Xiao Yu practiced the Thousand Character Classic. Xiao Huaijin still did not hold his brush quite correctly, and as he wrote, he switched to his left hand again. Xiao Lin came to the study, saw him, and took the brush from his left hand, placing it back in his right.

"Don't switch hands. Once you do, you won't be able to correct it."

Xiao Huaijin obediently switched back, wrote a line, then looked up and glanced out the window again.

Outside, several sparrows perched on the branches, chirping away.

After lessons, he suddenly asked Xiao Yu a question.

"Want to go out and build a snowman? It's sunny today. The snow will melt tomorrow."

Xiao Yu was pulled into the courtyard by his sleeve, and the two crouched down to roll snowballs. Xiao Yu rolled a small one for the head, while Xiao Huaijin rolled a large one for the body. Finally, Xiao Yu took off his rabbit-fur muff and put it on the snowman's head.

"It's too cold! Let him wear it for a while. I'll put on a new one when I go back."

Xiao Lan was passing beneath the eaves when they pulled her over to judge whose snowball was rounder. She looked at the two not-particularly-round snowballs.

"They're both round."

"Fourth Sister, you're telling lies again." Xiao Yu looked at the misshapen head.

"It doesn't matter whether it's round. What matters is that it's steady." As she spoke, she reached out and straightened the snowman's head a little.

Xiao Rui came too. She stood beside them and watched for a while without helping, only taking a charcoal pencil from her sleeve to draw two eyes and a mouth on the snowman's face.

Xiao Yu ran over to look.

"Third Sister, you've drawn it to life!"

That evening, Xiao Lin came over from the main hall. Xiao Huaijin was bent over the low table, finishing his last page of writing for the day. He was copying "He who practices benevolence through virtue becomes a true king" from Mencius, and paused when he reached the character for "benevolence."

"Father, how should I write 'benevolence' for it to be good?"

Xiao Lin did not answer how to write it.

"On the left of 'benevolence' is a person, and on the right is two-one person holding another in his heart."

Xiao Huaijin looked down at the character he had written-the person radical on the left was very thin, while the "two" on the right was quite wide. It looked as though the little person on the left was holding an umbrella for the big person on the right. He made no more changes and set down his brush, then suddenly asked, "Father, will Second Brother do wrong things someday too?"

"Why do you ask?"

"The Noble Consort did lots of wrong things. Second Brother is her son-will people think he'll do wrong things too?"

Xiao Lin looked down at him, not having expected this to be on his mind. He placed the memorial in his hand on the low table and sat down across from him.

"Huaijin. Whether a person does wrong has nothing to do with his parents. Your mother was the best person I have ever known-but if you do something wrong, that is your own doing, not your mother's fault. The reverse is also true. Xiao Yu is his own person. The path he takes in the future will be his own choice."

Xiao Huaijin was silent for a while, then nodded without asking anything more. He committed those words to memory.

That night, Xiao Huaijin slept deeply. When Xiao Lin finished reviewing memorials and came to see him, he was curled beneath the quilt with only half his face showing, his eyelashes occasionally trembling. The unfinished page of "benevolence" characters still lay open on the table. Moonlight filtered through the paper window and fell on that character, thin on the left and wide on the right. Xiao Lin tucked in the quilt and stroked his head.

"This time, all of you must be well."

He murmured the words, moved the charcoal brazier half a foot closer to the couch, then gathered the practice sheets from the low table and set them at the corner of the desk. He turned and went out, closing the door softly behind him.

The moonlight flowed like water. He rubbed the jade pendant at his waist, his thoughts unknown.