A Crane Cries in Huating

Lingering clouds, and drizzling rain;

The sky is dark and the road now difficult.

After a long stare-down, the emperor ordered, “Go and get the staff.” 

Wang Shen was befuddled at the mere idea, terrified, he hurriedly begged, “What do you plan to do, Your Majesty?” 

The emperor said coldly, “He has pleaded guilty, what else do you have to defend him?” 

Wang Shen plopped down on his knees and persuaded him: “When a member of the imperial clan makes a mistake, but nothing related to rebellion — in such cases, there is precedent for its judgement — that is to have their stipends seized and reprimanded. Corporal punishment was never implemented on the emperor’s consuls, how could it be on a prince? The heir’s body is very precious and tied to the imperial throne, therefore it should not be even slightly damaged. Your majesty, I implore you a thousand times, please reconsider.” 

The emperor sneered, “I know he’s the great crown prince whom I cannot afford to offend, he’s my son that I cannot afford to offend, right?” 

Suddenly, Dingquan answered from below, “I dare not bear the words ‘afford to offend’. Your Majesty, I would rather die than bear you use these words for me. Please retract your statement.” Then he said to Wang Shen, “This is His Majesty’s grace, Secretary Wang, why don’t you see that? Your Majesty means that this is not the king punishing me, but a father educating his child, it’s not the law of the country, but the law of the family. Please be considerate of me, Secretary Wang, and quickly pass the decree.” He raised his head again and said, “You have heard what I have said, this is a family matter, so both of you step back quickly.” 

The two scribes working aside looked at each other in dismay and stopped their pens, but Dingquan kowtowed again, “I thank Your Majesty, for your grace of saving a wrongdoer.”

The emperor glared coldly at him, however, this time he let out a hollow laugh and didn’t attack Dingquan like before. He simply waved his hands and said, “Everyone, step down, I was just letting out my anger. You don’t need to record this.” 

Slowly, as the last person withdrew, the emperor said to Wang Shen, “What are you doing, still standing in a daze? He is waiting for you to get that job done, yet you refuse to?”

At that moment, Wang Shen was ruminating about the past and realised that today’s affairs were far from simple as he thought. At the end of the year, when the sentence was handed down, the low-ranking officials who had no serious crimes were pardoned without a report. Although it wasn’t in the law, they could still be accused of encroaching on the areas pertaining to governmental affairs and common politics. However, this had been a private practice in the imperial court since the previous dynasty, and everybody knew of the fact. Rather, today the emperor took this opportunity to make some trouble. The reason must be that the father and son seemed to resemble each other inwardly. One was willing to fight, while the other was willing to suffer. Then again, he was an outsider but was helping out with their apparent feud. 

Although Wang Shen figured out his motives, he still felt bitterly disappointed and sneered. He couldn’t bear to see the crown prince suffer, and when he furtively glanced at the emperor, who looked deep in thought with his eyes hung low as if he had nothing to do with this matter at all. Wang Shen knew that with His Majesty’s usual temper, it would be hard to beg for mercy from him now. So instead, he stomped his feet and retreated.

Every now and then, Wang Shen would return to arrange for the matter.

A servant came with a lacquer plate to help Dingquan take off his guan. Dingquan turned his head aside, took off the black muslin jin from his head by himself, and then reached out to undo the jade belt around his waist. After that, he stood up, walked up to the punishment bench, and wiped the black punishment bench with disgust in his eyes. Looking down and glancing at his fingers, he bent down.

The emperor didn’t care about his pretentiousness; he just smiled and said to Wang Shen, “You see that? He has always been bright about these petty matters since he was a child, so he hasn’t improved at all in these years.” 

Wang Shen didn’t dare to answer, and could not bear to laugh either, he could only awkwardly nod his head twice. Hearing the sound of the heavy staff hitting, he gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows. He couldn’t bear to look, painstakingly counting silently in his heart. Even after he counted to forty, he still didn’t hear the crown prince’s pleading, nor could he hear the emperor pardoning him, he couldn’t help but panic. Opening his eyes, he saw Dingquan’s face, which once appeared like a mirror of elegance and grace, was now turned pale white. Even his facial features looked distorted. Wang Shen was so frightened that he fell down to his knees with a plop, and begged the emperor, “Your Majesty, have mercy.” Then he turned his head to Dingquan, “Your Highness, Your Highness, please say something, I beg you.” However, seeing that the father and son were unmoved, he finally gritted his teeth and whispered, “Your Highness, think about your mother.” 

Having these words vaguely reverberate in his mind, Dingquan, who was almost ready to lose consciousness, shivered. Suddenly, he pulled an ugly wry smile from the corner of his mouth, clenched his jaw, and said in a low voice, “Your Majesty—”

“What did he say?” asked the emperor.

Wang Shen hurriedly added for him, “His Highness begs for Your Majesty’s forgiveness.”

The emperor glanced at Wang Shen, then stared coldly at Dingquan for a while, before finally raising his hand. 

Seeing that, the servant immediately stopped his staff. 

The emperor paused for a moment and then said, “Forget it. Go back to your West Mansion. You don’t have to attend the ceremony for the next two months. Just stay in and reflect on your mistakes. Your apology letter will be displayed in the Spring Square.” Saying that, he walked away. Looking at Wang Shen trailing behind him with a sad face, he asked, “Since you are so worried about him that you are not even afraid of cheating your ruler on his face, what are you waiting for not seeing him off?” 

Wang Shen laughed awkwardly, and said, “I don’t dare.” 

He stayed still where he was, and when the emperor was far away, he hurried back to check on Dingquan.

A low-ranking servant who was full of curiosity grabbed hold of the young servant who had been working here for a year, and after making sure that no one was paying attention, he asked, “Why did His Majesty ask Secretary Wang about what His Highness said again?” 

The young servant replied, “It was to cover up whatever His Highness said earlier.”

The servant said, “You were close, did you hear what His Highness said?” 

The young servant said, “I heard. His Highness said, ‘Your Majesty, this is not fair.’” 

The servant asked, “What was unfair?” 

The young servant sneered and said, “How would I know? If you ask me, nothing is fair in this world. For example, after you ask me about it, you will turn around to report it to your Lord Chen and get rewarded. I find that unfair as well.” 

The servant laughed and scolded, “Don’t talk nonsense.” 

He turned his head to see that no one was around, then he put his arm around his shoulder as they went away together.

Translator: turtleneck

Editor: Noir

Sorry for the late update, I wasn’t home.