The Xuan Emperor waved a hand. “We’ll get to poems and lyrics in a moment. I asked you here today because there’s something I want to put to you.”
“Introductions first. These two are my son and my daughter. They’ve admired your name for some time and kicked up a fuss about coming along. You don’t mind?”
“No, no…”
Good grief. So these two are Prince Fu’s son and daughter.
As he said it Ning Chen looked over at the crown prince and the Ninth Princess, and smiled. “A pleasure. My name is Lan Xing.”
The crown prince smiled back. “Xuan Hong. Your name is well known to me.” (TL Note: Chinese names put the family name first. His family name is Xuan; his given name is Hong.)
Uncle goes by Tian Xuan and the son by Xuan Hong. That’s a little odd.
Ning Chen didn’t take it any further than that.
The Ninth Princess made a sound in her throat and turned her head away.
Ning Chen’s head filled with question marks. What was that? Uncle’s daughter doesn’t seem to think much of me.
Tian Xuan’s face darkened a shade. “Mind your manners.”
Ning Chen smiled. “It’s fine, it’s fine… She’s a child. A little temper is normal at that age.”
That made the Ninth Princess angrier still. You are one year older than I am. Who are you to talk like somebody’s grandfather?
The Xuan Emperor shook his head and laughed in spite of himself. “Lan Xing. Do you remember the three strategies you gave me?”
Ning Chen nodded. Three strategies, three hundred taels. How could he forget?
Tian Xuan said, “Then which of them do you think should actually be used?”
Ning Chen looked blank. “Uncle, that’s for His Majesty on the throne to decide. Asking me is asking nobody.”
“Aren’t we just chatting? Let’s hear it.”
Ning Chen thought about it. “If it were me, I’d do two things at once. The last two strategies.”
“First beat the shit out of— uh. I mean, first give those Tuoluo bandits a beating. Hurt them… Then open the border markets and let them trade warhorses for what they need to get through the winter.”
“Open the markets straight off and the Tuoluo will think we’re afraid of them… So: the stick first, then the carrot. Force and generosity together. That’s how it’s done.”
The Xuan Emperor let out a big, open laugh.
“Good, good, good… I didn’t misjudge you. Lan Xing, you have the makings of a statesman!”
When he’d said it, he glanced at the crown prince.
Shame filled the crown prince’s face. His father the emperor had put that same question to him, and he had not been able to answer it.
And he finally understood why his father had brought him here today. He had been brought to learn.
Ning Chen said modestly, “Uncle praises me too highly. I’m only talking.”
The Xuan Emperor waved it away. “Lan Xing, talent is a good thing. There’s no need to run yourself down over it.”
“There’s one more thing I wanted from you today… A fine piece came into my hands recently. Would you give me your opinion of it?”
Ning Chen nodded. “Go ahead, Uncle.”
The Xuan Emperor considered a moment, then spoke.
盛德方迎木，柔風漸布和。 百姓忙耕種，大地贈福澤。
Great virtue turns to welcome the wood of spring, and soft winds spread their warmth abroad. The common people are busy at their plowing, and the wide earth hands out its blessings.
Ning Chen went blank.
He had never heard the last two lines. The first two were Sima Guang’s (TL Note: a real Song dynasty statesman and poet, absent from this world. Chinese children all grow up on the same story about him, which is the one Ning Chen reaches for here.) — the one who broke the water jar to save the drowning boy.
Is there a Sima Guang in this world too?
No. If there were, the last two lines wouldn’t have the meter wrong.
Unless somebody else crossed over the way I did, and could only remember the first two lines… and made up the other two on the spot.
The Xuan Emperor didn’t notice anything wrong with Ning Chen’s face and went on. “The first two lines are fine work. The last two, I think, fall a very long way short.”
Ning Chen collected himself. “Uncle, who wrote it?”
Something strange came into the Xuan Emperor’s eyes.
He said it slowly. “It was written by the man who placed third in this year’s palace examination. Ning Gan.”
Ning Chen’s mind stopped.
Christ… How is that possible?
He had run through every possibility there was, and not one of them had been Ning Gan.
The Xuan Emperor watched his reaction with interest.
“Lan Xing. Do you know what sort of man this Ning Gan is?”
Of course I know. A vicious, devious little man.
Not a flicker showed on his face. “Didn’t Uncle just say so? He placed third this year.”
The corner of the Xuan Emperor’s mouth twitched. The boy can put on quite a performance.
Then something narrowed in Ning Chen’s eyes.
Something had come back to him. The night before he first went to the general’s residence, he had meant to write a poem for Old General Chen, and had started several without liking any of them… and he thought this one had been among them.
It had. He was sure of it. He’d written only the two lines.
And there it was. He hadn’t thrown the draft away. He’d left for the general’s residence first thing the next morning, and Ning Gan must have been in his room while he was gone.
The little shit had stolen his poem, patched two lines onto the end of it, and carried it into the palace examination to swindle the emperor with.
Ning Gan. Ning Gan. You put a Black King of Hell in my bed to kill me… Well. One good turn deserves another.
“Uncle, what’s it called?”
The Xuan Emperor said, “‘In Praise of the Emperor.'”
The corner of Ning Chen’s mouth twitched. The poem described spring — everything waking, the farmers at their plowing, a country at peace and a people well fed.
Though if you insisted on dragging the emperor into it, you could… A country at peace and a people well fed is the emperor’s doing, after all.
The Xuan Emperor asked, “Lan Xing. What do you make of it?”
Ning Chen said, smiling, “The first two lines are fine work. The last two have the meter wrong and don’t make a damn bit of sense.”
The Xuan Emperor nodded. He thought so too.
“Uncle, if I may be so bold — I’d like to polish it up.”
The man in front of him was Prince Fu. If Ning Chen polished the poem and the polished version reached His Majesty’s ears, Ning Gan would be carrying the name of a shallow talent for the rest of his life.
A literary man lives on his name. Ruin the name, and he isn’t only spat on — promotion becomes very hard to come by.
Ning Gan. You had your turn. Don’t blame me for taking mine. Ning Chen laughed coldly to himself.
The Xuan Emperor’s eyes lit up.
So did the crown prince’s, and he watched Ning Chen expectantly.
Ning Chen’s reputation was out in the world now. With him polishing it, the poem would climb a whole step higher.
The Xuan Emperor nodded. “Polish away, Lan Xing. Let these two useless children of mine see what talent looks like.”
The crown prince didn’t react at all. He was used to being found wanting.
The Ninth Princess rolled her eyes. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come.
Ning Chen thought for a while, then clapped his hands. “There.”
The Xuan Emperor said urgently, “Let’s hear it.”
Ning Chen spoke slowly.
盛德方迎木，柔風漸布和。 省耕將效駕，擊壞已聞歌。
Great virtue turns to welcome the wood of spring, and soft winds spread their warmth abroad. The carriage goes out to see the plowing; already the songs come back from the fields.
The Xuan Emperor’s eyes blazed. He said it under his breath. “The carriage goes out to see the plowing; already the songs come back from the fields… Good. That is a good poem!”
The crown prince repeated it several times, his whole face lit, and couldn’t hold it in. “Superb. Superb… Polished by Young Master Lan, it’s another piece of the kind you rarely see.”
“Ning Gan has the ability of a third-place man. Young Master Lan has the ability of a Top Scholar… No. Of a Grand Secretary.”
The Ninth Princess’s fine eyes moved, and she looked at Ning Chen in astonishment. The man was insufferable to listen to, but his gift was beyond the ordinary… Polished by him, the poem was an entirely new and beautiful thing.
Whether Eunuch Quan had understood a word of it was anybody’s guess, but he had a fawning smile on, a smile like a eunuch’s… No. He was a eunuch.
The dragon countenance was greatly pleased. He looked at the crown prince. “Hong’er. From now on you will learn as much as you can from Lan Xing. Do you understand?”
(End of Chapter 24)