Chapter 437 - 228: Whence Comes the Cat

Chapter 437: Chapter 228: Whence Comes the Cat

There are two types of Princes.

Princes and Commandery Princes.

Princes are all of the Emperor’s blood relatives. Currently, all the named Princes of the Daqian Dynasty are enshrined in the Royal Family’s ancestral hall, revered by the masses and honored with incense. As for Commandery Princes, none had been named since the founding of Daqian.

There are two ways one can be granted the title: by merit or by grace. Simply put, the first is for accomplishments so great they nearly outshine the sovereign, and the second is for being the Emperor’s descendant.

Prince Zheng seemed to be a third type.

The Emperor had a favor to ask of him.

But Zheng Xiu, for one, was not short on money, and for another, had no interest in power. To the Emperor, such a person was undoubtedly the best candidate for the title of Commandery Prince—his main advantage was that he was safe.

In the great hall.

The moment Zheng Xiu put on the little tiger king’s hat, the civil and military officials and the three Princes all cast complex gazes upon him, filled with envy, doubt, jealousy, and admiration.

"We pay our respects to the Red King!"

The instant the enfeoffment Ceremony ended, all the civil and military officials fell to their knees to pay homage to the newly appointed Red King!

Zheng Xiu looked back at the kneeling civil and military officials, including the Left and Right Chancellors. Even for someone like him, who had never desired power, he couldn’t help but feel a peculiar sense of emotion.

The title of Red King came with no real power and no ability to interfere in politics, but its status was so revered that it was now comparable to the Daqian Royal Family—second to one, and above millions!

The Red King was now the one and only Prince in the Daqian Dynasty—the Red King!

’Red King...’

’The heart of a newborn child?’

Zheng Xiu pondered the strange title. Looking at the Great Emperor’s majestic yet affectionate gaze, he asked in a low voice, "If my father had been able to return home in glory back then, instead of dying on the battlefield, this title of Red King would have surely been his, wouldn’t it?"

The Great Emperor overheard Zheng Xiu’s muttering. He gave Zheng Xiu a smiling glare, sat back down on the Dragon Throne, and sighed softly. "The Zheng Clan’s ancestors have contributed to every piece of the Daqian Dynasty’s foundation over the past several hundred years."

"Thank you, Holy Emperor."

The necessary formalities still had to be observed.

Now, in front of all the civil and military officials, a Civil Servant presented a stack of deeds.

This was the greatest benefit of being made a Prince. All the taxable lands in Shuzhou that now belonged to him were listed, item by item, on the deeds.

Once he became a Prince, as long as Daqian did not fall, the descendants of his Zheng Clan would never have to worry about food or clothing, and would hold a revered status.

Zheng Xiu quickly adopted the airs of a Prince and said with a faint smile, "Send them to my estate."

"A seat for the Prince!"

The Great Emperor ordered someone to bring a lavish small stool, similar to the ones the three Princes were sitting on. He was seated in the next most honored position, and from the arrangement, it seemed his rank was even a notch above the three Princes.

Zheng Xiu had just been thinking of slipping away as soon as he got the title of Prince, but he didn’t expect the Great Emperor to keep him to listen in on court affairs.

’Might as well listen, then.’

Zheng Xiu obligingly took his seat. The three Princes’ gazes crossed with his from time to time. The Eldest Prince and Third Prince both showed looks of "congratulations," but the Second Prince’s expression was complicated. This reminded Zheng Xiu of that time, under the flowers and the moon, when this child had asked him with a cold smile if he knew how to write the character for "death." It made him sigh at how much times had changed.

After being named the Red King, Zheng Xiu’s mood during the rest of the morning court session was like that of an office worker waiting for the clock to strike quitting time.

Memorials from all over Daqian were presented and read out one by one. Occasionally, the Great Emperor would consult the officials for their opinions.

During the morning court, Zheng Xiu overheard several matters that interested him.

One of them, it seemed, was related to a strange case.

He silently committed it to memory.

Someone brought up the matter of the droughts and floods in the south again. When the Great Emperor casually asked how to handle the disaster relief, he looked toward the newly appointed Red King.

Zheng Xiu nonchalantly offered to donate a year’s worth of tax revenue from Shuzhou. The officials all cheered, hailing the Great Emperor’s wisdom. Looking at their faces, all wanting to praise him but too embarrassed to do so directly, Zheng Xiu couldn’t help but sigh. ’This is the way of the court official.’

Finally, the workday was over.

The civil and military officials retreated from court in an orderly fashion.

The Great Emperor did not bring up the matter of Zheng Xiu succeeding the Night Lord during the morning session. After all, the work of the Ye Weiyang had always been done from the shadows. But the look the Great Emperor gave Zheng Xiu as he was leaving seemed to say: ’You know what to do.’

Zheng Xiu nodded at the Great Emperor and walked out of the great hall with a tacit understanding.

Many officials immediately flocked to him, offering their congratulations and cordially calling him Prince Zheng. Some enthusiastic officials even asked if Zheng Xiu was in need of concubines or consorts, as they had daughters who had just come of age, beautiful as flowers, and skilled in the four arts as well as music and song. The implication was clear to anyone who understood.

After politely declining many offers of daughters and dinner invitations, Zheng Xiu caught up to Jiang Gaoyi on the steps, who was cautiously descending the Celestial Ascension Ladder.

"Lord Jiang."

Zheng Xiu said with a smile.

"Gasp!" Jiang Gaoyi, startled but flattered, cupped his hands at Zheng Xiu. "Greetings, Red King."

Zheng Xiu quickened his pace to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Jiang Gaoyi. After his greeting, Jiang Gaoyi subtly slowed his pace by half a step, positioning himself half a shoulder’s length behind Zheng Xiu. Zheng Xiu noticed this small detail and thought to himself, ’No wonder you were promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Lord Jiang.’ But he didn’t say anything, just continued to make small talk with Jiang Gaoyi.

The other officials were eager to curry favor with the new Prince, but when they saw Prince Zheng voluntarily approach Jiang Gaoyi, they all drew a sharp breath and began to ponder the hidden meaning.

In the Court, forming factions and small cliques was an unwritten rule of official life. The three Princes each had officials they were on good terms with, and they had put in a lot of effort on that front. Otherwise, before the ancestral worship Ceremony on the third day of the third month, so many officials wouldn’t have praised the Third Prince in morning court, which showed that the Third Prince was very good at this work.

Now, the new Red King was clearly showing special favor to Jiang Gaoyi. This led many officials to connect it with Jiang Gaoyi’s recent bestowment of a Viscount title, and for a moment, their imaginations ran wild.