Legendary Imperial Consort Li Tiezhu - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The imperial edict granting the marriage came down very quickly.

Because preparations for a royal wedding were both tedious and protracted, the Crown Grandson and I could not be married right away.

I was sent to the Eastern Palace and placed in the care of the Crown Princess-my future mother-in-law-for a comprehensive education.

At the same time, through people’s extremely emotional introductions, I gained a preliminary understanding of my future husband, His Highness the Crown Grandson.

The Crown Grandson, Wei Yezhao, was born in the third year after the founding of Great Zhao. His Majesty had named him Yezhao in the hope that he would accomplish great deeds for Great Zhao. Clearly, just like my Tiezhu, it was a name entrusted with high expectations.

His Majesty loved this grandson dearly and had established him early on as the empire’s successor. Wei Yezhao himself had lived up to that favor. Not only was he exceptionally accomplished in his studies, he was also skilled in calligraphy, painting, and many other arts. In terms of artistic talent, he could be said to be the complete opposite of His Majesty and me.

Most praised of all were his noble bearing and handsome face, which made him deeply popular with women far and wide. Even the middle-aged palace matron who taught me etiquette would show a suspicious blush on her usually impassive face whenever she mentioned him.

However, all of this felt rather vague to me, because we had never held a formal bilateral meeting. My impression of him remained fixed on a single snort of laughter.

I officially met Wei Yezhao two months after entering the Eastern Palace.

It was a night when the moonlight flowed like water, and sleep would not come.

With the bright moon overhead and myself far from home, one could hardly avoid feelings of longing and melancholy.

But mainly, I was hungry.

During my advanced studies in the Eastern Palace, I had to learn a great deal of cultural knowledge and etiquette every day. The rules regarding dining were especially harsh. I had to remain elegant and refined, and I also could not eat very much.

This cruel training in chewing slowly and delicately brought immense pain to both my body and soul. I was often hungry-hungry in a lingering, soul-stirring way.

Every night, after the palace servants had fallen asleep, I would quietly crawl out of bed and raid every edible item in my room.

Thus, that night, when Wei Yezhao flipped down from the top of the wall, he found himself locking eyes with me as I furtively gnawed on a date in the courtyard.

Many beautiful stories begin on nights when the moonlight flows like water.

A young man and a young woman look into each other’s eyes.

The moonlight is so clear.

We fell into a long silence.

In this world, the love of fame, the love of profit, even admiration for virtue and talent-all of these are cultivated after birth. Only the love of beauty comes entirely from human nature.

I admit that the instant I saw Wei Yezhao descend so gracefully, that particular nature of mine could not help but stir.

Wei Yezhao had clearly not expected that, in the dead of such a silent night, there would still be a lonely, beautiful young woman gnawing on a date.

He scratched behind his ear, looking rather awkward, but quickly regained his composure.

“Well, um, you’re Li Tiezhu, right? Are you willing to help me…?”

I was willing.

If I had to put a time limit on that willingness…

I would say: anytime.

Wei Yezhao said, “Can you help me find Xiaohong?”

Xiaohong?

Hearing this name, which was so much softer and prettier than Tiezhu, a trace of pain swept across my heart.

“Oh, his full name is Red-Glowing Mighty Ever-Victorious General.”

“Red…”

“Red-Glowing Mighty Ever-Victorious General.”

I nodded. “Then where might this General Xiaohong be now?”

“In your courtyard,” he said. “Listen.”

I listened.

The sound of my heart stirring.

“That direction.”

He raised a hand and pointed toward the flowerbed.

The night was very still.

Autumn insects chirped.

An incomparably gentle expression appeared on his face. “Do you hear it? What a beautiful sound.”

It was indeed a remarkably beautiful sound.

We went over to the flower bed where the cricket was chirping. He took out a fire striker and asked me, “Can you hold the flame for me?”

With my full cooperation, Wei Yezhao soon captured the Red-Glowing Mighty Ever-Victorious General.

After he put the cricket into a bamboo tube, we sat down on the stone edging around the flower bed.

The atmosphere instantly sank into a shy sort of awkwardness.

A moment later, I took the initiative to break the deadlock. I asked the question that had been weighing on my mind, saying that this little General Xiaohong was not actually red. In fact, it was rather black.

Wei Yezhao was very pleased by my incisive question. Assuming the air of an elder, he patiently explained it to me.

He said names often created an immediate first impression, and that this impression would be strengthened by a special force of conviction.

“For example, if it were called the Black-Glowing Mighty Ever-Victorious General, how would that make you feel?”

He spread his hands toward me with a solemn expression.

“Like its life is in danger. It makes one rather worried.”

He nodded slightly.

“Golden-glowing all over?”

“Very peaceful. I would even feel like lighting a few sticks of incense for it.”

“Green-glowing all over?”

“That is more complicated. Mostly sympathy. I would feel a little unsure what to say to the cricket.”

Under Wei Yezhao’s patient guidance, I came to understand the painstaking thought he had put into naming his cricket.

Red-glowing all over was clearly more auspicious and full of fighting spirit, forming a fine echo with the words mighty and ever-victorious.

After that, Wei Yezhao poured out the tale of his tragic circumstances.

Everyone had their own special hobbies. Wei Yezhao’s hobby was cricket fighting.

But His Majesty believed that, for the future successor of the empire, this was a deeply unpromising hobby, and so he had given Wei Yezhao a stern scolding.

Wei Yezhao had no choice but to gradually drive this hobby underground.

He hid his crickets in a secluded room in the Eastern Palace. Every night, under the pretext of “studying hard,” he would go to that room and spend quiet, wonderful hours with his crickets. It was practically the happiest moment of his entire day.

However, several days ago, disaster struck. This Red-Glowing Mighty Ever-Victorious General, which he had gone to great lengths to obtain, unfortunately went missing.

Having lost his beloved, His Highness the Crown Grandson was tormented inside. He could not alert anyone, lest His Majesty find out, but he also could not set aside the worry in his heart. And so, late at night, he wandered through every corner of the Eastern Palace, trying to find the Great General.

That night, as he passed by my courtyard, he was pleasantly surprised to hear a familiar chirping outside the wall…

My first official meeting with Wei Yezhao could be considered exceedingly harmonious.

Before he climbed back over the wall to leave, he said to me with a solemn expression, “Li Tiezhu, your name… hmm. It has a sort of… pillar-of-the-nation feeling. At the time, mine was a smile of relief.”

But what happened afterward made me unable to help suspecting that he might have been possessed by a ghost that night.

Because we both came from Yongcheng, the Crown Princess and I established a fairly friendly mother-in-law-and-daughter-in-law relationship from the very beginning. After my studies showed some small progress, she often kept me by her side, which also allowed me to see Wei Yezhao frequently.

However, the Wei Yezhao of this time and the Wei Yezhao of that night were almost not the same person.

His every word and action revealed the nobility befitting the Crown Grandson. His attitude toward me was courteous, yet cold and distant.

I could hardly even imagine him digging in the dirt to catch crickets.

At the same time, I also received a bit of gossip. It was said that Wei Yezhao was not actually very satisfied with this marriage, because he had a girl he was close to, one who could be said to share mutual affection with him.