Chapter 50: A Vacancy in the Palace—Will You Come?

With the referee’s whistle, the outcome of the match was decided.

The game had not been as sensational as Ye Chang had imagined. Most of the people lured here by “Buddhist affairs” had drifted away, and only about a thousand spectators had stayed from start to finish. But this was enough; these thousand were either wealthy or idle, and it was easy to imagine the football match’s reputation would spread through them.

Xiao Bailang was the star of the match. As he swaggered away with his triumphant team, he saw Qin Qinshou hurrying toward him.

“Shopkeeper Qin, what’s got you so busy? Is your shop on fire?” Xiao Bailang, emboldened by their growing familiarity, couldn’t resist teasing him.

“You rascal, meeting Shiyi-lang was nothing short of good fortune! Don’t go, don’t go—someone important is coming. Line up, all of you. An esteemed guest will present your awards!”

It had been promised in advance that the winners would receive prizes worth dozens of strings of cash; split among everyone, each could get several strings—a considerable sum, even in Chang’an, for merely playing a match.

“Esteemed guest? Who could it be, some high official?”

Qin Qinshou smacked Xiao Bailang’s bald head, his gaze tinged with envy. “It’s Her Highness—the Emperor’s youngest daughter! Were it not for Shiyi-lang, what luck would you have!”

“Her Highness!” Xiao Bailang instantly panicked. “We’re all drenched in sweat—wouldn’t that be disrespectful?”

“That’s why I’m here. Come, quick, to the monastery to wash and change!”

Led by Qin Qinshou, the group dashed to Qinglong Monastery, cordoned off a courtyard with a well, stripped bare, and thoroughly washed themselves. They then donned the robes prepared by the monastery—monks’ cassocks that, paired with their gleaming bald heads, made them look every bit the part of eminent monks.

“In haste, this is all we could do... All right, Her Highness is growing impatient. Go quickly!”

Qin Qinshou bustled about, delight shining in his heart. For just now, over four hundred fans had sold at his Right Army Fan stall at Qinglong Monastery. Most were ordinary bamboo-handled fans, but the profit was still a hundred strings of cash. Ye Chang’s investment in this football event had already been recouped, and it opened his eyes to even more opportunities.

The monks of Qinglong Monastery struck up drums and gongs, creating a festive atmosphere. Xiao Bailang led his team into the arena, where Ye Chang stood awkwardly, holding a tray with fifteen gleaming coins, each threaded with a red silk ribbon.

These fifteen coins shone gold—they were of solid gold!

“Your Highness, you need not award such precious prizes. I have already prepared rewards,” Ye Chang whispered to the young Taoist girl before him.

She pressed her lips together nervously and shook her head hard. “Yours are yours, mine are mine—I’ll give mine!”

Though she spoke in a tongue-twisting way, Ye Chang understood: since she was presenting the awards, she would use her own prizes. She had even taken out all her own gold coins, and, as they were still insufficient, had borrowed from Yuzhen and several other princesses to make up fifteen.

The Tang dynasty had minted a small number of round, square-holed gold coins for rewards only, almost never seen in circulation. As prizes, threaded with red silk, they looked just like modern gold medals. Ye Chang’s heart ached for the little Taoist girl’s generosity, but she insisted.

Had he known this was her way of attracting his attention, he’d have sighed all the more; simply giving him the fifteen coins directly would have caught his eye just as well.

Fifteen bald men approached, Xiao Bailang at the front. Ye Chang pursed his lips at him and bent his right knee slightly. Understanding, Xiao Bailang led the group to kneel on one knee before the princess, in the manner of the Imperial Guards.

“Put the medals on them,” Ye Chang quietly prompted the princess.

She draped the coins around their necks, one by one. At first, she did it only at Ye Chang’s urging, but soon she found she enjoyed it—the feeling of rewarding others herself, receiving their thanks and respect.

She was only nine, somewhat frail by nature and thus petite, so even kneeling, the bald ruffians seemed taller than her. Ye Chang, standing behind her, felt like an attendant eunuch, which left him a little dispirited.

Princess Yuzhen watched from above, smiling faintly. The man beside her, who had earlier rebuked Ye Chang, frowned. “Your Highness, is this really appropriate for Chongniang?”

“What’s inappropriate? Born to an emperor, yet raised so timid—my imperial brother has been too harsh with her,” Yuzhen retorted, casting a sideways glance at him. “If she were treated as your Ningqin was, I wouldn’t have to worry so.”

The man gave an embarrassed laugh and fell silent.

His name was Zhang Ji, second son of the former Chancellor Zhang Shuo, and husband to Princess Ningqin. Unlike Chongniang, who was not favored by Emperor Li Longji, Ningqin enjoyed his full affection—so much so that Li Longji permitted Zhang Ji and his wife to build a mansion within the imperial city and even visited them himself. Zhang Ji glanced at Ye Chang, taking an instant dislike to the elegant youth.

Ye Chang was unaware he’d offended another imperial son-in-law; even if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared. After learning his brother had died at the hands of the Princess Xianyi’s estate, he felt nothing but contempt for the imperial sons-in-law of the Li Tang clan.

After the awards, Chongniang, her face stern and streaked with nervous sweat, finally let her girlish nature show, skipping back to Princess Yuzhen. Perhaps because Yuzhen had entrusted her with this task, she clung to her with newfound affection, whispering in her ear.

Yuzhen’s eyes widened in disbelief, then she whispered back. Zhang Ji tried to eavesdrop but was waved away, and Chongniang nodded solemnly, showing she meant it.

Ye Chang gave a few quiet instructions and dismissed Xiao Bailang, then returned to Princess Yuzhen’s side, with a slightly nervous Qin Qinshou trailing behind.

“Your Highness, this is the sponsor of today’s match. He wishes to offer you a Right Army Fan, but I dared not decide for you, so I brought him to see you.”

Pushed forward by Ye Chang, Qin Qinshou was so excited he trembled. This was Princess Yuzhen—in Chang’an, she was among the top three trendsetters, her influence even greater than He Zhizhang’s!

“Oh, the Right Army Fan—is that a folding fan?”

“It is,” Qin Qinshou replied, his voice first muddled, then clear. “A humble token, hoping for Your Highness’s favor.”

A fine box was presented, and soon reached Yuzhen’s hands. She opened it to reveal a jade-handled fan adorned with a masterful painted scene of elegant ladies and delicate calligraphy:

Silver candles gleam on painted screens in autumn’s chill,
A light gauze fan chases fireflies at will,
On palace steps the night falls, cool as water flows,
Seated, watching Vega and Altair as the evening goes.

Yuzhen immediately took a liking to the gift, both painting and poetry.

“Who wrote this poem?”

“I heard it by chance upon arriving in Chang’an and remembered it, but I do not know the author,” Qin Qinshou replied respectfully, head bowed. “I’ve tried to find out, but all in vain.”

“Ah... How I’d like to meet the poet.” Yuzhen’s luminous gaze fell on Ye Chang. “Could it be another prodigy like you, who receives verses in dreams?”

Ye Chang smiled. “I am but a mediocre man, merely copying what I see in dreams—no true talent. Yet, as the saying goes, even a fool may have a lucky thought. I once heard: one may delight in eggs without having to know the hen that laid them.”

“Oh?” Yuzhen’s eyes sparkled.

To savor eggs without caring for the hen that laid them—in this era, where gratitude for sources was a cardinal virtue, this remark was delightfully unorthodox. The Li Tang imperial clan was known for its rebellious streak; Princess Yuzhen, especially so.

“Truly a clever saying—no wonder even the twenty-ninth princess wishes to summon you to the palace,” Yuzhen mused with a smile.

Ye Chang suddenly felt as if winter had come. He realized, with chilling clarity, what was implied.

How does one enter the palace? Yuzhen’s words, though subtle, were clear to him.

Only eunuchs could enter the palace!

“Well, Master Ye, will you accept?” she asked again with a smile.

Some of Li Zhi’s entourage grew more jealous—how could anyone refuse a princess’s summons? But the clever ones caught Yuzhen’s meaning and snickered, while Yan Zhenqing’s face went dark, almost ready to explode.

If Ye Chang agreed, Yan Zhenqing would surely break off relations with him—and not before making a scene to ruin the matter first.

“Why not accept, Master Ye? This esteemed guest is Princess Yuzhen herself,” Li Zhi joined in, laughing.

“Indeed, and if this prodigy enters the palace, I’ll be sure to visit you often,” Zhang Ji added, grinning maliciously.

Yuzhen’s meaning was plain: she still saw Ye Chang as a jester, not a true scholar. Otherwise, how could she joke about him becoming a eunuch? Among true scholars, such a suggestion was the greatest insult.

Ye Chang was no scholar, but neither did he wish to be a eunuch. He smiled wryly. “As I said, Your Highness, I enjoy eating eggs, but I have no desire to meet the hen.”

“Ah... Haha, what a character!”

Yuzhen was clearly delighted, closing the fan and handing it to her attendant Taoist. This signified her acceptance of the gift.

Everyone laughed at Ye Chang’s embarrassment—everyone except Chongniang.

She arched her brows, glaring at him in anger. It had been her first time ever asking such a favor of Yuzhen, and the boy she liked had failed to understand her good intentions and refused her!

She understood “the sunset is infinitely beautiful,” but at her age, she could not comprehend why a man would not want to enter the palace as a grand eunuch. And though her experiences had made her shy, as a princess of the Li Tang clan, she was not without a touch of willfulness.

The more she had liked Ye Chang a moment ago, the deeper her anger at him now.

“I am weary,” Princess Yuzhen declared, signaling the end of the day’s amusements. “Let us all disperse.”

Of course, everyone waited for her to depart first. Qin Qinshou, beaming, was about to say something to Ye Chang when he noticed a small figure silently approaching.

It was the little princess, the twenty-ninth, who had quietly drawn near. Before Qin Qinshou could signal Ye Chang, she raised her foot and kicked—a perfect footballer’s motion.

Only, she didn’t kick a ball, but rather Ye Chang’s own... ball.

Totally unprepared, Ye Chang clutched his groin, eyes bulging, his waist doubled over like a shrimp. The smile froze on Qin Qinshou’s face, and he instinctively covered his own vital parts, hissing in sympathy.

Chongniang’s action stunned everyone. In the palace, she had always been the model of decorum, so timid as to be almost invisible. It was Ye Chang’s encouragement that had given her the courage to speak to strangers, to play football, and now... to kick Ye Chang’s most vulnerable part.

“You... you... what are you doing?” Ye Chang finally managed to gasp, staring at the furious, indignant Chongniang.

“To make you enter the palace!” she retorted fiercely.

For all her effort to look fierce, with her eyebrows and nose scrunched together, she only managed a comical grimace. If not for the pain, Ye Chang would have found it impossible to be angry; but now, he realized that this seemingly gentle, pitiful little Taoist girl was no pushover!

“Chongniang, come here!”

Whether Yuzhen had seen the scene or not, her voice rang out at just the right moment.

Chongniang shot Ye Chang a resentful look, turned to walk back to Yuzhen, but after a few steps, she glanced back at him, her gaze plainly saying: this is not over. She would find a way to get him into the palace.

Ye Chang felt disaster had struck out of nowhere. He had done nothing but smile at a little girl—how had he gotten himself into this mess? Still doubled over, he could only watch the group depart, then turn to meet Qin Qinshou’s look of deep sympathy.

“Master Ye... well, I’ve heard there are skilled surgeons in the palace who can make it quick, so you’ll suffer less... If your, ah, part is ruined, I’ll fetch one for you right away...”

“Get lost!”