Chapter 59: Changsun's Happiness

“Er-lang, please quell your anger. My illness is inherited; my mother, too, perished from this same affliction. This is Heaven’s punishment, and the imperial physicians are not to blame. I beg you, spare them! Moreover, a wise and enlightened ruler does not kill wantonly out of personal displeasure. If you do, I will be remembered through the ages as the cause of such a crime. If that is the case, I would rather die now than let you bear such infamy.”

Changsun spoke weakly, still advising Li Shimin even at this moment, as befits a virtuous empress for all ages. In her eyes, the wisdom of a sovereign far outweighed the fate of a woman—even if that woman was the empress herself.

“Out! All of you, get out!” Li Shimin shouted, his temper flaring as he drove the imperial physicians away. Then, stepping forward, he gently supported Changsun and spoke softly: “It’s nothing. From now on, I’ll make sure you live in happiness, free from vexation and disturbance. Guanyin, if anything were to happen to you, how could I go on in this world alone?”

“Er-lang, you are the ruler of all under Heaven. How can you utter such dispiriting words for the sake of a woman? Even if I am gone, you must live well, for the people depend upon you. Are they not more important than one woman?

“And please, do not blame young Cai Cong. He is kind by nature and sincere in his dealings. His unruly behavior is only due to lack of guidance. With proper teaching, he will someday become a pillar of the nation.”

“You two, get back in here! Look at what you’ve done—how you’ve angered the empress! Even now, she pleads for your sake—are you not ashamed?” Li Shimin’s eyes blazed as he roared.

At once, those outside hurried in: Li Chengqian, Li Tai, Changle, and Cai Cong. The others, lacking imperial command, remained at the door.

“Mother, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Changle, their first daughter, wept like a kitten. She was the apple of Li Shimin’s eye, yet kind, humble, and virtuous—most like Changsun herself.

Li Tai, too, was sobbing, his eyes red as he looked at Changsun, utterly at a loss. Only Li Chengqian and Cai Cong’s eyes brimmed with worry.

“You two scoundrels, you must never act recklessly again. As the crown prince, you actually struck a palace maid so hard her head was split—do you wish to be a tyrant like Jie or Zhou? And you, rascal—how do you repay the empress who treats you as kin? Storming out of the imperial feast, setting fires—does that make you proud? Look at what you’ve done to her!”

Li Shimin’s voice thundered through the chamber. Cai Cong and Li Chengqian hung their heads in silence. Only Li Tai, wiping his tears, took Changsun’s hand and asked, “Mother, are you having trouble breathing? Does it hurt?”

Changsun patted his plump hand lovingly. “It’s nothing; I’m just short of breath for a moment. I’ll be fine.”

To her surprise, Li Tai pulled his hand away. Li Shimin was about to lose his temper when Li Tai, voice pleading, turned to Li Chengqian and Cai Cong: “So you weren’t lying to me. I won’t eat fried chicken anymore and I’ll save my money for you. Will you help find the medicine to cure Mother? I can help too.”

“What do you mean, Tai’er? Are you saying they have medicine to cure your mother?” Li Shimin shot to his feet.

“I don’t know! A month ago, Cai Cong told us Mother had this illness and needed rare herbs for treatment. He asked if we could help find the medicine and share the cost. I thought he was lying and ignored him, but Crown Prince gave him money, I think,” Li Tai replied honestly. At five or six years old, he was far from the scheming prince of later times.

“Do you two have nothing to say for yourselves?” Li Shimin’s expression darkened. Cai Cong had actually approached his sons—what was his intention?

“Father, Cai Cong said Mother’s illness was incurable, but in the southern mountains grows a rare herb, Sanqi, which, though it cannot cure her, can ease her suffering. The herb grows high in the mountains and is hard to gather. Fearing Mother would refuse if she knew of the expense and trouble, we used our own stipends and money Cai Cong earned to hire mountain men to search for it. We haven’t found it yet, so we didn’t say anything, afraid to give her false hope,” Li Chengqian explained.

Changsun wept tears of happiness. Li Shimin, his hand raised to strike, instead softly patted the two boys’ heads and sighed, “Foolish children. How many people can you hire with your little money? You should have told me in secret. I could have sent local officials. Wouldn’t that have been faster?”

“Your Majesty, you must not use public means for private ends. Having a few of our children help is enough; we must not burden the people,” Changsun said proudly. What was letting others have the best pear compared to her children’s devotion? Those old tales were nothing to this.

“I’ll use my monthly stipend too, Father. Please don’t trouble the local officials,” Changle added earnestly, ever filial.

“Good, good, you’re all wonderful children. Issue my decree! Grant the Crown Prince, the Duke of Jia, and Princess Changle ten thousand gold coins each!” Li Shimin exclaimed, elated.

“Please, Your Majesty, withdraw your order. What have they done to deserve such reward? It was all for my sake. The treasury is empty; we must not be wasteful,” Changsun interjected, not giving Li Shimin a chance to object. She was overjoyed at her children’s love.

“Very well, Guanyin, as you say. Did you hear that, you rascal? Be sure to find that Sanqi as soon as possible, or else!” Li Shimin said with forced resignation, then turned to Cai Cong with a stern look.

“Your subject obeys and will find it as soon as possible,” Cai Cong replied earnestly.

“All right, you should all go now. Don’t disturb the Empress’s rest.”

“Wait,” Changsun spoke with a sigh. “I hear, you rascal, that you planned to ruin those three families with your wealth. I wish to plead for them. Let them apologize to your mother and let this matter end, will you?”

“Since Your Majesty requests it, your humble servant will obey,” Cai Cong said with a grin.

Watching Cai Cong leave, Li Shimin laughed and said to Changsun, “That boy is too full of himself, thinking he can bring those families down. And you, Guanyin—do you really think his fortune can rival theirs?”

“He can’t now, but the speed at which he makes money far outpaces them. There’s a new shop in the Eastern Market selling glassware. The foreign merchants are wild for it—gold flows in by the cartload. The shop is owned by me and Cai Cong; he holds a twenty percent share. With just that, he’ll bring those families to their knees in time.

“The foreign traders, some lacking silver, barter with pepper, spices, cattle, horses, and treasures. I fear that if Cai Cong really topples those families, people will say I’m taking revenge for my brother. Who doesn’t know how close we are to Cai Cong? Gossip is a fearsome thing.”

“In that case, perhaps he should be reined in. But he gives you eighty percent of the profits from his treasure house? That would make you the richest person in the land!” Li Shimin chuckled. If his wife was making money, the inner treasury would be flush, and so would he.

Changsun shot him a charming look. “How can I compare to you, who commands all under Heaven? Cai Cong intends to return wealth to the people. Of all his earnings, forty percent is paid as tax to the treasury. You are still the wealthiest.”

“A tax of forty percent? Isn’t a tenth more reasonable? Why should he pay so much?” Li Shimin mused aloud, relieved the money went to the state coffers—otherwise, losing half would pain him terribly.

“I don’t understand his ideas, but they sound good for Great Tang, though perhaps not so much for merchants. I told him it was competing with the people, and he just looked at me with disdain. ‘What is the people?’ he said. Ah, my head is spinning; I can’t explain it clearly.”

The curse of returning home: water and power outages. Tomorrow there’ll be another blackout—how fortunate.

(End of this chapter)