While Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were talking, some of the guests noticed their arrival, so the two of them didn’t linger there.
“His Majesty and His Highness approach!” someone announced.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness.”
The two of them walked through the crowd of kneeling officials. The imperial garden bristled with lanterns ablaze with glaring light, but all of them seemed to be overshadowed by the great presence of the two of them, as though all the lanterns existed to provide a foil for the two of them and the light from them became brighter after being reflected by the two people.
Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong walked up to the seats of honor and sat down hand in hand.
“You may rise.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty, Your Highness.”
All the officials of the Great Wen and members of the diplomatic corps of foreign countries rose to their feet, looking in the direction of Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong sitting in the seats at the top.
“Sit.” Yuwen Tong always tended to be clear and concise and dispense with formalities, which had much to do with the fact that he’d started as a military officer.
The guests took their seats according to the seating arrangement. Fortunately this garden was large enough, otherwise it might not be able to hold so many people. However, even so, sitting at the top of a platform, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong still got the impression that the sea of guests in front of them seemed boundless.
Slow wedding music started, and the atmosphere gradually lightened. Everybody’s eyes were on Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong. Naturally, more people were sneaking glances at Ling Zhang.
Most people present were quite curious about Ling Zhang. After all, he was the first empress of the Great Wen, a male one, and the emperor cared about and favored him very much. This person was now standing at the top of the social hierarchy in the Great Wen with the incumbent emperor. These people were casting Ling Zhang curious glances for different reasons. Some of them – most of the womenfolk of officials, for instance – were purely curious. They were seated on the other side, and their view was partially blocked by tall bamboos, so they couldn’t see Ling Zhang clearly, but because of the privacy provided by these bamboos, they were looking at him very boldly, unaware that Ling Zhang, whose five senses were unnaturally acute, could sense their gaze distinctly.
On the surface Ling Zhang appeared composed, but in fact he’d been feeling discomfited for quite a while.
He also noticed that his aunt was there as well, sitting in the middle of the couple of daughter-in-laws of Yuwen You, looking relaxed and at ease. She should be feeling no discomfort, but she was secretly enjoying his awkwardness as well, her eyes full of amusement she couldn’t disguise.
Ling Zhang, “…”
The glances from the womenfolk were bold and searching. Though some of them were mixed with some inexplicable emotions, it didn’t change the fact that the motives of the people they were from were fairly pure. In addition, Ling Zhang believed that a man shouldn’t be afraid of women’s gaze, so he was just a trifle disconcerted and felt no pressure.
Compared with the gaze from the womenfolk, the glances from the crowd of officials and members of the diplomatic corps in front of him struck him as rather thought-provoking. These people were all adept at concealing their feelings, and their true thoughts were much more complicated.
Ling Zhang was a male empress, and also the first empress of the Great Wen, so everybody was very interested in what his way of doing things would be like, especially after Yuwen Tong appointed Jiang Yu and then Zhao Jiusi as Ling Zhang’s advisers. All officials were speculating about the emperor’s intentions, about how deep Ling Zhang’s involvement in state affairs would be in the future, because their emperor didn’t seem to mind.
The officials actually had mixed feelings about this matter. On the one hand, as the empress, Ling Zhang was a member of the seraglio and shouldn’t interfere in any state affairs, but on the other, Ling Zhang was a man, not a woman, and it seemed impracticable for him to live like a woman in every way. If Ling Zhang was to get involved in state affairs, what would he do? And in what way would his deeds affect them? These were what concerned the officials the most.
The emperor’s take on this was ambiguous. Now that the empress had the intention to participate in government and political affairs, they must find out how deeply he’d be involved, so that their paths to higher positions would be less bumpy.
Most officials saw things this way. They mainly wanted to figure out how deep Ling Zhang’s involvement in politics would be, so that they would be able to adopt the right attitudes towards Ling Zhang in the future. However, some others thought differently. They were also wondering about Ling Zhang, but mostly about Ling Zhang’s relations with Yuwen Tong, and about the bonding between the two of them. They were observing Ling Zhang’s and Yuwen Tong’s every move, trying to find out where Ling Zhang stood with Yuwen Tong exactly, because the answer would help them suit their methods to the situation. Of course, from the vantage point of the present, none of them wanted to do anything to Ling Zhang, for anybody could tell that no matter whether the marriage between the two of them was solid or vulnerable, at this point in time Ling Zhang meant far more to Yuwen Tong than anybody else did. Messing with Ling Zhang would be synonymous with offending Yuwen Tong, bearding the lion in his den. For them, suiting their methods to the situation meant planting someone in the imperial seraglio.
The Great Wen had been built, and the political landscape had basically stabilized, so although nobody had mentioned the matter of the imperial seraglio so far, there was no doubt this issue would be put on the agenda after some time. After all, Ling Zhang was a man, which meant he was not able to bear children. If anybody could marry their daughter or niece to the emperor to be his concubine and help her consolidate her position in the imperial seraglio and thus benefit their family, it would be perfect. The early stage of a dynasty was also the time for courtiers to gain their footholds in the imperial court. Who would be so foolish as to let this opportunity slip away?
Even Chu Liangyan, the Right Prime Minister, was considering it, for he happened to have an unmarried daughter of marriageable age. Chu Liangyan had rendered meritorious service by assisting Yuwen Tong to take the throne, so he believed that his status was solid. Those aristocratic families which used to be above the Chu family had now either been eradicated or declined. Presently, in the whole capital city there were very few girls who could compare with his daughter, so Chu Liangyan was confident that as long as he recommended his daughter as an imperial concubine, the emperor, for the sake of his respectability alone, would undoubtedly give his daughter a pretty good position in the imperial seraglio. However, while considering this, Chu Liangyan also had some misgivings. As the Right Prime Minister who was very much in Yuwen Tong’s confidence, Chu Liangyan naturally had great political instincts. Though he firmly believed that the emperor would surely have a woman bear him a son to be his heir, he was still somewhat worried.
The reason why he was worried was because of the relationship between Yuwen Tong and Ling Zhang. Chu Liangyan had rubbed elbows with Ling Zhang several times and also had previously been associates with Yuwen Tong for many years, so he was fully aware of how deep Yuwen Tong’s feelings for Ling Zhang were. The bonding between them was very strong, and it wouldn’t be easy for anybody to get between them, so although he had the intention to marry his daughter to the emperor, he was still hesitating, wondering whether it was the right thing to do, and how he should do it if it was.
Many others had the same thoughts as Chu Liangyan’s, and they all wanted the same thing. Some of these people, like Chu Liangyan, knew about Ling Zhang’s place in Yuwen Tong’s affections pretty well. Some others were rather blind to it, and they all believed that Yuwen Tong would, without doubt, take some women in as concubines to bear him sons, that Ling Zhang, a male empress, had nothing but a fancy title, that there was not much he could do. Therefore, there was much less respect in their eyes when they looked at Ling Zhang, and their gaze was even tinged with disdain.
Naturally, Ling Zhang sensed these people’s gaze distinctly. As a matter of fact, he could see clearly what the expression in the eyes of everybody present was like. He was just pretending not to notice.
Apart from those who were giving him searching looks because of their concern for their official careers or their speculations about Yuwen Tong’s future seraglio, members of the diplomatic corps of foreign countries were also observing him. These people’s gaze was more complex and also more varied. More than half of them held Ling Zhang in icy disregard, presumably thinking, ‘A male empress? He’s unable to bear the emperor any sons, so he’s just ornamental and won’t have any say in state affairs. All he has is just a fancy title.’
The diplomatic corps of the Wan Kingdom was led by their emperor’s little brother, Shan Congyi, who was also the younger brother of Shan Congwen that had previously died on the battlefield. The look he was giving Ling Zhang was inscrutable. Compared with Shan Congwen, he looked thinner and milder, and his eyes seemed free of aggressiveness, but because of this, he appeared unduly equable, and all his thoughts were concealed by the semblance of mildness.
The diplomatic corps of the Luohai Kingdom was headed by Murong Feng, who was the son of Mu Hengtian, the emperor of Luohai, and was also the crown prince. He was in his forties already. Owing to his father’s longevity and good health, he had been the crown prince for almost twenty years. He stood in the starkest contrast with Shan Congyi. The latter was frail and gentle, while he was quite thickset, looking like a tough hombre, and his eyes were rather ferocious and had something sinister hidden inside them too. He first sized Ling Zhang up for a brief moment and then dismissively looked away from him. Of all the people present, he was the one who made the least effort to conceal the scorn in his eyes.
The leader of the diplomatic corps of the Fangcun Kingdom was Hai Feng, the Prime Minister of Fangcun, who appeared somewhat stout and always had a smile on his face, looking more like the patriarch of a rich family than a prime minister. He seemed to be the most benign one, but what he was really thinking was known to nobody but himself.
The expressions in these people’s eyes didn’t escape Ling Zhang’s notice either, and he still maintained a poker face. No matter whether they were showing their true feelings or concealing them, Ling Zhang wouldn’t believe they were what they seemed at this moment. All these people were courtiers serving their respective emperors, and were either members of imperial households or top-ranking officials. They would’ve long since kicked the bucket if they were really so innocent as to wear their hearts on their sleeves. On top of that, the Wan Kingdom and the Luohai Kingdom were vanquished nations, and this time around, their diplomatic corps, apart from attending Yuwen Tong’s enthronement ceremony and wedding, had also come here to sign a peace accord, which meant that they’d been at a disadvantage from the very beginning. They would be fools if they had their true thoughts written on their faces in the presence of Yuwen Tong. Therefore, Ling Zhang secretly analyzed their facial expressions several times, pondering what was hidden behind these reactions of theirs, showing a total disregard for those shallow, negative emotions such as disdain. Even if they were really dismissing him, he wouldn’t care.
He knew about Yuwen Tong’s ambitions very well. He would be an utter fool to take offence at this kind of seemingly manifest hostility.
Apart from Ling Zhang himself, Yuwen Tong had also seen everything, but just like Ling Zhang, he also maintained a poker face, pretending not to notice any of it.
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