DCPRT Chapter 54

Upon examining Li Xiyue’s dowry list, one would find that the accompanying items consisted mostly of jewelry and silk fabrics — over a dozen chests of ornaments in various styles — yet not a single property deed or land deed had been included, to say nothing of shops or estates. 

This was a most peculiar arrangement. Unless one intended to marry a daughter off to a place from which she could never return, no family would prepare a dowry in such a manner, for farmland and commercial shops generated steady income and formed the financial foundation that wealthy families provided for their daughters upon marriage. But to the Li family, Li Xiyue was a stain upon their honor — they wished nothing more than to sever all ties with her at the earliest opportunity, and naturally had no intention of providing her with any such foundation.

And so, when You Yuyi unfolded Li Xiyue’s dowry list, his expression turned exceedingly grim. There was not a single shop among Li Xiyue’s dowry items.

Did he truly have to lay his hands on Li Xiyue’s dowry? Yet if he did not establish the library before the Crown Prince did, all the credit and reputation would go to the Crown Prince alone, and he himself would have nothing.

You Yuyi felt that he had to reclaim the reputation he had lost — otherwise, the gap between himself and his brother would only grow wider and wider.

Thinking thus, You Yuyi looked down at the dowry list in his hand and said, “Someone come — go ask the Princess for her keys.”

On the second day after the wedding, Li Xiyue had been kept locked away byYou Yuyi in a run-down, secluded small courtyard. She had been made to take medicine by her attendants, leaving her body too weak to move about, while the Prince Yan’s residence put out word to the outside world that Li Xiyue was gravely ill.

Li Xiyue let out a cold laugh. Anyone with eyes could see what Prince Yan was scheming.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and the old matron who had been administering her medicine walked in.

At the sight of her, Li Xiyue shrank back instinctively in fear. She watched as the old matron spoke. “I trust the princess is well. His Highness has sent me today to collect the princess’s dowry keys. If the princess knows what is good for her, she will hand them over quietly.”

Li Xiyue’s eyes went wide upon hearing this. She could scarcely believe that You Yusui would actually reach for a woman’s dowry.

“How dare he! Has he no shame?! Laying his hands on a woman’s dowry!” Li Xiyue screamed in fury. “He is no man at all!”

“Princess, I advise you to be sensible,” the old matron snapped.

Li Xiyue suddenly laughed. She looked at the old matron before her and said, “Is not everything in this great residence already Prince Yan’s? Why come asking me for keys — why not just split the chests open with an axe?”

“Enough nonsense!” the old matron said with a stern face.

The reason, of course, was that smashing open Li Xiyue’s dowry chests one by one would create far too much of a commotion and risk drawing unwanted attention. Even though You Yuyi had already resolved to take Li Xiyue’s dowry, he still needed to conceal the matter to avoid being reproached.

“So he does still have some sense of shame,” Li Xiyue remarked with biting sarcasm.

“Princess need only say whether she will give them or not,” the old matron said, her expression dark.

If it were not for the fact that all items within the palace were recorded in registers, the Imperial Consort would have long since handed things over to His Highness the Prince Yan directly — why go to the trouble of touching this girl’s dowry?

“If you will not give them, I shall search for them myself.” With those words, the old matron set to work.

Li Xiyue naturally refused to hand over the keys. After receiving two sharp slaps across the face, she watched helplessly as the old matron swept out with the stolen keys.

“You Yuyi! Heaven’s retribution will find you!” Li Xiyue called out, collapsing onto the bed and coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Meanwhile, You Yuyi, now in possession of the keys, crept furtively with his trusted subordinates to the storehouse where Li Xiyue’s dowry was kept, and opened the chests one by one.

All one hundred and twenty chests of the dowry were opened to reveal their contents: fine curios and utensils, household goods, and ornamental jewelry of every kind. Even the accompanying silver and gold were pitifully scant — hardly enough to purchase any decent shop premises in Chang’an.

“Your Highness, what do we do?” one of You Yuyi’s trusted subordinates asked. They could hardly go and pawn the princess’s jewelry and ornaments, could they?

You Yuyi looked over the jewelry laid out neatly in the chests — all crafted from the finest jadeite, of exceptional quality and translucency, the kind that allowed light to pass through when held up to the hand. It seemed the Li family had not stinted on Li Xiyue’s dowry where jewelry was concerned.

“Pawn this entire chest of jewelry.” You Yuyi cast his eye over it and handed the chest filled with jadeite ornaments to his trusted subordinate. “Get as much as you can for it. Make sure to use the money to buy a shop in a good location.”

“Yes,” the subordinate replied.

“Be careful when you go to the pawnshop. Do not let anyone recognize who you are,” You Yuyi cautioned.

And so the chest of dowry jewelry was discreetly carried out of the Prince Yan’s residence, and made its way to Yunji Pawnshop, the largest pawnshop in Chang’an.

“Strange, isn’t it — what’s the Prince Yan’s residence up to, bringing in a pile of women’s jewelry to the pawnshop?” remarked one of two beggars loitering across the street from Yunji Pawnshop.

Brother Huo had instructed them to keep a constant watch on the movements of the Prince Yan’s residence and the Prince Wu’s residence. This band of beggars and street idlers had long since committed the faces of both residences’ people to memory, and so even though You Yuyi’s subordinate had disguised his identity, the sharp eyes of these beggars had seen right through him.

“Could they really have pawned off Prince Yan’s Princess’s dowry?” said the beggar beside him, chewing on a grass stem.

“Bloody hell — surely not!” the other beggar gaped at him in shock.

“Go tell the boss.”

The moment Huo Xiling received word of this, he immediately made ready to go out. Beside him, You Yusui observed him and said, “Going out again?”

Huo Xiling had been leaving the palace more and more frequently of late. You Yusui did not ask what Huo Xiling was up to — he only hoped he would return soon.

Huo Xiling smiled and said, “Yes. I’ll bring His Highness something good to eat when I get back.”

“Not candied hawthorns,” You Yusui said, keeping his gaze lowered.

“I’ll bring His Highness something else.” With that, Huo Xiling left.

Before long, a middle-aged man in lavish attire appeared at Yunji Pawnshop in Chang’an. His bearing carried the unmistakable air of a wealthy merchant, yet judging by his dress, his ensemble was worth a considerable sum.

“Shopkeeper, do you have any particularly fine jewelry here? I’d like to buy a gift for my wife at home,” the middle-aged man said, projecting the swaggering confidence of someone with money to burn — very much the picture of a fat sheep ripe for the shearing.

“None of your second-rate pieces to fool me — I want only the best,” the man said once he had taken a seat.

At this, the shopkeeper broke into an awkward smile. Recognizing a major customer, he immediately ushered the man into a private room and had an assistant bring out the batch of jadeite ornaments that someone had pawned that very morning.

The wealthy merchant glanced at them and put on an air of mild disdain. “Very well — name your price.”

After all, it was Brother Huo’s money being spent, not his. He wasn’t the one who’d be hurting.

The shopkeeper promptly quoted a figure. The merchant, proving himself a decisive sort, did not bargain for a moment. Money and goods changed hands cleanly, and the shopkeeper, ever attentive, placed the receipt considerately inside the box and handed it to the merchant. The two parties completed their transaction in a spirit of warm and mutual satisfaction.

“Come back again soon, sir!” The shopkeeper called out to the gang leader disguised as a merchant as he turned to leave.

The gang leader, upon hearing this parting remark, stumbled mid-step and nearly fell flat on the ground.

What in the world kind of send-off was that — this pawnshop was carrying on like some kind of pleasure house.

Once they reached somewhere without prying eyes, the gang leader dropped his merchant disguise and produced the jewelry he had just purchased, handing it over to Huo Xiling.

“Brother Huo, is this really Princess Yan’s dowry?” the gang leader said, watching as Huo Xiling examined the ornaments with great care.

“It appears so,” Huo Xiling said, setting down a piece.

Each item of jewelry here bore the Li family’s mark. The mark had been crafted with great subtlety — those unfamiliar with the Li family would never have recognized the pattern as a Li family emblem.

Had it not been for the many times Huo Xiling had given Li Yuan a thrashing in the past — each time catching sight of the same pattern on Li Yuan’s jade pendant, sachet, belt, and jade ring — and for the occasions at various banquets where he had noticed other members of the Li family wearing accessories bearing the very same pattern, he too would never have connected the motif to the Li family.

The Li family had created these marks in hopes of establishing a family crest in the manner of the great clans. Yet the old clans kept to their own circles and would not associate with imperial relatives, while scholars of humble birth knew nothing of such inner workings — and so in the end, the meaning of the pattern became known only to the Li family themselves and a scant few others.

The ornaments now in Huo Xiling’s hands were fashioned entirely in the shape of the Li family’s pattern — there was simply no chance that anyone of the Li family would fail to see it.

“Watch what Prince Yan is trying to do. When the moment is right, expose the matter of him selling off Princess Yan’s dowry.” Huo Xiling lowered his gaze as he spoke.

As he said this, the corner of his mouth curved upward. Since you have stooped to such base conduct, do not blame me for stepping in.

Very soon, Huo Xiling learned exactly what You Yuyi intended to do with the money gained from pawning Li Xiyue’s dowry.

Once You Yuyi had secured sufficient funds, he made a special trip into the palace, and presented to You Fengyun his plan to build a library where scholars from across the realm could enter freely to browse the collection.

Amid the soft curling of sandalwood incense, You Fengyun raised his head. He looked at his eldest son and said, “A worthy undertaking.”

A smile spread across You Yuyi’s face, and he then requested, “This son also hopes that Father Emperor will bestow a name and inscription upon the pavilion.”

His words landed, and You Fengyun looked at the eldest prince before him, whose face was bright with delight, and said, “Very well.”

A moment later, You Yuyi received four characters: Zhiyuan Book Pavilion

Having obtained You Fengyun’s inscription, You Yuyi departed from the Xuande Hall in high and happy spirits.

You Fengyun watched the retreating figure of You Yuyi and spoke, “Do you think the second child understands my intention?”

For in the saying, tranquility leads to far-reaching vision — You Fengyun hoped that You Yuyi might temper his pride and impatience.

An Hai dared not venture a reply, standing like a carved statue behind the emperor. In his heart, he quietly mused — the first prince most likely did not understand at all. Had he understood, he would never have suddenly decided to build a book pavilion.

Just then, You Fengyun asked, “By the way — does he have the funds to build this pavilion? And are his holdings of books sufficient?”

An Hai: ……

“No doubt Minister Su would be willing to lend His Highness books from his collection,” An Hai offered.

“Oh — yes, that’s true.”

The moment You Yuyi left the palace, he went directly to the residence of Prime Minister Su. Though money could procure the majority of books, rare and singular volumes were not so easily obtained. If he wanted his book pavilion to carry genuine depth and prestige, borrowing books from Prime Minister Su was an essential step.

In the study, Prime Minister Su listened to You Yuyi’s proposal in silence, then at last said, “His Highness is welcome to take freely from the collection in my study.”

He only hoped — that the prince would not disappoint him.