HCT – Chapter 46 Beans Boiled in Brine

When Crown Prince Zhu arrived at Zhu Xiang’s residence with a cartload of gifts as compensation, the diligent Old King of Qin was still there.

They had just finished a light meal and had Zhu Xiang boil some beans in brine to serve as a snack with wine. While waiting for the servants to finish tidying up the courtyards meant for Fan Ju, Bai Qi, and Zichu to reside in, they drank and chatted leisurely.

As Crown Prince Zhu entered, the three elderly men seated on the mat all looked up at him. The slightly younger elder, who still held considerable authority within his own household, immediately broke into a cold sweat.

“Lord Zhu Xiang… Lady Huayang is too ill to get out of bed today. She’s also afraid of passing her illness on to Zheng’er, and couldn’t see him right away. She feels terribly distressed and specifically asked me to bring some gifts to him,” the Crown Prince tugged on Zhu Xiang’s sleeve, his eyes pleading for rescue.

Zhu Xiang couldn’t understand why, after only meeting once, the Crown Prince was acting as if they were already close. But he still stepped in to help without hesitation. “If it weren’t for Zheng’er being physically weak, he should have gone to visit Lady Huayang himself. Tomorrow, Xue will go in his place. I don’t have anything of value to offer, but I can make some pastries to send along. I hope Lady Huayang won’t find them lacking.”

“How could she?” The Crown Prince let out a sigh of relief. “You’re being too polite…”

Before he could finish, the Old King of Qin asked, “What kind of pastries?”

Zhu Xiang replied, “Steamed egg cakes, baked biscuits… I’ll make plenty and send them into the palace.”

The Old King of Qin nodded with satisfaction, then said to the Crown Prince, “Come, play a game of weiqi with me.”

The Crown Prince eagerly shuffled over to sit across from the Old King. As he did, his nose twitched and he exclaimed in surprise, “What’s that smell? It’s so fragrant!”

Zhu Xiang presented the five-spice beans. The Crown Prince, who had originally planned to return early to continue comforting Lady Huayang, immediately changed his mind. He decided to stay and mooch a meal.

In the pre-Qin and Han eras, whether one ate two or three meals a day depended on social status—commoners ate two meals, while scholars had three. For example, Strategies of the Warring States, Qi Strategy IV states: “The scholar eats three meals and is not full, while the lord has geese and ducks in excess,” indicating that even retainers serving nobles were entitled to three meals a day. Naturally, that went without saying for the King of Qin and his company.

After arriving in Qin, Zhu Xiang had started from scratch. Even though the King had rewarded him with many things, some were not liquid assets, and those that were couldn’t sustain the façade of a noble bearing the title “Lord of Changping.” It would be another year before he began receiving his official stipend from Changping—only then would his life become more comfortable.

The King of Qin and the others, knowing Zhu Xiang’s current situation, had all brought their own ingredients.

Crown Prince Zhu immediately patted his chest and declared that he would promptly send over beef, lamb, pork, chicken, duck, fish, and servants as well. Zhu Xiang did not decline.

The Old King of Qin also noticed that there were too few people in Zhu Xiang’s household and said he would send him some servants.

“But I have my own house rules,” Zhu Xiang said. He wasn’t afraid of others planting spies, but he was concerned that the servants sent over might rely on the power behind them and disobey. “My lord, if they refuse to obey orders just because they were sent by a noble, can I send them back?”

The Old King of Qin was torn between laughter and exasperation. “Can’t you just kill them? Do I really need to worry about a disobedient servant for you?”

Zhu Xiang gave a wry smile. “I can send them to the authorities to be reassigned or sold again, but as for beating or killing…”

“Sigh, no wonder Lord Lin always carries a ruler with him,” the Old King muttered. He was practically itching to give Zhu Xiang a good smack. He couldn’t understand how Zhu Xiang had even survived until now. Lin Xiangru must’ve had it rough. “Lord Wu’an is staying in your home—tell him. Any disobedient servant, just send them to the military camp.”

Bai Qi said calmly, “The army is always short of hands.”

Zhu Xiang cupped his hands and smiled. “Thank you, my lord. Thank you, Lord Wu’an.”

Seeing how gentle the Old King of Qin was toward Zhu Xiang, Crown Prince Zhu felt a chill on his scalp. Thank goodness he had acted fast—otherwise Huayang really might have been too “ill” to recover.

His impression of Zhu Xiang improved once more. No wonder this man was famed throughout the Seven States for his kindness and benevolence. Zhu Xiang had surely guessed that Huayang was faking her illness, but he showed no sign of anger at all, and had even stepped in to help smooth things over.

A good man like this was rare in Qin.

After eating an entire marinated chicken at Zhu Xiang’s home—and even taking a marinated duck to-go—the Crown Prince’s opinion of Zhu Xiang improved even more.

Zhu Xiang, noticing the Crown Prince’s quietly rising goodwill, could only smile helplessly.

Good people like this are truly rare in Qin.

“That father of yours is really a fine elder,” Zhu Xiang said quietly to Zichu that night, after the Old King and the Crown Prince had finally left and Fan Ju and Bai Qi had returned to their own courtyards.

Xue, exhausted from the long day, had gone to bed early with an equally worn-out little Ying Zheng. Zhu Xiang, Zichu, and Cai Ze sat together under the warm glow of a tallow candle, chatting late into the night.

Zichu rolled his eyes. “He’s not a fine elder to me. His Majesty favors you—that’s why he acts like a good elder to you.”

After just a single day, Cai Ze, intentionally acting overly familiar, teased, “Sounds like you’ve got a lot of resentment built up?”

Zichu replied, “My ‘respected father’ has over twenty sons. I’m hardly the only one who holds a grudge. But that’s just how nobles are, Zhu Xiang—don’t be fooled by their gentle faces.”

Zhu Xiang pointed at himself. “Do I look stupid to you?”

“Stupid,” Zichu said flatly. “Brother Cai surely thinks so too.”

Cai Ze smiled diplomatically. “He believes in the inherent goodness of human nature.”

Zichu sighed. “Didn’t you study under Xun Qing? You go around saying human nature is inherently good—doesn’t that make Master Xun angry?”

Cai Ze nodded. “It does. He chased him around and beat him for it.”

Zhu Xiang held his forehead. “Stop, stop, stop. Didn’t you two just meet today? How are you already teaming up to mock me? Are you even that close yet? Don’t tell me your friendship suddenly advanced by leaps and bounds through making fun of me?”

Zichu and Cai Ze exchanged glances—and both burst out laughing.

It was at this moment that their relationship truly entered the realm of ordinary friendship. Teasing Zhu Xiang, it seemed, had become the catalyst for their bond.

“Alright, enough! Let’s not get sidetracked.” Zhu Xiang slapped the table. “I dragged you two into this conversation to discuss serious matters, not to make me the butt of jokes. Xia Tong, why did Lady Huayang fake an illness? Even if she doesn’t like a child born of a Zhao woman, she shouldn’t go so far as to defy the ruler’s orders. No matter how foolish the people behind her may be, they wouldn’t instruct her to defy His Majesty.”

Zichu sighed again. “The root of this issue is indeed Lady Huayang’s dislike of Zheng’er because he was born of a Zhao woman. But I don’t think anyone told her to refuse seeing him—it’s probably her own doing. Still, because of her impulsiveness, the people backing her must be panicking now.”

“Impulsive?” Zhu Xiang and Cai Ze looked thoughtful.

Zichu then explained the full background in detail.

Crown Prince Zhu had many children and countless concubines. The reason Lady Huayang remained so favored was because of her simple, innocent nature.

She was unable to bear children. Even with the Prince’s favor, the people of Chu paid her little mind. Her brother, Lord Yangquan, was also quite useless and enjoyed his current status purely due to her connections. This made Crown Prince Zhu feel reassured—Lady Huayang posed no political threat.

To secure her own position, Lady Huayang naturally saw all children born of Chu women as enemies trying to steal her place. Thus, she would never support them. The powerful maternal relatives of those children, being from Chu, were indifferent toward her and her two brothers, seeing them as obstacles.

But everything changed when Lu Buwei persuaded Lady Huayang to adopt Prince Zichu as her son. For the first time, she entered the struggle for the throne. Chu-affiliated officials within the Qin court began aligning with her, offering advice and support.

“Though Lady Huayang enjoys the Crown Prince’s favor, she still feels hurt by the coldness shown to her by the other Chu people in Qin. That’s why she sees this ‘mission’ as especially important,” Zichu said, sipping a bit of plain water before continuing. “But she’s spent most of her life being naive—she’s not suddenly going to become a calculating person. The Crown Prince likes her just the way she is: willful and sweet-tempered. She’s used to throwing little tantrums. This time… she likely just lost her head.”

Cai Ze thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. “Whether it’s Lu Buwei, who arranged your return to Qin, or the Chu-descended Qin officials who’ve managed to gain a foothold in His Majesty’s court—they wouldn’t make such a foolish mistake.”

Zhu Xiang rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Really? I was starting to think someone deliberately wanted me to offend Lady Huayang, then offend the Crown Prince in turn, and thus provoke conflict between you, Xia Tong, and your strongest ally, Lady Huayang—ultimately weakening your position…”

He paused and looked at them. “What’s with those expressions?”

Zichu and Cai Ze were both staring at him in stunned astonishment.

Zichu said, “You’re actually capable of thinking about these kinds of schemes and conspiracies?”

Zhu Xiang replied with a mix of laughter and exasperation, “Of course I can. I’m really not stupid.”

Cai Ze added, “Zhu Xiang was able to persuade the King of Qin and Bai Qi. Maybe he really can see through others’ plots and tricks—he just chooses not to use that ability. Zhu Xiang, what you said is possible. If we go by your theory, who would do something like that?”

Zhu Xiang said, “Whoever benefits from it is the one who did it. Xia Tong, don’t you have an older brother named Zihai? Before you returned, he had the loudest momentum and countless supporters at court, right?”

Zichu scoffed. “He did have the biggest momentum—so he was the first among our father’s sons to be eliminated from contention. If it’s him, I wouldn’t be surprised by such a foolish move.”

The older the King of Qin grew, the more he valued control and power. Even the Crown Prince tread carefully. What prestige could a mere royal grandson cultivate in Qin? This wasn’t any other kingdom—Qin had no place for a “celebrity prince” of the Warring States.

Zichu had built his reputation in Zhao. After returning to Qin, he deliberately cultivated the image of someone diligent, eager to learn, and focused on his work. Aside from frequent visits to his “benefactor” Lu Buwei and offering generous seasonal gifts to Fan Ju, he rarely associated with anyone of great influence in court.

“Hearing you say that, I also think it might’ve been Zihai,” Zichu said. “Given Lady Huayang’s obliviousness, she probably didn’t realize right away that Zheng’er was going to become my heir. Judging by how she usually acts, she’d never take a child born to a low-status Zhao woman seriously.”

Cai Ze was curious. “Even with Zhu Xiang’s reputation, she wouldn’t take Zheng’er seriously?”

Zichu chuckled. “She doesn’t understand politics. Lady Huayang would make a good empress and a good empress dowager. But Zhu Xiang, even if you saw through Zihai’s scheme, so what?”

Zhu Xiang answered, “Since he made a move, wouldn’t it be rude of me not to respond?”

Zichu and Cai Ze looked completely unconvinced. “You’d retaliate?!”

Zhu Xiang was speechless. “It’s not like he’ll die from it. At most, he’ll just end up as a pampered but unaccomplished Qin prince. So why wouldn’t I strike back?”

Although the two of them still doubted Zhu Xiang would actually retaliate, since he seemed so determined, they politely asked how he planned to do it.

Zhu Xiang said smugly, “I’ve already written the speech. Tomorrow, I’ll have Xue recite it to Lady Huayang, prompting her to confess to the Crown Prince how she was manipulated and misled. Since her greatest charm in the Crown Prince’s eyes is her naïve innocence, wouldn’t it seem perfectly natural for her to make a small mistake, then come to her senses and tell him everything? And wouldn’t the Crown Prince, of course, want to defend her?”

Zichu: “That’s it?”

Cai Ze gave Zhu Xiang a look that was hard to describe.

Zhu Xiang slapped the table. “What do you mean, that’s it? As long as the Crown Prince knows, he’ll definitely take action! Don’t believe me? If someone really was manipulating Lady Huayang, that person will come apologize to me in no time.”

Zichu: “And then?”

Cai Ze: “After that?”

Zhu Xiang blinked. “What do you mean ‘and then’ and ‘after that’?”

Zichu yawned and stood up. “I’m sleepy. I’m going to bed.”

Cai Ze also got up. “Me too. See you tomorrow.”

Zhu Xiang: “Hey, hey, hey! What do you two mean by this?!”

Zichu and Cai Ze, in unison: “Conversation’s over, it’s done.”

Zhu Xiang: “Heeey!!”