Chapter 17: Family History

Ji Xiang spied Ying Zhong coming towards her and tried to look around for a place to hide or to turn. It was hopeless, as it was a straight path ad he was heading directly towards her. She bit back a sigh. So be it.

"Good morning," Ying Zhong said once they met in the middle.

Ji Xiang tried to smile normally. "Hello."

"Are you feeling all right?" Ying Zhong asked hesitantly, peering at her uncertainly. Ji Xiang tried not to fidget under his gaze.

"Yes, why would you ask that?"

"You look flushed." Of course, this comment made Ji Xiang blush even more. "And you've been avoiding me."

"I have?" she squeaked. "I mean," she stammered, "what makes you say that?"

"It's kind of obvious. I hope I have not offended you in any way?"

Why did he have to sound so nice? And why did she have to avoid him anyway? She had not done anything wrong!

"No, no, of course not," Ji Xiang said, hoping her cheeks weren't as red as they felt. "I just - I've been - I mean - " She paused, wishing the earth would open up and swallow her whole. Then she took a deep breath, looking not exactly at him, but at his shoulder. "I really haven't been avoiding you." Of course, she was lying through her teeth. "I'm sorry if you thought that. You really haven't offended me. Really."

Really.

He didn't look convinced, but dropped the subject, for which Ji Xiang was thankful. Now, only if she could return to a normal colour.

"Well, actually I was looking for you. I want to ask you something," Ying Zhong said as they started walking together.

"Yes?" Thankfully, her voice was not as breathless as she felt.

"Huang Shang's birthday is coming up. Well, by coming up, I mean it's in a couple of months. That's about when our family starts preparing a gift, really. You can imagine it's impossible sometimes to think of a gift for our grandfather, one that is unique, at least."

Ji Xiang nodded and wondered. What did you give to a man who owned the whole empire, anyway?

"Well, my brothers and I have an idea and our father thinks it's fine, but since it involves you and your family, he thought we might check with you and your parents, first."

Ji Xiang looked up, instantly curious at what he meant by 'involving' them.

"Well, you know, the official records of the imperial family lists your father as..."

"...dead."

"Erm...yes. It basically means that there is no record of you or your brothers and sister at all in the official records. And I, I mean, my brothers and sister and I - thought - " Here, Ying Zhong suddenly faltered a bit. Somehow, Ji Xiang felt a bit disappointed that he added his siblings to that thought. "Well, we thought that we might rewrite the family history a bit, to include you."

"But how could that be done? I mean, isn't the whole point of saying my father died was so that he could leave the palace unsuspected?"

"Oh, I don't mean an official record, that would be quite problematic. I mean, just a…a sort of…unofficial copy, you know, as a gift, for our grandfather. It would have to be secret, of course, meant for no one to read but him. For now, anyway. It would tell the truth, not the cover-ups, but the truth of your father's life, of your family."

Ji Xiang frowned. "What do you mean, for now?"

"Well, personally, I think a story like your parents' is a bit of a waste leaving untold. And yet I can see why the official records cannot tell the truth. I'm thinking that perhaps, if this 'unofficial' version of things could be written down and left behind, that one day, when probably no one alive now will still be around to care, that people would know what really happened. You know, I grew up hearing people say how your father would have made a great emperor and how it was such a pity he died et cetera, et cetera. But I think the fact that he left, for reasons he believed in, and what he went to do afterwards deserves to be told just as much as if he had stayed and succeeded to the throne."

"But why are you asking me this?" Ji Xiang asked, confused. "Shouldn't you ask my parents?"

"I have mentioned it to them and to be honest I think both your parents are a bit hesitant, more because they think it would fall into the wrong hands. But my parents said they would convince them. I wanted to ask you because it does involve you as well, and I thought maybe you might enjoy a bit of research at your family history."

She knew he intended to include her siblings in that collective 'you'. But she realised that he had noticed the fact that ever since she arrived here and learnt the truth, she was uncomfortable with the fact that she knew so little of her parents' life before Dali. She knew despite whatever he said about he and his brothers and sisters, the idea was mostly his. It touched her and made her blush.

She tried to regain normal colour before speaking. "So, what's the plan? You would basically rewrite history?"

Surely he could not miss her high colour, even if he did not comment. He simply chuckled at what she said. "Yes. Basically how the records of the imperial family go is that every branch of the family gets a book, in their name, about their lineage. So a prince like your father, would have a book in his name, which would detail everything from birth to death, including wives, children, achievements et cetera. As it is, the official records for your father is already surprisingly detailed, until it comes to your mother, which then it waffles around rather vaguely. And then of course it says he died of illness. Somehow along the way, your mother just sort of disappeared off the records, though the general concensus is that she died as well. Records for my mother are rather vague as well, to be honest, for kind of obvious reasons. I mean, my patrilineage records would state my father married Ming Zhu Ge Ge but if you look at imperial records for anything before her marriage, it's very brief. So maybe I have an ulterior motive in this as well. I want to put down the whole story, of how our mothers met and how that formed the story of your family."

"I guess this proves the fact that history is written by men," Ji Xiang mused. "Well, I would welcome this opportunity to learn more about my parents. It just occured to me since I arrived in Beijing that I know surprisingly little about them."

Yong Qi was not sure how Er Kang managed to talk him into this. He had accepted when he left the palace, that one thing he was giving up was to go down in history as anyone particularly note-worthy or important. Not that it mattered, in any case. Having a place in history seemed surprisingly a small thing to give up, compared to the throne and his titles, even if those things did come hand in hand.

Since he was back in Beijing, Yong Qi had actually read through a copy of the imperial family records that Er Kang had. It was odd, reading a history about himself, no doubt written by someone whom he had never met in his life. It made him realise that, if you supposedly died young in the imperial family, thus would not have much of a future to speak of, the history tends to praise your achievements as a child to the sky. Reading the records about himself, anyone would believe him to be a genius, absolutely perfect at anything he ever bothered to try. It, of course, overemphasised the fact that Qian Long was extremely fond of him, so that one would think he actually bore the title of Tai Zi at some point. It was like reading about someone else.

Funnily enough, while it detailed much about Zhi Hua, and waxed lyrical about her place of birth, her family's close ties with his grandmother, and her talents, it did not say more than five lines about Xiao Yan Zi. Of course, the fact that Xiao Yan Zi was Fang Zhi Hang's daughter was never known. Even if it was, surely no one in their right mind would put down that the emperor's favourite son had married the daughter of an official who was executed for treason. Yet it did record the two children that he and Xiao Yan Zi lost, but in a way that made out they were Zhi Hua's children, even if it did not explicitly say that.

Maybe it was that that convinced him to agree to write down what really happened.

"I can't believe you talked me into writing a book," Xiao Yan Zi laughed as they waited for the children to join them in the impressive study to discuss the project.

"You came up with the idea to write a book not so long ago, remember?" Zi Wei said. They looked at each other and smoothered laughs. Er Kang and Yong Qi just looked at each other and decided that they probably didn't want to know what their wives were talking about. "Just goes to show, great minds think alike."

"I said, you should write a book," Xiao Yan Zi smiled.

"This book must be over 20 years in the making, considering Yong Qi must had started planning it since the day he first spoke to you," Er Kang said.

"What?"

Yong Qi laughed, while Zi Wei reminded Xiao Yan Zi, "Didn't he always say everything you say should be put in a book, The Language of Huan Zhu?"

"Yes, remember your famous sayings? I seem to recall something about an incense pot," Yong Qi threw in.

Xiao Yan Zi groaned. "Why do you have such good memories?"

"Well, if it's worth anything, Xiao Yan Zi, I have yet to hear you mess up a single chengyu since you got here," Er Kang chuckled.

"I am not totally incapable of learning," Xiao Yan Zi said huffily.

"Well, I vote for having Huan Zhu in the title of this book anyway," Yong Qi laughed. "Since that's what started it all."

"Oh? I thought your arrow started everything," Xiao Yan Zi said.

"Either way, it's high time it's done," Zi Wei grinned. "Huang Ah Ma has been saying our story should be written in a book for ages. As it is, I'm not sure whether one book will be enough."

"Well, I think your children will enjoy learning about the family history you couldn't tell them before. Though I think they might be getting more than they bargained for," Er Kang said.

Addendum: Family History

Ai Xin Jue Luo Genealogy - Rong Qin Wang branch

The current year is the 48th year of the Emperor Qian Long (1783).

The Emperor Qian Long was born Ai Xin Jue Luo Hong Li, on the 8th month of the 50th year of Emperor Kang Xi (1711). His reign as Emperor Qian Long started when he was 25 years old (1736). The Emperor Qian Long had two Empresses and numerous concubines. He had a total of 17 sons and 11 daughters.

By Yu Gui Fei, the Emperor has a son, Yong Qi, Wu Ah Ge, or the Fifth Prince, born in the 6th year of his reign (1741). Wu Ah Ge was granted the title Rong Qin Wang, or Prince Rong, in the 31st year of Qian Long (1766) for superior merit in the war against Burma.

In the 27th year of Qian Long (1762), Yong Qi married Fang Ci, Huan Zhu Ge Ge (title granted in the 25th year of Qian Long (1760)), otherwise known as Xiao Yan Zi, who was born in the 7th year of Qian Long (1742). Together, they had two children, both miscarried, in the 28th (1763) and 30th (1765) years of Qian Long respectively.

This lead to Yong Qi's second marriage to Chen Zhi Hua, of the Chen family of Haining, in the 30th year of Qian Long (1765). Zhi Hua was born in the 13th year of Qian Long (1748). By her, he had a son, Mian Yi, stillborn in the 31st year of Qian Long (1766).

Between autumn of the 30th year and early spring of the 31st year, Yong Qi, along with his brother-in-law Fu Er Kang, served as second-in-commands to General Fu Heng's campaign against Burma in the South. During the war, Er Kang was kidnapped by the Burmese princess and assumed dead. The army returned in the 3rd month of the 31st year, when both Yong Qi and Er Kang received honours for their merits in the war. This included Yong Qi being granted the title Rong Qin Wang (1766).

By the 7th month of the 31st year, they learnt that Er Kang was still alive. Together with Er Kang's wife, Zi Wei, Yong Qi and Xiao Yan Zi made their way to Burma to rescue him. After this, Er Kang and Zi Wei returned to Beijing while Yong Qi and Xiao Yan Zi stayed in Dali, Yunnan province, assuming the surname Ai. Here, they had four children: Jian Jun and Ji Xiang, born in the 32nd year of Qian Long (1767), Jian Wen born in the 34th year (1769) and Ru Yi, born in the 36th year (1771).

In the 5th month of the 48th year of Qian Long (1783), they returned to Beijing for a secret visit. It was here that their fifth child, Shu Fen, was born in the 49th year of Qian Long (1784).