Chapter 91: The Argument

After hearing the imperial decree, the Ninth Prince’s first thought was that someone had angered Emperor Kangxi again. No, worse than that: someone had once more been blind enough to step on the emperor’s nerves. Otherwise, why would the Catholic Church, which had been thriving in the Qing Empire, suddenly find itself facing the danger of prohibition?

At that moment, the Ninth Prince had no interest in arguing with the Tenth Prince over who had leaked the child’s name. He immediately sent for Mu Jingyuan, then went with him to visit the Catholic mission in Beijing. The Tenth Prince had never cared much for foreign things, but he feared the Ninth Prince might be taken advantage of, so he went along as well.

As expected, the truth soon came out. Not long ago, the Catholic Pope, Clement XI, had sent an envoy named Doro to the Qing court. When Doro saw the state of Catholicism in the empire, he flew into a rage. He demanded that all believers abandon Qing customs and rituals. That was why Kangxi’s decree had been so furious, scolding the Ninth Prince and saying that he knew nothing but the comforts of family life, and did he not realize that in just a few short days, the Westerners had grown ever more brazen and had even gone so far as to insult Confucius himself?

The Ninth Prince had actually wanted to ask Kangxi what any of this had to do with him. But then he remembered that he had once dealt with Catholic affairs before, and he did not wish to let the emperor look down on him. Besides, he harbored a private hope: if he handled this matter well, perhaps he could ask to have the Sixth Princess’s name changed.

Who would have thought that Doro would be as stubborn and foul as a stone in a latrine: both rotten and hard. No matter whether the Ninth Prince reasoned with him gently, cursed him to his face, or harangued him until he was tongue-tied, the man held only one position. He would never yield to Qing ritual; the rights of Catholic believers must be guaranteed.

The Ninth Prince was utterly speechless. In a fit of exasperation, he gave Doro a thorough tongue-lashing and then prepared, when morning court came the next day, to support Kangxi in banning the faith altogether. Better yet, he thought, ban the sea as well while they were at it.

When the Ninth Prince stormed off to Yan Yan seeking sympathy, he never expected to be met with such open disdain.

There was nothing for it. Yan Yan truly wanted to flatter him, but once she discovered that the Ninth Prince, who had always gotten along fairly well with foreigners, could also be this short-sighted, she could no longer keep her composure. She did not bang the table or glare at him, only gave him an irritated look. “Your Highness, this is what people call throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

The Ninth Prince had not expected that after suffering a day’s frustration outside, he would come home only to be mocked by Yan Yan as well. At once, his feathers bristled. “Throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Am I the one doing that? Did I tell them to ignore the broad road and insist on squeezing onto a narrow plank bridge?”

Yan Yan looked at his furious expression and burst out laughing. “You look exactly like someone who’s been bullied and is now ashamed into anger.”

The Ninth Prince promptly pressed a hand to the crown of her head and said with dangerous softness, “Say one more reckless word and see whether I don’t spank you.”

Yan Yan immediately fell silent, because he did not seem to be joking at all.

She took the opportunity to lean into his arms and said softly, “Your Highness, think about it. If these foreigners had not come to the Qing Empire, wouldn’t that illness you had when you were young have been in grave danger? And even among foreigners, some are good and some are bad. Hasn’t Mr. Mu always gotten along splendidly with you?”

Only when Yan Yan took the initiative to nestle into his embrace did the Ninth Prince’s mood improve somewhat. He wrapped his arms around her, though his tone was still gruff. “Did I say all foreigners were bad? I only said that Catholic business was infuriating.”

Yan Yan found his stubborn refusal to admit fault rather amusing. In a low voice she said, “Why bother arguing with him? If he says he was sent by the Pope, then he was. I would even say he’s an impostor who came here specifically to ruin the harmonious development of Catholicism in the Qing Empire.”

The Ninth Prince suddenly pulled her upright and stared at her without blinking. Yan Yan looked back at him in confusion, her large eyes innocent. “Did I say something wrong?”

At once, the Ninth Prince laughed. “No. You’re very good. I’m off to find Mr. Mu.”

And with that, he went off in a hurry, so eager he seemed almost to be skipping, leaving Yan Yan unable to suppress her laughter.

Watching his retreating figure, Yan Yan truly felt that she was growing more and more fond of spending time with him. The gloomy, venomous Ninth Prince of history had grown increasingly faint in her mind, replaced entirely by the adorable, dazed, and earnest man before her.

What Yan Yan did not know was that if Kangxi ever learned how she described the Ninth Prince, he would likely be furious enough to spit blood. For the next morning at court, Kangxi was already sighing inwardly over just how thick-skinned the Ninth Prince truly was. Among all his sons, if the Ninth Prince claimed second place in shamelessness, no one would dare claim first.

No, perhaps the Tenth Prince could compete as well. But the Tenth Prince’s thoughts moved slowly, and his thick skin was often the confused sort. The Ninth Prince, by contrast, was sly as a fox, with the air of someone who understood everything and chose to pretend otherwise. It was enough to make one grind one’s teeth in hatred.

Still, Kangxi had to admit that this time, the Ninth Prince’s shamelessness had come at exactly the right moment. It was marvelous, in fact. Splendid. First-rate. Because right now, the Ninth Prince was making a scene in morning court, claiming that the Catholic envoy had never been sent by the Pope at all, and that Doro was merely a fraud trying to pass himself off as legitimate.

What was more, he boldly declared that Catholicism had already undergone a qualitative leap in the Qing Empire, a spiritual sublimation. It was now necessary for Kangxi to spread Qing Catholic teaching to foreign countries, and incidentally carry the Qing Empire’s supreme Buddhist law and teachings to the Western lands, so as to promote the prestige of the Great Qing.

Hardly had the Ninth Prince finished speaking when Prince Jian stepped forward and said with righteous force, “Your Majesty, I believe the Ninth Prince is being far too rash in this matter. Doro carried proper travel documents, and the Board of Colonial Affairs has verified them one by one. How could they possibly be fake?”

The Manchu minister from the Board of Colonial Affairs also hurriedly stepped forward, assuring everyone that both he and the Han minister had checked every detail and confirmed it to be genuine.

Who knew the Ninth Prince would merely raise an eyebrow and say with cool contempt, “It may be passable to have you take a look at Mongolian goods, but foreign goods? That must truly be asking too much of you.”

Then his face hardened and he snapped, “You are no different from those foreigners who came to the Qing Empire to sow chaos. You have learned nothing useful and yet somehow learned how to fool Father Emperor first. I suppose Father Emperor has been far too lenient with you.”

What more could the two ministers from the Board of Colonial Affairs say? They could only drop to their knees and kowtow to Kangxi, desperately insisting that they had not deceived him.

As for Prince Jian, he did not fear the Ninth Prince. He said lightly, “What the Ninth Prince says sounds simple enough. I only wonder whether the Ninth Prince is truly as versed in foreign matters as he is in business.”

The moment Prince Jian’s words fell, the entire court grew alert. Who in the Qing court did not know that Prince Jian and the Ninth Prince were at odds? The two of them had been battling one another outside the court for some time now. And now, the struggle had even carried into the court itself.

The Ninth Prince glanced at Prince Jian with a faint, knowing smile. Their eyes met, and at once the air between them seemed to kindle with tension, filling the entire hall with an electric charge that left everyone secretly thrilled.

“As long as I know a little more about foreign matters than Your Highness knows about business, then there will naturally be no problem at all,” the Ninth Prince said leisurely, a smile on his face so irritating that it was enough to make anyone’s blood boil.