The following days, the court officials proclaimed it a great deal and spread the account widely about Second Prince Shufeng whose powers of reasoning and wisdom reminded them of the celebrated Scholar Pēitang; subsequently Taizong begrudged his brother for stealing his limelight and for causing him to experience this unpleasant feeling of low self-esteem.
Hearing the palace maids also talking about it infuriated him and he wanted to shout at them and tell them that had he got the opportunity to express himself it would have been his name being praised on their lips!
Those maids—always gossiping behind his back!
Since childhood, it was ingrained in him that Shufeng was a rival, but only now he finally agreed with his mother.
Did he feel at ease moving on from a healthy sibling rivalry to purposefully sabotaging his brother? Of course not.
But the heart is treacherous.
Under the guidance of his mother, his heart was turned towards wickedness, until finally his heart was turned from goodness.
The Empress's ten years' long persecution against Royal Noble Consort Soyong eventually halted when the Emperor unexpectedly expelled the consort from her palace and moved her to the Palace of Celestial Tranquility.
All the privileges that she had enjoyed were rescinded. The Emperor reduced her servants and her provisions, and she was released from her imperial duties.
The Palace of Celestial Tranquility was an abandoned and undesirable palace in the southwest corner of the Imperial City and was surrounded by overgrown thorns and weeds.
It had been a restricted area for thirty-seven years and used to be the residence of Emperor Changzou's concubine. After her execution by beheading, rumours spread that her father had buried her head somewhere in the gardens and cursed the Imperial Family.
On the nights of the anniversary of the concubine's death, the palace maids would dare each other to walk across the gardens and knock at the palace's door. It became a folk tale that to this day her ghost wanders around looking for her head.
As to why they were allocated there, his mother didn't tell him when he asked her. Shufeng never knew why his mother suddenly fell out of favour and why they had to live in this place tainted by blood and disgrace. Sadly, her falling out with the Emperor meant that he too was being abandoned. At times he resented his mother because he had to pay the price for her actions.
Three months after moving into the palace Soyong's health started to deteriorate.
The Empress said, in quite a performance, that although the consort disrespected her for many years and insulted the Emperor; she wished her a prompt recovery, and so it was that she called upon the imperial physicians and spared no expense to care for her.
Yū Miko, portraying a compassionate and generous person, visited the consort daily. The Empress even sacrificed a century-old red ginseng from her personal stock to brew her the superior tonic exclusive to the Emperor.
As Yū Miko expected, it earned her praises from the servants. And soon after, whispers of her actions spread throughout the Imperial City, and Emperor Akishino was exalted by the court for his wife's righteousness and godliness, "Truly, Empress Yū Miko is a paragon of virtue. She is indeed the Mother of the Empire."
The Empress knew how to manipulate the whispers in order to elevate or undermine one's reputation. Tongues could either be a thick shield to protect or a sharp blade to destroy. And she also knew that the Emperor was to an extent a slave to the murmurs of the court officials, ministers and nobles.
"Controlling people's thoughts is part of acquiring real power," taught the Empress to her son. "As a young boy you can't earn power neither by threats, torture nor coercion. You will acquire your power by being praised for your achievements and respected."
He wondered why he needed to acquire power. Being the son of the Great Emperor Akishino, wasn't his power innate?
"Son, power granted to a person by someone else is not real power. Real power doesn't come from outside-in: as it was given it can be taken back. But it comes from inside-out: you cultivate it by the choices you make, the actions you take, and the thoughts you create in others. This type of power takes longer to earn, so one must be patient. Now, if you listen to me well, I will teach you how to cultivate real power that cannot be taken away. I will be your eyes and your hands, and I will make you Crown Prince very soon, then the Emperor."
"But according to the law of primogeniture* the throne is already mine. Why waste time scheming against my brother?"
"Because your father is the Maker of the Law and he used to be so fond of him."
"Exactly Mother... 'used to be.' Father demoted him to a commoner and placed him under house arrest."
"I won't have peace of mind until you are officially appointed Crown Prince, and Soyong with her son are uprooted from the Imperial House."
In spite of the best medicine and healing techniques—acupuncture, acupressure and moxibustion—without apparent reasons Soyong's health worsened quite drastically, eventually leading to her death in a matter of weeks.
Shufeng was eleven years-old.
As the Empress looked at Soyong's cold body and at Shufeng crying, her facial expressions were odd and not suitable for the mood: the corners of her lips lifted upwards in a faint smile and her eyes glimmered.
What would become of the prince? The Emperor granted Soyong's requests with an imperial decree. Consequently, Jian moved in the Palace of Celestial Tranquility. The fourteen years-old Li Ji was mandated to become the prince's court lady. And along with her father, Naozumi Tao (Consort Soyong's personal physician and close friend), she would live with the demoted prince.
As the years went by, Shufeng often wondered what was his mother's reasons behind her choice, and so did they. What was so special about the two of them that they were bound to him by an imperial decree?
After the death of his mother, Shufeng was now dependant on the Empress's generosity to survive. Whether he wanted it or not, he unwittingly became Yū Miko's puppet for the benefit of her son.
"Bear it, and keep on playing the role of a loving brother," instructed the Empress to Taizong, "Keep his trust and use him wisely to your advantage."
And accordingly, her son was steadily gaining ground in court by continually obtaining credit for Shufeng's work. Whereas the Empress deceitfully manipulated Shufeng and harmed his reputation. Over the years he became ostracised.
Building his own sense of self by diminishing another, spurred a new confidence in Taizong who spent the following eight years by proving himself valuable.
To begin with, he was an able administrator of the treasury, enhanced fiscal policies, promoted literature and music, expanded the imperial education system; and as the years passed, Taizong even managed some of the state affairs and laid the groundwork for future diplomatic alliances.
Despite these achievements, though, Taizong was seldom regarded by his father as an exceptional man with great abilities. Did he knew about his brother's helping hand in some his success?
He grew weary of waiting for his father's acknowledgement when everyone else regarded him as an exceptionally gifted prince!
Because of his weakened heart, the ministers kept on pressuring Emperor Akishino to officially appoint Taizong as Crown Prince.
Indeed, the First Prince was more than equipped to co-rule with him. When Taizong was filling in for the Emperor, he was known to often work late into the night busying himself to produce a recapitulatory transcription of the court meetings to give his father.
His success and hardworking spirit quickly established his reputation as the next great ruler.
At twenty-nine years of age, Taizong had cultivated real power and was in expectation to be proclaimed Crown Prince any time soon. A formality.
However, the Emperor had other plans.
Maybe those plans were his death sentence and ultimately led to the very day his son Taizong sat upon his Dragon Throne.