Gods 008: Broken Nest

The death of the queen proves to be just the start of the day’s drama.

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Transcript

Welcome to the Chinese Lore Podcast, where I retell classic Chinese stories in English. This is episode 8 of Investiture of the Gods. 

Last time, the wicked concubine slash fox demon Daji concocted a scheme to frame the queen for attempted assassination of the king. It worked like a charm, until it worked a bit too well and the queen died from her torture without giving the confession that King Zhou needed to keep the court officials and all the nobles of the land from getting up in arms over the mistreatment of the queen. 

As the queen breathed her last in the West Palace, she told her two sons to avenge her. So the crown prince Yin (1) Jiao (1) now turned to Concubine Huang, who had been the unwilling presider over this case, and asked which person present was the would-be assassin Jiang Huan (2). She pointed him out, saying, “That kneeling villain is the one who accused your mother.”

Flying into a rage, Yin Jiao drew a sword that was hanging by the door and cursed Jiang Huan, “You traitor! How dare you try to assassinate the king and frame the queen?!” As he spoke, he swung his sword, and in the blind of an eye, Jiang Huan laid dead in two halves on the floor, staining the ground with his blood. 

But Yin Jiao wasn’t done. “I’m going to kill Daji to avenge my mother!” he shouted as he stormed out of the palace. The two generals who had been sent by the king to escort the assassin, Chao (2) Tian (2) and Chao (2) Lei (2), were shocked by this turn of events, and they quickly turned and ran toward Daji’s palace.

Meanwhile, Concubine Huang was left in her palace with two dead bodies and a floor from which she will never get the blood out. “That boy doesn’t know any better!” she thought to herself. She then told the younger prince, Yin (1) Hong (2), “Hurry! Go bring your brother back. Tell him I need to talk to him!”

Yin Hong immediately rushed out and chased down his brother, shouting to him, “Lady Huang is asking you to turn back! She has to talk to you!”

So Yin Jiao turned around and headed back to the West Palace. Concubine Huang told him, “Your highness, you are so rash! Now that you’ve killed Jiang Huan, there is no witness left to clear this up. You could have waited for me to use the burning ladle or some other torture on him to make him confess. Then at least we would know who was pulling his strings and I can report it to the king. And now, you are stomping around with a sword, looking to kill Daji. When those two generals get to her palace and report this to that degenerate king, you’ll be in big trouble!”

While they were fretting, the generals Chao Tian and Chao Lei had run back to King Zhou and told him that his sons were stomping this way with sword in hand. King Zhou was irate.

“Those rebellious kids! The queen hasn’t even been brought to justice for her treason yet, and now they dare to try to kill their father? They are traitors and cannot be allowed to live.” 

He then told the Chao brothers, “Take my royal sword and go bring me the heads of those no-good sons!”

So the Chao brothers took the king’s sword and returned to the West Palace. They were met at the entrance by Concubine Huang, who asked them what they were doing back there. 

“We are here on his majesty’s decree to bring back the heads of the two princes,” they told her.

When she heard that, she cursed them aloud, “You scoundrels! The princes chased you out of my palace just now. Why don’t you go look for them at their own palace? What are you doing back here?! I knew it! You two must be abusing the king’s decree and using it as an excuse to poke around the inner palace and tease the women of his harem. You traitors! If the king’s sword wasn’t here, I would cut off your heads right now! Get out of my sight!”

That tongue-lashing scared the Chao brothers, and they muttered their apologies and left, not daring to even look up. They then headed toward the East Palace. As soon as they were out of sight, Concubine Huang rushed back into her palace and summoned the two princes.

“That degenerate king is killing his wife and sons,” she told them in tears. “I cannot save you. You should go hide in Concubine Yang’s palace for a couple days. If the court officials can intervene on your behalf, then you might survive this.”

The princes kneeled and said, “How can we ever repay your kindness? But our mother is dead and her body remains exposed. We hope you will take pity on her and afford her a decent burial. That would be a heavenly kindness that we shall never forget!”

Concubine Huang reassured them that she would take care of the queen’s remains, and sent them on their way. The two princes headed to the residence of Concubine Yang, who was an ally of the queen and Concubine Huang. At this moment, she was eagerly awaiting news on the queen’s fate. The two princes showed up at her palace, kneeled, and started crying. When they brought her up to speed on what had transpired that day, she, too, started to weep and told them to come inside.

A little while later, the Chao brothers showed up. They had gone to the princes’ palace but did not find them there, so they started checking out other places the princes might have run off to. As soon as they approached the entrance of Concubine Yang’s residence, however, she shouted, “Attendants, arrest those two! This is the inner palace. How dare any outside officials show their face around here? This is a capital offense!”

Chao Tian (2) quickly stepped forward and said, “Your ladyship, we are Chao Tian and Chao Lei. On his majesty’s decree, we are searching for the two princes. We carry his majesty’s royal sword. Otherwise we would never dare to offend you.”

“The princes are in the East Palace, so what are you doing at my residence?!” she shouted at them. “If you weren’t acting on his majesty’s command, I would have you arrested for sure! Scram!”

Again, the Chao brothers were cowed by this display, and they took their leave. They then discussed amongst themselves and decided to just report back to the king and say that they had searched around but didn’t see the princes.

After they left, Concubine Yang went back into her palace and told the two princes, “You guys can’t stay here for long. There are too many eyes and ears. That degenerate king has forsaken all common decency. You two must go to court right away, while the officials are still there. Go see the top ministers. They can protect you from your father’s wrath.”

The two princes kowtowed to thank her for her advice and bid her a teary goodbye. After she saw them off, Concubine Yang sat back down and lamented to herself, “If even the queen can be framed and subjected to such cruel torture, what of us concubines? That Daji has bewitched our degenerate king. If it gets out that I allowed the two princes to escape, then I would be subjected to similar punishments. How can I endure such torture? Besides, I have served that degenerate king for years without bearing him a child. The crown prince is his own flesh and blood and yet he would try to kill his own sons. It’s obvious that all the bonds of family are cut, and calamity can’t be far off. I will not come to a good end either.”

As she dwelled on this thought, Concubine Yang became enveloped in sadness, and she shut the door to her room.

A bit later, a servant showed up at Daji’s palace with urgent news for King Zhou. Concubine Yang had hanged herself, and no one had any idea why. The king was equally puzzled, but ordered that her body be prepared for burial.

A moment later, both the Chao brothers and Concubine Huang showed up at Daji’s palace as well.

“Is the queen dead?” King Zhou asked Concubine Huang.

Concubine Huang replied, “Before she died, the queen shouted, ‘I have served his majesty for 16 years and bore him two sons, including the crown prince. I have always behaved myself carefully and performed my duties faithfully. I don’t know who bribed the assassin Jiang Huan (2) to frame me for treason and subject me to such cruel torture. Though I am the mother of the crown prince, that is now as insignificant as fleeting clouds, and his majesty’s love has flowed from me like a river. I cannot clear myself, so I can only let it be known to the world and hope future generations will judge me fairly. Please relay my words to the king.’ 

Concubine Huang continued, “And then the queen died and her body is still at my palace. I hope your majesty will remember that she bore your sons and grant her a coffin and place her in state in the White Tiger Hall in accordance with the burial rites. That way the court officials will be satisfied, and you will preserve your sovereign virtue.”

The king granted this request, and Concubine Huang took her leave at once. Then, the Chao brothers came forward and told the king that they had no luck finding the princes.

“Could they be at the West Palace?” he asked.

“No, they are not there, nor are they at Concubine Yang’s palace,” they said.

“Then they must be at court,” King Zhou said. “You must arrest them so they can be brought to justice.”

Meanwhile at court, the officials were still hanging around waiting for news about the queen. Suddenly, they saw the two princes stumble into the hall in a panic. The top commander, Huang the Flying Tiger, hurriedly greeted them and asked what’s wrong. As soon as they saw him, the crown prince Yin (1) Jiao (1) cried out, “General, save us!” and started crying while clutching Flying Tiger’s robes.

Sobbing aloud, the princes recounted what had occurred, and all the court officials were overcome with grief. They told the princes, “How can we sit and watch while the queen is framed? We will ring the gong and beat the drum to ask his majesty to come to court. We will discover the identity of the true criminal and right the wrong that has been committed against the queen.”

Just then, two voices rumbled through the hall like thunder. “The king has lost his way! He is killing his wife and sons. He has constructed the burning pillar. He refuses to heed the words of the loyal and wise. He is acting unjustly. What manner of men are you all, that you cannot clear the queen’s name or restore the princes, and instead are just weeping like women and children?! As the old saying goes, ‘Good animals choose their perch, and talented officials choose their lords.’ The king has lost his way and is not fit to be the ruler of the land. We should be ashamed to serve him. Let’s rebel, leave the capital, render our services to another lord, and dispose of this unjust ruler to protect the dynasty!”

Everyone looked and saw that the men who had spoken were two generals and brothers, Fang (1) Bi (4) and Fang (1) Xiang (4), the captains of the guards at court.

But instead of being spurred to action by their words, Flying Tiger shot back at them, “Who do you think you are, that you dare to speak such nonsense?! Look at how many top officials are present. How dare you speak out of turn?! Be gone at once, or I’ll have you traitors arrested!”

Thus rebuked and seeing no buy-in for their suggestion, the Fang brothers lowered their heads and backed off, not daring to talk back. Nonetheless, all the officials knew the reality of the situation. They knew that the country had long fallen into chaos and that disaster was upon the land. As they discussed their situation with no solutions, they all fell into silence, and the two princes again broke down in tears.

That riled up the two Fang brothers once more, and they just said, hell with this! They parted the crowd, and each picked up one of the princes. They then shouted, “The king has lost his way. Killing your sons ends your line, and killing your wife violates the code of ethics. We are going to escort the princes to the East to borrow an army to come eliminate the tyrant and restore the House of Shang. This is a rebellion!”

And with that, they stomped off with the two princes on their backs and stormed out of the south gate of the capital, knocking over any official who tried to get in their way.

Left in their wake was a court full of stunned officials. The Second Minister, Bi (3) Gan (4), rushed over to Flying Tiger, who was silent and calm this whole time, and said, “My lord, the Fang brothers have rebelled. Why do you say nothing?”

Flying Tiger sighed and replied, “It’s a pity that there wasn’t another like the two of them among all the civil and military officials here. The Fang brothers are simple oafs, and yet they understood that one should not tolerate the wrongs that have been done unto the queen and the princes. They knew their ranks are lowly and dared not speak much, so they just carried off the two princes. If they are captured on the king’s command, they and the princes would be killed for sure. They were just acting out of conscience and loyalty.”

Uhh, dude. You were standing right here with the rest of us, you know. Why didn’t YOU lift a finger out of conscience and loyalty? But before anyone could call him out, the Chao brothers rushed in, bearing the king’s sword and asking if the two princes had been there. Flying Tiger told them, “The two princes were just here telling us about the injustices and they and the queen have suffered and how the king was out to kill them. The captain of the guards, Fang Bi (4) and Fang Xiang (4) could not bear it. They rebelled and carried the princes out of the city. They can’t have gone far. Since you’re acting on his majesty’s command, you should go chase them down and bring them back to face justice.”

But the moment the Chao brothers heard that the Fang brothers were the ones rebelling, they were scared out of their minds. They knew how big and strong the Fang brothers were, and they were not about to go poke those bears. They knew the Flying Tiger was just taunting them, so they decided to go back to see the king instead.

When King Zhou heard that the Fang brothers had carried off the princes and gone off to the East to raise an army, he flew into a rage. He told Chao Tian, the elder Chao brother, “Since the Fangs rebelled, you must go arrest them at once. They must not be allowed to get away!”

But Chao Tian said, “The Fangs are stout and fierce, how can your servant apprehend them? If you want them caught, you must personally write a decree, ordering Lord Flying Tiger to go. He would succeed for sure, and the princes would not get away either.”

So King Zhou quickly wrote a decree and Chao Tian immediately brought it back to court, commanding Flying Tiger to apprehend the Fang brothers and to bring back the heads of the two princes. 

When he received this decree, Flying Tiger chuckled. He knew this was Chao Tian’s way of getting back at him for taunting him earlier. He walked out of the palace with the king’s sword. There, he was greeted by four generals who were his sworn brothers, offering to accompany him. But he told them they weren’t needed. And then, he hopped on his ride, a divine creature called the Rainbow Ox that could cover 200-some miles a day, and set off at high speed.

Meanwhile, about 10 miles outside the capital, the Fang brothers and the two princes were catching their breaths after storming out of the city. The princes thanked the Fang brothers for their rescue, and the elder brother, Fang Bi (4), said, “Your servant could not bear to see you suffer such injustice, so I rebelled. But we need to figure out where we will go to seek refuge.”

But while they were talking, they saw Flying Tiger approach on his Rainbow Ox. The Fang brothers fell into a panic and said to the princes, “We acted in the spur of the moment and didn’t think things through. And now we’re done for! What should we do?”

A moment later, Flying Tiger was standing in front of them. The two princes kneeled on the side of the road and asked, “General, are you here to arrest us?”

The sight of the two princes on their knees quickly brought Flying Tiger off his ox and he, too, kneeled, apologized, and asked the princes to stand up.

“Commander, what are you doing here?” the crown prince Yin (1) Jiao (1) asked. 

“On his majesty’s orders, I am coming with his sword to ask you two to take your own lives so that I may report back. This is not my doing; I would never dare to force my lords to kill themselves. Please, proceed.”

The two princes now kneeled again and pleaded, “General, you know full well the injustices that we and our mother have suffered. Our mother was subjected to torture and is dead now. If we are slain, too, then our house will come to an end. We beg you to take pity on us. Show us heavenly compassion and give us a new lease on life. If we are able to find refuge somewhere, we will never forget your great kindness!”

Flying Tiger now also kneeled again and said, “My lords, how can I not know what you have suffered. But I cannot disobey my king’s command. If I let you go, I would be committing treason. But if I don’t let you go, how can I bear to see you suffer unjustly?”

It went back and forth like this for a bit, without going anywhere. After a while, the crown prince Yin Jiao said to Flying Tiger, “Alas, since you must complete your mission and dare not disobey the king’s command, then I have one suggestion. I hope you can grant us this request.”

“What is it? Please tell me.”

“You may bring my head back to the capital to report to the king,” Yin Jiao said. “But take pity on my younger brother and let him flee to another state. One day when he is grown, he might be able to raise an army and avenge my death and my mother’s death. My death would be his salvation. I hope you will take pity on him.”

But when the younger prince Yin Hong (2) heard this, he quickly cut in and said, “Commander, you must not. My brother is the crown prince. I am just a young child and have no great talent. You should bring my head back to the king, but let my brother go to either the East or the West to borrow an army. As long as he can avenge my mother and me, I don’t care if I die!”

But Yin Jiao clutched his brother and wept, saying, “How can I bear to allow my brother to suffer such a cruel fate?!” The two princes now cried bitterly, with each insisting that he should die so that the other may live. The Fang brothers could not bear to watch this and shouted, “Dammit all!” and started to weep as well.

Faced with this scene, Flying Tiger could not help but be moved. 

“No need to cry,” he said to the Fang brothers, and then turned to the princes and said, “My lords, there is no need for you to be sad either. Right now, only the five of us know what transpires here. But if this leaks out, my whole clan will be killed.”

He then turned to Fang brothers and said, “Fang Bi (4), you will escort the princes to see the Grand Duke of the East. Fang Xiang (4), you will go to see the Grand Duke of the South, and tell him I spared the princes so that they may go to the East. Mobilize those two forces and avenge this injustice. When the time comes, I will help you.”

Fang Bi, though, said, “When my brother and I went to court this morning, we didn’t know what would happen. We rescued the princes, but we didn’t bring any travel money with us. How can we get to the East and South?”

Flying Tiger, as it turned out, was also sans wallet at the moment. He thought about it for a second, and then said, “Here, take my jade pendant. It’s inlaid with gold and is worth a lot. You can pawn it for travel money. My princes, please take care. Fang brothers, you must carry out your duties diligently. You would be rendering tremendous service. I must return to the palace now.”

And so Flying Tiger hopped back on his rainbow ox and rode away. It was dusk by the time he returned to the capital. All the court officials were waiting by the palace gate. When he dismounted, the Second Minister Bi (3) Gan (4) asked him what happened.

“I couldn’t catch up to them, so I had to turn back,” Flying Tiger said.

All the court officials were like, oh that’s amazing news, I mean, that’s too bad. Flying Tiger now went to see King Zhou and told him, “Your servant gave chase for 25 miles before coming to a fork in the road. I asked around, and they said no one saw the princes. So I had to report back.”

“But now the traitors are at large!” King Zhou lamented. “You may go for now. We will discuss this tomorrow.”

So Flying Tiger took his leave, and he and all the officials finally went home for the day.

Inside the palace, Daji heard that the princes had gotten away, and she told the king, “Now that Yin Jiao and Yin Hong have fled, they might be seeking refuge with the Grand Duke of the East. I fear an army will be marching against us soon, and it will be big trouble. And Grand Tutor Wen (2) is still away on campaign. You should immediately order the generals Yin (1) Pobai (4,4) and Lei (2) Kai (1) to lead 3,000 riders and chase down the princes. That will root out any trouble.”

King Zhou agreed and quickly wrote a decree for the two generals. Yin (1) Pobai (4,4) and Lei (2) Kai (1) then went to Flying Tiger’s residence to request the troops. Flying Tiger was just sitting around with troubled thoughts about the state of affairs when the two generals showed up. 

“Court just adjourned. What are you two doing here?” he asked them after they paid their respects.

“His majesty has issued a written decree for us to lead 3,000 riders to pursue the princes and the Fang brothers through the night and bring them back to face justice. We have come to request the troops.”

Flying Tiger thought to himself, “If these two give chase, they will no doubt catch the princes. Let me stall them.”

So he told the two generals, “It’s too late tonight, and the troops are not yet gathered. I will assign them to you at 5 a.m. tomorrow.”

The two generals did not dare to disobey their commander, so they took their leave and went home. 

The next morning, Yin Pobai (4,4) and Lei Kai (1) returned and were told their 3,000 riders were ready. When they went to collect the troops, they immediately noticed that the soldiers were all old, weak, or sickly looking. Flying Tiger was like, alright, there are your 3,000 men, have at it. And the two generals did not dare to say a word. They just took command of the troops and set off. 

Let’s fast forward a couple days and check in on the fugitives. The Fang brothers had been escorting the two princes, but the two generals now talked amongst themselves. Fang Bi said to his brother Fang Xiang, “We saved the princes and stormed out of the capital. We have no travel money. Even though we have the jade pendant from Commander Flying Tiger, how can we sell it? If someone recognizes who it belongs to, then it will cause trouble. We are coming up on a fork in the road, one leading east and the other south. Why don’t we tell the princes to go on their separate ways, while we two go in an entirely different direction. That way, we won’t all be caught.”

Now, this sounds like a really bad idea to me. How the heck are two teenage princes who had never set foot outside the palace supposed to make their way to distant destinations alone, on foot, all while trying to dodge pursuers intent on chasing them down? Nonetheless, the Fang brothers now raised this idea to the princes.

“If we are to escape, we must travel incognito,” Fang Bi said to the princes. “We must split up. That’s the only way we would be safe. It’s not that we are trying to ditch you. Please consider it.”

Yin Jiao, the crown prince, said, “Your words are wise. But my brother is young and doesn’t know the way. What should he do?”

Fang Bi said, “There are two roads ahead. One leads to the East, and the other to the South. Both are major thoroughfares with lots of people. You can just follow those paths.”

“Where will you two go? When will we meet again?” Yin Jiao asked.

“We will find refuge with some vassal or another,” Fang Bi said. “When your highness has raised an army and is marching on the capital, we will naturally come help you and lead the way.”

And so, the four of them bid each other a teary goodbye, and the Fang brothers headed off, leaving a 14-year-old and a 12-year-old to fend for themselves on the long journeys ahead. 

To see how the princes will fare on their journey, tune in to the next episode of the Chinese Lore Podcast. Thanks for listening!

Music in This Episode

• “Sao Meo” by Doug Maxwell / Zac Zinger
• “Ravines” by Elphnt (from YouTube audio library)
• “The Quiet Aftermath by Sir Cubworth (from YouTube audio library)
• “Day of Recon” by Max Surla/Media Right Productions (from YouTube audio library)