The Hongyuan Temple was vast, and its grounds exuded a deep sense of quiet. Li Chi followed the monks through path after path and saw beautiful scenery on all sides — the courtyards were impeccably clean, not a speck of dust on the paths. On closer inspection, even the window frames appeared to have been freshly painted not long ago, the colors still bright.

He thought back to the abandoned Taoist temple he had glimpsed as they entered, and a discomfort settled in his chest.

When they reached the back courtyard, a number of imperial guards were stationed at the gate, hands extended to stop the group from proceeding further.

“Which of you is the Young Lord?”

The lead guard asked — his tone respectful, his manner proper.

From the man’s uniform, he appeared to be the commander of the imperial guard. Li Chi knew that the previous commander had died in the Daxing City uprising, and the man now before him looked no older than twenty-three or twenty-four. To earn the Chu Emperor’s trust at that age, he must be exceptional in both background and personal ability.

Li Chi gave the young man a slight nod. “I am.”

The newly appointed commander of the imperial guard was Sheng Muyu — a man who had previously held no official post and had little contact with officialdom. After the death of the former commander Hui Chunqiu in battle, the Emperor had long kept the position vacant, unwilling to appoint just anyone.

Both Hui Chunqiu and Zhen Xiaodao had held irreplaceable significance for the Emperor. Beyond questions of ability, even laying eyes on that uniform would fill him with grief.

It was Yu Wenli who had broken the deadlock, recommending Sheng Muyu — his recommendation carrying the weight of kinship: Sheng Muyu was a cousin of Empress Yu. He was steady in temperament and uncommon in martial skill. The Emperor met him and found him agreeable at first sight, and so kept him on.

Since the tragedy surrounding Empress Yu, the Emperor had placed particular weight on Yu Wenli’s recommendations. Perhaps somewhere deep in his heart he had decided that people put forward by the Empress’s family were trustworthy.

Sheng Muyu bowed toward Li Chi. “This one greets the Young Lord.”

Li Chi nodded. “Is His Majesty present?”

Sheng Muyu said, “His Majesty is touring the garden. He should be at the stone pagoda by now. I’ll escort the Young Lord there.”

Li Chi thanked him and gestured for Yu Jiuling and the others to wait at the gate. Yu Jiuling was reluctant to stay behind, but forcing his way through at this moment would only raise suspicion, so he endured it and waited.

Li Chi followed Sheng Muyu forward. As they walked, Sheng Muyu said quietly, “His Majesty has been in a poor mood these past two days. Young Lord, please mind your words.”

Li Chi said, “Understood. Thank you for the warning.”

They passed two rows of buildings before reaching the back courtyard, where the scenery was even more beautiful than out front.

From a distance, a figure in bright yellow brocade robes stood at the base of a stone pagoda — unmistakably the current Emperor of Great Chu, Yang Jing.

“Young Lord, please wait a moment. I will go inform His Majesty.”

Sheng Muyu apologized with a look, then walked ahead swiftly. In a short time he returned and signaled that Li Chi could approach.

Li Chi walked forward, gave a slight bow, and greeted him — as he was operating under the identity of Xiahou Zhuo, propriety required it.

“This one pays respects to Your Majesty.”

Yang Jing heard the voice and turned. He looked Li Chi up and down, then smiled. “A fine and distinguished bearing indeed.”

Li Chi said, “Your Majesty is kind.”

Yang Jing said, “We have long heard of you. Only we never had occasion to meet. We went to Jizhou — but you weren’t there, having already gone north to the frontier.”

Without waiting for a response, he suddenly asked, “We understand you and King Ning first became acquainted at the Siyu Academy in Jizhou?”

Li Chi answered, “Yes. That is where we met.”

Yang Jing made a sound of acknowledgment. “We have always wanted to visit the Siyu Academy as well — to hear a lecture from the esteemed Head Scholar. It has never come to pass. To have missed that chance — it is a regret.”

He walked toward the stone pagoda and looked up toward its heights. “We are of the same clan, you and I. It is strange that the first time we should meet, we are meeting over matters between two houses.”

Li Chi said, “What is between two houses can be spoken of as one house’s matter.”

Yang Jing looked back at Li Chi. “You should have been helping Us.”

Li Chi replied, “When I was in Jizhou, no one from the Yang family helped me. Plenty tried to have me killed. When I was fighting the Black Warriors in the north, no one from the court helped me either — only people working against me from behind.”

Yang Jing’s brow creased.

Sheng Muyu had told Li Chi to mind his words because His Majesty was in a poor mood — and now it appeared that warning had been entirely in vain.

After a moment, Yang Jing did not grow angry. He said quietly, “There was no need to be so sharp.”

Li Chi said, “Your Majesty’s words — ‘you should have been helping Us’ — stirred something in me. I ask Your Majesty’s pardon.”

Yang Jing asked, “Has King Ning treated you well?”

Li Chi answered, “Everything I described just now — he was there for all of it.”

Yang Jing was briefly at a loss. He had intended to appeal to clan loyalty to draw Xiahou Zhuo over, or at least plant a seed of doubt — but he could already see that keeping Xiahou Zhuo here was simply not possible.

“The northern frontier war — it was not that We did not wish to help. The treacherous ministers and rebels left Us no hand free.”

Yang Jing sighed again. “But however it happened — if you bear some resentment toward Us because of it, We feel it is warranted.”

Li Chi said, “I bear Your Majesty no resentment.”

Yang Jing was silent for a moment before asking, “You have settled your heart on King Ning Li Chi. We will not press you further — every man has his own ambitions, and We do not rob men of theirs.”

He turned to face Li Chi directly. “Since King Ning sent you, what was it you wanted to say?”

Li Chi said, “Only to ask whether Your Majesty intends to honor the promise made to King Ning — and when.”

Yang Jing replied, “What promise did We make?”

Li Chi looked directly into the Emperor’s eyes. Yang Jing looked back into his. The two men held each other’s gaze for a long moment.

Yang Jing was the first to look away, tilting his head up toward the top of the pagoda again.

“And if… We were unwilling to join forces with King Ning?”

Li Chi said, “Your Majesty may have misunderstood. I am here on King Ning’s behalf not to negotiate anything with Your Majesty — only to wait for a reply. Once Your Majesty has given that reply, I will return and report.”

Yang Jing’s frown deepened.

“Even if you have no wish to serve Great Chu — you should not come before Us with this kind of pressure.”

“The pressure comes neither from me nor from King Ning. Your Majesty issued a proclamation to all under heaven declaring your intention to abdicate in King Ning’s favor — that was Your Majesty’s own decision. If Your Majesty now has second thoughts, that is also Your Majesty’s decision entirely. No one can compel you.”

Li Chi said, “I say again — I am only here waiting for a reply.”

Yang Jing narrowed his eyes. “Do you truly not fear that We might ally with Han Feibao?”

Li Chi said, “It is Your Majesty who should be afraid.”

Yang Jing said, “Does King Ning believe We have no other choice — that We must bow our head?”

Li Chi exhaled softly. “Does Your Majesty believe King Ning has so many choices to make?”

Yang Jing asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Li Chi said evenly, “I mean that King Ning actually has only one choice available to him. If he were to choose otherwise, every civil and military official under his banner would refuse to accept it.”

Yang Jing nodded slowly. “We understand.”

He looked at Li Chi and asked, “If We were to meet King Ning’s terms — how does King Ning intend to arrange things for Us?”

Li Chi answered, “I don’t know.”

Yang Jing laughed. “You don’t even know this — so how can you persuade Us? You should be aware that if We were to ally with Han Feibao instead—”

Li Chi cupped his hands in a bow. “I understand now, Your Majesty. Thank you for making your position clear.”

And then he turned and walked away.

Yang Jing’s expression shifted visibly.

“Xiahou Zhuo — do you truly wish to see the Yang clan destroyed at your hands?”

The Emperor called after him in a raised voice.

Li Chi didn’t turn back. As he walked, he replied, “The Yang clan will not be destroyed. Only Your Majesty’s branch of the imperial line may disappear. Besides — my surname is Xiahou.”

And so Li Chi walked out, and the Emperor made no move to stop him.

Before long, Yu Wenli came jogging over and bowed before the Emperor. “Your Majesty — judging by the Young Lord’s manner as he left, did Your Majesty refuse him?”

The Emperor said, “You know that We cannot truly refuse him. But We also cannot simply agree at once.”

He looked at Yu Wenli. “You understand, I think. Something obtained too easily is never properly valued — and it invites suspicion.”

Yu Wenli said, “I understand Your Majesty’s intent. I only feel that a man like Han Feibao cannot be fully trusted — after all, he even killed his own adoptive father…”

The Emperor said, “We don’t trust King Ning either — let alone Han Feibao.”

He released a long, slow breath. “It is simply that We have not yet reached the point of giving up.”

Yu Wenli felt a pang of grief for the Emperor at those words.

If he had given up, if he had let go, there would have been no need to meet with Han Feibao’s people in the first place. The obvious choice, if one had to surrender to someone, would be King Ning Li Chi.

But allying with Li Chi meant truly relinquishing all room to struggle. Allying with Han Feibao — if they actually managed to defeat Li Chi — still held a thread of a chance.

The Emperor looked up at the stone pagoda again. “This is Our last opportunity… Han Feibao is nothing. Compared to Li Chi, he is merely a petty, malicious man.”

Hearing those words, Yu Wenli understood that the Emperor had already made his choice.

This deliberate awkwardness in the meeting, this decision to make Xiahou Zhuo leave without an easy answer — it was all the Emperor ensuring that what he eventually gave would not look easily won.

“Go after Xiahou Zhuo.”

The Emperor commanded. “Tell him We were only speaking in anger. Tell him We will arrange another time to meet with him.”

Yu Wenli quickly assented and turned to go. He’d taken only a few steps when he heard the Emperor say quietly behind him: “We actually rather like him. And We respect him. Without Xiahou Zhuo, the northern frontier — the heartland — would have fallen. And so… it is a pity.”

Yu Wenli’s heart ached, because he knew what the Emperor was planning.

—

Somewhere in the distant cluster of attendants and palace maids standing in waiting, a eunuch — who appeared to be around thirty years old, with a pale, sickly complexion — had been watching intently all along. When Li Chi left, this eunuch also slipped away unnoticed.

Before long, the eunuch ducked into a room. Inside, the abbot Mingyuan was standing waiting.

When the eunuch entered, Mingyuan asked, “Could you see clearly?”

The eunuch replied, “Clearly. I saw both of them clearly.”

Mingyuan asked again, “And how confident are you?”

The eunuch said, “Whether I’m confident — is that something for you to ask? Too many questions have consequences.”

Mingyuan let out a cold laugh and said nothing more.

The eunuch changed out of his robes and slipped out through the back gate of the Hongyuan Temple.

Before long, he was back in the Ministry of Rites courtyard. This person was the man Yu Peien had dispatched — his name was Ye Huasheng.

When Yu Peien saw Ye Huasheng enter, he smiled and said, “Everything you need has been prepared in the room. Go and try it — let me see how close the likeness is.”

Ye Huasheng bowed. “Master, I’ll go now.”

—