Yibin Garden.

Emperor Yang Jing sat in his chair and glanced at Li Chi, his expression quite complicated.

“Your Majesty came to Yibin Garden in person — is something urgent?”

Li Chi handed him a cup of tea. The Emperor gave a slight nod of thanks.

“I originally intended to summon you into the palace to meet with me, but I spend every day cooped up inside and I’ve grown tired of it, so I thought I’d come out for a walk instead.”

The Emperor took a sip of tea and looked down at the cup. “Good tea.”

“Mao Jian from Yuzhou,” said Li Chi.

“I haven’t had Yuzhou tea in years,” the Emperor said.

He finished the sentence and turned to Li Chi. “I hear Yuzhou is prosperous now?”

“Every family has grain to spare, every household has money to spare,” Li Chi replied. “Though it doesn’t quite compare to Jizhou.”

The Emperor was silent for a moment, then said, “I’ve been to Jizhou myself… when I went, it was exhausted and desolate, wasteland as far as the eye could see. And yet in just a few short years, Jizhou has become the most prosperous and stable place in the land. It’s hard to believe.”

His gaze swept across Li Chi’s face, then dropped back to his teacup. “Sometimes I find myself wondering where I fall short of the King of Ning. When I really think it through, what I always come back to is — I cannot match his origins.”

The Emperor smiled faintly, with a trace of bitterness.

“Does that sound false? Does it seem like I’m being melodramatic?”

He cupped the teacup in both hands, letting the steam warm his face.

“Truly, I do envy him. If I had not been born into the imperial family, if I had not inherited this throne, I would have been a man with the same origins as the King of Ning. Perhaps I would not have done any worse than him.”

He looked at Li Chi. “Do you believe that?”

Li Chi nodded. “I do. Your Majesty possesses great talent and vision. The state of Chu is what it is — that has nothing to do with you.”

The Emperor laughed again. “How could it possibly have nothing to do with me? So long as the blood of the Yang clan flows in my veins, the fact that Chu could not be saved is my fault.”

He fell silent after that. Li Chi said nothing more either. The two of them sat across from each other in quiet, neither speaking.

After some time had passed, the Emperor drank from his cup and said, “I should return.”

Li Chi moved to rise, but the Emperor shook his head. “A few more words first. Then I’ll go.”

Li Chi nodded. “Please, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor seemed to gather his thoughts, and after a moment he said to Li Chi, “If — and I say if — I were truly willing to yield the throne to the King of Ning, would he treat my children well?”

“He would,” said Li Chi.

The Emperor made a soft sound of acknowledgment. “Good.”

“Sometimes I truly feel exhausted. I think — just let it go, and it would all be over. But every time I’m about to give up, I can’t get past my own conscience.”

He raised his eyes to Li Chi. “So — when you return, you may relay this to the King of Ning: if he promises to treat my children well, I will hand Daxing City over to him.”

“I will pass it on without fail,” said Li Chi.

The Emperor smiled. “Good.”

It was the second time he had said those two words. Both times, because of his children.

“Thank you.”

The Emperor rose.

“Your Majesty need not stand on ceremony,” Li Chi said. “I am only relaying a message to the King of Ning.”

The Emperor smiled. “He has already given me his answer.”

Li Chi looked into the Emperor’s eyes. The Emperor looked back. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment, and then the Emperor said to Li Chi, “You are a good man.”

“Your Majesty is also a good man,” said Li Chi.

The Emperor smiled, turned, and left.

Li Chi saw the Emperor out of Yibin Garden, then returned to find Gao Xining and the others waiting in the courtyard.

Gao Xining could not hold back. “What did the Emperor mean just now? Could it be that he’s already figured out you’re not Xiahou Zhuo?”

Li Chi made a sound of agreement. “More or less.”

“Then we need to withdraw as quickly as possible,” said Gao Xining. “I’ll arrange it — the sooner the better.”

“There’s no need,” said Li Chi. “If he’s worked out who I am, it wasn’t today that he figured it out. And if he’d wanted to make a move, he wouldn’t have said what he said today.”

“Still,” said Gao Xining, “one must guard against the unexpected.”

“Let’s wait,” said Li Chi. “If nothing goes wrong, he’ll have made some arrangement by tomorrow. Let’s wait before we go.”

On the way back to Shiyuan Palace, the Emperor called out from within the carriage: “Yuan Ying, come in.”

The young eunuch Yuan Ying hurried aboard and knelt before the Emperor. “Your Majesty, what are your orders?”

The Emperor pointed to the seat across from him. “Sit down. Have a chat with me.”

Yuan Ying was startled and immediately said, “This servant dares not — this servant will simply listen to Your Majesty speak.”

“I told you to sit, so sit,” said the Emperor.

Yuan Ying didn’t dare sit properly; he perched on the edge of the seat across from the Emperor, hovering in a half-crouch — a posture that was honestly less comfortable than kneeling.

The Emperor reached over and pressed down on his shoulder, settling him into the seat.

“You just saw Xiahou Zhuo as well. What do you make of him?”

Yuan Ying immediately replied, “This servant cannot possibly tell anything — this servant is foolish and dim.”

“Just say whatever comes to mind,” said the Emperor. “I’m not testing you on anything. Just talking.”

Yuan Ying thought for a moment, then answered, “This servant thinks… the Young Lord seems quite amiable. He must be a gentle and patient person.”

“Ha ha ha ha ha — gentle?” The Emperor laughed. “He’s cut a path from north to south. How gentle could he possibly be?”

“This servant truly has poor eyes, and truly cannot see such things,” Yuan Ying said. “It is still Your Majesty whose eyes see through everything…”

“Stop flattering me. That’s not what I want to hear.”

The Emperor turned to look out the window. The streets outside were nearly empty and looked rather desolate.

He remembered being a boy, when Liu Chongxin would sneak him out of the palace to play. The streets of Daxing City had always been surging with people — shops everywhere, carriages and horses flowing like water.

“I hope it returns to the way it used to be,” he murmured, letting out a slow breath.

His gaze came back inside the carriage. He looked at Yuan Ying. “If the King of Ning, Li Chi, truly enters Daxing City, and I truly yield the throne to him — what will you do?”

That question frightened Yuan Ying half to death. He thudded to his knees in the carriage.

“Your Majesty, this servant would not dare entertain such thoughts. Wherever Your Majesty goes, this servant will follow.”

“Ha ha ha ha—” The Emperor laughed again, pulling Yuan Ying up by the arm. “Get up. Look at you, scared half to death. Even if I really were to abdicate, I’d still take you all with me.”

He closed his eyes. “Tired. Wake me when we’re nearly there.”

—

Meanwhile, at the residence of the King of Wu’s consort.

The Consort of the King of Wu sat in her chair, looking calmly at Zhao Luan and Cai Nan kneeling before her. Her expression was composed; she did not appear to be angry.

Beside her lay a corpse. Xu Ke, the steward of the household, was dead — he had been strangled not long after being carried in.

“I have always believed that most men in this world cannot be trusted,” the Consort said. “That is why I placed the affairs of the north and south in the hands of you two. When it comes to the word propriety, women have always done better than men. I never felt you were unequal to the task, and I never interrogated you overly about the things I entrusted to you.”

“You both served admirably and never failed me. I was pleased… but there is no banquet that does not end, and partings come to all people.”

The Consort gestured toward two chests nearby.

“I have prepared those for you. There are deeds to land, some business interests, and some gold and silver.”

She rose and began to pace. “I am leaving Daxing City and will not keep you any longer. Whatever has happened in the past, whatever may happen in the future — I hope you both live well.”

Zhao Luan kowtowed. “Zhao Luan wishes to follow the Madam always. I am willing to serve as ox or horse, so long as Madam will have me.”

Cai Nan said nothing. She let out a cold, quiet laugh.

“Madam need not test us any further. She is clean — loyal to Madam through and through.” Cai Nan slowly rose to her feet and turned to face the Consort. “What I did was not careful enough. No one else is to blame for that — I was simply foolish. I do not ask for Madam’s mercy. Whatever Madam decides to do with me, you need only give the order.”

The Consort looked at her and gave a slight shake of her head. “In the past, if I had been faced with betrayal, I would have been without mercy. But things are different now. My own end will come sooner or later — perhaps a few years from now, perhaps not long at all. The King of Wu is waiting for me, and I do not wish to leave him alone for long.”

“So I have no wish to make things difficult for you. Whatever you are, whoever you served in the past — none of it matters now. In the Mangdang Mountains, you both truly risked your lives to protect me. That is enough.”

She looked at Cai Nan. “Take your things and go. I won’t keep you. Don’t let me see you again.”

Cai Nan stood watching the Consort, because she did not believe these words were spoken from the heart. Having followed the Consort for so many years, she had witnessed too many decisive, merciless acts — too many roots cut out at the very source.

Release someone? Leave a loose end?

That was absolutely not the Consort’s way of doing things. She did not believe it.

But she found that the Consort had already stopped paying attention to her, and had turned to look at Zhao Luan.

“Zhao Luan — you too must go. There is no need to follow me. After I leave, at your age, you still have a good life ahead of you.”

Zhao Luan only shook her head, tears falling.

“Go. I don’t want to see either of you anymore.” The Consort waved her hand.

Cai Nan was silent for a moment. She glanced at one of the chests, then inwardly cursed herself: you fool.

After cursing herself, she looked up at the Consort. “Madam cannot wait until the day after tomorrow to leave. Han Feibao’s people have already gone to abduct the Young Master — they know where he is hidden.”

She spoke with urgency, but the Consort remained unhurried.

The Consort smiled at her. “Thank you for warning me, even now. But you only know what I wanted you to know. As for where Zhen Ting is — only I know that.”

Cai Nan’s expression shifted, and then she gave a self-mocking smile, thinking: this is the real Consort.

“That,” she said, pointing to one of the chests, “I leave to you.” She looked at Zhao Luan. “You go your way. I’m not leaving. I’ll stay. When Madam goes to reunite with the King of Wu, I will also put an end to myself — not to atone for anything. I simply have no more reason to go on living.”

Zhao Luan rose. “I won’t take it either. And I won’t die. When Madam is gone, someone will need to tend her grave and pour wine for her every year.”

The Consort was struck still. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back — but could not stop the tears from falling.

—

Meanwhile, in Yuzhou.

Young Lord Cao Lie poured a cup of wine for the young man across from him, then settled back in his seat. “What are your plans going forward?”

The man sitting across from him was Yang Zhenting.

Yang Zhenting shook his head. “No plans… I used to think perhaps I should leave the Central Plains. Now even that seems pointless.”

“Why?” Cao Lie asked.

“The world will belong to the King of Ning. If he wants to be rid of me, where could I go that would be of any use?”

Cao Lie shook his head. “Foolish man… You’re sitting right across from me. Do you think the King of Ning doesn’t know?”

Yang Zhenting was startled.

“If the King of Ning wanted to kill you,” said Cao Lie, “why wait until later? The day you arrived, he could have sent you to the underworld.”

“That’s impossible,” said Yang Zhenting. “If he knew I was here with you, then why, during his decisive battle with my father, did he not use me? If he had brought me to the front lines and threatened my father with my life, then…”

Cao Lie simply looked at him. Just looked at him.

Yang Zhenting let out a long sigh. “Yes… he wouldn’t stoop to it. And it was also out of respect for my father.”

“True respect for an opponent,” said Cao Lie, “means defeating that opponent openly and honorably.”

He clapped Yang Zhenting on the shoulder. “If you want to stay, stay in peace. I can guarantee the King of Ning won’t kill you.”

Yang Zhenting made a sound of acknowledgment, and after a long silence raised his cup. “But I want to see my mother.”

“Then wait patiently,” said Cao Lie. “I’ll arrange it.”

He raised a hand and rubbed his temples. “I just hope the King of Ning can still give someone who made mistakes a chance.”

—