Standing in the doorway for a moment, the Emperor entered and looked upward at the foot of the staircase, then slowly made his way up, one hand on the railing.

The house had stood empty for a full year. Dust lay thick everywhere. Each place his hand touched left its marks along the railing. Yet the Emperor seemed to feel nothing of it, climbing the stairs unhurriedly, taking in the equally bare upper floor, then walking to the balustrade and leaning forward to look down below. Laifu hurried over to support him and was waved off.

From here, one could see the better part of the first floor below. He seemed to see Hua Yizheng standing at this very spot, holding forth with ease and confidence, while scholars of all kinds stood or sat, their spirits running high, words and gestures overflowing with enthusiasm. In this place, there was no entanglement of vested interests, no mutual attacks and accusations, none of the ornate yet hollow trappings of officialdom. Here, they drank their coarse tea in great gulps to quench their thirst, then threw themselves even more wholly into the discussion. Even their arguments arose from differences in conviction and perspective, only for them to find common ground on another topic a moment later and seal it with a hearty clap of the hands.

So this was why Hua Zhi had been so furious that the Wei Family had made such a muddled, shapeless thing of the discourse gathering — furious that the scholars’ minds were not yet settled before they had already glimpsed the various advantages that power and influence could bring. She was probably also vexed at him for allowing the Wei Family to host the discourse gatherings in the first place, leaving all those scholars who had labored over cold books for years without knowing which direction to walk.

Thinking of Hua Zhi’s words, delivered with barely contained fury and ringing with conviction, the Emperor pulled at the corner of his mouth. If the discourse gatherings truly were as she described, he could now understand exactly where that anger of hers had come from.

“For exiling the Hua Family — Yanxi, do you think I was wrong?”

Gu Yanxi was somewhat surprised the Emperor would ask such a thing. Yet he understood him well — when he said these words, it was absolutely not because he truly believed himself in the wrong. And so Gu Yanxi replied with a calm, measured detachment: “Thunder and rain alike are the grace of the ruler. The old master of the Hua Family would think the same, I imagine.”

The Emperor could hardly fail to detect the evasion in his answer. He let out a quiet laugh, and ran his finger along the balustrade — his already not-quite-clean hand became even dirtier. “The He Family once wielded power enough to shake the court. When they fell, the entire court of civil and military officials pleaded on their behalf and preserved the women of the household. Yet what remains of the He Family now? The Tong Family fell not long ago, and everything they had has already been carved up and distributed without a trace. The Fang Family, the Wu Family — which of them was any different? Only one family, the Hua Family, was unlike the rest.”

The Emperor turned around and looked at the meditation cushions piled in the corner. “The Hua Family has been in exile for a full year now. Yet from the time the incident broke to this day, aside from a few families connected by marriage looking to take advantage, and the Feng and Wei families — long-time adversaries — who reached out their hands, has anyone else made any move? Those who did not step forward to help were guarding against me using it to confirm the charge that they were forming a faction. And then look at the scholars — when Lady Qin passed away, they sent her off throughout the city. During the autumn examinations, they delivered name cards to the Hua Family just as they always had. That was their stance. Don’t say it was because of Hua Zhi — even without her, the Hua Family could have settled itself securely in this capital and waited for the day they rose again.”

The Emperor smiled with self-mockery. “I could not tolerate the Hua Family. Tell me — how could I have tolerated them? If the Hua Family ever harbored the thought of rebellion, do you believe this dynasty could be renamed after them?”

Gu Yanxi had always assumed the Emperor merely harbored wariness toward the Hua Family’s prestige among the scholarly class. He had not known the reasons ran this deep — a precautionary strike before trouble could arise. In plain terms, it was still wariness.

“If the Empress Dowager had not protected the Hua Family’s women at the time, what would have become of them?”

“All sent into exile.”

Gu Yanxi felt not the slightest surprise. He pulled at the corner of his mouth in something that resembled a smile. “When your servant traveled to Yinshan Pass, the old master of the Hua Family once said something to me.”

The Emperor turned around to look at him.

“When the Founding Emperor was nearing his end, Hua Jingyan made a pledge to him: the Hua Family would live and die alongside the Great Qing. This vow has been passed down from generation to generation within the Hua Family as a dying command.”

The Emperor’s pupils contracted sharply — then he laughed. “If the Hua Family were to hold the Great Qing in their grasp, as long as they did not change the dynastic name, would that not also be living and dying alongside the Great Qing?”

When all was said and done, he simply did not believe the Hua Family lacked that ambition. Yet Gu Yanxi had no grounds to reproach him for it. If someone else possessed a reputation like the Hua Family’s, he too would have been on his guard. And so when the Emperor had punished the Hua Family at that time, he had not said a word in protest. But now he trusted Hua Zhi, and through Hua Zhi, trusted the entire Hua Family.

The Emperor looked down at the floor below once more. He had originally intended to use the Wei Family to erode the Hua Family’s reputation — but the outcome had instead made him recognize the Hua Family’s importance all the more keenly. It was almost laughable.

Could the Great Qing truly not manage without the Hua Family?

In that moment, the Emperor would gladly have flayed Wei Jing’s skin from his body. On ordinary days the man could talk a magnificent picture, yet when it came to actually doing things he was so dreadfully incompetent — unable even to subdue a single woman from the Hua Family. With only this much ability, he dared to meddle with the discourse gatherings?

Laifu, eyes cast submissively downward, stepped forward and reminded him, “Your Majesty, it grows late.”

The Emperor descended the stairs slowly. At the doorway he looked back once more at the Discourse Tower before finally departing. If time could be reversed, he would still have punished the Hua Family. The Great Qing could not harbor a noble house whose reputation towered so high — if the day came when one side rose while the other fell, what then?

Better to use this to preserve each other instead.

Gu Yanxi did not tell Hua Zhi that the Emperor had visited the Hua Family’s old residence, nor did he speak of where the root of the Hua Family’s troubles lay. Even if it were to be said, now was not the time.

He simply — after seeing that library — recalled the Hua Family’s present book room, which could only be called modest, and the next day had all of his own books packed into boxes and brought before Hua Zhi.

Hua Zhi accepted them with great delight, immediately calling Steward Xu to have several large bookshelves made, and then dragging along Gu Yanxi — brawny and conveniently useful — to thoroughly sort out the book room together. Thinking that once the shelves were done it might be a little cramped made her feel rather pleased as well. A book room that was too empty had no atmosphere at all.

Gu Yanxi was caught up in her happiness, and his own mood gradually brightened as well. What had already passed — what need was there to dwell on it? Best to take hold of what lay ahead. With him here and with Hua Zhi here, they would never allow the Hua Family to tread the same path again.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, Xiao Liu appeared before Hua Zhi in a cloud of road dust. His eyes were full of panic. Only when he saw Hua Zhi standing safe and sound before him did he drop down onto the ground in a heap, all his fear releasing at once, his body shaking like a sieve.

The moment he had received the news, he had felt the world spinning around him. He had forgotten even to say farewell to Bailin. He had not taken a single thing with him, and had set off to return with the messenger at once. There and back had taken several days, and he had been afraid that something would change in those days — afraid that Hua Jiejie would be punished by his Imperial Father, afraid that the warmth he had found in these recent days was no more than a fleeting dream that would vanish the moment he looked back.

Throughout that journey, even the brief moments of rest had been plagued by nightmares. Eventually he had not dared to sleep at all. Some things, merely to think about, were already a nightmare — to actually dream of them was to see mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

But thankfully — thankfully — Hua Jiejie was unharmed. The Hua Family was still here.

Hua Zhi stepped forward and rubbed the child’s head, wiping away the cold sweat on his brow, then made a great effort to help him to his feet. Seeing that she was struggling, Gu Yanxi stepped forward to lend a hand.

Liu Xiang brought over hot tea. Hua Zhi told her to go and urge Lan Qiao to hurry with the meal.

After drinking several mouthfuls of tea, Xiao Liu finally recovered somewhat and said in a hoarse voice: “The person who brought the message spoke so vaguely. What exactly happened? Why did Imperial Father suddenly…”

“It was I who asked the Emperor to allow you to return and stay with me.” Hua Zhi gave him a rough account of events. “Which means that from now on, you will need to step out into the open. Are you afraid?”