Master Yan had thought the matter through clearly, and decided he ought to return to the palace to see His Majesty once more.

It wasn’t that he felt any particular pity for Xu Ji, nor that he believed the officials who had committed wrongs deserved to be treated leniently.

Rather, he wished to protect His Majesty’s reputation. His Majesty was the founder of a dynasty — he could not afford any blemish on his name.

Following the reminders from Chancellor Gao and Elder Zhang Zhenren, Master Yan had already come to understand: what His Majesty intended now was to use Xu Ji to deal with those overbearing meritorious ministers.

To someone less perceptive, it might have seemed there was nothing more to the scheme — but Master Yan was no ordinary man, and he had seen one layer deeper. And so a certain unease had settled in his heart.

His Majesty was using Xu Ji to rein in those men, but this was ultimately only treating the symptoms. For no matter how fiercely Xu Ji acted, he would never truly dare to arrest and prosecute all of them.

The root of it all still traced back to Xu Ji.

Using Xu Ji to clash with these men meant that sooner or later, Xu Ji himself would have to be brought down — and that, Master Yan realized, was the most critical move in His Majesty’s game of chess.

In order to rectify the conduct of local officials, Xu Ji would inevitably offend a great many meritorious ministers. And these local officials each had their own powerful backers — the colonels and generals posted to the regions answered to their respective Grand Generals.

Once that resentment accumulated, it would not be a thing to take lightly.

In time, when that resentment had reached a certain pitch, and Xu Ji had already committed the offense of building a personal faction that cut at the very foundations of the court — at that moment, bringing Xu Ji down would be the natural and rightful course. It would even soothe the grievances of those resentful meritorious ministers.

And so Master Yan had already foreseen it: bringing Xu Ji down would not happen soon. It might be five years hence, or ten years, or perhaps even twenty.

By that time, Xu Ji would have been treating the symptoms continuously for ten or twenty years — and whatever needed to be suppressed would, by and large, have been suppressed.

This game of chess — His Majesty had not begun playing it after ascending the throne. He had begun it the day he transferred Xu Ji to serve as Military Governor of Ji Province. That was already several years ago.

While others were still watching the tides of battle across the realm, His Majesty had already been looking ahead to the various problems that would arise after the founding of the nation.

What does it mean to possess foresight?

His Majesty’s vision reached further than anyone else’s — at least from the evidence before them now, His Majesty had seen ahead by at least five or six years.

Still, this affair would inevitably damage His Majesty’s reputation. And so Master Yan found himself wondering whether he ought to offer one more word of counsel.

This was his duty. For he was not merely a court official of Da Ning — he was also His Majesty’s teacher, and His Majesty’s friend.

*Weiyang Palace.*

Seeing Master Yan return so soon, Li Chi understood well enough that the man had realized something.

He brewed tea for Master Yan, then settled into the seat across from him. “Master Yan, shall we play a game of chess?”

Master Yan immediately bowed. “Then this subject shall keep Your Majesty company for a game.”

It was not long before the board was set, and neither had yet determined who would go first.

Li Chi smiled. “Master Yan has something to say to Us. Allow Us to guess — if We are wrong, you take the first move; if We are right, We shall.”

Master Yan shook his head, smiling. “Could this subject’s thoughts possibly be beyond Your Majesty’s guess?”

Li Chi said, “Everyone in the realm watches what We do and wonders whether We are doing it rightly — they hope it will be good for all under heaven. Only those who are truly close to Us ever wonder whether it is good for Us.”

He passed the teacup to Master Yan. “You are Our honored teacher, Master Yan. No matter the time, We know that whatever you say, whatever you do, whatever you think — it is all for Our sake.”

Master Yan lifted a hand to rub at his eyes. Whether it was dust, or something else making them ache, he could not say.

“Your Majesty — the first move.”

The eyes he had rubbed were faintly red.

After placing the first stone, Li Chi said, “When you think about it… in the past, whatever I did always seemed to others like coming from behind, building momentum through late response. Yet in my heart I have always known — whatever I do, I have, at every turn, held the first move.”

He looked at Master Yan. “What does the one with the first move think?”

Master Yan replied, “When you were fighting for the realm, even your enemies said you were the greatest master in the world at turning late response into victory. Yet this subject also knew — before that late response, it was always your first move that was the key.”

Li Chi said, “In this world, there is truly no such thing as so much late response.”

He gestured for Master Yan to play.

Master Yan considered for a moment, then placed his stone.

“But Your Majesty is different now. You are the founding Emperor. For countless generations to come, countless people will look upon Your Majesty as someone without flaw or blemish.”

Li Chi laughed. “Master Yan — where in this world is there anyone without flaw or blemish? Not even the gods in legends and stories are without them.”

His tone remained unhurried as he continued, “You said just now that I am the founding Emperor — the first Emperor of Da Ning. My children, and their children, and all the generations of descendants after them — from whom will they learn how to be Emperor?”

Li Chi pointed at himself. “Only from me. So no matter what it may be — luminous or dark, set plainly before the world or hidden deep in one’s own heart — I must set the right example for my descendants.”

He placed a stone and went on, “You came to counsel Us, afraid We might bear some ill reputation — after all, Xu Ji is a man of merit…”

Li Chi’s fingers left the board and paused, suspended in the air for a moment.

“But has it ever occurred to you, Master Yan — when Xu Ji served as a local official in Yu Province, he already deserved death for what he did there?”

That sentence struck Master Yan like a sudden blow to the chest.

Li Chi lifted his teacup and took a sip, watching the color shift in Master Yan’s expression, minding that his words not cut too close and wound the man’s heart.

“Master Yan, the matter of Xu Ji colluding with Yang Xuanji in Yu Province — I let it go. What I said at the time was: merit and fault cancel each other out.”

“But I have always known, in my heart, that ‘merit and fault cancel each other out’ is a desecration of the law and of justice.”

Li Chi said, “I did this in a way that does look calculating — and yes, not entirely honorable. But consider it from another angle, Master Yan — if I had ordered Xu Ji’s execution back in Yu Province, you would not have come to dissuade me. Would you?”

Master Yan was taken aback again.

This question forced him to think deeply.

If, back in Yu Province, the matter of Xu Ji’s collusion with Yang Xuanji had not been suppressed by Li Chi but rather made public — then Xu Ji’s death would have been beyond question. No one would have asked Li Chi to show leniency, for it would have been a matter of betrayal.

In that very moment, Master Yan had indeed asked himself: would he have advised Li Chi at the time?

The answer was no. Absolutely not.

Li Chi refilled Master Yan’s tea, then set down the teapot and smiled. “As Emperor — which of them, throughout history, has ever reigned without a single person cursing them afterward?”

He looked at Master Yan. “The words I have spoken today — had you not come to ask, I would never have said them.”

Master Yan bowed. “This subject understands.”

These words, as Emperor, could naturally never be spoken to those who served as ministers. Such imperial calculation, laid bare — how chillingly dark it would seem.

Yet Li Chi had spoken them to Master Yan. Because Li Chi trusted Master Yan without reservation. Within the chill and shadow of imperial calculation, a beam of light had been opened.

“Master Yan, you used to always remind me not to be the sort of lord who just waves everything away with a careless hand — that it was not good.”

Li Chi sipped his tea as he spoke. “In those days, being that kind of lord was tolerable enough. But now, if I were still like that — it would be very not good indeed.”

Master Yan’s heart gave a sharp clench.

He rose, stepped back two paces, and bowed slightly. “This subject has been thinking too much.”

Li Chi rose with him and helped him back into his seat. “Between you and me, we say whatever comes to mind — there is no need for such formality.”

He pointed at the board. “It is your turn, Master Yan.”

Master Yan no longer had any heart for the game, and shook his head. “From the moment I placed the first stone, this subject had already lost.”

Li Chi laughed. “Master Yan does not contend for victory or defeat — and yet in that, you have already won.”

In his heart, Master Yan thought: for a minister, to contend with His Majesty for victory — in the very act of contending, one has already lost utterly.

Take Xu Ji, for instance.

Back in Yu Province, Xu Ji had fancied himself clever enough to turn black into white, to conceal everything, to win by proving himself smarter than His Majesty — to deceive the Emperor.

Then came Ji Province, then Yue Province, and finally Xu Ji had gotten his wish, rising to become Da Ning’s very first Chancellor.

Judging by how each of those episodes had ended, every time Xu Ji had contended against His Majesty, Xu Ji had won.

*Won?*

Master Yan gave a silent, bitter laugh. He had, only just now, still been thinking that perhaps it would not be so terrible if someone like Xu Ji could be preserved with his life intact.

But after His Majesty had just spoken of what happened in Yu Province, Master Yan suddenly understood: the one who had changed was not His Majesty. It was the rest of them.

Xu Ji had deserved to die back then. A few years had passed, and many had forgotten the matter of his collusion with Yang Xuanji — and so they had come to feel he should not die anymore.

Yet here and now, His Majesty wished to use a man who had long since deserved death, to have him die at a more fitting moment — for an Emperor, was that wrong?

His Majesty had never changed. Not in Ji Province, not in Yu Province, not in Jing Province, not in Shu Province, and not here in Chang’an.

His Majesty had always been the same. He simply understood, more clearly than anyone else, what ought to be done at every given moment.

Thinking this, Master Yan suddenly and truly understood.

A person acting differently at different times — that was not the person changing. That was the circumstances changing.

And with that, Master Yan’s heart was at peace.

He bowed. “This subject has one private matter to request of Your Majesty.”

Li Chi said, “Whatever it is, Master Yan, speak freely.”

“This subject thanks Your Majesty… Ruoling has long wished to return to Ji Province for a visit. This subject presumes to request Your Majesty’s permission to…”

Before he could finish, Li Chi was already shaking his head.

“Denied.”

Master Yan blinked.

Li Chi said, “Raise this again after Xu Ji has completed his inspection tour and returned. We cannot spare you now, Master Yan — nor can the court.”

Master Yan had come to understand Li Chi’s heart. And so in that one moment of clarity, all else became clear.

The moment Li Chi finished speaking, Master Yan understood his meaning.

After Xu Ji returned from his inspection of the various regions, both his renown and his power would reach the pinnacle of his life’s achievement. At that moment, Li Chi would also honor Xu Ji with further rewards — and who among the court could still stand above Xu Ji?

Master Yan, without doubt, was one such person.

For Master Yan to choose that moment to return to his home province with his wife — that would be the greatest protection for him.

His Majesty intended to let Xu Ji run unchecked for a time. That time might be ten years, or twenty.

In those years, what wild things Xu Ji might do, no one could say.

And so His Majesty had said to wait until Xu Ji returned before speaking of Ji Province again — that was a form of protection for Master Yan.

What His Majesty was planning to do would, when the time came, make rivers run with blood.

Just as he had always done before — before those rivers ran with blood, he would protect the people he cared about.

And when the rivers of blood had already dried, when the wind had blown through and no trace of iron smell remained in the air, when all of Da Ning was birdsong and flowers and splendor of mountains and rivers —

Then they could meet again, and watch the sun rise and fall together.

—