Chang’an, the Chancellor’s residence.

Xu Ji had been buried in court affairs until well past midnight before returning home. The moment he stepped through his own gates, he made straight for the study — for he knew Zang Jie would certainly be waiting for him by now.

He stepped through the study door to find Zang Jie sitting there, placidly drinking tea. The sight of it sent Xu Ji’s temper flaring in an instant.

“What exactly do you think you are doing?!”

Xu Ji slammed his palm on the table — hard enough that the tea things toppled over.

Zang Jie was entirely unmoved. The fury of Da Ning’s Chancellor, it seemed, was nothing worth concern.

“I told you to poison the Emperor. Why did you go and poison the Imperial Prince and the Empress?!”

Xu Ji’s stifled snarl, more sibilant than a shout, looked more savage than any open howl.

“His Majesty is not so easily baited.”

That was the first thing Zang Jie said — and it was nothing resembling an explanation. Xu Ji’s fury surged even higher before Zang Jie gestured for him to calm himself and continued. “My lord’s plan has a flaw.”

“According to my lord’s plan: first, find a way to poison His Majesty — that poison would serve only as a primer, producing no visible symptoms.”

“Then tomorrow my lord presents the sandalwood incense brought back from Shu Province. The incense conceals a compound within it — if His Majesty burns it over an extended period, his constitution will deteriorate day by day.”

“Then, His Majesty happens to learn that my lord has been privately using medicines brought back from Shu Province, and that these medicines appear to have genuine restorative effects on my lord’s health — His Majesty will take the bait, and ask my lord for the medicine.”

Zang Jie looked at Xu Ji. “In my lord’s plan, what is the most dangerous link?”

Xu Ji said, “The first poisoning of His Majesty.”

“That is not it.”

Zang Jie said, “The most dangerous link in this plan is the moment my lord presents the incense. At His Majesty’s side there is no shortage of medical masters — there is the woman called Shen Ruqian, for instance.”

“His Majesty’s teacher, the Long-Browed Daoist, had a considerable reputation across ten-some counties of Jizhou in his day — was that reputation truly built on fraud and deception?”

“With the people of Shen Medical Hall present, the Imperial Physicians of the palace, and the Long-Browed Daoist — my lord’s plan will only drag my lord into the trap.”

“His Majesty has not yet moved against my lord. But once this plan is exposed, does my lord believe His Majesty would still be merciful?”

At this, Xu Ji’s expression went through several changes. He turned the words over carefully in his mind — and his expression gradually softened.

“Then why did you not tell me beforehand?!”

Xu Ji demanded in barely contained fury.

Zang Jie said, “I only grasped the flaws in this plan after I had already reached the outside of the Imperial Garden.”

“And never mind that the incense was presented by my lord in person — even if my lord contrived to have someone else present it, the incense is produced only in Shu Province, and my lord has only just returned from Shu Province. His Majesty would still trace it back to my lord. Once it was detected, His Majesty would move against my lord without any further mercy.”

Zang Jie met Xu Ji’s eyes with full seriousness and said, “And so I changed my lord’s plan on the spot. Instead of poisoning His Majesty, I poisoned the Empress and the Imperial Prince.”

Xu Ji said, “How is that any different from disturbing the nest? You realised my plan had flaws — you could simply have done nothing. Why reach out and provoke the Empress and the Imperial Prince? Touch those two, and His Majesty will have people killed!”

Zang Jie only smiled. “Precisely because of that — His Majesty can kill everyone but my lord.”

Xu Ji’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

Zang Jie answered, “Because His Majesty understands my lord all too well — just as my lord understands His Majesty.”

He explained patiently, “His Majesty knows my lord’s one and only chance to overturn everything: His Majesty must die. With the Imperial Prince still young, my lord, as Chancellor, becomes the first among all ministers. So of everyone under heaven — apart from His Majesty and the Empress — my lord is the person who cares most about the Imperial Prince’s survival. My lord is among those *least* likely to want anything to happen to the Imperial Prince.”

Xu Ji slowly let out a breath. “So by poisoning the Imperial Prince, you make His Majesty not suspect me — and turn his suspicion toward someone else? But how could His Majesty so easily suspect another?”

Zang Jie said, “What I am doing serves two purposes: first, to make His Majesty not suspect my lord; second, to plant seeds of doubt in His Majesty’s heart.”

“From what I know of His Majesty, he is determined to establish the name of a benevolent ruler.”

“Being magnanimous to the people, being trusting toward his brothers-in-arms — that is a principle His Majesty must hold fast to.”

“So His Majesty will certainly not make an open investigation. His concern is that the generals commanding the Imperial Guards — including Xiahou Zhuo — will fear being suspected.”

“Yet the more His Majesty cannot investigate openly, cannot show anything, the heavier the suspicion in his heart will grow.”

Zang Jie smiled faintly. “When I was in Daxing City, I observed too much of the human heart. So I am certain: rather than poison His Majesty, it is far better to plant a poisonous seed inside His Majesty’s heart.”

Xu Ji slowly exhaled.

Zang Jie continued, “Has my lord ever considered — even if our original plan had succeeded, the position of first among ministers is not so easily secured?”

Xu Ji nodded. Zang Jie was right about that.

As long as Gao Xining still lived, the position of first minister would go to Tang Pidi. Without Tang Pidi, she would give it to Xiahou Zhuo, to Yan Qingzhi, even to Wu Naiyu — she would never give it to him.

Zang Jie said, “I also told my lord before — my lord has three to five years to work with, no more.”

“But my lord cannot be impatient either. Impatience leads to grave errors. These three to five years must be used to move gradually and steadily.”

“First step: sow doubt in His Majesty’s heart. Second step: sow doubt in the hearts of the battle-hardened generals.”

“The person His Majesty trusts most is not Tang Pidi, and not my lord — it is the Empress, Gao Xining.”

Zang Jie paced as he spoke, every manner exuding assurance.

He smiled. “Think, my lord: if His Majesty has doubts, would he go and speak of them to Tang Pidi? Of course not. But he would certainly speak to Gao Xining.”

“So these first two steps are paramount — to create a rift between His Majesty and his generals, such that even after His Majesty is dead, Gao Xining will not dare fully trust those generals. Only then will the position of first minister fall to my lord.”

Xu Ji shook his head. “This is not easily done. The success of your plan is less than three parts in ten.”

Zang Jie asked, “Why?”

Xu Ji said, “If you were to present this plan to another, they would consider it seamless. But I know the relationship between His Majesty, the Empress, and men like Tang Pidi — it is unbreakable as iron. Your strategy of driving a wedge cannot succeed.”

Zang Jie’s eyes flickered briefly. “Then what does my lord propose?”

Xu Ji said, “If I am to obtain the position of first minister and hold the reins of power, there is only one chance — and it requires two conditions to be satisfied.”

He said, “First: His Majesty and the Empress must both die. If necessary, if Xiahou Zhuo is still in Chang’an at the time, he too must die.”

“Second: after their deaths, I immediately support the Imperial Prince’s accession, and before the generals return to Chang’an, I secure the position of first minister firmly in my hands.”

He looked at Zang Jie. “The plan you described just now will not work.”

Zang Jie was silent for a long moment, then nodded. “My lord is right. The plan I had in mind before was indeed rather careless.”

Xu Ji said, “But what you described just now — making His Majesty not suspect me — that part was not wrong.”

He shifted tack. “But by disturbing the nest as you have, finding another chance to poison His Majesty — where does that opportunity come from?”

Zang Jie said, “That depends on how bold my lord dares to be.”

Xu Ji’s eyes narrowed. In those words, he heard something distinctly out of the ordinary.

“What are you trying to say?”

Xu Ji rose and walked toward Zang Jie until the two stood face to face, barely a pace apart — eyes fixed on eyes, frozen in place as if time had stopped. Perhaps dozens of breaths passed like that, neither man speaking.

Only when Xu Ji drew his gaze back from Zang Jie’s eyes did Zang Jie finally answer the question.

“I have a vial of medicine with me — exactly the same as what was used to poison the Empress and the Imperial Prince.”

Zang Jie asked Xu Ji, word by measured word, “My lord — dare you take it?”

Xu Ji’s eyes narrowed to a slit, as though he could pierce Zang Jie’s innermost thoughts by narrowing them far enough.

He asked Zang Jie, “Setting aside whether I dare — tell me first: why would I take it?”

Zang Jie replied, “My lord is of course free to refuse. Or to only pretend to take it.”

This was hardly an answer, and so the irritation that had been smouldering in Xu Ji rose again.

Zang Jie watched the changes moving across Xu Ji’s face — and even in those changes could see that Xu Ji had thought of killing him.

“My lord.”

Zang Jie smiled and said, “I said it before — if my lord wishes to make His Majesty take an interest in the medicines brought back from Shu Province, my lord’s previous plan will not work.”

Xu Ji’s eyes slowly widened, for in this moment he had understood what Zang Jie’s earlier words had meant.

“You want me to take the poison, and then give me the antidote…”

Xu Ji said, “And then find some way to let His Majesty know that I was poisoned — and used medicine brought back from Shu Province to treat it.”

Zang Jie said, “There are many ways to make His Majesty take an interest in those medicines. Poison His Majesty, then treat him, then present the sandalwood incense… too convoluted.”

“In this world, whatever great matter one undertakes — the most perfect plan is never the most convoluted. The more convoluted, the more easily it goes wrong.”

Xu Ji fell silent, his eyes flickering.

About a quarter-hour later, Zang Jie slipped out through the rear window of Xu Ji’s study. Shortly after, Xu Ji crashed through the study door and came stumbling out.

—

The following afternoon, at the Imperial Garden.

Deputy Chief Justice Zhang Tang came hurrying in and bowed, handing Li Chi a sealed letter.

Li Chi opened it and read — then his brow rose, just slightly.

He passed the letter to Xiahou Zhuo, who had arrived upon hearing the news. Xiahou Zhuo read it through, and his brow also lifted a fraction.

“Quite a coincidence?” Li Chi said. “Last night, our Chancellor was also poisoned — though he ordered the news tightly suppressed.”

“The person the Court of Justice has placed inside Xu Ji’s household reports that Xu Ji came crashing out of his study and summoned his household physician.”

Xiahou Zhuo set the letter down and said, “His Majesty, he told that physician: *’I have already taken the medicine I brought back from Shu Province, but I am not at ease.'”*

After repeating this, Xiahou Zhuo looked at Li Chi and asked, “Your Majesty — what medicine could he possibly have brought back from Shu Province?”

Before Li Chi could answer, Zhang Tang bowed and said, “This subject has already sent people to inquire, and is having Zhang Tang’s own movements in Shu Province retraced in careful detail.”

Li Chi gave a sound of acknowledgement and looked at Xiahou Zhuo. “Wait and see.”

Xiahou Zhuo said, “If he truly happens to have an antidote — doesn’t that rather give the game away by itself?”

Li Chi shook his head, but said nothing. From his expression, one could see that he had not yet found the flaw in this chain of events — and yet from his eyes, it was plain: *something is not right.*