Yu Jiuling heard that shout of *protect the Emperor*, and his feet nearly gave out beneath him. His heart screamed *that’s bad*, and he poured on speed.
On the other side, that shout had sent everyone else into a start too.
The Ministry of War Military Discipline Bureau’s subordinate fifth-rank clerk, Jiang Qianneng, froze. He turned to look toward Emperor Yang Jing’s direction, momentarily at a loss.
At his rank, he had no standing to attend regular court sessions. Even at grand audiences when officials of fifth rank and above came to court, he stood at the farthest back. He couldn’t even make out what the Emperor looked like, with so many people in front of him — and he didn’t dare move aside to look.
The last time he’d clearly seen the Emperor had been over two years ago, when he’d been a man full of ambition, when he’d ridden high with spring breeze at his back.
Looking now at that young man — he did seem strangely familiar. With that familiar feeling came a sudden chill spreading across his back.
This kind of disgrace, witnessed by the Emperor himself.
In an instant, cold dread rose from within him, spreading through his bones in an eyeblink.
He knew he was finished.
Meanwhile, Zheng Le, still at the height of his bluster, hadn’t yet grasped the situation. He was still cursing at those seven or eight guards, a string of *dog-lickspittles* and *dog-lackeys* tumbling from his mouth.
He’d heard the words *protect the Emperor* too — it was just that those two words were genuinely unfamiliar to his brain.
A *protect his what* very nearly escaped his lips before the meaning caught up with him.
A moment later, Zheng Le was soaked in cold sweat.
His first instinct was to turn and run — but the moment he turned, he was seized by the collar by imperial bodyguard commander Hui Chunqiu.
In that instant, Zheng Le’s automatic response was still: “Let me go — do you know who I am?!”
Hui Chunqiu looked at him coldly and replied, “I don’t know who you are, but I’m about to find out — and within nine generations, everyone connected to you will be introduced as well.”
The citizens around them also snapped to awareness. A great crowd of people dropped to their knees at once, prostrating themselves as they called out “Long live the Emperor.”
Up on the second floor, Li Chi stood watching — apparently motionless.
But when Dantai Qi drew his gaze back from the Emperor’s direction and looked at Li Chi, what he saw startled him.
He snatched the brick out of Li Chi’s hand and instinctively glanced around — wondering where Li Chi had picked up a brick from.
Why was there a brick up here on the second floor of this teahouse?
Dantai Qi urgently counseled: “Chief, restraint is a virtue.”
Li Chi slowly breathed out: “I know. It was just a tiny impulse.”
He turned and headed downstairs: “Let’s go. This is about to get interesting. I’d estimate the Emperor will summon me. If he doesn’t summon me, he’ll probably issue an imperial decree for me.”
Dantai Qi acknowledged this quietly, thinking to himself how remarkably coincidental all this had been.
He looked at the brick in his hand, thinking *this thing absolutely cannot be carried downstairs* — if it was, the imperial bodyguards would take him for Yu Jiuling and haul him off.
By now Yu Jiuling had run off who knows how far. At first some imperial bodyguards who’d noticed had given chase, but after two streets they lost his trail.
Li Chi and Dantai Qi came downstairs and went out through the teahouse’s back door — only to find Yu Jiuling crouching there, gasping for breath in great heaves.
This gave both Li Chi and Dantai Qi such a start they each jumped back a step.
Dantai Qi asked, “What in blazes — who is that, man or ghost?”
Yu Jiuling wheezed between gasps: “Imperial bodyguards are imperial bodyguards — damn it, they chased me two whole streets. If I weren’t genuinely fast, they’d have caught up.”
Not only had this fellow run two streets and then circled back — he’d even managed to turn his clothes inside out while doing it.
The covert operatives’ clothing was specially designed, with the reverse side being a completely different color and cut.
This design owed itself to the books Li Chi had inherited from Master Li — the writings left to him.
As Li Chi often put it, what was in those writings wasn’t mere text — it was a boundless treasury of wondrous knowledge.
To this day, the only section Li Chi had yet to fully comprehend was a single chapter in a book on garment design.
The dozens of design illustrations in that chapter — though they depicted no human figures — nonetheless caused Li Chi considerable… unsettlement, judging from the designs alone, with their strangely and scantily shaped pieces of fabric.
Every time he opened it, he felt like he was doing something criminal.
The accompanying text, sparse as it was, only compounded the sense of impropriety.
Something about *full coverage and half coverage*, something about *wire-support cups and cotton-support cups*…
The three of them returned to the official inn by a different route. Li Chi’s best guess was that an imperial decree might arrive at the official inn before long.
Contrary to expectation, by deep into the night, not a whisper of movement had come.
Not only had no imperial decree arrived — not even the number of watchers keeping covert surveillance on the official inn had increased. Everything seemed as calm as still water.
Li Chi was wondering what Emperor Yang Jing was intending, while Yang Jing himself had no mental bandwidth left to spare a thought for Li Chi.
His head was about to explode.
The entire afternoon, the Emperor raged in the imperial study, reducing the grand secretariat officials kneeling outside to terrified silence, not daring even to breathe too loudly.
As evening approached, the first imperial decree issued from the study, carried by the imperial study’s head chamberlain Zhen Xiaodao.
The decree: strip the Minister of Revenue Zheng Tuohai of his rank and title, remove him from his position as Minister of Revenue, seal his household assets, confine all members of the household, and place the matter under investigation by Chief Justice Gui Yuanshu.
A second decree came quickly: the Minister of War Zhao Jinzhong was stripped of his official post and title, confined to his residence, and placed on hold pending resolution.
Chancellor Yao Zhidong, kneeling outside, was shaking. He was genuinely terrified the third blow would fall on him.
But contrary to expectations, the Emperor appeared to have no intention of doing anything to him.
Thinking it through again — could it be that the Emperor genuinely didn’t want to move against him?
The timing simply wasn’t right… The Hero Assembly was imminent. All those preliminary meetings with the participants had been conducted by Yao Zhidong. To have the Chancellor dismissed and punished before the Assembly opened would be far too damaging.
Such a scandal, the blow to morale would be too severe — the already deeply fractured court of Dachu couldn’t withstand such a scandal.
Even the news of Minister of War Zhao Jinzhong’s investigation was suppressed, not permitted to be publicly announced.
The only matter now made known to everyone was the Minister of Revenue Zheng Tuohai and his son Zheng Le.
—
**The Imperial Study.**
The Emperor looked at Jiang Qianneng kneeling on the floor.
“You useless fool!”
The Emperor could no longer restrain himself. He walked over and delivered a kick to Jiang Qianneng’s shoulder.
“You came out first in the imperial examinations palace review two years ago, and we didn’t send you to a regional post — we placed you directly in the Ministry of War. Do you not know that We placed the greatest hopes in you?!”
Jiang Qianneng was kicked over, then immediately crawled back to his kneeling position: “This subject is guilty. This subject implores Your Majesty to administer punishment.”
“We are heartbroken!”
The Emperor sank back into his seat, breathing heavily.
“We know those officials cannot be relied upon, so We have placed all Our hopes in you young men. We believe that if Dachu’s mountains and rivers are to be sustained, it will require you to stand alongside Us and bear that burden together…”
“They’ve all stopped caring about Dachu. They believe that even if Dachu falls and the imperial house is destroyed, they can serve a new dynasty and still hold office — so the state of the realm is simply not their concern.”
The Emperor looked at Jiang Qianneng: “Those men kneeling outside — today they kneel before Us, but the day rebel forces enter Daxing City, they’ll turn their heads and kneel before someone else.”
“We never allow Ourselves to rest — and yet every day We face these men pressing Us to give up like them…”
He raised his hand and pointed toward the outside: “They don’t say it openly, but can you not sense their attitude?”
“They want to force Us to become like them — to just get through each day as it comes… wait until the rebels enter the city, then lead them all to kneel and kowtow together.”
“When We were young, the teacher who first taught Us told Us about how the founding Emperor of Dachu extinguished the corrupt Zhou dynasty and drove back the brutal Meng empire. We asked the teacher — could Dachu become as corrupt as Zhou? The teacher looked at Us for a long while and said nothing.”
“We were young then. We could not read the grief, the resignation, the despair in the teacher’s eyes… What the teacher didn’t tell Us was that every disease that afflicted Zhou, Dachu had inherited completely.”
He leaned forward, looking at Jiang Qianneng: “These past years, We have used every resource at Our disposal, done everything within Our power. We know there is only so much that can be done, and yet We cannot resign Ourselves to it…”
He exhaled heavily.
“We read again the Admonitions the founding Emperor left to his descendants — every failing, every disease was foreseen and warned against. Yet how is it that none of his heirs listened?”
“We listened. We wanted to fix it…”
The Emperor’s tears fell without a sound.
“What We have feared most, from the very beginning, was never the rebel armies — it was the men around Us. And what We fear is not even their dereliction of duty, but that their hearts are no longer in the same place as Ours.”
The Emperor raised his head — perhaps the last of an Emperor’s stubborn pride.
Tears flowing downward — he would not permit them to fall.
“Rise, then. We don’t know why We said all this to you — perhaps We have begun to feel We no longer have the strength…”
The Emperor rose, turned away so he was no longer looking at Jiang Qianneng: “Go.”
Jiang Qianneng knelt there, repeatedly knocking his forehead to the floor: “This subject knows his guilt. This subject has failed Your Majesty’s grace. This subject… this subject is filled with remorse. Please give this subject another chance — this subject is willing to give his life for Dachu. This subject is willing to give his life for Your Majesty!”
The Emperor spun sharply to face him: “Do you think We can believe that?!”
Jiang Qianneng kowtowed again and again: “This subject is willing to die for Your Majesty. Please believe this subject.”
The Emperor said, “Very well. This time We will not punish you — We will in fact promote you. We will shortly issue a decree: you are elevated to Deputy Minister of War, acting Minister. From today, the affairs of the Hero Assembly are your responsibility. As for the Chancellor — from today, gradually transfer all matters into your hands. From now on, let him focus his energy on other official business.”
Jiang Qianneng was stunned, then knocked his forehead to the floor with great force: “This subject receives the decree. This subject is grateful for Your Majesty’s grace!”
The Emperor reached down and helped Jiang Qianneng to his feet: “We have always known your heart. Yet your rank was too low and your voice too slight for anything to be done. Today We give you promotion — and in time We will give you title and lands as well. Those who serve Us truly, We will never fail.”
After waiting for Jiang Qianneng’s expressions of endless gratitude to subside, the Emperor paused for a moment and then said, “The Hero Assembly is the most critical matter. Do not fail Us. Also… this Cao Du — watch him carefully. Does he not have money in his hands? Go and meet with him, and convey something of Our intentions. If he helps Us manage the Hero Assembly well, We can give him title and lands as well.”
—
On another side of the city.
Chief Justice Gui Yuanshu held an apple in his hand, taking a bite. Looking at where his teeth had broken the skin, he noticed some blood — he hadn’t slept properly in several days, and his gums were bleeding.
He came out of the kitchen of the Minister of Revenue Zheng Tuohai’s residence, right hand holding the apple as he ate, left hand also holding one. He wiped the second apple on his clothes and tucked it inside his robe.
This ordinary fruit, for a third-rank Chief Justice, was something he couldn’t bring himself to spend money on.
“Sir.”
Zheng Shunshun came in quickly from outside, bowing: “Cao Du has sent someone with a verbal message.”
Gui Yuanshu asked, “What did he say?”
Zheng Shunshun said, “He… he asked whether sir thinks he ought to be thanking him.”
Gui Yuanshu paused, then made a sound of contempt: “Thank his grandmother.”
He put the apple he’d just tucked into his robe back out and handed it to Zheng Shunshun, then looked around: “Anything else?”
Zheng Shunshun said, “He asked sir if he has enough manpower… and said if not, he can quietly send people to help.”
“Him?”
Gui Yuanshu said, “From now on, whatever we’re doing, keep him as far away as possible — the further the better… Damn it, two Ministers brought down in one go — are you scared?”
That last question was directed at Zheng Shunshun, who was busy eating the apple and grinning foolishly.
Then Gui Yuanshu started laughing too: “Still pretty satisfying, though.”
—