The Emperor’s mind was consumed entirely with how to salvage the situation. In his view, the petty intrigues within the palace did not amount to anything worth salvaging.

Since the Bureau of Investigation had been brought down, Liu Chongxin’s empire of power appeared to have collapsed in a thunderous fall, and the palace eunuchs had all tucked their tails in and made themselves small. In reality, they were merely putting on a performance.

Of course, it was also no longer possible for them to go about as they once had — draped in the skin of their station, untouchable wherever they walked in all the land.

So their grievances ran deep. Had Liu Chongxin been brought down a few decades earlier, they might not have felt aggrieved at all — that would have had nothing to do with them. But to be cast so suddenly from the heights of privilege to the depths of obscurity made those grievances twist into something ugly.

Zhen Xiaodao was the aberration among them — yet even Zhen Xiaodao was no deity. He attended the Emperor’s side every single day, and simply had no time to spare for properly managing this unruly group of subordinates in the rear palace.

Eunuch Xu — whose name was Xu Xiangshan — had still been nurturing fantasies a few years prior of one day turning the world with a flip of his hand, just as Liu Chongxin had.

He was even the adopted grandson of Liu Chongxin’s adopted son’s adopted son — by that reckoning, he considered himself part of the direct line.

Ordinary people might not understand why eunuchs were so fond of taking in adopted sons, particularly those with power and influence. What they truly could not comprehend was the obsession born of leaving behind no heirs.

Xu Xiangshan returned to Shiyuan Palace, his head pounding as though it were about to split open.

Stealing a blank imperial edict was not so difficult. Stealing one already stamped with the imperial seal, however, was the equivalent of stretching one’s own neck toward the Emperor and saying: here, Your Majesty, allow this servant to offer you a head for your entertainment.

To even have a chance, it would need to be at a time when the Emperor was not in the Eastern Study — yet the Emperor almost never left that place. That was the greatest obstacle of all.

Just then, a young eunuch came in from outside and, upon seeing him, quickly bowed in greeting. “Greetings, Eunuch Xu.”

Xu Xiangshan recognized this young eunuch — he waited on the outer service of the Eastern Study. Because of that, he carried himself with a certain pride even around eunuchs of higher rank, since he had the ear of His Majesty.

One of Xu Xiangshan’s finer qualities was that he was not stingy, and he understood which sorts of people were worth cultivating. Of the junior attendants under Zhen Xiaodao who had been entrusted with important duties, he had taken care to ingratiate himself with all of them.

“Back early today, are you?”

Xu Xiangshan asked with a smile. Even as he spoke, his fingers had already found a silver ingot in his sleeve and slipped it into the young eunuch’s hand. “I was thinking of inviting you out to Feiyun Xiaozhu today, but I heard you were on duty and didn’t come by. I had decent luck — won a few hands. Take this for some tea.”

This young eunuch — one Zhao Fengzhong — offered his thanks profusely, then pulled Xu Xiangshan aside. “Eunuch Xu, you’d best be careful these next couple of days. I came back early because His Majesty flew into a great rage, and Chief Eunuch Zhen was worried His Majesty might take it out on me, so he sent me back first.”

“What happened?”

“You haven’t heard? Two of the senior ministers have defected — Minister Li Shang and Minister Huang Wei’an. Have you heard anything, Eunuch Xu? His Majesty was even planning to take Minister Li’s younger sister as Empress. And now, as it stands, the future Empress has fled as well.”

Zhao Fengzhong sighed before continuing, “How could His Majesty not be furious?”

Xu Xiangshan was completely taken aback. He had only been out for a day and a night — how could something this significant have happened?

“What is the situation now?”

He asked hurriedly.

“His Majesty is in a great fury and has issued orders for Prince Wu to dispatch cavalry in pursuit. Whether they can catch anyone remains to be seen.”

A glint passed through Xu Xiangshan’s eyes. Suddenly, a plan formed in his mind. “Let me offer you a suggestion — if it works, you might just find yourself rising to great heights.”

Zhao Fengzhong immediately asked, “Please, Eunuch Xu, I am grateful for any guidance.”

Xu Xiangshan lowered his voice. “Don’t rush back just yet. Find an opportunity to say to His Majesty that he should personally summon the former classmates of Li Shang and the others. Those officials — nearly all of them came from the Chongwen Academy. What if there are more accomplices? Has His Majesty not yet acted on this? You cannot let Chief Eunuch Zhen think of everything before you do — you need to show some initiative.”

Zhao Fengzhong’s eyes lit up with excitement, and he expressed his gratitude immediately.

Xu Xiangshan said, “You need to handle this elegantly — you cannot let Chief Eunuch Zhen feel as though you are trying to steal credit. Here’s how to do it… say that it just now occurred to you: a couple of days ago, Li Shang and Huang Wei’an and the others had returned together to the Chongwen Academy. You can say you happened to be out the day before yesterday and chanced upon it — that other carriages were also entering the Chongwen Academy, and that there was mention of going to the Hongyan Tower.”

Zhao Fengzhong was startled. “That — I dare not say such a thing carelessly. What if…”

Xu Xiangshan said, “What do they say? Fortune favors the bold? I refuse to believe Li Shang and Huang Wei’an had not a single accomplice between them. Those people all wore the same set of trousers in their time. Pull one out and you have a great merit to your name.”

The Hongyan Tower within the Chongwen Academy was something special.

The Hongyan Tower housed the original construction blueprints for Daxing City, the plans for Shiyuan Palace, and even the most comprehensive maps of Dachu — all preserved within.

Xu Xiangshan kept pressing, and he actually managed to sway Zhao Fengzhong. Zhao Fengzhong thought of how awkward his position had always been — nominally serving the Eastern Study, yet never permitted past its doors. If he could earn merit this time and become a constant presence at the Emperor’s side, who was to say he could not be the next Zhen Xiaodao?

He turned and left. Yet in Xu Xiangshan’s heart, unease began to well up sharply.

Xu Xiangshan quietly made his way to a spot near the Eastern Study, hiding behind a wall where he could observe, and before long he heard an eruption of furious cursing — the sound of the Emperor in a state of extreme rage.

“How dare a castrated man meddle in governance?!”

Hearing those words, Xu Xiangshan thought to himself: it’s over.

The rear palace was forbidden from interfering in affairs of state — this was an iron decree left by the founding Emperor.

Of course, during Liu Chongxin’s era, that iron decree of the founding Emperor had been worth less than nothing.

Before long, he watched as Zhao Fengzhong was hauled out by two imperial bodyguards. The man kept crying out for the Emperor’s mercy, shouting that he had been wronged — but what good did it do?

Xu Xiangshan was genuinely afraid that the man would name him. Zhao Fengzhong must have been truly terrified out of his wits, for he seemed to have forgotten this matter entirely.

The commander of the imperial bodyguards, Hui Chunqiu, followed out the door. A few dozen feet from the Eastern Study, he drew his blade and ran it through Zhao Fengzhong.

Xu Xiangshan thought to himself: can’t blame me for this, can’t blame me at all. If you didn’t die, then I might.

He had of course foreseen this outcome, because he understood what the Emperor feared most at this moment.

Weichi Guangming had defected. The Emperor had said he would not implicate Li Shang and the others. Now Li Shang and Huang Wei’an had defected too. Every one of those officials from the Chongwen Academy — were they not living in dread, as if sitting on a bed of needles?

For Zhao Fengzhong to go running before the Emperor with this at such a moment — if the Emperor did not have him killed on the spot, then those officials would find a way to have him killed themselves.

Even if the Emperor privately harbored suspicions, how could he move against so many court officials? Half the officials in the court at present had come from the Chongwen Academy, and the majority of them were from the same cohort.

Xu Xiangshan understood the Emperor — he had not attended much on His Majesty directly, but he knew what the Emperor could and could not do.

At this moment, the Eastern Study would have none of those officials present. The Emperor would need to consult with Prince Wu on a course of action.

So Xu Xiangshan reasoned that before word spread, the Emperor would go personally to the Hongyan Tower at the Chongwen Academy. He would not send anyone else — he would not trust it to another. And one must not forget — the Emperor himself had studied at the Chongwen Academy in his youth.

The Emperor had to go and see for himself before he could be at ease. What was kept in the Hongyan Tower, His Majesty knew with perfect clarity.

And indeed, before long, Xu Xiangshan watched as the Emperor, now dressed in plain clothes, emerged from the Eastern Study — with both the imperial bodyguard commander Hui Chunqiu and the head internal attendant Zhen Xiaodao accompanying him.

Xu Xiangshan let out a quiet breath of relief in his heart. He knew things had all but fallen into place.

He reached into his robe and felt around. Those few stolen imperial edict scrolls sat there like blades, poised to wound him at any moment.

The Emperor left the Eastern Study at only one fixed time each day: court assembly. But during court assembly, Zhen Xiaodao carried the imperial seal in attendance, ready for the Emperor to use whenever an edict needed to be stamped in the great hall.

So as long as the Emperor did not leave, Xu Xiangshan had no opportunity.

After waiting a while — calculating that the Emperor had already left the palace — Xu Xiangshan straightened his robes, took a prepared ledger in both hands, and made his way at a hurried, head-lowered trot toward the Eastern Study.

At the outer door, he said to the imperial bodyguards on duty, “I discovered a ledger today — crucial evidence of the crimes of the traitor Liu Chongxin. It must be presented to His Majesty.”

A guard extended his hand. “Hand it here.”

Xu Xiangshan shook his head. “The matter is of grave importance. I dare not handle it carelessly. I must place it before His Majesty with my own hands.”

The guard frowned. He knew Xu Xiangshan; they had a working acquaintance, and he could not very well make an outright enemy of the man. So he said, “His Majesty is not present. Go in, set the item down, and come straight back out.”

Xu Xiangshan thanked him effusively and added that if His Majesty rewarded him, there would be a share in it for the guard as well.

He entered the Eastern Study. With frantic, trembling hands, he drew the blank imperial edicts from his robe. Seeing the imperial seal sitting right there on the writing table, he was so frightened his hands shook — yet he could not afford to waste a single moment. He stamped it swiftly, several times in rapid succession. His heart felt ready to leap straight out of his throat.

He had not anticipated it going so smoothly. His hands and feet were still going weak.

He emerged from the door, forced himself to appear calm, exchanged a few more words with the guards, and then turned and walked away.

Drenched in sweat, every step a weight.

The ledger he had placed on the Emperor’s writing table had belonged to his late adoptive father — a man who had been the adopted son of Liu Chongxin’s adopted son — who had held certain secrets in his keeping. What was written in that ledger concerned a matter of Bureau of Investigation members having secretly stockpiled a significant cache of weapons and armor at a certain location in Daxing City.

It was neither a trivial matter nor a catastrophic one, but given Xu Xiangshan’s standing, treating it as grave and urgent was entirely plausible.

The Bureau of Investigation had concealed all manner of things. Those weapons and armor were of no use to Xu Xiangshan — had it been gold and silver instead, he would have gone and taken it long ago.

He could not afford to dawdle. Keeping that thing on his person was asking for disaster. So he moved quickly, making his exit from the palace in great haste, his nerves jangling the entire way.

Xu Xiangshan went straight to Yun Su Tower in one breath. He had expected the person who had come to find him earlier to be there, but instead, Pei Bancheng himself came out to receive him — which left him somewhat overwhelmed by the unexpected honor.

In the study, Pei Bancheng smiled and said, “Eunuch, you are truly remarkable. You have given me a new estimation of you entirely.”

Xu Xiangshan smiled bitterly. “For this business of Master Pei’s, I have staked my very life. If Master Pei ever has good fortune to share in the future, please do not forget to look after me.”

Pei Bancheng said, “Good fortune, of course, there will be.”

He rose to his feet. “I have a few trifles in the back. Eunuch Xu, why not come and pick out a few pieces for yourself?”

Xu Xiangshan’s eyes lit up with pleasure, and he followed at once.

As they made their way to the room at the back, Pei Bancheng opened the door and asked, “How did you come to me directly, Eunuch Xu? Did you not meet with the person I sent to find you first?”

Xu Xiangshan said, “It felt more reassuring to hand it directly to Master Pei.”

Pei Bancheng gave a soft sound of acknowledgment, pushed the door open, and gestured with a welcoming hand.

Pei Bancheng said, “So the person I sent to find you still does not know you have already obtained the items?”

Xu Xiangshan replied, “Not yet — ah!”

He let out a cry of agony.

Pei Bancheng’s dagger had made several twisting passes through Xu Xiangshan’s lower back. When he released his grip, Xu Xiangshan crumpled to the floor.

Pei Bancheng crouched down and retrieved the imperial edicts from inside Xu Xiangshan’s robe. He counted them, then tucked all of them into his own clothing.

He waved a hand. “Dispose of the body. Put him in the place where those two people are staying — they will be moving into Room One of the Jia Wing at Fenglin Inn today.”

Two figures in black emerged, lifted the corpse, and departed swiftly.

The corner of Pei Bancheng’s mouth curved upward — a hint of satisfaction.

—