The next day, in the magnificent Xuanzheng Hall of the imperial palace, a court session that had been suspended for several months was held.

Outside the hall, rain and snow continued without end. Gusts of cold wind occasionally swept through the great hall, adding several degrees of chill, but the atmosphere inside was quite harmonious. The young Emperor, who had not appeared for a long time, wore his dragon robes today and appeared spirited, looking as if he had completely recovered from his illness. The Regent Prince, who had been traveling about for some time, stood in position below the young Emperor, his figure solid as a rock. The hundred officials wore their court robes, holding their jade tablets with both hands, each in their proper place. When the court session began, led by the Regent Prince, they all performed the ritual of prostration before the Emperor on his throne, shouting “Long live the Emperor.”

Everything looked the same as before. Not only that, but the young Emperor had recovered from his illness, the Regent Prince had returned from supervising the war, and the court’s military campaign against the Eight Tribes in the northern frontier had also achieved great victory. This battle not only defeated the Beidi but also brought peace to the northeast, greatly enhancing the court’s prestige. During the court session, the Court of Imperial Entertainments reported that for next year’s New Year’s Day court session, more than ten tributary states from the southwest, including Pibo, Jiaozhou, and Linyi, had already sent word expressing their desire to participate in next year’s New Year’s Day court session to pay respects to the Great Wei Emperor. Their envoy missions were already on the road. Combined with the vassal states from the western passes, the numbers would reach the highest since Emperor Ming’s reign.

The New Year’s Day grand court session was the most solemn court session of the year, opening the new year with extraordinary significance. The news from the Court of Imperial Entertainments filled the officials with excitement, and they all spoke up to congratulate the Emperor.

After the young Emperor received the congratulations with a smile, he looked toward the Imperial Censor standing among the officials and spoke, ordering him to repeat last night’s report. The Imperial Censor stepped forward and did as commanded. Before he could finish, the joyful atmosphere in the hall vanished completely.

When the hundred officials had gathered outside the hall at the fifth watch this morning, waiting to attend court, this news had already spread. Xu Fan was one of the chief officials of the Six Ministries with distinguished status, yet he had not appeared this morning. Everything indicated that this matter was true. At this moment, seeing the young Emperor’s smile disappear and the Regent Prince’s expression calm as still water, no one below dared to speak, all lowering their heads.

The Regent Prince slowly stepped forward and bowed to the young Emperor on the throne: “This subject has committed a capital crime. Please, Your Majesty, impose punishment – this subject willingly accepts it.”

The great hall fell into dead silence, but then the young Emperor suddenly stood up from his seat, quickly walked down the steps, bent down, and personally helped him up with his own hands, saying loudly: “What does this have to do with the Regent Prince! The Regent Prince has devoted his heart and soul to me, willing to be crushed into pieces. Though I am ignorant, I have seen it all and kept it in my heart!” He clenched his fists fiercely and heavily struck his chest twice, making loud thumping sounds. “What is hateful are those small people who harbor treacherous hearts, intend to sow discord, and wish only for chaos under heaven!” After speaking harshly, he turned to the Minister of Justice: “How should Xu Fan’s son and son-in-law be punished for such reckless talk?”

The Minister of Justice hurriedly stepped forward and bowed: “This is great disrespect, a capital crime – according to law, they should be beheaded.”

The young Emperor’s eyes flashed with murderous intent, his killing aura overwhelming. He did not speak immediately but slowly swept his gaze across the faces of the hundred officials.

Another gust of cold wind invaded the great hall. The officials felt the hair on their necks stand on end, the chill pressing in.

Xu Fan usually conducted himself with propriety and had always enjoyed a good reputation, naturally having many connections in the court. Those ministers who were on good terms with him now felt endangered, with cold sweat flowing secretly.

The water clock in the great hall dripped as usual. However, time inside the hall seemed so slow it was like being placed on red-hot branding iron – each drop from the water clock felt like enduring agony for ages.

Just as the situation became unbearable, the Virtuous Prince, who had been silent all along, suddenly stepped forward and memorialized that Xu Fan was waiting outside the hall to accept punishment – why not have him enter the hall to hear his defense?

Since the Virtuous Prince had spoken, the young Emperor naturally complied. Xu Fan entered in panic, prostrated himself on the ground, saying his son-in-law had spoken wrongly due to drunkenness, and after sobering up felt deep regret and knew his crime. He also took the blame upon himself, saying he was willing to substitute himself for their punishment to appease the anger of the Emperor and Regent Prince.

He wept bitterly, kowtowing forcefully. Before long, his forehead was broken and bleeding, completely stained with blood. His wretched state bore no resemblance to his usual dignified appearance.

The young Emperor stared at Xu Fan for a long time, then turned to the Virtuous Prince: “What does Imperial Great-Uncle think?”

The Virtuous Prince stepped forward again: “Xu Fan’s descendants spoke wrongly while drunk, committing the capital crime of great disrespect, and should properly be executed according to law. But Xu Fan has usually been diligent in his duties and has merit toward the court. When this dynasty’s founder first ascended the throne, he also said to establish the government through benevolence. Although Your Majesty is still young, you possess heaven-sent talent. Your Majesty surely has your own decision on this matter – this old subject dares not comment.”

The young Emperor glanced at Xu Fan, still prostrated at the bottom of the steps, and said coldly: “This was originally an unpardonable capital crime, but since the Virtuous Prince has pleaded for you, in consideration of your past commendable loyalty, I spare your son-in-law’s life. The two shall each receive fifty strokes of the rod and be exiled three thousand li. You, as their elder, failed in discipline and bear joint responsibility – you are stripped of rank and office and exiled to the provinces!”

When his words ended, Xu Fan wept again, this time from unbelievable wild joy. He kowtowed and cried: “This guilty subject deeply thanks Your Majesty’s grace! When this guilty subject reaches his destination, he will surely do his utmost to benefit the locality, to repay Your Majesty’s life-giving kindness!”

At this point, some among the hundred officials were secretly deeply disappointed, but quite a few others saw their dramatically changed expressions slowly return to normal, for those reckless words that Xu Fan’s son-in-law had spoken after drinking were not isolated cases. Some of those standing in the hall today had, in their extreme disappointment, thought such things to varying degrees. If these two men today suffered extreme punishment for this, the rest would inevitably feel the same, as if the blade had fallen on their heads.

Naturally, regardless of what the hundred officials in the hall were thinking, they all prostrated themselves in worship, unanimously praising the Emperor’s wisdom.

The young Emperor further angrily denounced the Xu family servant who had informed as having a heart worthy of death and an unpardonable crime, ordering his corpse to be whipped five hundred times, beheaded, and abandoned in the wilderness. Not only that, but all his nine generations of relatives would also bear joint guilt and be exiled beyond civilization, to serve as a warning to others.

The court session finally ended amid the unanimous praise of the ministers. As soon as Shu Jian returned to the imperial study, Empress Dowager Lan, who had learned the news at the first opportunity, came looking for him. After dismissing the others, she said: “Your Majesty, the Xu Fan family committed great treason – how could you let them off so easily? Do you think only his family has such thoughts? Mother Empress tells you, during the time you were out of the palace, among the court ministers, who knows how many had the same ideas as they did! This was a good opportunity for Your Majesty to establish your authority! These people only have eyes for that person! If Your Majesty does not use extreme punishment today, it will only make those people bolder, thinking Your Majesty is in his grasp, convinced that Your Majesty fears him. This is your disaster! Not to mention, Your Majesty dealt with that servant in such a way! Continuing like this, if he ever acts treacherously in the future, the entire court will listen only to his words – who would dare speak for Your Majesty or work for Your Majesty?”

“Your Majesty has been too deeply deceived by him. You should have killed one to warn a hundred today! Those are all his people! Even if you spare them, they won’t be grateful to you – they’ll only be grateful to that person! You… you’re too confused…”

By the end, Empress Dowager Lan’s voice trembled slightly, clearly extremely angry.

Shu Jian had been reading memorials at his desk with his head down. Now he looked up and said coldly: “What, does the Empress Dowager want to slap me again?”

Empress Dowager Lan was momentarily speechless.

“Also, I don’t understand – please explain clearly to me, this ‘he’ you keep referring to – who exactly is it?”

Seeing her son’s aggressive gaze, Empress Dowager Lan hesitated, then forced a smile and lowered her voice: “Your Majesty knows – does Mother Empress need to say it? Now the court’s hearts turn to him, seven or eight out of ten ministers are his confidants, following his orders. No matter how hard Your Majesty works, they turn a blind eye – hasn’t Your Majesty noticed? Moreover, if it weren’t for him deliberately guiding things, taking advantage of the late Emperor’s and Your Majesty’s trust in him, would we have today’s situation?”

“Empress Dowager!”

Shu Jian’s expression suddenly changed. He roared angrily, slammed the table, and stood up, throwing the memorial he was reading heavily to the floor.

“You are a woman of the rear palace – since when do you know the court so well? Things even I don’t know, you want to point out for me?” He stared at Empress Dowager Lan. “Could it be there’s someone else behind you? Why not have him come out and speak with me directly – wouldn’t that be better?”

Empress Dowager Lan was startled and repeatedly denied it.

Shu Jian breathed heavily a few times. When the anger that had just been provoked in his chest subsided somewhat, he said coldly: “Please return to your palace, Empress Dowager. Your son will pay respects morning and evening. This is not a place you should come. From today on, don’t let me see you here again!”

Looking at her son’s unusually cold face, Empress Dowager Lan felt a sensation that she could no longer control rising from her heart.

After this trip out of the palace, when he returned, he was like a different person. To please her son, she not only completely stopped mentioning the matter of establishing an Empress but also sent back that palace maid she had initially transferred away. She thought she had repaired the mother-son relationship.

Only now did she seem to suddenly realize that her son’s height had grown daily like bamboo shoots, broad-shouldered and long-legged, already taller than herself. At some unknown time, some slightly dark whiskers had also appeared around her son’s lips. He now showed such an expression, full of disgust and coldness. He looked as if he were no different from an adult.

Such a son before her not only made her feel quite unfamiliar but even somewhat afraid.

Recalling again the disaster like a catastrophe that her son’s departure had brought her last time, those days of worrying day and night like a walking corpse, all her dissatisfaction and anger disappeared. With reddened eyes and a trembling voice, she said, “Jian’er, don’t be angry, Mother Empress is leaving,” then turned and slowly withdrew.

Shu Jian stood behind his desk, still motionless. The eunuchs and palace maids serving here gathered outside, seeing from afar his rigid expression and fierce demeanor. Without being summoned, who dared enter without permission? They all knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe heavily.

The Virtuous Prince was overly cautious. Last night, when he and the Imperial Censor came to report this matter to him, that grave and panicked appearance didn’t match his position and almost made Shu Jian laugh on the spot.

What did the Virtuous Prince take him for – someone who would be influenced by such talk and then suspect his Third Imperial Uncle? That underestimated him.

In this world, the person least likely to have divided loyalties toward him was his Third Imperial Uncle.

He was grateful that his Third Imperial Uncle, when encountering such matters, did not try to hide them from him.

Entrusting it to him was showing trust in him.

Since he trusted him, he naturally had to treat him with equal regard. He wanted his Third Imperial Uncle and everyone to see clearly that any instigation and rumors could never turn his heart away.

Xu Fan’s son and son-in-law had groundlessly involved his Third Imperial Uncle in trouble – even ten thousand deaths couldn’t atone for their crime. But those two people couldn’t be killed. Killing them would truly be the beginning of division between him and his Third Imperial Uncle.

He hoped the answer he delivered today would satisfy his Third Imperial Uncle.

He was his dear and respected Third Imperial Uncle, the Regent Prince who had supported him until now. This would never change.

But at this moment, in his heart, for some unknown reason, he was filled with a sense of loss and powerlessness that seemed to have nowhere to vent. He stood for a while longer, then finally clenched his fists, dispelled the shadows in his heart, walked over to pick up the memorial he had just thrown, sat back behind his desk, and continued reading memorials.

A report case that had originally made even the Virtuous Prince feel extremely troubled, thus passed. The result was unexpected, but upon reflection, quite reasonable. How could such a sentence of ignorant, reckless discussion possibly shake the mutual trust between the young Emperor and Regent Prince and their years of uncle-nephew affection? Probably just as the ministers were feeling anxious about this, the young Emperor and Regent Prince should have smiled at each other. All slander was like floating clouds obscuring the moon, scattered by the wind. The punishment of Xu Fan and others was also appropriate – both a stern warning and showing mercy beyond the law, further demonstrating the unbreakable bond between the young Emperor and Regent Prince. This matter even seemed to have a good sequel: because of the young Emperor’s performance in Xuanzheng Hall that day, balancing leniency with severity, afterward, there arose a wave of praise among the ministers, calling him wise and brilliant, a great fortune for the nation.

However, no one expected that just as this wave of praise had not yet warmed up, half a month later, another wave would arise.

On the sixteenth day of the twelfth month, a comet appeared in the west, stretching across the sky. Then, the astronomers observed Mars guarding the constellation Antares.

These were all ominous signs, often indicating the Son of Heaven’s loss of virtue, with Heaven showing warning signs.

One alone was an evil omen, let alone appearing consecutively.

Just as the astronomers were feeling extremely panicked, immediately afterward, on the night of the seventeenth, the sleeping people of Chang’an felt the earth move. The entire city was startled awake. Fortunately, aside from tremendous fear, the actual damage caused by the earthquake was minimal. Many people were awakened by family members from their dreams, and before they could run out of their courtyards, the shaking from the earth beneath their feet had returned to calm. The next day, according to reports, only about ten livestock sheds that had been in disrepair for years had collapsed in the entire city, crushing over ten pigs and sheep and one unlucky person who happened to be in the livestock shed at the time. There were no other reports of casualties or building collapses. At most, households throughout the city had only broken a few bowls and dishes that hadn’t been properly secured.

From the young Emperor down to the lowest officials, the entire court had just breathed a sigh of relief when, unexpectedly, another piece of news arrived.

It turned out that the feng shui treasure land, several hundred li west of Chang’an, where the Great Wei imperial mausoleums were located, was where the earthquake had been most severe last night. An incident had occurred at a sacrificial hall built within Emperor Gaozu’s mausoleum that housed the founder’s clothing and artifacts from his lifetime. A roof ornament shaped like a mythical beast on top of the hall had collapsed in the earthquake. This ornament was over ten feet tall and weighed thousands of pounds. It broke through the roof and crashed down, actually destroying the altar inside the hall. The mausoleum guardian officials were terrified out of their wits and rode through the night at breakneck speed to bring this news to Chang’an.

Since Shu Shenhui’s return this time, except for some major important matters that he would still participate in and oversee, he had transferred all other daily governmental affairs to the young Emperor for personal handling. At the same time, the war that the court had wanted to fight since Emperor Shengwu’s reign was finally being scheduled. He had drafted a long memorial discussing the war, informing all officials that he considered the time ripe and was preparing to deploy troops after the new year. During this period, he oversaw war preparations, calculating the deployment of troops and provisions. The offices of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue in the palace had lights burning nightly until the third watch, and he followed along, throwing himself wholeheartedly into this matter, not expecting such an incident to suddenly occur.

Damage to Emperor Gaozu’s mausoleum from an earthquake – what shocking and disturbing news this was. On that very day, he set aside the matters at hand and personally rushed to the imperial mausoleums with his men to handle the aftermath.

After he left, within two days, rumors that the young Emperor’s virtue did not match his position, that he was not favored by the Mandate of Heaven, and that Heaven was warning the world through stellar movements, earthquakes, and damage to Emperor Gaozu’s mausoleum spread without restraint, pervading both inside and outside the capital.

No one knew where such public opinion originally came from. Perhaps it was some astrologer skilled in reading celestial signs, or perhaps it was people who deeply believed in the correspondence between Heaven and humanity, needing an emotional outlet in their panic.

In any case, such rumors came with great force. Soon, commoners also began discussing them extensively. In Chang’an city, some citizens even offered money to set up altars everywhere, hoping thereby to eliminate disasters and bring peace.

Such rumors naturally also reached Shu Jian’s ears. This was an unprecedentedly difficult experience in his life. He didn’t believe in the theory of correspondence between Heaven and humanity. But he couldn’t help but care about the overwhelming criticism of him outside. In the following days, when he attended court, whether it was real or just his guilty conscience, he always felt that the civil and military officials looked at him with strange expressions, as if they couldn’t wait for him to immediately abdicate to appease Heaven’s wrath. He felt that he didn’t necessarily have to be this Emperor, but if he resigned himself to fate now, he was unwilling. He began having nightmares at night, dreaming again that he couldn’t enter the palace gates and was shut out by palace guards and ministers. That dream was so terrifying – he seemed abandoned by the world, becoming a homeless wandering spirit. He woke up drenched in cold sweat, agitated during the day and unable to concentrate on work, yet not wanting to let memorials pile up on his desk without timely handling, when his Third Imperial Uncle had governed before, such situations would never occur. So he moved all the memorials to his sleeping quarters, reading until dawn, determined to follow his example. After several days of this, he fell ill. At first, he didn’t want people to know, but by the third day, he had a high fever. He slept fitfully at the fourth watch, and trying to get up for the fifth watch morning court, he fainted when getting out of bed. He was discovered by that palace maid from Yanmen, and only then did people learn of his condition.

Shu Jian was deliriously ill for two days. This afternoon, he woke up in his sleeping palace, slowly opened his eyes, and unexpectedly saw a familiar figure sitting at the desk.

That person sat sideways to him, head slightly lowered, turning through memorials on the desk. With his other hand holding a brush, he was concentrating on helping him review the memorials.

His Regent Prince Third Imperial Uncle had returned!

Shu Jian stared fixedly at that composed profile for a long while, then asked softly: “Third Imperial Uncle, do the stellar changes and earthquake truly portend that I am unworthy to be Emperor of Great Wei?”

“Celestial changes and earthquakes have never ceased since ancient times – what is there to fear?”

Shu Shenhui replied. He put down his brush, slowly turned his face to meet Shu Jian’s gaze, and smiled slightly at him.

“Most important is how to respond.”