Today was Prince Zhongshan’s birthday celebration, and the Prince Zhongshan’s residence had prepared many segments to surprise the guests, but they hadn’t expected that before their planned programs could even begin, shocking events would occur one after another.
Prince Zhongshan lay on the ground, his royal robes stained with blood.
The heir apparent, who was far away in the capital, and the lofty Grand Tutor Deng Yi suddenly appeared at the Prince Zhongshan’s residence.
Deng Yi said that the heir apparent was the crown prince designated by the late emperor.
That also meant the heir apparent should have been the emperor!
Although many people were blocked outside the hall, as mentioned before, one could block sight but not sound. Those standing outside immediately heard as well, and the news spread even further.
Among them, two people, father and son, exchanged glances with shocked expressions.
Earlier, when they were riding into the city, they had muttered that Prince Zhongshan was more suitable to be emperor than the young emperor, but since the late emperor had chosen the young emperor, if Prince Zhongshan still competed for the throne, it would violate propriety and make him a rebellious traitor.
But if the late emperor had once chosen Prince Zhongshan’s line, then the outcome would be different!
Prince Zhongshan would be the legitimate ruler!
The officials in the hall clearly understood this more clearly. In an instant, they surrounded Deng Yi: “What is going on?” “Grand Tutor, is what you’re saying true?” “Good heavens.”
Prince Zhongshan, lying on the ground at death’s door, was instead forgotten.
It was still the princess consort, half her heart shocked and half concerned for Prince Zhongshan, who interrupted the clamor, wiping tears as she ordered: “First settle the prince properly, then invite the Grand Tutor inside to explain in detail.”
Only then did everyone bustle into action. Though they hadn’t recovered from their shock, they no longer had the previous panic. Physicians wearing outer robes with covered hands and mouths and noses lifted Prince Zhongshan onto the bed in the resting area behind the flower hall. The poisoned physician was also carried away for treatment. The guests couldn’t leave yet but were settled in the hall to sit, and hot tea and refreshments were sent over.
Of course, this couldn’t comfort the guests. Everyone either sat or stood, whispering to each other, occasionally glancing toward the back. This time, the many buildings blocked both sight and sound—they could no longer hear what was being said inside. But it didn’t matter anymore; what mattered most, everyone had already seen and heard.
Prince Zhongshan had been poisoned by the court.
Grand Tutor Deng Yi had appeared.
Deng Yi said that the heir apparent was the crown prince designated by the late emperor.
The hall buzzed with noise.
In the inner chamber, Deng Yi was once again surrounded by the princess consort and the residence’s officials with questions.
Deng Yi also gave an answer: “Your Prince Zhongshan’s line was once designated by the late emperor to inherit the throne, so the current emperor won’t allow you to exist.”
“Grand Tutor, is this true or false?” The princess consort asked through tears. “But we never knew this.”
“That’s right, if the late emperor designated the heir apparent as crown prince, why don’t any of us know?” the officials asked.
Some also went to ask Xiao Xun.
“Does the heir apparent know?”
Everyone also recalled that Xiao Xun was in the capital at that time.
Since inviting Deng Yi back to the hall, Xiao Xun hadn’t spoken again. He only stayed by Prince Zhongshan’s side, staring blankly at him, using his oil-cloth-wrapped hands to wipe the blood from Prince Zhongshan’s face, as if isolating himself from everything around him. Only after the officials asked repeatedly did he raise his eyes in confusion.
“I don’t know,” he said. “When the chaos erupted in the capital, there was word from the imperial city telling me not to move from the relay station. I had been hiding at the relay station all along, but suddenly the relay station was also surrounded and attacked. Tie Ying brought me out.”
Deng Yi smiled slightly and said: “The heir apparent doesn’t know because this edict couldn’t be transmitted out of the imperial city.” He raised his eyes again to look at everyone in the hall.
These people had various expressions—some frightened, some uneasy, some tense, some sorrowful.
But how much of these expressions shown to outsiders was real and how much was false?
How truly uninteresting.
But also very interesting—they all waited for his word, and his word was like magnificent clothing.
In the capital, he had the title of Grand Tutor, held the imperial seal and tiger tally, and many people supported, assisted, and aided him, all to borrow his help in donning magnificent robes of power.
Such was the capital, and such was Prince Zhongshan’s residence.
They needed him, and he would grant them what they needed.
No matter who was who, Deng Yi would still be the one who bestowed the robes.
“When the late emperor was about to transmit the edict,” Deng Yi said slowly, “the Lady of the Chu clan and those of the Xie clan, with their private troops, seized it.”
A moment of stillness in the room, then uproar.
……
……
Outside Zhongshan Commandery, thirty thousand provincial troops were stationed, all transferred from various places. Their task was to strictly guard Zhongshan Commandery.
Standing on the first open sentry fortress, looking out, one could see the military camp opposite.
Since the battle a year ago, Zhongshan Commandery made no effort to hide its military strength. Prince Zhongshan was now openly maintaining private troops.
“There weren’t many carriages and horses on the road today,” a nearby general officer said in a low voice. “Good heavens, celebrating Prince Zhongshan’s birthday is practically grander than the new emperor’s enthronement.”
“When the new emperor was enthroned, this side of Zhongshan Commandery was still wearing mourning clothes—not a single congratulatory gift was sent,” another general officer said quietly.
The captain coughed lightly to interrupt them: “It doesn’t matter how many people enter Zhongshan Commandery to congratulate. As long as countless people don’t suddenly pour out of Zhongshan Commandery wanting to go to the capital to send congratulatory gifts, that’s fine.”
Both generals knew what this meant. They no longer believed Prince Zhongshan would send congratulatory gifts to the court. He had already sent them once before, and what happened? The emperor himself led troops to meet him in battle. If the empress hadn’t timely killed her way from the border commandery into Zhongshan Commandery to trap Prince Zhongshan, who knows what state Da Xia would be in now.
Both inside and outside would be in chaos.
“But—” one general officer couldn’t help saying quietly, “sooner or later—”
He stopped there, but the other two knew his meaning. The court and Prince Zhongshan wouldn’t remain in this stalemate forever.
Now that the court had achieved great victory in Yunzhong Commandery and dealt with Xi Liang, they had the energy to deal with Prince Zhongshan.
At least they wouldn’t let Prince Zhongshan continue holding one hundred thousand troops, wouldn’t let Zhongshan Commandery be like a divided territory.
The three stood on the fortress gazing into the distance, each with their own thoughts. Suddenly, a group of cavalry appeared in their field of vision.
This was a force of about thirty men, clearly coming from the Zhongshan Commandery military camp, getting closer and closer—
Until the guards here shouted: “Court military restricted area, do not approach.”
The thirty cavalry stopped. Horse hooves pawed at the ground, making chaotic sounds, making the general officers standing not far away watching this scene slightly nervous.
“We bear imperial orders and have come to verify credentials,” the lead military officer shouted loudly, holding up an edict in his hand.
A court imperial order? The captain on the fortress was startled.
“The court’s delegation bringing birthday gifts to Prince Zhongshan just entered,” a general officer said quietly.
Perhaps they had brought it.
The captain nodded and signaled to the guards. A guard had already taken the edict and galloped forward. The captain examined it and saw it contained commands for troop movements. Though the orders were somewhat puzzling, the imperial seal was correct.
Besides the seal, there was also half a tiger tally.
The tiger tally was also correct.
Whether the Zhongshan Commandery troops would listen to the court’s orders wasn’t their concern, but they must listen.
The captain signaled to let the thirty men through, returning the edict and tiger tally.
“General Andong is at the main camp,” he said, pointing behind.
The lead officer saluted, said nothing more, and led his cavalry through the fortress.
……
……
At the same time, the tightly closed city gates of Zhongshan Commandery opened.
Though not as crowded with people and horses as when entering the city, there were still quite a few carriages and horses departing.
Among them were officials, aristocratic families, military officers, and scholars, some riding horses and some in carriages, each heading toward different places at full speed.
……
……
Relay stations in many provinces and commanderies outside Zhongshan Commandery also received new relay reports.
“This is going to Jiangzhou?” At one relay station, the relay station master looked left and right at the dispatch letter, then at this group of relay soldiers. “Where are you from? Do you have official credentials, waist tokens, and orders?”
Naturally, relay stations transmitting dispatches needed to verify identities.
This group of relay soldiers didn’t report their identities or produce official credentials or waist tokens, only taking out an order.
“We bear the emperor’s secret order,” the lead relay soldier said. “It has the Son of Heaven’s seal.”
The station master looked at the order. He naturally recognized that the seal on it was indeed the Son of Heaven’s seal. Anyone carrying such an order could be called the Son of Heaven’s messenger.
But he didn’t respectfully salute and step back as usual. Instead, he hesitated, then also produced an edict.
“The court has an edict from the empress,” he said. “It says to strictly investigate the Son of Heaven’s orders, so please produce your official credentials and waist tokens.”
This group of relay soldiers exchanged glances, then suddenly raised their hands and drew their swords—
“Someone—” The station master was already prepared and shouted loudly while retreating.
With his shout, soldiers who had been hidden all around rushed out.
“Seize the traitors—”
“There are spies—”
……
……
And some relay soldiers who had smoothly passed through relay stations and entered cities with edicts didn’t all proceed without obstacles either.
The prefect looked at the edict presented to him. He took it with one hand but didn’t open it or say he would obey, but also produced an edict.
“The court just sent the empress’s edict, saying that regarding confidential matters, an erroneous Son of Heaven’s edict was issued,” he said, looking at the several people before him.
The several soldiers’ faces darkened, and they shouted: “Audacious! You dare disregard the Son of Heaven’s edict! How do you know the empress isn’t issuing a false edict?”
The prefect was a scholarly man, neither hurried nor annoyed nor panicked. He said: “It’s not disregarding. We don’t know which is true or false, and we dare not disobey either.”
As he spoke, his gaze swept over these people.
So what about the Son of Heaven’s edict? The Son of Heaven was still a small child, not even as old as the empress.
Who knew who issued this edict? Grand Tutor Deng Yi? The imperial relative Xie clan? If they issued it, then which was higher or lower compared to the empress’s edict?
“So we will send both the edict and all of you to the capital. After determining authenticity—”
Before the prefect could finish speaking, the several soldiers drew their swords.
“The prefect of Wuzhou is rebelling—” they shouted. “We are ordered—”
Accompanying the shout, they slashed toward the prefect.
The prefect, a weak scholarly man, had unexpected agility. He stepped back and turned behind a screen.
Earlier, when they said they had come on a secret mission and wanted the prefect to dismiss idle personnel, the officials and runners of the prefectural office had all withdrawn. But they hadn’t noticed the screen in the hall.
This screen was somewhat abrupt, but government offices inevitably had officials’ own preferences in furnishings, and the soldiers hadn’t paid attention.
With one strike missing and the prefect hiding behind the screen, the men advanced again. One sword was about to slash and shatter the screen. Before they could act, the screen fell with a crash, revealing a row of crossbowmen standing and kneeling behind it—
“Seize the traitors—” the prefect shouted loudly.
With his shout, arrows flew in unison. Before the five soldiers could advance another step, they all fell dead to the ground.
Officials and runners outside also poured in at this moment. Looking at the corpses on the ground, their expressions were both alarmed and shifting.
“My lord, that was close,” one official said quietly. “Fortunately, we were prepared.”
Another official said with lingering fear: “Fortunately, my lord was decisive and believed the empress’s edict. Those carrying the Son of Heaven’s edict indeed wanted to kill.”
The prefect looked at the two edicts in his hands. Actually, he hadn’t believed the empress’s edict—he simply didn’t believe anyone. Since the late emperor’s death, for over three years the nation had been in turmoil. He had long suspected that Da Xia would sooner or later fall into chaos—
Now it had finally descended into chaos.
……
……
When morning light once again enveloped the Prince Zhongshan’s residence, Xiao Xun, sitting by the bed, suddenly awoke.
He first glanced at the bed. After two days, Prince Zhongshan’s nose and mouth no longer bled, his breathing was faint, but his eyes remained open.
“Father,” Xiao Xun adjusted his sitting position, propping his head with his hand as he looked into Prince Zhongshan’s eyes. “Are you unable to sleep, or is it that you have no way to sleep?”
Prince Zhongshan naturally couldn’t answer. His rigid eyes couldn’t move. If not for his faint breathing, he would be a dead man.
“Don’t be afraid,” Xiao Xun said softly. “Soon you’ll be able to sleep soundly and never have to wake again.”
He held Prince Zhongshan’s hand and pressed it against his own face, gently stroking, just like when he was small.
Father always liked to caress him this way, and he liked to nestle against Father this way. Only he could receive Father’s caress like this.
“When I ascend the throne as emperor, I will posthumously honor you as emperor. Your wish will finally be fulfilled.”
He looked at Prince Zhongshan, his dimples filled with smiles.
“Father, you’re happy, aren’t you?”
Prince Zhongshan couldn’t express whether he was happy or unhappy. He could only lie there rigidly, rigidly keeping his eyes open.
Xiao Xun gently stroked his hand, his face smiling, his voice as cold and clear as freezing water.
“I’m very happy.”
“Although I always said before that I wanted to fulfill Father’s wish, actually I didn’t know whether fulfilling this wish would make me happy.”
“In my heart, as long as Father was happy, I was happy.”
“But now I’ve experienced it. Besides Father being happy, it turns out there are things that can make me happy.”
“It turns out when I’m happy for myself, it feels like this.”
As he spoke, he laughed.
Laughing silently.
Footsteps sounded outside, then someone walked in.
“How dare you.” Xiao Xun’s face suddenly lost its smile. No matter what, with Father like this, as a son he couldn’t laugh loudly—if someone saw— “To enter without permission, I said—”
He turned his head and saw who it was, and the rest of his words abruptly stopped.
Deng Yi looked at him with a wooden expression, with no intention of apologizing or withdrawing.
Xiao Xun’s face resumed its smile: “So it’s the Grand Tutor. What’s the matter?”
Deng Yi paid no attention to the smile on his face, nor did he spare an extra glance at Prince Zhongshan on the bed. He said: “Within Zhongshan Commandery and in the eight provinces and twelve cities outside the commandery, all have received the edicts. The thirty thousand provincial troops outside Zhongshan Commandery have also removed their defensive positions and are listening to orders.”
Xiao Xun laughed heartily: “Many thanks to the Grand Tutor. With the Grand Tutor here, our Prince Zhongshan’s residence has gained wings like a tiger.”
Deng Yi said indifferently: “The heir apparent is too kind. It’s still thanks to the prince’s early planning, gathering hearts for decades. What was lacking was just a single command.”
Xiao Xun smiled broadly: “Without a source for orders, Father couldn’t give this command for decades. If not for the Grand Tutor, even at this time and day, it still couldn’t be done.”
Deng Yi’s gaze turned toward Prince Zhongshan: “Then the prince should thank the heir apparent. It was the heir apparent who, for the sake of this realm, was willing to sacrifice the prince’s life in exchange for a single command.”
Xiao Xun knew that since Deng Yi had entered, Ning Kun must have already cleared away all the people outside, so he wasn’t afraid of being overheard. As for Prince Zhongshan—he also glanced at Father on the bed and smiled slightly.
“This is my father’s wish,” he said. “To fulfill his wish, Father could sacrifice me, so naturally he could also sacrifice himself. Even if he dies, he would be very happy.”
Whether Prince Zhongshan was happy, Deng Yi didn’t know and was too lazy to explore. He smiled and looked at Prince Zhongshan, saying: “But I think the prince can probably understand Emperor Jingyang’s feelings now.”
Emperor Jingyang was the father emperor of both Prince Zhongshan and the late emperor. Back then, to prevent threats to the crown prince position, he ignored his younger son Prince Zhongshan being harmed into disability by the empress dowager.
All for the sake of the emperor’s throne.
Prince Zhongshan had hated his father for a lifetime. Now, what difference was there between him and his son and what happened back then?
Father abandons son, son hates father, father and son mutually destroying each other.
Xiao Xun naturally heard Deng Yi’s mockery. His expression unchanged, he said with a smile: “My father hasn’t yet become emperor. It’s too early to experience an emperor’s feelings.”
Deng Yi no longer engaged in idle talk with him. He withdrew his gaze. Speaking of becoming emperor—he smiled: “I haven’t finished speaking. The officials and troops within Zhongshan Commandery and nearby areas have been dealt with, but going further toward the capital hasn’t been so smooth. Relay stations and prefectural offices everywhere have received the empress’s edict, so many of our edicts have been intercepted.”
Xiao Xun glanced at Deng Yi and said with a smile: “I didn’t expect the empress’s edict to be even more powerful than the Son of Heaven’s edict.”
Deng Yi nodded and said: “The empress’s prestige now is indeed very formidable.” He looked at Xiao Xun and smiled again. “Heir apparent, if you want to sit on this throne now, you must not only seize the Son of Heaven’s position—you must also seize the empress’s position.”
Xiao Xun laughed heartily: “I only want to seize the Son of Heaven’s position. Once I become the Son of Heaven, the empress’s position will still be Miss Zhao’s. Wouldn’t that be good?”
Deng Yi was about to say something when Ning Kun’s voice came from outside.
“Heir apparent, everyone is ready,” Ning Kun walked in, saluting both Xiao Xun and Deng Yi. “Please, heir apparent and Grand Tutor, proceed to the hall to make the announcement.”
Deng Yi said nothing more and lifted his foot to walk outside. Xiao Xun was about to step forward but stopped, turning his head to look at Prince Zhongshan on the bed.
At this moment, the room was bright with sunlight, but he couldn’t quite see Father’s face clearly. Not just now—even Father’s face in his memories had become blurred.
There hadn’t been much worth remembering before anyway. From the moment he was escorted into the capital, only humiliation and unwillingness remained in his life.
He must wash away this humiliation and unwillingness.
Xiao Xun withdrew his gaze and walked outside.
“Let the princess consort and the young masters come to send off Father,” he said.
Ning Kun lowered his head and answered yes.
……
……
In the third year of Xingping, on the twenty-seventh day of the eighth month, Prince Zhenguo died. Grand Tutor Deng Yi rushed to Zhongshan Commandery bearing the late emperor’s posthumous edict, informing the officials and officers of Zhongshan Commandery that there were no righteous ministers at court, and within were treacherous rebels. Guard General Chu Ling and his daughter Chu Zhao took advantage of the chaos among the princes during the Yongning years, colluding with the imperial relative Xie Yanfang, using private troops to threaten the late emperor, seizing the throne and dominating the realm, and poisoning Prince Zhenguo.
In the third year of Xingping, in the ninth month, the heir apparent of Prince Zhenguo, Xiao Xun, in respect of the late emperor’s posthumous edict, raised troops to punish the treacherous empress Chu Zhao and the treacherous minister Xie Yanfang, to restore proper order, and pledged to march forth.