That blazing fire and fury made him, one who had joined the ranks of the Three Mad and Five Emperors and been famous for many years, feel fear in his heart.
“During the Chongming incident, the great king had already sent people to lurk in the capital, preparing to receive him. We calculated that his dosage shouldn’t have been deep at that time. With careful escort all the way, the great king’s secret guards also brought medicine I had prepared in advance – though it couldn’t detoxify, it could preserve his life force… The great king only wanted to control the unruly Murong Yi, not truly torment his only favored heir to death.”
“Who knew that to avoid being controlled, he would shake off the secret guards and venture alone into the wind and snow, returning to Liaodong ahead of schedule to take revenge on the great king and slaughter Ruzhou… Honestly, when I heard about it, I could hardly believe it. How did he endure it?”
Under the table, Tie Ci slowly unclenched her fingers one by one, which had been gripped tightly for a long time.
Her fingers were ice-cold, her fingertips completely bloodless.
“I heard from Chazi that when he was hiding in the southern slums, he had an episode. This didn’t match our carefully calculated dosage. We suspect Qiu Wujiu might have added more drugs. Under such circumstances, he could still escape… truly…” Jingxu kept shaking his head.
Tie Ci no longer wanted to listen. She stood up and walked out silently.
When she reached the tunnel entrance, she stopped and said: “Pack up. I’ll send you back to Liaodong tomorrow.”
Jingxu was so shocked that the dumpling in his mouth fell out.
“What for!”
Tie Ci didn’t answer.
“He doesn’t need me! That drug can only be endured by himself. Since he could endure such severe injuries back then, now it will only gradually improve. I was thrown here by him. If you send me back, do you know how he’ll treat me!”
Tie Ci slowly climbed the steps. When opening the entrance, she said:
“If you can’t do what you should do, then I’ll let you know right now how I’ll treat you.”
“Are you mad? You have your own chronic illness too. Don’t you need me!”
The slowly closing chamber door answered him.
Inside the chamber, Jingxu smashed his rice bowl for the first time.
…
In the Interpreters’ Institute specifically for receiving envoys, Chazi spread out letter paper to write.
“…The Da Qian female emperor’s martial arts remain, but this subject observes her complexion and suspects illness in her meridians. Moreover, through this subject’s probing, it’s also suspected that her gifted abilities have been lost…”
…
Just as dawn was breaking, Xia Houchun was summoned to the palace.
The Crown Princess’s Nine Guards Commander wore a bitter expression, thinking that even on New Year’s Day, people weren’t allowed to sleep in. He had been dreaming of Di Yiwei cooking soup for him.
After waiting in the main hall for a while, he finally saw Tie Ci enter wearing short training clothes, her face slightly steaming with heat, showing she had been practicing martial arts.
Xia Houchun was somewhat surprised and couldn’t help saying: “Your Majesty, your health hasn’t fully recovered yet. The imperial physicians have always advised against overexertion and recommended more quiet rest.”
Tie Ci took a cloth towel to wipe her sweat and said: “I feel that I need to become increasingly strong.”
To live, to live better and longer, to face more things.
Xia Houchun looked Tie Ci up and down, feeling that His Majesty seemed somewhat different today.
But Tie Ci didn’t give him a chance to explore, assigning him a task that he found utterly bewildering.
Half an hour later, Xia Houchun had changed into ordinary clothes and led a group of similarly disguised Nine Guards, staring at each other in bewilderment before the southern slums.
Such a large area, so many ramshackle shacks – searching through them one by one would take a very long time.
Not to mention what they were really looking for was underground.
Fortunately, Tie Ci had also issued an order for the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds, while she herself contributed money to build a batch of simple earthen houses in the west of the city and relocate all the people from this dangerous housing area. The slums would be demolished on the spot.
This matter had already begun earlier. No one knew how the emperor had suddenly noticed the southern slums that had existed for many years. Although they were unsightly, every city had them, and people felt it was good for everyone that these lower-class people lived together in a fixed location.
But if the emperor wouldn’t allow it, then it couldn’t exist.
Gu Xiaoxiao was working overtime on New Year’s Day with a large group of people, very efficiently throwing away all the junk that the slum residents were reluctant to leave behind, loading everything onto carts to transport away.
Each person was only allowed to bring one small bundle, because their so-called belongings had no value and were very dirty, easily spreading disease. The discarded items were burned on the spot.
Tie Ci had already ordered Gu Xiaoxiao to purchase a batch of not-very-attractive but sturdy utensils and some daily necessities at wholesale low prices when preparing the houses. These people could move in with just their bags.
With people moved away here, demolition began there. The demolition work made Xia Houchun’s imagined difficult task quickly yield results.
Two hours later, Tie Ci, who had left the palace upon hearing the news, stood before a demolished entrance.
Guards had sealed off the entire area; no one knew His Majesty the Emperor had come here.
Throughout all dynasties, no emperor had ever set foot in this place.
The demolished slums were covered with broken bricks and tiles, garbage and filth, even more unsightly than usual.
Little Bug crouched down to roll up and tie Tie Ci’s robe hem, then wanted to go down first to scout the way.
Tie Ci stopped him.
She also didn’t allow anyone to follow and descended into the tunnel.
At the tunnel entrance, where the mechanism opened, she felt a handful of black fragments. Those fragments slowly melted in her palm, revealing a deep red color underneath.
Someone’s blood, left at the entrance, congealed into fragments.
Following the passage downward, she indeed saw black stains everywhere, indicating fierce fighting had occurred throughout this place.
Tie Ci walked a circuit through the passage. On both sides were rooms, facing each other in pairs. Several rooms showed signs of habitation. One room had extensive bloodstains splattered under the bed. Another room clearly showed many people had stayed there.
The passage walls bore numerous sword and blade marks. The cuts were long and deep, very fine at the tips – left by Liaodong long sabers.
Many Liaodong secret guards, all masters.
Finally she stopped before one room.
The chamber had been sealed for a long time, with unpleasant and lingering odors. Besides the bloody smell present in almost every room, this room also had a strange, faint fragrance.
She paused, then finally walked in.
She saw blood-stained chains thrown on the floor beside the bed.
She saw the wooden bed edge worn rough and pitted by the chains.
She saw the bed already cracked from excessive struggling.
She even saw dried blood and flesh in those cracks.
Finally she saw on the wall, deeply carved, extending into cracks, with bloodstained edges… her name.
…
She didn’t know how much time passed before she slowly climbed onto the bed, kneeling on the creaking wooden boards, extending her hand to gently trace that name stroke by stroke.
She traced very, very slowly, as if seeing her own name for the first time, as if through this tracing she wanted to carve that deeply etched name and the long night when it was carved into her own heart.
Her fingers traced over the rough-edged cracks, also being scraped into tiny wounds, a bit of pale red covering old blood.
A long time later.
She got off the bed.
Walked to the door.
Her gaze fell on the door side, where lower on the wall remained a very deep handprint from gripping.
Gripped with such force that much plaster had fallen from the earthen wall, leaving a deep gap.
She crouched down and slowly extended her fingers into that gap.
As if across time and mountains and seas, nightmares and memories, once again joining hands with him.
…
The door slowly closed behind her, blocking out the faint light filtering down from above.
Also blocking out the even clearer and deeper characters “Murong Yi” beside the large finger-carved “Tie Ci” on the wall inside.
…
Tie Ci came up the passage and said indifferently to Xia Houchun waiting on the surface: “Seal this place.”
“Never allow anyone to enter or exit again.”
“Yes.”
Someone came forward to seal this place with iron plates. Tie Ci took one last look, then turned around.
Suddenly she stopped, looking into the distance.
There was a small street where the slum residents were gathering, preparing to be relocated.
Everyone was busily collecting items and climbing onto carts.
Only one woman in coarse cloth clothing, holding a small bundle, stood with her back to everyone at the roadside, looking at her from afar.
Tie Ci stopped in her tracks.
…
A quarter-hour later, Tie Ci looked with surprise at Lan Xian’er kneeling at her feet.
When Wenliu’s body was sent to the palace, Lan Xian’er hadn’t come along. She had later ordered people to search, only learning that after Xiao Wenliu jumped from the city walls, Lan Xian’er had followed the army out of the city to search for the body, but afterward disappeared without a trace.
She had confirmed that Lan Xian’er hadn’t betrayed Wenliu, so let it be. This was also a unfortunate woman – if she could gain freedom from then on, that was good too.
She hadn’t expected her to remain in the city all this time, staying in this slum.
“This is the last place Miss and I stayed,” Lan Xian’er said as they slowly walked through the debris-filled slum alleys. “That day I watched Miss’s body being sent to the palace. I couldn’t enter the palace, couldn’t return to the Xiao family, so I stayed here.”
“How was Wenliu… in the end?”
Lan Xian’er was lost in thought for a moment: “Not well. She was sent to the imperial mausoleum and initially tried to care for Tie Lin, but Tie Lin drank daily, cursed her, and even hit her. I couldn’t stand it and put a sack over Tie Lin’s head to beat him up. Miss feared I’d be discovered, so she moved to live alone in a small courtyard. Prince Zhao and Tie Lin monopolized the good food supplies, so Miss and I cooked our own meals. When we wanted meat, we hunted wild game. Prince Zhao and Tie Lin never managed mausoleum affairs – only Miss daily led people to patrol the mountains, inspect the imperial mausoleum, conscientiously doing the work of guarding it.”
She paused and sighed: “No, this slave spoke wrongly. Though those days were harder, looking back now, how wonderful it would have been if such days could truly last a lifetime.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I had Dan Shuang tell you that if anything was unsatisfactory, you could come tell me.”
“Miss wouldn’t allow it,” Lan Xian’er said. “She said you had given her everything you could give, so she couldn’t be ungrateful. You told her to guard the imperial mausoleum, so she would guard it well. Everything you entrusted, she would do properly.”
She turned to look at Tie Ci: “This slave must explain something for Miss. When Prince Zhao and Tie Lin entered the city without edict, bringing Miss along, they wanted to use her as a shield. And when Miss heard of changes in the palace, she panicked and followed them without a word. Only after entering the city gates did she realize that following them into the city like this was rebellion… but she couldn’t turn back. She wanted to save grandmother and also help you as much as possible… Loyalty and filial piety can’t both be perfect, but she chose the most complete way she could manage.”
Tie Ci closed her eyes without speaking.
All too devoted, too devoted.
Lan Xian’er looked toward the city gates and said softly: “Her life ended in cursing and hatred…”
She suddenly stumbled, and Tie Ci had already quickly supported her: “Watch your step!”
Lan Xian’er steadied herself with her support, looking down at Tie Ci’s hand. His Majesty the Emperor’s grip was gentle, not hurting her at all. She gazed at Tie Ci’s slender, strong fingers, looking into her concerned eyes.
The person before her was the gentlest sunlight, the most luminous jade tree, the vastest starry sky – everything seen and gained was full of radiance.
She suddenly smiled and said softly: “…Who wouldn’t fall in love at first sight with someone like you…”
Her voice was too low; Tie Ci didn’t hear clearly and looked at her puzzledly.
Lan Xian’er suddenly pointed ahead: “That day, right here, we encountered Murong Yi. We thought he was a corpse frozen dead by the roadside.”
Tie Ci shuddered, released her hand, and turned to look.
It was still the dirty alley, with stains streaming down the earthen walls. She looked at the corner Lan Xian’er indicated, almost unable to believe that someone like Murong Yi would, on that day, have held his head against such a wall and nearly died in the wind and snow of this squalid lane.
Lan Xian’er pointed to a collapsed shack nearby: “Please forgive this subject, but here I removed his clothes and rubbed snow on him for warmth. The situation was too urgent – without doing this, he would certainly have died.”
Tie Ci fell silent, then suddenly arranged her clothes and gave her a deep bow.
Lan Xian’er was shocked. After a long while, she quickly stepped aside, leaned against the wall in a daze, then suddenly smiled.
She said: “Before Miss died, she was still worried about you two, still telling Young Master Murong that she hoped he hadn’t betrayed you, hoped he could persevere… This slave thinks Miss can now rest in peace, because she didn’t save the wrong person.”
Tie Ci raised her hand to press against her chest.
The feelings in her heart were complex and indescribable, so much so that the chest spasms that had often occurred these past two years struck again.
Lan Xian’er suddenly smiled: “When I saved him that day, Assistant Minister Xiao’s head rolled out from under his cloak and nearly was seen by Miss. I covered it up. Later, Young Master Murong calmly got on the Xiao family’s carriage with that head… The young master is truly extraordinary.”
Thinking of that scene, Tie Ci also rarely smiled: “He’s always acted unconventionally.”
“Then Your Majesty should look forward to this unconventional Da Feng emperor continuing to surprise you,” Lan Xian’er said. “Miss and I saw his last appearance in the capital. We witnessed with our own eyes how a severely wounded, dying person still rampaged through here, escaping and killing – not missing a beat. Someone like that, I believe he can accomplish anything.”
Tie Ci gazed at her and after a long while said: “I believe so too.”
…