It was unclear whether Song Lan had discovered that it was not Yan Lang who had returned to the Youzhou military camp. Song Yaofeng, who had originally already reached the lands north of the Yangtze River, was called to halt partway through her journey and was making her way slowly back to the capital.

If she returned to the city of Biandu, trying to leave again would be no easier than ascending to heaven. Song Lan had also counted on this, and that was why he believed Luowei would act to rescue her before Song Yaofeng returned to the capital.

The realm is vast, and this move was intended to lure Luowei into showing herself. Though Song Lan had deployed men to patrol inside Biandu, in his heart he still felt that she had escaped from Guyou Mountain and thus would most likely not return to the city.

His trusted subordinates had called upon the residences of all the upright and principled scholars in the capital one by one, but found no trace of her. Though he was frustrated, he had no choice but to temporarily suppress the matter of her disappearance. On one front he had men watching the Youzhou army to guard against any uprising; on another front he was dealing with the aftermath of the Jingqiu Remonstrance and ‘The False Dragon’s Lament’; and on top of that he had to prepare for governing affairs in all the territories after personally assuming power. All this had left him noticeably thinner.

When Chang Zhao arrived at the rear hall of the Qianfang Palace, Song Lan was taking a rare moment of leisure, brush in hand, writing out ‘The False Dragon’s Lament,’ which was spreading far and wide among the common people. The sound of bronze and copper might yet be silenced, but this song passed from mouth to mouth and was banned time and again to no avail.

To one side the tea had not yet grown cold. Two imperial edicts had already been copied out. Chang Zhao glanced at them briefly but did not move to interrupt. He waited until Song Lan finished writing the characters before him and looked up. Only then did Chang Zhao raise his hand and say, “This subject greets Your Majesty — may Your Majesty be well?”

Song Lan asked, “Is there any news from outside the city?”

“Outside the city” meant the matter of Song Yaofeng. Chang Zhao’s gaze drifted slightly, and he shook his head. “There has not been.”

Song Lan asked further, “Are there any unusual movements from the Prince Imperial Linyang and the Prince of Xiaoxiang?”

Chang Zhao shook his head again. “This subject has had men watching the two residences for some time. Since the Empress came under house arrest, both estates have closed all four of their gates and refused outside visitors. The young prince who had been attending lessons at the Zishantang is no longer going there either — all out of fear of being implicated in this. This subject surmises that the two princes must have guessed that something has changed between Your Majesty and the Empress, and are desperately trying to distance themselves out of fear of Your Majesty’s suspicion. It is likely, therefore, that they were unaware of the Empress’s machinations.”

Song Lan felt a pain in his head and muttered, “She already knows of what happened in those years, and she has escaped — she must be plotting something. Yet if she wishes to rebel, she must always hold a member of the imperial family as a figurehead, so as to stop the mouths of public opinion. The Emperor’s eldest brother has not yet returned from the frontier, and Linyang and Xiaoxiang show no movement yet. I used Shu Kang as bait, yet she still has not raised troops to rescue her. She wants to avenge the Imperial Elder Brother, and she must do it with proper justification in order to overturn the case — without holding a Song clan royal, how could she succeed?”

Song Lan’s reasoning was indeed sound. Chang Zhao listened quietly for a time, then spoke up: “Lord Ye has just left Your Majesty’s presence. What is his thinking, if I may ask?”

Song Lan gave him a meaningful sidelong glance and smiled with a touch of weariness. “Ping-nian need not probe Us.”

Chang Zhao made a gesture as if to kneel. “This subject would not dare.”

“Rise,” said Song Lan, waving his hand casually. “Tingyan’s meaning is that I should temporarily set this matter aside and first resolve the storm of public opinion at court following the Jingqiu Remonstrance. I understood him clearly. Though he has done a great deal for me, at heart he was born of the Ye military family’s noble lineage. Since childhood he has read the books of sages and worthies, and has practiced loyalty and service to the ruler. Although he serves faithfully, he is, in the end, a man who conserves rather than advances.”

He held the sheet of paper between his fingers and studied it. “‘Governing the realm with benevolent rule is like holding it in the palm of one’s hand.’ Tingyan counsels me to greatly reward Lu Hang’s family, issue a self-reproaching edict as the officials recommend, and practice frugality, so as to encourage frank remonstrance and set the hearts of the realm at ease.”

Chang Zhao lowered his gaze and suddenly asked, “If the Empress and the Chief Minister were still here, they would no doubt give Your Majesty the same counsel.” He paused. “This subject is suddenly reminded of a matter — since Your Majesty ascended the throne, you have followed the practices of preceding generations and treated the Remonstrance Bureau generously. For what purpose?”

Song Lan looked at him and smiled with appreciation. “He who truly knows me is Ping-nian.”

He sighed and said, “In the time of my grandfather, the imperial court was generous to the remonstrance officials because factional strife among the Chief Ministers and court officials was growing ever more intense, and this was compounded by the Flower Reform — without the censors to serve as a check, had ministerial power run unchecked and the officials fought one another for dominance, who could say what chaos might have ensued. My late father was generous to them as a way of leading by example, disciplining himself to educate the realm. And I… was because I was still young and had not yet assumed personal rule. Without the Remonstrance and Censorate courts to suppress the Chief Minister’s power and the Empress’s family influence, had those two harbored treacherous intentions, the court and the country would certainly have fallen into chaos.”

“But the Empress and the Chief Minister are gone now.”

Chang Zhao said calmly in response, “The Chief Minister has died, and the upright scholars clap their hands in celebration. The Empress has fled herself, leaving the pretext of illness behind at Guyou Mountain — within the near term she cannot possibly return to the center of power. This is a heaven-sent opportunity. In the wake of the Jingqiu Remonstrance, if Your Majesty can make up your mind, you will certainly be able to achieve a grand and mighty reign.”

Song Lan felt a layer of sweat break out on his palm.

Chang Zhao did not raise his head; he simply continued: “The enlightened rulers and sagely lords carved into the green bamboo of history did not all walk a single path. The kingly way, the hegemonic way — which is superior and which inferior? Right and wrong lie only in the hands of the victor. Back in those days, why did the Chief Minister abandon the Crown Prince and choose Your Majesty? The northern frontier stirs restlessly — in ten years, twenty years, the great Yin dynasty will be buffeted by storms, yet this is precisely the opportunity for Your Majesty to build merit, win glory, and expand the territory. Has Your Majesty not heard that the annals of history are filled with slaughter? Out beyond the frontier, the heavens are contested on horseback. Our dynasty has known peace too long — if the monarch cannot govern with an iron fist, when flames of war one day reach the walls of Biandu, who will guard the gates of the realm for the Son of Heaven?”

“In this subject’s view, the Jingqiu Remonstrance is precisely the opportune moment. What does a temporary ill name matter? Your Majesty should use this occasion to make clear to all within the four seas that you are different from the reigns before — and only then, when leading troops out beyond the passes in days to come, will you silence the clamor of scholars and cut off dissent throughout the realm.”

Song Lan slowly turned the black jade archer’s ring on his finger and said coldly, “These words are worthy of death.”

“Since Your Majesty was able to continue making use of this subject even after surmising that it was he who had encouraged the affair of Lu Hang, this subject no longer wishes to conceal what is in his heart,” Chang Zhao said, unmoved. “If Your Majesty did not wish to hear these words, why would you have summoned this subject the very moment Lord Ye departed? Your Majesty has already thought to elevate this subject to check Lord Ye after the Empress fell from power — this subject therefore knows Your Majesty’s mind is shrewd and calculating, and would certainly not put this subject to death over one such speech.”

Song Lan gave the order without even lifting his eyes: “Zhuque — once you have passed through the palace gates, reward him with poisoned wine.”

Two men entered from outside the hall, one on either side, and seized Chang Zhao by both arms, dragging him toward the hall doors. Chang Zhao was not the least bit flustered; he even raised his voice and laughed, “The Mandate of Heaven rests here — what does Your Majesty have to fear?”

Once his figure had disappeared, Liu Xi bent close to the Emperor and murmured. Sure enough, he heard the Emperor instruct, “Go — grant him a cup of water wine. If he drinks it without changing expression, bring him back before Us.”

Liu Xi withdrew with understanding, and Song Lan took the copy he had written of ‘The False Dragon’s Lament’ and walked to the empty window. He stared at the line “The lotus flower has been gone from the kingdom for a thousand years” and let out a scoffing laugh.

“Elder Sister, why can’t you understand?” he murmured to himself. “No matter how much you struggle, what is the use? After the Thorn-the-Begonia Case, the Mandate of Heaven rests with Us — not with the way of truth you uphold.”

The autumn wind was bleak and desolate. He turned, and on a whim, held that copy of ‘The False Dragon’s Lament’ to the candle flame at his side and set it alight. In an instant, paper and ink were reduced to ash together, vanishing before the window.

* * *

The autumn days of the Jinghe years passed in a pall of gloom and melancholy. Song Lan perfunctorily rewarded some gold and silver, yet left Lu Hang’s children and nephews and their disciples idle and unoccupied, implicitly signaling his intention to forbid them from taking office again. The court sensed the Emperor’s meaning, and although many were displeased, no one dared defy him outright.

Thus Lu Hang’s funeral rites were arranged in the most meager of fashions, attended by no more than a dozen close friends and relatives. Ye Tingyan went up to the hall to pay his respects and presented Lu Hang’s widow with Buddhist sutras he and Luowei had copied by hand. As he took his leave, he happened to run into Xue Wenming arriving to pay his respects.

The estrangement between Xue and Lu had lasted for more than ten years, and the onlookers could not help but whisper among themselves at his arrival. But Xue Wenming paid his respects with composure, bowed three times, exchanged a few words of condolence, and made to leave.

In the blink of an eye, years had gone by and old acquaintances had passed on. Xue Wenming’s temples had already turned white at both sides. He had once been a powerful official riding high in the court; later he had thrown in his lot with the Chief Minister and enjoyed years of influence and power. The day the Chief Minister fell, Xue Wenming narrowly escaped from prison only to be left with an ailment that plagued him ever since, and he seldom went out after that.

Who could have imagined he would come to pay his respects to this political enemy of life and death?

Xue Wenming still remembered the favor Ye Tingyan had done him by rescuing him from the Zhuque, and exchanged a few words with him, somewhat somberly: “It seems as if the quarrel with Lord Lu out of a clash of principles was only yesterday. One by one, old friends drift away like fallen leaves. Youth does not return. Looking back over a lifetime of deeds, it all seems laughable now.”

Ye Tingyan’s own feelings were complex. “To let go of old grudges with a smile is itself a thing of magnanimity.”

But Xue Wenming shook his head. “Old grudges? What old grudges were there? Lord Lu and I had no deep-seated enmity — it was a clash of principles, nothing more.”

“Though our principles diverged, our final resting places are the same. Lord Lu was a true gentleman — a pity that the lord he served died too soon. Heaven’s will does not favor, alas and alack.”

Ye Tingyan watched his stooped figure retreating and suddenly realized — his quarrel with his father over the matter of Xue and Lu had already been so many years ago.

The Jingqiu Remonstrance thus ended with no resolution. After this affair, the Emperor suddenly reversed course entirely. Since the dynasty’s founding it had been custom not to execute scholars, so instead he demoted and banished those who had voiced displeasure to the four corners of the realm.

The roads were long and the distances vast, and with the bitter cold of deep winter added to it, the number who died of illness or cold was beyond counting. The court fell into a terrified silence.

Luowei set down the gazette in her hand and smiled bitterly. “I thought he would eventually lose his patience, but I never expected he would be in such a hurry.”

Ye Tingyan extended his hands to warm them by the fire and said slowly, “I have already had people do their utmost to look after the various officials. There are inevitably things beyond my power to do. On the day I left old Lord Lu’s estate, I happened to catch a glimpse of Chang Zhao bowing in tribute from a distance. Thinking it over, it must have been his instigating.”

“Before the new year, envoys from the four quarters will come to offer congratulations, and with foreign emissaries arriving in the capital, and given that I have deliberately kept a low profile for so long, the gate guards will certainly have grown careless. Xuechu has been investigating Chang Zhao’s old affairs, and it seems there has been some progress. When she enters the capital, we will know a thing or two.” Luowei gripped his hand and said, “The day of the Grand Court Audience, the guards will be thin, and the Imperial Academy will also hold its year-end ceremony. He is in such a hurry, and we cannot wait any longer.”

Ye Tingyan clasped her hand in return and suddenly asked, “Are you afraid?”

Luowei answered honestly, “When I was planning things from deep within the palace, there was still some fear. Now, there is none.”

She paused and then said, “The thousand perils of reclaiming your identity — are you afraid?”

Ye Tingyan also shook his head. “There may have been doubts before, but there are none now.”

She did not ask the reason. The answer was likely something both of them understood without needing to say.

Ye Tingyan caressed her face and suddenly said, “In all your years of planning, why did it never occur to you to ascend the throne and become Emperor yourself?”

“I’m only asking out of curiosity — this is absolutely not a test. And besides… I just suddenly feel that with you as sovereign, it wouldn’t be the worst thing.” Before Luowei could speak, he dropped his tone and said with complete conviction, “Well? Candid enough?”

Luowei grabbed his shoulders and pressed him down onto the soft long-haired rug, laughing. “It’s fine — ask away. I’ll answer you candidly of course — it’s just more trouble, that’s all.”

“Trouble?”

“Yes,” Luowei said seriously. “The reason I wanted to find someone to disguise themselves as you is that Song Lan used your death to weave many lies. As long as ‘you’ are still alive, the lies collapse on their own without me having to exhaust myself explaining the Thorn-the-Begonia Case all over again to the entire realm. By the same logic, with ‘you’ alive, you are the most powerful figure for quelling all debate across the realm. If I wanted to ascend the throne myself, I would inevitably face countless slanders and disputes — the realm still harbors unease about a woman ruling as sovereign, an accumulation of over a hundred years that cannot be changed in a single day.”

She lazily played with his hair and smiled. “However, if after you ascended the throne you and I were jointly enhroned as two sovereigns of equal standing, and then after your passing I took over — that would be far more convenient. So take very good care of yourself, and by no means die before me.”

Ye Tingyan reached out and stroked her waist, and said tenderly, “If that is how things are, then I would rather die before you, by all means.”

Luowei reached out to cover his mouth, but was instead caught by the wrist and kissed. “From the time you were young, everything you have studied and practiced, you have mastered without exception. Hidden away within the inner palace, you were still able to accomplish so much. What a pity you have been constrained by the cage of worldly convention. One day, if the realm is at peace and the skies are clear, why not set about changing that.”

Whether the poison within her body could be cured still had no certain answer. Luowei knew this was his way of comforting her, yet could not help but become enthusiastically caught up in envisioning it. “Alright then — we’ll open many schools for women throughout the four territories. When I went to Xuzhou back then, I still had to borrow my elder brother’s identity… And there should be training grounds where men and women practice separately. I heard that your Imperial Elder Brother’s wife is a female general from the frontier — I really want to meet her. We have so many things to do. We must live to a hundred years old.”

Ye Tingyan studied her face and blurted out, “I have often wondered — what would things be like now if, before we recognized each other, we had killed one another out of conjecture and suspicion?”

Luowei did not answer; she only shook her head. “Don’t be afraid. We could never have reached that point.”

That night, I held in my hands a blade that had taken lives, while ten years before, you had already taken hold of my hand.

That day, you gripped my neck with killing intent, and in the end there was only one grieving kiss.

“Because of you, there is no other path.”

Whether ten thousand mountains and rivers, or hell and the mortal world — when the begonia flowers bloom again, we will certainly meet again in this world.