Qiu Xinran napped in the side hall for half an hour, not knowing when she’d fallen asleep.
Dusk had fallen outside. She straightened her clothing and walked toward the study. Arriving outside the hall, the young eunuch on duty had already changed shifts. He only said there were ministers inside discussing matters with His Majesty, but whether Bai Jingming was still there, he couldn’t say.
Qiu Xinran wasn’t sure whether to wait outside the hall. Just as she hesitated, she suddenly heard an angry shout from inside: “…If they’re unwilling, tell them all to go back to farming! The court doesn’t pay salaries for them to come here and retire!”
This shout made the several people standing outside show some embarrassment on their faces. Qiu Xinran laughed awkwardly and made conversation with the young eunuch outside: “What happened? To make His Majesty so angry.”
She frequented this palace and was favored before His Majesty, so the duty eunuch had nothing to hide from her. With lingering fear, he said: “Isn’t it all about Luzhou? A while ago, everyone was scrambling and competing to go. Now every single one claims to be ill, angering His Majesty greatly.” After finishing, he added thoughtfully: “How about this—this servant will go inside to check if Director Bai is still in the study, so you’ll know what to expect.”
“Then I must trouble you, Eunuch.” Qiu Xinran bowed to him.
The young eunuch pushed open the hall doors. The voice from inside carried out again—a male voice said low and heavy: “…I fear he will become a great threat.” He said a name. Emperor Xuande slammed the table with another angry rebuke: “Audacious!”
This shout scared everyone inside and out to immediately drop to their knees. No one dared move. The young eunuch who’d just pushed the door open stood by the door, hand still on it, also startled into trembling, not daring to move a finger for a long while. Thus, the voices inside transmitted clearly. The other party’s voice came faintly: “Your Majesty, please calm your anger… Now the Northwest situation is unclear. Inside and outside court and countryside, rumors about General Xia defecting to the enemy and betraying the country are spreading everywhere… If it’s truly so… how should the Young Lord conduct himself in Chang’an? Your Majesty is benevolent, but this will inevitably put you in a dilemma… At present, fulfilling the Young Lord’s loyalty and filial piety, Princess Mingyang’s spirit in heaven would also…”
Seeing the hall had quieted again, the eunuch who’d pushed the door finally dared to quietly close it and walk inside. For a time, they could no longer hear the conversation inside. Qiu Xinran stood outside, but her heart felt like a great stone pressed upon it, sinking straight down.
After a moment, the young eunuch pushed open the door from inside again. This time, Emperor Xuande’s voice came out simultaneously. He sounded hesitant and weary: “…According to your meaning… set it for tomorrow…”
Qiu Xinran’s mind wandered. She only heard the duty eunuch tell her: “Director Bai is not inside. Supervisor, please also return.” After saying this sentence, he closed the hall doors again. They could no longer hear any sound from inside.
Qiu Xinran walked along the palace path outward. Her heart was in complete disarray, thinking of many things. She thought of the afternoon when she’d just come down the mountain and hid in the Imperial Garden playing chess with Yuan Zhou. She thought of staying at the academy watching everyone practice archery. She thought of that afternoon after returning from Jiuzong, before Li Hanru’s spirit tablet at Qinglong Temple. She thought of that panicked late night when she ran alone from the Guanyin Hall corridor… Finally freezing on the day Shi Meng left, in that shabby wine shop where Xia Xiuyan coldly asked her “What do you take warfare to be?” and that unfinished sentence “I hope Shi Meng achieves great victory, not only for the common people…”
She couldn’t help but quicken her pace. Eventually, she walked faster and faster until by the palace gate she was practically running. The palace gate guards saw her appearance with some surprise: “Supervisor is in such a hurry—where are you going?”
“I have urgent business at the old Princess Manor.”
“The old Princess Manor?” The guard hesitated. “But with the border in turmoil, to ensure the Young Lord’s safety, His Majesty has ordered that no one may approach the old Princess Manor during this recent period.”
Qiu Xinran’s steps stopped abruptly. Only then did she realize that since news came from the front lines, she hadn’t seen Xia Xiuyan moving about the palace for a long time. If His Majesty truly intended to kill… Her heart seemed to sink down several more notches. Not daring to think further, she hurriedly left the palace and found a carriage: “To the Bureau of Astronomy, quickly!”
Yuan Zhou was having dinner after finishing his shift and returning to the official residence when he heard the news. Students sharing the residence said Supervisor Qiu had entered the palace today and probably angered the Director. As soon as she returned, she was kneeling in punishment outside the Director’s courtyard.
Yuan Zhou didn’t believe it at first. How much Bai Jingming valued Qiu Xinran, he as a direct disciple knew best. Not to mention punishing her—he hadn’t even spoken a harsh word to her. His senior sister was also habitually someone who read people’s expressions, knew how to be pleasing and clever. How could she anger their teacher for no reason?
Though he thought this in his heart, he still rushed to Bai Jingming’s place with some worry. Before even entering the courtyard, he indeed saw a blue-robed figure kneeling in the center of the yard. Not knowing how long she’d been kneeling, in this bitter cold weather, anyone kneeling like this would suffer.
Yuan Zhou’s heart jumped. Just as he prepared to quickly step forward, he suddenly saw the courtyard room door open. Bai Jingming stood by the door with a rarely seen grave expression on his face, making Yuan Zhou flinch and stop outside the courtyard.
“How long do you plan to kneel?” Bai Jingming said coldly.
Seeing him come out, Qiu Xinran prostrated and kowtowed: “This disciple knows this action is foolish beyond measure. I beg Teacher to grant permission.” In the cold wind of early first month, her voice trembled slightly, but her tone was unusually firm.
Bai Jingming looked at her with complex eyes. After a long time, he finally asked: “Do you still remember what your master said to you all when you entered the sect? Do you know the consequences of doing this?”
“This disciple has never forgotten for a single day.” Qiu Xinran raised her head, looking directly at the elder under the eaves, suddenly calling out loudly: “But if Heaven’s will truly cannot be changed, this disciple doesn’t understand why we must learn divination!”
Yuan Zhou was shocked by these words on the spot, momentarily not daring to look at Bai Jingming’s reaction. After a long time, he heard a faint response from the courtyard: “You learn divination in order to defy Heaven’s will?”
“This disciple doesn’t know whether Heaven’s will wants him to live or die,” Qiu Xinran stubbornly insisted. “Master told me I divine not Heaven’s will but human hearts. Human hearts change in myriad ways and Heaven’s will changes in myriad ways. I only know I am also human. I still want to fight for it once!”
“Arrogant!”
Bai Jingming rebuked lowly: “You can fight for your own life, but by what right do you fight for another’s life! How do you know that if you stand by and watch today, what awaits him is necessarily a dead end? Rather, if you insist on interfering, if this is not what he wishes, what will you do then?”
The person kneeling in the courtyard showed some struggle on her face, dejectedly lowering her eyes.
Seeing her expression, Bai Jingming thought she’d listened. He breathed a sigh, about to speak again, when he saw her clench her fists and raise her head, gaze fixed as she looked over: “I truly don’t know what he thinks in his heart, but if a person cannot choose how to live, they should at least have a chance to choose how to die.”
The Daoist standing by the door was stunned. Before he could react, he saw her bow straight down again, tone stubborn: “This disciple dares not be arrogantly presumptuous, fighting for another’s life and becoming an enemy of fate. This disciple only wants to win him an opportunity. I beg Teacher to grant permission.”
The north wind swept fallen leaves across the courtyard—desolation filled the yard. The Daoist with white hair and beard looked at the young disciple kneeling in the courtyard. After a long time, he finally said softly: “Do you think no one has thought of this?”
“From Luzhou’s crisis until now, how many civil and military officials in court wish him to live or die? Why has no one dared to advise His Majesty until now?”
Qiu Xinran prostrated on the ground. After a moment, she said with difficulty: “Because the situation is unclear, everyone dares not speculate on His Majesty’s intentions.” Luzhou’s situation concerned Xia Xiuyan’s life and death. Until the last moment, no one dared bet on Xia Xiuyan. But today, Qiu Xinran knew the scales in Emperor Xuande’s heart had already tipped.
“Correct,” Bai Jingming nodded. “If you insist on standing out, if he’s defeated in battle, you’ll be a criminal for all ages and will certainly die. If he by chance wins, when he returns to court for reckoning, you will inevitably be the first person pushed out to take the blame. Have you thought all this through?”
Qiu Xinran straightened up and suddenly said: “In the past, I once saw someone beg me for help. I couldn’t save her and watched helplessly as she died miserably. I don’t know if I’ll regret it in the future, but if I stand by and watch a second time, I fear I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
Bai Jingming stared at her fixedly. After a long while, he finally turned and sighed: “Enough. Each person has their own way. May you walk a path different from both your master’s and mine.”
In the spring of the ninth year of Xuande, the court deliberated and decided to call up nearby troops from around Luzhou, plus deploy five thousand elite soldiers from the court for support. They separately appointed Lingzhou Prefect Wang Kun to oversee reinforcing Lingzhou’s city defenses and settling Luzhou’s citizens, to prevent a massacre if the city fell. The court also promised this expedition’s soldiers that if victory reports came back to court, there would be great rewards. Those who fought bravely could receive gold and silver rewards. Soldiers at all levels who performed excellently could be promoted in military merit and rank. Commanding officers who achieved great merit could be enfranchised as marquises.
But even with such great rewards, everyone’s mood remained very heavy, because everyone knew in their hearts that compared to the Dayue people’s menacing thirty thousand troops, the forces the court had dispatched were almost equivalent to desperate resistance and abandoning Luzhou.
When Emperor Xuande asked who would voluntarily lead troops to resolve Luzhou’s crisis, for a time the entire court fell silent. Not a single person spoke up.
Finally, breaking the hall’s silence was Bureau of Astronomy Director Bai Jingming. Before the entire court of civil and military officials, he recommended his disciple cast hexagrams to consult Heaven’s will. This proposal caused the entire court to erupt, discussing heatedly. Even Emperor Xuande was startled and for a long time neither approved nor rejected.
The nearly forty-year-old Emperor sat on the high dragon throne, looking at the ministers below arguing noisily without end. Those who had been silent earlier now acted like a group of marketplace women, raising their arms and shouting “improper,” “bewitching words to confuse the masses,” “deceiving the sovereign to curry favor”… Suddenly, a deep weariness like a tide flooded over him.
“Summon her up. Let her divine once.”
The ministers looked at the Emperor in disbelief as he finalized such an absurd decision. They could only watch with resentment as a thin, frail figure from outside the hall walked into the hall.
Today Qiu Xinran wore snow-blue Daoist robes, a lotus crown on her head, holding a whisk. Step by step, she resolutely passed through the crowds on both sides with unfriendly gazes, bowing neither humbly nor arrogantly to His Majesty. Then composedly, she took out her divination disc from her sleeve and sat cross-legged before the entire court of civil and military officials in the great hall.
Everyone watched as she took three copper coins from her sleeve, closed her eyes, seeming to murmur something softly, then tossed the coins into the air and began calculating. With a “tinkling” sound, the coins fell on the divination disc. In that instant, everyone couldn’t help but lean forward to look, as if everyone could understand the hexagram symbols.
Qiu Xinran also stared at the hexagram. Under her sleeves, her fingers rapidly calculated several rounds. She murmured something softly, her brows furrowing then relaxing. The hall remained so quiet for quite a while before everyone saw her carefully gather her robe hem and stand up from the ground.
Emperor Xuande originally had some intention of spite, but at this moment couldn’t help growing nervous: “What did you divine?”
Qiu Xinran straightened her sleeves and cupped her hands: “Reporting to Your Majesty, it’s an auspicious omen.”
“Truly?” Hearing this, though Emperor Xuande found it hard to believe, he couldn’t help but feel joy in his heart, hurriedly pursuing: “How so?”
“Upper hexagram Rise, lower hexagram Rise. The outer guiding form is like Qian. Yin and Yang mismatched brings regret. Regret is the gradual approach of fortune—turning from misfortune to fortune. Luzhou’s crisis can be resolved soon.”
“How will it be resolved?”
“Things die but people live. The method of change lies with people.”
“Did the hexagram speak clearly?”
Qiu Xinran’s expression showed slight hesitation. For a moment, she didn’t respond. Seeing this, Emperor Xuande consoled: “Supervisor, just speak according to what the hexagram says. I will certainly not blame you.”
Hearing this, the purple-robed Daoist finally said slowly: “The Son of Heaven resides in the Purple Palace. According to the hexagram, the one to break this deadlock has twin stars sharing a fate palace. This fate configuration has Seven Killings entering the fate—half a life suspended alone. This fate configuration’s killing energy is too heavy and extremely rare. Since this subject entered Chang’an, I’ve only seen one person…” She raised her head, meeting the Emperor’s scrutiny, saying word by word: “That is General Xia Hongying and Princess Mingyang’s son, Young Lord Xia Xiuyan.”
After her words fell, the hall quieted for a moment, then quickly erupted like water dropped in hot oil, splashing up enormous sound. Emperor Xuande was dazed for an instant. He released his tightly gripped armrest, involuntarily leaning back, his expression complex.
“Demon Daoist! Demon Daoist!”
Someone shouted: “Your Majesty absolutely must not believe this demon Daoist’s slander! She… she’s bearing a grudge from past grievances with the Young Lord, kicking him while he’s down!”
These words seemed to awaken everyone, inevitably making people recall her grievances with Xia Xiuyan over the past half year. For a moment, discussion erupted. Everyone’s faces also showed doubtful expressions. Some in the hall shouted indignantly. Qiu Xinran’s ears buzzed—she actually couldn’t hear the surrounding sounds clearly at all. Yesterday she’d knelt outside Bai Jingming’s courtyard all afternoon. When she got up this morning, she felt her head was dizzy and heavy. After entering the great hall, the cold sweat on her back had already soaked through her inner garment. Now she actually felt hot again.
“This subject’s every word is true. Sect disciples absolutely dare not fabricate randomly about hexagram symbols. This is a great sect taboo. I beg Your Majesty to investigate clearly!” Qiu Xinran gritted her teeth to support herself in responding. Before her words ended, suddenly in her peripheral vision a figure rushed over. Immediately after, she felt something thrown at her. Her temple hurt. She only heard shocked cries all around.
With a “thud,” before she could react, she only felt her temple throbbing. Some warm liquid slid down her right temple. Raising her hand to touch, she discovered her hand covered in blood.
Not far away, several people looked at each other. Military Vice Minister Bi Jianian had already stepped forward to grab her robe collar, angrily shouting: “Demon Daoist!” He was built like a bear, almost able to lift her with one hand. The people beside him finally reacted and came forward to embrace and restrain him. When they separated the two, Bi Jianian still refused to release her collar. Only when people hugged him around the waist and dragged him away did he finally shove her violently to the ground.
Qiu Xinran stumbled and fell to the ground, blood covering her face. Only then did she see clearly a court tablet at her feet. She figured he must have thrown this thing at her.
The usually solemn and dignified court hall now resembled a marketplace. The civil and military officials acted like street ruffians throwing tantrums. This scene was truly laughable. Qiu Xinran wanted to pull up the corners of her mouth to smile but found she couldn’t muster the strength. She raised her hand to support herself against a nearby pillar. Immediately after, her vision went black and she lost consciousness.