The old Emperor held the yellowed letter paper in his hands, and whether it was another onset of his illness or something else, his hands began to tremble with increasing violence.
He wanted to say something, but was suddenly blocked by phlegm caught in his throat, and could not get any words out.
Sheng Hai, seeing this, quickly said to the senior ministers: “Gentlemen, please take your leave — His Majesty’s body truly cannot bear this kind of stimulation and strain.”
Qi Gong also understood that His Majesty was gravely ill, but feared even more that in a moment of mental confusion, His Majesty might kill a meritorious subject who served the nation.
And so before rising to leave, he pressed in one last urgent addendum: “Madam Chu, in her desperation to save her husband, has not only come to seek help at my residence — it seems she has made the rounds of every senior minister’s household in the court. The matter of Situ Sheng being a Yang Family descendant will sooner or later become known throughout the realm. Even if Your Majesty no longer wishes to employ him, he should still be given an honorable and dignified reward. He is a child personally raised by the old General Yang, who came back from the battlefield having barely survived. If he were to vanish without a sound, it would chill the hearts of the soldiers and generals in the northern territories.”
The Li family father and son in the northern territories needed no elaboration — they had all been former subordinates of Yang Xun. And among the newly surrendered resistance forces, was there a single man who did not revere the great name of the old General Yang?
If at this critical juncture His Majesty were to order his death on account of his Yang heritage, then the soldiers and generals in the north who had already formed close ties with Situ Sheng would truly be ready to erupt.
The old Emperor was ill, but how could he fail to hear the deeper meaning in Qi Gong’s words?
He was struck by a bout of more violent coughing and could not manage to say anything in response.
After the ministers had taken their leave, Sheng Hai supported His Majesty and patted his back steadily until at last the phlegm obstructing his throat was dislodged.
Once Sheng Hai saw His Majesty breathing more evenly, he did not dare ask whether the wine should still be sent, and simply attended carefully to kneading His Majesty’s hand acupoints to stimulate circulation.
After a while, His Majesty finally spoke: “Sheng Hai — that Situ Sheng has been ingratiating himself before us for so long. What treacherous intentions do you think he has been hiding?”
Sheng Hai glanced at His Majesty’s expression and chose his words carefully: “Your servant is slow-witted — how would I know how to fathom people’s hearts? But if this Lord Situ merely wanted to advance in his official career, there were surely better and faster paths available to him. Yet this one seems to have deliberately chosen the hardest bones to gnaw on. Looking at his official conduct, there is nothing to find fault with.”
The Emperor closed his eyes in heavy silence, because Sheng Hai was right. If this Yang Jiexing had merely been seeking revenge for the Yang Family, he’d had countless opportunities to act long since. And if his ambitions were grander — to overturn the dynasty altogether — then his behavior had been entirely at odds with that goal, for he had been doing the thankless, grinding work that unscrupulous officials refused to touch.
Thinking of this, the Emperor opened his eyes slightly and asked in a low, weighty voice: “Has that wine been sent yet?”
Sheng Hai said hastily: “Your Majesty gave the order to send it earlier, and never issued a counter-command, so the wine has already been dispatched to the imperial prison…”
The old Emperor heard this, and his eyes flew wide open. After a violent spell of coughing, he said breathlessly: “Then… then send someone to retrieve the wine at once!”
Sheng Hai heard this and immediately his old legs flew into action. He turned and scurried out at full speed, shouting for someone to go and retrieve the poisoned wine.
He was also feeling the urgency himself. Calculating the time, the wine should have arrived by now.
He could only pray that Lord Situ’s eagerness to drink was not too swift — otherwise, even the divine gods of the highest heavens could not save him.
Over in the imperial prison, Situ Sheng, following his usual routine, had finished writing his daily pages of calligraphy practice when he heard a commotion from the direction of the prison corridor.
Two eunuchs appeared, escorted by a prison guard, carrying a tray as they made their way toward his cell.
Situ Sheng looked at the exquisitely carved wine vessel and immediately understood what this wine signified.
He slowly rose to his feet, regarded that jug of wine with a complex expression, and when the cell door was opened, he glanced at the eunuch who had brought the wine and said indifferently: “Is His Majesty in good health?”
The eunuch who had delivered the wine wore an expressionless face: “With the newly appointed Crown Prince attending and accompanying His Majesty, he will certainly remain in excellent health. Lord Situ — this wine, bestowed by imperial favor, has been warmed to the perfect temperature. You should drink it while it is still warm.”
Situ Sheng gave a nod, raised his hand, and took the wine cup. He was just tilting his head back to drain it in a single swallow when a still-warm embroidered shoe suddenly came flying through the air and struck him hard across the face.
“Don’t drink it!”
Chu Linlang, having arrived just in time, could not put into words the sensation of her heart nearly splitting apart when she had glimpsed Situ Sheng holding the poisoned wine cup.
She had even feared her words would not carry enough force — which was why she had acted first, frantically pulling off her shoe to fling at him.
Had he gone mad? The Emperor sent wine and he was just going to drink it? Had he completely forgotten there were people waiting for him?
By the time Chu Linlang lunged forward and snatched the cup from his hand, she had already dashed it to the ground and was weeping as she threw her arms around Situ Sheng: “Don’t drink it!”
Situ Sheng had never imagined Chu Linlang would dare to storm the imperial prison. The delicate form in his arms was trembling faintly with sobs, and he was overcome with tenderness. He held her close and said quietly: “How did you come here? The dampness here is too heavy — you should get out quickly.”
But Chu Linlang clung to his waist and would not let go, sobbing through her tears: “Why should I leave? You had no hesitation whatsoever and were about to set off on your final journey — were you just going to leave me here alone? You promised me you would stay by my side always, that you would never let me live in loneliness again.”
Thinking that if she had been even one step slower, she and Situ Sheng would have been separated by death for all eternity, Chu Linlang’s body could not stop its faint trembling, and her tears came without restraint.
A woman carrying a child — how could she endure such violent emotional upheaval?
Situ Sheng quickly gathered Linlang in his arms, soothing her with reassurances that he would be all right, and then turned a furious glare at the Third Prince, who was standing right behind Chu Linlang.
The man was dressed respectably enough now — draped in the resplendent robes of a Crown Prince — but what he had just done was truly inexcusable.
He had actually brought Linlang here and let her witness this heart-wrenching scene.
Had they not settled everything long in advance? Since the Emperor had grown suspicious of him, he would surely harbor deep reservations going forward. Under those circumstances, it would be better to make a clean exit early and shed the identity of Situ Sheng altogether.
And so Situ Sheng had planned to go along with the current and accept the Emperor’s death sentence.
Of course, the Third Prince Liu Yi had also made arrangements well in advance — he would have his men swap out the Emperor’s poisoned wine so that Situ Sheng could calmly stage his own death, and would arrange for a body as well, enabling him to shed his old skin and escape under cover of the ruse.
After that, he could reunite with Linlang waiting outside the city walls, proceed first to the northern territories, and once the situation on the northern front was secured, he would have nothing left to regret. He could take Linlang and his mother and return together to Lingnan to grow fruit.
Every detail of this plan had been settled. Who could have known that Liu Yi would deviate from their agreed course of action and pull a stunt like this.
And so Situ Sheng, while softly comforting Linlang, turned a ferocious glare toward Liu Yi.
Liu Yi’s habitual instinct was to stroke his own beard, but in the end he could only run a hand over his clean-shaven chin, putting on a face of complete innocence: “It was Madam Chu who insisted I bring her to see you once. I had no choice either — I was utterly coerced.”
But Situ Sheng’s instinct told him things were not quite so simple.
For the Crown Prince to bring Linlang here and break with the arrangement they had originally settled on — could it be that something unexpected had occurred in the meantime?
Just then, the old eunuch nearby was making snide, drawn-out remarks, urging Lord Situ to hurry and drink the imperially bestowed wine, when another person came running from the palace, gasping breathlessly: “The ones below made an error — the wrong wine was sent. His Majesty has commanded me to retrieve the wine. Lord Situ — Lord Situ, you must not drink it!”
Situ Sheng heard this and could not help but turn to look at the Third Prince, using his eyes to silently ask what had happened in the palace.
Because from the moment the Emperor learned of his true origins, he had been deeply averse to the subject. He had even refused to see his own third son, cutting off any possibility of Liu Yi coming to plead on his behalf. Moreover, the Emperor had not even bothered to summon him for questioning — which made it abundantly clear that he intended to keep the matter deeply buried and handle it with swift, decisive finality.
Under circumstances like these, he truly could not imagine what Liu Yi could have done to change the Emperor’s heart and make His Majesty set aside his wariness toward a Yang Family descendant.
Once the several eunuchs had all departed to make their reports, Liu Yi also dismissed those around them, and only then gave Situ Sheng a simple account of Chu Linlang’s audacious deeds.
Situ Sheng listened in silence, yet in his heart he knew that every word the Third Prince spoke was surely true.
The matter of forging Yang Xun’s dying letter — that was indeed something Linlang was capable of doing.
But that the Emperor would change his imperial will on account of it was something Situ Sheng had not anticipated.
Chu Linlang, having just heard that His Majesty had recalled the poisoned wine, finally let the knot in her chest loosen. She knew that her strategy of attacking through the heart had at last produced its effect, and had at minimum caused the Emperor to stay his hand for now.
She saw Situ Sheng glaring at her and assumed he was furious that she had acted on her own initiative and forged his grandfather’s dying letter. She explained in a small, apologetic voice: “The letter may have been false. But the sentiment and meaning within it were all true. The old General Yang was that kind of man — the Third Prince had read through the letters exchanged between the old General and his own father, and knew intimately the old General’s characteristic phrasing and manner of expression, and knew his character as a person. So he merely gave voice, on the old General’s behalf, to words that were never spoken while there was still time. It was also all for your sake — please don’t hold it against the Third Prince.”
Liu Yi heard this and thought: this woman was supposedly saying something kind on his behalf, but it was actually suspiciously close to passing the blame.
He quickly said: “I merely polished the phrasing slightly, in accordance with your own conception. All the credit belongs to Madam Chu — I wouldn’t dream of taking your credit from you.”
Unfortunately, he found he could not quite manage to hand off the burden of accountability that he was holding.
Situ Sheng shot him a look: “We had already agreed on everything. Yet you changed your mind at the last moment and went along with her in this reckless scheme. What exactly were you thinking?”
The Third Prince saw that Situ Sheng had seen through him, and simply dropped the pretense entirely, putting on a face of pure innocence: “I could have spent my entire life as a free and idle spirit, holding some leisurely sinecure in the Ministry of Works, carefree and unencumbered. Yet now I toil through documents every day without rest, attending to ten thousand matters, worn out like a miserable underling. And in these circumstances, you — the one who set all of this in motion — are planning to hang up your armor and retire to pastoral life, and you never once considered the feelings of this Crown Prince I have become?”
He had been maneuvered all the way up to the position of Crown Prince, placed on the rack above the fire pit, unable to climb down. And now Situ Sheng wanted to take his wife and child and slip away to live his own little peaceful life. In his dreams!
If they were going to be roasted, they would all be roasted together. No one was getting away.
And so when Liu Yi heard Chu Linlang’s plan, his eyes had lit up — he found the scheme utterly inspired.
And so he had carefully crafted the forged dying letter, joined forces with the Director of the Imperial Academy and the other senior ministers, and with great enthusiasm made the widest possible proclamation of Situ Sheng’s origins — placing his own imperial father on the roasting rack as well, to enjoy a thorough grilling, charred on the outside and tender within.
With everyone’s seats burning beneath them, he — the reluctant new Crown Prince — found his own state of mind considerably more settled.
Situ Sheng had also guessed at the Crown Prince’s secret and not entirely admirable scheme, and could not help but shoot him another fierce glare.
Liu Yi burst into hearty laughter, waved his hand to leave his good friend alone with his beloved, and with his hands clasped behind his back, took his leave from the imperial prison.
After a while, he would escort Chu Linlang back — and also take the opportunity to go and engage a certain master cook.
Yashu was now with child, and her tastes had grown rather particular. She had just returned from her family’s home saying she wanted the osmanthus sugar cakes she had eaten during her time in Jiangkou.
He had gone to great trouble to track down an experienced old master cook, and was just about to invite the man into the residence to satisfy his Princess Consort’s craving.
Once the Third Prince had gone, Situ Sheng at last told Linlang of the plan he had originally conceived: “The reason I told you not to enter the city was that I feared you would hear the details and worry. I never expected that you would still come in.”
This was when Chu Linlang first learned that Situ Sheng had originally planned to fake his death and slip away under cover of the ruse.
She understood that his decision to do so had not been made from a lack of alternatives.
This choice to withdraw at the moment of the swiftest current was most likely also connected to the fact that she was carrying his child.
Although she had long since made up her mind that if there was no other option, she would return to Lingnan, she truly could not imagine the scene of a man like Situ Sheng — with his soaring ambitions — wearing a bamboo rain hat and farming in the countryside.
And so she did not regret what she had done. She simply cupped his face in both hands and said with great seriousness: “General Yang Xun stood tall and upright, blameless before his nation and his people, and died fighting on the battlefield — he should have been celebrated and sung of through a thousand generations. Yet a hero of his caliber has not even a proper burial mound or ancestral shrine. You are his eldest grandson, likewise whole-hearted in serving the people, upright and honest in office, never guilty of any favoritism or corruption. Even if His Majesty wished to sentence you to death, he should at least give an open, aboveboard, publicly justifiable reason. To kill someone with a single cup of poisoned wine — how is that any different from putting down a dog? What crime have you committed? And even if you were going to fake your death — why die in such a degrading and ignominious manner? You are my man. I will absolutely not allow you to suffer this kind of humiliation for my sake and the child’s.”
The current state of affairs was nothing like the situation at the time of the defeat at Fushui River.
When Prince Tai’s crimes were exposed back then, the true reasons behind General Yang Xun’s defeat were no longer secret.
And with the military campaign in the north going smoothly, the great and enduring achievements of the old General Yang Xun were once again being recounted and celebrated in teahouses across the land.
A valiant general of that stature — could he truly be erased by a single imperial decree?
Now, through the Director of the Imperial Academy, she had made the matter public, and had furthermore arranged for people to spread the news that Situ Sheng was a descendant of Yang Xun — spreading it throughout the capital and into every corner and lane of the Great Jin.
It remained to be seen whether the old Emperor still wanted that hypocritical, face-saving mask of his, and how he intended to go about wiping out the loyal Yang Family to the very last.
As it now appeared, she had truly read the Emperor’s heart correctly, and had at last managed to make him stay his hand and withdraw the poisoned wine he had already sent out.
But the imperial edict releasing Situ Sheng had still not been issued, and Chu Linlang’s heart was still in a state of anxious uncertainty, not knowing what trouble the old Emperor might stir up in a moment of renewed agitation.
Listening to Linlang’s words, Situ Sheng said nothing more, but instead drew the woman in his arms tightly and held her close, his heart aching with tenderness. She understood his aspirations, and had gone to every possible length to protect both his and his grandfather’s will.
In all his life, what had he done to deserve such wholehearted devotion from this woman?
Their time together was too brief, and Situ Sheng was unwilling for her to linger in the imperial prison any longer. The air here was heavy with foul vapor — no place for a woman with child.
After exchanging more words with great reluctance to part, Chu Linlang finally allowed herself to be guided out of the imperial prison by the man the Third Prince had left behind for the purpose.
But the moment she stepped outside, a palace eunuch was already waiting for her, saying that His Majesty had issued a summons, calling her for an imperial audience.
The Third Prince, who was standing nearby, heard this and quickly exchanged a glance with Chu Linlang.
It seemed His Majesty had learned of Chu Linlang’s storming of the imperial prison and wished to see Xinmei Yiren for himself.
Chu Linlang had come to the prison today already prepared to stake everything on a single throw. And so upon hearing this verbal decree, she thought for a moment, then performed a curtsy bow and said: “Since His Majesty has issued his summons, please lead the way, esteemed attendant. I will go and present myself before His Majesty at once.”
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