Just after the fifth watch, Eunuch Li was already waiting by the door, a white-tailed horsetail whisk with a jade handle in his hand.
Though the snow had stopped in the latter half of the night, the accumulation on the eaves had yet to melt.
He leaned against the doorframe and waved toward the outside.
Two young eunuchs from the Directorate of Ceremonial entered, stooped at the waist. The soles of their shoes brushed over the golden bricks without making the slightest sound.
Each carried two document cases. After setting them on the table, they kowtowed once and withdrew.
The uproar at Brightmoon Tower had already turned every government office and noble household in the capital upside down.
These several cases contained nothing but urgent memorials that the Office of State Communications had sorted through overnight before dawn.
“Cough… cough, cough, cough!”
A fit of choking coughs came from behind the bed curtains.
Eunuch Li jolted, hurried forward, lifted the curtain, and hooked it open with the golden clasp. He brought over a spittoon and patted the emperor’s back.
Emperor Tiansheng was half-sunken into a pile of soft pillows. He was coughing so hard that he could scarcely catch his breath, yet his face was flushed.
“Your Majesty, take it slowly. Breathe.”
Emperor Tiansheng spat out a mouthful of phlegm. Only after a young eunuch wrapped him in a sable cloak did he straighten his back. His eye sockets were deeply sunken. He jerked his chin toward the document cases on the low kang table.
“Bring them here.”
His voice was hoarse.
Eunuch Li swiftly undid the bronze clasps on the cases and lifted out the memorials packed inside. He moved the empty medicine bowl from the low table, then stacked the memorials one pile at a time.
Emperor Tiansheng extended his withered fingers and pulled out a memorial.
He opened it.
At a single glance, a cold laugh appeared on his face.
It was a memorial from the censorate.
It was filled from beginning to end with quotations from the classics and furious denunciations, accusing the First Prince, Xiao Jingxing, of privately mobilizing the Five Cities Military Command to seal off a restaurant, of acting arrogantly and overstepping his authority, and of undermining the foundations of the state.
Emperor Tiansheng tossed it aside and pulled out another.
Oh? This one had been jointly submitted by the students of the Imperial Academy.
The handwriting was impassioned. It directly accused Xu Zijin of abandoning orthodoxy and showing contempt for the bonds between ruler and subject. It demanded that the Court of Judicial Review arrest him at once, hold him accountable, and confiscate the properties of the New Learning faction.
One memorial after another.
On the left, they impeached the First Prince for usurping authority. On the right, they accused Xu Zijin of rebellion. Every page was filled with partisan attacks and factional bickering.
Emperor Tiansheng let out two dry laughs.
“Well, well! The entire court is full of vigorous men! Not one of them slept last night. They were all too busy submitting memorials and tearing one another apart!”
He had no patience for the empty rhetoric of those so-called upright officials. He pawed through the pile twice and pulled out a memorial from the stack of confidential reports submitted directly to the throne.
The signature was that of the First Prince, Xiao Jingxing.
Emperor Tiansheng frowned and opened the silk-bound memorial with a cold expression, reading it word by word.
“…Your son mobilized troops at Brightmoon Tower with the intention of preventing petty criminals from taking advantage of the disorder to disturb the chief and deputy examiners of the autumn examinations. Who could have known that a mad scholar would cause a scene in court, while the Chief Steward of the First Prince’s residence failed to coordinate the deployment and spoke without restraint, frightening the assembled officials into abandoning their seats. Your son has failed to govern his subordinates properly and is ashamed before Your Majesty’s instruction. The Chief Steward has been confined and severely punished. Your son awaits Your Majesty’s judgment…”
As he read, Emperor Tiansheng’s voice fell silent.
He gave a cold snort and could not help cursing. “Idiot!”
“He’s shifted the blame onto a watchdog! Does he think everyone in the world is brainless and blind?”
Emperor Tiansheng wheezed heavily and flung the memorial aside.
He had wanted to win the hearts of men from humble families, only to have Xu Zijin publicly humiliate him. He had failed to recruit the New Learning faction and had trampled on the dignity of the aristocratic families as well. After landing himself in such a miserable position, he still tried to cover it up in his memorial!
“He made the mess himself, and now he expects me to wipe his ass for him?!”
The warm chamber fell silent at once.
The young eunuchs carrying basins of water and towels all went weak at the knees and dropped flat to the floor.
Eunuch Li’s forehead broke out in sweat as well. He hurriedly knelt down, then retreated several steps on his knees. Crawling over to the small brazier, he reached out and picked up the memorial that had been torn loose from its binding.
After retrieving it, he gathered several ordinary memorials scattered across the floor. His fingertips brushed against a hard object at the very bottom of the document case.
It was another memorial. The pages had even been scented with sandalwood.
Eunuch Li glanced at the signature in the lower right corner of the cover, and his hand trembled.
“Your Majesty…”
Holding the memorial in both hands, he crawled back to the imperial couch.
“This is a memorial from the Third Prince.”
“Cough… The Third Prince?”
Emperor Tiansheng had only just stopped coughing. Bracing himself against the soft pillows, he sat a little straighter.
A cold laugh escaped through his nose.
“He certainly has sharp ears and eyes. The First Prince’s humiliation happened only last night, and he’s already smelled blood and come running this morning!”
Emperor Tiansheng leaned back against the pillows.
“He’s here to kick a dog while it’s down. Since ancient times, there have been no brothers in the imperial family. How could he pass up such a fine opportunity to tear into his own elder brother?”
“Hand it over.”
Emperor Tiansheng extended his withered hand.
“I want to see just how sharp the blade of his tongue has become after two months of keeping his doors closed!”
Eunuch Li bent slightly at the waist and presented the memorial on the low kang table with both hands.
Emperor Tiansheng lifted two fingers and impatiently opened the folded pages.
At the very first turn, something felt wrong.
He glanced at the opening lines, and his brows drew together.
Hmm? He read through the entire thing and did not find the words “the First Prince” even once.
“How has Father’s cough been since the onset of winter? The cold is heavy at night. Has the brazier in the Palace of Heavenly Purity been tended carefully? Do not let the charcoal grow too hot and injure Your Majesty’s bodily fluids. The Imperial Medical Academy sent up loquat syrup the day before yesterday. Have you found it agreeable to the taste?”
Emperor Tiansheng’s fingers paused on the page.
He had expected to find ambition and murderous intent in every line from beginning to end. Instead, he found nothing of the sort.
“That wretched boy is circling around the point?”
Emperor Tiansheng gave a suspicious grunt and patiently continued reading.
When he turned the page, a thick sheaf of papers tucked behind the memorial slid out and spread across the low table.
What met his eyes was a thick volume of study notes.
Emperor Tiansheng forced himself to focus. He leaned closer and narrowed his eyes.
“An Essay on Emperor Guangwu’s Water-Control Policies. An Examination of Silt Accumulation…”
His narrowed eyes suddenly opened wide.
Every page of the thick stack was filled with practical plans for governing the country.
“Based on river works and repairs throughout the various dynasties, during the Yellow River’s low-water season, the cargo capacity of transport vessels shall not exceed four hundred shi.”
“If severe drought strikes the northern provinces, grain stored in the northern capital’s granaries shall be transported and distributed at stabilized prices. Since fifteen percent will be lost along the route, the prefectures and counties along the way must reserve enough grain for price stabilization before the fifth month, making up the shortfall.”
“When the Grand Canal is obstructed by silt, civilian laborers shall be hired to dredge it. What shall be the daily work quota? What shall be the standard conversion between rations and silver…”
Emperor Tiansheng’s face showed a trace of delight. Then he turned to the final line of the notes.
“Your son is dull-witted and cannot match the great talent of his elder brother.
“I only wish for Father’s health to remain vigorous and for every year to bring peace and prosperity.
“This is the greatest understanding your son has gained from two months of studying behind closed doors.”
The tension that had held Emperor Tiansheng’s face taut throughout the winter slowly eased, bit by bit. The murderous gloom lingering in the warm chamber dispersed.
“Cough… ha… hahaha!”
“Hahahahahaha!”
Emperor Tiansheng burst into loud laughter. But the laughter came too quickly and triggered another fit of choking coughs. His body tilted to one side, and he pounded on the bolster with his palm, yet he could not stop laughing.
“Interesting… truly, this is interesting!”
He coughed once and laughed once.
Eunuch Li, kneeling before the footrest, looked up in astonishment. For a long moment, he could not recover his senses.
How long had it been since His Majesty had laughed so freely?
Ever since the emperor’s illness had flared at the beginning of winter, the warm chamber had known nothing but dark winds, bitter rain, suspicion, and murderous intent. Every memorial from the officials of the court had earned a scolding the moment it arrived.
Yet the Third Prince had used such a soft, gentle maneuver—without spilling a drop of blood—to bring this deadlocked game back to life!
Emperor Tiansheng laughed for quite some time. Only after Eunuch Li helped him regulate his breathing did his coughs gradually subside.
He turned to the side and lifted the imperial brush from beside the kang table.
“Retain it in the palace.”
Setting down his imperial brush, Emperor Tiansheng tugged at the collar of his black fox-fur cloak and slowly sank back against the soft pillow.
He turned his head and gazed outside through the coils of sandalwood incense drifting above the desk.
The trace of a smile that had lingered moments before gradually vanished without a trace.
“Since The First Prince has smashed his own rice bowl,” Emperor Tiansheng said, his voice still hoarse, though each word fell heavier than the last.
He lifted his eyelids and looked down at Eunuch Li, who was kneeling on the floor.
“The Third Prince has grown quite capable as well…”
“Then let them fight over whatever comes next.”
