The Capital.
The massive doors of the Hall of Mental Cultivation were tightly shut. Thunder rolled across the roof ridges, sending a subtle tremor through the window frames. Very few lamps were lit within the hall, leaving it shrouded in gloom. Only a single candle flickered on the imperial desk, its flame dancing in the draft and unsettling the heart.
Emperor Tiansheng reclined on a soft couch covered in bright yellow brocade, idly fiddling with a bunch of dried rice stalks. This was the "auspicious omen" Pei Ji had brought back from Taoyuan County half a month ago. By now, the grains had been polished to a shine by the Emperor’s withered hands, yet he still couldn't bring himself to throw them away.
Companion Li knelt by the footstool, slowly grinding a small piece of Huizhou ink in an inkstone. The ink was thick and refused to spread, much like the suffocating, heavy atmosphere in the hall. He didn't even dare to look up at the old Emperor’s face, settling instead for counting the rotations of the ink stick. One, two...
The hall door was pushed open just a crack.
A gust of damp, earthy air swirled in. The newcomer was dressed entirely in black, rainwater dripping from the brim of his bamboo hat and forming a dark puddle on the floor tiles. He was the Associate Director of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a second-rank official, and the sharpest blade in Emperor Tiansheng’s hand.
Shen Lian.
Shen Lian didn't dare shake the water from his clothes. He crawled forward a few steps on his knees and pulled a wax-sealed secret memorial from his robe, holding it above his head with both hands. The envelope was damp, but the bright red "Top Secret" seal remained piercingly dry.
"From Jiangning," Shen Lian’s voice rang out.
Emperor Tiansheng’s eyelids flickered. He tossed the rice stalks back into their box and reached out a hand. Companion Li, ever observant, took the memorial, used a silver knife to break the wax seal, and presented it with both hands.
The hall fell silent, save for the rustle of turning pages.
At first, Emperor Tiansheng read slowly. There was no emotion in his cloudy old eyes; it was as if he were reading a mundane greeting memorial. That was, until he reached the paper tucked in the middle.
It was a portrait. The artists of the Palace Administration were masters of their craft, capturing every nuance of the subject’s spirit.
The subject was a fat man. He was squeezed into an incredibly ill-fitting burlap vest dyed a garish, eye-searing neon green. Across the chest, written in messy ink, were two large characters: "Good Citizen." In the solemn, majestic Hall of Mental Cultivation, the image appeared absurd and farcical.
Emperor Tiansheng’s hand froze.
Companion Li’s heart skipped a beat. He stole a quick glance and felt a chill run down his spine. That County Princess Xu had surely gone too far this time. Humiliating a Great Family’s steward and then sending a drawing of it to the Emperor? This was dragging the dignity of the Imperial family through the dirt.
"Your Majesty, please appease your anger..." Companion Li pressed his forehead against the cold golden floor tiles. "County Princess Xu is young and headstrong. This servant will immediately dispatch an edict to reprimand her..."
"Reprimand?"
Emperor Tiansheng’s voice drifted down from above, carrying a strange tremor.
Then, a burst of laughter erupted.
"Hahahaha!"
The laughter exploded abruptly, mingling with the thunder outside and making the very hall seem to shake. Emperor Tiansheng laughed so hard his entire body trembled, the portrait in his hand crinkling loudly.
It was as if he had seen the greatest joke in the world; he laughed until tears pricked the corners of his eyes.
"Good! A 'Good Citizen' indeed! What a fine Great Qian Law!"
Companion Li was stunned. This wasn't the laughter of extreme rage; he was genuinely laughing.
Emperor Tiansheng suddenly sat upright and slapped the portrait onto the imperial desk.
The splash of green seemed to dance in the candlelight.
"Do you see it, Companion Li?" Emperor Tiansheng pointed at the lines of dense, small script on the memorial. "Proving your mother is your mother... Haha! This logic is brilliant! Simply marvelous!"
Companion Li leaned in to take a look. He was utterly baffled but didn't dare remain silent. "This servant... this servant is dull-witted. I only feel that County Princess Xu’s actions are indeed... somewhat unconventional."
"Unconventional? This is the application of law!" The cloudiness in Emperor Tiansheng’s eyes vanished, replaced by the excitement and cruelty of a hunter spotting a prize hound.
He stood up and began pacing the hall with his hands behind his back.
"Those fools in the Court of Judicial Review treat the 'Great Qian Law' like an ancestral shrine, and what is the result? They can’t even handle a lowly steward of a Great Family. This girl, however... she doesn't respect the law; she plays it like an instrument!"
"Seizing land deeds is 'government management of disputed assets.' Demanding proof of identity is 'verifying status to prevent spies.' Every move she makes skirts the edge of the law, and every strike stabs the Great Families in their soft underbelly. You think she's making a scene? No, she’s giving me a lesson."
Emperor Tiansheng stopped by the window, watching the torrential rain outside.
"She is clearly a Legalist enforcer wearing the skin of a merchant! Her teeth are sharper than the dogs I keep in the Ministry of Justice."
Companion Li listened with a racing heart. A "cruel official" or "enforcer." In a Great Qian that prided itself on benevolent rule, this was no compliment. But coming from this Emperor, it was the highest praise.
"Your Majesty, then... should we lend a hand?" Companion Li asked tentatively. "After all, those are the Four Great Families. If County Princess Xu continues like this, she might suffer for it."
"Help?" Emperor Tiansheng sneered, turning around with a look of mockery on his wrinkled face. "Why help her? If she can't even handle a situation like this, she isn't fit to be the blade in my hand."
He walked back to the desk and picked up the secret memorial again, his gaze lingering on the lines describing "The Zhao Family steward kneeling to write a self-criticism." His eyes grew deep and inscrutable.
"The First Prince stayed in the south for so many years, but aside from reciting poetry with those sour scholars and babbling about 'benevolent reform,' what did he actually achieve? And the Third Prince... he hides in the back all day, trying to use others' strength or wait for a profit. In my eyes, they are both too green."
Emperor Tiansheng tossed the memorial back to Shen Lian.
"Benevolence and morality won't save Great Qian. In this world, only a mad dog can tear a wolf apart."
"Pass my verbal command to the Palace Administration’s undercover agents in the south. Watch Jiangning. Keep your eyes wide open. As long as County Princess Xu doesn't start a rebellion, do not interfere, even if she commits murder or arson."
Shen Lian kowtowed. "By your command."
"If she really can stir up the stagnant waters of the south and provoke those old fossils to their deaths..." Emperor Tiansheng narrowed his eyes, his tone grim. "I wouldn't mind adding more fuel to the fire. Even if all of Jiangning burns to the ground, I will accept it."
Shen Lian took his leave, his figure vanishing like a ghost outside the hall doors.
The rain continued, though the thunder had quieted.
The atmosphere in the hall had just begun to relax, and Companion Li was preparing to pour a fresh cup of tea when he saw Emperor Tiansheng frown again, as if suddenly remembering something unpleasant.
"By the way," Emperor Tiansheng took a sip of tea, his voice tinged with annoyance. "Where is my 'valiant' Second Prince? I heard he disappeared again a few days ago. Which prince’s manor is he freeloading at this time, or which mountain has he gone to for 'bandit suppression'?"
Companion Li’s hand shook as he held the tea, his expression becoming quite colorful.
"Reporting to Your Majesty..." Companion Li stammered, wishing he could bite his own tongue off. "The Second Prince... he left a letter. He said he heard there was a great commotion in Jiangning and that someone dared to challenge the Great Families. He... he went to 'act as a hero' and lend that person a hand."
*Spurt—*
Emperor Tiansheng sprayed out the hot tea he had just sipped.
"Chivalry and justice? He’s going there to cause a disaster!" Emperor Tiansheng slammed his teacup onto the table, his composure as a strategic ruler instantly shattering.
As for the reason why? It was the same old trope: a combination of imperial power plays and the posthumous son of a long-lost "white moonlight" first love. After all, the novel he had transmigrated into was a bit dated.
"That absolute scoundrel! Why does he charge headfirst into every mess he finds? That place is a bloody shura field—does he think his pig-brain can handle it?"
"Quick! Send men to chase him! Tie him up and bring him back to—"
Emperor Tiansheng stopped mid-sentence. Something seemed to occur to him, and a playful, almost mischievous expression crossed his face, tinged with a hint of schadenfreude.
"Forget it, don't bother chasing him."
"Let him go," Emperor Tiansheng said, leaning back against the soft couch once more. "Since that County Princess Xu is a lunatic, adding an idiot to the mix should make the pot boil over quite nicely."
***
At that very moment.
Eight hundred miles from the capital, mud splattered across the official highway.
The wind howled and the rain lashed down, bending the trees along the roadside. A chestnut-colored Akhal-Teke stallion was galloping at full tilt through the mire.
Clinging to the horse’s back was a young man dressed in fine silk. His hair crown had long since been knocked askew by the wind, dangling precariously by his ear. His expensive brocade sleeves were covered in yellow mud, looking no better than Zhao Fu’s green vest from the other day.
Rainwater streamed down his nose and seeped into his collar, but his eyes shone with a terrifying brightness—a look of pure beauty, completely untainted by the burden of knowledge.
"Hyah! Hyah!"
He whipped the horse while wiping rain from his face.
"Holy crap! What do they mean my home is gone?!"
