Two days later, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month.
The eastern sky had only just begun to pale.
Yet the morning market in the southern district of the capital was already alive with curling smoke and the warmth of cooking fires.
Servants clearing the snow swung their broad brooms back and forth, filling the air with a soft rustling sound.
The old man who ran the bun shop lifted the bamboo steamer lid. He rubbed his frostbitten hands together, then used a pair of fire tongs to stir the glowing coals in the stove. Finally, he carried out a basket of freshly steamed meat buns and set it on a chipped wooden table.
A traveling merchant sat beside the table, drinking tea.
The merchant wore a neat, close-fitting Hu robe beneath a thick sheepskin vest. A black bull-hide riding crop was wrapped around her waist, and a felt hat covered her head. When she raised her face, however, it revealed the slightly weathered features of a woman.
“Old Liu, the wrappers on today’s meat buns are a little too thick. The juices haven’t soaked through.”
The woman took a bite and slapped several copper coins onto the table.
The old man hurriedly wiped his hands on the cloth draped around his neck and leaned forward with an ingratiating smile.
“Shopkeeper Liu, you must have made a fortune escorting that shipment of raw silk into the capital from the north!”
“Throughout the entire Great Qian, you’re the only woman brave enough to run a trading operation with more than a dozen wagons on the Grand Canal.”
“That’s all thanks to the Xu family’s commandery princess. If she hadn’t established all those women’s workshops and women’s trading houses, how could women have stepped out in public and handled such a massive business?”
Shopkeeper Liu swallowed the bun and took a gulp of hot tea.
She turned her head and glanced around. Only after confirming that no one was nearby did she lower her voice.
“Enough with the flattery. I passed the street with the Six Ministries’ offices when I entered the city last night. Guess what I saw?”
Shopkeeper Liu tapped the tabletop with her index finger.
“The lights in the Grand Secretariat’s duty office stayed on all night. Couriers on fast horses went in and out one after another, and the hooves nearly wore the bluestone road away. With that kind of commotion, something earth-shaking must be afoot.”
The old man’s face paled. After looking around once more, he simply carried a small stool over and sat down opposite her.
He leaned forward, lowering his voice until only the two of them could hear.
“Shopkeeper Liu, you’ve traveled far and wide and seen a great deal.”
“My nephew’s cousin’s aunt’s son, who serves in the Five-City Military Command, came by to buy buns before dawn and let slip a little something.”
The old man gestured upward.
“The Son of Heaven is moving house! They say this entire place will be scraped clean three layers deep! I hear that in Jiangning down in Jiangnan, people have already been slaughtered in droves to clear the land, and several great clans have been uprooted entirely!”
Shopkeeper Liu’s pupils contracted.
Her mind began calculating the price of shipping raw silk south. For a long while, she said nothing. She only felt that the winter wind bit far more sharply than it had in previous years.
…
The third quarter of the hour after Chen.
Outside the Hall of Heavenly Benediction, the snowstorm had just cleared. Cold wind poured down the tiers of white jade steps.
The civil and military officials stood in two orderly lines according to rank. Wrapped in heavy court robes, they tucked their hands into their wide sleeves and hunched their necks into their fox-fur collars.
The report on the joint investigation by the three Jiangnan authorities had already spread throughout the capital’s officialdom.
Chen Shichang and Fang Jinhai had been sentenced to death for embezzling government farmland. After much deliberation, the final punishment had stopped short of exterminating their entire families—but their names and lineage had been erased.
Yang Bonian had switched sides and surrendered, becoming a meritorious supporter of the new emperor.
As for the censor from the Censorate, Zhou Mingxiu, who had originally intended to preside over justice, he was burdened with three million taels in rotten accounts and had become a corpse hanging in midair.
The executioner’s blade that would bring down the great Jiangnan clans now hung from the rafters of the Hall of Heavenly Benediction.
First Prince Xiao Jingxing stood at the very front of the line of military officers and imperial clansmen.
He wore a prince’s court robe, with a four-clawed dragon baring its fangs across his chest.
Xiao Jingxing swept his gaze over the silent, terrified civil officials opposite him.
He had lost in Jiangnan—lost so thoroughly that he had been stripped down to his undergarments.
But he still had a trump card in hand: the troubles on the northern frontier, the movements of the Helian Court!
So long as he seized upon the north’s inadequate military defenses and used the mantle of righteousness to suppress the matter, there was no way this southward relocation would be settled so easily!
At that thought, Xiao Jingxing turned his head toward Third Prince Xiao Jingyan.
Xiao Jingyan was likewise dressed in a prince’s robe today, his entire bearing as gentle and refined as jade.
Xiao Jingxing smiled and let out an almost inaudible cold snort.
He withdrew his gaze, his heart full of contempt.
Putting on such an inscrutable act! What could a spineless weakling like that possibly do to block his path?
“His Majesty has arrived!”
The Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonies drew out his shrill voice, sending it through the cold wind and into the heavens.
Three ceremonial whips cracked in succession across the white jade steps.
The assembled officials then entered the hall in order.
Before long, Emperor Tiansheng strode out from behind the carved dragon screen.
His figure was somewhat lean, but his steps were powerful and assured, carrying the majesty of a dragon and tiger without the slightest trace of hesitation.
He approached the dragon throne, symbol of supreme dominion over the realm, shook out his broad, imperial-yellow robe, and sat down firmly.
With that single motion, the vast pressure of imperial authority descended like something tangible, crushing down upon everyone present.
“Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty! Long, long live His Majesty!”
The officials dropped to their knees as one, their cries of homage echoing through the hall like a mountain-shaking roar.
“Rise,” Emperor Tiansheng said in a deep voice.
The officials rose amid a rustle of fabric, lowering their heads as they straightened the hems of their robes.
In the Censorate’s ranks, an old censor with hair and beard as white as snow clenched his jaw and tightened his grip around his tablet. He was about to step out of formation with his right leg.
The matter of Zhou Mingxiu could no longer be concealed. The Censorate had to submit an impeachment memorial accusing Zhou Mingxiu of accepting bribes before the emperor raised the issue himself, thereby preserving the institution’s dignity.
He had only just lifted the tips of his toes when—
“Hold.”
Emperor Tiansheng suddenly raised his right hand and pressed it down lightly in the air, directly interrupting the censors’ customary turn to present memorials during the morning court.
The old censor’s calf cramped in fright. He hastily drew his foot back.
Emperor Tiansheng spoke.
“The memorial concerning the joint investigation by the three Jiangnan authorities was delivered to the capital last night. The Grand Secretariat sent it to my desk without delay.”
“Minister of Revenue Xu Youde has not failed me!”
As if recalling something, a flush rose to the emperor’s face.
“Decisive and iron-fisted! Excellently done!”
“The Chen family! The Fang family! They had entrenched themselves in my Jiangnan for over a century! They seized government farmland, bribed clerks to falsify the land registers, and used the foundations of the imperial court to support their own household guards and retainers!”
Emperor Tiansheng tapped the memorial with one finger, each word cutting to the bone.
“Xu Youde endured your slander and recovered tens of thousands of mu of fertile farmland for the court! He purged these two parasites who were poisoning the state! Who dares call him a ruthless official? Who dares accuse him of embezzlement? Hmm?!”
His words came down like blades and axes.
Several censors who had originally intended to plead for Zhou Mingxiu or muddy the waters were now drenched in cold sweat beneath their inner robes. They bit down hard on their tongues, terrified of making even the slightest sound.
Emperor Tiansheng coldly took in the officials’ trembling disgrace.
He had no intention of pursuing the Censorate’s negligence, nor did he mention Zhou Mingxiu’s name.
He leaned back against the dragon throne once more. His expression eased somewhat, and his tone softened with it.
“The corrupt officials have been investigated, and the rebels have been dealt with.”
The emperor’s fingers tapped lightly against the armrest, producing a steady, rhythmic knock.
“Today, I am thinking about only one thing.” He paused, sounding genuinely puzzled.
“The tens of thousands of mu of fertile land whose deeds Xu Youde recovered for the court south of Jiangning.”
“…What do you all think should be done?”
The assembled civil and military officials looked at one another, yet none dared take on this hot potato.
When Xiao Jingxing heard this, his eyes lit up. It seemed that today they really were going to discuss the matter.
“Your Majesty! I, the Chief Astronomer of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, have a memorial to present!”
A hoarse shout abruptly pierced the air from the very back of the civil officials’ ranks.
The Chief Astronomer held a gleaming white jade tablet high in both hands, his steps stiff and unsteady.
He came to the center of the hall and performed a formal bow.
“I humbly report to Your Majesty!” The Chief Astronomer raised the jade tablet above his head and cried out, “Last night, I observed the celestial phenomena! In the southern reaches of the Dipper and Ox constellations, purple qi soared into the heavens, while starlight stretched across the sky like a rainbow!”
He swallowed, his voice growing ever more impassioned. “The earth aura of Jinling is flourishing! There are faint signs of a dragon coiling there, of a true dragon emerging from the abyss!”
He struck his forehead heavily against the floor.
“To preserve the Great Qian’s dynastic fortune for a hundred years and carry it on for all eternity, I humbly beseech Your Majesty to heed Heaven’s will! Construct a traveling imperial palace in Jinling, so as to anchor the destiny of the southern lands!”
Construct a traveling imperial palace!
The dagger had finally been revealed!
Shock, delight, and resentment surfaced in the eyes of the assembled officials.
Seated high upon the dragon throne, Emperor Tiansheng naturally saw every one of their expressions.
“The celestial signs have issued a warning, and the fate of the nation hangs in the balance.”
“Moving the capital south to Jinling is a decision I reached only after careful deliberation. It concerns the safety of Great Qian’s central government and the welfare of the people throughout the realm.”
“I have summoned you all today precisely to hear your opinions.”
Emperor Tiansheng narrowed his eyes.
“As for the arrangements for this southward relocation—who is in favor, and who is opposed?”
