CT - 62

When the old monk Jichen left just now, he closed the door. Outside, the wind and rain raged, the daytime was dim, and raindrops hit the window paper, like a continuous urging.

Luo Wei reached out and picked up a black piece.

She held the piece tightly in her hand, clutching it fiercely: “The late Emperor was benevolent and avoided military conflict, allowing the northern border troubles to drag on for over ten years. So, from the day you became Prime Minister—or even earlier—you decided to choose a new ruler for the world?”

Yu Qiushi admitted frankly: “Which of those civil officials in court has been to the northern border? When I was assigned to a provincial post, I carefully walked every inch of the borderland. The Great Yin and the northern tribes—Uighurs, Chahar, Erzhan—there will definitely be a war in this dynasty! If the ruler is bloodless and only seeks peace, how many years or months will these border troubles last? Crown Prince Ling pursued the path of benevolence. In times of chaos, even the Grand Sage and Former Master were driven from place to place. Where would someone who clutches ideals and believes they can clear the path lead the country?”

“I’m not saying I didn’t give you a chance, but he was so naive he couldn’t even see through the conflict between Lu Hang and Xue Wenming. I listened to his every political discussion in Zishan Hall and interacted with every imperial prince. The Third Prince was mediocre, the Fourth Prince was a scoundrel, the Fifth Prince was aloof. Only His Majesty—”

“You chose him.”

“Exactly. Although His Majesty was still young, even then I knew that among the late Emperor’s sons, only he possessed the iron-fisted resolve to govern the country and drive away border troubles for our dynasty. I knew the late Emperor favored Crown Prince Ling, but the grace of recognition I repaid was not just to the late Emperor, but to this country, this world!”

“The Thorn Blossom case was the last chance I gave you. What a pity, you didn’t seize it.” Yu Qiushi said solemnly, “Since ancient times, which struggle for succession hasn’t been bloody? Empress, your guess is not half wrong. I knew that with His Majesty’s temperament, he would never tolerate me, nor anyone else who knew the truth of that year, once he ascended the throne. From the very beginning, I never intended to retreat unscathed.”

“Power and wealth are not what my heart desires; historical reputation is but fleeting cloud. I merely did what I believed was right for this nation, and I have no regrets even if I die a thousand deaths. As for my children and grandchildren, I will protect them if I can. If not, accompanying me to the afterlife is not a bad thing. Empress chose a good place today—Buddha says, ‘All beings in Jambudvīpa, every thought and intention, is nothing but karma, nothing but sin.’ However, only after all beings are saved can one attain Bodhi. If I don’t enter hell, who will?”

He raised his hand and overturned the chessboard, scattering the pieces. Luo Wei remained seated, repeating the Buddhist scripture he had recited, then suddenly burst into uncontrolled laughter. She looked down at the black piece in her hand and said indifferently, “Grand Tutor speaks so grandiosely. If I had understood you a little less all these years, I would have believed you.”

She looked up, her face clearly smiling, but with not a trace of warmth in her eyes: “I know you have the resolve to sacrifice yourself, and you indeed made your choice, but Grand Tutor, do you truly have no selfish motives? Haven’t you been corrupt, accumulated wealth, protected cronies, or acted partially all these years? Didn’t you take personal revenge when you used ‘Lament for Jintian’ to kill? When you wrote ‘Zhongni Mengdian Tie’, did you ever fear that karmic retribution would one day fall upon you? In the middle of the night, when you dream, do you hear the late Emperor’s questioning?”

Luo Wei threw down the chess piece and stood up, continuing disdainfully, “Do you think Song Lan can secure this empire by manipulating people? He is young now, and with you and I in court, he can still endure patiently. But with the Suzaku established, how much longer do you think he can endure? Even if he used iron-fisted methods to quell the border troubles, if the court censors are silenced, and the officials and common people look on with fear, and the dynasty is permeated with the apprehension of cunning schemes, where will the literary traditions, the Daoist heart, the rites, and the moral integrity—where will these be found again? You want to be a saint who doesn’t care about posthumous fame? You’re far from it.”

Yu Qiushi’s hand trembled slightly, but he said, “If the Empress says this old subject is far from it, then so be it.”

“A petty man killing a gentleman, yet still needing to conceal it so, truly makes me sick. Moreover, no matter how soft-hearted he is, he can distinguish right from wrong—and you, how much of your self-justification is a desire to become a saint, and how much is the malice of a petty man? You know best in your heart.”

Luo Wei grew angrier with each word, sneering repeatedly: “What right do you have to judge him? Do you think he doesn’t understand the conspiracies and tricks you speak of? He doesn’t do it because he disdains it! A single branch in Guilin, a fragment of jade from Kunlun—a gentleman is deemed unacceptable by the world because of his preciousness. However, though they may fall for a time, they are hailed as saints for a thousand years. The spirit that has endured on this land for so long is something that cunning schemes will never comprehend. Enough, speaking more with you is useless, Grand Tutor, there is a word I want to return to you: your choice is riddled with flaws; our ideal of peace and prosperity, you do not understand.”

Yu Qiushi’s face was expressionless, only his graying hair and beard trembled slightly. After a long moment, he said, “It’s fine. I am a lonely subject for life, walking alone in life, and after death, only flies will mourn me. Today, to eliminate me, you have poured out everything. You must also guess that after my death, you will surely not live. That’s fine. As for what my choice truly was, history will record it. Let’s both go down to the underworld to see.”

Luo Wei closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and calmed herself: “Underworld? If the Grand Tutor wants to go to hell, then go yourself. This empress has no intention of accompanying you.”

She stood up, revealing a mocking smile, and looked down at him: “Pouring out everything... Do you think this is everything? Song Lan is still sitting in the court. Killing only you, how is that enough? Today, I invited the Grand Tutor here because there is something I wanted to tell you.”

Yu Qiushi sneered faintly, “This subject is all ears.”

Luo Wei bent down and whispered, “I bet you definitely don’t know this. Since Song Lan ascended the throne, you have been desperately advising him to kill me to eliminate future troubles, and you have tried every possible way to test him, but Song Lan never believed it. You thought this was because of the lingering affection he had for me.”

Yu Qiushi was startled: “He is decisive in killing, yet he only has some old affections for you and the Empress Dowager.”

“Grand Tutor, you’ve got it wrong,” Luo Wei said seriously, “He is the person you personally chose. How could he be confined by the word ‘affection’? You told him I would know the truth sooner or later, so he should act early—Grand Tutor, you’ve been clever your whole life, have you never thought that you too are in the trap?”

Hearing this, Yu Qiushi frowned slightly: “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, have you never thought that he doesn’t kill me because you and I are no different?” Luo Wei smiled, “He worries about me knowing the truth, and he also worries about you knowing the truth. So he simply lets us both checkmate each other in court, and he watches the tigers fight from the mountain. It doesn’t matter who dies first.”

Yu Qiushi glanced at her, muttering to himself in confusion, “Truth, what other truth could I...”

“Of course there is,” Luo Wei said decisively. She shed all expression from her face, raised her eyes, and looked directly at him, “Grand Tutor, do you know how the late Emperor died?”

Upon hearing this, Yu Qiushi’s face finally changed dramatically. He suddenly stood up, pointing a trembling finger at her and saying, “You, you dare to slander—”

“Slander?” Luo Wei coldly retorted, “All these years, I have painstakingly managed affairs within the inner palace. Within the nine layers of city gates, there is no secret I don’t know. I know you don’t believe me, so before I went to Xiuxiu Temple, I specifically sent some good things to your residence. You might as well go back and take a look.”

Yu Qiushi immediately stood up, flicked his sleeves, and walked out. After only a few steps, he heard Luo Wei laugh behind him, “Grand Tutor, a lifelong, lonely subject? Hahahaha, you repaid the grace of recognition by personally sending the late Emperor to the underworld. The words ‘usurping the nation’ are truly not unjust! When you meet the late Emperor underground, you must ask him if he can still recite your policy arguments now?”

He pushed open the door and looked back. Luo Wei stood still, her face half in light, half in shadow, as calm as a statue, her voice like a whisper.

“—Then, you will know if what I say is true or false.”

Yu Qiushi’s lips trembled slightly, and he turned and hurried away, almost stumbling over the threshold. Jichen had taken his oiled paper umbrella, and he looked around, unable to find it, so he simply strode into the rain.

Before stepping out, Yu Qiushi looked down and saw his sleeves, already soaked through.

“This is a heavy rain,” he murmured with a bitter smile, “No matter how careful you and I are, we can’t avoid being soaked by the rain.”

Luo Wei watched his retreating figure, supporting herself against the doorframe as she sat down, letting out a long sigh of relief.

She clutched her wildly beating heart, finally laughing out loud with satisfaction.

In front of the corridor outside the meditation room, rainwater converged into continuous streams, falling endlessly. She reached out to catch it, and the raindrops struck her palm heavily, even splashing a few drops onto her face, cool to the touch.

Luo Wei looked up at the dim sky, unable to tell the time, but she felt it was time for her to meet Yan Lang and Ye Tingyan.

She sat patiently by the door for a while, first waiting for Yan Lang, who came up the mountain on horseback, wearing a bamboo hat.

Yan Lang wiped the water from his face and rushed over, peering into the room: “Where’s that old fox?”

Luo Wei smiled and replied, “I scared him away.”

She leaned on the doorframe, trying to stand up, but her legs were too weak. Yan Lang was startled and quickly came to support her: “Didn’t he come up the mountain alone? Why are you so scared?”

Luo Wei shook her head. Yan Lang turned around, closed the door, wrung out his soaked cloak, and asked curiously, “When you decided to make your move, I was also surprised. By the way, what exactly did you say to him that scared away even such a shrewd old man?”

“Actually, no matter how much power or intrigue, or how dense the web woven, it’s all useless,” Luo Wei was silent for a moment before slowly beginning, “I also told him that the so-called ‘art’ and ‘power’, ultimately...”

She squatted down, holding the chess box, slowly picking up the white pieces from the ground: “You have to make them alienated from each other. Song Lan has relied on him and feared him all these years, but ultimately, he’s not as important as a child of his own flesh and blood. Yu Qiushi supported Song Lan, knowing his deep thoughts, but what if those thoughts were so deep that even he himself couldn’t guess them? The ancients said ‘too much is as bad as too little.’ I want to see if the ‘sword-wielding ruler’ he chose will scare himself.”

She examined a chess piece she had just picked up in her hand and said with a smile, “After all, he thought he was Zhang Liang’s strategy, crossing the cloud ladder, but in reality, he was just a chess piece without even a name.”

Yan Lang heard her, half understanding. Luo Wei saw his confused expression and sighed, explaining to him: “When Ningle died, she found a knife for me that cut between them—do you know how the late Emperor passed away?”

“The late Emperor?” Yan Lang asked in astonishment, “What do you mean, was it Song Lan?”

“It was Song Lan,” Luo Wei interjected. She dropped the smile from her face and wiped away the unshed tears from the corners of her eyes. “Yu Qiushi, after all, felt grateful to the late Emperor. Although I didn’t guess what was truly in his heart, I was sure this matter would surely break both their hearts. After today, the threat of Yu Qiushi will no longer exist. In a way, the late Emperor helped me...”

She hadn’t finished speaking when Yan Lang keenly heard footsteps in the rain and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Who’s there?”

He pointed his sword, and the old wooden door of the meditation room creaked open, rattling from the force of the sword qi. Luo Wei looked back and saw Ye Tingyan standing outside the door.

He was dressed in a green robe, his hair disheveled. Perhaps he hadn’t brought an umbrella when ascending the mountain, as he was soaked through. Strands of long hair clung to his cheeks, and water droplets were sliding down his pale face, making it hard to tell if it was rain or tears.

Luo Wei rarely saw him in such a state.

A free-spirited guest in green, weathered by wind and rain, like a transparent piece of glazed glass that would shatter at a touch.

“You...”

She hesitated, speaking, but before she could continue, Yan Lang on the side exclaimed, “Third Young Master Ye! It really is you! Long time no see. Why did you come today?”

Luo Wei turned and asked, “You know him?”

Yan Lang scratched his head and said, “Of course I know him. Third Young Master Ye is a legendary figure in our Youzhou. The battles we fought against the northern tribes last year were won so easily because Third Young Master joined my father’s camp and offered strategies.”

He held his sword and moved closer, asking familiarly, “I heard you took an official post in the court, but after returning to the capital, you were mostly under house arrest and I didn’t have time to visit. How have you been, Third Young Master? Oh, by the way, did your fiancée come to Bianjing with you? When can I drink your wedding wine?”

Luo Wei repeated, “...fiancée?”

She noticed Ye Tingyan’s expression was off, so she stepped forward and tucked the hair clinging to his cheek behind his ear.

Yan Lang saw their intimate behavior and was dumbfounded, but he still didn’t ask anything. Luo Wei focused on Ye Tingyan, her fingers brushing his cold face. He also lowered his eyes, gazing at her intently, his bloodless lips trembling several times before he very, very softly asked, “Is this... your sure-kill plan?”

Luo Wei’s movements stiffened: “What did you hear?”

He, however, seemed disoriented, muttering things she didn’t understand: “He was so good to you. When you found out, did you...”

Yan Lang finally couldn’t help but ask, “What riddle are you two playing?”

Hearing this, Ye Tingyan woke as if from a dream. He took a step back, first looking at Yan Lang, then at Luo Wei, and forced a smile: “What the Empress wanted to tell this subject, this subject already knows.”

Luo Wei’s hand froze in the air. She took a step after him, calling out in a low voice, “Third Young...”

But Ye Tingyan took another step back, completely exposing himself to the rain without caring.

In the steaming mist, he looked at her, the corners of his eyes faintly red. For some reason, Luo Wei suddenly felt a heart-pounding sensation like their first meeting, a palpitation even more intense than when she had just faced Yu Qiushi with bated breath.

Each heartbeat brought a twitching, unspeakable pain.

Her face was ashen, and she nearly fell. Yan Lang reached out to support her. When she looked up again, she found that Ye Tingyan had stumbled away like that. That hint of green grew fainter and fainter in the rain until it merged with the milky white mist, no longer visible.

Luo Wei came back to her senses, realizing that most of her skirt was also soaked by the rain.

“This is a heavy rain,” she said with a bitter smile, muttering, “No matter how careful, you still can’t avoid... being soaked by the rain.”