During the spring outing season, people traveled in small groups.
The well-born youth of the capital all arranged excursions with their friends before the Qingming Festival. With time on their hands, they took advantage of the fine weather and beautiful scenery to go out and enjoy themselves.
Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou had also changed into plain clothes and brought their two little ones, along with a dozen guards, to Xuanyang Temple.
After Xuanyang Temple was burned down, not a single monk had been left. It had now been rebuilt.
The person who rebuilt it was Chen Chen, or Chen Zengshou. She was originally a lay disciple of Xuanyang Temple with the dharma name Huishen and held a very high seniority.
After winning first place in the imperial examinations, she spent a short time in the Hanlin Academy before being “loaned” to the Ministry of Works to rebuild Xuanyang Temple. No one was more suitable for the task.
When rebuilding the temple, she called back the monks who had been out gaining experience, a great many of whom were ascetics.
The philosophy of the ascetic monks was: the suffering in this world is finite. The more I suffer, the less sentient beings will have to suffer.
These individuals were sufficiently pure, making them the best choice to rebuild Xuanyang Temple.
Coincidentally, Chen Chen’s seniority was high, so anyone from Xuanyang Temple had to obey her words.
A year had passed, and Xuanyang Temple was now complete. It was better than the old one—at the very least, it was open and upright, with no hidden filth.
Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou arrived inside Xuanyang Temple together.
Behind the temple was a flat, open area, perfect for a picnic.
Chi Wan had even brought out a grill, but being within Xuanyang Temple, they still felt a sense of reverence.
They did not believe in gods or ghosts, but they followed the rules of the place they were in.
Of course, as sovereigns, they were not bound by local customs, but even a sovereign could not act entirely on a whim. And today, they were just ordinary people on a spring outing.
A large woolen blanket was spread across the newly sprouted grass.
Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou lay upon it, basking in the sun, utterly at ease.
Having dealt with political affairs for so long, it had been a great while since they had felt so relaxed. Today was a rare moment of peace.
Nearby, Chenchen and Guiyi were crawling about. It was a rare trip out of the palace for the two little ones. Though the palace was vast, they had already explored all the places they could play. An occasional outing like this was a precious thing.
Listening to the sounds of their play, Chi Wan closed her eyes and reached for Yu Jiuzhou’s hand. Only when their fingers were intertwined did she smile in satisfaction.
Neither of them spoke, savoring the tranquility of the moment.
The sunlight on their bodies washed away their fatigue. Their minds, constantly engaged in the art of power, finally had a moment of rest, imbuing their entire beings with the warmth of the sun.
An unknown amount of time passed. Just as Chi Wan was drifting off to sleep, Yu Jiuzhou’s gentle voice sounded, “When do you think Aunt will make her move?”
Chi Wan’s brow twitched. She opened her eyes to the sunlight, using her arm to block some of the glare, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to see at all.
“The Empress Dowager’s convoy is still within the central government’s sphere of control. Lingnan has the Prince of Lingnan, and she won’t allow the Brahma Heaven Cult to grow powerful there. The East Sea has my little aunt, and Jiangning has just been rebuilt and is under tight watch. The south is likely impossible.”
Shengjing was located in the north-central plains. The reforms in Yanbei were the most thorough, and the region had just been rebuilt, so any sign of the Brahma Heaven Cult was snuffed out before it could even appear.
Of course, the easiest people to control in these areas were the local gentry and powerful families, but they wouldn’t dare assassinate the Empress Dowager there.
To use their own people for the deed would be to hand the central government a knife—a knife to execute their entire nine generations of kin.
Supporting the Brahma Heaven Cult was a personal act; taking direct action was an act that would lead to the extermination of one’s clan. Those gentry and powerful families wanted to overthrow Yu Jiuzhou, but they dared not wager their own families on it.
This was the difference between the common people and the gentry.
All the common people wanted was a full stomach. When they could no longer eat and had no way to survive, only then would they rebel.
The success of the reforms in Yanbei gave the people hope of having enough to eat. Yu Jiuzhou was the new emperor, and a new emperor’s reforms represented enriching the people.
Enriching the people would in turn enrich the state. This was the philosophy of Yu Jiuzhou and Chi Wan.
It was unlike the dynasties of the past, which only sought to enrich the state and were thus unkind to the people. The two approaches were vastly different.
So their philosophy was, in fact, to strengthen the state and enrich the people.
In short, the success of the Yanbei reforms had shown the people of Great Zhou tangible benefits. They had no reason to join a rebellion.
A peasant uprising was an affair of the “muddy-legged.” They did not ask for much, but they also had little to lose. It was better than waiting to die.
The gentry and powerful families were different. They had wealth and power. They rebelled to seize greater power and occupy more interests.
To put it bluntly, peasants had no worries about what they might lose, whereas the gentry were unwilling to part with their existing fortunes, yet they still craved more.
It wasn’t that Chi Wan looked down on these gentry and powerful families, but with absolute military power on her side, if they dared to show their faces, the only outcome would be the annihilation of their clans. There was no other possibility.
So they were like rats in a sewer, trying to use some petty trickery against her and Yu Jiuzhou at the slightest sign of a mistake.
But the enthroned Yu Jiuzhou was the legitimate sovereign, her authority absolute. Their schemes were but a flicker of false light, a dark art disguised, which would be instantly extinguished in a direct confrontation.
Chi Wan had calculated for a long time in her mind. For the Brahma Heaven Cult to make a move, they would have to use their own followers, not these external recruits.
As long as the Brahma Heaven Cult dared to act, they would leave traces, giving Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou the opportunity to annihilate them in one fell swoop.
The Imperial City Division and the Embroidered-Robe Guard were already spread throughout Great Zhou. Under their scrutiny, anyone from the Brahma Heaven Cult who revealed themselves would be eliminated.
The Embroidered-Robe Guard were not assassins; they were like gods with myriad capabilities. Under their pressure, if the Brahma Heaven Cult did not act soon, they might lose the chance to act at all.
Now, the Empress Dowager’s convoy had left Yanbei and was heading directly northwest, precisely to give the Brahma Heaven Cult an opportunity.
The bait was in place. How could the Brahma Heaven Cult not understand?
Chi Wan had deployed the Embroidered-Robe Guard specifically to force the Brahma Heaven Cult’s hand. They had no choice but to act.
But no news had arrived yet, and Yu Jiuzhou was truly worried for Empress Dowager Xu.
That was right. After the convoy left Yanbei, the decoy Empress Dowager had been replaced by the real one.
Empress Dowager Xu had seen Emperor Shengyuan’s edict, as well as some records of recent years that Chi Wan had intentionally placed where she would find them.
They clearly stated that everything Yu Jiuzhou had done was because Emperor Shengyuan had forced her hand.
She could not have simply been a wealthy Grand Princess, free from desire. A Grand Princess with no interest in power would have been honored and respected by any new emperor. To mistreat the late emperor’s only heir would be to invite condemnation from the entire world and the imperial clan.
But under Emperor Shengyuan’s coercion, Yu Jiuzhou could only become a Regent Grand Princess, one destined to be viewed with hostility by any emperor who took the throne. No matter who ascended, their first task would be to bring her down.
Just as it had been in her previous life, Yu Jiuzhou’s fate was sealed.
In her past life, Yu Jiuzhou eventually developed the idea of becoming emperor herself, but it was too late. She had been deceived for too long by Emperor Shengyuan’s facade of a benevolent father.
He was, after all, her own father. Growing up, he had given her everything she wanted, even power, without hesitation. No emperor was willing to share their power, yet Emperor Shengyuan had shared his with her.
To the Yu Jiuzhou of that time, this was proof of his love. Only much later did she discover that his fatherly love had been a scheme, one that had deceived her for so long.
But by then, it was too late.
If she hadn’t seen the edict and the records, Empress Dowager Xu would also have thought that while Emperor Shengyuan was a poor husband, he was an excellent father. This was why she had retained a measure of affection for him.
And because of this, she had felt that Yu Jiuzhou had not only broken the rules but had also failed her sovereign and father.
In ancient times, failing one’s sovereign and father was a grave offense, one that could compel an official to commit suicide. To refuse would be to have one’s reputation ruined and future destroyed.
When Empress Dowager Xu realized Emperor Shengyuan’s scheme, her heart was filled with a mix of emotions. She valued rules above all else—Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Parent, Teacher. With such a cruel and merciless sovereign, what choice did Yu Jiuzhou have?
Was she supposed to just be swept along until she became a treacherous official in the eyes of the world, a great villain, and died without a proper burial?
In fact, if Yu Jiuzhou had not been reborn, that would have been her end.
Because Yu Jiuzhou trusted her parents. She never believed her father would plot against her to such an extent, nor could she have ever imagined that her mother would nearly betray her.
She was not afraid of being plotted against and betrayed. The problem was that the ones doing so were her closest kin.
Yu Jiuzhou had no choice. She could only take the throne.
Besides, Yu Jiuzhou had great ambitions. She wanted to show the world that a Kun Ze could rule. She wanted to show the Yu ancestors that a princess could rule. And even more, she wanted the people of the world to be fed and clothed, for the young to be educated, and for the old to be cared for.
Was she wrong? She was not.
At least she had Chi Wan by her side, supporting her, understanding her.
Others might support her, but they did not understand her. Only Chi Wan understood her every choice.
Empress Dowager Xu might not have understood everything after learning the truth, but she made a choice. She would act as bait. She wanted to see the world, and she wanted to do something for her daughter—to help pave her path as emperor, thus fulfilling her duty as a mother.
She wanted to see for herself what kind of state her daughter could govern. If she brought disaster upon the world, then she, as the Empress Dowager, would exercise the ancestral laws.
In the end, Empress Dowager Xu was willing to give Yu Jiuzhou a chance. But in her heart, she knew this was also a chance for herself—a chance to find the Xu Qiongfang she was before being named the crown prince’s consort.
She was only twelve then. What was the Xu Qiongfang before the age of twelve like?
It was precisely because the Empress Dowager was truly on this tour that Yu Jiuzhou was so unsettled. In her mother’s heart, there was, after all, a place for her.
Chi Wan also knew that after the Empress Dowager made her choice, Yu Jiuzhou had softened.
Her wife was just such a person of flesh and blood. She appeared cold on the surface, but her heart was very soft. How hard could a person who carried the common people in her heart truly be?
After calculating that the Brahma Heaven Cult was most likely to strike in the northwest, Yu Jiuzhou’s heart was fraught with worry.
Chi Wan squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I’ve arranged for experts to be by her side, including some masters borrowed from Wudang. With them there, as long as the Brahma Heaven Cult doesn’t deploy an army, Mother will certainly be safe.”
After the Empress Dowager made her choice, their form of address for her had reverted to “Mother,” as if the rift between them had never existed.
But a crack was still a crack. It would remain hidden in their hearts. They might continue to get along with decorum, or the conflict might suddenly erupt again one day in the future.
For now, the two sides had reconciled.
For Chi Wan, it wasn’t a matter of reconciliation or not. She just wanted Yu Jiuzhou to be happy.
If anything were to happen to the Empress Dowager, Yu Jiuzhou would surely be heartbroken, which was why she had even borrowed masters from Wudang.
After all, if there were too many guards, the Brahma Heaven Cult might not dare to make a move.
Yu Jiuzhou was about to say more when Chi Wan suddenly rolled over. Of course, she only moved her head closer, capturing Yu Jiuzhou’s lips in a kiss. “We’re out here to have fun, why are we still discussing politics? There’s no end to political affairs.”
All sorts of things happened at court every day. The officials had opposed the Empress Dowager’s tour, believing she should remain a figurehead in the inner palace. But what did their opposition matter? The tour had already been underway for days.
Chi Wan gently bit Yu Jiuzhou’s lip. “Didn’t we agree to just have fun today?”
Yu Jiuzhou pushed her away helplessly. “The children are still here.”
She turned her head for a look. The guards had all tactfully turned their backs. As for Chun Gui, Xia Qu, Qiu Lai, and Dong Ying, they were long accustomed to their public displays of affection and didn’t spare them a glance, focusing intently on the two little ones.
These two little highnesses were the apples of their eyes. The four of them watched the girls like hawks, so their four pairs of hands simultaneously moved to cover Chenchen’s and Guiyi’s eyes.
Chenchen & Guiyi: “?”
What happened? It suddenly went dark.
The two little ones used their small hands to push their attendants’ hands away. Seeing the world light up again, they smiled in satisfaction.
Chenchen: “What are you doing?”
Guiyi: “What are you doing!”
The two little ones were very displeased at having their eyes suddenly covered.
“Bad aunties!”
“Bad!”
Chun Gui, Xia Qu, Qiu Lai, and Dong Ying: “…”
Xia Qu, with her fiery temper, said, “We’re out of the palace today. I’m the aunt, you’re the kids. Believe it or not, I’ll discipline you.”
Chun Gui frowned. “They’re still little.”
Dong Ying: “Not that little.”
Qiu Lai: “Two years old isn’t little? If either of you dares to touch them, I’ll make sure you can’t leave your rooms.”
Well then, Qiu Lai was even threatening them with drugs.
The division of labor among the four immediately became clear. Chun Gui was gentle and patient; she would tell the two little ones stories and teach them etiquette.
Xia Qu was skilled in martial arts, but the two little ones were still too young to practice. So she often played with them, acting as both a teacher and a friend.
Qiu Lai knew medicine, so she taught them what they could and couldn’t eat, and which foods shouldn’t be eaten together.
As for Dong Ying, her martial skill was high, but she wasn’t a good teacher. However, she possessed a skill others lacked. She was in charge of the secret guards and knew how to cultivate a person’s mental fortitude, how to ensure a secret guard’s loyalty to their master, how to face everything with calm composure, and how to develop an indomitable will.
Chenchen and Guiyi were sovereigns in their own right; they only needed to be loyal to themselves. They also needed the requisite qualities. They couldn’t be raised to be masters of both literature and martial arts, only to be mentally weak.
The cultivation of the mind and body had to proceed in tandem for the two little ones to grow into people who had both the sense of duty and the strength to bear responsibility.
Two of the four attendants were more indulgent with the children, while two were stricter, but none of them could be said to be spoiling them.
They were doted upon, but within a framework of rules.
Moreover, Chi Wan seriously suspected that Chun Gui, Xia Qu, Qiu Lai, and Dong Ying had planned this, using different approaches with the two little ones. These were the tricks of adults.
While the four were debating, Chenchen took Guiyi by the hand and came to find Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou.
Chi Wan had been propped up on one hand, which conveniently shielded her as she kissed Yu Jiuzhou. Who would have thought the two little ones would run over?
Lost in the kiss, she paid them no mind.
It wasn’t until Chenchen crouched down that Chi Wan’s body stiffened. She immediately covered Chenchen’s eyes and lifted her head.
A moment later, Guiyi also crouched down, but she was a step too late and saw nothing.
Chenchen was speechless. What was with these adults? They were always covering her eyes.
She forcefully pulled Chi Wan’s hand away. “Mother!!!”
Chi Wan asked with a straight face, “What is it!”
“What were you doing?” She had seen it.
Guiyi, not understanding, looked curiously from her sister to her mother.
Chi Wan was at a loss for words, but she still had to satisfy their curiosity. “The sun was in my eyes just now, and I mistook your mother’s lips for a piece of candy.”
Chenchen: “? Mother is so silly.”
Guiyi nodded. “Very silly.”
Chenchen said seriously, “Does Mother think we’re as easy to fool as little kids?”
Aren’t you little kids?
Chi Wan was stunned. Seeing her dumbfounded expression, Yu Jiuzhou’s lips curved into a smile, and she nearly laughed out loud.
“How did I fool you?” Were children these days so hard to trick?
A two-year-old should be easy to fool. They didn’t even have a kindergarten diploma, so how could they be so sharp?
Then again, an ordinary two-year-old wouldn’t be so articulate.
Fortunately, Yu Jiuzhou came to her rescue. “Didn’t you say you wanted to fly kites?”
Chenchen’s eyes lit up. “Oh, right!”
She had almost forgotten about flying kites. They had made beautiful kites at home and had a wonderful time playing in the palace, so they had brought them along today.
Guiyi immediately stood up as well. “Let’s go fly kites!”
The two little ones immediately ran off. Chi Wan saw the four attendants finally react, jogging over to meet them.
Just moments before, when the two little ones had run over, Chun Gui, Xia Qu, Qiu Lai, and Dong Ying had pretended to be arguing, not daring to look in their direction, afraid that Chi Wan would grab them and assign them extra training on the spot.
Chi Wan huffed softly. “Chun Gui, Xia Qu, Qiu Lai, and Dong Ying are getting more and more cunning.”
She and Yu Jiuzhou displayed their affection so frequently that the four were already used to it. But being caught kissing by the children was still embarrassing.
What if Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou, in their embarrassment, decided to punish them?
It wouldn’t be a severe punishment, but it would surely be socially mortifying.
Yu Jiuzhou reached out and tapped her on the forehead. “It’s all your fault.”
Chi Wan nipped her on the nose. “My fault for kissing you too late?”
If she had kissed her two minutes earlier, they wouldn’t have been discovered.
Yu Jiuzhou: “?” Was that what she meant?
Seeing Yu Jiuzhou’s displeased expression, Chi Wan placed another light kiss on her cheek.
Yu Jiuzhou was helpless. This person couldn’t keep her hands to herself whenever she was near. To think the children had run over!
Just thinking about it made her angry!!!
Yu Jiuzhou decisively grabbed Chi Wan’s collar and bit her accurately on the neck. “Do you dare to misbehave again?”
“I dare,” Chi Wan answered defiantly.
What was there to be afraid of when kissing one’s own wife? She kissed her again. “My lady is so fierce. I’m so scared.”
Her words said she was scared, but she kissed without a hint of hesitation, showing no fear at all.
Yu Jiuzhou huffed and patted her but made no move to push her away.
The two of them lay there, playing for a while, before a secret guard swiftly approached.
Seeing it was the guard responsible for the Empress Dowager’s convoy, Yu Jiuzhou sat up straight.
“Your Majesty, the Brahma Heaven Cult has made its move. Of the remaining seven envoys, five more have been captured, including Princess Fu Qing.”
“What about the Empress Dowager?” Yu Jiuzhou’s primary concern was for her mother.
The secret guard quickly replied, “Rest assured, Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is very safe.”
Yu Jiuzhou let out a sigh of relief. As long as Empress Dowager Xu was fine.
The guard had answered Yu Jiuzhou’s most pressing question, so Chi Wan then asked, “Fu Qing is among them, but what about Princess Lin’an?”
“Princess Lin’an is not among them.”
“Then interrogate them.”
Chi Wan’s eyes grew cold. Bringing this mother and daughter back to Great Zhou had been a gesture of respect for a princess of a marriage alliance, but the pair had betrayed their kindness.
Perhaps there were understandable reasons for their turn to villainy. Back then, Emperor Shengyuan had killed Princess Lin’an’s husband and sent the widow and her unborn child into a marriage alliance. Fu Qing had been a posthumous child; if the alliance hadn’t been so urgent, Emperor Shengyuan might not have even allowed her to be born.
A pregnant princess arrived in Beining, and the Khan of Beining at the time did not like her. For Great Zhou and Beining, it was merely a political transaction.
In the Khan of Beining’s eyes, as long as Princess Lin’an didn’t starve, how she lived was of no importance.
To the Khan of Beining, it was a political deal. He just had to ensure Princess Lin’an didn’t die too soon. Whether he favored her or not depended on his mood.
These were all things that could be investigated, and Chi Wan was aware of them.
Princess Lin’an and Fu Qing had a very difficult life in Beining at first and were often bullied. Later, Princess Lin’an resolved to win the Khan’s favor, and their lives improved. But the suffering of those early years could not be erased by the better days that followed, and the main culprit for all of it was Emperor Shengyuan.
It was normal for them to resent Emperor Shengyuan. Even if Chi Wan and Yu Jiuzhou couldn’t fully empathize, they deeply sympathized with the plight of marriage alliance princesses. That was why the two of them had insisted on bringing them back, even at the risk of offending Emperor Shengyuan.
At the time, Chi Wan had nearly lost Emperor Shengyuan’s trust; he had thought she was siding with Yu Jiuzhou against him.
The two of them did not regret bringing the marriage alliance princess back. Regardless of whether it was Princess Lin’an or someone else, they would have done the same. The problem was that Princess Lin’an wanted to inflict the suffering she had endured upon everyone else, including the common people.
From her time as regent to her ascension to the throne, now in the second year of the Zhengtong era, every decision Yu Jiuzhou had made was for the sake of strengthening the state and enriching the people.
Great Zhou had driven off its powerful enemies, the people’s lives were filled with hope, and everything was developing for the better. Princess Lin’an wanted to destroy all of it.
But Princess Lin’an had not yet been captured, which meant she still had cards left to play.
Before the secret guard left, Chi Wan added one more sentence, “Send Li Bao over.”
Li Bao would know what to do. It was unlikely they could get anything out of Fu Qing and the others through normal interrogation, so they should be interrogated to death. Whether they talked or not, they could be used as bait.
This kind of matter was best left to Li Bao; he could handle it well. If they had to personally manage such things, it would make their subordinates seem far too useless.
In truth, to them, the turmoil of the Brahma Heaven Cult was less significant than Beining, less significant than Nanyue. At most, it was the self-indulgent chaos of rats in the dark. Such matters did not require the personal intervention of an Emperor and a Prince.
The Empress Dowager’s tour was bait, but more importantly, it was to let Empress Dowager Xu go out and see the world, to see this land, so that she would no longer act as a guardian of so-called “rules.”
Chi Wan lay with her head on Yu Jiuzhou’s lap, smiling as she gazed at her for a moment. “My lady, where do you think our aunt is?”
Yu Jiuzhou frowned in thought for a moment. “Shengjing.”
Hearing this, Chi Wan shook her head in regret. “I wanted to make a bet with you. What a pity.”
Her wife was currently able to do some… intense things. In another month, she would have to be well-behaved. Too bad her wife didn’t fall for the trap!
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