That night, on the journey back to the palace, Lu Lingcong and Xie Jing sat facing one another inside the carriage. A suffocating heaviness filled the space, and for a long while, neither of them spoke a word.
Only moments earlier, Cui Jishi and his brothers were struck by the shocking news of the sudden tragedy and rushed to the gates of the Court of Judicial Review to retrieve their elder sister’s body. Because it had happened so abruptly, they had all come straight from their posts, never imagining they would be met with such a horrific blow. There had been no time to prepare a coffin, burial robes, or any funeral necessities. In the end, it was Xie Jing who removed one of his own cloaks and wrapped Cui Shushi’s remains in it, shielding her from dust and grime.
Lu Lingcong said sorrowfully, “According to Cui Jishi, to erase all traces of what they had done, the Wang family would not even permit a headstone to be set before Ah Huang’s grave, much less provide a spirit tablet for offerings in her name.”
Xie Jing murmured, “The dead deserve respect. Inform Cui Jishi tomorrow to have them move Ah Huang’s coffin back to the Cui’s Mansion—even if she is buried far from Cui Shushi, it is better than being alone underground, subjected to rumors and gossip.”
The carriage of Prince Zhao’s Mansion had just come to a steady halt outside the Imperial City when a eunuch hurried out to report, “Your Highness, He Gao, the Prefect of Yongzhou, and his wife have already entered the capital. Following Your Highness’s orders, this humble one invited them to return to the mansion to settle in first, but Lord He said he has words that must be spoken to Your Highness immediately and in person.”
Back when Lu Lingzhen’s death was confirmed and Lu Lingcong resolved to rise up to “purge the court of evil,” he had already sent a secret letter to He Gao, requesting his immediate return to the capital.
The two of them raised the carriage curtain and, from afar, saw He Gao and his wife kneeling outside the gate reserved for official carriages, looking as though they had come to beg forgiveness.
Lu Lingcong and Xie Jing exchanged a look and immediately stepped down from the carriage, walking forward quickly. “Lord He, Madam, what is the meaning of this!?”
Upon seeing him, He Gao immediately prostrates himself with his forehead touching the ground. “Your Highness and the Princess Consort still deign to remember this useless old shell of mine and are even willing to fulfill the wish my wife and I have long held; to return to the capital and spend our remaining years there. Even if this old man were to die ten thousand times, I could never repay such gratitude!”
Xie Jing hurried down after him, saying, “Why must My Lord do this? When we parted in Yongzhou years ago, I promised to personally welcome you back to the capital. Today, things have been chaotic, and we failed to greet you from afar; His Highness and I were only worried that we had been neglectful of you both.”
He Gao’s voice choked with emotion. “It is only that there are two matters in my heart for which this old man feels deep shame. If this old man cannot speak of them, this old man truly has no face to meet Your Highness and the Princess Consort!”
He looked up to gaze at the white funeral banners hanging upon the gate for official carriages. “The first is that this minister failed to identify Zhang Yan’s forged handwriting in time, plunging the Eldest Princess into a position of peril; furthermore, I failed to recover her remains. This minister truly betrayed Your Highness’s trust and heavy responsibility!”
“The second matter,” he turned his eyes toward Xie Jing, speaking sorrowfully, “On that day, Zhang Yan suddenly wrote to this minister requesting a batch of Lantian jade. This minister did not know what it was for, but because we had always been close, this minister sent it to the capital without getting to the bottom of it. This minister never expected it would be turned into the very evidence used to frame and entrap the Xie Clan of Chen Commandery!”
“Afterward, this minister was filled with a hundred forms of regret, not knowing how to make amends for my mistake. Who could have guessed that the Princess Consort would end up drifting to Yongzhou and entering the Prefect’s Mansion to work as an accountant? This minister could only take the Princess Consort in to stay, yet in my heart, this minister has been tormented day and night, unable to eat or sleep in peace.”
He Gao’s narrative differed very little from what Xie Jing had previously surmised. Xie Jing gave a bitter smile with mixed emotions. “In truth, Lord He, you could have just spoken plainly to me back then.”
He Gao let out a wretched, long sigh. “How could this minister not have wished to lay everything bare and cast off the crushing weight in my heart? It is only because, through these years, this minister has witnessed too much of the world’s fickleness, too many deaths and separations. This minister was afraid and cowardly; so, in the end, I did not dare to speak!”
Silence fell for a moment. Only after a long while did Lu Lingcong finally compel He Gao and his wife to rise to their feet. “When I was young, My Lord once taught me that in choosing the worthy and employing the capable, one may fault them for lacking courage but must never question their loyalty. Only today do I truly understand the deep meaning contained in those words. Humans are flesh and blood; moreover, you have spent these past twenty-odd years anchored in a distant land while your kin and friends were scattered. Even if you felt dread and did not dare speak, it is only human nature, and there is nothing to criticize.”
“The fact that I invited My Lord back to the capital to assist in this great undertaking the moment the time was ripe is because I know deeply that, although My Lord’s career met with setbacks, your loyalty to Prince Zhao’s Mansion has never changed; it is as clear as the sun and moon. Furthermore, the tragedy of the Eldest Princess was a conspiracy between Zhang Yan and Ding Jian; how could the blame be cast upon others?”
Hearing these words, Xie Jing let out a silent sigh of relief: Driven by circumstance and forced to act swiftly, Lu Lingcong had already begun to wield the ruler’s art of winning the hearts of those beneath him. They had no way of knowing what He Gao’s true thoughts were back then; however, as the saying goes, one should judge by actions rather than dissecting hidden motives. Currently, Prince Zhao’s rise to power was the irresistible trend of the times, and Lu Lingcong’s trust and promotion of He Gao were not feigned. Both lord and subject were being exquisitely tactful; thus, He Gao had struck first by personally confessing two ‘crimes’ that might have been used against him later, while not forgetting to mention his kindness in sheltering Xie Jing. Lu Lingcong, in turn, offered a reassuring dose of comfort to show that past grievances were dissolved by explicitly stating he would not hold He Gao accountable for the bloodshed committed by the former Crown Prince’s officials.
Both sides understood each other perfectly. With old grievances brushed away and the ledger cleared anew, it was the most measured and orthodox display of the proper way between ruler and minister.
Xie Jing stepped forward. “I am aware that your young daughter passed away years ago during the Xiao clan of Lanling disaster. Now that you have returned to the capital, I hope Madam He will be willing to continue teaching my daughter Ningning the art of painting so that the child may also keep you company and perhaps offer you some small solace for the grief of losing your own flesh and blood.”
Madam He naturally nodded in agreement repeatedly. Lu Lingcong then helped the two into their carriage. “I have already ordered your old residence to be cleaned. Please return there to rest and recover; the Princess Consort and I will surely pay a visit another day to catch up on old times.”
Watching He Gao and his wife’s carriage depart, Lu Lingcong stood in the night air and said to Xie Jing, “Now that we have the testimonies of Zhang Yan, Wang Chu, and He Gao, if we can obtain the original hidden edict from back then as physical evidence, we can confirm the crime of the Wang Clan of Langya forging imperial decrees and overturn the case for the Xie family.”
“The location of the true imperial edict is likely within the palace.” Xie Jing looked up, gazing at the distant Linhai Hall. “It seems some matters will reach their resolution this very night.”
Linhai Hall had been sealed shut since the tenth day of the sixth month, under heavy guard, with food and water supplied solely by the Yulin Guards. When Xie Jing entered the hall, he saw Empress Dowager Wang seated high upon her phoenix throne; from her expression, it was as though she had not stirred for many days.
“That you are able to enter,” she said, “must mean the Wang family’s cause is lost.”
“The Empress Dowager’s kin are all dead,” Xie Jing said, his tone devoid of any vengeful pleasure. “Madam Cui killed them.”
The Empress Dowager gave no response. After a long pause, she finally said, “That Cui woman spent more than a decade in the Wang household. If there was grievance, she repaid grievance; if there was vengeance, she took vengeance. For her hatred to end in the slaughter of an entire household, it seems I was not wrong to favor her courage and resolve.”
Xie Jing was stunned. “She was employed by you?”
“I presume you already know that in the fifteenth year of Zhenyu, Wang Chu happened upon the formula for ‘Bone-stripping String,'” the Empress Dowager said hollowly. “It was I who administered it to the late Emperor. Later, Cui Shushi somehow became aware of this; she rushed into the palace, volunteered to take the Bone-stripping String herself, and begged me to teach her the art of using the poison. Seeing her firm will and great potential, I recommended her to Wang Chu.”
The Empress Dowager let out a faint sigh. “What deep enmity existed between her and the Wang clan, I, who was confined within the palace walls, cannot know. But with the family already brought to ruin, to live on would only mean becoming a captive in one’s own home. Rather than spending the rest of her days brooding over past glory and wasting away in sorrow, it is better to die swiftly and cleanly.”
“Earlier today before the ranks, Chancellor Wang pushed me onto the jade platform to take the blame for forging military intelligence and causing the Eldest Princess’s death—I presume that was not a spur-of-the-moment decision?” Xie Jing said calmly. “After all, I never truly gained the trust of the Chancellor’s manor; I was merely a tool for the Wang Clan of Langya to display their ‘tolerance’ while they carried out their injustices.”
“Today on the battlefield, Prime Minister Wang pushed me up onto the Jade Terrace to take the blame for fabricating military intelligence and causing the death of the Eldest Princess; this was hardly a spur-of-the-moment decision, was it?” Xie Jing said calmly. “After all, I was never truly trusted by the Prime Minister’s Mansion. At most, I was merely a tool for the Wang clan of Langya to display their so-called magnanimity while carrying out their unjust deeds.”
“Do you think anyone in the entire civil and military court was foolish enough to believe you truly submitted to the Wang clan of Langya? Of course, I knew of your little schemes,” the Empress Dowager sneered. “However, I merely thought you intended to overturn the case for the Xie clan of Chen Commandery; I never expected that even after your entire family was executed, you would remain wholeheartedly devoted to Prince Zhao’s Mansion, laboring solely for the benefit of another!”
“Wang Chu calculated every move without exception—from beginning to end, he only failed to account for one thing: he did not realize that among this court full of robed officials, you and Lu Zifeng were the only pair of fools!”
Xie Jing understood the Empress Dowager’s meaning. In this game of thorns and narrow escapes, his and Lu Lingcong’s words and deeds were indeed foolish to the point of being naive. They were so foolish that a single exchange of a lock of hair years ago was enough to demand a life be paid for in return today. So foolish that they could believe, without the slightest doubt, in the greatest joke under heaven: that one might win the heart of their beloved and remain together until their hair turned white.
But it was this one thing that caused Wang Chu to lose the entire game; a total and utter defeat.
“I was curious back then.” From her elevated seat, the Empress Dowager looked down, her long phoenix eyes narrowing as they swept over Xie Jing. “You make no plans for the Xie clan of Chen Commandery, nor do you scheme for your own household. Do you truly believe the Son of Heaven will value such unwavering loyalty?”
“Since the crossing of the elite to the south, there have been countless changes of dynasties. How is it that one surname after another has occupied the throne, yet my Wang clan of Langya and your Xie clan of Chen Commandery remain ministers for generations? To change the situation, one must shake the very foundations of this great tree, thoroughly rooting out the great noble families until they can no longer form a significant force!”
“Even if you are willing, are your clansmen willing? And even if the Xie clan of Chen Commandery consents, would the hundreds and thousands of aristocratic families across the Central Plains be willing? It is easy to grasp power but hard to let go. Why don’t you perform a divination one day to summon the spirits of your dead father and brother and ask them if they are willing to abandon their illustrious pedigree and immense wealth; to abandon everything they were born with!”
“Only when cities are reduced to slaughter, clans wiped out, and unending flames and prolonged turmoil engulf the land; only such crude and violent means could ever bring the present situation to an end. And do you truly believe that if such turmoil were to occur, it would be the elite great houses that would suffer most, or the common people that would endure the greater displacement and misery?”
The Empress Dowager looked directly at Xie Jing. “The Prime Minister’s Mansion has never claimed its governance was for the sake of the people—it was only for the Wang clan. We simply understood clearly that impoverishing the realm to enrich a single name cannot last, whereas if the realm prospers, the Wang clan will prosper even more.”
“In the four-plus years that Wang Chu and I have assisted in the administration, did we ever employ cruel officials? Were there ever extortionate taxation or burdensome levies? It is true that relief efforts, tax reductions, and reform pilots were all first implemented in Kuaiji, Shaoxing, and other prefectures of Eastern Zhejiang. And what of it? It is true they are the tenants of the Wang clan of Langya, but are they not also the subjects of the Great Qi? In good years, I would not stop the people from sharing in the wealth; but when the harvest is poor, I can only look after my kinsmen first. Only by doing so was I able to ensure my family safely weathered the great frost of last year.”
Xie Jing said coldly, “Each of you uses the same rhetoric by professing with every breath that you have fulfilled your duties and have nothing to be ashamed of before the people. You speak as if it were only natural, how very candid! You are all true villains, while I alone am the hypocrite, clinging only to the hatred of my family’s extermination, narrow-minded and consumed by selfishness!”
The Empress Dowager merely laughed. “No matter which clan or house occupies the position of prime minister, as long as they have a brain, they would be forced to act exactly as the Wang clan have—unless you are willing to promote a truly impoverished scholar to that seat. But would the scions of the great families throughout the court agree to that? Do you think if Zhang Yan truly possessed the power the Wang clan do, he would have needed to scheme so painstakingly and bitterly for so many years?”
“Do you truly believe the Xie clan of Chen Commandery was exterminated simply because the Wang clan of Langya kicked them while they were down? Do you truly believe your maternal clan perished only due to the rooting out of dissidents and the strife between aristocratic families? Xie Zhiwu, you have been the daughter-in-law of the Imperial House for over a decade, yet you have never seen through the most fundamental layer of it all!”
The Empress Dowager glared at him. “You all seek to drag His Majesty down; but once Lu Zifeng ascends the throne, in what way will your background, your stance, or your circumstances differ from mine? What I face today in Linhai Hall will be your tomorrow, Xie Zhiwu!”
Xie Jing looked at her profile in the candlelight. “Like yours, my children are of the imperial bloodline, but I no longer have a maternal clan to command or to support me. That is the greatest difference between us. I lean toward Prince Zhao’s Mansion because I have no other choice. Other than them, who else is there to lean toward?”
The Empress Dowager said mockingly, “Then you have no one to blame for your retribution but yourself. Your son bears the Lu surname! You pour all your thoughts and devotion into him, yet do you even realize that his allegiance, in turn, lies with his father, his grandfather, and the empire of the Lu family?”
Here it goes again, Xie Jing thought privately. The Empress Dowager from her high-born clan and Zhang Yan from his rural peasant roots shared a remarkably consistent distrust of the Imperial House.
Suddenly, his heart stirred. He scrutinized her warily. “…Is the Empress Dowager speaking of me or of yourself?”
The Empress Dowager was momentarily stunned, but Xie Jing continued without hesitation or mercy, “From what you just said, I assume you still do not know that His Majesty has already passed away. Moreover, you likely have not heard that Lingzhang was also poisoned by the Bone-stripping String. The silk threads were not changed for over a hundred days; the toxin has seeped into his very marrow, leaving his body covered in purple-green scars. Even if he had not died by Grand Tutor Zhang’s arrow, his days were already numbered!”
As Xie Jing finished speaking, his voice echoed for a long time in the empty, silent hall. The Empress Dowager remained frozen on the steps. It took a long, drawn-out moment before she even blinked. When she finally spoke, her voice was remarkably calm; perhaps because she truly did not care, or perhaps because nothing left in this world could stir the waves of her emotions any longer.
“I don’t know.”
“…I only know that he was never of one mind with me or the Wang clan of Langya,” she murmured. “You see, is he not favoring the Lu family’s empire after all?”
Xie Jing gave a light, derisive snort. “The Empress Dowager and Prime Minister Wang are of the same ilk. In your heart, nothing is more important than your own clan occupying high offices and receiving lavish salaries for generations. Although the Wang clan of Langya are subjects, they are in truth the cleverest of ‘unsubmissive subjects.’
“When facing a monarch like the late Emperor, who toyed with people’s hearts and political arts, he naturally could do nothing against your noble house. However, Lingzhang—your son, was an ‘un-monarch-like monarch’! What is most fearsome is when you do not view a person as a human being, and that person, in turn, ceases to view themselves as one as well. Since the Empress Dowager viewed him as a steppingstone to elevate your maternal clan, he then viewed himself as the final straw that would break the Wang clan of Langya. Throughout history, those who are invincible are simply those who have the ‘nothing to lose’ resolve!
“The Empress Dowager says Lingzhang did not favor his mother, did not favor his maternal uncle, and did not favor the Wang clan of Langya. If this so-called ‘favor’ means that at the age of six he had already memorized his texts in full, yet still did not dare to tell the Empress Dowager for fear he had not met his mother’s expectations and would only further vex her—then the Empress Dowager, no doubt, understands far better than I why Lingzhang never once offered you the filial affection. Lu Zifeng told me that on the day news of the Eldest Princess’s death reached the palace, the Empress Dowager was originally about to issue an edict to inform Consort Dowager Wu. At the last moment, however, your suddenly changed your mind, rescinded the order, and tacitly allowed Lingzhang’s verbal command to ‘conceal the death within Mingluan Hall.'”
Xie Jing said in a low voice, “Empress Dowager, what exactly were you thinking at that moment? You have been a daughter-in-law of the Imperial House for even longer than I—have you truly seen through it all?”
The Empress Dowager remained lost in thought for a long time before finally saying, “The play of the Wang clan of Langya is reaching its final act. Whether I see through it or not, I can no longer influence anything. Whether it is Lu Zifeng or Lu Shuqing who ascends the throne, your influence over the outer court will reach far beyond anything I ever achieved. What I say today is nothing more than a few lessons from an inner palace mistress to a successor; as for how you are to conduct yourself once you truly sit in this position, that is for you to consider.””
“Or perhaps begin your pondering with the matter at hand—the late Emperor’s true imperial edict is currently kept above the Xuanyuan Mirror on the ceiling of Shenlong Hall. Once you have read it, perhaps you will know whether you can truly see through it all. If you truly cannot, then while matters remain undecided, it is not yet too late to recognize the difficulty and withdraw.”
“Once you have sunk in step by step and spent twenty years in the deep palace, it will be too late to extract yourself.”
The palace attendants had received their orders early on and did not need further instruction from Xie Jing; as soon as they heard the Empress Dowager mention the hiding place of the true edict, they immediately set about searching for it. By the time Xie Jing finished his rounds and finally returned to Shenlong Hall, the brocade box containing the late emperor’s edict and the authentic Heirloom Seal of the Realm, the Heshi Bi, was already resting quietly on the table before the throne.
Lu Lingcong was waiting there alongside them.
Xie Jing was slightly surprised. “Why haven’t you opened it to look?”
“The attendants came to report, saying that based on the Empress Dowager’s implications, the contents of the true edict might be somewhat delicate. I was worried that if I read it alone, I wouldn’t know how to face you, so I simply left it untouched to wait and read it together with you.”
Until this very moment, Xie Jing’s heart remained open, calm, and free of any resentment. He merely gave a faint smile. “What could it possibly be? At worst, it simply states that the late emperor chose you to succeed him; wasn’t that something we vaguely sensed years ago?”
Lu Lingcong looked back at him, neither confirming nor denying, only asking, “Is that so?”
Within the span of a single day and night; from the moment Xie Jing was forced forward by Wang Chu to take the blame for fabricating military intelligence, to the downfall of the Wang clan, Zhang Yan’s imprisonment, and the successive deaths of Lu Lingzhang and Cui Shushi, they had in truth spent a considerable amount of time together. Yet there was never any leisure for them to exchange more than a few brief words. They hadn’t even had the chance to return to the mansion for a single look after Lu Shuning and Yin Chou were safely escorted back.
Xie Jing stepped forward half a pace, opened the brocade box, and took out the scroll written in the late emperor’s own hand; the document that had started it all. He slowly unfurled it.
Perhaps because the late emperor knew full well while writing it that this was merely a lure to topple the Wang clan of Langya, the lines did not exhibit much of the lamentation typical of one with a foot in the grave. In total, it stated only three things:
First, that his eldest imperial son, Lu Lingcong, Prince Zhao, was to inherit the great succession.
Second, that Prince Zhao’s heir, Lu Shuqing, was to be th e Crown Prince; regardless of who occupied the position of empress or how many imperial sons were born thereafter, this must never be changed.
Third, that the Son of Heaven had formerly wed a son of the Xie clan to Prince Zhao. The Xie clan possessed talents fit to assist a sovereign, and that Madam Xie possessed the bearing of a virtuous empress. Now that the Xie family was held in custody, the new emperor must take warning from the precedents of the Xiao and Wang clans. If Madam Xie is established as empress, then the Xie family cannot be allowed to remain; if the Xie family is kept, then Madam Xie must die.
On the imperial edict, the late emperor wrote to Lu Lingcong, “Which to remove and which to keep, you may decide for yourself.”
