Imperial Guard Office.
With his daughter serving as his substitute in the imperial court, Lu Bing finally had the chance to relax and steal a rare moment of leisure. But such peaceful days lasted only half a month before several carrier pigeons arrived at the Imperial Guard Office in succession, bearing coded messages urging Lu Bing to rush to Qionghua Island to protect the emperor.
Lu Bing’s first thought was that the Jiajing Emperor was in danger again, followed by the realization that his daughter was currently acting as the emperor’s "door god" in the palace. If the emperor was in peril, wouldn’t his daughter also be trapped in danger?
Lu Bing hastily mounted his golden Akhal-Teke horse and galloped off at full speed. The magnificent steed moved like a bolt of lightning in broad daylight, charging down Gulou Street. As he passed by Prince Jing’s residence, Lu Bing noticed it was surrounded by agents of the Eastern Depot. He wondered to himself: Could Prince Jing be plotting treason?
Prince Jing was already twenty-three years old but had stubbornly remained in the capital, refusing to leave for his fiefdom. His ambition for the throne was as obvious as Sima Zhao’s ill intentions—a secret known to all.
The Eastern Depot answered only to the emperor. Although the official pretext for surrounding Prince Jing’s residence was the infiltration of spies, someone as shrewd as Lu Bing wasn’t fooled. It was clearly a case of a father guarding against his own son.
True to their shared upbringing—having been nursed by the same woman—Lu Bing and the Jiajing Emperor thought alike.
As Lu Bing raced onward, he set off a red firework at every intersection he passed. The explosions in the sky served as signals to the Jiajing Emperor in the Moon Palace on Qionghua Island that the crimson cloud was drawing nearer. With each flare, the emperor felt more secure, knowing his milk brother was coming. No matter how chaotic the situation, Lu Bing could restore order.
For years, the Jiajing Emperor had confined himself to the Western Park to cultivate immortality, relying on Lu Bing no less than he did on elixirs.
Lu Bing’s Akhal-Teke horse was a symbol of his status. One palace gate after another opened ahead of him, and Lu Bing swept through like a golden arrow, unimpeded wherever he went.
His steed leaped directly into a small boat on Taiye Lake. The boatman raised the sail, but before they could dock, Lu Bing urged his horse to jump ashore as if it were a divine mount descending from heaven. He rode straight up from the wharf, ascending the winding mountain path directly to the Moon Palace.
There, Lu Bing saw two men kneeling in the hall. The most conspicuous was Prince Jing, who had shed his usual debonair princely image. Disheveled, with grimy clothes and ill-fitting shoes, he knelt rigidly on the hard floor without a cushion, weeping bitterly, tears and mucus streaming down his face.
Between sobs, Prince Jing pleaded, "...Father, you must believe your son!"
The other man was Wang Daxia, also in disarray. His Flying Fish Uniform was torn to shreds, revealing arms and legs crisscrossed with bloody gashes. Leaves and grass stems clung to his hair, as if he had been dragged through underbrush, though he had sustained no critical injuries.
You again! What trouble have you caused this time?
Despite his wounds, Wang Daxia knelt upright and declared, "...Your Majesty, every word I’ve said is true. I swear, if there is even a half-lie in my testimony, may I be struck by lightning and die a wretched death."
Prince Jing retorted angrily, "Slandering me, you deserve to die miserably. Speak! Who put you up to this?" His implication was clear: Prince Yu had instructed Wang Daxia to ruin his reputation.Faced with Prince Jing's counter-accusation, Wang Daxia stood his ground without yielding an inch. "Your Highness Prince Jing, I receive an official salary from the court and serve as an Embroidered Uniform Guard. Protecting His Majesty and the safety of the Western Garden is my duty. Everything I have done is within the scope of my responsibilities. If you insist on claiming someone instigated me, it would be my superior, Commander Lu of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Commander Lu teaches me daily to be loyal to the sovereign and devoted to the country, to become a pillar of the Great Ming."
"In my eyes, there is only His Majesty. As for others, they are not the objects of my loyalty. Under Commander Lu's orders, I was patrolling Qionghua Island—this happened the day before yesterday. I possess no clairvoyant abilities; how could I have known Prince Jing would come to Qionghua Island? I witnessed Your Highness Prince Jing, in plain clothes, sneaking around and using a telescope to spy on the palace maids. These maids are destined for the palace, they are His Majesty's women. As a son and a subject, how could one show disrespect to his father and sovereign, attempting to lay hands on the maids?"
Prince Jing sneered, "Do not think that with Commander Lu as your backer, you can slander me and make false accusations. You keep saying I used a telescope to spy—where is the evidence? Where is the telescope? Produce it!"
Prince Jing knew the broken telescope was in the hands of his mother, Consort Lu Jingfei, so he acted without fear, daring as the accused to bite back at the accuser.
Wang Daxia still did not retreat in the slightest. "The fragments of the lens serve as evidence at Penglai Pavilion. Moreover, the telescope has a brass body and cannot simply vanish. Since Prince Jing claims innocence and demands evidence from me, I request His Majesty issue an edict to search the entire Qionghua Island and everyone who set foot on it, including Consort Jingfei. It will surely be found."
Prince Jing retorted, "And if it is not found?"
Wang Daxia declared, "I am willing to face death! If it is found, will Prince Jing accept punishment?"
Prince Jing replied, "Why would I dare not? Use whatever means you have against me. Father will surely grant me justice!"
Lu Ying stood to the side, holding her Embroidered Spring Blade, motionless as a statue, not uttering a word.
Lu Bing listened to the two arguing and largely understood the course of events.
The Jiajing Emperor sat in meditation on his throne, eyes closed, supporting his forehead with one hand, appearing to have a headache.
Lu Bing paid no attention to the dispute between Prince Jing and Wang Daxia, nor did he ask his daughter what had happened. He stepped forward directly, bowed to the Jiajing Emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, I have arrived. Are you well?"
The Jiajing Emperor finally opened his eyes, gazing indifferently at Prince Jing and Wang Daxia, who were engaged in a war of words below the steps. "All of you, withdraw."
"Your subjects take leave." Lu Ying and Wang Daxia departed. Prince Jing wanted to say more but was stopped by Grand Eunuch Huang Jin. "Your Highness, please proceed to the side hall and await summons."
Prince Jing said, "Your son takes leave."
Once everyone had left, the hall finally returned to tranquility. The Jiajing Emperor said, "Huang Jin, recount today's events in detail to Commander Lu."
Huang Jin relayed the testimonies of both the accuser and the accused, including even the conflict between Lu Ying, Prince Jing, and Consort Lu Jingfei.
Lu Bing listened with his heart racing—Daughter! Whom did you inherit this fiery temper from? Now we have made an enemy of Prince Jing.
After Huang Jin finished speaking, the weary Jiajing Emperor asked, "Whom do you believe?"
Lu Bing, of course, believed Wang Daxia and his own daughter.Lu Bing said, "I beg your pardon for speaking bluntly. I believe in Wang Daxia. Wang Daxia was personally recruited by me into the Embroidered Uniform Guard and carefully nurtured. He only handles matters assigned by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and has never been involved with any feudal princes or other court officials—his background is clean. Therefore, I see no reason for Wang Daxia to risk the lives of his entire family to slander Prince Jing."
"However, my daughter is already involved in this matter. As a father, I cannot help but be biased. To ensure fairness, I and the Embroidered Uniform Guard should recuse ourselves from this case and hand it over to the Eastern Depot for investigation. When I rushed to Qionghua Island, I already saw the Eastern Depot 'protecting' Prince Jing's residence."
As for the key evidence, the telescope, Lu Bing was one hundred percent certain it had been hidden by Lu Jingfei. Of course, Lu Jingfei would not admit it, and the Eastern Depot would not dare to touch her. But they had no fear of the hundred or so servants attending to her.
The methods of the Eastern Depot's torture chambers were even more varied than those of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Prison. They only needed to pry open one person's mouth. Thus, while the case seemed complex, investigating it would be straightforward.
This old fox Lu Bing, while repeatedly emphasizing fairness and justice, was entirely subjective and driven by personal motives. He urged the Jiajing Emperor not to be swayed by him and to let the Eastern Depot investigate. Yet, in doing so, he might as well have written "Prince Jing is lying" on his face.
The Jiajing Emperor was suspicious by nature, especially in his later years when he found himself increasingly powerless in various matters and had long been wary of his young and vigorous sons. Lu Bing could claim to trust his daughter, but in the imperial family, a father's greatest distrust was often reserved for his own sons. Just as there are no fathers or sons in gambling, there are no fathers or sons in imperial power either.
But his milk brother Lu Bing was different—the man who had saved him from peril twice. Every word he spoke came from the heart. The Jiajing Emperor trusted Lu Bing and, by extension, trusted his judgment.
The Jiajing Emperor asked him, "Have I grown old?"
Old enough for his son Prince Jing to covet his women!
Lu Bing smiled and said, "I am three years older than Your Majesty, and I still believe I can serve you for at least ten more years. I dare not claim to be old, so how could Your Majesty be old? Your Majesty will always be younger than I am."
The Jiajing Emperor stared blankly at Lu Bing. From the time he could remember as a child, his milk brother Lu Bing had been by his side. Back then, they were in the remote Anlu feudal prince's residence in Hubei. His father had died early, and the Imperial Clan Court often delayed or shortchanged their stipends. To outsiders, it seemed like a widow and her son struggling to hold on in the feudal prince's residence.
But as a young boy, he did not feel the hardship. Instead, he felt that the days spent growing up in the feudal prince's residence with his milk brother were the only happy times in his life. He had never imagined he would become emperor. From the moment he ascended the throne, his happiness vanished—battling Empress Dowager Zhang in the palace, contending with his ministers, and by the age of sixteen, he had already mastered the art of rulership, firmly grasping imperial power.
He was no puppet of Empress Dowager Zhang, nor was he a puppet of his ministers. He was a sovereign whose word was law. To secure his position on the throne, Lu Bing had bloodied his hands with many lives, willingly serving as the sharpest blade in his grasp.
The Jiajing Emperor said, "What would I do without you? I forbid you to grow old."
Lu Bing replied, "I obey your command."That evening, Lu Bing accompanied the Jiajing Emperor for dinner. Huang Jin, the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs Supervising Eunuch who also served as Chief of the Eastern Depot, had been assigned to investigate the case following Lu Bing's suggestion. Having climbed to his current position through cunning and strategy, Huang Jin acted decisively. He understood that while the matter was complex, finding the evidence—the telescope—would unravel everything.
As night fell, searching the entire island seemed arduous and prone to oversight. Huang Jin started with the people instead. He detained the few remaining guards of Prince Jin and over a hundred attendants of Lu Jingfei, confining them to the Eastern Depot's interrogation chambers. After waves of agonized screams and desperate pleas, clues quickly emerged.
Huang Jin led his Eastern Depot subordinates to the eastern chamber of the Moon Palace's rear hall, where Lu Jingfei was under house arrest. All her attendants were now trusted aides from the Western Garden, loyal to Huang Jin.
Seeing Huang Jin, Lu Jingfei said coldly, "Does the elder intend to torture me for a confession?"
The worst had come. The emperor had always been harsh and ungrateful toward his consorts—having deposed two empresses and burned a third, Empress Fang, to death.
Once the emperor's anger was stirred, past favors vanished like fleeting clouds.
Lu Jingfei believed the emperor capable of torturing even a favored consort. In his eyes, only the throne mattered, not affection. Anyone threatening his life or reign would face merciless punishment.
In his rages, the emperor spared not even his own offspring: the pregnant Empress Chen was discarded and deposed, ultimately dying from a miscarriage. Empress Zhang was deposed and died violently in the cold palace. Empress Fang perished most tragically in a fire he set.
Now, it was her turn.
With the tragic fates of three empresses as precedent, Lu Jingfei held no illusions about the Jiajing Emperor. She resolved inwardly that if Huang Jin laid hands on her, she would pierce her throat with a hairpin to end her life, protecting her son, Prince Jing.
She would never confess.
Huang Jin replied, "Your Highness worries too much."
With that, he proceeded further into the rear hall, where a pond lay. Above it, two stone stalactites extended into carved dragon heads, from which clear springs gushed into the water below. The pond held miniature mountains, duckweed, and heart-shaped water lily pads bearing white blossoms, among which red carp darted.
Huang Jin ordered his men to wade into the pond and search beneath the lily pads. Soon, a brass Western telescope was retrieved—missing its lenses, only the tube remained, stamped with an eagle emblem.
At the sight, Lu Jingfei turned ashen and fainted.
Author's Note: Prince Yu may emerge as the biggest winner. For readers who missed yesterday's red envelopes, I'm distributing 100 here—but you'll have to wake up early to claim them!
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