Mu Wan Yao and Yan Shang were returning to the city from outside when Yan Shang, severely injured, leaned drowsily against her shoulder. Mu Wan Yao lifted the carriage curtain and saw the scene outside—
After the rain, mud mixed with blood on the ground;
Soldiers silently moved corpses;
Unattended civilian bodies piled outside shops, terrifying the shopkeepers into screams;
Men and women wandered the streets like lifeless shells, desperately asking if their loved ones were still alive…
The carriage from the Princess Residence passed silently through the neighborhoods, escorted by soldiers. A deranged man chased after it, struggling against guards as he screamed:
"Noble one! Noble one! Did you come from the west city? Have you seen my wife? She went out to buy vegetables yesterday morning and hasn't returned, hasn't returned!
"There were vegetables in the east city, but she insisted on going to the west market, saying it was cheaper. It's my fault—I scolded her the day before for being lazy. I didn't mean it, I was just exhausted from work, having been berated by my boss, and took it out on her…
"We've been married three years, with only one daughter. Our child is crying for her mother at home, but her mother is gone—gone! Gone!"
The man was prevented by guards from approaching the carriage. He rambled incoherently, growing increasingly agitated until he collapsed on the ground, wiping his tears and wailing bitterly.
The mournful cries held immeasurable grief.
Who could have imagined such scenes occurring in Chang'an before today?
Mu Wan Yao kept looking back at the man through the curtain. As she stared blankly, a pair of hands suddenly covered her ears. Turning, she saw Yan Shang had awakened, his face pale and weak.
He lowered the curtain for her and whispered, "Don't look, don't listen anymore. It will only make you feel worse."
Mu Wan Yao studied him, noticing the sorrow in his eyes yet calm composure.
She suddenly asked softly, "Did you often witness such things when you were young?"
Yan Shang: "Yes. I've seen plenty."
Mu Wan Yao fell silent, momentarily ashamed of her own narrow-mindedness. She had pretended to be broad-minded, claiming to understand the people's hardships. But only upon seeing this devastation on Chang'an's streets today was she truly moved.
Only now did she begin to understand what Yan Shang sought to uphold and protect.
Mu Wan Yao murmured in self-reflection, "Is the world always like this?"
Staring at the shifting shadows on the carriage curtain, Yan Shang replied softly, "The world is always like this. Those in power resort to any means, the suffering masses drift aimlessly. The privileged fight for advancement, commoners struggle for survival.
"They have no one to rely on, while our own futures remain uncertain. If possible, we must not lose our compassion. Those who serve as officials, as benevolent persons, should help these common people."
Mu Wan Yao had nothing to say, only tightening her grip on Yan Shang's hand.
The Emperor emerged victorious from the palace coup, but hadn't this hellscape in Chang'an been created by Liu Wenji using ordinary lives? And wasn't Liu Wenji working for the Emperor? After succeeding, would the Emperor execute Liu Wenji for sacrificing lives to defeat Yang San?
No.
The dead meant nothing to the Emperor—only to their own families.
Mu Wan Yao suddenly thought: as a princess and Yan Shang as an official, with their elevated status, perhaps they truly could do much more...
She asked Yan Shang, "Does your back hurt?"
Yan Shang initially intended to say no, but seeing the worry in his wife's eyes, he nodded.He sighed and frowned. "My entire back feels like it's on fire, and I suspect I might have a fever... Yaoyao, why do I always end up like this..."
Mu Wan Yao's heart ached for the suffering he endured, for his body being constantly tormented by various ordeals. Since he entered officialdom, he had been scalded by oil, imprisoned, afflicted with eye problems, and now his back...
Mu Wan Yao thought that after this, Yan Shang must take a proper rest. He could not keep pushing himself any longer.
Having made up her mind, she said, "Second Brother Yan, don't be afraid. Our residence has imperial physicians on retainer. Once we return, they will tend to your wounds. Just sleep well, and you'll feel better when you wake."
Yan Shang sighed. "I'm afraid sleep is out of the question."
—
Naturally, sleep was impossible.
With such a major event having just occurred in Chang'an, Yan Shang had to visit the Secretariat and the Chancellery upon returning to the city to report on the battle outside the walls to several ministers. He also needed to go to the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Imperial Clan Court to hand Prince Qin over to the latter. Additionally, he had to visit the Ministry of Personnel to reassure the anxious officials.
Moreover, for his merit in protecting the Emperor, the central government would surely reward Yan Shang for his actions this time. However, compared to other matters, such post-event rewards had become the least important concern.
The most critical issue now was the deliberation of the crimes of the Crown Prince and Prince Qin.
The Emperor did not allow officials to discuss the punishment of his two sons, but on the second night after Mu Wan Yao and Yan Shang returned to Chang'an, they were summoned to the palace.
A conclusion had to be reached regarding the Crown Prince and Prince Qin.
—
This time, Yan Shang entered the palace accompanying Mu Wan Yao in his capacity as the Imperial Son-in-Law.
They were granted an audience with the Emperor in his bedchamber.
The Emperor appeared even more aged than when Mu Wan Yao had last seen him, coughing and gasping for breath after just a few words. Mu Wan Yao had initially intended to question the Emperor about why he hadn't consulted her beforehand, leaving her alone at the mountain resort and forcing Yan Shang to protect him... But seeing the old Emperor struggling to even breathe, she sighed and decided not to waste words on such questions.
Mu Wan Yao and Yan Shang, as husband and wife, took their seats.
Among these legitimate members of the imperial family, only the Crown Prince had yet to arrive.
The Luling Grand Princess sat expressionless, as if lost in thought; Princess Yuyang and her Imperial Son-in-Law knelt on the ground, tearfully pleading for mercy for her Third Brother; Prince Qin also knelt, his face streaked with tears, begging his father for forgiveness.
The most extreme was Prince Jin.
Having long been overshadowed by his two elder brothers, Prince Jin had little camaraderie with them, and they paid him no heed. But this time, Prince Jin suddenly found his value—
Although he hadn't protected the Emperor like Mu Wan Yao, at least he hadn't rebelled. With both elder brothers in trouble, wouldn't the throne have to consider him now?
Prince Jin hypocritically pleaded for his two brothers, kneeling on the ground with feigned sincerity: "Father, the Crown Prince and Third Brother must have been deceived, they must have been framed. Please forgive them, Father, or let your son take the punishment in their stead..."
Mu Wan Yao, sitting to the side, lightly smoothed her skirt and cast an impatient glance at Yan Shang, curling her lip in disdain.
Yan Shang shook his head, signaling that if she disliked Prince Jin, she could simply ignore him without needing to mock him.
Amid Prince Jin's repeated pleas for mercy, Princess Yuyang's genuine appeals, and Prince Qin's tearful begging, a voice announced from outside as Liu Wenji escorted the Crown Prince in.
The Emperor, who had kept his eyes closed until now, finally opened them blearily to look at the Crown Prince.After all these years as Crown Prince, when the Crown Prince arrived, everyone fell silent.
The Crown Prince looked down at Prince Qin and Prince Jin kneeling and weeping below. One was begging for mercy in fearful terror after his plot had failed, while the other, who hadn’t even been involved in the matter, was hypocritically pleading with the Emperor to spare his two elder brothers… How ridiculous.
The Crown Prince couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
The Emperor asked coldly, “What are you laughing at?”
The entire hall fell silent, all eyes turning to the Crown Prince.
The Emperor, breathing heavily and glaring furiously, demanded sharply, “What are you laughing at?!”
Only then did the Crown Prince slowly lift his robe and kneel before the Emperor.
—
The Emperor glared at the Crown Prince with hatred, his hand resting on the armrest trembling with rage.
He could understand Prince Qin’s rebellion.
Prince Qin had been forced into it. The Emperor intended to deal with the Nanyang Jiang Clan, to reduce them to the state of today’s Jinling Li Clan. Prince Qin, unable to accept this, had naturally rebelled.
But why had the Crown Prince rebelled?
Why had the Crown Prince collaborated with Prince Qin?
Had he not treated the Crown Prince well? Had he not been paving the way for him? Had everything he’d done… not been to make it easier for the Crown Prince once he ascended the throne?
Why had the Crown Prince rebelled?!
The Emperor struggled to breathe. “Speak.”
The hall was silent, everyone staring at the young man kneeling upright.
The Crown Prince slowly raised his eyes, looking up at his supreme father. “What do you want me to say? The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit—that’s all.”
The Emperor raged, “So, even now, you show no remorse? You’ve disappointed me deeply!”
The Crown Prince laughed, his tone calm. “What are you disappointed about?”
After a pause, his eyes sharpened, his voice growing heavier and louder. “What exactly are you disappointed about?! Have you ever loved me at all? Father, let’s not be so laughably hypocritical, shall we?”
The Emperor recoiled and nearly collapsed backward. The Grand Eunuch Cheng An rushed to pat the Emperor’s chest, fearing the unfilial son might cause his death.
Cheng An pleaded anxiously, “Your Highness, please say no more!”
Liu Wenji stood to the side, holding a horsetail whisk, watching the farce with an ambiguous smile.
Prince Qin kept his head lowered in silence. Princess Yuyang glanced back at the Crown Prince with sobs, while Prince Jin stared at him in astonishment, shocked by his audacity.
Sitting nearby, Yan Shang and Mu Wan Yao were the least involved in this drama. While others wept and begged for mercy, the couple had shown no interest. Only now, with the Crown Prince’s outburst, did they take some interest in the spectacle.
Ignoring everyone else, the Crown Prince kept his eyes fixed on the Emperor, whom he had nearly angered to death. “Why would I, as the secure Crown Prince, join Third Brother in rebellion? Clearly, once you died, the throne would be mine. Father, is that what you think?
“Because you left me no way out! You sought to clip my wings before letting me become Emperor! You never believed I could govern the empire well—you only trusted in the balance between sovereign and subject, in the path of mutual restraint! You cut off my support, sent the Yang family step by step from the capital, drove Yang San away from Chang’an… You intended to destroy everyone close to me before letting me become a solitary ruler.
“That’s the kind of Emperor you wanted! Not the kind I want! An Emperor who loses his most trusted confidants and closest kin—that’s not what I desire! I could have endured it… but if I endured any longer, I would have lost all my friends, family, and brothers.”
The Crown Prince closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his tone turned cold:"Have you never had brothers, a wife, or children? Never at all? What exactly are we to you?"
"If you wish to be a solitary ruler, do it yourself; if I wish to be one, I'll pursue it myself. I don't need your control, your arrangements, your paving of the way. You never consulted me! You only commanded me, forced me, made me walk the same path as you against my will. But today I tell you, Father, you cannot decide for me, making me sacrifice my brothers and my feelings! I belong to myself. I don't need you to be the one who torments me under the guise of doing what's best for me."
Everyone stared in stunned silence.
Yan Shang's eyes held a faint glimmer as he gazed at the Crown Prince. Perhaps he had always looked down on the Crown Prince, and their ideals had never aligned. But when the Crown Prince resisted all this, it still stirred admiration in him.
Mu Wan Yao felt the same.
She realized she had never truly understood the Crown Prince. She had often wondered why someone as carefree as Yang Si was so close to him.
Why would Yang San devote his life to the Crown Prince?
What made the Crown Prince worthy?
Now she finally understood—
It turned out the Crown Prince could also rebel.
The Crown Prince possessed the fervent, fearless spirit of youth.
That fire had been suppressed beneath ice for many years, and finally, one day, it burst forth, no longer willing to endure.
—
The Emperor felt chest tightness and a headache.
He stared blankly at the kneeling Crown Prince, unable to comprehend his nonsensical words.
It was as if he heard A Nuan's past arguments with him—similarly shouting hoarsely, similarly insisting, "You understand nothing."
The Emperor shook his sleeves in fury, his voice wretched: "Nonsense, nonsense! It is you who understand nothing! You will regret this! I did it for everyone, for the entire realm... This Great Wei must be this way!"
His voice grew shrill, almost like weeping.
The Crown Prince looked up at the dazed Emperor and said slowly, "As you say, I may regret it in the future, but if I don't resist you now, I will regret it now! I am not you, after all. I can never become the Crown Prince who satisfies you!"
"I have lost. I am inferior to you, but I will not confess to you! I will not beg for mercy!"
The Emperor: "You—"
He abruptly stood, his withered hand trembling as he pointed at the Crown Prince.
Suddenly, the Emperor felt a chill throughout his body as he looked at everyone—
His own sister, the Eldest Princess, sat bewildered like an outsider, glancing left and right, unable to find her own stance;
While the Crown Prince, Prince Qin, Prince Jin, Danyang, and even his beloved A Nuan—all were watching him.
They were all watching him, their eyes saying—
Why aren't you dead yet?
Why haven't you died?
Everyone wished for his death, everyone hated him. Everyone was questioning him—
The Emperor staggered a step, a mouthful of hot blood spurting from his throat, and he fell backward.
Everyone in the hall watched as the Emperor vomited blood. Cheng An quickly stepped forward to support him, shouting for the imperial physician, while others belatedly began to show concern.
The Emperor trembled, coughing up large amounts of blood. He opened his mouth speechlessly, tears filling his eyes, horrifying those around him, who almost suspected he had suffered a stroke.
Amid the chaos, Liu Wenji's eyes shone peculiarly as he stared intently at the Crown Prince, his expression slightly moved—
The Crown Prince was his enemy.
All the Crown Prince's excuses, Liu Wenji found laughable.However, there was one statement that the Crown Prince made Liu Wenji agree with.
The Crown Prince said they must rebel.
Yes.
This unjust fate... should indeed be resisted!
—
The Emperor's collapse from spitting blood threw the palace into chaos.
One hour later, the Crown Prince was once again confined to the Eastern Palace, awaiting further punishment after the Emperor woke up; Mu Wan Yao and her husband left the palace to return home; while Liu Wenji followed Prince Jin.
Liu Wenji whispered to Prince Jin: "Your Highness, last night, His Majesty summoned several ministers and spoke of selecting consorts to enter the palace, or possibly adopting several descendants of the Mu clan from collateral lines to become princes."
Prince Jin looked bewildered.
Seeing him in this state, Liu Wenji was momentarily astonished, unsure whether the man was truly foolish or had feigned ignorance for so long that he'd become genuinely stupid. Liu Wenji hunched his shoulders and spoke with utmost bluntness: "There might soon be new princes in the palace."
Only then did Prince Jin understand.
He remained dazed for a long while, uncertain of his own feelings: "Eunuch Liu means... that Father has never thought me worthy?"
He grew indignant, his expression caught between tears and laughter: "With both my elder brothers fallen from grace, he'd rather father new sons, rather adopt distant Mu clan descendants than consider me? Does he truly... hold me in such low esteem?"
Has the throne never had anything to do with me?
Why... by what right...
Liu Wenji bowed with a faint smile: "Your Highness need not worry, this subject supports you. I shall assist Your Highness and speak favorably on your behalf before His Majesty."
Prince Jin grasped his hands, shaking them excitedly: "Thank you, Eunuch Liu! I shall never forget your kindness!"
As the carriage from Danyang Princess Residence passed along the official road, Liu Wenji instantly wiped the smile from his face, while Prince Jin similarly discarded his grateful, tearful expression.
—
Inside the carriage, Mu Wan Yao said to Yan Shang: "Liu Wenji has entangled himself with Prince Jin. Isn't this somewhat ridiculous? Even if Prince Jin is unaware, could Liu Wenji not know what Prince Jin did to Chunhua?
"He knows, but he no longer cares."
Yan Shang remained silent.
Seeing him like this, Mu Wan Yao continued: "He has changed. He's no longer the Liu Wenji you knew. You must be careful of him in the future, careful that he might betray you."
After a long pause, Yan Shang finally said: "I still have to try."
Mu Wan Yao sighed, leaning gently against Yan Shang's shoulder, and said no more.
Today the Crown Prince's words had been enlightening, speaking aloud what everyone was thinking. She too was pondering the Crown Prince's statement.
—
But regardless of what was said in the court today, the crime of rebellion could not be forgiven.
Three days later, the Crown Prince, under house arrest in the Eastern Palace, learned of Prince Qin's fate: exile to Lingnan. Prince Qin's consort and her entire family were executed, and the princes were punished. The Nanyang Jiang clan was exterminated.
Prince Qin was completely finished.
Next would be the Crown Prince's turn.
In the dim candlelight, the shadow of a eunuch sent by Liu Wenji was cast upon the door and window. The eunuch gleefully recounted Prince Qin's fate, intending to frighten the Crown Prince.
Making the Crown Prince wait, wait for those he cared about to meet the same end as Prince Qin's faction.
—
After the eunuch departed, the Crown Prince sat silently before his desk.
On the desk lay a sharp dagger.
A paperweight held down fluttering pages filled with writing—all pleas written by the Crown Prince begging mercy for his supporters.
Pleading that the Yang clan's crimes didn't warrant death; begging to spare the Crown Princess and his other consorts, to spare his children.
He would exchange his own life for their survival.
The Crown Prince's robes pooled on the floor as he sat in quiet contemplation. Slowly, he picked up the dagger. When he lowered his gaze, his fingertips detected a slight imperfection on the hilt.He saw three crooked characters: "From Yang Si."
It was a gift from seven-year-old Yang Si, given to him right after learning how to forge knives.
This was the first gift he had ever received in his life.
Now Yang Si remained imprisoned, awaiting his fate.
The Crown Prince curled his lips slightly and blew out the candle.
—
In the dead of night, the Emperor was startled awake by Cheng An's panicked whisper in his ear: "Your Majesty... the Crown Prince is gone! The Crown Prince is gone!"
The Emperor jolted awake, all sleepiness vanishing.
As candlelight flooded the hall, the Emperor threw on his robes and rushed out. He didn't need to go far before seeing the massive fire blazing from the Eastern Palace.
The Emperor stood speechless, staring rigidly at the distant flames for a long time.
A eunuch hurried over, panting: "The Eastern Palace sent the Crown Prince's suicide note... Your Majesty!"
The Emperor cried out sharply: "How could he do this?! How? When did I ever want him dead? When..."
Suddenly weeping, he lamented: "They're all my children, all my sons... Even a vicious tiger doesn't eat its cubs. How could he think I wanted him dead... Lang'er! Lang'er!"
Clutching the thick stack of papers, the Emperor wept bitterly. The oil-fed flames burned bright as daylight, yet no one dared speak.
—
Alone in his chamber, the Emperor read his son's suicide note, weeping continuously, unable to sleep.
The hall was silent, devoid of any sound. As the Emperor drifted in and out of consciousness leaning against the documents on his desk, a white silk ribbon suddenly tightened around his neck from behind, gradually constricting.
His throat constricted, the Emperor jolted awake and abruptly saw the eunuch's shadow cast upon the wall.
As he opened his mouth, the assailant behind him realized he was awake. The silk tightened, both hands joining to strangle his throat.
The Emperor's eyes bulged as he struggled desperately, but couldn't utter a single word. The eunuch's menacing shadow loomed large on the wall, tightening its grip on the Emperor.
The Emperor grew pale and haggard, his eyes protruding as his vision blurred. His strength fading, he suddenly slumped and understood what was happening.
He ceased struggling, instead gazing toward the illusory direction of A'Nuan.
He stared vacantly, watching for a long time. He thought there would be many attachments, yet in the end, nothing seemed to hold him.
Only... only... He reached out into the void, but couldn't touch A'Nuan—
This life was fleeting, like flowers glimpsed from horseback, blossoms fading with the light. At journey's end, turning back, he saw that rainy day beneath the temple eaves where he waited for the sheltering girl, listening to opera together beneath the stage.
Iron bells chimed like shattered clocks, the rain falling in endless sheets. Her profile was elegant, her skin fairer than the brightest pearl he'd ever seen. She watched the opera intently while his heart drummed wildly, his eyes fixed solely on her.
What had he been thinking then? It seemed he was planning to propose to her afterward. What were they singing in that opera segment? It seemed to be—
"Lament life's bitter length, lament old dreams' deceit.
Lament fading affections in dim light, lament the beauty's brief life.
Lament your absence, lament your departure."
Life—stubborn pride shaped today's fate, facing the sunset alone under vast skies. How ridiculous, how absurd, merely this.
—
In the bedchamber of Danyang Princess Residence, Mu Wan Yao suddenly jolted awake from a nightmare and sat up dazedly.
Feeling her racing heart in the darkness, she suddenly bent over and shook Yan Shang awake.
Due to back pain, Yan Shang had been sleeping on his side, his rest already unsettled. With just a gentle push from Mu Wan Yao, he woke and sat up.
The bed curtains draped to the floor as Yan Shang asked drowsily: "What's wrong?"
Mu Wan Yao clutched his hand with her cold, sweaty palm, her voice strained: "I had a dream. I dreamed of my second brother—he said he came to fetch my father. They are leaving, leaving me alone in this mortal world from now on."
Yan Shang was stunned.
He thought Mu Wan Yao had such a dream due to her constant anxiety. He pulled her into his embrace and was about to whisper comforting words when they heard the bells from outside.
In the dead of night, the bells rang from the direction of the palace, one after another. The couple listened as the tolling seemed to strike directly at their hearts. Yan Shang's expression changed.
Mu Wan Yao said: "My father has passed away."
OpenNovel