In mid-February, the capital was in the season of growing grass and flying orioles. With another round of imperial examinations approaching, thousands of scholars gathered in the capital. Young men in blue robes could be seen everywhere on the streets—new people bringing new atmosphere, finally dispersing some of the gloom that had long shrouded the city.
No one expected that at this time, a shocking incident would occur in the capital.
Zhaoling Mausoleum, where the former emperor rested in the western suburbs, had been robbed.
More interesting still, the tomb robber was discovered immediately afterward, found dead in an open space half a li from the imperial tomb.
He carried gold, silver, and jewels freshly taken from Zhaoling, but his body was burned completely black. Yet there were no combustible materials around that could have started a fire, nor any signs that he had been restrained—it was as if he had spontaneously combusted.
This manner of death inevitably reminded people of an old case. After examination by the Dali Temple coroner, this tomb robber actually had some connection to that case—two years ago, a Heaven Worship ceremony case had implicated the murder of thirty-two members of the Shen family, famous calligraphers and painters from Shu. At the time there were three perpetrators, two of whom had already been executed in the Heaven Worship case, leaving one Liu Kang who had been captured and convicted by then-Dali Temple Chief Su Cen, detained at the Ministry of Justice awaiting autumn execution.
Unexpectedly, that autumn brought the chaos of dual princes disrupting government. Policies changed daily, the court was in complete disarray, and someone who should have drunk Meng Po’s soup had somehow lived well until now—or rather, until two days ago.
No one paid attention to how Liu Kang had escaped from the imperial prison or how he had entered the heavily guarded imperial tomb. They only knew this man had originally made his fortune selling burial objects, and now his thieving heart remained unchanged—he had stolen from the former emperor’s tomb.
The streets buzzed with discussion. Some said Zhaoling contained anti-theft mechanisms that would cause stolen items to self-immolate upon exposure to light. Others claimed that those who commit many wrongs will perish by their own hand—such a person who had robbed so many tombs was bound to die from it eventually. Most prevalent were supernatural explanations: either the wronged spirits of the Shen family had come to claim his life, or the former emperor’s spirit had manifested, sending down heavenly fire to punish the evildoer.
While the people debated without reaching consensus, another major incident arose in the court.
After Empress Dowager Chu’s mourning period ended, on the first day court resumed, Prince Yu Li Sheng did not attend.
Along with Li Sheng’s absence, half the court ministers were also missing.
The Hanyuan Hall, once filled with verbal sparring and heated arguments, suddenly felt strangely cold with half its occupants gone. The young emperor glanced at his subjects below, sat on the dragon throne as usual, and waved his hand: “All ministers, rise.”
The composure in crisis and unflappability in the face of change that his imperial uncle had taught him for so many years finally proved useful.
“Do any ministers have matters to report?”
Silence below—deathly silence.
With half the court missing, the reigning emperor didn’t even ask about it. What matter could be greater than this? Was he afraid of Li Sheng, or had he already lost his composure? Would it take Li Sheng forcing his way to the palace steps and the Great Zhou’s destruction before this young emperor would ask: “Where are my people?”
In fact, the day before court resumed, all officials had received a letter with simple content—just four characters: “Chongde Revival.”
The meaning was equally simple. Without Empress Dowager Chu as the final obstacle, Li Sheng no longer regarded the twelve-year-old young emperor as significant. This was an open challenge to establish a rival court and revive Crown Prince Chongde’s unfinished enterprise.
Only half the people came to court to day, and among that half, another half held wait-and-see attitudes. As silence spread through Hanyuan Hall, even that last bit of resolve began to waver.
After a full half incense stick’s worth of silence, the young emperor sighed softly, stood up from the dragon throne, and slowly walked before the assembled ministers: “Since you have nothing to say to me, let me speak to you.”
The young emperor sat down on the ground. The ministers cried out that this was improper, but the young emperor waved his hand and said softly: “My mother consort is dead.”
The court fell silent again.
The young emperor randomly pointed to an old minister whose hair was already half-gray: “Is your honored mother still alive?”
That minister hurriedly bowed: “This subject dares not… this subject still has an eighty-year-old mother at home.”
The young emperor nodded: “What good fortune you have.”
He pointed to the crowd again: “You all have better fortune than me. I ascended the throne at six, which means my father emperor passed away when I was six. Though you often speak of ‘the former emperor this’ and ‘the former emperor that,’ let me say something treasonous—I actually have no impression of him.”
“Father emperor was weak and didn’t manage me much. I originally lived carefree, but suddenly one day, a group of people ran into the imperial garden, knelt before me, and called me ‘Your Majesty.'”
The young emperor randomly pointed to another person: “Did you know what an emperor was at age six? Did you know how to be an emperor?”
That person fell to his knees with a thud and prostrated himself: “This subject dares not!”
“Get up, I told you to get up!” Only after the young emperor repeated himself did the man dare to stand up trembling. He continued: “You didn’t know, and neither did I. I only knew that I no longer had a father emperor, that my good days of catching dragonflies and grasshoppers in the imperial garden were over, and that mother consort no longer indulged me in everything as before. Later an imperial uncle came from the frontier who would scold me at every turn. To say I didn’t resent it would be a lie—how could you not resent someone constantly lecturing you?”
“Mother empress, imperial uncle—from then on I was caught between them, in a difficult position. You must know that period better than I do. The Prince Ning faction, the Empress Dowager faction—I don’t know which faction you originally belonged to, but regardless, they were all for my good. But now, mother consort is gone, imperial uncle’s whereabouts are unknown—they’re all gone.”
“So I say you are fortunate. When you leave court and return home, you have elders above and children below, a family living in harmony. But I guard such a vast palace yet don’t know where I can go.”
Gradually, sounds of weeping arose from below. The ministers were accustomed to seeing the young emperor sitting behind the imperial desk being manipulated by others, but this was the first time they had come so close to understanding this puppet emperor’s inner voice. This was a sovereign, but also a child—even younger than their own children—yet bearing burdens he shouldn’t have to bear at this age.
“In the end, I am not a good emperor,” a sigh gently spread across the great hall. “When all under heaven have sins, the sin lies with me. I’m not saying this to make you pity me, but you must pity the countless people of the Great Zhou, the common folk—among them are your parents, wives, and children. They trust you and place their lives and property in your hands. As their parent officials, when the sky falls, you must hold it up for them!”
The young emperor suddenly stood up: “I am the Son of Heaven, I will be the first. Who else is willing to stand with me?”
Wen Xiu led the way: “This subject is willing to follow Your Majesty, unto death without regret.”
Zheng Yang and Zhang Jun followed: “This subject is willing to follow Your Majesty, unto death without regret.”
The ministers looked at the young emperor who seemed to have suddenly grown up, stunned for a moment, then cried out in unison: “We subjects are willing to follow Your Majesty, unto death without regret!”
The young emperor returned to sit on the dragon throne: “This chair is not as comfortable as you imagine, but I still want to fight for it. The position that mother empress and imperial uncle left for me—I cannot hand it over to others. If imperial uncle knew, he would scold me to death when he returns.”
The ministers burst into laughter, and the young emperor also smiled. After waiting for quiet, he continued: “Good, we’ve spoken openly. Now I ask again: do any ministers have matters to report?”
Wen Xiu stepped forward: “This subject has a matter to report.”
The young emperor nodded. Wen Xiu said: “Prince Yu Li Sheng has the heart of a wolf and the nature of a wild beast, greatly treacherous and evil. His crimes constitute high treason punishable by death. This subject requests that he be arrested and brought to justice, properly executed according to law, to purify the administration and correct court discipline! Those who were absent from court today without cause can all be treated as contemptuous of imperial authority and should receive minor punishment as a major warning to demonstrate imperial majesty.”
The court fell silent for a moment. These ministers who had been suppressed for so long finally had their last bit of fighting spirit forced out of them, and sounds of agreement arose in the hall.
But Zhang Jun shook his head: “Li Sheng is right there in Taiji Palace in front of us. Who will go? Who can arrest him? The reason he dares to be so brazen under our noses is because he knows we can’t touch him right now.”
The young emperor said: “Prime Minister Wen, tell everyone what the current situation is.”
Wen Xiu pressed his lips: “Setting aside half the court ministers, just regarding military power—the imperial guards are split in two. The guards on the Daming Palace side have all been replaced by me with our people, while Taiji Palace has their people. The troops of the Twelve Guard Commands were originally left to me by the Prince, but the Six Rates of the Eastern Palace are still in Li Sheng’s hands. The Zhichong Prefectures near the capital are also basically split half and half. Those further away either can’t get here in time, or… we just received news that there’s been unusual activity at the borders recently, so all the frontier garrison troops can’t be moved.”
After hearing Wen Xiu’s report, everyone’s hearts tightened. This meant that both sides’ strength was now roughly equal, but Li Sheng still had a sharp sword that operated outside the Great Zhou’s laws and killed invisibly—the Secret Door.
After another long silence, someone said: “If only the Prince were here.”
A spark that had been dormant for a long time suddenly began flickering in the ministers’ hearts with these words.
Zhang Jun licked his lips and stepped forward with his protruding belly: “This subject has a greatly disrespectful idea.”
The young emperor nodded: “Please speak, Lord Zhang.”
Zhang Jun cupped his hands toward the imperial desk: “The time has come to clear the Prince’s name.”
One stone stirred up a thousand waves—the court immediately erupted in commotion.
When Prince Ning Li Shi was originally convicted, the most direct cause was eunuch Chen Ying’s revelation that Prince Ning was the murderer of the former emperor. Now that Zhaoling had been robbed, the feng shui was already destroyed. Finding another auspicious site and relocating the imperial tomb was a foregone conclusion. The former emperor’s sacred body would have to be moved anyway—so why not also examine how he actually died?
The young emperor’s brow furrowed slightly. Before he could speak, an elderly minister in his sixties suddenly fell to his knees with a thunderous crash: “This is Heaven’s will! I wondered how that Liu Kang escaped from the heavily guarded imperial prison, and how he died in such a manner. This is the former emperor’s spirit manifesting! The former emperor cannot bear to see our Great Zhou perish and has sent down divine revelation to protect our Great Zhou!”
The ministers who had been suppressed by Li Sheng for so long seemed to glimpse their last ray of hope. The Hanyuan Hall was filled with kneeling figures as these pillars of the nation who had read the classics wept and cried about the former emperor’s spirit manifesting, crying even harder than when the former emperor had actually passed away.
The young emperor was both amused and exasperated. After a long while, he could only wave his hand: “Granted.”
The next day at noon, the young emperor entered Zhaoling accompanied only by a lamp-bearing eunuch and Ning Santong. After returning, he said not a word and sat withered on the steps before his bedchamber all night.
The next day, it was proclaimed throughout the realm that the former emperor’s death had nothing to do with Prince Ning. The entire nation respectfully welcomed Prince Ning’s return to the palace.
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