In the faint light of dawn, Su Yan cast one final look back at the grand and magnificent city towers of the capital.
Jinghong Zhui said, “My lord, it’s time to set out.”
Su Yan took a deep breath, nodded, lifted the curtain, and boarded the carriage.
The carriage was very ordinary, a bamboo canopy covered with a layer of lacquered leather against the rain, with a green bamboo curtain. The interior was not spacious, just enough for two people to lie down. Jinghong Zhui, worried about discomfort yet also about heat from felt or down, had laid down fine silk blankets from Zhuozhou and placed several calamus pillows.
Su Yan curled up weakly on the silk blanket, breathing in the faint fragrance of the calamus stuffing, and said listlessly, “Let’s go.”
Jinghong Zhui put on a green straw hat to cover his head and face, sat on the cross plank behind the shafts, shook the reins, and set the horse pulling the carriage into motion.
The bamboo-canopied carriage passed Wuli Post Station, rolling farther and farther along the yellow earth of the official road.
In the midsummer countryside, wildflowers bloomed carefree among lush green grass. A four-wheeled carriage with a blackwood body and tightly covered lattice windows came from the south, brushing past the light bamboo carriage.
All along the way, Jinghong Zhui kept his aura restrained, appearing entirely like a common young man, yet he never relaxed his vigilance.
At the moment the carriages passed, he cast a swift glance at the other’s driver, a servant in blue clothing and a small cap, with rough hands and feet, yawning repeatedly, likely a long-serving attendant from some well-off household.
Jinghong Zhui withdrew his gaze and steadily guided the carriage, turning at a fork in the road toward the southwest.
The blackwood carriage reached the vicinity of Wuli Post Station and suddenly stopped.
Inside, the carriage was divided into front and rear compartments by a hanging curtain. Chu Yuan knelt in the outer section and asked through the curtain, “What are Your Majesty’s instructions?”
A folded slip of paper was pushed out from beneath the curtain.
Chu Yuan picked it up and opened it, seeing written on it: “Do not enter the city.”
The small regular script, written with a hard brush, was clearly much stronger than before, showing that his finger strength had recovered considerably. Chu Yuan felt relieved and said, “A lodging has already been prepared in the city, safe and discreet. If Your Majesty has changed your mind and wishes to go elsewhere, please give instructions.”
A second slip was quickly pushed out.
“Wutong Waterside Pavilion…” Chu Yuan was slightly taken aback. Thinking further, he suddenly recalled that it should be Yu Wang’s separate residence?
In past years, when Yu Wang was still in the capital, aside from his royal residence and estates, he also had one or two secret properties. Not wishing to be monitored by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he concealed his movements each time he came and went. Later, Emperor Jinglong had vaguely become aware of it, but did not send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate, instead pretending not to know, preserving some brotherly sentiment.
Until Lord Su returned from Shaanxi and entered the palace in the first month to meet the emperor, for some reason His Majesty had flown into a great rage at Yu Wang. Not only had he personally visited the royal residence under the pretext of checking on his illness and scolded him harshly, he also ordered these imperial guards to thoroughly investigate all of Yu Wang’s properties in the capital. Even the palace guard who had secretly delivered letters for him to Shaanxi was punished. From then on, Yu Wang could not send even a single word out of the capital, until… His Majesty was finally brought down by his chronic headaches.
Now that His Majesty suddenly intended to use the long-sealed Wutong Waterside Pavilion, it somewhat surprised Chu Yuan.
But that place was indeed more concealed than the lodging they had prepared, and the surroundings more elegant. Not to mention the rebel faction behind the scenes, even the Embroidered Uniform Guard likely did not know the exact location of the pavilion.
Chu Yuan placed the two slips into the small incense burner at hand and burned them. “This subject obeys. It is just that the pavilion has been unoccupied for over a year. When we arrive, I ask that Your Majesty remain in the carriage for a while, to allow us to clean it first.”
From behind the curtain came the faint, crisp sound of a chess piece falling onto the board, as if to say: it does not matter.
Chu Yuan lowered his head, his unease deepening, ever since His Majesty awoke, he had become reluctant to show himself, all instructions conveyed by written slips. If it were only because his hair had not yet grown out and he wished to avoid damaging imperial dignity, that would be understandable, but he had not uttered a single word, what could be the reason?
Uneasy and anxious, Chu Yuan could not help but ask, “Does Your Majesty have any further instructions?”
Within the curtain there was only silence, save for the soft clicks of chess pieces, pa-da, pa-da.
A trace of inexplicable fear rose in his heart. Because of it, Chu Yuan committed an unprecedentedly rash act. While asking, “Is Your Majesty in good health,” he extended trembling fingers and parted a small gap in the curtain.
The person behind the curtain turned his face and met his gaze directly through the gap.
The emperor to whom he was loyal was still as dignified and refined as in his memory. Though his hair only reached his ears, though his face still bore signs of weariness, those narrow, deep eyes were as profound as an abyss and as steady as a mountain, striking straight into his spirit at a glance.
Chu Yuan held his breath as he looked at Emperor Jinglong, suddenly overcome with tears. He withdrew his hand and kowtowed repeatedly.
From behind the curtain, a small object was tossed out, landing on the carpet before Chu Yuan’s knees. He picked it up through tears and saw it was a white chess piece. At once he recalled how His Majesty had once joked with him, “In the dark, don’t smile, you can only see a mouthful of white teeth and not your face, it’s quite frightening,” and he could not help but smile, before hastily restraining himself.
If he doesn’t want to speak, then he won’t, His Majesty is still His Majesty. Chu Yuan sniffed, clenched the white chess piece in his palm, and said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, rest assured, this subject will do his utmost.”
He withdrew from the carriage, leaned his head toward the driver, and gave a few instructions.
The carriage set off again, turning at the fork ahead in a different direction.
Chu Yuan looked up at the sky, gradually clearing at dawn, and recalled that in that brief moment when he lifted the curtain, he had seen the chessboard before His Majesty, where the interlaced pieces were arranged into four starkly distinct black-and-white characters:
The storm is coming.
***
Zhu Helin stared at the memorials, official seal, and several neatly folded sets of official robes on the imperial desk, his whole body trembling as he rasped, “Say that again?!”
The eunuch was so frightened his legs shook; he didn’t dare raise his head. “Th-this servant only saw these on Su Gelao’s desk… The servant boy of the Su residence conveyed on his master’s behalf that everything is written in the memorial, and asks Your Majesty to… to read it yourself…”
Zhu Helin grabbed the memorial with the heading “Letter of Resignation” and flung it away. “Read my *ss! I won’t read a single word! Where is Su Qinghe? Go, have Longquan take the Tengxiang Guard to fetch him. Even if you have to turn the capital upside down, you must find him!”
The eunuch received the order and hurriedly withdrew.
Zhu Helin had no mind for court audience or state affairs. He paced back and forth in the Fengxian Hall for two hours. During that time, he couldn’t help picking up the memorial, failing to finish it each time before angrily throwing it away again, feeling as if his lungs would burst.
What “resigning due to illness,” what “stepping down to take responsibility”, all nonsense! Who is he trying to fool? Clearly it’s heartbreak draining his spirit, he just doesn’t want to do it anymore!
So only Shen Qi is truly the one he holds in his heart? For that ungrateful wretch, Su Qinghe is throwing away fame, power, ambitions, everything, so disheartened he might as well go become a monk!
Then what about me? What do I count as? Those vows of “a lifetime, never to fail each other,” of “this subject will follow and assist for life”, what do they count as?
Leaving without a word, just going like that, not even daring to show his face, casting aside my burning sincerity like worn-out shoes, abandoning all promises and responsibilities, Su Qinghe, you’ve really done it! Truly, you have!
Zhu Helin kicked open the palace doors, nearly crashing into Longquan, who had just returned to report.
Seeing the emperor in towering rage, ready to rush out of the palace to seize someone personally, Longquan hurriedly steadied his arm and reported, “This subject led men to search all places Lord Su might have gone and questioned Su Xiaobei, Ruan Hongjiao, Gao Shuo, and others. All say they do not know his whereabouts.”
Zhu Helin snapped, “Others might not know, but would Su Xiaobei not? Bring him here, I will interrogate him myself!”
Su Xiaobei was quickly brought before the emperor. He knelt respectfully and replied, “Reporting to Your Majesty, this one truly does not know where my lord has gone. Early this morning before dawn, my lord woke me and said he was leaving the capital to find a remote place to quietly recover from illness, with no set date of return, and instructed me to take good care of the household. Then my lord left with Brother Zhui, no, with Guard Jinghong…
“Oh, right, before leaving, my lord also asked this one to plead with Your Majesty to pardon those Embroidered Uniform Guard from the Northern Surveillance Bureau in prison. My lord said that Shi Qianhu and the others are loyal to the court and devoted to their superiors; as long as Your Majesty gathers them in a bit, they will be very useful.”
Zhu Helin let out a cold laugh in extreme anger. “Your master has thought of everything thoroughly, but has he thought of me? When he fell ill, I was more anxious than anyone, I even sent seven or eight imperial physicians! Did he appreciate it? In this vast imperial palace, in the entire capital, is there not a single quiet place for him to recover? Excuses, all excuses!”
The emperor grabbed a paperweight and smashed it down, cracking the stone surface as hard as metal or rock. Gritting his teeth, he said, “He’s using heartbreak as an excuse to elope with Jinghong Zhui!”
Su Xiaobei pressed his forehead to his fingertips, holding his breath and not daring to make a sound.
“Su Qinghe… Su Qinghe…” The chest beneath the dragon robe heaved violently. Zhu Helin slammed the table, rose, drew the Son of Heaven’s sword from its rack, and pressed it against Su Xiaobei’s neck. “If I kill his personal servant, will he come forward to plead for mercy?”
Cold sweat soaked Su Xiaobei’s back. Suppressing his fear, he kowtowed and said, “Even if Your Majesty kills this one, kills every servant in the Su residence, my lord would not know at this moment, nor could he come to plead for mercy. Perhaps only when my lord returns to the capital in the future would he learn of it, by then, it would already be too late to beg for imperial grace.”
“You dare threaten me, telling me to consider the consequences? Like master, like servant!” Zhu Helin’s anger rose to killing intent, but in the end he did not strike Su Xiaobei, instead kicking him so he tumbled across the ground.
The emperor carried his sword out of the hall, rushing down the jade steps into the night, and shouted harshly at the trembling eunuchs, palace maids, and Jinwu Guards following behind him, “All of you, get out! Get far away from me!”
He strode into the garden. The fury and killing intent in his chest finally erupted, and with a sudden flash of sword light, he cleaved a tall, straight pine clean in two.
“I listened to you in everything, was willing to give you everything, but how did you treat me?
“Again and again you rejected me, distanced yourself from me, left without a word, heartless, utterly heartless…”
“Su Yan, you’re simply heartless and ungrateful!”
The young emperor cursed hoarsely while hacking through the entire garden like a madman, leaving broken branches and fallen blossoms everywhere, reducing it nearly to ruins.
After a long while, his sword strokes slowed. It felt as though endless despair and bitterness had been poured into his body, leaving him barely able to lift his arms. Zhu Helin gripped the hilt, panting as he tried to pull the blade free, failing to draw it from the Taihu rock and nearly smashing his own head against the stone instead.
“You can love so many people, but refuse to love me alone. No matter how much I do, how well I do, it’s useless.” Clutching the hilt with both hands, he slowly sank into a half-crouch, letting the hem of his dragon robe drag through the muddy ground, his forehead pressed against the hard edge of the stone as he gasped in exhaustion.
“Qinghe… how could you… treat me like this…” His hoarse voice carried a sob. Like an army collapsing in full rout, Zhu Helin clutched the Son of Heaven’s sword and burst into loud, broken weeping.
The garden lay in complete ruin under the night. Everyone was cowed by the emperor’s thunderous rage, not daring to step forward, and no one knew that beneath the most exalted dragon robe curled the wounded, slowly cooling soul of a seventeen-year-old boy.
“Royal Father, I know… Royal Father… I’ll only cry this one last time. After tonight,” Zhu Helin murmured hoarsely, “I… will not shed another tear.”
