“Once, vibrant blossoms adorned the land; now, all is desolation…”
The Kunqu opera being performed was the famous The Peony Pavilion, by a renowned troupe in the capital. The male dan’s voice was sweet and clear, his movements elegant and charming, embodying the lovestruck Du Liniang to perfection. Holding a flower in his hand, he cast a flirtatious glance toward the pavilion.
The weather was stiflingly warm, and the garden pavilion was veiled on three sides by gauzy silk curtains. In the center was a large daybed adorned with soft cushions. Yu Wang lounged lazily against the pillows, dressed in a black silk robe with subtle silver dragon patterns. His hair was loosely tied with a silver beast-head pin, and he looked every bit the picture of a carefree immortal.
Around him, maids fanned him, massaged his legs, poured fine wine into crystal cups, and carefully peeled and deseeded grapes to feed him. It was as if he were a celestial being attended by devoted stars.
This indulgent and hedonistic demeanor, if observed by the imperial censors, would likely provoke another impeachment for extravagance and debauchery.
Yu Wang held an ebony folding fan, tapping a rhythm on his thigh in time with the orchestral melodies. His half-lidded gaze seemed fixed on the singing male dan’s slender waist, yet it also appeared to penetrate through the colorful costume into an ambiguous haze of imagination.
When the male dan finished performing Black Gauze Robe, he clapped his fan against his thigh, exclaiming, “Excellent!” The male dan, adopting the posture of a bashful maiden, gracefully bowed and said, “Thank you, Wangye, for your praise.”
Yu Wang waved him closer and casually inquired, “What is your name? How old are you?”
The male dan answered crisply, “This humble one is named Xiyan, aged seventeen.”
The pronunciation of “Xi” bore the soft inflection of Wu dialect, almost sounding like “Su.” Yu Wang frowned slightly. “You’re also called Su Yan?”
Xiyan, perceptive to the displeasure implied in the word “also,” quickly clarified, “Your Highness, it’s ‘Xi’ as in the west, and ‘Yan’ as in the swallow.”
Yu Wang’s expression eased, and with a faint smile, he gestured for the performer to come even closer. Sitting upright, he used his fan to lift the male dan’s chin, inspecting the painted elegance of his brows and eyes.
“The resemblance is about fifty or sixty percent, but there’s no trace of the same aura… Interesting.” Yu Wang remarked absentmindedly. “Stay in the palace for a few days to sing for me. Would you?”
Delight lit up Xiyan’s face as he bowed deeply. “This humble one would be honored! To entertain Wangye is my greatest wish.”
Yu Wang’s fan trailed from Xiyan’s chin to his collar. Just as he was about to say something, a palace guard arrived at the pavilion entrance to announce, “Wangye, Master Yingxu is here.”
With a sharp snap, Yu Wang tossed the fan onto the jade mat of the couch, stood up, adjusted his robes, and left Xiyan behind as he strode out of the pavilion.
Xiyan, seeing how Yu Wang had been warm and genial one moment only to abandon him the next, felt a pang of grievance and bitterness. Yet he dared not reveal his feelings, instead raising his voice melodiously as he bowed in farewell. “Wangye, take care. This humble one will burn incense day and night, awaiting your summons.”
But Yu Wang had already walked far, his tall figure vanishing from sight before Xiyan could finish his plea.
***
Chen Shiyu had just entered the front courtyard of Yu Wang’s manor when he saw Yu Wang, dressed in casual attire, personally coming out to greet him. In a hearty voice, Yu Wang said, “It’s been a long time since you’ve visited, Master Yu. Your sudden arrival today is truly a pleasant surprise.”
Chen Shiyu cupped his hands and smiled in response, “It has indeed been a while. I trust the Fourth Highness remains as hale as ever.”
Yu Wang walked arm in arm with him to a spot under an ancient pine tree in the garden.
Beneath the tree was a stone table and matching stone stools, all with a simple and rustic design. On the table was a Go board with two bowls of stones. Across a gently babbling brook, the faint sound of a guqin emanated from a bamboo grove, evoking a serene and elegant atmosphere.
The two of them sat across from each other at the table. With a practiced familiarity, they each picked up a bowl of stones and made a gesture inviting the other to start the game.
Yu Wang placed the first black stone on the star point in the upper right corner, a mark of respect. He smiled and asked, “Master Yu, with so many patients in your care, you must be incredibly busy. Surely you didn’t come just to play a game of Go?”
Chen Shiyu placed a white stone in the lower left corner, stroking his long beard as he replied, “An old man like me doesn’t visit for trifling matters. This time, I’ve come to seek your great assistance.”
“Since we are friends who transcend generations, there’s no need for the word ‘seek.’ If not for your miraculous skills back then, Master Yu, I would have perished, run through by a sword. I owe you my life, and I have yet to repay that debt. Whatever the difficulty, just say the word. If it’s within my power, I’ll give my utmost support.”
“Your Highness, are you aware that there is a miraculous medicine in this world? It can cure all external ulcers and internal abscesses, its effects nearly divine. It is said to restore flesh to bones and life to the dying. It’s called ‘penicillin.’” Chen Shiyu then calmly recounted the story of how Shen Qi was saved from the brink of death.
When Yu Wang heard the name Su Yan, he was momentarily stunned and asked, “Which Su Qinghe are you referring to, Master Yu?”
“The very same Su Qinghe who ‘beat the drums at the imperial gate to redress a teacher’s injustice and the twelve charges.’ Is there a second person under heaven who could bear that name?” Chen Shiyu sighed with emotion. “I never imagined that, despite his youth, Lord Su is not only accomplished in Confucian studies, virtuous, and talented, but also a master of pharmaceuticals. If this medicine could be mass-produced, it would be a great boon to humanity. However, the conditions needed are insufficient, making it difficult to achieve. I wonder if Your Highness could collaborate with Lord Su to oversee the production of penicillin?”
Yu Wang pondered for a moment and said, “Since you’ve asked, Master Yu, I will spare neither funds nor manpower. However, according to Qinghe, establishing the entire production system first requires the creation of a school of natural sciences to attract talent from across the land. This alone is not something that can be resolved through mere money or manpower. Furthermore, organizing such a school could be seen as forming factions. A private academy run by scholars might pass without much scrutiny, but if I were to take the lead, I would undoubtedly be accused by court officials of buying public support for ulterior motives. Even the emperor likely wouldn’t approve.”
“Why not petition the emperor,” Chen Shiyu suggested, “to explain the pros and cons, and then request an imperial edict granting Your Highness authority to oversee this matter?”
Yu Wang fell silent.
Seeing the somber look on his face, Chen Shiyu sighed softly. “I know where Your Highness’s hesitation lies. You would rather bear the reputation of being frivolous and hedonistic, sullying yourself, than let the emperor know that the spear in your hand remains unbroken, the blood in your chest still runs hot, and that you harbor a deep-seated ambition to conquer the northern lands!”
The black stone between Yu Wang’s fingers shattered, crumbling into fine powder that scattered across the Go board, carried away by a pine-scented breeze.
He stared intently at the Go board before him. The clash of black and white stones spoke of relentless battle, and faintly in his ears, he seemed to hear the clamor of weapons and the thundering charge of horses breaking through a frozen river.
“Ten years,” he murmured as if in a dream. “Ten whole years I’ve been trapped in this bustling capital, like a bird in a gilded cage. Surrounded by splendor, yet unable to take flight.”
“Fourth Highness…” Chen Shiyu sighed heavily.
“They all say that my royal brother treats me with exceptional kindness, more so than any other prince or noble. And why wouldn’t he? He has woven a net of imperial favor and fraternal love, drawing me into a prison where every move I make is under his watchful eye. Thus, the bold and steadfast Dai Wang who once guarded the borders is no more. In his place stands only the indulgent and dissipated Yu Wang.”
“‘Yu’ means ease and pleasure. Does my brother not understand that for me, ease and pleasure are poison that corrodes my resolve?” Yu Wang’s expression twisted into a wry smile. “Of course he understands. That poison is his own careful concoction… He is the true master of pharmaceuticals!”
Chen Shiyu spoke slowly, “I have spent over seventy years in vain, and only now do I understand a truth—life is full of ups and downs, and until the next moment arrives, one cannot foresee what situation it will bring. Only by preparing for the unexpected and staying vigilant can one calmly face life’s twists, turns, and upheavals. Your Highness’s current despondency is utterly unlike the War God of the Jingbei Army I once knew.”
“The so-called ‘War God’ was created by the times and must inevitably be erased by them. Events from a decade ago, long buried in the past—why must you bring them up?”
“Your Highness may forget your achievements and glories, may forget the rush of blood when killing enemies on the battlefield, but can you also forget your comrades who wrapped themselves in horse hides and perished on the frontlines? If we had a miraculous medicine like penicillin back then, perhaps General Wei wouldn’t have died from a gangrene infection caused by a wound to the leg, and General Ping might have survived the arrow soaked in filth. Countless soldiers who succumbed to wounds as small as a blade cut could have had their lives saved. With penicillin, our army’s strength and the situation at the border would have changed dramatically.
“Even if Your Highness no longer commands troops, our brave soldiers still endure sickness and injury amidst the smoke of border wars. Are their lives any less valuable than those of the Jingbei Army? Even if Your Highness believes your loyalty has been doubted and promises broken, is this country no longer the land you swore to protect?”
Chen Shiyu rose to his feet. The wind blew through the long beard of the aging but resilient former military doctor, carrying his firm voice to Yu Wang: “Hold fast to your heart and your ambition! When the wind rises, transform into a tiger; when it lifts you, soar as a dragon—this is what a great man should strive for!”
Yu Wang gazed at his retreating figure, lost in thought for a long time.
***
At Fengan Marquis’s residence, Wei Jun entered his bedchamber with a newly favored concubine, laughing and jesting.
The downfall of Feng Que seemed to have little impact on him. He remained an exalted relative of the imperial family.
His niece, Imperial Concubine Wei, had recently borne a son for the emperor, whose offspring were scarce. The Empress Dowager was overjoyed by this fortunate turn of events and even discussed with Wei Jun, the brother-in-law, the possibility of requesting the emperor to grant Imperial Concubine Wei a promotion in rank.
Advancing further in rank would mean becoming the Imperial Noble Consort—or even being officially declared Empress Dowager. That wasn’t entirely out of the question!
Although he was related to the Empress Dowager by marriage, she was not a member of the Wei family. Only by making Imperial Concubine Wei the legitimate mother of the nation and ensuring that her son became the future emperor could the Wei family truly rise to unparalleled power, like adding fuel to a roaring fire or adorning silk with flowers. At that point, their authority and status would be unshakable.
Compared to that, what did a mere Feng Que amount to? Just an unfortunate vicious dog that bit the wrong person and got slaughtered in return. That he fell at the hands of a greenhorn who had just entered officialdom was truly a humiliating failure! Wei Jun sneered at the thought. The Embroidered Uniform Guard were ultimately nothing more than the emperor’s servants, no different from eunuchs. They lacked any real foundation and lived or died at the emperor’s whim.
Feng Que was dead, but Wei Jun could easily find another Chen Que or Chu Que. These knives could still be wielded to remove all obstacles hindering the Wei family’s rise.
Smugly, Wei Jun pushed his concubine onto the bed, and soon the bed curtains were filled with the sounds of indulgence between man and woman.
The bedframe creaked incessantly. For someone lying beneath the bed, the noise was particularly clear.
Such was the case for Wu Ming at this moment.
Like a cold-blooded predator lying in wait, Wu Ming hid beneath the bed. The live display of debauchery above him was less significant to him than the dust on a shoe. The woman’s sultry moans did not even cause him to blink.
For the sake of killing, he could remain motionless for hours, waiting for the precise moment to strike with deadly precision.
As the passion above reached its peak and fell into post-coital exhaustion, Wu Ming knew the time had come. With a sudden thrust, his thin, nameless sword pierced through the bedboard and into his target’s body.
The sensation of the blade slicing into flesh told him—his strike had succeeded!
Amid the woman’s terrified screams, Wu Ming rolled out from under the bed, decapitated his enemy with a single stroke, and grabbed the severed head by its hair. He leapt out the window, onto the roof, and vanished into the night.
It wasn’t until he had scaled the high walls of the marquis’s estate and escaped that the clamoring of guards and the thunderous sound of alarm gongs began behind him.
Wu Ming sprinted relentlessly to the northeastern corner of the outer city, stopping on a hillside behind Yanfu Temple. He stood before a recently constructed grave, placing the severed head on the stone altar used for offerings.
Planting his bloodstained sword into the ground, he knelt and kowtowed three times to the grave. Tears brimmed in his reddened eyes, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably as he gritted his teeth and said, “Sister, I’ve avenged you! Look, this is the head of that old dog! I know you wouldn’t want to see it—it’s filthy and disgusting, alive or dead—but I needed his blood and life to pay for his crimes against you. I’ll take this head and feed it to wild dogs.”
Grabbing the severed head, Wu Ming smashed it hard against the stone altar three times. The jaw was shattered, exposing bloodied bone and teeth.
Letting out a deep, ragged breath, he inspected the head. The moment he noticed the heavily worn molars on the lower jaw, he froze. Forcing the damaged mouth open, he examined the upper molars and found them similarly worn—reduced to half their original height, discolored, and pitted with holes.
These were not the teeth of someone raised on refined grains and fine food. Only someone who had long subsisted on coarse husks, wild vegetables, or even horse fodder mixed with gravel would have teeth so eroded.
….This wasn’t Fengan Marquis’s head!
It must have been a meticulously prepared body double—trained in appearance, mannerisms, even speech, and gait. The deception was so thorough that even enduring indignities like sharing a bed with concubines was part of the act.
One overlooked detail, however, had exposed the ruse, rendering his attempt at vengeance a failure yet again. Consumed by fury and despair, Wu Ming hurled the head into the dark forest.
Inside the Marquis’s manor, Wei Jun stared at the headless corpse on the blood-soaked bed. His limbs trembled with a mix of terror and relief.
—Fortunately, a monk named Jiyao had warned him months ago to prepare a body double. Just that morning, he had received another warning from the monk’s divination, predicting a violent calamity. He had taken precautions, hiding himself in a secret chamber and allowing the double to roam freely.
Had he not heeded the warning, it would have been his own head rolling on the floor tonight.
Wei Jun was almost certain that the assassin who came tonight was the same masked man in black who had injured him more than two months ago. Despite the extensive manhunt conducted by the Embroidered Uniform Guard across the city, they failed to capture the intruder, allowing the slippery fish to return and wreak havoc once again.
Feng Que, that useless wretch, is better off dead already! And as for this persistent ghost of an assassin, I must catch him with my own hands. I’ll subject him to the ten most brutal tortures one after the other, making him wish for death over life!
With a face ashen with fury, Wei Jun roared, “Where are the hunting hounds I raised? Release them all! Follow the blood trail and hunt down this intruder. I want him torn to pieces!”
A large group of guards from the Marquis’ household and elite soldiers from the Five-City Military Command set out in full armor with weapons at the ready. Following the lead of several fierce bloodhounds, they tracked the blood trail out of the inner city gates, heading towards the northeast corner of the outer city.
The hounds stopped at a gravesite behind Yanfu Temple on a hill, barking and howling wildly. The blood trail ended there, but the assassin was nowhere to be found. After thoroughly searching the hill, the soldiers found no trace of the assassin, not even a single hair. They did, however, recover the decoy’s head, which had been gnawed to a pulp by wild animals in the forest.
Wei Jun’s rage nearly caused him to explode. “Bringing a head to this place for worship—this must be someone connected to the assassin! Dig up this grave, drag out the bones, and flog the corpse to vent my anger!”
The soldiers were about to dig up the grave when they noticed a hole at the back of the mound, and the tombstone was missing. Upon digging further, they discovered that the coffin was completely empty, with no trace of a body. The bottom of the coffin only bore the round impression of an urn.
“The assassin must have anticipated our pursuit and came ahead of us to retrieve the urn and tombstone. Marquis, what are your orders now?” asked the commander of the Five-City Military Command.
Wei Jun bellowed in fury, “What do you think? Find him! Are you soldiers of the Five-City Military Command just here for show? Seal the inner and outer city gates, declare martial law, and conduct a thorough search of the city! Dig three feet deep if you must, but find him for me!”
