In the Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager was trimming freshly picked flowers with golden scissors, carefully pruning the stems before arranging them in a peacock-blue vase.
The lush summer lotus flowers complemented her alabaster hands. Her fingertips, painted a vibrant red, matched the color of her lipstick perfectly.
Though the Empress Dowager was in her fifties, her natural beauty and meticulous upkeep made her appear no older than forty. Her regal poise, sharp gaze, and fine wrinkles around her eyes and lips added a dignified allure only time could bestow.
Emperor Jinglong entered the hall as palace maids and eunuchs knelt in obeisance. He bowed and greeted her, “Paying respects to Royal Motherr.”
“Rise,” she said without lifting her head. “What brings the Emperor here so soon after court?”
The Emperor signaled for the attendants to leave. Once alone, he produced a memorandum from his sleeve and handed it to her. “I’ve come to report on a case.”
The Empress Dowager sneered, “The harem does not meddle in politics. No matter how significant the case, the Emperor can decide on his own. Why bring it up with me?”
The Emperor insisted, “Royal Mother, please read the memorial first.”
The Empress Dowager had no choice but to set aside her flowers and golden scissors. She took the memorial and motioned for the Emperor to sit with her on the Luohan couch. With only the two of them in the hall, she relaxed her posture, reclining slightly and resting her elbow on the small table as she scanned the densely packed characters.
As she read, her expression darkened, and her long thumbnail pierced a hole through the edge of the paper.
She closed the memorial, took a deep breath to steady her emotions, and asked, “This is a case handled by the Northern Surveillance Bureau. I know their methods well. Tell me honestly, Emperor—how much of this is true, and how much is fabricated?”
The Emperor met her gaze firmly and replied, “The case of Lingguang Temple is entirely true, without a shred of falsehood. The evidence is conclusive—every meditation room had secret passageways. The lamp oil was examined by imperial physicians and found to contain sedatives. Pills were also discovered on the women who stayed overnight. The monks confessed everything. Ever since Ji Yao became the abbot, he built his reputation as a ‘living Buddha’ and committed numerous atrocities of this nature. His sins are beyond measure.”
The Empress Dowager was silent for a moment before coldly stating, “If that’s the case, then kill them all.”
“Ji Yao’s death is well-deserved, but one life cannot atone for all the harm he caused,” the Emperor said gravely. “Royal Mother, do you know that after this case was exposed, more than thirty women in the capital hanged themselves? Among them were commoners and officials’ wives. On a single night, nearly a hundred infant corpses floated down the Tonghui River in the eastern part of the city.”
The Empress Dowager appeared momentarily stunned, her face stiffening before she let out a long sigh.
The revelation of the truth behind the so-called “Luohan Bestowing Children” led to dire consequences. Some of the victimized women were forgiven by their families, but many were immediately cast out or chose to end their lives in despair. The babies born after visits to Lingguang Temple faced even grimmer fates—many were abandoned or drowned.
The official responsible for managing the aftermath, the Prefect of Ying Tianfu, reported these incidents to the court and requested guidance. The Emperor ordered the gold and silver confiscated from Lingguang Temple to be allocated to the capital’s orphanage to care for the abandoned infants. He also issued a public decree prohibiting infanticide, which eventually curbed the tragedy.
The case caused widespread repercussions, shaking public trust not only in Buddhism and Taoism but also in smaller sects within the capital.
Taking advantage of this turmoil, Yu Wang submitted a memorial requesting the demolition of thirteen temples and Taoist monasteries, including Lingguang Temple. He proposed revoking over a thousand monk and Taoist priest certifications, returning them to secular life, and redistributing the land previously designated for religious use back to the people.
The five Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet debated fiercely over this proposal, with three in favor and two against. After careful consideration, the Emperor approved it.
This move significantly altered perceptions of Yu Wang among officials and the public. His popularity surged, although he earned the ire of religious figures and their followers. Many Taoist priests began spreading rumors, claiming that Yu Wang’s actions offended the gods and that they would petition the heavens to strike him down with divine lightning.
When Yu Wang heard this, he laughed heartily and declared, “Let them summon the heavens! I welcome the lightning. If none comes, I won’t mind playing Ximen Bao and sending them to the celestial court myself.”
But that was a story for another time. For now, Yu Wang was resting in a lakeside pavilion outside Cining Hall. Having heard that the Emperor was inside paying his respects, he decided not to intrude.
Inside the hall, the Emperor, seeing the Empress Dowager’s troubled expression, suddenly remarked, “Royal Mother, do you recall the poem you composed during your birthday banquet shortly after I ascended the throne? It was about your favorite variety of qionghua flowers—‘Gathering Eight Immortals.’ You wrote: ‘Pure white, without a trace of flaw, decreed by the Jade Emperor as a gift for the royal family. The flower god dare not split it lightly; there should be no second of its kind under heaven.’”
“After the poem, none dared to privately cultivate the flower. Officials from Southern Zhili, Huguang, and other regions uprooted the plants, transporting them to the capital at great expense to please you. The hills were soon covered in these flowers, but they withered the following year, unaccustomed to the capital’s soil and climate. Now, the ‘Gathering Eight Immortals’ variety has vanished entirely from its place of origin.”
The Empress Dowager’s voice turned sharp. “Whatever you’re trying to say, Emperor, speak plainly.”
The Emperor replied gently, “It is easy for those in power to bestow favor but difficult to truly nurture and protect. To discipline oneself is harder than to indulge. Royal Mother, as the most esteemed woman in the land and the mother of millions, you ought to lead by example.”
“Lead by example?” The Empress Dowager slapped the table. “Are you implying that my favor toward Ji Yao enabled his abuses and led to the suffering of the people?”
The Emperor bowed deeply. “I dare not.”
The Empress Dowager let out a cold laugh. “You are a fine emperor—a fine son raised by my own hands. But how is it that my good son doesn’t understand his mother’s heart?”
The Emperor wished to speak further, but the Empress Dowager raised her tea, signaling the end of the conversation. “Go back. I’m tired and need to rest.”
The Emperor had no choice but to rise and take his leave, tucking the memorial back into his sleeve. He placed a bundle on the table before departing. “This is an item once lost in Cining Hall. I happened to recover it and hope Royal Mother will store it properly.”
After he left, the Empress Dowager unwrapped the bundle and froze at the sight of the jade pillow. It had once been on her bed, but Ji Yao had persistently requested it as a keepsake. She had refused, deeming it inappropriate. However, Ji Yao, emboldened by her favor, had stolen it anyway. She had discovered the theft later and reprimanded him lightly, without insisting he return it.
Now, due to Ji Yao’s downfall, the jade pillow had found its way into the Emperor’s hands.
Overcome with humiliation, the Empress Dowager’s face turned pale, then flushed. She grabbed the jade pillow and hurled it to the ground, shattering its stringed beads and jade fragments, which scattered across the floor.
Her chief palace maid, Qiong Gu, rushed in at the commotion and pleaded, “Your Majesty, please calm yourself and preserve your health.”
The Empress Dowager panted heavily before gritting her teeth. “The Emperor has made his point! I will prepare a return gift for him. Deliver it to him immediately.”
—
Emperor Jinglong stepped out of the Cining Palace and stood in the corridor for a while, letting out a silent sigh. Just as he was about to return to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he caught sight of a familiar figure in the pavilion near the lotus pond. Waving away his attendants, he walked toward it.
Yu Wang was gazing at the gracefully standing green lotuses on the water, lost in thought. Hearing footsteps approaching, he turned and greeted, “I pay respects to Royal Brother.”
The emperor replied, “Your martial skills haven’t dulled a bit. I, on the other hand, am far from my prime.”
Yu Wang chuckled. “Your Majesty flatters me. You are burdened with state affairs, while I merely indulge in pleasure. If either of us has neglected practice, surely I’m the greater culprit.”
Emperor Jinglong shook his head with a smile. “Enough with your false modesty. I know you’ve been handling things well lately. If you keep it up, I won’t accuse you of being idle and reckless anymore.”
Yu Wang’s smile faded as he stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Did Your Majesty just come from the Empress Dowager’s quarters? Was it regarding the matter of Ji Yao? How did she respond?”
The emperor’s expression turned serious, and his brows furrowed. “Her response… was complicated. She showed no reaction to Ji Yao’s death, but when I gently tried to reason with her, she flew into a rage.”
“Ji Yao was despicable. Once the truth was laid bare, Royal Mother naturally wouldn’t favor him anymore. I’ve said before, he was nothing but a toy to her—a way to pass the time. Your Majesty needn’t take it to heart.” Yu Wang deliberately scrutinized his brother, clicking his tongue as he said, “Besides, when has Royal Mother ever truly lost her temper with you? She’s always taken it out on me. Last time, when I slapped Ji Yao in front of her, she threw her rouge box at me. Look—here—it left quite the bruise.”
He leaned in to show the emperor his temple. The emperor pushed his face aside, mocking, “Nonsense. If even a crossbow can’t hit you, how could a rouge box?”
“Though she scolds you more often since young, Royal Mother has always been partial to you—I know that.” The emperor raised a hand to stop Yu Wang’s retort and continued, “What worries me now, you already understand. At this moment, we’re not emperor and subject, just brothers. So, tell me—what should we do?”
Faced with the possibility of their widowed mother’s reputation being tarnished, the two brothers shared an unprecedented sense of unity, their feelings equally conflicted.
Yu Wang, who had always dismissed Zhu Xi’s rigid morals, pondered for a moment before saying, “It’s not as dire as it seems. Royal Mother has been a widow for nearly twenty years. The palace is a lonely place. If she used someone like Ji Yao to pass the time, as long as no more scoundrels like him appear in the future, we as her sons can turn a blind eye.”
He stopped short of voicing the rest of his thought—Just think of him as a human-shaped trinket.
The emperor frowned. “I’m not insisting on extreme chastity from her, but as the Empress Dowager, she should at least consider her own dignity, my reputation as emperor, and the negative influence on both the court and the palace. Ji Yao is dead, but if another like him appears, and I’m forced to root out such filth again, it will inevitably strain the bond between mother and sons.”
Yu Wang was deeply conflicted. He believed that society was far more lenient toward men than women—a widowed man could keep a harem of concubines and male companions without reproach, while a widow was expected to remain chaste and faithful for life. It was unfair. But this widow was his own mother. As her son, he felt torn—on one hand, he ached for her loneliness and suffering, yet on the other, he couldn’t help but feel awkward and uncomfortable.
The two brothers sat in silence when Qiong Gu, the Empress Dowager’s trusted senior palace maid, approached the pavilion carrying a birdcage covered with a cloth. She bowed in greeting.
Qiong Gu had once served in Qin Wang’s household and had cared for the brothers in their childhood. The Emperor held her in high regard and exempted her from formalities. “Whatever it is, just instruct the servants to handle it. You’re getting older, Qiong Gu, you mustn’t overexert yourself.”
Qiong Gu presented the birdcage. “Her Majesty instructed this servant to personally deliver this to Your Majesty. She said that once Your Majesty sees it, you will understand her intentions.” With that, she bowed and withdrew.
The Emperor took the cage, pulled back the cloth cover, and saw that inside the pure gold cage, the Empress Dowager’s beloved bird—a rare Paradise Bird—had become nothing more than a lifeless mass of dazzling feathers.
This bird came from a distant foreign land, brought over by seafaring merchants from the Western regions as tribute to the Empress Dowager. It was one of a kind. Its plumage was brilliant, its song melodious, and legend had it that this species resided in the heavenly paradise, feeding on divine nectar—hence its name, the Paradise Bird.
The Empress Dowager had adored the bird and ordered her attendants to care for it meticulously, never allowing the slightest neglect. The Emperor had once teased, “If I had a younger brother, Royal Mother wouldn’t love him as much as she loves this bird.”
And yet, now, this Paradise Bird was nothing but a corpse.
Yu Wang opened the cage door, reached inside, and picked up the dead bird. After inspecting it, he said, “It’s still warm—only recently killed. All its bones are crushed, and its internal organs were forced out through its beak… It was strangled to death.”
Suddenly, he let out a light chuckle. “Elder Brother, what do you suppose Royal Mother means by this?”
The Emperor stared at the bird’s corpse. A cold unease crept into his heart, yet his expression remained calm and unruffled. “Royal Mother wants to tell me that no matter how much she cherishes something, it is still just a thing. If I try to impose my will on her—try to make her remain chaste and restrain herself—then she would rather destroy that ‘thing’ with her own hands than let it become a wedge between mother and son.”
From the moment he heard the Emperor’s footsteps until now, Yu Wang had been suppressing his emotions, striving to appear compliant, gentle, and affectionate. But at this very moment, with the Emperor’s final words, a single phrase ignited an uncontrollable fury within him—
Chaste and restrained? Who has the right to speak such words? You certainly don’t!
Yes, their Royal mother had kept a lover. Perhaps she wasn’t particularly invested in him, perhaps he was just a plaything. But at least she never hid behind false pretenses. She never said one thing while doing another. She never claimed to cherish and support talent while secretly drugging people with aphrodisiacs and dragging them into bed!
The rage in Yu Wang’s chest burned so hot it felt like his blood had turned into a poisonous miasma, ready to spew forth. He wanted to tear apart the Emperor’s façade of righteousness and declare to his face:
That secret, forbidden pet you try so hard to keep hidden? He’s already mine! What will you do now? Lock me away in Fengyang’s high walls?
He had originally planned to let the Emperor witness, with his own eyes, the moment he embraced his prize. His feelings weren’t entirely those of enmity—rather, it was like a younger brother throwing a tantrum, deliberately provoking his elder brother with a childish yet brazen declaration:
I know you can’t do anything to me. I’m taking back what’s mine—just to drive you mad.
But the bird’s corpse, like a sudden chime of a bell or a heavy blow to the head, delivered a sharp warning to him.
For the past decade, he had repeatedly provoked imperial authority—skipping court sessions, disregarding formalities, coming and going as he pleased. His outward demeanor was one of indifference and ease, but in truth, he was defiant and unruly. Though the Emperor often rebuked him, he had never faced real punishment.
As a prince stripped of military power, what right did he have to push boundaries? His privileges stemmed only from the Emperor’s guilt and sense of compensation after taking everything from him—a fact he loathed to admit but could not deny. He was like a tree severed from its roots, leaning against the mountain for support. A single tremor in the rock would send him tumbling to the ground.
What made him think that if he truly challenged the Emperor’s interests or dignity, Zhu Jintang would still care about their shared bloodline? After all, the phrase “the imperial family is the most heartless” wasn’t coined without reason.
Clutching the bird’s corpse, which was growing colder and stiffer in his palm, the fire in Yu Wang’s heart gradually extinguished, hardening into ice.
He gazed at Emperor Jinglong’s pensive profile and, amidst his despair, a faint glimmer of hope and impulsiveness emerged. Suddenly, he spoke:
“Royal Mother’s so-called ‘beloved’ is nothing more than a plaything, cherished during moments of loneliness but easily discarded when necessary. But I am not like that. What I cherish, once I’ve set my heart on it, I will fight for it and never let it go.”
The Emperor started slightly, furrowing his brow as if he had instantly understood the meaning behind his words. His face darkened. “I know who you’re talking about. I’ve warned you time and time again not to covet him. Why are you still so obstinate?”
Yu Wang clenched his fists, mustering all his strength to force out a plea: “If I only want him—Royal Brother, could you… not compete with me for him?”
The Emperor’s expression remained calm, but his gaze turned icy. “Zhu Xujing, have you forgotten the maxim: ‘Under heaven, all lands belong to the Emperor; within the seas, all people are his subjects’? Even uttering the word ‘compete’ is a grave act of disrespect. As a royal member, your words and actions should conform to propriety. Such reckless speech is unacceptable.”
Yu Wang forced a bitter smile. “It was wrong of me. I beg my Royal brother’s forgiveness.”
The Emperor took the bird’s corpse from his palm and tossed it back into the cage. “A bird does not speak or feel. It can be bought, sold, or stolen without awareness. But a person is different.
“Xujing, remember this well: If the one I cherish were merely a bird, I would open the cage and set it free. But I would also cut down any hand—be it holding a bow, an arrow, or a net—that tried to harm or capture it, no matter the intent. Whether that hand sought to wound it or claim it for itself, I would destroy it, even if it were yours.”
With that final statement, the Emperor walked away, leaving Yu Wang staring at his golden dragon-robed figure, feeling utterly chilled to the bone.
For the sake of the throne and the stability of the realm, his Royal brother had sacrificed his own desires, aspirations, and freedom. No matter how much resentment or bitterness he harbored, he endured it all—for ten years, he had never once crossed the boundaries set by the Emperor. After the Treaty of the Border Stone, he had not stepped a single foot outside the capital.
This was his first and only plea to his Royal brother—not even a request for a gift, but merely for the freedom to pursue someone without interference. Yet all he received in return was the cold indifference of an Emperor who didn’t deign to care.
—Was it true, then, that only as the supreme ruler could one escape the indignity of being constantly controlled, and finally possess the freedom to pursue one’s heart’s desires?
Like a dream, Yu Wang suddenly recalled a remark he had made to Ye Donglou in the secluded forest pavilion during the Dragon Boat Festival:
“In this world, no one can have all the good things at once—control over the wind, the rain, and everything else. Except—”
At the time, he hadn’t finished the thought, as the idea was faint and far-off, a fleeting notion in his mind. But now, it came to him with striking clarity:
“Except for the true son of heaven. Only the Emperor can fulfill his every wish.”
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