For such an ominous disturbance to erupt in broad daylight, before the entire capital’s common people and civil and military officials, was practically Heaven itself announcing:
Longsha is finished.
The whole city seemed thick with the oppressive stillness before a storm.
The King had been rescued in time by Yugong Zhaoye and fortunately suffered no injury, but the fright was too much for him. The moment he returned to the palace, he fell ill.
Yugong Lie appeared to have been frightened completely out of his wits. Trembling with fear, he locked himself inside his bedchamber and refused to see even his ministers. He would not summon the Royal Physicians either.
Instead, he issued orders only through his trusted eunuch Tian Qing: the Royal Army was to strengthen palace defenses, the Capital Security Bureau was to place the entire city under martial law, and the Purple Empyrean Court was to investigate who was behind all this deliberate mystification.
“This cannot continue! Everyone is terrified. That children’s rhyme is being sung everywhere, and some people claim they’ve seen black shadows wandering outside the palace gates at night. Rumors are spreading among the common people that a plague demon is causing trouble. If the King hides away and refuses to show himself now, won’t that merely confirm the rumors?”
Inside the Eastern Pavilion, Fuyu Wei frowned slightly and answered with obvious impatience, “What rumors? Nothing but gossip. The Purple Empyrean Court and Capital Security Bureau are already investigating. Once they uncover the truth, right and wrong will naturally become clear. For now, it would be best not to throw ourselves into disorder.”
Wei Fu had only just left, and the Cabinet’s new Chief Chancellor had not yet been selected. For the moment, senior ministers such as Fuyu Wei and Duanyang Shuchang were jointly presiding over state affairs.
They had expected a smooth handover.
Instead, they were not even given enough time to catch their breath before an enormous black pot of blame skimmed past the tip of Wei Fu’s tail and came crashing down over the heads of all these esteemed ministers.
Fuyu Wei appeared perfectly calm.
In reality, he had been so worried that for three days he had not even found time to eat his little pastries.
Had one final thread of reason not remained, he would already have sent riders racing out of the city to drag Wei Fu back.
In the past, Wei Fu had stood above them.
When the King proved unreliable, the Chief Chancellor had still been there to hold the fort, and nothing had ever gone seriously wrong.
Now no one restrained the Cabinet.
Every minister had his own ideas.
They sat in the Eastern Pavilion arguing day after day, yet not one of them could persuade the others.
“Rumors kill without drawing blood. I’m worried they’ll provoke unrest. If something truly happens, we should at least be prepared.”
Duanyang Shuchang lowered his voice.
“Besides, rumors don’t necessarily arise without cause. The King refuses to summon the Royal Physicians and trusts only Wuchuan Jie of the Royal Medical Academy. Every one of his medical records was written by Wuchuan Jie alone. Isn’t it obvious that something is wrong?”
“When nothing had happened, perhaps we could muddle through and pretend otherwise. But now the flames have reached our eyebrows. Are we still supposed to act as though nothing is happening and let the King do whatever he pleases?”
Fuyu Wei was irritated by his nagging and set his teacup down heavily.
“Lord Duanyang, it isn’t that I want to criticize you, but who has never fallen ill? Yet you’re the only one jumping up and down in panic, insisting every other sentence that ‘something is wrong.’ What exactly is this? Are you hoping something happens to the King so everything will go your way?”
Crack!
Duanyang Shuchang slapped the table.
His brows shot upward as he glared at Fuyu Wei.
“Then answer me this! If nothing is wrong with the King, why would rumors like these suddenly appear? If he doesn’t suffer from some shameful illness, why is the Royal Medical Academy not even allowed to see him?”
“Those afflicted by a Heaven-sent illness may not enter the ancestral temple. This has been the rule since ancient times!”
“Am I the one whose thinking has gone crooked, Lord Fuyu—or are your loyalties the ones that have gone crooked?”
“If the sovereign truly suffers from a malignant disease, what will all of you do then?!”
His voice thundered through the quiet side hall.
“I advise all of you to stop pretending nothing is wrong and weigh this matter properly in your hearts!”
The final question reverberated through the Eastern Pavilion.
The Cabinet ministers silently exchanged glances.
Duanyang Shuchang had shouted until both face and neck were red. He dropped heavily back into his chair and panted.
The prophetic rhyme was not particularly profound.
Precisely because it was so simple, however, it felt especially sinister.
A crow announcing the dawn had to cry out—ming—and therefore the crow corresponded to Yugong Ming.
A gecko was a four-legged snake, and represented King Yugong Lie.
Remove the water radical from 没 (mei, “to disappear”), and 殳 remains.
Turn 飞 (fei, “to fly”) upside down, and its shape resembles the sickness radical 疒.
Placed together, the components form 疫: epidemic or pestilence.
And when “great wind” was joined with disease, it pointed toward the physicians’ term lifeng—the terrifying malignant disease known as leprosy.
Elio’s Notes: The nursery rhyme is a character puzzle rather than a straightforward sentence. Its “mei loses water, fei turns upside down” portion instructs the listener how to manipulate the written characters 没 and 飞 to produce 疫, “epidemic.” The surrounding imagery then points toward 疠风, an old medical term associated with leprosy.
A leper was inauspicious.
The crow drove him away.
The gecko had no choice but to sever its tail in order to survive.
The flock of crows attacking the royal carriage that day aligned perfectly with the prophecy.
Duanyang Shuchang was Yugong Ming’s maternal grandfather, so naturally, he shouted the loudest and made the greatest fuss.
Once it was proven that the King suffered from leprosy, ancestral law would stand above him while pressure from court and populace crushed down from all sides.
Yugong Lie would have no alternative but to allow his younger brother Yugong Ming to succeed him as King.
Truthfully, Fuyu Wei himself was uncertain whether Yugong Lie really was ill.
But Fuyu Wei had been Yugong Lie’s teacher and a minister entrusted with him by the late King. His feelings for Yugong Lie naturally ran much deeper than those for Yugong Ming, whom he had not seen in seven or eight years.
Moreover, Fuyu Wei now occupied a central position in government.
The last thing he wanted was a change of sovereign that allowed Duanyang Shuchang to climb over his head.
The rumors could not have appeared from nowhere.
Someone was undoubtedly stirring trouble from the shadows.
Once Yugong Lie was forced to come forward and prove his innocence, who knew what other methods they might have prepared?
When the moment came, even if it was not leprosy, they might find some way to insist that it was.
Then there would be no way to reverse the situation.
Therefore, no matter how Duanyang Shuchang agitated, Fuyu Wei had to insist that the rumors were untrustworthy.
He could not yield even one step.
Fuyu Wei raised his brows and glanced coldly at Duanyang Shuchang.
“Then what do you want? Drag the King out of the palace and have physicians examine him in public?”
“You certainly understand ‘the rules.’ Is recklessly discussing your sovereign and plotting rebellion against your superior the proper conduct of a minister?”
“When a sovereign fails to occupy his position properly, a minister has a duty to remonstrate!”
Duanyang Shuchang retorted.
“Do you think slapping the charge of ‘rebellion against one’s superior’ over my head will silence the endless mouths beneath heaven?!”
“Then write a memorial. Submit a petition. Follow the proper route of remonstrance.”
Fuyu Wei waved impatiently.
“Civil officials die remonstrating; military officials die in battle. If that still isn’t enough, go find yourself a pillar and smash your head against it…”
“Fuyu Wei!”
Duanyang Shuchang shot to his feet.
“Stop twisting logic with me! You reject this and reject that—you’re simply stalling for the King!”
“Paper cannot contain fire, and no wall in this world keeps out every breath of wind. Are you going to chill the hearts of everyone beneath heaven for the sake of your own selfish interests?!”
Fuyu Wei threw down his cup.
“You deathless old rebel! You treacherous minister! Matters of the royal family aren’t yours to decide by overstepping your place!”
Duanyang Shuchang’s hair practically stood on end.
He surged forward to hit him.
The other ministers hurriedly grabbed both men from every side.
“Lord Duanyang!”
“Calm down! We can discuss this properly!”
“You were both carried away and spoke too quickly—don’t damage the harmony between you!”
For a time, the Eastern Pavilion dissolved into complete chaos, with chickens flying and dogs leaping and people stumbling into one another as though they were standing in a marketplace.
Eventually, the two men were dragged apart.
Each turned away with an angry:
“Hmph!”
Minister of Rites Ming Lin Qian looked from one to the other and cautiously offered, “The King has personally assigned the investigation of these prophetic signs to the Purple Empyrean Court. His Highness Yugong is an exceptionally capable man. Why don’t we wait patiently a little longer? Perhaps there’ll be results within a few days.”
Before Duanyang Shuchang could glare at him, Ming Lin Qian hurriedly continued:
“If we truly cannot rest easy, we can first summon the Director of the Royal Medical Academy and the Chief Eunuch for questioning. That falls within our authority.”
“Otherwise, the King has merely been recuperating for two days, yet the Cabinet is already making an enormous uproar. If word spreads, we’ll look frivolous—men of our age who still cannot keep their composure.”
Everyone hurriedly agreed.
“Both lords are equally loyal and devoted to the country. Neither is inferior to the other.”
“Now is precisely the time when we need to direct our strength toward one purpose. We ask Lord Fuyu and Lord Duanyang to put the greater situation first.”
An eunuch waiting for orders outside Donghua Pavilion quietly slipped away.
He summoned a companion and whispered several words into his ear.
The blue-robed eunuch nodded and hurried toward the inner palace.
Qianchun Hall.
The doors were tightly locked.
Light-blocking curtains covered every window, while the bed curtains were drawn so closely that not even a breath of air could pass through.
The dim lamps and candles flickered, stretching the shadows of the furniture across the pale gauze like aquatic plants drifting beneath water.
Yugong Lie wore only a single inner robe. His long hair hung disheveled, and his face was pale as he leaned against the head of the bed, so haggard and wretched that he barely resembled himself.
Tian Qing knelt upon the footstool beside the bed and reported softly:
“The servants from Donghua Pavilion sent word just now. The ministers summoned officials from the various palace departments and questioned them about Your Majesty’s food, daily routine, and usual medicines. Everyone answered according to our instructions.”
“They also ordered the Royal Medical Academy to bring over the medical records from previous years and compared them one by one with the pharmacy records. Fortunately, everything was prepared in advance and all of it matches.”
“Royal Physician Wuchuan was extremely meticulous. Your Majesty may rest assured.”
Yugong Lie laughed soundlessly.
“Once they’ve become suspicious, no matter how cleanly everything was prepared, they’ll desperately search for evidence to declare me diseased.”
“What about Royal Uncle?”
“Has he discovered who is spreading the rumors?”
A troubled expression crossed Tian Qing’s face.
“The Purple Empyrean Court has not yet sent any news. Presumably the case is complicated and will require some effort. Your Majesty…”
“Leave.”
Yugong Lie did not even have enough strength to lift a hand.
“Let me stay alone for a while.”
“Yes—yes. This servant will leave immediately.”
Tian Qing scrambled anxiously to his feet.
Catching sight of Yugong Lie’s thin, hollowed profile, his nose stung. Gathering his courage, he advised in a small voice:
“Your Majesty, you haven’t eaten all day, and you still need to take medicine. How can your stomach endure it?”
“This servant will ask the kitchen to make a bowl of noodle soup. Just one small bowl. Eat it before you sleep, alright?”
“Stop nagging.”
Yugong Lie closed his eyes.
“Get out.”
Tian Qing did not dare irritate him further and hurried away.
Not long afterward, the door opened by the narrowest crack.
He crept quietly back inside, bent at the waist, set a steaming bowl of noodle soup upon the small table beside the bed, then withdrew again on silent feet.
Only once the faint rustling had completely vanished did Yugong Lie, who had been lying with his back to the room, turn over and stare blankly at the top of the bed curtains.
The faint aroma passed through layer upon layer of gauze until almost nothing remained.
That tiny wisp brushed against the tip of his nose, appearing and disappearing like spider silk floating through a spring breeze.
Weak.
Yet distinct enough to tug at the final remnants of his reason.
Yugong Lie forced himself upright.
He pushed aside the curtains and reached toward the rain-washed sky-blue porcelain bowl beside the bed.
Bang!
A door was suddenly thrown open.
The room beyond was brightly lit.
The intruder froze upon seeing Yugong Ming sitting fully dressed beside the table, drinking tea and reading as though he had long expected a late-night visitor.
“Third Prince?”
“How bold.”
Yugong Ming’s tone was mild, carrying no real anger. It sounded almost like someone emotionlessly reciting a text.
“You enter a prince’s residence in the middle of the night without announcement. What business brings you here?”
The visitor bowed and offered his identification token.
“This junior official is Yi Huo, Secretary of the Purple Empyrean Court. By order of the Commissioner, I have come to ask the Third Prince to enter the palace with me immediately.”
Yugong Ming examined the writing on the token.
Then he suddenly asked:
“You’re one of Bihua’s people?”
Yi Huo’s expression stiffened.
Yugong Ming smiled.
“The Seven Mansions of the South are Well, Ghost, Willow, Star, Extended Net, Wings, and Chariot. Wings corresponds to Fire and the Serpent.”
“I’ve heard that aside from several trusted senior agents, the other members all use the celestial mansions as their codenames.”
He seemed intent upon displaying exactly how much he knew about Bihua.
Yi Huo had no time to chat.
He lowered his head and answered simply:
“Yes.”
Yugong Ming asked casually, “It’s already this late. The King must have retired. Why am I being summoned?”
“This subordinate was only ordered to perform the task and doesn’t know the details.”
Yi Huo glanced up, then added so quickly it was almost as though he did not want the words clearly heard:
“The Commissioner said—cough—Your Highness may come if you want. If you don’t want to, forget it. There’s no need to invite you three or four times.”
Yugong Ming: “…”
He returned the token, cleared his throat, and stood.
“Since Royal Uncle has invited me, how could I, as his junior, refuse?”
He gestured.
“Lead the way. I suppose I’ll accompany you.”
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