“Ha! What an excellent ‘I cannot disclose it’! What an excellent ‘the imperial harem must not interfere in government’! If you truly were merely an official of the court, would I be questioning you like this? Tell me, which court official speaks before His Majesty without calling himself ‘this minister’? Even the humblest and most respectful official need go no further than ‘this lowly minister.’ Yet you called yourself ‘this servant.’ Was that not unnecessary? There is only one explanation left. When His Majesty seized the throne, his plans may have been meticulous and nearly flawless, but countless extraordinary people must also have assisted him in secret before he could accomplish it. I imagine you were one of them. You serve His Majesty alone, eliminating his enemies in secret and handling matters that cannot conveniently be displayed in public. If that is what you are, then how does asking you about them amount to interfering in government?” Nalan Xuan’s voice was severe, his dark eyes gleaming coldly.
Nalan Xuan’s relentless pressure secretly alarmed Xuan Guang. Sweat gathered in his palms, and even the certainty in his gaze began to waver. Nalan Xuan’s deductions were almost entirely correct, yet Xuan Guang did not possess the authority to confirm or deny them.
As though recognizing his difficulty, Nalan Xuan suddenly showed him great “mercy.” “I won’t make things difficult for you.” He crouched again with an amiable expression and reached inside his robes, drawing out an old, worn sachet that looked completely out of place on someone who now held the rank of Imperial Noble Lord. “Does my lord recognize this?” His tone was as casual as ordinary conversation, but his gaze was sharp as a blade and never left Xuan Guang’s face. He watched with satisfaction as Xuan Guang shuddered involuntarily the instant he saw the sachet. “It seems my lord not only recognizes it, but knows it very well.”
“Let me think about what this object signifies.” Nalan Xuan tilted his head thoughtfully while continuing to swing the sachet from one hand. The tassel at its bottom swayed lazily between them, innocent and casual, yet to Xuan Guang it seemed to hang directly over his heart. His entire body went rigid. Though accustomed to death and betrayal, he broke out in cold sweat beneath the invisible pressure and dared not move. “Half a year ago, Western Rong invaded Hua’s northwestern frontier, and the border war became critical. The late emperor dispatched troops to suppress the invasion, and I was appointed to lead the campaign. I remember someone suggesting that, as the commanding general, I ought to take greater care with my own safety, so a personal guard was selected for me from the army. On one occasion, local residents brought the troops handmade sachets containing protective talismans they had obtained from a temple, praying that our army would win its first battle and return home victorious. Every soldier received one. So tell me, my lord: where is your sachet now?”
Xuan Guang said nothing, but to Nalan Xuan, that silence was the best answer he could have given.
“Then perhaps I should ask a different question. Does my lord know where I found this sachet?” Nalan Xuan asked lightly.
“Th-this minister… does not know…” By now, Xuan Guang did not even dare raise his head, much less meet Nalan Xuan’s eyes.
“You don’t know?” Nalan Xuan chuckled. “Do you truly not know, or do you simply refuse to tell me?” He stopped swinging the sachet and examined it carefully in his palm. “My lord refuses to speak honestly with me, but considering that, whatever your original purpose, you did once protect me, I would very much like to tell you.”
“Two months ago, there was an assassination attempt inside the palace that caused an enormous uproar. His Majesty even executed members of the Meng clan and implicated the entire family because of it. Yet I have always found something strange. Consort Shu may have been arrogant and overbearing, but she was the kind of person who fought openly for whatever she wanted. Her tongue was vicious and she made plenty of enemies inside the palace, but she was not particularly calculating; she knew only how to answer force with force and aggression with aggression. Why would someone like that suddenly plot rebellion for the sake of power? Even if Duke Meng had planned the rebellion long in advance, given that Consort Shu’s feelings for His Majesty never weakened even before her death, she would probably have been the first person to try to stop him.”
“And even if we take ten thousand steps backward and assume that Duke Meng really did conspire with Consort Shu to rebel, why was the assassination target not His Majesty, but me? One might argue that His Majesty favored me and frequently came to my palace, but that particular night His Majesty was staying with Noble Attendant Liu in Yonghe Palace. His Majesty’s summons to the bedchamber would have been announced throughout the palace earlier that day. At a moment when life and death depended upon the plan succeeding, are we really supposed to believe Consort Shu somehow did not know this, causing the scheme to fail, the truth to come out, and her entire clan to be implicated? That oversight would be far too enormous and the explanation far too forced, wouldn’t you agree, my lord?”
Xuan Guang continued to say nothing, but by now whether he answered or remained silent made no difference whatsoever to Nalan Xuan.
“So I thought about it day and night and could never understand why any of it happened. Fortunately, although the assassin was skilled, I did not come away completely empty-handed. This little object was the finest gift that man left me.” Nalan Xuan once again caught the cord at the top and gave it a shake. The sachet swung helplessly between them while Xuan Guang felt as though it were his own heart trembling there, his own throat caught between Nalan Xuan’s fingers. His body stiffened and his breathing became uneven. “At the time, I still did not understand what it meant. More than that, I did not want to believe that the man who came to assassinate me and tried to kill me was a subordinate who had once lived beside me day and night, shared danger with me, and received nothing but sincerity from me!”
“A sachet alone proves nothing. Just as Imperial Noble Lord said yourself, there was not only one of them. Every soldier who took part in that campaign received one, including Imperial Noble Lord. How can you be certain that this belonged to this minister? Another soldier from the campaign might have been bribed by Duke Meng and entered the palace to carry out the assassination. And given how dangerous and chaotic the situation must have been, it is equally possible that Imperial Noble Lord dropped your own sachet while struggling to defend yourself.”
Rather than becoming angry, Nalan Xuan smiled. Xuan Guang’s attempt to defend himself seemed to please him even more than a confession would have. A triumphant yet icy smile spread across Nalan Xuan’s beautiful face. “My lord supposedly was not there. Even His Majesty, who was the first person to hurry to the scene, did not know precisely what happened during the attack. So how does my lord know so much? You speak as though you personally saw and experienced it, even knowing that I fought back instead of allowing myself to be captured without resistance. I certainly do not remember ever telling my lord those details.”
The rebuttal had turned into the strongest evidence against him. Under Nalan Xuan’s relentless pressure, Xuan Guang’s wavering composure finally manifested in a sudden stiffening of his body. His voice no longer carried the confidence it had before, yet he still struggled to hold on. “This minister… this minister was only guessing. Imperial Noble Lord was never pampered and sheltered like an ordinary palace consort. Imperial Noble Lord possesses considerable martial skill. In such an urgent situation, you naturally… naturally would have—”
“Keep making it up! Let me see how much longer you can keep inventing excuses!” Nalan Xuan abruptly stood, his back perfectly straight and his fury finally breaking free. “I know that I treated you well back then. Now that everything has already been exposed, all I wanted was one honest answer from you, yet you still twist and evade every question. What loyalty you truly have!”
Xuan Guang could only fall silent, his normally coffin-like face almost folding in on itself with distress.
“If you refuse to say it, then I will say it for you! The man who came to assassinate me that day was none other than you, Xuan Guang. And the person who sent you was not Duke Meng, but His Majesty. Your purpose was to eliminate me—to make certain I died. Duke Meng was nothing more than the scapegoat forced to carry the accusation because I happened to survive!”