“It was clearly an enormously happy occasion, yet it came about rather strangely. He Yilan and the Fifth Prince had never even met, but not long ago she suddenly declared out of nowhere that she had fallen in love with him and would marry no one else. The court officials aren’t blind. The title of Fifth Prince may sound splendid and place him above ordinary men, but only he himself knows where he truly stands among all the imperial princes. His second elder brother, the Crown Prince, stands above him. And although the Fifth Prince is legitimate-born, the empress already has her eldest legitimate son, Prince Yi. Forgive the disrespect, but no matter how the imperial throne is passed around, it should never reach him. Yet judging by Lord He’s expectations for his precious daughter, his sights were clearly set on the position of empress. After this little disturbance, the best she can ever become now is an imperial consort. You should have seen how frantic Lord He was recently. He was practically one step away from finding a priest to brainwash the girl.”
Nalan Zhen spoke with great enthusiasm while continuing to observe Nalan Xuan’s reactions. Unfortunately, Nalan Xuan might as well have been a block of elm wood. No matter how Nalan Zhen prodded, he received no reaction. Finally, having thoroughly bored himself, Nalan Zhen continued resentfully, “But that girl is certainly fierce. Without crying or making a scene, she simply told her father straight out: either let her marry the Fifth Prince or let her die to prove her resolve. How could He Liangyu possibly gamble on that? There’s certainly a gap between what he wanted and what he got, but at least she’ll still be tied to the imperial family and have someone to depend upon. A living daughter is worth more than a dead one, so he had no choice but to agree. Still, I’m curious. What in the world got into that little girl that she’d risk her life to marry someone she had supposedly never met?”
“Never met?” Nalan Xuan laughed. “Wasn’t it already explained? At that palace banquet, she saw him from afar, fell in love at first sight, and buried those feelings deep in her heart. If even Eldest Young Master cannot understand such a thing, how would someone like me, who never leaves the residence, possibly know?”
“Never leaves the residence?” Nalan Zhen laughed without the slightest courtesy. “Second Young Master is remarkably well-informed for someone who never goes anywhere. Luckily you stay inside. If you wandered around the imperial capital more often, I’m afraid you might overturn the heavens themselves.” With a sweep of his sleeve, he set down the wine jar. “Since Second Young Master is devoted to cultivating himself in seclusion and never leaving the residence, I won’t disturb you any longer. I’ll be going. But I still have to give you one final warning.” He lowered his voice and leaned closer. “I don’t know what exactly you’re plotting, but you’d better understand exactly what you’re doing. Don’t end up throwing yourself into the scheme as well. That would be a truly disastrous loss.”
Nalan Xuan watched Nalan Zhen’s departing figure disappear from sight, then glanced at the intensely fragrant Huadiao wine. Not throw myself into it… If I don’t put myself into the game, how can I control it? If I don’t put myself into it, how can I get what I want? You don’t catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger’s den. All I can say is that your lives were never meant to end. He has always protected you…
His expression turned pensive, and a flash of icy killing intent passed through his eyes.
Some believed the Crown Prince, whose succession appeared perfectly legitimate, would inherit the throne. Others favored the formidable Prince Yi, the empress’s eldest legitimate son, whose faction was advancing aggressively. Yet Nalan Xuan remained convinced that both men were merely clowns on the present stage, distractions meant to confuse everyone’s vision, brief flashes of splendor destined to vanish almost as soon as they appeared. The true protagonist, the future emperor, was the Fifth Prince, Prince Rong—the man who never behaved properly and spent every day looking carefree and unserious. Nalan Xuan had never had the opportunity to spend much time with him, yet he could roughly grasp the thoughts of every other prince. Their intentions could not escape his eyes. Only the Fifth Prince, who smiled at everyone as though he were completely thoughtless and cared about nothing in the world, seemed hidden behind layer upon layer of fog. No matter how Nalan Xuan tried, he could never peel away every layer of disguise, could never see what Feng Xuanyi truly thought or guess what lay within his mind. A man who accumulated strength in silence and buried his thoughts so deeply inevitably carried a dangerous seed within him—a seed of obsessive ruthlessness capable of destroying everything, even if it meant perishing along with it all. Just like Nalan Xuan himself. Only Feng Xuanyi was worthy of standing opposite him in a true contest, and only Feng Xuanyi possessed the ambition, depth, and cruelty required of an emperor.
So when a tearful He Yilan had asked Nalan Xuan which prince might one day ascend the throne and give her the freedom she wanted, Nalan Xuan had answered without hesitation: the Fifth Prince, Feng Xuanyi.
He could still clearly remember the shock and disbelief that appeared on He Yilan’s face at that moment, as though she had heard the greatest joke in the world. Her reaction had nearly shaken the illusion of profound love he had so carefully woven around her, so all Nalan Xuan could do at the time was keep telling her, “Trust me.”
Perhaps he had still felt uncertain before, still wondered whether his judgment might be wrong or whether he might lose the entire game by miscalculating a single move. But when Nalan Xuan learned that even after gaining the support of Left Chancellor He Liangyu, whose influence dominated the court, Feng Xuanyi continued spending his days drinking and enjoying himself without the slightest sign of forming his own faction through He Liangyu’s power or preparing to compete with Prince Yi and the Crown Prince, Nalan Xuan became completely certain. After Emperor Huawen, who else could possibly take the throne but him?!
And Princess Consort Rong, who had caused an uproar throughout the capital in order to fulfill her “wish” of marrying into Prince Rong’s residence, was nothing less than a nail Nalan Xuan had planted deeply beside the future emperor.
Achievements so great that they alarmed the ruler—every dynasty and every emperor eventually encountered the same problem. Whether in times of peace or war, although Emperor Huawen still said nothing openly, he had ceased indulging Nalan Jian as freely as before and had even begun cautiously curtailing his military authority. Nalan Xuan knew that if even Emperor Huawen could not calmly accept the entirety of his father’s accomplishments, then the next emperor would probably be eager to remove him altogether. And Nalan Xuan had never believed the Fifth Prince to be a benevolent or forgiving master. If necessity demanded it, Feng Xuanyi might cut down even his own blood brothers without so much as blinking.
Nalan Xuan had once believed that was exactly the outcome he most wanted to see. More than once, lying awake at night, he had imagined that if he ever held power, the first people he would take revenge upon would be the Nalan clan who had confined him at every turn and stripped everything from him. He had envisioned countless methods of making them suffer lives worse than death. Yet he could not refuse to fulfill that person’s wish—the wish of the only person who had ever given him warmth, the person who had left him nothing but a pond filled with blood-red hibiscus before disappearing forever from his sight:
May Nalan Jian live a life of peace and health, may everything go smoothly for him, and may every person in the residence remain safe and enjoy a lifetime of wealth and honor.
If he could endure for so many years for my sake, then for his sake, I can make concessions too!
And the only way to protect everyone in the residence and fulfill that wish happened to coincide perfectly with Nalan Xuan’s original plan: power, and power that only one particular person could give him.
“Have you truly thought this through?” Marquis Dingbei, Nalan Jian, who rarely entered the side courtyard, sat in the seat of honor inside the room with a grave expression. His brows were knitted so tightly they looked capable of crushing a fly between them.
Whether I want this or not doesn’t matter. To gain something, something else must be lost. That is only fair. So if I want power, I have no choice but to stake everything on one attempt. Nalan Xuan’s plan was actually very simple. First, he had to leave Marquis Dingbei’s residence. Then he had to find a way into Prince Rong’s residence, because only then would he have an opportunity to approach this future emperor. Any ordinary disguise would be meaningless. From the moment he recognized how unfathomable Feng Xuanyi truly was, Nalan Xuan had never imagined any lie could deceive those eyes. If he wanted his plan to succeed, if he wanted to deceive Feng Xuanyi, he would first have to deceive himself. That left only one possible method—amnesia.
If even I don’t know who I am, then how could anyone else possibly find the clues?