When the urgent report finally arrived that day, Feng Xuanzhen practically sprang from his chair. He did not even have time to change out of his court robes before mounting a horse and racing straight toward the imperial palace.
Although they had nearly turned the entire Hua Dynasty upside down in their search, Nalan Xuan seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth without leaving behind even the faintest trace. Feng Xuanzhen had spent days running himself ragged over affairs both inside and outside the palace, while Feng Xuanyi had completely washed his hands of everything. Only when Feng Xuanzhen finally had a moment to think did he realize that Xiao He, the Minister of War, had also been absent for several days. Calculating backward, the timing coincided almost perfectly with the night everything happened. In Feng Xuanzhen’s eyes, there was no such thing as coincidence beneath heaven. There were only conspiracies that had been planned long in advance.
By the time Feng Xuanzhen raced to Xiao He’s residence like a gust of wind, the people were long gone and the house stood cold and empty. Yet precisely because of that, he finally found a lead. Following one clue after another eventually brought him all the way to Xiliang. At almost the same time, the Emperor of Xiliang suddenly appointed a new Prince Nanyang and granted him a crucial frontier fief. The title had remained vacant for years, and because the territory bordered Hua and directly affected Xiliang’s security and prosperity, it had long been administered personally by the Emperor of Xiliang. No sooner had the new Prince Nanyang arrived in his fief than rumors began spreading everywhere. Of all those rumors, the one Feng Xuanzhen could least ignore concerned Prince Nanyang’s extraordinary beauty. Feng Xuanzhen had seen Nalan Xuan before. He might never have praised him aloud, but Nalan Xuan truly possessed beauty unmatched beneath heaven. Even men of noble birth like them, who had seen countless beauties throughout their lives, could not help finding him almost otherworldly—someone whose mere glance was enough to remain engraved in one’s memory forever.
If one coincidence might still be dismissed as chance, then coincidence piled upon coincidence could only become inevitability. Besides, Feng Xuanzhen had never believed in coincidence in the first place.
He did not even wait for Mo Yan to announce him. Leaping from his horse, Feng Xuanzhen rushed straight into the inner palace so quickly his feet barely seemed to touch the ground. Even he failed to notice how nervous and uncontrollably excited he had become. “Imperial Brother, there’s finally news. Perhaps—Imperial Brother?”
Feng Xuanzhen had been thinking about how he would explain everything and convince his imperial brother, only to discover that Feng Xuanyi had completely cast off the despondence of the past several days. Not only was he properly dressed, he looked as though he were preparing to leave in a hurry. Looking more closely, Feng Xuanzhen realized that Feng Xuanyi was wearing ordinary clothes rather than imperial robes, while several men Feng Xuanzhen vaguely remembered seeing before were also inside the hall.
“Imperial Brother, where are you going?” Feng Xuanzhen knew perfectly well the question was probably pointless, yet still asked despite already knowing the answer.
“Xiliang.” Feng Xuanyi had no intention of hiding it. In fact, he had received the news before Feng Xuanzhen and had already arranged everything in the shortest possible time. All he had been waiting for was Feng Xuanzhen to walk straight into the trap.
“You can’t!” Feng Xuanzhen immediately stopped him and stepped forward, grabbing hold of him. “Imperial Brother is the sovereign of an entire nation. The lives, dignity, and security of countless people throughout our dynasty rest upon you. How can you endanger yourself by entering enemy territory merely because of an unverified possibility?”
Feng Xuanyi stopped walking but paid no attention to Feng Xuanzhen’s agitation. His expression remained calm, though hope was impossible to conceal in his eyes. When he spoke, his confidence showed that he had already decided everything. “I must go, and it has to be me.”
“If Imperial Brother insists on acting so recklessly, then what of your own safety? What of all the people beneath heaven?” Feng Xuanzhen’s face was filled with anxiety. He knew he could not truly stop him and understood exactly how important Nalan Xuan was to Feng Xuanyi, yet as a prince responsible for the safety of the realm, he had no choice but to be the first person to stand in his way. “If Imperial Brother trusts this younger brother, then allow me to travel to Xiliang in your place. Even if it costs me my life, I will uncover the truth behind these rumors and bring Empress Yu back safely. Imperial Brother, please reconsider!”
Feng Xuanyi brushed away the hand restraining his arm and answered firmly, “I already said that it has to be me. If you are truly worried about state affairs, worried for the suffering of the people, and afraid someone will take advantage of my absence to create chaos, then stay here and govern in my place. I haven’t attended court for some time anyway, and you have handled matters extremely well during that period. I trust you with the government. As for my safety, you need not worry. The Seven Shadow Guards will accompany me to Xiliang.”
“I have already drafted an imperial decree. If I truly fail to return, the throne will pass to you. When that time comes, someone will naturally read the decree aloud and give you an unquestionably legitimate claim to the throne.” Feng Xuanyi looked back and smiled with genuine satisfaction. There was a trace of apology in the expression, but it could not conceal his urgency. “You’ve worked hard these past few days.”
With that, he refused to remain even a moment longer. For the ruler of a nation to secretly enter the territory of an enemy dynasty with whom Hua had struggled for years was an enormous risk, and Feng Xuanyi had already prepared himself for the possibility that nine chances out of ten he would die. Even though everything rested upon nothing more than a possibility, even though he dared not calculate how much certainty he truly had, he was willing to gamble everything simply to recover those years he had once lost.
Feng Xuanzhen remained behind in the palace and followed Feng Xuanyi’s instructions, continuing to handle state affairs. This time, however, he no longer did so openly as Feng Xuanzhen. A beaded curtain was hung across the court, its hazy strands separating him from the assembled officials. Behind it, he played the role of Emperor Huawu, supposedly newly recovered from a serious illness yet still physically weak and nevertheless so concerned for the suffering of the people that he had hurried back to court. At the same time, “Emperor Huawu” granted Prince Yu three months of leave in recognition of his hard work, neatly creating the illusion that the emperor and Feng Xuanzhen were still separately accounted for.
Thus, although Feng Xuanzhen was in fact the one governing the dynasty throughout those months, to outsiders and in the mouths of ordinary people it was Emperor Huawu who had remained diligent in serving the nation without the slightest neglect.
From the imperial capital westward toward Bitong Pass, eight riders urged their horses forward at full speed, kicking up a trail of red dust behind them. It was as though every moment of delay meant another measure of danger and another possibility slipping away as they headed directly for Xiliang.
Feng Xuanyi could barely suppress his joy and agitation. With every step closer to Xiliang, he heard more rumors about the newly appointed Prince Nanyang. And with every additional rumor, he became more convinced that this supposedly “unknown” man was the person he had exhausted every effort searching for. His talent, his familiarity with frontier affairs, his ability to command troops, and his astonishing beauty—every detail he heard drove a sour, indescribable ache deeper into Feng Xuanyi’s heart.
Once, he had genuinely and completely possessed the love of such a nearly perfect person, yet he had failed even to recognize it. Constant suspicion had blinded him. He had guarded himself obsessively against Nalan Xuan’s supposed hidden motives without ever properly valuing his brilliance, personally pushing him farther and farther away. Now, hearing strangers praise Nalan Xuan, hearing the awe in their voices and seeing the admiration and submission on their faces, Feng Xuanyi felt proud of him—and laughed bitterly at how thoroughly he deserved everything that had happened.
When he finally stood inside Huifeng City and watched Nalan Xuan pass before him surrounded by others without noticing him at all, Feng Xuanyi suddenly understood the distance that now lay between them. It was just like those days in Prince Rong’s residence. Nalan Xuan had possessed an illustrious background and extraordinary talent even then, yet Feng Xuanyi had barely spared him a glance. Nalan Xuan had wanted to draw closer, but every step had been difficult. Feng Xuanyi could certainly have forced his way into Prince Nanyang’s residence now, but given their present relationship and the way Nalan Xuan had once leapt from the palace wall after his heart had died, Feng Xuanyi feared there would not even be an opportunity for conversation before they came to blows. Nalan Xuan would merely tighten security, while Feng Xuanyi would spend every subsequent day in Xiliang living upon the edge of a blade and amid seas of fire, constantly evading assassins sent by the Emperor of Xiliang and having no time left to consider how he might create another chance for himself.
Since going directly to Nalan Xuan would bring him nothing but harm and no advantage whatsoever, why not reverse the situation and make Nalan Xuan come looking for him instead?
Feng Xuanyi reminded himself again and again that the closer he came to his goal and the more critical the moment became, the less he could afford to lose control and ruin everything at the final step.