At midnight, neither stars nor moon gave any light. A calamity written into fate; after surviving the calamity, a temporary farewell.
In early winter, five hundred thousand Song troops laid siege to Jinling.
The wind swept across heaven and earth, carrying a killing chill.
Zhao Kuangyin summoned all the generals one last time. “There is only one thing that still troubles me. Do you gentlemen know what it is?”
The generals pondered. The Southern Kingdom was already before them, so what concern could His Majesty still have at such a moment? Zhao Kuangyin swept his sword before them. “What concerns me is the people within the city. There must be no massacre in this battle. I want every general to swear it: after entering the city, you will not slaughter the innocent, you will not treat human life lightly, you will not set fire to their palaces and buildings, and you will not abuse the palace attendants!”
Led by Cao Bin, everyone immediately dropped to one knee and cried long life to the Emperor, swearing their oaths.
Zhao Kuangyin nodded, then suddenly drove his sword three inches into the earth. “Anyone who breaks this oath will be dealt with under military law by this very sword!”
“Yes!”
The others withdrew first. Zhao Kuangyin kept Cao Bin behind alone. “There is one more matter I need the General to remember.” He looked at the army banners standing against the wind on every side, while war drums thundered across the wilderness. “No matter how this battle ends, the Ruler must not be harmed.”
Cao Bin understood, assuming His Majesty meant to capture the man alive. He accepted the order and left.
Zhao Kuangyin swung onto his horse. Looking at Jinling’s tightly shut gates, he drew a deep breath and spoke the command that would write his achievements into history.
“Attack the city!”
Li Congjia.
Do you know how long I have waited? I have waited so long that even I have forgotten why I became so obsessed that I could never let go.
“Black clouds press upon the city, as though the walls will crumble.” Tonight the imperial capital would be stained with blood, beacon fires spreading into the distance, crimson flames burning through state and home alike.
Elio’s Notes: “Black clouds press upon the city, as though the walls will crumble” is the opening line of Tang poet Li He’s Song of the Yanmen Gate Governor (《雁门太守行》). The novel borrows the line here to cast the assault on Jinling in the imagery of a city crushed beneath an advancing army.
The people throughout Jinling shut their doors and windows. There was no more lamenting the fall of the state. They simply thought that if the Song army entered, they would straighten their backs and meet the blade. Beneath some household window, someone murmured, “Even if the Ruler is soft by nature, his bearing is extraordinary and his talent unmatched. Tears are useless now. If we must die, then let us die with the dignity of Tang!”
The torches burned so fiercely that before long the heat itself became difficult to endure.
Apricot blossoms and spring rain. In the breath of a hidden dragon, the baleful aura over soft, fragrant, jade-like Jinling suddenly shattered.
At the summit of the firmament, a heartstring had already snapped.
When the eastern gate was breached, Cao Bin led his troops into the city first. Zhao Kuangyin remained outside the northern gate directing the entire army. Ten thousand households inside the city stayed shut tight. Far away above the imperial palace, music still drifted from Yuxiao Pavilion, luxuriant and beautiful, without the slightest trace of grief.
Small Song detachments advanced in disciplined order, neither harassing nor slaughtering the city’s people. As they searched for a route toward the Jinling palace, a man dressed in Jiangnan clothing suddenly came asking to see Cao Bin, announcing at once that he had been sent by the Prince of Jin. The Prince of Jin’s presence here was a state secret, and the Song soldiers were so startled that they immediately brought the man forward.
Firelight from the troops and horses caught the sleeve of his dim gray robe, revealing the faint shape of half a lotus. “This one greets the General. The Prince of Jin ordered us to leave the palace and report immediately once the city was breached.”
Cao Bin hurriedly dismounted. “Where is the Prince of Jin now?”
“His Highness remains inside the palace. When the palace falls, he intends to assist His Majesty from within and force the Ruler to surrender. Yesterday His Highness happened to discover something. General, please go immediately to the northern outskirts of the city.”
“What matter is this? Our first priority now should be surrounding the imperial palace.”
“Last night the Ruler of Jiangnan secretly ordered the Queen sent out of the palace. She is now waiting in the wilderness for an opportunity to flee the city. His Highness said that if His Majesty takes the Queen into his hands, will we still have to fear that the Ruler will refuse to surrender?”
Cao Bin considered it carefully and decided the information was unlikely to be false. Song forces held an overwhelming advantage on every side, so there should be no immediate danger of anything going wrong. If he went first to the northern gate, he could also take advantage of the situation there to break through and welcome His Majesty into the city. He immediately turned his horse and galloped north.
No one can sever the words of prophecy. Who will write a bright age lasting a hundred generations, when blood writes the final chapter?
When Jinling’s gates were breached, Li Yu happened to be leaning against the railing of Yuxiao Pavilion. He could hear everything clearly, though he could no longer see it. The firelight grew stronger. No matter how restrained the Song army might be, casualties were unavoidable once a city was stormed. Scorched air surged upward toward the Nine Heavens. Behind him, the palace maid’s fingers trembled in fear. “If you are afraid… then go. Withdraw somewhere else.” He lightly raised the jade wine pot and drank directly from it without a cup, white robes snapping in the night wind. “As expected… Zhao Kuangyin is still Zhao Kuangyin. From that noise, the eastern gate has already fallen.” He smiled faintly. “Transmit my decree. All Jinling defenders are to fall back to the imperial palace. Abandon the four city gates and let the Song army enter.”
That smile was cruel beyond measure. In the next instant, he seemed to care about nothing at all and simply continued drinking his wine.
The ministers below Yuxiao Pavilion cried out that he must not. Li Yu said nothing. Suddenly he flung the wine pot from his hand. It dropped cleanly through the air and smashed into powder on the ground, as though it had struck the hearts of everyone below. Silence fell at once. At the highest point of the palace, one graceful lift of his wrist seemed to stir a ninefold splendor of music, scattering on the wind over ten thousand li of roads and fields.
Following the Ruler’s command, by the time Cao Bin reached the northern gate, all four gates of Jinling had fallen without another assault.
He had actually opened the city gates for him.
A figure in white stood atop Yuxiao Pavilion, raising a hand with a faint smile, emerald and gold glimmering like stars and moon in the darkness.
A man in battle armor rode before the city gates, reins drawn tight and sword-brows raised, while clouds of the Nine Heavens rolled behind him.
Neither could see through the darkness between them, yet they faced one another as though nothing had changed.
Two points formed a net of Heaven and earth, catching within the mortal world the last few Yellow Millet dreams as they dissolved.
Elio’s Notes: The “Yellow Millet Dream” is a classical image for worldly glory revealed as brief and illusory. The phrase ultimately looks back to the Pillow Tale tradition, in which a lifetime of rank and splendor passes in a dream before a pot of millet has even finished cooking.
Who will climb the high tower with me?
On the tower in a dream, beneath the moon.
Whose brows and eyes remained unchanged, spirit fierce in the wind, a silent asura? He smiled faintly over wine while his fingers played the strings, a lingering grace of a golden age, flowers blooming just the same behind all that splendor.
Zhao Kuangyin spurred his horse and returned to Jinling.
The world saw only that he rode upon his own grand ambitions and achievements until All-under-Heaven was united. No one knew that every step fell upon the lifeblood of an old friend, horse hooves grinding through mud, crushing flowers and snapping willows.
It was not merely a kingdom that died.
With heavy troops surrounding a pale-gray carriage, Cao Bin rushed at full speed before the imperial entourage. “Your Majesty!”
Zhao Kuangyin stared in surprise. “General, what is the meaning of this? Who is inside the carriage?”
Piaopeng suddenly jumped down and began cursing him, accusing Zhao Kuangyin of ingratitude and of forgetting that the Ruler had once saved his life. The sword-browed man froze at the sight of him and only then remembered that this was one of Li Congjia’s personal attendants. “You… how are you here?”
“Your Majesty, the person inside the carriage is the Queen of Jiangnan. Her party escaped the palace, and this general received a secret message and came specifically to intercept them.” After speaking, Cao Bin stepped closer and lowered his voice beside Zhao Kuangyin’s horse. “Your Majesty, the information came from the Prince of Jin. That is how this general was able to intercept the Queen’s party so smoothly.”
“Guangyi? How is he now?”
“Your Majesty may be at ease. The Prince of Jin has his own arrangements and still remains inside Jinling’s imperial palace awaiting Your Majesty. His Highness also sent a message: please use the Queen to force the Ruler of Jiangnan to surrender.”
Zhao Kuangyin showed no reaction and not the slightest pleasure. He looked briefly at the carriage, then unexpectedly turned and ordered the entire army to continue straight toward the imperial palace. He himself led a detachment to keep the Queen’s party beneath the city gate. Cao Bin was astonished, but Zhao Kuangyin sharply ordered him to take the troops onward to the palace.
Dim torches burned, illuminating despair in the human heart.
As the sound of hooves receded, Liuzhu lifted the soft curtain and stepped out. Zhao Kuangyin sat on his horse. She looked directly at him without fear. “Young Master Zhao is no longer the man he was in those days, yet your methods are applied exactly as they were before.”
Weapons rang out on every side. Zhao Kuangyin raised a hand slightly and stopped them. “Liuzhu, you truly have not changed. You learned Ehuang’s temperament perfectly.”
Piaopeng shouted furiously, “How dare any of you casually speak the personal name of Empress Zhaohui!”
Killing intent flared. The soldiers guarding Zhao Kuangyin were already furious, yet he threw back his head and laughed, clapping his hands. “Still exactly the same. To meet old acquaintances again today is truly one of life’s fortunate events.” His gaze shifted toward the carriage. “I have not yet met the new Queen. I heard she is still very young. For the Ruler of Jiangnan to have been so impatient is rather surprising. I always thought that with his indifferent nature and his deep devotion to Empress Zhaohui, he would mourn her for many years.” The more he spoke, the angrier he became, until even his usual steadiness slipped.
“Pah!” Piaopeng spat viciously and nearly charged forward before a blade stopped him.
“May the Queen step out of the carriage.” Zhao Kuangyin sent the command loudly inside. For a long while there was no response. Then the soft sound of strings suddenly rose. Nüying sat calmly within, plucking the Shaocao pipa.
“May the Queen step out of the carriage.” He lowered his voice and repeated himself, but there was still no movement inside.
“What does the Queen mean by this? Is it provocation, or a display of your own chastity and resolve? With a single word from me, I can have both instrument and person destroyed. What use is this futile struggle for dignity?”
Nüying laid her hand over the strings, and the music stopped. “If Empress Zhaohui were sitting inside this carriage today, she would never step down to meet you.”
Zhao Kuangyin gradually understood what the person inside was thinking. Suddenly he laughed again. “It seems you too are deeply devoted. But… you will never be Empress Zhaohui. Get down.”
Nüying clenched her teeth and refused to move. Zhao Kuangyin waved, ordering the men around him to surround Liuzhu. “Queen, Liuzhu served Empress Zhaohui for many years. Now she is about to die because of you. How could Empress Zhaohui’s spirit in Heaven ever be at peace? I will ask you one final time. Are you getting down or not?”
Liuzhu spun around and cried urgently, “Queen… no…”
Nüying finally sighed softly. She lifted the curtain and slowly stepped down, standing straight with the pipa in her arms. “Your Majesty hounds a mere woman so relentlessly. What kind of enlightened ruler does that make you?”
By the firelight, Zhao Kuangyin examined her carefully. She truly was still very young, yet her expression no longer held the freshness of girlhood. Her cloak was woven in crimson and gold. In the shape of her brows and eyes, he suddenly saw something of her elder sister as she had once been, and yet something was missing.
After studying her for a long while, Zhao Kuangyin sighed. “You know nothing of what happened to me in the Duke of Anding’s Residence back then. If it were your elder sister today… she would never have left the palace first.”
Nüying’s composure shifted. “I did not want to leave either!”
But Zhao Kuangyin had not finished. “She would have chosen to die in the palace first rather than endure the humiliation of a fallen state. Thinking about it… yes. That is exactly what she would have done.”
Nüying seemed almost dazed by the words. “All of you talk about her… Why do all of you always talk about her? He does it, and you do it too! I know how extraordinary my sister was. I cannot compare with her in anything. But why has no one ever been willing to give me even one chance to try? Why, even today, did he insist on sending me away? I can never stand beside him and face things with him… but my sister could…”
Zhao Kuangyin watched her lose control, as though his words had torn open an old wound. That defeated, tear-filled face… in the end, she was still a pitiable child.
“You… love him?” Zhao Kuangyin was silent for a long while before asking Nüying. The question was almost absurd, and yet he asked it anyway.
“Eight years old. I was eight… the first time I saw him…” Nüying suddenly came back to herself and realized that saying any more was pointless. She looked at Liuzhu and Piaopeng, took one step back, and calmly settled the pipa securely in her arms. “Since Your Majesty is an old acquaintance of the Ruler, you must know his temperament. Using me to threaten him will probably only have the opposite effect. Your Majesty should… kill us instead. Remove the future danger and steady your army’s morale.” Her words were clean and decisive.
What a fierce little girl. Zhao Kuangyin raised an eyebrow. “You think I would not dare?”
“Why would Your Majesty not dare?” Nüying lowered her eyes to the pipa. “I ask only one final mercy. This pipa belonged to Empress Zhaohui. Your Majesty must not destroy it.”
Zhao Kuangyin said nothing.
Nüying spoke again. “I spent the night outside the city. I saw Song troops enter in disciplined order without recklessly slaughtering the people of Jinling. I believe Your Majesty still has compassion in your heart, and that is why I make this final request. It is only a pipa. If Your Majesty can spare the people of an entire city, then spare this pipa as well.”
When she finished, she gently removed her crimson-and-gold cloak, spread it flat upon the ground, and placed the Shaocao pipa on top of it.
“Please give the order, Your Majesty.”
Zhao Kuangyin waved his hand. Soldiers on both sides instantly drew their blades and stepped forward. Nüying gently closed her eyes. Piaopeng cursed Zhao Kuangyin, shouting that Heaven would punish him. Everything became so chaotic that no sound seemed distinguishable, and then, all at once, the world went quiet.
The commanding figure on horseback suddenly spoke. “Escort the Queen out of the city.”
Everyone hesitated for a moment, but still obeyed. They put Nüying back into the carriage and prepared to drive her party out of the city. The entire reversal happened in an instant. Piaopeng was still stunned when instinct made him crack the reins and move forward.
Nüying suddenly shouted for the carriage to stop.
Zhao Kuangyin watched from behind. “I will not spare you a second time. Go quickly. Once you are outside the city, follow his original wishes.”
But Nüying climbed down from the carriage herself. She stood there and stared steadily at Zhao Kuangyin. “Why has Your Majesty spared us?”
Zhao Kuangyin turned his horse away. He looked only at the dazzling pearl-light atop Yuxiao Pavilion and refused to look at their party. “If I truly killed you… I fear he would hate me to death for the rest of his life.” A trace of melancholy entered his voice. “That is simply the kind of temper he has…”
A flicker of fear passed through Nüying. She did not dare guess at the meaning beneath his words. In her urgency, she could no longer care about any of it. Far away, she heard the shouts of troops about to storm the imperial palace and suddenly remembered what Li Yu had said in Weiyang Hall that day. If the city fell… he would…
Nüying shouted, “I will not leave the city. I beg Your Majesty to send me back to the imperial palace!”
“Queen!” Liuzhu rushed to pull her back, but Nüying refused to listen. She walked directly toward Zhao Kuangyin. “Your Majesty, send me back to the palace. I have to return. If we are any later, he will…”
Cold swept down Zhao Kuangyin’s back. “What will he do?”
Nüying kept looking toward the palace. “The Ruler swore in Weiyang Hall that if Jinling’s defenders could no longer hold out, they were to abandon the city defense and let the Song army enter rather than sacrifice innocent lives. But he… he intends to burn himself in Weiyang Hall rather than let Song soldiers enter the imperial palace of the Li family. Your Majesty, let me go back… Jiangnan has already been defeated and Jinling has been breached. I beg Your Majesty to keep one last measure of compassion and let me return… He cannot…” Nüying’s tears finally broke free. “He cannot carry all of this… alone…”
Zhao Kuangyin did not even wait for her to finish. He spurred his horse and raced toward the imperial palace. “Follow me at once!”
Nüying had no time to think. She ordered Piaopeng to drive the carriage straight back toward the palace. “Liuzhu, Piaopeng, I know what you intend, but things have come to this and I have decided to return. In this life I had no fate to accompany him through his best days, so I will accompany him through this final journey. No matter what happens, I am going back.”
The two of them secretly wiped at damp eyes. “We are willing to return to the palace with the Queen.”
By the time they reached the imperial palace, one of its gates had already been breached. The strings atop Yuxiao Pavilion fell silent, though the pearl-light did not dim. Zhao Kuangyin had galloped there at full speed. Cao Bin came forward to report that the palace gate had fallen. Piaopeng drove the carriage onward without slowing and charged straight inside. Just as Song troops were about to surge after them, Zhao Kuangyin stopped them. “Let them go back.”
Sweat had broken out in his palms. Remembering Nüying’s words, he was determined not to let Song troops set foot inside the Li family’s imperial palace. Zhao Kuangyin knew Li Yu’s temperament far too well. If Song troops truly poured in all at once, then he might…
“The entire army will withdraw outside the palace gates!”
Again and again the army had advanced only to be ordered back. Ever since they were outside Jinling, Zhao Kuangyin had repeatedly made them retreat or wait in place. Morale was surging, yet there had been nowhere to use it. Now the Jinling palace itself was about to fall and he again ordered them not to enter recklessly. Swords and sabers immediately waved on every side as soldiers shouted that they should charge in, their cries shaking the sky.
Zhao Kuangyin rode alone before the entire army. Raising his sword toward the heavens, he shattered every protesting voice with his command. “I personally lead this expedition and command the Three Armies. Anyone who disregards the imperial order and enters the Jiangnan imperial palace without authorization will be executed on the spot. His nine clans will be implicated and shown no mercy!” The echoes rang on and then everything fell deathly still.
He could no longer care about anything else. There was no time left to think. He was simply afraid. If he had crossed a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers only to see that man once, and something truly happened now, then in this life… Zhao Kuangyin had never known fear like this.
He forgot that Guangyi was still inside the palace waiting for him to enter.
After Nüying returned to the palace, she ignored everything else and ran straight toward Weiyang Hall, Liuzhu and Piaopeng close behind. While crossing the little white-stone bridge, Piaopeng happened to glance toward Guangliang Temple and saw confused shadows moving within, something clearly wrong. He suddenly remembered a night when the Ruler had been staying at Guangliang Temple. Piaopeng had urgent business to report, failed to find him in the main hall, and accidentally encountered the Young Elder near the meditation rooms in the rear.
It had looked as though the Young Elder was gathering a group of men and telling them something. In a Buddhist temple after dark, what had he been plotting?
The realm had fallen into chaos and sobbing could be heard throughout the palace. Yet at that moment Piaopeng became unusually calm. Suddenly all the pieces joined together. While the Ruler’s eyesight was failing and he remained at the temple, every important matter had happened to pass through the Young Elder’s hands, and the monk had secretly colluded with some of the other monks…
Liuzhu was running ahead when she realized the footsteps behind her had stopped. Looking back, she found Piaopeng frozen on the bridge staring at the temple. “Piaopeng! Hurry to Weiyang Hall!”
He came back to himself and ran after them.
“Ruler? Ruler?” Nüying rushed into the hall, pulling aside hanging curtains again and again. Li Yu was nowhere to be seen. Panic rose inside her. All she could see was the firewood already stacked outside Weiyang Hall. Liuzhu and Piaopeng entered as well and searched in every direction.
The song at Weiyang was unfinished, yet the strings had already broken.
“Enough. This life has no shore. Heaven made the heart’s wish run contrary to the life one leads. I have lived to this point only to bring ruin to my state and people. I suppose posterity will curse my name without end… Even so…” Li Yu gave a careless smile. “At least I will have entered the histories.” He was still atop Yuxiao Pavilion and had just turned to descend when he suddenly heard someone outside the palace walls loudly commanding the Three Armies. That voice… that voice… had echoed through his mind a thousand times, woken him from dreams a thousand times, and pushed him toward an abyss beyond redemption a thousand times.
Zhao Kuangyin… you… The white-clad figure trembled slightly. His hand found the pavilion railing. He could hear it clearly: Zhao Kuangyin was ordering the entire army not to enter the palace without permission. The palace gate had plainly fallen and everything was already in his grasp.
You came after all.
Five hundred thousand troops, and the Emperor himself leading the campaign. You have truly given Li Yu enough face. Should I kneel and thank you?
He could barely restrain himself. After so many days and so many twists of fate, he had always believed they would never meet again, yet step by step they had reached today. To see him again, or not to see him.
Perhaps that was good as well.
Their debts and grievances could no longer be untangled, so let one fire settle everything. Had you not once said… that you would burn Jinling with a single blaze?
His empty gaze lowered from Yuxiao Pavilion. Far below, directly beneath him, he heard that man’s voice still carrying the same dangerous authority. In his mind rose the image of Zhao Kuangyin lifting a sword, brows raised, one sentence breaking heaven and earth.
The realm and you. I want both.
Li Yu threw back his head and laughed, then slowly rose and began descending the pavilion with one hand along the railing.
You want a pile of white bones. I will not even leave you the bones!
Everyone in Weiyang Hall had searched without finding Li Yu. Nüying was so frantic she no longer knew what to do. She pushed open the doors just as a young palace musician ran past in blind panic. Liuzhu called out and stopped her. “Do you know where the Ruler is now?”
The young musician pointed toward the highest Yuxiao Pavilion. “The Ruler was still in the pavilion a moment ago. He is probably coming back here now to set the fire!”
The words had barely left her mouth when, before the three could react, a shadow flashed behind the hall. The Young Elder had arrived first. Seeing the three of them, Zhao Guangyi could not hide his surprise. “You…” He had come alone to secretly observe what was happening in Weiyang Hall, intending to use the news that Nüying had been captured by the Song army to deny Li Yu peace even at the end. If nothing unexpected happened, he would release the signal and the false monks hidden in Guangliang Temple would burst out and strike directly at Weiyang Hall. He had never expected to see Nüying here. Was she not… supposed to be in Big Brother’s hands now?
Piaopeng looked coldly over his clothing. “You are someone sent into the palace by the Northern Court?”
Zhao Guangyi had already discarded every disguise. He quickly recovered his composure. “Big Brother truly has been bewitched by him. Even now he is still indulging in a moment of mercy! He let you come back?”
Liuzhu cried out, “Big Brother? You are… you are…”
He advanced toward Nüying step by step. Nüying retreated repeatedly. Piaopeng quickly ushered both women toward the doors, then shoved Liuzhu away and whispered urgently, “Go to Yuxiao Pavilion and find the Ruler. Hurry! Take the Queen away!”
Without thinking, Liuzhu seized Nüying and hurried toward Yuxiao Pavilion.
At the same time, Li Yu was slowly descending the pavilion. He could not see clearly. Grief filled his heart and blood surged painfully through his chest. It was almost over… soon he would no longer have to endure this suffering…
Only Piaopeng and Zhao Guangyi remained in Weiyang Hall. Piaopeng lit a lamp, held it in one hand, and slowly backed away. “If I have guessed correctly, then someone who dares call the suzerain ‘Big Brother’ must be… the Prince of Jin?”
“Knowing too much is not good for you.” In the lamplight, the man’s face gradually became clear. He smiled strangely. “What use is there in sending them to find the Ruler? Do you really think Nüying can persuade him? He will certainly return to Weiyang Hall. I need only give one order, and the men of my court who have hidden in Guangliang Temple for days will rush into this hall and make sure he dies miserably!”
Piaopeng laughed with equal mockery. “Prince of Jin, everyone under Heaven knows that the suzerain has always felt guilty toward you over what happened in your early years and has showered you with unmatched favor. But from what I have seen today, Your Highness does not seem quite as important as you imagined.”
The words struck Zhao Guangyi at once. He shouted, “You are about to die and still waste breath on this!”
Piaopeng slowly retreated toward the piled firewood. “Do you know that today the suzerain drove straight into Jinling and broke through the palace gates, yet still refused to let his soldiers enter? If he truly held you in his heart, the first thing he would have done was order Song troops into the palace to take you somewhere safe!”
Zhao Guangyi roared at once. “Zhao Kuangyin went mad long ago! The Ruler of Jiangnan truly is unparalleled beneath Heaven, a demon who bewitched everyone until Zhao Kuangyin lost his mind! Do you know what Li Yu has done? Do you know why he is still alive today? Do you know that even now Zhao Kuangyin is still thinking about keeping him unharmed, still thinking about not killing the Queen? I exhausted every scheme to make him use the Queen as leverage! Even if it failed, killing her would have greatly strengthened our army’s morale. But Zhao Kuangyin?” He had traveled a thousand li and risked his own life, plotted for so many days, and finally endured until Jiangnan fell, yet Zhao Kuangyin was still holding himself back at every turn. Zhao Guangyi was genuinely beside himself with rage. If Zhao Kuangyin was this hopelessly obsessed, then what did the wooden bracelet on his own wrist amount to?
That foolish child… you spent a lifetime kneeling. What were you begging for? Today your Big Brother is about to abandon you inside this deep palace, all because of that one pale and distant figure. For such a person, he is willing to keep five hundred thousand troops stalled outside and refuse to enter. For such a person, he cast aside the entire court in Bianjing, and cast aside Yunjie!
Piaopeng looked coldly at the hysterical man, then suddenly flung the lamp from his hand. In an instant, flames shot skyward around Weiyang Hall.
Far away in Guangliang Temple, the old Jiangnan monks loyal to the Ruler had already declared before the court that they would live and die with him. Seeing Weiyang Hall burst into flames, they assumed the Ruler had already gone ahead of them. At once they set fire to Guangliang Temple as well, willing that jade and stone should burn together.
Liuzhu had been protecting Nüying as they ran. Suddenly she felt scorching heat behind them and spun around. Weiyang Hall was engulfed in flames reaching the sky.
The blaze burned crimson across heart and sight.
“Piaopeng!” Someone’s voice tore through the sky.