Chapter 21: A Changing Tide

The next day, when Shi Yuning awoke leisurely, Xie Zhaoran was already nowhere to be seen. Dawn was just breaking outside, and she had no idea when her friend had slipped away.

Shi Yuning couldn’t recall when she had fallen asleep. She only remembered that before drifting off, Xie Zhaoran had been sharing amusing stories from their childhoods.

She never would have imagined that the poised and dignified Xie Zhaoran had once been a mischievous tomboy who climbed trees and got stuck in them.

Shi Yuning felt a twinge of regret. If they had met as children, it surely would have been great fun.

She stretched lazily, her mind turning to the emperor’s decree of marriage from the day before. Tu Chunhua and the others were probably still reeling from the shock. She needed to go reassure them.

Just as Shi Yuning was about to call for Xiao Liuer to help her dress, Xiao Liuer hurried into the room. Seeing that her mistress was awake, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Miss, you’re up early today. Perfect timing—Madam sent for you. She wants you to wash up quickly and come over right away.”

Shi Yuning glanced at the pale morning light. It was awfully early for her mother to summon her. Something must be wrong.

Since it was still at home, Shi Yuning threw on an outer robe without bothering to groom herself and dashed toward Tu Chunhua’s courtyard.

Tu Chunhua was startled to see Shi Yuning arrive with sweat-matted hair and disheveled clothes. She jumped in fright, and the fan in her hand clattered to the floor.

“What happened? Are you hurt?” Tu Chunhua rushed forward in a panic, grabbing Shi Yuning’s arms and checking her up and down as if she feared her daughter had been injured.

“I’m fine, Mother. Didn’t you send for me? What’s going on?”

Hearing that Shi Yuning was unharmed eased Tu Chunhua’s mind, but when her daughter asked what had happened, her anxiety returned in full force.

“The Crown Prince was assassinated last night. We don’t know his condition yet. Your grandfather and the others went to the palace at first light. I’m afraid it’s not good.”

Tu Chunhua thought of her father-in-law’s specific instructions that morning: no one was to go out, and they were to keep the doors tightly shut. Her heart raced with unease.

Shi Yuning’s face tightened as she listened.

They heard the details from one of the maids responsible for shopping, who described the scenes on the streets.

Soldiers were patrolling everywhere today. Word was that the entire Shuntian Prefecture Yamen and the City Defense Camp stationed in the eastern suburbs had been mobilized.

All four gates of the Imperial Capital—east, west, south, and north—were sealed shut. No civilians were allowed in or out. Suspicious individuals spotted on the roads were seized for questioning. If they couldn’t give a clear account of themselves, they faced a brutal beating.

The streets were nearly deserted now, with vendors packing up early and heading home.

Even the busiest pleasure quarters, taverns, and teahouses had put up signs saying they were closed for the day.

The palace gates had been locked even earlier, admitting no one without an imperial decree.

The more Shi Yuning heard, the heavier her heart grew. This level of commotion meant something major had happened. She wondered if the Crown Prince was safe.

And what about Xie Zhaoran? Was she all right?

Shi Yuning wanted to send someone to find out, but she had no idea whom to ask. She felt restless and distressed.

Inside the palace, in Chong’an Hall, Xie Zhaoran stood with a stern expression, her gaze fixed intently on the vermilion-lacquered doors, lost in thought.

On the floor at her feet, the Crown Prince lay slumped, his face etched with guilt and sorrow. His complexion was deathly pale, his lips trembling as he sobbed weakly, “I was wrong. It’s all my fault.”

A circle of eunuchs and palace maids knelt nearby. Seeing the Crown Prince on the verge of fainting from grief, Eunuch Xiaolin clung to him tightly, just in case.

Xie Zhaoran glanced down at him and took a deep breath. She had warned him the night before to ignore everything else and focus only on recovering.

Yet he had still snuck out of the Eastern Palace that evening and headed into the inner palace.

Of course, Xie Zhaoran knew his intentions had been good. He must have heard about Shi Yuning and wanted to beg the emperor to rescind the marriage decree. He had run into assassins on the way.

Xie Zhaoran’s hands clenched into fists inside her sleeves. There had to be a mole in the Eastern Palace. She had ordered the news suppressed, yet someone had still informed the Crown Prince and leaked his movements. The assassins had clearly been lying in wait.

As she pondered, the vermilion doors creaked open. A young eunuch emerged and announced that the emperor had summoned them inside.

Xie Zhaoran hurried to help Eunuch Xiaolin lift the Crown Prince to his feet. As they were about to enter, they saw the Empress being supported out by attendants, her eyes swollen from crying.

Spotting them, she wept, “Your Imperial Father has something to say to you two. Talk it out properly…”

Her voice broke into sobs, and the attendants led her away to freshen up.

In the Emperor’s Sleeping Palace, the bright yellow bed curtains were drawn high by golden hooks. Emperor Yuanwen lay weakly on the dragon bed, his face ashen, his eye sockets sunken with dark circles beneath. Even his once ruddy lips had taken on a bluish tint.

In just a few short days, half his hair had turned white, his eyes dull and cloudy, his body withered and frail.

He looked on the verge of death.

Grief welled up in the Crown Prince’s heart. He stumbled forward and knelt by the emperor’s bedside, collapsing onto Emperor Yuanwen in tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

Xie Zhaoran hurried to the bedside and knelt beside him. Seeing the aged, decrepit Emperor Yuanwen on the bed, she furrowed her brow. Compared to just days ago, he had changed drastically—like he had aged a decade overnight.

“Imperial Father… Your son is unfilial… It’s all my fault… Imperial Father…”

The Crown Prince trembled with sobs, his gaunt frame heaving violently. He looked little better than Emperor Yuanwen himself.

Emperor Yuanwen tried to raise a hand to stroke his son’s head, but it lifted only an inch from the bed before falling back, too weak to continue. His expression darkened with sorrow.

“It’s not your fault… It’s this body of mine… My time has come…”

The Crown Prince stopped crying abruptly, disbelief flashing in his eyes. He shook his head desperately.

“No, no, Imperial Father… It can’t be. You’ve just… you’ve just been startled. You heard about my assassination and worried yourself sick. It’s all my fault.”

Emperor Yuanwen’s hand twitched faintly on the bed. “It’s not the Crown Prince’s fault. Your Imperial Father was already nearing his end.”

“No, Imperial Father, no. You are the true dragon emperor, blessed by the heavens. You will surely pull through this.”

“Silly child, even a true dragon emperor has his fated lifespan. I just… I just feel I’ve wronged you, my child. I couldn’t give you a healthy body, and you’ve suffered so much since you were young.”

Only after falling ill did Emperor Yuanwen realize how powerless a sick person truly was. He was dosed with medicine daily, unable to do the simplest things ordinary people took for granted. Even his favorite foods were now forbidden.

His Crown Prince had endured such days for over a decade…

“I know why you came to the palace today, but child, Prince Yu may be hot-tempered and lacking in tact, but his heart is good.”

Emperor Yuanwen knew his time was short and tried to impart as many final instructions as he could. “Instead of adopting from the imperial clan, perhaps it’s better to name your brother as Crown Heir Apparent… He has the talent and wisdom to be a ruler who preserves the realm… Cough, cough.”

Xie Zhaoran took a teacup from a nearby eunuch and handed it to Emperor Yuanwen. “Imperial Father, have some tea.”

The Crown Prince quickly took it and personally helped Emperor Yuanwen drink.

Xie Zhaoran stepped back and spoke calmly, “There’s one more thing that Imperial Father should know.”

Once the Crown Prince had finished tending to him, both men turned to her.

Xie Zhaoran nodded to the imperial physician standing by the bed. The man dropped straight to his knees, trembling as he spoke words that shocked everyone in the room except Xie Zhaoran.

“Your Majesty, the sudden worsening of your condition is due to poisoning.”

A spark of fury lit Emperor Yuanwen’s cloudy eyes. “What did you say?”

The imperial physician shakily pulled out an item and unfolded it for all to see. “This is the secret medicine offered by Prince Yu. This servant has examined it, and it is toxic.”

Emperor Yuanwen was stunned. “Impossible. After I took it, my health improved greatly.”

The imperial physician hastened to explain. “This secret medicine contains an ingredient called [Feathergrass]. It is normally poisonous, but in controlled, minute amounts, it can be used to fight poison with poison—a lifesaving remedy.”

“But it has one drawback: the user must avoid strong emotions, or it will agitate the blood and qi, causing the poison to attack the heart.”

Having said his piece, the imperial physician fell silent and knelt quietly to the side.

Xie Zhaoran spoke gravely. “News of the Crown Prince’s assassination reached the palace remarkably quickly—and it claimed he was dead.”

The Crown Prince blinked in surprise. Yes, how had his father known so soon after the attack?

Xie Zhaoran called out loudly toward the door. “Bring him in.”

The doors opened, and guards dragged in a young eunuch.

Eunuch Xia, who served the emperor closely, recognized him at once as his own godson and collapsed in shock.

Once the cotton gag was removed from the young eunuch’s mouth, he immediately begged for mercy. “Spare me, Your Majesty! It was Prince Yu—Prince Yu who told this servant to spread the message.”

With a glance from Xie Zhaoran, the guards hauled him away.

Emperor Yuanwen lay on the bed, breathing raggedly for a long moment. “How could this be… Prince Yu, that child… how could he?”

Xie Zhaoran knelt and reported, “Imperial Father, the assassin at the Spring Hunt—this child has confirmed it was Prince Yu’s doing.”

Worried the emperor might doubt her, the Crown Prince added quickly, “Imperial Father, it’s true. I have the assassin’s confession.”

A flicker of suspicion crossed Emperor Yuanwen’s eyes. “If so, why didn’t you say anything at the time?”

The Crown Prince gave a bitter smile. “I knew you wouldn’t believe it, so why bother?”

Emperor Yuanwen’s gaze grew colder. “Then why speak now?”

Xie Zhaoran replied, “I never imagined he wanted not only to kill the Crown Prince but also to murder you, Imperial Father.”

Grief surged in Emperor Yuanwen’s heart. He had thought Prince Yu merely arrogant and willful, but it was all a facade. The boy even dared to scheme against his own father.

Emperor Yuanwen closed his eyes. A turbid tear slid from the corner of his wrinkled eye. After a long silence, as if expending his last strength, he spoke.

“For the imperial family… to have such a scandal… it damages… our dignity. Crown Prince… do not… make it public…”

Xie Zhaoran’s heart sank. Emperor Yuanwen meant to protect Prince Yu.

He continued, “Summon someone. Draft the decree.”

He had an attending eunuch draft the edicts: After his death, Prince Yu was to guard the tomb for life and never leave the Imperial Mausoleum. At Xie Zhaoran’s reminder, he revoked Prince Yu’s marriage grant. He also decreed the succession to the Crown Prince.

With his final burst of strength, Emperor Yuanwen affixed the imperial jade seal to the three decrees.

After sealing the abdication edict, he slumped back onto the bed. Gazing at the Crown Prince before him, still uneasy, he gripped his son’s hand tightly. “Child, I know your feelings, but you cannot… Your Imperial Sister won’t do. It violates ancestral rites and laws. Do not be naive.”

Xie Zhaoran’s hand clenched suddenly, her eyes darkening. So Emperor Yuanwen had known all along.

He turned to Xie Zhaoran, his gaze affectionate. “Zhaoran, you’re a good child. It’s your Imperial Father who has wronged you. In the future, choose a suitable one from the imperial clan. You’ll have someone to rely on.”

Just then, an attendant reported from outside: The Princess requested an audience.

Emperor Yuanwen closed his eyes. “I will not see her.”

The Crown Prince sobbed beside him. “Imperial Father, I beg you—see Imperial Sister. If you don’t, she’ll suffer for the rest of her life.”

A tear slid from Emperor Yuanwen’s eye. “Very well. Let her in.”

Princess Xiao Liju had been anxiously waiting outside the doors. Hearing that her father would see her, she rushed in without a care for decorum, moving with the speed of a marching army.

Seeing Emperor Yuanwen’s withered, sickly form, her eyes reddened instantly, tears falling one after another. “Imperial Father, your daughter came too late.”

Emperor Yuanwen struggled to lift his heavy eyelids, his gaze hazy as he looked at the woman before him—both familiar and strange.

His once delicate, pampered girl had become a valiant female general.

He no longer had the strength to speak properly; his words came out as faint breaths.

“The border winds… and frosts… why must a daughter suffer so…”

Princess Xiao Liju held her breath to catch his words, then wiped her tears with determination. “Imperial Father, that is the territory of Great Ye. I am Great Ye’s princess.”

Emperor Yuanwen forced a smile. “You… you resemble your imperial grandfather most… I am no match for you… Good, good.”

With the final “good,” his hand by his side fell limp.

“Imperial Father!”

“Your Majesty!”

The imperial physician stepped forward, checked his breathing and pulse, then shook his head sorrowfully.

A thunderous wave of wailing erupted in the bedchamber.

“The Emperor has passed—”

The cries spread near and far, funeral bells tolling across the entire Imperial City.

In the 27th year of Yuanwen, Emperor Yuanwen died of illness. Crown Prince Xiao Yuanjia ascended the throne, ushering in a new reign.