Ripples

Twenty days had passed since that night, and Xu Yuan had gradually returned to his former life of leisure. His days fell into a simple routine between his bedchamber and the study. Apart from cultivating, his only real diversion was dropping by his prime minister father's study to browse the latest rubbings of official memorials for political gossip. With the turn of the year drawing ever closer, lanterns and festoons were already going up all across Di'an City. The bustling atmosphere in the markets and residential wards was utterly untouched by what had happened that night. On the morning immediately following that fateful night, the Prefect of Di'an had dispatched the various offices under his yamen to post hurriedly printed notices across every bulletin board in Di'an City to pacify the populace. They claimed that the cosmic anomaly in the night sky had been an auspicious sign from the immortals—a New Year's blessing bestowed upon the multitude of Great Yan by the imperial family. It was masterfully written. In thousands of flowing words of classical prose, the clash of Saints had been spun directly into an orthodox divine manifestation of the imperial Li family of Great Yan, as well as proof of the Son of Heaven's paternal love for his subjects. Preposterous as it seemed, the common people of this era ate it right up. Given how cut off the lower rungs of Great Yan were from outside information, government notices and official gazettes were their sole source of news. Generations of state propaganda had instilled an unshakeable belief in the imperial family's divine legitimacy. This was the absolute political orthodoxy of Great Yan—and precisely why Xu Yinhe had long been denounced among the common folk as a traitor who stole the realm. Yet in stark contrast to the calm among the populace, the imperial court was in an uproar. The ripples that had surged from within the Prime Minister's Manor that night had ultimately whipped up monstrous waves in the outside world. The nobility were no fools. Someone had to take the fall for bringing Di'an City to the brink of destruction, and every arrow pointed straight at the lofty Chancellor himself. The only question was: who would dare to stick their neck out first? The morning courts were deathly quiet—eerily quiet. "Speak if there is business; dismiss if there is none." For the first few days, the moment the seal-holding eunuch finished calling out those words, the court adjourned without a word. Yet beneath the silence, a tempest was brewing. On the morning of the fifth day, Qing Cheng of the Censorate suddenly stepped forward to impeach the Right Commandant of the City Defense Bureau for dereliction of duty that had placed the Son of Heaven in mortal peril. He had not attacked the Prime Minister directly, but everyone knew the Right Commandant was a staunch member of the Chancellor's faction. That fired the opening shot. It was a coordinated assault by every faction arrayed against the Chancellor's camp; the quiet of those first few days had merely been their time to conspire. From that point on, impeachment memorials fluttered into the Imperial Study like snowflakes. The flames sparked by the aftermath of that night crept steadily toward the Chancellor himself. Many officials within the City Defense Bureau, the Directorate of Celestials, and even the Imperial Guard were thrown into prison to await trial. The Prefect of Di'an nearly had his official cap stripped from his head. Without exception, every one of these high-ranking officials was one of the Chancellor's men. Yet despite everything that transpired, despite so many high-ranking officials of his faction being imprisoned, the Prime Minister merely watched it all unfold from his place in court in utter silence. This posture left many unable to divine what he intended. Not only the imperial faction and the sects, but even some of the higher-ups within the Chancellor's own camp were growing bewildered. *Your subjects were prepared to fight to the death; why has Your Majesty surrendered first?* Wang Yuqian, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, had sought Xu Yuan out in private, hoping on behalf of the senior court members of the Chancellor's faction to sound out the Chancellor's stance. But the answer he received was simply to wait. The Chancellor's faction, once overwhelmingly dominant in court, found itself jumping at every shadow. They attempted to organize a few counterattacks, but without a word from their backbone, these fragmented efforts seemed laughable against the tsunami of opposition crashing down upon them. Amid this climate where everyone in the Chancellor's faction feared for their own necks, twenty days slipped by, leading to today. The twenty-ninth of the final lunar month, right before New Year's Eve. Taking a sip of spiritual wine, Xu Yuan set the vessel down upon the tea table before him. Savoring the spicy yet sweet note lingering on his palate, he gazed out at the snow-covered night view of Di'an. Since that night, snow had fallen three separate times. The last flurries had ceased only yesterday. Pristine moonlight fell across the white expanse, reflecting up to cast a magnificent glow against the heavens. After staring at the vista for a dozen breaths, Xu Yuan slowly shifted his gaze to the young man in the python robe sitting opposite him, who possessed sharp, sword-like brows and eyes bright as stars. Letting out a soft breath, Xu Yuan chuckled. "You risked sending someone to arrange a secret meeting with a 'dead man' like me. Surely it wasn't just to have me keep you company while drinking wine and admiring the snow?" Li Junqing's face lacked its usual relaxed ease. His brow and eyes were knit with gravity. After staring at Xu Yuan for several breaths, he said softly, "What happened that night has fermented almost to its absolute limit." Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow, meeting his gaze for a couple of seconds before sighing faintly. "I thought you wanted to discuss your diplomatic mission to Dongying. Who would've thought you came to probe my father's stance as well? Since when did you start caring about court politics?" Hearing this, Li Junqing showed no sign of joking. His fingertips gently rubbed the slightly rough surface of the bronze wine cup before him. The pure courtesan house they had come to tonight was built in imitation of the Great Zhou Dynasty from seven thousand years ago, and all its tableware and drinking vessels were cast from refined fire-copper. Lifting the bronze cup to take a slow sip, Li Junqing said deliberately, "Originally, I thought that after what happened that night, my mission to Dongying would go far more smoothly. But with Chancellor Xu maintaining his current stance, the court's agenda cannot move forward at all." With that, Li Junqing tapped a finger lightly on the tabletop. "Everyone knows full well that the near-destruction of Di'an that night was entirely your manor's doing. But they also know that even if Di'an City had truly been wiped out, it wouldn't have broken your manor's spine. This court struggle is simply an effort within the rules to make your manor pay a price. Yet Chancellor Xu's posture makes it seem as though we are trying to use this incident to exterminate your clan root and branch." Xu Yuan remained quiet for a moment, the corners of his mouth curving upward. "And what are you trying to say with all this?" A profound intensity gleamed in Li Junqing's sharp eyes, as if trying to see straight through Xu Yuan. "It is impossible for Chancellor Xu not to understand something so plain and simple. Allowing the situation to ferment like this means he must have a reason. "So you are stalling for time, aren't you?" "..." Xu Yuan looked at Li Junqing without answering. Seeing this, Li Junqing showed the first hint of a smile tonight, though it was somewhat pained. "Xu Yuan, you found something very important on that Sien Saint's corpse, didn't you?" *Clap, clap, clap.* Smiling, Xu Yuan applauded Li Junqing and said languidly, "You truly live up to your reputation, Junqing." A thoughtful look crossed Li Junqing's eyes. He shook his head gently and murmured, "Deducing that wasn't particularly difficult. After all, I was there that night too, wasn't I?" Xu Yuan shrugged and made no attempt to deny it, smiling as he asked in return, "We did indeed find a few things on that Sien Saint. So, did you come tonight hoping for a piece of the pie?" Li Junqing shook his head and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "What right does a prince with neither power nor influence like me have to share the pie with you? My imperial father, however, is quite taken with the idea." "Meaning?" "He wants me to go to your Prime Minister's Manor and demand a person." "Orenli?" "Yes." "Then come and get her." "He wants me to demand her out in the open, before the eyes of the entire world."