Crossing Paths

The court session was dismissed. After everything that had transpired, normal court affairs naturally could not proceed. As for the Law of Equal Taxation, following the death of the censor who had cited ancestral laws, dissenting voices in the court temporarily ceased. Blood spattering Jinluan Hall was not unprecedented, but in the past, those had all been unsolved mysteries where the culprit could never be identified. For someone to kill so openly and brazenly as Xu Yuan had done today was a first in decades. Such violence was the lowest sort of method, but it was also the most effective—and the most suitable while the Emperor was away. Moreover, the upper echelons of the imperial faction could tell that killing was not Xu Yuan's objective; making his stance clear was. Even if someone could outargue him and leave him speechless, Xu Changtian would still forcibly promulgate this Law of Equal Taxation to the realm today. With reasoned debate useless, the only way to stop him was through force of arms to subdue Xu Changtian. Yet the Commander of the Imperial Guard had already attempted that path moments ago and failed. Continuing to obstruct him served no purpose; they could only wait until the Emperor returned before making further plans. Furthermore, everyone needed time to absorb what had happened today, and to find a way forward for themselves amid the murky chaos of the future. Dismissal was rather chaotic. Xu Yuan simply sat down upon the golden steps, wordlessly watching the disordered hall below. Court officials were not necessarily high ministers, much less experts of profound cultivation. Jinluan Hall was only so large, and the shockwaves generated earlier when Xu Yuan clashed with Wang Shili had directly injured many. Some had even been covered with white cloth on the spot. After waiting for about the time it took an incense stick to burn, silence finally returned to Jinluan Hall. Watching the last official take his leave, Li Yucheng rose from behind the low desk, walked over to Xu Yuan, smoothed the hem of his robes, and sat down beside him on the golden steps. Light streamed through the hole blasted in the domed ceiling, spilling over the two men sitting on the steps. The vast hall was solemn and dead silent. After a dozen breaths of silence, Li Yucheng gazed at the familiar, empty hall before him and suddenly spoke: "The Chief Steward of the Palace is from your Prime Minister's Manor. He will deliver the Law of Equal Taxation to the Court Edict Directorate, but someone there might try stalling tactics—delaying until Imperial Father returns to the capital." "Lou Ji went there ahead of time. The Chancellor's faction will not dare disobey." "That Chief of the Black Scales? It seems you truly planned this long in advance." "One must always make preparations." "So, does Teacher know about what you did today?" "..." A moment of quiet passed. Xu Yuan glanced back at Li Yucheng and countered: "Does Your Highness believe that my father would be unaware of something that decides the dynasty's future?" Li Yucheng pondered for a moment, then answered earnestly: "Hard to say." Hearing this, Xu Yuan let out a soft breath and replied with a smile: "I think he ought to know." "Is that so..." Li Yucheng narrowed his eyes, a trace of resentment in his tone. "Perhaps that is the difference between Teacher and Imperial Father. Imperial Father likes to hold everything in his own grasp, wanting to do it himself even up to the very last moment." "That actually has nothing to do with His Majesty." "Oh?" Li Yucheng sounded slightly surprised. "Great Yan has stood for a millennium; imperial authority has become inertia. The Prime Minister's Manor, however, has existed for only a few decades." "A novel way to put it, but I still hold to my view—" "Crown Prince, why did you help me today?" Xu Yuan suddenly cut Li Yucheng off, meeting the middle-aged man's placid gaze. "Someone will have to take responsibility for today's events. The Prime Minister's Manor will protect me, but you are handing a knife to Li Zhaoyuan." This was what Xu Yuan could not understand, and it was the reason he still lingered in Jinluan Hall. Rivers and mountains were easily altered, but human nature was hard to change; a person's character was shaped slowly through growth. Crown Prince Li Yucheng was already past fifty, and any change in temperament was practically impossible. This, too, meant that Li Yaoxuan was destined never to pass the throne to him. Li Yucheng's only way out after doing this was to drag Li Junqing back. But the third prince had already taken the troops and horses Xu Yuan gave him to the coastal regions, preparing ships and military supplies to cross the ocean. Xu Yuan had reached out to Li Junqing through the Black Scale Guards, and the young man's answer had been just as blunt: "As long as I have not wiped out the Wokou, I swear never to return home." Xu Yuan's question plunged Li Yucheng into a long silence. It brought an immensely complex expression to the face of the man who had been Crown Prince for sixty years. Several times he opened his mouth only to hesitate, unable to utter the words. Li Yucheng knew Xu Yuan was offering him one final chance—a chance to preserve his life and ascend the imperial throne. If he answered that he held ambitions for the realm, the Prime Minister's Manor would begin paving the way for him. For a crown prince—a crown prince of sixty years—what was needed to take the supreme throne was, in truth, remarkably simple. Suppressing the reluctance in his heart, Li Yucheng lowered his gaze. "I have already answered that question." *Because I am of imperial blood.* *Even if I must sacrifice this flesh and bone, I wish to see the dawning of an age of peace and prosperity.* The words echoed in Xu Yuan's ears, and he let out a quiet sigh in his heart. "Your Highness, you would make a benevolent ruler, but the world to come needs an ambitious hegemon." "I know." Once he spoke those words, Li Yucheng's expression actually relaxed considerably. "I know all of this, so there is no need to say more." With that, Li Yucheng kept his eyes cast down and changed the subject: "Third Young Master, I am actually quite curious. If I had refused to use the imperial seal today and outright rejected the tax law you presented, what would you have done?" Xu Yuan did not offer a spoken answer to the question. He merely lifted his eyes and glanced at the crater smashed into the hall by the Commander of the Imperial Guard. If he had not cooperated, there would have been one more crater in the hall today. Li Yucheng could not help a quiet chuckle, thinking to himself that Xu Yuan was truly an audacious daredevil. Rising from the golden steps, he spoke: "Judging by the time, news from the court should have reached Huanglong Forest by now. What you did today counts as making the choice for Imperial Father, but he has always been arbitrary and headstrong. Most likely, this matter is far from over." Xu Yuan remained seated and nodded. "Yes, I know." "Good that you know. Qingyan is heading this way; she probably has words for you. I shall take my leave first." "Mm." "..." Silence followed his words, leaving only footsteps behind. With his back to the young man sitting on the golden steps, Li Yucheng walked out toward the hall entrance alone. Yet as he reached the doors, he suddenly halted, his voice drifting back from a distance: "From now on, the realm will know peace no longer." "Mm." "Whether it will be an age of prosperity or an age of chaos, no one can say." "At least the court will not succumb to internal strife." "Only for now." "That is enough." "Then good." Li Yucheng let out a soft chuckle and strode out of the hall. Outside, beneath an overcast sky, fine drizzle was beginning to fall once more. The misty moisture settled upon his shimmering golden jade robes. The plaza before the hall was vast and solemn, reflecting the history of a thousand-year dynasty. As Li Yucheng walked down the steps along the left side of the Imperial Path, a woman as graceful as a startled swan was making her way up the steps along the right side of the Imperial Path. Without a word, without even exchanging a single glance, brother and sister crossed paths, passing each other by on either side of the Imperial Path. When Li Yucheng stepped onto the final stair, he suddenly looked back, gazing with mixed emotions at the majestic palace over which he had presided as regent for twenty years. Beneath the dim curtain of rain, this gilded hall remained just as profound and majestic as when he had first laid eyes on it in his youth. Yet at this moment, he seemed to see a curtain of darkness. A shroud of darkness where no future could be seen, devouring this thousand-year hall from the inside out. (End of Volume)