“Get out of my way!” Chong Heng shouted coldly.
“Daren, the Prince is in a meeting,” the guard blocking him didn’t step back at all.
Chong Heng narrowed his eyes, his hand moving to draw his sword when the tightly closed door was finally opened from inside.
Yu Ying respectfully bowed to him, “Daren, the Prince requests your presence.”
Chong Heng strode into the study. Besides Wang Dian, Baili Cheng’an and Cui Qi were also present. All three looked toward him at the sound.
“This subordinate…” Chong Heng, seeing others present, temporarily suppressed his anger, feeling somewhat at a loss.
In such situations, his master would usually scold him out, but Wang Dian merely glanced at him and said to the other two, “Let’s proceed with this plan for now, we’ll discuss the rest tomorrow.”
“This official takes leave,” the two bowed and withdrew.
Wang Dian gathered up the maps from the desk and walked to the table. Yun Fu timely served tea. He took a few sips before dismissing both Yun Fu and Yu Ying, then smiled at Chong Heng, “Why are you so angry?”
“The Imperial Concubine definitely has nothing to do with this matter. Why confine her to Kangning Palace?” Chong Heng said through gritted teeth. “Even if you confine her, why execute all her palace maids and eunuchs?”
Wang Dian sighed, “How can you be so sure she’s not involved?”
“She was the kindest person to me and master in the palace!” Chong Heng said angrily. “You confined her without master’s permission and forbade visitors. Do you think master will spare you when he returns? You’re acting without—”
“Chong Heng.” Wang Dian’s tone deepened.
Chong Heng knew he had almost misspoken. Lowering his head defiantly, he gritted out, “You’re dead when master returns.”
“The Tan family were the ones who rebelled. Without Tan Yishuang’s support, do you think these high walls and palace gates were just for show?” Wang Dian’s voice sounded somewhat cold. “The Tan family’s plot was set in motion at least when they helped Liang Ye take down Cui Yuxian, perhaps even earlier than we imagined. If the Tan family doesn’t fall, you, I, and Liang Ye will be the ones who die.”
Chong Heng kept his head down in silence.
Wang Dian sighed, “Why did Liang Ye leave so many imperial guards and scattered troops at Shizai Mountain? Why did he always stop you from going to Kangning Palace? Do you think he really hadn’t noticed? Chong Heng, he just didn’t want you getting involved in these messy affairs.”
Chong Heng turned to leave.
“I can let you see Tan Yishuang once,” Wang Dian spoke unhurriedly behind him. “But you must promise me one thing.”
Chong Heng’s steps faltered. He turned back, glaring fiercely at Wang Dian with reddened eyes.
Wang Dian smiled slightly, rose and walked past him out of the hall. After a moment of silence, Chong Heng finally followed.
Without the palace maids and eunuchs, the once relatively warm Kangning Palace had become lifeless. The ground was covered in thick snow, half-burying withered leaves. The wind made everything feel colder, leaving only desolation.
Chong Heng gripped his sword scabbard tightly, following Wang Dian as they walked through the snow into the corridor.
A charcoal brazier burned inside the room. Tan Yishuang sat in the main seat wearing plain white clothes. She looked up at Wang Dian and smiled faintly, “I’ve long heard of Your Highness’s name, only now do I truly meet you.”
Though they had briefly crossed paths several times before, always separated by many people, from the rebellion day Tan Yishuang only remembered his cold smile. Now seeing him up close, such a ruthless person actually had such a gentle and delicate face.
“Is the Imperial Concubine satisfied?” Though there was burning charcoal in the room, it wasn’t warm enough. Wang Dian drew his sleeves together, standing by the stove.
“You are Ziyu’s man, whether I’m satisfied doesn’t matter,” Tan Yishuang’s gaze swept over Chong Heng who was staring intently at her, and she smiled.
“Surely the Imperial Concubine must be unsatisfied, otherwise why would the Tan family have someone replace my Miss Tan Jiu’s name?” Wang Dian said with a cold smile. “It seems the Imperial Concubine wants to learn from Cui Yuxian.”
The smile on Tan Yishuang’s face dimmed slightly.
“I came only to ask the Imperial Concubine one thing,” Wang Dian still felt cold, extending his hands over the brazier to warm them slowly. “When Wei Wanlin betrayed and killed a hundred thousand northern troops, did the Imperial Concubine feel even a moment of regret?”
“Having chosen this path, I no longer have the right to speak of regret, Your Highness.” Tan Yishuang rose and walked to the window, watching the fine snow drifting in. “A hundred thousand people… how many is that? In the dozen or so years of Ziyu’s reign, hasn’t Great Liang lost far more than a hundred thousand people each year?”
“They were innocent,” Wang Dian said coldly.
Tan Yishuang smiled and shook her head, “Your Highness always appears kind and merciful, but among the rebels you killed, most were the forty thousand Black Armor Guards you once strongly advocated to spare and exile. You saved them, and now you’ve killed them with your own hands. They were merely kept and forced by Tan Yong—were they truly guilty?”
Wang Dian fell silent.
“The struggle for power always requires deaths,” Tan Yishuang said. “If those hundred thousand northern troops hadn’t died, how would Ziyu have personally led the campaign? It’s just a pity that after all our calculations, we failed to account for you, Wang Dian.”
“I understand now.” Wang Dian’s lips twitched.
“You won’t understand,” Tan Yishuang gave a soft laugh. “Bian Rufeng always told us that the sky outside was vast, that life was lively and free. I didn’t want to believe it at first—a lifetime of scheming was enough for me. But she was always so vivid and alive. While we only had the Emperor in our hearts, she carried the nation and the vast northern frontier in hers. She took me out of the palace, showed me around the capital. It’s laughable—I grew up in the capital, yet never knew it could be so interesting. She took me sightseeing, taught me to read and practice martial arts. Those things that were commonplace for you men were beyond reach for us women…”
“But after her death, I could only guard this square patch of sky in Kangning Palace day and night, watching the seasons change, seeing its end at a glance.” Tan Yishuang sighed. “Cui Yuxian killed Bian Rufeng and the former Emperor. I hated her deeply, yet how could I not admire and envy her? It took me over a decade to understand—Bian Rufeng was wrong from the start. For us women, freedom must be built upon power.”
“You can seek the world, so why can’t I?”
“Of course you can,” Wang Dian said. “If not for me, you would have won. Who could say you would have done worse than Liang Ye or Cui Yuxian?”
Tan Yishuang turned her head, looking at him with some astonishment. “You…”
“It matters little to me whose hands the Northern Liang throne falls into,” Wang Dian lowered his eyes to watch the glowing red charcoal. “But this throne originally belonged to Liang Ye. Since he hasn’t said he doesn’t want it, I can’t let it be lost under my watch.”
Tan Yishuang was silent for a long while before reaching out to steady herself on the windowsill, laughing softly, “No wonder Ziyu is fond of you. You are indeed very likeable.”
The sound of an arrow cutting through the air suddenly rang out. Wang Dian’s pupils contracted as Chong Heng beside him rushed forward.
“Chong Heng!”
“Imperial Concubine!”
Chong Heng threw himself at Tan Yishuang, protecting her in his embrace. The arrow grazed his cheek and embedded itself deeply in the nearby pillar.
“Chase them!” Wang Dian ordered the guards, his expression darkening as he looked up at the open window. He bent down to pull up Chong Heng who was still protecting her on the ground. “Get up.”
Chong Heng held Tan Yishuang tightly, gazing at those eyes he couldn’t forget, his voice trembling slightly, “Imperial Concubine…”
Tan Yishuang looked at him, showing a somewhat sad smile.
Wang Dian suddenly felt an electric chill down his spine. He grabbed Chong Heng’s shoulder and yanked him up, almost instinctively raising his arm to block Chong Heng’s neck.
A dagger gleaming with dark blue light plunged deep into flesh, warm blood splashing across Chong Heng’s face.
“Wang Dian!”
Chong Heng quickly caught hold of him as Tan Yishuang pulled out the dagger, still trying to stab Wang Dian in the heart, but Chong Heng struck her neck with a knife hand, knocking her unconscious.
“Are you hurt?” Wang Dian raised his uninjured arm, hastily and nervously touching Chong Heng’s neck, his voice trembling unnaturally, “Chong Heng?”
“I-I’m fine.” Chong Heng was startled by his urgent tone. Such vital points were most important to martial artists, and besides Liang Ye, no one else dared to touch him there, yet when Wang Dian touched his neck, he felt little resistance. “I’m fine, Wang Dian.”
Wang Dian’s lips turned slightly purple, but he sighed in relief and smiled.
Chong Heng stared at his unnatural lip color and suddenly realized, grabbing his forearm, “The dagger was poisoned!”
Wang Dian’s mind was becoming fuzzy, his surroundings growing noisy. He gripped Chong Heng’s hand tightly, “It’s fine, won’t die, don’t make such a fuss.”
Wang Dian had little experience with poison. His arm felt swollen and numb, yet he barely felt any pain. Even as his consciousness blurred, he remembered to instruct Chong Heng, “Tell Cui Qi…”
Fortunately, the poison wasn’t lethal, and it only struck his forearm. Chong Heng quickly sucked out most of the poison. Wang Dian slept hazily for three or four days before finally regaining consciousness.
“Did you catch them?” His first words upon waking were directed at Cui Qi.
Cui Qi shook his head in his wheelchair, “The situation was too chaotic, and Kangning Palace happened to catch fire.”
“What about Tan Yishuang and Qi Ming?” His arm ached irritatingly as Wang Dian sat up from bed with furrowed brows. Yun Fu gave him half a cup of water.
“Both still alive,” Cui Qi said.
“Someone wants Tan Yishuang dead,” Wang Dian lowered his eyes, pondering for a moment before saying, “I’ll go see Qi Ming.”
Chong Heng stood at the side, anxiously watching Wang Dian, wanting to speak but hesitating.
He raised his hand, indicating Yun Fu needn’t persuade him, “I’m fine, just a minor wound.”
Yun Fu sheepishly closed his mouth.
“Chong Heng, come with me,” Wang Dian dressed and looked at the awkward youth. “Now that you’ve seen her, I won’t let you near Kangning Palace again.”
Chong Heng pressed his lips together, “Yes.”
Wang Dian patted his shoulder hard with his uninjured hand, “Let’s go.”
In the secret prison, Qi Ming sat on the straw mat writing on the ground with a chopstick, a half-eaten bowl of rice beside him. Hearing the sound, he looked up, and seeing Wang Dian, laughed softly, “Didn’t expect to see you once more before death, Zhongqing.”
The poison’s effects lingering, Wang Dian’s vision was still somewhat blurry. Looking at Qi Ming’s unclear smile, he said slowly, “Tan Yishuang isn’t dead.”
Qi Ming’s hand holding the chopstick paused slightly, “The Imperial Concubine has great fortune and has done favors for His Majesty. Even with the Tan family’s fall, surely she’ll keep her life.”
“Yet she seeks death wholeheartedly,” Wang Dian said coldly. “She knew there would be hidden arrows outside the window, yet deliberately opened it. When Chong Heng saved her, it instead aroused her killing intent.”
Qi Ming laughed, “The Imperial Concubine’s thoughts are hard to fathom.”
“Lehong, your thoughts are quite changeable too,” Wang Dian looked at him with a cold expression. “Do you know why I spared your life?”
Qi Ming finally stopped moving the chopstick in his hand, clutching it in his palm.
“If as you say, you so envied and hated Baili Cheng’an, so unscrupulous in your methods, then why did you deliberately warn me?” Wang Dian said. “And why didn’t you make Baili Cheng’an’s so-called ‘secret’ public, completely cutting off his official career?”
Qi Ming sneered, “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“You know what I’m saying,” Wang Dian smiled slightly. “Qi Ming, who are you protecting?”
Qi Ming threw down the chopsticks in his hand and stood up from the straw mat. He dragged his shackles to the iron bars and met Wang Dian’s eyes. “Sometimes being too clever isn’t a good thing, Zhongqing. Is it really necessary to go this far for Liang Ye?”
“Without him, none of this would mean anything,” Wang Dian stepped closer. “Lehong, you should think about your wife and children.”
“I’ve always been a selfish person,” Qi Ming placed his hand on the cold iron bars. “Otherwise, how could I have become friends with you? Zhongqing, like attracts like, birds of a feather flock together. Even with ulterior motives, this saying still applies. You and I aren’t very different.”
Wang Dian stared at him with heavy eyes, which suddenly focused sharply. “Qi Ming!”
Black tainted blood slowly seeped from Qi Ming’s mouth and nose. Chong Heng urged the jailer to open the door, but the key could not be found anywhere. In desperation, Chong Heng tried to cut through the unbreakable dark iron chains with his sword, but even with his internal energy, it only left slight marks.
“Zhongqing, for the sake of our friendship…” Qi Ming grinned at him and grabbed the bars, leaning forward. His voice was barely audible. “Liang Ye will certainly die in this battle.”
Then, under Wang Dian’s grim gaze, blood flowed from his seven orifices and he fell silent in death.
The shackles struck against the iron bars, producing a clear and ironically crisp clashing sound.
