Hundred Nations Assembly, the Prince's Status Restored
A few days later.
Chen Du was meditating in the secluded library on the second floor of Qianchuan Hall when he heard a disturbance outside.
In an instant, he suppressed his Houtian Perfection cultivation so deeply that, to all appearances, he remained the scholar prince who lacked even the strength to truss a chicken.
Only when he went outside did he learn that the emperor had sent an imperial edict.
The eunuch delivering it was surnamed Wang and had served in the palace for more than thirty years.
He stood in Qianchuan Hall's weed-choked courtyard, with two squads of imperial guards behind him.
Chen Du, meanwhile, knelt on the courtyard's gray brick paving.
"By the mandate of heaven, the emperor decrees: Since entering Qianchuan Hall, the seventh prince Su Yuanzheng has restrained himself and returned to proper conduct, devoting himself to his studies. Through four years of summer heat and winter cold, he has been diligent and tireless, greatly reassuring this emperor.
"Effective immediately, he is released from confinement, his rank is restored, and his princely regalia is returned to him. The seventh prince is commanded to attend the Hundred Nations Assembly three days hence and, alongside the other princes, welcome the myriad nations coming to pay court. Respect this decree."
Chen Du received the edict with both hands. The imperial yellow silk felt cool to the touch.
He raised the edict above his head. "Your son receives the decree and thanks you for your grace. Long live Your Majesty, long live, long may you live."
As soon as Eunuch Wang finished reading the edict, the solemn expression on his face changed as quickly as a page turning, replaced by an ingratiating smile.
In more than thirty years of navigating the palace, his greatest skill was catching the first shift in the wind.
When the seventh prince was thrown into the imperial prison four years ago, everyone at court had thought the chess piece was finished for good. No one had expected the emperor to suddenly order his release four years later, let alone reserve him a place at an important occasion like the Hundred Nations Assembly.
Whatever the emperor's reasons, the edict itself was a signal: the seventh prince was back on the chessboard.
"Congratulations, Your Highness, congratulations!" Eunuch Wang came forward and personally helped Chen Du to his feet. "Your Highness has devoted himself to reading in Qianchuan Hall these past four years, and your complexion looks even better than it did back then. His Majesty knows how diligent you've been and specifically ordered this old servant to bring a few extra sets of new clothes. Would Your Highness like to try them on and see if they fit?"
Chen Du rose with his help, wearing a perfectly measured, modest smile. "Sorry to have troubled you, Eunuch Wang."
Outside the courtyard gate, several eunuchs and palace maids who had hurried over upon hearing the news were already kneeling, all talking at once as they offered their congratulations.
For the first time in four years, Qianchuan Hall's courtyard gate stood open to the outside world.
Chen Du changed into the new clothes Eunuch Wang had brought: a moon-white brocade robe, fastened at the waist with a jade belt and embroidered at the cuffs with subtle cloud patterns.
Standing at the courtyard gate, he looked back at the dilapidated hall that had kept him company for four years.
As it turned out, a lifetime was shorter than he had imagined.
Chen Du withdrew his gaze and turned toward the rear palace.
There was only one thing he wanted to do now: see someone.
Shufang Studio, on the western side of the rear palace.
The secluded palace compound was little better than Qianchuan Hall. A woman in old, plain-colored clothes sat beside a well, sorting vegetables. Her graying hair was loosely pinned behind her head with a wooden hairpin.
Her fingers were thin and bony, with large knuckles, clearly marked by years of labor.
Her head was lowered, and she was so absorbed in picking over the leaves in her hands that she didn't notice someone enter the courtyard.
Chen Du stood at the courtyard gate, his steps suddenly halting.
When he was thrown into the imperial prison four years ago, he hadn't had a chance to see her.
During those days in the imperial prison and the full four years in Qianchuan Hall, he had occasionally thought of this body's mother—not his mother, but Su Yuanzheng's.
He was merely a true spirit who had transmigrated, occupied this body, and inherited its original owner's memories and identity. He had never truly regarded this woman in the depths of the palace as his own mother.
Yet now, seeing her from behind as she sat beside the well, he still felt something gently strike his chest.
The memories that belonged to Su Yuanzheng surged up like a tide, sweeping over every rational dam in their path.
"Mother."
He called softly.
The woman crouching beside the well suddenly stiffened. The leaves in her hands fell into the basin, sending up a small splash.
She slowly turned around, her clouded eyes widening the instant she saw Chen Du.
"Zheng'er?!"
Her voice was hoarse. She rose unsteadily and wiped her hands on her apron, over and over again, yet never dared step forward.
As if she feared the person before her was only a shadow that would shatter at a touch.
Chen Du walked toward her. Four years of confinement had not left him looking weathered. Rather, from spending so long indoors, his skin was fairer than it had been four years ago.
But in this mother's eyes, every day of those four years had carved flesh from her heart.
She didn't know whether he had eaten his fill, had enough warm clothes, fallen ill, or been bullied in there.
She was only an old palace maid abandoned in a corner of the cold palace, without even the right to visit him in prison or ask someone to carry him a message.
For more than fourteen hundred days and nights, all she could do was sit in this dilapidated courtyard, face that little patch of sky above the imperial palace, and pray to the bodhisattvas again and again to keep her son safe.
"It's me, Mother." Chen Du walked up to her and looked down at her deeply wrinkled face. "I'm back."
Those words were like a key, unlocking all the emotions pent up over four years.
She seized Chen Du's arm, gripping it tightly with all ten fingers.
"It's good that you're back, good that you're back." She repeated the words over and over, her voice so choked with sobs that she could barely form a sentence. "You've gotten thin... How did you get so thin? Didn't you get enough to eat in there? Mother saved up some silver. You can have it all. Take it and buy something to build up your strength."
As she spoke, she started to let go and search the room for the silver, but Chen Du gently took her wrist and pulled her back.
"Mother, I'm fine."
His voice was a little softer than usual, with a tenderness even he didn't notice. "And I won't come to harm again."
She leaned against his shoulder and cried for quite a while.
After what seemed like a long time, a patter of soft footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate.
Eunuch Wang's round face peeked around the doorframe, his smile like a blooming chrysanthemum. He was also holding a small sandalwood box.
He stepped over the threshold, first bowed to Chen Du, then turned and bent respectfully at the waist to Chen Du's mother, his manner even more deferential than when he had delivered the edict.
"This old servant offers Your Ladyship his congratulations."
The seventh prince's mother froze, instinctively taking half a step back while one hand still clutched Chen Du's sleeve. "Eunuch Wang, what... what did you call me?"
Her voice trembled slightly. She had not heard those words for a very long time, not since she had been demoted.
Eunuch Wang presented the sandalwood box with both hands. "Your Ladyship, His Majesty has decreed that your rank as imperial consort be restored, and that you move back to the Warm Fragrance Pavilion as of today.
"Her Majesty the empress has already made the arrangements. Palace maids will come this afternoon to pack your things.
"His Majesty also said that Your Ladyship has suffered these past few years and should rest and recover. If you need anything, you have only to ask the Imperial Household Department."
Chen Du gently patted her back without speaking.
Of course he understood the deeper meaning behind this edict.
Releasing the prince, restoring his rank, and restoring his mother's consort title—taken together, those three things could never mean that the emperor had suddenly remembered the deep bond between father and son.
The Hundred Nations Assembly was imminent, and the myriad nations were coming to pay court. All the princes had to attend.
If the seventh prince's birth mother were still a deposed consort banished to the cold palace, it would look bad.
The emperor was clearing the stage for the Hundred Nations Assembly, wiping away every blemish in plain sight.
Besides, this emperor surely knew that he had been wrongly accused.
Thunderbolts and nourishing dew are both the sovereign's grace?
This emperor is interesting. He actually wants to pick up a chess piece that's already been discarded.
But does he know who will be dealing with whom when the time comes?
On the day of the Hundred Nations Assembly, at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Chen Du arrived early and took the lowest seat among the princes. Before he had taken a single sip of tea, the other princes' gazes arrived right on cue.
The fourth prince, Su Yuanping, spoke first, loudly enough to be heard three tables away. "Seventh brother? You actually had the nerve to come out of Qianchuan Hall."
His words were thick with the smell of gunpowder.
The sixth prince, Su Yuanning, picked up the thread, laughter in his voice. "There's something you don't know, fourth brother. Seventh brother spent four years reading in Qianchuan Hall. He's probably read the books there to tatters, so naturally he's different from before. Seventh brother, did you find any peerless secret manuals?"
Chen Du set down his teacup and smiled. "What secret manuals? There were only classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections to pass the time."
Prince of Qi Su Yuanli sat a little closer. Toying with the pearl at his waist, he gave Chen Du a casual glance. "Seventh brother has grown fair and clean-looking these past four years. It seems the feng shui of Qianchuan Hall is good for one's health."
Prince of Yan Su Yuancheng didn't look over. He merely said indifferently, "It's good that you can sit here."
Crown Prince Su Shizhong said nothing. His gaze swept over the delegations ahead, as if everything at the lowest seat had nothing to do with him.
Chen Du responded to each of them in turn, a mild smile on his face.
Seeing that he wouldn't rise to the bait, the princes lost interest and turned to speak with the people beside them.
As the fourth prince walked away, he thought, A worthless piece of trash.
Chen Du raised his teacup and swallowed those words along with the warm tea.
The emperor sat upright on the throne, his face indistinct beneath the twelve-strand ceremonial crown.
In the hall, song and dance celebrated peace. Sixty-four dancers performed in the courtyard, while bronze bells and jade chimes rang together.
Calls announcing names, cheers, and the clinking of gold and jade blended into the clamor of a peaceful, prosperous age.
When it was time for a small kingdom on the southwestern frontier to present its tribute, its envoy carried forward a brocade box with measured steps and knelt on one knee before the imperial dais. "By command of my sovereign, this foreign minister presents a length of Nine-Heaven Cloud Brocade."
The emperor naturally gave his permission.
But when the lid was lifted, smoke burst forth. It was no ordinary white smoke, but some special substance detonated with true essence.
Thick smoke surged out like raging waves, completely blocking sight. Its smell was acrid, and inhaling it caused the meridians to become slightly sluggish.
The imperial guard commander's furious shout exploded through the smoke. "Assassins! Protect His Majesty!"
At the same moment, the auras of more than a dozen Houtian experts erupted at once.
They were genuine Houtian Realm experts!
A single Houtian expert was enough to found a sect in the martial world. Yet more than a dozen had struck at once, with a plan already in place and clearly assigned roles.
And they had been plotting this for a long time!
A prince lay in a pool of blood. It was the fourth prince, who had just been so arrogant.
Only moments ago he had been talking and laughing at the banquet. Now a sword had pierced his throat, and he had died without even managing a scream.
The hall fell into chaos. Courtiers prostrated themselves, and envoys fled.
Three more assassins pounced on the lowest seat.
In their eyes, the prince who had been sitting quietly in the corner all along was merely the next lamb to be slaughtered.
Chen Du set down his teacup and smiled bitterly.
"Why did you have to do this?"
He sighed. Four years in hiding, undone in a single move.