That day, an anomaly had appeared in the starry sky. Two stars had surged upward, shooting straight toward the Purple Star. Under their impact, the Purple Star had actually shifted slightly and grown somewhat dimmer.
"To govern through virtue is to be like the Emperor Star, remaining unmoved in its place while all the other stars pay it homage."
The Emperor Star shifting signified turmoil; its dimming signified a loss of virtue. Not long afterward, Cao Yiyan had taken the reins of the Kingdom of Ying, becoming even more convinced that he had answered Heaven's Mandate.
Great Zheng must fall. Great Wei shall rise.
Yet those two stars had lingered in Cao Yiyan's mind, refusing to let him rest.
"Who did the second star signify? Could it have been Prince Dai?"
Su Ziji was suspicious indeed. Never mind that he was the former crown prince's son, only recently acknowledged by the imperial family-even an imperial grandson raised at the emperor's side could hardly have risen so quickly.
Among the younger generation of princes, there were now only three imperial princes and one commandery prince. Su Ziji alone was an imperial grandson; the others were all the emperor's sons. With such a terrifyingly swift rise, Su Ziji was even more formidable than Cao Yiyan had imagined.
Still, this matched his understanding of Prince Dai. Now that Prince Lu had fallen from power and become Prince Ninghe, the situation in the Capital City had changed dramatically. What should his next move be?
If Prince Dai is the second star, is he my enemy or my ally?
Cao Yiyan rose and paced around the room, then soon turned to the middle-aged scholar who had followed him inside and had been listening silently. "Mr. Zhong, what do you think?"
"Your Majesty, I do not