A Cornered Beast's Struggle

Heaven Dou City.

Lately, the atmosphere in the palace had weighed so heavily on the civil and military officials that they could scarcely breathe.

Emperor Xue Ye had not attended court for three full days. The muffled screams from the death prison and the Royal Dragon Soul Guard's overnight departure had left Heaven Dou's highest officials as skittish as birds startled by a bowstring.

On the gilded heir's chair at the front of the great hall, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe sat upright.

His face was gentle as jade, and a graceful smile played at his lips, warm as a spring breeze.

The ministers below submitted memorials that probed for answers, betrayed their terror, or bordered on despair. Xue Qinghe's replies gave nothing away.

"Ministers, there is no need for alarm! My father has caught a slight chill and is recuperating in the inner palace. The empire's foundations remain firm. A rabble of lowborn rioters cannot stir up any great waves."

Xue Qinghe lifted the tea from the table and took a light sip. His composure, unshaken even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, drew praise from officials throughout the court.

To them, this refined, gracious crown prince was the anchor holding the Heaven Dou Empire steady amid the storm.

The court session ended.

Escorted from the hall, Xue Qinghe turned into the long, dim bluestone corridor leading to the Eastern Palace.

One step. Two steps. Three.

As the light around him faded, his familiar smile of warmth and benevolence vanished without a trace.

The moment he entered his study in the Eastern Palace and dismissed every attendant, nothing remained on that once-gentle face but coldness.

Qian Renxue approached the broad rosewood desk. Two confidential reports lay upon it.

One was a copy of the top-secret order Emperor Xue Ye had signed in the death prison the previous night, bypassing the Ministry of War to send the Royal Dragon Soul Guard to seal off Tack Town's mountains.

The other was an urgent letter sent through Spirit Hall's most secret channels.

Both reports pointed to the same place—Tack Town, Fasinuo Province.

Qian Renxue raised her head and looked through the half-open window at the Firmament hanging high in the heavens.

Within the Firmament, Lin Fan was bare-chested and covered in coal ash and muddy water.

With a crude iron hammer, he struck furiously at hematite beneath a cliff in the barren mountains, like a madman who knew no exhaustion, while directing a group of ordinary people as they built that inconceivable Blast Furnace.

"Tack Town..."

Qian Renxue's long, fair fingers brushed the vermilion seal on the report. A self-mocking smile touched her beautiful lips.

"That old man Xue Ye finally caught the scent of danger. He's trying to dig the Firmament's roots out of a real map. Quick to react, I'll give him that. Too bad... he's digging in entirely the wrong direction."

To Qian Renxue, the whole thing was a farce of the highest absurdity.

In the Firmament, Lin Fan had plainly burrowed into the mountains to mine like a lowly ant because he had angered Spirit Hall and was trying to escape annihilation.

It was nothing more than a cornered beast's desperate struggle.

But in the real world?

Every powerful figure on the continent had been scared out of their wits by his efforts to "dig deep and stockpile grain."

Including that woman...

Qian Renxue looked away from Lin Fan's coal-smeared face. Unbidden, an image rose in her mind: the woman who sat above everyone in the Papal Palace—her mother, Bibi Dong.

According to a message from Spirit Hall's covert agents, that iron-blooded, merciless Pope had lost her composure and wept on the Papal Throne just yesterday.

"How ridiculous."

Qian Renxue closed her eyes, hiding the complicated emotion within them.

"The woman who gave birth to me yet wished she could kill me, who has been cold-blooded all her life... she actually shed tears for a man like him?"

"Yu Xiaogang, are you a fraud who stole an undeserved reputation, or a god who has calculated the fate of all living things?"

Knock, knock, knock—

A hushed report came from outside the door. "Your Highness, His Majesty summons you. Please proceed to the imperial study at once."

Qian Renxue opened her eyes. The coldness in them vanished in an instant.

When she opened the door, she had become Heaven Dou's crown prince once more, burdened with concern for the empire and its people.

Dusk was approaching beneath a ceiling of dark clouds.

The imperial study's usually bright palace lamps had not been lit. Only a solitary oil lamp flickered on the desk.

"Your son Qinghe greets you, Father." Qian Renxue bowed as soon as she entered, her voice mild and her bearing respectful.

Emperor Xue Ye stood with his back to her, both hands braced against a vast map of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Without turning, he said hoarsely, "Come here. Stand beside me."

Qian Renxue obeyed and took her place beside Emperor Xue Ye.

Following his gaze, she saw that his right index finger rested on a tiny, easily overlooked spot in the map's southwestern corner.

A fine red circle had been drawn around it in vermilion, beside three small characters: Tack Town.

"Qinghe, do you see it?"

Emperor Xue Ye tapped the red dot twice. "This little place. So small there's barely room for its name on the map."

"I see it," Qian Renxue replied deferentially. "Father, Tack Town lies on the border. It's poor and remote. Why has it suddenly become so important?"

Emperor Xue Ye was silent for a while. He did not answer directly.

"The Dragon Soul Guard set out last night. Three thousand men, all elites of Soul King rank or above. I sent their orders straight past the Ministry of War."

At last, he turned and looked Qian Renxue in the eyes.

"Do you know what that means?"

"It means Father considers this grave enough to use the imperial family's last trump card."

"Correct."

Emperor Xue Ye nodded. A complicated expression crossed his face, part approval, part self-mockery.

"Qinghe, you're the same as ever. I've never had to spell everything out for you."

He went to the desk and poured himself a cup of tea that had long since gone cold. He picked it up but did not drink, merely turning it in his hand.

"I didn't close my eyes all night. I kept turning over what that Yu Xiaogang said in the Firmament."

Emperor Xue Ye lowered his voice. "The geography in the Firmament matches reality exactly. The more I think about it, the more certain I am that there must be a connection."

Qian Renxue lowered her head. "Father's judgment is wise! But there is one thing I don't understand. If this matter is so important, why use the Dragon Soul Guard instead of mobilizing the border army?"

Emperor Xue Ye gave a cold laugh. "The border army? More than half those soldiers stationed along the frontier come from common families, and the officers all have their own agendas. I can't even tell which of them have fallen for the Firmament's twisted doctrines. I won't trust them with this."

He paused, then dropped his voice further. "Qinghe, there aren't many people left I can trust."

For several seconds, the imperial study was silent.

Qian Renxue said nothing.

She knew that nothing she said would be appropriate now.

"I called you here because I have two tasks for you." Emperor Xue Ye set down his teacup and returned to the map.

"The Royal Academy's highest-classified archive holds every terrain survey of the borderlands, secret mineral record, and account of ancient ruins compiled since the empire's founding. Tack Town may be small, but the records for everything within five hundred li of it should still be there. Go in person and retrieve them all. No one else can know about this. Take two trusted palace attendants and see to it."

"As you command, Father," Qian Renxue replied. "Are you concerned there might be some unusual mineral deposit near Tack Town, or... something else?"

Emperor Xue Ye did not answer directly. He pointed to the hazy markings for the mountains near Tack Town. "I want to know what that Yu Xiaogang found in those mountains in the Firmament. If it exists here too, I'll have a bargaining chip to use against him. If it doesn't, at least I'll be able to sleep soundly."

Qian Renxue nodded. "I understand, Father! What is the second task?"

"Tomorrow morning, you will inspect the Imperial City's four gates in my stead."

"Father wants to use my presence to steady the troops." Qian Renxue understood his intention at once.

"Yes."

Emperor Xue Ye sighed, unable to hide the weariness in his voice. "The unrest outside the city grows worse by the day. Some of the imperial guards have begun to desert. At this rate, the Imperial City will rot from within before the rebels even break in. Qinghe, you are the crown prince. You are my son. As long as those soldiers see you standing on the walls and know Heaven Dou's heir has not fled, their resolve will hold."

"I understand, Father! I'll inspect the city first thing tomorrow morning." Qian Renxue accepted solemnly.

Emperor Xue Ye looked at her. His lips moved as though he had more to say, but in the end, he merely reached out and patted her shoulder.

"I heard how you conducted yourself at court today. You did well."

Qian Renxue lowered her head. "I merely did my duty."

"There aren't many people left who can even do that." Emperor Xue Ye smiled faintly, but the smile vanished at once. "Go. See to both matters as quickly as possible."

Qian Renxue stepped back three paces and bowed with utmost respect. "Your son takes his leave! Father... please take care of your health."

Emperor Xue Ye murmured an acknowledgment. He had already turned away from her again to face the map, half-lit and half-shadowed by the oil lamp.