Daji in action

King Zhou was unfit to be a ruler?

Zi Yan could not see it.

Whether it was lying low for seven years before seizing power with a poem, replacing commanders to quell a rebellion and train the Royal Guards, or intimidating the feudal lords and bestowing favor through a calendar, every move had been wise.

Apart from the stain involving Su Daji, King Zhou had chosen worthy, capable men and directed affairs from behind the scenes. He could well be called an enlightened ruler of his generation.

But as Zi Yan looked at the sword gleaming coldly in Zi Qi's hand, he could not bring himself to say that.

Zi Yan said without hesitation, "You are right, elder brother. I, too, find him unfit to be a ruler."

Seeing Zi Yan's reaction, Zi Qi smiled and sheathed the sword. "An immortal gave me this sword. It can sever a hair blown against its edge and slice through iron without a sound."

Zi Yan's scalp prickled. Though he ordinarily cared only for pleasure, he was no fool. He knew he was probably in trouble today. "What do you mean by this, elder brother?"

Zi Qi said, "Our third brother behaves perversely. In seven years on the throne, he has accomplished nothing, merely provoking rebellions among the feudal lords and failing to win his ministers' loyalty."

Not at all. I think our third brother has done quite well. He has quelled a rebellion and established a calendar. Even with Su Hu about to rebel, he refuses to resort lightly to arms. How merciful he is.

Zi Yan dearly wanted to say this, but he could not. He merely stammered and nodded.

Zi Qi continued, "Was the strategy for suppressing the North Sea rebellion his? It was merely Fei Lian and Kong Xuan's prowess."

"The calendar has won universal praise, but did he calculate it? Wan Nian observed the sun and moon day after day and worked out their patterns."

"Everything he does is reckless and willful. Whatever achievements he has are due solely to loyal, wise ministers of great talent. What he actually did was seize the Daughter of Su Hu right off the street and drive a feudal lord into rebellion!"

"Can such a man sit upon the throne?"

Zi Qi's words carried an air of I could do just as well if I took his place, and Zi Yan almost believed him.

But when Zi Qi kept harping on King Zhou's forcible seizure of a feudal lord's daughter, Zi Yan understood why the rumor had spread so quickly. By the very next day, it had already swept through the streets in a roaring uproar. Zi Qi was undoubtedly pulling the strings behind it.

It had certainly been no easy task for him. Only in King Zhou's eighth year on the throne had he finally found a stain on his reputation.

"Seeing our third brother so foolish and incompetent, yet sitting securely upon the throne through his ministers' talents, truly pains my heart. I cannot help thinking of our royal father." As Zi Qi spoke, he wiped his eyes and took out a jade belt.

"This..." Zi Yan opened his mouth. The jade belt looked familiar.

"This is the jade belt our father wore in life. He entrusted it to me before his death. Yesterday, the sight of his belongings stirred my longing for him, so I took out the belt and discovered something unusual." Zi Qi walked over to Zi Yan, affectionately took his hand, and sat down with him.

Then he spread out the jade belt. On the silk lining inside were words written in blood.

"Qi's talents are ten times Shou's. He will surely bring peace to the kingdom and settle its great affairs. If Shou can be assisted, assist him; if he proves incapable, you may take his place yourself."

Zi Yan was aghast. He stammered, "Is this our royal father's final command?"

When the late king had passed away, Zi Qi had indeed been among the Orphan-Entrusted Ministers. Each had received a reward, and Zi Qi's had been this jade belt.

Zi Qi nodded slowly. "It is."

Both the jade belt and the words within it were genuine.

Di Yi had known full well that his eldest son, Zi Qi, had a greater reputation for virtue. Yet his third son, Zi Shou, had ultimately inherited the throne because the pressure from the senior ministers had been too great.

If Zi Shou proved a decent ruler, there would be no problem. After all, eldest or third, both were his sons. Though his third son lacked a reputation for virtue, he had once saved Di Yi's life by supporting a beam while its pillar was replaced. So long as Cheng Tang's legacy was not destroyed in a single stroke, that was enough.

But if Zi Shou proved a foolish ruler, with feudal lords commanding their own armies beyond the court and senior ministers controlling affairs within it, Great Shang would be finished.

Thus, to leave nothing to chance, Di Yi had written this Bloodstained Belt Edict before his death and entrusted it to Zi Qi, who had long enjoyed a reputation for virtue.

There was too much to take in. Zi Yan needed a good while to recover before saying, "Elder brother, you mean..."

Looking Zi Yan in the eye, Zi Qi said firmly, "Naturally, we must obey our royal father's final command. Will you help me, dear brother?"

Huang Feihu had been transferred to the northwest, and Grand Tutor Wen had marched off to war, leaving the court short of troops and commanders. Beyond it, Su Hu was rebelling and declaring independence. Add King Zhou's infatuation with beauty, and this was the best possible opportunity.

Zi Yan was speechless. Can I say no? That sword the immortal gave him is still right beside his hand!

After Daji entered the palace, she enjoyed great favor.

This was only natural. Daji was the first girl who, in any real sense, belonged to Zi Shou alone since his transmigration.

The other consorts in the Imperial Harem had all belonged to the body's previous owner. Though it was the same body, the thought still left him feeling uneasy, making things less natural.

Besides, for some reason, Zi Shou felt no sense of unfamiliarity when speaking with Daji. It was as though they were destined for each other.

After a whole night of exertion, Zi Shou got up in the morning, dismissed court, and strolled through the rear garden with Daji.

Besides nurturing their feelings, he could also properly ask her for advice. A fox spirit who had lived a thousand years surely knew no fewer than ten thousand ways to ruin a kingdom.

"My beloved consort, I lie awake all night pondering affairs of state. Might you share my burden?"

Zi Shou was telling the absolute truth. Wen Zhong had been gone for half a month, yet there was not the slightest news of Su Hu rebelling. He was frantic. At this rate, when the next Foolishness Value settlement came around, he would probably still have only ten points. He had to rely on the fox spirit.

Daji's brows drew together slightly, a delicate, ethereal air arising between them and lending her several more degrees of loveliness.

King Zhou was indeed as Nuwa had said: diligent in government, loving toward his people, and devoted to their welfare. He was an enlightened ruler. The street rumors about his infatuation with beauty were merely false tales. Apart from paying her considerable attention, he showed no excessive attachment to the Imperial Harem.

As for his attentiveness toward her, it was probably only because Su Hu had written a rebellious poem, and he wished to soothe him. The occasional fascination he revealed was likely just because she was a nine-tailed fox demon; mortals could not resist the alluring charm in her every movement.

For some reason, after taking possession of this body, Daji had begun to care about King Zhou. Previously, she had merely followed Empress Nuwa's instructions, seeking an opportunity to preserve his wealth and honor for the rest of his life. Now, however, she was earnestly considering strategies for governing the kingdom and perpetuating Cheng Tang's legacy.

This was fate. Zi Shou had transmigrated into King Zhou's body, while the fox spirit had possessed Daji. The two existed in much the same way.

The fox demons now had two lineages: the oldest, the Tushan Fox Demons, and another that had arisen a thousand years ago, the Qingqiu Fox Demons.

Great Xia had lasted four hundred years, and Great Shang had endured for over six hundred so far, together making just a thousand years.

The Qingqiu Fox Demons traced their origins to Nü Jiao, the wife of Yu the Great, who had founded the Xia Dynasty a thousand years earlier.

Nü Jiao had come from the Tushan Fox Demons and was also a thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox. After Yu the Great accepted the abdication of the throne in his favor, he established his capital at Yangcheng. Yangcheng lay at the foot of Mount Song and, like Chaoge, belonged to Henan. To help Yu the Great tame the floods, Nü Jiao established a lineage of fox demons on nearby Qingqiu Mountain to assist him.

Yu the Great was the great-great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan. This neatly explained why Daji and the other two demons lived within the Xuanyuan Tomb: their lineage had helped his great-great-grandson tame the floods and found the Xia Dynasty, and thus had earned merit.

Daji recalled when she had still been a little fox a thousand years ago. Watching her ancestor help the king of Xia tame the floods and ease his burdens, she had been filled with envy, thinking how wonderful it would be if she, too, could someday assist an enlightened ruler in governing the world.

Now, it really was her turn.

Perhaps, as Empress Nuwa had said, Heaven had decreed that King Zhou could rule for only twenty-odd years.

Perhaps a nine-tailed fox demon with a thousand years of cultivation could not defy Heaven, but she still wanted to do something.

Daji already had an idea.

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