While Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi lingered in Coiling Dragon Town in the southern lands, on this night of the sixteenth day of the eighth month, the Capital's Astrologer wrote in the Star Almanac:
"In the eighth month, on the day of ding-si, the seven luminaries entered the moon: a sign of crossing heaven. A great minister harbors a hidden plot; war shall arise in the imperial domain. The rebellious minister shall die."
Though the Star Almanac contained only these few strokes, the memorial the Astrologer submitted to the emperor the following day added an explanation:
"...If the sun is yang, the moon is yin; if the moon is yang, the stars are yin. Yang is the way of the sovereign; yin is the way of the minister. When the moon rises, the stars vanish: ministers must not wield power unchecked. When the bright moon dims and dark stars appear, this is crossing heaven. Its portent declares: disloyalty, and a change of ruler."
The Astrologer's commentary explained that, according to the doctrine of yin and yang, all things possessed both, and yin and yang themselves were relative. If the sun was yang, then the moon of lunar yin was yin; if the moon was yang, then the stars of Orion and the Dipper were yin. Correspondingly, in the relationship between sovereign and minister, the sovereign was yang and the minister yin. Ordinarily, when the bright moon shone in the sky, most stars could not be seen. Yet last night, amid the bright moon and sparse stars, the Big Dipper had suddenly blazed forth together-a deeply suspicious occurrence. According to the Astrologer's years of study, such an omen meant that someone under heaven harbored disloyal intentions and sought to replace the reigning emperor.
At this time, the realm had enjoyed