A Word That Shaped the Realm

Night had deepened, and bustling Luoyang City had fallen quiet after a day of clamor, gradually settling into peace.

Though the imperial capital had no curfew, its brilliantly lit streets were almost empty. A crescent moon shone coldly, a few stars glimmered faintly, and lantern after lantern glowed among the palaces of the distant Imperial City, making them look all the more majestic in the darkness.

From time to time, squads of soldiers passed along the silent streets, their armor gleaming, halberds in hand and sabers at their hips. Well trained and marching in perfect step, they were the elite imperial troops who guarded the capital.

Inside Xuanshi Hall in the Imperial Palace, Emperor Chen, Zhao Chang, bent over his desk reviewing memorials. Beside him, a young eunuch held a silver hairpin and carefully raised the wick of the oil lamp, making it burn a little brighter.

The chief eunuch, Zhao Delu, quietly approached from outside with his back bowed and called softly, "Your Majesty... Palace Guard Commander Ma Zude awaits an audience outside."

"Mm..." Emperor Chen lifted his head from the pile of memorials and rubbed his temples, looking somewhat weary. "Summon him," he said in a low voice.

Ma Zude entered the hall with steady strides. After kneeling and paying his respects to Emperor Chen, he bowed low and said, "Your Majesty, there is news of the Imperial Preceptor. When he last left the capital, Your Majesty instructed me... to spare no effort in locating him. I ordered my subordinates to work with the Feathered Forest Guard and the scouts and informants in every province and commandery. We have now confirmed that the Imperial Preceptor appeared in Dengzhou, Shandong, two days ago."

"Oh..." Emperor Chen raised his brows, then abruptly stood, his expression chilling. "Say that again. Where did he go?"

Ma Zude's heart tightened at the sight. He lowered his head further and, prostrate on the floor, carefully repeated his report.

Emperor Chen snatched up the oil lamp from his desk, strode a couple of steps, and pulled aside the curtain on the wall beside it, revealing an enormous map of the realm.

Holding the lamp in one hand, he searched the map with the other, studying it intently.

Ma Zude kept his head down, not daring even to breathe deeply. The eunuchs held their breath. The hall was so quiet that a needle falling to the floor could have been heard.

Thump... thump. Emperor Chen found Dengzhou on the map and struck it twice, hard, with two knuckles.

"Here... by the sea? Dengzhou borders the sea. Is that old... old gentleman planning to sail? What is he trying to do?" Emperor Chen drew a breath, seemingly incensed.

He turned and set the lamp on his desk. Seeing Ma Zude still prostrate on the floor, he forced a trace of a smile and said gently, "Rise. You have done well this time. In future, learn to be a little sharper. Learn to ease my burdens... Send orders to the scouts in every province and commandery to watch the Imperial Preceptor's every move closely. The moment there is news, report it at once!"

Ma Zude rose as though granted a pardon. Emperor Chen's expression shifted between light and shadow as his fingers tapped softly on the desk. "This old gentleman of ours never gives me a moment's peace. The winds at sea are fierce, the waves high. If anything should happen to him, how could I... face the Former Emperor beneath the Nine Springs? You must... look after the Imperial Preceptor. Do not let me... bear the name of an unbenevolent ruler!" Ma Zude murmured his assent repeatedly. Emperor Chen waved a weary hand, and he hurriedly withdrew with care.

Emperor Chen slowly sat down and rubbed the space between his brows again. His eyes half closed, he leaned back against his chair. At times his brows knitted tightly, at times a smile touched his lips, and at times a trace of viciousness rose in his face. No one knew what was passing through his mind.

The eunuchs and palace maids around him were all exceedingly cautious. Even when they walked, they stepped lightly on their toes, terrified of drawing his displeasure.

After a long while, Emperor Chen opened his eyes and looked around. Beckoning, he said, "Delu, I am a little tired. Come, pound my legs for me. Everyone else may withdraw." With that, he languidly stretched out one leg and rested it on a brocade stool beside him.

The eunuchs and palace maids bowed and withdrew from Xuanshi Hall. Zhao Delu approached with his back bent, knelt on the floor, and cradled Emperor Chen's thigh in his arms, gently pounding it with both fists.

"Delu, I govern this vast nation and have so many things to worry about every day. Yet there are always people who refuse to give me peace. Do you know which two kinds of people in this world are hardest to control?" Emperor Chen asked slowly.

"Your Majesty... this servant knows only how to attend to Your Majesty. I am dull-witted and truly do not understand such matters," Zhao Delu answered softly, his head lowered.

"Mm... In this world, martial practitioners are the hardest to control, especially those who have honed their martial prowess to its peak. They may appear gentle, courteous, and humble, but in truth they bow to no one. In a common man's fit of rage, they might even murder their sovereign and strike at the throne. The other kind is scholars. They are even more detestable, saying one thing and meaning another, turning black into white. The pens in their hands rival blades and spears; they kill not only the body, but the heart. Delu... tell me, do these two kinds of people not deserve death most of all?" Emperor Chen spoke to Zhao Delu as though talking to himself.

Too frightened to speak, Zhao Delu buried his head still lower. Emperor Chen continued on his own. "Knights-errant use martial force to violate prohibitions; scholars use words to subvert the law. Most hateful of all are those who unite the two, accomplished in both letters and arms, standing among the foremost in the world. Hmph... do they truly think I can do nothing to them?"

Emperor Chen glanced down at Zhao Delu, who remained silent with his head bowed, and let out a deep sigh. "Delu... my heart... is bitter! Though I possess all within the Four Seas and rule this realm stretching ten thousand miles, I... have not even one person with whom I can speak from the heart. I truly am a lone and solitary sovereign. On his deathbed, the Former Emperor entrusted this thousand-pound burden to me. Food has no taste, and I cannot sleep at night... Every commoner under heaven believes there is nothing more comfortable than being emperor. They envy me, resent me, and even... there are always unruly subjects plotting to harm me. In truth, being emperor is the bitterest task beneath heaven. Who can know, who can understand my difficulties? My heart is bitter..."

Zhao Delu was too frightened to utter a word and simply put all his effort into pounding Emperor Chen's leg.

After hearing nothing from Emperor Chen for a long while, he stole a glance upward, only to discover that the emperor's head rested against the back of his chair. At some point, he had fallen fast asleep...

At the Dingding Chancellor's Residence, candles burned brightly on the desk. Ding Wenruo sat beside it with her cheek propped on one hand, lost in unknown thoughts. Her other slender hand rested on her knee, occasionally extending a pale, jade-white finger to trace something there. A faint blush tinged her cheeks, and her long, fine lashes veiled her eyes as she stared into space.

"Wenruo, it's so late. Why haven't you gone to bed?" Ding Feiyong set down his brush, picked up the teacup beside him, and took a small sip as he asked with the hint of a smile.

"Oh... I... I'm not very sleepy tonight. I'll go... to bed now. You should rest early too, Father." Her father's question abruptly snapped Ding Wenruo out of her reverie, and she answered in a slight fluster.

"Mm! Off you go..." Ding Feiyong looked at Ding Wenruo affectionately, then could not help adding, "Actually... there are countless gifted young men in this world. Did those two youths today dazzle you? You have been at your grandfather's side since childhood. What sort of outstanding person have you not seen? When have you ever been so distracted?"

"Father... you... don't talk nonsense!" With her thoughts laid bare, a crimson flush rose on Ding Wenruo's lovely face. She reproached him softly, then rose and headed toward the inner rooms.

"All right, all right. I won't talk about you. Let's talk about those two..." Ding Feiyong stroked his long black beard and smiled. Hearing this, Ding Wenruo involuntarily slowed her steps.

"That youth named He An has a noble character and an unyielding spirit. His calligraphy has a style all its own, blending the strengths of renowned masters from successive dynasties. Amid the flowing ink, bronze and stone seem to ring and surge; already, the bearing of a great master can faintly be seen... To attain such skill at so young an age, even with a celebrated teacher's guidance, requires extraordinary talent and understanding. You must know that in calligraphy, apart from diligent study and hard practice, there are no shortcuts. There is only the dull, tedious work of copying model scripts day after day, so his perseverance is clear. In our conversation today, he did not simply agree with me on every question. His attitude toward problems and his methods of resolving them were neither radical nor passive, revealing a maturity quite at odds with his age. Only those who have endured the hardships of the world mature so early and possess such composure at his age. He likely comes from humble origins and grew up in poverty..."

Seeing how absorbed Ding Wenruo was, Ding Feiyong deliberately stopped there and smilingly lifted his teacup for a sip.

Ding Wenruo had been listening intently when her father suddenly paused. Turning and seeing the smile on his face, she stamped her foot in petulance. "Father, that smile of yours... is so annoying! Hurry up and tell me. I still have to go to bed!"

Ding Wenruo's mother had died young, and Ding Feiyong doted on his precious daughter. For her sake, he had even dared to slap Duke Gu Qingzhou years ago. Though he was strict in supervising her studies, he sometimes enjoyed playing little harmless jokes on her.

Seeing his precious daughter grow annoyed, he hurriedly spat out a tea leaf and continued, "He An comes from humble origins. Though poor from childhood, poverty has only strengthened him, never bringing down his aspirations to the clouds. The moment he lifted his brush, he wrote the opening words of the I Ching almost without thought: 'As heaven moves with vigor, the gentleman strives unceasingly to strengthen himself.' This shows the breadth of his heart and ambitions. He is no ordinary man! He is worthy of the judgment 'noble in character'...

"As for the one named Fan Dazhi, he appears simple and slow, but his mind is exquisitely keen, and this youth surprised me even more. Many classics are tortuous and obscure, difficult to understand, and some I myself had long forgotten, yet he could recount them as readily as treasures in his own home. When I deliberately tested him, he could even recite long passages backward without a hitch. This was certainly not last-minute preparation, nor some superficial trick learned to flaunt his knowledge and dress up his appearance. You must understand that scholarship cannot be faked. The depth of a person's learning becomes apparent the moment he opens his mouth. In all these years, I have never seen anyone so intelligent. Today, I even briefly considered taking him as my disciple. Unfortunately, he is slovenly and lazy by nature. If he possessed He An's diligence, there would be no limit to his future accomplishments!"

At this point, Ding Feiyong shook his head with deep regret. "Truly, no gold is perfectly pure, and no person is without flaws. Though this fellow looks unremarkable, his exceptional intelligence places him far above He An. Do not let his vulgar exterior deceive you. When people say great wisdom looks like foolishness, this is precisely the sort of person they mean! All right... Wenruo, I've said everything I wished to say. In future, you can certainly seek advice from those two and learn more from them in your studies. It's late. Hurry off to rest!"

Hearing her father's cogent analysis, Ding Wenruo could not help seeing again in her mind that handsome youth, his tall figure graceful as jade as he wielded his brush. Her cheeks warmed involuntarily. Then she thought of the lazy, foolish-looking little fatty beside him, and a hint of a smile crossed her eyes. Hearing her father urge her to rest, she answered softly, turned, and walked toward the inner rooms with light steps.

Ding Feiyong blew out the lamp, left the room, and passed through a corridor, walking slowly toward his father's bedchamber. Before he reached the door, he heard violent coughing.

He pushed open the door. A servant had just helped Ding Fengyuan take his medicine, and a heavy medicinal odor filled the room. In the faint lamplight, Ding Fengyuan lay on his couch. The former chancellor's eyes were now deeply sunken, his hair disheveled; illness had tormented him until little remained but skin and bones.

Seeing Ding Feiyong enter, the servant bowed and withdrew. Ding Fengyuan struggled into a sitting position, only to clutch his chest and begin coughing violently again. Ding Feiyong sat beside the couch, watching his father's flushed face as the coughs tore through him, and gently patted his back.

The veins bulged in Ding Fengyuan's neck as he coughed. Trembling, he drew a snow-white handkerchief from his robes and covered his mouth. After a long while, the coughing stopped. When he took the handkerchief away, it was stained crimson.

"Father..." Ding Feiyong was secretly alarmed. Not long ago, Cheng Zi Ya, head of the Knowledge and Practice Institute, had treated his father's acupoints with golden needles. His condition had clearly improved, so why was he coughing so badly again?

"Feiyong... my illness has already... sunk beyond cure. In your heart... do you still blame me for refusing to let you enter court as an official back then? You are accomplished in letters and arms... truly a pillar of the nation... fit for great responsibilities... but..." Ding Fengyuan's Adam's apple moved as he spoke with difficulty, his voice slightly hoarse.

"Father... the court is treacherous and ever-changing now. I have long since lost that desire. You..."

Before he could finish, Ding Fengyuan waved a hand to interrupt him. "Since the Former Emperor passed away... among all the civil and military officials at court, only Li Xingzhi... alone... can be trusted. His Majesty... lacks the Former Emperor's grand talent and vision, his readiness to accept counsel, and he is not... as generous and benevolent as the Eldest Prince. The Former Emperor was in the prime of his life... yet... yet suddenly rode the dragon to heaven... Looking back now... throughout this court, so many things... seem strange..." At this point, Ding Fengyuan could not suppress another bout of painful coughing.

After a long while, he said between gasps, "No matter what... happens in the future, you... must remember... Li Xingzhi and his disciples... the Knowledge and Practice Institute... are the only ones you can trust..."