The Hundred-Life Reincarnation slowly turned, never resting, day or night.
His previous life had earned the appraisal: "A heart blinded by arrogance, greedy for wealth and lustful for women. A brief spell of pleasure, nothing gained."
Nor had he gained any talents.
Meng Yuan reckoned that his life's appraisal and experiences probably had something to do with his talents.
Although he still did not know how to earn a high appraisal, an old saying went: cultivate oneself, bring order to one's household, govern the nation, and bring peace to the world.
As for cultivating himself, Meng Yuan had done his best. He no longer slept with other men's wives or climbed into widows' beds. The concubines he took were all young women from respectable families.
He could just about count as having brought order to his household, too. His children and grandchildren filled the hall, after all; there was nothing he could do about the good being mixed with the bad.
Governing the nation and bringing peace to the world were too difficult, but Meng Yuan had once been a founding statesman who helped chart the dynasty's course, then served as chancellor for many years. His policies were lenient and benevolent. Not only had he never raised taxes, he had also punished corrupt officials and parasites, which counted as showing consideration for the common people.
Looking back, Meng Yuan had first spent over twenty years as a mud-legged peasant, then risen with the winds and clouds to spend more than a decade as a wealthy, honored marquis. In the end, he had stood below one man and above ten thousand, reaching the very pinnacle for a civil official.
Over his years as chancellor, Meng Yuan had also used the conveniences of his office to conduct plenty of private business, collecting quite a few martial arts manuals.
Most were internal cultivation methods, but Meng Yuan always felt that the methods offered by those so-called "masters" who sought his patronage were not even as good as the Chen family's Eternal Spring Technique. Only the Purple Cloud Technique was fairly decent.
Yet he still had not found any trace of the immortals he yearned for. Not even a fox spirit had come to sleep with him.
Preoccupied with his thoughts, Meng Yuan rode his sedan chair into the imperial precincts, continuing all the way into the inner palace until he reached the empress dowager's residence, the Palace of Eternal Joy.
Entering the hall, he saw an old woman seated in the place of honor. She was the empress dowager, once Madam Chen and then Empress Chen.
The years had shown this woman particular favor. Though she was over eighty and her black hair had turned white, she remained dignified and gentle, her bearing undiminished. Only her face had grown more sinister and ruthless.
Meng Yuan had entered the palace because the empress dowager was gravely ill. Seeing her perfectly well now, he knew his fate.
"Do you know why I invited you here, sir?" There was no one else in the hall as Empress Dowager Chen slowly spoke.
"Old, yet refusing to die," Meng Yuan said.
"You are a wise man, sir." Empress Dowager Chen slowly rose and paced over to Meng Yuan. "The late emperor rose from humble beginnings and had many civil officials and advisers serving him, but you were always my favorite. Do you know why?"
"I covet no power and form no factions," Meng Yuan said.
"That is true, but it is not all," Empress Dowager Chen said. "Whenever the late emperor and I were at a loss, you could always pierce straight to the heart of the matter. You showed us what was urgent and what could wait, who was a distant enemy and who was a nearby one. That is much of what it means to be a founding statesman who charts the dynasty's course."
She looked at Meng Yuan. "Because of that, although the late emperor had long wanted to kill you, he could never bring himself to do it."
Empress Dowager Chen sighed, returned to her seat, and continued, "I both admire and fear you, sir. At first, you knew nothing of military formations and had no patience for mundane affairs, but I read the campaign records and accounts of local life you wrote back then. Your brush never stopped. You kept learning how to march and wage war, how to command troops and administer the state. You even studied medicine, celestial phenomena, customs, and miscellaneous disciplines, as though you meant to fathom all the knowledge under heaven."
"You flatter me, Your Majesty. Life is bitterly short. It was only a diversion." Meng Yuan smiled.
"The late emperor died young, and you rendered further service by stabilizing the foundations of the state." Empress Dowager Chen's gaze darkened. "Had you died twenty years earlier, you would have been a great minister of the realm. Had you died ten years earlier, you would still have been a pillar of the state."
"Indeed." Meng Yuan stepped forward a few paces. "The founding ministers have long since withered away, yet I remain alive and well. You know I have no intention of usurping the throne, but you fear I might be swept along by my descendants, disciples, and former subordinates."
At this, Meng Yuan asked, "I hear the emperor has been lingering on his sickbed, while the crown prince happens to be a fierce, unyielding man. The Chen family has now become a force at court. The sovereign is weak, his ministers strong, and his maternal kin have grown powerful. How do you intend to deal with this, Your Majesty?"
"Why should I deal with it?" Empress Dowager Chen said evenly.
"You..." Meng Yuan felt momentarily dazed, then felt that he had suddenly understood many things.
"Your virtue is known throughout the world, sir. The emperor is a muddleheaded ruler who wantonly kills a pillar of the state and loses the trust of all under heaven," Empress Chen said evenly. "The Chen family will set things right and clear your name. Ashamed, the emperor will no longer dare to wrongfully occupy the sacred throne and will abdicate in favor of the Chen family."
"You... you planned to usurp the Lü dynasty from the very beginning!" Meng Yuan was first stunned, then understanding dawned. "It wasn't that you couldn't bear children. You were unwilling to bear Lü Yinglong's children! When you named the emperor Chan, you meant not the shan of the rites to heaven, but the chan of abdication!"
Meng Yuan had always prided himself on seeing the great currents of the world clearly, yet he had failed to see through this woman's schemes.
No wonder she had made the Chen clansmen withdraw while Lü Yinglong was alive. No wonder Lü Chan had been raised into a useless fool. This woman had not intended merely to support the Chen family; she had wanted the Chen family to replace the Lü dynasty outright!
This woman had been scheming against the man who shared her pillow all along, from the very beginning!
"Everything I have done was the wish of my father and elder brother! It should have been my elder brother who rose in revolt back then, but he died young. There were few outstanding men in the clan, so I had no choice but to rely on Lü Yinglong." Empress Dowager Chen sneered. "Had I been a man, why would I have needed to borrow Lü Yinglong's womb to bear a child?"
Disdain filled her face. "Every moment I spent with him disgusted me beyond measure."
None closer, none more estranged than husband and wife. No wonder Lü Yinglong had privately said back in Shu that she was like a dead pig in bed.
Empress Dowager Chen made no attempt to hide her loathing for Lü Yinglong. "He stole my Chen family's precious treasure. I would not kill him, but I would steal the realm he won through a thousand hardships."
"So you were that snake." Meng Yuan remembered Lü Yinglong's dream.
"I was." Her gaze was dark.
"Two generations of the Chen family replacing the Lü?" Meng Yuan smiled too.
"Precisely." Empress Dowager Chen reined in her gaze. "Without you, sir, we could not have succeeded back then. I dare not forget that kindness. Your Lady Haitang has borne you a son. Once my Chen family clears your name in the days to come, we will let him inherit your title. That will give our association a proper beginning and end, without betraying our many years of friendship."
"Then you have my thanks." Meng Yuan was not afraid of death. He only wanted to understand a few things before he died. "As a dying man, I ask that you remember my past service, Your Majesty, and allow me a few questions."
"Ever since we met in Qu County, I have always remembered your kindness." Empress Dowager Chen was exceptionally sincere. "Ask whatever you wish, sir. I will tell you everything I know."
"When the late emperor went to campaign against King Zhang, he once suffered from listlessness and lost several battles in succession. Was that your doing?" Meng Yuan asked.
"Yes and no." Empress Dowager Chen shook her head slightly. "You ought to remember how he killed the great snake and obtained the Purple Spirit Fruit. The Pure Yang Dragon-Controlling Art he practiced was supremely hard and supremely yang, and that spirit fruit happened to be supremely yang and supremely hard as well. An ordinary person would have died on the spot upon eating it. With oil poured onto the fire like that, he could still suppress it in his early years, but as he aged, he could only rely on the medicine I made to keep it suppressed. During the campaign against King Zhang, I cut off his medicine for a time."
"Could it truly not be remedied?" Meng Yuan had not expected his questions to turn up such important information.
"Of course it could. Within three paces, there is always an antidote." Empress Dowager Chen gave a mocking smile. "A snake's nature is supremely yin. Had he simply swallowed its gallbladder then, dragon and tiger would have joined, and he could have risen to greater heights. But he was an ignorant fool who did not recognize a treasure right before his eyes."
So that was it.
Meng Yuan asked another question. "Was that great snake raised by your Chen family?"
Empress Dowager Chen nodded slightly, but was unwilling to say more.
Before you continue