The venomous snake

It was winter. Snowflakes danced through the air, and all beneath heaven was white.

A grim chill gripped the capital, inside and out. The palace gates were heavily guarded on both sides, and armored soldiers even patrolled the streets.

Word of Lü Yinglong's grave illness had long since spread, but few knew whether it was true, and few had seen Lü Yinglong.

Meng Yuan had made inquiries too, but no news at all had come out of the palace.

No news was bad news. Lü Yinglong was probably truly at death's door.

Completely in the dark, Meng Yuan entered the palace at night to seek an audience.

He entered the imperial city and reached the Hall of Diligent Governance, only to find someone standing outside the doors. It was Empress Chen.

They had not seen each other in a long time. There were few wrinkles on Empress Chen's face, her hair was jet-black, and she had grown ever more regal, ever more imposing.

"His Majesty intends to kill you." Empress Chen opened with savage words, utterly disregarding Lü Yinglong on the other side of the doors.

Meng Yuan said nothing, because he thought so too. The crown prince was only twenty-one or twenty-two now. Though already an adult, he was still rather young.

The dynasty had only just been founded. Civil and military officials, at court and beyond, had all weathered great storms, and none who held power and rank were easy to deal with. One misstep could leave the ruler weak and his ministers strong.

That was why Lü Yinglong had been killing relentlessly these past few years, especially military men.

What left Meng Yuan speechless, however, was that someone of Empress Chen's caliber had actually raised the crown prince to be a lustful womanizer with a weak disposition. How would he keep anyone in line in the future?

An indulgent mother often ruined her son. Meng Yuan felt that if Lü Yinglong had kept the crown prince at his side and taught him himself, the boy would not have amounted to so little.

"Of the old acquaintances from Qu County, apart from those who fell in battle, few remain." Empress Chen spoke indifferently. "It isn't just you. He wants to kill me too, and every member of the Chen clan."

Though the crown prince was not the empress's biological son, she had raised him. The Chen clan naturally belonged to his faction. Lü Yinglong was dying, so why was he still trying to strike at the crown prince's power?

Meng Yuan could not see through the situation, but he knew well that although Lü Yinglong was reckless, he was no fool. He probably would not loose an arrow without a target.

Highest and brightest were the sun and moon; closest and most distant were husband and wife. What exactly had happened between this couple?

"Go on." A trace of contempt appeared on Empress Chen's face. "See your lord one last time."

Meng Yuan entered the hall. A wave of heat struck him in the face, carrying a smell of decay that would not disperse.

That year, Meng Yuan was fifty-two, Empress Chen fifty-five, and Lü Yinglong sixty.

Yet Meng Yuan still had a full head of black hair, and could still read a volume of history for amusement after bedding three women in a night. Empress Chen's hair was likewise black as ink, and she had grown ever more deep and calculating. Lü Yinglong, however, had a head of white hair and a face covered in wrinkles.

Lü Yinglong sat in a broad chair. Rather than a man of sixty, he looked like a withered hundred-year-old.

His eyes were clouded, yet they still held an emperor's oppressive majesty. It was a formidable presence forged blade by blade, spear by spear, through subduing all beneath heaven.

Meng Yuan stood ten paces away. One glance was enough to tell him Lü Yinglong was not pretending. He really was gravely ill.

Lü Yinglong isn't a diligent ruler, and he's also a martial arts master who cultivates both internally and externally. He's only sixty, so how did he end up like this? Could Empress Chen have stopped making abortifacients and started administering poison instead?

"Your Majesty!" Meng Yuan bowed. "I wish Your Majesty good health."

"We are well." Though the hall was as warm as summer, Lü Yinglong was still wrapped in thick robes. He stared at Meng Yuan, and only after a long while did he say, "Last spring, We had a dream. Interpret it for Us, Our worthy minister."

He had to gasp three times for every sentence, yet his voice filled the empty hall. "I dreamed of two horses feeding from one trough, but there was a great snake coiled around both their necks."

Lü Yinglong looked at Meng Yuan and asked, "Our worthy minister, what does this dream signify?"

Two horses feeding side by side from one trough? Is there someone surnamed Sima at court too? Or do the two horses stand for Lü? That great snake... Lü Yinglong slew a snake back then and gained purple Qi and the destiny of a king. Could the great snake signify remnants of the former dynasty? Is the Duke of Anle even better at putting on an act than I am?

Meng Yuan muttered inwardly, but was unwilling to say much.

"Everyone dreams at night. They are merely illusions and portend nothing. Your Majesty need not dwell on it." Meng Yuan shook his head slightly, then raised his eyes to gaze at the man above him. "Your Majesty, is there anything else?"

Lü Yinglong's clouded eyes remained fixed on Meng Yuan. After a long silence, he finally nodded and said, "Our worthy minister possesses extraordinary talents and sees the affairs of the realm as clearly as a blazing fire. The crown prince is weak, so We must take precautions. Choose one of your sons to inherit your..."

At this point, he seemed to detect some indifference on Meng Yuan's face. Then anger suddenly appeared on his own. "Our worthy minister, has something happened outside?"

The throne truly deserved to be called a divine artifact. It could turn the shallow and guileless into unfathomable schemers, and turn those whose might cowed the world into frightened, suspicious men.

A mere flicker of expression from Meng Yuan had actually allowed this former brute to detect something amiss.

For a moment, Meng Yuan felt killing intent surge skyward from Lü Yinglong's clouded eyes.

But even a divine artifact had its limits: it could not halt the passage of time, and nothing aged a man faster.

"What matter is Your Majesty asking about?" Meng Yuan asked.

"Yesterday's order to imprison the empress and exterminate the Chen clan!" Lü Yinglong trembled all over, cold sweat covering his forehead as his veins bulged.

It seemed Empress Chen had taken advantage of Lü Yinglong's grave illness to cut off all contact between him and the outside, even going so far as to coax him along like a fool.

And at this very moment, the emperor had only one eunuch and a few palace maids beside him. He had killed off most of his former loyal ministers and capable generals, while the person who shared his pillow had long since been dreaming a different dream in the same bed.

This was probably what it meant to be a sovereign utterly alone.

"All is well outside. The empress is serving as regent for the time being," Meng Yuan said.

As though all vitality had been drained from him, Lü Yinglong slumped into the dragon throne.

"Your Majesty is tired. Please rest." Meng Yuan bowed, turned, and walked away.

"Our worthy minister! Our worthy minister!" Like a dying man in his final rally, Lü Yinglong stretched out an arm to stop him. "Come back! Come back! We will not kill you! So long as you help Us kill the empress, We will make you a king! We will share the realm with you!"

Why is he so determined to kill his wife? This couple contributed the most to winning the realm. What conflict could have arisen between them?

Meng Yuan did not want to ask, nor was he interested.

"Sir! Sir!" Lü Yinglong addressed Meng Yuan as "sir," just as he had when they first met in Qu County.

By now, the night was deep. Lanterns shone brightly outside, and the snow began falling harder.

Empress Chen was still waiting outside, her hands tucked into her sleeves. "His Majesty unleashed a slaughter over the past two years. Barely any of the founding heroes granted marquisates remain, to the point that everyone in the realm says the imperial family is cold-hearted."

Having spoken, Empress Chen stepped into the hall.

Before long, Meng Yuan heard sounds from within, like blades and axes, yet also like sobbing.

"I should have seen it long ago! You harbored a wolf's ambition! You were plotting against me all along! Venomous woman! Venomous woman! Venomous woman!" Lü Yinglong roared three times, exhausted his strength, and died.

Meng Yuan had never dared underestimate Empress Chen before, yet now he felt he had underestimated this woman after all.

This woman whom Lü Yinglong had once called a dead pig had actually become the one to hasten his death.

Empress Chen emerged from the hall with a faint smile. "The crown prince lacks experience in governing. It is only fitting that you harmonize yin and yang for the new emperor, sir."

"I..." Meng Yuan looked at Empress Chen in surprise. "I'm to become chancellor?"

"In times of national peril, one longs for worthy generals." Empress Chen smiled. "I know better than anyone the hills and valleys you hold within, sir. Why not put all your learning on display?"

Before entering the palace, Meng Yuan had prepared himself to lose his head. Now that he would not be cooked like the hunting dog once the hare was dead, and there seemed to be no one left at court to contend with, why not become chancellor?

I'm a founding hero, after all, the foremost adviser under the late emperor. I helped settle the great plans and served him on his rise to the throne. I've always enjoyed the late emperor's trust and the empress dowager's favor!

I entered the palace today with no intention of leaving alive. Every day from now on is pure profit!

"I am willing to die in Your Majesty the Empress Dowager's service!" Meng Yuan immediately switched allegiance, becoming a favored minister beneath the empress dowager's skirts.