The night wind swept dead leaves against the entrance of the Zichen Palace, slipping into the main hall through the crack of the freshly pushed-open door, only to be stepped squarely on by Eunuch Xu, letting out a pitiful crunch.
The sound was extremely faint, yet it still woke the person dozing by the bedside. He immediately knelt down: “Empress.”
With a quiver of his eyelashes, Yan Zhiyu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze landing on the hand he was tightly gripping.
The palm held familiar fingers, yet they lacked the familiar warmth.
Cold. Cold as ice.
Following the line of that hand, his gaze shifted to the bed.
The man on the dragon bed had his eyes tightly closed. His handsome face had lost all color, leaving only a lifeless, ashen pale hue. Even so, it could not conceal his innate noble aura.
This man was his husband, and the Emperor of Great Zhou, Ling Lie.
Three days ago, a bowl of poison passed his lips. The imperial physicians had exhausted all their efforts to save him, yet they only managed to keep the young emperor lingering in a semi-conscious state for two more days. Last night, unable to hold on any longer, he passed away without leaving behind even a single half-sentence.
Heartless wretch.
Yan Zhiyu raised a hand to massage his tightly furrowed brow, forcing himself to gather his focus as he looked at Eunuch Xu. When he opened his mouth, his voice was as hoarse as weeping blood: “What time is it?”
“Just past the Hour of the Tiger,” Eunuch Xu replied respectfully, keeping his head lowered. “The lords are all waiting outside the hall. Shall I summon them in?”
“Later.” Yan Zhiyu had no desire to deal with those troublesome ministers right now. “Where is the Crown Prince?”
“He woke up, but the wet nurse coaxed him back to sleep. Shall I…”
“I know.” Yan Zhiyu cut him off, supporting his body as he slowly stood up. A wave of dizziness washed over him, making him sway and almost crash back onto the bed.
Eunuch Xu watched with his heart in his throat, hastily advising, “Empress, you should rest a while longer.”
Yan Zhiyu shook his head and walked at a slow pace toward the desk. Atop it lay an imperial edict already stamped with the Imperial Seal, though the content remained unfinished. Beside the edict was a sheet of paper densely covered with names and annotations, several of which were circled in vermilion ink. If any of the ministers were present, they would instantly recognize the names of the imperial clan written thereon.
Yan Zhiyu had looked over this paper countless times in the past two days, yet until the very final moment, he remained reluctant to finish writing that decree. Now, after a brief moment of contemplation, he picked up the brush and wrote a name upon it.
The hand holding the brush was so tense that the veins stood out prominently, every single stroke feeling as heavy as a thousand jun. When he finished, his hand trembled uncontrollably, and his voice carried a faint, barely perceptible quiver: “Have the Grand Tutor and the officials of the Ministry of Rites enter. Send everyone else back for now.” He paused, setting down the brush, and his voice softened slightly. “Have someone keep an eye on the Crown Prince, and make sure he doesn’t come to the Zichen Palace these next two days.”
Eunuch Xu acknowledged the order and turned to leave.
In the second year of Guangqi, the Emperor passed away in the Zichen Hall. Crown Prince Ling Yunshuo ascended the throne as Emperor, changing the era name to Chengguang, and honored his birth mother, Yan Zhiyu, as Empress Dowager.
On the day of the ascension, the Empress Dowager listened to state affairs from behind a bead curtain, conferring upon Prince Changyang, Ling Dong, the title of Prince Regent to jointly assist the young Emperor and oversee the hundred officials.
Changyang County, Prince Changyang’s Estate
A group of ruffians dragged a scrawny man into the courtyard, shouting loudly for the master of the house to come out. Terrified by the sight, a page boy hurriedly ran off to find his master.
At that moment, Prince Changyang was sitting inside the room, staring blankly at the person in the mirror.
His bone structure was prominent, with straight and rigid lines that, paired with bold and striking facial features, gave him a mature and steady appearance. It looked almost identical to his original visage, except that this face now lacked a bit of tyrannical presence and possessed a sickly pallor, making him look as though he might collapse at any second.
The person inside this body was no longer the original Prince Changyang, Ling Dong, but Ling Lie, who should have died deep within the imperial palace.
Three days ago, when he awoke from the coffin, he was met with a completely unfamiliar person and environment, taking a great deal of effort to finally figure out his situation.
Years ago, his late father had toured Jiangnan and met a pair of twin sisters. After a brief romance, he took away only the elder sister, who became his birth mother, Consort Shu. The younger sister married elsewhere, and no one knew she was pregnant at the time. It was not until she revealed the truth on her deathbed that Ling Dong was finally recognized and sent off to his fief as a Prince.
Strictly speaking, Ling Dong was still his older brother, even closer to him by blood than some of his other brothers. Yet the two of them had never met even once, and he had nearly forgotten about the man. He never expected that they would look so strikingly alike.
According to the page boy, Ling Dong had always been in poor health, sustained for years by heavy medication. A few days ago, an old illness flared up, and he passed away before medical aid could arrive, breathing his last at almost the exact same time as his own original body. Presumably, this coincidence was what granted him the chance of possessing another’s body and coming back to life.
Ever since waking up, he had been lying in bed in a sickly state. He had no idea what the situation in the palace was like right now.
He had not been on the throne long, and the court was still a mess of unresolved issues. His son was only four years old, and the Empress was never one for palace intrigues, so he was bound to be bullied.
However, a feudal prince was not permitted to enter the capital without an imperial edict. If he were to rush back recklessly, he feared he would be arrested before even catching a glimpse of the Empress.
At this thought, Ling Lie lowered his head and rubbed his brow, a rare sense of bewilderment rising within his heart.
Just then, the page boy ran in frantically, crying out, “Your Highness, those people are here again!”
Ling Lie’s movements paused, a headache instantly throbbing behind his temples.
Ling Dong had a half-brother by the same mother who was an incorrigible gambler. Over the years, nearly all the rewards bestowed from the palace had been taken away to pay off his gambling debts. When Ling Lie first woke up, he happened to run into this brother leading a mob to search the estate for anything valuable to pawn amidst the chaos. The brother had been so terrified by Ling Lie’s sudden resurrection that he fled on the spot. Now, having presumably gathered his wits, he was back again.
As luck would have it, most of the estate’s staff had been dismissed after his death, leaving not a single bouncer behind. Moreover, with this frail body of his, getting physical with a group of robust ruffians was hardly realistic.
“Go to the magistrate’s office,” Ling Lie instructed. He then covered his mouth and coughed, taking quite a while to catch his breath before slowly standing up, picking up a pair of scissors from the table, and walking outside.
When the ruffians spotted him, smiles instantly broke out on their faces. Before they could utter a word, however, a fierce, razor-sharp gaze swept over them, freezing them in their tracks and sending a chill down their spines from the sudden burst of murderous intent.
“His affairs, from now on, I will no longer manage them.” Ling Lie stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back. His voice was somewhat weak and lacked underlying force, yet his overall bearing was noticeably different from before.
The ruffians hesitated upon seeing this, but his good-for-nothing brother immediately started screaming: “Ling Dong! We are brothers! If it were not for our father supporting you all these years, could you have survived until now? Now that you are a Prince, you…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a pair of scissors flew swiftly through the air from Ling Lie’s hand, piercing straight into his thigh. Blood gushed out almost simultaneously with his miserable scream, instantly shocking the group of ruffians into complete idiocy.
“Get out!” Ling Lie gave a low bark. Startled back to their senses with cold sweat beading on their foreheads, the men stammered apologies, grabbed the half-brother, and fled in panic.
Only then did Ling Lie cover his mouth to cough. The waves of pain in his chest constantly reminded him of just how broken this body was, yet it also gave him a stronger sense of living reality.
At that moment, the page boy returned, followed by several men in official robes, evidently the personnel from the magistrate’s office.
He had expected those men to be a handful, which is why he sent someone to the yamen. He never imagined they would be so cowardly that a mere bluff would scare them off, rendering the yamen officials entirely unnecessary.
Straightening his posture once more, he prepared to offer an explanation, but his eyes widened abruptly when he saw the person following behind the page boy.
Why would an imperial decree-delivering eunuch be here?
For a split second, Ling Lie almost thought his resurrection had been exposed, making him so nervous that he failed to catch a single word of what the eunuch was saying.
Yet he quickly steadied his mind and knelt to receive the decree.
“By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Prince Changyang, Ling Dong, is a man of profound elegance, vast learning, and peerless talent, fully capable of great responsibilities. Now, complying with the will of Heaven, he is hereby appointed as Prince Regent to assist the Son of Heaven and jointly govern state affairs. Respect this!”
The eunuch’s voice was shrill yet resounding, making Ling Lie’s head ring with a buzzing sound.
Prince Regent? With so many candidates in the imperial clan, why did it have to be Ling Dong?
This imperial decree certainly could not have been issued by his son. Then who on earth made the selection?
Pondering this, Ling Lie felt anxious to the point of burning up, desperately wanting to throw caution to the wind and charge straight to the capital. Yet, suppressing his emotions, he kowtowed to accept the decree: “This subject, Ling Dong, accepts the decree. Long live the Emperor, long live, long live the Emperor!”
Beaming, the imperial eunuch handed the decree to Ling Lie and said, “Your Highness, the Empress Dowager’s intention is for us to escort you back to the capital together. Do you think…”
The Empress Dowager!
Ling Lie’s heart gave a violent jolt. He instructed the page boy to fetch gold and silver as a reward, taking the opportunity to fish for some information.
Yet the eunuch’s lips were sealed tight, refusing to reveal a single half-word about the situation inside the palace. With no other choice, Ling Lie could only order his things to be packed, and that very day, he set off alongside the entourage from the capital.
He missed his Empress far too much!