Chen Liang neither went in search of Princess Fang nor made another attempt to kill the grand chancellor. He vanished among the people like the most ordinary of strangers, swallowed by the crowd.
Night had fallen. The grand chancellor ordered his forces to make camp where they were, light fires, feed the horses, and prepare their meals. They would strike camp and march at dawn. In secret, he sent out ten teams of twenty men each to pursue Zhang Hua and Princess Fang.
He changed into a plain white silk robe, covered his hair with a young scholar’s cap, and put on soft deerskin boots made for swift travel. Then he sat quietly in the golden command chair inside the central army tent.
Though already middle-aged, he remained delicately handsome. His air held a pure, youthful grace that even most young men lacked. His hair was black as ink, his brows like distant mountains, and his eyes like autumn waters. He had a high, straight nose and deep-red lips. His face was as pale and smooth as fine jade. Every movement was elegant, while cloudlike white silk wrapped his tall, slender frame.
Princess Fang was a renowned female general and martial heroine. Her bold, martial spirit inspired respect throughout the court and the country. Yet beside him, she appeared plain, coarse, reckless, and careless in her manners. Hers was the vigorous beauty of an ordinary mortal. His was the lofty, unearthly purity of an immortal. Wherever he went, he seemed untouched by the least speck of dust, forever serene and proud.
But appearances could not reveal a person’s heart.
Princess Fang had risen from the roughest common stock. Her looks were average, and every joy or fury showed plainly on her face. Yet she had never murdered someone who had shown her kindness. Still less had she ever driven a blade into the belly of a person who trusted her.
On the contrary, she would risk everything for a good brother. She was the kind of comrade to whom one could entrust one’s life on the battlefield and the kind of friend to whom one could entrust one’s wife and children at home.
Princess Fang owed her achievements not only to her mind, but also to her character. She valued affection and loyalty, kept her word, and showed the same face inside and out. To her old companions among the outlaws and her soldiers on the battlefield, the grand chancellor resembled a distant immortal, while she was a warm-blooded leader who never failed her own people.
Where the grand chancellor was suspicious, Princess Fang trusted others. More importantly, she let them feel that trust. Anyone who spoke with her felt seen and respected. Anyone who served under her believed they had earned her confidence and would never face an unjust accusation born of suspicion.
Whether Princess Fang commanded a band of little more than ten or the armies of an entire realm, rewards and punishments were never distributed unfairly, and corruption never found a hiding place. The only matters over which she counted every last detail were granting rewards for merit and assigning penalties for wrongdoing.
When she raised horses, they grew sleek and strong. When she brewed wine, it came out rich and fragrant. Even when she robbed people, she left them enough money to survive. When she captured enemy soldiers, she spared as many lives as possible.
Princess Fang did not enjoy killing. She did not love money, chase fame and profit, or lose herself in pleasure. She loved making friends and cared about the bonds between people.
“Report! Another golden token has arrived!” someone shouted outside, breaking into the grand chancellor’s thoughts.
“Enter.”
The grand chancellor held a green court robe in his long, graceful hands. His beautiful eyes rested upon it without joy or sorrow, his expression peaceful and still. When the messenger entered, he asked calmly, “The emperor has sent another golden token?”
“Yes, Grand Chancellor.” The man, dressed as a deputy general, cupped his fist in salute. “His Majesty urgently commands you to lead the troops back to the capital.”
The grand chancellor continued examining the green robe in minute detail. Suddenly, he brought it to his nose and lightly breathed in the scent of the bloodstained tear.
*What a wife I have. So you were secretly working with the emperor. You brother and sister have surrounded him and taken private control of the court. None of that matters, but you… you…*
When he did not answer, the deputy general could only press him. “Grand Chancellor, how should this general respond?”
Without betraying any emotion, the grand chancellor brushed at the dark-red blood on the robe. A faint smile touched his flawless face. He looked up and offered the deputy a reassuring smile that invited complete trust.
“I will write a memorial. None of you need concern yourselves.”
A stern, furious voice came from outside the tent.
“You will write a memorial? And I need not concern myself?”
The flap lifted. A figure stood in the entrance, majestic and mysterious, a campfire burning not far behind him and leaving his features difficult to see.
The grand chancellor narrowed his eyes. A middle-aged man stood there wearing the imperial crown and a five-colored black robe embroidered with the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers. Authority surrounded him even before he showed anger. His face was broad and square, with swordlike brows, fierce eyes, a straight nose, and a firm mouth. He was of average height, and his eyes shone with dazzling light.
The grand chancellor gently laid down the green robe. He moved around the long table with airy grace and bowed.
“This subject, Fang Luo, greets my sovereign.”
The emperor had no patience for the proper distance between ruler and minister. He strode forward like a dragon and tiger, seized Fang Luo by the collar, and hauled him upright.
“You dared to kill the Imperial Princess?”
Fang Luo remained as calm and composed as ever.
“Allow this subject to report the truth. I was not the one who injured my wife. Her adopted sons did. The traitors Chen Liang and his companions abducted her and intended to defect to an enemy state. This subject is pursuing the villains to rescue my wife. I am not trying to murder her, as those traitors claim.”
The emperor released him. In the steady, commanding voice that made men tremble, he asked, “What proof do you have?”
“The bond between my wife and me is proof enough.” Fang Luo looked openly at the emperor. His lashes did not quiver. His bright eyes held only certainty and conviction, and his thin lips shaped every word with clear sincerity. “The villains looted the grand chancellor’s treasury, then disguised themselves. Chen Liang and the others still show their true faces, while someone else is impersonating my wife.”
“Hah.” The emperor gave a cold snort. His unfathomable black eyes held pain and rage. “My grand chancellor, my chief minister–do you not know the greatest flaw in your story? The Princess’s secret is something you could only be told on your deathbed.
“Everything I know came from my own secret agents. You do not know how to contact them. Neither do the Princess’s adopted sons. Only she and the agents themselves possess that knowledge.”
For the first time, a trace of alarm disturbed Fang Luo’s still expression.
“My wife trained secret agents for Your Majesty?”
“That is my affair.” The emperor sat in the golden command chair and studied the arrangement of the central tent. “You have gathered a great many private troops. Am I safe here?”
“Your Majesty is sovereign of all under heaven. This subject would not dare offend his ruler.”
“Grand Chancellor Fang Luo, do you know the law of our realm? A great household commits a crime by keeping more than two hundred servants. If it keeps more than five hundred, its master receives thirty strokes and pays a fine of thirty taels of gold or two thousand taels of silver. Military officers, princes, and nobles may retain different numbers of personal guards according to rank.
“You have more than three thousand men here. They obey clear commands and advance or withdraw in perfect order. Surely they are not merely good fellows from the outlaw world?”
“This subject is guilty.” The words asked forgiveness, but Fang Luo delivered them with perfect composure. The emperor defended the law fiercely and had something of a taste for executing corrupt officials. He inspired terror and awe, yet Fang Luo had never shown the least panic before his thunderous anger. Fang Luo continued calmly, “These troops belong to my wife.”
“Correct. The Princess has three thousand personal soldiers by my special permission. I did not permit you to stir those soldiers into murdering her by claiming you were avenging the Princess and pursuing an impostor.
“I know about the secret agents the Princess trained for you in private. Using them to investigate corrupt officials and cruel local tyrants was acceptable. I never permitted you to use those agents to poison the personal guards of Chen Liang, son of General Chen, and Wang Qian, son of the righteous hero Wang.”
The emperor lowered his eyes, hiding the wet shine within them.
“They are the sons of loyal, honorable men who died for what was right. You will not frame and destroy them.”
The green robe looked familiar to the emperor. He lifted it and discovered that it had been cut in the style of palace dress. After thinking carefully, he remembered Princess Fang’s last visit to pay her respects to the Imperial Dowager Consort. She had come outside the imperial study to bow to him, and she seemed to have been wearing this very robe.
Without changing his expression, the emperor glanced at Fang Luo and lifted the garment by its shoulders. Only then did he see the inch-wide opening soaked in blood. It was plainly a blade wound.
“Grand Chancellor, if the Princess still lives, I will exile you to Jingchu. If she is dead, I will grant you death. I will send Prince Shou himself to oversee the building of your tomb and memorial shrine and choose an auspicious day for your burial.”
Fang Luo’s head snapped up. Disbelief covered his flawless face.
The emperor removed a filthy cloth bundle from his sleeve and opened it. Inside lay an arrow broken in half. He threw the ruined shaft before Fang Luo.
Fang Luo stood tall and straight, the hem of his robe floating lightly while a few strands of hair stirred. He was a man of unmatched beauty. Now his brows drew together, and the sight of him carrying such troubles would have stirred pity not only in women, but in men as well.
“Only because she is the Duke of Wei’s elder sister, her low birth was ignored and she was raised to the rank of Imperial Princess. Now that the Princess has been injured, Your Majesty would even have this subject killed? Imperial relatives are fearsome indeed. This subject would never dare claim undue credit, yet an imperial relative may use beauty to seize power.”
The emperor exploded with rage.
“The Princess has rendered service to the realm, shown kindness to me, and bestowed favors upon you! Without all her help, you would never have become grand chancellor. And if you wish to speak of origins, Princess Fang comes from generations of common outlaws, while you, Fang Luo, were an orphan!”
“Your Majesty always meant to give the chancellorship to the Duke of Wei! He wins favor with his looks and controls the Censorate–”
The emperor struck the table and surged to his feet.
“If looks alone were enough, you surpass the Duke of Wei a hundredfold, yet I have never entertained the least improper thought toward you! Do you know why I trust the Duke of Wei and his elder sister?
“The Duke is honest and incorruptible. His conduct is beyond reproach. His talent surpasses Zhang Liang, and his devotion to justice exceeds Zhuan Zhu’s. Without the Duke and his sister, I would not stand where I do today. Gaining the Duke of Wei was like Liu Bei gaining Zhuge Liang.
“It was I who harbored improper desires and could not master my feelings. But the Duke of Wei never allowed me to become another Emperor Wu or Emperor Ai of Han. Whenever we met, he discussed affairs of state.
“I came to the throne when imperial relatives, great hereditary clans, and the royal princes stood in a three-sided struggle. If not for the Duke of Wei and Princess Fang, I…”
The emperor’s voice suddenly broke. Slowly, he sat back down.
Fang Luo walked to the tent entrance. Moonlight rested gently on his face, making him appear even more pure and unearthly, a figure carved from jade.
He remembered the years more than a decade ago. He remembered those difficult, dangerous days, when each of them left before dawn and returned late at night, yet still brought pastries home for the others.
In those days, Fang Luo had used his face, literary gifts, elegant bearing, martial skill, and courage to persuade the wavering civil and military officials among all three factions to remain loyal to the emperor. He had also uncovered every family tie, grievance, friendship, and hatred among the imperial relatives, the positions of the great clans, and the royal princes’ true feelings toward the emperor.
Princess Fang, meanwhile, had vanished often, sometimes for days. No one knew what she was doing.
“This subject has heard that the palace has a mysterious commander of the inner guards who never reveals a true face. Is that person Princess Fang?”
“No.” The emperor sighed deeply, his voice dim. “That commander is an old martial hero who once received her kindness. The Princess spent her entire fortune for me. She recruited people from the martial world to abandon their names and enter the inner guard, then paid from her own purse to settle and support their families.
“Fang Luo, you do not know everything she did. She put the inner palace in order, recruited brave fighters, trained guards, cultivated loyal followers, spread secret agents, and visited officials throughout the nine ranks and six ministries. After that, she changed her face, joined the army in disguise, and captured sixteen cities for me while killing countless enemies.”
Fang Luo asked calmly, “Why does Your Majesty trust her?”
“Why should I not trust her? She is trustworthy, and the Duke of Wei is every bit as reliable. The sister and brother exhausted their hearts and strength for me and for this country. What reason could I have not to trust them?”
The emperor’s voice deepened. “Princess Fang, Grand Chancellor Fang Luo, and Duke of Wei Fang Niu–three members of the Fang family occupy the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Censorate. I know what each of you has done, and I know each of your natures. I trust you, and I trust the Princess.
“If the Princess killed you, I would avenge my worthy chancellor. If you killed the Princess, I will avenge her in the same way. Otherwise, I would betray not only my own conscience, but the people under heaven and the sixteen cities at our borders.”
Fang Luo lowered his head and said nothing.
The emperor asked, “Is the Princess still alive?”
“This subject does not know. Since she was able to send word to Your Majesty–”
The emperor cut him off. “She was alive then. Is she alive now?”
Fang Luo remained silent.
The emperor rose, seized the green robe, and strode from the tent. As he passed Fang Luo, he left him with one final sentence.
“Fang Luo, you truly have the heart of a tiger and wolf. No kindness can be safely shown to you.”
* * *
Inside the carriage, a masked figure in black crept toward the poor monk. The intruder extended one hand, a sharp knife clenched within it.
Outside, Zhang Hua’s wild sword flashed like brilliant silver blossoms. He had discarded every concern for proper forms or techniques. Whether a move came from an orthodox sword art or the dirtiest tricks of the lowliest schools, he cared only whether it could kill.
More than ten people surrounded him. Four swung five-hook iron chains and fought from a distance. Their chains could reach Zhang Hua, but his sword could not reach them. Each chain weighed more than eleven pounds and stretched three yards, with barbed iron hooks at its tip. If one caught his clothing, he would be captured at once.
Zhang Hua twisted sharply past an incoming chain. His cheeks swelled, and he sprayed a mouthful of blood into the chain wielder’s eyes. The man covered his face and fell, wailing. His companions immediately covered his mouth and dragged him away for treatment.
There was nothing mysterious about the weapon Zhang Hua had used. It was Princess Fang’s blood–poisoned blood he had sucked from her wound along the road. He could not discard it without exposing their trail, so he had stored it in a waterskin and kept it close against his body.
The other three fighters lost focus for the briefest instant. Zhang Hua used the tip of his sword to catch two of their chains together, then leaped onto the linked iron as the men pulled it taut. His blade darted like a striking snake and opened the throat of the third fighter.
He floated lightly to the ground, turned, and swept his sword across the necks of the two men struggling together to recover their chains.
The poor monk kept her eyes closed. She smacked her lips and breathed in and out with a rumbling snore.
The black-clad attacker raised the knife and brought it down.
At that very instant, a short blade drove into the attacker’s energy center–a blade made just short enough to pierce that exact spot.
The poor monk opened her eyes and winked.