Chapter 13

Li Fuquan was waiting outside the hall with a lamp in his hand. He waited until the noise inside died down before refilling the oil in his lamp and continued to wait for dawn. When the emperor came out, he was the first to go up and follow him.

Autumn had arrived in the palace, and the leaves in the courtyard were turning yellow, some already unable to wait to be blown to the ground. Life in the emperor's presence was no longer as leisurely as before, but he grew accustomed to it more quickly than before, to the agarwood scent smeared on the emperor's robes, and to his interactions with people like the imperial attendants, gradually becoming involved in palace affairs.

He no longer felt forced to do things of his own accord. He could follow his own wishes, only giving a few warnings about risky matters and handing off small tasks to his subordinates. He no longer crammed silver into his pockets. His belongings were piled in a wooden box beside his bed. After careful calculation, he realized it was time to get a bigger box; otherwise, it wouldn't be big enough to hold the silver and other tokens he'd collected.

Occasionally, when I think about it, I would sneer at myself for hastily hiding the wooden sign in the middle of the night. I think Zhao Cai listened too much to the people outside the palace at that time and didn't think about myself at all. I should grasp the things that are given to me, reach out and climb higher, and then the things that the adults have assigned me will naturally be completed. At the very least, I don't have to waste my life. If I stand higher, there will be plenty of people under me vying to do these things.

Of course, the emperor's thoughts are more difficult to guess. Fortunately, he doesn't have to worry about those trivial matters. He follows his majesty day and night and only needs to say some good words from time to time. Of course, he can't be said to be wrong. After all, the entire palace belongs to his majesty, even the city of Chang'an, and even every inch of land he knows and the people living on it, all belong to his majesty.

Li Fuquan gradually understood the emperor's temperament and would occasionally praise him with a few good words - mostly his own swear words, just to make the emperor laugh, no matter what he looked like.

It was the New Year again in the palace, and he had recently received more and more rewards. Li Fuquan replaced the wooden box beside his couch, exchanged all the unimportant silver for gold, and put it back in his purse, which he kept beside him. As for the meat soup he used to drink every day, he no longer liked it. Every time he tried it, it always had a strange taste, and it couldn't compare to the imperial meals that the emperor would bestow upon him on a day of pleasure. Every dish was refreshing, and even the leftovers were much more delicious than their usual meals.

Li Fuquan listened to his own increasingly shrill voice and stopped dwelling on the change in his stature. He had asked the imperial physician for advice, but only heard vague words. It made no difference whether he had heard anything or not. It simply made His Majesty laugh more easily, and it was enough for him to climb the ladder without much effort.

Perhaps two years passed, or perhaps three or four years. He was promoted from a regular attendant who took turns lighting the lamps before the emperor, and was able to follow the emperor around at all times to help convey messages and pile memorials on the emperor's desk.

Of course, he would never touch these things. One reason was that he could not understand them at all. The other was that he felt that he had already climbed a high level and it was not worth it to arouse the suspicion of His Majesty for a little profit. He heard that many officials had been replaced in the court in recent years, and even the man who had sent him to the palace had his entire family executed.

He still couldn't find out what crime he had committed. But it no longer had anything to do with him. In fact, he should thank this lord for his consideration at that time and for sending him to the palace, which led to his current life.

His parents, who were far away somewhere, were completely forgotten. He now lived a life of self-sustaining progress. Sometimes, he would sleep restlessly at night, dreaming of his former concubines and others he had watched die. Even after being startled awake, he would quickly calm down and breathe, blaming their deaths on the heavens above. Now, he had also stopped cursing the heavens and the earth, and could only see the emperor in his black dragon robes.

The palace was particularly lively this year. Just as summer began, a concubine was given the title of Zhaoyi - a unique favor in recent years. The emperor also began to stay in the palace where the Zhaoyi lived every night, and planted the annual tribute flowers in the courtyard, which made the side hall even more gorgeous.

Li Fuquan often followed his majesty, and now things generally weren't a big deal for him. But one night, he later recalled, it must have been a moonless summer night, with stars twinkling in the sky. In the palace, he could hear women crying and the sounds of things being smashed. As he was about to enter, he heard his majesty's laughter, mixed with his subsequent explanation.

He lowered his head and turned to leave the hall, moving further away, just like he had done years ago, staying in a corner of the courtyard, not listening to what the emperor said or what happened in the hall. It was just some crying and cursing. The emperor hadn't issued any orders yet, so he couldn't rush in and hear anything he shouldn't. He certainly knew the importance of knowing when to act.

The chrysanthemums in the courtyard were in full bloom, and the autumn wind blew fallen leaves to the ground. His Majesty came more frequently, but he only occasionally glanced at the Consort Zhaoyi, who wore the Majesty's gifts but showed no sign of joy. Li Fuquan bowed his head and saluted before leaving the palace. Sure enough, a few days later, he heard that the Consort Zhaoyi was pregnant.

He remembered it clearly, because when the emperor heard the news, he even ordered them to prepare good wine. Even when they were drunk, he still had them supported into the palace of the Zhaoyi. As for the rest of the noise, they were not able to hear it.

The concubine was more successful and gave birth to a prince. Li Fuquan announced the decree with a bright yellow silk cloth, and watched as box after box of gold and silver were carried into the palace.

During this period, many people asked him to make arrangements openly or secretly, but he guessed the emperor's intentions and did not touch the Zhaoyi and the prince in her belly. Later, when he received rewards from the emperor, he felt that he had done the right thing.

His voice had developed a high-pitched tone, and his stature had stopped growing. The prince had already started learning to walk. His delicate face was more like that of the imperial concubine, and the emperor was very fond of him. He often watched the prince being played by the maids in the courtyard.

Chang'an's winters had grown increasingly cold in recent years, and the palace heaters had to be heated repeatedly to satisfy the emperor and his beauties. Li Fuquan followed the emperor up the hill and looked down. He only bowed and continued to flatter the emperor. "Your Majesty, you're overthinking this. The world belongs to you. What you want to do is just a matter of your will," he continued, his voice pinching. "Even if your Majesty wanted to chop this slave off right now, there's no need for anyone else to do it. This head—it will roll down on its own in a moment."

The emperor laughed as usual, and continued to reward him with toys and praise him. Li Fuquan knelt down to thank him, thinking that he could live like this for a long time.

So when the fire started in the Zhaoyi Palace, he thought it was just an accident. Thinking deeper, he thought it was the brainchild of someone outside the palace. What did it matter whether the woman lived or died, or whether the little prince lived or died? As long as His Majesty beside him was fine, he would be fine too.

Li Fuquan watched the fire spread from afar, and the thick smoke was blown everywhere by the cold wind of the winter night. He coughed and bent over to look for the emperor, the corner of the dragon robe, and the steps he had been climbing up.

But things were not always as he wished. The noise of the people was getting louder and louder, and it didn't sound like the noise of a fire. He could hear many people and many different voices. Fortunately, he found the emperor and followed him to hide elsewhere.

He hurriedly followed the emperor elsewhere, only realizing when the smoke had cleared a little that he noticed the plum blossoms about to bloom and smelled their delicate fragrance—the same fragrance he had smelled many years ago, in the courtyard he had spent his time in since entering the palace. They had separated from the others, and the emperor, coughing constantly, turned his gaze towards the still-smoking hall, his thoughts unsettled.

Li Fuquan remained behind the emperor, bowing and awaiting his orders. The crowds of people coming and going grew larger and larger. The palace had never been so chaotic before. At least in his memory, there had never been so few people around the emperor. It was as if this was intentional.

There were many people who wanted to murder the Zhaoyi and the prince. After the news of her pregnancy came out, he lowered his head and ignored the emperor's sigh, but just wondered who was responsible for the fire and why it had not been extinguished after almost half an hour, and even showed a tendency to burn more fiercely.

The noises in the palace were getting louder and louder. There were palace maids fleeing in panic, servants like him who followed the emperor, and some concubines. The cries and shouts mixed together, and it seemed as if the entire palace was filled with them.

But soon, he understood what had happened—or rather, saw clearly what had happened. A leader, dressed in white, approached with a group of guards. The distant fire illuminated him, revealing the bloodstains on his white garments, making the white even more glaring. He bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty, you've been dwelling on state affairs day and night, perhaps overwhelmed by the burdens of state... This place seems like a good place to go. I beg Your Majesty to depart."

The man straightened up and took off the sword from his waist. Li Fuquan went to see the emperor, but all he heard was a frightened voice—a voice no different from that of an ordinary person, a panic no different from that of an ordinary person, "You...Xue——"

Li Fuquan listened to the emperor speak, his voice a mixture of shock and anger not fully reaching his ears, and he let the blood splatter on his face. Even the dark dragon robe could not cover the blood. The man drew his sword and wiped the blood off with the hem of his clothes, over and over again. Then he listened to what the guards beside him said, "Let Shen be alone. She has already decided to die. Let her go."

He stepped forward, broke off a plum branch, and held it in his hand. He lowered his head and carefully inhaled the delicate fragrance wafting from it. He then calmly responded, allowing the guard to pass on the message, "The Shang Dynasty will be destroyed, and a new Mandate of Heaven will be established."

The hoarse voice kept echoing in the empty courtyard. Li Fuquan was stunned and couldn't remember to use his sleeve to wipe the blood off his face. He couldn't figure out what was going on now - the person he looked up to, the person he tried to please, the good life he wanted to live, the person he thought of as the emperor, died in his own palace, died at the hands of others.

When he died, blood even splashed on his face. He was not panicked at all, but was just stunned by the fact he saw with his own eyes.

Soon he didn't even have the chance to be stunned. The branches of the wintersweet tree were shaking, and the guards holding scimitars took the lives of all the servants around the emperor.

Li Fuquan didn't escape either. The sudden pain wasn't even one thousandth of what he'd felt during castration. As he fell back, his head hit the dirt. If he could open his eyes and think for a moment, he might recall a piece of linen he'd buried under a tree years before, when he'd first entered the palace. Beneath the linen was a wooden plaque with carved patterns.

This wooden plaque brought Li Gou Wa, who was worth only 750 coins, into the palace and into the good days that everyone in the world longed for. It even pushed him to crawl to the emperor's side and kneel down to become the most competent dog.

Li Fuquan could not take away the gold and silver he had saved over the years, nor could he block the sword that was stabbing the emperor. He could only be killed by the sword because of his own choice and because he was standing beside the emperor at that moment. He fell in this place that he should be extremely familiar with, and in the place where he buried the wooden sign with his own hands.

This wintersweet tree is still blooming brilliantly. The newly opened yellow flowers are falling one after another, floating in the pool of blood and landing in the courtyard. When blown by the north wind, the fragrance spreads into the air.

Tonight's moon shone on this courtyard as well. The fire in the distance grew larger and larger, and all the sounds from within the palace faded away. Perhaps someone, escaping, had seen from the high steps that the lights here were just like at dusk, burning brightly, clearly welcoming the darkness and fading into day.

End of Volume 3.