Chapter 7: Emperor Changle Died

He died in a thoroughly undignified way.

The only ones attending him at the time had been mere Chosen Attendants. With no one of standing present when it happened, there was no hope of covering up the commotion that erupted. Even the Empress, who spent her days in devotion before the Buddha, was roused, and she appeared at the Hall of Blessed Tranquility alongside the Empress Dowager.

Word spread quickly, and the consorts, princes, and princesses of the Inner Palace all hurried to the Hall of Blessed Tranquility.

The affairs of the Inner Palace had always been managed by the Imperial Noble Consort, but at a moment like this, she did not dare act on her own authority.

She could only listen as the Empress Dowager gave her orders with flawless composure: summoning the lords and ministers, and sending for the Crown Prince, who was currently confined to his quarters… The Imperial Noble Consort had been weeping with her head bowed, but at those words her body stiffened slightly, and she could not bring herself to speak against it.

No one could have imagined it. Emperor Changle, hale and whole one day, dead the next, and in such a… death as this. Worse, when it happened, the only one present had been that old relic Xu Chunming, and Lady Wan, a woman with no backbone to speak of, had let the news leak straight to the Palace of Compassionate Peace before anyone could stop it.

After the Empress Dowager arrived, she summoned the Imperial Medical Academy, had them examine Emperor Changle’s body piece by piece, then ordered a search of the entire Hall of Blessed Tranquility. They found the Water-Born Incense, still burning.

That the Emperor had always favored aphrodisiac incenses to liven things up was a secret known to every corner of the Imperial Palace.

Looking at the physicians’ findings, the Empress Dowager closed her eyes briefly and waved for them to withdraw to the Side Hall. To take out her fury on the Imperial Medical Academy or the attending consorts now would accomplish nothing. No matter how the blade twisted in her heart, the most urgent matter was the perilous situation at hand.

Emperor Changle had died too suddenly. If word got out just like this, how could the court be held steady?

The Empress Dowager had not managed affairs in years, but even the Imperial Noble Consort understood exactly what she would do at such a dangerous moment of dynastic transition!

“Palace Matron Xu. Go to the Hall of Peace and Ease and request the Crown Prince’s presence.”

The moment those words fell, the grieving atmosphere in the hall went rigid. Yet the Empress Dowager carried on as if she had heard nothing, urging the Female Palace Official to depart at once.

As long as the Emperor had not stripped Tantai Tian of the Eastern Palace, he remained Crown Prince for one more day.

At this critical juncture, the Empress Dowager had one and only one possible banner to raise: the Crown Prince.

The Imperial Noble Consort lowered her head, dabbing at her tears with a handkerchief, using the motion to conceal the vicious twist of her features.

Everything had been going so well. The Eldest Prince was winning Emperor Changle’s favor day by day, and had just left the palace to establish his own residence, on the verge of great things.

And yet, and yet the Emperor had to die at a time like this!

…

Tantai Tian arrived amid a chorus of grieving, sorrowful wailing.

The lords and ministers had not yet entered the palace, but the consorts and the princes and princesses of the Inner Palace already knelt in ranks filling the Hall of Blessed Tranquility.

Even though the Crown Prince’s footsteps were nearly soundless, the moment he appeared in the hall, the swirling sorrow around him seemed to falter, and no one could stop their gaze from turning to him.

The Empress, who kept to her Buddhist devotions year-round and rarely smiled, needed only to stand quietly for the slight upturn of her lips to make one feel bathed in spring wind, as compassionately serene as a Buddha herself.

The Crown Prince she had borne was her complete opposite.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Ferocious in bearing.

Like a beast born to be wild. His leisurely stride made it seem not as though he had been released from long confinement, but as though he had returned to territory that had always been his.

The Empress sat below the Empress Dowager and gave him only one cool glance, so indifferent it might have been they were not mother and son at all. The Empress Dowager’s eyes were rimmed red, her face faintly swollen; she had clearly wept bitterly only recently, and had since tidied herself and recovered her imperial majesty.

The Empress Dowager knew full well that Emperor Changle had grown increasingly cold toward the Crown Prince. But the Emperor was dead now, and yesterday’s grievances had died with him. She would not permit anyone to shake the foundations of the dynasty at a moment like this.

“Crown Prince. Come here.”

The instant the Empress Dowager spoke, everyone in the Hall of Blessed Tranquility understood that a new power was about to descend.

Thunderous and irresistible.

Seven short days later.

Tantai Tian ascended the throne.

On the day of his enthronement, the sky was cloudless, awash in morning glow.

Rendong crouched on the roof beasts along the palace eaves, gazing at the Enthronement Ceremony from afar.

People, people, people.

So many, many people.

Three Kneelings and Nine Prostrations, and the thunderous cry of ten thousand years of long life…

But among the countless crowd, the cat had eyes for only one person.

Tantai Tian was dressed in extraordinary splendor, the most dazzling creature in the whole crowd.

Only then, seeing that enormous sea of people, did Rendong truly realize that Tantai Tian, the man he had always thought looked a bit pitiful, was apparently quite a dignified figure after all.

The cat excitedly went to work kneading, delightedly concluding that his own eye for talent was excellent!

He’d picked out someone impressive at a single glance!

The cat had entirely forgotten the System’s existence. Satisfied, he gave his whiskers a shake, feeling that everything about the human he’d raised was wonderful, simply wonderful.

The instant the final rite of the enthronement ceremony was completed, the System’s voice sounded in Rendong’s ear.

【Congratulations, Host, on completing Quest Two】

Rendong bobbed his feline head, pleased as could be.

…Wait. His cat claws had only just been sharpened to a fine edge, and he hadn’t actually done anything yet.

Rendong solemnly reviewed his recent activities.

Dumped eight snakes in the Palace of Blossoming Sun. Dumped five large rats in the Hall of Blessed Tranquility. Marked the Fat Emperor’s dragon bed twice…

Oh, all right, all right. Not exactly nothing, then.

Night fell, and the Hall of Blessed Tranquility grew quiet.

The New Emperor had ascended in haste, but none of the necessary business had been neglected. Once the ceremony concluded, he naturally moved into the Hall of Blessed Tranquility.

The entire staff of the hall was replaced, mostly with people from the old Eastern Palace. Of the Chief Eunuchs who had attended the New Emperor, however, only Yu Zeming and Liang Ze remained.

As for Nie Jiang and Gao Jinzhong, they had vanished without a trace, and no one dared ask where they had gone.

Emperor Changle’s sudden death had left behind a mess of loose ends, and with the New Emperor occupied with those, he handed the funeral arrangements over to the Imperial Noble Consort and the Eldest Prince.

The Empress Dowager and the Empress, meanwhile, spent their days in the Small Buddhist Chapel, praying for the Late Emperor.

Emperor Changle’s coffin rested in the Hall of Benevolence and Wisdom, and the daily mourning continued. But out of consideration for the depths of winter, the New Emperor, citing his predecessor’s benevolence, declared that no one should be made to suffer: the aged and the young among the imperial clan were excused from paying their respects, and only those of fitting age were required to enter the palace daily.

Even now, deep in the night, many princes and grandsons still kept vigil at the Hall of Benevolence and Wisdom. The most filial of all was naturally the Eldest Prince, who, it was said, had already fainted from weeping several times.

Though the enthronement had been rushed, the Inner Palace stayed utterly silent, no one daring to make trouble. With the court changing hands, even the sharpest noses did not dare go sniffing about at a time like this.

Even the Imperial Noble Consort’s faction could only rein everything in and behave for the moment.

No one wanted to be the chicken slaughtered to warn the monkeys.

Oh, right. “Imperial Noble Consort” was no longer the proper term; she was a Dowager Consort now. And the Empress Dowager and Empress were to be styled Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager, respectively.

…

Yu Zeming stood guard outside the bathing chamber.

When Tantai Tian bathed, he generally did not permit attendants inside.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Yu Zeming cradled a hand warmer that poured out heat without pause, driving the chill from his body. His days at the Hall of Peace and Ease had left chilblains on his fingers, and even with medicine applied they still ached with a dull sting.

But compared to those days at the Hall of Peace and Ease, his current life, in the very same month, was heaven and earth apart.

“Did you find it?” Yu Zeming watched from a distance as the palace attendant he’d sent out came trudging back, every step a stumble. He snapped, “If you didn’t find it, why bother coming back at all?”

Everything had been changing by the hour these past days, and with Yu Zeming managing things inside and Liang Ze outside, both of them had been run off their feet. Still, Yu Zeming had remembered the little kitty who had invited itself to the Hall of Peace and Ease, and had even assigned several people specifically to look after it.

But the cat’s wildness had not diminished one bit, and it insisted on slipping out for a roam every day. It came and went like a ghost; even with people assigned to watch it, sometimes they simply couldn’t keep up.

“Little Ancestor did come back…” Xu Qiu said, his face the picture of misery. “It just won’t come down.”

Yu Zeming asked, baffled, “Won’t come down from where?”

Xu Qiu sighed helplessly. “From the roof of the Side Hall corridor.” He and Mingtang had searched forever before they finally spotted two gleaming green points of light lurking in the dark shadows up above.

The sight had nearly knocked him off his feet.

Then a lazy meow had drifted down from above.

So that was where the Little Ancestor had been hiding.

The corridor roof was on the low side, but this was still the Hall of Blessed Tranquility. Climbing about without permission was asking for trouble, so Mingtang had stayed behind to keep watch while Xu Qiu came to ask for Yu Zeming’s instruction. If the Chief Eunuch approved, he would go fetch a ladder.

Before Yu Zeming could answer, there was the faintest creak of the tightly shut door behind him. He spun around at once, and there was Tantai Tian, stepping slowly out of the bathing chamber.

No one knew this Master better than Yu Zeming. He knew that His Master’s mood was bound to be foul today, which was exactly why he had quietly sent people to find the cat, hoping the Little Ancestor could soothe His Master’s temper.

Today, His Majesty had gone to the Hall of Compassionate Origin to pay respects to the Empress Dowager, and had been turned away at the door.

The Empress Dowager refused to see him.

It was not the first time.

But this time, His Majesty had stood in the snow for a very long while.

He did not return to the Hall of Blessed Tranquility until nightfall.

With frost and wind all over him, His Majesty’s face had been dreadfully pale, his lips unnaturally red, the veins standing out at his temple and the cold fury rolling off him enough to tell Yu Zeming, who had attended His Majesty since childhood, exactly what this was.

That His Majesty had chosen to soak in hot water rather than kill someone was already remarkable restraint.

…And thank the heavens the fit had not come.

When His Majesty’s episodes took hold, it was truly terrifying. There were times it made killing seem like the merciful option, so long as His Majesty’s madness did not rage too far.

Tantai Tian said nothing. He simply walked toward the corridor roof.

As if he needed no one to tell him where the cat was.

The attendants outside the bathing chamber hurried after him.

The corridor roof was close, just around one corner.

Turning the bend, they could see a Young Eunuch standing beneath the eaves, head tipped back. At the sight of the New Emperor, the man dropped to his knees in a flurry.

Tantai Tian stopped and slowly tilted his head upward.

Rendong was indeed up there.

Idly licking at his furry paw, half paying attention, half not.

As if sensing someone watching, the cat lazily paused mid-lick and poked a little feline head out over the edge.

Then Rendong’s eyes went round.

A human had come looking for the cat.

Of course the cat was delighted.

But the everyday robe Tantai Tian wore was clearly fresh from the chest.

His long hair had been given only the barest wipe, damp and dripping-free but not truly dry, hanging loose and unbound down his back.

In weather like this, that would never do.

“Meowow!“

Rendong flipped over in a roll and planted himself at the eave’s edge, yowling furiously at the man. Go dry your hair already!

Cats that got wet and didn’t dry off died, you know!

Tantai Tian opened his arms toward him.

It was an unmistakable invitation.

Rendong, who had been kneading his paw pads in preparation for hopping down the low wall on his own, hesitated.

What if he jumped and the human failed to catch the cat?

He didn’t strictly have to go down, after all.

But as Rendong peeked and bobbed along the rooftop, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the human looked cold today.

Like today’s snow. Cold.

And a little tired, too.

Ohh-kay, then. Rendong bounced on his feet.

Little cat cannonball, coming through!

Plop!

A smooth black arc sailed through the air.

Tantai Tian caught the black ball of cat without the slightest wobble.

The cat squirmed and rolled for all he was worth in the man’s arms, waging several pitched battles with the fabric of the robe, his pink paw pads stamping a trail of inky little marks across Tantai Tian’s clean sleeve.

Hmph hmph hmph! Dirty kitty, coming home dirty!