Work Text:
Shen Lang knew that you could not trust anyone, not even your family. Perhaps especially not family. He’d learned this lesson the hard way, as a child, when his father’s younger brother, Lord Pingnan, had attacked the capital and attempted to seize the throne from the legitimate Emperor. Young Crown Prince Shen Lang had hidden in the tunnels with his mother, his sister, his Aunt Yan Min and his cousin Xue Dingfei, as well as scores of scared palace staff, while Lord Pingnan slaughtered the children in the city, one by one.
As a child emperor, he’d trusted his mother as Regent, but the older Shen Lang grew, the more he realised that his mother did not always make decisions for his benefit, the benefit of the Shen family, or for the benefit of the people of Qian. She made decisions for the benefit of the Xue family, particularly her younger brother, Xue Yuan, and Shen Lang’s two younger cousins, Xue Shu and Xue Ye.
To his shame, Shen Lang had never been particularly fond of his younger Xue cousins, perhaps because he missed his older cousin, Xue Dingfei, who had been of an age with him.
Alas, during the attack on the capital, when Lord Pingnan had demanded that the Crown Prince be sent out, and started killing children to encourage it, they’d sent Xue Dingfei in his stead. Fei’er had died under Lord Pingnan’s sword. Shen Lang was consumed by guilt. Fei’er’s death had set off a tragic series of events: Aunt Yan Min’s unborn child had died, she had divorced Uncle Xue Yuan and then fallen ill herself and died. Xue Yuan had remarried again swiftly and produced A’Shu and Ye’er.
When he reached adulthood, Shen Lang was trapped between the martial, stern Yan family on the one hand and the grasping, demanding Xues on the other hand.
After he contracted a wasting lung disease, Shen Lang became more reliant on the Xues. He didn’t want to lean on the Xues so much, but he was distinctly aware that Marquis Yan Mu had control of the military and constantly questioned his decisions. He wondered if Yan Mu blamed him for the death of his older sister and nephew and found him wanting as a result. Shen Lang didn’t want rebellion and death again. He was determined to stamp down on rebels wherever he saw them.
Sometimes, in the night, when blood filled his mouth and there was a pain in his chest, Shen Lang wondered Fei’er had felt like this when he was dying. The bodies of the children of the city had been too slashed to identify, and they’d never been sure whether the child they buried in Xue Dingfei’s grave was Fei’er or not. Yan Min had been convinced that Dingfei had survived, and nothing anyone said could convince her otherwise, until the day she died.
The arrival of Junior State Preceptor Xie Wei in the Imperial Court had felt like a gift from the heavens. It was very rare for Shen Lang to feel comfortable with anyone, perhaps because it was very rare that someone was comfortable with him.
Xie Wei was remarkable for several reasons. First, he seemed to enjoy Shen Lang’s company, not because he was emperor, but because he genuinely liked him. Secondly, he never asked for any preferment or favours. Thirdly, as an outsider to the court, he saw the people in court with a certain level of dispassion, as if they were just pieces on a Go Board. Shen Lang would become upset with Xue Yuan or Yan Mu and their respective supporters. Xie Wei would coolly dissect the reason he thought they had acted as they did and tell Shen Lang about hitherto unknown undercurrents in the court. He was never critical of anyone in the court, nor did he seem to have any particular friends among the courtiers.
Xie Wei’s interests were highly cerebral: he loved playing Go, teaching, reading books and poetry, writing calligraphy, and playing the qin. Xie Wei always beat him in their games of Go, no matter how hard Shen Lang tried to best him.
“The Junior State Preceptor is truly a remarkable player,” said Wang Xinyi, after one particularly hard-fought match. “I know that you hate flattery, your Majesty, so I do not flatter. I do not know anyone in Qian who could beat him.”
“A flatterer would let me win, but the Junior State Preceptor never does. He treats me as a sincere opponent.” Shen Lang paused, breathless. “I worry that he is lonely, Wang Xinyi. He seems to look forward to our games so much.”
Wang Xinyi considered the matter. “It is possible. He is greatly respected, but he lives a very abstemious life: no lovers or favourites in court, and few friends, other than Mr “Always Second Best”.”
“Mr Always Second Best?” said Shen Lang, with mystification.
“Mr Lyu Xian came second to the Junior State Preceptor in the local, regional and imperial examinations,” said Wang Xinyi, smiling. “Hence, the nickname. He sells qins in his store, and the Junior State Preceptor makes them.”
“The Junior State Preceptor needs a wife,” decided Shen Lang.
“Mmm,” said Wang Xinyi. “We will turn our minds to identifying any suitable woman. She will have to be learned, enjoy playing Go, and be skilled at the qin.”
However, when Shen Lang raised the question of marriage, he found the Junior State Preceptor resistant, almost alarmed. Shen Lang was forced to face the fact that the Junior State Preceptor was exceedingly shy.
As time went on, Shen Lang began to ask his friend how he would manoeuvre around the other members of the court. To Shen Lang’s delight, Xie Wei had ideas and used his connections to collect information. Shen Lang was better informed than he’d ever been in the past. Sometimes Xie Wei’s ideas were crazy; but often they were brilliant. Slowly Shen Lang tried to pull control of the throne back into his own hands, from his mother and his uncle. He knew that he was dying, but maybe he could still stop the Yans rebelling and put his foot down on the Xues.
Recently, however, Shen Lang had begun to see a different side to Xie Wei. He’d known Xie Wei had travelled to the capital with Jiang Xuening, Lord Jiang’s second daughter. She was rumoured to be rude, arrogant, selfish and crazy, and she scandalised the women of the court by running around the city (dressed as a man) with Viscount Yan Lin and drinking heavily. Shen Lang wondered if the court women were just jealous of the girl’s freedom. He wished he could get up to those kinds of hijinks. He was captured by his role too.
When Shen Lang came up with the idea of a study group for his sister Shen Zhiyi, Yan Lin and Zhiyi saw Jiang Xuehui on the list of study companions and pushed for Jiang Xuening to be swapped with her sister. Shen Lang had agreed, partly because he was curious about this girl. Anyone who made Zhiyi less self-conscious and happier was a good person, even if she was crazy.
Once classes began, the eunuchs tantalised him with descriptions of Jiang Xuening. This girl was everything Xie Wei hated: ill-disciplined, cheeky, uneducated, and terribly unskilled at the qin. Xie Wei must be regretting agreeing to the swap of the sisters.
Jiang Xuening did not seem to care if she were thrown out of the palace; if anything, the eunuchs reported, for some unknown reason, she seemed to be trying to be thrown out. Her efforts to annoy Madam Su fell on barren ground. Madam Su would love any girl who made Zhiyi happy, no matter how ill-disciplined she was.
After that first day, Jiang Xuening reportedly began to perform all tasks involving etiquette with unexpected grace and charm—almost causing Madam Su to swoon—but she redoubled her efforts to annoy everyone else, including not only Xie Wei, but Xue Shu, the other Hanlin Academy scholars, and Earl You’s arrogant second daughter. It was even rumoured that she’d shoved You Yue’s head in a fishpond for slandering an official.
Zhiyi was delighted by this. She came to Shen Lang full of questions and tales, her eyes sparkling. Shen Lang was unwell and worried—his breathless spells came frequently now, and he had no heir—but he enjoyed these tales too. A little excitement of this benign sort was very welcome.
When Jiang Xuening stole Xie Wei’s poem and presented it to the Hanlin Academy scholars as her own, Shen Lang discovered two things.
First, the Hanlin scholars were more deeply in his uncle’s thrall than he’d realised—they were bullying a nineteen-year-old girl, apparently at the behest of Xue Shu—and they were stupid and stuck in the mud. Xie Wei’s poem was exquisite, as they should have realised, had they any taste. As it was, an uneducated nineteen-year-old girl from the countryside had more discernment. Shen Lang ordered them removed from office.
Secondly, as a result of the poem incident, Shen Lang discovered that Xie Wei was giving Jiang Xuening private qin lessons. His curiosity was piqued. When he probed further, even the besotted Zhiyi had to admit that “Ning-ning’s’” playing was truly appalling. Xie Wei observed in sour tones that it was his unfortunate duty to be tortured by Jiang Xuening. The eunuchs reported that Xie Wei often scolded Jiang Xuening; Jiang Xuening would return the next day, totally undeterred, and keep baiting him, or Xue Shu, or someone else. The eunuchs had frankly never had so much fun in their lives.
Jiang Xuening had saved the life of one of Wang Xinyi’s men, and so when she was accused of hiding a rebellious poem in her room, the eunuchs begged Shen Lang to intervene. Apparently, the girl had knelt in front of the Dowager Empress for several hours, with her hairpin to her neck, to demand that the Ministry of Justice investigate. Shen Lang strongly suspected his mother hated Jiang Xuening because of her close friendship with Yan Lin. He would not allow his mother to persecute an innocent girl, no matter that he was at loggerheads with Yan Mu.
He had been expecting to find Jiang Xuening collapsed on the floor of Tai’an Hall. When he arrived at Tai’an Hall, he discovered nothing could have been further from the truth. Shen Lang swiftly realised that this had indeed been a plot by his mother and Xue Shu, but that they’d very badly miscalculated. The plot was about to blow up in their faces, particularly now that Zhang Zhe from Ministry of Justice had been drawn in. That man was a terrier after a ball, and he didn’t care who he upset in the process of fetching the truth.
No one had told Shen Lang quite how beautiful Jiang Xuening was, perhaps because her appeal was difficult to put into words. She had an amazing regal poise, and, despite her lack of education, she was very quick to unravel the plot against her. He wondered at Xie Wei’s failure to mention these important details.
The main thing at this point was to ensure that Zhang Zhe did not bring down the Empress Dowager or annoy Duke Xue too much. Shen Lang did not want his rule destabilised by this stupidity. He stopped the questioning of the maid and sent everyone back to bed. He’d deal with the Xues privately.
As they went back to bed, Shen Lang yawned. “Has Xie Wei been teaching Jiang Xuening how to handle court politics, as well as the qin?”
“I don’t know what the Junior State Preceptor could teach Miss Jiang,” said Wang Xinyi. “Frankly, the eunuchs have never seen anyone so adept at navigating the flows of power in the court, particularly in one so young. Ding Cheng told me that Miss Jiang put Huang Renli in his place, earlier this evening.”
“Jiang Xuening… put Huang Renli in his place?” repeated Shen Lang. His mother’s eunuch was famously scheming and unpleasant.
“Yes, she correctly told him he had no jurisdiction over her!” Wang Xinyi allowed himself a smile of pure joy. Huang Renli was his most hated rival. “It’s lucky that the girl has no ambition in court; Ding Cheng said her manner was regal.”
“I noticed the same in Tai’an Hall tonight.” Shen Lang felt slightly worried. “Miss Jiang really has no ambitions?”
“None, other than a desire to drive Xue Shu into a frenzy,” said Wang Xinyi, with the greatest approval. “Miss Jiang keeps daring Xie Wei to throw her out, and of course, he will never do so. She hasn’t realised that he’s all bark, no bite, at least, as far as she’s concerned.”
“I expect she has many admirers,” said Shen Lang, invitingly.
“Mm,” said Wang Xinyi. “Most well-known is Viscount Yan Lin, who has asked Miss Jiang to marry him, and has been turned down repeatedly. There were some signs that your brother Prince Linzhi might have a tendre for Miss Jiang—”
“Heavens, no!” said Shen Lang, wheezing with shock. “She would eat Jie’er alive!”
“Do not fear, it does not seem this was the case, and Miss Jiang has not encouraged the Prince,” said Wang Xinyi. “However, recent events convince me that certain people were too foolish to realise their mistake. Then there is our earnest young Mr Zhang—he looked very taken with Miss Jiang, don’t you think?”
“Isn’t Mr Zhang supposed to marry another study companion?” said Shen Lang.
“Yes, but given the way he looked at Miss Jiang, and the fact that he has already tried to cancel the engagement with Miss Yao, I would not count on the marriage taking place,” said Wang Xinyi. “Xue Ye also made a clumsy pass at Miss Jiang, in front of Prince Linzhi’s study companions, and she set him down viciously.”
Shen Lang laughed until he coughed. “Miss Jiang seems to have made things much more interesting.”
The next morning was vexing because he was so tired.
His uncle, Duke Xue, sought an audience, looking portentous. “Your Majesty, the Xingwu guards found the Junior State Preceptor breaking the curfew last night. He was driving around the city in the middle of the night!”
Although Xue Yuan did not realise it, his recent attempts to undermine the Junior State Preceptor made Shen Lang deeply suspicious of him. Xie Wei had never said anything negative about Xue Yuan.
Nonetheless this particular revelation was surprising and a little out of character. “The Junior State Preceptor was driving around the city in the middle of the night?” Shen Lang shook his head. “Why?”
“He was desperate to get into the palace,” said Xue Yuan. “Moreover, it has been reported to me that he sent one of his men to intimidate Chen Ying, to force him to intervene in the case of the rebellious poem! This is inappropriate interference in court matters!”
Shen Lang blinked. “Xie Wei… sent one of his men… to persuade Chen Ying to intervene in Jiang Xuening’s case? And he was desperate to get into the palace in the middle of the night?”
Xue Yuan nodded. “He was only allowed in at dawn.”
“I thought Chen Ying and Zhang Zhe became involved because Miss Jiang demanded it of Mother.”
“The Junior State Preceptor’s intervention was indeed unnecessary,” agreed Xue Yuan. “That makes his behaviour all the stranger.”
Shen Lang’s burgeoning suspicions grew stronger. “I assure you, I will ask the Junior State Preceptor about this,” he promised his uncle.
However, when he made inquiries, he discovered that the Junior State Preceptor was at home, suffering from one of his annual winter illnesses. In light of his vulnerability to illness in cold weather, it seemed extremely stupid for him to have driven around in the middle of the night, trying to get into the palace.
“What’s the relationship between Xie Wei and Jiang Xuening?” Shen Lang asked Wang Xinyi.
“Your Majesty asks an excellent question,” said Wang Xinyi, beaming. “We have, of course, been considering the same question ourselves. You would know that the Junior State Preceptor accompanied Miss Jiang to the capital, four years ago?”
Shen Lang nodded.
Wang Xinyi leaned forward. “I can supply you with a crucial clue. For reasons known only to himself at present, from the very first day of classes, the Junior State Preceptor has always and only addressed Miss Jiang as “Miss Ning’er”.”
““Ning’er”? In the four years since he came to the capital, I have never heard Xie Ju’an use an affectionate name for anyone,” said Shen Lang.
“Quite,” said Wang Xinyi, looking smug. “Moreover, I am not convinced by the Junior State Preceptor’s assertion that those qin classes are an unpleasant duty. They seem to occur every second afternoon, at least, and sometimes every evening.”
Shen Lang burst out laughing. “I thought as much!” He paused. “Has Xie Wei said anything to Miss Jiang or Lord Jiang?”
“Goodness no,” said Wang Xinyi. “We do not expect the Junior State Preceptor to say anything, while Miss Jiang is his student. Meanwhile, Miss Jiang, we are sad to say, seems to be quite impressed by Zhang Zhe—”
“Oh heavens, no no no,” said Shen Lang, with disgust. “That man’s so annoying and pettifogging. Xie Wei must act.”
Shen Lang called Jiang Xuening in, purportedly to apologise for the accusations she’d suffered because of the “rebellious” maid. Miss Jiang knew that the talk of the maid being a rebel was nonsense, but she was not going to make a fuss.
Shen Lang was struck by Miss Jiang’s beauty and untutored lack of pretension again. He decided to probe her about Xie Wei’s movements on the night she had been accused of rebellion. Everything Jiang Xuening said confirmed Xie Wei was interested in her, but equally clearly, she had absolutely no realisation of Xie Wei’s interest.
“Huh. She’s beautiful but not very bright,” Shen Lang said to Wang Xinyi. “The Junior State Preceptor is going to remain a bachelor forever, unless we help him.”
Eventually he managed to persuade the Junior State Preceptor to meet him for a game of Go. He thought it worth warning Xie Wei that Zhang Zhe had broken off his engagement with Minister Yao’s daughter. Rumour suggested that Mr Zhang had set his sights firmly on Miss Jiang.
When Xie Wei did not bite and pretended to be indifferent to Zhang Zhe, Shen Lang took a different tack. He suggested to the Junior State Preceptor that he should consider marriage. As he had before, Xie Wei insisted he would never marry and that he had received a bad fortune when he was a child.
Suddenly, three girls burst into the Imperial gardens, giggling. One was none other than Miss Jiang. The other two girls ran past, but Miss Jiang stopped and stared at Xie Wei. Then she called the other girls back and they all bowed to Shen Lang. Xie Wei stared at Miss Jiang as if he’d been hit over the head by a poleaxe, and he didn’t smile, not even a little, but looked unremittingly stern. No wonder Miss Jiang hadn’t realised he liked her. Xie Wei was hopeless.
After the girls ran off, Shen Lang probed Xie Wei on why he’d been so desperate to enter the palace on the night Jiang Xuening had been accused. Xie Wei said he’d left his qin in the palace, and that he was apt to forget the time when he was thinking about music.
Shen Lang couldn’t help smiling. Finally, he had rattled Xie Wei so badly that he’d let his guard down. “You love the qin so much. You’re truly obsessed.”
Xie Wei immediately began to protest and say that he was not worthy of the instrument. Shen Lang was tickled to realise that even Xie Wei could be stupid in relation to matters of the heart.
At first, Shen Lang put the growing discord between Xue Yuan and Xie Wei down to the fact that the Dowager Empress and Xue Shu repeatedly sought to target and frame Jiang Xuening. Shen Lang was furious after his mother and Xue Shu attempted to make Consort Qin miscarry and to pin it on Jiang Xuening. He would never trust his mother again. Qian’s future depended upon his son.
Then, for some strange reason, Xie Wei conducted Yan Lin’s coming of age. He had never shown any particular tendency to pick a side before, and this was effectively waving a red rag at the bull that was Xue Yuan. In the wake of the coming of age, Shen Lang was forced to consider exiling the Yans. Xue Yuan predicted Xie Wei would come out to defend the Yans… and Shen Lang held his breath… but the Junior State Preceptor agreed entirely with the plan to exile the Yans to Huangzhou. He was objective and calm, as always, even though he appeared to have upset Jiang Xuening as a result.
However, when Xie Wei suddenly came up with a crazy plan to deal the rebels in Tongzhou, and demanded the Yan tally, Shen Lang began to wonder what was going on. How had Xie Wei obtained the tally? Was he actually a rebel? He’d never sought favours or power before, and his knowledge of this “Dujun” was unusually detailed. No one else knew anything about this man. Shen Lang was no fool: he had a niggling fear that Dujun was none other than Xie Wei himself, sent by Lord Pingnan to infiltrate the palace. But then why would Xie Wei have exposed his knowledge to Minister Gu, Zhang Zhe and Shen Lang, if he were Dujun? None of it made sense.
Shen Lang decided to trust his instinct that Xie Wei meant well.
When Xie Wei and the Yan Army destroyed the rebels in Tongzhou and recovered Zhang Zhe—no thanks to the Xingwu Guards and Xue Yuan—Shen Lang was relieved. His trust had not been misplaced after all. He felt bad for doubting his friend, particularly after Xie Wei had found his long-lost cousin, Xue Dingfei, among the rebels. The terrible guilt Shen Lang had felt for years lifted. He had always been afraid that if Xue Dingfei had survived, he would hate Shen Lang and resent the fact that he’d been sent out as a decoy. He was immensely relieved to discover that this was not the case.
Xue Yuan, however, was conspicuously less delighted, almost dismayed. It was notable that Xue Dingfei did not call Xue Yuan ‘Father’, and that the two despised each other.
Heartbreakingly, Xue Dingfei had become a drunken libertine. Shen Lang could see very little of the boy he remembered in this man. At least Xue Dingfei had lived, even if he’d been broken. Xue Dingfei began to raise questions about his father’s loyalty and behaviour during the siege. Shen Lang wondered what his cousin was talking about: Xue Dingfei shied away from it when pressed.
On a day when Shen Lang was feeling particularly tired and unwell, for some reason, Lord Jiang decided to attack Duke Xue in open court, making brazen assertions of corruption. What was Lord Jiang doing? He had never played political games in court, and he was one of the timidest courtiers. He was going to end up bringing his family down.
Swiftly, Zhang Zhe stepped forward and handed up a memorandum. Xue Shu had deliberately spread rumours about Jiang Xuening around the city, in an apparent attempt to prevent Jiang Xuehui from putting herself forward as a candidate to marry Prince Linzhi. Shen Lang scanned the memorandum. Zhang Zhe and Xue Dingfei had ascertained that Xue family servants and Xingwu Guards had been instrumental in spreading the rumours.
Xie Wei stepped forward and confirmed that Jiang Xuening had been present in Tongzhou, through no fault of her own; the rebels had kidnapped her when they’d raided the jail. Apparently, she had been exceptionally brave and helped to save the Xues and the Xingwu Guards. Shen Lang could tell from his uncle’s and Zhang Zhe’s expressions that everything the Junior State Preceptor had said was true.
Shen Lang was disgusted—what was his uncle doing, allowing Xue Shu to behave in this way? Of course, Xue Yuan denied any knowledge of his daughter’s actions, but the evidence was there. Despite the depressing nature of the allegations, Shen Lang could not help feeling pleased that Xie Wei had openly praised Jiang Xuening in court. This was progress. Perhaps he was finally admitting his affection and doing something about it, now that Jiang Xuening was no longer officially his student.
Meanwhile, if Shen Jie wasn’t careful, he was going to be stuck with Xue Shu as a wife. As Jie dug himself a deeper and deeper hole, Shen Lang could see only one solution: “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” He slept with Xue Shu, much though it disgusted him, to ensure that she did not become Jie’er’s wife, and to make use of her resentment to take down Xue Yuan. A’Shu promised that she knew much of her father’s perfidy.
Jie’er would just have to be satisfied with Jiang Xuehui as a concubine. If he kept making a fuss, Shen Lang warned his silly younger brother that their mother would kill the girl. If Shen Lang could put up with Consort Xian in his bed, Shen Jie could put up with Jiang Xuehui as a concubine, not a wife. Jie shouldn’t have made promises he couldn’t keep.
Shen Lang was also forced to sacrifice his sister, Shen Zhiyi, as a bride to the Prince of Yue, although he would vastly have preferred to have sent Xue Shu, as the public had demanded. At least his mother didn’t blame him; but they were broken-hearted. They both loved Zhiyi so much.
When the Princess departed for Yue, Jiang Xuening’s distress was so great that all the court whispered of it for days. She insulted Consort Xian, and she was whipped severely as a result. Eunuch Zheng Bao intervened to save her life.
“Why did Miss Jiang do this?” Shen Lang asked that evening.
“Apparently, Consort Xian believed that Miss Jiang proposed to ‘rescue’ the Princess,” said Wang Xinyi. “Miss Jiang lost her temper, in her grief at the Princess’s departure.”
“So, that’s why my Uncle ordered the gates closed! As if Miss Jiang could spirit Zhiyi away!” It seemed that the Xue family’s vendetta against Jiang Xuening continued.
“Luckily, someone realised Miss Jiang was missing, and sent Zheng Bao to find her,” said Wang Xinyi.
“Xie Wei,” said Shen Lang.
Wang Xinyi inclined his head and smiled. “Your Majesty is insightful.”
At Shen Jie’s wedding, to Shen Lang’s surprise, Xie Wei and Jiang Xuening both got tremendously drunk. Then they, caused a scandal by running out of the ceremony midway. No one else could follow until the ceremony had been completed, and by the time others could follow, the pair had disappeared.
Shen Lang was later told that at the pre-wedding drinks, Lord Jiang had insulted Xie Wei and threatened to marry his second daughter to Zhang Zhe. He was surprised: Xie Wei and Lord Jiang had been good friends for many years.
“It’s rumoured that Lord Jiang and the Junior State Preceptor had an argument about the Junior State Preceptor’s relationship with Miss Jiang outside Taiji Hall the other day,” said Wang Xinyi, sadly. “The Junior State Preceptor was surprisingly intemperate, and told Lord Jiang that the world didn’t tell him what to do.”
Shen Lang winced. “Not a good idea to irritate one’s prospective father-in-law!”
“This observation was apparently also made by Viscount Xue Dingfei at the wedding drinks, in a very loud voice,” noted Wang Xinyi. “It’s rumoured Miss Jiang has decided to return to Jiangnan, and that the Junior State Preceptor was arguing with Miss Jiang in the courtyard about this.”
Shen Lang put his hand to his forehead. “Oh dear. Xie Ju’an, what are you doing? You might be an excellent player of Go, but a woman is not a game piece.”
Shen Lang had begun to wonder about Xie Wei’s past, since Tongzhou. Several people had told him that Xie Wei had shot General Feng in Tongzhou, from a great distance, and had shown no hesitation in running into battle or commanding troops. He’d never spoken about his parents or siblings, or about his childhood, and his references to his family were always vague and anodyne.
Shen Lang was increasingly sure Xie Wei was not simply the scholar he’d at first claimed to be. He had been trained in military tactics, by someone. He couldn’t really be Dujun, could he? Dujun had been a rebel and would have no incentive to destroy the rebels so decisively in Tongzhou. Nothing made sense. He was missing an important fact.
When news came of Shen Zhiyi’s plight, and the death of the envoy and her attendants, Shen Lang was distraught. Xie Wei was not looking well, but he offered to go to Xinzhou to rescue Shen Lang’s sister.
“Are you doing this for your Miss Ning’er?” Shen Lang asked.
Xie Wei gave him a level look. “Your Majesty, I cannot abide this insult to Qian and to the Princess.”
“Mm,” said Shen Lang. “You are very loyal to Qian.”
Xie Wei lingered, as if he wanted to say something else, so Shen Lang bade him speak.
Xie Wei bowed low. “Your Majesty, please forgive me for deceiving you.”
Shen Lang was horrified to his very core; deception by those closest to him was his greatest fear. He was stuck in the palace—simultaneously powerful and weak—and he depended upon others to be trustworthy. Was Xie Wei about to assassinate him? Or admit that he was a rebel?
“Deception?” he said hoarsely.
Xie Wei kept his head down and did not move. “Your Majesty, do you remember twenty years ago, when we were in the tunnel under the palace, and I gave you one of my tiger head shoes?’
There was only one person in all of Qian who knew about those tiger head shoes. Was this a trick?
Xie Wei continued, “Uncle said that a person who could fight a tiger was a hero, and so I gave you my shoe, so we both wouldn’t be afraid any more.”
Suddenly Shen Lang knew exactly who Xie Wei was. The missing piece fell into place. “Dingfei!”
He rushed over to Dingfei, despite how unwell and dizzy he was feeling, and grabbed his arms. “You’re the real Xue Dingfei! Then that other man…”
Then he turned away from Dingfei as reality hit him. “No wonder. No wonder that other man didn’t seem the same as Xue Dingfei when he was a boy.” He stared at his beloved cousin with betrayal and hurt. “But… you’ve been back in the capital for years! Why didn’t you tell me who you were earlier?”
Xue Dingfei couldn’t meet his eyes. “Your Majesty. I chose to reveal my identity to you now in the hope that you won’t let the Xue family take power, although I know how you fear the Yan family. The Xue family is a canker on our realm. We have to get rid of them.”
Shen Lang stared at his cousin, recalling that he was a Yan. “You are also part of the Xue family.” He was suddenly so dreadfully afraid. “You brought in a substitute and subdued the Xue family. Do you still hold a grudge for having to be my substitute when we were young?” He swallowed. “And… do you still hate me?”
“Your Majesty. It’s true, I have been plotting, but it’s not on account of my own grudge. It’s for the three hundred innocents who died, and for the people of Qian.” Dingfei looked up. “Like everyone else, you thought the Loyal 300 died because Lord Pingnan was a murderous psychopath. Back then, to force your mother to give you up, Lord Pingnan indeed killed some children. The remaining children, however, were held hostage to force Xue Yuan to retreat. Xue Yuan wanted to take all the credit for seizing the broken city, and he ignored Marquis Yan’s plan of attack. He risked the lives of the soldiers on the front line, and the lives of the people in the city. Predictably, Lord Pingnan responded by starting a killing spree in the city. Xue Yuan is responsible for half of the deaths back then.”
It made so much sense. Shen Lang believed Dingfei entirely. This was the only realistic explanation for why Xue Yuan had been so upset when his “son” had returned. As the decoy had hinted to Shen Lang, the boy Xue Dingfei had known the truth of what happened at the siege of the city. This also explained why the Empress Dowager could not stand mention of the Loyal 300. It was a reminder that her own brother was partly responsible for the deaths of those children, and that she’d helped cover it up.
Shen Lang had thought Yan Mu hated him for surviving when Xue Dingfei had not, and he had feared that Yan Mu would rebel. However, Yan Mu’s grudge against the Empress Dowager and Xue Yuan was explicable, if he’d believed that Xue Yuan’s mismanagement had killed his own nephew, and that the Empress Dowager had covered this up, which then led to the deaths of his beloved older sister and her unborn child as well.
“They actually hid this from me,” he cried, distraught. “They hid this from me all these years!”
Dingfei edged closer, and spoke in his usual dispassionate way, as if nothing had changed—and perhaps it hadn’t. “Since then, Xue Yuan’s ambitions have grown. He not only formed a clique for personal gain and sought to eliminate those who protested against him, but he deceived everyone and raised a private army. He embezzled funds meant for disaster victims, stole weapons, and risked human lives. He raided Marquis Yan’s manor on unfounded charges, not to mention the many other cases, where he monopolised power, acted arbitrarily and oppressed good people.”
Dingfei could have been speaking about a stranger, not his own father. Shen Lang felt sicker than ever, and somewhat faint. He could see where this was going.
“However, the Xue family is well-established and has an intricate network of relationships,” Dingfei continued. “I’m afraid that you will be unprotected, if we attack the border. The Xue family’s disloyalty has begun. A palace coup will occur, and no one will be able to stop Xue Yuan.”
Shen Lang was disgusted with himself. “To think that Xue Yuan is so ambitious! I really raised a beast!” Then he was racked by coughs, and he was forced to spit blood into his handkerchief.
Dingfei rushed to him and put his hand on Shen Lang’s back. “Your Majesty! Your health…”
Shen Lang could admit things to his cousin that he had not been able to admit to Xie Wei. He told Dingfei he was dying. His son was beset by peril on all sides, and he wasn’t even born yet.
Dingfei was as calm as always: still the boy who bravely offered himself up in Shen Lang’s stead. “Your Majesty. We’re not at the end of our rope yet. If you can trust me, I have a solution.”
Suddenly Shen Lang’s heart was filled with hope and relief. He sat and stared at his cousin. “Go on.”
Like all of the Junior Preceptor’s ideas, it was brave, bordering on insane, on a par with getting Zhang Zhe to infiltrate the Tongzhou rebels posing as “Dujun the Hermit.” Shen Lang still couldn’t believe that particular idea had worked. This time, Dingfei proposed to free the Yans with a “forged” Imperial edict and take out three birds with one stone.
“Rescuing Zhiyi will be relatively straightforward, I hope. However, Lord Pingnan will be more difficult. I have ideas, but I will have to appear to work with him to get close to him, Lang.” Dingfei’s eyes burned into him. “Don’t believe it! Recall that I wiped out the rebels in Tongzhou. Ultimately, my aim is to ensure that those who were responsible for the death of the Loyal 300 are brought to justice. I will exterminate Lord Pingnan, for what he did to me and those others.”
“And… your father?”
“I know better than anyone else in Qian that Xue Yuan will do anything for his own glory, even if he kills his own son and wife to achieve it.” Dingfei swiftly outlined his plans and explained how he’d get Yan soldiers into the city from the south, despite any ban. “In any case, with your permission, we will hide these Yan troops from Tongzhou under the palace to deal with the coup, and I’ll get my men to signal when they should respond—”
“It’s ironic that those passages will be used again,” said Shen Lang.
“Yes,” agreed Dingfei. “While I am gone, you must pretend to let your guard down with the Xue family, but please, recall it’s a pretence. I want you to live, your Majesty. Do not let my sacrifice as a child be in vain. I understand why you took Xue Shu as a concubine—she would have destroyed Jie—but I suspect she will attempt to assassinate you—”
“To what extent do you think Mother is part of this?” said Shen Lang painfully.
Dingfei frowned. “So, when Xue Shu argued that women shouldn’t be learning governance, and I used the Dowager Empress as a counterpoint, I was genuine. She is not like Xue Yuan, or even Xue Shu or Xue Ye. My assessment is that she would never want you, Zhiyi or Jie to be hurt or killed. Yet, I still would not trust her. Your mother and Xue Shu plotted to make Consort Qin to miscarry. Xue Yuan has held the Xue family reputation over your mother since the siege of the city, and it has twisted her actions ever since.”
“Do the Yans know who you are?” said Shen Lang.
Dingfei shook his head. “We have not spoken openly. However, Yan Mu hinted that he recognised me. He, too, was upset that I did not tell him that I had returned. I had to work out what Xue Yuan was doing. I had to be patient.”
“You do not call him ‘Father’,” said Shen Lang.
“No,” said Dingfei. “You are my cousin—Shen Zhiyi, Shen Jie and Yan Lin are my cousins too—and Yan Mu is my uncle. You are all the family I need.”
Shen Lang smiled faintly. “I still think you need a wife, Fei’er. Also, I can now say that, just as I suspected, the astrological reading about the bad fortune in marriage was nonsense. There was never such a reading!”
“You can see, however, why my situation is difficult, and I could not bring any woman into my life,” said Dingfei, pulling his eyes away.
“On that point, how is your Miss Ning’er?” said Shen Lang. “She doesn’t seem dismayed by all manner of things, including kidnap, rebels, war and palace plots. Are you really going to let her go off to Jiangnan?”
Dingfei coughed, refusing to look at him. “I do not know how she is.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, am I going to have to order this marriage by Imperial Edict, Fei’er?” Shen Lang frowned. “I’ll do it! I’ll do it when you get back from Xinzhou.”
“No, don’t do that!” Dingfei held up his hands. “Give me time.”
“Fine, but if you get back to the capital and it’s still not sorted out, I’m intervening,” said Shan Lang. “I hope you have told Miss Ning’er that you like her by now?”
Dingfei suddenly looked very like the boy Shen Lang had known, when he’d been caught out.
“Well, heavens, go tell her!” said Shen Lang. “No wonder she’s upset. How hard can it be? Hurry up! I want to be alive for your wedding.”
Dingfei ignored this encouragement. “Don’t let down your guard while I’m gone, Lang. I’ll recover Zhiyi and then I’ll destroy Lord Pingnan. Don’t believe people when they tell you I’m a traitor. If I live, I’ll come back to the capital. If I die, I’ll instruct Jian Shu, Dao Qin, Lyu Xian and the Yans on what needs to occur in the city…”
“Please don’t die,” said Shen Lang.
“I’ll try not to,” agreed Dingfei.
Shen Lang embraced him. “It’s good to have you back, cousin.”
Dingfei stiffened but his voice sounded choked. “Now I can protect you, Lang’er.”
“You’ve always protected me,” said Shen Lang. “I don’t feel worthy.”
Dingfei shook his head and pulled away. “I am the one who is not worthy. I serve the man who bears the name Shen and the people of Qian.”
“I’ve told you before, you are too serious,” said Shen Lang.
“Farewell, and good luck, your Majesty,” said Dingfei, getting down on his knees. “I serve you with my life.”
Then he rose and strode out.
Shen Lang sat in the dark for a long time, thinking. He hoped that he had not done the wrong thing by trusting his cousin—Dingfei had many reasons to hate him, and it looked increasingly possible that he was not only Dingfei but also Dujun—but he also believed that since “Xie Wei” had come back to the court, everything had been better. He had to hold onto that instinct. The boy with the tiger head shoes was back.