TCPM 21

 

Chapter 21

From the age of twelve to fourteen, it was a period of bitter, unremitting study; from fourteen to eighteen, it was a time spent measuring the world with her own two feet. Over six years, she had read tens of thousands of volumes of books and traveled tens of thousands of miles on the road. The realm of Wei Zhou had passed down through several centuries, presenting on the surface the grand and magnificent spectacle of a mighty empire, yet beneath that facade in the rural fields lay endless, desolate hardship. Xu Qingchu had witnessed all of this with her own eyes.

In the beginning, her eyes could not tolerate even a single grain of sand; she could bear neither injustice nor suffering, possessing a constitution seemingly forged of steel as she sought to crash against every impenetrable wall she encountered. Time and time again, over and over, she battered herself until her head was broken and bleeding, growing and learning through day-after-day suffering to master restraint and endurance.

She was fortunate, for behind her stood Xu Yaoyao. The Xu family's businesses were spread across every province, ensuring that wherever she went, her senior sisters looked out for her, and Ah Yu accompanied her by her side. The messes she stirred up were cleaned up by her senior sisters, and whenever she landed herself in prison, her senior sisters devised ways to fish her out.

During the New Year of her sixteenth year, all of them returned to Xu Yaoyao's side, gathering the dozen or so students in complete attendance. Several had not returned for many years, making the celebration exceptionally lively. On the second day of the new year, they arranged a small banquet among themselves consisting solely of the fellow apprentices, drinking until their faces glowed red. Being the youngest, Xu Qingchu could not hold much liquor, so she obediently poured wine for her senior sisters. When the wine jars emptied, Qingchu rose to go outside and fetch more from the attendants. Upon returning, she overheard her senior sisters talking through the closed door:

"Qingchu... how many places has she traveled to this year?"

"Over on my side, and Second Sister's side... Hezhou... Dengzhou... about five or six provinces, I'd say?"

"Wherever she goes, we are the ones worrying. She is, after all, still just a child..."

"Who told Teacher to spoil her, and our senior sisters to pamper her as well."

"You aren't feeling jealous, are you? Just look at her age, and look at your age! When you were little, Senior Sister worried over you just the same!"

"Hahaha..."

"How could I be! I'm only worried because her temperament is so stubborn... she's bound to suffer losses..."

"Who is to say otherwise? She's no longer a little child, her actions ought to be thought through more carefully. We only just managed to fish her out of the Dengzhou prison before the New Year; leaving aside the money spent, the mental exhaustion was even more troublesome..."

"She's still young and full of fiery passion. You can't say she did wrong, but this is simply no longer a world where reason alone prevails—sigh..."

"Who hasn't been through that phase? She's sixteen now; it's time she truly grew up..."

"Do you think... she can really pull this off?"

"Let's wait and see, wait and see..."

Standing outside the door, Xu Qingchu raised her hand to push it open, yet withdrew it amidst the sound of laughter. She retreated a few paces, turned around, and saw Xu Yaoyao smiling at her from the other end of the corridor. Startled, she lifted her hand to offer a formal greeting, but Xu Yaoyao waved her hand to signal silence and beckoned her closer. Silently, Xu Qingchu paid her respects and followed a few steps behind her.

When they had walked far enough away, Xu Yaoyao finally spoke: "Did you hear it all?"

"Yes," Xu Qingchu replied softly, "It was Qingchu's fault for causing my senior sisters to worry."

Xu Yaoyao smiled lightly: "They are observing you."

"I know." Xu Qingchu lowered her gaze to look at her own shoes.

"Raise your head."

Lifting her gaze at the command, Xu Qingchu met Xu Yaoyao's gentle countenance.

"Qingchu, I do not believe you did wrong. The hardships you must suffer and the walls you must run into are better encountered sooner than later. You need not feel ashamed of this."

"Yet... I have brought trouble upon my senior sisters..." Xu Yaoyao's words struck straight to the heart; Xu Qingchu had never felt she had done anything wrong, yet she felt an involuntary pang of guilt upon witnessing her senior sisters' concern and fatigue.

"They harbor expectations of you."

"I know."

"Yet what I wish to tell you is this: you must make them submit."

Astonished, Xu Qingchu noted that Xu Yaoyao had used an exceptionally stern word toward her students—not to persuade, not to integrate, nor to win trust, but to submit.

"I chose you, but they do not necessarily endorse you. Their current expectations stem from their trust in me, rather than in you as an individual. What you must do is become a leader whom they can truly trust and recognize."

"How should I go about this?"

"With sincerity, with shared benefit, with credibility, and through your own capability."

Xu Qingchu was a natural-born strategist and leader; she needed only a few pointers from Xu Yaoyao to know precisely what she must do.

From the age of sixteen to eighteen, she traversed the remaining provinces. The injuries she sustained, the hardships she endured, and the dangers she encountered ultimately tempered her heart until it was as hard as iron. When her senior sisters spoke of her henceforth, it was always with unreserved praise; her words were no longer dismissed as childish prattle, and she commanded genuine weight.

Then came her eighteenth year: Xu Qingchu passed the provincial imperial examinations as a juren, entered the capital, and encountered Wei Zai. At twenty, she entered the Princess Kangning's estate; at twenty-two, she became Wei Zai's chief strategist. At twenty-four, she fell in love with Wei Zai and made Wei Zai fall in love with her in return. That very same year, Xu Yaoyao passed away, leaving her to take over the Xu family's commercial empire, shoulder the expectations of tens of thousands of people across the entire clan, and inherit Xu Yaoyao's weighty ideals.

At twenty-six, she confessed her strategic designs concerning Wei Zai to her, while concealing Xu Yaoyao's ultimate objective. Wei Zai knew only that she had a mentor who raised her, remaining entirely unaware of the vast chess game operating behind the scenes. Wei Zai had surrendered the entirety of her trust into Xu Qingchu's hands; Xu Qingchu understood everything about Wei Zai, yet Wei Zai did not know the entirety of her.

Wei Zai was aware of her concealment, though she did not know precisely what was being hidden, and she accepted this concealment with open-hearted magnanimity. She had asked: "As long as you and I walk forever upon the exact same path, you will forever remain the backing I can lean upon, is that correct?"

Xu Qingchu had answered: "Correct."

Wei Zai had replied: "Then that is enough. I already understand."

Xu Yaoyao had instructed her to act with sincerity, shared benefit, and credibility, and she remembered those words firmly. As for Wei Zai, she laid her absolute sincerity simply and directly before her. Trading sincerity for sincerity, Xu Qingchu was utterly defeated before her unvarnished honesty. Yet she could not return an equivalent sincerity to Wei Zai, because she carried the lives of her senior sisters, the lives of thousands within the Xu clan, and countless others upon her shoulders. Their grand plotting could never be disclosed to an imperial monarch, and should Wei Zai ascend the throne one day, she ought not to know of these things either. Her shame and her love coexisted eternally.

At twenty-seven, with only two of the six rival princes remaining, she watched as Wei Zai stepped into the Second Prince's prison cell. When Wei Zai emerged, she draped a cloak over her shoulders and clasped her icy hands. Both of them were steeped in sin, yet before judgment arrived, they had no choice but to press forward with unyielding determination.

From the age of twenty-seven to thirty, Xu Qingchu served in the Censorate while Wei Zai kept herself obscured in the background. They met infrequently—perhaps once a month—gathering covertly in a secluded little residence where the core members of Wei Zai's faction held small meetings.

As the Emperor grew older day by day, his senility and suspiciousness deepened correspondingly. To his eyes, the Grand Prince and the Sixth Prince standing in the open shone with blinding visibility, and he spared virtually no effort in provoking the two into tearing each other to pieces. The imperial court plunged into utter chaos, while Xu Qingchu leveraged her identity among the clean-stream literati to lobby and pull strings—coopting the greedy with advantage and enticing the idealistic with visions of brightness—to systematically bring crucial government posts under her control step by step. This chess game was nearing its endgame.

In the twenty-first year of Shengyuan, the Grand Prince, driven past the limit of endurance, raised troops in rebellion. One detachment of soldiers marched to seal off the residences of the Sixth Prince and the Princess Kangning, while another forced open the palace gates and drove straight inside.

It was a winter night. Almost the exact moment the Grand Prince initiated his move, word reached Wei Zai. Having prepared long in advance, she had relocated several days prior to the small residence used for their regular gatherings; her personal guards remained stationed at her estate to provide cover, while all her trusted confidants had gathered here with her—naturally including Xu Qingchu.

Every single strategist and military commander was present. The majority were friends from her youth; over the years, they had gradually transitioned from naive innocence into the composed, steady adults of the present day. They sought survival, they sought vengeance, and they sought glory; a fire burned fiercely within their chests. They had waited for this day for a very long time.

Wei Zai swept her gaze across each and every one of them before reaching out to unseal a jar of liquor. It was an exceptional vintage; the moment the seal was broken, rich fragrance flooded the air.

She spoke: "This is likely the last time I shall drink with you all under the identity of Wei Zai. Should we force our way into the palace tonight and fail, then we shall reunite beneath the Yellow Springs and remain brothers and sisters in our next lives. Should we succeed, then I make this vow here and now: as long as you do not fail your country, do not fail the realm, and do not fail me, Wei Zai, I, Wei Zai, shall certainly never fail you either!"

Drawing her dagger, Wei Zai sliced open her own arm, and bright red blood immediately began to flow.

"Your Highness?!"

Stopping them from stepping forward, Wei Zai raised her arm to let the fresh blood pour directly into the wine jar. The醇酒 infused with her blood was ladled into each person's cup. Raising her own cup aloft, Wei Zai commanded in a ringing, stern voice: "This is my blood, and this is my oath. Wei Zai vows here today that I shall stand with you all forever as monarch and subjects, hand in hand of one heart, to forge a glorious era together! I ask of you: be my most loyal partners, and accompany me to welcome the morning dawn of tomorrow!"

"Forever as monarch and subjects, we dare not withhold our lives!"

Her companions responded in unison. Cups shattered across the floor in a chorus of resounding cracks, mimicking the synchronized rhythm of heartbeats.

Amidst the crowd, Xu Qingchu gazed tenderly upon Wei Zai, bowing her head in submission before her.

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