Rising Phoenix

The Hu Wei Army camp was very close to the Yu Quan Palace where Ning Yi was detained, and when Prince Chu heard the news, he rushed out under the starry night, bringing only ten guards along, to present himself to the Tian Sheng Emperor.

That night, the father and son had a longer conversation, and what exactly was said, no one could say. Perhaps it had been a conversation between a kind father and a dutiful son, with honesty on both sides, or perhaps it had been an unlimited war of deception, testing words and lies all around.

The night covered the cowhide tent and dampening the faint aroma of burning eaglewood; the pale smoke misted and swirled in the light breeze, and all was hidden in a solemn darkness.

When the day dawned and dew gathered on the green grass around the tent, Ning Yi respectfully exited the tent, his eyes slightly red under the morning light, but when he turned to look in the direction of the Imperial Palace his gaze was as cold as frost.

The tumbling winds of chaos were blowing through, but who would ride the wind to the sky?

Suddenly, as if sensing something, Ning Yi turned.

There among the dewed grass, lit by the pink glow of dawn, the disguised girl stood, hands clasped behind her back, sleeves fluttering in the wind, gazing at him from afar.

An almost smile on her face.

Ning Yi looked back.

On top of the little hill, accompanied by the bright sun and the mild wind, she stood, her dark hair dancing in the wind with her flapping clothes, and though she stood on high she was not overbearing, and surely if she stood below, she would not be timid. Forever calm and quiet, hiding beneath a calm surface surging waves.

A strong and constant woman.

The two pairs of eyes met, and at that moment both gazes held an expression that they usually hid away.

From that first utter imbalance, when life and death were completely in his hands, to today’s meeting, each hiding their plans behind their smiles.

He understood that she had seen through him, and she knew that her gaze had been detected.

A strange certainty came over Ning Yi — from this day forth, she would inevitably approach him, and she would become more and more intangible.

He suddenly felt the need to walk over and say something, but what he should say he did not know; regardless, he was certain that crossing the distance between them would take long enough that he would figure it out.

Just as he was lifting his foot, she suddenly turned her head.

On the other side of Feng Zhiwei emerged a faint, sky-blue robe and a jade statue of a man, looking in no particular direction, but standing closely by her side, lifting his chin to face into the dawning light.

The thin and glistening light fell on his veil and the curve of his chin below, and the sunlight was like the cheerful dance of water, jumping from a fountain onto his smooth, jade skin, and then falling to the green grass below; one could almost see a faint halo of light swaying in the air.

She looked away and smiled at that man; she said something, and that man still stood as if ignoring her, lifting his closed eyes to the sun, inhaling the sweet musk of wood and herbs. She bent down among the grass and plucked a sweet blade, carefully peeling away the leaves before breaking the shoot in half. She gave half to the young man and placed the other half in her mouth, her eyes smiling as she explained how to taste the flavor.

The young jade statue stared at the piece of grass for a long while before finally copying her and placing the grass sheath in his mouth.

The warm wind blowing through the hilltop grass and the dawning rays seemed tinged with a sweet fragrance as she faintly smiled, calm and peaceful, towards this man.

This was a side of her that he had never seen before.

She had always given him the impression of cunning and ruthlessness, of skill at scheming, and of a great desire to avoid his contact.

Suddenly he felt disturbed.

The rays of light seemed to lose their brightness, and the wind no longer seemed gentle and smooth — the colorful light broke on the blades of grass, and the heat became too stifling to bear.

Ning Yi lifted his arm and pointed towards Feng Zhiwei.

Feng Zhiwei turned back and watched as Prince Chu’s face inexplicably darkened. As his lips thinned and pressed together and an unkind expression crossed his face, she could only complain silently — Your Highness was just now so peaceful and content, how can you change so quickly in the blink of an eye, like the temperamental June skies.

He pointed at her and then pointed to the Imperial Palace before flicking his sleeves and leaving.

“Conduct yourself well.”

She bowed, smiling faintly, watching as he walked away.

“As Your Highness commands.”

After half the morning had passed, Yan Huaishi and his servants brought snacks for Feng Zhiwei, though mainly they were for Gu Nanyi. In passing, Feng Zhiwei arranged for Yan Huaishi to bump into some important officials as a first greeting of sorts.

Yan Huaishi brought news from Dijing, and there it came as no surprise that the Crown Prince’s struggle against the Emperor could only be described as using an egg to fight a rock.

“The Crown Prince has lost his reason.” Yan Huaishi shook his head, “Even though the Emperor has not interfered in many current matters, he has never lost control over political and military affairs. Did the Crown Prince really believe

Feng Zhiwei clasped her hands behind her back and looked into the horizon, narrowing her eyes as if she could see the bloody fire burning around the Imperial Palace, and after a long while, slowly said: “The largest difference between the Crown Prince and Prince Chu is that the latter has never underestimated the Tian Sheng Emperor.”

To judge the times and understand the circumstances at hand, and to seize the opportunity when it arose, these qualities demanded a great steadiness of will that ordinary men could scarcely imagine. Even Feng Zhiwei could not understand at first why Ning Yi used ten years to plot against a mediocre Crown Prince whom everyone considered easily overthrown.

Truly, though the Crown Prince could be easily defeated, it was exceedingly difficult to avoid arousing the Emperor’s suspicion.

If she guessed correctly, than the soldiers she had seen the night before the assassination were placed throughout the academy to ensure the assassin’s smooth passage into the inner halls, and to contain and hold the important scions, descendants of important and powerful officials.

The Qing Ming Academy was an essential part of the plot, and through this academy, the infamous, but talented, philanderer Prince Chu had already secretly collared the lifeblood of many ministers.

When had they started preparing for this plot? At the founding of the Empire? Or perhaps earlier?

When the importance of Qing Ming Academy was widely understood, Ning Yi immediately quit, “loyally” handing over control to the Crown Prince.

Thereafter, the talented wastrel Prince Chu lead a party of young masters throughout Dijing, clearly a playboy without political ambition, playing with the flowers of Dijing, and admiring every passing willow.

On those two days that the fateful characters had met, once in the brothel, once on the streets, the other young masters had clearly been following his lead.

Knowingly or unknowingly, the heirs and descendants of the noble families and ministers were slowly tied to Prince Chu, and over the course of many years, these ties had grown into unbreakable bonds of mutual interest. Whether it was a matter of private life, or affairs of the public academy, everything was firmly grasped in Ning Yi and Xin Ziyan’s hands.

Ning Yi’s plan was not simply to overthrow the Crown Prince, but to do so and gain the trust of the Emperor while securing his support.

He had never looked down on this Tian Sheng Emperor who had founded the dynasty with his own hands, even if he was now old and tired of politics, rarely making contributions.

The current Crown Prince, trapped in the Imperial Palace, would never know how vicious this capable assistant of his actually was, and was already driven to the edge of insanity by the indomitable Hu Wei Army surrounding him.