Chapter 6

I sat on the phoenix throne, holding my sleeping best friend in my arms. Her breathing was steady, her little face rosy, and she slept peacefully.

The hall doors swung wide.

Xiao Changge led the procession, clad in his dragon robe and wearing a solemn expression. In the middle of the hall, he did something unexpected: he knelt.

“Mother Empress, your son is guilty.”

His voice rang out, full of remorse.

“Consort Wei lost her humanity and dared to harm the imperial heir. I trusted the wrong person, frightening you and endangering the princess. I deserve to die ten thousand times over.”

He struck his forehead against the golden tiles with a crisp sound.

A real bow. A deep, sincere-looking kowtow.

The officials prostrated themselves as one.

The Emperor continued, his voice choked with emotion. “I have stripped Consort Wei of every title and ordered her body dismembered, her bones ground to dust. The little princess will be posthumously named Grand Princess Yongning and granted the stipend of a prince. As for the case—Consort Wei took her own life out of fear of punishment. The evidence is clear. This matter ends here.”

He raised his head, his eyes glistening as he looked at the child in my arms. “Mother Empress, rest assured. The child will be raised at your side. Anyone who so much as touches a hair on her head will have their entire clan executed.”

A flawless performance. Not a single tear out of place.

The Empress beside him was already sobbing. “His Majesty is wise… His Majesty is wise…”

The officials kowtowed one after another. “His Majesty is filial! Long live the sage virtue of the Son of Heaven!”

The hall resounded with weeping and endless praise.

Only I said nothing.

My silence hung over the noisy crowd like a blade.

The Emperor noticed. His gaze settled on me, probing. “Mother Empress… Is there still something you’re dissatisfied with? Your son will make amends for everything.”

At last, I spoke.

“I only want to ask one small question.”

My tone was calm.

“Your Majesty is learned and well-read. Do you know which sect the art known as ‘Guiding the Phoenix Back to the Abyss’ comes from?”

The four words fell into the hall.

Guiding the Phoenix Back to the Abyss.

No one understood what I meant. The officials exchanged confused looks, and the Empress lifted her head in bewilderment.

But Xiao Changge’s pupils contracted.

Only for an instant. So brief and swift, like a ripple when a needle pierces the surface of water. If I hadn’t kept my eyes fixed on his, I would have missed it.

Then he smiled, recovering so quickly it was almost admirable.

“What are you talking about, Mother Empress? Your son is ignorant and has never heard of such a thing.” He stood and brushed dust from his knees, his tone gentle. “You’ve been working hard for days. Your spirits must be poor. I’ll have the Imperial Medical Bureau send you some calming medicine. Please rest well.”

He turned around.

His steps were unhurried.

And yet—half a beat faster than when he had arrived.

The hem of his dragon robe swung in a wider arc than before.

I noticed every detail.

The officials filed out. The hall doors slowly closed. The Empress glanced at me one last time, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she followed the others.

Silence returned to the hall.

I lowered my eyes to my best friend’s pale little face.

“He’s frightened,” I murmured, the corner of my mouth curling.

Good. Let him stay frightened a little longer.

I couldn’t deal with him yet. The court, the military, his shadowy network—he had spent years building his foundations, and they were far from shallow. Acting in haste would only alert the snake.

More importantly—

My fingers brushed my best friend’s eyelashes. Her soul was still asleep.

Until she was completely safe, I would not overturn this chessboard.

But when the day came that she opened her eyes—

Xiao Changge.

I’ll make you repay her a hundredfold for everything you owe her.

Three days.

I had waited for three days.

At last, the little bundle in my arms was no longer cold all over. I had stripped away and burned every last remnant of the dark sorcery tangled in her meridians. She curled against my chest, clutching my robe in her tiny hand as she slept soundly.

She was out of danger.

I lowered my eyes to her, and for a moment my gaze softened.

Then it turned cold again.

It was time to act.

Xiao Changge had not been idle during those three days. He had secretly moved three thousand capital guards into the palace, contacted powerful officials in the Six Ministries, and drafted an edict to depose the Empress Dowager. The charge: “deranged in mind and guilty of incestuous misconduct.” He had even ordered the Imperial Medical Bureau to prepare a sedative, planning to knock me unconscious during the attack on Cining Palace and tell the world my old illness had returned—that I would be confined until death.

He thought he had hidden it well.

Laughable.

Every shadow in this palace was my eyes and ears. I knew every detail: which secret passage the troop orders had used, what benefits he had promised which ministers, and which secret drawer in his desk held the edict.

You want to force a palace coup?

I’ll move faster.

At the Mao hour, the morning court convened in the Golden Throne Hall.

Civil and military officials stood in rows on both sides. The Emperor sat upright on the dragon throne.

Everything seemed normal.