Wish You All the Best - Chapter 107

Chapter 107

The hall was deathly silent, save for the incense burner, a gilded, curled-eared beast. From its gaping maw, a white thread of smoke drifted upward, curling in an endless, languid ribbon.

"And if I refuse?" Pei You'an's voice rang out, heavy and staccato.

"I know you have a rebellious streak in your bones—no lord above, no father before you!"

Xiao Lie’s face tightened into a rigid mask.

"Ci'er is your son. If you force him away from me, I truly cannot stop you, nor can I hold you to account for it! But You'an, there is one thing you likely do not know yet. Do you know who the General of the Southern Campaign who presented the captives at today’s ceremony was?"

The Emperor sat even straighter, enunciating each word with precision. "He was Dong Chengang!"

Pei You'an’s gaze froze instantly.

"You are surprised?" The Emperor chuckled.

"You'an, you have been beyond the pass for these past few years; there is much you are unaware of. Let me tell you: not only is Dong Chengang under my command, but Xiao Yu—the one you were willing to lose your head for—is now in my hands as well!"

"I see no need to hide it from you. Shortly after you left for the frontier four years ago, he came to the capital himself to face me, claiming he no longer wished to implicate others. I respected his backbone, but the heavens cannot have two suns. By all rights, I should have killed him then—not out of personal spite, but for the sake of the nation. It was only out of consideration for you that I spared his life."

"I swear by the destiny of Great Wei: I did not kill him, and I let him flee overseas. As long as he and his descendants never set foot on Great Wei soil again for the rest of their lives, I will never trouble him again!"

"I have taken a step back. I demand that you take a step back for me. Let Ci'er acknowledge his ancestors, change his surname to Xiao, and become the Crown Prince of Great Wei."

"The day he is named Imperial Grandson shall be the day Xiao Yu is truly free. Do you agree?"

"If you do not agree, you may take your wife and son and leave the palace this instant. I will simply select another heir from the imperial clan."

"And I shall kill Xiao Yu to end the threat once and for all!"

The Emperor's voice, heavy and ice-cold, echoed in the four corners of the hall.

Pei You'an’s fingers slowly curled into fists, his knuckles grinding together with a sharp, cracking sound.

"This world is my world. To whomsoever I grant it, it shall belong! Furthermore, I am merely passing this world to my own grandson—it is only right and natural!"

Bloodshot veins crept into Pei You'an’s eyes. Gritting his teeth, he took a step toward the Emperor.

Xiao Lie remained unmoved, sneering, "Do you intend to commit regicide?"

He drew a Longquan sword from his desk and slid it across the surface. "If you lack the courage to kill me, then kneel! Beg for mercy and thank me for my grace!"

Pei You'an gripped the hilt with one hand and the blade with the other, his figure turning to stone.

For a long moment, the white steel blade arched into a rainbow curve between his hands.

Suddenly, accompanied by a harsh, abrupt, and ear-piercing clang, the blade snapped violently, breaking clean in two.

Blood poured down like a fountain, dripping continuously from Pei You'an’s palm, splashing onto the floor beneath his feet and staining the ground crimson.

"When I left Suye City, the Hu people were already restless; I must return within days. I have no mercy to beg, and no gratitude to offer!"

"To the common people, you are an enlightened monarch. But in this life, my greatest regret is that your blood flows through my veins!"

He loosened his grip, and with a long, lingering clang, the hilt and the broken blade tumbled to the floor together.

Pei You'an turned and walked away.

Xiao Lie’s gaze slowly lifted from the pool of blood on the floor to Pei You'an’s retreating back.

His hands began to tremble, his face turning an ashen blue, until suddenly, he lunged to his feet.

"Stop right there! You unfilial, rebellious son!"

With a thunderous crash, the heavy pine-stone desk in front of Xiao Lie was shoved aside, and all the objects on top went rolling and clattering across the floor.

"I still remember the day you turned sixteen, when I pulled you from a pile of corpses—do you know how overjoyed and grateful I was? Forget compensation; I would have gladly traded my own life for yours! Yet, time and again, you have let me down! It is not that I have forced you to this point; it is you who have forced my hand! You refuse to acknowledge me as your father—fine! But now that I wish to pass this empire to my grandson, you dare to defy me? Fine, fine! Go then..."

When Jiafu arrived outside the hall, she heard the sound of furniture being overturned and the roar of the Emperor’s rage. The area outside was empty; the servants had long been cleared away by Li Yuangui. He stood alone, pacing in anxiety, and upon seeing Jiafu, he hurried to meet her.

Jiafu’s heart leaped into her throat. Without a second thought, she pushed open the heavy doors and rushed inside, only to be frozen by the sight before her.

Pei You'an stood to one side in the center of the hall, deathly pale and silent, a cold smile on his face. Blood dripped continuously from his left palm.

The Emperor stood behind the overturned desk, eyes wide with fury, his nostrils flaring as he struggled to breathe, his complexion a sickly, bruised purple. The broken, blood-stained sword lay at his feet, and the rest of his writing implements, inkstones, and imperial seals were scattered in a chaotic mess across the floor.

"Big Cousin!"

Jiafu let out a startled cry and flew to Pei You'an’s side. She snatched up his bleeding hand, seeing a wound that cut deep enough to reveal the bone. Blood was still surging out, so she immediately tore a strip from her skirt and wrapped his palm tightly to stanch the flow.

"I am fine, do not be afraid. You should go out first..."

Pei You'an seemed to finally snap back to reality. He turned and, with his uninjured hand, gently patted Jiafu’s shoulder as he spoke softly.

Jiafu said nothing; she pushed him aside and knelt on the floor.

"Your Majesty! My husband! Only after becoming a mother have I understood a mother’s heart. Did my aunt choose her path with such unwavering resolve only to witness a scene like this? If her spirit still lingers, how could she find peace? I beg Your Majesty, I beg my husband—no matter how great the resentment, please think twice before you act, lest the spilled water becomes impossible to gather, leading to regrets that can never be undone!"

She bowed her head heavily to the Emperor, then turned toward Pei You'an, but before she could finish the kowtow, Pei You'an lunged forward to pull her up.

"Fu'er!"

Pei You'an’s eyes were rimmed with red as he helped her to her feet.

Jiafu pushed him away again, walked to the Emperor who stood frozen, and knelt once more.

"Your Majesty, he is quite strict with Ci'er in daily life. Ci'er is but three years old, yet when he makes a mistake, his father scolds him severely, leaving the boy restrained and unable to draw near him. But in his heart, he loves the child deeply; it is only that Ci'er is too young to understand his father’s bitter devotion. I imagine the hearts of all fathers in this world are much the same. Your Majesty loves him as your own, and your desire to acknowledge his lineage is a great blessing for which we should be weeping with gratitude. But from this day forward, even though they share the same blood, they can no longer call one another father and son, and the natural bond of family is severed. This is a pain that cuts to the bone—one that can hardly be understood by those who have not personally experienced the separation of flesh and blood, or the inability to acknowledge one another in the light of day. He acted in haste and could not accept it immediately, which is why he has offended Your Majesty’s dignity."

"This subject requests that Your Majesty reconsider. Even if your imperial will remains unchanged, I beg that you allow him more time. There are billions of people in this world; that a father and son should be born as such is a grace granted by the heavens. Man is not grass or wood; how could a father-son bond, thicker than water, be severed with a single word?"

When she finished, tears streamed down her face. She bowed to the Emperor one more time, her forehead touching the ground, and remained there for a long while.

The hall fell into silence again.

Pei You'an stared intently at Jiafu’s back as she knelt.

The Emperor’s silhouette was like a rock pillar. His ragged breathing slowly subsided, and the alarming, bruised color on his face gradually faded to a dull, ash-gray. He seemed to have lost all his strength, and he slowly sank back onto the throne.

Pei You'an walked over, helped Jiafu up from the floor, and led her out of the hall.

...

Before the echoes of the Emperor's fiftieth birthday celebration had even faded, an urgent eight-hundred-mile report arrived at the imperial desk just a few days later.

Spies had learned that the Hu people had gathered thirty cavalry tribes—three hundred thousand strong—at the Royal Court. They had pledged their blood in a solemn oath and were suspected of mobilizing to invade the south within days.

If the news were true, this would be the first great confrontation between Great Wei and the northern Hu tribes since the massive war thirty years ago.

For the past few days, the ministers had been obsessed with the rumors surrounding the child at the Meridian Gate, trying every way to ferret out the truth from the palace. Yet, not a single word had leaked. As they waited for the Emperor, silence had reigned. Just as the ministers were feeling perplexed, the war report arrived. Their attention was instantly diverted; the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue were urgently summoned for a meeting before the Emperor to coordinate the mobilization of troops and the procurement of supplies in preparation for the great battle.

The atmosphere throughout the court turned instantly tense.

Pei You'an had visited the Banana Garden that day, and the father and son had met. After leaving the palace, Jiafu continued to live in the Banana Garden in the West Garden with Ci'er.

She already knew he was to return to the frontier to lead the troops into battle the next day, and her heart was heavy.

Although the Emperor had not taken further action in the last few days, he did not allow them to leave the palace, and after that day, she had not seen Pei You'an again—likely because he was no longer permitted entry.

The night grew late, and Ci'er was asleep. Jiafu lay beside her son’s small body, but how could she find rest? Just as she was tossing and turning, she heard footsteps in the courtyard.

She knew these footsteps better than anything else.

Jiafu’s heart began to race. She threw a robe over her shoulders and climbed out of bed. Before she could even light a lamp, she slipped into her shoes and flew out of the inner chamber to the outer room. She opened the door and saw a figure standing in the shadows.

"Big Cousin!"

Jiafu called out in a low, joyful, and delicate cry, and threw herself into his arms.

Pei You'an held her, lowering his head to kiss her, pinning her against the door frame. Suddenly, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to a daybed by the folding screen, laying her down as he pressed his weight upon her once more.

He was impatient, desperate, and immensely forceful—even causing her a little pain—much like an inexperienced, clumsy boy.

In the hushed stillness of the night, Jiafu’s low, soft gasps echoed in the darkness. As if afraid to wake her son in the inner room, she swallowed her voice, which morphed into a melody of infinite, lingering tenderness.

Finally, Pei You'an let out a long, heavy breath. He held Jiafu tightly, squeezing into the slightly narrow daybed with her, and fell into a deep sleep.

This spring night finally became filled with an inner sense of peace.

Jiafu closed her eyes in his arms and slowly drifted off to sleep as well.

In the latter half of the night, she awoke and found herself lying on the bed in the inner chamber, her son’s small figure sleeping soundly beside her.

She sat up, climbed out of bed, and walked out. Through the half-open door, she saw Pei You'an sitting on the stone steps outside, the moonlight casting a moon-white silhouette upon his back.

Jiafu walked over and sat beside him. She picked up his bandaged, injured hand and kissed it gently.

Pei You'an pulled her into his lap, stripping off his outer robe to drape it over her. Their two figures in the moonlight merged into one.

"Fu'er, I saw General Dong today. He told me that when Yu'er left without a word, he left only a letter behind. He said that since everything started because of him, it should end with him. He asked General Dong and his brothers to stop involving themselves with him, telling them they could make their homes anywhere in the world, or serve the court, but they should no longer live such lives, licking blades for a living. By the time General Dong tracked him to the capital, it was already too late..."

He paused.

"I thought I had calculated everything, leaving no stone unturned. I never expected that you would disregard everything to chase me to the frontier, nor did I expect that Yu'er would return to the capital on his own..."

"He must be around twenty by now... that foolish child..."

He sighed softly.

In Jiafu’s mind, the image of the day she had saved that young boy on the shore of her family’s pier in Quanzhou so many years ago flickered into view.

That boy had possessed a pair of bright eyes; even when mired in mud and on the verge of death, the clear light in his gaze could not be extinguished.

"Big Cousin, even if you had arranged a lifetime of luxury for me, if I hadn't followed you, I would never have found peace. Xiao Yu must be the same. If he had just left then, he would have lived his whole life in restlessness. What he seeks, I believe, is simply peace of mind."

"You leave tomorrow. You must take care of yourself. Do not worry about me; I will stay here and take good care of our Ci'er."

Pei You'an bowed his head, his lips grazing the scar on her neck from that day. With infinite tenderness, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her closer inch by inch.

"Fu'er, I do not know what I did in my past life to earn the fortune of having you by my side in this one..."

Jiafu gazed at the man’s face in the moonlight, a smile slowly forming on her lips.

"Big Cousin, you saved me in our past life. I remember it clearly in this one, so even if you have forgotten me, I have decided to cling to you for the rest of my days."

Pei You'an was slightly startled, then assumed she was joking. Despite the heaviness in his heart, he laughed and held her even tighter.

"Big Cousin, let us go inside. After you left the palace that day, Ci'er missed you. He even wrote a page of calligraphy this morning, saying he wanted to show it to you."

Pei You'an and Jiafu went inside, lit the lamp, and looked at the characters their son had written under the light. He set them down and walked gently to the bedside. Watching the little person sleeping soundly on the bed, he reached out and softly stroked his small cheek.

The next morning, when Ci'er learned that his father had to return to Suye City alone to fight the "bad people," and that he and his mother were to remain behind—unable to be with his father as they were before—he was heartbroken. Yet, remembering his father’s teaching that a man should not cry easily, his eyes welled with tears. Rubbing his reddened eyes, he waved goodbye to his father.

Pei You'an pulled his wife and son into his arms, held them in a tight embrace, then let go and turned to leave.

...

Before departing, Pei You'an left a memorial for Xiao Lie.

The document sat in the corner of the imperial desk. The Emperor did not unfold it until the third morning. Having stayed up all night finalizing the war budget requested by the Ministry of Revenue, the Emperor tossed aside the long, dozens-of-pages-thick report, set down his pen, and rubbed his temples. His gaze fell upon the memorial in the corner. He stared at it for a long time, then finally reached out, took it, and unfolded it.

There were a few lines of spirited, cursive script, written as a Buddhist chant:

"Neither sobbing nor laughing, I pour out my heart to you.

The father-son bond is real, though unknown,

Raising my head, I bear three pounds of iron upon my nape."

Xiao Lie stared at it motionlessly for a long time before closing the document and shutting his eyes.

"Li Yuangui, go and bring Ci'er here."

...

In the few short days since arriving in the capital, so many events had occurred in succession—every one of them catching Jiafu off guard. Pei You'an had rushed in, and due to the war, had rushed back to the frontier. She could not accompany him, and with their separation, she did not know when they would see each other again.

Jiafu was anxious and miserable, but she did not show it in front of Ci'er. When he asked why they were not returning with his father, she only explained that because of the war on the border, his father was worried that they would be in danger in Suye City, so he wanted them to stay in the palace for now. When his father finished the war, he would come to get them.

Ci'er nodded obediently at the time, but perhaps he sensed the strange atmosphere of his parents' parting. Since Pei You'an left, he had not been as lively or curious about his surroundings as he was when they first arrived. Ci'er became quiet, sticking close to Jiafu, and even when he slept at night, he would clutch her hand as if afraid that if he woke up, she would be gone.

Early one morning, after Ci'er woke up, dressed, and ate, he sat at the table and picked up the literacy book Pei You'an had compiled for him, beginning his lessons just as he had in the Jiedushi’s manor in Suye City. Jiafu sat beside him, keeping him company as he practiced, when she saw Cui Yinshui enter, saying that the "Royal Grandfather" had called for Ci'er.

For the past few days, due to the sudden war at the northern frontier, the Emperor had been exceptionally busy, and Ci'er had not seen him in days. Upon hearing this, he turned to look at Jiafu.

Cui Yinshui hurried to add, "His Majesty spent the whole night reviewing the Ministry of Revenue’s budget and couldn't sleep this morning. He wants the young master to go over and play a game of chess with him, and he will send him back afterward."

Jiafu silently helped her son change his clothes, watching as he embraced his chessboard and let Cui Yinshui lead him away. After a moment’s thought, she chased after them and said, "Ci'er, whatever the Royal Grandfather asks you, tell him what is truly in your heart, do you understand?"

Ci'er blinked and nodded.

Jiafu smiled, kissed her son, and let Cui Yinshui take him away.

The Emperor sat Ci'er on the dais and sat opposite him. He watched as Ci'er set out the pieces and asked, "Have you missed your Royal Grandfather these past few days, Ci'er?"

Ci'er nodded.

The Emperor reached out, stroked his small head with affection, and a look of delight appeared in his eyes. "What have you been doing these past few days, Ci'er?"

"Royal Grandfather, I practiced archery yesterday, and I was reading this morning."

The Emperor smiled and nodded. "Very good. If you are tired, rest. You are still young; when you are older, Royal Grandfather will find a good teacher for you."

Ci'er shook his head. "Father has gone to fight the bad people. When Father comes back, he can teach me."

The Emperor was slightly startled. He thought for a moment and then looked around. "Ci'er, do you like it here at Royal Grandfather’s place?"

"I do," Ci'er nodded.

"The day Royal Grandfather took you up to the Meridian Gate tower—did you like that?"

"I did," Ci'er nodded again.

"If Royal Grandfather asked you to live here forever and let you go up on the tower again, on one condition: in front of others, you cannot call your father 'Father,' and you cannot call your mother 'Mother'—would you be willing?"

Ci'er was setting out the chess pieces, but he stopped and raised his head, looking puzzled. "Why can't I call them Father and Mother?"

"They will still be your Father and Mother; you just cannot call them that in front of others."

Ci'er shook his head. "No. I want to call them Father and Mother! Where Father and Mother are, there I will be."

The Emperor remained silent for a moment before asking, "Ci'er, those words just now—did your father and mother teach you to say them?"

Ci'er shook his head again. "I thought of them myself. My mother said that if you asked me something, I should tell you exactly how I feel."

"Royal Grandfather, are you unhappy?" he asked, looking at his grandfather with a hint of worry.

The Emperor gave a slight smile. "Royal Grandfather is happy."

Ci'er grasped a chess piece, tilted his head slightly, and stared at the Emperor across the board.

The Emperor arched his two sword-like brows, which bore a striking resemblance to Pei You'an’s. "Why are you looking at Royal Grandfather like that, Ci'er?"

"Royal Grandfather, are you a bad person?" Ci'er asked in a small voice.

The Emperor was startled. He thought for a moment and then laughed. "Why do you ask that, Ci'er?"

"My father is a good person. I overheard my parents talking that day, and Father doesn't seem to like Royal Grandfather..."

The Emperor looked at the pair of pure, clear eyes gazing back at him and burst into loud laughter, reaching across the small table to pull his grandson into his arms.

"Tell me, Ci'er—do you like Royal Grandfather?"

"I like you, Royal Grandfather, but Father doesn't..."

The Emperor looked at the child in his arms, who wore a troubled expression, and held him closer. He lost himself in thought for a moment. "In this life, I have wronged many people; I am not a good man. But I will strive to be a good Emperor. Ci'er, keep liking Royal Grandfather, will you?"

"I will!" Ci'er nodded, his expression solemn.

The Emperor smiled and reached out to pat his small head.