WORK IN MOTHERFUCKING PROGRESS RIGHT HERE
Dongjing
The Imperial Palace
Dragon Pavilion
February 17th
Even in daylight, the Chancellery was filled with light. Every lamp was lit, candles and crystal mirrors placed all around, the decorations of gold and gems glinting in the extravagant radiance. Some staffers and lower-level bureaucrats had taken to wearing the darkened glasses of the type that judges sometimes wore, not to hide their expressions but simply so they could see past the glare.
A new type of radiance was entering the Chancellery now.
Xi Shi sinks fish
Wang Zhaojun entice birds falling
Diaochan eclipses the moon
Yang Guifei shames flowers
Zhen Lifen dulls pearls
The Precious Consort had arrived in a palanquin, unannounced and unexpected, in the middle of the afternoon. It had been unseasonably warm today, in Dongjing, and the forbidden city and the city outside were bustling with people enjoying the spring warmth. She ascended the Longting Pavilion's outer steps without the aid of the palanquin, heading to the highest level and brushing off the few bureaucrats who tried to stop her.
An Bing was breathing hard when he entered Zian's office.
"Sir..."
Zian turned towards him, perceiving alarm in his blurry, dim, distant face. "What is it, Bing?"
"Sir, Zhen Lifen is coming to see you."
"The Precious Consort is coming to see me? When?"
A lovely voice that had always eerily reminded him of the Empress Yin's came from the door at the other end of the office. "Now suits me, Chancellor Chen. Or shall I come back later?"
An Bing turned, bowing, and Zian rose to bow as well. "We are honored to have you here, my lady," the Chancellor said graciously. "Is there any way this one can be of assistance?"
"I would like to talk to you, Chancellor," Lifen said simply, stepping through the doorway. She shot a glance at An Bing. "Perhaps Censor An could leave us?"
"Of course." Zian nodded at Bing, who bowed again and exited, closing the door behind him. The Precious Consort came over to the Chancellor's desk, sitting down in a chair on the opposite side.
"Please, Chancellor, sit." She smiled graciously, and Zian, despite his knowledge of the woman sitting across from him, felt a little glow that he had been able to make this beautiful creature smile.
"What would you care to talk about with your humble servant, my lady?", he said evenly.
"I feel I have been remiss in my duties to learn more about the governance of the realm. I have been honored with the favor of the Son of Heaven for three years, now, and even on occasion supported certain members of the court in certain goals, but I know little about how this empire is truly ruled."
"By the will of the Son of Heaven," Zian intoned.
"Of course," Lifen said delicately, and paused. "May we speak very frankly here, Chancellor?"
"I am not in a habit of airing my private conversations to the wide world," the Chancellor said cautiously.
"Good," she said briskly. "I think you want much the same thing as me, actually. We can both see the imperial court is more interested in their personal lives than with running the empire. My beloved, wise though he is, is no longer young, and the affairs of state tire him more easily than they did in his youth. Chancellor Chen, I want a man who can help me to try and... and..." she sighed in frustration.
"Change course?"
"Yes. Because the Son of Heaven can only do so much."
Zian smiled. "Well, my lady, where would like to begin?"
Daijizhuang
Huaiyang County
Zhoukou Prefecture
February 18th
Lion met with Fox for est. 2 hrs. yesterday. Do not know what was discussed. Seemed in good mood after, as did Fox. Possible protection for Weasel being discussed? The Admiral will be disappointed if so. Concern seems warranted, at the least. Will send any further information I find.
-Bing
"So glad to see you again, Chun," the Empress said with a smile. The old man bowed again.
"Radiant empress, your humble servant is honored that you have seen fit to call upon him."
Yin leaned back in her seat a little, regarding Liang Chun over a steaming cup of tea. In his youth, he had been one of the bright stars of the imperial court- a
jinshi graduate who had risen to become a general, carrying out several successful campaigns in Fusang against local tribes, then an admiral fighting Japanese and Nusantaran pirates everywhere from the South China Sea to Penglai, then returning to court to write prolifically in a wide variety of subjects. He still held an honorary post as commander of around 6,000 men garrisoning Taikang County, to the north of here.
He had also, before the arrival of the Precious Consort, the exile of the Empress, and his own retirement, been one of the closest allies of the Empress Yin.
"What can I do for you, illustrious lady?"
"Do you still have any contacts in the capital, Chun?"
"A few men and women I write with and sometimes see, and the merchant company that supplies my household with fresh fruit. Why?"
"I want a certain type of man. A man with a very particular skillset." She sipped her tea.
Chun gave her a slightly worried look. "I may be able to put you in touch with one I know, I think."
Dongjing
Tieta Lake Park
The Iron Pagoda
February 21st
Early spring drew people to Kaifeng's parks in droves. Commoners, from the lowliest beggars and street orphans, to middle-class merchants, and even dukes and lords and high-ranking courtiers and magistrates came out to enjoy the breath of warmth that now filled the air.
Among them was the Precious Consort. Lifen's palanquin was meandering past the Iron Pagoda now, heading back towards the palace after a pleasant few hours with some of her ladies, even having talked to some common citizens of the realm. It had been a pleasant excursion, and now she was (very unusually) almost moved to write a poem about the way the afternoon sun glanced off of the Iron Pagoda's bricks.
Before she could decide whether or not she would, when she returned to the palace, a great force picked her up and hurled her from her palanquin, skidding across rough ground and tearing her silk, throwing her hair and jewelry into disarray. There was an enormous noise and she was suddenly blinded by a instantly-descending fog, through which now there was only the dark pillar of the pagoda visible. Something hit her ankle and she felt a horrid burning sting, staggering away from the smoke and the screams she could now hear filtering in through her ears. Her right ear hurt, too- she raised a hand and looked at it, appalled, when it came away bloody.
Some time later, the Imperial Guards who had rushed to the scene found the Precious Consort, scratched, her clothes torn and hair disheveled, bleeding from her ear and a cut on her ankle where a piece of shrapnel had wounded her, sitting with her back against the Iron Pagoda.
She was whisked back to the palace as all of Tieta Lake Park was shut down, and the Emperor was informed.
No one could say what would happen next, but soon everyone in Dongjing knew that the full wrath of the Son of Heaven had been incurred.
The Imperial Palace
Hall of Infinite Splendor
The Datong Emperor sat on the Dragon Throne as if he had been carved out of granite, his eyes narrowed in anger. Emperors did not have to hide the fury that they felt, and he certainly was making no effort to disguise his.
"We have called this audience," he said, his voice booming through the vast throne room, "to review exactly how an assassin's bomb came to nearly take the life of our beloved consort Zhen Lifen. Chief Censor Zhang, you will explain why the Censorate so utterly failed to detect this plot, I am sure."
Zhang Tai was like a mirror-smooth lake, without any trace of emotion on his narrow face as he sank to his knees and pressed his forehead to the ground. "Radiant lord, truly, your humble servant has failed you. I have no excuse for this unspeakable failing on my part and the Censorate's."
The emperor gritted his teeth. "Can no one here explain how a bomb was planted not fifty feet from her palanquin?"
A tall, slightly plump eunuch stepped forward from the rows of courtiers filling the room, also kowtowing.
"Radiant lord, this one may be able to shed some light on what has happened here."
The emperor's eyes flicked over to him, dark, hard, questioning. "Do inform us, Censor An," he snapped.
"August lord, glorious emperor- this one, in his lack of foresight, could not have imagined such a thing would occur when he discovered it. But... a certain man with cut sleeves," he said carefully, "a man from Nusantara... Radiance, this one, I discovered, was an agent of the southrons, sent to infiltrate Dongjing."
"What is the significance of this?", the Emperor said, sitting up a little. Across the aisle, nearer to the throne, Zhen Liu was slowly turning white.
"Radiant lord, before he was mysteriously killed, the Censorate received intelligence that he may have consorted with Vice-Chancellor Zhen," An Bing said gravely.
The room went utterly silent as Datong slowly turned a gaze of tiger-like intensity on Liu.
"Is this true, Vice-Chancellor?", he said softly.
The Vice-Chancellor only sank to his knees and pressed his forehead to the ground. Zian took a deep breath and called softly from where he stood by the throne.
"Guards, hold Vice-Chancellor Zhen at the Emperor's pleasure," he said gravely.
There was a long pause as the Vice-Chancellor was led from the room, and then the emperor spoke again.
"Vice-Chancellor Zhen will be stripped of his offices and returned to the Zhen family estate in Hunan. All his other properties are to be forfeit to the crown. Grand Admiral Shen, you will send word to Guangzhou and Manila to mobilize the South Sea Fleet. Chancellor, you will instruct the Hanoi Viceroy to order the Viet to mobilize their fleet on the Mekong Delta. We must assume that this attack was an attempt to destabilize the court before an attack and prepare for the worst."
As people flowed out of the imperial throne room, among them were some of the Datong Emperor's dozens of children- specifically, the Imperial Triplets, as they were called. Prince Song, Prince Yinjin, and Princess Meilin were among the Emperor's younger children, at just nineteen.
"He wasn't even there," Meilin whispered to her brothers as they hurried out of the throne room.
"He must've been, Father wouldn't let him skip something like this," Song objected.
"She's right," his brother Yinjin said, shaking his head. "I would've told you before, but I had to hurry here. My man in Lantai said he was out working on his pagoda by the Northern Gates."
"So he just missed us getting ready for war with the southrons?", Song said, making a face. "Right hand to the gods, I never thought Father would give him this much free rein."
"Gang will do whatever he wants to do," Meilin said in a tone of disgust. "And he will continue to when he is Emperor."
"Do you think we should, then?", Yinjin said softly, stopping in the hallway to look between both of them.
"Chancellor Chen will be dead in five years or so," Song said heavily. "Gang will be on the throne within ten and responsible for most of the government whenever Chen dies, since I doubt Li Chao or Father will be able to step up to the plate."
Meilin looked down. "So do we plot against our own brother, or do what we know is right for the empire?"
Yinjin took a deep breath.
"At the least, perhaps we should ensure Gang has a council of regents to... free him to his other inclinations."
Song let out a breath. "Yes. That's better... better than the other way."
POST SUMMARY: -Prince Song, Princess Meilin, and Prince Yinjin are plotting against their older brother Crown Prince Gang.
-Zhen Liu has been disgraced in the light of revelations provided by An Bing, and the Precious Consort has been forced to abandon him to exile in Hunan.
-The Chancellor and the Precious Consort have met in the Dragon Pavilion to talk and have found more in common than might be expected.
-The Emperor has ordered the Censorate to search extensively for Nusantaran spies in light of the nameless man in the Censorate being discovered to have compromised the Precious Consort's cousin, and sent word to mobilize the Luzon and Guangdong Fleets, as well as the Vietnamese fleet on the Mekong Delta.
-Empress Yin may be slightly suspicious of the Chancellor and is continuing her machinations against Zhen Lifen.
-The Precious Consort has narrowly evaded a bomb attack travelling through Dongjing by unknown assailants.