Luckily, he was able to recognize Shen Qiao and Dou Yan. He restrained himself from
calling out, before returning to a normal tone of voice as he addressed them:
"Shen-daozhang? Dou-erniang?"
Dou Yan slipped out of Shen Qiao's arms and spoke in a clear, crisp voice: "Shibo¹,
please do not be surprised! Ah-yan did not come here with any cruel intent!"
Su Wei quickly stood to open the door and inspect the area outside. After seeing that
there was no one spying on them, he closed the door once more, before turning
around to speak to them: "Why have you come here? Ah-yan, I heard that the Dou
family has now been surrounded by people from His Majesty. They have been looking
for you."
"Yes. It's because I made so much trouble for my mother and father," Ah-yan said,
dejectedly. "His Majesty was afraid that they would send me away into hiding, and is
now keeping his eye on our family. I can't go back, not for now at least. I can only ask
Shibo for his protection."
"We were at the Bian residence when we happened to run into the Duke of Sui," Shen
Qiao said. "It was he who had us come here to look for Su-xiangong."
Su Wei sighed. "All right, then. The two of you, come with me for now."
He did not inquire further about any details. It seemed that he already had some
knowledge of what had taken place. Only Shen Qiao found everything completely
beyond his expectations after entering Chang'an, and could only take things as they
go, not knowing much else.
Su Wei straightened, and pushed in the bookshelf. Behind it was a secret hallway. He
took the two of them down there, before reaching a bedroom at the end.
The bedroom was not completely isolated from daylight, however. The window from
the outside was obscured by the shade of trees, allowing sunlight to faintly shine
through. Had it been summer, it would have been a wonderful place to hide from the
sun and heat. At the same time, it was quite good at hiding people from view, making
it very difficult for their pursuers to follow their tracks.
A single person stood by the window with their back towards them. His hands were
crossed behind him. Seeing Su Wei open the door, he turned around and, upon
catching sight of Dou Yan, could not help but say, surprised: "Er-niang?"
He himself had met Yuwen Yong once, and he knew that the other man was not the
sort of person that would easily overlook this.
Su Wei suddenly remembered that he had yet to introduce Shen Qiao, and so he
quickly said to Yuwen Xian: "Your highness, the Prince of Qi. This is Shen-daozhang of
Xuandu Mountain."
Yuwen Xian sighed: "It seems that Shen-daozhang does not know. Prior to his death,
the former Emperor had disciplined the Crown Prince severely. Once, because he knew
that the Crown Prince was addicted to drink, he would not allow the EasternPalace² to
have even a drop of alcohol on the premises.
The Crown Prince had always resented
him, but could only endure it bitterly while the former Emperor was still around."
And everything else that happened did not need to be explained. Shen Qiao had
already understood it.
Yuwen Yun had suppressed emotions for too long. It was inevitable that it would take a
toll on his temperament, and turn him into someone brutal and violent. But his father
was in the more robust years of his life³. Yuwen Yun himself did not know when he
would succeed to the throne himself. In the end, he simply could not wait any longer,
and decided to act upon it.
As for whether or not Yuwen Yun himself, despite being the Crown Prince, was able to
secretly kill Yuwen Yong with only his own strength—this matter was not worth pursuing
now. Yuwen Yong had prohibited the practice of Buddhism and Daoism, fell the
country of Qi, and even prepared to go to war against Tujue. His enemies were
everywhere under the sun, which meant that more and more people would be willing
to cooperate with Yuwen Yun. Of them, only Empress Ashina had the most favorable
position of them all, and had significantly more opportunities to act than they did.
Shen Qiao suddenly remembered Yan Wushi and his previous evaluation of Yuwen Yun,
as well as his own judgement of the political affairs of Northern Zhou, and saw how
each of these things had now become reality.
And then, he remembered what had happened at the small temple. His heart trembled
somewhat, and he could not help but sigh deeply, before suppressing everything else.
"I heard outside the city that Yuwen Yun was preparing to reconstruct the Imperial
Palace, and had even imprisoned a number of those who submitted a memorial against
him?"
It was both because Yuwen Yun did not win popular favor, and that Shen Qiao was not
an ordinary citizen, that not a single person found it inappropriate that Shen Qiao had
directly called the man by his entire name, and not 'His Majesty'.
Su Wei said: "That is a rather long story. After the death of the former Emperor,
tradition states that we should observe a mourning period for a little over a month.
However, His Majesty only observed it for ten days before ordering that the mourning
period should come to an end. It was then that a number of people in the court
advised His Majesty to comply with his filial duties. However, His Majesty said that
because the Yuwen clan had descended from Xianbei people, there was no need to
abide by Han traditions, and that the Emperor's matters had no need for the nonsense
of the ministers. Afterwards, those who showed any sort of opposition whatsoever
would be labeled as rebellious subjects and traitors, caned, and then have their entire
families banished from the capital."
Yuwen Xian continued: "His Majesty additionally disliked how narrow the halls of the
palace were, saying that it did not suit the dignified air of the Imperial family, and
demanded that the palace be reconstructed. He had even constructed a garden
outside the palace, and had the entire royal family go on a brief hunting break. By
then, the Imperial Court had just fallen Qi and exerted quite a lot of labor and wealth
to do so. The former emperor was unwilling to raise taxes on the common people, and
instead took the riches of the Qi Palace delivered and prepared to have them counted
and added to the National Treasury. But who would have known that His Majesty
would take it and even add it to the Imperial Treasury…"
Once he said this, he even laughed bitterly: "A number of people had submitted an
opposition as a result of this. Yet His Majesty had suppressed them down completely."
Shen Qiao frowned: "To think that such a valiant man would have such an unworthy
son.⁴ How unfortunate!"
All of Zhou had once prospered with each day. Could it be that it would be all for
naught in the hands of this child?
"And what can I do when Yuwen Yun threatens my family?" Yuwen Xian responded
furiously.
"Do you think that I can put their lives aside, while focusing my thoughts and
efforts on taking the throne? If I did that, how would I be any different from Yuwen Yun?
If one's name is improperly established, then his words will be untrue. Yuwen Yun was
always the successor to the throne. Regardless of what he has done to the former
Emperor, how many people even know of it? And even if I were to lead the troops to
charge into the Imperial Palace, Xueting could easily have Yuwen Yun escape. And by
then, they will rule as king wherever they please. The Imperial Court of Zhou will break
out into internal strife, and the hard work placed in uniting the North under good
circumstances will be completely dashed. All of this was pieced together with the
painstaking efforts of mine and my brothers. How could I watch myself become a man
guilty for indirectly leading Zhou into turmoil?"
Su Wei was silent.
Dou Yan appeared to understand all that he said. Her eyes shimmered with tears ready
to fall.
Shen Qiao could not help but sigh inwardly to himself.
There were a number of people who were born naturally inclined to honesty and
tenderness. It would not matter if they had killed anyone before, or even how many
they had killed. Even when the world is in chaos, it was inevitable that this sort of
personality would never be able to transform into someone ruthless and ambitious.
Therefore, even if Yuwen Xian knew what he needed to do, he would be unable to do
it.
"Wuwei⁵ ah, you have never been interested in engaging with matters regarding the
Imperial Family. You saw that I was different from them, that I treated human life with
more sanctity than they did—wasn't this why our friendship was strong in the first
place? Yet in the end, why is it that you are the one trying to convince me to walk the
same path as they do?"
Su Wei sighed deeply, before bringing his hands together in respect: "It was I who
misspoke. I must ask Your Highness not to blame me!"
Yuwen Xian placed one hand on him: "You are the man who understands me best.
Others only speak of my high-ranking background and experience in the military, that I
have led armies galloping into battlefields and killed countless enemies. But if I could
have been the one to make the decision, I would never have joined the army from the
start. I'd rather find somewhere nice, with green hills and clear waters, and bring all my
family there to spend the rest of our lives growing flowers. That is truly a happy life!"
***
1 shibo: uncle. an affectionate name for a friend older than one's father.
2 This is the residence of the crown prince in the Imperial Palace.
3 Referring to the ages of 30 and 50.
4 The literal idiom here is: 'The father is a tiger, yet his son is a dog." I translated it into its understood
meaning. It's pretty harsh but it sounds quite strange in English, doesn't it?
5 wuwei. This is Su Wei's courtesy name.