Eunuch Quan swept his eyes across the assembled court, then read it out in that thin, high voice:

醉里挑燈看劍，夢回吹角連營。 八百里分麾下炙，五十弦翻塞外聲，沙場秋點兵。 馬作的盧飛快，弓如霹靂弦驚。 了卻君王天下事，贏得生前身後名，可憐白髮生！

Drunk, I trim the lamp to look at my sword; in dreams I am back among the camps, the horns calling down the line.

Roast ox carved out to the men under my banner, fifty strings turning the songs of beyond the frontier — autumn, and the troops mustered on the killing ground.

My horse runs swift as Dilu. My bow cracks like thunder off the string.

To finish my sovereign’s business under heaven, to win a name in this life and after it — and the pity of it: the white hair comes.

When Eunuch Quan finished, the quiet hall was a still pond with a bomb dropped in it.

Every official there, civil and military, was stunned.

The civil officials most of all. One after another, their faces went red.

What man of letters doesn’t dream of one flawless work that will be handed down ten thousand years?

The military men had none of the civil officials’ learning, but even they could hear what was inside that lyric.

A picture rose in front of their eyes — an aged general, white-haired, sighing bitterly over a sword he had long since packed away.

A general in his twilight, a beauty gone gray. Both were among the great regrets of a life.

“Your Majesty. May this subject ask who wrote this lyric?”

Li Hanru, Director of the Hanlin Academy (TL Note: 翰林院 — the empire’s most elite body of scholars, drawn from the top examination finishers. They drafted imperial documents and served as the court’s literary authority. Its Director is, in effect, the highest-ranking man of letters alive.), was so worked up his beard shook.

He had to know who the man was.

He had written poetry his entire life, and set beside this lyric he wasn’t fit to pick up a brush.

Every man in the hall turned to the Xuan Emperor, hoping. The emperor frowned. “What? Could this emperor not have written this lyric?”

Nobody believed it.

The Xuan Emperor was genuinely well read. But this lyric was about the helplessness of an old soldier in his twilight, and it was certainly not his.

“Your Majesty lives deep within the palace. Your Majesty could not have written a lyric with such feeling in it.”

One blunt censor said it straight out.

The Xuan Emperor did not take that well. He very nearly gave in and brained the man with the incense burner off the dragon desk.

These censors really were unbearable.

Old General Chen’s face was working. The lyric described exactly what sat in his chest, and he was clumsy with words and had no schooling. Whoever wrote it had said it for him. Here was a man who understood.

“Your Majesty. This old subject would also like to know who wrote it.”

The Xuan Emperor said mildly, “This emperor came by this lyric by chance. The author is a boy in his teens, by the name of Lan Xing.”

The whole court was stunned all over again.

The author is a boy in his teens?

How is that possible?

How could a boy write a lyric with all that inside it?

But the Xuan Emperor had no reason to lie to them.

Lan Xing.

Every official in the hall wrote the name silently into his memory.

The moment court let out, they would send people to find this Lan Xing — and whatever it cost, they would have him write a poem for them.

With this lyric loose in the world, it would not be long before Old General Chen’s name was known across the empire.

And if a man could get a poem like that in praise of himself, his name would carry its fragrance down a hundred generations.

The Xuan Emperor spoke slowly. “When this emperor came by this lyric it had no title. He has settled on one. It is called To Old General Chen.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Old General Chen could not kneel. He could only bow deep from the waist in thanks for heaven’s grace.

The Xuan Emperor glanced at Eunuch Quan.

“Court is dismissed!”

Eunuch Quan’s reedy voice rang out across the hall.

After court broke, the officials filed out in twos and threes, walking fast.

Comparing notes as they went about who this Lan Xing might be.

And thinking about sending men out to find him the moment they got home, to beg a poem off him.

Ning Ziming was a well-known talent of the Great Xuan in his own right, and deeply fond of poetry. The same idea was in his head, so he was moving quickly.

“Lord Ning! A moment!”

Ning Ziming stopped at the sound and looked back, and there was Eunuch Quan coming after him in quick little steps.

“Eunuch Quan!”

Ning Ziming bowed over clasped hands. Eunuch Quan was the emperor’s favorite. Nobody in the whole court, not even the Left Chancellor, would dare treat him carelessly.

“Lord Ning walks very fast. His Majesty summons you. Come with me.”

Ning Ziming went still and began going back over things. Have I done anything wrong lately? Has a rival gotten hold of something and impeached me?

Turn it over as he might, he hadn’t committed any error recently.

But he was uneasy all the same. He quietly produced an ingot of silver and passed it across. “Eunuch Quan. Might I know what His Majesty wants with me?”

Eunuch Quan slid the silver into his sleeve without a flicker and said, smiling, “Don’t put me in a difficult position, Lord Ning. Would I dare guess at His Majesty’s thoughts? Go, and you’ll find out.”

The corner of Ning Ziming’s mouth twitched. You rootless creature. Takes the money and does nothing.

The two of them came to the imperial study.

“Your subject presents himself to Your Majesty. May the sage sovereign be at peace.”

Ning Ziming knelt and made his obeisance.

The Xuan Emperor went on reading as though he hadn’t heard a thing.

Ning Ziming didn’t dare rise. He didn’t dare lift his head. His heart was going like a drum and he was badly frightened.

A long while passed before the emperor spoke. “Beloved Minister Ning. Get up.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Ning Ziming got to his feet, shaking, and stayed bent at the waist.

“How many sons does Beloved Minister Ning have, again?”

Ning Ziming’s mind went blank. Why is His Majesty suddenly asking this?

He bowed hurriedly over clasped hands. “Reporting to Your Majesty. Your subject has thr— four sons.”

His reflex had been to say three. Somewhere underneath it, he had never counted Ning Chen as his son at all.

The emperor set down his book and asked mildly, “Three, or four?”

Ning Ziming answered fast. “Your subject has four sons!”

“Beloved Minister Ning. This dynasty governs by benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith (TL Note: 仁義禮智信, the Five Constants — the core Confucian virtues, taught as the moral foundation of both a good man and a well-run state. Invoking them here is the emperor reminding a minister of the standard he is measured against.). This emperor will not pass judgment on your private conduct. But the boy is your own flesh and blood, and he does not care for men who are cold and faithless.”

Ning Ziming’s head filled with question marks.

“That boy Ning Chen is a fine one. Treat him better.”

Ning Ziming’s body gave a small shudder and his face went white. Has someone informed on me? Does His Majesty know I abandoned a wife and a child?

And he has just said he does not care for men who are cold and faithless. I’m finished. Completely finished.

Ning Ziming’s head roared and his vision went dark.

He dropped to his knees with a thud and began knocking his head against the floor, begging. “Your subject knows his crime! Mercy, Your Majesty. Mercy, Your Majesty…”

He was terrified. He could all but see the entire Ning family kneeling on the Roaming Dragon Terrace.

The Roaming Dragon Terrace was where high officials and nobles went to be beheaded.

The emperor watched him coldly. Ning Ziming counted as a useful man. Choosing not to move against him did not mean choosing not to rap him on the knuckles.

“Beloved Minister Ning. Had this emperor meant to charge you with a crime, he would not have called you in alone.”

Ning Ziming blinked, certain he had misheard.

The Xuan Emperor said mildly, “This emperor has met that boy Ning Chen. He is exceptional.”

“Beloved Minister Ning, this emperor is giving you one more chance. Do not disappoint him. You know perfectly well what his disappointment costs.”

“And Ning Chen does not know who this emperor is. So remember this. He does not want a fourth person knowing what passed between sovereign and subject today.”

“That is all. You may go.”

Ning Ziming stood there like a fool.

His Majesty has met Ning Chen? That isn’t possible. Ning Chen has barely set foot outside the house since he came to the Ning family. How could he possibly have met His Majesty?

Seeing him still standing there dazed, Eunuch Quan walked over. “Lord Ning. This way, please.”

Ning Ziming snapped out of it and bowed in a hurry. “Your subject knocks his head in thanks for heaven’s grace. Your subject withdraws!”

Only once he was out of the imperial study did Ning Ziming dare wipe the cold sweat off his forehead. His back was ice. His clothes were soaked through with it.

He looked back at the study with his heart still hammering. His face went white all over again. Then he put his head down and walked fast for the palace gate.

(End of Chapter 7)