Chapter 1: The Wind and Rain of That Year

The fifteenth year of Xuanqing, Zhuxi Pond in Qinglu County.

It was early summer, and the heat had not yet set in. Pink roses covered the courtyard walls in dense, overlapping layers, glowing as brilliantly as brocade. A few branches reached beyond the wall; as the evening breeze blew, the blossoms swayed, releasing wisps of delicate fragrance.

At dusk, wisps of cooking smoke curled upward, and the aroma of food filled the courtyard.

Beneath the rose-covered wall stood a swing set. A young girl sat upon it, wearing a brand-new tunic. A cloth strip was tied around her eyes, obscuring her gaze. The swing swayed gently, while an elderly woman beside her held it with utmost care, fearing the child might fall.

The girl sniffed the air and muttered to herself, "Mother is so biased, making braised pork again for Grandpa Divine Physician."

The old woman gave her a gentle pat on the head and said with a smile, "Dr. Yang loves braised pork most of all. He will be heading to the capital in a few days; once he reaches the capital, he won't be able to eat it like this anymore. Since he hasn't departed yet, your mother naturally wants to make a few extra meals so he can eat his fill."

The girl lifted her translucent little face and asked curiously, "Is there no braised pork in the capital?"

The old woman chuckled. "Dr. Yang often says that the braised pork your mother makes is the best he has ever tasted."

The evening breeze drifted softly, making the scent of the braised pork even more intense. The girl reached up to touch the cloth covering her eyes; beneath the cloth lay a medicinal packet, feeling cool against her skin.

Seeing this, the old woman firmly pulled her hand away. "Don't touch it. Dr. Yang said it must be three more days before it can be removed."

The girl asked, "Grandma, will I be able to see in three days?"

The old woman’s eyes crinkled as she smiled. "Yes, you certainly will. By then, my little girl will be able to see all these roses in the courtyard."

When the girl was an infant, she had suffered from a persistent high fever. Although the fever eventually broke, she had lost her sight from that point on. Her family had been consumed by worry, searching for famous physicians to no avail.

Consequently, her parents, her family, and even the flowers and trees existed only in her imagination; in this colorless world, she had grown accustomed to it.

It wasn't until her father brought Dr. Yang and his grandson to their home that she learned her eyes were not untreatable.

The little girl did not know where Dr. Yang and his grandson were from, nor why they had come to Qinglu County.

She only knew that the Yang family's carriage had fallen into a river, and her father had led men to rescue them. The driver and the servants had perished, and the grandfather and grandson had been severely injured.

Being a man who saw things through, her father had brought the two of them to their home to recover, and they had stayed for over half a year.

In return, once Dr. Yang had recovered, he began treating the girl's eye condition. Now, they had reached the final stage. Today was the last time Dr. Yang would apply acupuncture; they were simply waiting three days to remove the medicinal packet. Whether she was cured would be revealed then.

And just this morning, someone had come to Zhuxi Pond to find Dr. Yang. After meeting that person, Dr. Yang told her father that he was leaving for the capital.

After dinner, Dr. Yang said to her father, "Sigh, I didn't expect to stay in Qinglu for over half a year. I've troubled your family. Now I must trouble you to look after little Qiu for a few more days. Once I return from the capital, I will come to fetch him."

Dr. Yang's grandson, Yang Qiu, was just eight years old. After his injuries healed, he had gone to a private school dozens of miles away to study. It wasn't that there were no schools nearby, but this particular school taught both literacy and martial arts; since he was recovering from serious injuries, learning some martial arts would help strengthen his body.

Hearing this, her father hurriedly said, "Dr. Yang, you are being too formal. You are the great benefactor of our family for treating my daughter's eyes. Regarding your trip to the capital, please rest easy. On the first and fifteenth of every month, I will bring your grandson home so my wife can prepare a delicious meal to nourish him."

Dr. Yang thanked him again, pulled out a letter, and said to her father, "I leave for the capital in three days, so I won't be going to the school to see him. Please deliver this letter to him for me."

Just as her father was about to take the letter, a small, fair hand suddenly appeared before him. "Give it to me, give it to me! I'll keep it safe for Brother Little Sheep. Mother says Father is forgetful; what if he loses the letter?"

Her father felt helpless. Though he was a bit embarrassed by his daughter's words, he couldn't bring himself to scold his only daughter and could only shake his head with a smile.

Dr. Yang laughed heartily; he liked this family very much, and he especially liked this adorable little girl.

He stuffed the letter into the girl's hand. "Alright, then I'll leave it in your care."

Seeing this, her father hurriedly said, "How can we do that? She is still just a child."

Dr. Yang smiled. "It's no matter, no matter. It's not an important letter, just a few words of instruction."

The girl took the letter. It wasn't thick and felt light in her hand. She said with a grin, "Don't worry, Grandpa Divine Physician, I will definitely give the letter to Brother Little Sheep."

Her mother walked over and took the girl's hand. "That's enough, stop being mischievous. Mother is taking you to bed."

"I wasn't being mischievous, I really wasn't..."

The childish voice grew fainter as the girl was led away by her mother to wash up.

Since she was small, she had always slept with her grandmother; she loved the faint, clean scent of soapgrass that lingered on her grandmother.

After washing, her mother brought her to her grandmother's room. The grandmother smiled at the mother and said, "You've been busy all day, go and rest."

Once the mother left, the grandmother helped the girl change into her nightclothes, only to see the girl fumbling to pull a letter out from the clothes she had just taken off.

The grandmother hurriedly said, "Whose letter is this? Where did you get it? Give it to Grandma."

As she spoke, she reached out to take the letter.

The girl hid the letter behind her back with both small hands, shaking her head. "No, no! This is Brother Little Sheep's letter. Grandpa Divine Physician told me to keep it safe. I won't ruin it. Grandma, go out first. I'll hide it well, then you can come back in."

Though she knew her granddaughter wouldn't lie, the grandmother went to ask the father. Upon learning that the letter was indeed meant for the grandson, the grandmother stopped interfering. She figured she would let the children handle their own affairs.

Before re-entering the room, the grandmother knocked on the door and asked with a smile, "Have you hidden it well?"

"Grandma, you have to ask, 'Little Rabbit, have you hidden it well?'"

The grandmother chuckled. "Little Rabbit, have you hidden it well?"

"I have! Grandma, you can come in now!"

When the grandmother entered, her granddaughter was lying on the bed, twisting her little face into a grin for her.

The letter was nowhere to be seen; she had hidden it somewhere.

The grandmother shook her head with a smile, took off her shoes, climbed into bed, blew out the small bedside lamp, and lay down beside the girl.

"Grandma, that family living at the foot of the mountain is fighting again. That family's father stole a widow. Grandma, can you steal a widow?"

"You little thing, how do you even know about that? That family lives so far away; who told you?"

"The little sparrow told me! That family is always fighting; even the swallows won't build nests in their house anymore."

The grandmother laughed but didn't mind. Truly a child, speaking nothing but childish things.

The grandmother gently patted the girl and hummed a nameless little tune. As sleepiness washed over her, the girl's consciousness began to blur. A faint fragrance drifted in, but it was not the scent of soapgrass from her grandmother.

The girl said, "Grandma, there's a scent. Do you smell it?"

The grandmother yawned and patted her gently. "The room was smoked with mosquito coils; the scent hasn't dissipated yet."

The girl wanted to say that it wasn't the smell of mosquito coils, and that her grandmother's nose was blocked again.

But her eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds; after a few murmurs, she drifted into a dream.

The girl was startled awake. She usually slept very deeply; once, when her father took her to see a doctor, the road was bumpy and the mule cart jolted, yet she slept the entire way and only woke up once they arrived at the doctor's house.

But today, she was awake. Everything around her was pitch black. There were the sounds of hurried footsteps and the rustling of clothes against bamboo leaves. This was not her home!

A powerful arm wrapped around her waist, and she was tucked under someone's arm as they hurried through the bamboo grove.

Although the girl had grown up in Zhuxi Pond, because of her blindness, she rarely went out except for medical appointments. However, she knew they were far from home; there were no large bamboo forests near her house.

Though she was still a child, her blindness had granted her a sense of smell and perception far beyond that of an ordinary person.

She smelled the scent of blood on the person!

This wasn't the smell of slaughtered chicken or fish; this was human blood. When Dr. Yang and his grandson were injured, she had smelled this scent. This was the smell of human blood!

She reached out to grope around. Her hands met something cold and hard with winding patterns. She traced the patterns inch by inch. She didn't know what it was, but it terrified her.

Where was this?

She had been sleeping with her grandmother, but now, where was she? Where was Grandma?

Just as she was about to call out for her grandmother, a powerful hand landed silently on her head, and she fell back into chaos.

The man carrying her breathed a sigh of relief. The sedative was potent; he hadn't expected the little girl to wake up halfway through, nearly causing her to scream.

The voice of another man came from nearby: "A-Si, why did you take so long?"

The man called A-Si replied hurriedly, "I found a child under the bed. I think the old woman wasn't knocked out and hid the brat under the bed when she heard something."

A-Si continued speaking without stopping his pace, drawing closer to the man in front. The man asked, "There's another one? Makes sense, that family has a little blind one. I was wondering why I didn't see her. Did you strangle her?"

A-Si said, "Strangled her. Just like her parents, she went to the heavens while sleeping."

The man opposite him laughed. "No wonder the Master always says A-Si is meticulous. If it weren't for you, we might have missed a survivor today."

A-Si quickly replied, "Second Brother, you flatter me. How could I have missed a survivor? At most, I would have gone back to finish her off. I was just saving myself the effort."

He didn't want to continue the topic and lifted the girl high. "A blind girl—living is just suffering. Die early and be reincarnated sooner. Go find your parents."

He loosened his grip, and the girl's body was tossed into a pre-dug pit. As she fell, she landed on something soft; cushioning her was her recently deceased parents and kin.

The men worked together to fill the pit, tamping down the new soil with their feet.

"A-Si, you really are the most careful. You stay and clean up. Do it cleanly so everyone thinks the whole family left with that man named Yang."

"A-Si obeys!"

...

The men mounted their horses. A-Si waved to them, glanced back at the freshly packed earth, and then turned to gallop in the direction he had come from.

On a moonless, starless night, the darkness surged like a tide.

A-Si returned to the now-empty courtyard. He opened the windows and doors to let the lingering scent of the sedative and the smell of blood dissipate. He tidied the furniture and even scrubbed the bloodstains off the blue bricks.

Finally, A-Si locked the main gate and departed.

The small courtyard was quiet and peaceful; only the night birds, startled away, knew that a massacre had once occurred here.

As dawn approached, it began to rain. The rain beat against the bamboo leaves, washing away the dust and veiling all secrets within the misty rain.

A-Si tilted his face up, letting the cold raindrops fall upon him.

He liked this feeling; it felt as though it could wash away the filth from his inside and out.

At this moment, his heart was unusually calm and peaceful. He thought of that little girl.

He had not killed her like he had her relatives; instead, he had buried her alive while she was unconscious.

A-Si believed that letting a person die without pain was a small act of kindness.

His mood became uncharacteristically pleasant. Indeed, doing good brought happiness.

The rain grew heavier. A-Si decided to return to the burial site to place a few stones over it to prevent the grave from collapsing and exposing the body.

A-Si had always been meticulous.

For this mission, the living must not be seen, and the dead must not be found. He had to make everyone believe that the doctor and the family that took him in had not died, but had simply gone on a long journey.

A-Si ran through the rain, through the bamboo forest, until he reached the burial site.

But what he saw shocked him. The area that had been leveled was now a pit containing four corpses, but the little girl who should have been on top was gone!

A-Si felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. Had the girl woken up and crawled out herself?

But he quickly dismissed the possibility. It was impossible; a little girl could not have crawled out on her own strength.

A-Si lit a fire starter and searched the surroundings carefully. On the soaked ground, there were paw prints and dragging marks left by wild dogs.

It seemed hungry wild dogs had followed the scent and dug up the buried corpses, but he didn't know where they had dragged the girl.

A-Si's heart sank. If the girl had died during the burial, it would be one thing, but what if she hadn't?

If the Master found out about this...

A-Si shuddered. He remembered the last person who was executed by the Master because of a failed mission.

The rain gradually stopped, and the eastern sky turned a pale grey. The dark clouds quietly dispersed, leaving A-Si with little time.

He gritted his teeth and reburied the corpses as quickly as possible. This time, he placed several stones over the pit so he wouldn't have to worry about the rain washing it away.

Having finished this, A-Si began searching for traces of the wild dogs and the girl, but the tracks vanished in the low-lying areas. He searched for a long time but found nothing.

As daylight broke, the bamboo leaves, washed by the rain, appeared lush and green. Several riders approached from a distance. The sound of hoofbeats startled several wild dogs in the roadside bamboo grove. Amidst the barking, the cry of a child rang out, sounding particularly piercing in the early morning mountain forest.

"Listen, there is the sound of a child crying."

The riders pulled on their reins and looked toward the young boy they were escorting. The boy was also a child, only eight or nine years old, and he was looking toward the bamboo grove where the crying came from.

"Go and see!"

The voice was youthful, yet carried an irresistible authority.

Before the words had even settled, the group had turned their horses toward the bamboo grove.

In the grove, several wild dogs were surrounding a small girl covered in wounds. Hearing the commotion, the dogs bared their teeth and growled, ready to spring. The young boy waved his hand, and his attendants drew their swords and lunged at the dogs!

The lead dog, nicknamed Heizi, had once been a domestic dog. Although he was often hungry, he had remained a loyal guardian of his home.

One day, his master had taken a freshly sharpened knife to slaughter him for meat, so Heizi had fled into the mountains. He had found companions, a mate, and children, giving him something to live for.

Once a living being has something to lose, they fear death; dogs are no different.

Moreover, Heizi could not forget the knife in his master's hand; it was his nightmare.

Now, the glinting blades in the attendants' hands stung Heizi's sensitive heart. He let out a howl from the depths of his soul and fled deep into the bamboo forest!

Heizi did not want to die.

The other dogs were startled. Ignoring the little girl who seemed able to "speak" to them, they chased after their leader.

As the wild dogs disappeared from sight, the young boy gave a disdainful snort. He sat upright on his horse, looking down from his high vantage point at the little girl lying on the ground. An attendant walked over and picked her up; startled and terrified, the girl could not stop crying.

The young boy frowned and said to the attendant, "Her injuries are not light. Inquire along the way to see if there is a doctor."

The attendant complied. The group mounted their horses and continued their journey. An hour later, they finally found a doctor in a village. The little girl had long since fainted from the pain.

An attendant carried the girl into the house. The doctor examined her and, seemingly casually, glanced out the window. The tall, fine horses, the clearly expensive saddles, and the elegantly dressed young boy on horseback all told him one thing: these were wealthy travelers.

The doctor looked at the girl again. Her clothes were tattered, clearly not belonging to these people; she had most likely been picked up on the road.

He cleared his throat and said, "This little girl is blind, and her bones are broken. Even if I set them now, it will take a hundred days of careful nursing to recover. Long-distance travel is absolutely out of the question."

As soon as the doctor finished speaking, two silver ingots landed on the table in front of him.

The doctor swallowed hard. Ten-tael ingots—that was twenty taels!

An impatient voice came from an attendant: "Since she cannot travel, let her recover here. Is this silver enough?"

The doctor's gaze fell upon the sword at the attendant's waist. He hurriedly averted his eyes. "It is... it is enough."

The attendant nodded and added, "Help us inquire if anyone nearby has lost a child, or when this child wakes up, ask her where her home is."

The doctor hurriedly said, "Rest assured. I am a local and know these ten miles of countryside very well. I will certainly ensure this little girl is sent home safely."

Satisfied, the attendant gave a few more instructions before taking his leave.

Xiao Zhen rode forward without looking back, quickly casting the recent events aside.

This place was still over a hundred miles from Bai Feng City. He had run away from home, and the people his parents had sent to find him might have already entered the Wu region. He did not have much time; he had to reach Bai Feng City as quickly as possible to see his maternal uncle with his own eyes.

In recent months, Xiao Zhen had been having the same recurring dream. In the dream, a man led troops to kill him, and someone stepped in to block a sword for him, dying in his arms.

The man who wanted to kill him called himself his "maternal uncle," but the person who died in his arms called him "Brother."

It was common knowledge that his mother was the Princess Jia Yi, his father was the Consort Xiao Jingyan, and he was an only child. He had no brother.

Initially, Xiao Zhen did not believe in the dream. However, not long ago, he met his cousin Zhong Zhanbo and unexpectedly discovered that Zhong Zhanbo bore a resemblance to the uncle in his dream. Furthermore, Zhong Zhanbo's father, Zhong Ziyang, was also one of his maternal uncles.

The Zhong family had long resided in Bai Feng City in the Wu region. Zhong Ziyang had not been to the capital for many years, so Xiao Zhen had no impression of him. Hearing that Zhong Zhanbo looked much like his father, Xiao Zhen decided to come to Bai Feng City to see for himself if Zhong Ziyang was the uncle from his dream who intended to kill him.

Thus, taking advantage of the time when Princess Jia Yi and Consort Xiao were staying at a temple, Xiao Zhen had quietly left the capital with several of his guards.

At the village entrance, the doctor watched the group leave and let out a long sigh of relief.

"It hurts... so much..." The little girl woke from her coma, and as the pain surged, she began to cry again.

The doctor took out a small porcelain bottle, poured out some medicinal powder, dissolved it in warm water, and forced it into the girl's mouth.

The girl soon fell back into a coma, one that would not break for several hours.

The doctor examined her closely. Although she was blind, she had a delicate, lovely face—exactly the kind of child Wang the Swindler was looking for.

The doctor felt a small sense of pride. He had deceived the attendant; while the girl appeared severely injured, aside from two broken ribs, her other injuries were merely superficial—except for her eyes. The broken ribs were likely caused by hitting something hard while being dragged.

He had intentionally made the injuries sound serious just to ensure the group would leave the girl behind.

However, the doctor did not act rashly. It wasn't until evening, once he was certain the group would not return, that he had his son call for Wang the Swindler.

"Old Wang, didn't you ask me to help you find a few disabled children? Today, I happened to find one—a little blind girl..."

Half a month later, at the Wuji Temple on the outskirts of the capital.

"Reporting to Your Highness, the men sent out have returned..."

Crown Prince Zhao Xian stood up excitedly, his sightless eyes "looking" toward the source of the voice.

"Has the old Divine Physician Yang arrived in the capital? Quickly, summon him to treat me! Quickly!"

Eunuch Liu struggled to move his body, shifting to a position where the objects thrown by the Crown Prince would not hit him.

Since the Crown Prince had developed an eye ailment, he had used the excuse of praying for the Emperor to hide away in Wuji Temple. As the imperial physicians proved helpless, the once-gentle Crown Prince had become increasingly volatile. In recent days, he had gone completely blind, and he had begun throwing violent tantrums, leaving people bloodied every day.

Eunuch Liu gritted his teeth and forced himself to speak. "Reporting to Your Highness, the old Divine Physician Yang... Yang Wei did not wish to enter the capital and fled overnight."

No objects were thrown. Eunuch Liu pressed his head to the ground. The surroundings suddenly fell silent, so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat.

After a long time, the Crown Prince's voice rang out again. "Impossible. The Meng family owes Yang Wei a debt of gratitude; he would not flee. No, this must be a misunderstanding. Perhaps the old Divine Physician could not wait and entered the capital on his own, and he took a wrong turn from the men sent to fetch him."

Eunuch Liu wanted to say: It wasn't just Yang Wei who fled; even the family that took him in had vanished. Their gates were tightly shut, and no valuables were found in the house; it was clear the entire family had fled.

Thinking of Yang Wei, he had been framed while serving in the Imperial Academy of Medicine years ago. Had it not been for Lord Meng pleading for him, the grass on Yang Wei's grave would have grown green a dozen times over.

Having barely escaped death once, why would he ever return to the capital?

But Eunuch Liu did not dare to speak; he could only swallow the words.

However, with the arrival of his father-in-law, Lord Meng, the Crown Prince was forced to believe that Yang Wei truly had disappeared!

The men Lord Meng had sent back news that both Yang Wei and the Shi family had vanished. It was said the Shi family had gone to another region to seek medical treatment for their daughter, and Yang Wei had gone with them.

What a joke!

The Shi daughter was blind, with an ailment even Yang Wei could not cure. What physician in the world could treat her?

All this talk of seeking medical treatment elsewhere was nothing but nonsense!

Yang Wei refused to enter the capital and, fearing he would implicate his benefactors, had fled with the Shi family!

This time, the Crown Prince did not fly into a rage. Instead, he curled his body up like a child who had done something wrong, muttering incessantly to himself.

The Eastern Palace suppressed the news of the Crown Prince's eye ailment, claiming only that he was at Wuji Temple praying for the Emperor's health for a hundred days. But as the hundred-day period drew to a close, the imperial physicians remained helpless, and the men sent to find Yang Wei had never returned.

Yet, the tightly guarded secret leaked out nonetheless. A few days later, the streets and alleys of the capital were all discussing the same topic—

The Crown Prince has gone blind!

The topic spread from the streets to the imperial court. How could the heir to the nation be a blind man?

The civil and military officials split into two factions. One faction pleaded with the Emperor to depose Crown Prince Zhao Xian and appoint another prince; the other faction believed the priority should be to announce the matter to the world and search for a famous physician to treat the Crown Prince, rather than appointing a new heir.

The two factions argued their respective points, causing a headache for the already ailing Emperor Xuanqing.

In Wuji Temple, the Crown Prince was in a state of deep melancholy. Ignoring the fact that he was in a Taoist temple, he drowned his sorrows in alcohol and became heavily intoxicated. The next day, he was found dead in his sleep. The imperial physicians diagnosed his death as being caused by heart disease triggered by intoxication.

The Crown Princess, Lady Meng, and the concubines Lady Lu and Lady Sun committed suicide to follow him in death. Amidst the chaos, the three-year-old Imperial Grandson, Zhao Yuan, died after falling into the water.

Upon hearing the devastating news, Emperor Xuanqing fell ill and could not rise.

In the autumn of the fifteenth year of Xuanqing, Emperor Xuanqing appointed the Second Prince, Zhao Yu, as the heir. Of the three children of the late Crown Prince Zhao Xian, excluding the deceased Zhao Yuan, the two remaining daughters were brought into the palace to be raised.

In the same year, Emperor Xuanqing ordered the construction of a Taoist temple on Cuiping Mountain, two hundred miles from the capital, named the Palace of Longevity.

In the summer of the sixteenth year of Xuanqing, the Palace of Longevity was completed.

A month later, Emperor Xuanqing abdicated the throne to the Crown Prince and became the Retired Emperor.

Shortly thereafter, the Retired Emperor left the palace and went to the Palace of Longevity to pursue immortality.

The following year, the new Emperor changed the era name to Yongjia, and he is known in history as Emperor Yongjia.

Emperor Yongjia posthumously honored his late eldest brother Zhao Xian as Emperor Xiaokang, and Lady Meng as Empress Xiaokang. Both of Zhao Xian's daughters were titled as Princesses.

Emperor Yongjia's actions were met with widespread praise throughout the empire.

***

*Hey everyone, I'm starting a new book! Yao Hansan is back! Surprised? Unexpected? Hahahaha~*

*(End of Chapter)*