The Duke asked the physician if someone had poisoned the Emperor. Sun Simiao shook his head, looking adamant. “This is not poisoning,” he said. What was it? He would not give an answer.
But all the same, rumor shook the palace like a great storm. The Emperor would not live to the end of the moon, it said, and something restless, something ominous, began to drift in the air. It hung low on the servants’ lips, the guards’ arched eyebrows, and the ministers’ uneasy coughs. It followed me, haunted me, like a stench that refused to dispel.
One day, I went back to the Audience Hall to fetch the Emperor’s belt, which I had forgotten, when I heard whispers from a corner in the adjacent corridor. I stopped to listen. Ever since the Emperor’s mysterious sickness, the Hall had been almost abandoned. Who would be meeting there?
“All morning, a flock of crows cawed on a pine tree in the Western Market, and all the fowl nearby died mysteriously.”
The voice sounded familiar. I peered through the gap of the doors. A minister with a stooped back, Chancellor Wei Zheng, was talking to a man holding a cane. The Emperor’s uncle.
“It’s Heaven’s sign!” The Uncle’s eyes grew as large as polo balls. “He’s not going to make it. He is going to die! I talked to a fortune watcher too. He predicts his days are numbered.”
“No, no. It’s only a rumor… He is only forty-six, a man of great strength—”
“A sick man on the verge of dying, my old friend, and it is his due.” The Uncle shook his head. “We should not have supported him when he conspired to kill his brother. Now the ghost heir is punishing him. Next will be us! We must do something, or we are all condemned!”
I could not leave. I had to listen.
“My old friend, do not work yourself up. This is a dark moment. It shall pass. We must stay calm,” Wei Zheng said.
The Uncle knocked his cane against the ground. “We’re only fooling ourselves, my friend, you know better than this. We shall take this opportunity to right what we have wronged. This is our moment. We will make history again, just like the old times. We will choose our own emperor and kick out the Turkic clown. What do you say?”
A moment of silence.
“I would not have risked speaking to you if I were not confident. All the ministers resent him. He ordered the stitching of an astrologer’s lips, remember? Our reverend astrologer! The man who watches Heaven’s signs! I’m telling you, my nephew has lost us! Listen, my friend, I’m going to tell you something very important. We have received everything we need. The khans are with us. The khans! You know well they dislike him and his arrogance. They have agreed this is the time. They will attack the borders at our signal. Yes, on our signal they will surround him, just like the old times.”
The Emperor’s vassals, the Eastern Turks and the people in Tuyuhun, had remained silent after the polo game, but the prophecy and the rebellions within the kingdom had surely reached their ears too.
“The khans? It’s unlikely. Didn’t Taizi quiet them all when he defeated the Western Turks?”
“That’s true. The vassals respect the heir. They do not like how the Emperor treats his own son. That is why they will join us.”
A sigh. “Which khan?”
“All of them! They are displeased with the yearly tributes demanded by the Emperor. It is too much. They cannot afford it. Have you seen last year’s breed? A poor batch of skinny horses! Besides…” He cupped his hand over Wei Zheng’s ear and whispered.
“What? She is part of this?”
Who was she? I pushed closer to the door.
“Yes! The Pure Lady—and what an extraordinary woman she is!—has hired mercenaries, bought the rebels on the borders, and even recruited men near Chang’an. She has prepared everything…”
Blood rushed to my head. I could not believe my ears.
“But why? Why will she take such a huge risk… Yes, I know, I know… Of course I know about the prophecy… What?”
“It is true, old friend.”
“I… This…this is hard to believe…”
“There is no denying it, my friend. Prince Yo is the man. He is the one who will destroy this dynasty. Remember the sign that says my nephew’s dynasty will end and his foe is coming?”
“Yes, yes. But how can he be the man in the prophecy?” Wei Zheng’s jade pendants clinked against each other as he leaned closer to the Uncle. “How can you be certain?”
“Think about it! Recite the prophecy.”
“He comes when the stone turns flesh, the animal weeps, the birds cry thrice from Heaven. Then the Wu Man comes…”
The Wu Man? What did it mean? The sound “Wu” contained numerous homonyms. Depending on the tones, each sound indicated different meanings. Of course, my family’s name was Wu too, but I was not a man…
“Think about his rank in the birth order!”
A pause. “He’s the fourth son…”
“Yes, and now add the infant boy who died before him!”
Wei Zheng had a sharp intake of breath. “He would be the fifth…”