“In the end, the two of them are keeping each other company,1” Long Xuan sighed.
Xie Yu noticed a hint of melancholy2 on Long Xuan’s face and asked, “Your Majesty, do you know why my teacher named Wei Lan ‘Chongyue’3 back then?”
“Why?” Long Xuan inquired.
“Some promises are impossible to fulfill in this life, but they should be honored in the next,” Xie Yu explained. “Yunqi and Chongyue were meant to be together.”
Now, whenever Luo Wei and Wei Lan were mentioned, Long Xuan’s heart remained calm. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he saw them standing side by side, smiling at each other. Seeing Luo Wei’s cheerful expression and Wei Lan’s tender affection, Long Xuan knew that Xie Yu was right — Luo Wei and Wei Lan were destined to be together. “It was me,” Long Xuan admitted to Xie Yu. “I wronged them.”
Xie Yu was taken aback, scarcely believing what he had just heard. Was Long Xuan admitting his mistake?
“You may leave,” Long Xuan said, turning to lie on his side.
Xie Yu rose and took his leave.
“Does the Luo family still tend to Luo Wei’s grave?” Long Xuan asked suddenly.
“Your Majesty,” Xie Yu replied, “every three years, the Luo family goes to Xuanzhou to visit the grave.”
“Good,” Long Xuan said. “I understand.”
Xie Yu waited a moment longer. Seeing that Long Xuan had nothing more to say, he left the imperial bedchamber.
Long Xuan turned over to lie on his back, staring at the canopy embroidered with silver clouds and golden lotuses. He thought of the red lotuses on the Emerald Island, which would not bloom until midsummer. It was now May. Would he still be alive to see the blooming of the red lotuses this year?
Three days later, in the Throne Hall of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Long Xuan, ill and weak, abdicated the throne to Crown Prince Long Xiao, who became Emperor Yuande. From this day on, the era name was changed to the first year of Yuande.
Long Xuan watched as Long Xiao sat on the dragon throne, wearing the dragon robe, receiving the ministers’ bows. He felt a twinge of jealousy—this throne had cost him so much, and now his eldest son was taking it as a matter of course. Why? Just because he was his son?
Long Xiao rose to pay respects to Long Xuan. He had noticed the chilling look in his father’s eyes moments ago.
Long Xuan shook his head at Long Xiao and, supported by Fu Dao, left the Throne Hall, the center of imperial power in Great Zhou.
Long Xiao knelt behind his departing father. Though he wore the dragon robe, he did not let it go to his head. As long as his father was alive, he remained the supreme deity of this nation, and Long Xiao would have to prostrate himself at his feet.
“Vacate Changming Hall,” Long Xuan instructed Fu Dao after leaving the Throne Hall. “I will retire to Yi Jin Garden from now on.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Fu Dao responded promptly.
When Emperor Yuande heard of the decision to move to Yi Jin Garden, he merely waved his hand. Of course, it would be Yi Jin Garden. Where else could his father go in this vast palace? The only place that held his father’s heart was Yi Jin Garden.
“Your Majesty?” The attending eunuch spoke up, seeing the new Emperor’s prolonged silence.
“Proceed to Yi Jin Garden,” Long Xiao commanded.
The imperial carriage moved from the Throne Hall to the banks of Yuxin Lake, where Long Xiao noticed white egrets flying and landing on the water.
“Your Majesty,” the attending eunuch remarked, “these egrets flew here from who knows where at the start of spring, and now they seem to consider Yuxin Lake their home.”
Long Xiao withdrew his gaze and said calmly, “They must know the former Emperor will live there permanently.”
The eunuch fell silent, not daring to speak further.
The imperial carriage arrived at Emerald Island, and followed the forest path to the entrance of Yi Jin Garden.
This place was very familiar to Long Xiao. As the Crown Prince, he had often come here. As he stepped into the courtyard, the first thing he saw was a tree fully bloomed with white tung flowers.
“All of you, wait outside,” Long Xiao instructed the attendants.
The attendants waited quietly outside the courtyard.
Long Xiao walked to the tree, plucked a white tung flower, and brought it to his nose. A faint fragrance greeted him. Long Xiao tossed the flower into the air, watching it drift far away with the wind.
“You’re here?” Long Xuan emerged from the study, standing under the corridor, watching his son who had just become Emperor that day.
“Imperial Father,” Long Xiao bowed to Long Xuan and looked at the tung flowers. “These flowers are beautiful. May snow. Is that what they’re called?”
“Yes,” Long Xuan confirmed. “Do you also like tung flowers?”
“Imperial Father, these flowers may be beautiful, but the Imperial Physician told me that tung flowers are poisonous,” Long Xiao said.
“What are you trying to say?” Long Xuan asked.
“Sixth Uncle,” Long Xiao replied.
“What about your Sixth Uncle?” Long Xuan asked.
“A beautiful yet poisonous flower,” Long Xiao said.
Long Xuan did not get angry. Instead, he told Long Xiao, “He raised you.”
“Yes,” Long Xiao acknowledged. “If it weren’t for Sixth Uncle’s special attention towards me, I wouldn’t have gained Imperial Father’s favor. Imperial Father, to me, Sixth Uncle is like a father and a teacher. I respect and honor him without any resentment.”
“Then why say such words?” Long Xuan asked.
“That was Sixth Uncle’s treatment towards my Imperial Father. Others saw him as poison to you, but you saw him as nectar,” Long Xiao explained.
Long Xuan smiled at Long Xiao. “Now that you wear the yellow robe, you dare say such things to me?”
Long Xiao bowed under the tree. “I dare not. I speak only from my feelings.”
“There are some things you do not understand,” Long Xuan said, turning back to the study.
Long Xiao stood under the tree a while longer before slowly walking out of the courtyard.
The imperial carriage left Emerald Island and neared Changming Hall, where Long Xiao saw his wife, Empress Luo, waiting by the roadside with her attendants.
“What is this?” Long Xiao asked, standing beside his empress.
“I wanted to congratulate Your Majesty outside Changming Hall,” Empress Luo replied. “but upon hearing that you had gone to Yi Jin Garden, I waited here instead.”
Long Xiao headed towards Changming Hall.
“Your Majesty,” Empress Luo followed behind him.
Long Xiao glanced back at his wife. The Luo family of Youyan was known for their beauty, and his consort had once been an unparalleled beauty herself. “What’s the matter?” he asked.
The Empress smiled. “Shall I move into Fengyi Hall today?”
“You are my Empress, naturally you should reside in Fengyi Hall. Why? Are you unwilling?” Long Xiao asked.
Empress Luo smiled. “I thought I should wait a bit longer and let Your Majesty speak with Imperial Father first.”
“Do not worry,” Long Xiao smiled, taking her hand and walking a few steps ahead. Once they were some distance from the attendants, he whispered to her, “Imperial Father has never attached importance to Fengyi Hall. You can move in without concern.”
Empress Luo asked no further questions, simply replying, “I will obey.”
She was an intelligent woman. Long Xiao looked at his Empress, his father had said there were things he did not understand, but love – how could he not understand? When he first fell in love, he already knew to let go, unlike his father, who only understood too late, when everything was beyond repair.
“Your Majesty, have I done something wrong today?” Empress Luo asked, noticing his gaze.
“No,” Long Xiao said. “I will accompany you to Fengyi Hall.”
Holding his wife’s hand, Long Xiao strolled through the springtime of the imperial palace. The woman by his side was a good one. He thought he would spend this life with her, without love perhaps, but his life would not be as solitary in old age as his father’s had been.
- 相守 – xiāng shǒu : literally means “keeping each other company”, but is an idiom meaning to stay together through thick and thin, usually referring to a couple ↩︎
- 怅然 – chàng rán : disappointed and frustrated, describing a feeling of melancholy or wistfulness ↩︎
- 重 (chòng: repeat/again, or zhòng: important) and 约 (yuē: pledge, promise, appointment), so the name means something like “Repeated Promise” or “Important Pledge” ↩︎
Boundless Dao 
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