The Imperial Palace

Inside the imperial palace, the pair’s bickering gradually died down. They cautiously leaned out from either side of the sedan chair, gazing in awe at the vermilion palace walls surrounding them.

A place so solemn seemed to carry its own oppressive weight, making it hard to speak above a whisper. When a towering three-story hall came into view, it nearly compelled them to kneel.

“Are we sure this is right? Does Senior Brother Gao really live here?” Yang Xiaohai asked in a shaky whisper, turning to Chun Xiaoman as she stepped out of her sedan.

Chun Xiaoman shook her head without a word and strode toward the hall. The others shook off their shock and hurried after her.

The unfamiliar surroundings made everyone feel intensely constrained. But the moment they saw Gao Zhijian seated on the dragon throne, wearing a dragon robe and sitting on a throne of solid gold, still wearing that familiar simple smile—their unease vanished. He was still the Gao Zhijian they had survived life and death with.

Seeing his fellow disciples, Gao Zhijian’s face broke into that old, honest grin. He rose from the dragon throne and walked toward them.

“Heh-heh! Zhijian! How’d this happen—you come to the capital and end up an emperor?”

The moment Gouwa said this, every eunuch in the hall stiffened, shooting him hostile looks.

Chun Xiaoman shoved Gouwa aside with her scabbard, lifted her chin, and said to the Great Liang Emperor before her: “Zhijian, Senior Brother Li and Miaomiao—your people said they’re both here, right?”

Gao Zhijian nodded, speaking slowly, one word at a time: “They’re here.”

“Hey! You don’t stutter anymore? Not bad! Being emperor cures illness?” Gouwa said, wide-eyed.

“The palace doctors… have medicine. Fixed… some of it.”

Gouwa’s eyes lit up. “That strong? Lend me one of those doctors, will you? Maybe they can fix these white spots on my skin!”

“GOUWA! HAVE YOU NO SHAME?! We came all this way to gossip?!”

Seeing Chun Xiaoman’s hand already on her sword hilt and the blade an inch out of its sheath, Gouwa stumbled back a few steps and wisely shut his mouth.

Taking a deep breath, Chun Xiaoman turned back to Gao Zhijian. “Since Senior Brother Li and Miaomiao are here, can you take us to see them?”

“Junior Sister Bai, yes. Senior Brother Li… no. The way he is right now… not fit to be seen.”

“Not fit? Did he peel his own skin again? What happened?”

Gao Zhijian hesitated. “I don’t know… how to tell you. It’s hard to explain. When Brother Li is better… then you can ask him yourself.”

“Fine. Then take me to see Miaomiao first.” A note of urgency crept into Chun Xiaoman’s voice. She wouldn’t rest easy until she saw them alive.

Gao Zhijian nodded and led the others toward the imperial kitchen.

“Your Majesty.” Four eunuchs knelt before him. “Your Majesty, you are the True Dragon, the Son of Heaven—a body worth ten thousand gold. Such lowly matters can be handled by your servants.”

Gao Zhijian scratched the back of his head, knocking his golden bead-and-dragon crown askew. “All right. Take Xiaoman to see… Junior Sister Bai.”

The others were about to follow Chun Xiaoman when Gao Zhijian held them back. “Do any of you… want anything? I’m the emperor now. I can give you anything.”

“For real? Anything?” Gouwa’s eyes gleamed.

“Anything.”

“You said it. Then let me sit on the throne.”

“How dare you!” The old eunuchs’ piercing rebuke nearly made Gouwa wet himself. “I… I was just kidding! We used to joke like that all the time…”

Gao Zhijian waved them off, looking at Gouwa with a complicated expression. “That one… no. Being emperor isn’t a good thing. Pick something else.”

After glancing nervously at the eunuchs, Gouwa thought for a moment, then tiptoed to whisper something in Gao Zhijian’s ear.

When he finished, Gao Zhijian nodded, said “good,” then turned to Zhao Wu. “What about you?”

Zhao Wu, leaning on his crutch, looked toward where Chun Xiaoman had disappeared, then back at Gao Zhijian with a complicated expression. He shook his head. “I don’t want anything.”

Gao Zhijian didn’t press him. He asked Yang Xiaohai, “Do you?”

Yang Xiaohai looked nervous. “Senior Brother Gao… really anything?”

“Mm. Anything.”

“Then… can you help me find my parents? Can you find them?” Yang Xiaohai’s voice grew excited.

Gao Zhijian’s face showed a flicker of hesitation. He summoned an old eunuch, asked a question, and the eunuch walked over to Yang Xiaohai, studying him up and down before speaking in a reedy voice: “Do you have your birth date and hour?”

“What’s… a birth date and hour?”

“The date and time you were born.”

“Oh, that.” Yang Xiaohai’s face lit up with understanding, then fell. “I don’t know.”

The old eunuch’s saggy cheek twitched. He reached out a claw-like hand and felt Yang Xiaohai’s bones. “Come with me.”

Gao Zhijian gave Yang Xiaohai a reassuring look, and the boy followed the eunuch uneasily.

Just as Yang Xiaohai left the hall, Chun Xiaoman had already found Bai Lingmiao in the imperial kitchen, stirring a pot of congee.

“Miaomiao!” Unable to hold back tears, Chun Xiaoman rushed from behind and threw her arms around Bai Lingmiao’s slim waist.

“Careful—don’t spill the congee!”

Bai Lingmiao carefully set the bowl of congee she had just ladled onto the stove edge, then gently returned the embrace. “Xiaoman Jie… what are you doing here? Don’t cry. I really did have to leave suddenly—I didn’t have time to come back.”

“I left a letter for Senior Brother Li. I thought he would tell you.”

Bai Lingmiao soothed her for a while longer until Chun Xiaoman’s tears stopped. “Next time, no matter where you go, take me with you, okay? It’s too dangerous following Senior Brother Li.”

“Xiaoman Jie, don’t say that about him. His illness… it seems to be better now.”

Chun Xiaoman shook her head firmly. “No. You’re too beautiful. If something happened, what would we do? It’s settled.”

“Besides, I’ve mastered all the White Lotus divine fighting techniques—I’m even stronger than before. I can definitely protect you!”

Bai Lingmiao gave a faint smile. “I know.”

“You know? How?”

“Wait. I’ll explain slowly when I get back. I need to take this bird’s nest porridge to Senior Brother Li first. If it gets cold, it won’t be as nourishing.”

Bai Lingmiao let go of Chun Xiaoman, placed the porridge in a food box, and headed out of the imperial kitchen.

“I’ll go with you, then. I want to see him too.”

“No, really, no. Senior Brother Li… isn’t fit to be seen right now. I’ll be quick—out in a moment. Wait for me here, Xiaoman Jie.”