A Petition Unto Death
The imperial harem.
Kneeling beside the couch, Consort Chu pressed her fingers to the Emperor's temples as he rested with his eyes closed. The Emperor clenched his right fist and lightly tapped his forehead. It felt as though his head would split open.
The students of the Imperial Academy could not be arrested now. To seize them would only make the affair blow up far larger.
Not a single day of peace had come since Bai Weiting died.
The way they pounded on that worn old Dengwen Drum—did they all take Wude Gate for their own backyard?
The Emperor was nearly mad with suffocating frustration.
"Your Majesty, Lord Yu of the Court of Judicial Review has arrived."
At those words, the Emperor raised a hand to signal Consort Chu to stop. He wanted to sit up, but the headache came crashing in again and he lay back down, pressing a hand to his brow and shutting his eyes.
Yu Zhen entered the chamber, offered his respects, and spoke.
"Your Majesty, together with the Crown Prince, we have completed our investigation into the examination fraud. We have found evidence that Wen Jinkang and the four assistant examiners took bribes, and the Vice Chancellor and doctors of the Imperial Academy are even now reviewing the palace examination papers again.
After several rounds of deliberation, we have identified ten more fraudulent papers! Aside from Ye Yuanjing, Ye Yuanbo, Jin Lang, Dong Zhangyuan, and Jin Shilu—who genuinely earned their places in the top ten—the rest were all ranked far lower. The Vice Chancellor has also uncovered a few genuinely capable men hidden in the papers, likely poor scholars who could not afford to send gifts..."
The Emperor opened his eyes. They were filled to the brim with murderous fury.
"Behead Wen Jinkang and the four assistant examiners! Issue the decree. This spring examination's results are annulled; it will be held again in February of next year."
"Your Majesty, how wise you are."
Yu Zhen knelt and proclaimed it loudly.
Consort Chu handed the Emperor a handkerchief soaked in ice water.
"Your Majesty, please cool your fever with this cold cloth."
The moment the cold handkerchief touched his forehead, he felt a measure of relief.
"And the Crown Prince?"
"Your Majesty, at this moment the Crown Prince is outside Wude Gate, consoling the students of the Imperial Academy and doing his best to persuade them to go home."
Yu Zhen answered with his head bowed. In truth, the Crown Prince had been none too willing to humble himself so low.
"Those students out there, kneeling like that—what in the world do they want from me?"
the Emperor asked, his face heavy with disgust.
Yu Zhen gathered his words for a moment before speaking again.
"Your Majesty, the students outside say that the court of Jin is so thoroughly dominated by powerful ministers that the common people suffer injustice with nowhere to appeal. They say the meritorious noble clans band together and shield one another, and they beg Your Majesty to punish the murderers severely! And..."
"And what?"
The Emperor's voice grew louder still. Unable to bear the pain, he clutched the handkerchief tightly.
"And they say that the Commandery Princess's slaughter of the surrendered soldiers violated Heaven's way, and they beg Your Majesty to punish this cruel and savage person, so that Jin may recover its name for strength and virtue. They demand that those who truly sought justice for the realm and upheld righteousness not be allowed to die wronged. If Your Majesty does not grant their petition, the students of the Imperial Academy intend to offer a remonstrance unto death!"
At those words the Emperor's rage erupted in an instant, and he flung the ice-cold handkerchief from his hand.
"A remonstrance unto death? Then let them try dying! They've all seized on my weakness, pounding the Dengwen Drum at every turn and threatening me with their miserable lives!"
"Your Majesty, the imperial physicians have arrived. Your health must come first."
Gao Demu said quietly.
With a pained expression, the Emperor clutched his head and stretched out a hand toward Gao Demu. He wanted the cold cloth—he said nothing about letting the physicians in.
"There has not been a quiet day at the Dengwen Drum since last year! Even under Gaozu and every emperor through the late Emperor combined, it never rang this often! Do they all mean to borrow that drum and proclaim me a benighted ruler to the world?"
Yu Zhen hastily knelt and bowed.
"How could the students dare harbor such thoughts! Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
"Calm my anger? Where would I find the courage to even dare be angry!"
The Emperor snatched the handkerchief Gao Demu offered, pressed it to his forehead, and closed his eyes. His chest heaved with ragged breathing.
"They wrap themselves in the banner of righteous remonstrance to corner me! All to trample my face and raise up their own false reputations! They mean for the censors to record me in the annals as a tyrant no better than King Zhou of Shang!"
Headache and fury crashed over the Emperor all at once, and he collapsed onto the couch.
"Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty!"
The great hall descended into chaos, and Gao Demu, supporting the Emperor, cried out in a thin, straining voice:
"The physicians! Quickly! The physicians!"
Within the palace, the Emperor collapsed from acute distress.
Outside the palace, the students of the Imperial Academy sat cross-legged on the ground. All of them were exhausted by now; only a few still shouted in hoarse voices.
"Ministers cover the sky with a single hand, and the people suffer injustice with nowhere to appeal! The meritorious clans collude and shield one another—Your Majesty, punish the murderers! Punish the cruel and savage one, and restore Jin's name for strength and virtue!"
In those few phrases were the names of both Lv Yuanfeng and Bai Jingyan.
"Hear me, all of you!"
the Crown Prince shouted.
"This matter has already been handed over to the Court of Judicial Review. The coroners are conducting the autopsy even now. If it is proven that Im Xing died from Lv Yuanfeng's beating, then I too will never shield him! The renowned and upright coroner Liu Sanjin of the capital has been appointed to conduct it, so rest your hearts!"
Liu Sanjin was famous for his integrity. He always reported autopsy findings exactly as they were, and he was not a man who would ever bend before power. Many great cases had been resolved through his hands—when he solved the case involving the censor Jian Zhongwen back in the day, the father of Consort Dong had offered him a fortune of a hundred taels in silver as a bribe, and Liu Sanjin had carried the gold straight to the Court of Judicial Review.
That was how Liu Sanjin earned his name.
At the news that Liu Sanjin would conduct the autopsy, the students of the Imperial Academy glanced at one another and nodded.
"We will wait here for the verdict, together with the mother of Im Xing!"
said the students who still had breath left in them.
Then someone else spoke up.
"And what will Your Majesty and the Crown Prince do about Bai Jingyan? Im Xing's death is bound up with Bai Jingyan. Bai Jingyan killed surrendered soldiers. The rival states watch our Jin like wolves eyeing their prey. Bai Jingyan has sullied Jin's name for virtue and stained the nation with infamy—yet Your Majesty has enfeoffed Bai Jingyan as a commandery princess! We cannot accept this. Your Majesty must impose stern punishment upon this traitor to the realm."
"That is another matter entirely. We came to seek justice for Im Xing!"
One of the students frowned, as if he could not endorse the words.
"We did not come here to beg the Emperor to punish the Commandery Princess. Whatever else may be said, the Commandery Princess killed the surrendered soldiers to defend the realm—to win victory with a smaller force. Had she not, it would have been our own people of Jin who were slaughtered."
"Have you forgotten what that man from Wei said at Fanjuelou? He said this affair had ruined Jin's reputation among the rival states. Just as Im Xing said—Bai Jingyan killed a hundred thousand surrendered soldiers, so one day the rival states may kill a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, four hundred thousand of our people... or even more!
Since antiquity, a gentleman has had to stand upon virtue, and a wise ruler has had to govern his realm through benevolence. A great nation, likewise, must treat the other states with the grace of magnanimity. For decades our Jin has stood as the hegemon, the nation all others looked up to in reverence. But if the killing of surrendered soldiers leads every state to follow that example, the world of men will become a hell."
"Then why, pray, did men of such exalted virtue as yourselves not defeat the Xiliang army at the time?"
As the students fell to arguing among themselves, the argument turned in a way that left no room for anyone to defend Bai Jingyan—and the Crown Prince could only stand quietly to the side and watch.
Inside Wude Gate, the head eunuch slipped out and whispered into the Crown Prince's ear that the Emperor had collapsed. The Crown Prince's head throbbed in an instant; he hurried into the palace after the eunuch.
The next morning, at the hour of the rabbit, Bai Jingyan had scarcely stepped out of the estate when word reached her that Old Master Guan Yongchong's carriage had entered the city and was making for Wude Gate.
Bai Jinchi, who had been about to ride out with her toward the imperial clan hall, tightened her grip on the reins and turned to look at Bai Jingyan.
"Sister..."
Old Master Guan Yongchong was Bai Jingyan's revered teacher—a Grand Confucian whose name stood alongside Cui Shi'an's, the foremost scholar of the age.
The heart of the Confucian teaching is benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.
Bai Jinchi worried that even Old Master Guan might be unable to accept what her elder sister had done to the surrendered soldiers. If even her sister's own teacher declared that she had done wrong, then Bai Jingyan would have no defense left at all.
Scholars and their students lived far removed from war—how could they know the cruelty of the battlefield? How could the truth that kill or be killed ever truly pierce their skin?
Bai Jingyan mounted her horse.
"Let's go."
By the time Bai Jingyan arrived, Old Master Guan's carriage was already stationed outside Wude Gate. The students of the Imperial Academy, taking him for one who had come to raise their banner in support, bowed to him in unison.
"Master Guan—how is it that you have come all this way, Master Guan?"
Supported by his servant, Guan Yongchong bent his frame and stepped down from a carriage with a lantern fixed to its corner. Gazing with gentle eyes at the students clutching their placards, their faces flushed with excitement, he spoke.
"I heard that the students of the Imperial Academy were kneeling outside Wude Gate, begging His Majesty to punish the grandson of Chancellor Yu severely—and to punish Bai Jingyan, the direct disciple of this old man. So I have come especially to see it for myself."
The students' faces froze solid. Bai Jingyan was the direct disciple of Master Guan?
But Bai Jingyan was a woman!
"I have already heard of the killing of the Xiliang surrendered soldiers at Wengshan Canyon. Just now someone said this: that a gentleman must stand upon virtue, that a wise ruler must govern through benevolence, and that a great nation must treat the other states with the grace of magnanimity. I think the same."
When Old Master Guan said this, the student who had uttered those very words moments before hurriedly stepped forward and bowed in salute—with an expression of immense pride.
But Guan Yongchong continued.
"And yet... did Xiliang not invade our Great Jin? Tens of thousands of our bravest Bai family soldiers were caught in treacherous plots and slaughtered to the last man. Tianmenguan Pass was breached, the great gates stood flung open, and the people's hearts trembled in fear. Great Jin was being driven back by the Xiliang army—how could it have dared call itself a great nation? It ought to have reflected. It ought to have asked itself how the mighty Jin had fallen into such weakness."
Old Master Guan's voice drifted, unhurried, across the square. The old man's voice rolled out like the strike of a great bronze bell.
"To treat the states with benevolence and grace—that is right and proper. But have you all forgotten? Did the sage not teach that in times of hardship one must first cultivate one's own virtue, and that only when strength is won must one labor so that all people under heaven may benefit?
The battle of Wengshan was war used to stop war—a battle forced upon her, not one she sought. If it had not been so, then why—with a woman's body, and one so gravely wounded that every trace of her martial power had been lost—why would she have volunteered to throw herself into the flames of war, when she could have lived in comfort and ease in the capital?"