Lu Xian once dreamed that the Prince of Hengyang became emperor, his cousin Luo became the empress, and Lu Yun died tragically.
The Lu family, representing the aristocratic families, was suppressed by the imperial power. In his dream, he was horrified and furious.
As a nobleman who usually indulged in landscapes, poetry, and paintings, seeing his younger brother die in such a manner, he felt heart-wrenching pain.
He doubted his nightmare and constantly questioned himself. A gentle, scholarly man began to view the world around him with new eyes, realizing that so many things had happened in places he didn’t know about…
For example, Lu Yun and his cousin stood in front of a cottage on a rainy night. The rain fell like lotus petals, splashing on the mossy corners under the trees. The two stood quietly, with the young man bending down to put a bamboo hat on her and helping her into a raincoat. The rain fell like threads, and worldly matters seemed far away.
That night, Lu Xian, tossed and turned and had another dream. This new dream was a continuation of the previous one—
Jianye was no longer the Jianye of old. In the dream, Jianye no longer attracted scholars or the admiration of aristocratic families. Lu Yun died in battle at the border. The new emperor, citing “delayed military action” and “bringing disaster to the country,” suppressed the top aristocratic families represented by the Lu family.
The new emperor was ruthless, and countless charges were fabricated against Lu Yun.
The Lu family, once a top aristocratic family, became the emperor’s thorn in the side overnight.
However, the influence of the great aristocratic families, with officials and scholars spread throughout the court, was not something the new emperor could easily suppress.
The aristocratic families, led by the Lu family, clashed with the imperial family represented by the new emperor. At the same time, after Lu Yun’s death, scholars across the land condemned the new emperor of the Southern Kingdom, pointing the root of all problems directly at him:
The new emperor had forced Lu Yun onto the battlefield without any understanding of the war situation at the border between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.
He also expelled the Prince of Chen, who had pleaded for Lu Yun, from Jianye. Lu Yun’s tragic death and the Prince of Chen’s exile pushed public anger to its peak.
Lu Yun was not just the third son of the Lu family in Danyang, Jianye; he was also a renowned scholar in the Southern Kingdom.
In this era, scholars were highly revered and had immense influence over the people. After Lu Yun’s death, almost all the scholars and people of the land felt wronged on his behalf. Even scholars from the Northern Kingdom mourned him.
These scholars, proud and unyielding, were unmoved by imperial authority and wrote poems and essays condemning the new emperor, who wished he could kill them all.
It was then that the new emperor realized the terrifying extent of the aristocratic families’ influence, and the scholars’ impact made his rule increasingly difficult.
The new emperor was reckless, and the aristocratic families were powerful. Their struggle was a case of mutual destruction. The aristocratic families, with their long-standing power, were dissatisfied with the new emperor and sought to depose him in favor of a more suitable ruler.
How could the new emperor tolerate this? Already impatient by nature, he was pushed to the brink and began a bloody purge.
At this time, the Northern Kingdom was watching closely. After Lu Yun’s death and while the Southern Kingdom’s emperor was busy with internal strife, the Northern Kingdom sent tens of thousands of troops south, crossing the Yangtze River, attacking Huanglong, and directly targeting Jianye.
However, by then, both the emperor and the aristocratic families had exhausted their resources in internal conflicts. The army was weary and unable to withstand the Northern Kingdom’s assault.
The Southern Kingdom was filled with lamentations, and the capital was in peril.
The emperor held court, and everyone racked their brains to come up with a plan to deal with the Northern Kingdom’s massive army. But with the enemy at the gates, panic set in. The discussions were chaotic, and even the emperor’s closest courtiers couldn’t help but say, “Your Majesty should not have killed Lu Yun…”
Even his own people began to waver and question his strategies. The new emperor, Liu Mu, who had been agitated for months, was furious. He drew his sword in court and shouted, “Shut up, all of you! What’s the use of saying this now? You’re giving me a headache… Now you all blame me, but didn’t you agree when we decided to suppress the aristocratic families?”
The pressure of the past few months had exhausted him, and he wept bitterly, “I am a doomed emperor… I have no words to face my ancestors in the afterlife. What are you all?”
“The enemy is at the gates, and instead of finding a solution, you’re busy blaming each other. Have you all prepared to flee?”
Liu Mu’s heart turned cold. He threw down his sword and left, unwilling to say another word to his courtiers. He had only been emperor for a few months, and so much had already happened.
In the dream, Lu Xian, watched as if through a fog, seeing the former Prince of Hengyang, now emperor, not as triumphant as he had imagined. He was exhausted, surrounded by enemies. Even the legitimacy of his throne was being questioned.
Liu Mu, filled with sorrow, left the Zhaoyang Palace and went to the empress’s quarters to talk. The palace was desolate, and everyone was anxious. With Jianye on the brink of falling, even the palace staff were planning to flee. As Liu Mu walked, he saw many palace maids and eunuchs fleeing, but he was too weary to deal with them. The palace was in chaos, with Taoist priests and shamans performing rituals, dressed in strange attire, jumping and chanting incomprehensible tunes. They were praying for Jianye to survive the crisis.
As Liu Mu walked through the palace, a maid carrying a bundle bumped into him. The maid was terrified, and her face turned pale when she saw him. The bundle in her arms fell to the ground, and scrolls and gold and silver items spilled out.
Liu Mu noticed the maid’s strange behavior and looked down. He saw a scroll unfurled, revealing a painting. It was an ordinary landscape painting, but what made Liu Mu’s face change was the signature: “Plum Seeking Recluse.”
Liu Mu’s face turned pale, and his mind went blank.
“Plum Seeking Recluse” was none other than the deceased Lu Yun, Lu Third Young Master. After Lu Yun’s death, the emperor had ordered a thorough search and burned all of Plum Seeking Recluse’ poems and paintings in the world. The emperor despised the scholars who challenged him and avoided mentioning Lu Yun. He never expected that one day, a maid fleeing the empress’s quarters would carry such a painting…
Luo Lingyu!
She really did it!
The maid knelt and begged for mercy, crying, “It has nothing to do with the empress… Her Majesty only told me to flee.” But Liu Mu was no longer listening. He kicked the maid aside and drew a sword from a guard. The young emperor, his face filled with rage, his eyes bloodshot, strode into the empress’s chambers, his voice trembling with anger, “Luo Lingyu!”
In the dream, Lu Xian, Lu Second Young Master, who had been watching like a detached spirit, followed the former Prince of Hengyang’s gaze and saw his cousin Luo Lingyu, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time. The curtains were drawn, and the lady sat quietly in front of her dressing table, lost in thought. She was elegant and beautiful, like a painting of a noble lady. She was a sight to behold, but the emperor stormed in, sword in hand. The emperor’s sword parted the curtains, and the blade pointed at the lady, who turned to look at him calmly. Liu Mu shouted:
“You still have his painting!”
In the dream, Luo Lingyu was stunned for a moment, then said, “I married you.”
Liu Mu laughed bitterly, stepped forward, and grabbed her neck. The lady had just stood up when he pushed her down onto the bed. She gasped, her slender neck red from his grip, her breathing uneven, her beautiful eyes fixed on the emperor.
Liu Mu said coldly, “I’m losing power, and now you won’t even pretend anymore, will you? You blame me for killing him, don’t you? After he died, you hated me to the core, didn’t you?”
Luo Lingyu struggled to breathe, “No, I don’t…”
“Stop lying to me! Stop lying to me! I am your husband, why do you always put on an act for me?” The accumulated resentment and frustration burst forth.
Liu Mu roared, his neck red, veins bulging, “I forced you to marry me, you weren’t willing… Did you think I didn’t know? After you were chosen as my consort, you still met him! You two were a perfect match… I didn’t hold it against you because you didn’t have any affairs with him after the marriage, but you… you still kept his painting! You admired Plum Seeking Recluse, and now that he’s dead, you must hate me to the core, don’t you?”
Luo Lingyu said calmly, “I… I didn’t… He’s already gone…”
Liu Mu suddenly calmed down, “Your heart is ice, no, you have no heart at all. Except for him, any man could marry you, and you wouldn’t care, would you? You were submissive to me on the surface, but I never knew what you were really thinking. Now I know, you still hate me for taking you away from him. If it weren’t for me, with your skills, you might have really married into the Lu family… But I didn’t wrong you. Neither of you would back down, both waiting for the other to give in. Even if it weren’t me… you wouldn’t have married him!”
“He’s dead, and you hate me. I don’t need a woman who is half-hearted.”
The young emperor threw down his sword and grabbed the lady’s slender neck with both hands.
His eyes were bloodshot, as if about to shed tears, watching her beautiful face turn pale, watching her wither like a flower in his hands.
The lady’s long black hair cascaded like silk over his arm.
He suddenly remembered the first time he saw her, her stunning beauty.
Now she lay beneath him, still beautiful, but she didn’t struggle, didn’t use her usual tricks to please him, didn’t try to survive. Perhaps her heart had truly turned cold… After all, she didn’t love him, so as the empire crumbled, she didn’t care anymore?
The emperor was filled with sorrow, tears welling in his eyes, “Lingyu… Yu’er… Don’t blame me…”
Lu Xian, floated like a spirit beside them, watching the emperor’s tear-filled eyes, watching the lady’s breathing grow weaker. Lu Xian rushed over, wanting to save his cousin, but he couldn’t touch them. He could only cry out in despair, “No! Stop, stop—”
Beyond the deep palace, the shamans shook their bells, danced, and chanted, still performing their rituals. But no one knew what kind of ritual it was or what result they sought. In the dream, Liu Mu couldn’t hear Lu Xian’s voice. His face was stiff, and after the lady in his arms stopped breathing, he was in a daze. Then he hugged her tightly and burst into tears, murmuring, “I’m sorry… Yu’er, don’t blame me… If there’s a next life, if there’s a next life…”
“Don’t meet me…”
“Why did it come to this… Betrayed by all, Jianye empty, even you are not mine…”
“Was it all a mistake?”
Amid the shamans’ chants, the emperor hugged the deceased empress and wept. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and the ground shook. From afar, a palace servant screamed hysterically, “Your Majesty, flee—the palace gates have been breached by the Northern Kingdom’s army!”
In the silence, Liu Mu sat beside the dead lady, his head bowed, the dim light casting shadows on his handsome face. His face was streaked with tears, exhausted, too tired to speak. The palace was in chaos, everyone fleeing in all directions. He took one last look at the beautiful woman beside him, picked up the sword he had thrown aside, and placed it against his neck. Blood spurted out…
“No!” Lu Xian gasped and woke up from the dream. His face was flushed, and his back was drenched in sweat, soaking through his padded jacket.
His mother, who was sitting beside him to wipe his sweat, was startled by his sudden awakening, “What’s wrong with you, child? Why do you keep having fevers lately? In just one month, you’ve had two fevers. I’m so worried… Are you feeling better now? Maybe it’s time to find you a wife to take care of you. Otherwise, I have to come in the middle of the night…”
As his mother chattered on, Lu Xian sat in a daze—
Was the dream real?
The pain felt so real.
His younger brother died, his cousin Luo died, Liu Mu died, and the Southern Kingdom fell. With the empire in ruins, how could the Lu family protect itself? Everything was over… Was this the final outcome? The dream he hadn’t finished that day, had he finally seen the ending today?
Looking at his mother, he thought about how she would inevitably perish in the coming turmoil. The Lu family would perish, Jianye would perish, the entire Southern Kingdom would…
Lu Xian clutched his chest, his gaze fixed, and he fell back with a thud, fainting again. His mother was terrified, patting his back and calling for help, but he didn’t wake up.
She quickly called back the doctor who had just left. She was deeply worried, asking what illness her son had: he had never been this weak before…
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