Chapter One: The Rebellious Son
The Emperor’s roar shook the very rafters.
“Send someone at once to geld that unfilial wretch, Li Chengqian! I want to see how he can keep cozying up to that vile servant called Charming Heart once he has nothing left between his legs!”
In the imperial study, Li Shimin was beside himself with fury. The thin sheet of paper in his hand crackled as he crushed it in his grip.
It was a love letter from the Crown Prince, Li Chengqian, to his male favorite, Charming Heart. The handwriting was crooked and awkward, yet the contents were sickeningly intimate and unabashedly lewd, dripping with a revolting air of sensuality.
“Bastard! The heir to the Tang, the future Son of Heaven, actually consorting with a catamite and writing such filthy, obscene nonsense! He has disgraced my face, and the face of the Tang as well!”
Standing nearby, Changsun Wuji lowered his head deeply. He knew the Emperor was speaking in anger and would not dare truly carry out such an order.
So he kept his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, scarcely daring to breathe.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the handwriting on the page, and his heart lurched. This was bad.
He knew that hand. It was unmistakably Crown Prince Li Chengqian’s.
“Please calm Your Majesty’s wrath and treasure your sacred health,” Changsun Wuji said with a bow, choosing his words carefully. “Perhaps the Crown Prince was only momentarily muddled. Young men are often unsettled in mind and may stray in judgment.”
“Muddled?” Li Shimin snapped around, his gaze sharp as a blade. “Auxiliary Machine, tell me: is this muddled? The heir to the Tang writing this sort of thing to a catamite!”
He had spent his life on horseback and on campaign; there was nothing he had not seen. But for such a disgrace to occur in the person of his most favored legitimate eldest son was more stifling, more infuriating, than suffering a battlefield defeat.
“Since I took the throne, I have labored day and night for the realm of Tang. And what is your Crown Prince doing all day long to repay me?”
The more Li Shimin spoke, the angrier he became, his chest heaving violently.
“He has never written even half a kind word to me, his father-emperor, yet he writes to a vile servant in such... tender detail!”
For an ordinary family, keeping a male favorite might be nothing more than a private indulgence, the sort of thing people laughed about in the streets.
But he was the Crown Prince. The future emperor.
This was not merely a lapse in private virtue. It was a matter that shook the very foundations of the state.
If word of this spread, what would remain of the imperial family’s dignity?
Only then did Changsun Wuji dare speak up faintly. “Your Majesty, the Crown Prince... is not in the Eastern Palace.”
“Not in the Eastern Palace?” Li Shimin frowned. “Then where is he? Has he gone off to carouse again?”
The inner attendant lowered his head even further, his voice thin as a mosquito’s buzz.
He had gone to a pleasure house in the capital called Heaven and Earth.
“Heaven and Earth?”
For a moment Li Shimin froze. Then his fury surged anew.
“Fine! Heaven and Earth indeed! My Crown Prince has quite the spirit!”
He rose abruptly, the hem of his dragon robe sweeping out behind him. “Auxiliary Machine, come with me!”
“I want to see for myself what sort of mortal paradise this ‘Heaven and Earth’ is, that it can make my Crown Prince so enamored he will not even return to the Eastern Palace!”
Changsun Wuji inwardly sensed trouble, but he knew that trying to dissuade the Emperor would only pour oil on the fire. He could only brace himself and answer, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Half an hour later.
Two carriages came to a stop beneath the enormous signboard of Heaven and Earth.
Even by daylight, the place exuded an air of lavish dissipation.
The attendants standing at the door were all young and lovely women.
Most wore boldly tailored brocade jackets on top, exposing pale arms and a narrow strip of waist.
But what truly stunned the eye were their legs.
They were wrapped in an extremely thin black fabric, clinging closely to the skin.
Neither of the two men had ever seen such attire, nor would they have imagined women could dress in such a way.
Even in the relatively open-minded city of Chang’an in the Tang, it was still outrageously revealing.
Li Shimin drew back the carriage curtain and, seeing this spectacle, gave a cold laugh.
“So this is a place of filth and corruption! Has that little beast been spending his days in a den like this?”
Changsun Wuji hurriedly soothed him in a low voice. “Please calm yourself, Your Majesty. This... at least shows that the Crown Prince... is still rather interested in women, and not entirely given over to...”
He did not dare say the next two words aloud.
Li Shimin’s mouth twitched, and he was left speechless.
The moment they stepped down, a middle-aged man with a fattened figure and a face full of sycophantic smiles hurried over with repeated bows.
“Welcome, honored sirs! Please come in, come in! You’ve come to the right place today, I assure you!”
Every other word from him was “honored sir.”
He spoke endlessly of imperial grandeur, of heavenly pleasures, of forgetting the cares of the mortal world and restoring a man’s vigor, until Li Shimin’s brow began to throb.
He had intended to announce his identity immediately, seize the reckless fellow, and have the entire establishment searched and confiscated.
But listening to those entirely unfamiliar enticements, he found that an absurd flicker of curiosity had risen in his heart.
He wanted to see just how his useless son had been led astray in such places by these seductive songs and honeyed words.
“Hmm.” Li Shimin suppressed his anger and said coldly, “Fine words are easy. I want to see what is so remarkable about this place.”
Seeing there might be a sale after all, the manager’s smile deepened, and he bent even lower at the waist. “Certainly, honored sir! I guarantee your satisfaction!”
Changsun Wuji stepped forward at once and said gravely, “Prepare your best private room for us.”
At that, the manager’s face showed a hint of difficulty. Rubbing his hands together, he said, “Oh dear, honored sir, that is quite unfortunate!”
“Our finest room, the number-one celestial chamber, was booked for the entire night early this morning by a distinguished guest. He is a regular here, and very generous with his silver!”
Li Shimin’s eyes flashed. A regular? Generous with his silver? Could it be that rebellious son of his?
“Then arrange the number-two celestial chamber!” Changsun Wuji frowned.
Seeing the deal settled, the manager beamed and hurriedly led the way. “Right this way, honored sirs! I promise you will not be disappointed!”
Li Shimin and Changsun Wuji followed him through several ornate corridors carved and painted in splendor, until they reached a secluded courtyard.
When the door was pushed open, the furnishings within were indeed luxurious: rosewood tables and chairs, a soft couch piled with fine embroidery. Only... why was there a wooden tub beneath the bed?
Li Shimin had no mind to admire such things.
After the manager poured tea, he impatiently waved him away. “Leave us for now. I will call if needed.”
Seeing that the two gentlemen had imposing bearing, the manager dared not say more. He could only answer with a flustered “Yes” and withdraw with a bow.
No sooner had the room fallen silent than Li Shimin drew a deep breath and focused his inner force into his ears.
In an instant, the sounds from the neighboring room came clearly through the wall.
“I say, Your Highness, why the rush? Isn’t it just moving to the Martial Virtue Hall? What’s the big deal?”
“Besides, even if the Emperor really does have that intention, getting anxious won’t help.”
“You should just settle down and remain Crown Prince. When you ascend the throne one day, whether the King of Wei lives or dies is nothing more than a matter of your word.”
“By then, forget the Martial Virtue Hall—if you told him to live in a pigsty, no one would dare so much as fart.”
“Hiss—”
Li Shimin drew in a sharp breath.
Who was this person, to dare incite the Crown Prince so brazenly?
Changsun Wuji was equally shaken, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
He glanced instinctively at Li Shimin.
The Emperor’s face had gone livid, and murderous intent was naked in his eyes.