Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I died an ugly, hasty death.

One cup of poisoned wine went down my throat, and before I could even offer a few reflections on the matter, I toppled face-first onto the desk.

Blood and wine spilled together, soaking the robe edged in gold thread that I was wearing.

It was the finest piece of clothing I owned.

Over the years, in order to help Si Li climb to that position and become a wise ruler remembered through the ages, I had worked myself to the bone.

As for clothes and adornment, I had never paid them much mind.

Not until Si Li successfully seized the throne.

He had someone work through the night to sew this robe, then sent it to my estate.

He had risen from nothing, from the abandoned son of the deposed empress in the cold palace to the Young Emperor he was today.

Every step of the way, I had supported him from behind.

He said he would honor me as his Imperial Tutor, and that on the day of his greatest glory, he wanted me to share this beautiful, prosperous age with him.

At the time, I laughed and scolded him as a little brat. The great undertaking was not yet complete, I said. He had merely set foot on the first step of a thousand-mile tower, and already he was floating so high.

But when the robe was truly delivered, I could not help sitting by the lamplight at my desk, stroking and admiring the exquisitely woven fabric again and again.

Every stitch and thread carried the feelings of the child I had raised with my own hands.

I treasured that robe dearly. Unless the occasion was important, I rarely took it out to wear.

By now, it had been three years since Si Li ascended the throne, and I had only worn it five times.

Three days ago, the Young Emperor, who had long since grown distant from me, suddenly sent someone to my estate to invite me to meet with him.

Before that, I had not spoken to him in a year.

Since Si Li had taken the initiative to seek me out, I was naturally delighted. But I could not show it too clearly, lest that brat think earning my forgiveness would be easy.

Three days later, I dressed properly, put on the splendid robe he had given me back then, and went to meet him.

Then I watched as he smiled, his brows and eyes gentle, and offered me a cup of wine.

There was poison in the wine. I knew it at a glance.

In the past, to achieve my ends and clear away enemies, I had used every clean and filthy method there was. How could I not know that Si Li had added something to the cup he handed me?

Still, he was considerate in the end. He had mixed plenty of osmanthus honey into the wine, enough to cover the poison’s sour bitterness.

I accepted it without much hesitation and drank it down. Before long, blood poured from all seven orifices, and I collapsed.

As if he had not expected me to die so smoothly, Si Li stood in the shadows with his back to the light, looking somewhat dazed.

The setting sun slanted lower, veiling his face in gloom.

From beginning to end, he stood there like a stone statue.

Only when I drank did his knuckles twitch, as if he wanted to stop me, but in the end, he did nothing.

After some unknown length of time, the voice of Great General Xie Cheyun sounded behind him.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty, for eliminating a great traitor! Our emperor is wise!”

He knelt and bowed his head, fists clasped before him, his eyes shining.

He was truly happy for Si Li.

Over the years, Si Li had relied on me far too heavily in matters of state.

Among the military officials, the faction led by Xie Cheyun had long been dissatisfied with my control over the court.

They were all soldiers I had selected for Si Li, the most loyal and devoted men I could find. Naturally, they would not allow an outsider with no blood ties to Si Li to remain by his side and threaten imperial power.

And Xie Cheyun was the sharpest, most unstoppable blade I had chosen for Si Li.

He was simple and upright by nature. In his youth, he had been framed by his own clan, his family property seized, and he had joined the army alone. Later, he was harmed by villains again and unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

I noticed him, secretly gathered information about his case, cleared his name, and then told Si Li that this man could be used, smoothly handing that favor over to Si Li.

Xie Cheyun valued gratitude deeply. In his eyes, Si Li was the only person in the world who had recognized his worth when he was destitute.

And after entrusting him with that faith, Si Li never doubted him.

From then on, Xie Cheyun would have gladly died for Si Li.

Among the subordinates he trained, anyone who dared harbor even the slightest disloyalty would be purged by Xie Cheyun’s own hand.

It was precisely because of this that, even though Xie Cheyun had never stopped targeting me over the years, I had still kept him until now.

Even though, after the emperor ascended the throne, Xie Cheyun had memorialized the court several times, requesting that I be granted death or exiled.

Si Li never accepted any of those petitions, and he declared publicly that no matter what others said, it would never change the fact that I would always be the teacher he respected most.

Xie Cheyun hated me for clouding the emperor’s judgment. Day and night, he worried I would harm Si Li, hating me so much he wished he could devour my flesh and bones.

And now, after so much difficulty, he had finally found his chance.

Xie Cheyun had brought a great army and surrounded the Chancellor’s estate as tightly as an iron barrel.

In his imagination, perhaps I would resort to trickery and flee. Perhaps I would fight to the death.

Most likely of all, I would do as I always had and use honeyed words to bewitch the emperor.

No matter what, there should have been a bloody battle today.

But I died just like that.

Without putting up any resistance, I obediently died.

As if thinking of this, Xie Cheyun, still kneeling where he was, looked toward me.

His eyes also went blank for a moment.

My life had been legendary.

From the daughter of an official’s family to a female tutor in the palace.

I had once earned the favor of the Late Empress and enjoyed a period of boundless glory.

Then, after the Late Empress was deposed, I carried the emperor, then still a small child, out of the cold palace by faking our deaths.

We lived in seclusion for ten years, until the new emperor rose.

Together, he and I waged campaigns north and south, united the Five Southern Kingdoms, and founded a new dynasty.

I was the founding Imperial Tutor of an age.

Many revered and feared me. Many others loathed me.

And now, in the prime of my life, I had been killed by a cup of poisoned wine in a small courtyard of the Chancellor’s estate.

This legend had ended far too casually.

Everyone found it difficult to come back to their senses. It all felt too sudden, too unexpected.

But they did not know that I had intended to die all along.

My mission was complete. It was time for me to return and report back.