In the winter of Jing Yuan’s seventh year, on the third day of October, the snow was falling heavily.

“What are you people so frightened for? If he’s not cured, each and every one of you will be buried alive with him!” The voice of a man that still sounded a little young and childish echoed within the emperor’s chamber. He turned back and sobbed in grief, “Elder brother…”

A man lay on the imperial bed with both eyes closed tight. His face that was of matchless handsomeness was now shaded pale with sickness.

Even so, his whole body still emitted an unconcealable imperial dignity that demanded respect. This person was the emperor of this dynasty, His Majesty Yu Jin Tang, the emperor of the era of Jing Yuan.

The emperor of Jing Yuan ascended the throne at 25, and even though he had only been emperor for 7 years, His Majesty had done all he could to make his country prosperous.

When the Huns attacked last May, the emperor personally led the army to fight against the attackers and was able to drive them back over 300 li. The whole nation jubilantly celebrated his feat. And so, when the news of the emperor’s severe injury reached them, the army couldn’t help but rush back to the capital.

Within the emperor’s chambers, outside the hall for state ceremonies, the long jade staircase glowed greyish white under the cloudy skies. The slowly falling snow carpeted the surface of the stairs, and yet no one took the initiative to clean it up.

Armored imperial guards stonily stood along the sides of the staircase, giving the already heavy atmosphere an even grimmer feeling.

The dynasty of Great Yu was at its prime, and for it to suffer such a sudden catastrophe…  Not only was the younger brother of the emperor sobbing painfully on his knees, outside the hall, even the general that brought the emperor back couldn’t stop the tears from pooling within his fierce eyes.

The emperor had no sons, but he had appointed his younger brother as his heir and successor early on. However, the emperor’s younger brother was still young in age and if His Majesty were to be unable to make it through, everyone was afraid that the Great Yu dynasty could fall into a precarious state.

Because of this reason, the general couldn’t refrain from spitting on the man that was tied against the dragon-wreathed column just outside the hall. Even after that, he still felt that his wrath hadn’t subsided, and the general raised his fist to punch him.

“A scholar would rather die than be humiliated. I, Zhang Xiao Ren, wholeheartedly only have the best interest of our country in my mind. Despite that, why do you raise your fist against me?”

The man tied against the dragon-wreathed column wore the court dress of a civil official, and just by looking at the intricate design of the dress, one could tell that it was of high quality. He seemed to be around 40 years old, and he held his chin up, firm and unyielding.

“For the good of the country? You’re the one who plotted with the Huns and tried to assassinate the emperor!” With bloodshot red eyes, the general punched Zhang Xiao Ren in his face, wiping that serious and proud expression off his face.

“Pah,” Zhang Xiao Ren spat out a mouthful of blood, “The emperor was too obstinate in his own arbitrary path. He had to make some male his empress, going against the heavenly principles! I did this for our nation, our…” Before he could finish his words, the general punched him again on his solar plexus.

“Clang!” The sound of clashing armor resonated within the area, startling the soldiers that were lost in their sadness and wrath. Everyone in the vicinity raised their heads dazedly to look at the origin of the sound.

The armed imperial soldiers that were standing on both sides of the staircase knelt down one after another. At the end of the jade staircase, stood a man in a yellow, phoenix-patterned, wide-sleeved robe. The man climbed the steps one at a time, slowly going up.

The man was young and elegant, possessing clear and bright features as well as a body like tall bamboo. Even as the greyish light from the cloudy skies shone upon his slightly pale, handsome face, it couldn’t conceal his beauty.

“Paying respect to His Highness the Empress!” The general immediately knelt down in greeting, but Zhang Xiao Ren beside him closed his mouth and sniffed disdainfully instead.

The person who had arrived was the very first male empress since the founding of the Great Yu empire—Song Xiao.

He had passed the provincial civil service examination at the young age of 14, and participated in the metropolitan examination at the age of 17. Because of his overwhelming talent at such a young age, he became a Zhuang Yuan[2] that was noticed by the previous emperor and rose to become the vice minister of the ministry of revenue in his early twenties.

He had a limitless future, and even the always frigid Zhang Xiao Ren acknowledged his talent. But two years ago, because of an imperial edict, the vice minister became an empress…

His Highness the Empress didn’t pay any mind to Zhang Xiao Ren’s disrespect, and unlike the usual, didn’t return the greetings of the general. Instead, he maintained his even and unhurried steps, walking into the imperial chamber.

The room was filled with medicinal fragrance, and 13 imperial physicians were kneeling with their foreheads on the ground, not uttering a single word. Wearing the apricot yellow uniform of the crown prince, the imperial brother knelt before the dragon bed with his head buried in the blanket, his expression could not be ascertained.

A bony hand slowly reached out from under the bright yellow cover and moved to pat the emperor’s younger brother’s head. “You’ve memorized it?”  A low, deep and pleasant voice spoke up, not sounding feeble in the least.

“Uuu….” The younger brother raised his head and nodded at his elder brother. When he felt the presence of someone behind him, he slowly turned his head back to see the empress standing next to some imperial physicians, face devoid of any feelings. He stood there, silently, not speaking or moving forward.

Song Xiao, who was talking to an imperial physician in a low voice, felt the gaze of the two brothers on him, so he too turned his head to look at them.

Although the emperor’s face was still ashen, it was better than how it had been. The paleness had now receded, even having some semblance of color on it. At the very least, the emperor looked more spirited than the pale-faced Song Xiao.

“… His Majesty’s old disease isn’t cured yet, and the weather of the northern wall is severely cold. Not to mention, the arrow managed to damage his heart. We are powerless to help him….” The head of the imperial physicians shakily said, knees to the ground.

Song Xiao raised his hand slightly, stopping the imperial physician from speaking any further.

“Leave us alone, I… cough cough… have something to say to the empress.” The emperor started to cough before he even finished his sentence, the vibration of his cough affecting the injury on his chest, and a thin line of cold sweat appeared above his brows.

“Elder brother!” The younger brother of the emperor wanted to rush over to support him, but he was waved away, so he could only walk out with the rest while turning his head back worriedly with each step he took.

The emperor leaned back against a thick pillow and watched as Song Xiao came closer step by step. The scene in front of him started to blur, and for a moment he saw Song Xiao wearing the uniform of a Zhuang Yuan, smiling proudly. Another blink and he saw him wearing a bright red phoenix robe, both eyes full of trepidation but still trying to act calm…

After blinking his eyes rapidly, the days of spring at Lu Ming feast[3], the red candles of the bridal chamber all faded away, and the only thing that remained was his ever delicate and pretty face, gazing silently at him.

“Does it hurt?” Song Xiao slowly raised his hands and touched the part of the bandage that has been dyed in blood, fingers quivering slightly.

A warm and strong hand reached forward to tightly grip onto Song Xiao’s. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said, “I have written my imperial edict, you have to give me a burial with the living!”

Song Xiao raised his head and silently stared at him. There is an almost scarlet glint within the emperor’s deep dark eyes, stubbornness obvious within those frenzied eyes.

On the year that he turned 22, ever since the Lu Ming banquet where Yu Jin Tang saw that Zhuang Yuan with his face full of smiles, he had decided to make him his empress.

Since it was impossible without the throne, he went ahead and snatched the throne for himself. Even as his relatives opposed him and his courtiers threatened him with death, saying that the emperor is capricious, causing internal disturbance during times of foreign aggression, he went ahead and quelled the country, driving away the Huns.

Now, with him on his deathbed, how could he be willing to let go of the love that he exhausted everything in order to obtain.

“Since Your Majesty wishes for my death, if I were to not die, it would be disloyal.” Song Xiao lowered his eyes, not feeling the slightest surprise at the fact that the emperor wished for him to follow even in death. The emperor had always been this kind of person, no matter what he did, he never asked for Song Xiao’s opinion, but made the decision for him instead.

The emperor frowned slightly, tightly gripping onto Song Xiao’s hand. A sharp pain spread from his chest, his face starting to pale, losing the color that was there before. As his strength slowly faded together with the pain, he stubbornly stared at Song Xiao and replied hoarsely, “You are mine, and can only be mine alone!”

Because of the tight grip, those slender fingers began to turn white, and a ring of purple appeared on Song Xiao’s wrist. And then, it started to loosen slowly, before falling lifelessly onto the yellow sheets with a thud.

Song Xiao absent-mindedly grasped onto that unmoving hand, feeling a suffocating numbness starting to spread through his whole body. He wheezed three times before slowly getting his breath back.

Slowly, he removed the pillow behind the emperor for him to be more comfortable, and carefully smoothed out the emperor’s messy hair.

“Yu Jin Tang, did you die just like that?” Song Xiao raised a finger and softly caressed the face that was now very pale. “I have just become the empress, and you haven’t even given me this year’s salary…” It was you who told me the salary of an empress is higher than that of a vice minister, that was the reason why I agreed to marry you.

He spoke silently, again and again by the bedside. After the realization that that person would never be able to answer him ever again dawned upon him, Song Xiao stood up, and took the double-edged sword that was hanging on the wall.

Mo Ye is the name of this sword, something the emperor found accidentally beyond the great wall. According to the legends, it is a sword of the gods, and if placed within the imperial chamber, it could repel evil spirits and misfortune.

“Shiiiing–” The removal of the blade from its sheath made a sound like a dragon’s cry, and the light reflected on its sharp blade blinded Song Xiao for a moment. He wielded the sword and positioned it by his neck.

“Brother-in-law, you can’t!” The imperial brother pushed the door open with a loud bang, and rushed over as fast as an arrow to remove the blade from Song Xiao’s hands.

“Oh, Your Majesty!” The general who rushed in together immediately threw himself by the imperial bed, kneeling down with a loud thud, and started to cry loudly.

The supervisor-in-chief eunuch Cao presented them a box, and the imperial brother held the sword in one hand while giving the box to Song Xiao with his other hand. With his eyes still red, he said, “Brother-in-law, this is the imperial edict. You should be the one who read it out.”

Song Xiao wanted to take back the sword, but the younger brother was skilled, definitely not someone a frail scholar like him could take on. He spared a glance to the soldiers standing guard outside before looking back into the imperial brother’s pair of determined eyes. This person is now the new emperor, and he couldn’t disobey, so he could only extend his hands to take the imperial edict within the box.

“I ascended the throne at 25, and have worked day and night for the good of my country, not one thing left incomplete. In my seven years of ruling, there has been no strife within the country, no trouble with our relationship with countries other than mine, and I was able to drive away the enemies from the north, bringing peace to the land. And yet I feel that I have let down the heavens and earth, let down my forefathers…” Song Xiao stood at the front of the chamber, reading the words on the imperial edict one by one, word by word. These were the words of Yu Jin Tang from the bottom of his heart.

Hundreds of officials kneeled by the stairs, listening to the clear and strong voice of the empress, and started to cry.

“…. Unfortunately, I have no sons, and the one to succeed me is my younger brother Jin Lin. My brother is 15, still young and inexperienced, so I appoint empress Song Xiao as Prince of Duan Hui to act as the regent to assist the new emperor…” That person had already planned everything out for him. As for the emperor telling him to bury himself along with him, perhaps it was a last minute regret the moment when the emperor saw him.

Song Xiao slowly closed the imperial edict, raised both hands above his head, kneeled down and submitted to the new emperor.

“Brother-in-law, look, elder brother didn’t say anything about you being buried alive along with him!” After reading through the imperial edict, the new emperor went to help Song Xiao up, looking at him with eyes full of hope, his baby face still tear-stained.

Song Xiao slowly nodded, “I know.” He turned his eyes to look at Zhang Xiao Ren who was tied against the dragon-wreathed column.

“Hmph, he went against the will of the heavens, deviating from the yin and yang relationship, yet still talks about not living up to his forefathers!” Zhang Xiao Ren knew that he won’t be able to die a natural death, and so he let out his true self openly.

“Zhang Xiao Ren, I ask you, what is loyalty? What is righteousness?” Song Xiao asked softly, snatching the sword back.

“You did not care for the safety of this country, plotted together with our enemy, and assassinated our emperor. Is this your so-called loyalty? You caused the death of a wise ruler, not considering the well-being of the citizens, this is your so-called righteousness?”

Zhang Xiao Ren’s pupils dilated, but he still left his neck bare.

“The current peace and prosperity of our country are all because of his hard work. The only thing that Yu Jin Tang ever wished for was to spend the rest of his life together with a vice minister of the ministry of revenue. He has done so much for the world, and yet why won’t the world allow him to be happy!”

Song Xiao became increasingly agitated as he spoke, and pierced the heart of Zhang Xiao Ren. Yu Jin Tang was a great emperor, always decisive in making his decisions, expanding the country’s territory. To say that he was Great Yu’s best emperor wouldn’t be strange at all. He was worthy of this honour!

With fresh blood splattering everywhere, the new emperor couldn’t stop himself from closing his eyes. When he opened them, he saw that Song Xiao had already pulled out the double-edged sword and sliced his own neck with a swing of his sword.

“Brother-in-law!” The new emperor was too slow to stop him, and fresh blood had already dyed the yellow phoenix robe red.

Song Xiao stared at the cloudy skies above him, eyes blinking slowly. The first emperor of Great Yu should have him, this first empress, to be buried along with him. Otherwise, when he crossed to the netherworld and met the previous emperor, Yu Jin Tang who had always been poor at speaking would be punched by his father again.

On the seventh year of Jing Yuan, October the third, His Highness the emperor passed away, and not long afterward, His Majesty empress Song Xiao, was buried along with him.

Slender fingers paused at the line ‘Both emperor and empress were buried in the Zhao Mausoleum’. After a long while, Song Xiao sighed softly, closed the book and pressed the button at the head of the bed.

With a loud ringing sound, a chubby nurse in a pink dress briskly walked in. “Are you ready to remove the needle?” 

“Mn,” Song Xiao nodded, raising his hand which had been pricked with the infusion tube. “I have to trouble you, jiejie.”

“Ai, why are you so polite for?” The delicate and fair youth, who used a clear and pleasant voice to call her jiejie, made her heart melt. The nurse smiled so hard her eyes couldn’t be seen.

In a quick and concise manner, she peeled off the tape, a hand pressing a cotton ball against the area while the other hand speedily took out the needle, then ordered the youth to press on the cotton ball himself.

Song Xiao pressed against the hand that just had the needle removed and nodded towards the nurse in gratitude.

When his hand was no longer bleeding, he took the history book from the head of the bed to continue reading.

“This young master of the Song family is completely different from what the news had reported.” The chubby nurse had walked out with a smile on her face when she was pulled aside by another nurse. She jerked her chin towards the youth who was quietly reading in the room.

“Aiya, how could tabloids be believed? Last year, it was said that our hospital had transfused blood to a type-AB patient through infusing type-A blood through the left hand and type-B blood through the right hand,” the chubby nurse curled her lip and looked at the young man in the room, hands forming a heart shape.

“How could such an elegant young man get into a fight? He must have been bullied…”

When her colleague heard this, she couldn’t help shivering, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms. She went to another ward to take the patient’s temperature.

Waiting until the nurse left, Song Xiao rubbed his brow. He heard another word he couldn’t understand. What in the world was ‘tabloid’?

It had been several days since he woke up, and he was still bewildered about everything here. He had slit his throat, expecting to see the yellow springs when he opened his eyes. He had been prepared to go to Naihe Bridge to find Yu Jintang. But he didn’t expect that this ‘yellow spring road’ would be a white, four-walled room, with a white robes man holding a soft rope with an iron sheet at the end, dangling it in front of his eyes.

“Is it okay to ask this brother, are you Bai Wuchang?” Song Xiao slowly sat up, greeting the man. He assumed that soft rope was the spirit rope.

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Now it’s Song Xiao’s turn to be taken aback. This man’s hand is warm. He can understand what the man said, even though there’s a strange accent. Moreover, these men had short hair while the women wore extremely queer clothes.

Could it be that he didn’t die, but instead came to a foreign land instead?

“This place is…” Song Xiao didn’t dare say more, afraid that these people would realise he spoke differently from them. Most foreigners were xenophobic.

“This is the Third People’s Hospital. You were in a coma for three days, do you feel any discomfort?” The man dressed in white questioned him gently.

Hospital? It seems that this white robed man was a physician.

“We heard that he woke up. We came to record his statement.” While the physician was speaking, two young men in blue short sleeves came in with a pen and paper. “Song Xiao, at that time, who was it that hit you?”

Song Xiao furrowed his brows slightly. What were these people talking about?

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“The patient had just regained consciousness, couldn’t you guys come at a later date?” The physician was visibly upset, but it was obvious he was just chiding them, as he himself turned around and asked, “Before fainting, do you remember what had happened?”

Song Xiao shook his head. He used the Moye sword to slice his throat, so clearly he should be dead. The situation at hand was extremely unusual, so he couldn’t simply answer without careful consideration.

Much later, Song Xiao found out that these blue uniformed men were the police, which was the equivalent of bailiffs responsible for catching criminals within the government.

The physician and bailiffs rapidly interrogated him for a long period, only to discover an astonishing piece of information. Song Xiao had lost his memory. He couldn’t remember where his home was or who his parents were, much less remember who it was that injured him. He could only remember that his own name was Song Xiao.

“You poor child!” Aunt Chen, who had been hired by the family to take care of him, held him and cried a river of tears.

Song Xiao had silently observed the surrounding people for a few days, entrusted Aunt Chen to buy some books for him to read and gradually came an unbelievable realisation. Dayu had become extinct for nearly a thousand years, and now it is the twenty-first century!

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, he stared blankly at the young man in the mirror. This was exactly what he had looked like at the age of sixteen or seventeen, except that his complexion was a little wan, far less than the high-spiritedness he possessed as the champion of that year.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Now, he was also called Song Xiao, just turned sixteen this year. His mother died early, so he only has a single father.

“What is the family’s business?” Song Xiao guessed that he didn’t drink the Mengpo soup when he reincarnated, but for some reason he doesn’t recall his past sixteen years, so it was likely that Yu Jintang had reincarnated as well. Now, what he’s more concerned over was his own origin.

If he was a noble, then he can participate in the imperial examination, and when he becomes a senior official, he can search for the person he wishes to see.

“Your father started an entertainment agency,” Aunt Chen took out the things she had just bought, giving him a peeled apple.

“What do entertainment agencies do?” Song Xiao frowned. It seemed that he was a businessman. Although a businessman’s status wasn’t that good, at least he could read books.

“Ah, they hire a group of good-looking youths to sing, dance and perform to earn money.” Aunt Chen said with a smile. 

She had worked as a housekeeper in the Song family for many years and watched Song Xiao grow up. Before, this child had never liked speaking, and was always dull. Mr. Song said that this child had some form of autism, and his intelligence was not high, asking her to pay more attention.

This time, Song Xiao had been beaten in the head by someone and lost his memory, but he had become a lot more quick-witted and talkative. Maybe it was a good thing.

Song Xiao’s heart thumped. These days, from what Aunt Chen said, he assumed that the family was very well-off. Originally, he had thought that his family was at least the level of a squire, yet he completely did not expect that it was actually a theatrical troupe! Actors had very low rank within the society, if his father was also from an actor’s family, then it’s impossible for him to participate in the imperial examination!

Song Xiao sighed sadly and opened up the book that had just been bought by Aunt Chen. The words in these books were very odd, with very few strokes, like wild scribbles. Fortunately, most of them could be understood.

“Song Xiao!” A clear voice came through from outside the door. Song Xiao turned his head and saw a youth about his age, sticking out a colorful head. Seeing that there was no one around, he proceeded to rush inside and shut the door, taking off the sunglasses on his face.

“This distinguished sir is…” Song Xiao had read thousands of books since his childhood. He had a highly retentive memory, within these few days he had already learned the dialect of the people of modern times, but the use of words were slightly unsuitable.

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“It’s me, David! You don’t even remember me?” The colorful youth circled around him in shock, then sighed. “You really lost your memory? This sort of melodramatic plot, when your father told me, I couldn’t believe it!” 

The youth named David circled around him again in sympathy, and began to unceasingly babble about himself. His name is Li Weiwei, his stage name is David, a contracted actor for Song Xiao’s family’s entertainment company. He started acting at the age of eight, a bona fide child star.

Because Song Xiao had an antisocial temperament and had no friends, Song Xiao’s father asked the only child in the company to frequently accompany him at home. After a long time, David became Song Xiao’s only friend. Of course, this is what Li Weiwei himself said, so the authenticity remains to be discussed.

Song Xiao quietly watched this young man talk with enthusiasm. Even though he was dressed like a beggar and had strange, colorful hair, this person had a pair of clear, big eyes. After mixing within the official circle for so many years, he still had the ability to understand a person. Song Xiao could sense this youth’s friendliness. Even if he was a little long-winded, Song Xiao could also ask some questions without his notice.

“Today you’re going to be discharged from the hospital, yet your father is too busy joining the new movie’s premiere, telling me to pick you up in his place,” Li Weiwei rolled his eyes. “For an old woman, he doesn’t even care for his own son. If he wasn’t my boss, I would have scolded him in front of the press.” 

“Like I said, even if we disregard the fact that he didn’t come visit in these few days, he didn’t even bother coming to have a look during your discharge.” Aunt Chen complained while she packed.

Song Xiao wrinkled his brow. Listening to this, it seems that this life’s father was a man who indulged in the beauty of a woman. He had read about movies in a book, it was a play performed by actors.

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That is to say, his father raised an actress as a mistress, and to support his mistress’ movie, he disregarded his heavily injured son.

“Sons do not speak badly of their father. Should father not come, he must have his reasons.” Song Xiao finished changing his clothes in the washroom and stepped out. Seeing that the two of them had continued criticising his father, he let out a sentence to stop them.

Song Zicheng, who had unhurriedly arrived after the end of the premiere, just happened to hear that sentence.  He immediately stopped at the door, stunned.

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Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Fish Tang: Empress, are you living well now?”

Song Xiao: Not well, my father is an actor from a theatrical troupe

David: Hey, that’s an entertainment company!

Fish Tang: Don’t worry, zhen won’t turn his back against you for your origins!

David: You fish seller, turn your back against what!

Song Xiao: Thank Your Majesty for your grace!