Chapter 1

Even the imperial prison in the capital had fallen into disrepair over the years. Whenever the rainy season arrived, dampness seeped in from every direction. The small window two meters above the ground wasn’t even covered with paper, but at least it let in plenty of light. Throughout the year, it was the only bright spot in the entire place.

Chai Zheng was bound up like a rice dumpling. The slightest movement of her fingers sent her chains clanking, making her the noisiest person in the entire prison.

Besides that, she had caught two rats and was teaching them to talk. The man imprisoned in the cell beside hers was supposedly the former Governor-General of Liangjiang during the previous emperor’s reign. Whenever Chai Zheng opened her mouth, the old gentleman would cover his ears and curl up in a corner, terrified that accidentally overhearing even a single word might cost him his head.

Although everyone imprisoned in the imperial prison was a serious criminal, Chai Zheng was the only one audacious enough to commit such blatant treason by referring to herself as “Zhao Qian’s mother.”

And Zhao Qian was none other than the reigning emperor.

Chai Zheng didn’t even speak particularly loudly. The shackles on her body made far more noise than she did. Yet apart from her two rats, no one inside or outside the prison dared listen carefully to what she said. Even the prison guard on duty that night only staggered over after drinking too much wine.

“Young General Chai, why must you do this to yourself?” The prison guard was already getting on in years, at least past fifty and approaching sixty. His temples were streaked with gray, and the top of his head was beginning to bald. Years of excessive drinking had left his eyes cloudy and his spirits rather poor.

He continued, “Your family’s property has already been confiscated, and three generations of your clan have been executed. You’re the only one left, and your execution is just around the corner. Cursing His Majesty… It’s not as though His Majesty can hear you.”

Chai Zheng grabbed a rat by its tail and shuffled closer to the guard. read the original at bailiantales.com“I’m going to die anyway, and my entire family has already gone ahead of me to meet our ancestors. If I don’t take this chance to curse Zhao Qian a few more times, what am I supposed to do? Wait until I’m dead and come back as a walking corpse?”

She sighed. “My life hasn’t been particularly long, but it’s already been hard enough. During the first ten years, I had to excel at everything, striving to become both the top martial arts scholar and the third-ranked literary scholar in the imperial examinations. During the next ten years, I was constantly running around, keeping the foreign kingdoms eyeing our borders at bay while dragging that spendthrift bastard Zhao Qian along behind me. And when I finally fell in love with someone, I turned into a complete coward. Even now, I haven’t dared tell her how I feel, afraid that tying her to me would only condemn her to a life of hardship and wandering.”

Chai Zheng pressed her palms together and looked toward the heavens. “Buddha in the west, Jade Emperor in the east, please let me reincarnate as a mosquito after I die. I’ll annoy Zhao Qian to death.”

“…”

The prison guard failed to detect any hint of a joke. He suspected that Young General Chai was entirely serious.

“Ah, no matter how strong she is, she’s still a young woman in the end. Has all this suffering driven her mad…?”

A flash of lightning suddenly split the raging storm, its deathly pale light sweeping across Chai Zheng’s face. The guard’s hand trembled, and his wine flask fell in front of the cell. The smell of cheap wine spread through the air, only to be swept away by a gust of cold wind.

In that fleeting instant, the guard had clearly seen Chai Zheng’s eyes. In this filthy, dimly lit corner, those eyes were like sharp blades submerged in water, concealing a brilliance that could outshine the entire world. The sight was enough to send a chill through anyone’s heart.

People said that the daughter of Duke Chai’s household was the solitary moon hanging high above Chang’an, possessing a cool, aloof pride. As long as that full moon remained in the unauthorized copyheavens, peace could be maintained throughout the realm, and the common people could live in safety and prosperity.

Yet that moon was about to fall.

In three double-hours, outside the Meridian Gate.

The prison guard had been dealing with Chai Zheng for nearly half a month, though they rarely exchanged words. The number of times they spoke in a day could be counted on one hand.

At first, Chai Zheng would ask him for three cups of wine every day. She drank one herself and poured the other two onto the ground.

Those cups were offerings to the sixteen prefectures of Mobei that had fallen into enemy hands, and to the hundred thousand soldiers who had fought and fallen one after another until they had exhausted every possible means of resistance. Yet the imperial court had decided to withdraw and settle for defending what territory remained. With their commander imprisoned, the troops on the front lines had been left without food or reinforcements.

Later, Chai Zheng began asking for five cups of wine. She still drank one herself and poured the remaining four onto the ground.

She offered them in gratitude for her parents’ love and upbringing, for the guidance of her elder brother and sister-in-law, and in tribute to the remonstrance officials at court who still possessed passionate hearts. The final offering was for the more than sixty lives lost across three generations of the Chai family, people whom she, Chai Zheng, had failed in this lifetime.

A few days later, Chai Zheng stopped asking [Read on BaiLianTales]for wine altogether and instead caught two little rats to keep herself entertained.

“Young General, do you have any last wishes?” the guard asked. “A nobody like me can’t accomplish anything great, but if there’s anything you want to eat or use… I’ll get it for you tonight, even if I have to search all night.”

Chai Zheng thought to herself, “I’m going to die soon anyway. I’d better eat less so I won’t look too terrible when I die. Otherwise, Linshuang might be disgusted when she comes to collect my body.”

Chai Zheng had been helping clear battlefields since before she was ten. She had seen more dead bodies than the number of heads severed outside the Meridian Gate. Naturally, she hoped to look somewhat presentable in death, so that she could meet her parents in the underworld looking beautiful and leave behind at least a clean and dignified memory for the living.

With this in mind, Chai Zheng said, “I’d like to ask you to help me inquire about someone. Her name is Ruan Linshuang, the only daughter of Chancellor Ruan. She was personally selected as the top scholar in the palace examination during the fifteenth year of the Qizhao era.”

In the palace examination of the fifteenth year of Qizhao, three candidates had been selected for the highest honors, two of whom were women. Ruan Linshuang, the extraordinarily talented daughter of Chancellor Ruan, had taken first place, while Chai Zheng, the notorious little troublemaker of Duke Chai’s household, had taken third.

Ruan Linshuang’s reputation in Chang’an was no less distinguished than Chai Zheng’s. Even after the Chancellor’s household declined, losing the constraints that came with being a noble young lady had allowed Ruan Linshuang to make a name for herself amid the chaos of those troubled times.

She was now the youngest Grand Scholar of the Hongwen Academy, holding an official position of the lower fourth rank. Naturally, the prison guard had heard of her.

However, Chai Zheng’s circumstances were particularly sensitive. She had been imprisoned on charges stolen contentof “colluding with foreign powers, forging imperial edicts, and plotting rebellion against the throne.” Bringing her some food and drink was one thing, but becoming genuinely involved with her could easily drag him down as well.

Seeing the guard hesitate, Chai Zheng continued, “All I’m asking is for you to make a few inquiries. Find out what she’s been doing lately, where she’s been, whether she’s lost or gained weight, and whether she’s been upset because of what happened to me… You don’t need to deliver any messages. You don’t even have to meet her in person.”

Chai Zheng’s request was rather peculiar, but the guard was a man who kept his promises. He nodded. “All right. I’ll help you.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for me to come and tell you these trivial details myself rather than have you ask someone else?”

A gentle, composed voice suddenly rang out.

The prison guard merely jumped in surprise, but Chai Zheng’s eyes widened abruptly. She didn’t even notice the rat escaping from her hand.

The voice continued, “I’ve been to the Hongwen Academy recently, finished reading a book, and written two poems. I haven’t gained or lost any weight, nor have I been saddened by what happened to you.”

The prison guard was, after all, a man with a family and plenty of life experience. He immediately sensed something unusual in those few brief sentences. Without a word, he quietly withdrew and returned outside.

Since Young General Chai had been imprisoned, this was the first person who had come to visit her.

“Why are you here?” Chai Zheng had been tortured and could barely stand. She shuffled closer to the two bars, attempting to stick her head between them.

“Zhao Qian has been arresting people left and right lately. I’m afraid you’ll get caught up in this too.”

“We aren’t particularly close. Despite serving as officials in the same court all these years, we’ve hardly exchanged a few words. At most, we can only be considered former classmates.”

Ruan Linshuang finally emerged from the darkness.

The most beautiful young woman in Chang’an held a candle in her hand and slowly crouched before Chai Zheng.

“Besides, I’m merely an insignificant civil official, a frail woman with no authority of my own and no family to support me. His Majesty was the one who sent me here this time.”

As she spoke, she set the candle beside her. There was also a vermilion food container with three stacked compartments, filled with rare delicacies found only in the imperial palace.

“His Majesty said that although we aren’t particularly close, our fathers were good friends. Now that you’re about to be sent to the execution grounds, you should at least have a full stomach.”

Chai Zheng felt as though her ears were ringing. She couldn’t make out a single word Ruan Linshuang was saying.

Her gaze remained fixed on Ruan Linshuang’s face. She reached out, wanting to touch her, but quickly withdrew her hand.

Ruan Linshuang valued cleanliness. She was different from a woman like Chai Zheng, who had grown up among soldiers. Chai Zheng had been thinking about her for so many years that all her likes and dislikes were deeply engraved in her mind, preventing Chai Zheng from overstepping even the slightest boundary.

Every official in the capital knew that Young General Chai was reckless and unruly. Whenever she saw paper, brushes, or tea sets she liked in the imperial study, she would casually pocket them. The reigning emperor never reprimanded her and even indulged her petty thieving habits.

The more the officials at court criticized Chai Zheng, the safer she became.

Yet when it came to Ruan Linshuang, Chai Zheng’s avoidance and evasiveness were interpreted as proof that they were “not close.” There were even rumors that Chai Zheng was fiercely competitive and had resented Ruan Linshuang ever since being outranked by her in the palace examination.

Regarding this, Chai Zheng had once cursed in private, “Bullshit! Little Ruan beat me fair and square! This is called respect and admiration! Respect and admiration, understand?!”

Her life would end in another two double-hours.

What she had longed for but could never have would remain forever beyond her reach.

Ruan Linshuang noticed Chai Zheng’s movements, but her expression remained unchanged. She simply took out a pair of chopsticks and handed them to her before pouring two cups of wine.

“His Majesty is afraid something might go wrong if he waits too long. Once you’ve finished this meal, they’ll send you on your way.”

Chai Zheng accepted the wine cup.

The Daughter’s Red wine, aged for thirty years, was rich and fragrant, a hundred times better than the cheap wine spilled on the ground earlier. Moreover, Ruan Linshuang had poured it for her personally.

She happily drained the cup in one gulp, thinking, “Perhaps it’s better that Little Ruan won’t be sad when I’m gone.”

“Earlier, I sat in this prison counting the beats of the execution drums, wondering which member of my family had just lost their head. There could be no greater heartbreak than that. Fortunately, my feelings for Little Ruan have always been one-sided. She won’t have to endure such heart-wrenching pain because of me.”

After Chai Zheng finished drinking, Ruan Linshuang caught the hand holding her cup and gently pulled it toward the candlelight.

The orange glow illuminated several indistinct characters at the bottom of the cup.

“I want to rebel.”

“…”

Chai Zheng thought her eyes must be playing tricks on her. She turned the cup over and over, staring so hard that her eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets.

“You want to…” Chai Zheng lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper. “Have you gone mad?! This is a matter of the utmost importance! It’s no ordinary undertaking! Do you have an army? Money? Provisions? Have you gone crazy from spending all your time at the Hongwen Academy compiling those messy, worthless history books?”

Ruan Linshuang did not share Chai Zheng’s agitation.

She merely placed her own cup beneath the candlelight.

The cup had raised carvings on both its inner read the original at bailiantales.comand outer surfaces, and only when held against the candlelight could its hidden secret be revealed.

Written on the cup were the words:

“The reigning emperor is incompetent, unjust, and devoid of virtue. His oppressive policies and excessive taxes burden the people, while he cedes territory year after year to avoid war. The national treasury is empty, yet he continues to squander wealth without restraint. My heart is filled with love for the people, but I feel no loyalty toward the sovereign. This resolve was not formed overnight. I have thought long and carefully about what lies ahead.”

Ruan Linshuang had been gentle and composed since childhood. Her thoughts remained concealed beneath her outward appearance, always unfathomable to others. Most people simply considered her “pure and kind.”

Yet the very reason Chai Zheng admired her was because she recognized the “treasonous ambition” hidden beneath that calm exterior.

“Ten years. You’ll need ten years.”

Chai Zheng’s hand trembled, and the cup slipped from her fingers, shattering into pieces on the ground.

“After I die, take my head to Mobei and rally my former troops. If they haven’t all died, they’ll be able to help you. But Little Ruan… you really need to think this through.”

“I’ve thought it through.”

Ruan Linshuang pushed the food container a little closer.

“Chai Zheng, you don’t deserve to die, but I can’t save you. Ten years from now, I’ll bring your skull back and bury it together with your body. When that time comes, you’ll know that your great wrong has been avenged.”

Chai Zheng smiled.

“All right. Then I won’t reincarnate as a mosquito. I’ll wait for you.”

The drum sounded the sixth watch.

Rain was still falling outside. The dishes in the food container had long since gone cold, but Chai Zheng hadn’t touched a single bite.

She had only drunk every last drop of wine.

An imperial edict arrived from the palace, ordering the prisoner to be brought out. They dispensed stolen content with even the usual formalities, directly loaded Chai Zheng into a prison cart, and escorted her to the execution grounds.

Too many people had been executed outside the Meridian Gate over the past half month.

Even in the heavy rain, the faint smell of blood still lingered in the air. A dark, almost black stain had seeped into the cracks between the bricks, and the rainwater diluted it into spreading patches of deep crimson.

Chai Zheng knelt on the raised execution platform.

In the distance, she saw Ruan Linshuang holding a red oil-paper umbrella.

She stood alone at the farthest edge of the daylight, looking as though she cared for no one and depended on no one.

Chai Zheng felt a sharp stab of pain in her heart.

If Ruan Linshuang truly intended to rebel, the next ten years would surely be filled with exhausting calculations and constant fear, forcing her to tread carefully with every step.

She was all alone, with no parents to rely on and no close friends by her side. Worse still, unauthorized copy this was a matter she could not confide in anyone.

Even the most intelligent and courageous person would eventually reach the end of their strength…

And Chai Zheng herself was about to die.

She would no longer be able to protect her.

What was Little Ruan hoping to gain from all this?

The welfare of the people? Peace and prosperity throughout the empire?

Or… revenge for her?

Wine was sprayed over the sharpened execution blade.

The blade came down across her neck with enough force that it did not catch against her spine.

Almost as soon as Chai Zheng felt the pain, she was dead.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict was not responsible for collecting the body. Such matters were usually handled by the deceased’s family or the local authorities.

Three generations of Chai Zheng’s clan had already been executed. Even if she had relatives beyond those three generations, none of them would dare come forward at a time like this.

Ruan Linshuang walked beneath the execution platform with her umbrella and covered Chai Zheng’s head with a piece of white cloth.

Blood stained the hem of her clothes and her fingertips, yet Ruan Linshuang maintained the same serene, untroubled expression, showing neither grief nor joy.

Although Chai Zheng had grown up among soldiers and wore whatever clothes were available, she had never considered herself a man.

There were times when she liked to dress beautifully, too. She could hardly tear herself away whenever she saw a jade bracelet she fancied.

Naturally, she would never have wanted her corpse, its face twisted into a grotesque expression, to be left exposed on ​bailiantales.com​the streets of Chang’an after her death.

Ruan Linshuang said, “Please inform His Majesty that, out of consideration for our friendship as former classmates, I will find a suitable place and give her a proper burial.”

The eunuch was getting on in years, and his heart softened at her words.

“Then I’ll leave it in your hands, Official Ruan.”

……………

……

Chai Zheng jolted awake from a nightmare.

A chill ran down the back of her neck, and every hair on her body stood on end.

She strongly suspected that she had come back as a walking corpse.

However, she didn’t dare make a sound immediately. Instead, she carefully surveyed her surroundings, afraid that Zhao Qian might capture her and chop off her head again before she had even gotten used to being a zombie.

Everything around her was bright.

She wasn’t inside a coffin.

Instead, she was sitting on a woman’s lap. Her body felt weak and difficult to control, and her arms and legs were ridiculously tiny.

Her gaze landed on a middle-aged man standing in front of her, and she was so startled that she began hiccupping like a baby.

Chai Zheng’s mind was screaming, “Father! Mother! You’ve both come back from the dead too!”

Yet when she opened her mouth, all that came out was a pitiful, “Papa, Mama… babble, babble, babble.”

Even the words “Papa” and “Mama” were slurred and indistinct, spoken in a soft, childish voice.

“!”

Chai Zheng suddenly realized that perhaps she hadn’t come back as a walking corpse after all.

She had been sent back to start over from scratch!

“What the hell?! Wasn’t my life miserable enough before I died? Now I have to go through it all again?!”

One moment, Chai Zheng was burning with righteous indignation. The next, her little body tilted backward, and the woman adjusted her position, turning her around and cradling her against her chest.

Chai Zheng stared foolishly at her mother’s face, so breathtakingly beautiful in her youth that it could bring down kingdoms, and breathed in the faint, lingering fragrance of agarwood.

She couldn’t help nuzzling against her.

“It’s so wonderful to have a mother.”