Chapter 28
Xie Yubo panicked for a moment, then naturally picked up the gold bar. After all, President Shang wasn’t his actual guardian; as long as he grabbed it quickly enough, any questioning wouldn’t catch up with him.
The moment he gripped the gold bar, the Grand Imperial Astrologer’s audacity swelled. He was blind, inherently unable to see people’s expressions; pretending ignorance would suffice.
Besides, why should he have so many guardians?
Shang Yange had shown him kindness, and he had repaid that kindness several times by sending talisman papers; their relationship ended there.
Hasn’t he suffered enough losses already? Must he throw himself into danger once again?
Before Shang Yange could even speak, Xie Yubo had already slipped away. Not having immediately assumed the stance of a guardian, he now felt as though anything he said would be too late.
Xie Yubo went to bed early today and even locked the door from the inside.
Shang Yange held a glass of milk, knocked on the door, and heard a muffled voice from within say, “I don’t want to drink it today.”
With his hand still frozen in the knocking position, Shang Yange’s gaze darkened. He instinctively felt that Xie Yubo had returned in low spirits and suddenly wasn’t willing to accept his kindness.
Only after the milk in the cup cooled from warm to cold did Shang Yange silently walk away from Xie Yubo’s door.
He wanted to know what had happened to Xie Yubo; perhaps he should investigate whom Xie Yubo had met today. Yet, Shang Yange had a premonition—he would find nothing.
Perhaps because he hadn’t drunk milk today, even his dreams lacked sweetness.
Xie Yubo found himself back in the past—approximately eight months before his death.
The people of Liang took pride in their vast and fertile lands, their enlightened and handsome sovereign, and above all, their young Imperial Astrologer who clothed and nourished the common folk.
Few knew where the young Imperial Astrologer came from; all they knew was that after one of His Majesty’s tours, a beautiful youth appeared at his side. This youth possessed uncanny foresight and breathtaking brilliance, and before long, he was appointed Imperial Astrologer.
The Imperial Astrologer remained constantly by His Majesty’s side, except for one occasion when widespread flooding struck multiple regions, forcing them to split up to manage the disaster—a separation that lasted nearly a year.
At year’s end, Xie Yubo divined that Shang Yan had colluded with the grassland cavalry, amassing fifty thousand troops and stationing them along the border.
Shang Yan was His Majesty’s imperial uncle, the late emperor’s younger brother, deeply trusted by the royal family. At that time, His Majesty had ordered him to lead seventy thousand soldiers to shift the primary defensive focus of Great Liang westward.
Xie Yubo submitted a memorial alleging that Shang Yan harbored treacherous intentions, having already subverted these seventy thousand troops; during their westward march, they would coordinate with fifty thousand elite cavalry from the steppes to launch a joint assault directly upon the imperial capital.
Xie Yubo even meticulously documented the rebel forces’ deployment positions, provisions and logistics preparations, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each commanding general.
The Right Chancellor immediately mocked him, saying, “You know more about the rebels than they do themselves.”
Shang Yan was the Emperor’s own paternal uncle, who had watched the Emperor grow up as if he were his own son; to accuse him of rebellion based solely on Xie Yubo’s uncorroborated testimony was truly difficult for anyone to believe.
The Right Prime Minister said, “Your Majesty, one should not doubt those they employ, nor employ those they doubt. By dispatching the Imperial Uncle to mobilize the troops, you have already placed your trust in him. Please do not chill the heart of this old minister.”
The Emperor, however, surprised him: “When employing someone, one must not doubt them; I have no doubts about employing the Imperial Astrologer.”
The Prime Minister was left speechless. Xie Yubo smiled until his eyes curved into crescents, pulling another battle plan from his sleeve. “As long as we follow this, Your Majesty is guaranteed to capture the ringleader by seizing the king first.”
Handling twelve thousand troops was no easy feat. At the time, the two generals in court capable of bearing great responsibility both swore emphatically that the Imperial Uncle would not rebel, arguing that if the Emperor launched a campaign without just cause, it would plunge the realm into chaos.
The Emperor directly tossed forth the scouts’ report from the front lines: “The grasslands have raised troops to provoke us. Even if the Imperial Uncle is not colluding with them, what harm is there in my sending forces to reclaim our lost territories?”
The two generals were dumbfounded; neither had expected that His Majesty’s trust in the Imperial Astrologer would extend to personally leading the army into battle.
Xie Yubo was also somewhat surprised as he followed His Majesty into the imperial study: “Your Majesty, do you truly trust me this much?”
“Yubo has seen it himself—how high my royal uncle’s prestige stands in this court. In just these past two days, so many generals and ministers have defied me. This threat must be eliminated.” The monarch’s face was stern, clearly enraged to the extreme, resembling a suspicious tyrant.
Xie Yubo picked up a memorial, flipping through it as casually as if it were his own correspondence, until his gaze slightly narrowed upon reading a certain line.
“Hmm, this Imperial Astrologer has calculated that Shang Yan is raising his banner under the pretext of ‘cleansing the court of treacherous advisors.'”
Because the Imperial Astrologer was so exceptionally capable, he often made a host of court officials appear utterly useless; consequently, many believed Xie Yubo to be spreading sinister rumors to deceive the populace. If Shang Yan, with his immense prestige, were to invoke the cause of ‘cleansing the court of treacherous advisors,’ it is feared that a large number would defect to his side.
Xie Yubo set down the memorial: “Is that so?”
The sovereign of a nation naturally possesses his own intelligence networks; having received Xie Yubo’s hint, he dispatched agents to investigate further and soon uncovered their pretext for launching the campaign.
To purge the court of evil advisors?
They are seeking their own death.
“You saw the memorial and still ask!”
Xie Yubo whispered, “Naturally, I wish to hear it from Your Majesty’s own lips.”
“Spoiled by favor, you’ve grown arrogant.” The monarch chuckled and scolded him lightly, then sighed softly. “Just wait.”
When the great army marched to war, Xie Yubo did not follow. News of successive victories poured in from the front lines; Shang Yan had indeed rebelled, sending shockwaves through the entire nation.
As the flames of battle were pushed steadily from within Daliang’s borders all the way to the frontier, successfully reclaiming territories lost to foreign tribes forty years ago, Xie Yubo found himself sleeping longer and longer hours in the Imperial Astrologer’s residence.
Until he fell into a coma, unconscious and unawake.
The news just spread through the capital, filling the people with unease. From the very first day, a ninety-year-old man knelt before the Imperial Astrologer’s residence, pleading to heaven and offering his own life in exchange, hoping to repay the astrologer for saving his life years ago.
Then, more and more people arrived—from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, from a hundred to ten thousand.
If he could be redeemed, a hundred lives would we give for him.
If he could be redeemed, ten thousand lives would we give for him.
Ten thousand people wept and prayed, their cries reaching the ears of Heaven and descending to the underworld.
What did it matter that Shang Yan commanded great prestige at court? Once this incident occurred, every minister realized that Xie Yubo enjoyed the deepest support of the people; no one could rival him, not even the Emperor, who would have to step aside.
Xie Yubo could, with a single word, mobilize an entire army.
Xie Yubo knew why he had fallen into a coma: in recent years, his fortune-telling had grown increasingly grandiose, beginning to interfere with the nation’s destiny and the livelihood of its people, thus triggering a backlash from the Heavenly Dao.
Previously, when he was just dabbling and making a living for the Xie family, he only occasionally felt unwell without knowing the cause. It was only after studying many books while serving beside His Majesty that he finally understood the reason and began seeking ways to resolve it.
He found the method.
Heaven had destined Shang Yan to rebel; his elite troops would plunge the Son of Heaven into peril, making the suppression of the rebellion a prolonged ordeal.
Xie Yubo did not want this. He intended to crush Shang Yan’s rebellion in its very bud. Although he knew that facing such a monumental event, his illusions would prove useless and backfire severely, it mattered not. The Heavenly Dao would surely leave him a crack of opportunity; he was certain he could gradually discover a more suitable solution.
Xie Yubo never expected that he would never have another chance to explore.
Waking from his coma, the first thing Xie Yubo saw was the monarch’s furious expression.
“Xie Yubo, have you seen the tens of thousands of people petitioning outside? I feel I no longer need an Imperial Astrologer.” The monarch’s voice was colder than ever before. “I demand you swear that from this day forward, you will never again cast a single fate or divine a single hexagram for Great Liang. If you violate this oath, do not blame me for disregarding our past bond.”
Eunuch Li unfurled the imperial edict: “Xie Yubo, kneel and receive the decree.”
The edict forbade Xie Yubo from ever practicing divination again.
Xie Yubo looked up at him. “Why?”
Li the eunuch replied calmly, “His Majesty has just beheaded Prince Shang. National Preceptor Xie would do well to take this as a warning.”
Xie Yubo fixed his gaze on the dark-clad figure, unmoving: “Your Majesty, having returned from quelling the rebellion, do you now consider me even more formidable than Shang Yan? Is it truly ‘once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of a rope’?”
The tyrant turned around, hands clasped behind his back: “How can you be certain you are merely a rope, and not a tangled mess?”
Cut through the tangle with a swift blade, once and for all.
Xie Yubo lowered his head, watching his tears splash onto the ground. “I swear.”
The tyrant gazed at the young Imperial Astrologer, whose head was bowed low, and sneered. “Two years ago in Yangzhou, you cast ten divinations within ten paces, gaining widespread fame in just three days. How can you guarantee that upon seeing an elderly woman in her seventies living in hardship, you wouldn’t step forward to help?”
Xie Yubo stiffened his neck. “I don’t know.”
“Better that you stay in the Imperial Astrologer’s residence and go nowhere else.”
Xie Yubo suddenly lifted his head to look at him, his eyes brimming with tears no longer able to hide the truth.
Their gazes met; neither spoke.
“The first thing I taught you: if someone locks you up, you must escape.”
The phrase flashed through Xie Yubo’s mind as he stared fixedly at the tyrant.
Ever since hearing those words, he had treasured them as a sacred maxim, never expecting that from then on, he would never encounter a similar situation again; the very first person to lock him away was the tyrant himself.
“You went back on your word,” Xie Yubo sobbed.
The tyrant did not answer him; without turning back, he left the Imperial Astrologer’s residence and never set foot inside again.
Xie Yubo waited within the Imperial Astrologer’s residence for imperial edicts cursing him, for gossip from women and children beyond the wall about the current sovereign’s cruelty and his sudden demand for the lives of the entire Jin Tai family, and for the Holy Hand of Nanpu to teach him medicine.
Perhaps this was merely the tyrant, amidst his countless duties, recalling that there was still an Imperial Astrologer in the residence and deeming him somewhat valuable for his medical skills.
Xie Yubo never saw the tyrant again.
Fame, apart from overshadowing one’s ruler, is truly no good thing.
..
“I’m furious!” Xie Yubo woke up with red-rimmed eyes, brushing his teeth while seething with anger.
If he had known this earlier, he would have fled on the very first day.
Shang Yange lifted Xie Yubo’s head out of his rice bowl. “Did you think that would make me unable to see?”
After wearing a rabbit mascot costume just once, his eyes turned redder than a rabbit’s.
Xie Yubo: “It’s nothing major; someone just cursed at me several times in my dream yesterday.”
Shang Yange furrowed his brows, asking aloud, “Who bullied you?” yet feeling an indescribable sense of self-reproach and guilt in his heart, as if he were the one responsible.
Xie Yubo: “I’ve forgotten. We weren’t close.”
Shang Yange was usually a person who knew when to advance and when to retreat; sensing that Xie Yubo didn’t want to talk, he should have given him some space according to reason, yet today he didn’t wish to do so.
“Then skip school today. How about I take you to the amusement park?”
The guardian was egging on the student to play truant again.
Xie Yubo replied, “What’s so fun about an amusement park compared to a construction site?”
It’s just a haunted house with no real ghosts; how childish.
Shang Yange felt a spark of competitiveness: “Then I’ll take you to the construction site.”
The Shang family has numerous projects, including bridges and tunnels of all kinds.
Xie Yubo replied, “No thanks, I want to be a good student.”
Shang Yange, having been rebuffed, could only personally drive Xie Yubo to school before heading straight into the Shang family’s underground garage to meet Shen Chen, who had rushed over.
Shen Chen: “Is your mood acting up again? Do you need to take your medication?”
Shang Yange: “I feel as if someone lives inside his heart.”
Xie Yubo is also extremely possessive; once someone occupies that space, no one else can enter. He instinctively rejects and distrusts others.
Shang Yange wasn’t sure what kind of existence this person represented, but their influence on Xie Yubo was undoubtedly profound.
Shen Chen: “Did he start a puppy love affair at school?”
Then President Shang is somewhat pitiful, stuck with a high schooler, unable to keep up with either puppy love or first love.
Rarely opening up to Shen Chen about his inner feelings, President Shang said, “I don’t know. But I’m not particularly… upset. Or rather, my distress isn’t because of that person; I feel guilty.”
Seeing Xie Yubo in sorrow overwhelmed him with such intense guilt that there was no room left for jealousy. He had bottled up this emotion for so long that it made his heart race chaotically, yet he didn’t know how to express it properly to Xie Yubo. After all, why feel distressed without reason? It couldn’t be that he had somehow entered Xie Yubo’s dream just to curse at him, could it?
A sudden thought struck Shang Yange: perhaps it really was him. After all, when a rebellious high schooler does something wrong, the stern, imposing face of their guardian might very well appear in their dreams.
Then he was somewhat wronged. One must know that yesterday, he had restrained himself until smoke nearly poured from his seven orifices, choosing not to pursue the matter of Xie Yubo running off to the construction site, simply because he did not wish to become a guardian whom Xie Yubo would fear.
As for what exactly one does at a construction site, he would verify this with Lu Ming. Although Lu Ming was unreliable, he still knew right from wrong in certain matters; it could hardly be anything detrimental to Xie Yubo.
Shen Chen fell into deep thought, never expecting that their President Shang could actually show such compassion, tolerating someone else taking root in Xie Yubo’s heart.
Shang Yange changed the subject quickly; it seemed he needed no answer from a psychologist, merely expressing his gloom: “Many people have been sending gold bars to Xie Yubo.”
“You’re giving one too, right? You must be richer than them.”
Shang Yange: “I gave it. Over three million.”
Gold is dense; fearing that a solid gold brick would be too heavy for Xie Yubo to lift, he gifted a semi-solid one, still weighing over ten jin.
It’s currently being used to prop up the legs of Xie Yubo’s bed.
Shen Chen: “…”
So, you invited me here neither for medical treatment nor to devise a plan to drive Xie Yubo’s beloved away. Was it primarily to flaunt your wealth?