Shoya found Yuehwa standing beside Wan Jue's sarcophagus, staring down at the likeness of the former queen that had been carefully carved into the white stone. Her fingers lay resting on the inscription that described Hwang Nanzhe's love for his wife, running back and forth along its grooves as if trying to commit each character to memory.
Within lies the one true love of he who was born in the darkness of day, to whom he promised an eternity of light.
I would promise you that too, Yuehwa. If only I could.
But there always seemed to be too many things standing between them. Kingdom, justice, family, all of it forming a gulf that continued to widen, putting them on paths that might never meet again, even as she stood before him now.
"There seems to be some improvement in Baixun's condition," he said, interrupting the silence of the crypt.
Yuehwa lifted her head, and his heart sank when he saw the initial flicker of surprise in her eyes give way to emptiness.
"The golden chrysanthemums are quite something," she murmured, turning her gaze towards the sea of gold that bathed the room in a warm light.
"They are. It would be worthwhile to do more research into their effects. Now that there are signs of Baixun's own consciousness trying to break through the surface, it's a matter of time before he wakes."
"I imagine there will be many people unhappy to see him rise from the dead."
"Shouldn't we be unhappy too? After all, he did try to attack our kingdoms, and I'm sure he will do it again once he is reunited with his men."
A wry smile appeared on Yuehwa's face. "I'll welcome the fight with open arms when that happens," she said. "Baixun is an honourable opponent. Ambitious, yes, but above board. If not for the fact that I'm bound to protect the sovereignty of Hwa for the sake of Yang-yang, perhaps I'd be happy to shove the responsibility over to him. Assuming he wasn't the mastermind behind my brother's death, and Yang-yang's poisoning."
"You think very highly of him," Shoya replied, looking away so that she would not see the shadow of jealousy tint his gaze. He knew how Baixun felt about Yuehwa, and there were times when he felt like the crown prince of Gi would be able to give her a better future than he could, yet when he was forced to make a choice, he had still chosen to hold on to her.
I was selfish, he thought, and because of that, I may have lost her forever.
Yuehwa walked down from the raised stone platform and towards the stairway leading out of the tomb. "So, are we ready to find out what secret is hidden inside the white tiger?" she asked.
Shoya followed her up the stairs, where the stone tiger stood guard over the tomb's entrance. The waltnut-sized rubies that the statue had for eyes sparkled dangerously in the dim lighting, as if warding against any potential thieves. His gaze slid down the tiger's back, until it located the small keyhole that Sheng Yun had spoken of, camouflaged against the white marble. He took out the chrysanthemum key from his right sleeve, slipping it into the hole.
"Let's hope this doesn't trigger any booby traps," Yuehwa quipped, referencing the narrow misses they had trying to get into the astrologers' vault the first time.
Shoya laughed mirthlessly. Facing a rolling stone wheel seemed like a preferable option to whatever they were about to dive into. Their lives back then were far better than what they were now.
He turned the key in the lock. There was a soft click and the circular segment of the marble popped out into his hand.
Yuehwa peered into the hole, then reached in for the bronze handle that was visible within. She gave it a pull, and a small metal cylinder the length of a lady's hairpin came sliding out. The body of the cylinder was clean and smooth, but there was a stylised image of an eagle imprinted into the wooden stopper.
"Isn't this the symbol of Horanjit?" she mused.
They had seen the exact same image carved across fallen pillars and walls at the temple ruins. Horanjit's guardian beast—that had failed to protect its charges when darkness befell them. This was why Yuehwa didn't believe in gods and stars. Even if they existed, they were too far away to care.
She yanked off the stopper and pulled out a piece of parchment that had been rolled within, flimsy and brittle with age. It was filled with neat, cursive script, barely a quarter the height of her fingernail.
"What's this? Some riddle? It makes no sense."
"A life for a life, a soul for a soul, and from the darkness comes the dawn," Shoya read out loud, letting each character roll off his tongue and sink into his mind.
"That's not what it says!" Yuehwa said, pointing at the words that he had recited as "darkness" and "dawn".
"It's an interpretation based on an old folktale that's common in northern Feng. The story likens the Taotie to the eternal night, and the Fenghuang, the phoenix that eventually overcomes the monster, to the rising sun. Darkness and light," he explained. "I think this is the answer we're looking for. A way to overcome dark magic. The monks of Horanjit must have discovered this through their years of research, and they shared it with Hwang Nanzhe so that he could wield it against the Wudi empire."
"This? This is the miracle cure that will save the kingdoms?" Yuehwa tossed the piece of parchment to Shoya. "Should I slaughter a chicken in front of the altar? A life for a life right?"
Shoya read through the words on the parchment once more, carefully scouring the edges to make sure that they weren't missing anything. He found nothing else, nothing except the few characters that left them with yet another puzzle to solve.
A life for a life, a soul for a soul.
Sacrifice. But what of?
It was a pity the records of the war between Hwang Nanzhe and the Wudi empire were so sparse. Having come from the mountains wielding twin swords in his callused hands, keeping historical records had not been a high priority for the first king of Feng and much of what was known today had been passed down via word of mouth. Legends and folktales, embellished with bells and whistles, almost half of which was certain to be untrue.
He had asked Sheng Yun about Hwang Nanzhe's history, but even she had little information to offer.
Soft footsteps pattering against the stone flooring distracted them from their discovery, and the waif-like figure of Xin'ai, Sheng Yun's only disciple, appeared at one of the archways leading to this octagonal room. The girl paused, her large, olive-shaped eyes staring fixedly at Yuehwa.
There was something in those eyes that made Shoya uncomfortable, yet he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Curiosity, pity, and... sorrow? Those dark irises were glistening with a reflective sheen, as if there were tears misting their surfaces.
She quickly lowered here head and dropped to an awkward curtsey. "Your Highnesses, I have been sent to fetch you. The crown prince of Gi has awoken," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Already?" Yuehwa blinked back her surprise. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected any less from Baixun's resolve." She marched past Xin'ai and disappeared through the archway, making her way to the guest room where Baixun was housed at.
Shoya hung behind a moment longer, observing the way Xin'ai's gaze followed Yuehwa cautiously and lingered there even after the fiery princess-regent had gone. He cleared his throat lightly to get her attention.
"Is there something wrong about the princess?" he asked.
The girl stepped back, her eyes widening like a startled animal facing a hunter's arrow. She shook her head, a little too frantically.
"Are you sure? Why were you looking at her like that then?"
"It was nothing, Your Highness," Xin'ai replied with a tiny tremble in her soft voice. She bobbed her head and swiveled around, disappearing back the way she came.
Shoya frowned. The girl was hiding something, and he wasn't sure he liked not knowing what it was.
#
Before Yuehwa stepped into the guest room, she could already hear Maroo's exaggerated wails echoing down the hallway. The adviser was beyond himself with joy and relief, melting into a puddle of tears at the foot of Baixun's bed while an attendant fed the prince with a bowl of murky-looking medicine.
Baixun was two shades paler than his usual self, his lips grey and cracked, but already she could see the fire reigniting in his eyes. He swallowed the final mouthful of medicine and dismissed the attendant, looking up to see Yuehwa standing by the doorway.
He smiled. "I thought I was going to die in those caves," he said.
Instead of any words of concern or commiseration, Yuehwa marched straight to his bedside and whipped out her sword, pointing its tip at his neck. Behind them, Maroo shrieked.
"You sent Jing Bohan to poison my nephew."
"What?" Baixun frowned. "I did no such thing."
"He's given a full confession and insists that it was you. He even showed us the letter that he received from the Gi palace. Are you saying that all this is fabricated?"
Baixun remained impassive. Even as the blade pressed against his skin, he did not flinch. "I did no such thing," he repeated. "I would not resort to killing a child to win a war."
Out of the corner of her eye, Yuehwa noticed something change in Maroo's expression. If Baixun knew nothing, then the same could not be said of Park Maroo. She suddenly spun on her heels, kicking the adviser in the shin. The man fell to the ground, and she stabbed her foot against his back to pin him down.
"It was you," she said, narrowing her eyes.
"No, no! I didn't do anything!" Maroo cried. "Your Highness, save me!"
"Maroo, did you do something behind my back?" Baixun asked.
"I swear it wasn't me. I know I floated the idea before, but I didn't do anything of that sort, not after you rejected the suggestion, Your Highness!"
Baixun turned to Yuehwa. "If Maroo said he didn't do it, then I believe him. He has never lied to me before. Please, there must be more to this than meets the eye," he said.
Yuehwa pondered upon their words momentarily, then she lifted her foot—and gave Maroo and good kick in the ribs. Even if he hadn't done it, the fact that he even came up with such a wicked idea warranted some punishment. She walked over to the rosewood table in the centre of the room and sat herself down, pouring out a cup of water.
"Thank you," Baixun said. He gestured for the groaning Maroo to get up. "Did you speak of this suggestion to anyone else?"
Maroo scurried over to his prince, his fearful gaze still darting towards Yuehwa every now and then. He shook his head, then nodded his head. "I may have briefly mentioned it to the crown princess," he admitted.
"Naying?"
"Naying could not have done something like that," Yuehwa rejected. Her friend was far too kind and innocent—almost naïve—to even conceive of such a thing. "Someone must have overheard your conversation and decided to take matters in their own hands."
"So you believe that it wasn't me?" Baixun asked.
"I believe that you wouldn't be so stupid as to leave a trail leading directly to you," Yuehwa sniffled. "How are you feeling?"
"My head is splitting apart and it feels like there are weights tied to my limbs, but beggars can't be choosers. Thank you, for saving my life."
"We didn't save you for your sake," Shoya answered, walking into the room. Arms folded, he positioned himself behind Yuehwa. "For what you were attempting to do, it would not be unjustified for us to have you killed, regardless what your father-in-law claims."
Baixun glanced over at Shoya, then back towards Yuehwa again, his expression dimming. "Yes, Maroo has updated me. I did not foresee myself being stabbed in the back in this manner, but I only have my own arrogance to blame for it. Some lessons cannot be escaped, it seems," he mused. "Dark magic making a resurgence... If they succeed, then it will be hell on earth for all the people of our kingdoms."
In the dying years of the Wudi empire, cries of anguish had flooded the streets and the stench of death filled the air. His mind poisoned by the dark arts and tempted by a false promise of immortality, the last Wudi emperor had turned a blind eye to the poverty and famine of his people and violently cut down any voices of dissent that dared speak up against the rot in his court. Hundreds of children went mysteriously missing across several provinces, and rumours were that they had been captured by the practitioners of dark magic and used as sacrifices to their unholy gods.
"In your interactions with the king of Dahai, did you detect anything amiss about his behaviour? Or noticed anyone suspicious in his vicinity?" Yuehwa asked.
Baixun hesitated for a moment, searching through his memory. "There was nothing out of the ordinary, although the king appeared to be taking some sort of medicine regularly. I assumed it was a herbal tonic, since he didn't look ill, so I never thought much about it," he said.
"Why do you bring it up then?"
"Because it was always brought to him personally by Lady Kang. Is it not strange that the most highly ranked woman in the harem needs to brew and deliver the king's medicine daily? There are plenty of royal physicians in the palace who are capable of doing that task."
"Lady Kang..."
During her brief jaunt in Dahai, the king's favourite concubine and de facto queen of the kingdom had not struck Yuehwa as being anything beyond yet another shrewd woman adept at navigating harem politics. But now as she recalled the piercing intensity of the lady's eyes and almost unnatural youthfulness of her porcelain skin, she wondered if she might have been mistaken. If there was someone behind the king of Dahai that was wielding the dark arts, then it would not be implausible to suspect that the puppeteer was Lady Kang, a woman who clearly had the king's ear and shared his bed.
Guilt gnawed at Yuehwa's mind. Perhaps she, too, had been blinded by arrogance, and because of that she had allowed evil to walk by her and her brother had paid the ultimate price.
A gentle squeeze at her right shoulder brought her out from the shadows. She looked up to meet Shoya's warm, reassuring gaze.
"Even if there are grounds for suspicion, we don't know for sure if Lady Kang is the one responsible for the dark magic," Shoya said. "We'll need actual evidence before we can come to any conclusions. I think what is more urgent is for Gi to know that you are still alive, and that you were not attacked and killed by Feng and Hwa, like what the king of Dahai would have everyone believe. We have issued an official response to deny those accusations, but it will do little until you appear in front of your soldiers and show them which is the truth and which is the lie."
Baixun nodded. "In that case I will need to trouble you again," he said. "It would be best if my return to Gi happens discreetly, but even then the journey back might not be an easy one." If the king of Dahai knew that he was still alive, then it was almost certain that the former would try to see to it that his well-spun lies became reality.
"I can escort you personally back to the Gi border until you are reunited with your men," Yuehwa said. Although he had survived, Baixun was still severely weakened and would not be able to defend himself effectively against potential assassins. If he died on the way back, then all their effort would be wasted.
"Do you not need to return to Hwa? Your nephew..."
"He's fine," Yuehwa replied. "I'll be of more use here than back home." With Yi'en's reassurance that Yang-yang was well on the mend, she could set her sights on more pressing matters.
"I'll go too," Shoya added.
Yuehwa gave him a quizzical brow arch, but said nothing. Shoya made his own decisions and it would be naïve of her to think that she could influence any of it. Besides, even though she was confident of her own abilities, there was no harm in having the White Scorpion on hand when things got messy.
"Thank you both then, for everything you have done," the prince said. He burst out in a fit of coughs, and his anxious adviser immediately brought a cup of water to his lips. After taking a sip to soothe his throat, Baixun shook his head ruefully. "I never would have imagined lying here in this state, only alive because of the charity of my... enemies." Yuehwa thought she caught a flicker of disappointment and regret flash across Baixun's eyes. "In a different time, perhaps we could have been friends. Or more."
"We were not the ones who started this war, Baixun," Shoya warned. "Ironically, because of this interlude, there is still a chance for you to turn back and take a different path."
"There is no other path for me. I admire and respect the both of you as indivduals, but I still stand by my belief that it is for the benefit of our people that the five kingdoms be united under one flag. It is the only way for there to be lasting peace."
There was a determination in Baixun's voice that reflected his unwavering resolve to achieve his end goal. Even though he knew that Yuehwa or Shoya could easily kill him for it, he was choosing to make the gamble that they would not, because they needed his help to defeat the king of Dahai.
And he would be right.
This was not the first time Yuehwa felt that Baixun was truly the most suitable to rule a kingdom, out of them all. Even in this state, having narrowly clawed his way back from the brink of death, he was not faltering in the slightest, still having the ability to make calculated judgements that would help put him back on his desired trajectory. It was unfortunate that his chosen path ran counter to the one she had to be on.
"That means that once we defeat the king of Dahai, we shall be on opposing sides once again," she said.
"I never wished to be an enemy to you, Yuehwa, you know that. The offer I made to you before still holds," Baixun said quietly, almost pleadingly, as if he hoped for her to give him a different response to that question he had asked her a long time ago.
Shoya stepped forward and his lips parted, but Yuehwa reached out and caught hold of his arm, stopping him from saying anything. She stood up and gave Baixun a withering look. "And my answer remains," she said. "When the day comes, I will not show mercy on the battlefield. You can count on that."
She would not be anyone's queen. A queen would always be a king's subordinate, not his equal, and Yuehwa didn't care for that. She was the Phoenix. Even if she had to go down in flames, she would bow to no one.