Emperor Jingren woke three days later. He had been brought to Mobei City. The imperial physicians who had accompanied the party examined him and determined that he was in perfect health. Not only had he sustained no injuries, he was hale and hearty. Given his current condition, he could easily live to be eighty or ninety while remaining in the prime of health; this could be described as a blessing arising out of calamity.

From Su Huailing, everyone learned that Huyan Xi had kidnapped Emperor Jingren in order to find the Ephemeral Snow Lotus, saying that this magical entity would only bloom for the emperor. And when the emperor’s breathing had stopped, the Ephemeral Snow Lotus, which had never been seen before, really had appeared. This sounded like something out of a legend, but it had truly happened.

Xiao Jinshu quickly disseminated this news, saying that Emperor Jingren was the true Son of Heaven who could make an auspicious omen like the Ephemeral Snow Lotus bloom for him. Also, when Emperor Jingren had reached Mobei City, there had been peculiar phenomena in the sky; the genius of the herding tribes, Huyan Xi, had only abandoned his army because he had been struck by lightning, granting the Army of the North such a victory that the herding tribes wouldn’t be able to raise their heads for decades. It was the joy of the realm and the people that the State of Xia had such an emperor.

When news that Emperor Jingren had been abducted reached the capital, there had been a period of instability. Several imperial kinsmen were still restless, and at court many suppressed plots rose again. Prince Huainan couldn’t hold any of them back, even without considering how many of his subordinates were always egging him on to usurp the throne. When Shen Junyi heard that Emperor Jingren, the main character, was in danger, he was scared to death. He spent his time strategizing with the consorts. A number of people wanted to kill themselves to return to reality, but they were afraid that Emperor Jingren was already dead, and if they killed themselves there really would be no coming back. Everyone was on tenterhooks. Of course no one had any attention left to spare to think of usurping the throne.

Every day, Xu Qingyang counseled Prince Huainan to send his own men to find Emperor Jingren, kill him at once when he found him, and blame Huyan Xi. Emperor Jingren had left behind a verbal decree stating that if anything happened to him, Prince Huainan would be the lawful ruler. Emperor Jingren just had to die…

Xu Qingyang was completely devoted to his master. Sadly, before all the words had even left his mouth, Prince Huainan had him dragged away and confined. After spending several days in Prince Huainan’s personal prison, he heard the news that Emperor Jingren was all right and at last gave up hope.

The situation at court had been dire, but as soon as Xiao Jinshu’s news reached the capital, all the plotters shut their mouths. The entire nation was now reporting that Emperor Jingren was the imperial star incarnate, the first divine ruler since the times of the sage-kings Yao and Shun and Yu the Great. With momentum like this, anyone who dared to revolt would drown in the nation’s saliva.

As rumors flew everywhere, Emperor Jingren at last finished absorbing the curative powers of the Ephemeral Snow Lotus and slowly opened his eyes.

Each day people kept watch beside him: an imperial physician, Jing Xixian, and Xiao Jinshu were all there. But it was Su Huailing who first saw that Emperor Jingren was awake. She cried out in excitement. Jing Xixian promptly stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth and expelled her from the room.

Su Huailing was speechless.

When Emperor Jingren opened his eyes, he didn’t speak. He looked all around, taking in everyone in the room. He remembered that when he had woken up a year ago after hitting his head, the first thing he had seen was the empress’s large, reassuring figure. His heart sank.

“Where is…General Xiao?” Emperor Jingren asked. His voice was dry and hoarse after several days without drinking anything. It sounded dreadful. But to those who had kept watch over him, it was the very music of heaven.

“Your Majesty…” Xiao Jinshu was pleased that Emperor Jingren was awake, but he also ached for the little sister he had doted on since childhood. He couldn’t speak.

Jing Xixian knelt before Emperor Jingren’s bed and reported, “Your Majesty, in order to rescue Your Majesty, General Xiao went to the grave with Huyan Xi. He fell into a crevasse in the mountains. No body was recovered.”

Emperor Jingren’s pupils contracted. He quietly closed his eyes. His health was better than it had ever been, but he felt weary at heart. All he wanted was to lie here like this and never get up.

Jing Xixian arranged his diction and told him most of what he and Xiao Jinyi had done that day, concealing only that General Xiao had taken a pill to increase his strength and died bleeding from the apertures of his face. He only recounted that he had gone to the grave with Huyan Xi. Xiao Jinyi had forbidden him to tell Emperor Jingren about the pill. Between loyalty to his sovereign and awe of Xiao Jinyi, Jing Xixian had chosen to do whatever he could to keep from hurting Emperor Jingren. Anyway, it didn’t matter how it had happened: the outcome was that General Xiao had died to save His Majesty.

“Your Majesty,” said Jing Xixian, “General Xiao left behind a pendant. I have kept it.”

Jing Xixian had found this pendant in the snow after Xiao Jinyi had disappeared in a crevasse. He knew that this pendant belonged to Emperor Jingren, so he had put it away, intending to give it to him.

Emperor Jingren’s tightly shut eyes opened. He slowly sat up in bed. All he felt was hunger and the dizziness of not having eaten anything in a long time, no other discomfort.

He reached out and said, “Give us the pendant.”

Jing Xixian placed the bloodstained pendant on a tray and presented it. Emperor Jingren picked it up and gently wiped away the blood—but the blood couldn’t be wiped away. It seemed to have sunk into the pendant.

“Your Majesty, I also wanted to clean the pendant after obtaining it, but the bloodstains…can’t be removed,” Jing Xixian said very unhappily.

“There’s no need, then,” said Emperor Jingren, mildly.

The empress had even left this pendant behind, and he had gone to the grave with Huyan Xi. Probably he had completed his assignment. Emperor Jingren smiled bitterly. He wanted to throw this useless pendant away, but his mind kept replaying the two instances of the empress giving it to him. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it.

Forget it, he thought. Let it be a keepsake.

Emperor Jingren undid the pendant’s chain and, without anyone else’s help, hung the pendant around his neck. But unlike the previous two times, once the pendant was on Emperor Jingren, it began to emit an enchanting light. The dull gray pendant seemed to come to life, sparkling and scintillating, as if some glittering and translucent liquid were flowing through it. Though Emperor Jingren had seen countless treasures, he had never seen anything so beautiful. For a moment, everyone in the room was stunned by the sight.

A multicolored light surrounded Emperor Jingren. One band of light after another contracted until at last it entered Emperor Jingren’s body. Then the pendant ceased to emit light but remained just as beautiful. At the center of the pendant, a spot of glorious red in the glittering, translucent liquid seemed especially lovely.

“That’s…” Everyone was dumbfounded. Only Xiao Jinshu looked thoughtfully at the pendant.

“What is this object?” Emperor Jingren asked. He could see Xiao Jinshu had something on his mind. “General Xiao once told us that it was a family heirloom that could act as protection.”

“I-I…I seem…to recall…” Xiao Jinshu frowned as he spoke. He felt that he had no recollection of this object, but when he had seen the pendant, he’d had the feeling that he remembered it. It was as if he had known of this pendant’s existence long ago, but also as if he had just found out…

Xiao Jinshu couldn’t understand why he would have such a problem with his memory, so he simply left it alone. He responded, “Your Majesty, this is what I recall: the records say that this pendant is useless when it is dull and gray, but once it recognizes its master, it will become incomparably beautiful and be able to protect its wearer from injury.”

“Is that so?” Emperor Jingren looked at the pendant without blinking. “We would like to try that out.”

He ordered Jing Xixian to draw a dagger and stab him in the leg.

Xiao Jinshu, concerned, said, “Your Majesty, it’s only a legend. Commander Jing, take care…”

But before he could finish, Jing Xixian’s dagger stopped before it could reach Emperor Jingren’s leg. No person had stopped it; an irresistible force had protected Emperor Jingren.

Jing Xixian tried several times and found that even if he activated all his internal force, he couldn’t even cut through Emperor Jingren’s hem. He switched to his Embroidered Guardsman’s saber but still failed. Meanwhile, the eunuch who helped Emperor Jingren dress had no trouble touching his clothing; he encountered no obstruction.

“This object truly is magical. It can even distinguish attempts at injury from ordinary touch.” Jing Xixian knelt. “Congratulations on obtaining this miraculous object, Your Majesty!”

Everyone in the room knelt and cried out, “Long live Your Majesty!” But Emperor Jingren gazed steadily at the pendant and smiled slightly.

“Your Majesty, your subject wife will always protect you.” The glorious blood color in the pendant seemed to be alive and constantly repeating these words to Emperor Jingren.

“Yes, we know,” Emperor Jingren said mildly.

He knew—he had always known. His empress was an indomitable man; even though he would never return to this world, he would still always protect Emperor Jingren. He had never lied to him; everything he said held weight.

His handsome, strong, beautiful empress.

—

Concerning the pendant, Emperor Jingren ordered everyone who knew about it to say nothing. This went without saying; anyone who openly flaunted such a treasure would deserve the trouble it brought them. It was better to keep it and let it protect him in secret. With the pendant hidden under his clothes, Emperor Jingren rested a few days in Mobei City, then returned victorious to the capital.

This time the journey to the capital passed without incident. When Prince Huainan saw that Emperor Jingren was back, he fell to his knees with a thud before all the courtiers and cried from emotion. Hugging Emperor Jingren’s knees, he wailed, “You’re finally back, Imperial Brother. I was so worried about you, Imperial Brother. What would I do if you died, Imperial Brother?” and so on. It required great restraint for Emperor Jingren to resist kicking him away.

“We understand your feelings.” Emperor Jingren was very calm. To Jing Xixian, he said, “We fear Prince Huainan is too emotional to stand. Bring him a chair, then help him back to his rooms to rest.”

Jing Xixian and two of his subordinates immediately peeled Prince Huainan off Emperor Jingren and pressed him into a chair. One guardsman remained to hold him down, not letting him get to his feet lest he once again throw himself at the emperor.

Emperor Jingren’s first decree upon returning to court commended the contributions of the Army of the North and the Xiao family. Marquis Zhenbei was raised one rank, becoming Duke Zhenbei. This title would pass by inheritance, now going to Xiao Jinshu. The sixth son of the Xiao family, Xiao Jinyi, had performed a meritorious service in rescuing the emperor and was posthumously awarded the rank of marshal; one of his kinsmen among the Xiao family could be adopted to continue Xiao Jinyi’s line.

The soldiers and people of Mobei were all given rewards, and even Su Huailing was given the position of deputy commander in the Embroidered Guard and awarded a great deal of money.

When everyone had been recognized, Emperor Jingren withdrew to rest. He spent the night at Qifeng Hall, his solitary slumber troubled.

A month later, the empress passed away from illness; the whole nation mourned. Emperor Jingren constructed an imperial mausoleum and interred the empress’s remains in it. In due time, he would be buried there alongside the empress.

Three years later, Emperor Jingren was still childless and began to hold a harem selection, with the empress dowager, holding a temporary empress’s seal, taking responsibility for it. The empress dowager’s eyesight was weak in her old age. The girls she chose were ugly, or else they were sun-burnt, and one girl was tall and powerfully built…