Chapter Twenty-Two: Borrowing Spring to Admire the Flowers

Wu Zetian stood with her hands behind her back, a melancholic smile on her face, gazing at the flowers blooming in competition in the garden. She let out a heavy sigh, and Shangguan Wan'er gently draped a cloak over her shoulders.

"Your Majesty is still as radiant as ever. Even after a thousand years, a single decree from you is enough to command the flowers to obey," Shangguan Wan'er said, her head bowed in respect.

"There you go again. I have told you so many times, I am no longer your Empress. Over these years, we have supported one another; we are no longer mistress and servant. I treat you as a younger sister. How have you forgotten this again today?" Wu Zetian smiled gently and patted her hand.

The corners of Shangguan Wan'er’s eyes grew moist, tears glistening in the snowy night. Her voice choked as she replied, "Seeing your command over the flowers today, it felt exactly like the time you enjoyed the blossoms in Luoyang. For a moment, I truly thought we had returned to the Great Tang, and I could not help but be moved."

"You, oh you. Yan Hui has seen right through you. He says you are a person living in the past. It has been a millennium; why haven't you let go?" Wu Zetian said in a comforting, soft voice. She suddenly looked up at me. "Wan'er lives in memories, but what about me? In your heart, Yan Hui, what kind of person am I?"

I met Wu Zetian’s gaze, but instinctively looked away. She seemed to possess an innate air of authority; even when she smiled, her eyes were always filled with a proud, imperial majesty.

"You... you are someone who has defeated everything with time."

"Hahaha, well said, well said!" Wu Zetian threw her head back and laughed, then turned to Shangguan Wan'er. "Wan'er, you used to be in charge of drafting imperial decrees. If he had said this back then, what would I have done?"

"Presumptuous speculation, treasonous defiance. The crime is unpardonable; it would warrant death by chariot-tearing, and the execution of the nine degrees of kin!" Shangguan Wan'er said without hesitation, her head still bowed.

"Hahaha, did you hear that? If you had said such a thing while I was on the throne, I would have had your head, and your entire clan would have perished with you!" Wu Zetian smiled, then asked with profound meaning, "But Wan'er, what Yan Hui said is the truth, isn't it?"

"Those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles. Throughout history, emperors and wise monarchs never seemed to enjoy hearing the truth," Shangguan Wan'er replied smoothly.

Wu Zetian gestured toward Shangguan Wan'er with her finger and looked up at me with a smile.

"Do you see? This is your true Aunt Qing. She has a formidable tongue. Don't let her appearance as a talented scholar fool you; back then, whenever her brush moved, I’m not even sure I knew exactly how many heads fell because of it."

I listened, stunned, unable to find the words to respond.

Seeing my awkwardness, Wu Zetian smiled kindly. "I am only teasing you. Today, I am nothing more than an ordinary person; the past is but a fleeting cloud, not worth clinging to. You must have many questions for me tonight. It has been a long time since we’ve sat and talked by candlelight. It’s cold outside; let’s go inside."

Shangguan Wan'er bowed her head and whispered, "It is rare for you to be in such high spirits tonight. Let me go brew a pot of tea. A conversation over tea is the only way to do justice to such a beautiful night."

"Brew the tea and come back soon. Yan Hui’s head is probably bursting with questions, waiting for us to answer them."

Once Wu Zetian went back inside, I clutched the Imperial Jade Seal tightly and followed cautiously. I felt incredibly stifled, almost forgetting how to walk. I had only ever read the phrase "accompanying a monarch is like accompanying a tiger," but I had never truly understood its meaning until now.

***

Sitting across from me was a monarch who had shaken the ages, the only Empress in history to be remembered for millennia.

I was awkward and uneasy, not daring to lift my head. Only now did I realize the true meaning of "walking on thin ice."

I was not afraid of Wu Zetian, but sitting across from an empress who should have returned to the heavens a thousand years ago, seeing her alive before my eyes on this snowy night, I felt a sense of trepidation.

"Don't keep your head bowed. You look just like the officials who used to kneel before me," Wu Zetian said with a comforting, calm smile. "Where do you intend to start?"

I steadied myself, stammered for a long while, and finally spoke in a low voice.

"Who... who is Qiu Nuo? Is she also from the Tang Dynasty?"

"No, Qiu Nuo is my foster daughter. She does not know my true identity, nor Wan'er's."

I let out a long sigh of relief, then couldn't help but smile bitterly. I wondered what expression Qiu Nuo would have if she knew that the person she spent every day with was the brilliant Shangguan Wan'er, and that the mother she deeply respected was the Empress Wu Zetian. I wondered if her ability to cope was as good as mine.

"How... how did you... how are you alive..." I truly didn't know how to ask this.

"You want to ask how Wan'er and I have lived until today, right?"

I nodded awkwardly and lowered my voice. "History books record that in the first year of the Shenlong era, Prime Minister Zhang Jianzhi and others launched a coup, forcing you to abdicate. You yielded the throne to Emperor Zhongzong, Li Xian, restored the name of the Tang Dynasty, and in December of that same year... you... you passed away in the Shangyang Palace in Luoyang."

"History is written by the victors. In the struggles of a thousand years ago, how much truth or falsehood can a single record hold?" Wu Zetian said calmly, fingering her prayer beads. "Zhang Jianzhi became Prime Minister not because of his great talent, but because of his mediocrity and stupidity. There was no coup; it was all a fabrication by Wan'er, recorded by historians to be passed down through the ages."

"But... aren't you afraid that one of them might have recorded the truth and passed it on?"

"Of course not!"

"Why?"

"The dead never speak!" Shangguan Wan'er pushed the door open and entered, setting down the freshly brewed tea. "Everyone who knew the truth was executed by my order. Not a single one was left alive!"

A chill ran down my spine. No matter how I looked at the elegant, tranquil woman before me, the words she spoke were cold and ruthless.

"Historical records say that Zhang Jianzhi was exiled to Longzhou that same year and died of illness on the way. The court used the excuse of purging political factions to carry out a massive cleanup of officials. In the very year you... you died, the court was a bloodbath. So... so it was because you wanted to silence them."

"People say the mouths of the world cannot be stopped, but in truth, as long as you use the right methods, there is nothing that cannot be silenced," Wu Zetian said calmly.

"To keep this secret... how many people... how many people died?"

"The decree to purge the political factions was written by my own hand. In three days, the heads of 3,792 officials and palace staff rolled!" Shangguan Wan'er said faintly as she poured my tea.

Wu Zetian sighed, slowly lifting her hand to look at the prayer beads, and said with a touch of melancholy, "Though the decree was written by Wan'er and the matter was handled by her, I was the one who gave the order. My hands are stained with too much blood. For these thousands of years, I have been filled with unease. The longer time goes on, the more I regret it. Later on, I turned to Buddhism to seek peace of mind. Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I can still recall everything from back then... more than three thousand people... the moat of Chang'an was dyed red with their blood."

I frowned, asking in astonishment, "If you were so capable of planning and controlling the situation, why pretend to be ill and abdicate? You could have remained Empress forever."

"I thought so once, too. I could govern the country, make the officials submit, and ensure the people lived in peace," Wu Zetian smiled and exchanged a glance with Shangguan Wan'er. "However, even with supreme power and the honor of the Nine-Five, there was one thing I could not conceal forever."

"What was that?" I asked curiously.

"You said I was someone who defeated everything with time," Wu Zetian looked at me faintly. "In truth, I never lost to anyone, but I lost to time!"

"Lost to time?" I did not understand what she meant.

"Time can change everything: a person's experience, their state of mind, their personality, and, of course, their appearance." Wu Zetian took a sip of tea and paused for a moment. "As I watched the beautiful palace maids around me grow old one by one in the face of time, I replaced them batch after batch. Until eventually, I realized I could no longer replace them, because... because my own appearance had never changed!"

I realized then. I looked at Wu Zetian; she looked to be in her thirties, but she maintained herself so well that I believed anyone meeting her for the first time would mistake her for being in her mid-twenties.

Wu Zetian in her thirties was the era when she was first named Empress in the sixth year of the Yonghui era. It meant that from the time she became Empress until her "death," her appearance had never altered.

"For over fifty years, your appearance never changed. Did no one suspect anything?" I asked.

"Of course, people were suspicious. I could replace a batch of maids every three years, but I could not replace the entire civil and military court every three years," Wu Zetian answered in a low voice.

I understood her meaning perfectly. Replacing maids was easy—only the dead could keep secrets forever. But dealing with the entire court was a different matter.

"Then... how did you handle it? There are no records in history of you executing large numbers of officials during your reign. If you didn't kill them, how did you make them believe your appearance hadn't changed?"

"Why do rumors always spread so quickly, and why do so many believe them? Because rumors are always more bizarre than the truth. The more mysterious and astonishing something is, the more people delight in speculating about it," Wu Zetian smiled with meaning and raised her teacup. "So, I arranged a perfect rumor for the officials. I believed that through their mouths, it would soon spread across the world. I succeeded; in fact, that rumor still exists to this day."

"A rumor?!" I rubbed my temples, stunned. "What rumor has lasted until now?"

"The Art of Eternal Youth!"