On the long table was a golden-speckled paper scroll depicting their journey – from childhood acquaintance, the message at Zishantang, gifting knee pads at Zhengyang Gate, the night lantern festival, to walking together while she was pregnant.
Ning Wanwan laughed, “You’ve drawn so much. Aren’t you afraid the lantern won’t fit?”
Si Zhan replied seriously, “Don’t worry, the lantern I make will definitely hold our family of three.” He then pulled out another sheet showing them playing with a child. Ning Wanwan looked carefully at the child’s attire and laughed, “How do you know it’s a son? What if it’s a daughter?”
“So I drew a daughter too,” he said, pulling out another sheet.
It showed Si Zhan holding a little girl with pigtails in one arm and Ning Wanwan in the other, a family of three looking up at the moon. Ning Wanwan loved this painting most, as it captured the peaceful years she had always longed for.
Si Zhan mentioned his lantern could hold all these pictures. He was creating a large circular revolving lantern to display his drawings. Just as it was nearing completion, a black shadow dropped from the sky. Yuan Bi, dragging a disheveled Wan Shun, knelt before the table.
Yuan Bi said gravely, “Master, something has happened!” Ning Wanwan’s heart skipped a beat, tightening her hand on her belly.
Crack— the bamboo strip Si Zhan was using to support the lantern broke. He frowned, asking, “What is it?”
With tears streaming down his face, Wan Shun cried, “Your Highness, the Pure Concubine is gone.” Si Zhan’s expression turned cold, “What happened?” Wan Shun continued, “Your Highness, the palace has changed. The Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince have jointly controlled the front hall. Right Minister Ling has taken control of the imperial guards and military affairs.”
Tonight, at the beginning of the hour of the rooster, a palace coup was launched, placing the Emperor and the Pure Concubine under house arrest. The Emperor was forced to write two edicts: one of abdication and another condemning Yi Wang as a traitor and ordering the destruction of his entire clan.
