Denghuangtai

"Grand Minister of Works!" The jailer stumbled in, stammering, "The heavens... the celestial dog is eating the sun! It's dark!"

The jailer was panicked, his voice trembling.

Yun Zheng frowned slightly, turned to look at Pei Qingyan, his lips moved, but he swallowed back the words that were about to come out, and raised his hand to signal the jailer to leave.

He turned and sat back down, leaning forward to face Pei Qingyan, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Is this why you're stalling for time?"

"I don't understand what you're saying," Pei Qingyan said, feigning ignorance.

"Pei Qingyan, can't you just tell me the truth for once?"

Pei Qingyan was taken aback by his words and paused for a moment before lowering his head and smiling. "Grand Marshal, now that things have come to this, what truth do you think I should tell you?"

"You've never believed me." Yun Zheng blurted out, his words filled with the grievances he had accumulated over the years.

"I once had unwavering faith in you," Pei Qingyan said slowly, word by word.

"But the facts prove..." She paused, her eyes welling up with tears, "You, Yun Zheng, are not worthy of being trusted."

"What do you mean?"

Pei Qingyan closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. The mist dissipated, and his expression turned colder. "Grand Marshal, instead of wasting your time here with me, you should go back to your aunt and ask her if she dares to take my life on a day like this."

After she finished speaking, the cell fell silent. Yun Zheng stared at her for a long time before suddenly laughing, "General Pei, you're quite capable. You've even learned the art of stargazing."

Pei Qingyan leaned back against the armrest, distancing himself from Yun Zheng. "Is the Grand Commandant overestimating me? How could a military general like me possibly learn the art of stargazing?"

This was obviously a lie. Back in the North, Pei Qingyan had a strategist who was extremely skilled in geomancy, and she was fortunate enough to have learned some basics from him.

The night before she was to be escorted to the capital, the officials of the Court of Justice deliberately chose to spend the night in the mountains outside the city to humiliate her, and they didn't even provide her with a tent. Although Chang'an wasn't as cold as the north, spending a night in a prison cart on only animal hides and straw was still extremely difficult.

The cold wind blew, and she didn't sleep all night. In the deep of night in the mountains, she had no other way to pass the time except to look up at the stars.

This observation, however, led her to a new opportunity.

Pei Qingyan smiled faintly and continued, "It is said that when an emperor is incompetent and loyal ministers and generals are persecuted, strange phenomena will occur. If the emperor does not correct his ways in time, Heaven will send down even greater punishments. Grand Minister of Works is well-versed in the classics; I suppose you know what these punishments are without me having to explain, right?"

Yun Zheng remained silent, quietly watching Pei Qingyan.

He certainly knew what punishment Pei Qingyan was referring to: at best, the emperor would die; at worst, the dynasty would be overthrown. Moreover, a solar eclipse also signified an imbalance of yin and yang in the dynasty, with the empress dowager interfering in politics and powerful relatives causing chaos.

Yun Zheng flicked his sleeves and stood up, striding quickly out of the cell. Just before stepping out, he turned back, looking down at Pei Qingyan. "Pei Qingyan, you'd better have a backup plan. Otherwise, escaping today's predicament is just a temporary reprieve. Sooner or later, I'll come back to send you on your way."

His tone was sarcastic, but his words were also a reminder to Pei Qingyan.

Those celestial phenomena and rumors might fool the common people, but it's almost impossible to intimidate those in power and make them hesitate to act.

Yun Zheng understood this principle, and so did Pei Qingyan.

If she really saw the celestial phenomenon as a lifeline, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths to make a deal with Yun Zheng; she could have simply stalled for time until the phenomenon occurred.

"Hasn't the Grand Minister realized it yet?" Pei Qingyan's hand paused on the rim of his teacup, his knuckles tapping lightly, producing a crisp sound. "There are unusual celestial phenomena. It's not my time to die. Even the heavens are helping me. You won't be able to take my life so easily."

As he said this, Pei Qingyan looked up at Yun Zheng, his eyes revealing the resolute look of a military general.

When she was fifteen, upon learning of her father's disappearance, her first reaction was not to wait for the court to send reinforcements, but to go to the palace to request permission to personally rush to the front lines in the north.

Rather than sitting idly by and waiting for others to help her, she had more faith in her own abilities.

This was true for Pei Qingyan at fifteen, and even more so for Pei Qingyan at twenty.

However, instead of taking the gradual approach she originally intended, on the day she arrived in the capital, she used the lame jailer to leak the news to her subordinates in the capital.

According to the plan, the day after the solar eclipse, her troops would begin spreading the news, using the celestial phenomenon to threaten Empress Dowager Yun. Combined with her other methods, the deadlock of entering the capital could be resolved.

Unfortunately, things in this world are never as one wishes.

Even though Pei Qingyan was incredibly skilled at astronomical calculations, she still couldn't fathom human nature and failed to anticipate that, besides Empress Dowager Yun and Yun Zheng, there were others in the capital who wanted her dead.

One wrong calculation almost led to total defeat.

Fortunately, she still possessed the military tally of the Pei family army. And fortunately, Empress Dowager Yun's regency was still relatively short-lived, and she didn't have much direct command over the troops. This gave her the opportunity to make a deal with Yun Zheng.

Actually, kowtowing to the princess from afar had no deeper meaning; the point was that it would create a commotion and let her retainers in the capital know.

These retainers had all followed Pei Qingyan for many years and knew his style of doing things. Naturally, when Pei Qingyan mobilized such a large force, they would have guessed that something unexpected had happened.

Based on the tacit understanding formed over many years of fighting together, her troops would definitely bring forward the original plan.

What she had to do was to delay as much as possible until the celestial phenomenon of the solar eclipse occurred.

When Emperor Gaozu founded the dynasty, he said that the unification of the country by the Great Zhao was an act that was in accordance with the will of Heaven and the hearts of the people. Because of Emperor Gaozu's words, every emperor after him paid special attention to them.

A solar eclipse is an extremely special celestial phenomenon. Once it occurs, even if Yun Zheng wanted to kill her, he wouldn't dare to act rashly and would have to go back to ask Empress Dowager Yun for instructions.

This gave her troops time to spread rumors and incite the people of the capital.

The will of Heaven and the hearts of the people perfectly echoed the words of Emperor Gaozu.

This round is not a battle between Pei Qingyan and Empress Dowager Yun, but a battle between Empress Dowager Yun and Emperor Gaozu.

If she wanted her dead, Empress Dowager Yun would have to find a way to break the precepts left by Emperor Gaozu.

Pei Qingyan picked up his cup and defiantly raised it to Yun Zheng.

She won this round. Now, she'll wait and see what Empress Dowager Yun will do next.