Chapter 64 :New Emperor Lingwu Ascended

Yang Muzhi hurried along the winding path to Qingshan Villa, only to find it in ruins — the once-elegant retreat reduced to charred beams and scattered stones, the house stripped of life. His heart sank. “Could something ill have befallen Lady Li?” he wondered, dread settling in his chest like a stone in water. As he stood amid the desolation, a murmur rose from the city beyond — the voices of townsfolk weaving rumours in the air like smoke: “Sun Xiaozhe’s cruelty knows no bounds — nobles, ministers, even their babes in arms, slaughtered for the crime of defiance. And yet, he treats Wang Wei with extraordinary courtesy. They say the poet feigned illness with purgatives to escape the summons to Luoyang, only to be dragged there in a cart regardless. What does An Lushan see in him, I wonder, to guard him so?”Yang Muzhi made inquiries among the townspeople, seeking any word of the master of Qingshan Villa or the whereabouts of Lady Li. But none could offer an answer — only blank stares, shaken heads, and murmurs of sorrowful ignorance.He turned away, his thoughts dark and swift as storm clouds gathering over scorched earth. “The court is riven with discord, Ministers plot and posture, each seeking advantage in the ruin of the other. Their selfish intrigues have brought the realm to this sorry pass. I had hoped to retreat from such strife, to vanish into the quietude of hills and streams. But if the nation falls, how can any home hope to endure? Can eggs remain unbroken beneath a toppled nest? To preserve one’s own virtue in such times — that, too, may be a folly. No, the moment calls for resolve. The only course now is to aid the Crown Prince in quelling this rebellion. Only thus might we lift the yoke of suffering from the common folk, and restore peace to the shattered land.”Now, it came to pass that a band of loyal heroes — the Four Elegant Disciples, the Three Demons of Xiangxi, and others of kindred spirit — had escorted the Crown Prince safely to Lingwu. There, noblemen such as Pei Mian and Du Hongjian, bowing to the will left un