Chapter 1: After the Rebellion Succeeded, I Realized It Was Dream of the Red Chamber

The sound of galloping hooves shattered the usual stillness of the Duke of Rong’s mansion in the Imperial Capital of the Great Shun.

“Urgent report! Two hundred thousand rebel troops have reached the outskirts of the eastern city, twenty li from here! Hurry, go tell Second Master and Second Mistress!”

A servant named Lai Wang'er swung down from his horse and shouted in alarm toward several attendants at the eastern side gate.

In front of the main gate of the Duke of Rong’s residence sat more than a dozen gatekeepers in splendid caps and fine robes. At his cry, all of them changed color. In a panic, they rose at once, forgetting their duty to guard the gate, and rushed over to seize Lai Wang'er, demanding:

“How can the rebel army have come so fast? Just the other day they were still said to be at Xuanhua!”

“Damn those traitors! They do not fear having their heads cut off!”

“Cut off? Once the rebels enter the city, it will be our heads that are cut off!”

“The rebels are about to break in... what are we to do?”

“Wang'er, where is the master? Where has Second Master gone? The First Master has been at home all along...”

“Alas, the First Master has never concerned himself with affairs; he only seeks pleasure at home.”

The gate of the Duke of Rong’s mansion, once so solemn and quiet, was instantly thrown into uproar. The commotion quickly spread from the gatekeepers to the older women, then from them to the second-rank maids, and at last reached Ping'er, the chief maid beside Second Mistress Wang Xifeng.

“What?”

Hearing this, Ping'er went deathly pale. The needlework in her hands slipped onto the table as she stared at the maid in disbelief. “You mean that rebellious Prince of Chu has led his army to the city walls?”

“It-it was Wang'er who brought the news!” the little maid stammered, trembling with fear.

“How could this be, how could this be... How can that rebel surnamed Chu be so brazen, that even the three hundred thousand defenders of the capital cannot stop him...”

Ping'er, usually quick-witted and composed, was utterly flustered. After a long moment of helpless confusion, she finally came to herself, cast aside her needlework, and hurried off to the Old Lady’s courtyard.

Before she had even entered, she heard Second Mistress laughing inside: “Old Lady, you do not know this, but yesterday Baoyu and Miss Lin were at it again.”

Ping'er then heard the Old Lady laugh: “Those two incorrigible little troublemakers never give me a day of peace. When will I close these eyes and draw my last breath...”

The Old Lady had not yet finished speaking, but Ping'er could no longer wait. She hurried in and cried, “Old Lady! Madame! Something terrible has happened!”

The entire room—ladies, mistresses, young misses, and a crowd of maids and old women—turned to look at her in astonishment.

The highest-ranking person in the Duke of Rong’s household was the Old Lady, Jia Mu of the Shi clan, whom both the Duke of Ning and the Duke of Rong households addressed as the Old Lady.

Beside Jia Mu sat a beautiful, full-browed, soft-bodied lady of graceful figure, her almond eyes glancing at Ping'er with faint curiosity. Behind the Old Lady, another chief maid, Yuanyang, gently massaged Jia Mu’s shoulders.

“Ping'er, what is so terrible? Speak clearly before the Old Lady.”

Wang Xifeng, the Second Mistress of the Duke of Rong’s residence and the wife of Jia Lian, looked rather displeased. Ping'er was her own maid, yet here she was, showing no decorum before the Old Lady and the ladies of the house.

Ping'er replied, “In answer to the Old Lady and Madame, the servant Lai Wang'er outside the second gate says that the rebel false prince of Chu, Chu Yan, has already led two hundred thousand troops to within twenty li of the eastern city!”

As soon as she finished, the room fell silent.

With a sharp clatter, a teacup struck the floor, the sound piercing and abrupt.

Ping'er looked over and saw that it was the teacup in Aunt Xue’s hand. It had fallen onto her lap, soaking her clothes, and then dropped to the ground.

Aunt Xue’s face had gone white.

She looked around at the others and saw that most of their faces were much the same: pale, panicked, helpless, as though the sky had fallen.

Two hundred thousand rebels besieging the capital—how was that not the same as the sky falling?

“Amitabha.”

Jia Mu recited a Buddhist prayer to steady her frightened heart, then called out toward the hall, “Go fetch the First Master and Lian'er! Send others to inquire at the palace as well. None of you must lose your composure. The sky has not fallen yet!”

“Yes.”

The maids hurried away.

Aunt Xue could not remain long. She rose and took her leave. Xue Baochai, who had been sitting beside Jia Mu, also withdrew. Mother and daughter left the Old Lady’s courtyard together, both with rather grim expressions.

“What is to be done?” Aunt Xue said anxiously. “A few days ago I heard that the court had sent three hundred thousand troops to suppress the rebels, and now the rebels are already twenty li outside the city... Is the capital not to be surrounded?”

She had not read much and only vaguely understood that the capital was in grave danger.

Her daughter, however, was different. Baochai had always been well read, and at the news that Prince of Chu Chu Yan’s army was drawing near, she immediately understood that the capital would be difficult to hold. Either the dynasty would change hands, or the Son of Heaven would flee, and the imperial capital would fall.

Living in seclusion, Baochai knew little of the outside world. Even now she was bewildered and at a loss. Only after her mother called to her several times did she come back to herself and offer comfort: “War is a man’s affair; worrying ourselves blind will not help. If the rebels do enter the city...”

She pondered for a moment, then said, “Heaven never shuts every road. There will still be some chance to survive.”

“Survive? Can the rebel surnamed Chu really get into the city?” Aunt Xue was terrified.

“It is still uncertain. We will know once word comes in from outside.”

“And if they really do enter the city, what then?”

Aunt Xue clutched her daughter’s hand, her face bloodless. A hundred shameful things flashed through her mind—household confiscation, beheading, humiliation at the hands of others!

A complicated look flickered in Baochai’s eyes as she slowly said, “If the Prince of Chu truly breaks into the city, the women of former officials will likely be consigned to the palace quarters. There are records of such things in the histories.”

“The palace quarters!”

Aunt Xue was so frightened she nearly fainted.

In the Great Shun dynasty, many official titles and palace terms were styled after ancient usage. The palace quarters were where the imperial maids and the female relatives of convicted officials lived. The women there were required to learn dance, music, and other arts to please the emperor.

Did that not mean her daughter Baochai would also be sent there? To learn song and dance and serve the newly enthroned ruler, while she, now old and faded, would be left in the palace quarters washing clothes and cooking...

“Mother.”

Baochai soothed her. “The ancients often said that fortune and misfortune depend on one another. We need not worry so much.” After a pause, she added with a faintly playful air, “Take Lady Shangguan of the Tang dynasty, the so-called female chancellor. She too once lived in the palace quarters. If my turn comes to go there, I may not be worse than she was.”

Aunt Xue stared at her daughter in astonishment.

...

Outside the capital, in the commander’s tent.

The camp had been set in order, night was deep, and with all matters settled, Chu Yan sat alone in the tent reading a book, his expression calm and unreadable.

His two hundred thousand troops had already surrounded the imperial capital; victory was all but certain, and his ten years of military life were about to come to an end.

What remained to be considered was what to do after entering the city.

“Summon Mister Xu and Chu Ming,” Chu Yan instructed. The personal guard outside the tent bowed and went to fetch them.

Soon, Xu Zhiyi and Chu Ming arrived. Chu Yan rose slightly to greet them, then sat again. His eyes fell on the documents in Chu Ming’s hands, and he could not help laughing. “You truly understand me, Chu Ming. You know why I have called you here.”

Chu Ming smiled. “Before every assault, Your Majesty always arranges in advance the property, retainers, and womenfolk of the city’s nobles and grandees. This time, in besieging the capital, I imagine Your Majesty has also made arrangements for the princes and aristocrats within the city.”

As he spoke, he rose and presented the documents to the Prince of Chu. They recorded the residences, wealth, and estates of the princes and nobles in the capital, as well as the fields, temples, and manor estates around the city.

He had already compiled everything of importance in the capital, awaiting the Prince of Chu’s decision.

After a city fell, its wealth was either bestowed upon the generals or retained and stored in the treasury; such was the customary practice of the rebel army.

The difference this time was that the Prince of Chu’s forces were laying siege to the imperial capital of the Great Shun.

Chu Yan said nothing, flipping through the papers. “Seventeen princely mansions, twenty-six ducal estates, thirty-five residences of dukes and marquises... Where is the imperial palace?”

“Your Majesty, the imperial palace will naturally be yours to occupy, so it was not listed,” Chu Ming flattered.

These residences were included only so that wealth could be gathered from within the city and distributed among the men. The imperial palace was the emperor’s sleeping quarters and the place for court audience; how could it be listed in the same manner?

“I see.”

Chu Yan glanced through it idly and was about to set it aside when, on the second page, his gaze caught on a name.

“Marquis of Northern Calm?”

He spoke it aloud.

The title felt strangely familiar. Looking further, he saw other marquisates: Eastern Peace, Southern Security, Western Tranquility...

“Among the marquises are four hereditary foreign-line kings, all ennobled at the founding of the Great Shun,” Xu Zhiyi explained.

Chu Yan continued turning the pages and soon found two even more familiar names among the ducal and marquisate estates:

Duke of Ning.
Duke of Rong.

“It’s actually Dream of the Red Chamber!!!”

Chu Yan cried out in shock and sprang to his feet. His eight-foot frame stood imposing and formidable in the tent, armor still upon him, his presence all the more terrifying.

Xu Zhiyi and Chu Ming were even more astonished. The Prince of Chu had risen in rebellion in his youth, and since seizing his first prefecture he had been victorious in every battle, invincible in attack and assault. His army was filled with fierce generals, none surpassing the Prince of Chu himself. Whenever he personally led troops into battle, the enemy, upon seeing him, lost all courage and cried that the overlord Xiang Yu of Chu had returned to the world.

Yet now the Prince of Chu was startled beyond measure, shouting something about “Dream of the Red Chamber”?