Chapter Text
Underneath ChongQing’s clinic was a storage room. It was meant to safely keep herbs, equipment, and medicine. However, it was currently being used as a meeting room to plan the rise of a Coup d'état.
The door opened, two cloaked people came down and met with three people.
“ZanJin!” greeted a warrior dressed in red. “You’re here!” XiaoZhan took the smaller Prince into his arms.
ZanJin pulled down the cloak before wrapped his arms around XiaoZhan’s waist. “I am! I want to help you, Zhanmei!”
XiaoZhan frowned and tilted ZanJin’s chin up to look at him, “But it’s going to be dangerous… I’m not sure if want you to be involved.”
“I can do it,” ZanJin whispered, his hands coming to rest on XiaoZhan’s chest. “I want to do everything I can to help you. To free this Kingdom and give it the ruler they deserve.”
Although the musty storage room was dimly lit with flickering candles and their orange flame, it did nothing to dampen the beauty that the two men displayed together.
The two other mortals in the room, ZuoCheng, and Haikuan, were blinded. Yibo was just standing in the corner with his arms crossed and his eyes observing.
XiaoZhan smiled tenderly, his eyes staring into the Prince’s with such fondness, and caressed ZanJin’s cheek. “I see. I’m glad you’re here to join me. While you’re here, I will do whatever it takes to protect you.” he let go of ZanJin and then faced the others. “Now, shall we begin? How do you overthrow a Kingdom?” XiaoZhan asked with a smile.
“How?” said ZuoCheng.
“Well, you let the Kingdom do it for you.”
…
ZanJin walked through the Palace halls with the usual smile on his face, on the way to the library, he passed by an official. “Oh, Sir, it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen you!” the Prince greeted.
The official widened his eyes, a middle-aged man who was dressed in gaudy attire. “O-Oh, yes, my Prince, it really has been!”
The Prince stopped his steps then said in a whisper, “I’m sorry for what you’re going through…”
The official gave the Prince a confused look. “Whatever do you mean, sire?”
ZanJin placed his hand on his lips as if in shock. “Do you not know?”
“N-no what, my Prince?”
The Prince gave the official a look of pity. “I’ve overheard the other officials saying that you were to be beheaded.”
“W-what!?”
“Shhh!” The prince shushed, and looked around, making the official cover his mouth. “You didn’t hear this from me, but I heard from the officials in charge of finances that they’ve exposed you for hoarding the funds earned from the citizens’ taxes.”
“B-but I did no such thing!”
“Really? But it’s what they said to me.” ZanJin said in shock. “Would they lie to me, the Prince?”
“I--I…” The official was clearly in a panic, the blood draining from his face.
“Well, I hope you settle this problem soon,” ZanJin said before waving goodbye.
It continued on this way for every official that ZanJin passed.
“I heard the officials spreading rumors that you’ve sold the royal stables’ best horses.”
“I’ve been informed by a certain official that you murdered the child of another Lord.”
“Haven’t you heard? They’ve been saying that you’ve withheld the information coming from the eastern villages.”
As the Prince of ChongQing, ZanJin was educated in all of the Kingdom’s affairs. He knew the names of every official and knew what they were in charge of. So with every rumor that he spread, filling his noble’s mind with life-threatening lies, the court began to shake.
“And please remember,” ZanJin whispered, his voice sultry, “You never heard it from me.”
…
“ZanJin, this is a task that I know you can do,” said XiaoZhan.
ZanJin swallowed, nervous but determined. “What do you wish me to do?”
“Rumors. Lie to each and every official that you come across. Pit them against each other-- make it so that they refuse to join the sides of even their own comrades. This way, they will weaken. The court will be at dismay and there will be no noble who’d join hands with each other through distrust and betrayal.”
“I… I can do this.” ZanJin said with his fists curled on his chest. “I will do my best!”
XiaoZhan smiled. “I know you will.” then, he turned to ZuoCheng. “For you…”
…
ZuoCheng was finally allowed outside of the clinic, with some warnings, of course.
The warrior wandered through the streets, avoiding the wide, bright roads, and instead, squeezing into the narrow alleyways. Here, he entered into the benevolent city’s darkness, its shameful side hidden from plain sight.
This is where the lower class were shoved aside and ignored.
Left to right, you’d see people dressed in rags, crammed into small houses. From time to time, he’d pass by a homeless drunkard, or a child begging for scraps. However, it was not all covered in darkness. ZuoCheng stopped in front of a little well where a father gave his young daughter a sip of the well’s clean water. He gave her a smile and patted her head.
When you are with your loved ones, you can be happy even when you have almost nothing.
In a way, these people are victims. Victims of the corruption that all the officials have done. In this structure, the rich only become richer and the poor become poorer. With such a stark gap in their wealth, ChongQing disguises itself as a city of riches when in fact it was just hiding its sinking pit with a satin cloth.
The poor outnumber the rich. For a city, it is a setback, but for a revolution to overthrow the hierarchy… it is a blessing.
ZuoCheng tapped the father’s shoulder, making him turn. “Hey there.”
The man gave him a scrutinizing look, his eyes going from his face down to ZuoCheng’s sheathed sword. He pulled his daughter closer and asked warily, “What do you want??”
“Well,” ZuoCheng smiled, “I want to offer you the chance to give your daughter a better life.”
…
“What we need are numbers,” said XiaoZhan, eyes determined. “We’re too small. We need to recruit more people onto our side.”
“How are we going to do that?” asked ZuoCheng.
“We tip the balance of fortune…” XiaoZhan sat down and crossed his legs, “It’s about time we made the fortunate and the unfortunate take each other’s places. You are to go to the deep ends of the city where everything is hidden. Capture the hearts of those who live there. Raise their spirits, and have them fight together with us against the rich.”
ZuoCheng nodded, albeit a little nervous, but still determined to accomplish his task.
XiaoZhan crossed his arms and continued the assigning of tasks, “Next, we’re going to weaken their military by striking an internal conflict.”
“How are we gonna do that?” ZanJin asked. “Do we have anyone we know in the military?”
“But of course! We have the cutest ally.”
…
The barracks were quite busy. Not in the way where they were training or preparing for battle, but everyone was whispering amongst themselves in fervor until finally, someone decided to voice out what was on everyone’s minds.
“Well? Why is everyone being so quiet about it? Everyone knows. Just say it!” Shouted an angry soldier. “Almost everyone here in the lower ranks come from the slums as well-- are we going to sit around and continue to serve a King that exploits our loved ones?”
An uncertain soldier looked up from their hunched position and said, “We can’t do anything about it.”
“Who says?” said another soldier. Everyone turned their heads and met with a small man with bright eyes. “Who says that we can’t bring justice to our side?”
“FanXing, we’re only lower-rank soldiers, we can’t fight against the Ki--”
“ Soldiers ! You all are soldiers !” FanXing shouted, shocking his peers. “We are warriors trained to protect the citizens of ChongQing. Every single one! We worked hard to protect our families, risking our lives… only to became slaves to the rich?” the young soldier shook his head, his eyes alight with determination. “We’re here to protect all of ChongQing! Not only those scummy aristocrats!”
“We’re one of many!” shouted a soldier, standing up and putting his fist into the air.
“Us soldiers outnumber the rest!” yelled another.
“Protect our families!”
“Protect all of ChongQing!”
…
“We need allies. Strong allies.” XiaoZhan whispered. “Amongst the officials, there are certainly those who are against the King.”
“Indeed. Judging from their expressions, there were quite a few who were disgusted with his choices.” Haikuan nodded.
Yibo scoffed and crossed his arms. “And yet they’ve done nothing with their power. They chose to cower in fear.”
“We need to find them.”
“I can help,” said ZanJin.
…
Being in contact with officials every day, ZanJin had no trouble tracking through them. The tricky part was making sure that he approached the right ones. Who knows if there would be one who would stab them from behind? There was not much danger. After all, he had Haikuan by his side.
The sun had already set, the golden sands fading away into a silver under the moon’s light. In the dark halls, ZanJin and Haikuan wandered in silence.
“ZanJin, you have been working hard since daylight. Do you wish to rest?” Haikuan asked in a whisper.
The Prince halted in his footsteps, pausing for a moment, before shaking his head. “No. Time isn’t something we have the pleasure of having. It is important that I finished everything as soon as possible.” he looked out the window with his eyes burning with determination. “For once, I have a chance to do some good to this country.”
Haikuan took in a breath at the Prince’s silhouette. Breathtaking as always.
“ZanJin. To see you so alight brings me joy.” Haikuan whispered.
The Prince blinked and then turned to look back at the warrior. “Pardon me?”
Immediately, Haikuan turned red and shook his head. He waved his hands around and rubbed the back of his neck. “What? I said nothing?” he cleared his throat awkwardly.
“No, I’m quite sure you said something--”
“Nothing! I said nothing!” Haikuan yelled, making the Prince jump at the tone of his voice.
“Haikuan, it’s evening!” The Prince panicked, looking around in search of any prying eyes.
Then, a woman’s voice. “Indeed, it’s evening, and yet you two are scurrying around so boisterously.” The two of them froze and made eye contact with the Queen. Her posture elegant, her gown luxurious, she looked at the red-handed pair and said, “ZanJin, You’ve mingled with many people as of late.”
“Mother,” ZanJin breathed in and straightened his back. “It’s only my duty.”
“Duty?” the Queen raised a brow, “Your duty to start a Coup d'état?”
H-how…?
Haikuan took a combat position one second later, his eyes serious and his fists ready to fight. “What is your goal?” he demanded.
ZanJin panicked, his eyes wide. “N-no-- Haikuan don’t.” his hands clasped onto the warrior’s arm.
However, the Queen was still calm. Still like an undisturbed pond. She looked away from the warrior and gazed out the window. “ZanJin… you truly are my son.”
ZanJin swallowed, his grip on Haikuan’s arm still strong. “What do you mean, mother?”
She breathed out before looking her son straight into his eyes. “You’re just like me.”
Haikuan readied to take action.
ZanJin could only freeze in fear and confusion.
Finally, she spoke.
“Although... I’ve been preparing far longer than you have.” she smiled and tangled her fingers together. “My son, you should’ve come to me earlier.”
ZanJin and Haikuan’s eyes widened in shock.
“I’ve been planning to kill the King long before you have.”