The mountain tribes say that if one listens to the wind, they can understand what lies ahead.
The Kun tribe calls it the report of the earth, and the Hao tribe refers to it as the knowledge of the sky. The philosophies of the two tribes are the same, and yet, they fought each other because of it.
At the tip of the pier, a figure dressed in Hu clothing stood still. It was Empress Feng.
Her black hair, a pride of the Kun tribe, danced in the twilight wind, and Empress Feng was lost in thought. Beside her, Yi Yi silently attended her. As she gazed at the burning clouds, what might she have been thinking?
Was it of her distant homeland? Or perhaps of an unattainable ideal?
“Empress Feng.”
Fei Ling called from the edge of the bridge.
“Is this the food poison?”
Empress Feng turned around, her eyes wide with surprise. Yi Yi turned pale, and holding a birdcage, Fei Ling spoke.
“This is yours, isn’t it?”
Inside the birdcage, a goshawk cried out, seemingly asking for help.
“The Empress has been poisoned. A substance identical to the poison found in her body was detected in the bag tied to the leg of the goshawk. While pigeons may be handled by many, only the Hao tribe, who have been training goshawks since childhood, could do this.”
“No! This must be a mistake!”
Empress Feng raised her voice in disbelief.
“That bird is indeed Yi Yi’s goshawk, but… it’s possible it was captured and the evidence was attached.”
“Are you suggesting that the remains of the Hao tribe’s village were used to stuff it? If the goal was to harm the Empress, there are far stronger poisons. The fact that they chose this poison deliberately shows the desire for revenge—revenge for burning her own people alive. Is this not so?”
Yi Yi broke down in tears.
“Y-Yes… I poisoned the Empress.”
Fei Ling looked at her with calm eyes.
“I… I wanted revenge on the Emperor and Empress who killed my family… Everyone was burned alive… I couldn’t forgive them. I’ll accept any punishment… so please.”
As she sobbed, Yi Yi confessed her crime. Empress Feng trembled as though she wanted to say something, but turned her eyes away in sorrow.
However, Fei Ling shook her head sideways.
“The one who poisoned the Empress was not Yi Yi. Because Yi Yi belongs to the Kun tribe.”
Both Empress Feng and Yi Yi were speechless.
“First of all, when handling horses and dogs, Yi Yi treated them as if they were family. She was too comfortable with them, more so than a member of the Hao tribe would be. In contrast, Empress Feng was awkward, even when she didn’t stroke the head of a dog that had survived. That dog was Yi Yi’s pet.”
But, if that were the case, there was something strange. The dog’s mistaken food incident.
“The oleander that should have been found in the Hao tribe’s settlement—a dog should have known it was poisonous. Oh, and I remember, Empress Feng, you seemed unaware of it as well.”
Fei Ling paused for a breath before continuing.
“But that alone would not have raised suspicion.”
Fei Ling pointed to her own ears.
“Yi Yi had a wound on her ear. When I was young, I stayed in the Kun tribe’s settlement and learned about their customs. I know that the Kun tribe pierces the earlobes of newborns and adorns them with Kouroseki ear ornaments.”
Yi Yi stammered, desperately trying to explain.
“No, it’s not like that. It’s a misunderstanding. I just wanted to wear matching earrings with Empress Feng… It’s true my hair is darker than most of the Hao tribe’s… but…”
“Finally.”
Fei Ling interrupted, cutting off any escape.
“Yi Yi, you’ve suffered a lot of discrimination. But that hair of yours is not so unusual among the Hao tribe. However, among the Kun tribe, reddish hair would inevitably attract attention. Am I wrong?”
Yi Yi fell silent and eventually bowed her head. Fei Ling then turned her gaze to Empress Feng.
“Empress Feng, you are from the Hao tribe, aren’t you?”
“I understand about Yi Yi, but I am unmistakably from the Kun tribe.”
Fei Ling smiled quietly and, shockingly, she attempted to throw the goshawk in the birdcage into the water. Empress Feng instinctively tried to take the birdcage from her, but Fei Ling tripped her, causing her to fall from the bridge.
“Empress Feng!”
Yi Yi’s scream was drowned out by a loud splash.
With a spray of water, Empress Feng surfaced, barely alive.
“What are you doing!”
“Ah, as expected, she fell.”
The droplets falling from her wet hair were black. Her dyed hair had turned a fiery red—the color of the Hao tribe. And this was the source of the foul smell that Empress Feng had been spreading.
“If you crush garlic and walnuts to dye your hair, anyone can have glossy black hair. You were pretending to be of the Kun tribe.”
Holding onto a bridge pillar, Empress Feng bit her lip, which had turned red, as Fei Ling stood above her, pressing further.
“Hair can be altered. But your tribes have insisted on differentiating themselves based on hair color. Black hair is a sign of the Kun tribe. Red hair is for the Hao tribe. And so, outsiders began to divide the two tribes by hair color. You’ve skillfully manipulated that psychology.”
She extended her hand to pull Empress Feng back onto the bridge. Empress Feng, drenched, shook her red hair out and wrung the water from her sleeves.
“Yes. I am from the Hao tribe.”
Yi Yi tried to protest further, but Empress Feng silenced her with a quiet “It’s fine.”
“I never wanted to have you take the blame for me. If it’s known that I’m from the Hao tribe, so be it.”
“No… I will give my life for you, Empress Feng, whenever you wish!”
Yi Yi cried out, willing to accept any punishment, even death.
“I was born with this hair. The Kun tribe has always looked down on me because of it. They called it ugly. But I couldn’t go to the Hao tribe either. Only you, Empress Feng, praised my hair! If I can repay you, I’ll do anything.”
Fei Ling surmised that Yi Yi might have been born of both the Kun and Hao tribes. Empress Feng had accepted not only her hair but also her bloodline.
“Yes. I thought that one day, the two tribes would understand each other equally.”
But that hope had been shattered.
