The sixtieth morning of Book 2 opened coldly upon an altar of Shouchun (壽春).

At the center of the walled city of Shouchun, an altar (壇) was raised high. Nine steps led up to it, laid in a single color. Upon the altar's center lay a seat (座), and upon that seat rested a crown of pendants (冕旒冠). Before and behind the crown hung twelve strands of jade ornaments (玉佩). Yuan Shu (袁術) climbed the altar step by step.

Yuan Shu took the seat. The crown of pendants settled upon his head. In his hand he held a single fragment of jade seal — the father's relic that Sun Ce had once pledged, now held this morning in a usurper's grip. Yuan Shu read a proclamation in a great voice. "The sky of Han has set; the sky of Zhong (仲家) opens." The hundred officials below the altar bowed their heads low. A few heads shook lightly.

The news of that morning reached Cao Cao at Xudu. Cao Cao summoned his four counselors — Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, and Xun You — to a single seat. He spoke low. "This morning, a usurper's crown was set upon the altar of Shouchun. From the seat where I hold the name of the Son of Heaven, laying that usurper's crown down upon the ground will be our swiftest merit." An edict was written. The jade seal of Xudu was pressed upon it.

One line of the edict descended toward Liu Bei at Xuzhou, another toward Sun Ce at Jiangdong, and a third toward Lü Bu at Xuzhou. Each line pointed in the same direction. Shouchun.

At Jiangdong, Sun Ce received the edict and laughed low. "My father's jade seal was this morning laid beneath a usurper's crown. The road to reclaim that jade now aligns with the edict of Han." Zhou Yu continued low. "Elder brother. From today, every blade of Jiangdong will turn toward Shouchun." Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong bowed their heads. Taishi Ci lifted a single bow.

At Xuzhou, Liu Bei received the edict and spoke low before Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. "Today's blade of Xuzhou turns toward Shouchun. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei — let the blade of a subject of Han lay a usurper's crown upon the ground with me." Guan Yu took up the Green-Dragon Crescent Blade (靑龍偃月刀) in his fist. Zhang Fei lifted the Serpent Spear of Eighteen zhang (丈八蛇矛).

At Xuzhou's other camp, Lü Bu received the edict and laughed low. "A single arrow at the camp-gate lulled one battle; now a single edict of Xudu tells me to lay a single crown upon the ground. Today, the blade of this Xuzhou too turns toward Shouchun." Chen Gong bowed his head low.

From the four directions of all under heaven, the blades gathered toward Shouchun. To the north, Cao Cao's main army at Xudu; to the south, Sun Ce's water forces at Jiangdong; to the east, Liu Bei's blade and Lü Bu's Sky-Piercing Halberd at Xuzhou. Upon the altar of Shouchun, a usurper's crown had this morning been set at the crossing-point of four blades' directions.

Upon the altar, Yuan Shu drew a long breath. The twelve jade strands of the crown of pendants swayed low across his face. Between the strands of one jade line, his eye turned toward the far northern sky. Beneath that sky, a single line of the edict of Xudu was already moving.

Inside the chamber behind the altar, Lady Feng, Yuan Shu's wife, watched from the side. She did not smile. A lady whose husband has raised a crown upon a summit before the name of Heaven will confirm it rarely speaks in the hour after the crown is lifted; she only keeps her eyes upon the jade strands to count their sway. That morning the twelve strands each swayed at a slightly different rhythm. She counted all twelve. By the time she reached the twelfth, she had also counted the four directions from which the blades were, this very hour, beginning to move.

The sixtieth morning of Book 2 opened quietly upon the altar of Shouchun. The three characters Chamgwallak (僭冠落, the usurper's crown set toward its fall) were planted as a seed: a breath on which a fragment of jade seal, the twelve jade strands of a crown of pendants, and the crossing-point of four blades' directions lay together at one seat. From the cord of Day 31's Wolhanyeo (月下女) to the first stain of Day 59's Chamhomong (僭號夢), the twenty-nine nights of Book 2 lay together this morning beneath a usurper's single crown.

The last morning of Book 2 drew its curtain quietly below the altar of Shouchun. The first blade of Book 3 was this morning moving from the four directions of east, south, west, and north toward Shouchun, to lay a usurper's crown down upon the ground.

—