BXG - 32

◎Tall Trees◎

When Qu You woke up the next day, the rain had already stopped.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Baiying sitting not far from her, grinning mischievously. Sensing that she was awake, Zhou Tan gently pulled his hand out from under her head.

It seemed he had been awake for a while but hadn’t moved so as not to disturb her sleep.

Qu You awkwardly got up and asked, “Are you feeling better?”

Before Zhou Tan could answer, Baiying said, “He took the medicine I gave him and the fever has subsided. Lord Zhou, knowing your body is weak, why did you go out in the rain? This isn’t playing with death? If this happens two more times, don’t call me—I can’t save you even if I’m a great immortal.”

Zhou Tan’s voice was still hoarse: “I apologize.”

“What are you apologizing to me for?” Baiying shook his head regretfully. “This time, they dragged me out of the city to treat you. It’ll cost extra.”

Qu You rubbed her eyes and walked a few steps outside, only to discover many masked guards outside the mountain shrine. Their copper masks were identical to those of the black-clad man from before. She approached Baiying and whispered, “Are these all Boss Ai’s men?”

“Yes,” Baiying replied. “Yesterday, the black-clad man came to North Street to call for reinforcements. Boss Ai sent a group of people, bringing me along. But the rain was so heavy, and there were so many wild woods on Jinghua Mountain, we searched for a long time in the rain before finding the mountain shrine where you were staying. It was almost dawn.”

Qu You was startled: “Why didn’t you wake me when you arrived? Did you just let these people watch me sleep?”

Baiying glared at her: “You were holding Zhou Tan so tightly that I couldn’t get close without waking him. He told me not to wake you. How is this my fault?”

Qu You rubbed her forehead and then noticed an unconscious middle-aged man in Ministry of Justice attire lying on the broken steps at the entrance of the temple. The man was tied up like a dumpling, with simple white bandages wrapped around his waist, his life uncertain.

This was Liang An, who had been hit by Zhou Tan’s arrow the previous day.

She turned her head, and Baiying shrugged to explain: “We found him yesterday in the woods. Everyone else was dead; he was the only one alive. I thought Lord Zhou might have some use for him, so I brought him back.”

Seemingly hearing the voices, the half-dead Liang An looked at her, his face pale as death: “Spare... spare me…”

Zhou Tan, draped in a black cloak brought by Baiying, slowly walked over behind Qu You.

Seeing him, Liang An’s face truly changed—he hadn’t seen the identity of the archer clearly the previous day, and Qu You, disguised as a man, remained unrecognizable. But Zhou Tan’s presence here, under such circumstances, suggested something ominous.

He swallowed hard and struggled to say: “Was it… you who ordered the assassination of Lord Peng?”

Zhou Tan squatted down in front of her, expressionless: “Do you know what exactly Peng Yue possesses that makes Fu Qingnian so apprehensive?”

Liang An tried to force a smile but failed, his face looking worse than crying: “You dare not kill me! I was sent by Grand Secretary Fu! I am an official of the Ministry of Justice! If you violate Great Yin’s laws, how will you explain yourself to His Majesty?”

Zhou Tan glanced around, and one of the masked men (since Qu You didn’t know how to address them, she temporarily called them this) immediately gripped the hilt of his sword and struck Liang An’s knee with precision. Qu You even heard the sound of bones breaking.

Liang An had some martial skills, more composed than Peng Yue, who was helpless. But now, unable to bear the pain, he growled low: “I… I don’t know! I only overheard them talking once… Before Peng Yue came to the Ministry of Justice, he spent some time at the Ministry of Personnel, and it seemed to be… some kind of blueprint!”

Zhou Tan’s expression remained unchanged: “Where did he hide it?”

“I really don’t know!” Liang An said. “Grand Secretary Fu doesn’t know either. If he didn’t carry it with him, it must be hidden somewhere obscure! This thing is his lifeline! How could he easily tell me!”

“Hmm,” Zhou Tan replied briefly. He reached out and pressed his hand against the back of Liang An’s neck, suddenly asking, “Lord Liang seems to have no family, right?”

“You cannot kill me!” Liang An froze, then shouted, his voice distorted with fear, “You… you are the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice! Even if I am guilty, I should go through the three departments! Great Yin’s laws are clear…”

“Is that so?” Zhou Tan gave him a faint smile. “If the law is so clear, why do you feel so confident?”

He slightly lowered his eyes: “Lord Liang, when I was seriously injured and not yet recovered, you led people to raid my mansion, seized the seal, attempted to silence me, and even insulted my wife. Do you remember what you said then?”

Liang An’s mind went blank, stammering: “I… I…”

Indeed… Zhou Tan still remembered the grudge from that time, and today, he certainly wouldn’t let him off.

“Let me help you recall,” Zhou Tan said softly, but his voice sounded like a death knell in Liang An’s ears. “You said that Lady wasn’t taken seriously because she was joking, and whether it’s the Ministry of Justice, the Temple of Punishment, or the Censorate, regardless of whether anyone cared about what happened, a woman—especially a member of Zhou Tan’s household—wouldn’t be paid attention to. Lord Liang, do I remember correctly?”

Qu You was momentarily stunned. When Liang An said this to her, they were still at Xingji Hall. Logically, Zhou Tan shouldn’t have heard it. Presumably, Madam Yun and Uncle De told him later.

Zhou Tan stood up, a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes: “It’s precisely because of people like you that those painstakingly drafted legal articles become empty words in the eyes of ordinary people. They stake their lives, only to receive mockery from you. Since you’re like this, why should I treat you according to the law?”

Liang An broke into a cold sweat. Seeing Zhou Tan about to leave, he hurriedly shouted: “Zhou Tan! You speak so high-mindedly! If you kill me, how are you any different from me?”

“You’re right. I’m no different from you.” Zhou Tan glanced around. “Proceed.”

Ignoring the screams behind him, he took a few steps forward and just happened to see Qu You standing at the entrance of the dilapidated mountain shrine, looking at him. Her eyes were moist, and after meeting his gaze for a moment, she quickly stepped forward: “Wait.”

She was a kind person, brave enough in the past to stand up for women, even daring to beat the drum on Yujie to file a complaint. Well-versed in Great Yin’s laws, she likely held some hope for justice. Zhou Tan’s eyelashes trembled, thinking that today, however, he had to resort to such covert means to solve the problem.

“He is indeed different from you,” contrary to his expectations, Qu You bypassed him and looked down at Peng Yue behind him. “You’re confident you won’t die under criminal law not because you’re innocent, but because the law is unjust.”

She glanced at Zhou Tan and gently tugged at his sleeve: “I swear to you, he will change this someday. One day, violence will no longer bypass fair judgment to take effect. If you lived in that era, you wouldn’t survive to this age, Lord Liang. Be grateful.”

Zhou Tan’s breath caught, involuntarily tightening his black cloak.

The masked men dragged Liang An’s corpse back into the dense forest. The previous day’s heavy rain had wiped away all traces, and they also seized some of Peng Yue’s belongings, fabricating a scene of bandits robbing and killing.

Yan Wuping’s body couldn’t be brought back to the city and had to be cremated. Before returning to the city, Zhou Tan specifically took Qu You to a plot of land he owned in the suburbs of the capital.

The fields owned by officials and nobles in the suburbs were mostly farmland, but Zhou Tan’s was a low earthen slope. In front of the slope was a simple hut. The old man inside recognized Zhou Tan and respectfully handed over the key to the fence surrounding the slope upon seeing him.

Under the shade of two towering trees, Qu You saw several low tombstones.

Baiying and the masked men didn’t follow them up, so Zhou Tan personally buried the urn containing Yan Wuping’s ashes in a pre-dug plot of land, alongside another urn. He inserted a simple wooden plaque and said, “In a few days, I’ll send someone to carve a proper tombstone for Miss Yan.”

Qu You solemnly bowed to the wooden plaque, then turned to see a newly erected tombstone nearby. This stone was erected by Yan Wuping, simply inscribed with “My friend Xiang Hui, lived like a reed.”

She stared at the tombstone silently for a long time. Zhou Tan beside her said, “Liang An frequently visited Fangxin Pavilion, but because he wasn’t in the spotlight, a word from the prime minister protected him. Otherwise, how could the involvement be limited to just sixty-one people?”

Qu You belatedly realized Zhou Tan was explaining to her: “Ah, actually, you don’t need to say much. That day, he came to humiliate you and wanted your life. Even if you’re just retaliating, I don’t think it’s excessive. Moreover, he is indeed a bad person.”

Zhou Tan didn’t speak.

“This place also holds the graves of my parents,” he suddenly said after a while, seeing her slightly surprised expression. “The situation is complicated, so I didn’t dare to erect tombstones for them. If something happens to me in the future, bury me here too.”

“If by then… we haven’t divorced.”

The trees swayed in the wind, making rustling sounds.

Qu You suddenly laughed: “I don’t know what made you change your mind, but I can feel that at this moment, you’ve made a significant decision to do something that must be done.”

She was indeed perceptive, Zhou Tan bitterly smiled, saying nothing more.

“In fact, you don’t need to be so pessimistic. You won’t die,” Qu You earnestly said. “And what you want to achieve will succeed. But I must ask you now—Zhou Tan, last night I said you are like a bridge. Being a bridge, unaware of the other shore, trampled by ten thousand people, ferrying others but not oneself. If I tell you, even if you succeed, the other shore will be pitch black.”

“To hear the Dao in the morning and die in the evening—this is the fate of martyrs. Knowing this, will you still proceed?”

Zhou Tan leaned on the tree beside him, his fingers rubbing the grooves of the rugged bark.

After a while, he softly replied: “My heart is like a tall tree. Though it cannot reach the clouds, it must strive to grow.”

“Good.”

Qu You looked at him, feeling a part of her heart burning intensely. Her graduate school roommate studied archaeology, and one day, upon hearing that artifacts and ancient texts had been unearthed somewhere, confirming her hypothesis in her thesis, she was ecstatic, imagining the sound of pages flipping. Qu You thought she finally understood her roommate’s feelings at that time.

Upon returning to the city, the two went back to the mansion together. Zhou Tan escorted her to Fanghua Pavilion, where she resided. Just before reaching the door, he casually asked, “Is Brother Ni a very good friend of yours?”

Qu You didn’t react immediately: “Who?”

Zhou Tan said: “You kept calling his name in your sleep last night.”

Qu You thought for a long time and finally realized he was referring to Nietzsche, laughing and crying: “He… uh, actually… he was my teacher.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhou Tan seemed to breathe a sigh of relief: “Since you admire him so much, I’ll visit him with you another day.”

Qu You quickly said: “No need, he has already passed away.”

Zhou Tan insisted: “Is there a tombstone?”

Qu You replied: “It’s ten thousand eight thousand miles away. I’ll visit him if I get the chance.”

Seeing Zhou Tan hesitating to leave, she curiously asked: “Do you have something else to say to me?”

After all, he usually wouldn’t linger aimlessly.

Zhou Tan “hmm”ed: “Actually, I wanted to ask you…”

Before he could finish, a commotion sounded from behind. Uncle De followed by He San, dressed in tight leather armor, rushed in. Qu You was still dressed as a man, and He San should have seen her at the Ministry of Justice. His gaze lingered on her for a moment, surprised.

But he still suppressed himself and knelt down, urgently saying: “Master, this morning, when I came to look for you, I found you weren’t in the mansion. So I claimed you were still ill and stayed here. If I overstepped, please punish me!”

Zhou Tan said gravely: “Well done. What happened at the Ministry of Justice?”

He San answered: “Last month, the capital prefecture received a case that should have gone through the Ministry of Justice before being submitted to the three departments for sentencing. Grand Secretary Fu mentioned it to His Majesty, so the case bypassed the Ministry of Justice and was hastily concluded. However, the relatives of the perpetrator recently heard that the judge of the Temple of Punishment was exiled and… inspired by Lady’s beating the drum on Yujie, rewrote the petition and filed it at the Ministry of Justice.”

“Not long after you left yesterday evening, Lord Liang wasn’t present either. I didn’t dare handle it, causing quite a stir. I heard His Majesty was furious during the morning court session today and specifically requested you to reinvestigate. Chief Minister Gao sent a note stating he would visit the Ministry of Justice tomorrow.”

After he hastily finished speaking, Zhou Tan remained silent. Qu You heard everything clearly and found it quite strange. While pondering, she saw Zhou Tan turn around.

“I was just going to ask you if you’d like to join the Ministry of Justice as a clerk under me, continuing to do what you wish—upholding justice, revising laws for the upper classes, and standing up for the lower ones?”