#55: Illuminating the Depths (II)

The summer nights were filled with cicada calls, but a rumor spread in the capital that “the emperor forbids killing cicadas,” and no one dared to defy the imperial will. Even merchants who used to catch cicadas for sale had to find other means of livelihood this summer.

Pei Xi walked a few steps at night, already feeling dizzy from the cacophony. Only when he approached Ye Tingyan’s residence did the noise subside.

Every inch of land in Biandu was precious. In earlier years, even the dynasty’s prime ministers, if without ancestral wealth, had to rent houses to live. Last year, he left Youzhou with forged documents to take the imperial examination in Biandu. Many of his fellow successful candidates still worried about finding a place to stay after passing—since the Citang Case, court officials no longer dared to shelter scholars as before, fearing it would bring disaster to their families.

Fortunately, before Ye Tingyan came to Biandu, a woman surnamed “Ai” and her husband surnamed Gao had bought him a house. Rumors said these two were the richest people in Jiangnan, and half of Biandu’s industries respected them as masters. He remembered Bai Sensen boasting that the crown prince controlled the nation’s commerce; now it seemed true.

Song Lan once wondered where Ye Tingyan’s mansion came from. He simply said he had saved money while traveling in Jiangnan, which sufficed as an excuse.

Ye’s residence was located on Junyi Street in Biandu, not far from the imperial city and overlooking the river and streets, convenient for message transmission. The backyard garden was planted with various trees. This season should have been filled with cicada calls, but approaching it, he heard none, knowing Ye Tingyan wouldn’t imitate Song Lan’s actions; he probably had someone capture the cicadas long ago.

But now wasn’t the time for idle thoughts. Pei Xi smoothly made his way through the back door of the mansion to Ye Tingyan’s room. Seeing the dim light inside, he knew Ye must be awake and discussing matters.

Pei Xi knocked three times on the door and called, “Master.”

The door opened immediately, and the breeze lifted several sheets of white paper hanging by the door.

Each time he entered, he first saw the sick plum tree placed opposite the door. Focusing on it, he noticed compared to the last time, more branches had been pruned.

Zhou Chuyin turned around upon seeing him and raised an eyebrow, asking, “What brings you here tonight, Cuozhi?”

Ye Tingyan’s eyes were covered with a white gauze. Hearing the sound, he reached out to light another candle beside him, perhaps fearing he couldn’t see clearly.

Pei Xi stepped forward, caught his breath, and whispered, “News from the forbidden palace—the empress personally executed Qiu Xueyu at the Ministry of Justice tonight.”

Zhou Chuyin frowned slightly and immediately turned to look at Ye Tingyan’s expression, only to see his face unchanged, even faintly smiling: “Take your time.”

“Yes,” Pei Xi responded. “It was Master Yuan who relayed the message—the case of the empress’s assassination attempt has dragged on for a long time. Although the main conspirator, Princess Ning Le, is dead, the accomplices have not been dealt with. Song Lan handed this matter over to the empress. The three judicial offices couldn’t fathom the empress’s intentions and kept delaying. After the Dragon Boat Festival, if the case isn’t resolved, it might invite criticism. Today, after meeting with Song Lan, the empress, dressed in full regalia, went to the Ministry of Justice and personally served Qiu Xueyu poisoned wine.”

Zhou Chuyin slapped his thigh in sudden realization, exclaiming, “So that’s how it is!”

Ye Tingyan gave a bitter smile: “What did you understand?”

Pei Xi was even more confused. Zhou Chuyin poured himself some tea, holding the teacup in his hand, and said with a playful expression: “Yu Qiushi knows Feng Yanluo is Qiu Xueyu and wants Song Lan to think the empress is disloyal. Unexpectedly, you intervened and informed the empress—Qiu Xueyu’s hairpin dispelled much of Song Lan’s suspicion, and your uncovering of Princess Ning Le almost absolved the empress.”

“Princess Ning Le’s status is special; she can’t be openly processed by the three judicial offices. If the case concludes like this, the ultimate blame will fall solely on Qiu Xueyu—this was also the strategy Qiu Xueyu discussed with you at Zhuque.”

Ye Tingyan’s eyelashes under the white gauze fluttered slightly, tacitly agreeing with what he said.

That night after seeing Luo Wei, he returned to continue interrogations at Zhuque Office. After Yuan Ming left, Qiu Xueyu asked him, “Can I become one of your knives?” Then she leaned close to his ear and detailed how to frame Princess Ning Le.

The madwoman outside the palace, numerous pieces of evidence within the inner court, and the ambiguous phrase “princess” were all Qiu Xueyu’s arrangements over the years in the palace—before stabbing that hairpin, she seemed to have foreseen such a day, intending to use her life as bait to drag Princess Ning Le down to hell with her.

Thus, when he was ordered to execute Ning Le that day, he hesitated repeatedly before handing her the switched poison.

Ning Le ultimately took the poison and died, just as she said herself—carrying over a thousand lives, she couldn’t live.

Though not intentional and despite being coerced, the poem “Elegy for Golden Heaven” was indeed penned by her.

Hearing this, Pei Xi finally realized: “I was puzzled earlier why you suddenly framed Princess Ning Le. So it turns out, Miss Qiu didn’t know the internal details; there truly was a blood feud between her and the princess.”

Ye Tingyan softly “hmmed” in acknowledgment, continuing Zhou Chuyin’s line of thought: “She resolved to die. If the case went through officially, sentenced to绞刑斩首、凌迟分尸, no matter the empress’s abilities, she couldn’t bribe the officials of the three judicial offices to save someone without leaving traces. Having thought it through, she devised another plan, sending word to summon Prince Yan back to the capital.”

“Wang Fengshi was an old acquaintance of Yu Qiushi. Since Song Lan had ideas about Youzhou’s military preparations during his northern tour, he sent this person to scout the situation in Youzhou first—he never intended for him to return alive anyway. Moreover, Wang Fengshi was corrupt and incompetent while defending the city, so being executed by Yan Lang wasn’t unjust.” Zhou Chuyin commented, “However, this matter was still rushed. After this incident, Song Lan will undoubtedly be highly wary of Youzhou’s army. In his eyes, this implies that the Yan family has both the intention and ability to eliminate any generals he sends to take over.”

Pei Xi said, “Prince Yan is friendly with the empress. Acting this boldly and returning to the capital unarmed, isn’t this provocative? Yu Qiushi will surely advise Song Lan that if the empress wants to use Youzhou’s army to rebel, it would be as easy as pie. Ah, I seem to understand—it’s necessary to make Song Lan waver like this. Only then will he withdraw the case of Qiu Xueyu’s assassination from the three judicial offices and hand it directly to the empress—he wants to use every method to test the empress’s intentions.”

“Cuo Zhi has improved,” Ye Tingyan praised lightly. “If handed to the three judicial offices, certain death. If handed to the empress, it’s an inquiry—if unrelated to the matter, please kill a close person as proof; if determined to protect this person, it shows insincerity.”

“But since the power of life and death has fallen into the empress’s hands, why bother putting on a show? Her grand attire visiting the Ministry of Justice is to make it widely known, showing Song Lan her sincerity. Chu Yin, do you know how unexpected deaths in the Ministry of Justice prison are handled?”

Zhou Chuyin replied, “Previously, bodies were sent to the mourning mountain jail in the city for cremation. Nowadays, they are mostly burned on East Mountain. Lazy officials rarely lit the fire; East Mountain is a desolate graveyard, so they just dumped the bodies.”

Ye Tingyan suddenly chuckled softly: “Hmm, retrieving someone from the mass grave is indeed a tough task.”

•

At that moment, Yan Lang, carrying a spade on the mountain path of East Mountain, suddenly sneezed.

A soldier behind him, similarly dressed in night thief attire, stepped forward somewhat nervously and said, “Why does the young general shiver in the summer night? Could it be a cold draft?”

Yan Lang deeply inhaled a few breaths, utterly perplexed: “I’m fine, just suddenly felt an itch in my nose...”

Before his words ended, he sneezed again.

His subordinate suddenly understood and declared firmly: “Young General, surely someone is cursing you.”

Yan Lang: “...?”

•

After hearing the explanations from the two, Pei Xi felt both admiration and awe: “The imperial court is splendid yet devours people without spitting bones. Killing one person is easy, but saving one is incredibly difficult. To save this one person, the empress gambled with Song Lan’s trust. With Yan Lang temporarily not returning to Youzhou, her position in the palace...”

Although not serving in Qiongting, he frequently visited, befriending several people, and the palace servants all praised the empress. For a moment, he almost understood why Ye Tingyan, despite their enmity, hesitated to strike—those exhibited kindnesses didn’t seem fake. Even glimpsing her underlying ambition, he couldn’t suppress his repeated wavering and softening heart.

Though aware of the crown prince’s past ordeal, Ye Tingyan never mentioned the details to anyone. Everyone only knew he was deceived by the empress, betrayed by his subordinates, captured by Song Lan, imprisoned in the palace, and nearly ended his life. If not for the timely arrival of loyalists and Bai Sensen rushing from the southwest, he wouldn’t have survived.

Before arriving in Biandu, this hatred could still persist.

Upon meeting her, everything could dissipate into thin air, leaving only a tangled, vivid, indissoluble complex sorrow.

Even a figure like the former immortal-like prince couldn’t transcend the word “emotion,” which he couldn’t comprehend now, Pei Xi thought.

But this was good—it was more human than the cold-hearted, world-weary appearance he had when he first changed his identity.

Still lost in thought, he heard Ye Tingyan sigh heavily.

Zhou Chuyin shook his head beside him, saying, “If, as you guessed, the empress’s goal from the start was to consolidate power and contend for the world, then initially... she chose between you and Song Lan, thinking he seemed easier to control.”

“After Song Lan ascended, she realized she had personally nurtured a wolf cub. With Yu Qiushi by his side, she faced threats from two fronts, treading on thin ice—her original plan was likely similar to yours, proceeding gradually, infiltrating slowly, waiting for the right moment to act. But to save Miss Qiu, she had to burn her bridges and advance her plans, leading to the risky move against Yu Qiushi you mentioned. Actually, framing ‘treason’ for those by the ruler’s side isn’t difficult; it’s just that each has their own reservations. Now she has none, but Yu Qiushi does, giving her the advantage...”

He glanced at Ye Tingyan and deliberately added, “Even if the empress miscalculates and drags herself down too, it doesn’t harm you—her burning both orchids and mugwort clears the path for you. No matter what, you won’t lose in this game.”

Covered by the white gauze, they couldn’t see Ye Tingyan’s eyes. After a long silence, he spoke sparingly: “The timing isn’t right; I’ll do my best to assist.”

Zhou Chuyin opened his folding fan with a snap, using it to cover his face, and quietly leaned closer to Pei Xi, whispering, “If the root cause is nowhere else to stay, medicine and stones are still empty against the four elements[1]. When you seek a virtuous wife, don’t ever...”

Ye Tingyan, with a cold face, threw something from his hand, and with a “whoosh,” both candles were extinguished simultaneously.