#94: Falling Sick from Wine in Spring (Part 5)

Ye Tingyan walked for a long time along the red walls. Just as he was passing the Qionghua Hall, he heard a palace servant whisper, “We should be careful these days. We should walk quietly. The inner palace is in mourning, and I heard that even Old Liu, who was by His Majesty’s side, was...”

Another person quickly said, “Sister, be quieter. I understand.”

The first palace servant sighed with emotion. “It would be great if the Empress were still here. Only she could make His Majesty listen.”

The other person sighed. “I’m afraid even the Empress is no use now.”

“Speaking of which, is the Empress really in the Chongling Imperial Ancestral Temple? A few days ago, when I ran into the brothers from the Outer Court, I heard them say that the Empress had already... and that it was just a cover-up. I was shocked to hear it, but it also made a lot of sense. The imperial physicians haven’t delivered medicine in a long time.”

“Bah! How dare they say such things, and you dare to believe them? Don’t think about such things. Just be careful and stay alive.”

Ye Tingyan silently quickened his pace.

The day before yesterday, Song Lan had dismissed the morning court. Before noon, news spread from the inner palace that the prince had died from a weak constitution and that the Noble Consort had died from a hemorrhage after being unable to bear the grief of losing her child.

Song Lan, unable to bear the pain of losing his son and his love, fell ill, alarming most of the Imperial Medical Office.

These two pieces of news, used for a cover-up, were Chang Zhao’s doing. Ever since he had reported Su Shiyu’s affair with Yu Suiyun, Song Lan’s trust in him had probably reached a new level.

However, Song Lan was now suspicious and sickly, so he would naturally not trust him alone. So, today, Song Lan also urgently summoned him to the palace.

To Ye Tingyan’s surprise, Song Lan was indeed a little sicker this time. He would not have easily dismissed court and washed his hands of matters if he couldn’t get out of bed, especially at the beginning of his reign.

When Ye Tingyan entered the hall, Chang Zhao was guarding the outside. When he saw him, he just glanced at him indifferently and didn’t say much.

Song Lan was leaning against the bed. He perfunctorily returned his greeting and then told him why he had been summoned to the palace.

Ever since Song Lan had promoted Chang Zhao, he had him take Ye Tingyan’s place to lead the Zhuque Office, which Song Lan had established. But to prevent Chang Zhao from having any treacherous intentions, Song Lan also intentionally had Ye Tingyan befriend the Yan brothers and take command of a unit of the imperial guards.

Since the two were rivals, the tasks they were given were naturally different. For example, Ye Tingyan had not been involved in the interrogation of Su Shiyu this time.

“Since Su Shiyu framed Pingnian, he must have been instigated by the Empress. Just now, Pingnian suggested to me to use this person to lure the Empress out,” Song Lan said slowly, grabbing his hand. “I have approved the decision to have Su Shiyu beheaded in public at the East Gate three days from now. At that time, you and Yan Ping will each lead a unit of the imperial guards and guard the South Gate and the Linjiang Ferry in the capital.”

“I will have the city guards and the Jintian guards loosen their patrols in the city in the coming days... On that day, if the Empress dares to come, you must not let her escape.”

He didn’t mention Chang Zhao or the whereabouts of Zhuque, which showed that he was still wary of him.

Ye Tingyan bowed and left the hall. He stood in the corridor with Chang Zhao for a while.

“Three months,” Chang Zhao said, looking up. “There are still three months left. It’s too long. When the Empress had her brother deceive me and tried to kill me, did she ever consider our bet?”

Ye Tingyan glanced at him, but before he could speak, Chang Zhao smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. You may not be benevolent, but I will honor the bet. But let’s be clear, you had better not fall into my hands.”

After a moment of silence, Ye Tingyan suddenly said, “I heard that His Majesty flogged Old Liu to death.”

It took Chang Zhao a while to remember who “Old Liu” was. He smiled and replied, “That’s right. He was a person left behind by the Empress and the late Crown Prince. How could His Majesty trust him?”

Ye Tingyan followed up. “Then you should also be careful. The next one might be you or me.”

Chang Zhao reached out and brushed off some imaginary dust from Ye Tingyan’s shoulder. He leaned in closer and whispered, “You’re right. So I advise you to make your move quickly... How many people did the Empress and the late Crown Prince leave behind in court? He was wary and didn’t dare to act rashly before. After today, will he still be so cautious? For every day you delay, there will be more innocent souls in this imperial city.”

Thinking about the expression on Chang Zhao’s face when he said this, Ye Tingyan felt a strange feeling in his heart. He walked through the empty front courtyard in front of the Mingguang Gate. Just as he was about to leave the palace, he saw Yan Ping and a unit of the imperial guards block his way.

He had worked with this person many times and was quite familiar with him. Just as he was about to bow in greeting, Yan Ping interrupted him. “Minister Ye, no need for formalities! It’s good that you haven’t left the palace yet. It saves me the trouble of having to look for you at your residence.”

He cleared his throat. “I just went to see His Majesty. I don’t know what he was thinking, but he suddenly moved the sentence of the person in Zhuque to today. He said there’s no need to wait for a specific time and ordered him to be taken to the East Market immediately and executed before sunset. His Majesty told me to find Minister Ye to work with me. Minister Ye will tell me who we are supposed to be guarding against.”

Ye Tingyan’s brows furrowed slightly, and his heart began to beat rapidly.

Did Song Lan suddenly go back on his word after instructing him and Chang Zhao? Was he worried that something might go wrong if they waited? Or was he... suspicious of the two of them and worried that they would go back and make arrangements overnight once they knew about this?

There was no other way now. Ye Tingyan glanced behind him and said calmly, “Thank you, Brother Yan, for delivering the message. Let me change my clothes, and I’ll join you.”

It was past three in the afternoon.

Luo Wei held the heavy iron saber at her waist and walked out of the dark passageway of the Ministry of Justice prison with Yuan Ming. When she heard the iron door slowly close behind her, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

She looked up at the sky. It was a spring day, and the sun was already slanting. The continuous spring rain that had lasted for nearly a month had ceased. The sky was a clear blue. In another hour or two, the sun would set.

Three horses galloped from the Imperial Street directly to the Bian River.

Luo Wei glanced to her side. Qiu Xueyu had been in prison for three months and was exhausted. The hand holding the reins was trembling slightly.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Justice had not dared to torture her due to public opinion, and Song Lan had forgotten about her these past few days because he had so many things on his plate.

A few days ago, news of the funeral in the palace had spread. The Emperor was shocked and fell ill, and he had also killed people in the forbidden palace, which was a time of great fear.

The Zhuque Office had been moving around without any hindrance with the Emperor’s handwritten decree, and even the officials of the Ministry of Justice didn’t dare to question them. It was precisely because of this opportunity that Luo Wei was able to follow Yuan Ming and, in the midst of the chaos, rescue Qiu Xueyu from prison.

To be safe, Luo Wei did not listen to Ye Tingyan and instead changed into an imperial guard’s uniform and personally went into the Ministry of Justice prison. The imperial guard who was supposed to take Qiu Xueyu out originally worked at the Ministry of Justice and was very familiar with its layout. He had brought fire oil and flint with him, planning to start a fire at the right time to create a diversion.

After Luo Wei dismounted, she tied her horse to a ferry on the Bian River. Yuan Ming stood on the shore and blew a whistle. He then nodded slightly and said in a low voice, “Mistress Su, I can only take you this far. There are clothes prepared in the boat. After you change, you can go downstream along the river. The Young Master has left people at the Linjiang Ferry and the South Gate. You can act according to the situation and take either path.”

“Thank you, Minister Yuan.” Luo Wei curtsied, but Yuan Ming quickly stopped her.

He stood on his tiptoes and looked around. He saw that the boat had not yet arrived. “I don’t know how long we can delay the matter at the Ministry of Justice. The Young Master has instructed me to tell you not to worry. Please leave the city before sunset. As for the matters in the city and your brother, the Young Master will find a way.”

Luo Wei asked, “I had an agreement with him that I would return to the residence after rescuing the person from the Ministry of Justice today, and then leave the city on the day my brother is executed and the Ministry of Justice is set on fire. Why did he suddenly change his mind?”

Before Yuan Ming could answer, a sudden noise came from behind them. He turned around and saw a towering prisoner cart in the distance.

In the prisoner cart was a prisoner whose clothes were soaked in blood. His hands were chained to the top of the cart, and he was hanging his head listlessly. Despite his disheveled appearance, he had meticulously styled his hair.

“I heard that the person being executed today is Young Master Su. The Su family was once so prominent. How did they fall to such a state after the Empress fell ill? Look at how the gentleman still maintains his dignity even in death. He truly has the grace of a noble family.”

“It’s also strange. This Young Master Su doesn’t have the strength to fight. How could he have assassinated someone in the forbidden palace and be sentenced to immediate beheading? Our country’s law states that no executions can be carried out before the rain stops or before the day breaks. But today is so clear, and it’s not even past the afternoon. What a...”

When he saw the face of the person in the prisoner cart, Yuan Ming’s expression suddenly changed. He immediately turned around. “There’s a change in the forbidden palace. Please leave immediately!”

The boat had arrived at the ferry. Luo Wei also recognized the person in the prisoner cart. Her knees went weak, and she almost fell. Qiu Xueyu half-dragged, half-supported her onto the boat. They both lifted a corner of the canopy and looked out.

“Weiwei...”

“I know,” Luo Wei said, grabbing her hand. But her gaze did not move. Her words were also disjointed. “Why did Song Lan make a move so quickly? Why, why so fast?”

Qiu Xueyu had no choice but to order the boatman to slowly follow the prisoner cart. There were many flower boats and pleasure boats on the Bian River now. A small boat weaving through them was not very noticeable.

Although Luo Wei and her so-called brother didn’t seem close, Qiu Xueyu knew that the bond between them was probably no less than that of biological siblings.

After returning, Luo Wei found out that her brother had given up his chance to study in Xuzhou to take care of their father’s illness. She had cried all night in his arms and came to see her the next day with eyes as swollen as peaches. They had silently grown distant from each other all these years for fear of implicating one another.

The small boat swayed and stopped by the bank of the Bian River, directly facing the East Market, where the execution was to take place.

Chang Zhao, as the supervising official, looked up at the approaching twilight, slowly rubbing the verdict slip in his hand, and was in no hurry to give the order.

Luo Wei knew he was waiting for her.

If she had a few more days, even just one day, to make some arrangements with Ye Tingyan, she would have risked falling back into Song Lan’s hands to try and save him.

But now, with so little time, what could she do? What could she possibly do? Even sending him off in person in this boat was a huge risk.

Why did Song Lan act so quickly? Did he sense something was wrong? Even if he wanted to force her to show up, he should have given her enough time to prepare.

Her brother was different from Qiu Xueyu. Song Lan didn’t believe she would take such a risk for a friend she had just met like Qiu Xueyu or Yu Suiyun. But he was willing to bet that she would show up for the brother she had grown up with.

Qiu Xueyu reached out from behind Luo Wei and gently placed her hand over her mouth.

She was worried that Luo Wei would sob and attract suspicion. Chang Zhao was standing on the bank, and there were probably ambushes everywhere. They hadn’t even made contact with the people in the city. A single mistake, and they would be isolated and have no one to help them.

Luo Wei’s warm tears fell in large drops onto the back of her hand, scalding her. Qiu Xueyu didn’t dare to make a sound. She could only hold her tightly in the dark boat, trying to offer her some comfort.

Her eyes were stinging, and with a slight blink, tears also fell.

Qiu Xueyu quickly wiped them away. She had been in prison for three months and was weak. She could only press her face against Luo Wei’s ear and say hoarsely, “Weiwei, you must endure. You must endure and live well... Only by living can you avenge him, avenge them!”