QYT - 27

It was late at night. The few people present had different stories, and no conclusion could be reached through questioning. Zhang Ting saw that, besides Zou Ping, the suspects were all ordinary citizens. He turned to the Investigating Official beside him and said, “Capital Prefecture, take Fudong and the owner of Donglaishun back to the yamen for now. Hold them until I report to the court, then we can interrogate them again.”

“Yes.”

Zhang Ting then ordered the yamen runners from the Court of Judicial Review, who had arrived, to detain Zou Ping and instructed everyone else to disperse.

Before leaving, He Hongyun glanced at Jiang Cizhou, who seemed to still be sulking with his wife, standing at the alley entrance and refusing to get into the same carriage with Qingwei.

He Hongyun sneered inwardly. Of course, he knew what Jiang Cizhou was up to, but the ambush tonight was his doing. Now that Zou Ping had been arrested, if he were to stick up for Zou Ping at this time, it would be a clear admission of guilt.

He decided against it. Zhang Ting was watching everything unfold.

Young Master Zhang was not an easy person to deal with.

He Hongyun bid farewell to Zhang Ting, Jiang Cizhou, and the others and left first. After he left, the other noble children and scholars also dispersed.

The houses in Liushui Alley were densely packed. If the fire from the wine shop wasn’t completely extinguished, it could easily cause another fire. Zhang Ting stayed behind, waiting for the fire brigade to report back. In the meantime, he saw that Jiang Cizhou seemed to have cooled down and was walking toward his own carriage. He called out, “Commander, wait a moment.”

Jiang Cizhou turned around. “Is something wrong, Young Master Zhang?”

Zhang Ting said, “Nothing really. I just remembered that the gunpowder explosion just now. The commander seemed to be very close to the wine shop. Were you injured?”

Jiang Cizhou said, “I’m fine.”

Zhang Ting smiled. “That’s good. When the Xijintai collapsed back then, the commander was seriously injured. I heard you still have an old injury. I was worried that it might have acted up.”

He looked at Jiang Cizhou and suddenly said, “Did the commander hear that Princess Ronghua is returning to the capital soon?”

Princess Ronghua was the younger sister of the late emperor and the mother of the current Young Prince Zhao.

Speaking of which, the Jiang family’s close relationship with the imperial family wasn’t just because they were distant relatives of the empress dowager. Jiang Zhunian and the Young Prince Zhao’s father took the imperial exam in the same year. Before the consort jumped into the Canglang River, he and Jiang Zhunian were close friends.

“The princess has been going to the Great Ci’en Temple for ascetic practices every summer in recent years. With autumn coming and the weather getting cold, it’s time for her to return to the capital,” Jiang Cizhou said.

Zhang Ting said, “Yes. But the princess is returning earlier than in previous years. I thought something might have happened and wanted to ask if the commander knew anything about it.”

Before Jiang Cizhou could answer, the fire brigade had completely extinguished the fire. The brigade leader came over and reported, “Young Master Zhang, the fire is completely out. The wine shop is so badly burned that it needs to be demolished. The demolition might be a bit loud.”

When Zhang Ting heard this, he lowered his eyes in deep thought. After a while, he looked up at Jiang Cizhou again, and an apologetic look appeared in his long, narrow eyes. “Actually, there’s a favor I’d like to ask of you, commander.”

“When the Xijintai was built, the commander, along with Master Wen and Young Prince Zhao, must have learned a lot.” He looked at the Zhezhiju in the darkness. “This wine shop isn’t too big, but it’s not small either. Now that it needs to be demolished, I’m worried it might crush the surrounding houses. I am a scholar and an official who handles cases. I have no experience in this matter, and I’ll have to stay up all night writing a memorial for the court. Therefore, I’d like to ask the commander to stay here and supervise the demolition to prevent anyone from getting hurt.”

When he said this, Jiang Cizhou didn’t say anything, but Qi Ming and Derong both frowned simultaneously.

Qi Ming felt that this matter should be refused no matter what. Just as he was about to speak, Jiang Cizhou smiled. “Alright.”

Zhang Ting also smiled. “Then I’ll leave this to the commander. I’ll take my leave now.”

It was past midnight. A case had occurred in Liushui Alley tonight, and even the area around Donglaishun, which was usually the liveliest, had quieted down. In the dark night, only the clear sound of bricks and tiles falling could be heard, occasionally accompanied by the conversations of the firemen. “Tie the rope to that beam. Yes, avoid the pillar behind it.”

Chaotian saw Zhang Ting’s carriage leave and immediately said, “Young master, you can rest here. I’ll go and supervise.”

Jiang Cizhou shook his head, turned around, and walked into the alley.

Qingwei had been “sulking” with Jiang Cizhou tonight and had been standing at the alley entrance, unwilling to get into the carriage. Now, seeing that Jiang Cizhou was staying behind, she thought he was just keeping up the act. It wasn’t until he walked past her without a word that she realized something seemed off about him.

He seemed... different from his usual self.

Qingwei was stunned and couldn’t help but follow him for a few steps, looking into the depths of the alley.

The night was too dark. Most of the people had left, and the lights had been removed. The entire alley was immersed in pitch black, but the Zhezhiju was very bright—the fire brigade had lit torches all around to demolish the wine shop.

This cluster of light was as abrupt as a dream in the dark night.

When Jiang Cizhou arrived in front of the Zhezhiju, he saw the two-story, badly burned and dilapidated building frame. He opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything.

In fact, these firemen were very experienced in demolishing buildings and didn’t need anyone to supervise.

But Jiang Cizhou’s gaze seemed to be fixated on the wine shop, and he couldn’t help but walk closer.

Chaotian and Derong exchanged looks. They knew something was wrong. They called Qi Ming over and tried to lead him away. “Young master, don’t look anymore. Let’s go back. This isn’t—”

Just then, a fireman securely tied a rope to a beam, shouting, “Get back, everyone get back—” He then ran out of the wine shop and, along with a few other soldiers, grabbed the other end of the rope and said, “Follow me, pull together!”

The building was about to collapse. Bricks, stones, and tiles were falling everywhere. The ground trembled, and a long-forgotten cloud of dust and a buzzing sound swept over them. The fire brigade leader retreated in front of Jiang Cizhou and said urgently, “Commander, get back quickly! The wine shop is about to be demolished!”

—It’s about to be demolished.

When Jiang Cizhou heard these three words, his mind went blank with a “boom.”

The scorching firelight and dust intertwined. It was as if he was back in that torrential rain five years ago.

The rain was too heavy. You could barely see the sun in the morning. Someone held an umbrella and came to his side, asking urgently:

“Do we demolish it?”

“We can’t find Wen Qian. Make a decision quickly. Do we demolish it?”

“It was scheduled for today. We can’t not demolish it. Demolish it!”

Jiang Cizhou stared blankly ahead, raising his hand, and couldn’t help but shout:

“Don’t demolish it...”

But this wasn’t Baiyang Mountain, nor was it five years ago. There was no Xijintai here. All that was here was a wine shop’s frame that had been burned empty and was meant to be demolished.

The wine shop collapsed with a loud crash right in front of him.

Chaotian and Qi Ming rushed to get Jiang Cizhou out of the way.

But in Jiang Cizhou’s eyes, there seemed to be nothing left but the cluster of firelight and the spreading dust.

Qingwei stood at the alley entrance, staring blankly as Qi Ming and the others forcibly dragged Jiang Cizhou out of the light of the wine shop. She watched as his eyes gradually lost focus. He fell to the ground, clutching his chest and gasping for air, coughing violently.

She knew he had been injured at the Xijintai and had an old injury, but she didn’t know that his old injury was like this.

Derong quickly returned with a coat from the carriage, putting it over Jiang Cizhou. Seeing Qingwei still standing at the alley entrance, he looked at Qi Ming.

Qi Ming nodded and came to Qingwei. “Madam, the commander’s old injury has flared up. He needs to go to the palace. I will take you back to the mansion.”

Qingwei’s gaze was still on Jiang Cizhou. “Why does he need to go to the palace?”

Qi Ming said, “Madam, you don’t know, but the commander was sent to the palace for treatment when he was injured at the Xijintai. Now that the building collapse has triggered the illness again, he needs to go to the palace to find the old physician who treated him.”

Derong helped Jiang Cizhou onto Chaotian’s back. Chaotian carried him and walked quickly toward the carriage.

As he passed her, he seemed to have his eyes closed. His long fingers hung low at his side. He was silent, not calling out “wife” as he usually did, nor did he tell her where he was going.

Qingwei didn’t feel anything.

In truth, she wasn’t his wife anyway.

Qingwei nodded and said to Qi Ming, “Okay, let’s go.”

With that, she turned her back and walked toward the other end of the street.