QYT - 37

He Hongyun took on the task, and the first thing he investigated was the medicinal merchants.

“Didn’t you say earlier that the Ningzhou officials, in their impatience, bought some entangled-stem knotweed at a high price?”

Ningzhou was close to the capital, so most of the medicinal herbs Ningzhou bought came from the surrounding prefectures. He Hongyun started his investigation with the merchants and, as he dug deeper, found that the dealers selling the knotweed mostly sourced their goods from a large pharmacy in the capital.

The owner of this pharmacy was named Lin Kaochun. Why was entangled-stem knotweed so hard to find in the capital market? Why did its price skyrocket overnight? It was because he had cut off the supply in advance.

He had received news of the Ningzhou plague ahead of time and had hoarded the medicine, planning to sell it at a high price to make a profit.

He Hongyun immediately reported this to the court.

According to the laws of the Great Zhou, no merchant was allowed to raise prices on goods during times of war, plague, famine, or flood to profit from a national disaster. What Lin Kaochun did clearly violated this rule. Moreover, the plague in Ningzhou had already spread due to the delay in administering the medicine, and several nearby towns and counties were affected. People had even died.

Emperor Zhaohua was furious and ordered Lin Kaochun’s arrest. Lin Kaochun, perhaps knowing he couldn’t escape the death penalty, set a fire in his shop overnight and committed suicide out of guilt.

“The shop was where Lin Kaochun was storing the entangled-stem knotweed. It would have been one thing if he only burned himself, but if he had burned all the knotweed, that would have been a true disaster.

“Fortunately, He Hongyun had people watching him. As soon as the fire started, He Hongyun arrived. He led his men into the fire and not only rescued the entangled-stem knotweed but also personally escorted the medicine to Ningzhou to help the officials there eradicate the plague.

“As for what happened later, the court found two account books in Lin Kaochun’s residence. The numbers for the entangled-stem knotweed he acquired matched what He Hongyun had investigated. Before the Ningzhou plague, there were five medicinal merchants who sold knotweed to Lin Kaochun. Of these five, one committed suicide out of guilt, and the other four confessed without a fight. The plague in Ningzhou was not originally serious, but because of this entangled-stem knotweed, some people died, and the public’s anger was difficult to quell. To appease the people of Ningzhou, the court had no choice but to dismiss and investigate the first Director from the Ministry of Revenue.

“However, He Hongyun was promoted and rose through the ranks because of his meritorious service. In less than six months, he was transferred to the Ministry of Works and became the Director of the Waterways Department, a position he holds today.”

Derong said, “Listening to this, Madam, do you think there are no holes in this case?”

Qingwei didn’t say a word.

At first, she thought it was illogical for Lin Kaochun to hoard the medicine before the court. However, she then thought that Lin Kaochun was the owner of such a large pharmacy and must have had his own channels. A plague, after all, always begins with rumors and gossip among the people, while the government is more cautious and only reports to the court after confirming the situation.

Derong said, “Not only did the young madam think there were no holes in the case, but after the case was closed, besides congratulating He Hongyun on his promotion, very few people in the court remembered the matter.”

What year was that? It was the twelfth year of Emperor Zhaohua’s reign.

The most important matter in the court was the construction of the Xijintai. Countless eyes inside and outside the palace were watching Lingchuan. As for other matters, aside from a case of exile a year ago that was repeatedly brought up by the Hanlin Academy, which caused a small ripple, once a case was solved and filed away, it was like a clay ox entering the sea—no one ever mentioned it again.

Until a little over a year later.

“A little over a year later, someone wrote a letter to the court.”

“What kind of letter?” Qingwei asked.

“A letter asking for help,” Derong said. “The letter said that the deceased Lin Kaochun was just a scapegoat. The person who truly decided to buy out the knotweed and inflate its price was He Hongyun. It was He Hongyun who learned of the plague in advance and had Lin Kaochun front for him in this business. His later volunteering to investigate the case was nothing more than a thief shouting ‘stop thief’ when he saw his crimes were about to be exposed.”

“There’s another very important point,” Derong said, pausing. “The letter that exposed He Hongyun’s crimes was... written to the Young Prince Zhao.”

Qingwei was taken aback. “The Young Prince Zhao?”

Derong nodded. “But the Young Prince Zhao did not receive this letter at the time.”

By then, it was the dead of winter in the thirteenth year of Zhaohua.

On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month in the thirteenth year of Zhaohua, the Xijintai had collapsed, and the court was thrown into chaos. Emperor Zhaohua’s health was already poor. When he received the news, he was overcome with grief and couldn’t sleep. Three days later, he went to Baiyang Mountain, and when he saw the ruins and the human tragedy, he fell ill.

“The late emperor was a wise monarch. He knew that with his illness, the people below would cause trouble as the imperial power changed hands. So he secretly sent more men to various courier stations in the capital, thinking that as long as the lines of communication were not cut, he could still govern with integrity.

“It was thanks to the late emperor’s wisdom that this letter to the Young Prince Zhao was not intercepted on the way but safely delivered into the palace.”

Unfortunately, the Young Prince Zhao was seriously injured at the time and was unable to read the letter. The letter was read by the princess and then was eventually passed to the late emperor on his sickbed.

There were some things Derong didn’t mention, as there was no use in mentioning them.

The plague case and the Xijintai were seemingly unrelated. Who could have guessed that they were connected?

However, after the late emperor read the letter, he understood instantly.

By then, it had been more than six months since the Xijintai had collapsed, and the late emperor was critically ill, like a candle flickering in the wind.

With the monarch in a precarious state, the crown prince was young and weak. Within the deep palace, power struggles were always brewing, just waiting for a storm to begin, and the turbulent waves would come crashing in.

The different factions in the court were fighting, especially several generals who held military power. The late emperor feared that they would use the infant prince to control the court. Although he knew of the He family’s dirty deeds, he still promoted Consort He to Imperial Noble Consort, recording her as Emperor Jianing’s birth mother in the imperial family registry. He also personally ordered Emperor Jianing to marry a daughter of the Zhang family, hoping that with the combined strength of the Zhang and He families, the chaotic court could be stabilized.

Before his death, Emperor Zhaohua called Emperor Jianing to his bedside, holding his hand and saying:

“Er, I’ve left you such a mess. This whole board is lost. It is my failing as a father to you.”

Emperor Jianing was only seventeen at the time. He knelt before the emperor’s bed, tears streaming down his face, shaking his head. “Father is the best father and the best emperor. It is my incompetence that I cannot share your worries.”

Emperor Zhaohua looked at him and slowly smiled. “Even though you are the emperor, your shoulders are too thin. The officials supporting you below all have their own agendas. You seem to be in control of the nation, but in reality, you are in a castle in the air. When your father is gone, remember to bide your time.”

He took two letters from under his dragon pillow with a trembling hand and handed them to Emperor Jianing. “One of these letters was written to Qingzhi by an outsider, and it lists the He family’s crimes. After you read it, put them away. Don’t open them until the time is right.”

Emperor Jianing put the letters away. “I remember, Father.”

“When the time comes,” Emperor Zhaohua said, looking at his most beloved son, “you must not let them get away with it. You are the crown prince I have placed my greatest hopes on. No matter how thin your shoulders are, you must cultivate the strength to bear this nation. You must be decisive, bold, clear-headed, benevolent, and fearless. At that time, let Qingzhi help you.”

“I also hope that you and Qingzhi will one day be able to bring all the buried truths to light...”

The emperor passed away, and the young monarch, by the will of Heaven, ascended the throne.

But as he sat on the dragon throne, the support below him was completely hollow. He didn’t even have anyone he could rely on.

He was neither anxious nor impatient. He always remembered Emperor Zhaohua’s dying wish. He was like a warm beast lying in wait, enduring the long days in the deep palace. It wasn’t until the third year of Jianing, when Zhang Heshua wrote a memorial to rebuild the Xijintai, that the young emperor saw his opportunity and ordered the Black Hawk Agency to be reinstated.

And three months later, late one night, while the high-ranking officials in the court were in a panic over a prison break case, Emperor Jianing suddenly issued a decree summoning the young master of the Jiang family into the palace and handed this letter, which had been withheld by the late emperor, to the Young Prince Zhao, who was under a mask.

Qingwei asked, “Since this letter exposing the Ningzhou plague case was written to the Young Prince Zhao, why was it? Weren’t you building the Xijintai at the time?”

“The young madam is right,” Derong said. “By rights, the person who wrote the letter was being pursued by He Hongyun, and it would have been better for them to ring the Dengwen Drum to report a crime than to write a letter to the Young Prince Zhao. But the letter had two very important clues that the court had never found, or rather, couldn’t find.

“Entangled-stem knotweed is a valuable medicinal herb. Madam, do you know how much silver it would have cost to buy all the knotweed on the market at that time?”

“How much?”

“Fifty thousand taels,” Derong said. “Although Lin Kaochun was a wealthy merchant, it would have been by no means easy for him to come up with fifty thousand taels at once.”

Qingwei said, “Didn’t they check the accounts afterward?”

“They did, but Madam, don’t forget, it was He Hongyun who investigated the accounts, and it was He Hongyun who submitted the ledgers.” Derong said. “The second, and most important, point is that the person who wrote the letter claimed that Lin Kaochun didn’t have that much money at the time, nor did He Hongyun. The reason He Hongyun was able to come up with fifty thousand taels of silver in a short amount of time was because he had recently received an escort carriage from the direction of Lingchuan. The strongbox inside was full of gold and silver, exactly fifty thousand taels.”

From the direction of Lingchuan... The Xijintai was in Lingchuan.

“Speaking of which, Madam, you should be able to guess who wrote the letter to the Young Prince Zhao, right?”

Qingwei said, “Fuxia?”

“Exactly, it was Miss Fuxia,” Derong said. “Fuxia was the head courtesan of the Zhuning Estate five years ago, and at that time, this Lin Kaochun was a regular patron of the estate. Fuxia claimed that when the plague first broke out, it was she who set up the connection between He Hongyun and Lin Kaochun, which led to the sale of the entangled-stem knotweed. Later, Lin Kaochun’s death was most likely a case of being silenced by He Hongyun. And of the five medicinal merchants who sold the knotweed to Lin Kaochun, the one who committed suicide out of guilt was also killed by He Hongyun.

“That medicinal merchant’s shop was originally located near Donglaishun, and Madam, you must know, it’s the later Zhezhiju.

“After the Xijintai collapsed, Fuxia, who knew the inside story, feared she would be silenced and fled overnight. In the end, she said in her letter that to save her life, she had secretly kept the account books between He Hongyun and Lin Kaochun. As long as the evidence was in her hands, He Hongyun wouldn’t dare to kill her for the time being, and she pleaded with the Young Prince Zhao to rescue her as soon as possible.”

Why were the names Fudong and Fuxia so similar?

It wasn’t a coincidence, because Fuxia was the head courtesan of the Zhuning Estate five years ago, and Fudong was the one five years later.

Why was the wine shop Fudong opened at Zhezhiju?

It wasn’t a coincidence either. After He Hongyun silenced the medicinal merchant, he bought Zhezhiju to cover up his crime. Fudong came to the capital specifically to get close to He Hongyun, so she naturally chose to buy his shop. That’s why she chose Zhezhiju, where a person had died five years ago.

The two storylines of Fudong and Fuxia finally came together. Qingwei said, “So, when the Xijintai was first being built, He Hongyun learned of the plague and hoped to make a huge profit from the entangled-stem knotweed. He didn’t have enough money, so he set his sights on the Xijintai’s timber. Through He Zhongliang and Wei Sheng, he contacted Xu Tu, who sold the timber. Xu Tu used inferior wood and gave the money he earned from the price difference to He Hongyun to get a connection with the He family?”

Jiang Cizhou said, “I wasn’t sure before, but with Fudong’s confirmation, it is highly likely.”

He was silent for a moment, then added, “He Hongyun is not a simple man. He may not be unaware of Fudong’s reasons for getting close to him.”

Qingwei looked at him. “One last question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Fuxia’s letter was written to the Young Prince Zhao. It should have been extremely confidential. How do you know the contents of the letter to the Young Prince Zhao?”