Sell a residence to her?
Li Ying finally came to her senses. After thinking for a moment, she said: “I can buy this residence, that’s fine.”
Her easy agreement caught Yu Fuwei somewhat off guard, but Li Ying continued: “However, Master Yu, my buying this residence is not because of your words about ‘propriety between men and women.’ Cui Xun has never been improper with me. On the contrary, he is a…”
Li Ying had intended to say that Cui Xun was a clean person. He had been with her for so long, yet had never been the slightest bit inappropriate. On the rare occasions when they accidentally made physical contact, he would quickly pull away. But thinking about it further, she felt that “clean” wasn’t quite the right word to describe him. His hands weren’t clean. In the treacherous political struggles of the Great Zhou, as the head of the judicial system, he inevitably had to do the dirtiest work and endure the harshest criticism. Distorting facts and eliminating opposition—he had done these things. He had never been a good person in the conventional sense. The word “clean” indeed wasn’t very fitting.
Seeing her pause, Yu Fuwei interjected: “The Princess couldn’t possibly be thinking of calling Cui Xun a gentleman, could she?”
Li Ying was taken aback. She recalled how he had said he regarded General Guo as a father and the officers of the Tianwei Army as brothers. Those three years in the Tianwei Army must have been the last pure and unblemished time in his life. She sighed softly and said, “He could have become a gentleman.”
But now, he no longer had that chance.
When Li Ying returned to the Cui residence with the box of tea cakes, a drizzle had just begun. Raindrops fell on Li Ying’s face, feeling cool against her skin. Carrying the black lacquer inlaid mother-of-pearl rectangular box, she lowered her head to avoid the rain and quickened her pace toward the Cui residence. Suddenly, she noticed that the annoying raindrops falling on her face had stopped. She looked up to see a pair of slightly upturned, rippling yet frost-like peach blossom eyes.
Cui Xun held a plain oil-paper umbrella. Though his eyes showed no discernible emotion, calm and unruffled, the umbrella was tilted slightly toward Li Ying, shielding her from all wind and rain. Holding the box, Li Ying looked up at his pale, thin face. She pursed her lips, then suddenly smiled slightly: “Cui Xun, you’re here?”
Cui Xun nodded quietly and replied with a simple: “Mm.”
“Let’s go, then.”
In the slanting rain, the human and the ghost entered the desolate Cui residence side by side.
Li Ying followed Cui Xun to his study and placed the black lacquer inlaid mother-of-pearl rectangular box on the desk: “This is from Yu Fuwei for you. He says it’s to make amends for tearing your talismans last time.”
Cui Xun didn’t even glance at the exquisite box. His brows furrowed slightly: “You went to see Yu Fuwei again?”
Though his tone was calm, the spontaneous word “again” revealed his underlying displeasure. Li Ying didn’t think much of it and said, “Not exactly. I left the residence and happened to run into him.”
She didn’t mention that Yu Fuwei had been lingering outside the Cui residence for days just to wait for her. Hearing that she hadn’t gone to see Yu Fuwei but had merely run into him by chance, Cui Xun’s furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifted slightly: “Oh.”
Li Ying opened the box, revealing the tea cakes nestled in the engraved silver trays: “These are called the Twelve Flower Almanac, made very elegantly. Yu Fuwei says they’re quite popular in Chang’an. Would you like to try one?”
Cui Xun glanced at them: “Twelve Flower Almanac, why are two missing?”
Two of the twelve engraved silver trays were empty. Li Ying said, “I ate them.”
She paused, as if afraid Cui Xun wouldn’t believe her, and added: “They’re sweet but not cloying, very delicious.”
Of the Twelve Flower Almanac, the lotus and tuberose were specifically missing. Cui Xun surmised that she had removed the lotus and, to make it less obvious, had also removed the tuberose. She must have discovered his dislike for lotus flowers. As for how she discovered this, he could also guess. She was a woman of refined sensibility. Earlier, from the food, clothing, and daily necessities in his residence, she had deduced that he distributed all his rewards and salary to the families of the Tianwei Army. Similarly, from the absence of any lotus-patterned utensils in his residence, she would have guessed his aversion to lotus flowers. Cui Xun didn’t expose this. His exquisitely beautiful fingers picked up a plum blossom-shaped tea cake, and he took a bite. Li Ying asked expectantly: “How is it? Delicious?”
Cui Xun nodded. He wasn’t accustomed to sweet foods, but this plum blossom-shaped tea cake had only a faint sweetness, with more of a fragrant plum blossom flavor. He said, “It is very delicious.”
Li Ying smiled brightly: “Then I’m relieved. Otherwise, I was truly afraid I would have to eat all the remaining flower almanac by myself.”
Cui Xun couldn’t help but smile slightly. He took another bite of the tea cake, and after finishing it, he said: “I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“The Tujue are in internal turmoil, and their Left Xianwang, Jin Ni, has fled. This person was previously the Captain of the Hundred Riders Bureau of Great Zhou, in charge of imperial city spies. He might know something about your case.”
Li Ying nodded: “When I went out just now, I also saw his wanted notice. I heard that all of Great Zhou is searching for him now.”
“Not exactly all of Great Zhou,” Cui Xun mused. At least the Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, Lu Yumin, and the Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, Cui Songqing, weren’t particularly concerned about this. This was unlike their usual righteous and uncompromising style. His uncle Cui Songqing had even told him that if Jin Ni was caught, he should be killed on the spot and not sent to prison, which left him pondering for a long time.
Li Ying said, “I also feel that Jin Ni might know something. I was planning to find him.”
Cui Xun nodded. After finishing the plum blossom-shaped tea cake, he closed the lid of the black lacquer box and pushed it toward Li Ying. The exposed wrist beneath his sleeve was thin and bony, with a scar that went down to the bone, seemingly left by prolonged shackling. Li Ying looked at that scar and finally, unable to contain her concern, asked: “Cui Xun, with Jin Ni fleeing back to Great Zhou, will this not implicate you?”
Cui Xun was startled. He looked up at her. Li Ying bit her lip and said, “I heard those commoners say that if Jin Ni is caught and reveals something detrimental to you, you will be in trouble too.”
She paused, then continued: “I believe you never surrendered to the Tujue, but the commoners don’t know this. If Jin Ni falls into the hands of your political enemies, like Pei Guanyue, and they force Jin Ni to say things that aren’t true, what then?”
She was worried for Cui Xun, but his eyes remained calm and unruffled. He shook his head: “It doesn’t matter.”
Li Ying became anxious: “How can it not matter? Isn’t this a matter concerning your life?”
She made up her mind and, looking at Cui Xun, said: “Cui Xun, let me help you, alright?”
This was the second time she had said to Cui Xun, let her help him. The first time was when his uncle questioned why he hadn’t died in the Tujue territory. At that time, he had been deeply wounded by his uncle’s words. Afterward, she had carefully inquired about the annihilation of the Tianwei Army. In his sadness, he had finally revealed some fragments of the story. After hearing it, she had been terrified and had said, Let her help him, alright? But Cui Xun had not only refused her then but had also said it was his burden alone and there was no need to involve others.
This time, she again asked Cui Xun to let her help him, but Cui Xun merely looked at her, his eyes showing neither joy nor sorrow, and gently shook his head.
Li Ying’s heart was immediately enveloped by immense disappointment. She murmured, “Why are you still like this…”
Still rejecting her goodwill, still bearing everything alone, still freezing his heart, not letting anyone in.
Li Ying smiled bitterly: “I thought that after all this time, I would at least have earned a bit of your trust.”
Cui Xun remained silent. Li Ying sighed softly and said, “Yu Fuwei has a residence in Yongxing District, which he sold to me. I’ll go to Yongxing District first.”
In the clear moonlight and gentle breeze, Li Ying, her mind in turmoil, walked alone on the path to Yongxing District.
Although she could have had the paper servant sedan bearers carry her to Yongxing District, she didn’t want that. She now only wanted to walk alone, to quiet her thoughts. Her heart felt trapped by countless chaotic thoughts, unable to find release. In her mind, she recalled Cui Xun’s words before going to the ghost market: “This is my burden alone, there’s no need to involve others.” Then she remembered his words in the sea of roses: “You shouldn’t stay here.” And his words when drunk in the Chang’an tavern: “You can’t save me either.”
Li Ying murmured: “It’s not that I can’t save you; it’s that you don’t give me the chance to save you.”
He had closed his heart, refusing to speak about any of his past. He was unwilling to tell her what happened at Lanyan Ridge, unwilling to tell her what he had endured among the Tujue, and he wouldn’t even tell her whether he had surrendered to the Tujue. Everything was left to her conjecture.
How, then, could she save him?
Li Ying’s heart was filled with discouragement. She suddenly felt utterly helpless. She hesitated, stopped walking, and then took out the red dried rose from the multicolored peony brocade pouch hanging at her waist. She held the dried flower, looking at those brilliantly vibrant rose petals, as if looking at Cui Xun’s radiant face. After a long while, a shadow of melancholy crossed her eyes. She released her fingers, and the dried flower fell to the ground.
She hardened her heart and walked forward, never looking back at the dried rose again.
Not long after Li Ying left, the empty alley welcomed another visitor—a man wearing a black cloak. An owl circled overhead before landing on the man’s shoulder.
The owl hooted twice, and the man said, “You say Lu Yumin and Cui Songqing have both secretly ordered their people that if they find my whereabouts, they should kill me?”
The owl hooted twice more, and the man snorted coldly: “If they want to kill me, it won’t be so easy.”
With a cold smile on his lips, he drew the curved sword with a golden scabbard from his waist and examined it carefully. The rusty blade was covered with old, congealed blood. The man murmured: “And the owner of this curved sword—all three of them have enormous secrets in my hands. I don’t believe that with the three most powerful people in the Great Zhou, they still can’t protect my life.”
He sheathed the curved sword back into its golden scabbard and walked forward. The owl on his shoulder flapped its wings and flew into the air, its sharp eyes gleaming with an eerie cold light, monitoring the surroundings for the man.
But neither the man nor the owl noticed that the golden-scabbarded curved sword had silently slipped from his waistband and slid along the ground, coming to rest in front of the dried rose.
A while later, under the bright moon and sparse stars, in the ink-black night, outside a new residence in Yongxing District, a golden-scabbarded curved sword and a dried rose both lay silently in front of the dark wooden door.