Jin Ni confessed readily, admitting that Pei Guanyue had instructed him to falsely accuse Cui Xun of killing Guo Qinwei. He said that Pei Guanyue had originally planned for both him and Consort Hui to accuse Cui Xun together. With the testimony of Consort Hui, the Khagan’s beloved daughter, Cui Xun would certainly be imprisoned. Once Cui Xun was in prison, Pei Guanyue would arrange for the jailers to kill him.
However, the plan deviated slightly. For unknown reasons, Consort Hui suddenly became unwilling to testify. With no alternative, Jin Ni thought of bringing back the skull from Turkic territory, gaining a month for himself and Pei Guanyue to forge evidence. Unexpectedly, this also gave Cui Xun a month.
Cui Xun watched dispassionately as Jin Ni wrote down his confession word by word on white hemp paper. He then asked, “Consort Hui isn’t Ashina Jia, is she?”
Jin Ni gasped, “Isn’t Junior Minister Cui clearer about this than I am?”
Cui Xun didn’t even raise his eyelids. “I want you to write it.”
Jin Ni was confused. The Emperor’s fondness for Consort Hui was known throughout the empire. Could Cui Xun be trying to openly confront the Emperor? But with his life now in Cui Xun’s hands, he dared not refuse.
So Jin Ni continued writing his confession, identifying Consort Hui not as Sutai’s daughter Ashina Jia, but as Ashina Wuduo, who was rumored to have an ambiguous relationship with Cui Xun.
After he finished writing with trepidation, the clerk presented the confession to Cui Xun, who glanced at it casually before ordering the clerk to lay a fresh blank hemp paper before Jin Ni. After dismissing the clerk, he coldly gazed at Jin Ni. “Continue writing.”
Jin Ni was bewildered. “Junior Minister Cui, I’ve confessed everything that needs to be confessed. What more should I write?”
Cui Xun said deliberately, “Luyan Ridge, Tianwei Army, write!”
Jin Ni’s wounded body trembled continuously. He asked hoarsely, “You want to reopen the case of the Tianwei Army?”
“Yes.”
“Does the Empress Dowager agree? Does His Majesty agree? Do the two Prime Ministers, Cui and Lu, agree?” Jin Ni, despite his shock, felt a hint of glee. No matter how capable Cui Xun was, he was now attempting something impossible. He mocked, “Besides you, no one agrees.”
Cui Xun merely said calmly, “If I want to reopen the case, do I need anyone else’s agreement?”
He continued, “If you don’t write, that’s fine. The Investigation Office has eighty-one forms of torture. You’ve only experienced ten of them. You’re welcome to try each of the remaining ones.”
Jin Ni gritted his teeth as waves of unbearable pain swept through his body. He admitted that he wasn’t someone with an unbreakable will. In this world, few had bones as hard as Cui Xun’s, and he certainly wasn’t one of them.
In his terror, he could only confess, “The Turks never trusted me, so I don’t know the details of Luyan Ridge. I only know that when we attacked Fengzhou with Khagan Nidu, the Khagan didn’t assault the city but instead led an army of 200,000 to set an ambush at Luyan Ridge hundreds of miles away. I couldn’t understand why and tried to ask Khagan Nidu, but he dismissed me. So I could only inquire from Hulü of the Fuliiwei, whom he trusted most.”
“Hulü said that Khagan Nidu was lying in ambush to capture a group of lions. I asked him what lions, but Hulü just smiled without clarifying. I then tried to ask him how he knew they would catch these lions. He said that the lions’ friend had personally driven the lions into the hunter’s trap, so of course, they would be caught. Later, when the Tianwei Army marched to Luyan Ridge and was thoroughly defeated by Khagan Nidu, I suddenly realized that the lions Hulü mentioned were the Tianwei Army, and the friend who had personally driven the lions into the trap—after much thought, I still believe that besides Pei Guanyue, who was then the Prefect of Fengzhou, there couldn’t have been anyone else.”
“When I was Captain of the Hundred Riders, Pei Guanyue was still an obscure seventh-rank noble guard captain. My knowledge of him was limited to the fact that despite his humble origins, he married a woman from the Wang clan of Taiyuan and subsequently enjoyed rapid career advancement. But even this alone showed that he was no ordinary person. Moreover, Fengzhou respected him, and Guo Qinwei trusted him completely. Besides him, I couldn’t think of anyone else. When I escaped from Turkic territory this time, to save my life, I tried to probe Pei Guanyue with this information. Unexpectedly, Pei Guanyue thought I knew the inside story and didn’t deny it. However, after I approached him several times, he probably discerned that I had no evidence in hand, so he demanded that I falsely accuse Junior Minister Cui before he would help me escape.”
Cui Xun listened, his eyes cold. After a long while, he finally said, “Write.”
Another sheet of white hemp paper was filled. Cui Xun’s finger slipped into his sleeve, caressing the five-colored brocade sachet. He said, “Jin Ni, one last thing. How did Princess Yong’an die?”
Jin Ni was startled. Cui Xun continued, “Thirty years ago, you were the Captain of the Hundred Riders. Every dirty deed passed through your hands. Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
“I…” Jin Ni hesitated. He did know, but he dared not say it. He feared that if he spoke, his fate would be even more miserable than it was now.
Cui Xun said leisurely, “You approached my uncle, and he gave you a safe-conduct. He has always been principled and upright, so why would he help a traitor like you? The only explanation is that you hold leverage over him. But what kind of leverage could make him abandon his principles and choose to help you?”
He paused, then continued, “Unless that leverage involves someone he seeks to protect. In his life, the person he most admires and is most loyal to—I don’t need to say it, you know.”
Jin Ni opened his mouth but didn’t dare speak. But those two words, both Cui Xun and he knew in their hearts.
Jin Ni finally gasped, “Junior Minister Cui, it’s one thing that you want to reopen the case of the Tianwei Army, but you also want to investigate Princess Yong’an’s case? Forgive my directness, but even with nine lives, you wouldn’t have enough to die with.”
Cui Xun laughed lightly. “So what?”
Jin Ni murmured, “You’ve truly gone mad.”
Cui Xun gripped the sachet in his sleeve and said indifferently, “So will you confess or not?”
“Even if I confess, what can you do? Do you intend to use this to blackmail the Empress Dowager and Cui Songqing?” Thinking of the Empress Dowager’s ruthlessness, Jin Ni suddenly laughed strangely. “If you do that, I think Junior Minister Cui’s fate will be even more unbearable than mine.”
Cui Xun merely said, “If you don’t confess now, I’ll make you unbearably miserable right now.”
Jin Ni shuddered. Reluctantly, he said, “Since Junior Minister Cui has already guessed it, why do you still need me to confess?”
Cui Xun looked up and gave him a cold glance. Jin Ni immediately felt his hair stand on end. He dared not speak further and could only say, “Everything is as Junior Minister Cui guessed.”
He squeezed three words through his teeth: “It was… the Late Emperor.”
Thirty years ago, Jin Ni was the Captain of the Hundred Riders of Great Zhou, an agency established by Emperor Taichang to monitor officials. Jin Ni was just over twenty years old then. Born to a humble family and receiving such trust from Emperor Taichang, he naturally wanted to achieve results quickly to repay the Emperor’s faith.
His spies monitored officials day and night, and report after report was delivered to Emperor Taichang’s desk. From these reports, he also knew that Emperor Taichang was stubbornly implementing new policies, while most officials, coming from aristocratic families, were extremely dissatisfied with the Emperor. Some even contacted various princes, plotting to force Emperor Taichang off the throne.
But fortunately, the Right Deputy Minister of Personnel, Cui Songqing, although from the Boling Cui clan, had always firmly supported Emperor Taichang and his new policies. Cui Songqing had once said, “The world belongs to all people, not just to aristocratic families. Currently, the noble families hold power and refuse to change, while the Turks watch us covetously. If we insist on maintaining the distinction between officials and commoners, we will eventually repeat the tragedy of the Five Barbarians’ invasion. By then, we Han people will be treated like livestock, and regret will come too late.”
But Cui Songqing’s passionate appeals were met with indifference from the officials. The new policies struggled to advance. Seeing this, Jin Ni suggested to Emperor Taichang, “Your Majesty, the sixteen guards are now loyal to you. With military power in hand, anyone who doesn’t listen can simply be killed. Why bother entangling with these ungrateful people?”
Cui Songqing glared at him. At that time, Cui Songqing was also just over twenty years old, at an age of youthful vigor. He had always looked down on Jin Ni and mocked, “Killing one person is easy, killing ten is also easy, but can you kill all the officials in the empire? And with what excuse would you kill them? Because they oppose the new policies? The success or failure of the new policies is still unknown. Killing remonstrating officials would only give Your Majesty a reputation for tyranny. The aristocratic families need to be removed, but not in this way.”
Cui Songqing looked down on Jin Ni, and Jin Ni looked down on him too. In his view, Cui Songqing was just a pedantic Confucian official who overthought everything. Jin Ni sneered, “Womanish mercy.”
Cui Songqing said impatiently, “Captain Jin, have you considered that killing may be the easiest method, but what comes after? If the aristocratic families use this as an excuse to unite with the princes in rebellion, whom do you think the people will support? Will they support the abstract new policies, or will they support an emperor who kills remonstrating officials at will? Neither. In this world, only by winning people’s hearts can one win the world, not by resolving problems through indiscriminate killing.”
Jin Ni wanted to refute, but Emperor Taichang stopped their conflict. The Emperor supported Cui Songqing and ordered Jin Ni to withdraw. As Jin Ni left resentfully, he heard Cui Songqing say to Emperor Taichang, “We need an opportunity.”
And this opportunity came soon.
Jin Ni’s Hundred Riders discovered that Prince Consort Zheng Yun, while drunk, mentioned Princess Yong’an with a gloomy expression, suggesting he might harm the Princess.
When Jin Ni secretly reported this to Emperor Taichang, the Emperor flew into a rage. Jin Ni had never seen the Emperor so angry. He summoned Cui Songqing to discuss how to deal with Zheng Yun. That day, veins bulged on Emperor Taichang’s forehead as he gripped the imperial sword, gnashing his teeth, “Zheng Yun! Scoundrel! I’ll kill him!”
Everyone knew that Princess Yong’an, Li Ying, with her ethereal beauty and radiance that moved the world, was the Emperor’s beloved daughter. The Emperor had many children, but he particularly cherished Princess Yong’an. Jin Ni seized the opportunity, saying, “Your Majesty, in my opinion, Zheng Yun probably resents the Princess’s maternal lineage, feeling it doesn’t match his Xingyang Zheng clan, which is why he intends to harm the Princess.”
Emperor Taichang squeezed out words through his teeth: “I am the Son of Heaven! The Princess is the daughter of the Son of Heaven. He must have a death wish!”
“Since the revision of the ‘Clan Chronicles,’ the Ritual Department has ranked the Boling Cui clan ahead of the imperial Li clan…” Jin Ni glanced at Cui Songqing, whose face had turned ashen. Even at this moment, he didn’t miss a chance to sow discord. Jin Ni continued, “Your Majesty can see that these aristocratic families have been running wild for too long. They must be killed to suppress their arrogance. Now, even someone like Zheng Yun dares to set his sights on Princess Yong’an. I beg Your Majesty to let me arrest Zheng Yun and take him to the Hundred Riders for strict interrogation, as a warning to others.”
As soon as Jin Ni finished speaking, Cui Songqing said, “Your Majesty, Zheng Yun is the nephew of Empress Zheng.”
The enraged Emperor Taichang had already lost his reason. He rebuked, “What does it matter if he’s the Empress’s nephew? Jin Ni, arrest the Empress’s brothers too, without exception!”
Jin Ni was delighted and was about to obey when Cui Songqing again intervened: “Your Majesty, I believe this is not the time to arrest Zheng Yun.”
Emperor Taichang raged, “Cui Songqing, are you trying to shield him?”
The emperor’s anger could result in countless deaths and rivers of blood, but Cui Songqing wasn’t afraid at all. He shook his head. “I dare not shield Zheng Yun. Zheng Yun deserves to die, but he can die in a more valuable way.”
His words were ambiguous. Jin Ni didn’t understand, but Emperor Taichang did. The Emperor’s grip on the imperial sword gradually loosened. Cui Songqing cupped his hands again and calmly said, “Your Majesty, the opportunity has come.”