After Cui Xun left, the dazed Lu Huai finally stood up. He walked out of the prison cell, pushing aside a Dali Temple clerk who tried to question him. Then, staggering step by step, he made his way to Lu Yumin’s residence.

He raised his head, looking at the simple and modest mansion. The sky was gradually obscured by clouds, and raindrops began to fall sparsely, soon gathering into a dense curtain of rain. Lu Huai’s clothes were soaked by the downpour, but he didn’t seem to notice. He just stared at the two large characters that read “Lu Residence.”

His uncle’s earnest teachings from childhood were still vivid in his mind. The first character he learned was taught by his uncle. The first poem he learned was composed by his uncle. He had always been proud of his uncle. He wanted to rush in and question him, to ask if what Shen Que said was true or false. But after standing outside the mansion for a long time, he still couldn’t bring himself to enter.

He was afraid to hear the answer. He was afraid that once he went in, the moral model in his heart would come crashing down. He didn’t dare.

Lu Huai closed his eyes, letting the heavy rain pound his face. After a long while, he opened his eyes, turned around, and left with faltering steps.

After Lu Huai left, news of Ah’man entering the Imperial Censorate prison and having a private conversation with Shen Que quickly reached the ears of Lu Yumin and Pei Guanyue.

Lu Yumin was alarmed. His first thought was to question Lu Huai, but Lu Huai’s whereabouts were unknown. His second thought was to search for Cui Xun.

But Cui Xun’s whereabouts were also unknown.

Cui Xun hadn’t gone to the Daming Palace to file a complaint, nor had he returned to the Office of Affairs, nor to his residence. It was as if he had vanished from the world. Despite Lu Yumin turning Chang’an upside down, he couldn’t find a trace of him.

While Lu Yumin was in a state of extreme anxiety, Cui Xun was in the back room of a bookstore in Chang’an.

He had made a copy of Shen Que’s testimony and pasted it onto a thin piece of pear wood. Then he used a carving knife to engrave the testimony, character by character, onto the pear wood. This was woodblock printing.

Since Cui Songqing had become Grand Councilor, he had vigorously promoted woodblock printing in the Great Zhou. Books produced by woodblock printing were ten times cheaper than hand-copied books. Cui Songqing wanted more common people to be able to afford books and become literate. To encourage woodblock printing, he decreed that bookstores using this method would have their commercial taxes reduced by half. As a result, almost every bookstore in Chang’an had woodblocks and used printing.

Cui Xun held the carving knife, his thin lips pressed tightly together, carving the raised text on the pear wood board. Though his wrist lacked strength, each cut he made was steady and precise. It seemed as if each stroke on the pear wood was infused with the blood and tears of fifty thousand people. Even if it meant consuming his own life, he would not allow the slightest error.

Li Ying stood quietly beside him, occasionally tightening his black crane-patterned cloak to prevent the cold from seeping into his body in his agitated state. However, when Cui Xun began to carve the part of Shen Que’s testimony that implicated the Emperor Longxing Emperor, she hesitated and then said, “I suggest you don’t carve this part.”

Cui Xun’s carving knife stopped. Li Ying said, “It’s not because he’s my brother and I want to show favoritism. If he truly participated in the Tianwei Army case, he would no longer be my brother from now on. I don’t have a brother who would abandon his people. But have you considered the consequences of carving this section?”

She continued, “My brother is still the Emperor of Great Zhou. Regardless of whether Shen Que’s testimony is true or false, as soon as you carve this section, you’ll be accused of slandering the sovereign, which is equivalent to treason. Forget about clearing the Tianwei Army’s name—you won’t even be able to protect your own life. It would be better not to implicate him for now and just direct the accusations at Lu Yumin and Pei Guanyue.”

What Li Ying said made perfect sense, but despite the logic in her words, the indignation in Cui Xun’s heart was still difficult to quell. Li Ying didn’t try to persuade him further but quietly accompanied him. He wasn’t an impulsive person; he would come to understand.

Sure enough, after a while, Cui Xun lowered his eyes and said, “I won’t carve it.”

Li Ying sighed in relief. She said, “First, remove the treacherous officials and clear the Tianwei Army’s name. The rest can be investigated later.”

Cui Xun nodded silently. He omitted the parts of the testimony that implicated the Emperor Longxing Emperor and carved all the rest onto the pear wood board. By the time the sun set and the moon rose, the testimony was finally engraved.

After the carving was completed, it was time for printing. Early the next morning, all the main thoroughfares of Chang’an would be covered with printed copies of the testimony.

With this major task completed, the city of Chang’an would certainly be in turmoil the next day. An ordinary person would be too anxious to sleep, but Cui Xun, who usually slept poorly, took his medicine and fell into a deep slumber.

Li Ying knelt by his bedside. She reached out her hand and gently stroked his drooping eyelashes. The eyelashes left a soft feeling on her fingertips. She knew he was too exhausted.

This day had been six years in the making. For six years, he had carried a deep hatred and endured public condemnation, not having a single day of peaceful sleep. Now, with a glimpse of dawn, he could finally put down his burden and have a good rest.

Her fingers then clasped his slightly cold hand, their fingers intertwined, like their first meeting at the Lotus Pond, though now with a hint of intimacy. Li Ying looked at his sleeping face and murmured, “I truly hope my brother wasn’t involved.”

He was her brother, her closest relative in the world apart from the Empress Dowager. Although she had said that if he was truly involved in this matter, she would no longer recognize him, she still found it hard to believe. She didn’t want to believe that her only brother would hand over countless subjects to be trampled by foreigners.

Looking at the sleeping Cui Xun, her heart was filled with both guilt and sympathy. She gently tightened her grip on his hand. He and her brother were both twenty-three years old. Six years ago, they had both been seventeen, at the age when young men were in their prime. But since then, one had lived a human life, while the other had lived a ghost’s life. One had gradually gained power, becoming known to the people as a wise and virtuous emperor. The other had been trapped in the desert, his reputation ruined, suffering endless humiliation. Thinking back to Cui Xun’s life after seventeen, from seventeen to twenty, he had spent his days in prison under cruel torture. From twenty to twenty-three, he had lived under verbal and written attacks. Each day could be described as a nightmare. And this six-year nightmare was very likely caused by her brother.

She lay by his bedside, her eyes somewhat lost. After a long while, she pressed her lips together and said softly, “Seventeenth Young Master, before the truth is revealed, I want to believe in my brother a little longer. Is that okay?”

Cui Xun was sleeping too deeply to answer. Li Ying smiled faintly. “Since you’re not answering, I’ll take it as a yes.”

Her palm pressed against his, she murmured, “I hope it wasn’t him.”

The next day, Chang’an was in an uproar.

The Imperial Guard was fully mobilized, tearing down all the testimonies posted on the main roads. But the news had already spread widely, reaching every street and alley. No matter how hard they tried to suppress it, they couldn’t contain it.

The Emperor Longxing Emperor was furious. He ordered people to quickly investigate who dared to spread rumors in Chang’an. As the Imperial Guards were about to carry out his orders, the Emperor suddenly thought of something and shouted, “Where is Cui Xun? Why wasn’t he at the court meeting today?”

“Deputy Commissioner Cui has reported sick, Your Majesty.”

“Reported sick?” The Emperor Longxing Emperor sneered. “More likely, he’s afraid to come.”

He spoke harshly, “Go, summon him here. Even if he’s dying, drag him to me!”

The Imperial Guards exchanged glances but still replied, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

While the Emperor Longxing Emperor was in a rage, Ashina Wuduo was outside the Shenlong Hall. She listened for a while, then turned and said, “Let’s go.”

Her maid asked in confusion, “Isn’t Consort Hui going to see His Majesty?”

Ashina Wuduo shook her head. She looked at the overcast sky and said in her imperfect Great Zhou official language, “It’s going to rain.”

She said, “Let’s return to the palace.”

With that, she boarded her sedan chair and headed toward her chambers. However, when passing by a fish pond, she had the sedan chair stop and got down to admire the goldfish in the pond.

Although she said she was admiring the fish, her eyes were fixed on a lotus flower in the center of the pond. Fine rain began to fall. The maid raised an oil paper umbrella to shield Ashina Wuduo from the raindrops. The rain grew heavier, and the lotus flower swayed in the wind and rain. At the same time, its petals were washed particularly clean by the rainwater. Ashina Wuduo watched intently. She suddenly asked her maid, “Do you think after this rain, will this lotus become more beautiful, or will it die?”

The maid was not a fortune-teller and had no way of knowing whether this delicate lotus would be destroyed by the storm or would be reborn after the rain. She could only say, “This servant doesn’t know.”

Ashina Wuduo didn’t press further. She just looked at the lotus, its stem bent by the raindrops, and said, “This lotus is so beautiful. Before it dies, I want to pick it.”

The maid immediately said, “This servant will pick it up after the rain stops.”

But Ashina Wuduo shook her head in refusal. “No, I’ll pick it myself.”

While the emperor in the Daming Palace was at the height of his fury, Ah’man’s residence also welcomed a group of visitors.

They were the families of the Tianwei Army in Chang’an.

These families included the elderly and the young, women and children. But after six years of hardship, few family members remained. Ah’man came outside with the support of her sisters from the entertainment quarters. He Shisan was the first to step forward from the crowd. He held a testimony that had been secretly torn down and asked Ah’man, “Sister Sheng, we know you are Shen Que’s concubine. We want to ask you, is what’s written here true?”

Ah’man looked around at their faces, which appeared older than their actual ages. For six years, they had borne the stigma of being families of a defeated army, enduring ridicule and contempt. Cao Wulang’s mother, for instance, hanged herself because she couldn’t bear the humiliation. The remaining people could only live in numb sorrow. But today, they suddenly learned that their sons, their brothers, their husbands were not defeated generals but were framed, leading to their tragic annihilation. How could they not be filled with hatred?

Ah’man’s nose stung with emotion. She said, “Every word on there was spoken by Shen Que himself in front of me. It is true.”

The crowd fell silent for a moment, then suddenly erupted in hysterical crying. They were crying for their flesh and blood, crying for their elder brothers, crying for their husbands, and crying for themselves.

He Shisan held back his tears and asked Ah’man, “So my brother and the others didn’t lose because they underestimated the enemy? They were sabotaged and annihilated? They weren’t a defeated army; they were heroes, right?”

Ah’man bit her lip and nodded. “Every one of them was a hero.”

He Shisan smiled. He stood tall with his chest out. “Good! I, He Shisan, am the family of a hero!”

He said, “Sister Sheng, we’re going to file a complaint together. Are you coming?”

Ah’man’s wounds from her punishment had not yet healed. Her sisters from the entertainment quarters worriedly said, “Ah’man…”

But Ah’man quickly said, “I’ll go.”

She said each word distinctly, “I am also the family of a hero. I will go!”

On the way to the county magistrate’s office, Ah’man also told He Shisan that his brother, He Jiu, was killed while seeking aid in Feng Prefecture. Tragically, He Jiu didn’t die at the hands of the Turks but at the gates of Feng Prefecture, where he was shot with one hundred and eight arrows by his people, turning him into a porcupine as he fell on the Great Zhou soil he had vowed to protect all his life.

Ah’man also said to He Shisan, “This journey to the county office may be perilous. You’re not yet fourteen, and your life is just beginning. You don’t have to go to the county office. Let us bear the responsibility of seeking justice for your brother and the others.”

He Shisan wiped away his tears of grief and said, “Sister Sheng, my brother took one hundred and eight arrows without taking a step back. I won’t retreat either.”

His expression was extremely determined. Ah’man was deeply moved. She said, “You’re just like your brother, a true hero.”

He Shisan supported her as they slowly walked forward. Suddenly, he thought of something and asked, “By the way, Sister Sheng, do you know who posted the testimony?”

Ah’man said, “I don’t know, but I can guess.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s… Cui Xun.”