Su Jin knew she was heading into a trap.
The main gate of Chamberlain Ma’s estate stood wide open, with guests being received outside. Su Jin stood at a distance watching for a while, but chose not to enter through the main gate.
This estate was located in the southern part of Yingtian City. To the north was the Fourth Prince’s palace, with deep alleyways to the east and west, and only the southern rear courtyard built along the river, where a shallow embankment about a foot wide separated the high walls from the water.
Su Jin decided to climb over the wall.
She found a low wall and, using a crooked tree growing by the water, first climbed to a high point to survey the scene inside the courtyard.
The rear courtyard was quiet, though the kitchen some distance away was rather lively, with maidservants carrying various delicacies passing through the halls. This full-moon celebration banquet seemed genuine enough.
Su Jin’s gaze fell upon a woodshed built against the rear wall. Through the woodshed’s open high window, she could see straw piles inside, and beside the straw piles, a woman lying on the ground with her hands and feet bound.
Su Jin approached the spot closest to the high window and leaped down through it, landing on the straw pile.
The woman lying in the woodshed was startled awake. Upon seeing Su Jin, she opened her eyes wide in terror and was about to cry out, but Su Jin covered her mouth with one hand.
Su Jin made a silencing gesture at her lips and said in a low voice, “Let’s keep this brief. I know you’re Yuan’er, the madam from Seeking Moon Tower. Do you want to live?”
Sister Yuan’er’s eyes filled with tears. After a moment, she slowly nodded.
Su Jin said, “If you want to live, listen to me. I’ll ask, you answer. Understand?”
Sister Yuan’er nodded again.
Only then did Su Jin remove the hand covering her mouth and asked, “Your establishment’s top courtesan, Ning Yan’er—how exactly did she die?”
Sister Yuan’er said sorrowfully, “It was Master Ma. He gave me a packet of poison and said Yan’er had learned things she shouldn’t have known. If I didn’t kill her, I would be the one to die.”
Su Jin fell silent for a moment, knowing that the Master Ma she spoke of was none other than Chamberlain Ma. She asked again, “Before Ning Yan’er died, did she ever meet a scholar? Did Chamberlain Ma mention to you that they wanted to kill this scholar?”
Sister Yuan’er stared at Su Jin in a daze, her lips trembling before she said, “Chao… Chao Qing?”
Su Jin’s gaze was piercing. “Where is he?”
Sister Yuan’er slowly shook her head, tears about to fall. “After Yan’er died, Master Ma did mention he still needed to kill a scholar named Chao Qing. However, since he was a candidate in this year’s imperial examination, taking action at the examination hall would attract too much attention, so he had me use Yan’er’s death to lure him to Seeking Moon Tower.
“I was cautious at the time, fearing I knew too much and would also meet a violent end, so I deceived the Third Young Lady of the Yan household, telling her that Yan’er was killed by Chao Qing and had her confront him. He was clever and escaped that very day. If I hadn’t later tricked Master Ma into thinking I knew Chao Qing’s whereabouts, I wouldn’t have survived to this day.” As she spoke, her eyes dimmed. “But living like this now, it would have been better not to live at all. Young master, you—”
Before she could finish, the sound of a lock being opened suddenly came from outside the door.
Su Jin glanced at Sister Yuan’er, quietly picked up a wooden stick, and stood behind the door. A maidservant entered bringing soup and food. Before she could make a sound, Su Jin struck her on the back of the neck with the stick, knocking her unconscious.
Su Jin closed the door again and silently reached out to untie the hemp rope binding Sister Yuan’er’s hands and feet.
Sister Yuan’er closed her eyes, tears streaming down as she said, “You and I have never met, yet I’ve received such great kindness from you, young master. You don’t know—the people in Master Ma’s estate are all heartless demons in human form. I killed my own sister, and deserve to die. Young master, you shouldn’t worry about me. Escape quickly.”
Su Jin looked at her and said, “Do you know why you’re locked up here?”
Sister Yuan’er shook her head.
“Because this woodshed has no way out.”
If the open main gate of Chamberlain Ma’s estate was setting a trap, then the open high window of this rear courtyard woodshed was inviting the prey into a cage.
The rear wall faced the water—there was no retreat.
Su Jin knew that perhaps as early as when she climbed through the rear wall window, she had already alerted the people in the Ma estate. But for some reason, those people seemed to only plan to trap her and the madam together here, with no intention of moving against her immediately.
Su Jin continued, “Do you think the people in Chamberlain Ma’s estate are fools? Whether you actually know Chao Qing’s whereabouts or not—can’t they tell?” The binding rope had been untied. Su Jin pressed down on Sister Yuan’er’s hand and said, “Do you know why you’re not dead yet?”
Sister Yuan’er shook her head again.
“Because you’re just bait. Once the fish comes, you’ll die.”
Sister Yuan’er’s eyes widened. “They want to kill you?”
Su Jin’s expression was grave. “I thought so at first, but looking at it now, that doesn’t seem quite right.” She was merely a magistrate. If they truly just wanted to kill her, why set up such an elaborate trap? Why lock her in here but not take action?
Su Jin felt increasingly uneasy. She turned to stare at Sister Yuan’er and said, “Listen, you still have one chance to fight for your life.” Then she looked at the unconscious maidservant on the ground and said in a deep voice, “Because they miscalculated one step.”
Having said this, without further explanation, she removed her hair pin. Her black hair suddenly cascaded down. Su Jin quickly removed the maidservant’s clothes, changed into them, and simply tied her hair in a simple bun.
Sister Yuan’er stared blankly at Su Jin. “You’re actually…”
Su Jin crouched down and instructed in a low voice, “After I leave, don’t try to escape. Change this maidservant into your clothes, bind her hands and feet to make her look like you, then hide in the straw pile. When someone comes in later, if they don’t see me, they’ll definitely search everywhere, which will waste some time. Even if they eventually discover you in the straw pile, insist that this maidservant released me. With the two of you in deadlock, they won’t be able to kill either of you. But no matter what they do to you, you must hold out until dawn tomorrow.”
“If I hold out until dawn, can I live?”
Su Jin nodded. “Someone sets the trap, someone enters the trap, so someone must break the trap. You and I are both bait, but you’re more important than me. You’re a witness to this examination case and to my old friend’s disappearance. So you must survive.”
Having said this, she picked up the empty bowl from the floor, placed it on the tray, and left disguised as a maidservant.
The rear courtyard remained silent as before. The main gate of the Ma estate remained open, as if anyone could come and go freely.
But Su Jin knew that this time, she truly had no wings to fly away.
With such an elaborate trap, even if she left through the main gate disguised as a maidservant, the hidden sentries stationed around the estate would immediately notice something amiss.
It was like a doorless birdcage submerged in water—even escaping would only lead to drowning.
The cage-holder was positioned high above, beyond Su Jin’s sight.
But what puzzled her even more was: if she was just bait, then who was the fish the cage-holder wanted to catch?
She had lost her family since childhood and was destined to walk alone in this life. Could it be that even now, there would be someone willing to risk their life to rush into this trap for her sake?
“Hey, you there! What are you dawdling about? Hurry up and help!”
Su Jin turned to look—it was a nanny calling her.
The nanny didn’t seem concerned that she was unfamiliar, and simply led her to the kitchen, scolding, “Everyone’s so busy up front they can’t spare a moment, and here you are hiding in the rear courtyard slacking off. Hurry up and help out.”
Su Jin quickly responded and looked around, unexpectedly discovering that there were two groups of people helping in the kitchen—one group should be from Chamberlain Ma’s own household, and one group hired from outside.
Both groups probably assumed she belonged to the other side, which is why they didn’t find this unfamiliar face suspicious.
Su Jin was following a maidservant to arrange dishes when an old servant who looked like a steward returned from the banquet hall. As soon as he entered the kitchen, he complained, “These officials are really difficult to serve. First they say the wine-pourers aren’t attractive, then they say the dancers lack charm.” As he spoke, he glanced at Su Jin, paused for a moment, then suddenly said, “Hey, this one’s quite pretty. Why didn’t I notice her before? You go serve in the front.”
Su Jin’s heart jumped. She raised her face and smiled, saying, “That won’t be necessary. This servant doesn’t know how to dance.”
The steward said, “What dancing? You just keep the officials company with wine and keep them happy.”
Saying this, he was about to lead Su Jin to the banquet hall. Su Jin didn’t dare show any irregularity and could only follow along, asking, “Who are the guests in the banquet hall?”
The old steward stopped in his tracks, his eyes sweeping over sharply. “Why are you asking about that?”
Su Jin went along smoothly, “I heard the banquet hall is full of high court officials. I’m afraid of neglecting them, aren’t I? If this servant can remember their names and please them, wouldn’t that bring honor to the household?”
The old steward nodded with satisfaction. “That’s true. Listen carefully then. Besides Chamberlain Ma, the highest-ranking officials in the banquet hall include Secretary He from the Ministry of War, Vice Minister Tong from the Office of Transmission, and Commander Tian from the Eastern Division of the Five Cities Military Commission. But none of these have the highest rank. Speaking of distinguished guests today, there are only two: Minister Zeng from the Ministry of Personnel and his nephew, Secretary Zeng, also from the Ministry of Personnel.”
Minister of Personnel Zeng Youliang and Secretary Zeng Ping.
When Su Jin heard these two names, her mind exploded with a thunderous sound.
She was dressed as a woman now. Others might not recognize her immediately, but these two from the Ministry of Personnel would certainly recognize her no matter what.
As they spoke, they arrived at the banquet hall. Inside, there was soft music and dancing, with wine cups being exchanged. Su Jin kept her face lowered, carrying a tray, pouring wine one by one starting from Zeng Youliang’s table. Everyone was half-drunk and didn’t notice her at first. After Su Jin finished one round and was about to leave with the empty wine pot, a voice suddenly came from behind, “Stop.”
It was the voice of Zeng Youliang’s nephew, Secretary of Personnel Zeng Ping.
“Turn around,” he said again.
Su Jin took a breath from the bottom of her heart and slowly turned around.
Zeng Ping lowered his head, trying to catch a glimpse of her downturned face, but still couldn’t see clearly. He frowned and said, “Raise your face so this official can see.”
Su Jin’s heart turned to ice.
The breath she had just taken slowly, slowly sank down.
Trapped with no way out, surrounded by iron walls on all sides—perhaps only closing her eyes and accepting death could allow her to see the light.
Thinking this, Su Jin slowly began to raise her face.
But at that moment, her arm was suddenly pulled forcefully backward. The force caused Su Jin to whirl around abruptly and fall into a solid chest.
Zhu Nanxian tightly embraced Su Jin with one arm, removed the dark cloak from his back with the other hand and wrapped it around her, then looked around the room and said coldly, “This maidservant—this Prince has taken a liking to her.”