The sealed letter included a confession. This merchant surnamed Qi stated that calling him a merchant wasn’t entirely accurate—to put it plainly, he was just an errand runner who every year purchased raw silk and tea in the Jiangnan region and delivered them to Lingnan. His contact was the deceased clerk from Jiujiang Prefecture.
Zhai Di said, “Lord Su, this merchant says he doesn’t know Lord Liu. Do you find it unbelievable?”
“It’s believable.” Su Jin said, “Given Liu Yun’s methods, if this merchant knew him, he would have silenced him long ago. How would he have ended up in our hands?”
Based on the existing leads, the Annan merchant case was already quite clear—it was precisely one or more errand runners like this merchant surnamed Qi who purchased goods in Great Sui and sent them to Lingnan, from where they were sold to Annan.
“However, how they transported the goods isn’t important. What matters is where the tens of thousands of taels of silver that flowed from Annan into Great Sui ultimately went.” Su Jin said, “If this merchant surnamed Qi was merely on the purchasing end, then the leads he can provide won’t touch the core of the case. Such testimony isn’t sufficient to convict Liu Yun.”
Zhai Di said, “Yes, I’ve also considered this point. My meaning is to keep this merchant and continue interrogating him. First, to see if we can extract information about other people involved in the case—naturally this is necessary anyway. Second, since we can’t find out the consequences, then we’ll thoroughly clarify the causes. As for the ‘consequences,’ His Majesty has already made clear that Lord Liu’s ‘treasonous conduct’ is for you to determine, Lord Su.”
To put it bluntly, how Liu Yun was implicated was entirely up to Su Shiyu to orchestrate. The initiative to convict was in her hands. Now they also had a “witness”—even if this “witness” couldn’t actually prove anything, anyone could press his finger onto a confession to leave an imprint.
Su Jin was silent for a moment, then hummed in acknowledgment.
She closed her eyes and leaned against the carriage wall, going over the contents of the sealed letter again with an uneasy mind. Suddenly she opened her eyes wide: “That’s not right. I was thinking incorrectly just now.”
“Since this merchant surnamed Qi is just an errand runner, regardless of whether this case is related to Liu Yun, it makes no sense that a mere errand runner could remain alive and well until now.”
“Tens of thousands of taels of silver constitutes an earth-shattering case. If the perpetrators had such audacity, their methods wouldn’t be ineffective.”
Zhai Di said, “Does Lord Su mean this person surnamed Qi is hiding something?”
“He probably isn’t hiding anything.” Su Jin said. She pulled out a page of the confession and read it again: “This person surnamed Qi says he stopped transporting goods about two or three years ago. This roughly corresponds with the timeline I investigated in Annan.”
“Furthermore,” she pointed to two other people mentioned in the sealed letter, “the clerk from Jiujiang Prefecture and Magistrate Hu of Qinghe County—both of them were assigned to Jiujiang Prefecture and Qinghe County after His Majesty ascended the throne in the first year of Jin’an.”
“In other words, all of them stopped during the period from the end of Jingyuan’s twenty-fourth year to the middle of Jingyuan’s twenty-fifth year.”
Zhai Di frowned, somewhat puzzled why Su Jin was bringing this up. Wasn’t this time point obvious?
Su Jin continued: “We can make a hypothesis. If the person who committed this crime was Liu Yun, he has held great power since Jingyuan’s twenty-fifth year. He could have easily dealt with these people who knew the inside story long ago—there was no need to drag it out until now. Therefore, he’s most likely just another person in the know, not the perpetrator.”
“From this we can make a second hypothesis. This perpetrator decided to stop two or three years ago. He might have, considering old sentiments, spared the clerk from Jiujiang Prefecture and Magistrate Hu of Qinghe County. But he absolutely couldn’t have spared this merchant surnamed Qi, because this merchant was just an errand runner who most likely never even saw his face. Why would he spare someone he couldn’t fully trust?”
“There can only be one reason. This perpetrator encountered some misfortune in Jingyuan’s twenty-fifth year that prevented him from having the energy and time to clean up these ‘loose ends.’ In the nearly three years since, he should also have been unable to spare himself, which is why he had no choice but to ask Liu Yun to help him clean up the aftermath.”
Su Jin raised her eyes to look at Zhai Di: “This ‘unable to spare himself’ has three explanations—death, injury, or imprisonment.”
“Who else could move Liu Yun yet be unable to spare themselves?”
Too many things happened in Jingyuan’s twenty-fifth year: in the first month, the late Crown Prince and late Crown Princess died at Zhaojue Temple, and the Thirteenth Prince was confined to the Eastern Palace; in the second month, the Fourth Prince went to war in the northern borders; in the third month, the Thirteenth Prince escaped the Eastern Palace and returned to Nanchang, and the Tenth Prince was severely injured leading troops in pursuit; at the end of the sixth month, the Thirteenth Prince returned to succeed to the Eastern Palace as Crown Prince; in the seventh month, the Seventh Prince and Twelfth Prince burned themselves to death in the Ascending Immortal Hall of the Imperial Mausoleum; in the ninth month, the Crown Prince ascended the throne as Emperor Jin’an; on the day the personal expedition was decided, news simultaneously arrived that the Fourth Prince had been struck by an arrow and fallen from his horse, and the Tenth Prince had “accidentally” suffered a relapse of his injuries and was confined to the Southern Garden of the rear palace to recuperate, not permitted to leave without imperial decree.
“Does my lord mean—” as scenes from the past flashed through Zhai Di’s mind, “the person who committed this crime is either the Fourth Prince or the Tenth Prince?”
“I think it’s Zhu Yiheng.” Su Jin said. She seemed to have a headache, frowning as she rubbed her temples. “Thinking about it now, when Zhu Yiheng was enfeoffed in Guilin Prefecture, the late Emperor ordered the Ministry of Finance to allocate a large settlement fee. With Zhu Yiheng’s talents, how could he cry poverty year after year and be unable to even support his household troops?”
Zhai Di said, “Yes, I heard Lord Shen mention this matter. He also said that when the Seventh Prince was inspecting Guangxi, he stayed briefly at the Tenth Prince’s residence and found his poverty incomprehensible. After returning to the capital, he had the then Minister of Finance, Lord Qian Zhihuan, check Guilin Prefecture’s account books. Later, Lord Shen learned of this and secretly checked year after year as well, but both lords found absolutely nothing.”
He said this and suddenly understood: “Does my lord mean that the two lords found nothing because the Tenth Prince’s silver flowed to Annan, where Great Sui’s census records couldn’t trace it?”
“But this is only my deduction.” Su Jin said. Her headache returned as she pressed her temples: “We need to think of a way to bring Zhu Yiheng to the Ministry of Justice prison for interrogation without Liu Yun’s knowledge.”
The carriage arrived at Chengtian Gate. A guard came forward to ask: “Does the Minister wish to change to a sedan chair?”
Su Jin said, “No need.” She had just lifted the carriage curtain when, by the lamplight, she saw Shen Xi’s sedan chair ahead. She instructed again, “Help me stop Minister Shen and tell him I have urgent matters to discuss with him.”
After getting off the carriage, Zhai Di gave Su Jin a brief report on recent major and minor matters at the Imperial Censorate, then took his leave and returned to his own office first.
When Su Jin looked up again, Shen Xi had already dismissed the lamp-bearing palace attendants and was walking toward her carrying a wind lantern himself, saying as he approached: “I also have something to discuss with you.”
“Has the date for leaving the capital been set?” Su Jin asked.
“Yes, we leave on the twentieth of the eighth month.” Shen Xi said, “We’ll travel day and night to go and return as soon as possible.”
Today was already the eighteenth of the eighth month.
Su Jin said, “Good. Besides Director Yin from the Ministry of Finance, send me someone very skilled at accounting to the Ministry of Justice. I suspect the Annan merchant case may be related to Zhu Yiheng. In the coming days, we’ll probably need to examine many accounts.”
Hearing Su Jin mention Zhu Yiheng, Shen Xi wasn’t surprised: “I’ll arrange it.”
Seeing that they were about to reach the Meridian Gate, he slowed his pace. Looking at the flickering wind lantern in his hand, he was quiet for a moment before saying: “Tonight after dark, help me block Liu Yun at the Imperial Censorate.”
Today was precisely when Zhu Yushen would enter the palace to report. At the hour of chen, all officials would welcome him; at noon, they would burn incense and worship ancestors at the Western Tower. As for the so-called autumn ceremony rewarding military merit, this custom originated from the “Battle of Huai River” decades ago. On an auspicious day, dragon boats were launched on the banks of the Huai River, with Zhu Yushen boarding the boat to inspect the three armies along the waterfront, enjoying the honor of celebration by soldiers and civilians alike.
Because Zhu Yushen now suffered from dementia, going to the Huai River was impractical. Therefore, Shen Xi had ordered craftsmen from the Ministry of Works to make smaller dragon boats to be launched tonight in the palace’s Taiye Lake. The waters of Taiye Lake were drawn from the Huai River, the three armies on both banks replaced by the Imperial Guard, but the proper rewards and celebrations would be no less.
Hearing Shen Xi say this, Su Jin asked: “You want to move against Zhu Yushen tonight?” She asked again, “How will you explain this to the Fourth Princess?”
“I can’t worry about that much.” After a moment of silence, Shen Xi said, “In a couple days I must leave the capital. Tonight is the best opportunity to test him. If Zhu Yushen’s dementia is fake, I can only kill him.”
Dawn was breaking. Su Jin and Shen Xi each returned to their offices first. At exactly the hour of mao, a horn blast resounded throughout the palace, and military guards and court officials rushed to Xuanyuan Terrace.
This was the horn to welcome the minister of military merit. Starting from the hour of mao, it sounded once every quarter-hour.
Today, for Zhu Yushen’s return to the capital, besides the assembled officials, several old ministers who had long since retired and achieved success were also waiting in the palace: Marquis Wenyuan Qi Boyuan, Marquis Dingyuan Qi Chengye, and the Minister of War and Duke Gongguo, Gong Quan.
In the spring of Jin’an’s second year, when Zhu Nanxian was in a stalemate with Damuer at Liangzhou Guard, Gong Quan, though ill, presided over the Ministry of War and the Commandery, exhausting his efforts to assemble reinforcements. After Zhu Nanxian led the reinforcements to form the Northwestern New Army and decisively defeated Damuer’s “Iron Eagle Division,” an edict came from the northwest conferring upon Minister of War Gong Quan the title of Duke.
Though Gong Quan had now returned home to enjoy his retirement years and all matters of the Ministry of War were entirely handled by two Vice Ministers, no one dared disrespect this title of the current first Duke.
At the third quarter of mao, Liu Chaoming, Su Jin, and Shen Xi also arrived at Xuanyuan Terrace. The three of them exchanged courtesies with Marquis Dingyuan, Marquis Wenyuan, and Duke Gongguo and spoke for a moment. Then they heard horns blaring in unison from Chengtian Gate tower and the sound of marching troops outside the palace.
Reflecting the first rays of sunlight at the hour of chen, the one who slowly reined in at Chengtian Gate and rode into the palace on horseback was not Zhu Yushen, but Shen Jun.
She wore dark crimson robes with light armor over them, the red-tasseled spear behind her gleaming like snow. Half a step behind her, Zhu Yushen’s deputy generals followed on her left and right.
The three of them dismounted together, first bowing from afar to Shen Xi and the others, then walking toward the rear to help Zhu Yushen down from his carriage.
Zhu Yushen wore moon-white python robes. His handsome face was expressionless, his once deep eyes now dull and lifeless, as if someone had taken a knife and gouged out their spirit. Only the Qiang flute hanging at his waist remembered the yellow sands of former days.
Shen Jun very carefully helped Zhu Yushen to stand properly before the assembled officials. Then, with the fourth-rank general’s salute, she and the other two deputy generals knelt on one knee and explained to Liu Chaoming and the others: “Reporting to the Chief Grand Secretary, the two Vice Grand Secretaries, Duke Gongguo, and the two Marquises—because the Fourth Prince suffers from dementia, we subordinates must attend to His Highness first and were unable to come pay our respects in time. We beg your lordships’ forgiveness.”
While Shen Jun was speaking, Shen Xi’s eyes were fixed intently on Zhu Yushen.
Those sent earlier to Beiping Prefecture to test Zhu Yushen had reported thus: The Fourth Prince doesn’t speak, only allows the Fourth Princess and one deputy general to attend him closely, imitates the Princess’s actions, and recognizes and remembers nothing else about people or affairs.
Shen Xi was curious about exactly how this “imitating the Princess’s actions” worked. Then he saw Zhu Yushen stand in place with a bewildered expression for a while, his gaze gradually settling on Shen Jun, before he slowly bent his knees and, imitating her, knelt down before more than a hundred officials who should all be bowing to him.