Yuhua Pavilion

The guard delivered Ji Yunshu’s handkerchief.

He happened to run into Muruo, who was about to leave.

“Master Muruo, Master Ji asked me to deliver this. He said to have you examine what kind of medicinal herb this is.”

Muruo was dangling a wine bottle in his hand. He glanced at the item and took it.

The guard left.

Afterward, he handed the item to his young apprentice and instructed, “Take this up to the study. Wait until I return to examine it. Don’t let anyone touch it.”

“Understood.”

The young apprentice took the item and asked, “Master, where are you going?”

“Nonsense.”

He strode out the door and mounted his horse.

The young apprentice chased after him for a few steps and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Master, what should I do if Master’s Wife comes looking for you later?”

“Tell her I’m dead.”

He tossed out that line.

And left.

The young apprentice’s mouth twitched. He stood there for a moment before taking the folded handkerchief up to the study. Just as he set it down, he heard someone coming up.

From the cheerful sound of those footsteps, he knew it was Tang Si.

“A’Mo.”

Tang Si called out.

The young apprentice turned around to see her arms laden with a pile of food items.

Pastries, fruits, masks, sugar figurines…

“Master’s Wife, why did you buy such a huge pile of things again?”

The young apprentice was troubled. If this continued, Master would surely be eaten into poverty by Master’s Wife.

Tang Si set everything down, clutching a piece of sesame brittle in her hand. While eating, she looked around and asked, “Where’s A’Mo?”

“Master said he…” was dead!

“Why are you stammering? I’m asking you, where is he?”

“Dead! Just died!”

An innocent face.

Tang Si’s hand went limp, and the sesame brittle fell to the floor with a “crack,” breaking in two.

She froze.

The young apprentice quickly waved his hands in explanation, “Master’s Wife, you’ve misunderstood.”

“What did you just say? You said he’s dead?”

“No, he’s not dead…”

“Is he dead or not?”

“Dead.” The young apprentice quickly slapped himself on the mouth and said, “Master isn’t dead. He just went out. When he left, he told me to tell you that he’s dead.”

Tang Si was nearly infuriated to death. She glared at him and said, “Saying half a sentence can kill people. Where exactly did he go?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Did he go to Prince Rong’s manor?”

“Probably not. It’s not far from here to Prince Rong’s manor. Master usually walks there, but Master left on horseback, so he probably… went into the palace.”

“Into the palace? How long ago did he leave?”

“Less than half an incense stick’s time. Master only told me to take this handkerchief upstairs. He didn’t say anything else.” He pointed to the handkerchief on the table.

Tang Si glanced at it, her brow furrowing. She reached out and grabbed the handkerchief. Before the young apprentice could stop her, she suddenly unfolded it and waved it in her hand. Extremely fine black particles fell from inside, landing right at the corner of the table.

Nearly invisible.

Moreover—

No one noticed.

She waved the handkerchief and held it to her nose to smell it.

Immediately, she exploded in fury, clutching the handkerchief and demanding of the young apprentice, “Why does it smell like a woman? Tell me, who gave him this handkerchief?”

“This…”

“This what?”

“Master’s Wife…”

“Oh wonderful, he just returned to the capital and he’s already attracting romantic prospects. Does he think I’m dead or something?”

“No, this handkerchief was delivered by a man.”

“What? A man?”

A man delivered a handkerchief to Muruo?

She angrily crumpled the handkerchief into a ball and shouted loudly down toward the street below, “Muruo, I’m going to kill you!”

Her voice was extremely piercing!

…

Muruo rode his horse all the way to the palace gates. He showed his palace entry jade pendant to the gate guards, then tossed the empty wine bottle in his hand to one of the guards.

Then he staggered his way inside.

The guard shook the empty wine bottle in his hand and tapped it upside down several times.

Not a single drop of wine left!

The guard across from him laughed and teased, “You want to get wine from Master Muruo’s hands? Dream on.”

“You…”

His expression soured.

Muruo entered the palace and naturally headed straight for Tongren Hall.

The autumn season brought gradually cooling weather.

The dilapidated Tongren Hall—as soon as he entered, he was greeted by a cold wind.

Muruo’s constitution was fairly robust, and having drunk wine, his body was quite warm, so he didn’t feel much. He just thought about how Jingxian had lived in this palace for several decades, and with such a weak constitution, he really didn’t know how Jingxian had survived until now.

Fu Lu had just returned from the Palace Administration Office when he saw Muruo enter one step ahead of him. He quickly hurried forward.

“Master Muruo, you’ve arrived.”

Muruo glanced at the charcoal in his hands. “Give it to me. I’ll take it inside.”

“This servant can carry it himself.”

“No trouble.”

He forcefully took it over and entered the inner hall.

As soon as he entered, he went straight to the brazier with the charcoal, treating himself like he owned the place.

Looking at the mere sliver of charcoal remaining in the brazier, he said, “I tell you, the hall ran out of charcoal long ago, yet you don’t know to have Fu Lu go to the Palace Administration Office earlier to fetch some. You don’t care, so naturally those eunuchs don’t care either. The body is your own—if you don’t care about yourself, how can you expect others to care about you?”

Jingxian was reading at his desk, completely absorbed.

Not a sound!

Muruo took out the charcoal and added a piece to the brazier. “You’d better not find me annoying, because after all, I’m the only one who comes to see you.”

Hehe!

This drew a laugh from Jingxian. Without lifting his head, he said, “I heard your voice before you even entered the room.”

“I have a loud voice. You know that.”

“It seems your trip to the Imperial Prefecture has left you much more spirited.”

“Touring mountains and waters naturally makes one spirited.” After speaking, he looked at Jingxian, seeing him holding a book and reading. Curious, he said, “You certainly have leisure, reading books and raising pigeons all day.”

Jingxian said nothing. He set down the book in his hands, exhaled deeply, and asked, “Did you enter the palace specifically to see me? Or to beg for wine?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you came to chat idly.”

“How so?” Muruo poured himself a cup of tea, clearly settling in for a long conversation.

Jingxian smiled warmly and shook his head, seeming somewhat helpless. He stood and walked over. “You’ve been away from the capital for several months now. I’m sure you’ve experienced much. Though I remain in this Tongren Hall, never taking a step outside, occasionally I hear Fu Lu prattling in my ear. He says that this time when Jingrong returned to the capital, he brought the late emperor’s portrait, but Judicial Commissioner Ji sent troops to block him, causing Father Emperor to fly into a rage and strip him of his position. Then he sent General Ji to the frontier to fight the barbarians.”

“What else?”

“However… what I found most interesting was this枯井 case that’s caused such an uproar throughout the capital. I hear that both Jingrong and Jingyi want to investigate this case, and whoever can solve it will receive great rewards from Father Emperor.”

Muruo laughed, putting on a gossipy expression. “Jingxian, oh Jingxian, so tell me, who do you think will solve this case?”

“Now that’s a difficult question.”

“Is it really difficult? But in my view, it’s not difficult at all.”