A blank sheet of paper, the character for “evening.”
“Every place in the palace has a name. What’s commonly known as the Cold Palace is actually called Evening Radiance Palace. It faces west and has the colors of the setting sun, hence its name. According to what you said, Eunuch Zhong died in front of the screen wall.” Yuan Cheng added a long horizontal stroke above the character for “evening.”
“Wicked?” When relying on Yuan Cheng, Mo Zi noticed her brain often took a lazy rest.
But Yuan Cheng hadn’t finished adding strokes. He lifted his brush and drew a short slant and vertical hook below the horizontal line. “Listen further—you said after Eunuch Zhong crouched down, he used the dagger to commit suicide. I think that dagger wasn’t something he carried with him, but was placed on the ground. So he needed to crouch down to pick it up before he could execute his own death sentence. Otherwise, how can his movements be explained?”
“Wicked” became “death.”
“Clearly, someone set up this trap on his way to report and transmitted a message for him to die. Or perhaps it was agreed upon beforehand, so Eunuch Zhong understood immediately. Otherwise, if he’d encountered something he didn’t understand, he might have thought someone dropped a small knife and made a fuss about finding the owner.” Yuan Cheng looked at Mo Zi, smiling with great interest.
Hearing this, Mo Zi felt indignant. “Don’t be smug. I didn’t know the Cold Palace had another name—if I had known, who’s to say I wouldn’t have guessed too? Besides, I’m better than Xiao Wei and the others. At least I felt Eunuch Zhong’s death was very suspicious, whereas Xiao Wei decided he was walking along and suddenly couldn’t think straight, so stabbed himself to death. Speaking of which, Xiao Wei is so familiar with the palace, he should know the Cold Palace is also called Evening Radiance Palace. Anyway, though I’m not as clever as you, I’m comparable to Xiao Wei. As long as I’m not at the bottom, that’s good.”
“Your standards for yourself really aren’t high.” Yuan Cheng placed the paper forward, covering the water-pure pearl. “Regardless of whether this pearl actually has a secret, it’s worth two hundred thousand taels of silver at least. You just leave it on the table like this?”
“A treasure worth two hundred thousand taels doesn’t amount to much in your eyes either, Yuan Cheng. You didn’t even look at it properly—just covered it up.” Mo Zi lifted the paper and stuffed the pearl into her sleeve. “So this means the person directing Eunuch Zhong is indeed in the palace.”
“Not necessarily. Many people saw the Crown Prince’s death. Though you went directly into the palace, you spent quite a bit of time at the Eastern Palace. For the other party to go from outside the palace to set up the trap for Eunuch Zhong’s death, there was more than enough time. We’ve both seen that person’s capabilities—it’s impossible that Eunuch Zhong was the only one helping them in the palace.” Yuan Cheng said “that person.”
“From what you’re saying, you’ve decided Prince Li isn’t the mastermind. How depressing. We went to such great effort, and it turns out everything was deliberately thrown out by that person as something they didn’t want.” Mo Zi picked up the other earring and fixed it in the wooden clamp.
“Why be depressed?” Seeing she wanted to work, Yuan Cheng stood up to leave. “Whether we can find this person who’s colluding with Daqiu and harboring treasonous intentions toward Great Zhou—what does it have to do with us?”
Mo Zi froze, but immediately reacted. “Yuan Cheng, don’t you want to find the true culprit who framed your grandfather and father anymore?”
“I don’t need to search. He’ll reveal himself. If his goal is the throne, twenty years of waiting should be about enough.” Yuan Cheng took the glass lamp himself and walked out the door. He turned back. “Mo Zi.”
“Mm?” Mo Zi turned to look at him.
His silhouette was covered with a layer of gold, his eyes holding the truest concern. “Are you alright?”
She knew he was asking about being coerced by the Crown Prince today. She smiled slightly. “I’m fine.”
“The night is already deep. Rest early. Regarding the Crown Prince’s matter, I’m afraid there will be many more troubles. We need energy to deal with them.” After Yuan Cheng spoke, he was about to leave.
Mo Zi quickly stepped forward and took the lamp from his hand. “I’ll see you out. Otherwise you’ll take the lamp away, and then I’ll have to walk in the pitch dark later.”
Yuan Cheng looked at her and smiled, taking her hand. “In that case, I’ll trouble you.”
Mo Zi had a sudden realization. “You deliberately prompted me to see you out, didn’t you?”
“Mo Zi, your own little schemes are impure—don’t blacken me with them.” Yuan Cheng felt his hand being squeezed painfully tight by her, but laughed out loud. “Alright, I confess. Brother Mo, show mercy.”
Mo Zi glanced at him, mostly showing the whites of her eyes, then laughed along with him. “What are we going to do about Prince Li’s case?”
“As I said, he may not be that innocent either. For now, let’s remain calm and see if he can’t hold out and confesses something.” The courtyard was very small, the path very short. In a blink they were at the gate. He gave a short sigh and turned to stand in the light and shadow. “Tomorrow I’m inviting Xiao Wei to dinner. Will you come?”
Mo Zi blinked twice, asking curiously, “Why are you inviting him to dinner? He’s always been prejudiced against you. Even delicacies would feel uncomfortable to him. You’re quite magnanimous.”
But Yuan Cheng said, “Today he saved you. I can’t show no appreciation. If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to force yourself. I’ll thank him on your behalf.”
“I already thanked him.” Mo Zi didn’t want to go. “Besides, His Majesty is annoyed with me right now. If I go out again, who knows what trouble I’ll stir up? If you ask me, you shouldn’t waste your silver either. That Xiao Erlang’s haughty temperament hasn’t changed much.”
“It’s just one meal. If he comes, he comes. If not, I’ll treat myself.” He opened the door a crack.
“Yuan Cheng.” Should she tell him? About Xiao Wei liking her.
Yuan Cheng closed the door and looked at her.
“That… Xiao Wei… he—” Actually, Xiao Wei had never confessed to her. For her to say this seemed a bit narcissistic. “Never mind, it’s nothing. Go rest early.”
“You want to say Xiao Wei has feelings for you?” Seeing her hesitate, he could probably guess.
“Ah, how did you know?” Mo Zi was surprised.
“Anyone with eyes can see it. He’s the legitimate young master of Prince Jing’s household, has been successful since childhood, and has exceptional abilities. He always has a somewhat superior attitude toward ordinary people. Toward cunning and deceitful people he disapproves of, he’s even colder than ice. But when I boarded your ship leaving Nande, he was already making concessions to you—seeming to disdain you, yet wanting to win you over.” Observers see clearly.
“Wait, at that time he didn’t even know I was a woman.” Exaggeration.
“Being moved isn’t that easy to detect. I think on this point, Xiao Wei and I are somewhat similar. He and I are both not easily swayed by emotions. Even when it first comes, we deny it to ourselves. I don’t believe that at the time he didn’t have some strange feelings about you in his heart. Didn’t you say yourself that you didn’t deliberately disguise yourself completely as a man? He probably started liking you after learning you were a woman disguised as a man—that is, when you were still a maid at Prince Jing’s residence.” He himself harbored great vengeance, held a prime minister position yet had to put on an act, saw countless beauties pass before his eyes, saw through all beautiful and enchanting appearances, and after getting to the root of things, mocked their dullness or hypocrisy. Xiao Wei, on the other hand, still had the old problem of arrogance and pride—he simply regarded women and petty people as nothing, so he ignored his instincts and resisted throughout, until it came crashing down like an avalanche. He was actually a foolish boy who didn’t understand what emotion was. Yuan Cheng saw this clearly and secretly felt fortunate for his own luck in being moved a step earlier.
“Every time he sees me, he finds trouble with me. If he’s not drawing his sword, glaring, or showing a stern face, he absolutely won’t let me have peace. He’s not fifteen or sixteen years old anymore—to like someone in such an awkward way.” When she was in middle school, a boy kept bullying her. At graduation, he wrote “I like you” in her autograph book, but she didn’t value such things and packed it away as soon as she got home. After finishing military university, at a class reunion, she met that boy who now had a girlfriend. He jokingly mentioned it, and she dug the book out from the bottom of her boxes. It really was a confession, which made her choke with laughter. From then on, she understood the adolescent male psychology of “I bully you because I like you.”
“You speak quite maturely, yet you yourself were also slow to notice. Later, when Xiao Wei kept yielding and accommodating to you, didn’t you still not see it?” After Yuan Cheng said this, he felt some regret.
“I’m most annoyed by awkward affection. I didn’t want to see it and was too lazy to see it. Tell me, if someone likes you and already has to yield and accommodate before even living together, what will it be like in the future when married and living together? I’m not a little girl who needs to be coaxed, indulged, and accommodated. If there’s something that doesn’t sit right, something incomprehensible, we should say it to each other until our hearts can comfortably accept it. Otherwise, one person desperately considers the other while that person continues doing as they please without knowing—sooner or later there’ll be a volcanic eruption.” She had experienced one earth-shattering love and was no longer naive. “Xiao Wei likes me—as a woman’s vanity, that can feel quite good. However, he and I aren’t the same type of people. With him, every other sentence I’d have to weigh whether it should be said. And that large household of his—just thinking about it gives me a headache.”
“So you’ve thought quite far ahead, even considering living together with him.” Yuan Cheng’s expression grew pale with a barely perceptible hint of annoyance.
Mo Zi narrowed her eyes and suddenly laughed. “Yuan Cheng, you’re jealous.”
Yuan Cheng froze, then cleared his throat and curved the corners of his mouth. “Yes, I’m jealous.”
He admitted it, so she couldn’t laugh anymore. She was somewhat hesitant. “Why did you admit it so easily? I was still expecting you to say ‘the weather is nice, have a good dream tonight,’ then turn and flee in panic.”
“Am I such a kind person to say what you want to hear?” He and she took turns laughing heartily tonight because his heart had already made its decision. “Jealous means jealous. Though this is my first time tasting it, it tastes quite good. Mo Zi is the king of peonies—since I’ve obtained her, I’m completely satisfied. Letting others merely look a couple times—I can manage that much magnanimity.”
Mo Zi stared wide-eyed for quite a while but finally deflated. She opened the door only to find Ming Nian’s large ear standing right in front of her, so absorbed in eavesdropping he’d forgotten himself. She grabbed it with one hand, though she didn’t actually use force.
But Ming Nian cried out loudly for help, waving his arms and legs. “Miss Mo Zi, this humble one’s ear was hot. Can’t I press it against the door to cool it down?”
“You want to cool down? Fine, I’ll have Luo Ying fetch you a bucket of ice. You can slowly apply it to your ear.” Mo Zi let go, crossed her arms, and looked at him sideways with a wickedly mischievous smile.
“When the young lady can’t out-talk the master, she comes to bully this humble one.” Ming Nian scurried away a bit and muttered in a voice Mo Zi could hear, “Using size to bully the small—though victorious, still defeated.”
This harmonious and lively atmosphere was interrupted by several hurried footsteps. The head steward ran at the front. Usually he maintained a composed appearance with his hands tucked in his sleeves, steadily unmoved. Now he wasn’t very calm.
“What’s happened?” Ming Nian resumed his mature-beyond-his-years demeanor.
“My lord. Miss Mo Zi.” The head steward had been flustered, but seeing these two standing together somehow calmed him. After bowing, his voice remained level. “Metropolitan Guard troops have arrived outside the residence, led by Young General Wei and Chancellor Li. They request an audience with my lord.”