Su Lan had originally come to serve as Yuan Cheng’s strategist, but unexpectedly, before he could familiarize himself with everything, the person he was meant to serve had been arrested. For a time, he didn’t feel comfortable casually offering chaotic suggestions, so he hadn’t said a word earlier.
“Young Master Su, what is your view on the death of the Great Zhou’s Crown Prince?” Mo Zi asked.
“Consort Xiang acted willfully and alone, with private interests greater than national benefit. Furthermore, seeing that she could get fifty cavalrymen into Great Zhou’s borders and borrow the Crown Prince’s power, there must certainly be Great Zhou people backing her. Prince Li has already been arrested. If I were someone who followed his orders, I wouldn’t dare act rashly. Therefore, I can only speculate that the true mastermind is someone else.” Su Lan’s view was the same as Mo Zi and Yuan Cheng’s.
“Young Master Su is indeed clever.” Mo Zi smiled. “I have a matter I’d like to ask Young Master Su to help with. I wonder if Young Master Su would be willing?”
“Miss Mo Zi saved Su’s life. Su will certainly do his utmost.” Su Lan bowed with clasped hands.
“Consort Xiang has tried to harm me time and again. I no longer wish to endure it. Young Master Su is originally from Daqiu, and very few people know that you’re serving Yuan Cheng. I wonder if Young Master Su would be willing to make a trip to the capital for me and deliver a message to Consort Ying?” Last time Consort Xiang had been stabbed by her, she thought there would be peace from then on, but unexpectedly the other party still wouldn’t let it go, forcing her to counterattack.
Su Lan didn’t hesitate for even a moment. “Su Lan is willing.”
“Ding Gou.” Mo Zi called out.
Ding Gou clasped his fists. Just like Zhang Zhen and the others’ salutes, and Su Lan’s bows, at this moment Mo Zi was just as she had been on the ship—imposing with overwhelming momentum, not allowing anyone to take her lightly.
“You’ll go together with Su Lan. Travel light and simply, departing tomorrow. Before you leave, ask Zhang Zhen where to rendezvous. I estimate that by the time you’ve finished your business, you won’t need to return to the Great Zhou either.” Mo Zi instructed.
“But my task is to follow you.” Ever since Ding Gou had accepted this job, he had never been far from Mo Zi. He hadn’t expected she would dispatch him outward.
“Ding Gou, I know you previously focused only on practicing martial arts and cultivating yourself. I had also thought you truly sought nothing and desired nothing, but after spending these days together, I feel otherwise. You came down from the mountain to earn dowries for your sisters, which shows you can’t let go of family affection. Your words and actions show much disdain for the powerful and noble, which shows you can’t forget your family’s honor and disgrace. It’s not that you seek nothing, but rather that the ways of the world are unjust, so you simply prefer out of sight, out of mind. Now that you’ve come down from the mountain and followed me, and I’ve also decided to find peace amid this chaotic world, you might as well venture farther. If your heart and chest truly harbor no great ambitions, then consider everything I’ve said as unsaid—you can refuse this mission and return to the mountain after half a year to continue your cultivation. But if you do have such ambitions, complete this journey, and I’ll recommend you to Yuan Cheng as a strategist. In the future, there may be opportunities to restore glory to your family name. Everything is up to you to decide.” Mo Zi let him choose.
Ding Gou stared fixedly at her, his heart surging like tides. During these days following her and experiencing so much, his insistence on non-action had long since turned into action. She was right—he still had dreams. The family enterprise his father’s generation had let decline—he wanted to revitalize it, but with the late Emperor’s decree of “forever commoners,” he couldn’t take the examinations, couldn’t become an official, couldn’t do anything. But he saw hope in Yuan Cheng and Mo Zi. One was a condemned criminal, one was a woman, yet they had never given up on what they wanted to do. Heaven had not treated them favorably, but they were resilient and uncompromising. Having experienced bitter tribulations yet still facing them with smiles, working so hard yet being so free and easy—his painstaking pursuit of non-action had become quite the joke.
“Mo Zi, thank you for thinking so highly of me. I’m willing to accept this mission. However, after returning, I’ll just continue following you. As for my family’s future glory, let you be the one to bestow it.” He wasn’t afraid of people laughing at him for serving a woman. Such a woman wouldn’t appear a second time in this world—being able to follow her was good fortune.
“Then I’m under quite a bit of pressure.” Mo Zi said with a laugh.
Su Lan also smiled. “Is Miss Mo Zi only having us deliver a message? Are there any specific matters to handle?”
“Consort Ying is in the palace. Being able to see her will be troublesome enough for you. There’s a letter, and there are words, but I won’t teach you how to say these words. As long as you achieve the objective, figure it out yourselves.” Actually, both Su Lan and Ding Gou understood this era’s ways of the world better than she did.
“What objective?” Su Lan asked.
“Cooperation.” Mo Zi continued, “Cooperation where Consort Ying becomes Daqiu’s Empress, while I rid myself of Consort Xiang’s entanglement.”
Consort Xiang desperately wanted to put her to death—wasn’t it so she could become Empress, then legitimately monopolize Wu Yan? She didn’t want Consort Xiang’s life either—she only wanted everything Consort Xiang most desired to completely fall through, and moreover, to have her younger sister Consort Ying snatch it all away. Her revenge was only this much.
Ding Gou said, “Consort Xiang’s influence in Daqiu cannot be underestimated. Combined with her irreconcilable enmity with you, both publicly and privately she’ll pursue and attack you relentlessly. If this isn’t resolved, it will eventually become a great disaster. As the saying goes, good people get bullied, gentle horses get ridden. You’ve yielded many times—it’s time to clean her up.”
Mo Zi smiled bitterly. “I always thought she wouldn’t go so far as to take a mile when given an inch. After all, if I don’t return to Daqiu, there’s no harm to her whatsoever. Although I don’t expect her to retain even half a shred of sisterly affection, the memories of growing up together should more or less awaken some conscience in her. Who knew she’d become like this now—her teeth biting into flesh, hating me to the bone. My original ideal life was just to live small days under a peaceful and prosperous era. Instead, I’m living through a chaotic world about to arrive, having no choice but to steel myself and break into new territory. As you said, if I don’t resolve this it will become a great disaster. Being kind to her any further would be seeking my own death.”
Su Lan then said, “There’s another point—Consort Xiang participates in politics. Although I’m a merchant, I’ve also taken the examinations and casually discussed national affairs with various scholars. Consort Xiang has ambitions, and her methods imitate Empress Wu Zetian even more—she often discusses current politics with court officials, proposes political views to the King of Daqiu, and even shows signs of secretly manipulating certain major matters. If she becomes Empress, using a nation’s power to avenge one person’s private grievances, even if Miss Mo Zi guards against it constantly from now on, it’s hard to guarantee there won’t come a day when your defenses fail.”
“That’s indeed so. Consort Ying lacks her older sister’s ambitions. She only looks at the highest position among palace women. In several conversations with me, there’s been no enmity or ill will, and she handles matters relatively rationally. Even if she participates in politics in the future, at least she won’t target me alone.” The conversation with Ding Gou and Su Lan further strengthened Mo Zi’s determination to deal with Consort Xiang.
“Miss Mo Zi.” Hua Yi’s voice called.
Ding Gou and Su Lan went out, and he came in to replace them.
“General Hua, good that you’re still in the mansion.” Mo Zi personally poured tea for him. “You know about Yuan Cheng’s matter?”
“Today I accompanied Master at the Court of Judicial Review. After we came out, someone else took over the shift. As soon as I received the news, I immediately rushed back, but unfortunately Master had already been taken into the palace. I wanted to enter the palace immediately, but Miss A’Hao said you were looking for me.” With Yuan Cheng in trouble, Hua Yi spoke a few more words.
“General Hua, can you and I be completely frank today?” Mo Zi had always been curious about Hua Yi’s identity. “You’re someone the Emperor sent down. Thinking in ordinary terms, protecting Yuan Cheng also means monitoring Yuan Cheng, correct?”
Hua Yi lowered his eyes, his narrow slanted eyes thin. His villain’s face was covered with dark shadows. “It’s indeed His Majesty’s intention.”
“Then what is your intention?” Mo Zi raised her eyebrows.
Hua Yi raised his eyes, the shadowy gloom completely gone. “Back then, the old steward who took Master away from the Great Zhou was my grandfather. I was following my master learning martial arts at the time, so I avoided the full family execution. My grandfather’s dying words were for me to join the Jinniu Guard, precisely to help Master seek justice.”
Mo Zi understood. No wonder Yuan Cheng wasn’t guarded against Hua Yi at all—so the two had such connections.
“The execution was of Yuan family members. What does that have to do with you?” Why did he say he “avoided” it?
“Starting from my grandfather, we’ve been servants of the Yuan family. My parents, along with my older sister and baby younger brother, all died at the execution ground. They’re now buried at Quanzhong.” Hua Yi’s face was expressionless, not revealing a trace of sorrow. It wasn’t cold-bloodedness, but rather that like Yuan Cheng, he had already grown accustomed to disguising himself.
“Does His Majesty know your background?” Another pitiable survivor of the Yuan family tragedy.
“He doesn’t know. After Master recognized me, he instructed me not to tell. Aside from Master, only you, Miss Mo Zi, know.” Hua Yi answered.
“Since that’s the case, you can testify before His Majesty to Yuan Cheng’s innocence, because Yuan Cheng was under your surveillance. If he had been plotting to assassinate His Majesty, you would have detected it long ago.” Mo Zi had calculated well.
“It may not work. Although at the beginning His Majesty instructed protection and surveillance, later His Majesty truly trusted and valued Master, no longer requiring close monitoring but only that we protect Master’s safety. I only fear His Majesty won’t adopt my words, or that my speaking on Master’s behalf will instead produce the opposite result.” For some time now, the Emperor had classified him as Yuan Cheng’s good helper.
“His Majesty won’t adopt your words, yet he’ll believe Jiao Niang’s mad ravings?” Although the Emperor was somewhat indecisive, he was a benevolent ruler. He wouldn’t be like his father, killing people without distinguishing right from wrong.
Like Zhang Zhen and the others, Hua Yi poured cold water on her. “All emperors fear rebellion.”
“Then you’d better not enter the palace after all. What if the Emperor considers you an accomplice?” This wasn’t said in anger. “In any case, the Emperor will summon you for questioning.”
However, Hua Yi disagreed. “They only arrested Master. They neither surrounded Yuan Mansion nor conducted further searches for evidence. This shows that at this time, they mostly don’t believe Jiao Niang’s words. And as someone the Emperor sent down, with such an incident occurring, how can I stand aside and watch? I should immediately enter the palace. Otherwise, it would seem like I’m an accomplice.”
Mo Zi thought about it. “General Hua makes sense. After you enter the palace, send me word as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I definitely won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
Hua Yi nodded.
He had just left when the head steward arrived.
“Miss Mo Zi, regarding how Aunt Jiao entered the mansion, a young servant has confessed on his own. He said that Aunt Jiao told him that when she left the mansion last time, she had left something behind and wanted to come in to find it. He thought that Aunt Jiao and Master had an aunt-nephew relationship, so he felt too embarrassed to refuse completely and let her enter the mansion. Later, when he wondered why she still hadn’t come out, he went to the courtyard where Aunt Jiao had lived to find her, but didn’t see anyone and assumed she had already left.” After the head steward finished speaking, he asked her, “Please instruct me, Miss—how should we deal with him?”
Mo Zi rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache. “You say he confessed voluntarily. Is he usually honest?”
“He’s quite a kindhearted lad. I think he’s not lying.” The head steward said.
“Kindhearted also depends on toward whom. Is he from the capital?” She asked again.
“Exactly so.” The head steward nodded.
“Then it’s simple. No need to beat or scold him. Select a group of local servants, including him, and tell them that Master has been arrested and Yuan Mansion’s future is uncertain, so household servants are being dismissed. Give them generous severance so they leave willingly.” Send them off properly.
The steward withdrew.
Finally getting quiet, Mo Zi extinguished the lamp and lay fully clothed on the couch, closing her eyes to wait for dawn.