Outside the Bureau of Records, the misty rain grew denser. Inside the prison, the dampness was even worse. Ni Su huddled on the crude wooden bed when suddenly the chains clashed together, the sound piercing enough to make her eyelids twitch slightly.
On the craggy wall, a shadow appeared. Light footsteps approached, and the black shadow on the wall became a menacing mass that quickly loomed over her.
A hand suddenly clamped down on the back of Ni Su’s neck. She jolted awake in an instant, but the person behind her immediately covered her mouth. Her throat was already hoarse, and she had no strength in her body. Her desperate struggles were futile. She could only watch as that person freed one hand and grabbed the bloodstained sweat cloth from the pile of withered grass, wrapping it around her neck in one swift motion.
In an instant, the sweat cloth tightened. Ni Su’s eyes widened. She was nearly suffocating. Her originally deathly pale face flushed considerably red. She tilted her head back and saw a pair of fierce, sinister eyes.
The man was dressed as a jailer. Taking advantage of the fact that she had received punishment and could only lie prostrate on the bed, he pressed one knee against her back, covered her mouth with one hand, and pulled hard on the sweat cloth with the other.
Ni Su’s face flushed redder and redder, as if a great stone were constantly crushing her heart and lungs. The damp bloodstains on the sweat cloth soaked her neck. Seeing that she struggled less and less, a trace of vicious smugness appeared in the man’s eyes. Just as he was about to exert even more force, he suddenly cried out in pain.
Ni Su was biting his finger. At this moment, she didn’t know exactly how much force she was using—her lips and teeth were numb. She only focused on tightening her bite.
Ten fingers connect to the heart—the man hurt terribly but didn’t dare cry out loudly. His stubbled face took on an even more murderous look as he pulled the sweat cloth even harder, forcing the prostrate Ni Su to arch backward involuntarily.
Her slender neck seemed about to snap at any moment. The suffocating pain in her chest intensified even more. Ni Su’s lips trembled, unable to maintain her bite on the man’s hand any longer.
Just as the man was about to use both hands to strangle her neck even tighter, he felt a sudden cold wind come from behind, causing the lamp flames in the prison to flicker wildly. But in this deep prison cell, there weren’t even any windows—how could there be such a cold wind?
A chill ran down the man’s spine. Just as he was about to turn his head, something struck the back of his neck. His neck bone made a crisp sound. Before he could cry out in pain, he collapsed heavily.
The pressure around her neck suddenly released. Ni Su couldn’t help but gasp for air in great gulps, then broke into a fit of violent coughing. Unable to lift her eyelids anymore, she only felt an ice-cold hand gently stroke her back, then call out “Ni Su.”
The young woman on the wooden bed stopped even coughing. Xu Hexue felt his way to check her breathing. The warm breath brushed past his cold fingers, creating a slight tickling sensation.
“She received a beating to establish authority, but Administrator Tian also found a medical worker and had someone apply medicine for her…” The jailer from the duty room was leading several officers from the Yinye Bureau over while speaking. Inadvertently looking up, he was dumbfounded. “What, what’s going on here?”
The iron chains and copper locks that should have been fastened to the cell door were all on the ground.
The officers from the Yinye Bureau all changed color, reacting even faster than the jailer. They strode over quickly, kicked open the cell door. The head jailer and several other jailers also hurried in after them.
One officer tested the breath of the woman on the bed. Seeing them enter, he turned his head and pointed at the unconscious man on the ground: “Do you know him?”
“Yes, yes we do. That’s Qian San’er…”
A jailer answered stutteringly.
That officer remained expressionless and said to several others: “Let’s quickly take this woman back to the Yinye Bureau.”
Then he said to the head jailer and several jailers: “This jailer is suspected of attempting murder. We’re taking him to the Yinye Bureau as well. Afterwards, official documents will naturally be delivered to Administrator Yin at Guangning Prefecture.”
The head jailer was badly frightened and didn’t dare say a word of objection, only nodding repeatedly.
In her sleep, Ni Su only felt her throat seemed to be on fire—dry and painful. Her mind was confused, her dreams filled entirely with that mud Bodhisattva temple on Qingyuan Mountain.
She dreamed that the back of that mud Bodhisattva statue was broken, revealing the hollow interior. Soul fires like fireflies densely clung to it, slowly assembling before her eyes into the form of her brother.
Ni Su’s eyes flew open as she gasped violently.
Only then did she realize she seemed to have arrived at another completely unfamiliar place. A few scattered lamps were embedded in the smooth brick walls. Outside the fine iron cell door was a square water pool with wooden frames and iron chains set up in it. The pool walls had many old, mottled red stains, and the air seemed to still faintly permeate with the smell of blood.
A bowl of water was suddenly held before her. Ni Su instinctively shrank back slightly, but when she looked up, she met a pair of empty, spiritless eyes.
Xu Hexue didn’t hear her speak and didn’t feel her touch the porcelain bowl, so he spoke: “Drink some. You’ll feel much better.”
During the several hours she had been unconscious, he had been sitting there holding this bowl of water.
Ni Su’s mouth still had a rusty blood taste—she had gotten it when she bit that man’s finger. Without speaking, she obediently pressed her lips to the bowl’s rim and took a sip, then spat it out.
The blood taste diluted considerably. Only then did she take a few more sips of water. This already took great effort. After Xu Hexue moved the bowl away, she pressed her cheek against the bed again and asked in a hoarse voice, “Where is this?”
“The Yinye Bureau.”
Xu Hexue felt his way to set the bowl aside, eyes lowered. “Compared to the Bureau of Records at Guangning Prefecture, the Yinye Bureau is much safer for you.”
The Yinye Bureau received its mandate from the Son of Heaven, controlled the palace’s locks and wooden tallies, supervised all officials, and gathered intelligence. Not subject to other constraints, it bore the title of “Underworld Bureau of the Human Realm.”
“What did you do?” Ni Su’s cracked lips moved, her voice low and weak.
“I asked someone to write a letter for me, informing Envoy Han Qing of the Yinye Bureau about your situation. His Majesty is promoting new policies, and the winter examination is his first decree. Your brother was an examination candidate participating in the winter examination. The Yinye Bureau will act upon hearing the news and absolutely won’t let this matter go lightly.”
There were still some hidden circumstances—for instance, Envoy Han Qing of the Yinye Bureau had once received favors from the current Chief Minister Meng Yunxian. This person should have his heart inclined toward Meng, and with Meng Yunxian’s appointment as Chief Minister, he hadn’t yet lit his first fire.
Since he hadn’t yet lit it, why not start with the winter examination?
“I just didn’t expect someone would make a move against you so quickly.”
The reason Xu Hexue had risked sending the letter to the Yinye Bureau was precisely because he worried that once the person who hid the corpse learned the matter was exposed, they would ruthlessly try to silence Ni Su to eliminate future trouble.
Compared to the Bureau of Records at Guangning Prefecture, the Yinye Bureau was like an iron barrel—outsiders’ hands couldn’t easily reach inside.
“Anyone who could receive news this quickly must not be an ordinary person.” When Investigating Officer Tian Qizhong of Guangning Prefecture led people to bring her brother’s corpse and her back to the city, it was still early. Only a few people near Guangning Prefecture saw them. To be able to hear the news within the government office, know that she was in the Bureau of Records, and so quickly bribe a jailer to kill her—no matter how you looked at it, these weren’t methods ordinary people could possess.
Her hoarse voice revealed a trace of dejected grief. “Xu Ziling, if we calculate according to the time they mentioned, when my brother was murdered, you and I were still halfway on our journey.”
Xu Hexue remained silent for a long while before saying, “Once the Yinye Bureau intervenes in this matter, naturally someone will bring the truth to light.”
“Will they?”
Ni Su was in a daze.
“Are you truly going to give up?” Xu Hexue couldn’t see anything—he could only follow the direction of her voice. “Ni Su, if you really wanted to give up, you wouldn’t have paid the jailer in the Guangning Prefecture Bureau of Records’ prison to deliver a letter to the Grand Commandant’s residence.”
Ni Su said nothing.
The letter she had the jailer deliver to the Grand Commandant’s residence had actually been written by Cen Shi’s own hand. Years ago when bandits caused chaos in the south, Ni Su’s grandfather had saved the life of the Zezhou Prefect. That prefect’s surname was Cai, and his granddaughter, Lady Cai, was now the legitimate wife of the second young master of the Grand Commandant’s residence.
Cen Shi wrote this letter mentioning this old matter, merely hoping that Ni Su would have a place to turn to in Yun Jing.
“Where did you get the money to hire someone to write a letter for you?”
Ni Su suddenly spoke up.
Xu Hexue hadn’t expected her to ask this. He first froze, then lowered his eyelashes. “I used yours. When you leave the Yinye Bureau, I’ll return it to you.”
“You’ve been dead for over ten years—do you still have usable silver in Yun Jing?”
Ni Su coughed several times, her throat feeling as if it had been cut by a knife.
“I also have an elder brother. He was much older than me and was controlled by his wife at home. There were often times when he had no silver to spend.” Xu Hexue took the initiative to mention matters from his life, originally intending to comfort her current distress. But as many memories came swirling back, his cold, clear face also couldn’t hide a trace of reminiscence. “I was young then and deeply afraid that in the future I would marry a fierce wife like my brother did, who wouldn’t let me buy sugar cakes. So I hid some money and buried it under a crooked-neck tree.”
Ni Su hurt badly all over, her mind somewhat slow, yet she could still detect that this lonely soul was using this method to comfort her distress. Her eye sockets still held some tears moistened by pain. She tugged at her lips: “You like sugar cakes?”
Xu Hexue thought for a moment and said, “I can no longer remember what they taste like.”
Ni Su made an acknowledging sound. The candles in this prison cell were dim. She gazed at him: “You went to hire someone to write a letter for me. How could I possibly make you repay me?”
“Xu Ziling, when I get out, I’ll treat you to sugar cakes.”