On the tenth day of the twelfth month, the edict decreeing Prince Jia’s marriage to the Wu clan’s daughter from Wanjiang was finalized.

Miao Jingzhen, Commander of the Palace Command, stood outside Qinghe Hall gripping his blade. Today there was no snow, but accumulated snow on the azure tiles hadn’t melted, and long icicles hung from the eaves corners—so cold one had to be careful even breathing.

The hall doors creaked. Miao Jingzhen immediately turned back. A burst of warm air mixed with medicinal smell rushed toward him. Prince Jia, wearing a cloak with fox fur collar, had given thanks for the imperial grace and walked out from inside.

“Your Highness.”

Miao Jingzhen bowed in salute.

Behind him the hall doors closed. The bitter wind disheveled Prince Jia’s fur collar. He glanced at this young man in armor, martial and upright, and without stopping walked past him. “Thank you.”

These words were very soft—only Miao Jingzhen heard them.

Miao Jingzhen paused.

He naturally knew what Prince Jia was thanking him for.

When Prince Jia and his consort were imprisoned in Chongming Hall, that poisoned pill had been slipped to Prince Jia by him when the palace servants weren’t paying attention.

Miao Jingzhen straightened his body and turned back, only to see Prince Jia lifting his robe hem, heading down the steps.

The Noble Consort’s niece from Wanjiang was already on the road to Yun Jing, and Prince Jia’s filial act of going barefoot to transfer disaster from his sovereign father left Pan Youfang and others momentarily unable to act. Even if officials memorialized requesting His Majesty punish Prince Jia’s crime of defying the edict, when the memorials were sent up, they were all retained without being released.

When Ni Su went to the Imperial Medical Bureau to get her pass, she heard about His Majesty’s marriage decree. Arriving at the southern suburbs estate, she didn’t know for a moment how to speak of this matter to the emaciated and ill Li Xizhen.

“You seem to have something you want to say to me.”

Li Xizhen suddenly spoke.

Ni Su froze, then said: “Yes.”

“You find it so difficult to speak,” Li Xizhen was wrapped in much thicker quilts now, with a hot water bottle Ni Su had tucked into her arms, which made her much more comfortable. “Is it about His Highness marrying the Wu clan’s daughter?”

“Princess Consort…”

Ni Su withdrew her pulse-taking hand. She raised her head to look at Li Xizhen. Despite her sickly appearance, she couldn’t tell if she was sad or not.

Just then a palace maid brought in hot medicinal soup. Ni Su said nothing, only helped Li Xizhen sit up, wrapped her in a cloak, then took the medicine bowl from the palace maid’s hands.

Li Xizhen herself drew the cloak tight and leaned against the soft pillows. Seeing the palace maid leave, only then did she speak: “Young miss need not worry about me. Since you told me the news of His Highness’s return, I understood in my heart this was inevitable.”

“Her Ladyship won’t give up, and since His Highness could defy the edict to return to the capital, he cannot defy the marriage edict again. I was mentally prepared for this long ago.”

Li Xizhen took the medicine bowl from Ni Su’s hands and drank spoonful by spoonful herself. “His Highness is a kind and generous person. I’ve always valued this quality of his. Though of the imperial clan, he could suffer hardship for the people’s sake. Though we two as husband and wife haven’t lived as well as other imperial clan members, all these years following him, I haven’t regretted a single day.”

“But I also know Yun Jing cannot accommodate his temperament. His Majesty cannot, Her Ladyship cannot, the court ministers cannot either… He’s unwilling to be enemies with people, unwilling to return here, but the people here have never truly let him go.”

“I know the pain in his heart—first losing his close friend, then his benefactor teacher died. As his wife, I hope for his peace and stability, but as myself, I also hope he’ll take that step forward.”

“We’ve lived like this for so many years. We can’t go on without living for ourselves.”

Her mouth was full of the bitter taste of medicine. Li Xizhen’s fingers gripping the spoon tightened. “Miss Ni, if you can see His Highness again, please tell him on my behalf that our bond as husband and wife has been enough. Whether it’s me or him, we should both be more open-minded. Public principles and righteousness come first, while the private feelings between man and woman are not worth mentioning. I’m very glad he made this choice. Henceforth even if we cannot be husband and wife… Commoner Li still respects him, loves him, and wishes him well.”

In this excessively cold winter, the sunlight was so pale it was reduced to a layer of pale gold—unable to melt the accumulated snow on the glazed azure tiles, nor able to make people feel the slightest warmth.

To prevent snow from accumulating too thickly, palace eunuchs began climbing ladders onto rooftops to clear the frozen hard ice and snow. At this very moment, the Wu clan’s daughter from Wanjiang arrived in the capital.

Wanjiang was where the Wu family ancestral home was located. This niece of the Noble Consort was the daughter born to the eldest son of Wu Dai’s illegitimate younger brother in Wanjiang. Since entering the palace, she stayed at the Noble Consort’s side, often coming and going together with Prince Jia.

Ni Su had kept Li Xizhen’s words carefully in mind but had never found an opportunity to relay them for her.

As Prince Jia and the Noble Consort grew closer, the court situation changed again and again.

Wu Dai had once been aligned with Duke Luguo and Pan Youfang. Wu Dai might not lack private leverage over them, and the Noble Consort, as Wu Dai’s daughter, knew to some degree certain dark secrets.

But considering Wu Dai had participated in many matters, the Noble Consort still kept her guard up before Prince Jia and didn’t reveal everything—only bringing up one matter Wu Dai had no connection to: the Huang extermination case from the thirteenth year of Zhengyuan.

In the thirteenth year of Zhengyuan, Chongzhou suffered severe flooding that submerged countless good fields. Large numbers of refugees fled south. Liu Tingzhi, then serving as Rongjiang Pacification Commissioner, was ordered to pursue a rebel army that had risen up in Rongjiang Prefecture.

However, the rebel army leader in Rongjiang Prefecture was very cunning, and Liu Tingzhi, being a civil official, had always been an armchair strategist. He repeatedly missed opportunities to suppress the Rongjiang Prefecture rebel army. Despite having forces more than twice the enemy’s numbers, he suffered heavy losses.

Liu Tingzhi was worried and afraid, fearing punishment upon returning to the capital. Right then, large numbers of refugees from Chongzhou wanted to go to Rongjiang Prefecture. When Liu Tingzhi encountered them on the road, evil thoughts arose. He had people disguise themselves and infiltrate among the refugees, spreading rumors that the government had embezzled disaster relief funds, while the Rongjiang Prefecture rebel army had vast wealth that could support everyone’s difficulties—if they went to join them, there would surely be good prospects.

Among them, a young man surnamed Huang was moved by this and rallied everyone to join the Rongjiang Prefecture rebel army. Receiving this news, Liu Tingzhi immediately raised troops and slaughtered several hundred people.

In Liu Tingzhi’s memorial to court, that young man surnamed Huang became the leader of a rebel uprising army from Chongzhou, and those several hundred refugees became definite followers of the man surnamed Huang who rebelled and joined the Rongjiang Prefecture rebel forces.

Liu Tingzhi avoided court censure because of the Huang extermination case. From the thirteenth year of Zhengyuan until now, this year he was promoted to Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs.

In the fourteenth year of Zhengyuan, Prince Nankang died of illness. His legitimate son inherited the Duke Luguo title. Between Wu Dai and Pan Youfang, he drew closer to Pan Youfang, causing the Manyu Bank to gradually transfer from Wu Dai’s hands to Pan Youfang’s. That same year, Liu Tingzhi was reassigned as Transport Commissioner in Daizhou. Because of his arrogant nature of easily looking down on people, he had once presumptuously wanted to interfere with Manyu Bank’s business. How could Duke Luguo and Pan Youfang allow him to touch their source of wealth?

To get leverage over Liu Tingzhi, they expended considerable effort to discover irregularities in the Huang extermination case. By the fifteenth year of Zhengyuan they clarified the case’s details, but they didn’t publicize it. Instead, they had the then-Daizhou Prefect use this matter to threaten Liu Tingzhi, making him as Transport Commissioner facilitate their interests.

Wu Dai was dissatisfied that Duke Luguo had maneuvered to have Pan Youfang take over Manyu Bank. He secretly obtained the key witness to this matter, but since he was ultimately on the same boat with them, he didn’t act on it.

This so-called key witness was a trusted aide who had followed Liu Tingzhi to Rongjiang Prefecture and suppressed the rebel army back then.

“Liu Tingzhi has already been imprisoned in the Censorate prison…”

At Duke’s mansion, Duke Luguo picked up his tea bowl then set it down again, turning to see Pan Youfang sitting there lost in thought. “Liyu!”

“Ah?”

Pan Youfang belatedly realized, raising his head to see Duke Luguo’s displeased expression. He said: “Duke, we can’t help with his matter. After all, the ironclad evidence is in Jiang Xianming’s hands.”

“Liyu, don’t forget he’s usually close to you, and he knows quite a bit about Manyu Bank!” Duke Luguo couldn’t sit still and stood up to pace back and forth. “Moreover, that Jiang Xianming—this matter was probably deliberately pushed to him by Meng Yunxian to investigate. You also know what kind of person Jiang Xianming is—he’s stubborn and favored by His Majesty. Previously we knew he was investigating Manyu Bank’s hidden accounts. With Wu Dai’s insanity and the Daizhou officials being dealt with, that matter went quiet, but that doesn’t mean Jiang Xianming gave up investigating!”

“Liu Tingzhi committed a capital crime. According to Great Qi law, the males in his family will be exiled while the females will be sent to the Jiaofang Bureau. But I’ve already hidden his youngest son. This news should have been sent to the Censorate prison by now. He should know what words to say and what not to say.”

After Pan Youfang became close friends with Liu Tingzhi, they could be considered good friends. With Liu Tingzhi’s imprisonment this time, there were also many unfavorable rumors about him in court.

“Though that’s so, if he still can’t withstand severe torture and Jiang Xianming pries something out…” Duke Luguo frowned. “These days, officials close to you have all been severely suppressed by Meng Yunxian. If we remain this passive, things will turn bad.”

“The Censorate isn’t the Night Watch Bureau. If Liu Tingzhi had entered the Night Watch Bureau, I’d truly fear what he might reveal,” Pan Youfang pulled at his lips. “Jiang Xianming indeed cannot be left any longer. Duke, you said one thing very correctly—I do indeed understand Jiang Xianming somewhat.”

Hearing this, Duke Luguo paused. He stroked his beard and stared at Pan Youfang. After a moment, his expression relaxed considerably. “Yes, Liyu, how could I forget—without you, he couldn’t have risen smoothly to secure the position of Censor-in-Chief. Tell me, what do you plan to do?”

Pan Youfang stood up. “You know Tan Guangwen’s confession letter at the very beginning wasn’t the current version. I’m going to give that original version to Jiang Xianming.”

“Have you gone mad?”

Duke Luguo was shocked. “Do you intend to exonerate Xu Hexue?”

“We’ve already been pushed to this point. Jiang Xianming needs more time to interrogate Liu Tingzhi. To make Jiang Xianming become His Majesty’s discarded piece before Liu Tingzhi is convicted, we can only resort to this desperate measure.”

Seeing Duke Luguo’s poor complexion, Pan Youfang said: “Duke, rest assured—the confession letter has not a single word about Prince Nankang, only Wu Dai.”

Tan Guangwen didn’t know Pan Youfang. At most he knew of a Du Cong. The confession letter had neither Prince Nankang nor Pan Youfang, only Wu Dai.

“I’m also not trying to exonerate Xu Hexue,”

Pan Youfang laughed self-deprecatingly. “Exonerating him—wouldn’t that be convicting myself? Duke, previously we killed Tan Guangwen to suppress this matter so it wouldn’t blow up. But now with Princess Wenduan’s mansion old case and Liu Tingzhi’s Huang extermination case, plus the hidden accounts about Manyu Bank on Jiang Xianming—each and every one is very unfavorable to us. Since that’s the case, let’s simply make Xu Hexue’s case blow up even bigger.”

Outside the door cold wind howled like wailing ghosts. Pan Youfang turned to look, cold mist floating in the lamplight. His eyes were darkly somber. “This way, we can also show Meng Yunxian and them whether everything they plot can truly go as they wish.”

——

Waking with a start in the early morning, Ni Su was covered in sweat. The candles in the room had nearly burned out, and there was no one beside her pillow. She sat up and lifted the bed curtains. Pale white light shone through the latticed window. At the writing desk opposite, half a candle stub still burned. The young man wore a blue robe, brush in hand, writing something unknown.

She lit lamps every day. Qingqiong brewed reed flower dew tea for Xu Hexue daily, yet his form remained so faint.

Ni Su realized that since the day he left her side in the palace to go to the Political Affairs Hall, whether it was his injuries or his spirit body, both were recovering more slowly than before.

He couldn’t even borrow the lamps she lit to make his spirit body appear more real, appear no different from an ordinary person, as he had before.

The deadline the netherworld gave was drawing ever closer.

“Xu Ziling.”

She suddenly spoke.

Hearing her call, Xu Hexue immediately looked up, only then realizing she had awakened at some point. He immediately set down his brush. “Put on your clothes. The brazier hasn’t been lit in the room yet.”

Ni Su sat on the bed without moving. “What are you writing?”

Xu Hexue supported himself on the desk with one hand and stood. His injuries hadn’t healed, his knees ached severely. He slowly walked before her, took the jacket and skirt draped over the screen and handed them to her. “When I finish writing it, you’ll know.”

While dressing, Ni Su smiled. “Why don’t you make up a lie to fool me? Like saying you’re practicing calligraphy or something. When you say it like this, it only makes me want to know right now even more.”

Xu Hexue sat beside her. Seeing her hair somewhat disheveled, he reached out to smooth it for her. Before he could say anything, knocking sounds came from outside.

“General Xu, Miss Ni! Are you awake!”

Qingqiong’s voice sounded very anxious.

Xu Hexue immediately supported himself on the bed post to stand, walked over and opened the door. Qingqiong standing outside was covered in snow vapor, his nose tip frozen bright red.

“What’s wrong?”

Xu Hexue asked him.

“I went out to buy breakfast but ran into government soldiers searching everywhere for someone! I heard from people who’d been questioned that they’re searching for a criminal official. That person…”

“What about that person?”

Ni Su hurriedly pinned up her hair and came over.

“That person privately compiled the late Minister Zhang’s poetry and prose, and concealed within them Minister Zhang’s last words, and something about… circulating them for people to read…”

Qingqiong couldn’t quite remember all those literary phrases.

But this was enough to make Xu Hexue’s heart turn cold. He immediately asked: “What’s that person’s name?”

“Dong Yao.”

Qingqiong answered.

Dong Yao.

That Dong Yao who went to Daizhou for his teacher to investigate the grain case—the son of Princess Wenduan’s mansion captain Lu Heng.

For five consecutive days, government officials everywhere searched extensively for people hiding copies of the “Jingchen Hermit Collection” compiled by Dong Yao—officials, scholars, and common folk from the marketplace.

In total, several hundred people.

In Qinghe Hall, Hanlin Academician Zheng Jian bowed in salutation. “Your Majesty! These people first privately hid the ‘Jingchen Hermit Collection,’ then took Zhang Jing’s last words as instruction and frequently gathered. This subject has verified that many of them privately inquired into Xu Hexue’s treason case, intending to overturn Xu Hexue’s conviction!”

“Just based on those words Zhang Jing said before dying, these people want to overturn Xu Hexue’s case?”

Behind the curtain, Emperor Zhengyuan laughed coldly.

“Your Majesty,”

Palace Censor Ding Jin timely stepped forward to advise: “This subject believes they’re not only overturning Xu Hexue’s case, but more so seeking justice for Zhang Jing.”

“Xu Hexue was a traitorous criminal. Yet they so disregard the facts and incite popular sentiment. If this continues, won’t it breed chaos?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, we absolutely cannot encourage this trend!” Zheng Jian immediately echoed, his words earnest. “If more people become like them, wouldn’t this show contempt for national law?”

“Yonggeng.”

Emperor Zhengyuan suddenly called out.

Only then did Ding Jin and Zheng Jian realize there was also a Prince Jia behind the curtain.

Prince Jia sat on the bed edge holding a bowl of medicinal soup. Hearing the call, he stood up.

“Zhang Jing was also your teacher,”

Emperor Zhengyuan was still ill, his voice hoarse from coughing. “His last words—do you also believe them?”

Prince Jia immediately bowed in salutation. “Though Yonggeng was the teacher’s student, I understand that the teacher’s final words had no basis.”

“Yes, words without root or basis are indeed not credible.”

Emperor Zhengyuan’s tone suddenly turned cold. “But there are precisely some people who think I was unjust, who think I wrongly executed Xu Hexue.”