◎Consort Ting◎
“The one carrying out the punishment must have received instructions from His Majesty — he didn’t strike too hard. It’s only a shallow flesh wound; apply the medicine for a couple of days once you’re home and you’ll be fine.” Bo Ying packed up his medicine box, murmuring on. “Every time I see those old scars of yours, it still makes my stomach turn. I ought to go home and work out some kind of scar-removing remedy, just to spare myself the…”
Zhou Tan fastened the topmost glazed bead of his official robe and suddenly said, “Eleventh, tell me the truth. How much longer do I have to live?”
Bo Ying’s grip slipped, and the porcelain vial in his hand shattered on the floor.
The two of them stood in silence for a long while before Bo Ying finally spoke. “The Ministry of Rites has already set the date for your appointment as Chancellor.”
Zhou Tan made a small sound of acknowledgment. “The second day of the sixth month. An auspicious day.”
Bo Ying struck the sandalwood medicine box hard with his fist. “Truthfully… I don’t know exactly how long you have left. But what I do know is this — if you take the seat of Chancellor, even if I pour every ounce of my medical skill into keeping you alive, I cannot promise you more than five years.”
Hearing this, Zhou Tan somehow still managed to laugh. “Is it truly that serious?”
“The wounds you suffered back in the imperial prison…” Bo Ying hesitated, then continued anyway. “They never properly healed. Then you were struck by an assassin’s blade, and treatment was delayed further. During the days your wife spent in the capital, you drove yourself far too hard, coughing up blood again and again — you’ve already damaged your very foundation… Tell me yourself, how much longer do you think you have?”
Zhou Tan lowered his eyes. “Back in Ruo Prefecture, I felt no trace of trouble from my old wounds at all.”
“Naturally — those two years at the frontier, you had a hundred carefree years’ worth of peace. That’s exactly why I’m telling you this, Xiaobai…” It was the first time Bo Ying had ever addressed him by his courtesy name. “If you were to give up everything now and flee far away to the northwest, perhaps you and your wife could still have a long, long life together.”
Zhou Tan’s fingers twitched slightly.
After a long moment, he spoke, but said only, “For now, there’s no need to tell her about this.”
Bo Ying choked with frustration. “Not tell her? Then how long do you plan to keep this from her — until you’re already six feet under, and she doesn’t even have time to buy you a coffin?”
Zhou Tan let out a wry laugh. “I’ll find the right moment to tell her. But… not now.”
“Fine, fine. Whatever is between the two of you, I don’t want to get involved, and I can’t do anything about it anyway. Since you don’t want anyone to know, I won’t say a word of it to His Majesty either.” Bo Ying sighed helplessly, stretching his arms lazily. “All you Bai family folk are the same — born to work yourselves to the bone.”
By the time the two of them lifted the curtain and stepped back out, Consort Luo had already left.
Qu You sat where she had been, her face frighteningly pale. She had not noticed at all when the two men emerged from the inner chamber. Zhou Tan moved closer and saw a fine sheen of cold sweat on her forehead.
Bo Ying asked offhandedly, “Did someone come by just now?”
The young eunuch, eyes lowered, answered, “Consort Luo came by.”
At the mention of that name, Zhou Tan’s expression suddenly turned cold.
Song Xixuan glanced at him and asked quickly, “Is Teacher’s wound serious?”
Zhou Tan shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
After a pause, he continued, “Your Majesty, if there is nothing else, this subject will take his leave.”
Song Xixuan did not respond to this directly. “Little Yan wrote to me — the hidden chamber at Xiuqing Temple has been dug open, and it does indeed connect to a mountain path leading elsewhere. Lady Qu’s suspicions were not unfounded. Li Yuanjun may well not be dead after all, and may be hiding somewhere in the capital together with this third person.”
Only then did Qu You come back to herself, rising to stand at Zhou Tan’s side. “I remember now — that night, Little Yan captured a great many people on Ting Mountain, and it was only later discovered that all of Li Yuanjun’s attendants were, in fact, Xishao men. As for the Li family’s own army, no one knows where it went. Perhaps by forcing everyone up the mountain, she was simply buying this group of men time to change clothes and slip unnoticed into the general population — after all, many of the Li family’s soldiers would never have passed through the main military registers, and if they carried forged papers and blended into the capital’s population, it would take considerable time to track them down.”
Song Xixuan said, “Precisely. I’ll have him continue the investigation.”
He picked up the teacup beside him, took a sip, cleared his throat, and continued. “Teacher, there is one more matter. Teacher’s… Lady Qu, during the deposed crown prince’s usurpation, saved a number of officials at Xuande Hall, and also led troops to help drive off the Xishao invaders on behalf of the common people. Yesterday, Chancellor Cai submitted a memorial recommending she be granted some fitting reward — but I don’t know what it is she might wish for.”
Zhou Tan stroked her hand gently. “She is right here. If Your Majesty wishes to know what she desires, simply ask her yourself.”
Qu You laughed softly. “If Chancellor Cai himself has submitted the memorial, then surely it can’t be considered improper?”
Song Xixuan smiled wryly. “Naturally not.”
Qu You pressed her lips together, glanced at Zhou Tan, and, seeming to weigh her words carefully, finally spoke. “Then… I would ask Your Majesty for a single reward — permit me, as a woman, to enter the Ministry of Justice, and let me work on reforming the laws.”
The smile at the corner of Zhou Tan’s lips froze.
Qu You continued, “During the deposed crown prince’s reign, I managed the affairs of the inner palace for a time, and I am on familiar terms with the Imperial Guard as well. When I led troops to help the common people against the enemy back then, no one raised any objection. Surely, entering the Ministry of Justice now would not put Your Majesty in too difficult a position either.”
Song Xixuan, hands clasped behind his back, nodded. “Of course. I’ll have Chancellor Cai personally see to it that the Ministry of Personnel draws up the proper documents.”
By the time they left the imperial palace, it was already midday. Beyond the imperial avenue, the streets of the capital bustled with noise; wooden charms and bells hanging from carriage eaves clinked and jingled together. Zhou Tan remained silent the whole way. Qu You studied his expression and finally sighed. “I know what you’re thinking.”
At that exact moment, Zhou Tan spoke as well, asking, “What do you make of Consort Luo?”
The two of them looked at each other and could not help but laugh. Zhou Tan yielded first. “You go first.”
“Ever since the late emperor’s reign, the Ministry of Justice’s authority has been badly misaligned, resulting in one miscarriage of justice after another. During your time there, you wrote so many memorials to the throne proposing reforms to the criminal code — but unfortunately, the factional struggles among the ministers were too fierce at the time, and the emperor, having opened the Hall of Hairpin Gold, was determined to place imperial authority above the rule of law entirely, running directly counter to everything you hoped to achieve,” Qu You said, without hesitation. “Chancellor Gu once instructed you, back at the western frontier, to abolish the Begonia Decree. Though it has since been banned from use, the legal statutes surrounding it were never properly clarified. You have long wished to use the pretext of reforming that decree to overhaul the entire legal code, and put an end to the chaos that has plagued the court since the late emperor’s time. Now, with a wise and capable emperor on the throne, and with real power finally in your own hands — there could be no better moment than this. Am I right?”
Zhou Tan did not answer directly, only looking at her quietly. “There is no one in this world who understands my mind better than you do. Which is why, that reward just now…”
“That’s right. I’d already thought it all through,” Qu You said, meeting his gaze without flinching. “Though a new emperor now sits on the throne, dynasties may rise and fall, but the great families endure like iron. If you move to reform the law, you’ll be striking directly at their interests, and this path will be an exceedingly difficult one. You are my husband, and the road ahead is strewn with thorns — I simply don’t want you to walk it alone…”
Zhou Tan cut in. “Even if it means risking yourself as well?”
Qu You did not hesitate for even a moment. “I will never regret it.”
Unexpectedly, Zhou Tan said nothing further on the matter. He paused, then changed the subject instead. “All right, my turn. I asked you earlier — what do you make of Consort Luo?”
Qu You did not answer that either. “How did she come to be at His Majesty’s side?”
“The daughter of a condemned official, fleeing under cover of night, happened to collide with His Majesty’s palanquin just as he was leaving Qifeng Lane,” Zhou Tan answered succinctly. “Lord Jiang of the previous reign was a follower of the deposed crown prince; his wife and daughter both perished during the palace coup. So how does he suddenly have another daughter? She claims she was saved by a maidservant, but a background so murky and unverifiable is truly… A minor palace attendant would hardly draw much attention, and His Majesty wouldn’t ordinarily act so impulsively as to insist on granting her a proper title — except that she happened to be pregnant.”
Qu You frowned. “Pregnant?”
“The child was lost, of course, so the matter was kept entirely quiet,” Zhou Tan said with a sigh. “If not for that child, Chaoci and I would never have gone to such lengths to fabricate a false identity for her to enter the harem. His Majesty has grown up now, and I don’t wish to interfere too much in his affairs — but this woman, specifically…”
“Do you know why His Majesty is so fixated on her?”
After a long silence, as the carriage drew near the Zhou family residence, Qu You finally said, low and quiet, “You are an outside official — you would never have seen her in person. She… looks remarkably like A’Luo.”