Cui Xun refused.

Ah’man didn’t understand. She had terminated her pregnancy and had been flogged eighty times, leaving her body extremely weak. It was only out of pity that the officials allowed her to recover before serving her two-year sentence in prison. Now she could only lie in her dilapidated home, cared for by her former sisters from the entertainment quarters. But she still forced herself up and asked, “Why won’t you let me see Shen Que?”

“Shen Que hates you,” Cui Xun said. “Why seek trouble for yourself?”

“I know he hates me, but there are still many things I don’t understand. Was Wang Shi, Pei Guanyue’s wife, also involved in killing my brother at Changle Post Station? And why did he kill my brother in the first place? I don’t believe it was simply because he disliked my brother. If that were the case, he disliked General Guo even more. So why didn’t he kill General Guo when he returned to Chang’an on official business?”

Ah’man asked a series of questions. She was not a simple-minded person. Even when Sheng Yunting’s remains were buried outside Tonghua Gate and the authorities claimed it was the work of mountain bandits, she didn’t believe it. She had said at the time, “Who would dare to kill a Captain of the Tianwei Army? And what mountain bandits would dare to bury someone outside Tonghua Gate?” As she had suspected, Sheng Yunting’s killer was not mountain bandits at all, but the powerful Duke Shen Que.

Cui Xun avoided answering and merely said, “You should focus on recovering now. Otherwise, you won’t survive the two-year imprisonment.”

“That was my brother!” Ah’man said. “I lost my parents when I was young, and it was my brother who raised me! Even if you were my brother’s friend, you have no right to prevent me from finding out the truth!”

Cui Xun said, “The Three Judicial Offices will uncover the truth. There’s no need for you to drag your ailing body to beg Shen Que.”

Ah’man glared at him through gritted teeth, but he showed no sign of yielding. Ah’man supported herself on the simple table and moved step by step to his side. Her face was deathly pale, her eyes red and swollen. “Why are you trying to stop me? Is there something I shouldn’t know? Or do you think that I, a common citizen, can’t handle the truth?”

Cui Xun remained silent. After a moment, he finally said, “Your brother took great care of me in the past. You are his only sister, and I hope you can live well.”

Ah’man just smiled. She shook her head and said, “Living well—that’s your wish, what does it have to do with me? Did you ask me? Since you didn’t, what right do you have to decide for me?”

Cui Xun was slightly taken aback. The wounds on Ah’man’s back were causing excruciating pain, but her expression remained very calm. “Everyone dies eventually, even if they live to be a hundred. Rather than living in confusion, I’d rather learn the truth and die right away.”

Cui Xun remained silent, still hesitant. He was concerned for Ah’man’s safety. He said, “There are other ways to uncover the truth.”

“Perhaps you have other methods, but the fastest way is definitely through me,” Ah’man said, each word distinctly. “Cui Xun, my brother has been wronged for six years. If you truly appreciate the care my brother showed you, how can you bear to let him continue to be wronged?”

Cui Xun’s dark eyes finally showed signs of being moved, but he still didn’t agree. Ah’man bit her lip and suddenly fell to her knees with a thud. The wounds on her back began to reopen. Enduring the pain, she pleaded with tears, “Before, it was always my brother protecting me. Now, I want to protect him once. Please, grant me this.”

After a long silence, Cui Xun finally said, “Get up.”

Ah’man was both shocked and delighted. “You agree?”

Cui Xun said, “Get up first.”

Ah’man hesitated, then slowly stood up, supporting herself on a crescent-shaped stool. Cui Xun quietly looked at her thin but stubborn face and suddenly said, “Your brother often mentioned you when we were in the army.”

“What did he say about me?”

“He said your temper wasn’t very good.”

Ah’man was stunned. Cui Xun smiled slightly but didn’t elaborate further. Instead, he said, “Take care of your wounds first. I’ll arrange for you to see Shen Que.”

Ah’man was overjoyed. She looked at this man whom she had regarded as an enemy for the past six years, hesitated for a moment, and awkwardly uttered two words: “Thank you.”

Cui Xun nodded. “I’ll leave now.”

He turned and walked out of the shabby house. Ah’man’s sisters from the entertainment quarters were waiting outside. Upon seeing him, they lowered their heads in fear, their bodies trembling slightly. Cui Xun glanced at them and said, “Take good care of her.”

The singing girls nodded hurriedly. After he left, they rushed into the room and helped Ah’man to the bed.

The wounds on Ah’man’s back had started bleeding again. Several of the girls reproached her, “You’re too careless. Your wounds have reopened.”

Some fetched water, some wrung out clothes, some applied medicine. Ah’man just lay quietly on the bed, not uttering a single cry of pain. She suddenly looked at the girl holding the white jade medicine bottle and said, “This medicine is quite expensive, isn’t it?”

The girl was stunned. Ah’man continued, “How could you afford it?”

The girls exchanged glances. The one applying the medicine cautiously said, “Ah’man, this medicine is good for your recovery…”

Ah’man’s face was pale with pain. She said, “Are you afraid I’ll force you to throw it away?”

None of them dared to respond. Ah’man rested her head on her arm, closed her eyes in exhaustion, and said, “Not anymore…”

She murmured, “I won’t throw it away anymore…”

As promised, Cui Xun arranged for Ah’man to see Shen Que the next day.

With the support of several singing girls, Ah’man entered the prison of the Imperial Censorate. Shen Que was under the joint custody of the Office of Affairs, the Imperial Censorate, and the Dali Temple to ensure mutual supervision and prevent any one office from coercing a confession. Therefore, representatives from all three offices should accompany Ah’man to see Shen Que. However, Han Wenmo, the chief prosecutor from the Imperial Censorate, was extremely cautious and didn’t want to hear anything he shouldn’t. He made an excuse about official business and left early. Cui Xun glanced at Lu Huai, who was still standing there, and said, “Deputy Commissioner Lu should leave as well.”

Lu Huai asked in surprise, “Why should I leave? If Shen Que dares to speak, I dare to listen.”

He was not like Han Wenmo, who feared for his life.

Besides, he had long felt that Sheng Yunting’s case was full of suspicious points. It was only out of deference to the Emperor Longxing, not wanting to disrupt the bigger picture, that he had agreed to execute Shen Que quickly. Now that there was an opportunity to learn the truth, he was unwilling to miss it.

So he sat with Cui Xun in a compartment adjacent to Shen Que’s cell, quietly listening to the conversation between Shen Que and Ah’man.

In the dim prison cell, Shen Que was heavily chained and looked haggard. At this moment, he had none of the arrogant and domineering demeanor he had displayed at the Spring Banquet. He was just a man filled with a dying man’s gloom, seeking only death.

When he saw Ah’man, with her black hair and plain white clothes, appear outside his cell, his eyes widened. His throat moved, and the next moment, he lunged forward, extending his wrists through the iron bars, as if wanting to strangle her.

Ah’man took a step back. She laughed lightly and said, “What? Want to kill me?”

“You slut!” Shen Que’s eyes bulged with rage. “I was so good to you! Yet you betrayed me!”

Ah’man laughed as if she had heard the most ridiculous thing in the world. After laughing for a while, she looked at Shen Que, at his dejected yet still handsome face, and said, “Shen Que, do you think that because you’re young and handsome, and a hereditary Duke, that even if you raped a woman and killed her brother, as long as you sincerely repent, she would forget everything, forgive you, and fall in love with you?”

Shen Que was stunned. Ah’man continued, “Perhaps some women in this world would be like that. Even after being humiliated and tormented, as long as a man sheds a few tears, admits his mistakes, and promises to treat her well in the future, she will soften her heart. And if that man is unfaithful to others, it’s even more wonderful—a fickle lover who has never given his heart to other women, but only shows his heart to her. What a rare love! What revenge for killing her father or brother? In the face of love, these are all insignificant.”

Shen Que was now staring in disbelief. Ah’man slowly said, “Unfortunately, I, Sheng Ah’man, am not such a woman. My brother and I, though just ordinary citizens of Chang’an, were taught by my brother what self-respect and self-love mean.”

“My brother was the best in the world, but you killed him. You’ve made it so I’ll never have a brother again. How could you think I could forget the hatred of my brother’s murder and live happily with you?”

Shen Que finally spoke, his voice hoarse, “So you were deceiving me from the beginning?”

“Of course,” Ah’man nodded. “Otherwise, do you think I would have gone to Lingnan with you? Would I have cooked and washed for you? Would I have made your bed? Shen Que, I can tell you, every hour I spent with you, I was thinking about how to kill you.”

Shen Que gripped the iron bars in fury. Ah’man showed no fear, looking at him with nothing but mockery on her face. After a while, the anger in Shen Que’s eyes gradually receded. He collapsed to his knees, murmuring despairingly, “Fine, this is the Sheng Ah’man I knew.”

The first time he saw her was at the Spring Banquet. Even then, she had a fiery temper, unyielding and resolute. The second time was when he raped her. Afterward, though she was in a disheveled state, her eyes still glared at him fiercely. He should have understood her character earlier. He shouldn’t have been deceived by her false gentleness in Lingnan. If he were to blame anyone, he could only blame himself for being so down on his luck then. All his concubines had left him, and only she had stayed by his side, gradually making him develop feelings for her, and ultimately costing him his life.

Shen Que looked up at her and said self-mockingly, “If this was your revenge, you’ve succeeded.”

His gaze moved to her flat abdomen. “But I never thought you would be able to harm your child. Sheng Ah’man, you are ruthless enough.”

“My child? Harm?” Ah’man laughed. “I filed a complaint above my station and should be given eighty lashes. A concubine who accuses her husband should be imprisoned for two years. My sisters all said I was foolish. They said I shouldn’t have terminated the pregnancy. If I hadn’t, I could have delayed for several more months. Once the tension eased, Cui Xun could have helped me plead with His Majesty and the Empress Dowager. Perhaps they would have shown leniency and waived the flogging and imprisonment. I wouldn’t have had to suffer physical pain and imprisonment. But I was unwilling. Do you know why I was unwilling?”

Shen Que stared at her blankly. Ah’man said each word distinctly, “Because every day this child remained in my womb, it made me feel disgusted.”

“In this life, I, Sheng Ah’man, will never want any connection with you again. Your offspring is not worthy of being nurtured by my flesh and blood.”

Every word she spoke stabbed at Shen Que’s heart, utterly merciless. Shen Que’s face turned ashen, and he appeared completely lost and helpless. After a while, he seemed to remember something. Grabbing the bars, he said, “Sheng Ah’man, didn’t you come today to beg me to reveal the truth? Is this how you beg someone?”

“If I beg you, will you tell me?” Ah’man said. “I never thought about begging you. If you want to tell, then tell. If you don’t want to tell, then don’t. Don’t expect me to beg you for even a bit.”

Hearing her say this, Shen Que burst into laughter. He knew that in this lifetime, he could never conquer this woman. But to have been defeated by such a woman in this life, he had no regrets about dying.

After laughing, he said, “Fine! Since you’ve spoken your true feelings, what’s the harm in my saying a few words? Sheng Ah’man, it was I who killed your brother, but remember this: without me, Shen Que, your brother’s name would never be cleared. Remember this for the rest of your life!”