Cui Xun was stunned.
Cui Songqing spoke coolly: “You lost your mother at the age of three. After your father remarried, you didn’t get along with your stepmother and siblings. You once beat your half-brother until he was bloody because he gave you the nickname ‘Lotus Gentleman.’ Your father deeply disliked you, saying you were rebellious, unrestrained, and temperamental. But I believed your temperament had its reasons, and you were talented in both civil and military affairs, the foremost talent of the Cui family. Given time, you would surely become a pillar of the Great Zhou. I admired your talents but couldn’t interfere in your family affairs, so when you were fourteen, I wrote a letter recommending you to Guo Qinwei, commander of the Tianwei Army. Though Guo came from humble origins, he loved his soldiers like sons and possessed both wisdom and courage. I thought that under his tempering, you would surely become a polished jade, ready to fulfill your ambitions.”
As Cui Xun listened, his head gradually lowered. Cui Songqing’s voice grew increasingly cold: “But what did you do? In the battle at Luoyan Ridge, though Guo Qinwei made tactical errors and lost cities and territories, at least he died for his country, preserving his honor. The remaining Tianwei soldiers, unwilling to be captured, all fought to their deaths. If the story had ended there, the Tianwei Army could have been remembered as ‘deserving punishment but worthy of sympathy.’ But you, to save your own life, actually surrendered to the Turks, making it impossible for the court historians to write even ‘worthy of sympathy.’ So, Cui Xun, why didn’t you kill yourself? Why didn’t you die in Turkic territory?”
With each pointed question from Cui Songqing, Cui Xun suddenly looked up. He gazed at this elder he most respected, a trace of bewilderment passing through his eyes. His throat moved as if he wanted to say something, but finally he spoke with difficulty: “Even an ant clings to life. Why couldn’t I live?”
Cui Songqing laughed bitterly: “Well said, ‘even an ant clings to life’! Fine! Fine! I, Cui Songqing, misjudged you! I never imagined that our Cui clan of Boling would produce such a coward who fears death.”
Cui Xun’s gaze grew increasingly distant: “Everyone has their path. Uncle’s path is to implement new policies, to stabilize the country. For this, you’re willing to break with friends and family, living in poverty. And I, too, have my path. Before completing my path, I cannot die.”
Cui Songqing rebuked: “Is your path merely to survive by surrendering to the Turks, begging for mercy from foreign women?”
Cui Songqing’s words seemed to touch a hidden pain in Cui Xun’s heart. His eyes turned gray and misty, like a lake shrouded in thin fog on a frosty morning: “Uncle just asked why I didn’t commit suicide. In Turkic territory, I indeed had a thousand, ten thousand opportunities to end my life. Dead, I would no longer suffer humiliation. But I was unwilling to die.”
Cui Songqing was greatly disappointed: “Before coming here, I had made many excuses for you. I thought perhaps the Turks guarded you too strictly, making it impossible for you to die. I never expected that you simply didn’t want to die!”
Cui Xun’s face was pale. He seemed to struggle for a long time before finally speaking softly: “Has Uncle heard about the bones of Sheng Yunting, the Military Supervisor of the Tianwei Army, being dug up from the imperial road?”
After hearing this, Cui Songqing merely said lightly: “So what?”
That single phrase plunged Cui Xun into an icy abyss.
Cui Songqing continued slowly: “Are you suggesting that someone deliberately withheld aid, causing the total annihilation of the Tianwei Army? Setting aside the fact that the Tianwei Army case is closed, it was Guo Qinwei’s own decision to lead fifty thousand Tianwei troops to Luoyan Ridge. Doesn’t he deserve punishment for that? Cui Xun, are you trying to attribute your cowardice to some alleged withholding of assistance?”
Cui Xun’s face turned as pale as snow covering a winter night, without a trace of color. He suddenly gave a light laugh: “No, it was my cowardice. There is no other reason.”
Cui Songqing was finally completely disappointed. He gave Cui Xun a cold look: “Though your character is inferior, you still have some talent. I will convince the Empress Dowager to restore you to your position. However, in court hereafter, you must not call me uncle. I cannot bear such shame.”
Cui Xun responded woodenly: “Very well.”
Cui Songqing gave him one last look of disgust before turning and leaving.
After Cui Songqing left, Cui Xun stood at the doorway for a long time before silently turning and returning to his bedroom.
Li Ying watched his back. She pursed her lips and followed him to the bedroom, kneeling by the writing desk.
Since Cui Xun remained silent, she also said nothing. She simply sat across from him, quietly keeping him company.
Cui Xun’s expression was empty, his eyes black as ink, seeming to hide an unfathomable abyss. After a long while, he suddenly looked up and said, “Earlier, I told you that I discovered while copying the records last night.”
Li Ying looked at him and asked softly: “What discovery?”
“In Empress Zheng’s palace, there was a maid named Wan Xiang. When Empress Zheng fell from favor, all her palace maids were either demoted or killed. Only this Wan Xiang was spared, and was even promoted to Food Steward in the Imperial Kitchen. But a year later, she was inexplicably beaten to death by the Empress Dowager.”
“Are you suggesting she was my mother’s informant, which is why she wasn’t killed but instead became Food Steward?”
Cui Xun nodded: “Empress Zheng was arrogant and didn’t treat her maids very kindly. It wasn’t wrong for your mother to bribe her maids to gather information for self-protection.”
“If she was working for my mother, why was she beaten to death?”
“If I’m not mistaken, she was probably silenced, just like Wang Tuan’er.”
Li Ying shuddered: “My mother silenced her? Why would my mother do that, unless…”
She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
Because if the Empress Dowager had done that, there could only be one reason.
Wan Xiang must have known some terrible secret, forcing her to take such drastic action.
And what terrible secret would be worth doing this for?
Li Ying could think of only one.
Her shoulders trembled slightly. Her hands were tightly gripping her dress, her fingertips turning white. After a long while, she finally said with difficulty: “Was it… my mother?”
Cui Xun looked at her. Previously, he would have told her without hesitation that her mother was the most suspicious. But now, he inexplicably felt reluctant. He said, “The death of Wan Xiang alone is not enough to determine it was your mother.”
Li Ying’s expression relaxed slightly. She murmured, “You’re right. Perhaps she did something wrong and was beaten to death for that, not because my mother was silencing her…”
As she spoke these words, even she found them hard to believe. What terrible mistake would warrant beating a Food Steward to death? And her mother was already Empress then—if Wan Xiang had truly done something wrong, it would have been recorded in detail, not leaving the Empress with the reputation of killing a palace maid.
Seeing her distraction, Cui Xun added, “There is a way to find out why Wan Xiang died.”
Li Ying looked up with hopeful surprise: “You have a way?”
Cui Xun nodded: “Wan Xiang had a partner in the palace named Jiang Liang. After Wan Xiang’s death, he escaped from the palace. If we can find him, perhaps we can learn the true cause of Wan Xiang’s death.”
“Where is Jiang Liang?”
“Someone last saw him at Chang’an’s Ghost Market.”
The so-called Ghost Market was a marketplace located in Wuben Ward. Chang’an had a night curfew, and people were not allowed to leave their wards at night, but this marketplace opened at midnight and closed at cockcrow. It sold items unavailable in regular markets, with most goods of dubious origin. The merchants paid no taxes. It was said that officials had raided it many times but always returned empty-handed, as the merchants disappeared like ghosts, hence the name “Ghost Market.”
Cui Xun said, “Jiang Liang needed to escape pursuers and earn money for food. The Ghost Market would be his best choice.”
Li Ying nodded: “Then let’s go to the Ghost Market tonight and try to find traces of Jiang Liang.”
Cui Xun replied, “Good.” Li Ying felt she was getting closer to the truth, but she became increasingly anxious. What if it was her mother…
Cui Xun seemed to sense her thoughts and suddenly asked: “If it were the Empress Dowager, what would the Princess do?”
“What will I do?” Li Ying’s eyes showed a confused look. “If it were my mother, I would have no way to take revenge on her. I still remember how anxiously she held me in her arms when I was sick… I still can’t believe she would kill me for the position of Empress.”
Cui Xun remained silent. Li Ying didn’t speak either. After a moment, she sighed: “If it were my mother, then I don’t want to stay in this world anymore. I will go to the City of Wrongful Deaths by myself.”
Cui Xun looked up at her: “Doesn’t the Princess fear loneliness most? Why are you willing to go to the City of Wrongful Deaths now?”
Li Ying gave a bitter smile: “Since waking up at the Lotus Pond, everything has changed. To the world, I’m just an early-deceased princess who caused bloodshed in Chang’an. No one mourns my death, except my mother. Only my mother still remembers me. Mother lights eternal lamps for me at the Forty Thousand Buddha Temple, praying for my early reincarnation. She forgave you because of my sachet and wept bitterly over the Bodhi tree I planted. If she killed me, then I think I truly don’t know what to believe anymore. Rather than living like this, I might as well go to the City of Wrongful Deaths and wait for my mother’s natural death before reincarnating.”
As she spoke, her expression was lost and confused. Yes, if she couldn’t trust her mother, who could she trust?
Cui Xun pursed his lips slightly, then suddenly asked: “So, if we discover the truth tonight, the Princess will go to the City of Wrongful Deaths?”
Li Ying was taken aback. She looked at his snow-white face and felt inexplicably hesitant. She remembered the empty look in his eyes when Cui Songqing mocked him for not committing suicide to preserve his honor. Her fingers unconsciously tightened on her dress, and she suddenly felt reluctant to leave. But… ghosts and humans walk different paths. She was just a lonely soul; this world was not a place for her to linger.
After a moment of silence, Cui Xun smiled faintly: “That’s fine. Perhaps the City of Wrongful Deaths is cleaner than the human world.”
Li Ying also fell silent. She said: “You’re right. Perhaps the City of Wrongful Deaths is cleaner than the human world.”
She paused, then said: “Cui Xun, you must greatly respect your uncle, right?”
Cui Xun hadn’t expected her to suddenly mention Cui Songqing. He was slightly taken aback, then said: “Yes.”
“But I don’t like him,” Li Ying said. “He says you cling to life for your path, but isn’t he also turning a blind eye to Sheng Yunting’s injustice for his path?”
Cui Xun stared at her in surprise as she continued: “Even Ah’man could see that Sheng Yunting wasn’t killed by mountain bandits. I don’t believe he couldn’t see it. He simply doesn’t want to reopen a six-year-old case for the sake of one Sheng Yunting, risking a gamble with uncertain outcomes.”
“He’s the ‘White-Robed Minister’ who cares for all people. He has many important things to do and needs to preserve his life. He cannot die for the sake of a mere Military Supervisor. But his life is a life—isn’t your life also a life?”
“If that’s the case, what right does he have to self-righteously criticize you for not choosing death?”
Li Ying looked at Cui Xun and said, word by word: “So, Cui Xun, you don’t need to be saddened by his words. He’s not worth it.”