Li Ying hadn’t expected that the very next day, Yu Fuwei would bring her news about Cui Xun.

Like yesterday, Yu Fuwei perched on the wall, throwing pebbles to draw her out. But unlike yesterday, when he had thrown pebbles with raised eyebrows, a smile at the corners of his mouth, and eyes full of ease and pride, this time his expression was grave. His usual smiling lips could not form a smile. Li Ying’s heart sank. Had something happened to Cui Xun?

She quickly passed through the wall. Yu Fuwei also came down from the wall. Li Ying looked at him, wanting to ask but not daring to. As she hesitated to speak, Yu Fuwei spoke first: “Princess, something has happened.”

Li Ying’s entire body instantly tensed. With a hint of fear, she asked, “Wh-what happened?”

“Do you know a musician named Sheng Ah’man? I’ve heard she sells her art but not her body, and she has a close relationship with Cui Xun.”

Ah’man? Li Ying nodded, “I know her.”

“It’s this Sheng Ah’man who’s in trouble.” Yu Fuwei sighed, “Cui Xun has been searching everywhere for evidence that Commander Shen Que harbored the cat ghost. To retaliate against Cui Xun, Shen Que kidnapped Sheng Ah’man and dishonored her.”

Li Ying couldn’t believe it: “What do you mean, ‘dishonored her’?”

“It means…” Yu Fuwei found it difficult to say, “It means he took her virtue.”

Li Ying’s eyes widened in shock: “Is he an animal? If he has a grudge against Cui Xun, he should go after Cui Xun. Why involve another innocent woman?”

Yu Fuwei also felt outraged: “Exactly! No matter how much Shen Que despises Cui Xun, he shouldn’t take revenge by abusing a poor woman who has fallen into hardship. Such behavior is simply inhuman!”

Li Ying thought of Sheng Ah’man’s brother, the Ghost General Sheng Yunting. The first thing his soul did after breaking free from its bonds was to ride his horse directly to the Daming Palace, simply to beg His Majesty to send troops to help the besieged Imperial Army and save the six prefectures of the Guannei Circuit that were in imminent danger. Until his death, he had thought only of preserving every inch of the Great Zhou’s territory. Yet the only sister of such a loyal and righteous man was being abused in this way by the nobles of the country he had defended. Li Ying gritted her teeth, her eyes reddening: “Shen Que truly deserves to die!”

Yu Fuwei was also filled with righteous indignation: “Who would disagree? A man taking out his anger on a woman—I truly despise him!”

“What about Cui Xun? Does Cui Xun know?”

Yu Fuwei nodded: “Of course, Cui Xun knows. I’ve discovered that when Cui Xun learned of this, he was so furious his eyes nearly bulged out. He immediately took a whip and went straight to the Duke’s mansion, whipping Shen Que until his entire body and face were covered in wounds. I heard that Shen Que didn’t beg for mercy. He just sneered and said, ‘Cui Xun, listen well: Sheng Ah’man suffered because of you. You’ll never get over this for the rest of your life!”

Li Ying was so angry that her vision blurred, and she nearly collapsed. Yu Fuwei quickly moved to support her, but she grabbed his sleeve: “Then what? Did he kill Shen Que?”

Yu Fuwei shook his head resentfully: “No. Shen Que’s servants went to the Daming Palace for help. After the Imperial Guards learned of the situation, they took both Cui Xun and Shen Que into the Daming Palace. They haven’t come out yet.”

“I want to go…” Li Ying clutched Yu Fuwei’s sleeve, steadying her swaying body. Catching her breath, she said to Yu Fuwei, “I want to go to the Danfeng Gate. I want to wait for the outcome.”

And so she waited, from the first light of dawn until dusk’s cold winds.

A light rain fell steadily, dripping onto the blue-green glazed tiles of the Daming Palace’s multiple eaves. Li Ying stood outside the Danfeng Gate, her eyes fixed on the tightly closed vermilion palace gates.

She was waiting to see who would emerge when the gates opened.

Beside her, Yu Fuwei held back as long as he could, but finally couldn’t help saying, “Although what Shen Que did was worse than what animals would do, nothing will happen to him. Years ago, he had a grudge against the Prince of Huai’an and deliberately seduced the prince’s bride-to-be, causing the prince great humiliation. The prince appealed to His Majesty, but Shen Que was only symbolically fined a small portion of his salary. If even a royal family member was treated thus, what more for a lowly musician?”

Li Ying’s gaze was vacant. Fine rain carried by the slanting wind dampened her long, crow-like eyelashes. The lashes were covered with tiny raindrops, and a layer of mist seemed to cover her vision, making the scene before her unclear. She shook her head in confusion: “No, my mother and brother will kill Shen Que.”

Yu Fuwei took a deep breath. He smiled bitterly: “They may be your mother and brother, but they are also the Empress Dowager and Emperor of the Great Zhou. Throughout history, no Empress Dowager or Emperor has ever killed a royal relative for the sake of a courtesan.”

Li Ying opened her mouth but found she could not refute him. She knew that Yu Fuwei was right. Her mother and brother would not kill Shen Que for Sheng Ah’man’s sake.

A deep sense of powerlessness welled up in her heart, along with a measure of despair—despair for Sheng Yunting, more despair for Sheng Ah’man, and despair for Cui Xun as well.

The vermilion palace gates finally opened slowly. Shen Que, his entire body covered in bloody whip marks, was carried out of the Daming Palace on a sedan chair. His handsome face also bore several bloody traces from the whipping, looking quite terrifying. Despite such pain, a mocking smile hung at the corner of his mouth, as if he had the satisfaction of having vented his anger. He looked back at the imposing Daming Palace with contempt, then said to the servants carrying him, “Let’s go. It’s time to prepare for a celebration.”

Long after Shen Que left the Daming Palace, Cui Xun finally emerged. His face was as white as paper, and his body trembled slightly. He saw Yu Fuwei and Li Ying but did not show the anger he had displayed that night. He merely glanced at them before proceeding woodenly.

Li Ying pressed her lips together. She ran after him, following closely behind Cui Xun. Yu Fuwei smiled bitterly, shook his head self-mockingly, then headed in the opposite direction.

In the slanting wind and fine rain, Cui Xun’s crimson official robe was soaked, clinging to his body and making him appear even more gaunt. Li Ying silently followed behind him. A cold gust of wind blew past, and Cui Xun suddenly covered his mouth with his sleeve, coughing violently. Li Ying quickened her pace, almost walking beside him, but then suddenly slowed down again, still following quietly behind him.

Cui Xun did not return to his residence but went to a tavern in the Eastern Market. The tavern owner recognized him and nervously showed him to the best private room, serving him the best wine. Cui Xun grabbed the wine vessel and poured the wine into his mouth.

One jar of strong wine after another went down Cui Xun’s throat. He drank too quickly, and the liquor choked him, causing another bout of violent coughing. Li Ying, who had been silently accompanying him, could no longer stand by. She took the wine vessel from him: “Stop drinking.”

Cui Xun’s originally pale face had taken on a rosy hue from the alcohol, as beautiful and rich as the sunset’s glow. But Li Ying saw the infinite desolation hidden behind that beauty.

Cui Xun reached out, trying to reclaim the glass wine vessel from her, but Li Ying shook her head, hiding it behind her back. She said, “I know you want to get drunk quickly. Once drunk, you can forget about Ah’man’s situation. But won’t you eventually sober up? Will everything be undone when you wake up? Why don’t you consider: if you drink yourself to death here today, who can Ah’man rely on?”

After hearing this, Cui Xun only murmured, “She can’t rely on me. I can’t protect her. His Majesty has already decreed that she is to marry Shen Que as a concubine. I… am powerless.”

Li Ying was shocked: “How can this be? The perpetrator receives no punishment, and instead, the victim is sent to him for further abuse? What kind of reasoning is this?”

“Reasoning?” Cui Xun laughed lightly. “In this world, where is there reasoning? There is only the concept of the greater good. A musician and a duke, an orphaned girl and a general—one light as a feather, one heavy as a mountain. Reasoning? Ha ha, reasoning?”

By the end, he was filled with indignation. A sweet, rusty taste rose in his throat. He covered his mouth as he coughed, and by the end, there was a faint trace of red blood on his palm.

Li Ying was terrified. She dropped the wine vessel and grabbed Cui Xun’s hand: “Cui Xun, you…”

As soon as she opened her mouth to speak, she choked with emotion. Large teardrops rolled down her cheeks, landing on Cui Xun’s palm. Cui Xun was momentarily stunned. He suddenly withdrew his hand from Li Ying’s grasp and said, “I won’t die.”

Li Ying bit her lip. She wiped away her tears and said, “Shen Que’s words cut to the heart. He said it was because of you that Ah’man suffered all this. But it was he who was less than a beast, he who abused a weak woman. How can he push his wrongdoing onto you? Don’t torture yourself because of his words.”

Upon hearing this, Cui Xun gave a bitter laugh: “No, he’s right. If not for me, Ah’man would never have encountered such a thing. I failed to protect Ah’man. I have let down Yunting. No, not just Yunting—I’ve let down everyone.” In his mind, he recalled what the mute servant had signaled to him: “Cao Wulang’s mother, unable to bear the humiliation, hanged herself.”

His knuckles turned white: “Six years. It’s been six years. If in these six years I could have cleared their names, their families wouldn’t have been abused like this. I am truly… utterly useless!”

Cui Xun was now in extreme mental anguish. The several jars of strong liquor he had just consumed were beginning to take effect, making his head increasingly cloudy. He lay on the rosewood table, murmuring, “I couldn’t save them or their families. I can’t even save myself.”

Li Ying’s eyes were filled with crystalline tears. She said softly, “Cui Xun, don’t be like this, Cui Xun.”

Cui Xun lay on the table, his dark eyes looking at Li Ying. Her face was beautiful, like the moon in the sky. Suddenly, he murmured again, “You can’t save me either.”

After saying this, he closed his eyes and sank into a deep drunken slumber. But from the corner of his eye, a teardrop silently rolled down.

Li Ying hadn’t understood Cui Xun’s last words. Her heart was also filled with extreme pain. She had never interacted with other members of the Imperial Army, but she had met Sheng Yunting and Sheng Ah’man. The Sheng siblings—one loyal to the country, one passionate and fearless—yet their fates were increasingly tragic. And she could do nothing to help them.

Li Ying’s heart was almost crushed by a sense of powerlessness, making it almost impossible to breathe. She felt such pain just from facing the blood and tears of two people, while Cui Xun had to face those of all fifty thousand Imperial Army soldiers and their families. What pressure must he be under? How much pain must he have endured over these six years, day and night?

Li Ying haphazardly wiped away the tears on her face. Looking at the drunken Cui Xun, she saw that even in his sleep, his brows were slightly furrowed, as if nightmares were tormenting him in his dreams. Before passing out, he had suddenly said that Li Ying couldn’t save him either. Although Li Ying didn’t understand his meaning, she still reached out, her fingertips gently wiping away the tears at the corner of his eye. She said softly, “No, I will save you.”