In the Cui residence, Ah’man washed off the dirt and changed into the clean clothes that the mute servant had bought for her. Throughout this time, she remained silent. Only when she was about to leave did she say to Cui Xun: “I will pay you back for these clothes.”
Cui Xun shook his head. He didn’t care about the cost of the clothes; he only wanted to understand why Ah’man had appeared in Chang’an.
But Ah’man didn’t explain. She only said coldly, “Although you saved me, it doesn’t mean I forgive you. You’re still not worthy to be my brother’s friend.”
Cui Xun had heard such words from her many times, but when he heard the words “not worthy,” his heart suddenly felt as if pierced by a needle, the pain cutting to the bone. Ah’man didn’t look at him again and left the Cui residence indifferently.
After Ah’man left, Li Ying stood nearby with complicated feelings. She could roughly guess Ah’man’s thoughts. Ah’man had once admired Cui Xun, but that was the Cui Xun who had been full of vigor in the Tianwei Army. She never imagined she would witness the noble young man she admired become a traitor who surrendered to the Turks, who switched between the beds of a Turkish princess and the Great Zhou’s Empress Dowager to save his life, and who later became obsessed with power, turning into a cruel official doing others’ bidding. All her girlhood romantic dreams had shattered. It was as if she discovered that the bright moon she had always gazed up at was just mud on the ground. She had been wrong about him from the beginning.
This blow must have been extremely severe for Ah’man, which explained why she hated Cui Xun so deeply—hated him to the point that whenever she saw him, she would speak harshly to insult him, hurt him, and constantly tear at his wounds.
But what fault did Cui Xun have?
What hurt him most deeply was never the curses of the common people, but rather the insults from the families of the Tianwei Army soldiers whom he cared about most.
Li Ying didn’t know how to comfort Cui Xun. She could only watch as he summoned guards from the Investigation Department and instructed them to protect Ah’man’s safety. After arranging everything properly, he turned to Li Ying, pressed his lips together, and said softly: “She is, after all, Yunting’s sister. I cannot ignore her.”
Li Ying sighed softly. She didn’t want to discuss this issue further with Cui Xun. Even if she said Ah’man was wrong, it wouldn’t make Cui Xun feel better. So she changed the subject and asked: “How did Ah’man become a runaway slave? Wasn’t she exiled to Lingnan with Shen Que?”
“I don’t know,” Cui Xun replied. “But I think we’ll find out soon.”
Cui Xun’s prediction of “soon” proved accurate, because as soon as Ah’man left the Cui residence, she went straight to the Daming Palace. Outside the Xuanwu Gate stood a red grievance stone and a petition drum.
Standing on the grievance stone and striking the petition drum three times would allow one’s grievances to be relayed to the Emperor by the gate guards.
That night in the Daming Palace, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, who had already retired for the night, heard the petition drum being struck with full force, one beat after another. The drum beats seemed to contain endless anger and despair.
Officials of the fifth rank and above were summoned from their residences by the imperial guards. Some rode horses, others took carriages, all hurrying to the Daming Palace.
In the majestic Zichen Hall, massive bronze dragon-shaped candelabras illuminated the hall as bright as day. Emperor Longxing sat solemnly on the dragon throne, while the Empress Dowager sat behind a pearl curtain. Cui Xun also stood in the hall, listening to the gate guards’ report: “The woman’s name is Sheng Ah’man, a concubine of Duke Shen, Shen Que. She was originally exiled to Lingnan with Shen Que, but has now fled thousands of li back to Chang’an to strike the petition drum. She wishes to accuse her husband Shen Que of murdering her brother, Sheng Yunting, the military officer of the Tianwei Army.”
When the gate guard finished speaking, the entire court was shocked. Besides the extraordinary situation of a concubine accusing her husband, what was more astonishing was that the target of Sheng Ah’man’s accusation was none other than Duke Shen, Shen Que.
Shen Que had been exiled to Lingnan, and at first, his life was indeed difficult. But ever since a month ago, when the Emperor sent a special envoy to Lingnan to visit Shen Que, the local officials realized that Shen Que had not completely lost the Emperor’s favor. After all, this exiled Duke Shen was the Empress Dowager’s nephew and the Emperor’s cousin, connected by blood. So the Lingnan officials, initially disrespectful but later courteous, sent servants, gold, and silver in streams to Shen Que’s residence. Shen Que’s days finally became much better.
All the officials in Zichen Hall knew these things, but everyone turned a blind eye. Shen Que was already a defeated dog, and what was the point of beating a defeated dog? Moreover, one had to consider the dog’s master.
Everyone had assumed that after seven or eight years of exile, Shen Que would be recalled to Chang’an. But no one expected that Shen Que’s concubine would flee thousands of li back to Chang’an to accuse him.
Lu Yumin, the Vice Director of the Left of the Department of State Affairs, first frowned and said: “This Sheng Ah’man, wasn’t she previously a musician from the entertainment district?”
The gate guard replied: “Yes.”
“She’s corrupting public morals,” Lu Yumin said. “Before striking the petition drum, did she report to the county, prefecture, or the Dali Temple? Only if these places refused to accept her complaint could she strike the petition drum to appeal to a higher authority. According to the law, such an action is punishable by eighty strokes of the bamboo.”
“Indeed, she should receive eighty strokes,” the gate guard said with a troubled expression. “But this punishment cannot be carried out at the moment.”
“Why not?”
The gate guard stammered: “Sheng Ah’man is… with child.”
The gate guards had informed Ah’man of all the consequences when she struck the petition drum: bypassing lower authorities meant eighty strokes of the bamboo, and a concubine accusing her husband meant two years of hard labor. Despite these warnings, Ah’man had gritted her teeth and struck the drum without regard for her life. Recalling her resolute gaze at that moment, even the gate guards couldn’t help but admire this fiery-tempered woman.
The court officials discussed among themselves. Since Ah’man was pregnant, the child was naturally Shen Que’s flesh and blood. The child would call the Emperor “cousin,” a status so noble that the gate guards didn’t dare administer the eighty strokes. If anything went wrong, they couldn’t bear the responsibility.
A censor reported: “Your Highness, Your Majesty, as Sheng Ah’man is Duke Shen’s concubine, for her to accuse her husband is, in this official’s opinion, damaging to public morals. She should be sent back to Lingnan to be strictly supervised by Duke Shen.”
Many officials echoed this sentiment. Cui Songqing frowned slightly. Shen Que belonged to Lu Yumin’s faction, and he should have taken this opportunity to destroy Shen Que completely. But when he looked up at the Empress Dowager behind the pearl curtain, he noticed that despite the officials’ discussions, the Empress Dowager remained silent. When Shen Que was implicated in the cat ghost case, he should have been executed, but thanks to a pair of cloud-toed shoes made by Duchess Shen before her death, Shen Que had kept his life. The Empress Dowager still valued sisterly affection.
Cui Songqing pondered for a moment. Shen Que had already been exiled, and it was said that his ambition was completely crushed, making him essentially a discarded pawn of Lu’s faction. There was no need to offend both the Empress Dowager and the Emperor over someone like Sheng Ah’man.
After this cold calculation, Cui Songqing remained silent. Seeing this, the Cui faction also agreed to send Ah’man back to Lingnan. There were a few scholarly censors who angrily insisted that Shen Que should be brought back to Chang’an in chains, but their low status and weak voices were simply ignored by Emperor Longxing.
Emperor Longxing cleared his throat, intending to issue an edict to send Ah’man back to Lingnan. But then he saw Cui Xun step forward from among the officials, holding an ivory tablet, neither humble nor arrogant, and cupping his hands in salute: “Your Highness, Your Majesty, this official believes that Sheng Ah’man should not be sent back to Lingnan.”
All the officials turned to look at Cui Xun. He stood tall, as beautiful as jade, but when he opened his mouth, every word struck at the heart: “In the times of Emperors Yao and Shun, there was a drum for those who dared to remonstrate. Anyone with grievances could strike the drum and speak. From Yao and Shun until now, thousands of years have passed. For thousands of years, every imperial gate has had a petition drum. Is this petition drum in the Great Zhou merely for show?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a high official from Lu’s faction refuted: “Undersecretary Cui, you have a personal grudge against Shen Que, which is why you speak this way. But in court, we are all officials who should put public interest first, not exploit situations for personal vendettas.”
Cui Xun couldn’t help but give a cold laugh. He looked around the court, at all the sanctimonious faces, finding it utterly ridiculous. Among all these people, except for the few scholarly officials who had spoken earlier, who was truly putting public interest first? And who wasn’t calculating for their benefit?
They all talked about how a concubine shouldn’t accuse her husband, but who cared about Ah’man’s brother, Sheng Yunting, who had been hacked to death?
Looking at the official who had just refuted him, Cui Xun said slowly: “Director Jiang, it is precisely because I put public interest first that I advocate not sending Sheng Ah’man back to Lingnan. If she is sent back, everyone in the empire will know that the Great Zhou’s petition drum is merely a facade. May I ask Director Jiang, do you want to dishearten the common people, or do you want foreign nations to mock that Your Majesty is not only inferior to Emperors Yao and Shun but also inferior to previous rulers?”
With this accusation, Director Jiang was immediately rendered speechless. He hurriedly bowed to the now-livid Emperor Longxing: “Your Majesty, I did not mean that.”
Lu Yumin was furious. He stepped forward and said, “Undersecretary Cui, for a concubine to accuse her husband is a grave offense against morality. What is wrong with sending such a contentious woman back to her husband’s home for strict discipline?”
Cui Xun snorted: “Prime Minister Lu, may I ask which law of the Great Zhou prohibits a concubine from accusing her husband? If a concubine accusing her husband makes her contentious, then if a husband commits treason and the concubine reports it, would she be considered a virtuous woman or a contentious one?”
Lu Yumin was taken aback. Cui Xun continued: “Since the Great Zhou’s laws do not stipulate that a concubine cannot accuse her husband, Sheng Ah’man naturally has the right to strike the petition drum. As for her crimes of bypassing lower authorities and a concubine accusing her husband, she can be punished with bamboo strokes and hard labor after she gives birth, according to the law. This way, the common people will praise Your Majesty’s benevolence, and Sheng Ah’man should be grateful. But if she is sent back on the unfounded charge that a concubine should not accuse her husband, not only would Sheng Ah’man find it unjust, but the common people would also find it unjust. Prime Minister Lu, forgive my directness, but you are leading Your Majesty toward injustice.”
Every sentence he spoke seemed to be out of concern for the Emperor. Lu Yumin was momentarily at a loss for words. After his silence, other members of Lu’s faction came forward to argue with Cui Xun. Some even claimed that he had a past relationship with Ah’man, which was why he spoke for her. Cui Xun ridiculed them for using amorous gossip to muddy the waters. For all others, Cui Xun cited classics and listed the Great Zhou’s laws one by one, refuting them all.
Finally, Cui Xun said, “The law is something the Emperor shares with the empire. The Great Zhou established the petition drum to allow the common people to voice their grievances. Whether she is a musician from the entertainment district or a humble concubine, she has the right to strike the petition drum. This official implores Your Highness and Your Majesty not to let the Great Zhou’s petition drum fall silent from now on because of one man, Shen Que.”
Emperor Longxing’s expression had become extremely unpleasant. He looked at the officials below, all of whom appeared embarrassed, their arguments exhausted. Emperor Longxing gnashed his teeth and said, “Minister Cui, what eloquence!”
Cui Xun lowered his gaze and replied calmly: “This official is only thinking of Your Highness and Your Majesty’s best interests.”
Emperor Longxing’s knuckles turned white from his grip. Reluctantly, he said: “Fine, then keep Sheng Ah’man in custody for now, and we will discuss this matter later.”