Wang Daxia finally convinced Ding Rukui to cooperate.
Wei Caiwei prepared a drug that made Ding Rukui’s face ashen gray, looking like someone who had died from tuberculosis.
Lu Bing reported it as death from illness. Ding Rukui’s death sentence had been delayed for ten years, and he didn’t die under the executioner’s blade but from disease – how ironic.
The old fox Yan Shifan heard the news of death and felt a weight lifted from his heart. He could hardly believe it ended so unexpectedly and personally came to question Lu Bing. After seven consecutive days of heavy rain, the weather cleared and there was an autumn freshness in the air. With the cool climate, Yan Shifan could finally go out and move around.
Lu Bing’s other half of his body could now move, but he still walked with a limp. Yan Shifan was also one-eyed – both men had defects, quite a pair of in-laws.
Lu Bing said, “This time he truly died of tuberculosis. Fearing the disease would spread, we wrapped the body in bedding and burned it all together. Eunuch Mai from the Eastern Depot sent Eastern Depot coroners to examine the body and personally witnessed the cremation before reporting to the palace. If Dong Lou doesn’t trust me, can’t he trust the Eastern Depot?”
Not trusting the Eastern Depot meant not trusting Emperor Jiajing. Yan Shifan naturally didn’t dare, “Of course not. I just felt that he was somewhat of a figure and wanted to see him off on his final journey. I didn’t expect to not even see him one last time.”
These crocodile tears – as if he wasn’t the one who three months ago used Ding Wu to force Ding Rukui to suicide!
Good that he was dead – it was over once and for all. He would carry the blame for his father Yan Song for the rest of his life, never able to turn things around.
Ding Wu didn’t even see his father’s final moments, only saw a jar of bone ash. Coming out of prison, he arrived at a cemetery in the suburbs where the grave pit was already dug, the stone tablet ready, just waiting for Ding Wu to break the funeral pot and bury the remains.
This was cemetery land that Wei Caiwei had paid for, and she had even hired monks and Taoist priests to perform rituals for the dead.
More than ten officials who had been friends with Ding Rukui in life actually came to the grave, wearing plain clothes to see Ding Rukui to his final rest. Seeing the former Minister of War’s funeral so shabby, they all cried bitterly.
Ding Wu didn’t cry. Like a wooden man, he broke the pot, placed the ash jar in the grave pit, and the funeral was hastily concluded. Wei Caiwei paid the remaining fees to the monks and Taoist priests.
Throughout the entire process, Ding Wu ignored Wei Caiwei, acting as if he found her funeral arrangements inadequate.
Seeing the mourning officials crying and burning memorial texts, he sneered coldly:
“Hypocrites! The man is already dead – what use are these things? My father sat in the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison for ten years on death row. What did any of you do for him? Oh, there’s one thing you did very well – stood by and watched.”
“My father endured ten years in prison and none of you rescued him. Now that he’s dead, you put on this pretentious act – isn’t it disgusting? False gentlemen!”
“And you, claiming to be my father’s prized disciple. A few days ago when I was trying to open a medicine shop to make a living, you scolded me for engaging in commerce, saying it disgraced scholars and the Ding family name. I’ve been thinking – ever since I came to the capital, you haven’t given me even a copper coin. Oh, did you expect me to live on air?”
“Can scholarly refinement and family reputation be eaten as food, or can they bring my father back from the dead? Stop this fake crying and fake mercy here – go home and cry for your own mother!”
Ding Wu’s words cut to the heart. He scolded one for every person who cried, two for every pair who cried.
He scolded away all the officials who had come to pay respects, who pointed fingers saying “each generation is worse than the last,” “a tiger father produces a dog son,” “your actions shame your father in the underworld,” “I heard you even had dealings with the White Lotus Sect – have you forgotten how your father ended up in prison?”
Ding Wu had completely let himself go and refuted each accusation: “What tiger father, dog son – if you compare yourself to beasts, don’t drag me into it.”
“Yes, your next generation is quite impressive – you betray trust and abandon righteousness, so your son can commit murder and arson. I just opened a medicine shop to make a living – I can’t compare to your son.”
“If I really had dealings with the White Lotus Sect, would I be able to get out of prison to hold my father’s funeral? You old fool believe whatever anyone tells you. You’re senile – if you’re this confused, don’t be an official anymore. Go home and hold your grandson – oh wait, you better look carefully before holding him, don’t mistake neighbor Old Wang’s grandson for your own…”
Ding Wu fought the crowd with words alone, didn’t shed a single tear, but spent plenty of saliva and scolded to his heart’s content.
The mourning officials were each infuriated to the point of collapse. They threw their prepared memorial texts into the fire pit and left. Ding Wu grabbed the burning memorial texts, threw them on the ground, stamped them out with his feet, returned the text fragments, and scolded:
“You’re not worthy to see my father off. My father doesn’t want to see you hypocrites who only know self-preservation! What’s this – you stood by and watched for ten years, ignored our father and son, and now that my father died of tuberculosis, you write these earth-moving memorial texts to show off your literary talents? You’re truly seeking fame and fishing for reputation, not even sparing the dead.”
Ding Wu loudly scorned the memorial texts, “I’m not moved by you – rather, you disgust me.” He then sneered mockingly, “If you truly came sincerely to see my father to the underworld, what use are these broken texts and sour words? Did any of you bring funeral money? No, right? Hmph, if anyone gives me one hundred taels of silver as funeral money, I’ll acknowledge your sincerity. Burn memorial texts all you want – I don’t mind if you burn a hundred of them. If you don’t give funeral money, get lost.”
Seeing the former elegant young nobleman become a profit-seeking rogue, the officials all expressed heartbreak and considered Ding Wu “beyond redemption” and “self-degrading.”
Ding Wu grabbed newly filled grave dirt and threw it at the officials, “Scolding me in front of my father – when did I get so many extra fathers? Go home and scold your own sons!”
Yellow earth flew everywhere, forcing the officials to flee with their heads covered, saying they would never deal with this wastrel Ding Wu again.
Ding Wu immediately became “famous overnight throughout the world” in the capital, but with a terrible reputation.
This wasn’t enough. After finishing the funeral, Ding Wu followed Wei Caiwei back to Sweet Water Lane. As soon as they entered, he saw a chest and two bundles in the main hall – exactly what Ding Wu had brought from Tieling.
Ding Wu said coldly, “What is the meaning of this?”
In front of the onlooking residents of Sweet Water Lane, Wei Caiwei struggled to say the words she had long prepared, “Though you and I are sworn siblings, ultimately there are differences between men and women. Previously when you had no house and came to me, I naturally took you in. Now that you have a residence on Toutiao Hutong, it’s inconvenient for me to keep you here. Please leave.”
Ding Wu sneered, “You used to hope that my father would one day be released from prison, restored to office, and I would regain my status as an official’s son, making you a young lady of the Minister’s mansion. You had sparrow-to-phoenix dreams, so you went along with everything I wanted. Now that my father is dead and you have nothing to hope for, you’re driving me away. You really are such a ‘loyal and devoted’ sworn sister.”
Wei Caiwei’s face went white with anger, “If I truly had such intentions, knowing your father was dead, I would have simply washed my hands of the matter. Why would I spend money and effort to arrange your father’s funeral?”
Ding Wu scorned Wei Caiwei’s contributions, “My father was once a first-rank court official, and you made his funeral so shabby – you still have the nerve to mention it? You just wanted a good reputation! Little do you know, with your current reputation, even building a thousand chastity arches couldn’t wash you clean!”
Wei Caiwei’s trembling hand pointed at the luggage, “Get out!”
Ding Wu sat cross-armed on the arhat bed, “I’m not leaving. This is my home.”
Wei Caiwei picked up a bundle to throw outside, nearly hitting an onlooking passerby. As she was about to throw the second one, Ding Wu pressed it down, and the two were struggling when Wang Daxia arrived “just in time,” pushing Ding Wu down with one palm, “How dare you be disrespectful to Doctor Wei?”
Wang Daxia was about to pounce and fight Ding Wu when Wei Caiwei stopped him, “Stop! He is my sworn brother after all. He suffered unjust imprisonment and the pain of losing his father, so he acts and speaks crazily. He even scolded all the mourning officials – he’s just a madman now. Don’t make things difficult for him.”
Wang Daxia pointed at Ding Wu, “But he was just rude to you.”
Wei Caiwei said, “I don’t blame him. Regardless, he once saved my life. If not for him, I would have died long ago.”
Wang Daxia stopped moving against Ding Wu, carried out the other bundle and chest, placed them in Sweet Water Lane, and said to Ding Wu, “For Doctor Wei’s sake, I won’t use force. Leave on your own.”
Ding Wu, bullying the weak but fearing the strong, knew that Young Master Wang’s reputation was worse than his own. He had to shoulder his luggage and leave, declaring as he went, “Don’t bully the poor youth!”
Wei Caiwei sobbed in the house – this time she truly cried, crying for Ding Wu’s self-degradation. His scolding words just now pierced her heart, leaving it full of holes.
Wang Daxia mocked Ding Wu outside, “At the advanced age of twenty-two, you still have the nerve to call yourself a youth? I’m fourteen – should I call myself a child?”
Passersby laughed – the people of the northern district just loved watching drama.
Ding Wu didn’t dare talk back and bore the humiliation while dragging his luggage, disappearing into Sweet Water Lane to live in the unfinished building on Toutiao Hutong.
The neighboring Wanhuo Trading Company had been confiscated, its gates sealed with official stamps. Toutiao Hutong was very desolate, particularly bleak in the autumn wind.
Ding Wu was released without charges but didn’t continue renovating his shop. He set up a mourning hall to observe mourning for his father. The occasional persistent official who came to pay condolences was driven away by his venomous sarcasm.
This was what they meant by “abandoned by all” – nothing more than this.
After ten consecutive days of martial law in the capital without catching the sect leader, restrictions gradually relaxed. The dozen-plus city gates no longer checked every passerby’s travel documents and household registration, nor did they unlock and carefully search every box before allowing passage – they only conducted spot checks.
A month later, the wanted posters for White Lotus Sect leader Zhao Quan pasted throughout the streets and alleys had faded in the rain, wind, and sun. The portraits became blurred, the paste on the back dried out, and poster after poster was blown away by wind, torn into pieces, trampled underfoot by passersby, as if they had never been posted at all.
The capital lifted martial law and everything returned to normal.
In the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison, Wu Dianyong finally awaited Wang Daxia, who handed him a complete set of new household registration and travel documents, “Although we didn’t catch the sect leader, you did cooperate with our Embroidered Uniform Guard to completely uproot the ** Hall, and the Royal Arsenal also stopped leaking firearms. Commander Lu feels you made significant contributions – merit should be rewarded. Commander Lu has decided to give you a new identity to start life over. Follow the righteous path from now on and don’t engage in crooked schemes anymore.”
They were going to release him from prison!
Wu Dianyong was overjoyed and knelt to kowtow to Wang Daxia upon receiving the registration.
Wang Daxia said, “We’re sending you to Yunnan. The White Lotus Sect has no influence in the southwest, so you’ll live in Yunnan from now on. You just need to report to Embroidered Uniform Guard contacts there once a month and can’t wander around. Once the Embroidered Uniform Guard completely eliminates the White Lotus Sect, you can go wherever you want.”
Wu Dianyong was ecstatic, “As long as I don’t have to stay in prison, I’ll go anywhere. I believe the Embroidered Uniform Guard can eliminate the White Lotus Sect within a few years.”
Wang Daxia gave him a change of clothes and an envelope of silver, “You’ll have to endure sleeping in the cell one more night tonight. Someone will escort you to Yunnan first thing tomorrow morning.”
The next day, Wu Dianyong was indeed released from prison. He asked the escorting soldiers for a razor and shaved off his conspicuous beard. After eating a month of prison food without a drop of oil, his originally plump figure had quickly slimmed down. With his beard shaved, he looked like a different person – younger and more handsome.
Only the black mole between his eyebrows was hard to hide. Wu Dianyong wore a bamboo hat pulled down low and followed the guards out through Chaoyang Gate. They walked east from Sanli Village to Wuli Village, with fewer and fewer people and increasingly desolate roads – there was hardly any path left to walk.
Wu Dianyong became wary, “Officers, haven’t we taken the wrong road?”
The soldier said, “No mistake, this is the right road. We’re taking a shortcut. Keep walking!”
Wu Dianyong walked in front, always feeling the soldiers meant to harm him. As he walked, he kept looking back and indeed saw a soldier drawing his sword behind him, swinging toward the back of his neck!
Wu Dianyong was so frightened he rolled on the ground, dodging the blade, but the soldier swung again and pressed closer. Wu Dianyong desperately closed his eyes, but the blade didn’t fall. Instead, he heard a muffled sound.
Wu Dianyong opened his eyes and saw a long sword piercing through the soldier’s chest, with blood on the blade tip.
The soldier released his grip and fell. Behind him was Ding Wu with a bundle on his back.
It turned out Ding Wu had stabbed the soldier from behind, “killing” him.
Ding Wu said, “I’ve been around Wang Daxia long enough to know their methods. They’re experts at crossing rivers and burning bridges. Once they’ve squeezed you dry and confirmed you have no value, they’ll eliminate you. They would never support an idle person eating free meals. This desolate area of Wuli Village – who knows how many wronged souls the Embroidered Uniform Guard has buried here.”
Author’s Note: This chapter gives 200 red envelopes. Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend. Ding Liuye abandons light for darkness to become an undercover agent, becoming Lu Miou’s… informant.
There’s only one character difference between informant and lover, so the Parrot CP’s relationship has already advanced by leaps and bounds (dog head)