Zhu Yan arrived near Pingkang Ward, seeing Rong Zhui standing at the door talking to someone from afar. He looked much better, though the former brightness in his eyes was gone. He wasn’t quite the same as before.
Soon someone led her to see Local Constable Chief Xu Xiangren. Zhu Yan didn’t waste time and immediately handed Xu Xiangren a letter upon meeting him.
Xu Xiangren was puzzled: “Why are you giving me a letter out of the blue?”
Zhu Yan opened the window to check the surroundings, then returned and pointed at the letter without a heading or signature:
“Find a way to deliver this letter to Her Majesty.”
Xu Xiangren was shocked, feeling the letter weigh heavily in his hand: “This is…”
Zhu Yan’s gaze stopped him. She dipped her slender fingers in tea and wrote a few characters on the table, then wiped them away.
Xu Xiangren’s expression was complex. Zhu Yan stood and walked to his side, saying in a low voice: “Lives are at stake. Don’t hesitate, Elder Brother Xu.”
Xu Xiangren’s body trembled. Seeing Zhu Yan’s determined gaze, her beautiful eyes shimmering, he couldn’t help but smile:
“Alright.”
He suddenly felt a surge of heroic spirit.
Knowing this method was dangerous, Zhu Yan hesitated slightly: “Elder Brother Xu, if…”
Xu Xiangren laughed heartily again: “Zhu Yan, you think too little of your elder brother. My title as Local Constable Chief isn’t for nothing. Even your husband wouldn’t dare to easily manipulate me.”
Zhu Yan was slightly stunned, looking at the honest curve of Xu Xiangren’s bearded smile: “I had forgotten how Elder Brother Xu became the Local Constable Chief. I’m ashamed.”
It was said that the Local Constable organization was originally established by Celestial Master Yuan Tiangong for the Empress. But because he was uninterested in leading the Local Constable, he traveled the jianghu and chose Xu Xiangren as the Local Constable Chief.
According to Shen Du, in the Grand Secretariat records, Xu Xiangren was once a renowned figure who could enter the Daming Palace as easily as walking on flat ground. He had made a bet with the Empress to steal valuable items from her palace three times amidst thousands of troops. Of course, he returned them afterward. The young Xu Xiangren sought fame, not fortune or to lose his head.
Zhu Yan cupped her hands, feeling reassured: “Then many thanks to Elder Brother Xu for your righteous assistance.”
They parted, and Xu Xiangren quickly disappeared. At a corner, Zhu Yan ran into Rong Zhui face to face. She was about to lower her head and pass by when Rong Zhui caught up, grabbing Zhu Yan’s arm and looking her up and down, with an indescribable emotion in her eyes:
“Zhu Liunu dressed as a man is no less impressive, even more handsome than Zhanheart’s young male roles when she used to perform.”
Zhu Yan’s expression changed slightly. Rong Zhui noticed her unease and pulled her into her room, pouring a cup of tea and pushing it to her: “Don’t worry, I didn’t see anything about your visit this time.”
Seeing Zhu Yan’s caution, Rong Zhui smiled bitterly,
“Someone in my position can only survive by relying on the powerful. But what the powerful want to know is up to me to decide.”
Zhu Yan’s eyes flickered. Rong Zhui stared at her face, tears slowly welling up in her eyes: “I heard that on your trip to Yingzhou, you eliminated that woman. Is it true?”
Zhu Yan nodded silently, finally adding: “I watched her turn to ashes with my own eyes.”
Hearing this, Rong Zhui wiped away her tears with an embroidered handkerchief, looking relieved: “That’s good. Next time I visit Zhanheart, I’ll tell her this good news, so she can rest in peace.”
Kuang Zhanheart had died with her heart gouged out by Madam Tang, and its whereabouts were still unknown. If her sister could find solace, it would be good.
Rong Zhui reminisced for a moment. A knock came at the door, and her expression tensed. She stood and walked to a curio cabinet, turning a switch. Behind the cabinet, a hidden door appeared.
“Leave through here. No one will know.”
Zhu Yan thanked her, about to leave when Rong Zhui stopped her, looking at her: “Zhu Liunu must have a family. It’s best not to come here often in the future.”
She let go of her hand,
“Today is the start of winter. It’s cold outside. Take this cloak to keep warm.”
Without waiting for a response, she thrust a brocade cloak embroidered with red plums and lined with silver fox fur into Zhu Yan’s hands. When Zhu Yan left and looked down closely, she saw “For Zhanheart” embroidered in the corner of the lining, signed by Rong Zhui and dated the third day of the tenth month—today.
Was this cloak made by Rong Zhui in memory of Kuang Zhanheart, or had she been making it until today?
Wrapping herself tightly in the new cloak, Zhu Yan walked into the cold wind on the street.
A few days later, the Ministry of Justice received an imperial edict pardoning General Kenaxiseluo’s family. They were released, their mansion returned, and the general was reinstated to his original position.
But Lai Luozhi wasn’t punished. Although Zhu Yan didn’t know what General Kenaxiseluo had written in his letter to the Empress, he had likely separated this incident from Lai Luozhi to seek clemency.
He knew that even if he exposed Lai Luozhi, the Empress probably wouldn’t punish him, and he wouldn’t be able to save himself.
With the Empress personally ordering their release, even Lai Luozhi wouldn’t dare to openly frame them again.
As for the Local Constable organization, they were never mentioned as being involved in General Kenaxiseluo’s case from beginning to end. Only then did Zhu Yan truly believe that Xu Xiangren was more than just a simple, honest uncle.
Walking briskly back to the Shen residence, she was surprised to find Shen Du had returned home earlier than her, sitting at the table with a gloomy face.
Zhu Yan looked questioningly at the housekeeper, who shook his head, indicating he didn’t know, then called for meals to be prepared.
“Why did you return home so early today?” Zhu Yan approached him, asking with concern, “Did you encounter some difficult problem?”
But Shen Du remained motionless, his cold eyes like the frosty weather outside, falling on her. He reached out to grab her hand as she was removing her cloak, his cold eyes narrowing:
“Whose is this?”
Zhu Yan was in a good mood today and was used to Shen Du’s cold face, so she didn’t react immediately and answered honestly: “I went to the Tongming House, and Madam Rong Zhui gave it to me.”
She explained further,
“It’s embroidered with today’s date inside. It must have been embroidered by Rong Zhui in memory of Kuang Zhanheart, but she gave it to me.”
Shen Du’s eyes darkened, seeming fierce: “It’s not your day off. You should have been on duty at the Ministry of Justice. Why did you go to Tongming House? Was there a criminal case there?”
“Of course not,” Zhu Yan was about to speak but pulled back her reason, saying lightly, “I went there to return the Local Constable seal to Elder Brother Xu.”
Shen Du’s expression worsened, fixing on her: “Didn’t you return that Local Constable seal to him the day before yesterday?”
It was a statement, not a question.
Zhu Yan thought for a moment and turned back: “Did you have someone follow me?”
Questioned, Shen Du’s face showed rare embarrassment, but he quickly composed himself: “Do you know how dangerous it was for you to deliver a message for General Kenaxiseluo?”
He was scolding her for being reckless.
Zhu Yan was still upset about being monitored by Shen Du’s people, and hearing this made her impatient: “We can’t just stand by and watch people die, can we?”
Choked with anger, Shen Du was momentarily speechless. But he couldn’t bring himself to lash out at her, so he took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.
“Xu Xiangren kept it very secret. Otherwise, the Imperial Guard would have intercepted it earlier.”
Zhu Yan couldn’t listen anymore. Once she decided to do something, no one could dissuade her, especially when lives were at stake.