Song Chuyi didn’t feel any warmth in her heart that had been soaking in ice-cold dread until she laid eyes on Zhou Weizhao, and only then did she let out a gentle sigh of relief.
Zhou Weizhao’s hidden chamber was arranged with extreme elegance. All four walls were whitewashed to a snowy brightness. In the very center hung Master Xiwei’s “Autumn Frost Painting,” while the other three walls were painted with rolling mountain and water landscapes. Thick woolen felt carpets covered the floor, and in the middle stood a purple sandalwood table carved with cloud and bat patterns on splayed legs. Atop the table now sat a bowl-sized potted peony with red, yellow, and white blooms clustered together in layers of heavy petals like stacked clouds, so captivating one couldn’t look away.
On top of the woolen carpet lay another square mat made of white fox fur, perfectly arranged. Zhou Weizhao sat upon it and upon hearing Song Chuyi’s sigh of relief, couldn’t help but laugh: “So you do know fear after all.”
Song Chuyi knelt down properly, picked up the tea that had just been poured from the table and took a sip, staring at Zhou Weizhao without blinking: “How did Your Highness happen to arrive so fortuitously to become my lifesaver? Just now, if Qing Zhuo hadn’t led us here, I would have been torn limb from limb by Han Zhi.”
She always dressed plainly when going out, striving not to attract attention, and this time was no different. She wore a blue right-lapel jacket with gold-trimmed edges embroidered with bamboo, beneath which she wore a frost-white pleated skirt with gold-locked borders. Apart from a single gold hairpin with a longevity character on her head, she had no other adornments, appearing as fresh and clean as a gardenia flower that had just bloomed and caught the morning dew.
From outside came the muffled sounds of ransacking—boxes being overturned and cabinets searched—punctuated by the crying and pleading of women and children. Song Chuyi’s hand clutching her handkerchief tightened as a shadow of worry clouded her brow.
Zhou Weizhao maintained his composed demeanor. Seeing Song Chuyi somewhat anxious, he spoke gently: “Don’t worry. If we didn’t have at least this much ability, your people wouldn’t have lived next door for so long without realizing that this ordinary small household actually held such hidden depths.”
Ma San, Ma Yongfu, and the others had been coming and going for two years, and indeed had never once noticed anything amiss about the seemingly ordinary household next door. Thinking this through, Song Chuyi’s tightly wound body relaxed somewhat, and she discreetly studied Zhou Weizhao again.
These past two years, while Ye Jingchuan had certainly been busy, Zhou Weizhao hadn’t been idle either. His Majesty had always doted on him, and even when sending him out for experience, wouldn’t permit him to go to flood-stricken areas, instead sending him on a trip to Jiangnan.
Going to Jiangnan, he naturally couldn’t avoid meeting those salt merchants who were rich as could be yet wouldn’t part with a single hair, and also encountered the affair with the Zhang family of the Yangzhou Weaving Bureau.
He had always been unfathomably deep, but now after two years of experience, his entire being practically radiated steadiness and composure, making him even more inscrutable.
“I heard that Qing Zhuo and Han Feng bungled the matter for you.” Zhou Weizhao’s slender fingers tapped the table surface as he raised his eyes to look at her: “No wonder you went to seek your uncle to get people to handle things.”
He even knew that Han Zhi had lured Song Chuning away, and that she herself had sent people to intercept and kill him midway. For some reason, Song Chuning felt her heart leap with alarm and lowered her eyes—eyes that seemed capable of speaking—as she laughed lightly: “Your Highness is always so perceptive and omnipresent. Sometimes I truly think Your Highness is like me, also someone who has lived through two lifetimes.”
“Not everyone has that kind of fortune.” Zhou Weizhao remained unhurried and unruffled, watching as Han Feng brought up a lotus-shaped tiered food box and set it on the table: “You were favored by heaven. I, however, rely on human effort.”
He paused, not keeping Song Chuyi in suspense: “My mother consort has never gotten along with his mother. You should know this. That being the case, how could I not be on guard? The people around him that he can use and trust are only those few anyway. I’ve had people watching them all. Over the years, there’s always some harvest.”
The discord between Lady Lu and Noble Consort Fan was already an open secret. One had the Empress backing her, the other had the Crown Prince to rely upon. For all these years, they’d been locked in constant struggle without relaxing their efforts. But in the end, the Crown Prince was also the Empress’s son, and he’d always been in poor health. Could the Empress really disregard her son for the sake of a niece? Noble Consort Fan, the Crown Prince’s Good Companion, held more favor with the Crown Prince than Lady Lu, his legitimate Crown Princess. Otherwise, Zhou Weizhao wouldn’t have been sent to Longhu Mountain by Lady Lu back then.
Thinking of this, and then of Han Zhi and Zhou Weiqi, Song Chuyi couldn’t help but worry for Zhou Weizhao.
Han Zhi, however, was enraged to the point of madness. After following them for two solid months, today the big fish had finally entered the net, but when he hauled up the net to look, where was any big fish? There wasn’t even a single shrimp.
He stood in the center of the small courtyard, his face dark with storm clouds, giving orders to Wei Yanxi through nearly clenched teeth: “Our people watched without blinking for even a moment. It was merely the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Could they have grown wings and flown away?! Search! Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground today, you must find them for me!”
Wei Yanxi had sharp eyes and immediately spotted the dog hole and the footprints on the wall. He at once sent people to pursue in different directions, then led others into the house to search it thoroughly once more. They found many tools and implements, but not a single useful letter.
Han Zhi’s eyes fixed on that red sandalwood door as he beckoned Wei Yanxi forward and jerked his chin: “Search next door too. Also send people to ask the neighbors living around here if anyone knows the background of these two households. Didn’t they say earlier that the visitors came in a carriage? They couldn’t have disposed of the carriage in such a short time. Go see if there are any clues in the carriage.”
But when he personally led people to practically turn the neighboring house upside down, they couldn’t even find a single cockroach. Instead, the elderly, weak, women, and children of the neighboring family were frightened half to death, continuously crying and shouting that they would report this to the authorities.
The carriage was also completely clean—it was rented, the driver had long since disappeared, and inside there was nothing that could prove the owner’s identity. They’d even thought of this, handling all loose ends so thoroughly.
He still refused to give up—the neighboring residence shared a wall with this household. If one truly wanted to escape, this house would naturally be the best choice. No matter how honest they appeared on the surface, inside they might be shrewd at heart. Even if they themselves had no problems, who’s to say they hadn’t been moved by a few extra gold or silver taels to help with the cover-up? He led Wei Yanxi to ransack the place once more, even sending women servants into the rear courtyard to search, and invited people from across the street to come confirm whether this household had any extra people.
The people from across the street trembled with fear as they forced themselves to examine everyone, repeatedly saying there were none. Living as door-to-door neighbors on the same street for so many years, they knew exactly how many people lived in each household as clear as a mirror—there could be no mistake.
Han Zhi fumed with a murderous rage. He’d had Wei Yanxi follow them for so long and finally there was some movement, but just when they could have caught someone, everything had vanished. How could he be content? How could he let this go? Furious, he kicked over a long table in the courtyard, his eyes cold and sinister as he swept his gaze over everyone present.