The womenfolk at Ningde Courtyard chatted about their children’s marriage prospects and lamented how raising daughters was truly a losing proposition—idle gossip of that sort. They didn’t seem to realize how the deeper implications contained within were truly enough to keep one from sleeping peacefully. In any case, they only needed to be cautious with their words and conduct, follow along, and not cause trouble for the men. However, in the study at the front, Cui Yingshu truly could not be so relaxed and carefree. He honestly confided to Song Chengru: “Teacher gave me advance warning that the matter in Hubei will likely be difficult to handle.”
Seeing Song Chengru raise his eyebrows to look at him, Cui Yingshu sighed. “His Majesty is reprimanding you, but he’s also conveniently given me a difficult problem.”
Song Chengru sensed something was amiss, then suddenly heard Song Jue beside him say: “It seems the Wei family submitted a memorial saying that Master Wei and Wei Yansheng are trapped in Hubei.”
This was Madam Wei’s selfish concern. With Master Wei and Wei Yansheng delayed in returning for so long, her heart was anxious beyond measure. Previously, with the Crown Prince firmly in charge and her son being a capable man under Prince Dongping’s command, she naturally had little to fear. But now times had changed. Watching the Crown Prince fall from power—after all, the Grand Prince was Zhou Weizhao, not Zhou Weiqi. Zhou Weiqi was currently keeping his tail tucked between his legs and barely daring to act, so how could he dare reach out to protect the Wei family father and son trapped in Xiangfan? Since Prince Dongping had become a cowardly turtle, wanting to ignore the matter entirely, she couldn’t afford to. After much deliberation, figuring a desperate pig doesn’t fear boiling water, she simply made up her mind and had her brother-in-law who served in the Ministry of Justice submit a memorial.
“Weren’t the Wei father and son already fished out by Jiang Tianping long ago?” Song Chengru couldn’t quite remember clearly. Truthfully, this matter wasn’t particularly important. Song Chuyi only cared about those 270,000 taels of silver, thinking only to prevent them from falling into the hands of Dongping and the Crown Prince. As for everything else, after that scene at Qingxu Temple in the city outskirts, things had been chaotic and busy right up until now, and in the confusion, she simply couldn’t recall the matter. Now that Song Chengru thought about it, he vaguely remembered this Wei father and son pair.
Song Jue knew the situation somewhat more clearly than Song Chengru. He nodded, confirming Song Chengru’s memory: “Grandfather is correct. Jiang Tianping released them long ago. These two men…”
Song Chengru clapped his hands and laughed. “This has the same marvelous similarity to those admonishing words I received today. How could His Majesty truly care about the Wei father and son’s life or death? Yingshu, when you go this time, your primary task is to first deal with Jiang Tianping, and handle it as thoroughly as possible.”
By “thoroughly,” he meant that if killing was necessary, it had to be done so perfectly that no one could say a word. Inspector Wang was also going back to Hubei this time. No one could clearly say how Inspector Wang managed to escape Jiang Tianping’s encirclement and scurry back to the capital, so it was better to be cautious. Even if not guarding against him, one still had to guard against those hot-headed people from the Chen family.
Therefore, to cover up the Crown Prince’s disgraceful deeds, they naturally had to deal with Jiang Tianping first, lest he lose his head and say things he shouldn’t. However, this word “deal” also contained great learning—it had to be done with proper justification, with authority to act first and report later, but there also had to be sufficient reasons why killing was absolutely necessary. Of course, for Cui Yingshu, this wasn’t difficult.
Cui Yingshu agreed. Seeing that Song Chengru had already recovered from Emperor Jianzhang’s reprimand, he couldn’t help teasing: “As expected of someone who’s eaten more salt than I’ve eaten rice. While I’m still trembling with trepidation, you’re already calm and composed.”
How could Song Chengru truly be calm and composed? His heart had been hanging in suspense for quite a while too. If it weren’t for Master Qingfeng’s eloquent tongue, and Song Chuyi’s consistent clarity and foresight, how would he dare to advance by retreating and use that trick of offering to resign—heaven knows he was truly afraid Emperor Jianzhang would nod on the spot and tell him to go home and enjoy his retirement.
However, this wasn’t without gain. Through this test, he knew that the loyal minister posture he’d maintained before still worked with Emperor Jianzhang. Emperor Jianzhang clearly still wanted to continue using him. Since that was the case, it was equivalent to testing the waters ahead of time for Cui Yingshu. When Cui Yingshu went to Hubei this time, he could act freely and openly.
After talking for a while, servants came from behind to say the banquet had been laid out. Song Chengru led everyone toward the rear. Cui Yingshu fell back a step to walk beside him, discussing further: “Originally I hadn’t expected the Hubei matter would be so urgent. I thought I could leave after Xiaoyi’s wedding, but now I can see I must depart immediately, which makes Ayan’s situation rather troublesome.”
Since Master Qingfeng was going to Hubei to find relatives, that couldn’t be delayed. Even Cui Yingshu couldn’t accommodate Song Yan’s schedule. Song Chengru nodded. “I anticipated this point early on and asked Ayan his own thoughts. His idea is to have Master Qingfeng go ahead with you first. He’ll go to Hubei after the sixth day of the tenth month, meet up with Master Qingfeng there, and once they’ve found the person, go directly to Shu to enroll in the academy.”
Master Qingfeng made sense—for a young man, more life experience was a good thing. Since the situation in Hubei was so perilous, going to gain knowledge and experience local conditions while ensuring safety was very necessary.
Cui Yingshu had no objections. He himself deeply regretted not being able to watch Song Chuyi get married, but being in this position, it was originally something that couldn’t be helped, so he could only compromise.
The banquet was set in the Crystal Pavilion. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the evening breeze was both comfortable and slightly cool against one’s body. A huge round moon hung in the center of the sky. Cui Yingshu listened for a moment to the sounds of the womenfolk beyond the screen, then cupped his hands toward Song Chengru and Song Ren: “While the princess and the others are in the capital, I must trouble you both to take thorough care of them.”
This trip would be at least three to five years. It was perfectly normal for Cui Yingshu to be uneasy. Song Chengru had just agreed when Lin Hai came running in from outside, wiping sweat as he leaned toward his ear to speak softly.
Even someone as seasoned as Old Master Song couldn’t help changing expression, his hand hanging at his side clenching tightly into a fist.
Cui Yingshu and Song Jue, being expert at reading expressions, both sensed something was wrong and looked toward Song Chengru one after another.
Even the womenfolk’s side seemed to know Lin Hai’s arrival was too poorly timed, suddenly falling silent.
Song Chengru forced a laugh, saying to Song Yan: “Go over and tell your grandmother and the others it’s nothing, they should be as happy as they please. I need to discuss something with your uncle in the study—it’s not anything important.”
Song Yan knew how to read the room. He agreed and turned to reassure Old Madam Song and the others.
However, Song Chengru took Cui Yingshu and walked rapidly for some distance before stopping under a osmanthus tree hung with silk lanterns, looking at Cui Yingshu’s brightly shining eyes and furrowing his brow. “Yingshu, you must be even more careful on this trip to Hubei.”
Cui Yingshu knew there must be something significant here. He nodded, assuming a listening posture.
“His Majesty made a temporary decision. The imperial edict establishes principal and deputy commissioners—you as principal, Prince Dongping as deputy, to go together to Hubei to provide disaster relief.” Song Chengru sighed. “It seems the situation is even more severe than we imagined.”