Su Jin rode her horse all the way to the Court of Judicial Review. The warden of the medical prison initially wanted to obstruct her, but the clerk from the Imperial Censorate following behind Su Jin held up a legal document and said: “This is Censor Su, newly appointed by the Imperial Censorate. Please show the way, warden.”
Hearing this, the warden dared not voice further objections. He glanced at the document and said to Su Jin: “Reporting to Lord Censor, we don’t have anyone named Chao Qing here.”
At that time, when Chao Qing fell into misfortune, entering prison was for self-preservation. How could he use his real name?
Su Jin said: “No need to look for someone named Chao Qing. This official asks you—a scholar in appearance, refined and clean features, imprisoned between the tenth and twelfth days of the fourth month. Is there such a person?”
The warden thought for a moment, then quickly said: “Yes, yes there is.” He then led the way for Su Jin.
The medical prison was dark as a sunless abyss, filled with the pungent smell of medicinal herbs, yet still unable to mask the stench of blood.
A jailer at the side raised a lamp and stopped before a cramped cell: “Lord Censor, this is the place.”
The person in the cell sat leaning against the wall. By the dim yellow firelight, one could only see his disheveled hair, filthy prison robe, and the empty sleeve hanging at his side—his right hand was truly gone.
Su Jin took the candlestick, entered the cell, and slowly crouched before him, reaching out to brush aside the messy strands of hair from his forehead.
It was Chao Qing.
In just over half a month, his face had become gaunt and sunken.
He seemed to be contemplating something, his eyes utterly lifeless, until the tangled hair was brushed aside and his eyes slowly returned to awareness.
Chao Qing looked toward Su Jin, appearing somewhat unfamiliar. For an instant, she felt as if he no longer recognized her. But after staring blankly for a long while, the corner of his mouth suddenly moved, then slowly formed into a smile.
Su Jin’s eyes immediately reddened. She supported Chao Qing’s right arm, her throat tight with emotion. She lowered her head, and only after a long while managed to say: “Yunsheng, I’ve come too late.”
There was a tranquility born of surviving disaster in Chao Qing’s gaze. Though his smile was very faint, it was also very genuine.
He said softly: “You’re not late. I was just dreaming of you. Confined all these days, my will has been worn down. I nearly thought I’d never see you again in this life.”
The clerk from the Imperial Censorate behind them asked: “Censor Su, Lord Zhao is already on his way here. May I ask whether to conduct the interrogation here or move to a cleaner location?”
Only then did Su Jin remember that the Imperial Censorate’s purpose in finding Chao Qing was for the scholars’ disturbance case.
She thought for a moment, then stood and asked the warden: “Do you have clean quarters here, hot water, and fresh clothes?”
The warden hesitated: “We have them, but they’re not very clean.” Seeing Su Jin’s brow furrow slightly, he said fearfully: “Lord Censor, please forgive me. This subordinate will immediately order people to prepare. It can be ready within an hour.”
Su Jin shook her head: “An hour is too long.”
A jailer at the side said carefully: “Reporting to Lord Censor, across the street from the medical prison is an inn. The proprietress there is familiar with us. How about this subordinate go ask the proprietress to lend us a room and prepare hot water and clean clothes?”
Su Jin thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Watching as the clerk and jailer helped Chao Qing onto the carriage, she was about to follow when she suddenly paused and fixed the warden with a stare: “Is the physician from your medical prison available?”
The warden was a clever man. Hearing this question, he immediately replied: “Yes, Lord Censor, please rest assured. This subordinate will immediately have the physician go to the inn as well to examine Young Master Chao’s wounds and change his dressings.”
The jailer escorted Chao Qing to a private room on the second floor of the inn. After Chao Qing, dragging his severed arm, finished washing, applied medicine, and changed into clean clothes, more than half an hour had already passed.
From the second-floor room, one could lean on the railing and gaze out. Nearby were bustling market streets; in the distance stood majestic palace towers. The imperial palace loomed darkly. Who knew whether Shiyu, having stepped into these deep palace halls, would have any foothold there.
Three knocks sounded at the door. Chao Qing said: “Come in.”
He didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. His gaze remained on the towering palace buildings as he said lightly: “I just heard them say you’ve been promoted to Supervising Censor of the Imperial Censorate?”
Su Jin softly hummed in acknowledgment.
Chao Qing said: “What’s so good about being a censor? What this court is like—after all we’ve experienced together, haven’t you seen through it yet?
“Though His Majesty governs diligently, he’s also autocratic, bloodthirsty, and brutal in his killings. Ministers hold sinecures and excel at scheming for position. Who has ever truly thought of the common people? Though there are a few who govern clearly and wisely, they too must be influenced by circumstances, taking roundabout paths to achieve their wishes, acting against their conscience to gain something.”
Chao Qing fell silent for a moment, then said softly: “Shiyu, these days in the medical prison, I’ve thought it through clearly. If I can leave here alive, I’ll depart this place of trouble.”
Su Jin didn’t respond.
Chao Qing continued: “Go to Shu. The mountains there are treacherous and remote, like a place beyond the mundane world, just like Songshan County in the past. Thinking back now on our days in Songshan County, though there were also injustices and indignation, those were good times.
“You worked as a clerk at the county office, I sold paintings and calligraphy on the streets. In spring we’d admire flowers, in winter we’d walk in snow. When tired and weary, I’d come find you, and we’d share a cup of wine at a tavern together, watching the wine alleys and markets, ordinary households.”
Su Jin lowered her eyes: “Would that truly allow us to remain aloof, helpless in the face of suffering around us, able only to turn a blind eye? Didn’t we study so diligently back then precisely to aspire to a life of integrity?”
Chao Qing said: “If it were just me, fine—either way it’s just one life. What does it matter to be a modest, honest clerk and be buried in some distant place? But you—you should leave all the more. With your status, the higher you climb, the more precarious your position becomes. If you sink deeper and deeper, only death can free you.”
Su Jin also stood at the railing, saying quietly: “I have no family. If you tell me to leave, where should I go?”
Chao Qing was silent for a moment, then suddenly turned to look at her: “You can leave with me.”
He said: “Though I can no longer paint now, my learning remains. I can become a schoolteacher. You’re the same—with your mastery of classics and literature, if you opened a private school, with your talent and learning, countless people would clamor to be your disciples.”
As Chao Qing spoke, his eyes lowered slightly, and he said gently: “Of course, if you’ve tired of living this life as a man, you could actually do nothing at all. You could live peacefully in a corner, spending days admiring flowers and writing poetry, passing the time. I… will support you.”
He paused, then said through gritted teeth: “You needn’t worry that because you’ve lived contrary to convention all your life, no one is willing to stay by your side. I’m willing to care for you for the rest of your life.”
Su Jin turned her head and stared at Chao Qing in a daze.
After a moment, she smiled faintly, turned to gaze at the majestic palace towers in the distance, seemingly contemplating something. After a long while, she said softly: “That won’t be necessary. I want to stay here.”
Seeing her like this, Chao Qing froze, then suddenly smiled bitterly: “Shiyu, there’s someone in your heart you care for.”
Su Jin lowered her eyelashes. Only after a long while did she say: “There have always been people in my heart I care for—Yuanzhe, Gaoyan, and you, Yunsheng.”
Chao Qing shook his head: “No, this is different. Shiyu, I’ve struggled through life and death with you all this way. I know deeply that you’re a decisive person. Whatever decision you make, you never hesitate. If you’d determined to stay and be this censor, you wouldn’t delay for even a moment. But just now, you hesitated. You’re not someone who acts on emotion, so your hesitation wasn’t because your resolve is unsteady, but because besides this aspiration in your heart, you now have another concern.”
Chao Qing looked toward the distant palace towers and asked gently: “Shiyu, is there already someone in these deep palace halls who holds your heart?”
Su Jin fell silent: “I don’t know.”
The Imperial Censorate clerk outside knocked on the door: “Lord Su, Lord Zhao has arrived and is waiting downstairs in the inn for Young Master Chao. Lord Zhao also said that the imperial decree promoting you to Supervising Censor will arrive today. Please return to the Capital Bureau early to await the decree. As for Young Master Chao, he will take care of him.”
Su Jin replied: “Understood.”
Chao Qing looked at her, turned his face away, and smiled to himself: “I truly envy him. I wonder what virtue or ability this person possesses to gain your regard.”
Su Jin was quiet for a long time before saying: “Yunsheng, the path I’ve chosen is destined to be perilous. Therefore, even if I have concerns I shouldn’t have, I can only bury them in my heart and dare not show them to others. So I cannot think too much about it.”
Chao Qing nodded: “You and I will be separated by heaven and earth from now on. There are some words I’ll say to you today to ease my heart.
“I will go to Shu, and there I’ll compile books and write scholarship. In the future, when one day you’re tired and weary, come to Shu. This world has fierce winds and dense rains, and you drift without anchor. Consider it your elder brother doing what he can to hold up a corner of roof over your head.”
Having said this, Chao Qing took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
Then he suddenly turned and walked toward the door: “That’s it then. I’ll leave the capital another day. You needn’t come see me off.”
Su Jin froze and called out: “Yunsheng.”
Chao Qing stopped at the threshold, turned his face slightly to the side, but didn’t look at her: “Su Shiyu, you already know my feelings for you aren’t merely those of a confidant. Now why do you call out to me again, adding to my distress? You and I have known each other for years. Now we each have our own aspirations. In the future, don’t exhaust yourself running about for me. Remember—hesitation and indecision will only bring chaos.”
As he spoke, he raised his left hand to push the door, but the instant his fingertips touched the door panel, he drew back.
This door seemed like an insurmountable chasm that from this day forward would separate him and Su Jin at two ends of the world.
He lowered his eyes and suddenly said in a low voice: “Shiyu, you were raised as a boy by Prime Minister Xie from childhood. You shouldn’t be one to bind your heart and constrain your feelings like this. I know there’s unrestrained spirit in your nature, free and untrammeled ease. I also know that at present you’re trapped in this difficult situation and cannot yet live with complete freedom. But I still hope that one day in the future, you can use all your abilities to dispel the clouds and see the sun. May you love what you love, hate what you hate, no longer demanding too much of yourself or constraining yourself. May you live this life with a clear conscience. May all your heart’s wishes come true. If so, even in distant lands, I too will have peace of mind.”
Having said this, Chao Qing resolutely pushed open the door and strode out.
Su Jin stood rooted to the spot for a moment, her heart as boundless and bewildered as vast rain. After a long while, she finally left the room. Descending the stairs, she stood at the stairwell landing and saw Zhao Yan ordering a clerk to help Chao Qing onto a carriage.
Zhao Yan was quite amiable, saying: “Young Master Chao, when you think of something, just tell this official. The Imperial Censorate’s recorder will naturally take notes.”
Standing in a patch of interwoven bright and shadowed light, Chao Qing was silent for a moment before saying: “Lord Zhao, after losing my right hand, I’ve already practiced writing with my left hand in the medical prison. Though I don’t write well and write slowly, I’ll need to use it more in the future anyway, so I won’t trouble others.”
However, before Zhao Yan could bring back the statement from interrogating Chao Qing, in the Imperial Censorate’s secret chamber, Zeng Ping had already signed his confession.
Though called a secret chamber, it was actually more like a prison—a long corridor with several dark rooms on either side, each filled with various torture instruments, appearing bloodily ominous.
This secret chamber had dedicated guards on normal days. Without special permission, even Deputy Censor-in-Chief Zhao Yan couldn’t enter.
Zeng Ping’s left and right hands were suspended by iron chains from a torture rack. His right foot had lost its five toes, and his left foot was nailed to a wooden board. His body bore countless whip marks. His prison robe no longer resembled clothing—calling it tattered rags would be more accurate.
Zeng Ping’s eyes stared darkly at the person standing before him: “I’ve signed what needs signing. If you’re going to kill me, then kill me!”
Hearing these words, Liu Chaoming didn’t even lift an eyelid. He said lightly: “If you just died like this, wouldn’t that be too easy on you?”
A flash of panic crossed Zeng Ping’s eyes: “What do you want?”
Liu Chaoming said slowly: “Zeng Youliang has no sons and treats you as his own. He wouldn’t hide anything from you. So regarding the Ministry of Personnel and the Seventh Prince’s affairs, this official wants you to spit out everything, every single detail.”
Zeng Ping’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, terror flooding his eyes: “You—what use is it for you to know these things? Aren’t you afraid that knowing too much will bring mortal danger?”
Liu Chaoming paused, then suddenly laughed coldly and raised his eyes to stare at Zeng Ping: “For others, perhaps it would bring mortal danger, but for this official, this is precisely the way to establish myself.”
His eyes were like a merciless ancient well—the deeper you looked, the more bottomless they became.
Zeng Ping said fearfully: “What do you want me to say?”
Liu Chaoming looked at his body covered in bloody whip wounds, his expression somewhere between a smile and not: “There’s so much. For instance, why did Lu Yuwei of the Ministry of Justice pledge loyalty to you? He was someone Shen Qingyue cultivated with his own hands—it surely wasn’t just because of two concubines, was it? And for instance, the two guards sent out of the palace by the Thirteenth Prince must have been captured by your people, right? Did you catch one or both? Are they alive or dead? Furthermore, Zhu Mixiao is utterly foolish, yet both the Tenth Prince and Ninth Prince follow his lead. This official doesn’t believe it’s only because his mother is Imperial Noble Consort. Speak—the Tenth Prince and the Ninth Prince, which one is your man?”
Hearing these words, Zeng Ping suddenly widened his eyes: “That’s not right. Whose side are you really on?”
Liu Chaoming looked at him calmly.
Zeng Ping thought silently for a moment, half guessing and half certain: “Perhaps you’re on no one’s side, because in this palace, there’s no one who can win you over—not even Zhu Minda. But you’re definitely connected to the succession struggle. You’re definitely connected to a certain prince—”
Before he could finish speaking, he was suddenly seized by Liu Chaoming’s abruptly cold gaze.
Liu Chaoming said indifferently: “You won’t confess?”
His tone was devoid of warmth. Zeng Ping suddenly felt an inexplicable terror.
Just then, someone knocked on the door outside. It was Qian San’er’s voice: “Minister Liu, the imperial decree from the palace promoting Su Jin to Supervising Censor has arrived.”
Hearing this, Liu Chaoming glanced at Zeng Ping and instructed the head jailer at the side: “Besides the tongue, keep that intact. Everything else—whatever can be scraped or broken, show no mercy.”
The head jailer acknowledged with a yes.
Liu Chaoming had just turned to leave when the head jailer added: “Minister Liu, he keeps staring at you.”
Liu Chaoming adjusted his cuffs matter-of-factly: “Oh, then gouge them out.”
—
**Author’s Note:**
The blessing Chao Qing gave Su Su is also Zhige’s blessing to all the little angels reading this story.
Regarding Chao Qing, there’s a little more tomorrow. I couldn’t finish his storyline today. Tomorrow’s chapter… well, I’ll try to write it a bit sweeter, though the sweetness is relatively limited. Everyone had better develop the habit of working hard to find sugar in each day’s words.