Prince Consort Chai looked helplessly at his brother-in-law, the Emperor, implying he had only seen the vessel at that Eastern Palace betrothal banquet. Though he might not have noticed its details then, after two thorough investigations of the poisoning case and questioning by officials, plus his children’s connection to the vessel, he must have learned the details later, hence recognizing the poison vessel at a glance.
Kang Sumi, however, likely didn’t understand the gravity. Being a foreigner, despite his cunning, he couldn’t have known his double-chambered vessel had been used to poison the Tang Emperor ten years ago. Seeing Chai Shao’s denial, he grew angry:
“Prince Consort Chai, lying before the Heavenly Khagan is unacceptable! Yes, yes, you didn’t receive my gift in person when in Shu, saying you couldn’t take it home, that it wasn’t convenient. Old Kang sent it directly to your residence with a merchant caravan heading to Chang’an! You later wrote me a letter about it—that letter is still at my home. Should old Kang have someone fetch it?”
“That part is true. While I was commanding troops away, you privately sent expensive gifts to my home in Chang’an. My first wife had passed then, with no one managing household affairs, and my servants foolishly accepted them. I only learned of this upon returning to the capital and immediately reported it to His Majesty—the Former Emperor, having the gold, silver, and spices distributed to the palace and official residences.” Chai Shao frowned, “But there was no gilt wine vessel among those gifts! I examined everything you sent after returning home, and there wasn’t even anything similar!”
“That’s strange,” Kang Sumi spread his hands. “I put it in the box myself, and it was on the gift list—old Kang had the clerk write it at the very end, right after ‘one pair of hunting leopards.’ Didn’t you see the list?”
“The list—”
The Prince Consort suddenly became tongue-tied, staring blankly for a moment as the color drained from his face before slumping back down.
“Third Brother-in-law?” Li Yuangui called out with a trembling voice, hoping his suspicions were wrong.
Chai Shao looked at him with dull eyes:
“I… I remembered wrong…”
“What?”
“I remembered wrong… There was indeed such a vessel among Sabao Kang’s gifts… I carelessly thought it was an ordinary wine vessel, mixed it with other gold items, and passed it on to…”
He pressed his hands against the ground, struggling to continue before hoarsely adding: “…Prince Qi, the Fourth Prince.”
At least these four words weren’t wrong.
The Emperor pressed his lips together, lightly tapping the desk before leaning back, his face showing both disgust and relief. Li Yuangui also secretly let out a breath, looking hopefully at his half-brother, thinking, that perhaps the case could end this way.
It was plausible. The dragon-horse double-chambered vessels made by Kang Sumi’s craftsmen were originally a pair. Over a decade ago, he gave one to Chai Shao, who passed it to Li Yuanji, who used it to poison his second brother Li Shimin at the Eastern Palace banquet. The matter was secret, and Kang Sumi, unaware, gave the other vessel to the Prince years later, also deceiving him about using it to poison Heavenly Khagan Li Shimin… Yes, closing the case this way made sense.
But everyone present—perhaps except Kang Sumi—knew this wasn’t the truth.
“Empress, what do you think?” the Emperor asked with furrowed brows, though not turning around, clearly addressing Empress Zhangsun behind the screen. The Empress didn’t immediately answer, pausing before responding softly:
“I request Your Majesty to let the Crown Prince decide this case.”
The Emperor sighed: “Reasonable—have Chengqian come up then—isn’t he here too?”
“No,” the Empress’s tone was surprised. “The Crown Prince came too? When?”
Her words seemed directed at someone else, and indeed another female voice behind the screen murmured “I don’t know”—Li Yuangui’s sharp ears recognized it as Crown Princess Su’s voice. The Emperor ordered his attendants to summon him, but after a long while, they reported: “The Crown Prince isn’t in Wanshan Temple nor at the polo field opposite Duke Guoguan’s residence.”
“Where has that boy run off to now?” the Emperor said impatiently. “Summon the Eastern Palace officials to report!”
The Eastern Palace servant who accompanied the Crown Prince entered and knelt, trembling as he reported that before the polo match began, the Crown Prince had ridden south with only a few guards, forbidding attendants from reporting to the Emperor and Empress, without saying where he was going. After questioning the remaining Eastern Palace guards, someone finally reported:
“After the city gates opened today, His Highness sent someone to Prince Consort Chai’s residence in Guangde Ward. When word came that the Chai household’s caravan was leaving through Anhua Gate, His Highness rode off in pursuit…”
Chai Shao, who had been sitting dejectedly, suddenly straightened up, about to speak. Li Yuangui also remembered what his third brother-in-law had said two days ago:
“After the Former Emperor’s coffin procession and the funeral ceremony end, I’ll petition the Emperor to send my daughter back home…”
Behind the screen, a shadow moved as a slender young woman rushed out, calling “Fourteenth Lord” with an anxious expression—it was Wei Shubin. Li Yuangui shared her intense worry, jumping up and, heedless of the punishment for such impropriety before the Emperor, ran for the exit.
No one in the chamber tried to stop him, and the crowds up and down the tower naturally didn’t know why he was running out like a madman, merely dodging aside and casting surprised, disapproving glances. Li Yuangui paid no attention to any of this, his mind focused on one thought:
Stop Li Chengqian, absolutely cannot let him bring back Chai Yuluo.
He knew what Li Chengqian was doing. The Crown Prince still couldn’t let go of his feelings for his cousin, and perhaps his parents hadn’t completely rejected the idea, leaving him with foolish hope that if he served them dutifully and pleased them enough, the Emperor and Empress would eventually grant his request to bring the woman he loved into the Eastern Palace.
For this reason, he didn’t want Chai Yuluo sent back to her old home in Hedong. He knew his parents had always been fond of their clever, beautiful niece, and thought that after he completed the task his father assigned, he could take advantage of his father’s satisfaction to plead their case together with his cousin, hoping to succeed through their joint petition. Today, upon hearing that Chai Yuluo’s caravan had left the city for Hedong, he rushed off on horseback without thinking.
Truthfully, Li Yuangui felt only sympathy for the pair of lovers, not optimistic about their future. Both were used to getting their way and unwilling to humor others, with a significant age difference and female beauty fades easily—they didn’t seem destined for lifelong happiness.
But that was another matter. Chai Yuluo couldn’t return to the palace to see her uncle and aunt, at least not now, perhaps better never again in this life.
Li Yuangui ran down the stairs step by step. The wooden stairs of this street-facing tower weren’t all in one place, and he had to pass through groups of court ladies and servants within the railings. At the second floor, he called to his attendants below to “prepare my horse,” but when he reached the first-floor landing and looked down, his feet stopped dead.
Too late.
In the high-walled courtyard of Wanshan Temple, the crowd parted automatically to make way. Two riders approached one after another—the one in front, still catching his breath, was Crown Prince Li Chengqian. He had a cloth tied around his neck, looking somewhat strange, and his whole demeanor radiated excitement.
Following behind him was a woman, her face hidden by a traveling hood and body covered by a cloak, but Li Yuangui recognized that tall, graceful figure immediately—undoubtedly the Daoist priestess Chai Yuluo.
The two horses reached the tower’s base. Li Chengqian dismounted and personally helped the second rider down.
The dust-protection hood and cloak fell to the ground as she removed them. Chai Yuluo brushed aside her disheveled temple hair, her young beautiful face expressionless as she lifted her skirts to climb the stairs.