“Di Chun, go back and tell my wife that I won’t be coming home for the next few days.” Di Renjie released his tightly clenched fists and instructed Di Chun, who stood beside him.
Watching Di Chun depart, Di Renjie took a long, deep breath and said to his subordinates, “We’re going to re-examine the crime scene. We absolutely will not rest until we catch this deranged murderer.”
“Master Di, shouldn’t we focus on solving the Divine Weapons case first? The people who died here are just a few barbarians. Even if this needs to be handled, it should be the responsibility of Chang’an County Office and the Ministry of Justice—it has nothing to do with our Court of Judicial Review.” A clerk from the Court of Judicial Review quietly advised him. Overstepping one’s authority was unwelcome anywhere; it was a major taboo in official circles.
Di Renjie looked at the clerk with a strange expression, waving several sheets of paper before his eyes. “You say he’s a barbarian? How is it that I see them as Tang citizens? This is his family’s tax payment certificate, this is his family’s household registration document, this is his family’s land tax and corvée labor requisition order. Oh, the head of household’s name is Zhang Dehai. Where exactly do you see that they’re barbarians?”
Seeing the fury burning in Di Renjie’s eyes, the clerk quickly lowered his head in apology. If this family were Tang citizens, this would be a major case of family extermination—a serious matter that the Court of Judicial Review would naturally need to investigate.
After carefully examining every corpse, the bailiffs from Chang’an County carried away the bodies to be placed in the charity mortuary, awaiting burial. Di Renjie returned to the Court of Judicial Review and flipped through the case documents page by page. When his gaze fell upon the map in his case file, he suddenly discovered that this location also fell within the circle he had drawn.
“Daixian Ward!” Di Renjie once again fixed his gaze on the location of Daixian Ward. The circle he had drawn represented the optimal distance one could travel on foot. If traveling by carriage, after curfew it would be impossible to avoid inspection by the martial guards. This person could only have been traveling on foot. He had miscalculated one detail—those people outside the gate had been killed by that barbarian this afternoon, but the people inside the house had died last night. The rope binding the barbarian Zhang Dehai had been burned through by time-incense, which meant Zhang Dehai’s tragedy had occurred last night.
Many people lived in Daixian Ward—for instance, Xie Li, Gao Jianwu, Yeon Gaesomun, the son of the King of Gaochang, Ju Wentai’s son Ju Zhi, as well as the Grand Elder of Tuyuhun and the young prince of Xueyantuo. They were hostages who, along with the Silla prince Gao Zanhuang and the Baekje prince Xiao Nahui, had already been beheaded by the Emperor a month ago. The place must now be filled with anxiety. To find that person, Di Renjie believed that by applying pressure, they might be able to force the culprit out.
Dai Zhou’s authorization was swiftly obtained. Borrowing two thousand soldiers from the Xiaowei Guard, Di Renjie surrounded the entire Daixian Ward so tightly that not even water could leak through. If it were any other ward, Dai Zhou would not have given Di Renjie this authorization. But since it was Daixian Ward, there was no problem—the place was inhabited only by a bunch of actors and dancers. Even if he accidentally killed one or two, the Emperor would not trouble him over it. Since Di Renjie was so confident it would be effective, there was no harm in trying.
Di Renjie wore armor he had brought from home, with two swallow-wing crossbows strapped to his back. Originally, Xiao Wu had stipulated that he must lower his face guard, but Di Renjie hadn’t listened. Taking Zhang Yonglu with him, he entered Daixian Ward directly.
“Prepare the eight-ox crossbows. Anyone who attempts to leave without authorization is to be killed without question.” As the commanding officer presiding over tonight’s operation, Di Renjie deliberately issued this order loudly, wanting the murderer to take note.
Xie Li stood in the central courtyard with a fawning smile on his face. Although he too was a duke, the stipend he received each time seemed less than that of a county magistrate. The courtyard was overgrown with wild grass, and only two barbarian dancing girls served him—these were rewards Li Yuan had bestowed upon him for his excellent dancing. This was a man whose courage had been thoroughly shattered. Although his physique had recovered its agility and his potbelly had disappeared—all from practicing the Sogdian whirling dance—this fellow seemed to have long accepted his fate. That’s why the Emperor hadn’t killed him during this Turkic rebellion; killing him would serve no purpose whatsoever.
Di Renjie glanced at Xie Li and left his residence. As he departed, seeing this fellow plop down on the threshold in such an unseemly manner, he once again confirmed the fact that this man had become completely useless.
Gao Jianwu, having been an emperor for many years, remained calm in the face of change. He warmly entertained Di Renjie by having him watch Goguryeo songs and dances. His household was quite wealthy—the treasures he had originally brought from Goguryeo were enough to support a lifetime of comfort. Li Er looked down upon his meager wealth, but as an emperor himself, he could not allow another emperor to fall into too much destitution. This was a matter of face that could not be treated carelessly.
Di Renjie had no time to watch song and dance performances. He didn’t enter Gao Jianwu’s inner quarters, merely posting guards at the main gate. Every member of the Gao household’s comings and goings had to be recorded—where they went, what they did, whom they met.
Yeon Gaesomun’s household was the same, though he was not as wealthy as Gao Jianwu. Rong Hua had also changed into simple hairpins and cotton skirts, preparing meals with her own delicate hands. Their son was the King of Goguryeo, yet Yeon Gaesomun himself was nothing now. The title of Qinzhou Regional Inspector still hung above his head, but Qinzhou also had a deputy inspector whose rank was exactly the same as the Regional Inspector’s, and who exercised the same authority as the inspector with no difference whatsoever.
The Great Tang had many such regional inspectors—there was nothing surprising about it. For instance, Zhangsun Wuji was the Zhaozhou Regional Inspector, Yun Ye was the Yuezhou Regional Inspector, Fang Xuanling was the Haozhou Regional Inspector, and Du Ruhui was the Ganzhou Regional Inspector. They were all regional inspectors just the same, but none of them exercised the authority of regional inspectors—they merely collected their stipends. The only difference was that everyone else had other positions they could fill, while Yeon Gaesomun had only the single title of Qinzhou Regional Inspector.
Now that the main gate was surrounded by a large army, Yeon Gaesomun and Rong Hua sat in the room, staring at each other.
“They have no evidence—they’re merely speculating.” The gaunt Yeon Gaesomun’s eyes seemed to flicker with ghostly fire.
“Su Wen, we’re no longer in Pyongyang now. I know the grievances in your heart. We’re enduring now for the sake of our child Feng Ji’s future. As long as he remains King of Goguryeo, sooner or later Goguryeo will be restored.”
“Right now is the Great Tang’s strongest, most brilliant moment. No one is its match. As the person most familiar with this empire, haven’t you already concluded that the final victor of this great war will still be the Tang people? Why then do you still do those meaningless things?”
“There’s a fire burning in my heart. If I don’t release it, it will burn me alive. Rong Hua, you shouldn’t have stayed here. Your title is different from mine. As a commandery lady, your life shouldn’t be like this. Leave tomorrow—go to your own residence and take care of our child. I’ve already drawn the Tang people’s attention to myself. Gao Jianwu must die. We are both Goguryeo’s shame. Only after we die can a clean Goguryeo rise again, no matter how long it takes.”
“Yun Ye looked at me with eyes that saw a pile of rotting flesh. He even asked me, ‘Why are you still alive?’ Hahaha, this is a question I’ve wanted to ask myself. On the day I announced surrender, I had already prepared to fall on my sword and commit suicide. At the last moment, I suddenly felt utterly filthy. Equally filthy is that Gao Jianwu. If we don’t eliminate this garbage, Goguryeo will never be clean. People will point at Feng Ji’s face and say, ‘Look, this is the son of a captive.’ Rong Hua, I’m unwilling to accept this. Since Goguryeo was destroyed in my hands, let our child rebuild Goguryeo. This is our responsibility. As for my sins, I will repay them with blood.”
“When you die, don’t let yourself suffer too much pain.” After Rong Hua quietly finished this sentence, she lay back facing the sky, resting on Yeon Gaesomun’s lap, pulling his hand over to cover her chest.
“Familiarize yourself well with it, lest you recognize the wrong person in the next life!”
“I won’t recognize the wrong person. Other women’s bodies I only see with my eyes, but your body I’ve memorized in my heart. What I owe you in this life, allow me to repay in the next.” Yeon Gaesomun helped Rong Hua adjust her clothing, lowering his head to gently kiss her smooth forehead.
“You’ve never owed me anything, Su Wen. If not for my burden holding you back, you wouldn’t have encountered that demon Yun Ye. If not for our child Feng Ji, you wouldn’t have forced yourself to live this long. If anyone needs to repay debts, it should be me repaying you.”
“Don’t wait for me on the Bridge of Helplessness. I might live for a very long time and won’t be able to get there anytime soon. That place is too cold, too lonely. I don’t want you to suffer anymore.”
Yeon Gaesomun didn’t answer. Instead, he lowered his head to gaze at Rong Hua’s face. A drop of bloody tears fell, landing on Rong Hua’s forehead like a dot of rouge, brilliantly, vividly red.
His kidney disease had flared up again. Years ago, Yun Ye had utterly destroyed his kidneys. Though under the care of famous physicians in Luoyang he had barely managed to live a few more years, he had now reached the point where his lamp oil was exhausted and his wick burned out. His nocturnal outings were merely because the pain made sleep impossible; he could only feel a slight sense of relief by inflicting pain upon others.
Nux vomica was poisonous. Taking small amounts could reduce pain, but the dosage he needed to take daily had grown increasingly heavy. Now he had finally reached the critical point—if he continued taking it, it would only poison him to death.
Di Renjie did not see Yeon Gaesomun, because he had long heard that he was terminally ill—this had been confirmed by the imperial physicians, leaving no room for error. If he had known that Yeon Gaesomun still possessed the ability to kill, he would have immediately concentrated his attention on him.
The next morning, Rong Hua changed Yeon Gaesomun’s clothes, and the two of them sat facing each other to eat an extremely sumptuous breakfast—very similar to the Yun family’s breakfast. During her three years with the Yun family, Rong Hua had also learned many cooking methods.
“What a pity that Yun Ye isn’t in Chang’an. Otherwise, I would definitely invite him over for a drink. His family’s cuisine is quite good.”
“His disciple is outside—it’s the same thing. Right now, he’s focused his attention on the remnants from Silla, Baekje, Xueyantuo, and Tuyuhun. He probably thinks you’re about to die. He doesn’t understand that a tiger, no matter how sick, is still a tiger.”
“Hmph, hmph, hmph. Sometimes I wonder—if we hadn’t encountered that bastard Yun Ye, what do you think our lives would be like?” Yeon Gaesomun put down his chopsticks and asked Rong Hua thoughtfully.
“You would still have rebelled, would still have killed Gao Jianwu. However, you definitely wouldn’t have been as hasty, and you wouldn’t have only half-succeeded.” Rong Hua said with certainty.
“You’re right. I truly am someone who plans thoroughly before acting.” Yeon Gaesomun wiped his mouth and put down the white silk in his hand, saying to Rong Hua, “You should leave now. I’m very busy today—I’ll be busy all day long!”