Feng Yue returned to the courtyard with a calm expression and quietly closed the door.
Then she immediately hugged Ling Shu and wailed, “Ahhh— it’s a dead end!!”
Startled, Ling Shu stared with innocent eyes and patted her back with her small hand, “Can one survive like this?”
“No!” With a bitter face, Feng Yue released her and started banging her head against a nearby pillar! The pillar resounded with “dong dong” sounds, causing dust to fall from the rafters and scatter all over Ling Shu’s face.
Frightened, Ling Shu hurriedly lifted her skirts and ran outside, shouting as she went: “Madam Qiu, come quickly! The house is about to collapse!”
Madam Qiu had been wondering why the young master had returned at this hour when she suddenly heard this alarming cry. She immediately rushed to Feng Yue’s room to check.
There she found her young master mindlessly banging against the pillar, with a sinister and horrifying look in her eyes, appearing deeply resentful.
“What’s wrong?” Madam Qiu quickly pulled her away, completely bewildered: “What are you doing?”
Looking at this person who had always loved her like a parent, Feng Yue’s lips trembled, and she said very pitifully: “I miss my father.”
Her words carried a choked sob, making Madam Qiu’s heartache. She quickly embraced her and gently patted her back: “What’s wrong, why so suddenly?”
“There’s too much happening.” Feng Yue gritted her teeth: “I know revenge is difficult, I know it needs careful planning and preparation for a long time. I can wait, but waiting like this is too torturous…”
She couldn’t even wait in peace, with the nightmare-like Yin Gezhi constantly around her, always trapping her in his schemes, forcing her to face the enormous gulf between them.
She originally hadn’t planned to acknowledge this gulf, thinking that since they wouldn’t end up together anyway, there was nothing wrong with working with him on matters now – use him if possible, retreat if not.
But this person insisted on trying to cross this gulf, attempting to redress her family’s case, giving her favors, and moreover, favors she simply couldn’t refuse!
It was his father who killed her people! Now he’s plotting against his father to clear the Guan family’s name – so what? Could it bring the Guan family members back to life, to walk vigorously in this world again? Could it rewarm the Guan family’s blood that had run cold for nearly four years? Could the utterly destroyed loyal heart rekindle its fire of loyalty to the emperor?
None of this was possible.
But could she stop him from clearing their name?
Even more impossible. She didn’t want Guan Canghai to die without even an epitaph, and she too wanted to properly pay respects once, to let future generations know that a hero was buried there, that his grave couldn’t be carelessly trampled upon. She wasn’t deliberately seeking vindication, but she wasn’t foolish enough to reject vindication when it was offered!
It was laughable – their family killed her entire clan, and now their son comes to bestow favors. She couldn’t accept it, yet had no way to refuse. She was left suspended in mid-air, like a pitiful bird caught in the wind, unable to go up or down, unable to laugh or cry, unable to love or hate!
In her previous life, she must have owed Yin Gezhi a lot of money, otherwise, why would he treat her like this?
“Young Master,” Madam Qiu patted her gently, her voice very gentle: “You’ve always been someone who prefers to be straightforward. All these years, you’ve already endured enough grievances. Now that there’s hope for revenge, why torture yourself further?”
“I don’t want to torture myself,” her nose stinging terribly, Feng Yue said through gritted teeth: “It’s him who insists on torturing me!”
Why does he keep thinking about her? Why does he try to tempt her? Why does he play on emotions? Even if she was worthless enough to have liked him before, so what? She still had to take revenge! Once revenge was taken, there would be only a dead end between them, no future at all. Since they both knew the outcome, why did he insist on entangling himself with her? Did he think she wasn’t human? That she wouldn’t feel pain!
Angrily blowing her nose hard, Feng Yue said hoarsely: “Never mind, Madam Qiu, let Yan Qing continue with the arrangements. When the timing is right and preparations are complete, we’ll make our move!”
Slightly startled, Madam Qiu frowned and looked at her for a while, making sure she wasn’t acting on impulse, before slowly nodding: “Alright.”
In the following days, Feng Yue became busy, occasionally wandering near the palace gates with Yan Qing, and socializing with officials who were close to Yan Qing over tea.
“Speaking of recent major events in the capital, they’re all related to the Crown Prince,” Minister Chen sighed: “This Guan family case was overturned just like that, Minister Shi investigated with great vigor. In just five days, he sent the results to the Imperial Study. And guess what happened?”
Yan Qing glanced at Feng Yue, seeing her expression remained normal, without even a whisker moving, then asked: “What happened?”
“The mighty Emperor recalled Prince Yin, who had been demoted to commoner status, showed him the memorial, and let him return.” Minister Chen laughed heartily: “You should have heard how the Emperor berated the Crown Prince in court back then, he showed absolutely no mercy, and everyone thought the Crown Prince would never return! But how long has it been? The Emperor personally issued an edict, bestowing him with a gold seal! My goodness, even the Crown Prince only has a jade seal, what does giving a prince a gold seal mean?”
Yan Qing stroked his beard and smiled: “Probably afraid he wouldn’t return.”
“We all know the Crown Prince’s temperament,” Minister Chen sighed: “He’s not one to care about such things.”
“However, he did return, with just one condition – he wanted to personally preside over the Guan family case.”
“Oh?” Yan Qing raised an eyebrow, glancing again at the silent Feng Yue, then smiled: “Isn’t this a slap in Minister Shi’s face? He won’t accept what others have investigated.”
“Indeed. Minister Shi’s face changed color right there in court, but he’s always maintained his dignity and never lost his temper in court, so there wasn’t any conflict.” Minister Chen sighed: “The Crown Prince seems to have changed somewhat after his trip to Wu Kingdom. But it’s for the better, he used to be so inhuman, but at least now he shows some emotion. Such a person, if he were to become ruler…”
“Minister Chen!” Yan Qing pressed his hand slightly and shook his head: “Be careful with your words, misfortune comes from the mouth.”
Hurriedly covering his mouth, Minister Chen glanced at Feng Yue beside them: “This is your person, there’s no problem, right?”
“There’s no problem.” Yan Qing nodded, taking the opportunity to introduce Feng Yue: “This is my eldest nephew, who wants to seek a position in the palace. Minister, you’re in charge of palace gate security, is there a suitable position? Could you arrange something?”
Speaking of this, Minister Chen looked somewhat troubled: “As old friends for many years, I’ll help if I can, but recently there’s been quite a bit of chaos in Liidu, and the palace is under heightened security. They’re not recruiting new soldiers. How about this – let your nephew first join the city guard to get a position, they’re short on people recently. When the palace recruits imperial guards, I’ll have him transferred over.”
“Thank you very much!” Yan Qing smiled and cupped his hands.
Feng Yue followed suit with a bow, behaving very obediently without saying an extra word.
Only after the tea was finished and they were seeing Minister Chen off at the bottom of the teahouse did Feng Yue ask: “What were the results of Shi Hongwei’s investigation?”
“Shi Youxin has been missing for a long time, so naturally all the crimes were piled on his head,” Yan Qing said in a low voice: “Framing loyal officials, abusing power for personal gain – Shi Hongwei truly showed no consideration for family ties, he didn’t hold back with the accusations.”
Letting out a cold laugh, Feng Yue said: “Shi Youxin is already dead, if they want to pin the crimes on him to clear the case, I don’t mind.”
After all, she would take revenge herself. She just wanted to clear their name, it didn’t matter how it was done.
But clearly, Yin Gezhi wasn’t planning to let the matter rest.
“Who else do you want to investigate?” Emperor Wei Wen asked weakly, leaning against his bed and breathing heavily.
Yin Gezhi, dressed in white, held Shi Hongwei’s memorial and looked at him calmly, saying nothing.
Annoyed by his gaze, the Emperor slapped the bed and said in a low voice: “How dare you! Don’t tell me you want to investigate your father too. Ah!”
“Guan Canghai was the Loyal and Brave General,” the person by the bed finally spoke, his voice cold: “Second only to one, above ten thousand others – even Shi Hongwei didn’t dare offend him lightly. How could a mere Court Officer dare to be so bold without someone’s backing? Guan Canghai was well-supported by the elder ministers in court, if he had words to defend himself, how could they not reach your ears? Yet why did he still die?”
Looking away evasively, Emperor Wei Wen gritted his teeth: “What do you want?”
“When the ruler is unclear, the subordinates are not pure. When the ruler errs and doesn’t correct, the subordinates’ conduct becomes improper,” giving him a deep look, Yin Gezhi said: “You should have known in your heart that you were wrong, so why is it so difficult to admit it? Even the founding emperor made mistakes. He issued self-reproaching edicts for reflection, earning praise from all people. You call yourself an enlightened ruler, can you not follow the founding emperor’s example?”
“Outrageous!” Emperor Wei Wen raged: “I did nothing wrong, what did I do wrong? They were the ones who killed him, they forced me to confirm the charges. How am I at fault!”
This was different from the founding emperor’s situation – the founding emperor’s mistakes were minor, but his mistake was irreparable. If he admitted it, it would likely incite public anger and overturn his imperial authority!
He couldn’t admit it, he couldn’t admit it!
Seeing his father’s attitude, Yin Gezhi felt a headache coming on. He closed his eyes briefly, then turned and said: “Then this son will continue investigating, we’ll see where it leads.”
Emperor Wei Wen frowned: “Don’t be reckless!”
“This son’s actions have always followed propriety and law,” without turning back, Yin Gezhi said: “But if the father doesn’t follow them, then this son has no need to follow them either.”
With that, his white robe swept across the threshold, and he vanished without a trace.
Emperor Wei Wen was furious, staring at his retreating figure before breaking into another fit of coughing. The Empress waiting outside hurried in, anxiously giving him medicine while urging him to take care of his imperial health.
As Yin Gezhi stepped out of Dragon Saliva Palace, he hadn’t gone two steps before he saw Shi Hongwei standing before him.
“Your Highness, may we speak privately?”
Slightly narrowing his eyes, Yin Gezhi followed him to stand aside, his gaze cold: “What instructions does the Prime Minister have?”
“I wouldn’t dare give instructions,” clasping his hands, Shi Hongwei said: “I just have one matter to report – in this investigation, this humble official not only discovered Shi Youxin’s corruption and framing of loyal officials but also found something else.”
“What?”
Smiling, Shi Hongwei looked up at him: “Something quite serious. The people in the imperial prison are easily bought, and completely lacking in integrity. Not only did someone frame loyal officials, but someone also took silver to release a death-row prisoner from the Guan family!”