Not divine physician Yu requesting to leave on his own — the Emperor had sent him away.
Hua Zhi furrowed her brow in thought. “I recall that divine physician Yu has never taken the Emperor’s pulse before.”
“That is correct.”
“Something is wrong. The Emperor’s health must be the issue.”
“But if there is an issue, why would he have divine physician Yu removed from the palace?” Chen Qing felt a sudden lurch in his chest and stepped forward involuntarily. “Are you saying the issue is something that cannot be known — which is why the Emperor has never allowed divine physician Yu to take his routine pulse?”
The two exchanged a look. Chen Qing drew a deep breath. “This subordinate will have someone return at once to investigate.”
“There is no hurry. We found nothing before, and searching again now may not yield any more. Either the other party is concealing it very well, or we have been looking in the wrong direction. Otherwise we would not have gone this long without turning up so much as a thread of a clue.” Hua Zhi shook her head. “Are you certain the Emperor appeared to be in better spirits than before?”
Chen Qing had been about to say yes, but on closer reflection felt that might not quite be right either. He deliberated a moment, then described in careful detail the Emperor as he had seen him that day. “Compared to before, the Emperor appeared much ruddier in complexion. Yet the lines of his face seemed to be…deeper? That is not quite right either — it was not so much deeper lines as that his face looked more slack, even a little swollen. The way this subordinate understands it: if one’s color has improved, the body ought to feel lighter than before, yet the Emperor seemed to walk more slowly — that sort of…that sort of…”
His words seemed contradictory, yet Hua Zhi understood exactly what he was trying to express. She completed the thought for him: “The look of twilight years?”
“Precisely — the twilight of old age. Forgive the disrespectful word, but the Emperor now looks older than even the Empress Dowager.”
Hua Zhi gave a small nod. The twilight look was a feeling — it did not come when one was young, but with age the body would naturally begin to reveal it through one’s bearing, one’s movements, all manner of things. Just past fifty — far too young for one’s steps to have slowed in the way Chen Qing described.
Her grandfather was about the same age as the Emperor, and before the exile he had looked no older than forty. People of this era valued the cultivation of health: her grandfather would regularly practice his forms, exercise with his sword, and keep his body supple. There was nothing of the twilight look in him. Her maternal grandfather was somewhat older than her paternal grandfather in appearance, yet even he could not remotely be described as twilit — which only made the Emperor’s condition stand out all the more strangely.
“Is there any way to conduct a search of Rulan Palace?”
“Only if evidence of Yuepin’s wrongdoing can be found. With such evidence, the Empress Dowager could authorize a direct search of Rulan Palace without going through the Emperor.”
Hua Zhi looked at the chests of silver stacked around her and thought of Yanxi, somewhere thousands of li away. Softly, she said, “Then let us give her some evidence.”
Chen Qing’s heart grew taut. He bowed in acknowledgment.
With this weighing on her mind, Hua Zhi felt an even more urgent longing to return to the capital. She feared that Xiao Liu might be put at a disadvantage. She feared that Hao Yue had already laid some trap during this stretch of time, placing their side in an unfavorable position. She feared that the muddleheaded Emperor might, in one last gesture of what he called concern, deal Yanxi another blow — and even now, Yanxi still regarded him as a kinsman. She did not want him to suffer another heartbreak.
“There is no one to take charge of Jinyang; this matter cannot be dragged out for long. The moment someone arrives, we return to the capital at once. And — has Yanxi made any other arrangements?”
“My master has instructed this subordinate to follow your direction in all things.”
“Does he have sufficient people on his side? Shall you take more to reinforce him?”
Knowing that the First Young Lady was concerned for her master’s safety, Chen Qing smiled. “This concerns the Chaoli tribe; my master will not be careless. The ships will put in at several major stops along the way to gather the Seven Lodges Bureau’s people. You need not worry — my master will no longer be as reckless as he once was.”
That was the only thing to hope for. Hua Zhi pressed down the deep worry filling her heart and took up the abacus beads, clicking away. What she needed to do right now was get the silver moved as quickly as possible.
On the third night after Chen Qing’s arrival, carts laden with silver were drawn by horses with muffled hooves through the western city gate without a sound. The General had kept his word and withdrawn the Qinglin Camp; he was personally leading a column of his personal soldiers to guard over that vast storeroom of silver.
Hua Zhi had come along with the first convoy of silver. She wore black from head to toe and rode on horseback, her horse’s hooves similarly wrapped in soft cloth.
When Lu Peiyu came over, she swung down from the saddle. “You have gone to great trouble, General.”
“It is nothing.” General Lu watched the long flat-beds filing steadily inward. “Do you need additional hands?”
“If the General could spare some, that would be ideal. By my rough calculation, the silver being moved out comes to approximately one hundred and twenty thousand taels. With my current manpower, I fear we cannot finish in a single night.”
Lu Peiyu was startled. “That much?”
“The assembled established families of Jinyang contributed approximately two hundred and twenty thousand taels in total.” Hua Zhi was not surprised herself. The gathering that day had numbered only around twenty or so people, but those called upon to pour out their wealth extended far beyond those twenty households. Without quite emptying their coffers, they had each suffered a considerable wound to their finances. To preserve their safety, they had truly shown no mercy toward themselves.
“You are simply intercepting half of it.”
“Only more, not less.” Hua Zhi touched the hair at her temple with a touch of sheepishness. “I could not help myself. I keep worrying the Emperor will throw it all into the water.”
Into the water — meaning the canal project. Lu Peiyu laughed despite himself. This young woman did have rather considerable audacity. But audacity was not a bad thing — there might come a day when they would have reason to thank her for it. Though, “With this much silver all moving at once, is there not a risk of drawing too much attention?”
“There is. We have made some adjustments to the earlier plan. The silver will leave the horse enclosure together with the horses first; after that, only a portion will continue accompanying the horses. The bulk will be organized by Jia Yang into a trading convoy, and transported openly and above board to the capital under the guise of merchants.”
“Sent into the capital itself?”
“Not quite.” Hua Zhi did not elaborate further — she had no intention of telling this general that she never planned to sit on it. She intended to turn this silver into food. At the critical moment, silver could not fill a stomach.
Lu Peiyu gave her a look and pressed no further.
The carts went back and forth the entire night before all the silver was finally moved out of the city. Everything that came after, Hua Zhi left entirely in Jia Yang’s hands.
While Hua Zhi was finishing up the loose ends in Jinyang, Gu Yanxi had already arrived at the Seven Lodges Bureau’s station at Pengkou.
Looking at the topographic map spread open before him, Gu Yanxi kept his eyes on the map and said, “Pengkou has shown no irregularities?”
“None, my lord. This subordinate is intimately familiar with Pengkou. If there were truly people of the kind you describe active in this area, they would not have escaped my notice. Yet this subordinate has no recollection of any such group.” The Seven Lodges Bureau officer stationed at Pengkou was named Wan Qi. This region lay to the east, and the Great Qing had always kept vigilant watch over this direction; the people placed here were carefully chosen. Gu Yanxi trusted what he said, yet he also trusted in the words of a man speaking at the edge of death — unless the information itself was false to begin with.
He pointed to several locations on the map. “Have a closer look at these areas. Keep it quiet — do not startle the prey.”
“Yes, this subordinate will make the arrangements at once—”
“My lord.” Wang Hai’s voice reached them before he did. “Yu Mu has arrived.”
Yu Mu was carried in by two others. He had not done as he had told Gu Yanxi and Hua Zhi he would — passing the message from hand to hand along the way — but had driven himself day and night, alone, to catch up with them. He drank down a full bowl of water, and at last his voice returned to him. “Not Pengkou. Songzhu.”