Mo Zi followed behind Yuan Cheng, her steps somewhat panicked. Although Li Ren still gave Yuan Cheng some face and didn’t bind him like he did with Jiao Niang, the imposing official soldiers surrounded him from front, back, left, and right, not allowing her to get close even half a step. The night was deep, the starlight distant. That figure dressed all in black seemed about to disappear from her sight, and she suddenly felt afraid.
Outside the mansion gate, the figure materialized by firelight made her unable to stop herself from pushing past the soldiers and rushing forward. “Yuan Cheng!” The soldiers held her back, and all she could think was—what should she do?
Yuan Cheng didn’t turn around immediately, but instead said to Li Ren, “Elder Li, may I bid farewell?”
Li Ren glanced at the struggling Mo Zi, had the soldiers release her, and granted Yuan Cheng’s request. “Of course you may, but it’s best to keep it brief.”
Yuan Cheng acknowledged this and turned to face Mo Zi. His face wore a gentle smile, his eyes settled with a reassuring strength.
“Mo Zi, there was such a commotion just now. Although Elder Li gave orders about it, I’m afraid there will still be chaos. Help me tidy things up, will you? You know I dislike disorder most of all, especially with those bookshelves.” Having said this, he boarded the carriage.
Mo Zi stared dumbfounded at the departing carriage and asked Ming Nian beside her, “Is your master instructing me to tidy up the house?”
“Yes.” Ming Nian wore a bitter expression. “At a time like this, Master is still giving instructions about cleaning the house? Miss Mo Zi, what should we do now? Should we prepare gifts and seek help from people?”
“Preparing gifts and seeking people’s help will certainly be necessary, and we’ll definitely need to grease palms everywhere. Ming Nian, you usually run around with Master more than anyone—whoever we can ask for help, whatever gifts we can send, write me a list.” Mo Zi then instructed the head steward, “From this moment on, keep the main gate tightly closed, minimize comings and goings, and keep talk to a minimum.”
The head steward hurried off to spread the word.
Ming Nian watched her rushing about. “Miss Mo Zi, where are you going now?”
“I’m going to the study to tidy up the house for your master.” She was so obedient—whatever he said was what she would do.
“You’re really going to tidy up?” Ming Nian was utterly baffled. “Right now, we should first invite Master Yang, Master Jiang, and the others who are on good terms with Master to come discuss countermeasures.”
“Invite your master’s good friends in the middle of the night? What, do you want people to slap the label of co-conspirator on Yang Ling and Jiang Tao too? Forget it. At this time, we need to isolate ourselves first so they’ll have a chance to actually help. Everything can wait until daybreak. Oh, please ask Master Zhang to come to Master’s study.” Zhang Zhen happened to be in the mansion, so she could consult with him.
With Master away, Miss Mo Zi was in charge. Ming Nian immediately went to fetch him.
Once Mo Zi had no one around her, she said, “A’Hao, go find General Hua. If he’s here, ask him to come see me.”
The leaves rustled as a figure slipped into the darkness.
Ding Gou came toward her, his inner double eyelids now single eyelids—his good sleep had been interrupted. “Zan Jin thought you were still in your own courtyard and went to check there. What on earth has happened?”
“Aunt Jiao attempted to assassinate the Emperor. Her people implicated this place, and she pointed to Yuan Cheng as the mastermind, so Li Ren and Wei Jia took them both into the palace for an audience with His Majesty.” Mo Zi explained simply. Since Zan Jin had already gone to her courtyard, Dou Lu would be safe.
Ding Gou picked at his ear with a look of disbelief. “Fine, I can understand Yuan Jiao Niang being desperate for revenge and trying to kill the Emperor. But why would she say Yuan Cheng was the mastermind? Yuan Cheng is the last bloodline of the Yuan family. Anyone else in this situation would die before they’d clear themselves of any connection with him and take sole responsibility for the crime.”
Although Mo Zi couldn’t reveal the true relationship between Yuan Cheng and Jiao Niang, she herself was very surprised. No matter what, Yuan Cheng was Jiao Niang’s biological son—what was the reason for that expression of mutual destruction and bitter hatred?
“Perhaps…” She couldn’t say perhaps what. “I don’t know either. The urgent matter is to find out His Majesty’s intentions.”
“Today just won’t pass without the world turning upside down, will it? If someone told me the Emperor died in the second half of the night, I wouldn’t even be surprised.” Ding Gou spoke these “treasonous” words, but as a believer in non-action, he didn’t care. “What do you plan to do now?”
Mo Zi had never imagined that one day, everyone in this mansion would come asking her what to do.
“When Yuan Cheng left, he asked me to tidy up his bookshelves for him. I’m going to tidy them now.” Mo Zi continued walking toward the study.
Ding Gou glanced at the figure in the shadows, then turned to follow Mo Zi. “Tidy up the bookshelves? I’d say packing up valuables would be more appropriate.”
Mo Zi paused. “It’s not quite time for that yet, is it?”
“The Crown Prince was killed—connected to you. The Emperor was stabbed—connected to Yuan Cheng. We all know that being connected doesn’t necessarily make you the murderer, but will the Emperor and his ministers understand this so clearly? You’ve offended quite a few people who are waiting to catch you by the pigtails. As for Yuan Cheng, just looking at Xiao Wei’s attitude alone shows the attitude of their entire faction—they’ll probably seize this opportunity to crush him to death. If you don’t start packing, just wait to be packed up instead.” Ding Gou’s talents were finally on display today.
After pondering, Mo Zi said, “There’s still a bit of time. Let’s wait a little longer.”
Ding Gou shrugged. “At this time, of course all we can do is wait—the people are still in the palace.”
Entering Yuan Cheng’s study, probably because those official soldiers only wanted to find people and had been given instructions, it didn’t appear extremely disordered. Mo Zi flipped through the books on the shelves and pulled out one of them, extracting the bookmark. The bookmark was a woodblock print, with a jade bead hanging from its tassel.
Ding Gou glanced at it casually. “He asked you to come tidy up his books—they must be rare editions or unique copies. Why treasure a wooden bookmark?”
“Yuan Cheng only cares about the content inside books, not about editions and such. Besides, don’t you think this bead looks familiar?” Mo Zi held one end of the bookmark and waved it in front of Ding Gou.
“It does look familiar, very much like the Water Purification Pearl.” Ding Gou took another look.
“It’s not just similar—it is one.” Mo Zi untied the bead and carefully put it away. “These books of his can be bought anywhere. What’s there to tidy up? He just wanted me to come get this.”
Ding Gou couldn’t speak for a long moment, finally uttering two words: “Impressive.”
Who could have imagined that such a precious thing would be casually hung on the outside of a book?
At this moment, Zhang Zhen arrived, and he brought with him several retainers currently still in the mansion, including Teng Guo and Su Lan.
“Miss Mo Zi.” Yuan Cheng had become the mastermind of an imperial assassination attempt, but his voice and tone remained steady as he gave Mo Zi a slight bow.
“Please, everyone be seated.” Seeing Ding Gou about to leave, Mo Zi said, “Ding Gou, you sit down too and help contribute some ideas.”
Ding Gou thought briefly, then chose an empty chair and sat down.
Mo Zi recounted in full detail what Jiao Niang had falsely accused Yuan Cheng of. “I don’t have many ideas at the moment either. I’ve had Ming Nian make a list of gifts to send and people to ask for help, to be prepared for any eventuality. I’ve also had the head steward keep the gates secure and be careful about comings and goings. I’ve asked you all here to discuss further what else needs to be done urgently.”
“Master once told us that Yuan Jiao Niang couldn’t be trusted and drove everyone out. How did she get mixed in again today? This matter needs to be investigated quickly to prevent unreliable people in the mansion from affecting future plans. We should quickly send trustworthy people to Master Yang and Master Jiang to pass along word so they know what’s happening in their hearts.” Zhang Zhen spoke after contemplating.
Mo Zi quickly summoned the head steward and had him investigate how Jiao Niang had entered the mansion, then called for A’Yue to bring Zan Jin and wrote two letters to be delivered separately to Yang Ling and Jiang Tao.
Teng Guo said, “Although Elder Li is in Nande, it would be best if he could be informed as well. Perhaps he has good solutions.”
Mo Zi nodded. “I’ll entrust this matter to you two. You may use whomever you need from the mansion staff.”
“Miss Mo Zi, Master’s entry into the palace this time will likely not result in an easy exit. Although Jiao Niang’s words have holes in them, this matter is of great importance—the Emperor and court officials would rather believe it’s true than believe it’s false.” Zhang Zhen’s expression was grave.
“But the Emperor is not incompetent.” Mo Zi believed this. “Would he really condemn Yuan Cheng without investigating clearly?”
Everyone showed helpless expressions, with Zhang Zhen speaking on their behalf. “The imperial heart is difficult to fathom. Yesterday he can praise you to the heavens; today he can kick you into the ground. This is the way of emperors.”
“Elder Zhang’s meaning is—” Mo Zi’s heart tightened. She had been thinking of entering the palace for an audience.
“Prepare for the worst.” Zhang Zhen neither sighed nor lost heart. “Prepare to forcibly rescue Master and leave the Great Zhou.”
“In my view, this is probably Master’s intention as well. His request for Miss Mo Zi to tidy up the mansion was a hint about leaving.” Another retainer, Wei An, who had little interaction with Mo Zi ordinarily and had only met her face to face without conversation, was nevertheless an old familiar who had been helping Yuan Cheng manage affairs since he moved here.
Zhang Zhen was well acquainted with him and nodded in agreement. “I believe Master has this intention. Miss Mo Zi, if you don’t object, have Master Ouyang start packing things up. He’s always managed Master’s account books and finances. To prevent any incidents, it would be best to have everything organized and ready to leave tonight.”
“Where would we go?” Indeed, many heads made for good counsel. She knew nothing about Yuan Cheng’s financial dealings and so hadn’t thought of this at all.
“Master arranged a retreat route long ago. Miss Mo Zi needn’t worry.” Ouyang Long stroked his beard.
He didn’t specify the exact location, but Mo Zi didn’t ask. “Then Master Ouyang, please go quickly.”
Ouyang Long was someone who did much and said little. Before leaving his seat, however, he praised Mo Zi. “The young lady has seven clever hearts, trusts those she employs without suspicion—truly a rare extraordinary woman. Where Ouyang goes is extremely safe. After Master emerges, we shall naturally reunite. Ouyang takes his leave.”
Mo Zi felt embarrassed by Ouyang Long’s praise and said honestly to Zhang Zhen and the others, “Actually, I’m quite panicked inside.”
“With such an incident befalling Master, who among us isn’t panicked? We’re just forcing ourselves to stay calm without showing traces of it. For a woman to manage this is even more difficult.” Zhang Zhen expressed his approval.
“Since you all think we need to prepare for departure, then let’s simply take this opportunity to clean out the mansion and send away family members and loyal servants as well. We can explain it to outsiders easily—with all this upheaval, treacherous servants and wicked guests absconded with valuables. It’s just that I don’t know where Yuan Cheng wants to go.” She hadn’t concerned herself with this because she was thinking that wherever he went, she would follow.
“As for this, the young lady can rest assured and leave it to Wei An to lead the first group out.” Zhang Zhen suggested.
“Good, then I’ll trouble you all. If there are other matters, just come find me anytime—it doesn’t matter when.” Mo Zi raised her tea cup to see the guests off, then added, “Ding Gou, Young Master Su, please stay.”