Early in the morning, Cai Chunxu went to her parents-in-law’s courtyard to pay her respects. When she returned, she heard something from a maid and immediately hurried to the western chambers. As soon as she entered, she indeed saw that young lady bent over packing up books and clothes.
“Sister A’Xi,” Cai Chunxu grasped both her hands, “if there’s anything unsatisfactory about our place, just tell me directly. Why must you leave?”
Upon seeing her, Ni Su’s expression softened with a trace of a smile. She pulled Cai Chunxu to sit at the table and poured her a cup of tea. “Sister Cai has treated me with nothing but kindness.”
“Then why do you suddenly want to leave when everything is fine?”
Cai Chunxu took the tea bowl but had no mind to drink. “Are you still dwelling on what happened at the Wild Goose’s Return Pavilion?”
Ni Su shook her head. “It’s not that I’m dwelling on it—it’s that after what Lady Sun said yesterday, I’m afraid it will be the other ladies of your poetry society who will dwell on it.”
“What does that matter? I gathered with them to form the poetry society merely to compose verses and pursue elegance. If they take offense in their hearts, what’s the great harm if I simply don’t attend?”
Cai Chunxu pulled her to sit closer. “Sister A’Xi, before my grandfather served as the Prefect of Zezhou, he supervised troops in the northern borders. I spent two years there with him in my youth. In the military camp, the medical workers who saved lives were deeply respected by the soldiers. Now that we’re in the inner chambers, just because you’re a woman, it’s become a transgression.”
“But this truly isn’t their fault. Once we women marry, our husband’s family becomes the sky above our heads. I married into the Grand Marshal’s residence, and fortunately my parents-in-law aren’t burdened with excessive formalities and restrictions. But their husband’s families are different. If you ask them whether they understand the reason, whether they know what it means to be classified among the six types of disreputable women, they may not truly comprehend. It’s just that if their husband’s family deems it improper, they can only deem it improper as well.”
Hearing this, Ni Su smiled. “Sister Cai has such a clear and understanding mind—no wonder the ladies of the Ruqing Poetry Society all like you so much.”
“Do you perhaps possess an exquisitely perceptive heart?”
Cai Chunxu also laughed, chiding her playfully, “How do you know they all like me?”
“Yesterday at the Wild Goose’s Return Pavilion, I had barely reached the covered walkway when I saw you surrounded by ladies on all sides. Even the older ladies seated there spoke to you with gentle and pleasant expressions. Even if Lady Sun takes issue with you bringing me to the poetry society, I doubt she could easily turn against you.”
“Sister, you’re the one with a transparent and exquisite heart. You can understand them and are also willing to understand me,” Ni Su held her hand. “Compared to me, your bond with them runs much deeper. It’s just that on this matter, you don’t share their views and are unwilling to look down on me. Also, because of the old friendship between our two families, you sided with me. But if you stop attending the poetry society, how many opportunities will you have in the future to socialize with them?”
These words left Cai Chunxu stunned.
Just as Ni Su said, she had left her hometown and married far away to come to Yun Jing. She didn’t get along with her sister-in-law in the residence, and the only ones with whom she could share heartfelt conversation were the few sisters of the Ruqing Poetry Society.
Only now did she realize that Ni Su’s decision to leave the Grand Marshal’s residence wasn’t solely because of her, but also because of those ladies with whom she was close in the poetry society.
If she continued to keep Ni Su in the residence, how could those ladies continue to associate with her?
“Sister A’Xi…”
Cai Chunxu actually still wanted her to stay, but didn’t know what to say. “I actually like you very much. You’re such a delicate young lady, yet for your brother’s sake you willingly entered the Guangning Residence to receive punishment. Even going to a place like the Yinye Bureau, you weren’t afraid. From the bottom of my heart, I think you’re wonderful.”
“I also think Sister Cai is wonderful.”
Ni Su said with a smile.
Yesterday, before Ni Su went to see the examination candidate He Zhongping, she had entrusted a broker to help find a residence. Ni Su didn’t have much luggage to begin with. She had originally planned to take her leave of Cai Chunxu today and then go take a look, but Cai Chunxu insisted she had an empty residence with a shop space available on South Pagoda Tree Street.
Ni Su initially wanted to decline, but upon hearing “South Pagoda Tree Street,” she was irresistibly drawn to it.
The medicine shops and medical clinics of Yun Jing were almost all located on South Pagoda Tree Street.
Cai Chunxu originally didn’t want to take Ni Su’s money, but couldn’t withstand her insistence and had to accept it. She also had Yuwen bring some servants and household staff from the Grand Marshal’s residence to help clean the residence and acquire furnishings.
Ni Su busied herself for most of the day. The residence was tidied quite presentably, and she even purchased some fresh medicinal herbs, placing them in bamboo sieves in the courtyard to dry under the still-scorching autumn sun.
The courtyard was filled with the fragrance of medicine. Only when Ni Su caught this scent did she feel some measure of peace in a place like Yun Jing.
As evening approached, a Yinye Bureau personal guard who had been secretly keeping watch outside suddenly came knocking. Ni Su immediately set aside everything else and hurried toward the Diqian Gate.
Zhou Ting had originally been a commander of the Yinye Bureau’s Jihuo Battalion. A few days ago he was promoted to Deputy Captain of the seventh rank lower grade, and had now changed into official robes. When he came out the door, he looked up and saw that young lady in her pearl-white robe and skirt.
“Miss Ni, this morning a sealing official from the winter examination came to our Yinye Bureau and reported certain matters.” Zhou Ting walked forward with one hand on his sword hilt.
He only said it was a sealing official, but didn’t mention any name.
“What matters?”
Ni Su asked, though she already knew the answer.
“Your brother’s examination paper was switched.”
“Switched with whose? Captain Zhou, have you discovered who?”
Ni Su hadn’t slept last night and had spent the entire day waiting for news from the Yinye Bureau. Since Jin Xiangshi had already gone to the Yinye Bureau to report, the Yinye Bureau only needed to ask Jin Xiangshi for details about that essay—even just a few sentences—and they could find the answer among the papers of the tribute students who passed the winter examination.
Zhou Ting shook his head. “Today, having obtained this sealing official as a witness, Commissioner Han personally re-examined the examination papers from the tribute academy, but did not find that essay.”
Didn’t find it?
Ni Su found this outcome difficult to accept. “If the paper wasn’t switched for the sake of gaining honors, then why…”
“Commissioner Han thinks the same thing.”
Zhou Ting continued: “This winter examination was originally specially established by His Majesty to select talented individuals for the new policies. His Majesty originally intended to directly appoint the top three ranks after the winter examination without requiring the palace examination. But later, the Remonstrance Court and the Censorate felt that retaining the palace examination could further test the candidates’ abilities, and only then could truly useful people be selected. After several memorials, just as the winter examination concluded, His Majesty changed his mind.”
“The culprit knew that in the palace examination it would be very difficult to cheat again. To eliminate future troubles, the papers belonging to my brother and perhaps some others were all discarded… He even developed murderous intent toward my brother.”
Ni Su lowered her eyes. “Therefore, the culprit is not among the tribute students who passed the winter examination, but rather among the failed examination candidates.”
Zhou Ting didn’t refute this, only reminded her: “Miss Ni, Commissioner Han permitted me to tell you these things—firstly, out of sympathy for your deep affection for your close kin, and secondly, to ask that you not rashly go to the Court of Judicial Review to strike the appeal drum.”
“Why not?”
“Although that sealing official’s testimony seems useful, there’s something rather strange about him. When he came, he was trembling with fear, unable to stop his terror. When Commissioner Han asked why he only spoke up now, he said that last night he saw a ghostly couple, and only then recalled those events.” Zhou Ting didn’t know how to describe it to her, and suddenly remembered the reason she had entered the Guangning Residence to receive the rod punishment—it seemed… she too was rather strange.
“His Majesty handles ten thousand affairs daily. If the Yinye Bureau has no substantial leads, it wouldn’t be appropriate to memorialize His Majesty at this time. And the injuries on your body haven’t yet healed. If you go to the Court of Judicial Review to receive punishment again, I fear your life would be in danger.”
Zhou Ting looked at her pale face. “Rest assured, this matter can still be investigated.”
“Thank you, Captain Zhou.”
Ni Su felt somewhat dazed.
“I called you here today for another matter as well.”
Zhou Ting continued: “Several coroners in our bureau have examined your brother’s body. Previously we didn’t tell you because there are rules in our Yinye Bureau. Now that the suspicious points on the corpse have all been examined, you may take your brother’s body back for proper burial.”
“Then, what did the examination reveal?”
Ni Su immediately looked up, staring intently at him.
“Although your brother had several new and old external injuries, none were fatal. There was only one thing—before his death, he had consumed neither water nor food.” Being stared at by her like this, Zhou Ting couldn’t help but soften his voice somewhat.
Neither water nor food.
These words struck Ni Su like a blade, piercing her until her head ached with pain. After a long while, she asked in a trembling voice: “He was… starved to death while still alive?”
Zhou Ting fell silent.
The blazing autumn sun hung high, yet Ni Su felt cold to her very bones. She paid no mind to the gazes of those around her, wandering like a lost soul as Zhou Ting and his subordinates helped carry her brother’s body out. At a secluded riverside outside the city, they used a great fire to cremate her brother’s remains.
The fierce flames consumed her brother’s body. She watched from the side and finally couldn’t hold back her anguished weeping.
“Captain Zhou, quickly go comfort her…”
The several personal guards following Zhou Ting watched the young lady in the distance crying with tears streaming down her face, and spoke quietly to Zhou Ting.
Zhou Ting looked at Ni Su. His resolute jaw tightened. “How would I know how to comfort someone?”
The several personal guards hurriedly searched through their bosoms and sleeves. One young guard scratched his head and said, “None of us are women—we don’t have handkerchiefs. We can’t very well give her the sweat cloths from our bodies to wipe her tears, can we?”
What sweat cloths—Zhou Ting shot them a look, too lazy to listen to their nonsense. He simply watched that woman, his usually cold expression rippling with some emotion because of her grief. He walked to her side. The glaring brilliant sunlight was blocked by his tall form: “Miss Ni, our Yinye Bureau will certainly not let this matter rest. We will continue to assign people to protect you.”
Ni Su covered her face, teardrops falling through the gaps between her fingers.
The mountain wind stirred the long forest, branches and leaves rustling.
In the deep shade interspersed with fine flecks of light, Xu Hexue quietly watched that Yinye Bureau deputy captain awkwardly comforting the young lady kneeling on the ground.
From dusk to nightfall, Xu Hexue watched as even in her grief she didn’t forget to personally light a lantern. Cradling an urn of ashes, she moved like a wooden puppet, only knowing to shift her legs forward.
That glowing sphere of white, soft as down, followed constantly at her side, while Zhou Ting and the others who maintained a distance of several steps behind Ni Su couldn’t see that there was a lonely soul walking shoulder to shoulder with her.
“You few stand guard tonight. Change shifts at dawn.”
Upon reaching the shop on South Pagoda Tree Street, Zhou Ting watched Ni Su enter, then turned to address the several personal guards under his command.
“Yes.”
The men nodded and each sought out a concealed position.
The residence that had been cleaned just today was now blazing with lamplight as Ni Su placed the urn of ashes behind an incense table. On the table were two black lacquered memorial tablets.
She had carved the names and applied the gold lacquer herself while sitting under the eaves earlier today.
Lighting incense, kindling candles, Ni Su knelt before the table.
Suddenly someone walked to her side. His footsteps were very light. Ni Su kept her eyes lowered, seeing his shadow pale as moonlight, and the hem of his robe.
Ni Su looked up, her gaze rising to behold his face.
But Xu Hexue crouched down, placed the lantern he carried to one side, then unwrapped an oiled paper package and took out a steaming piece of sugar cake, offering it before her.
Everything he did was graceful.
Even just setting down a lantern or opening an oiled paper package—his bearing was so refined.
“Doesn’t it hurt when you go to buy this?”
Ni Su finally spoke. After crying so hard, her voice was terribly hoarse.
She knew this must have been purchased from the night market several streets away. He must have used his arts—otherwise this sugar cake wouldn’t still be steaming hot.
Xu Hexue didn’t answer whether it hurt or not, only said, “You’ve only eaten one meal today.”
In the lonely, long night, the candle flame sputtered.
Ni Su had no appetite, but she still took the sugar cake and bit into it.
Seeing Xu Hexue’s gaze fall on the book on the table, she said: “Though my brother only truly treated one woman as a patient from beginning to end, he consulted many midwives and sought out many medicine women. He studied many medical texts. On the day our father forced him to abandon medicine, he told me he would write down everything he knew about women’s difficult ailments for me, teach me medical arts, and when I grew up, after I had seen those women’s painful conditions, I could teach him with my own insights.”
That was the women’s medical text Ni Su had meant to complete together with her brother.
“If he could have practiced medicine, he wouldn’t have traveled far to Yun Jing to take the civil examination.”
Ni Su clutched half the sugar cake, her eyes growing moist again. “This was never his aspiration, yet he died because of it.”
By lamplight, Xu Hexue saw crystal-clear teardrops falling one after another from her eyes.
“Ni Su, although the Yinye Bureau cannot make further progress on your brother’s case for now, there is one person who will certainly find an alternative path. This matter—even if you don’t go to the Court of Judicial Review to file an imperial appeal—can still be brought before the court.”
He said.
“Who?”
“The current Grand Councilor Meng Yunxian.”
Xu Hexue held the oiled paper package and told her: “The Yinye Bureau doesn’t have direct authority to arrest and interrogate, but Jiang Xianming, the Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, can submit memorials based on rumors. Grand Councilor Meng may work through this person.”
Between clear night skies, moonlight shone bright. The sugar cake in Ni Su’s hand was still warm. Through tear-blurred eyes she studied this young man crouching before her.
During his life, he too had been an official.
Ni Su could almost imagine him dressed in official robes, wearing the long-winged cap, young and refined, perhaps once spirited and ambitious, like the rising sun. Yet all of that had come to an abrupt end in his nineteenth year.
Just as her brother’s life had also terminated without warning this year.
“Xu Ziling.”
Ni Su’s eyelids fluttered slightly. She suddenly said:
“If you were still alive, you would certainly be a good official.”