Mid-Autumn had passed. The struggle between the Hanlin Academy and Remonstrance Court intensified, yet they still couldn’t produce a determination of Wu Jikang’s crime. The name “Ni Qinglan” was mentioned repeatedly. These Great Qi civil officials seemed determined to use their full arsenal to refute each other.

The Remonstrance Court believed that the Emperor’s brother-in-law Wu Jikang had caused Ni Qinglan’s death through negligence. Ni Qinglan had ultimately starved to death because he developed soul-separation syndrome and couldn’t eat. Therefore, Wu Jikang’s crime didn’t merit death.

The Hanlin Academy believed that Wu Jikang had first bribed Du Cong to commit fraud, then imprisoned Ni Qinglan, causing him to develop soul-separation syndrome, ultimately resulting in his death. This merited the death penalty.

The two sides couldn’t agree, yet Emperor Zhengyuan continued claiming illness and not holding court. The memorials the Remonstrance Court and Hanlin Academy sent to Qinghe Hall sank without a trace.

Emperor Zhengyuan’s attitude emboldened the Remonstrance Court even more.

“These past days Ni Qinglan’s matter has grown even bigger. It’s spread throughout the markets. I’ve gone to teahouses to listen—the storytellers speak vividly. They tell clearly how Wu Jikang developed his intentions and how he imprisoned and tortured Ni Qinglan. Many scholars curse the Emperor’s brother-in-law Wu Jikang in the streets. Those curses are truly ugly…”

Pei Zhiyuan said while cracking peanuts.

“I heard that yesterday quite a few students went to Guangning Prefecture asking how Ni Qinglan’s case would conclude. Especially those poor scholars who entered the academies—each one indignant, nearly causing an uproar.”

An official chimed in.

“You said it yourself—poor scholars. Of all the scholars in the world, aside from official families, how many wouldn’t feel chilled hearing his story? If His Majesty doesn’t punish Wu Jikang, they’ll likely refuse to let it rest.”

Another official sighed.

Those young people without family background or connections—who wouldn’t worry about becoming the next Ni Qinglan? As long as the powerful and noble had the intention, they could reduce ten years of hard study to ashes, even extract a life as the price.

This matter had reached such a point among scholars precisely because it struck at the hearts of those hot-blooded, high-spirited young people.

“We should just properly deliberate the new policies and not get involved in the Remonstrance Court and Hanlin Academy’s affairs…” Someone said in a low voice, taking advantage of Hanlin Scholar He Tong’s absence.

Before he finished speaking, everyone saw Minister Zhang and Minister Meng enter. They stood and bowed.

“Everyone focus on deliberations.”

Meng Yunxian acted as if he hadn’t heard what they’d said. He gestured for them not to stand on ceremony, then sat down and began discussing serious matters with Zhang Jing.

Though His Majesty remained ill, the Political Affairs Hall’s deliberations on new policies still required memorials sent to His Majesty’s desk. The officials didn’t dare idle about and busied themselves with their work.

By dusk, when Meng Yunxian returned home from the palace, his chamberlain said a guest had come to visit. Too lazy to change clothes, he went directly to his study.

“Ni Qinglan’s matter is making such a commotion in Yunjing City—did your Yinye Bureau do this?” After the tea-serving chamberlain left, Meng Yunxian asked the person sitting beside him.

“It was Ni Qinglan’s sister Ni Su, but our family also employed some methods, having Zhou Ting spread that page boy Jia Yan’s testimony at the same time. This way, the storytellers in teahouses have even more to talk about.”

If not for Han Qing’s deliberate actions, people outside wouldn’t know so many details of Wu Jikang’s crimes.

“This girl…”

Meng Yunxian froze for a moment, holding his tea bowl without drinking. “She’s actually quite tough.”

His tone held considerable admiration.

“Could it be she wants to go to the Court of Censorial Appeals?”

Meng Yunxian realized.

“If not for this, why else would she spend silver everywhere making such a commotion? Our family was thinking—this Court of Censorial Appeals, she absolutely must go.”

Han Qing’s expression showed complexity when discussing this woman.

“The Court of Censorial Appeals’ punishment—can a weak woman truly endure it?” Steam rose from the tea. Meng Yunxian took a sip. “But her doing this does make things more convenient for you and me.”

“His Majesty already cares about public opinion. Now with the Taishan sacrifice approaching, His Majesty’s mind will care even more about such matters. Once Ni Qinglan’s case reaches the Court of Censorial Appeals, His Majesty cannot ignore it. He must give a decision.”

But what decision? All of Yunjing City was watching this case. Those scholars from poor backgrounds related Ni Qinglan’s situation to their own. If His Majesty remained determined to shield Wu Jikang at this point, the matter wouldn’t end well.

That Ni Su was forcing the Emperor’s hand.

Thinking of this, Meng Yunxian couldn’t help sighing. “Han Qing, I think she resembles you from back then.”

“If our family could have gone to the Court of Censorial Appeals then, our family definitely would have gone.”

A trace of a smile appeared on Han Qing’s face.

Back then Han Qing was only eleven or twelve, a eunuch in the palace without power or influence. Someone like him, a palace slave, had no qualification to go to the Court of Censorial Appeals.

Fortunately he’d managed to plead before Meng Yunxian, which saved his elder sister’s life.

After a moment of contemplation, Meng Yunxian braced one hand on his knee. “Once she goes to the Court of Censorial Appeals to appeal to the Emperor, His Majesty will surely summon me.”

——

The ninth day of the ninth month was the Double Ninth Festival.

Ni Su rose very early. She added incense and candles before the altar, saw the dogwood Cai Chunxu had sent yesterday—a scarlet cluster arranged in a vase—and after thinking, broke off a section to pin in her hair.

“Does it look nice?”

She turned to ask the person standing in the covered corridor.

Xu Hexue looked at her. She wore plain white like clear frost, her hair in a triple-loop coiffure without other ornaments, only a string of dogwood pinned in her hair—extreme white and extreme red, strikingly vivid.

“Yes.”

He nodded.

Ni Su smiled. Her complexion wasn’t good, her face even more gaunt. She broke off another section of dogwood from the vase, walked before him, and pulled his robe sash. As she wound the dogwood around it, she said, “Today you must accompany me to climb a very, very tall mountain. You can’t not wear this.”

That very tall mountain was at the Court of Censorial Appeals.

“Ni Su…”

Xu Hexue lowered his gaze, watching her fingers hook around his frost-white sash. His Adam’s apple moved.

“Listen to me.”

Ni Su interrupted him. “Today you absolutely must not help me. Don’t let anyone discover your existence.”

Having wound the dogwood around, Ni Su’s gaze moved from the crimson dogwood berries to his pristine, neat robe front, then upward to his face.

Xu Hexue pressed his lips together, his fingers curling inward within his sleeves.

“After I’m punished, will you take care of me?” Ni Su’s tone was very light. “If you don’t take care of me, I’ll be in trouble.”

“I will.”

He said.

“Mm.”

Ni Su’s eyes curved slightly. “Then I’ll thank you first.”

The Petition Drum stood outside the palace gates. Ni Su walked from South Sophora Street—the morning mist had already dispersed considerably, the sunlight growing increasingly bright.

Pedestrians crowded the streets. Among the various people, she saw the soldiers outside the palace gates all wearing armor with solemn expressions.

Beside the Petition Drum stood some attendants.

No one noticed Ni Su until she walked before that Petition Drum and looked up at it.

The sunlight was brilliant, piercing to the eyes. The drum attendants pushed and shoved each other, staring at this girl who’d suddenly approached, and began whispering.

“What’s she going to do?”

“Could she be going to beat the drum? This drum hasn’t been beaten in so many years…”

“Isn’t she afraid of punishment?”

The drum attendants were still talking when they saw that young woman take down the drum mallet from the wooden frame. They watched her raise her arm high and strike heavily on the drum face.

A resounding “boom.”

The drum face vibrated.

Many pedestrians were startled by this drum sound and quickly gathered before the Petition Drum. The drum sound grew more muffled, more urgent with each beat.

“Quick, quick go report to the Supervising Eunuch!”

One drum attendant pushed the person beside him.

The Supervising Eunuch was a palace eunuch. The message followed the drum sound into the palace, then was sent by the Supervising Eunuch to the Court of Censorial Appeals. This round trip wasted considerable time, yet that drum sound never ceased.

Ni Su was covered in sweat, her wrists aching terribly, but she still gripped the drum mallet firmly until the gates of the Court of Censorial Appeals on Xuande Gate South Street opened wide.

“Who dares beat this drum?”

The Supervising Eunuch called out shrilly.

Ni Su, her temples damp with sweat, turned around. She dropped to both knees, raising the drum mallet high, and proclaimed loudly, “This commoner woman Ni Su seeks redress for her brother Ni Qinglan’s injustice!”

The three characters “Ni Qinglan” immediately stirred considerable commotion in the crowd.

“Isn’t that the candidate killed by Young Master Wu?”

“I’ve heard of it too. Supposedly that Young Master Wu tortured him until he developed soul-separation syndrome, unable to eat or drink—starved to death alive…”

“Truly wicked!”

The Supervising Eunuch wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and called the drum attendants over. “The Presiding Judge has already arrived. You quickly take her to the Court!”

“Yes!”

The drum attendants hastily responded.

Since the rule was established that those appealing to the Emperor must first be punished, the Court of Censorial Appeals had long been neglected. The Presiding Judge of the Court also held a position in the Remonstrance Court. He’d been arguing with Hanlin Academy people in the palace and thought he’d misheard the Petition Drum. Only when the Supervising Eunuch sent someone did he hurry to the Court.

Seated in the great hall, Judge Tan saw so many commoners gathered outside the main gate and felt rather unaccustomed to it. He straightened his official hat, used his sleeve to wipe his sweat, then sat upright and scrutinized the young woman kneeling in the hall below. “Who are you? Why do you beat the drum?”

“This commoner woman Ni Su accuses the current Grand Preceptor Wu Dai’s son Wu Jikang of murdering my brother.”

Ni Su bowed her head to the ground.

Judge Tan clearly hadn’t expected to be assigned Ni Qinglan’s case. His expression shifted slightly as he studied this woman again, then said gravely, “Do you know that entering the Court of Censorial Appeals to appeal to the Emperor requires first being punished?”

“This commoner woman knows. If I can achieve redress for my brother’s injustice, this commoner woman willingly accepts punishment!”

Judge Tan narrowed his eyes. He merely assumed this woman was ignorant and didn’t yet know how severe the Court of Censorial Appeals’ punishment was. So he set aside other matters and raised his chin toward the Court’s bailiffs. “Bring it.”

The bailiffs quickly brought a dust-covered wooden bench. One person casually wiped the dust with his sleeve, then two others pressed Ni Su onto the bench.

One side of Ni Su’s cheek pressed against the cold bench surface. She heard Judge Tan above declare solemnly, “Ni Su, this official asks you once more—do you insist on appealing to the Emperor?”

“This commoner woman insists.”

Ni Su said.

“Good.”

Judge Tan nodded and said to the bailiff holding the rod, “Administer punishment!”

The bailiff showed no mercy for her being a woman. Hearing only the Judge’s command, he raised the rod and struck down heavily.

The pain shaking bone and flesh caused Ni Su to be unable to suppress her agonized cry. Tears surged instantly in her eyes. Trembling all over from the pain, this was punishment even more terrible than the Guangning Prefecture’s authority rods.

The bailiff struck several rods in succession. The people standing outside the gates could all hear that muffled sound of the rod falling on flesh, as well as the woman’s trembling, agonized cries. Cai Chunxu, supported by Miao Yiyang as she emerged from the carriage, heard the scream from inside the gate. Her knees nearly gave way and she almost fell from the carriage.

Cai Chunxu rushed to the gate, pushing aside the people blocking her path. At a glance she saw that under the bright light of day, that woman was pressed onto a long, square wooden bench, her frost-white clothing, her mottled blood.

“Ah Xi…”

Cai Chunxu’s eyes heated, her voice failing her in a murmur.

“Ni Su, this official asks you again—will you still appeal to the Emperor?” After several rod strikes, Judge Tan raised his hand to signal the bailiff to pause momentarily.

“I will.”

Ni Su’s lips trembled.

Judge Tan’s eyes showed a trace of surprise. He hadn’t expected these several rods wouldn’t frighten this woman away. Thinking of the current hostile situation between the Remonstrance Court and Hanlin Academy, his expression wasn’t good as he waved his hand.

The bailiff nodded. Two people, one in front and one behind, struck down rods again.

Ni Su, in pain, clutched the corner of the wooden bench tightly, her knuckles white. Though she clenched her teeth, she still couldn’t suppress the pain in her body. She suffered unbearably as tears streamed down.

This wasn’t the first time Xu Hexue had seen her punished, but this time, the compassion in his heart was even stronger. He couldn’t even bear to watch her tears. The rod fell again. His hand clenched into a fist as he closed his eyes briefly.

“Ni Su, tell this official—what do you seek in your appeal?”

Judge Tan, seated in the hall, said coldly.

What do you seek?

The bailiff hadn’t stopped. Ni Su, in pain, was slow to think. She murmured, “What do I seek?”

Another rod fell, the pain making her tears flow as she let out a short, sharp scream. She struggled to breathe, crying out:

“I demand the killer be executed! I demand he return my brother’s life! I demand he return my brother’s life!”

Why?

Why was her brother’s life worth less than that person’s life? Why could the killer still openly escape from prison?

“My lord, if I cannot achieve redress for my brother’s injustice, this commoner woman also doesn’t fear death!”

“Stop hitting her!” Cai Chunxu, blocked outside the gate by bailiffs, watched helplessly as another rod fell. She cried out anxiously, “My lord! Please stop hitting her!”

But the bailiffs paid no heed.

Xu Hexue watched as the bright red dogwood in Ni Su’s temples fell to the ground. Her body was covered in blood, yet the rod didn’t stop, striking viciously against her body.

His jaw tightened. Unable to endure any longer, he extended his hand, bringing two fingers together. Silver-white pale dust, soft as cotton clouds, gently attached to her body.

The bailiff struck rod after rod, but Ni Su discovered she couldn’t feel it.

She lifted her eyes sluggishly. The teardrops clinging to her lashes slid down. She saw pale dust floating around his entire body, the edges of his sleeves continuously dripping crimson blood drops.

She saw the wounds on his wrist bones split open inch by inch. Even his robe front was stained red. Perhaps beneath his clothing, more and more wounds had already appeared.

His face had grown even paler.

Ni Su’s cheek pressed against the wooden bench, her throat already hoarse to the extreme, her lips moving slightly, her voice so weak only she herself could hear:

“Xu Ziling, please don’t interfere, alright?”

“I really don’t want you to hurt.”