When Qiu Xinran arrived at Xihe Palace, she immediately saw the pair of white jade earrings displayed on the velvet cushion, particularly eye-catching. She had already guessed early on that the Empress bringing out these earrings today wasn’t because she genuinely wanted to reward Han Ling—it was probably still to warn Noble Consort Shu. But after hearing her mention the finger ring, her thoughts now should be quite different.
Indeed, she had just knelt to pay her respects when she heard the richly dressed woman seated above ask, “Earlier in the Imperial Garden, you said you’d seen a white jade finger ring similar to these earrings. What exactly is this about?”
Qiu Xinran had already prepared her draft before coming. At this moment, after slight consideration, she answered, “Many years ago, the Ninth Princess once picked up a white jade finger ring in the Imperial Garden, but she didn’t want others to discover it, so she privately entrusted it to this subject for safekeeping. This subject saw her expression was evasive at the time and advised her to show you the ring. However, the Princess said you would recognize the ring, and therefore couldn’t give it to you.”
She spoke these words extremely tactfully. Without the earlier matter of the earrings, at most it would only make people find it strange. But the Empress had spent many years in the palace and witnessed numerous palace intrigues. Having already discovered that Concubine Xu and Li Hantai perhaps had an illicit relationship long ago, connecting it with Li Hanyuan’s words, what was there left to understand? Her face immediately turned iron-blue: “Is everything you’re saying true?”
“This subject dares not speak a single false word.” Speaking to this point, Qiu Xinran carefully raised her head and asked hesitantly, “Does that ring have some special significance?”
The Empress’s face was cold as ice and frost. One glance from her made people not dare to even breathe loudly. Qiu Xinran heard her ask, “When did Xiao Jiu give you the ring?”
“In the spring of Xuande’s eighth year, the last time this subject saw the Ninth Princess before returning to the mountains, the Princess gave that ring to this subject.”
“Why didn’t you say anything back then?”
“When the Princess passed away, I was not in the palace. After returning to the palace, seeing Your Majesty’s excessive grief from missing the Princess, and mindful of what the Princess entrusted before her death, I was unwilling to let Your Majesty know about that ring, so I never dared mention it. After leaving the palace, there was even less opportunity. I beg Your Majesty not to blame me.”
“Since you were determined to conceal it from me, why are you willing to speak of it now?”
Qiu Xinran lowered her head: “Your Majesty actively inquired. This subject dares not hide it.”
Hearing these words, the Empress’s expression was uncertain. From the corner of her eye, Qiu Xinran glimpsed her hand gripping the chair armrest tightly, her fingertips devoid of color, as if suppressing enormous inner turmoil. After a long while she asked, “Where is that ring now?”
“After the Princess passed away, this subject placed the ring in a rouge box that I brought down the mountain for the Princess, offering it before the Princess’s longevity memorial tablet at Qinglong Temple, entrusting the temple monks to watch over it.”
The Empress had been somewhat doubtful of her words at first, but hearing that she’d placed the ring at Qinglong Temple, she suddenly felt it seemed somewhat credible. She only needed to send someone to the temple to investigate when exactly Qiu Xinran had deposited the ring there, and it would indirectly verify the truth or falsehood of her words just now. If what she said was all true…
The Empress took a deep breath and instructed the steward nanny beside her, “Pingchun, immediately send someone with her to Qinglong Temple to retrieve the item.”
When Qiu Xinran emerged from Xihe Palace it was already evening. The sky outside was overcast—a heavy rain seemed likely that night. Xihe Palace’s carriage was already waiting outside the palace gates. She glanced at the sky and, just to be safe, asked the nanny for an umbrella before boarding the carriage toward Qinglong Temple.
By the time she emerged from the temple, the sky had already darkened. Because of the bad weather, many people had returned home early, and the main street wasn’t as lively as usual. Qiu Xinran had been rushing about all day and was resting with closed eyes in the carriage when she suddenly felt the carriage, after passing through a secluded alley, suddenly stop, as if stuck in a crevice.
She opened her eyes and heard the driver jump down from the carriage and circle around to the back to check, but for a long while no further sounds came. All around was complete silence.
She sat quietly in the carriage for a while. Holding her breath and concentrating, she seemed to hear a few extremely faint sounds outside, but they quickly disappeared. After another moment, she heard footsteps approaching from far to near, as if heading toward the carriage. Qiu Xinran couldn’t help but reach for the bamboo umbrella placed in the carriage while keeping her eyes fixed on the curtain before her. A night breeze blew past. The curtain moved lightly as a hand reached out from outside to lift it, revealing a familiar face outside the carriage.
Seeing the appearance of the person outside clearly, Qiu Xinran couldn’t help but freeze, then her previously tense body relaxed: “Guard Gao?”
Gao Yang stood outside the carriage, his features gentle: “Where is the Daoist headed?”
“I was just about to return to the palace to report back to the Empress.” Qiu Xinran supported herself on Gao Yang’s hand as she descended from the carriage, only then discovering the carriage had stopped in a small alley dark both ahead and behind. All around was quiet—not a single person, not even the driver who had been steering the carriage could be seen.
After Qiu Xinran descended from the carriage, she looked around in a circle. The air was stuffy, hot, and humid. Faintly she could smell a trace of blood. Her mind stirred, and her gaze fell back on the man before her. The other wore all black, making it hard to see anything: “How does Guard Gao come to be here?”
Gao Yang said, “I returned to the official residence once. Hearing from He Zhong that the Daoist left the palace today and went to Qinglong Temple, I was concerned for the Daoist’s safety and came to check.”
“I’ve troubled Guard Gao.” Qiu Xinran asked again, “Since we last parted, how are the Marquis’s injuries?”
Hearing her actively ask about Xia Xiuyan, Gao Yang’s gaze unconsciously moved toward behind him, then quickly steadied. He only answered, “He’s mostly recovered. Thank you for the Daoist’s concern.”
“That’s good then.”
Gao Yang glanced at the alley behind her: “Right now the driver has gone somewhere unknown. If the Daoist trusts me, why not let me arrange someone to escort you back to the palace to report?”
Qiu Xinran hesitated slightly and took out a box of rouge from her bosom and handed it to him. Gao Yang reached out to receive it. Without opening it to look, he put it away in his bosom and said to her, “Let me escort the Daoist back first.”
Qiu Xinran shook her head: “Proper business is more important. I see this place isn’t far from He’s Restaurant. The Empress has been waiting in the palace for quite some time. Guard Gao need not worry.”
Gao Yang hesitated briefly. Though this small alley was pitch black, leaving here would lead to a prosperous street. Walking toward He’s Restaurant involved no small paths, so there shouldn’t be any further danger. Thinking of this, he nodded: “In that case, be careful, Daoist.”
Gao Yang watched her figure disappear at the alley entrance before turning to walk toward the corner not far behind the carriage.
Several black-clad men stood at the wall corner. Xia Xiuyan stood among them, several black-clothed masked corpses at his feet. He held a dagger in his hand, bending down to examine the ornaments on one of the corpses. When Gao Yang approached, he straightened and looked over. Gao Yang handed over the small rouge box from his bosom. He didn’t reach out to take it, but instead asked, “Where is she?”
“After Miss Qiu gave me this box, she left on her own.”
The man’s expression shifted. Gao Yang noticed he frowned slightly, seeming somewhat displeased, so he added, “Should this subordinate find someone to secretly escort her back?”
Xia Xiuyan shook his head, sheathed the dagger in his hand and tossed it to him: “Send the corpses to the charity morgue. Don’t let anyone discover them yet.” Seeing him turn to leave after saying this, Gao Yang quickly said, “If Noble Consort Shu doesn’t see this group return to report, she’ll probably immediately realize it was you who intervened.”
“So what if she realizes?” Xia Xiuyan laughed coldly. “Does she think there’s still time?”
He dropped a sentence—”Send the ring to the palace, and by the way, reveal tonight’s events to the Empress”—then turned toward the alley entrance. Gao Yang guessed what he was going to do, sighed inwardly, turned around and hurriedly instructed the others to drag the corpses onto the carriage.
Not long after Xia Xiuyan left the alley, he quickly found the snow-blue robed figure walking through the crowd holding a bamboo umbrella. Though the street wasn’t as lively as usual, people came and went, reflecting the dim yellow street lamps on both sides. The street food stalls were preparing to close up. Steaming hot fragrance of buns emanated from opened steamers—the smoky atmosphere of the mortal world rushed toward him.
Xia Xiuyan followed ten paces behind her, seeing her stop at a bun stall to haggle with the vendor for quite some time, finally managing to buy the last two vegetable buns before closing for the price of three copper coins. While the stall owner muttered and grumbled as he got her buns, she seemed to sense something and glanced behind her, but apparently didn’t discover anything unusual. She quickly turned back around, contentedly received the items, turned and continued walking toward He’s Restaurant, her steps noticeably lighter.
Xia Xiuyan followed behind with hands clasped behind his back, watching her hold the bamboo umbrella in one hand and grip a bun in the other, lowering her head to take a bite. Her footsteps went “pitter-patter,” humming as if singing—she truly appeared not to have been frightened in the slightest. He didn’t know whether to say her heart was big.
On this late spring night, two figures one after the other, their footsteps one light and quick, one steady, like playing a little tune.
Thunder rumbled dully in the sky—it seemed the rain that had been building all afternoon was finally about to fall. When Qiu Xinran reached the restaurant entrance, a raindrop fell from the sky and touched her face. The woman looked up at the gloomy sky. Dark clouds merged with the night. Thunder rumbled again in the distance. Raindrops fell in twos and threes—before long it would probably rain heavily.
Xia Xiuyan stood under the eaves not far away, watching her climb the steps and knock on the door. A fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl poked her head out from inside, smiled at her and opened the door to let her in. After the woman entered the shop, she turned to close the shop door and seemed to glance in the direction where he stood. Xia Xiuyan shifted his body to the side, standing in the shadows. When he looked up again, the shop door had already been closed.
Outside the door of He’s Restaurant seemed to have one more item than before. He emerged from the shadows and only upon approaching closely could he see clearly that a bamboo umbrella had been left leaning against the door—precisely the one she’d been carrying all along. The bamboo umbrella stood forlornly at the door’s edge, probably unable to figure out how it had been left outside.
He reached out to touch the umbrella handle. It still held warmth. A trace of smile couldn’t help but surface in his eyes.
Qiu Xinran returned to her room on the second floor and pushed open the window to look down, just in time to see an open green bamboo-ribbed umbrella surface. The bamboo umbrella concealed the figure beneath it. The rain gradually grew heavier, pattering against the umbrella surface with a light sound. She leaned by the window watching that green umbrella gradually walk away in the curtain of rain. She stood by the window for a while longer before letting out a soft laugh and closing the window.
The next day was the Grand Sacrifice Ceremony. Emperor Xuande had moved to Tiansi Temple three days prior. Today the Empress would also lead the palace consorts there. Qiu Xinran changed clothes and hurried to the Bureau of Astronomy. Yuan Zhou spotted her from far away and waved to her from a distance. As soon as the two boarded the carriage, she heard him ask, “I heard you went to Xihe Palace yesterday. Did you hear anything?”
“Didn’t hear anything,” Qiu Xinran asked knowingly, “Has something happened?”
Only the two of them were in this carriage. Yuan Zhou leaned close mysteriously: “Today is the Grand Sacrifice Ceremony. According to protocol, the Empress and the four consorts should go to the Earth Sacrifice Temple to pray for blessings. But this morning news suddenly came from the palace that last night the Empress led a group of people to Noble Consort Shu’s palace. I don’t know what happened, but when she came out she said Noble Consort Shu was unwell and couldn’t attend the Grand Sacrifice Ceremony today. I heard everyone discussing how yesterday at the Imperial Garden banquet, Noble Consort Shu was perfectly fine—how could she suddenly fall acutely ill and be unable to leave the palace?”
Being unwell was naturally mostly an excuse. Qiu Xinran just hadn’t expected that the Empress, who usually appeared to fast, chant Buddhist scriptures, and avoid managing affairs in the rear palace, would act so decisively and swiftly, detaining Noble Consort Shu in her sleeping chambers that very night. She probably planned to wait until after the Grand Sacrifice Ceremony when the Emperor returned to the palace before settling accounts.
She couldn’t help but ask, “Did the First Prince come?”
“The First Prince is accompanying the Emperor up to Tiansi Temple today, so naturally he came.” Yuan Zhou felt her question was strange and said suspiciously, “Do you know something?”
Qiu Xinran thought for a moment: “Before leaving, I cast a divination and got an inauspicious result. During these next few days of the Grand Sacrifice Ceremony, stay close to Master and be extra vigilant.”
Hearing her say this, Yuan Zhou’s expression became grave: “Did the divination say anything else?”
“Nothing more,” Qiu Xinran sighed. “Let’s hope everything goes smoothly and safely this time.”