Li Jianheng had a nightmare.
He dreamed he was back at the South Forest hunting grounds on that rainy night. Branches lashed savagely against his face as he panicked and covered his head, trying to dodge them.
The horse beneath him bolted forward. Terrified, Li Jianheng tried to grab the reins—only for Xiao Chiye to suddenly turn around, seize him by the collar, and fling him off the horse.
“Ce’an, save me!” Li Jianheng crashed to the ground, dropping to his knees as he begged. “Ce’an, Ce’an! We’re brothers—don’t leave me here!”
Amid thunder and lightning, Xiao Chiye’s face was grim. He said coldly, “Knock him out and carry him away!”
Li Jianheng wept uncontrollably. As the morning sun approached, he recoiled in fear, scrambling backward and waving his hands as he shouted, “I—I am the emperor! How dare you treat me like this?!”
As he retreated, his body bumped into someone. Li Jianheng turned around and saw Emperor Xiande, hunched over, gripping his wrist. He cried out at once, “Imperial Brother, Imperial Brother, save me!”
Emperor Xiande’s fingers tightened, digging into Li Jianheng’s flesh. Coughing up blood, he said coldly, “The one who saves you today can kill you tomorrow. Do you understand?”
Li Jianheng struggled in pain, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t break free. Suddenly, the rain from the sky turned thick and sticky, drop by drop. Li Jianheng wiped at it—it was blood all over his hand. He looked up. In the pitch darkness, a head rolled down with a heavy thud.
Somehow finding strength, Li Jianheng shoved and kicked his way free of Emperor Xiande’s grasp. Gasping, he crawled up from the mud, trembling as he kicked the severed head aside. He cried out to the surrounding shadows, “I am the emperor! I—I am the Son of Heaven! Who dares kill me, huh?!”
“Your Majesty,” someone called softly. “Your Majesty.”
Li Jianheng jolted awake. Staring blankly at the gilded ceiling, he murmured, “Who wants to kill me… who wants to kill me…”
The Empress Dowager wiped the sweat from his face with a handkerchief and bent closer. “Jianheng, your mother is here.”
Jianheng!
Grief surged in Li Jianheng’s chest. His mother had died early, and Emperor Guangcheng had never truly looked at him. All these years of indulgence and excess—yet no one had ever called him “Jianheng.”
“Mother…” Li Jianheng choked, calling out, “Mother!”
The Empress Dowager turned her head slightly, as if wiping away tears. “You were unconscious all night. I was so afraid. Where do you still hurt? You must tell me everything.”
Li Jianheng looked at her and saw that she was still wearing last night’s ceremonial robes—she must have kept vigil here all night. He forced himself upright and noticed the strands of white in her hair, her reddened eyes, her whole figure worn and haggard.
His heart softened. He wiped his eyes, grabbed her arm, and said, “I’ve made Mother worry. I’m fine.”
Hai Liangyi was kneeling outside. He had kept watch here all night as well. Hearing voices from inside, he knew Li Jianheng had awakened and finally felt relieved.
Soon after, palace maids entered quietly to help Li Jianheng wash and dress. The Empress Dowager personally carried the bowl of medicine, tasted it herself, and only then fed it to him.
After drinking the medicine, Li Jianheng still looked unwell, but he was much better than the night before. He put on his boots and stepped outside, seeing that Hai Liangyi was still kneeling. Deeply moved, he went forward to help him up. “Grand Secretary, I am unharmed!”
Hai Liangyi nearly couldn’t stand. Li Jianheng told him not to keep watch anymore and dismissed the officials kneeling outside as well, leaving only Kong Qiu, Cen Yu, and Fu Linye, who had conducted interrogations all night.
“Have you found anything?” Li Jianheng asked impatiently. “Minister Kong, tell me quickly.”
Kong Qiu kowtowed and said, “Last night, the Ministry of Justice interrogated through the night. It has now been confirmed that the assassin was a eunuch named Guisheng, who acted as the food taster at the Grand Banquet under the direction of the female official Fuling from the Imperial Kitchen.”
“A female official?” Li Jianheng said in shock. “Why would a female official want to harm me?”
“The reason is unclear,” Kong Qiu replied.
Li Jianheng grew anxious. “You investigated all night and found nothing?!”
Kong Qiu exchanged looks with the other two. After a brief silence, he said, “Your Majesty may not know—Fuling knew she could not escape justice and drugged herself mute. She endured punishment without speaking.”
Li Jianheng suddenly understood something. “A mere palace woman—why would she do such a thing? She must have feared revealing something under torture and silenced herself first! There must be someone behind her!”
“Your Majesty is wise,” Kong Qiu said. “The two censors and I thought the same. We investigated further and found that she has an elderly mother living in a side alley off East Dragon Street. Though their house is small, it is not something a mere palace woman could afford. Further investigation showed she did not buy it herself—the East Dragon Street brokerage let her live there on credit.”
Li Jianheng was intimately familiar with East Dragon Street and immediately caught the inconsistency. “If she’s a lone woman supporting her mother, she couldn’t possibly have valuables to mortgage for a house.”
“Exactly,” Kong Qiu said. “Finding this suspicious, we summoned the brokers. They confessed that they let her have the house on credit out of respect for the Imperial Guards.”
Li Jianheng’s heart sank. He felt like he was sitting on needles. After a moment, he asked, “What does this have to do with the Imperial Guards?”
Kong Qiu replied, “It was arranged by Yuan Liu, a sixth-rank adjudicator in the Imperial Guards’ Judicial Office. Though he and Fuling were not formally engaged, there were long-standing rumors of an illicit relationship between them.”
Li Jianheng shot to his feet. “Does Governor Xiao know about this?”
Knowing how close Li Jianheng was to Xiao Chiye, Kong Qiu couldn’t tell whether the emperor meant to protect him or not. He answered honestly, “The Governor’s position is that he did not know.”
Li Jianheng stood there, his expression shifting several times. At last he said, “…The Imperial Guards are numerous. It’s understandable if he didn’t know. Do not publicize this matter yet. You may withdraw. Summon Han Cheng and Shen Zechuan—I wish to reward them!”
Xiao Chiye stepped onto the frozen ground, kicking open the door to the prison. The guards inside had long received word and hurriedly led him in.
Fuling was confined inside. She was only twenty-three. After torture, her hair was disheveled as she sat motionless on the straw.
Xiao Chiye entered the cell. Chenyang removed his cloak. He was tall, imposing—just stepping inside made Fuling tremble in fear.
Xiao Chiye was, in truth, extremely handsome—a mix of rakish ease and razor-sharp ferocity. He could be a carefree young noble or a cold Asura king. He wore masks effortlessly, and once he put one on, even his mannerisms changed to suit it.
At this moment, he was a passing aristocrat.
He first surveyed the cell, then bent slightly to look at the narrow window. Seeing only the prison’s high walls outside, he lost interest and straightened again. He tilted his head and looked down at Fuling.
Pressed against the wall, Fuling felt that gaze brimming with innate contempt.
“A female official of the Imperial Kitchen,” Xiao Chiye said.
Fuling didn’t lift her head, staring only at his boots.
Chenyang brought over a chair. Xiao Chiye sat, propping one knee as he looked at the crown of her head. “Yuan Liu has a wife and concubines, yet he risked losing his badge to arrange a house for you. What kind of stunning beauty are you, to make him throw away his life? Lift your head. Let me see.”
Fuling shrank back, ignoring him.
Leaning back, Xiao Chiye said, “He’s old enough to be your father, and you still went along with it? Being a female official isn’t the same as being a maid—once released from the palace, you could’ve married a respectable young man. Yuan Liu’s just a sixth-rank thug—no money, no power. Following him—are you blind, or just foolishly devoted?”
The cell was silent.
“Let’s set Yuan Liu aside. What could you have used to persuade Guisheng to assassinate? You had no money. Someone else must have instigated him. You drugged your throat mute—you were chosen from the start to be a scapegoat. Your master is clever, using people like you and discarding them afterward. Whether you live or die means nothing to me. But now you’re trying to pin this on me, Xiao Ce’an—do you think you can just die like this?” Xiao Chiye smiled faintly. “Unlikely, girl.”
Chenyang turned and nodded to the guards. Chains clattered as the filthy Yuan Liu was dragged out.
Yuan Liu crawled toward Fuling, screaming, “Bitch! You’d dare ruin me like this?!”
Fuling shook violently, crawling along the wall away from him. Yuan Liu grabbed her ankle and wailed, “What did I ever do to you? I treated you so well—this is how you repay me?!”
She cried as she kicked at him, hoarsely trying to shout.
“Your mother was gravely ill—I carried her to the doctor myself!” Yuan Liu yelled. “Whatever you wanted, I gave you! You tricked me, and now you want to drag my whole family to their deaths! You poisonous woman!”
The chains rattled again as Chenyang restrained the out-of-control Yuan Liu. He still lunged forward, face twisted, shouting, “I won’t let you go! Even as a ghost, I won’t let you go!”
Xiao Chiye looked again at the small window from his chair. He could actually see a sliver of sky now. There was no snow today; pale clouds piled overhead. He ignored the turmoil before him entirely.
Yuan Liu collapsed to his knees, sobbing. He crawled toward Xiao Chiye, kowtowing. “Governor, Governor! Spare me this once! Please—I was bewitched! I’ll work like an ox or a horse to repay this debt!”
Xiao Chiye looked at him. “The one holding your life isn’t me. Go beg the right person. For the sake of your whole family, kowtow a few times—make up for the debt you owe your wife and child for sneaking around behind their backs.”
Yuan Liu turned to Fuling, kowtowing as he begged, “Let me go! Please let me go! This has nothing to do with me! I beg you! My family—eight people! I don’t want them all to die here!”
Fuling wept, refusing to look at him.
Terrified beyond reason, Yuan Liu smashed his head until it bled. “Fuling… one night together, a hundred days of grace… We never became husband and wife, but we had years of feelings! I beg you—don’t pin this on me! In my next life, I’ll be your son, your grandson! Let me go! That house—I bought it to honor your mother! How could you…” His voice broke. “How could you use it… to take my whole family’s lives? Do you even have a heart?!”
Fuling hoarsely tried to speak, then kowtowed to him as well, her lips forming a clear apology.
Yuan Liu crawled closer, clutching her, blood streaming down his forehead. “I don’t want your kowtows! I want the truth! I don’t want to die… Fuling! Don’t ruin me…”
Xiao Chiye watched and said, “An assassination plot never ends with beheading alone. If you want to die, fine—but pity your mother. At her age, she’ll still have to endure torture. Do you know what kind of place the imperial prison is? Once she falls into the hands of the Embroidered Guard, flaying and tendon-pulling are nothing.”
Fuling collapsed, wailing upward.
“Did your master not tell you?” Xiao Chiye said. “I intend to drag this case out. One more day, one more punishment. You’ll suffer, he’ll suffer, your mother will suffer too—until I’m satisfied, and only then will we part.”
Fuling sobbed in hatred.
Xiao Chiye didn’t move, only stared at her. “Isn’t it said that even beating a dog depends on its owner? Since you bit me, Xiao Ce’an, everyone suffers together. I’ll beat you until your flesh is torn and you’re begging for death, and we’ll see who breaks first. Chenyang—bring her mother in.”
Chenyang answered and moved toward the door.
Fuling suddenly screamed. Her throat was ruined; the sound was like a beast on the brink of despair. She lunged toward Xiao Chiye, collapsed to the ground, and scrawled characters frantically with her fingers.
Xiao Chiye bent to look for a moment, then said, “Give her paper and brush. I want it in black and white.”
Fuling was taken by Chenyang to affix her seal. Only Xiao Chiye and Yuan Liu remained in the cell. Seeing Xiao Chiye about to leave, Yuan Liu immediately clutched the hem of his robe.
“Gov—Governor!” Yuan Liu said. “It’s over now… am I free…?”
Xiao Chiye donned his cloak and turned back. “When did you take the adjudicator post?”
Yuan Liu hurriedly counted on his fingers. “The third year after Your Excellency took office.”
“So you came up under me,” Xiao Chiye said.
Yuan Liu nodded frantically. “I’m one of yours!”
Xiao Chiye, exhausted from a sleepless night, felt irritable. He rested a hand on his blade and nudged Yuan Liu’s hand away with the scabbard. “My people don’t have the clout to get East Dragon Street brokers to extend credit. All Imperial Guard property acquisitions must be reported. You didn’t report this house—and you also have farmland outside the city. A sixth-rank adjudicator living quite well. Who’s been supporting you—do you really not know?”
Tears and snot streamed down Yuan Liu’s face as he wailed, “I was misled! I shouldn’t have been greedy for that little bit! Governor, Governor! But I never betrayed the Imperial Guards—”
Xiao Chiye tilted his aching neck slightly and didn’t look at him again. “How old is your son?”
“Fo—four.”
“I’ll raise him for you,” Xiao Chiye said expressionlessly. “Once this case is over, take your own life.”
The cell door slammed shut, and Yuan Liu collapsed to the ground.
Xiao Chiye walked through the dark, damp prison corridor, listening to the sobbing behind him. He took the confession from Chenyang. Just as he stepped out of the prison gates, Gu Jin hurried up.
“Young Master,” Gu Jin said. “Fuling’s mother is dead.”
Chenyang frowned. “Good thing the master didn’t enter the palace this morning. Otherwise Fuling would’ve had no more scruples, and we wouldn’t have gotten this confession.”
“A stack of paper,” Xiao Chiye said, flipping through it in the light. “Fuling never even saw the other party’s face. With this alone, no one can be dragged in.”
“At least it clears the Imperial Guards,” Chenyang said. “Shall we present it to His Majesty?”
Xiao Chiye shot him a look. “Why should the Imperial Guards be cleared?”
Chenyang and Gu Jin both froze.
Xiao Chiye let out a cold laugh. “Since we’re trapped beasts, we ought to look like we’re being hunted. They’re in such a hurry to splash filth on me—it’s not enough. I won’t just take the filth; I’ll roll in the mud, the darker the better. Stain me alone, let them build an iron wall on their side and play their all-powerful game. If they can so easily trample the Governor of the Imperial Guards, once His Majesty comes to his senses, he’ll grow suspicious—he’ll grow afraid. The Flower Faction has just fallen. Whoever wants to form a new faction is courting death.”