A cool breeze drifted through the courtyard, and the night air turned sharp with cold.
The killing intent that had just filled Xiao Chiye was scattered by that single “Second Young Master.” He fell silent for a moment, letting the chill steady his temper.
Shen Zechuan turned back to Ge Qingqing. There was not the slightest trace of panic on his face. “To move that much silver is not something done overnight. However cleanly it was handled, it cannot pass unnoticed. Summon men tonight and leave the capital at once. Go first to Qinzhou. Along the way, inquire carefully. Record every large shipment of goods that traveled from Juexi toward the northeast over the past two years. Have the findings compiled and presented to me.”
Ge Qingqing had been anxious ever since receiving the news, but seeing Shen Zechuan so composed eased him. He steadied himself and withdrew at once.
“Chen Yang,” Xiao Chiye said, his robe draped loosely over his shoulders, “take them to the Qudu Huitong Hostel first. Register medium-grade horses and issue official documents for pursuing river bandits. Say the bandits fled into Juexi. The Imperial Army cannot leave the capital to chase them, so the task has been entrusted to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Tomorrow morning I will personally report to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice.”
The city gates were already closed. No one could leave the capital without cause, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, responsible for arrests and investigations, had to report to the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate before conducting operations outside the city. Xiao Chiye had just provided Ge Qingqing with a legitimate pretext, sparing him later interrogation.
Ge Qingqing departed immediately. Chen Yang followed, cloak thrown over his shoulders.
Shen Zechuan was lightly dressed. Xiao Chiye drew him back inside. Seeing him still lost in thought, he said, “What happened to the gentleman cannot be separated from Xue Xiuzhuo. But since he chose to move them rather than kill them outright, it means the gentleman is still of use to him. He will not act rashly. The Xue residence hides too many secrets. I need a reason to request a special search decree from the emperor.”
“To mobilize the Imperial Army requires a major case with solid evidence. For now, we must rely on the Embroidered Uniform Guard for any probing.” Shen Zechuan did not sit down again. Knowing it would be another sleepless night, he poured a cup of strong tea, took a single mouthful, then handed the rest to Xiao Chiye.
After drinking it, Xiao Chiye said, “Xue Xiuzhuo is meticulous. When provincial officials return to the capital and offer ‘ice tribute,’ he refuses it all. During his tenure as Supervising Secretary, he appeared spotless in the eyes of the Censorate, rarely impeached. Even the Embroidered Uniform Guard may struggle to find grounds to investigate him.”
“If we act openly, we alert the snake,” Shen Zechuan said, turning the teacup in his fingers as bitterness spread across his tongue. “He stands in the light, we in the shadows. As long as we conceal the move involving Xue Xiuyi, we remain on the offensive. Matters outside the palace are manageable. Inside the palace, however, we must be more vigilant. He has already shown intent to kill the emperor. With Mu Rufeng and his sister assisting him, he knows the emperor’s every movement. We cannot lower our guard.”
Xiao Chiye thought for a moment. “Fengquan has just become Director of Ceremonial. With his qualifications, he will face criticism from both inner and outer courts. Fu Man waits beneath him, eager to strike. Hai Liangyi despises eunuchs. Fengquan’s current authority cannot compare to that of Pan Rugui in his day. If he is besieged from within and without, he will have no energy left to serve Xue Xiuzhuo.”
“Stabilizing the emperor is also crucial,” Shen Zechuan said. “The matter of an imperial heir cannot leak.”
Since Li Jianheng ascended the throne, he had been constantly criticized by censors and beset by crises. He had no dazzling political achievements, nor did he enjoy the reputation of the late emperor among the common people. If rumors of another imperial heir spread, public sentiment would waver. From every angle, it would undermine stability.
“Whether what Xue Xiuzhuo holds is a true dragon or a false one,” Xiao Chiye said, thumb pressing against his bone thumb-ring as he stared into the glass lamp, “the emperor of Great Zhou can only be Li Jianheng. Even if a crown prince is to be established in the future, it must be Li Jianheng’s son.”
The Xiao clan now held a slight advantage over the Hua clan and maintained its momentum. Xiao Chiye moved steadily, and Xiao Jiming held firm in Libei. They contended quietly with the noble houses in Zhongbo and Qidong. The struggle did not erupt openly because Hai Liangyi and his faction of upright officials stood between them, barely restraining the two tigers from tearing at each other.
Hai Liangyi’s greatest shield was Li Jianheng. The emperor trusted and respected him, believed in his loyalty. In this tug-of-war, Li Jianheng had not immediately sided with the Empress Dowager. He consulted Hai Liangyi on major and minor affairs alike. That was the reason Hai Liangyi could sit securely as Grand Secretary in the new reign.
Li Jianheng the man was not important. But once he ascended the throne, “Li Jianheng” became essential.
He stood at the center of open spears and hidden arrows. He was the cage restraining the three factions from devouring each other, and also the dagger each could use against the others.
Xue Xiuzhuo had stepped into view. As Shen Zechuan searched for a point of breakthrough, he could not help but wonder whether someone stood behind Xue Xiuzhuo as well.
A light rain fell several days later. Xue Xiuzhuo was on leave.
Dressed in a sky-blue silk robe, he visited Qi Huilian in the small tower. Qi Huilian ate heartily, not sparing him a glance.
Xue Xiuzhuo did not take a seat at the table. He bowed in a disciple’s manner. Seeing Ji Gang sitting by the window grinding a stone, he said to the attendants, “Old Master Ji’s injuries have not healed. He should avoid spicy food. Have the cook from Duanzhou prepare another table.”
“No need,” Ji Gang said in a low voice, blowing dust from the stone. “I will not eat.”
Xue Xiuzhuo did not speak further, yet the attendants had already gone to instruct the cook. The Xue family of Jincheng was accustomed to different tastes; this Duanzhou cook had been specially hired for Ji Gang.
Rain pattered outside. April brought tender apricot blossoms, but the pink and white petals in the courtyard had been beaten into mud. Qi Huilian finished eating, wiped his mouth, and rose to look at the desolate scene.
“Do not bother,” he said. “Ji Gang is stubborn. If he says he will not eat, he will not eat. Just give him steamed buns and pickles to stave off hunger.”
Xue Xiuzhuo smiled. “You are honored guests in my home. I cannot treat you lightly.”
“Then open the door,” Ji Gang said, carving eyes and nose into the stone. “We can leave on our own.”
“Spring cold lingers,” Xue Xiuzhuo replied evenly. “I see that Vice Commander Shen himself has yet to settle into a permanent residence. How could he properly house the two of you?”
“Spare us the airs,” Qi Huilian said, the iron chain at his ankle clinking as he took a few steps. “Call it what it is—imprisonment. I have been locked up my entire life; I am nearing the end. I am old. He is crippled. What do you intend by holding two old, sick men in your grasp?”
Xue Xiuzhuo bent to retrieve the chopsticks Qi Huilian had knocked to the floor, wiping them with a handkerchief. “In the past, sir, your name shone in the annals. You should have been honored in the ancestral temple after death. Instead, you followed the wrong man and spent twenty years feigning madness in Zhaozui Temple. Now, I ask you to serve once more as imperial tutor. First, to make up for not witnessing the crown prince’s enthronement. Second, to clear your name and restore your dignity before the world. Are these reasons not sufficient? I admire and respect you.”
“To serve again as imperial tutor?” Qi Huilian retreated a step, chain scraping. Laughter rasped in his throat. “What arrogance! The realm is at peace. The present emperor is legitimate. Hai Liangyi stands beside him. What need is there for Qi Huilian? I am mad and foolish. I am of no use.”
Xue Xiuzhuo set down the chopsticks. “You were slandered, sir. During the Yongyi era, the Empress Dowager controlled the court. Governance was inverted, corruption rampant. In the Xian’ande era it was worse—the Hua and Pan factions colluded, stirring turmoil across Qudu, the Eight Cities, the entire realm. The people suffered. Then Zhongbo fell; the six prefectures filled with corpses and famine. You wasted twenty years in Zhaozui Temple. Now you emerge, yet have you lost the bold spirit to contend once more with Hai Liangyi?”
Qi Huilian turned to the window, watching rain strike the apricot blossoms. After a moment he said, “Twenty-five years ago, I did wish to compete with Hai Liangyi. We took the examinations together. He was unremarkable; I achieved the top rank in all three stages. In youthful pride, I did not understand court intrigue. Framed and banished, I hid in Yuzhou, ashamed to face my elders. Later Hai Liangyi was promoted, but the crown prince did not choose him. Instead, I was recalled to Qudu as tutor of the Eastern Palace and concurrently Minister of Personnel. All his life, Hai Liangyi stood in my shadow. Yet he is a gentleman. When the crown prince committed suicide and the world condemned him, Hai Liangyi alone sought to salvage him. In that, I am inferior. Between us there is no higher or lower—only mutual respect. Yet fate decreed that though we walked the same path, we could never serve together. I have been confined twenty-five years. You are right. I no longer have the heart to compete.”
Silence settled, broken only by rain and the scrape of Ji Gang’s carving. Petals fell in greater confusion, spreading a layer of broken pink in the mud.
“I have taught only two students in my life,” Qi Huilian said. “I poured all I knew into them. My pride harmed the first. I am no immortal. Two are enough. I cannot teach another.”
Ji Gang coughed violently. “Close the window!”
Qi Huilian shut out the rain and turned back. “I have said enough. Do not pester me. Leave.”
Xue Xiuzhuo remained unmoving. Unlike Xue Xiuyi, he bore little resemblance to a scion of the nobility. There was none of Pan Lin’s or Fei Shi’s arrogance. As a concubine-born son, he had endured hardship for decades, worn into this gentle, unassuming form.
“I admire your talent and your understanding of the world. I have come three times to this small tower because I know your ambitions. Hai Liangyi is indeed a lofty gentleman. But gentlemen cannot long endure among petty men. The present emperor lacks classical learning and the benevolence to value worthy men. He is but a straw holding up a collapsing dynasty. He cannot become a sage ruler. How much strength does Hai Liangyi have left? To rest the fate of the state upon him alone is a reversal of order.”
“To assist the ruler is the minister’s duty,” Qi Huilian replied. “Hai Liangyi strives to steady the realm. He is loyal. Do you wish him to become a traitor who overturns the Li dynasty?”
“The struggle between noble houses and commoners has lasted a century. To cut out entrenched ills requires resolve.” Xue Xiuzhuo rose. “If Li Jianheng cannot, there are others. Great Zhou belongs to the Li clan. So long as Li blood remains, replacing one person to weather crisis is only reasonable.”
Qi Huilian rejected his view, seeing in him only a noble schemer. He refused further discussion.
After a pause, Xue Xiuzhuo said quietly, “I and you walk the same path. You do not trust me. But I must say this—Shen Zechuan lives only to avenge old grievances. He is ruthless and narrow-minded, far from the crown prince you once taught. To teach him with a ruler’s heart is to aid a tiger. Even if he achieves greatness, he will not be a benevolent sovereign.”
Ji Gang slammed down his carving knife, glaring. “How much do you know of Chuan’er? You call him a remnant, yet I see that you are the true carrion-eaters! Be silent. Leave!”
Xue Xiuzhuo bowed. “Should you reconsider, I await your word.”
He withdrew.
Outside, Xue Xiuyi wandered idly beneath his umbrella and nearly collided with students just dismissed from lessons.
These youths from brothels bowed. Xue Xiuyi tossed his umbrella to a maid and looked them over one by one.
“Is this the path you take?” the maid scolded. “How dare you offend the young master?”
The students lowered their heads and moved aside. At the back stood a girl of seventeen or eighteen. Seeing her beauty, Xue Xiuyi caught her sleeve lightly. “Another fledgling Yanqing bought? What is your name?”
She glanced at him but did not answer.
At that moment, Xue Xiuzhuo approached and stepped between them with a smile. “Elder brother, you have just returned? Go back to your courtyard. The rain is heavy.”
Xue Xiuyi brushed him off. “I know.”
As he walked away, he heard the students bow in unison, calling Xue Xiuzhuo “Teacher.” He looked back once more.
The girl from before was watching him.
There was no fear in her gaze, no panic. Even when she realized he had noticed, she did not look away at once. Instead, she held his eyes until he was the one to turn aside.
Wind and rain struck his face. Xue Xiuyi shivered, hugged his arms to himself, and hurried off.