Duke Jin’an knew this Lady Cheng – everyone was well aware of it.
Back when he had taken Prince Qing out of the palace in search of a doctor, the very first one he sought out was this so-called divine doctor, Lady Cheng. Of course, everyone also saw the result: Prince Qing remained a fool.
It was said that this lady had refused to treat him on the grounds of three rules she had laid down.
But was it truly because of those rules that she would not treat him, or was it because she could not treat him? After learning of this, the officials had all thought about it privately, and the more they thought, the less clear the answer seemed. If it was really because of the rules, well – this was a prince! Had she cured him, she would have secured a lifetime of wealth and honor. What rules could outweigh such temptation? Yet if she really could not cure him… is that believable?
In the end, only the lady herself must know the truth.
But now, seeing how things stand, Duke Jin’an clearly does not believe her story. His standing forth to denounce Lady Cheng must surely be born of the resentment from having once begged her for treatment, only to be refused.
The Imperial Censorate Deputy naturally rushed forward as well.
“Entering without summons! You should know the crime of breaching decorum!” Attendant Scholar Gao was already standing in front of Duke Jin’an, shouting angrily, his face flushed red with fury.
“In the presence of the ruler, how dare you raise such a clamor!? That too is a breach of decorum and must be punished!” the Imperial Censorate Deputy bellowed back at Attendant Scholar Gao.
Attendant Scholar Gao’s face grew even redder. He glared at Li Ziwen, wishing he could bite him.
“What do you all intend to do?” Li Ziwen ignored him and instead barked toward the rear.
The officials behind, who had been tempted to take advantage of the chaos and sneak in to watch the spectacle, could only shrink back and obediently remain standing outside the partition doors.
Only then did Li Ziwen turn his gaze toward Duke Jin’an.
“Duke Jin’an has shown grave impropriety before the ruler. I request that he be punished for the crime of great disrespect,” he said solemnly.
The Emperor sat on the dragon throne, his expression betraying neither joy nor anger.
Duke Jin’an, however, seemed not to notice anyone else in the hall. His eyes were fixed only on Cheng Jiao-niang, who had already risen to follow the eunuchs out.
“Weren’t you the one who spoke of rules? Weren’t you the one who insisted on keeping to rules? Why then do you now break them? I will see you punished for your crime!” he shouted, thrusting a finger at Cheng Jiao-niang.
His emotions ran so high they seemed beyond his control.
“I have not broken any rules,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, bowing respectfully.
“Is this what you call keeping to the rules? If you were following the rules, why did you incite the common people instead of striking the Drum of Remonstrance?” Duke Jin’an sneered.
“Silence!” the Imperial Censorate Deputy barked. “Step back at once!”
“I…” Duke Jin’an still stared at Cheng Jiao-niang, his outstretched hand clenching tightly into a fist. “I cannot accept this!”
The Imperial Censorate Deputy was about to speak further, but the Emperor opened his mouth.
“Indeed, how is what you did considered abiding by the rules?” he asked.
“The reason I gathered the people to bury my sworn brothers,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied, “was precisely to draw public attention, so that the injustice might reach Your Majesty’s ears. And as expected, an official saw my appeal and spoke on behalf of the people – that is what officials are supposed to do. Is this not in accordance with the rules?”
See, see – this is what it means to twist words into sophistry; today it was laid bare for all to witness.
Attendant Scholar Gao gave a cold sneer.
Duke Jin’an, on the other hand, burst out laughing.
“And what of your so-called grievance against the rules? In every battle there are casualties – wounded soldiers are unavoidable. The dead and the maimed are countless. Why is it that only you and yours refuse to accept it, refuse to submit? If that’s the case, then why did you become soldiers in the first place?” he demanded.
“Yes, we could have stayed in the capital with our wealth and lived as idle gentlemen of rank – so why insist on going off to be soldiers?” Cheng Jiao-niang answered.
The Emperor frowned.
“This is what you seek?” he asked. “Because you already have money, you now also want fame?”
The Emperor had spoken of his own accord!
It wasn’t like earlier, when he had spoken only to shield Duke Jin’an – this time, he had opened his mouth out of his own desire to ask a question.
Her words had stirred the emperor’s curiosity. Once curiosity arises, people seek to understand. This was precisely what Attendant Scholar Gao did not wish to see – for only when weariness takes hold does one turn away, and the farther one turns away, the stronger that weariness grows.
It had been difficult enough to suppress the Emperor’s interest with aversion. That girl was cunning – every extra word exchanged with her was another chance to fall under her spell. And it was all thanks to that hateful Duke Jin’an, who had given the girl the opportunity to speak!
Yes, it was not resentment that drove Duke Jin’an at all, but rather the same sense of obligation that moved Chen Shao! Just like those such as Tong Neihan who had gone to the Censorate to plead on her behalf, he too was acting out of obligation – seeking to curry favor with this girl for his own ends!
Or perhaps… had Chen Shao and he plotted this together beforehand?
When had they begun conspiring?
Duke Jin’an, daring to collude with ministers!
Attendant Scholar Gao’s mind whirled with chaotic thoughts, and he felt that things were beginning to take a dangerous turn. At that moment, the girl’s voice once again rose in his ears.
“This is what my brothers sought,” Cheng Jiao-niang said. “To win a name for serving the country, to wash away the shame of being called deserters, and to die with honor.”
“Serving the country? It was nothing but greed for merit and profit,” Attendant Scholar Gao sneered.
“And what if they were greedy for merit and profit?” Cheng Jiao-niang countered. “First, they went to the front lines. Second, they fought bravely, never retreating, never fleeing, and laid down their lives for the nation without regret. If the court scorns such ‘greed for merit and profit,’ then does it prefer soldiers with no desire at all, who ask for nothing?”
I knew she mustn’t be allowed to speak! Attendant Scholar Gao cursed inwardly.
“Since that’s the case, what grievance do you still hold?” the Emperor asked.
“Because of injustice.”
“And what injustice do you speak of? Others lived, and your brothers died – does that alone make it unjust?”
“No.”
“Because the survivors received merit, you wish to fight for merit too?”
“No.”
“Do you know that your sworn brothers received greater compensation than others?”
“I know.”
“Then where is the injustice? What merit do you still seek to contest?”
“Because if those with no merit can still claim it, then those with true merit should all the more be allowed to claim it.”
“Merit or not, it is for the officials to decide. Do you think it should be decided just because you say so?”
“I do not trust the officials.”
“Then how can the officials trust you?”
“The court need not trust me. It should trust the people who ought to be trusted.”
“And who are these people to be trusted?”
“Those who were there, in the midst of it.”
“And who are these so-called witnesses? That sworn brother of yours who fainted and by luck escaped with his life?”
“Yes.”
“He is kin to you. That hardly convinces the public. How can the people be persuaded if relatives shield one another?”
“Then let the court find those who are not my kin. Among the many who were there in the northwest, surely there are some the court can trust.”
As the young lady’s voice fell, the hall suddenly grew quiet.
Even the officials beyond the partition held their breath.
This little lady was truly bold – facing the Emperor without the slightest trace of fear. And clearly, the Emperor had been provoked; otherwise he would not have pressed her with question after question.
“So, you’re saying that the northwest has fine wine as well?” the Emperor said.
A sneer!
“No,” Cheng Jiao-niang’s expression and tone never wavered. “So, does Your Majesty believe it?”
A threat!
The Emperor looked at the girl before him and suddenly laughed.
Behind the partition, Chen Shao let out a quiet sigh. Even without seeing, he could feel the Emperor’s anger at this moment.
“I can believe it,” the Emperor said. “But do you believe those who were present in the northwest?”
“I naturally believe them,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied. “If an inquiry into the soldiers of the northwest should find that my sworn brothers were duly compensated, that they died with honor and without injustice – then since I have invited all the people to hear my plea, I must also let them hear my acknowledgment.”
“And how would you acknowledge it?” the Emperor asked coolly.
“I swear to accept Heaven’s thunder as punishment,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
At these words, everyone was momentarily stunned – even Attendant Scholar Gao could not quite hide his surprise.
Thunder strike? To be struck dead by lightning? That was indeed a true self-condemnation, for only those guilty of unforgivable crimes would be struck by heaven’s thunder. If she were to die under such a strike, naturally the people would never again believe her.
But… to summon lightning…
“Who can know when thunder will come? To wait for it to strike you – if it never comes, or if it comes but fails to kill you, then it would be Heaven’s fault, not yours.” Attendant Scholar Gao laughed. “Lady Cheng, your words truly are a Daoist’s legacy – why, even your idea of suicide is so abstruse and unfathomable.”
The Emperor’s expression remained wooden, and he said nothing.
“I will inform Your Majesty in due course,” Cheng Jiao-niang said. “I have some small knowledge of the heavens; when thunder will come and how to draw it down – I already know and have made the proper arrangements.”
Attendant Scholar Gao laughed again.
And she claims this is not mystification! Raising the dead was one thing, but now she even speaks of summoning wind and rain.
The girl is mad!
No matter what the eventual investigation in the northwest reveals, to be so arrogant before the Emperor – she is doomed.
Attendant Scholar Gao looked at the girl before him. Since that first fleeting glimpse outside the hall, this was the first time he truly looked at her directly.
A young girl in the bloom of youth, beautiful as a flower, standing with dignified bearing – no different from the women of his own household.
But when his gaze fell upon her eyes – at first glance, they seemed charming; at second, shadowed; at third, deep and unfathomable.
These were not eyes a young maiden ought to have.
Could it be… had they truly encountered an immortal?
Otherwise, from where came such audacity, such daring? Could it really all rest upon the confidence Chen Shao had given her?
“Granted,” the Emperor said.
A golden utterance from the Emperor – once spoken, it became law.
Cheng Jiao-niang bent low, kneeling and bowing three times with nine prostrations, each movement precise and proper, so flawless that even the most fastidious Imperial Censorate Deputy could not have found a fault.
Layer upon layer of palace halls slowly receded behind her. The eunuchs glanced back at Cheng Jiao-niang several times as they escorted her out.
How strange – it was remarkable how steady this young lady’s steps were. Just as when she had entered the palace, her pace had not wavered in the slightest; and now, as she departed, it remained the same.
Although what had transpired in the hall had only just occurred, the eunuchs were already fully aware.
This girl had dared to wager with the Emperor himself – staking her life.
But in truth, what was there to wager? To put it bluntly, the lives of all things under heaven lay already in the Emperor’s grasp. There was no gamble in it at all.
“Young lady, where does your confidence come from?” the eunuch couldn’t help but ask in a low voice.
Cheng Jiao-niang glanced at him and gave a faint smile.
Well now – so this young lady could smile after all.
“Because I believe in justice,” she said.
“Justice?”
The eunuch lowered his head and answered softly, “Yes.”
Justice – in this world, the Emperor himself was justice. There was no other justice.
The Emperor threw the memorial in his hand onto the desk.
“And where is Duke Jin’an?” he suddenly asked, as something came to mind.
A eunuch stepped forward, opened his mouth, but hesitated.
“Speak,” the Emperor said irritably.
“The duke… is sitting on the mountain,” the eunuch replied with his head lowered.
Ever since the incident with Prince Qing, plum mountain had become a taboo within the palace, rarely mentioned – because Prince Qing had met with misfortune while trying to pluck plum blossoms. People no longer even dared to utter the word “plum,” and not a single palace would risk displaying plum blossoms.
The Emperor was silent for a moment, then waved his hand. The eunuch bowed and withdrew, while layer upon layer of curtains fell within the palace hall.
“I have always known this young lady to be bold, but I never thought her boldness would go so far as to threaten the Emperor himself. That is not merely bold – that is extreme,” Chen Shao said with a sigh. “An extremity with no road to survival.”
“Hasn’t this girl always been struggling against survival itself?” said Old Master Chen. “Calling down thunder to kill – robbing others of their lives, robbing herself of her own; raising the dead – robbing others of their lives, robbing herself of her own; in the broad daylight at the Tai Ping Residence, killing five people in succession…”
As he spoke, he turned his head to glance at the screen behind him.
“Secretariat Editor Liu to his death, persuading Zhang Jiangzhou, shooting dead the corrupt station clerk, scattering her wealth to bring down her own clan – every deed, every word, every act of hers has laid bare, without concealment, that hard, ruthless nature of hers, the kind that admits only survival or death. It is only that in the past two years she first wandered widely and then lay low, and you – have you forgotten that?”
Chen Shao gave a bitter smile.
It wasn’t that he had forgotten – rather, that anyone who met this girl would forget, or rather refuse to believe.
So young, so dignified, so genteel, almost silent – by every appearance, she was nothing more than the most ordinary of boudoir ladies. How could she be that sort of person?
Yes, she did not speak – she acted.
Two years of quiet seclusion, and once she stepped out, she first slew a great monk, then upon entering the capital stirred up stormy waves. Outwardly she seemed dignified and proper, speaking with every courtesy of rules and ritual – but her rules were of a different kind: no matter who her opponent was, beast or insect, if they provoked her, she would, without hesitation, crush and destroy them.
Ruthless – ruthless toward others, ruthless toward herself.
“This time she has cut off her own road to survival – yet who knows how many other people’s roads she has cut off as well,” Chen Shao said.
Old Master Chen was silent for a moment, then lifted his gaze toward the northwest.
“In the northwest, how much certainty do you have? She herself is not there. It is not like the capital – her hand cannot reach that far, nor can she personally shape the situation. If it must be done through others’ hands, there will be many uncertainties,” he said.
“To tell the truth, I don’t have much certainty,” Chen Shao replied with a small smile. “But I feel she holds the winning hand. Perhaps it’s because she has never once let people down.”
And this time?
Just as father and son turned their eyes toward the northwest, many others in the capital also raised their heads in that direction.
This time, success or failure would be decided in the northwest.
