Chapter 7: Night View of Chang'an

In the evening, many more people were added to the prison cells of Jingzhao Prefecture.

"Daoist Fang Daxu, did you plot to establish a crown prince for the Du family using prophecies, and after the plan failed, did you attempt to flee?!"

"Injustice! I only wanted to leave the Du residence to avoid being implicated by the Du family."

"Let me ask you again, did you see the crown prince send someone to the Du residence to discuss destroying evidence with Du Youlin?"

"Injustice!"

"Still trying to argue? Apply the torture!"

"..."

Ji Wen did not enter the torture chamber. He stopped under the eaves, hands behind his back, listening to the mournful cries while admiring the snow scenery.

When the sounds in the torture chamber gradually diminished, Xin Shier approached and reported, "Master, Fang Daxu has confessed. However, the Du family's steward, Quan Rui, refuses to admit that Xue Bai was sent by the crown prince, claiming he found him instead."

"Found? Show me one you found."

"I will interrogate him again."

Ji Wen did not comment, muttering, "According to the lowly servant's confession, he has already given the evidence to the crown prince, but the crown prince has not reacted yet."

"We can still find a way to confirm the Du family's guilt."

"Is that important?" Ji Wen said, "What's the point of wiping out the Du family? The key is the crown prince, the crown prince, the crown prince!"

Xin Shier hurriedly replied, "The crown prince sent Xue Bai to set fire to Liu Ji's residence to destroy evidence. The evidence is solid, and the person is in the crown prince's secondary residence. I saw it with my own eyes."

"I will go see the Right Chancellor and directly dispatch the Right Cavalry Guard to search and capture him! But this is a major matter..."

Ji Wen was initially resolute, but his tone turned questioning, "Are you sure the person is still there?"

"I have people watching. No one has entered or left until we took the Du siblings."

"Verify it, and I will prepare to meet the Right Chancellor."

"Master, please wait."

Today, Xin Shier first guarded Yongxing Fang, captured the Du siblings, and then returned to interrogate Liushang. He also needed to check on the crown prince's secondary residence.

When he returned to the office, his expression was grave. He bowed to Ji Wen and reported, "Master, something is wrong. The crown prince's secondary residence is in chaos, with carriages and horses coming and going. Our people lost track of them."

"Indeed slippery." Ji Wen muttered, not daring to decide to search the crown prince's secondary residence. He ordered, "Send people to find them."

"I have already arranged it." Xin Shier said, "I have another plan. Du Youlin's son also participated in destroying evidence. If he is captured in the crown prince's secondary residence..."

Before he finished, a messenger from the Jingzhao Prefecture office ran into the courtyard and reported, "Magistrate Ji, the Right Chancellor has sent someone."

"Quick, quick, please come in."

Ji Wen did not dare to be disrespectful and hurriedly stood up to welcome the visitor.

After a few steps, he turned back, found a box, took out a clove, and put it in his mouth.

He actually had a distinguished background, being the nephew of the Chancellor. In his early years, he was summoned by the Emperor, but due to severe halitosis, the Emperor disliked him and said, "He is a bad person, do not use him," almost ruining his career. He had to flatter Li Linfu. After this incident, whenever he met important people, he would always put a clove in his mouth to cover his bad breath.

...

Ji Wen recognized the visitor, a female servant in Hu clothing named Jiaonu.

Jiaonu was very beautiful, which is why she could become one of Li Linfu's attendants. She often went out on errands for Li Linfu, preferring to wear Hu clothing and a neat makeup.

She arrived on horseback, tied the reins, and Ji Wen ran to the front courtyard to welcome her.

"Thank you for the trouble, Miss. What instructions does the Right Chancellor have?"

Jiaonu was cold and proud, frowning and waving him away, walking while performing a hand salute to Li Linfu, who was not present, and said coldly, "Master asks you, how is the matter progressing?"

"Within a day and a night, the case has been clarified!" Ji Wen said firmly, "The crown prince secretly ordered Liu Ji to associate with ministers. Due to a dispute with Du Youlin, Liu Ji reported the matter, and the crown prince then sent someone to destroy evidence at Liu's residence."

"Where is the person?"

"Please follow me, Miss, be careful of the threshold."

Ji Wen led Jiaonu into the office and took out several confession papers from the desk.

"This is Liu Ji's confession, listing the names of the ministers he bribed and the gifts exchanged; this is the confession of the Du family's servant, identifying a person named Xue Bai who, along with Du's servant, burned the study at Liu's residence..."

Jiaonu did not like Ji Wen's verbosity, raising her hand to interrupt him, "I asked you, where is the person?!"

"The crown prince has hidden him, but once the Du family is convicted, we can trace the crown prince."

"It's too late. All the crimes have been attributed to Liu Ji and the Du family, with no connection to the crown prince."

"What? Why?"

Jiaonu said coldly, "Because the crown prince has divorced the second daughter of the Du family."

"What?!"

Ji Wen was stunned, his eyebrows raised, his eyes rolling, muttering, "What a clever move, cutting off the tail again, leaving nothing behind."

"You are too slow."

"Ji Wen knows his mistake."

"Two things." Jiaonu said arrogantly, "First, cooperate with Luo Xishi to capture all those who have associated with Liu Ji, and interrogate them severely. Master wants the world to know the consequences of supporting the crown prince."

"Understood."

"Second, find more solid evidence of the crown prince sending someone to burn Liu Ji's study. The current evidence is far from enough."

"Understood." Ji Wen bowed and said, "There is a way to search, but it requires mobilizing the Right Cavalry Guard..."

Jiaonu nodded, "I will report back to Master."

"Thank you for your hard work."

Ji Wen personally saw the beautiful messenger off at the gate of the Jingzhao Prefecture office, watching her ride away on her horse.

He returned to the office, picked up the long list of names Liu Ji had confessed to, and read them softly, like the roll call of the underworld.

"Governor of Beihai, Li Yong; Governor of Zichuan, Pei Dunfu; Secretary of the Imperial Academy, Wang Zeng; Zhuangyuan of the Guiyou Examination, Xu Zheng..."

These people might be engrossed in calligraphy, spending time with their families, or diligently working on official duties. In any case, they would not think they had done anything wrong.

But Ji Wen believed they were not innocent at all.

Associating with the wrong people was a capital offense, punishable by execution and exile of the entire family!

At the beginning of the year, he had beaten to death countless people involved in the Wei Jian case. Now, before the year was over, he had another opportunity to create a major injustice.

"Ha, the ghosts will block the roads, and the King of Hell will be busy this year."

His smile was somewhat sinister, his eyes burning with excitement.

~~

In the outskirts of Chang'an, a fire was lit in a dilapidated temple.

"The fire is lit." Qinglan turned and called out.

She was shivering from the cold, huddling by the fire and rubbing her body to keep warm.

After a while, Xue Bai entered with a bundle of firewood, shaking off the snow from his body. Seeing Qinglan's state, he took off his fur-lined robe and sat down next to her, wrapping them both in it.

This was originally Du Wulang's robe, which he had worn to the crown prince's secondary residence to avoid suspicion.

Qinglan was startled but did not move away.

She dared not speak, cautiously stealing glances at Xue Bai's profile.

Xue Bai seemed to feel her gaze and said, "I'm so hungry."

Qinglan said, "You just ate at noon, and you ate quite a lot."

"I just ate at noon." Xue Bai repeated softly, shaking his head slightly.

Qinglan asked, "Even the crown prince is unwilling to save the Du family. Is the Du family really finished?"

Xue Bai did not answer, staring blankly at the campfire.

Qinglan knew he was also helpless. What could two servants do in such a major case?

Thinking of the fate of the Du family, she could not help but shed tears silently.

After a good cry, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand and said, "My original family name is Huangfu, and we were also a scholarly family. When I was six, my grandfather was involved in the case of the deposed crown prince and was beaten to death. The entire family was enslaved, and I, like you, was once an official slave."

"Deposed crown prince?" Xue Bai asked, "Has a crown prince been deposed before?"

He looked up in thought, finally remembering something, his lips moving silently, "Yes, he seems to have killed three of his sons."

Qinglan only heard his previous question and responded, "Yes."

"Can you tell me more?"

"The world is tight-lipped about it, and I don't know the details." Qinglan shook her head, "I was lucky and was soon bought back by the Du family. Lady treated me kindly..."

Thinking of the past nine years, she choked up and sobbed uncontrollably.

"I always hoped to repay Lady's great kindness, but I never thought the Du family would be involved in such a major case again. Do you think it's because of me?"

"Don't blame yourself." Xue Bai said, "It only shows that there are too many innocent people caught up in such matters."

Qinglan felt comforted and felt much better.

Xue Bai sighed softly, muttering, "One person's heart, a thousand people's hearts."

Qinglan did not understand, feeling the cold wind, she unconsciously leaned closer to his warm body, then quickly realized it was inappropriate and bit her lip awkwardly.

Snowflakes fell outside the temple, and the two people huddled by the campfire, the darkness behind them.

Qinglan gradually had other thoughts, lowering her eyes slightly, and asked softly, "If we really can't save the Du family, what will we do?"

"I'm still thinking."

Qinglan lowered her head, hesitantly saying, "We have offended the crown prince, perhaps we should find a place to hide, change our names, and live a simple life, um, farming and weaving...?"

"I won't, and I don't plan to farm."

"I mean," Qinglan's voice was almost inaudible, "We might, might get married...?"

"Why?"

"Today you saved me, I wish..."

"That's unreasonable." Xue Bai's tone was gentle, with a hint of teasing, "You're greedy. Knowing I saved your life, you don't offer thanks but want me as well."

Qinglan blinked several times to confirm she had heard correctly, then hurriedly said, "I mean... I just want to repay you..."

"I was joking." Xue Bai turned back to the campfire, seriously saying, "I won't run, I don't want to hide or live in fear."

"But we have offended the crown prince...?"

"Only the crown prince wants to kill us, not the entire government."

Qinglan was taken aback by his calmness, "If we don't run, then, I, I was just joking earlier."

They did not mention the topic again.

Qinglan was somewhat annoyed, thinking this rogue hugged and held her but said such things. But then she thought, he saved her life, and she was using it to force him to like her, which seemed unreasonable.

She felt very dejected, thinking Xue Bai must not like her, but then she indignantly thought she was very beautiful too.

Her thoughts wandered, not knowing where they would lead.

"Tell me about the world." Xue Bai said, "My memory is poor, and the other day, Du Wulang introduced me to the local customs, but then something happened."

"Sure." Qinglan pondered, "Where should I start?"

"Just tell me whatever comes to mind. Treat me like a stranger."

Qinglan supported her chin with her fingers, thought for a moment, and said, "I was born in the eighteenth year of Kaiyuan. That year, the Emperor invited officials to drink at the Huayeguang Tower, and my grandfather also went. The Emperor liked to scatter gold coins from the tower to the officials, and my grandfather, who had just been promoted to a fifth-rank official, picked up a few shiny Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, which he displayed at home. I saw them when I was little. My mother said he was so happy when he came back that he named me 'E' (萼), saying I was lucky to be born in the most prosperous Kaiyuan era..."

As she spoke, she cried again, wiping her tears and saying, "But my grandfather was right. It is the most prosperous era in history, and even a daughter of a disgraced official like me has never gone hungry."

Xue Bai was silent for a long time, then responded, "It is the peak of prosperity."

The sky grew darker.

The dilapidated temple became quiet.

Qinglan sat with her knees hugged, resting her chin on them, thinking it was time to sleep. But in such cold weather, should she lie down and hug him in the open? Or should she sleep sitting up?

In the end, she decided that as long as Xue Bai did not move, she would not move either.

"Is that Chang'an over there?"

Qinglan looked up and, through the snow, saw a glow on the horizon.

Even during the curfew, the firelight from Chang'an illuminated half the night sky.

She had never seen Chang'an's night from this angle before and was momentarily entranced, exclaiming, "Isn't it beautiful?"

Xue Bai said, "Yes, such a great era of the Tang Dynasty..."