Dark, damp, stuffy, a crude room... She was tightly grasped by a hand withered as an old branch. The old woman was saying something, but Qian Xingzhi couldn't make it out.
It was that nightmare again. Qian Xingzhi struggled to wake, her heart pounding as if it would burst from her chest.
Perhaps her transmigration here was related to the original owner, Qian Xingzhi thought inexplicably.
Despite a vague discomfort in her body, there was a good show today that she had a hand in, so she quickly dressed and went out. Sure enough, Lu Yu's carriage was waiting outside the mansion.
"Lord Lu, spending all your time with me, aren't you afraid of damaging your reputation?"
Qian Xingzhi boarded the carriage, now daring to joke with Lu Yu.
His black attire with gold embroidery made him look particularly solemn and aloof today, but his soft-featured face always made people want to get close. Always so distant and close at the same time—demon! Qian Xingzhi silently rolled her eyes.
"Has Lord Qian not heard? These days everyone at court is eager to befriend you. How could that be damaging?"
The carriage arrived at the teahouse. Qian Xingzhi glanced around and, not seeing Zhu Qing, breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Yu led Qian Xingzhi to a private room on the second floor, where two people were already waiting. One was the masked man in black, Lu Yu's attendant Yuan Bai—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say his bodyguard. The other was the husband who had cried out for justice.
The man had been knocked unconscious. Yuan Bai was removing his disguise gear. This man was the rascal that Qian Xingzhi had scouted at the street corner.
As the rascal slowly came to and found himself in the private room again, he immediately thought of what had happened a few days ago and spoke: "...Benefactor?"
From behind the screen, Qian Xingzhi laughed and tossed a bag of silver. "You did a fine job. Take the remaining ten taels and go."
The rascal eagerly took the silver, but as he was about to leave, he suddenly got bold, seeming to want to go behind the screen to see who Qian Xingzhi was. "Benefactor, this little one has never met a big shot like you..."
"I'm in a good mood today, so I won't argue with you. If you want to stay alive, just go."
After much deliberation, the rascal finally left.
After Yuan Bai confirmed that the rascal was far away, a male voice sounded from behind the screen. "Even if we stir up such a commotion, His Majesty may not investigate the Third Prince."
Qian Xingzhi gave a sly smile. "Someone will investigate on His Majesty's behalf, but we need to rely on you, Lord Lu. The news must still reach the ears of the one who is confined."
Lu Yu thought Qian Xingzhi looked exactly like a little fox right now, wagging her tail in delight after catching a small fish. Unconsciously, a hint of amusement crept into his voice, even he didn't notice. "By this hour, he probably already knows."
So he had already planned it from the start! Qian Xingzhi raised an eyebrow and poked Lu Yu with her elbow. "Lord Lu had it all figured out long ago. Ah, we really think alike."
Lu Yu collected himself and pretended to be serious. "Don't get cocky."
"But I wonder if His Highness the Crown Prince will seize this opportunity," Qian Xingzhi worried about the Crown Prince's intelligence. Lu Yu pursed his lips and said nothing, but when their eyes met, Qian Xingzhi felt she was overthinking. "But Lord Lu only makes thorough preparations."
She thought, this old fox must have arranged everything perfectly.
"Come on, Lord Lu, what else do you need this lowly one to do? As long as it's not silver, anything is fine."
Qian Xingzhi flicked her robe and sat down, then grabbed the teapot and poured three cups of tea. Today she was wearing an indigo fitted long robe, giving her the illusion of being a wandering martial artist, and she couldn't help playing the part.
She was about to call Yuan Bai to sit down, but in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared. She marveled at his superb martial skills and was also curious whether Lu Yu had such abilities.
Lu Yu didn't know what had gotten into her again, but he still sat down and took the teacup. "As for the assassination case—the culprit has been in the palace for many years. It will take some time to investigate the connections. Although I don't know how His Majesty will rule on today's events, I need you to solidify your position with the Third Prince."
He paused, then added hesitantly, "Don't worry. When you interact with the Third Prince, I'll have someone follow you."
Well, now she was officially becoming a double agent. Qian Xingzhi felt overwhelmed. But the fact that Lu Yu was taking such precautions for her because of the Third Prince's peculiar tastes was somewhat unexpected.
"I will certainly do my best. However, regarding this assassination, there are some things I can't quite figure out."
Lu Yu took a sip of tea, frowned at the brew, and said, "Speak freely."
"What I can't understand is who benefits from an assassination at this time," Qian Xingzhi had been mulling it over for days, unaware that she was getting more and more engrossed. "To be able to arrange such a long-planted agent for an assassination, the mastermind must be someone of high status and power. If the assassination succeeded, among the princes, only the Crown Prince would be most likely to ascend the throne, while the Third Prince would pay the price for negligence. But if it really was arranged by the Crown Prince, given his strength, he could have stayed secure by keeping his position as Crown Prince. Why take such a huge risk for little gain?"
Lu Yu saw she was absorbed and didn't interrupt, just listened.
"Now that the assassination has failed, the Crown Prince is suspected, the Third Prince is nominally demoted but actually favored, the planner has lost his eyes and ears, and only the Seventh Prince might have gained some reputation. But if the Seventh Prince's backer is so powerful, would they let him fall to such a state in the succession struggle before recklessly making a move?"
Lu Yu's eyes were dark and unreadable, and he spoke inadvertently, "Perhaps this was a destined-to-fail assassination."
Qian Xingzhi's heart jumped. Feeling she had said too much, she gave an awkward smile. "Just my humble opinion, Lord Lu. Don't laugh. Naturally, Minister Xing will have a headache over this."
According to Lu Yu, Minister Xing had been assisting Jun Anche since his ascension. The Ministry of Justice handled all matters large and small in accordance with Jun Anche's wishes. In recent years, the succession struggle had intensified. Since Jun Anche had established the Fifth Prince as Crown Prince last year, Minister Xing seemed to have grown closer to the Crown Prince among the princes.
When Qian Xingzhi wasn't flattering the powerful, she was quite normal and sensible. Lu Yu couldn't help thinking this.
"Milord," Yuan Bai had slipped into the room at some point. "His Majesty has received the news and summoned the Third Prince to the palace."
Qian Xingzhi sighed. "What a pity, such a good show."
Lu Yu looked at Qian Xingzhi's crestfallen expression at missing the fun and smiled helplessly. "You'll see it at tomorrow's morning court."
*
The next day, at the hour of Chen-san ke (around 8:45 AM).
The Hall of Mental Cultivation was filled with an indescribably strange atmosphere. Today was a regular court session, so they didn't have to stand in the Qianqing Gate square hungry and cold. Qian Xingzhi was full of energy, curled up in a corner, looking forward to the court session turning into a criticism meeting.
Whether it was her imagination or not, despite all the troubles these days, Jun Anche seemed as usual, not showing any fatigue.
Just as Qian Xingzhi's patience was about to run out, the Censor-in-Chief finally jumped out. "Your Majesty, yesterday a commoner beat the grievance drum in the capital. I investigated through the night and discovered rumors about the Third Prince's unorthodox conduct."
Here comes the good stuff! Qian Xingzhi immediately pricked up her ears. This Censor-in-Chief was the Crown Prince's man.
Jun Anche seemed to have anticipated this and interrupted, "This matter awaits verification..."
But the Censor-in-Chief wouldn't let it go. He pulled a booklet from his robe and declared loudly, "This scandal damages the royal family's reputation. I have temporarily sealed Full Moon Tower. This account book is full of loopholes, so I carefully interrogated the accountant. Both witnesses and evidence show that the Third Prince has been interfering with Full Moon Tower's operations—"
"How dare you!"
Qian Xingzhi increasingly felt that these two words were the emperor's safety word when the situation slipped from his control. As long as he shouted them loudly and angrily, everyone would shut up and then kneel down in a great wave.
The head eunuch presented the account book to Jun Anche. For a moment, the hall was silent except for the rustle of pages. Just as Qian Xingzhi was wondering how long the Third Prince could endure, she heard a weak "Father Emperor."
"Truly my good son."
"Father... Your son can explain!"
The account book came flying through the air and landed in front of the Third Prince. Qian Xingzhi, who had been enjoying the spectacle, suddenly felt an indescribable pressure seize her—an irresistible fear climbing up from her tailbone.
It seemed someone was going to die again. At this moment, it wasn't about succession or right or wrong; instinctive fear of life and death took over.
It wouldn't be the Third Prince who died—he was of royal blood. Even if he was licentious and corrupt, a mere three hundred thousand taels of silver wouldn't cost a prince's life.
But not necessarily for others.
"Explain? What did you tell me yesterday? And now you dare to guarantee it to me?!"
"Your son is wronged! The reason I interfered with Full Moon Tower's business was to make up for the deficit in the national treasury—"
Qian Xingzhi's jaw nearly dropped. She began to suspect that the Third Prince might talk himself into a death sentence.
Jun Anche's voice carried a note of incredulity and trembling. "National... treasury deficit...?"
Qian Xingzhi suddenly had a bad feeling.
"The national treasury deficit is not my doing! Qian... Qian Xingzhi... Qian Xingzhi can testify for me!"
Her heart leapt to her throat. Qian Xingzhi jerked her head up. Jun Anche was already staring fixedly at her. As her vision went black, a fragment of memory flashed through her mind.
Nanchuan was a remote area with many mountains and rivers. In the forty-second year of Yong'an, celestial phenomena were often abnormal. After several months of heavy rain starting in summer, the rainfall didn't lessen even in autumn, leading inevitably to floods.
The court allocated disaster relief funds several times, but layer by layer, when it finally reached Nanchuan, it was only old rice mixed with sand. Within ten days, corpses of the starved were everywhere, and several villages began to suffer from epidemics.
Jun Anche sent the Third Prince to Nanchuan to inspect the disaster. Naturally, he was unwilling to go personally. Having heard that Nanchuan's mountains and waters were exceptionally beautiful, he absurdly wanted to go and enjoy the scenery.
Pear-Reed River seemed nice. It was said that the river's name was homophonous with "profit and emolument," so many officials went there to seek wealth. The Third Prince headed straight for Pear-Reed River. When he got off the carriage, as expected, he was sorely disappointed.
The landscape was anything but picturesque. There was only a putrid, stinking yellow river winding sinuously into the distant barren mountains. Withered flowers, broken trees, and scattered animal carcasses everywhere pushed him to the edge of nausea.
However, the Third Prince soon discovered a person standing amid the ruins not far away.
As if possessed, he approached, closer and closer. His attendant was about to call out for the person to identify themselves when the person turned around gracefully. It was a young man, tattered in clothes but in the prime of youth. The pile of rags beside him barely resembled a fortune-telling stall.
Qian Xingzhi smiled calmly, out of place in this faded world. "I am Qian Xingzhi. I have been awaiting you for a long time, Your Highness."