chapter 23

“Stop spouting that nonsense!” Yan Qing shouted. With a thunderous crash, the courtyard gate collapsed, and palace attendants holding torches swarmed in.

“Yan Ci, Wen Mu’s head has been found, and the cause of death has been determined. His skull was pried open, and he died on the spot.”

What was going on? Wen Mu’s head was not, as I had imagined, sunk in the Spring Water Pond, but was buried by Yan Ci in front of Huai Ci Palace.

The firelight illuminated Yan Ci’s tear-streaked face. Yan Qing stepped out from the crowd, dressed in splendid robes, arrogant and overbearing.

“Now you can’t deny it any longer. My good royal brother.” Yan Qing approached him, quite pleased with himself. “I want your life in exchange.”

“I killed Wen Mu,” Yan Ci said, “then buried his head under the threshold of Huai Ci Palace.”

The crowd erupted in shock. Lin Shaotang seemed not to have expected the case to be resolved so easily. Stroking his beard, he said, “Since you have confessed, arrest-”

“Lord Lin!” A young attendant cried out, disregarding propriety: “Look, look over there…”

The crowd, confused, looked up at the half-opened main hall doors. All gasped in horror, their faces ashen. Yan Qing was especially so.

Lin Shaotang’s expression changed abruptly: “Quick, go and invite the Sixteenth Prince to come and take a look, quickly!”

-Qi, remember this.

“Lord Lin, you have judged countless cases. Can you judge one for me, a criminal?” Yan Ci, tears shimmering, looked beautiful yet fragile, his voice trembling: “The Crown Prince Yan Qing abused his power, forced good women into prostitution, violated human ethics, and is intolerable by heaven.”

-The more beautiful a person is, the better they are at lying.

That night, Yan Ci accused the Crown Prince Yan Qing of abusing his power. From the winter before last to last autumn, he took advantage of his authority over internal affairs to withhold coal funds from Huai Ci Palace, coercing Madam to submit to him. He suspected that Madam’s death was related to this.

Before he finished speaking, Yan Qing, furious, rushed forward and kicked him. Yan Ci grunted, then knelt down, and kowtowed three times to Lin Shaotang.

Blood seeped from his forehead, mingling with his tears as they flowed down. Each dull thud echoed with grief and blood.

“That night, Yan Slave fell gravely ill. I used Father King’s name as a pretext to leave the palace and buy medicine, and called for the kitchen maid on night duty to come to Huai Ci Palace. Who knew that when I returned at the hour of the Tiger, I found her sleeping soundly in the courtyard and scolded her. Then, when I turned around…”

“I pushed open the main hall doors… and saw Yan Slave… saw my mother… I grabbed that servant and questioned her, but before I could ask much, you arrived.” He suddenly turned to look at me. “If Yan Qing didn’t drive my mother to her death, then it was you who killed her!”

After Madam’s death, I was the first to be suspected. Lin Shaotang suspected I had been caught stealing and killed to cover it up. He ordered me twenty strokes with the rod. My buttocks were split open, but I didn’t utter a sound, which made him slam the table in anger and curse me as a cunning slave.

My lord, are you mad! I’m a mute! Even if you stuffed my mouth with shit, I couldn’t say a word, at most I could taste if it was salty or bland for you.

Fortunately, the Government Soldiers found sedatives in the servants’ food, which explained why I was sleeping in the courtyard.

Since I was clean, with empty pockets and a vacant, foolish gaze, the Right Assistant Minister Lin Shaotang declared me innocent.

However, Lin Shaotang was displeased: if the matter had nothing to do with the servant, could it really be related to the Crown Prince?

Given the gravity of the case, Lin Shaotang submitted an urgent report to the Dali Temple Minister, who immediately memorialized Emperor Yan that very night. Emperor Yan flew into a rage and ordered a thorough investigation.