Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The corpse buried beneath the flowers in the back courtyard, along with Xu Jie’er, became the leverage I used to control Ah Rong.

Once I had Ah Rong completely under my thumb, I deliberately had her move among high-ranking officials and nobles.

Ah Rong was already past thirty, which was no young age for a courtesan.

But she was soft and radiant in beauty, with brows like painted willow branches and a slightly full figure, like a peony in perfect bloom.

On top of that, she was gentle and attentive by nature. There would always be men who favored her.

For instance, Director Zhao of the Censorate had taken quite an interest in Ah Rong and often came and went from Yujing Tower.

Capital officials were unlike powerful provincial officers; they had no side income to speak of and lived on fixed salaries.

When his salary ran short, and the money owed to the pleasure house could not be delayed, Lord Zhao set his sights on his wife’s dowry.

No one was a fool. With so much silver missing from her dowry, how could his wife fail to notice? And how could she possibly let it go?

And so that slap landed squarely on Ah Rong’s face.

“Madam Zhao, what an impressive display of authority. Since you can’t deal with your own man, you charge into Yujing Tower to strike one of mine.”

I slowly descended from the second floor and watched the scene with perfect composure.

Then I gave Ah Rong a look, signaling for her to hurry up and get out, leaving the stage to me.

Ah Rong understood at once. She slipped behind me, her swaying figure like a magnolia petal scattered by the wind, lovely beyond words.

Madam Zhao still wanted to chase after her, but I raised a hand and stopped her. “Why don’t you join me in a private room for a talk, Madam?”

The Censorate oversaw the remonstrance officials and guided public opinion at court.

If Li Zuiwan wanted to go from Grand Princess to Regent Eldest Princess, she needed their help.

That was why I had deliberately investigated what sort of women Lord Zhao liked and sent Ah Rong to set this trap.

If Lord Zhao knew how to read the situation and obediently offered the Grand Princess his pledge of allegiance, then Yujing Tower would accept today’s slap.

We could treat it as Ah Rong’s punishment for seducing another woman’s husband.

In any case, I would compensate Ah Rong separately.

But if Lord Zhao failed to appreciate what was good for him, then Yujing Tower would absolutely not let this slap go unanswered.

“Who knows what tricks you whores are trying to play now.”

Madam Zhao looked at me hesitantly, but in the end, she dismissed the maids and old servant women at her side and followed me into the private room.

Unfortunately, the negotiation fell apart.

This woman, truly-when catching an adulterer and hitting people, she was arrogant to the extreme.

But when I asked whether she would urge her husband to place his bet, she made every excuse, saying she could not make decisions for her own man.

Tch.

Still, it was understandable.

Keeping their eyes confined to the inner residence was a common affliction among women.

After all, who had made it so that men would not allow women to meddle in matters of the outer court?

Their shortsightedness was not their fault. It was their predicament.

I said nothing more and politely saw Madam Zhao out.

It seemed I could only make Ah Rong suffer a little longer and have her spend more time keeping Lord Zhao company.

Ah Rong prepared a banquet, practiced new songs and dances, and accompanied Lord Zhao for three days straight. Only on the fourth day did she test the waters and bring the matter up.

What she had not expected was that Lord Zhao’s originally drunken, unfocused expression slowly vanished.

“Rongniang, my wife told me you were one of the Grand Princess’s people. I originally thought it was nothing but jealousy.”

Lord Zhao still had rouge marks on his face, and Ah Rong’s agarwood scent clung to his clothes. There were even wine stains on his cuffs.

Yet when he denounced the Grand Princess for using such despicable means to buy over court officials and accused her of committing the outrage of a hen crowing at dawn, he looked especially righteous and stern.

Hidden behind the screen, I listened to him insult the Grand Princess, and my expression cooled inch by inch.

Some people refused the toast only to drink the forfeit. In that case, facts would have to teach him how to behave.

While the dishes were being served, I ordered the maids to signal Ah Rong and tell her to keep Lord Zhao there.

By the latter half of the night, sure enough, seven funeral bells rang out from afar.

After two empresses had died, though the Son of Heaven said nothing of it aloud, in his heart he believed he brought death to his wives. Thus, he had Consort Mu manage the six palaces in their stead.

Consort Mu was benevolent and gentle by nature. In the dozen years she had governed the six palaces, she had never made a mistake. Though she and the Son of Heaven were not husband and wife in name, there was still affection between them as husband and wife.

Consort Mu had fallen gravely ill last month.

A female physician serving Grand Princess Li Zuiwan had secretly taken Consort Mu’s pulse while entering and leaving the palace and judged that she did not have long to live.

With Consort Mu’s passing, given the Son of Heaven’s favor toward her, he was certain to declare a period of national mourning.

During a period of national mourning, if an official went to Yujing Tower to indulge himself and the matter was dragged all the way before the emperor… well, that would be quite the spectacle.

All the more so because the emperor was old and terribly suspicious. He was always convinced he could no longer keep his restless courtiers-each eager to choose a side-in check.

So if someone handed him such a perfect handle, one he could use to purge the court in one sweep, what a marvelous excuse that would be.

Lord Zhao, may fortune be with you.

After cursing out the Grand Princess Li Zuiwan, Lord Zhao had intended to leave.

But Ah Rong was truly skilled at lowering herself and coaxing a man, and he had drunk no small amount besides, so in the end he simply spent the night at our Yujing Tower.

Near the fifth watch, a circle drawn in tea appeared soundlessly on the window screen.

My mother had made me read a few books, but Ah Rong could not recognize a single character. This circle was already the most complicated signal the two of us could agree on.

“It’s time,” I said to Wang Zaiwei, the Deputy Commander of the North City Military Patrol, behind me.

The Five City Military Patrol Offices referred to the central, eastern, western, southern, and northern military patrol offices.

They were the yamen responsible for patrolling the imperial capital, arresting thieves, keeping streets and drains in order, and handling matters such as prisoners and fire bans.

Wang Zaiwei was the Deputy Commander of the North City Military Patrol. Her rank came from the hereditary grace granted because her father had died in the street while capturing a wanted criminal.

Of course, she was a woman, so no matter how skilled she was in martial arts, inheriting an official post was no easy thing.

Fortunately, the Grand Princess had casually asked His Majesty about the matter, and only then had she become one of the rare female officials at court in the imperial capital.

But being a female official came with its own hardships. A female official with no one behind her would only be treated as an ornament or plaything.

So the ship that was the Grand Princess Li Zuiwan-whether Wang Zaiwei wanted to board it or not, she had to.

“We lack a reason,” Wang Zaiwei said, the night wind stirring the hair at her forehead, her expression far too mature for her years. “Otherwise, I can’t explain why I appeared at Yujing Tower.”

“Be bold. Just say the long night was lonely with no one to keep you company, so you sought out Lei Niangzi of Yujing Tower to brew tea and drink wine with, all in the name of refined pleasures.”

I had a favorable impression of this female official, whose lovely features carried a trace of heroic spirit, so I raised my brows at her wickedly.

Wang Zaiwei gave me a cold look.

How boring.

She would not even let me tease her.

I shrugged, smashed a wine jar onto a pile of dry firewood, and tossed in a fire striker.

“Yujing Tower is on fire! The flames are huge! My flower girls and guests are all still inside! Commander Wang, save us!”

I shouted in an affected voice several times.

Only then did Wang Zaiwei leap up to the second floor of Yujing Tower and drag the dazed guests and flower girls, one by one, out from under their quilts.

By then, the sky had already brightened. It was precisely the hour when the court officials were heading to morning court, and Yujing Tower’s rear courtyard happened to border the largest official road in the imperial capital.

Before long, Lord Zhao-disheveled and still badly shaken-was seen by his colleagues.

Seeing is believing, after all.

He was seen by his colleagues at daybreak, and the memorial impeaching him was written before the emperor that very morning.

Before noon had even arrived, Lord Zhao was thrown into the imperial prison by the furious old emperor.

The emperor was old. He feared greatly that his courtiers would abandon him and gather around his sons instead.

Consort Mu had also been his companion for many years and enjoyed his deep respect.

To spend the night at a pleasure house during a period of national mourning-and for the man who did it to be an imperial censor of the Censorate, charged with supervising the words and conduct of all officials…

How could the emperor not be enraged? How could the court not be drenched in blood for a time?

Taking advantage of the emperor’s suspicions, the Grand Princess acted without the slightest hesitation. Within half a month, her people had filled every vacancy of power in the Censorate.

Every remonstrating official who refused to submit was either demoted or exiled.

After the entire Censorate fell into Li Zuiwan’s hands, Lord Zhao finally met his ultimate end.

He was beheaded at Caishikou as a public example. His wife and daughters were confiscated into government servitude as official courtesans, with no right to be redeemed even under a general amnesty.

Madam Zhao had always looked down on prostitutes, yet in the end, she became one herself.

When you put it that way, it was almost laughable.

The one constant in this world is that nothing is constant. Everyone’s fortune and life are no more than a single thought from those above.

If those above wish to hold you up, you are a precious vase inlaid with pearls and jade. If they no longer wish to hold you, you are a shard of broken pottery in the mud.

A prostitute and an official’s wife are only ants of different sizes.

In the end, they all arrive at the same place by different roads.