Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Jiang Youze opened the brocade box, took out the stack of poems, and read them one page at a time.
They were ordinary verses by sheltered young ladies lamenting spring and grieving over autumn. Nothing distinguished them.
Until he reached the last sheet.
His brow creased. His fingertips brushed the paper, and then he gave a cold laugh.
So that was their plan?
No wonder they had bypassed the Directorate of Ceremonial and sent the poems straight to the Grand Secretariat.
“I’ll take these poems.”
He rose, straightened his clothes and headdress, slipped the stack into his sleeve, and pushed open the door to leave.
The Senior Grand Secretary had no objection. After all, such matters did not belong to his office in the first place.
That afternoon, before Si Yan even entered Yaohua Hall, she heard Xue Yushu and the others laughing.
Zhao Huaining’s laughter was particularly unrestrained, punctuated by claps.
“Oh, I can hardly wait.”
When Si Yan came in, the three continued laughing for a while before gradually falling quiet.
Her eyelid twitched twice. When these people laughed like this, surely nothing good could follow.
Not long after the female official began the lesson, someone outside announced the arrival of the Chief Eunuch.
Xue Yushu set down her book, a reserved smile appearing on her face.
Yet her eyes shone with irrepressible anticipation of a good show.
“Show him in at once.”
Chief Eunuch Chang Dexi entered the hall, several people following him.
Si Yan’s gaze was drawn to the one at the front of the group behind him.
Not to his face, but his throat. There was a red mark on it.
Unless she remembered wrongly, she had sucked that mark onto his Adam’s apple while holding it between her lips last night.
Her eyes slowly rose and met Jiang Youze’s half-smiling gaze.
He raised a hand to adjust the collar of his scarlet robe, his forefinger casually sliding over his throat.
Si Yan’s face burned at once. She hurriedly lowered her head and pretended to smooth her skirts.
She had been so dazed last night that she had never imagined leaving a mark.
And another thing!
He was doing this on purpose!
Who paraded about with such suggestive traces on display?
Was he counting on the fact that he was a eunuch?
Chang Dexi’s voice sounded through the hall, recalling her wandering thoughts.
His high voice betrayed no emotion. His gaze passed over the study companions’ faces.
“Which of you is Si Yan, daughter of Minister Si Lingshan?”
Si Yan paused and instinctively looked at Jiang Youze.
Seeing nothing unusual in his expression, she rose and bowed properly.
“I am, my lord.”
Chang Dexi looked her up and down, then arranged his face into a smile.
“His Majesty has read your poem, Miss Si, and praised it highly. He specifically ordered me to bring you these rewards.”
The instant he spoke, the atmosphere in the hall changed.
Si Yan raised her brows, surprise passing through her eyes.
That poem she had written so casually had pleased the emperor?
She did not believe it herself.
She glanced at Jiang Youze again.
His face remained expressionless, though the corners of his mouth seemed to curve up a fraction.
Xue Yushu barely managed to hold her smile. She glanced at the two beside her.
Shen Mingzhu’s expression had already changed at the sight of Jiang Youze. Now it looked worse than ever.
Her round fan had stopped moving. Her grip tightened around its handle.
Zhao Huaining looked as though someone had struck her over the head. Her pupils widened sharply, her lips moving without sound.
No. Impossible… How could this be?
Chang Dexi had the rewards placed before Si Yan’s long table, then abruptly changed the subject.
“Which of you is Zhao Huaining, daughter of Zhao Linyan?”
Zhao Huaining jerked her head up, every trace of color draining from her face.
“I… I am.”
Her legs shook as she stood, her knee striking the table leg.
Every trace of a smile left Chang Dexi’s face. He raised a hand and waved behind him.
“Seize her.”
Two palace eunuchs stepped forward and took Zhao Huaining by the arms, one on either side.
Her whole body went limp. Her lips trembled, her voice full of tears and fear.
“Wh-why are you arresting me?”
Chang Dexi drew a crumpled poem from his sleeve and opened it toward everyone in the hall.
“Miss Zhao, did you write this poem?”
Zhao Huaining’s eyes flew wide.
Xue Yushu and Shen Mingzhu exchanged a look, each seeing shock in the other’s eyes.
The handwriting on the paper was indeed Zhao Huaining’s.
Every line of the poem was a treasonous slander against the imperial family.
And the person who should have been credited with writing it was…
Almost at the same moment, they looked toward the woman standing by the window, her face turned aside.
They followed her gaze.
For a moment,
they seemed to see the examination champion riding through the streets, willing to reach out only for Si Yan’s handkerchief.
The same red robe. The same tenderness in his eyes.
What was there left to misunderstand?
“I… I didn’t write this…”
Zhao Huaining still tried to defend herself, twisting her shoulders desperately.
“This isn’t the poem I wrote. If you don’t believe me… Ask Court Lady Lin.”
Court Lady Lin’s face was ashen. Her lips moved, but not a word emerged.
Zhao Huaining had indeed written another poem. But this malicious one had come from her hand too.
Somehow, the forgery that should have borne Si Yan’s handwriting and name had become her own.
“I would have forgotten if you hadn’t mentioned her.” Chang Dexi put away the poem and flicked his fly whisk.
“Daring to submit such treasonous verse! Were you not afraid of sullying His Majesty’s eyes? Take her as well!”
Two eunuchs seized Court Lady Lin. Struggling, she reached for Xue Yushu’s skirt.
“Your Highness! Save me! You were the one who told…”
“Silence!” Xue Yushu slammed a hand onto the table, cutting her off sharply.
Her chest heaved twice before she recovered her proper dignity.
“Eunuch Chang, take them away. Don’t let them foul my Yaohua Hall.”
Anyone who reached the position of Chief Eunuch was naturally shrewd.
Chang Dexi had spent more than half his life in the palace. What schemes and intrigues had he not seen?
A moment’s thought told him what had happened. He signaled to the eunuchs with his eyes. “Take them away.”
The eunuchs covered the mouths of the two women on the floor and dragged them off without a word.
Zhao Huaining made muffled sobbing sounds, looking at Shen Mingzhu with pleading eyes.
Shen Mingzhu avoided her gaze, lifted her teacup, and lowered her head to drink. Her hand trembled slightly.
Zhao Huaining’s heart plunged. She looked instead toward the woman in the seat of honor.
Xue Yushu did not even glance at her. She held a round fan, waving it intermittently.
Chang Dexi flicked his whisk, restored his smile, and bent in a bow.
“Your Highness, I take my leave.”
Xue Yushu inclined her head slightly.
The whole procession swept out of Yaohua Hall.
From the corner of her eye, Si Yan followed Jiang Youze until he vanished completely beyond the doors.
She had so many questions, but would probably have to wait until he came that night for the answers.
Silence held the hall for several breaths.
With the official taken away, lessons could hardly continue.
Song Qingyi and Liu Xiyue exchanged a look, then tactfully rose to leave.
Si Yan stood too and curtsied to Xue Yushu. “I take my leave, Your Highness.”
Jihe collected the rewards from the table and followed her out.