The household ate, drank, and made merry until the second watch of the night before finally dispersing to rest. Wei Qingming and I had just lain down to share some idle chatter when Hong Lu arrived to report: the heretical Daoist Wang Guangqi, who had been held in the Imperial Prison, had broken his seals and escaped.
I leaped up in shock, but Wei Qingming remained calm and composed. She pressed a hand gently to my shoulder to soothe me, telling me to sleep in peace while she dressed as usual. Seeing me hurriedly braiding my hair and searching for my shoes, she smiled. "Does A-Zhi wish to come along as well?"
"Yes," I replied offhandedly. "It involves the demon race; perhaps I can be of help." I searched high and low but couldn't find my other shoe. Just as I was about to call Muyu to bring another pair, Wei Qingming knelt before me. With a slight smile, she hooked the wayward shoe as if by magic and slid it onto my foot.
My face burned hot. The reason that thing had flown off in the first place was precisely because...
She looked up at me, smiling, her curved lips parting as if to tease me with a few words. But seeing my state, her gaze softened, filled with a sudden, irrepressible depth of affection. She rose and kissed my face repeatedly.
"Don't dawdle... business comes first..." I laughed, pushing her away as her kisses left me feeling tingly and light.
"My lady needn't be so considerate and sensible," she replied with a smile.
By the time I had finished my hurried preparations, Wei Qingming was in the outer study listening to Hong Lu’s summary of the situation. We took a carriage, racing into Chongming Street and entering through the side gate of the Ministry of Justice's prison.
Although Yingzhao Temple was a most unique imperial institution, holding its head high before any other government office, it was forbidden from maintaining its own private dungeons. Any lawbreakers they captured had to be handed over to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation. This was a policy of checks and balances, intended to prevent excessive privilege and to ensure the truth did not rest solely in the hands of a single guard unit.
Of course, instances of the Ministry of Justice and Yingzhao Temple being "thick as thieves" were not rare throughout the dynasties. At their most arrogant, Yingzhao Temple once arrested the entire household of a fallen Grand Chancellor and threw them into the water dungeons. Before a verdict was even reached, they had humiliated and slaughtered most of his wives, concubines, and grandchildren, forcing out mountains of so-called "confessions" and "hard evidence." At the time, the Minister of Justice was a former student of that Grand Chancellor; fearing he would be implicated for shielding his old master, he didn't dare utter a peep, allowing those curs to tear his mentor apart.
Grandfather Feng, however, did not engage in such unprincipled behavior. Whenever an interrogation took place, a Ministry official was present according to regulation. Confessions were recorded by a scribe from each side, cross-checked, and then archived separately in both departments. Thus, it was only natural that Wei Qingming was well-acquainted with the gentlemen of the Ministry of Justice.
Since Wang Guangqi’s case had already been handed over to Chu Jiangheng, Lord Chu had naturally arrived as well. He had beaten us by about fifteen minutes and looked uncharacteristically weary and travel-worn. He didn't even have the energy to glare at me; he had likely been on duty at the Temple and had to rush over to handle this mess as soon as the news broke. Having already surveyed the scene, he pointed toward the ceiling. "To have even deceived the Thunder God's Eye... there is something very strange about this."
I instinctively looked up at his words, but Wei Qingming shielded my eyes with her hand first. "It's dangerous. You cannot look at it directly." Only after she had cast a protective spell over me did she move her hand.
This only piqued my interest further. I squinted, staring intently as I asked, "The Thunder God's Eye? Such a formidable name. Is it a high-level magical treasure or an array? I can't even tell!"
"It is an ancient artifact," she answered with a faint smile. "Specifically tasked with warding off evil and exorcising demons, it once accompanied Emperor Taizong through his many campaigns. Its artifact spirit perished for that cause. After the founding of the dynasty, it was enshrined here in the Imperial Prison, reigning supreme over the dungeons. Once a suspect enters, their cultivation is automatically suppressed, and every movement is under its surveillance. If one enters the ten inner chambers closest to it, there is no need for human torture; they will be lashed by the power of thunder, suffering pain beyond imagination."
I let out a soft "Hah" and gave a thumbs-up. "So, was Wang Guangqi held in those ten inner chambers?"
Wei Qingming smiled. "He did not yet have the qualifications. Besides, the innermost rooms are nearly at capacity, holding old demons and monsters who have been imprisoned for centuries."
"What kind of crime does one have to commit to get in there?" I was even more astonished.
Wei Qingming gave a casual example: "The lightest? About three hundred years ago, someone caused a decade-long plague across the four southern provinces, resulting in a million deaths."
"What!" I blurted out. "You mean the Demon King Fei Wuwei, who triggered the Great Jiaotai Plague during the reign of Emperor Dezong?"
She nodded with a smile. I was about to ask, "Shouldn't an old monster like that be executed according to the law? Why keep him locked up and waste food?" but Chu Jiangheng had finished resting. He resumed his usual air of disdain, nose turned to the sky, clearly feeling that I was interfering with his "Ninth Brother Wei's" business. I suddenly realized my place and felt a bit embarrassed, so I quietly studied the Thunder God's Eye and stopped asking questions.
After the introduction, my reverence for this ancient artifact grew. The eye-shielding spell Wei Qingming had placed on me made everything look grey and dim—I could barely see her face clearly—yet the light from the Thunder God's Eye still poured down, sharp as ten thousand swords. Looking at it for too long made my eyes ache, almost bringing me to tears.
Wei Qingming had already walked a circle among the dozen or so mangled corpses on the floor. After examining them one by one, she brushed off her robes and stood up, actually letting out a small laugh. "Though he is a demon, the heretical arts he used are similar to those of ghosts that suck the essence of humans."
Chu Jiangheng was also somewhat surprised. He frowned. "But the attack relied entirely on talismans. He was searched thoroughly upon entry; it's unknown how he obtained several talismans of the Canxia Realm."
"Perhaps they were hidden inside his body, like in an internal pouch?" I suggested. "The physiological structures of the demon race are full of wonders."
He glanced at me as if looking at a fool and sneered. "Do you think the Temple's detection artifacts are mere decorations? When entering the prison, we can see right through the intestines and stomach. There is no room for smuggling."
"Artifacts only detect things with spiritual energy," I said with a smile. "If it's just the materials for drawing talismans, they can easily be disguised as ordinary swallowed food under the cover of dense demonic qi to slip through. Perhaps Lord Chu remembers the case five years ago, where ten great bandits from Chongzhou City staged a mass breakout? It was caused by a seemingly insignificant minor demon thief who smuggled in a demon fruit, poisoning the guards and leading to chaos."
Chu Jiangheng had not expected me to be so well-informed. He was startled for a moment, then let out a cold snort. "This is likely just something Wei Jiu told you."
Now it was my turn to be surprised. I turned to look at Wei Qingming, remembering her saying it had been exactly five years since she saw Agawa and Ugli. Could it be...
Wei Qingming nodded. "I handled that case, which is how I came to exchange blows with Ugli. I originally thought he was in league with the bandits, but it turned out to be the opposite—their leader had plundered the Mogulan treasury."
Then, she glanced at Chu Jiangheng and said calmly, "There are indeed talisman materials here." With a casual flick of her hand, a piece of material as transparent as a spiderweb flew up from the pool of blood.
The object was thin and narrow, incredibly inconspicuous, and soaked in nauseating blood. I felt for Wei Qingming; dealing with such things every day, I wondered what her eyes and heart were made of. They were simply too strong...
She brushed the air again, and the demonic art attached to the object manifested. I could roughly understand it now—it was indeed a heretical art that sucked the innate essence of humans to maintain one's own lifespan and cultivation. The "Yin-harvesting to supplement Yang" often written about in storybooks was roughly of this type, though the art Wang Guangqi used was over a hundred times more powerful. It had long been classified as a forbidden art; practitioners were to be executed, and their three souls and seven po-spirits annihilated.
As for the memories of the deceased, they had been affected by the demonic art and could not be fully collected. I managed to pluck a few fragmented pieces and handed them to Wei Qingming. When Chu Jiangheng saw my true ability, his eyebrows shot up toward the heavens. Even as we departed, he still hadn't quite recovered his wits.
"I just couldn't be bothered to lower myself to his level!" I snorted with a laugh in the carriage on the way back. "If we really fought, I could knock him over with a single finger."
This made even Wei Qingming laugh. She nodded in high praise. "My lady is magnanimous. He comes from a noble family, so pride is inevitable. He requested to join this office because he wanted to achieve something extraordinary; he's better than those who just wait around to eat and die."
I threw myself into her arms and rubbed her shoulders, exclaiming, "No matter how high his lineage is, can it be higher than yours? He's just a relative of a Noble Consort, nothing special. He just eats pills and does clerical work to scramble into an Envoy position. How can he be compared to the hardships you've waded through in seas of blood and mountains of corpses!"
She shook her head with a faint smile and turned the conversation back to the case. "Though he doesn't know much about talismans, he wasn't far off. The surveillance spells in the Temple are extraordinary. As a Canxia Realm heretic, Wang Guangqi was subjected to extra-strict searches. Even if the demon spider silk used for the talismans was hidden in his body, it should have been hard to pass. Moreover, how he bypassed the Thunder God's Eye and how he instantly killed over a dozen guards while dozens of golden talisman chains pierced his body—those are the critical points that warrant vigilance."
"Usually, a prison break this clean..." I said, "...requires help from the inside. That was the case in Chongzhou; a guard was bribed to delay the hand-seal for locking the outermost gate by half a moment, which was enough for dozens of prisoners to escape."
"Mhm," Wei Qingming said. "This incident shows the Temple isn't entirely clean. Chu Seventeen knows this well, though no one will say it aloud."
Having said that, she curled her lips and added with a cold smile, "It's one thing not to be of one mind with Mr. Feng, but to dare collude with outside enemies... they must think their lives are too comfortable."
The next day, she left early for work. I handled some business for the merchant firm as usual, and in the afternoon, under the pretext of going to the Rumenglao, I sneakily headed to the Qingshang Pavilion to find Teacher Wang to continue my lessons.
Teacher Wang had actually moved to Yun Alley long ago. Though she wasn't yet among the ten most popular ladies, she was quite sought after. She still kept a small pavilion at the Qingshang Pavilion, a separate building in the eastern corner. Inside were dozens of small rooms designed for teaching the young girls of the house.
This was my first time in the East Wing. I didn't have to go through the main entrance, nor did I have to wait until the Shen hour when Pingkang Ward usually opened for business. A maid led me in through a side door. Along the way, I saw many women from respectable families. Though they seemed to be from humble households, they were all properly raised. I suddenly realized: the Qingshang Pavilion possessed a vast number of the finest musicians; it would be nonsensical not to make money from teaching! Could it be that Zhang Zhuyi had come here through this same route when we first met?
The maid helped me with my outer coat and diligently led me into Teacher Wang’s room. Inside, I saw Qu Chen. The little girl was curled up in a corner by the window, leaning over a small table in a daze, merely fiddling with a potted plant. It was a cluster of slender, graceful asparagus ferns—two or three long, sparse branches, with tiny, mist-like leaves that were a lovely, vibrant green.
Seeing a distinguished guest enter, she sat up in a panic and bowed. I pretended I had never met her and asked her name with a smile. After she answered in a thin, soft voice, I praised her using literary allusions, making the little girl both shy and happy.
I asked why she was here. She shook her head. "I don't know. Teacher Wang told me to come, saying I was to accompany a guest in flute practice." She looked up at me with a timid smile, her eyes sparkling. "I didn't expect it to be someone as beautiful as you, My Lady."
I couldn't help but laugh. "Me? I have middling looks, far from beautiful." Su Zhenzhen’s appearance was designed specifically to be unnoticeable in a crowd. This little girl saw famous courtesans every day, and even someone as stunning as Zhang Zhuyi; for her to call me beautiful was surely a baseless bit of flattery. Yet her gaze was sincere and her tone earnest, not sounding like sycophancy at all.
To my surprise, Qu Chen immediately straightened her face and replied seriously, "My Lady’s beauty is not in your outward appearance. It is the elegance, strength, and tenderness that radiate from within."
Her words stunned me. Realizing she was a child with a hard life, a great sense of pity rose within me. I smiled and patted her shoulder, straightening her loose, thin, ill-fitting shirt. "Little Qu Chen," I said gently, "you will also be very beautiful and very strong when you grow up. Be a bit more confident. Start by not shrinking into corners, and try smiling at people more often, alright?"
Her eyes widened. Her golden pupils fluttered like butterfly wings in the sunlight as she allowed me to smooth the furrow that had been permanently etched between her brows.
"My Lady is so kind." She was a bit bashful, yet also a bit joyful, and she smiled from the bottom of her heart. "To know one or two good people like My Lady... I am already very lucky."
***
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