Chapter 83: Qin Mingxu’s Leverage
The wind brought a faint fragrance, and a sliver of moonlight peeked at me.
Qin Mingxu and I slept fully clothed.
In the middle of the night, he got up several times to tuck the blanket around me.
Outside the courtyard, the cypress vines were layers of emerald feathers, climbing the eaves, like an unfurled canopy.
My heart is as light as the cypress vine, finding its place in a corner of life.
With a child, there is hope for the future. This night, I slept more soundly than any night since I moved into the Qin Manor.
The next morning, I wrote a letter to Feng Gao.
“Dou Ya, Elder Sister is pregnant, and Wan Dou is returning. Everything is well. The days are long and quiet at home. I wish you peace.”
I went to the River Affairs Yamen and found the two guards Feng Gao had left behind. I handed them the letter and watched them release the carrier pigeon, which finally put my mind at ease.
When Wan Dou was lost, Feng Gao was the most heartbroken.
In the days that followed, although he tried his best to avoid the topic, I knew his guilt had never diminished.
In the Eastern Depot, he had once confidently said that Elder Sister’s child was the best child in the world, and with him there, it would surely be safe.
Wang Yuzhen’s vicious act was something none of us had anticipated.
This matter was a knot in Feng Gao’s heart.
Now, it’s all good.
With Wan Dou back, all the gloom will dissipate, and the sky will be bright.
On the tenth day of the seventh month, Hua Lian returned for her three-day post-wedding visit.
Since she has no family left, I am both her in-laws and her maternal family. She and Zhu Xifeng came to the Qin Manor to serve me tea.
She refused to wear silk, saying that linen was more comfortable and at ease, so Zhu Xifeng followed her lead.
She walked ahead, and Zhu Xifeng habitually followed behind her, like a little follower.
Everyone in the Qin Manor joked that the Young Master was henpecked.
Zhu Xifeng, however, was unconcerned.
“What’s wrong with being henpecked? I’m henpecked at home, but not outside!”
Everyone laughed.
In mid-July, my father’s condition began to improve.
On the Ghost Festival, he was even able to walk. He took me, Zhu Xifeng, and Hua Lian to burn incense for my mother and Lin Yue.
But this was merely a final burst of energy.
On the morning of the eighteenth of July, a maidservant brought a copper basin to help him wash his face. She called out three times, but there was no response from the person on the bed. The maidservant stepped forward, checked his breathing, and cried out in alarm: “Master has passed away! Master has passed away!”
I was taking inventory at the counter when I heard the news and rushed back with Zhu Xifeng and Hua Lian.
Zhu Xifeng said in disbelief: “How could this be? How could this be? Didn’t Father get better a few days ago? The maidservant even said yesterday that he ate a whole bowl of polished rice…”
My father had indeed passed away.
He lay on the bed, his body thin, like a piece of paper.
Zhu Xifeng wailed loudly.
Hua Lian held his hand, silently comforting him.
Not long after, Qin Mingxu also rushed back. He stood by the bedside, stunned. The divine doctor he had invited had clearly told us that if he was properly cared for, my father would live at least until next year.
I wiped my tears with a handkerchief and said, “Shall we ask the yamen’s coroner to take a look? Father’s death was so sudden. I…”
Zhu Xifeng said, “Elder Sister, why bother asking the coroner? Father was sick for so long, took so much medicine, and suffered so much pain. Now that he’s gone, let him rest in peace. All the doctors in Yangzhou City said he was beyond saving. The divine doctor my brother-in-law invited might have just been comforting us. If the coroner comes, they’ll have to cut him open. Father won’t even have a complete body. Father was the most afraid of pain, so let’s not torment him…”
Saying this, he buried his face in his father’s corpse and cried again.
Father had doted on him for over ten years. Now that he was gone, it was as if the house had lost its main beam and collapsed.
After much thought, I called for the old servants of many years to wash my father, change his burial clothes, and prepare the coffin.
Qin Mingxu stood by, silent from beginning to end, not uttering a word.
The third watch.
Zheng Residence.
Zou Cheng was writing at his desk when a servant boy tiptoed in and announced, “Steward Zou, Qin Mingxu is here.”
“Did he come through the front door or the back door?”
“The back door.”
“Did he bring anyone?”
“No, just himself.”
Zou Cheng smiled, stood up, and said, “I’ll go to the back door to meet him.”
The July nights in Jiangnan were like soft willow branches, gentle and lyrical.
The moonlight was fragrant, with the shadows of phoenix trees and the scent of a hundred flowers.
Zou Cheng walked to the back door and saw Qin Mingxu looking at him with a livid face.
Zou Cheng said, “Boss Qin has thought it through?”
“Was your involvement in my father-in-law’s death your doing?” Qin Mingxu’s voice was like ice.
Zou Cheng lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said, “So what if it was, and so what if it wasn’t?”
Qin Mingxu grabbed Zou Cheng by the collar: “What exactly do you want? He was just an old man on his last legs, and you wouldn’t let him go. Do you have a heart?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Boss Qin talks about having a heart or not now. Back then, wasn’t the acrobatic troupe leader also an old man on his last legs? Boss Qin didn’t show any mercy when he killed him. And Minister Zhang, wasn’t he also an old man on his last legs? Director Feng didn’t show any mercy when he killed him either,” Zou Cheng said.
“That’s different!” Qin Mingxu suppressed his anger.
“How is it different?”
Zou Cheng crossed his arms and said, “Whether Old Man Zhu lives or dies is of no consequence to me or Lord Maternal Uncle. It was merely a warning to you. If you had agreed to cooperate with Lord Maternal Uncle earlier, Old Man Zhu wouldn’t have died. What? Do you understand the stakes now? If you continue to hesitate, Old Man Zhu won’t be the only one who dies.”
Qin Mingxu gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll go to the yamen and surrender myself right now. After all, a life for a life! I admit it!”
At that time, the acrobatic troupe leader was imprisoned in the Zhang Manor by Minister Zhang. He was mistaken for Minister Zhang’s son and kept in the Zhang Manor, where everyone called him Young Master Mingxu.
In the garden, he accidentally overheard a conversation between Minister Zhang and Zou Cheng. He sought confirmation from his father, Qin Ke, and learned the truth.
He was deeply terrified.
If Feng Gao could slaughter the entire Feng family, what would happen to Qin Ke and everyone in the Qin Manor if he found out that Qin Ke had abandoned him, leading to the tragedy?
By killing the troupe leader, the source of the truth would be gone. Everything could be covered up.
Minister Zhang had a tense relationship with the Eastern Depot. No one would suspect the Qin family of the troupe leader’s death.
Diverting the disaster.
My father could be protected.
He invited a servant boy from the kitchen to drink with him, got him drunk, and quietly administered a sleeping potion into the food of Zou Cheng, who was guarding the troupe leader. Zou Cheng fell unconscious.
By the time Zou Cheng woke up, he had already done everything.
As he had predicted, after the troupe leader’s death, Feng Gao suspected Minister Zhang, and Minister Zhang suspected the Emperor. Zou Cheng was expelled from the Zhang Manor by Minister Zhang. The truth was left unresolved.
He never expected to see Zou Cheng again in Yangzhou after so long.
Zou Cheng had defected to the Zheng Family.
That day, Qin Mingxu was so nervous at the fundraising event because Zou Cheng had approached him two hours before the event began. Zou Cheng told him that the truth had been uncovered. 《The Great Ming Law》, a life for a life. If he helped the Zheng family, Zou Cheng would continue to help him conceal it. If not, the punishment of the law awaited him.
Zou Cheng was not bluffing.
Zou Cheng had concrete evidence.
Zou Cheng even knew clearly where he had bought the sleeping potion.
What was so difficult about paying with his life? He only couldn’t bear to part with Sang Yu, and he couldn’t bear to lose the stable life he had painstakingly obtained.
He had waited for a very long time.
He never expected to lose it all in one night.
He wandered on a dark path.
It was difficult to advance.
It was difficult to retreat.
Zou Cheng clapped his hands and said, “Boss Qin has guts, to be willing to abandon even an unborn child? Don’t forget, Lord Maternal Uncle once wanted to take Zhu Sangyu as his ninth concubine. If you go and confess, losing your life, what will happen to your wife and child?”
Qin Mingxu stopped in his tracks.
He turned around, his face, as beautiful as orchids, was shrouded in a haze.
“I don’t want to do things against my conscience.”
Zou Cheng said, “After this is done, the one who suffers will only be the Eastern Depot. The Eastern Depot has committed countless sins, and Feng Gao deserves to die. What kind of act against your conscience is this? Even if you, Boss Qin, are a merchant and don’t study Confucianism, don’t you understand such a simple principle? As long as you do as I say, you and your family will be absolutely fine. A virtuous wife, a harmonious home, and peace.”
“Why should I believe you?” Qin Mingxu said.
Zou Cheng said, “You have no choice but to believe me.”
“Director Feng has no hostility towards me. He has shown much care for the Qin family…” Qin Mingxu’s eyes darted away.
“Last time, after the incident of reviewing official documents, Feng Gao sent the young eunuch Zhang Jing to warn you. Feng Gao is already suspicious. Do you think Feng Gao will believe you if you don’t do it? Since Emperor Chengzu established the Eastern Depot, the Directors have always obeyed the Emperor’s orders and did not get involved in factional struggles. Feng Gao has allied himself with the Empress Dowager and is working for the Crown Prince’s faction. He will die sooner or later. Why would you risk your entire family’s lives for him?” Zou Cheng’s gaze was like a hawk’s, piercing directly into Qin Mingxu’s heart.
“I need to think, I need to think…” Qin Mingxu mumbled, and left in a daze.
Seeing him walk away, Zou Cheng smiled coldly and instructed the servant boy beside him, “Let’s go tell Lord Maternal Uncle that this matter is settled.”
The wavering dam in Qin Mingxu’s eyes broke.
Zou Cheng was certain he would do it.
With the assistance of the yamen, the Zheng family raised a total of five hundred thousand taels of silver in donations in Yangzhou.
With the tacit approval of the Imperial Court and the urging of Consort Zheng, the Zheng family’s ancestral temple began construction.
The site selection was determined by officials sent from the Directorate of Astronomy.
The feng shui was excellent.
Not far from the ancestral temple’s foundation was a warehouse.
This warehouse was specifically used to store the silver for the temple construction and the rare timber dispatched from various places. Day and night, Zheng Residence’s house guards and yamen constables patrolled it.
One night in early August.
The new moon was like a hook.
Qin Mingxu had not returned for a long time.
A shop assistant came to deliver a message: merchants from Fuliang had arrived, and the Young Master was busy attending to them. He would likely return late, and the Young Madam should not wait up but rest early.
I drank the white fungus soup brought by Xiao Yin and sat on the couch, reading.
The night watch drum struck the third watch.
Sleepiness washed over me.
I blew out the lamp and lay down.
I had only half-finished a pleasant dream when I was awakened by rustling sounds.
Opening my eyes, I saw a masked man on the bed, who hadn’t been there before.
I smelled blood.
This man was severely injured.
Just as I was about to cry out, the sound of clashing weapons came from outside.
The man quickly covered my mouth.
In the dim moonlight, I could see his face clearly.
