Chapter 52: False Accusations
The surging scent of autumn wild tea and ink was no longer on him.
The darkness and dampness of the prison cell had coated everything with the smell of rot, including him.
His white robe was battered beyond recognition from repeated interrogations and pressure.
At this point, he said, he wanted to give Xun Yitang a proper status.
At this point, he finally wanted to be selfish for once.
I couldn’t tell how much sincerity and how much pretense were in his words.
I only knew that his childhood friendship with Xun Yitang was real. His near-death struggle to vindicate Administrator Xun was real. When Xun Yitang was poisoned by a snake for him in the Zhang Manor, his heart-wrenching grief was real. After the incident with the people’s umbrella, the long gaze they exchanged across the vast crowd in front of the Five Phoenix Tower was also real.
The Buddha said, “Where there is no desire, there is no suffering; where there is no burden, there is no weariness.”
After he divorced me, if he truly married Xun Yitang, would he have no regrets?
If that were the case, why would I cling so tightly to this status, refusing to let go?
The jailer held up a torch.
I walked out of the prison cell.
He and I had good times.
Even though the one who married me at first was just his spirit tablet. After learning my identity, he praised my righteousness and tacitly agreed to it.
We gradually got to know each other.
We also had late-night talks as husband and wife, chatting about plays and daily life.
We also read history books together, savoring the Huizhou tea.
We also shared hardships and joys, weathering storms together.
We also worked together with one heart, preventing brothers from fighting.
We also experienced the joy of a loving couple, lying together under the red gauze curtains.
I tried so hard to enter his world, to integrate into his life. In his heart, was Xun Yitang, whom he had known since childhood, still more important?
Disaster loomed.
He gave me a divorce letter.
Outside, the night rain grew heavier.
The Capital City seemed to be submerged in the gray, misty rain.
Qin Mingxu waited for me, holding an umbrella.
Lost in thought, I walked down the steps. Qin Mingxu hurried to meet me: “You just had your period, you can’t get wet.”
Even he was concerned about me having just had my period.
The tears I had held back in prison broke through like a dam.
Qin Mingxu said anxiously, “Sang Yu, Lord Cheng hasn’t been executed yet, has he? There’s still room for maneuver…”
I remained silent and got into the horse carriage.
Along the way, he tried his best to make me happy, telling many jokes.
“Once upon a time, there was a quack doctor who used the wrong medicine and killed a patient. The patient’s family tied him up in the woodshed. In the middle of the night, he broke free from the ropes, slipped out, swam across a river, and escaped home. As soon as he entered the door, he saw his son reading a medical book under the lamp. He quickly grabbed his son and said, ‘My son, put aside reading medical books for now. Learning to swim is the priority!’ Sang Yu, do you think it’s funny?”
Seeing that I didn’t laugh, he tilted his head and suddenly clapped his hands: “Speaking of which, it was also on a rainy day. A scholar was composing a poem. It was snowing, not raining. The snow turned into water on the ground. It’s too troublesome for the snow to turn into water; it would have been better if it had rained from the start. At this moment, an old man came by and said, ‘Your poem is very simple; I can also compose one.’ Sang Yu, guess what poem the old man composed?”
I said, “A couple married without growing old together, only to receive a divorce letter halfway. A divorce letter is too troublesome; it would have been better not to marry in the first place.”
He chuckled in amusement, as if he understood something. He swallowed the rest of his joke.
“Sang Yu, you—”
I looked at him. The journey from Dongchang Prefecture to Yangzhou for our wedding, and the encounter with robbers halfway, felt like it happened yesterday.
They say that the more hardships on the wedding journey, the more hardships after marriage.
It turns out to be true.
“Sang Yu, people must reconcile with themselves. Many truths we believe are not the truth. But when we are in the midst of it, we have no choice but to accept.”
He said solemnly, “Sometimes, accepting others’ kindness is also a form of compassion.”
The folded umbrella was still dripping water inside the horse carriage.
I said, “You already know, don’t you?”
“Know what?”
“Cheng Huaishi’s divorce letter.”
“Yes.” He lowered his head.
After a pause, he said, “Cheng Lao Er and I are different kinds of people. I used to dislike those scholars who were all about literature and ink, always thinking they were superficial, too concerned with reputation, and living too hard. But when I received Cheng Lao Er’s letter, he told me that if anything were to happen to him, he entrusted me to take good care of you. I suddenly had a new perspective on him. He is a responsible person. He knows how to make choices. His magnanimity is greater than I imagined. He said that he had already made you a widow once in Yangzhou, and he couldn’t let you be a widow again. He had planned a way out for you. If this incident hadn’t happened, I think he would have been a good husband. That’s why I actively tried to rescue him and find ways for you to see each other in prison. Sang Yu, I have no selfish motives.”
He spoke very frankly.
On this rainy night, he brought me here, picked me up, arranged everything silently, and was extremely thoughtful.
“Young Master Qin, thank you,” I said softly.
He smiled, “What for! Sang Yu, it takes ten years to cross a river on the same boat; we met on a boat. And you took care of my mother for so long.”
Upon returning to the Cheng Residence, I saw Madam Qin standing under the eaves, looking anxious and lost.
“Mingxu, Sang Yu, you’re back.”
Qin Mingxu quickly asked, “Mother, what happened?”
Madam Qin said, “Half an hour ago, the Eunuch woke up. He was dazed and didn’t say a word. I was worried he was hungry, so I went to the small kitchen to make him something to eat. When I turned back, he was gone!”
“Did he leave any note?”
“No. Nothing at all. He just left without a sound. I searched the entire manor with Xiao Yin, but there was no trace of him,” Madam Qin said in a panic.
I thought for a moment, “Don’t worry. He probably went to the palace for his report.”
Qin Mingxu said, “Mother, Sang Yu is right. The Eunuch is skilled in martial arts, holds great power, and he’s not a child. Would he get lost?”
“Not a child… not a child…” Madam Qin murmured.
It was as if, in her eyes, Feng Gao was a child.
Qin Mingxu and I helped her back to the west wing.
She sat on the couch, holding my hand, and repeatedly said, “Sang Yu, you must make him come back, come back to me…”
“Mm,” I nodded.
I was also very worried. But I had a feeling that he wouldn’t just leave like this.
That night, I slept restlessly.
The sound of rain trickled.
The red gauze curtains swayed back and forth.
My mind was filled with Cheng Huaishi’s divorce letter and Feng Gao’s face, which was filled with extreme despair and suppression.
Dou Ya.
Your life has been wandering and difficult. Finally, you have a mother; you should be happy.
Dou Ya.
You’re right. You and I are the same kind of people. What we desperately search for, what we desperately want to hold onto, is nothing more than stability.
But why is stability so difficult?
I wish so much that you were whole.
If we hadn’t been bullied by the Feng family when we were children, and hadn’t been separated, and had danced lions in Dongchang Prefecture for a lifetime, wouldn’t it have been much better? I would beg for a steamed bun and give you more than half. During festivals, being able to eat hot cakes was the greatest happiness.
His Majesty declared a seven-day mourning period for Minister Zhang’s death.
He wept profusely, issued an imperial eulogy, and held an extremely grand funeral.
His Majesty told everyone, “The nation has lost Mr. Zhang, like a bird has lost its wing. I have lost Mr. Zhang, like losing a loved one.”
The body was sent to Dali Temple. The coroner examined it in court and concluded that Minister Zhang had died of illness.
The turbulent situation temporarily calmed down.
The gold sent in batches was accepted by the officials of the Three Judicial Offices.
Just as Qin Mingxu and I thought there was a turning point, suddenly, the wind changed direction—
On the fourth day after Minister Zhang’s death, Censor Lei Shizhen and seven other remonstrance officials jointly impeached Cheng Huaishi, accusing him of corruption and, in reality, of long-term embezzlement for Prime Minister Zhang in his position at the Ministry of Revenue.
The spearhead pointed to Prime Minister Zhang. Lei Shizhen claimed that Prime Minister Zhang, relying on his high position and power, lived a life of extreme luxury and extravagance, even daring to use a sedan chair carried by thirty-two people. Not only that, but Prime Minister Zhang had long deceived His Majesty, concealing the truth from the Emperor. His disloyal heart was obvious. If he hadn’t died of illness, the remonstrance officials would have been too afraid of his power to speak.
His Majesty was greatly shocked.
The remonstrance officials eagerly presented various pieces of evidence.
The accusations against Minister Zhang grew one after another, including from subordinates whom Minister Zhang had previously promoted and favored.
The charges were clear and irrefutable.
Three days later, His Majesty issued a decree to confiscate the Zhang family’s property, strip him of all his titles, and revoke the imperial seals and noble titles bestowed upon his ancestors for four generations, displaying his crimes to the world.
As Prime Minister Zhang’s top henchman, Cheng Huaishi, who had “amassed wealth” for him, was naturally not spared.
His Majesty ordered him to be executed by the most severe penalty and his body to be displayed at the Meridian Gate.
The imperial decree was issued.
Minister Zhang’s wishful knot did not elicit any pity from His Majesty.
His Majesty insisted that they die with disgrace.
The dirty water was splashed.
There was no longer any way out.
Everything was a meticulously planned arrangement.
Upon hearing this news, the broth in my hands spilled all over the floor.
People from the Twelve Bureaus came to deliver an imperial decree, ordering me to go to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility to paint.
After some thought, I followed them.
The usually lively Palace of Compassion and Tranquility was exceptionally quiet today.
Empress Dowager Li lay on the couch, and the hall was not even lit.
I stood outside the beaded curtain and called out, “Empress Dowager—”
After a long while, a faint voice came from inside, “Sang Yu, come in, come to my side.”
“Empress Dowager, why haven’t you lit the lamps?”
In the darkness, she choked back a sob.
“The times are so dark, what use are lamps?”
I stood by the couch and leaned over.
She said, “His Majesty was preparing to order Mr. Zhang’s body to be whipped. I tried my best to stop him. Let him die, but why should his posthumous peace be disturbed?”
As the Empress Dowager, she had done her best but still couldn’t sway His Majesty’s heart.
It was useless.
Nothing could be done.
“I have known Mr. Zhang for decades and have always admired his talent. Now that he is gone, I feel as if I have aged ten years. Recalling past events, I once asked him to write a ‘self-reproach edict’ for His Majesty, to discipline His Majesty strictly. Perhaps His Majesty has hated him since then. Thinking back, it is all my fault…” She covered her forehead with her hand and sighed deeply.
The departure of an old friend had deeply saddened her.
The saying “black-hearted prime minister on the dragon bed” was never true.
However, the Empress Dowager truly considered Minister Zhang her confidant and friend, not just a minister.
It was precisely for this reason that she entrusted her son to Minister Zhang’s care for over ten years.
Too strict, and it becomes enmity.
“Empress Dowager, I have come to resign my position as imperial painter,” I said, kneeling before the couch.
“Sang Yu—” She sat up and reached out to touch my cheek.
“I heard Cheng Huaishi has divorced you. In any case, you have nowhere else to go. Why not stay by my side? You are still the imperial Lady Yidexiang. Cheng Huaishi’s affairs have nothing to do with you.”
Tears streaming, I said, “Thank you for your kindness, Empress Dowager. However, I do not wish to remain in the Capital City any longer. I am dull-witted and unworthy to serve by your side.”
She helped me up and, after a long pause, said, “Very well, I will not force you to stay. If you have any difficulties, tell me.”
I bowed three times and took my leave.
The next day was the day of Cheng Huaishi’s execution.
The sun seemed about to split open.
Outside the execution ground, the crowd was immense.
