Chapter 35: Feng Gao’s Contingency Plan
A single candle flame in the secret chamber licked at the blood and wind.
Feng Gao said to me, “Elder Sister, you should go back. I’ll be out of here soon.”
He said it with such certainty.
As if everything was within his calculations. Including his arrest.
At that moment, I didn’t take his words to heart.
Thinking, he was merely comforting me.
I took out the prepared wound medicine from my pouch and carefully applied it to him.
“Does it hurt?”
He shook his head, like a kitten, closing his eyes, afraid to open them. He looked both content and timid, as if this tenderness was extremely rare, extremely unreal, and could disappear at any moment.
The jailers outside urged me on.
I left the wound medicine behind and slowly departed.
As I reached the door, he called out to me, “Elder Sister—”
I turned my head.
He hesitated for a moment, then said, “Elder Sister, are you only happy when you are with Cheng Huaishi?”
His words, like a dense net of needles, pierced my heart.
I didn’t know why he suddenly asked this, and for a moment, I didn’t know how to answer.
The jailer slammed the door shut with a bang.
I watched him lower his head thoughtfully.
“I am a rootless person. I shouldn’t have any extravagant hopes. I should make Elder Sister happy. Elder Sister is such a good woman.”
When I walked out of Dali Temple, it was noon. The sun was at its fiercest.
I tilted my head back to look at the sky, and the brightness made tears stream down my face.
The azure sky was devoid of even a single cloud. The sun hung motionless directly overhead, scorching everything.
Dou Ya, am I happy?
When will Elder Sister find happiness?
Returning to the manor, I went to the Main Courtyard to see the Old Madam.
The Old Madam’s illness had improved slightly. She was leaning back in her reclining chair, and the Third Young Miss was feeding her papaya water.
I had instructed the kitchen early that morning to stew some fruit water beneficial for the Old Madam’s digestion.
It had to be varied, so the Old Madam wouldn’t get tired of it.
Upon seeing me, the Old Madam said affectionately, “Sang Yu, come sit by me.”
I sat down, and she stroked my hand, saying, “In a few days, when I feel a bit better, we two mothers and daughters will go to Yunju Temple to offer incense. I’ve heard the Bodhisattva there is efficacious. We’ll pray for the Bodhisattva to bless you with a son soon. Only then can the Cheng Family have an heir.”
I mumbled, “Mother, Second Master, he, he and I…”
The Old Madam smiled, “Huaishi is a bit busy. But he surely has you in his heart. What young couple doesn’t have their passionate moments? Once you give birth to a child, he will naturally cherish you dearly.”
The Third Young Miss beside her said, “Mother, Second Brother has been too outrageous these past few days. Is he still hiding things from you? I couldn’t sleep last night and was walking around the courtyard when I saw him sneak out in the middle of the night! This morning, he just got back, and before he could even warm the seat, he ran out again! I heard he’s desperately searching for some noon flower, three-leaf ghost grass, and mountain tallow root. Miss Xun was bitten by a venomous snake, and he ran faster than a rabbit!”
“Oh? Is this true?” The Old Madam sat up.
The Third Young Miss said, “Isn’t it! I heard it from Eldest Sister-in-law. Eldest Sister-in-law said that perhaps after Miss Xun recovers, she’ll be entering our family and become a co-wife! Mother, listen to this. If she becomes a co-wife, where will Second Sister-in-law’s dignity go? In my opinion, that Miss Xun is a troublemaker. From the past to the present, how many problems have arisen from Second Brother being with her!”
The Old Madam slammed the soup bowl onto the ground, her body trembling.
“I’d like to see who dares let her in! Huaier almost lost his life for her family, and he’s still not satisfied? I’ve always thought poorly of her, always so chummy with scholars, how could nothing happen?”
A servant boy said, “Old Madam, I heard that this time it was Miss Xun who saved our Second Master.”
The Old Madam said, “Huaier has practiced martial arts since he was young and is very skilled, why would he need her to save him? Clearly, she’s a woman with ulterior motives, putting on a show to bewitch my son! Huaier has just been promoted; if he were to divorce his wife and remarry, his reputation would be ruined. How would his colleagues view him? Haven’t you heard the stories? In the Tang Dynasty, the famous minister Li Qiyun, wearing the ceremonial robes of the Wei clan for his ceremony, was mocked by scholars! It became a lifelong stain!”
Hearing this, no one dared to speak further.
The Old Madam turned and ordered a maidservant, “Go! Summon Second Master to me!”
The maidservant said, “If… if Second Master is unwilling to return?”
“Then say his mother has died! Tell him to come back for the funeral!” the Old Madam said irritably.
The Third Young Miss and I quickly said, “Mother, please don’t say such inauspicious words.”
The Old Madam slowly calmed her emotions and, fearing I would worry, pulled me and the Third Young Miss to play backgammon.
After about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, Cheng Huaishi returned, his head dripping with sweat, calling out, “Mother! Mother!”
Entering the room and seeing the Old Madam sitting there perfectly fine, he breathed a sigh of relief, “It’s good that Mother is alright; you scared me to death.”
The Old Madam said slowly, “Your wife and sister and I have been playing backgammon for quite some time. You can go discuss marrying a co-wife with someone else.”
Cheng Huaishi quickly said, “Mother, where did you hear such baseless talk? I’ve never thought of such a thing.”
The Old Madam put down the chess piece in her hand, pointed at the portrait of the Master hanging on the wall, and said sternly, “Then today, you will swear before your father that you will never marry her!”
Cheng Huaishi said, “Mother, why must you do this? I never thought of it.”
“The more you haven’t thought of it, the more you should swear solemnly to silence others’ mouths.”
Seeing the Old Madam’s insistence, Cheng Huaishi could only kneel on the ground and, as instructed, took the oath.
The Old Madam breathed a sigh of relief and waved her hand, “You two, go back to your room. Give me a grandson soon, and I’ll be happy even in the afterlife.”
Cheng Huaishi and I returned to the East Courtyard.
He had become noticeably thinner these past few days.
He hadn’t slept for two days and two nights, his eyes red-rimmed.
He sat at his desk, wrote a few lines, then returned to the bedroom, collapsed on the couch, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
I walked to the desk and read the poem he had written: My heart is as pure as the bright moon, but alas, the moon has its waxing and waning. A lifetime of self-discipline is hard to decide, I do not wish to betray the country or my beloved.
His sleeping face was still clear and handsome.
I do not wish to betray the country or my beloved.
He always wanted to be the person he envisioned.
Faint sounds of commotion could be heard from outside the courtyard walls.
I left the East Courtyard and went to the front courtyard, where I saw the Eldest Young Mistress returning from outside, her face pale.
The Eldest Young Master, Cheng Cangshi, paced back and forth, “What is to be done! What is to be done!”
The Eldest Young Mistress said, “Don’t panic first! Even if Lord Liu falls on hard times, it won’t implicate us! We didn’t even know about the poisoning; what are we afraid of!”
“But we received so many benefits from Lord Liu. What will we do without him in the future?”
“Fortunately, I had already made plans. One cannot rely on just one Buddha! Deputy Commander Mu Lin of the Brocade Guards is bound to rise. I sent his wife a box of pearls a few days ago and established a friendship. Water flows, temples stand firm. One must have more foresight in life.” The Eldest Young Mistress calmed down.
The couple returned to the South Garden.
The servants were all discussing the matter.
News from the outside flew through the Capital City as if it had wings.
The “Hu barbarian imperial physician poisoning case” took a major turn overnight.
It is said that at Shen Shi today, the Hu barbarian imperial physician Altai died in prison. Deputy Commander Mu Lin of the Brocade Guards, in the back garden of his colleague Liu Shou, suddenly discovered several unidentified corpses, emitting a foul stench. Mu Lin immediately reported the matter.
Immediately after, Altai’s family, filled with dread, went to Dali Temple with Altai’s blood-written letter to file a complaint.
The blood-written letter stated that Liu Shou had instructed him to poison, and then frame the Eunuch of the Eastern Depot. It was a staged act to eliminate rivals, monopolize power, and rule with an iron fist.
Altai’s family kowtowed until their foreheads bled, crying that Liu Shou had threatened their entire family’s lives, forcing Altai to frame Feng Gao, but then turned on them to silence them after the deed was done. With no other recourse, they revealed the truth.
The Minister of Dali Temple presented the evidence to His Majesty.
His Majesty summoned Minister Zhang to consult with him.
Shortly thereafter, an edict was issued: Feng Gao was pardoned, and Liu Shou was ordered to commit suicide.
My heart was in my throat.
After thinking it over, I finally understood what Feng Gao meant by “contingency plan.”
Every step was perilous, every step meticulously planned, including Altai’s confession, all of which he had orchestrated.
In one fell swoop, Liu Shou was completely eliminated, and His Majesty’s trust was regained.
It is likely that in this scheme within a scheme, Deputy Commander Mu Lin of the Brocade Guards also played an important role. As the saying goes, no profit, no early rise.
The twilight gradually drew back its long threads of sorrow.
Night opened its pupils.
As if by intuition, I walked to a narrow alley on Qi’an Street. Indeed, I saw Feng Gao, dressed in a crimson official robe with gold threads, standing in the alley.
He looked at me, “Elder Sister, I’m out.”
Yes, he had narrowly escaped death and was out.
“I heard His Majesty bestowed upon you a gold-threaded robe as solace, and promoted you to Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial.”
“What rank, what official robe, doesn’t matter. What’s important is to let those people know the rules. No matter who it is, offending me has only one outcome: death.”
When he said the word “death,” he always had a kind of gloomy satisfaction.
He had won this bloody power struggle.
“The Brocade Guards are dogs of the Eastern Depot. I need to teach them how to be dogs,” he narrowed his eyes.
“Didn’t His Majesty suspect anything?”
He chuckled softly, “Elder Sister, His Majesty invited everyone to the Leopard House today to watch a fight. A pack of leopards, biting each other to death, until only one remained. His Majesty enfeoffed that leopard as the Imperial Leopard. He doesn’t favor any particular leopard. He only uses the one that ultimately wins. The rest, unable to compete, are useless.”
The image was terrifying to think about.
I suddenly felt a pang of sympathy, “Dou Ya, how many fights have you truly been through?”
He said softly, “Elder Sister, I will always win. When I was young, in Dongchang Prefecture, when I saw you take beatings for me, I made up my mind. In this life, I, Feng Gao, can only win, never lose.”
