Chapter 40: Descendant of Loyal and Virtuous
As I was engrossed in my books at my desk, someone gently patted my shoulder.
It was Cheng Huaishi who had returned.
“Why haven’t you lit the lamp?” he asked softly.
“I…”
Xiao Yin heard the movement and entered the room, lighting the lamp.
He saw tear marks on my face and asked, “Madam, why are you so sad? Did Eldest Sister-in-law bully you again? I’ll go find her—”
I quickly stopped him: “It’s not because of Eldest Sister-in-law. It’s me. Looking at the loyal ministers and heroes in the books, I felt sad and emotional. Second Master need not worry.”
He glanced at the books in my hand and said, “So that’s how it is. Madam, being a woman of virtue and a child, to have such sentiments is truly rare. Let me tell you something personal, Madam. For a minister to achieve anything, they must put their life and death aside. If they achieve nothing, they are mediocre and hold their position in vain; if they achieve something, they invite jealousy. I am now in the Ministry of Revenue, working on matters related to the New Policies. Many in the Imperial Court already consider me Minister Zhang’s faction. Today, the Assistant Minister of Personnel impeached me, accusing me of embezzling the world’s taxes for my own gain.”
I became worried: “Is it serious?”
He shook his head: “Minister Zhang defended me vigorously, and the matter was suppressed. However, His Majesty kept the memorial.”
He picked up the brush on the desk, dipped it in ink, and wrote eight characters on the paper: “To know me is to condemn me, only the Spring and Autumn Annals can judge.”
“Madam, no matter what lies ahead, I will never betray the country.” He pointed to the books in my hand and said, “Even if I am beheaded in the West Market like Mr. Banzhou, I will have no fear.”
For some reason, hearing him say this, my eyelids twitched violently, as if there was a fated reincarnation in the unseen.
I reached out and covered his lips: “Do not speak such inauspicious words again.”
Regarding Mr. Banzhou, regarding the mystery of my identity, I kept it hidden in my heart.
The days passed like the wind under the eaves, slowly blowing by.
Following the Old Madam’s instructions, I arranged for people to purchase many fields and properties at the ancestral burial ground in Huizhou. When I handed the deeds to the Old Madam, she ordered me to manage them, saying I must keep them safe.
Her face, full of wrinkles, always carried an unshakeable worry. Even though the Cheng Family now had high officials, imperial favor, and merchants, they were extremely wealthy and glorious.
By the second ten-day period of June, as I was getting into the horse carriage to go to the Hall of Benevolence and Wisdom for my duties, Feng Gao stopped me: “Elder Sister, I have something important to tell you.”
“What is it?”
He lowered his voice and said urgently, “I’ve found the troupe leader from back then!”
I was startled: “Are you sure? You haven’t mistaken him?”
“When I was little, he often beat and scolded me, how could I mistake him! One of his legs is lame for some reason. The acrobatic troupe disbanded. He stopped doing dragon and lion dances or street performances. I was stubborn before, always ordering people to search among the street performers, which is why I didn’t find him. Later, he engaged in the wicked business of human trafficking and pimping. When he made money, he would squander it in pleasure houses. When the money was gone, he would continue to cheat and deceive… One of my captains caught him in a brothel in Jicheng and brought him to the Capital City. I ordered him to be detained, and before I could interrogate him, His Majesty summoned me, so I had to leave. He was then taken away by Zou Cheng from Qionglin Academy!” he said, his face flushed with anger, gritting his teeth.
Qionglin Academy, Zou Cheng. That day, in the peony bushes in the Zhang Manor garden, I overheard Minister Zhang mentioning this name. He gave a single instruction to the messenger, which I remember vividly: “Tell Zou Cheng of Qionglin Academy to stop the assassination attempts on Feng Gao.”
Feng Gao said, “Zou Cheng is Minister Zhang Taiyue’s top assassin, skilled in martial arts. It was my oversight. I shouldn’t have put him in a death row cell! Those guards are useless, I should skin them alive.”
I pondered: “Could it be someone else’s instigation, unrelated to Minister Zhang Taiyue?”
“Absolutely not. Elder Sister, you don’t understand Zou Cheng. He has a terrible temper, is stubborn, and is not moved by money. Besides Minister Zhang Taiyue, he would not obey anyone else.”
He clenched his fists tightly: “I’ve long suspected that Minister Zhang Taiyue has been acting strangely lately, very peculiar. So, he is indeed trying to cross me.”
“Dou Ya—” I couldn’t help but call out: “Don’t be angry yet, let Elder Sister go and see. Don’t rashly clash with Minister Zhang.”
He smiled faintly: “His Majesty said something to me, that he wants to rule personally. Minister Zhang controls the court and makes decisions unilaterally, how can His Majesty rule personally? I originally respected him for his loyalty and righteousness and refused to scheme against him. But he has bullied me. I must make some plans.”
“Dou Ya, don’t.”
He looked at me, his eyes like a flickering light in a bottomless abyss.
“Elder Sister, I promise you, let’s wait a little longer. If he is sensible and returns the person to me properly, I will let it go. If he insists on opposing me, then…”
He reached out and stroked the silk flower on my moon-white gauze robe: “Elder Sister, don’t worry, those who start fires have the means to extinguish them. I know when the fire will start, where it will spread, and where it will be extinguished.”
After speaking, he left.
I watched his retreating figure, like clouds and mist.
Once the fire starts, can he really control it? When the whole place is engulfed in flames, who can escape?
In the evening, after leaving the Imperial Palace, I went directly to the Zhang Manor.
After the gatekeeper announced me, the black-clothed servant woman I was familiar with came out to greet me: “Madam Cheng, Master is in the study, please come over.”
I followed her to the place where I had painted last time.
Minister Zhang was sitting at his desk, writing something with a brush. Seeing me enter, he smiled slightly and said, “Sang Yu, you’ve come.”
He called me by my name so intimately.
I stepped forward and bowed: “Sir, you seem much better this time.”
He stroked his beard and said, “I’m just trying my best. Sang Yu, I heard the Empress Dowager praise you before. I’ve been wondering what you would come to ask me about. You’ve only come now. Very good, very good, it shows you can remain calm. Not anxious, not impatient.”
“I believe, Sir, you will tell me when the time is right. I’ve waited twenty years, what’s the rush?”
He laughed: “You are an understanding child.”
“Sir, did you take someone from the Eastern Depot?”
He nodded and said directly, “Yes.”
“Where is that person now?”
“Sang Yu, if you want to persuade me to hand this person back to Feng Gao, I cannot agree. I have already learned some things I wanted to know. I must keep this person. Some things are better known by fewer people. If it reaches His Majesty’s ears, it will be very detrimental to me and to Feng Gao. Don’t forget, His Majesty has more than just the Eastern Depot as an intelligence agency.” he said gravely.
Clearly, this decision was one he had carefully considered.
I thought for a moment: “May I see him? Is that possible?”
He hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded: “Follow me.”
He led me, winding through several corridors, to a small house on the west side of the manor.
He said to me, “Sang Yu, your birth mother, Sanniangzi, was a heroine. In the past, she followed your father to clear the wilderness and establish a military camp. While your father trained soldiers, she beat the drums beside him to boost morale. In Min Province, she once led a thousand women and children, wearing men’s armor, to the city gates and scared away the enemy soldiers. When your father was convicted by the court, the manor became desolate, and his wives and concubines scattered, with the principal wife also hiding with her child. Only your mother stayed with him through life and death.”
I said softly: “Sir, Mr. Banzhou did not die in the Jiajing Thirty-fourth Year, you saved him, didn’t you?”
He waved his hand: “Do not mention this matter. I will only tell you that they could not escape disaster in the end. The Japanese were cruel and hated him to the bone, how could they let him live in this world? Hong Sanniangzi gave birth in the heavy rain, and the Japanese pursued relentlessly. She handed the child to a traveling acrobatic troupe, and then stuffed her belly with straw, pretending she had not yet given birth. That is how you escaped disaster! When I found your father and mother, they were already dead. For all these years, I never knew if you were alive or dead. Fortunately, heaven had eyes, and you were adopted by the Zhu Family. It was a good family. The acrobatic troupe leader, not knowing your identity, only knew that you had no relatives and were an orphan.”
I shed tears: “Sir’s profound kindness allowed them to live a few more years.”
“Sang Yu, your father was rehabilitated in the early years of the Longqing era. Therefore, remember, do not mention this matter again. If people find out that I switched the beams and pillars back then, it will cause many troubles. This is an act of deceiving the royal family.” He solemnly warned again.
“From now on, whether the Empress Dowager or His Majesty asks, you will say you were adopted by the Zhu Family, your birth date is unknown, and it was made up by your adoptive mother, do you understand?”
I replied: “I understand. I will never mention it again.”
He stepped forward a few paces, took out a key, unlocked the door, and immediately pushed open the door of the small house—
The scene before my eyes was horrific.
An old man lay on the bed, stabbed several times. Several bloody wounds were bleeding. The man had already breathed his last.
I widened my eyes.
Minister Zhang angrily shouted: “Zou Cheng!”
A man in black flashed in. Seeing the scene, he was shocked and terrified, and knelt on the ground with a thud: “Sir, your subordinate guarded the door outside, not leaving for a moment, and truly does not know how this accident happened! Only you have the key to this room, even your subordinate cannot open the door…”
Minister Zhang roared: “The Zhang Manor is not a vegetable garden, how could someone enter without anyone knowing?”
Zou Cheng kowtowed: “Your subordinate has sinned, your subordinate deserves ten thousand deaths.”
I looked at the dead troupe leader, and it felt as if I heard thunder rumbling in my ears.
Who killed him? Who could have the ability to sneak in and kill someone in the Zhang Manor without a sound, evading everyone?
Could this be the final blow that breaks Feng Gao’s bottom line?
He died in the Zhang Manor, and nothing can be explained clearly…
The dark clouds pressed down heavily, and the leaves on the trees rustled chaotically.
A torrential downpour of midsummer rain began.
