Chapter 24

The light snow froze into ice, but it only stopped people from coming and going for a few days. Because the sky was cloudless, the ice melted a few days faster than in previous years.

No one could remember the exact date. When Shen Yi climbed the long steps he had already counted, the snow in front of the hall had turned to water, pooling in one place and illuminating the figures of people passing by. He raised his eyes and looked into the distance again. It was no different from the past.

I just wonder if the snow in the deep palace has melted away completely?

He knelt in the court, like his colleagues, with his head lowered submissively to listen to the orders of the emperor who was in a high position.

Although he had known that this would happen since the day he drank with Xue Heng, Shen Yi followed the eunuch into the hall and bowed to his Majesty once again.

He really wanted to look up and take a closer look at the ghost in human skin, to ask about the injustices in the world, to find out why things had happened before. He chanted the same blessing that never changed: "May the heavenly family live forever and the country last forever."

He had been waiting for a long time for the words "Stand up", and then he lay on the ground, letting the emperor look at him, consider him, use him, and calculate him.

Shen Yi stood up, still with his head down, listening to the person speak, and then he began to declare what they had all guessed.

"Chen Yi, Shen Zixing, you are indeed worthy of being the grandson of General Huoqi and the son of Marquis Jianxin." The deep voice carried some unclear meaning as he slowly pointed out the identity of the person sitting below.

Chen Yi looked up and saw only the swaying crown. He quickly glanced at the dragon robe and bowed his head in greeting, "Your Majesty, I am so kind. I am just a shallow man, a dandy."

Ji Chi also looked at the chess pieces he had chosen, thinking about the long-planned chess game. With the new year almost over, it was indeed time to finalize it today. He thought of the concubines in the palace who looked like real people, the fragrance of cosmetics in her soft embrace, and the warm spring nights in the hibiscus tent.

Chen Qian has a pair of good children, but their personalities are different from his own, which is a pity.

"Mr. Chen, don't speak lightly. I have an important position to recommend to you." He pretended to sigh, as he often did when explaining confidential matters. "Jiangnan is rich, but it is inevitable that there are snakes and rats in the warehouses, which will ruin the reputation of the water town."

"I have been thinking about this all day and all night, and only today did I remember that there is still Chen Qing in the court. He is a talented and romantic man who has seen fame and fortune for a long time, so he will not be biased in vain."

Shen Yi heard him raise his voice and asked the final question, "If I point it out to you now, would you be willing to go to Jiangnan to investigate?"

This was exactly what he had expected. He finally raised his head, his gaze meeting that of the emperor seated high on the dragon throne, looking into those eyes filled with intimidation yet little compassion. "Your Majesty has entrusted me with this, and I will go willingly and make all arrangements."

Ji Chi sat sideways on the dragon throne, said hello several times, and cleared his throat. Just in case, he wanted to keep some of his ministers, who had to be loyal to him for this false reward. "When Mr. Chen returns from Jiangnan, I will promise you a grand banquet." He looked at the man who knelt hurriedly, and twirled another chess piece between his fingers, trying to make a move.

"Your sister has been feeling quite homesick lately. Why not wait until the New Year to receive her rewards and then return home to visit her parents for a while?"

Chen Yi was not sure what kind of sound he uttered at the end. It seemed to be trembling and incoherent. However, he took the imperial edict, carried out the instructions of the Heavenly Family, bowed deeply, and thanked His Majesty for his great grace.

He walked down the long steps, holding the imperial edict in his hand. Shen Yi no longer looked back. He was leaving Chang'an. If Shen Qian knew about it, she would definitely worry day and night.

It would be better to wait for him to move on. He would set off soon, and at the latest by late spring he would return from Jiangnan. He would come back to accept the reward from the Heavenly Family and bring his elder sister back home to stay for a while.

Then slowly make plans so that Chen Wan no longer has to be trapped in the deep palace, and no longer has to force herself to smile and pretend to be willing.

Shen Yi got into the carriage, and the north wind lifted a corner of the curtain, and he returned to the Shen Mansion from the long street.

As for Shen Qian's rage, it had nothing to do with him. He just looked at his biological father silently, and ultimately ignored the sigh that came from Shen Qian's mouth.

They have all chosen their own paths. No one can save the Shen family, and the Shen family does not need anyone to save them. They are just running for themselves, willing to be used and discarded at any time in the eyes of the Tian family.

Shen Yi picked out another white pigeon from the pigeon cage, held down the struggling pigeon with one hand, and wrote today's news into the ciphertext. After sealing it with a bamboo tube, he tied it to the carrier pigeon and let it fly to Xue's residence.

He picked up the half-broken feather that fell on the ground, thought about the warm touch he had just felt, and counted the number of white pigeons in the cage.

It was time to tell the steward to buy another batch of young pigeons for the new year. They would be raised for a year or two before being used to deliver messages. He tucked the dusty broken feather into his sleeve as a souvenir to remind himself of what he had just thought of.

Water no longer dripped from the eaves all day long. Shen Yi received the token sent by the Minister. In two days, he would set off for Jiangnan.

"Mother." He knelt down and held Mrs. Huo's cold hand, while with his other hand he held a silk handkerchief to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Just think of it as me traveling to Jiangnan for a sightseeing trip. It's not an important position."

Shen Yi bent his brows and comforted Mrs. Huo, handed her a cup of hot tea and added charcoal to the stove. "Mother, count. When the moon is full two or three times, I will be back."

He smiled as he recounted what he had heard from the singing houses. "I heard that the cosmetics and silk fabrics in Jiangnan are different from those in Chang'an. They are as thin as a cicada's wing, and they are naturally cool when cut into clothes in the summer."

"Sister has been thinking about this for a while now. This year, I finally have the chance to go there in person." He looked at Mrs. Huo's still haggard face. "When you come back, you must bring a few carts to the Marquis' Mansion. By then, the silk handkerchiefs that mother uses to wipe her hands can be replaced with new cloth."

Huo was amused by him, her fingertips tracing from the crown on his head to his eyebrows and eyes, seeing some meaning in it but not pointing it out. "No matter how good the place is, it can't compare to Chang'an. You can't be extravagant outside the Marquis' Mansion."

She also thought of her own daughter who was already in the palace. She was delighted by the reward promised by the royal family, but also had an inexplicable worry. She just wanted to see her own flesh and blood one more time. "You, be careful on the road. Come home soon, come home soon." She closed her eyes, as if forgetting all her past worries, and smiled beautifully.

"Mother is waiting for you to come back from Jiangnan."

Shen Yi nodded and agreed to this expectation. He didn't say anything else. He called the maid in and said goodbye to Mrs. Huo.

He stuffed the wooden box beside his pillow into the wooden box and pressed it to the deepest part - if he couldn't come back, it would be bad to harm the Shen family.

He finally felt that everything was settled, so he fell asleep peacefully before it was late. His dreams were either of the banquet promised by the heavenly family or of seeing Chen Wan again. In his dreams, they were all drunk in Chang'an, talking and laughing.

Shen Yi met many people, perhaps including his grandfather, so he knew that this was a beautiful dream, a dream from which he would soon wake up.

He was also willing to take this dream as a foreshadowing of tomorrow. Good and bad are interdependent. The path he wanted to take was already clear. Now he just needed to walk for a while longer before he would finally see the outcome.

Shen Yi didn't let himself continue thinking about it. He took the things he needed and got into the carriage. With the driver's shout of "drive", he was about to leave Chang'an City.

He lifted the curtain of his carriage to glance at the full moon, which had not yet set. It was less than two weeks before the new year. By the time he reached Jiangnan, it would probably be early spring in the water towns, and he would be able to see the spring scenery praised by scholars and literati.

Chen Yi closed his eyes and fell asleep amidst the jolting of the carriage. This was the first time in his life that he had left Chang'an. It was as if he had finally been able to escape from the court and the public, where there were so many hungry ghosts, and rest for a while.

He stroked the secret message on his sleeve. It was the last instruction Xue Congzhi wrote to him - in addition to investigating things for the Tian family, he also had to leave some supporting evidence and hand it to Xue Heng.

Amidst all the struggles and entanglements, Shen Yi let out a sigh and let himself collapse on the couch. At least he no longer had to think about the different chess games set up by different people.

The mountains and rivers of the world flow. If he could explain everything by playing a game of chess, the old man would be unhappy.

Having spent his whole life in the military and surrounded by dust and sand, he also wanted to see the south of the Yangtze River for his grandfather.

When he was in Chang'an, he heard Huo Yue say many times that the heroic spirit of Longxi was hard to come by after all.

If you really count, few people in the Shen and Huo families have ever been to Jiangnan. Even after asking several times, they only heard the news from rumors or caravans.

It was a place completely different from Longxi, Chang'an, and the north. Cities south of the Yangtze River always had rivers flowing through them, winding into streets and alleys for pedestrians to travel.

The fruit wine brewed in the south of the Yangtze River is gentle on the palate, just like the tunes sung every night in singing houses, making people willing to sink into that tranquility. The gentle breeze mixes the aroma of wine and cosmetics together, making people intoxicated.

Naturally, there were no towering mountains or biting north winds in the water town. As for the cloak I brought from Chang'an, I was afraid it would be useless after passing Xuzhou and other places.

Traveling day and night, Shen Yi and his subordinates could only rest briefly at the post station, asking for a few bowls of warm tea to soothe their breath, and then continue on their long journey.

As we headed south, the drivers and horses changed, each speaking a slightly slurred, unspoken Mandarin accented with the softness of Jiangnan.

When Shen Yi was free, he would chat with the driver, mostly listening to a few words about local customs and practices. However, the driver said that these were all things from the past, and that he had not been home for almost two or three years.

Now that I have picked them up, I have the opportunity to continue heading south and go back to see what has become of my home and whether the wooden house has been washed away by the rain.

Most of the time, he would rest inside the carriage. When he remembered something, he would reach out and lift a corner of the curtain to look at the carriages and pedestrians on the road.

He had long heard of the prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River, but now that he was close to the water town, he still felt a little bored.

The cities along the way seemed to lack the bustle and liveliness of Chang'an.

Chen Yi took off his cloak. The wind blowing in his face was already warm, and there were new buds that had already grown - before he knew it, two or three days had passed since the New Year.