Chapter 156 The spy and I share a cup of wine, and from now on we will never meet again...
Heng Yang remained kneeling in the center of the Imperial Garden, the incense ash in the burner gradually fading away.
Several noblewomen surrounded her, but none of them dared to move. Only the Lady of Chengyang, who had just flattered Zhai Yu, and was dressed in a lake-blue noblewoman's robe, wanted to come up and lend a hand.
The incense had not yet burned out, and less than an hour had passed.
Heng Yang gave a slight nod with his eyes, and Lady Chengyang nodded, remaining where she was and not moving forward.
Just as all was quiet except for the sound of wind rustling through fallen petals, Zhang, the old nanny beside the Empress Dowager, walked over. She walked slowly, followed by two eunuchs.
"Ladies, you've been waiting long." Granny Zhang approached and bowed to Heng Yang, saying, "Madam Xuanping, please rise!"
Two eunuchs stepped forward and helped Heng Yang up.
Heng Yang paused for a moment before standing up straight and said, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your understanding."
Zhang Mama's gaze then turned to the crowd. "Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is chanting sutras in the Buddhist hall. She noticed the wind was strong in the Imperial Garden and specially sent this old servant to convey her message that this year's Spring Festival Banquet is over. Ladies, please leave the palace and return to your residences as soon as possible."
Therefore, it seems that the Imperial Concubine was invited to stay for tea by the Empress Dowager because of the sound of the konghou (a type of harp).
Everyone bowed in gratitude, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Empress Dowager!"
The incense sticks had burned halfway through when Heng Yang, who had been kneeling on the stone slab for a long time, felt her knees numb and swollen. Lady Chengyang quickly stepped forward to help her up. She subconsciously wanted to rub them, but she raised her hand halfway and then put it down. It wasn't because she had to maintain her dignity in front of everyone, no matter how much it hurt, but because she saw Chen Huai'an walking quickly towards her.
Chen Huai'an curtsied and said, "Greetings to my second aunt and the Lady of Chengyang."
When Lady Chengyang saw Chen Huai'an, her face lit up with joy. Without any formalities, she genuinely liked the child.
The Xuanping Marquis's family is known for its exceptionally beautiful members, all of whom are outstanding in appearance. In the past, the old Xuanping Marquis Chen Yuanqing and his wife He Yunzhou were renowned. Among the younger generation, the three siblings of the Chen family were all beauties. When it came to Chen Huai'an, he inherited the family's good looks and talents, and was also first-rate.
Even before it's been polished, its value is already immeasurable.
More importantly, Chen Huai'an was adopted by the Empress and had the title of half a princess, but she did not have to abide by the rules of a princess.
The custom that imperial sons-in-law could not hold important positions or lead troops had been followed throughout the ages. A marriage certificate could bury a promising career, so many ministers who wanted to curry favor with the royal family would not allow their sons to marry princesses. Chen Huai'an was raised by the Empress, but she was not a real princess. If she were not so young, the Lady of Chengyang would have sent a matchmaker to Zhudong to find Yan Nian to arrange this marriage for her sixth son, Yue Zhengyang.
Lady Chengyang both liked and pitied her for being separated from her parents at a young age and growing up in the deep palace. She praised her a few times and sighed twice.
"I really like Miss Huai'an's character and appearance. Ah Yang, let me tell you something: this child has been in the palace since childhood and has not grown up easily. Heaven has mercy on her. In the future, the Marquis of Chengyang will protect her."
Firstly, there was indeed an intention to arrange a marriage; secondly, it was to curry favor with the Marquis of Xuanping's household. The Earl of Chengyang, Yue Dun, had only regained command of the army because of the Emperor's grace, and having received such favor, he should repay it. However, Yongdu was now under the control of the Eldest Princess, and she was unsure of Yue Dun's stance. With the situation still uncertain, it was always wise to forge good relations with others to secure a future for the Yue family.
Heng Yang nodded and said, "Thank you, Madam."
Chen Huai'an also curtsied, saying, "Huai'an thanks Madam for her kindness."
Lady Chengyang smiled and said, "When the young lady grows a bit taller and reaches marriageable age, you must let my Chengyang family have a head start." Then she left.
Heng Yang is knowledgeable in music, and she could tell that the melody that came from Gong Nan was not the kind of harp music that was commonly heard in Yongdu.
Regardless of the instrument, the melodies are traceable. Southern melodies are gentle and graceful, while those in the north are bold and unrestrained. The further north you go, the more often "major keys" are used in the music. The sound of the konghou just now was desolate and vast, with some exotic flavor. It was not difficult to hear that it was a piece from the Northern Yong.
This may be related to the eldest princess's investigation into spies from the Northern Yong.
Is someone trying to send a message out of the palace?
The Imperial Garden was noisy, and the sound of the harp was distant, so she only heard it intermittently and couldn't memorize the entire melody. However, she had previously arranged to meet Chen Huai'an at Yanhui Pavilion in the south of the palace to give her some newly made clothes and a buckwheat pillow that she had sewn herself. Yanhui Pavilion was located in the direction from which the harp music was coming, so if Chen Huai'an had been waiting there, he would have heard it clearly. Chen Huai'an was extremely knowledgeable in music; he could discern the structure of ordinary pieces after listening to them once and compose them with great accuracy.
Heng Yang asked her maid to bring over the package that the Inner Palace Supervisor had checked. After the maid left, she asked Chen Huai'an, "An'er, did you hear the harp music just now?"
Chen Huai'an nodded.
"Is it possible to compose a score?"
"able."
The sheet music was sent to the Princess's residence. Since the residence did not employ any musicians, Xie Wenjun immediately summoned Li Yujing from Yifeng Pavilion to play those tunes.
Li Yujing sat in front of the harp, tuning it. As soon as the music started, Xie Wenjun frowned slightly.
She had heard that tune somewhere before.
You must have heard that somewhere before!
But my thoughts were like a broken string; I couldn't grasp that single trace of memory. The harder I tried to recall, the more blurred it became.
She listened intently, trying to piece together the scene where she had heard this piece of music before.
Unwittingly, Xie Wenjun's gaze fell upon a row of red bean plants that she had planted herself.
The seeds of those red beans were given to Chen Liangyu by Qiu Renshan after the Battle of Tongmen Pass, when Qiu Renshan committed suicide out of fear of punishment and smeared Chen Liangyu. Before Chen Liangyu went to the northern border, she picked them out from a pile of sachets at Qiongtan. After Xie Wenjun returned to the mansion, she planted that small handful of red beans in the flower garden outside the council hall. They grew very well and could be seen often.
Qiongtan...
Yueyanglou!
Qiongtan was next to Yueyang Tower. At that time, Yueyang Tower had just spent a lot of money to hire a sheng and xiao ensemble from the north, and they were playing this kind of tune at the banquet inside the tower. She was distracted at the time and didn't pay much attention.
Rong Jun also seemed to remember something, and his expression changed, "Your Highness..."
He wanted to ask whether Yueyanglou should be raided immediately.
Xie Wenjun gestured to him, "Don't make any moves that might alert them. Keep a close eye on the palace and the music academy."
The palace and Yueyang Tower are far apart. If Zhai Yu is sending messages through music, she must have an inside agent in the palace or the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau), and this agent must be someone who can frequently leave the palace.
The Six Armies of the Northern Garrison guarded the palace and were allowed to enter and leave the palace, but they were on duty in shifts and could not be on duty day and night within the palace city, making it inconvenient to transmit messages. Therefore, only one type of person was most suspicious: the palace servants in charge of purchasing for the palace from the Inner Palace Bureau.
Palace servants, carrying their eunuch tokens from the Inner Palace Supervisors, would leave the palace at dawn and return before noon, spending those two hours traversing the bustling city streets. Yueyang Tower was situated in the most prosperous area of Yongdu. Although a palace supervisor was present to oversee the process, the eunuchs who had secured such lucrative positions were typically cunning; they would slip some "tribute" to the supervisor, thus gaining half an hour of freedom in the process.
By starting with the palace servant who delivered the message, we can implicate Zhai Yu, dismantle the spy network in Yongdu, and then uncover which other officials in the court are having illicit relations with Bei Yong.
The Dali Temple has the authority and responsibility to compile a list of those who have colluded with enemy states. Currently, the head of the Dali Temple is Chen Xingqian, who is under the command of Xie Wenjun. This means that the Dali Temple is now in Xie Wenjun's hands.
So, who gets on the list and who doesn't is entirely up to Xie Wenjun.
Although the situation in Yongdu was temporarily under Xie Wenjun's control, most of the government offices of the Three Departments, Six Ministries, Nine Temples, Five Directorates, and the Sixteen Guards of the Southern Court were at her disposal, and her orders were as effective as imperial edicts.
But she knew that her current ability to so easily control the court was due to Xie Yuan's sudden illness, leaving the court leaderless and officials desperately seeking a pillar of support to stabilize the situation. Privately, however, many veteran officials and newly powerful figures constantly invoked the ancestral precept that "members of the imperial family and women should not interfere in politics," and were particularly dissatisfied with Xie Wenjun's interference in judicial decisions and the appointment and removal of military officers. Even her actions in inquiring about disaster relief and urging agricultural development were met with veiled criticism in her memorials, subtly expressing her resistance.
She needs to take advantage of Zhai Yu's influence to silence these voices.
Xie Wenjun recalled that year when Crown Prince Xie Yu began to reform agriculture and sericulture and reduce the power of the nobility. The first case he handled was the Cangnan people's suffering case, which involved the Xuanping Marquis's mansion.
Perhaps it was because she still harbored sincerity at that time and disdained to use false accusations to eliminate dissidents, or perhaps it was out of a strange sense of compassion, but she finally took the opportunity of staying at the Xuanping Marquis's residence to give Chen Liangyu some pointers while learning riding and archery.
When she returned to the East Palace, the winter plum blossoms were in full bloom, and she broke off a branch.
The fragrance of that red plum blossom that year was even stronger than the scent of the fallen crabapple blossoms outside the council hall today.
She knelt on the chilly spring floor, listening to Xie Yu rebuke her for abusing her compassion.
At that time she said:
"When times are peaceful and the harvest is plentiful, and the foundation of the state is solid and the country is secure, we should not take the false accusation of the innocent as a basis for slander or cunning defamation!"
Now she thought to herself:
“Your Majesty, I am ultimately… destined to follow in your footsteps.”
Before the red beans turn red in March, it is already the season for crabapple blossoms to fall, with pink and white petals covering the ground beneath the trees, creating delicate floral shadows.
Xie Wenjun stood behind the desk, picked up a brush and wrote two lines of small regular script on the letter paper, affixed the seal of the Princess's residence, and handed it to Rong Jun, "to be sent to the Censorate and given to Jiang Xiantang."
Rong Jun: "Yes."
The maiden presented a wooden tray with both hands. Xie Wenjun glanced at it and gestured to Li Yujing.
Li Yujing hurriedly rose from behind the zither table and bowed to Xie Wenjun, "Does Your Highness have any further instructions?"
One document was an amnesty decree stamped with a vermilion official seal, with the words "Exempt from the status of lowly and permanently removed from corvée labor" written neatly in ink. The other was a brand-new household registration document, with "Liangxiang outside Yongdu City" filled in as the place of origin, while the name field was blank.
Pardon her for her crimes and allow her to live in anonymity.
The two documents, though written on rough paper, gave her a complete and profound new life.
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness!"
Li Yujing knelt down again, this time respectfully kowtowing three times. "I will never forget this kindness and gratitude. May Your Highness enjoy good health and longevity, and be free from worries year after year."
"Get up, someone will escort you out of the city."
With the capital in chaos, Xie Wenjun had no time to give many instructions. After saying a few words, he got up and left the council hall.
Li Yujing got up as instructed.
Rong Jun raised his hand to signal, and two Changning Guards stepped forward with trays. One tray contained a hundred taels of gold, and the other contained land deeds and house deeds for farms and shops.
Rong Jun said, "These are gifts from His Highness. The estate will provide you with a place to live, and the money will sustain you. Miss Li, may you have a smooth life in Chang'an."
Li Yujing left through a side gate of the Princess's residence. The gate slowly closed behind her, and a simple civilian carriage was parked outside. Gao Guan stood there waiting for her, his hand on the sword at his waist.
The sun shone on her, warm like a belated spring.
Li Yujing carefully hid the documents close to her body and accepted the property deeds and valuables handed over by Changningwei.
Gao Guan stepped forward, took her bundle, and stuffed it into the carriage. "Yongdu is in chaos. The Princess can mobilize the Sixteen Guards at any time. I can't leave right now, so I can only take you to the city gate. But don't worry, I have a few trusted brothers who have followed me for many years. They are all trustworthy and skilled. They will escort you all the way. You can go wherever you want."
Li Yujing bowed respectfully, a proper lady's bow, and said, "Thank you for your kindness, Lord Gao. I have no way to repay you in this lifetime."
Gao Guan said, "If you have nothing to repay me with, then there's no need for repayment. I never expected anything in return from you. Even without me, the Princess would have given you a pardon."
Li Yujing understood perfectly. How could someone who had personally witnessed two earth-shaking events and was able to maintain his position as the Grand Commander of the Southern Court not see through her intention to use him?
Gao Guan sighed, "Let's go."
The coachman set off, with Gao Guan riding alongside. The sight of them drew attention, with people wondering who was in the carriage escorted by the head of the Southern Bureau. As the carriage turned into the alley and was about to enter the main street, it bumped into Sheng Yu'an, who was rushing towards them.
Sheng Yu'an stopped Li Yujing's carriage, and without even bothering to greet Gao Guan, patted the carriage body.
“Ayu, I know it’s you.”
"roll."
Gao Guan added, "Lord Sheng, didn't you hear me? I told you to get lost!"
With his horse blocking Sheng Yu'an's path, Gao Guan unsheathed his sword and shoved Sheng Yu'an backward, pressing it against his chest.
"Gao Guan! We've been colleagues for years, and I never knew you were so cunning," Sheng Yu'an spat. "You scoundrel!"
Gao Guan sneered, "I'm a real villain, you're a hypocrite. Neither of us protected her, so what's the point of arguing?"
Sheng Yu'an was speechless.
Li Yujing's carriage had traveled some distance before Gao Guan spurred his horse to catch up. Three li outside the south gate of Yongdu, there was a small blue stone pavilion, where the coachman stopped the carriage.
Several men from the Southern Office were guarding the pavilion. They quickly surrounded Gao Guan and called out, "Boss!"
Li Yujing lifted the carriage curtain and saw a man in the middle carrying a pot of wine, presumably a farewell drink. She paused for a moment, then stepped down from the carriage.
Gao Guan poured her a glass of wine, then filled his own glass. He steeled himself and asked, "Are you really sure you don't want to stay?"
She will have a new identity on this journey, and if she does not return, it will be difficult for them to meet again in the vast sea of people.
"I'm not keeping it."
Her voice was very soft.
"From now on, I will no longer have my old name and surname, but will only carry the breeze with me on my lonely boat, to see all the mountains and rivers, and to be a carefree and leisurely person."
Gao Guan raised his glass: "Then go, don't worry about Yongdu. From now on... I wish Miss Li a smooth journey with favorable winds, no dangers along the way, and that all she encounters are kind and gentle, and that she enjoys peace and health year after year."
Li Yujing raised her glass in unison, saying, "May Mr. Gao have a smooth road ahead, uphold righteousness, protect the peace of the region, and also ensure his own good health."
The two tilted their heads back and drank the sake in their cups.
The carriage set off, swaying and staggering as it drove away, its tracks curving into the outline of distant hills, heading south.
Gao Guan sighed dejectedly, placed the empty wine cup on the stone table, and rode back to the city.
Dusk spread across the barren slope.
Inside the blue stone pavilion, a pot of wine and two cups seem to be waiting for someone to arrive, or perhaps someone has just left.
Let us share a cup of wine, and from now on we will never meet again amidst mountains and rivers.
Author's note: Thank you for reading this far!
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