Late spring sunlight streamed through the carved window lattices, casting coin-like specks of light on the blue bricks of the main hall of the Jiang residence. Su Jinli tapped the rosewood table with her fingertips, the smooth surface of the tabletop clacking with her nails, startling the canary under the eaves, which fluttered its wings and slammed against the cage wall.
"That's not right." She suddenly stopped, her jade armor scraping across the table, leaving a white streak. "Even if Censor Li is clueless, he should know how absurd it is to impeach a twelve-year-old for corruption."
Jiang Yan pushed the celadon teacup toward her, the jasmine petals floating on the surface of the tea swaying. He looked at his wife's furrowed brow, his fingers unconsciously stroking the coiled dragon pattern on the jade belt hook. "Si Yan was just helping to copy the accounts at the Imperial College. How could the shortfall of twenty taels of silver be charged to him?"
On the western arhat bed, Su Qingyao was applying her newly made "Drunken Flowing Clouds" rouge in front of a diamond-shaped mirror. The gilded armor on her fingertips scraped against the edge of the rouge box, making a thin, gossamer sound. "Could it be that when Siyan was checking your accounts last time, he saw something he shouldn't have seen?"
"Jinxiu Pavilion's account books are submitted to the Ministry of Revenue for filing every month." Su Jinli grabbed the box of preserved fruits on the table, where the black plums clattered against each other, making a crisp sound. "Unless..."
"If you ask me, it's just that old bastard who's jealous!" Young Marquis Su swallowed half a mung bean cake, leaving crumbs on the lapel of his robe embroidered with a Suanni. "My nephew is a hundred times better at calculating than his son. He must be jealous!"
Si Yan huddled in Su Jinli's arms, the abacus beads rattling in his grasp. He suddenly bit his lip, his brow furrowed into a pimple. "Last month... I saw the son of Censor Li's family stuffing inkstones into his sleeves."
"What?" Su Jinli's box of preserved fruit fell to the ground with a clang, sending plums tumbling all over the floor. Jiang Yan's fingers on the table suddenly tightened, his knuckles turning white as porcelain.
Siyan's voice was as soft as a mosquito's, yet filled with conviction: "They were three pieces of Huizhou ink. He said they were for the Imperial Censor. But the treasury register clearly states 'Not to be used without permission'..." The child grew increasingly anxious, the abacus tassels twitching like a tangled mess on his knees. "I told Assistant Zhang about it, and he was scolded to tears and had to pay ten taels of silver as compensation."
Jiang Yan stood up suddenly, the hem of his robe brushing against the lotus pattern on the back of the chair. "No wonder! Censor Li is seeking revenge for a personal gain!"
Su Jinli slammed the table and leaped to her feet, shaking the teacup three inches high. Tea spilled down her moon-white skirt, leaving a deep stain. "How dare you, Censor Li! You dare to throw dirty water on my son just because he's being punished!" As she turned, the scarlet-gold and kingfisher-embellished hairpin swept across the candlestick, sending sparks flying from the wick onto the blue bricks.
"Sister, what do you want to do?" Young Marquis Su jumped up, the toy sword at his waist almost stabbing the plum blossom painting on the screen. "Going to the palace again? Count me in!"
"Of course I'll go!" Su Jinli grabbed the plain gauze shawl draped over the back of the chair, and as she passed her arms through the sleeves, a gust of wind blew. "Today, not only will I clear my name, but I'll also show the entire court that this is the Imperial Censor personally appointed by His Majesty!"
Jiang Yan smiled helplessly and took his dark official robe from the hanger. As he fastened the collar of Siyan's robe, he touched the child's slightly trembling neck. "Siyan, stay home. Dad will be back soon."
"I want to go too!" Si Yan suddenly grabbed his sleeve, and the abacus beads hit Jiang Yan's jade belt buckle, "I want to tell the emperor that his son is a thief!" The child's upturned face was full of stubbornness, and there were still traces of tears on his eyelashes.
Su Jinli looked into her son's bright eyes, her heart softening. She knelt down to smooth Siyan's messy hair, her fingertips wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Okay, I'll take you with me! Let His Majesty see this is the 'clear mirror hanging high' under his rule!"
- [Second Entry into the Palace: Ceremonial Procession and Emotions]
The gilded carriage rolled over the bluestone pavement, its axles creaking. When Su Jinli parted the curtain of her sedan chair, she saw the banners of the corner teahouse fluttering in the wind, the four large characters "Yuqian Longjing" faded from the sun. Siyan clutched the hem of her clothes, the tassel of the abacus dangling in a blur on his knees.
"Madam, the Meridian Gate is ahead." The driver's voice came through the wall of the sedan chair.
Jiang Yan reached out to lift the curtain for his wife and children, and bright yellow sunlight instantly poured in. Si Yan squinted his eyes and looked at the vermilion palace walls. Suddenly, he clenched his abacus and said, "Mother, I need to tell you later."
Su Jinli straightened his crooked hair crown, the pearl tassel brushing the tip of the child's nose: "Well, mother, listen."
The copper-studded door of the Golden Throne Hall slowly opened before them, the sound of the hinges startling a flock of grey sparrows from the beams. As Si Yan followed his parents across the threshold, his shoe soles scraped against the non-slip pattern on the hall's blue bricks—the same pattern he'd curiously touched when he accompanied Jiang Yan to the audience the previous year.
- [Thunderbolt and War of Words]
"Lord Jiang? Madam Jiang?"
The emperor's voice boomed from the dragon throne, his twelve-chapter-patterned robe shimmering beneath the bright yellow umbrella. Su Jinli noticed that ambergris was burning in the gilded incense burner beside the throne, its smoke twisting into strange shapes in the beam of light.
"Your Majesty! I want to file a complaint!"
She suddenly fell to her knees, her knees banging against the cold blue bricks. Si Yan was startled by the sound, but he still knelt down like his parents, and the abacus in his arms hit the ground with a crisp sound.
A commotion erupted among the civil and military officials in the court. The Minister of Personnel, standing at the front of the line, subconsciously adjusted his black gauze hat, his jade scepter casting a half-white shadow in his hand. Censor Li huddled in the crowd, the gold thread of his Xiezhi patch stinging his eyes in the sunlight.
The emperor rubbed his brow, the coiled dragon carvings on the chair's armrests rubbing against his knuckles. "If you have something to say, say it. This is so disrespectful."
"I can't bear it!" Su Jinli stiffened her neck, the ruby pendant on her hairpin gleaming like blood. "Your Majesty said yesterday that Censor Li was negligent, but he is clearly seeking revenge!"
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