Jiang Songyi stared at the direction where he disappeared and heard the ghost of the drowned palace maid whimpering in her ear: "Yao Zhe. Imperial Garden. Dry well." She dipped her hand in cold tea and drew the direction on the table. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the paper boat left by Gu Zheyuan slowly sinking to the bottom. The word "Tongbao" on the silver note was swollen by blood, like a distorted human face.
…
Inside the East Factory's torture chamber, the stench of blood, mingled with the incense of agarwood, lingered between the gauze curtains. Gu Zheyuan reclined in his armchair, fingertips stroking his gilded dagger. "One hundred thousand taels for an eyeball? My benefactor, this is a masterful bargain."
Jiang Songyi knocked the teacup onto the table, and the splashing water droplets meandered along the rosewood grain: "If the factory owner thinks this is too little, you may name a price." The yellow talisman in her sleeve moved without wind, and the resentful soul curled up in the corner shrank back into the shadows.
"I'm very curious." Gu Zheyuan suddenly threw the dagger at the beam, the tip of the knife nailing a gray rat. "What's the grudge between my benefactor and that Dongling hostage? Could it be..." He leaned forward, the black python pattern sweeping across the bloody scabs on the ground. "Did he abandon her after seducing her?"
Jiang Songyi stared at the twitching gray rat nailed to the beam, and it seemed as if she was reminded of the excruciating pain of Yue Qingyang gouging out her eyes in her past life. Suddenly, she chuckled, "The factory owner is asking so many questions. Is he afraid I can't pay?"
Thunder roared outside the window, turning half of Gu Zheyuan's face pale as a ghost. He clapped his hands and laughed, the Buddhist beads on his wrist jingling. "The tokens for Shengfeng Commercial Bank's exchange with the four countries are in the hands of our benefactor. Are we still worried about not being able to collect the debt?" Before he finished speaking, a knife flashed, and the gray rat was split in half, skin and bones included.
Three days later, when the news arrived from the Imperial Court, Jiang Songyi was reconciling accounts at Shengfeng Bank. The beads on her sandalwood abacus clattered as she stared at the inscription on the secret letter: "Xinyi Zigu's left eye has been blinded." Her fingertips paused on the inscribed "100,000 taels."
"Miss, are you really going to give money to the East Depot?" The shopkeeper held up the gilded scale and hesitated to speak. "That eunuch just raided the Minister of Rites' house yesterday."
"Give it to him." Jiang Songyi slammed the banknote on the table. "Send a pigeon to the Lingjing branch office and tell them the Western Wei hostage is becoming the crown prince." She pushed open the carved window and sneered at the swaying hem of the East Depot guard's coat on the street corner. In her previous life, Yue Qingyang had used sorcery to murder the Third Prince of Dongling. In this life, it was time for someone else to take the blame.
On a rainy night, when Gu Zheyuan entered the old residence of the Yongding Marquisate, carrying a glass bottle, Jiang Songyi was lighting incense at Yue Qingyang's memorial tablet. The candlelight cast her shadow on the mottled wall, like a ghost seeking revenge.
"My benefactor is very calculating." Gu Zheyuan threw the medicine bottle containing his eyeballs at the altar. "Those barbarians in Dongling are now searching the streets for hostages. I heard that even the wild dogs in the mass grave have been affected."
Jiang Songyi wrapped the glass bottle with a silk handkerchief, and the blood in the bottle looked like a living thing under the candlelight: "Mr. Factory, why don't you make another deal?" She suddenly opened the secret compartment at the base of the tablet, and the jade seal wrapped in yellow silk startled Gu Zheyuan's pupils.
"How about exchanging the former dynasty's imperial seal for Yue Qingyang's head?"
Thunder crackled the night, illuminating Gu Zheyuan's embroidered spring sword, already unsheathed. He stroked the coiled dragon pattern on the jade seal and suddenly chuckled, "My benefactor, do you know that if you keep this item privately, you will be executed along with your entire clan?"
"So give it to the factory owner." Jiang Songyi pushed the jade seal in front of him, "present it to the emperor and get a promotion. I just want Yue Qingyang dead, the best of both worlds."
The iron horses on the eaves clanged, and Gu Zheyuan suddenly put the tip of his knife to her throat: "Who are you?"
Jiang Songyi chuckled as she faced the blade. "The factory owner's savior." Her fingertips brushed the blade, and drops of crimson blood rolled down the jade seal. "Or perhaps a collaborator?"
At the stroke of five o'clock, the Eastern Depot's guards surrounded the gambling den south of the city. Gu Zheyuan stepped into the secret chamber, a floor littered with dice. The dark markings of the Dongling royal family on the wall made him squint. The instant his embroidered spring sword parted the straw mat, a red butterfly fluttered from the forehead of a decaying corpse, ready to take flight—it was Yue Qingyang, disguised as an old woman.
"Young lady, you've got a brilliant plan." Jiang Songyi was brewing tea when the shopkeeper entered with the secret letter. She caught sight of the words "Hostage Captured" and poured boiling water over Yue Qingyang's tablet. "Change the 100,000 taels of silver into copper coins and scatter them along the streets among the refugees."
Outside the window, a carriage from Shengfeng Commercial Bank rolled across the bluestone pavement. Copper coins poured down from the carriage like a waterfall, and the cheers of children startled white doves from the eaves. Jiang Songyi watched the fluttering birds fly away, as if seeing the spirits of past lives transformed into kites, finally free from their strings.
…
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, but more than ten carriages with green curtains were parked in front of the Yongding Marquis's mansion. Jiang Songyi shed her wide-sleeved gown, embroidered with gold and silver, and donned an indigo-colored dress with arrow-sleeved detailing. A deerskin sash accentuated her slender waist. Madam Xu tied her black hair into a ponytail, her gold hairband gleaming in the morning sun. "There are many tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves in the deep mountains. Follow your father closely."
Jiang Dinglian was wiping the black iron bowstring when he heard the words and laughed out loud: "Madam, you underestimate me. She even shot a red fox during the hunting last month." The beast head carved on the bow was so ferocious in the sunlight that it scared the sparrows under the eaves and made them fly away.
Bai Linxi came running over in her riding boots, her pomegranate-red riding gear highlighting her bright features. "Don't worry, Auntie. The horse-turning archery my father taught me is no mere show!" She rolled up her sleeves, revealing the cowhide armor around her wrists. Her right leg, freshly splinted the day before, was still lame, but that didn't stop her from leaping onto the chestnut horse's back.
Xu looked at the three girls, her gaze settling on the empty east wing. Jiang Yihuan had ridden to the Fourth Prince's residence before dawn, even his luggage being carried by servants. Jiang Jinzhao, however, was waiting outside the Chuihua Gate, his dark, formal attire accentuating his gloomy expression. Ever since learning that Jiang Yuyao had been expelled from the family tree, the Third Young Master hadn't spoken to anyone in three days.
"Songyi!" Jiang Qingmo chased out the door, her skirt in hand, the silver bells jingling on her wrists. She slipped the oil-paper bag into her cousin's bag, "Newly baked osmanthus candy, to keep you company on the journey." Suddenly remembering something, she leaned in mysteriously and whispered, "The new chef at the Treasure Pavilion can make roasted venison. He'll be waiting for you when you get back."
"Now that Zhenxiu Pavilion is Songyi's property, does it still need your invitation?" Jiang Qinghe joked, waving his round fan. Seeing her younger sister's eyes widen, Xu suppressed a smile and explained, "She redeemed the land deed last month, and now the shopkeeper has to bow to anyone who sees a token with the word Jiang on it."
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