Chapter 40 Feng Guogong
But when Earl Changning saw the situation in the palace clearly, all his fear turned into a sore throat.
Pei Ji knelt alone seven steps from the imperial desk, his plain hem spread across the blue bricks like falling snow. The young man's back was straight, even more majestic than the coral tree behind him. Earl Changning stumbled and knelt beside his son, the dull thud of his knee striking the ground startling the imperial steward into a frown.
"Your humble servant pays homage to His Majesty!"
The Golden Suanni censer emitted wisps of green smoke, and Censor Zhang came out from behind the screen holding a memorial.
This veteran official, renowned for his uprightness, had a sharp gaze. The cinnabar writing on the unfolded secret letter was so sharp it hurt one's eyes. "According to investigation, Pei Ji, the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, practiced sorcery in his residence, using a paulownia wood doll to curse the Crown Prince. Lord Changning, what is your explanation?"
With cold sweat running down his spine, Earl Changning suddenly felt lucky that he had drunk two more cups of tea at lunch - if the tea brewing hadn't delayed him, the doll would have been replaced with the prince's birth date by now.
He glanced secretly to his side, and Pei Ji's crow-feather-like eyelashes cast a faint shadow under his eyes, as if the stormy waves around him had nothing to do with him.
"Your Majesty..." He kowtowed heavily and recounted the events of the afternoon in the west wing. His voice choked as he spoke of his wife's illness, and he gritted his teeth when he mentioned the monk's mischief. Finally, he collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. "I failed to teach my wife well enough, and nearly caused such a disaster. I bear the blame for this, even if I die!"
The crisp clink of teacups rang out from the imperial rosewood table. Out of the corner of his eye, the Earl of Changning caught a glimpse of the hem of his black dragon-patterned robe brushing past, and he quickly lowered his forehead to the ground. Then, from the right, the Prince of Jin's voice, laced with laughter, rang out: "Your Majesty, I, your son, and Master Pei have jointly investigated the joint trial of the Three Courts, and we know his character best."
"Grandfather," a tender child's voice followed, "the other day, Master taught Che'er 'A gentleman should be cautious when alone.'"
Pei Ji gazed at the flickering light and shadows in the cracks between the blue bricks, suddenly remembering the note Luo Zhaohan had handed him this morning. The girl had written in small, flower-shaped calligraphy, "Something's Wrong with the West Courtyard," and before the ink had even dried, she hurried away. If it weren't for those four words, what would be piercing the puppet's heart right now?
"Pei Qing."
The emperor's deep voice shattered the silence. Marquis Changning felt the fabric of his clothes shift slightly beside him. Looking up, he saw his son bowing calmly, a jade hairpin casting a gentle sheen through his dark hair.
"I am here."
"How are you going to defend yourself regarding what Mr. Zhang has reported?"
"Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all blessings from heaven." Pei Ji's voice was as clear as broken jade.
A light laugh came from behind the imperial desk, startling the secret letter in Censor Zhang's hand and causing it to rustle.
Earl Changning suddenly discovered that his son's hand hanging by his side was gently stroking something in his sleeve - a half-faded five-colored thread was revealed from under the green gauze. It was the one he had secretly tied on the lintel of Pei Ji's study during the Dragon Boat Festival last year.
The air in the imperial study was filled with the scent of ambergris mixed with blood. Pei Ji lowered his eyes to stare at the half-coagulated bloodstains in the cracks between the blue bricks. That was the dark red stain left by Aunt Ai's shoes rubbing against the threshold when she was dragged in.
"Grandfather Emperor!" The emperor's grandson, Xinyi Yunye, suddenly rushed to the imperial desk, slamming a koi-patterned purse onto the paulownia figurine. "When my teacher was teaching me to recite 'Ten Thoughts to Admonish Emperor Taizong,' he said that witchcraft was the work of fools!"
The tip of Prince Jin's boot moved slightly, crushing a flutter of locust flowers that drifted in. The Buddhist beads in Prince Rui's sleeve clicked softly. Pei Ji remembered that they were the sandalwood prayer beads bestowed upon the Crown Prince by the Emperor himself when he passed away.
"Pei Ji," the emperor suddenly spoke, his armor scraping across the puppet's eyebrows. "Do you think these eyebrows and eyes look like the prince?"
The moment Pei Ji raised his eyes, the candlelight on the dragon table crackled and exploded. The scar under the puppet's left eye was the same scar the Crown Prince had received when he had shielded him from an arrow. His Adam's apple rolled, "Your humble servant dares not speak ill of His Majesty."
"You don't dare?" The Emperor suddenly picked up a paperweight and threw it at Prince Jin's feet. "You even dare to imitate the Crown Prince's relics!"
The Earl of Changning took two steps on his knees, his forehead thumping against the blue bricks. "This scar...this scar was caused by my son, who got drunk and accidentally hit me at the old minister's birthday party last year."
"Father!" Pei Ji raised his voice, a rare occurrence. That day, the King of Jin, under the influence of alcohol, scratched his cheek. The Crown Prince, applying medicine to him personally, said, "This scar, consider it a shield for me from disaster."
The emperor stroked the doll's scar, pain flashing in his eyes.
"I am guilty," Pei Ji's cold confession echoed through the hall. Earl Changning suddenly trembled all over, and despite everything, he knelt forward, crying, "Your Majesty, please investigate! My son is truly innocent! It was my foolish husband and I who were deceived..." His bloodshot eyes suddenly lit up: "The monk from Xiangguo Temple who was just brought in! And the old servant beside my wife! They can all testify, Your Majesty!"
His bloodstained forehead slammed heavily against the blue bricks. The usually arrogant uncle now had tears all over his face. "If you want to kill me, come after me. I beg Your Majesty to spare my son."
The nobles in the hall all turned their heads away, only to see Minister Pei, who had always stood straight, suddenly glance sideways. His usually indifferent brows trembled slightly, as if he had seen something unbelievable - there was actually someone in this world willing to stand before him with flesh and blood?
His Adam's apple rolled slightly, and Pei Ji suppressed his turbulent emotions, bowing deeply to the dragon table: "I deserve death for my crimes, and should not bring trouble to the good name of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. However, today's incident involves the Crown Prince, and I earnestly request that Your Majesty conduct a thorough investigation to comfort His Royal Highness's spirit."
In the green smoke rising from the Panlong furnace, the emperor's eyes swept across the two princes like a knife.
Prince Rui tightened his grip on the jade belt around his waist, and the Buddhist beads in Prince Jin's sleeve suddenly broke and rolled all over the floor with a crackling sound.
"Bring witnesses!"
As Ye Sheng dragged the two limp figures into the hall, Aunt Ai's wails hit the beams first. "I confess everything! That man had his face covered and only told me to give the yellow talisman to my wife." She suddenly pulled her hair like crazy, "But they arrested my son! They all knew he was carrying heavy bags at the dock!"
A sneer came from behind the dragon table, shocking Chang Ningbo so much that he kowtowed again.
Wisps of green smoke rose from the bronze crane incense burner in the hall, but it could not suppress the tension in the room.
Of the three monks who had been escorted in, only one remained kneeling before the emperor. It was Aunt Ai who had grabbed the monk's robe outside the hall and screamed, "That's him! The eminent monk whom Madam kneels before every day!"
Marquis Changning wiped the tears from his face and stared at the monk in bewilderment. If this man had taught sorcery and witchcraft, why was he still so brazenly staying at Xiangguo Temple? It was as if he was waiting for the soldiers to come and arrest him.
"I'm just a wandering monk." The monk suddenly grinned, revealing two gold teeth. "Someone paid me to pretend to be a monk, so of course I have to act like one." As he spoke, he pulled down the collar of his robe, revealing the ferocious wolf head tattoo on his neck.
The paulownia figurine on the dragon table shone with an eerie luster. The emperor tapped the table with his fingers and asked, "Who gave it to you?"
The monk looked around the hall and suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Prince Jin.
Chao Yinxi's face turned pale on the screen. He staggered and knelt down: "Father! Your son and elder brother have lived and eaten together since childhood, how could it be..." His throat was choked with sobs and he couldn't speak anymore. The Buddhist beads in his sleeves clattered and scattered to the ground.
Everyone was shocked to realize that the usually gentle and docile Prince Jin was now trembling like a leaf in the wind. He took two steps on his knees and grasped the edge of the dragon table, his knuckles white. "Lord Pei and I have no grudges against each other. Why would I frame you?"
The emperor lowered his eyes to look at his son. Concubine Chun had been a maid in the laundry department. If the crown prince had not died young and the emperor's grandson was still young, this bastard would not have caught his eye. But at this moment, veins bulged on Prince Jin's forehead, as if he had suffered a great injustice.
"Where's the evidence?" Chao Yinxi suddenly turned around and shouted, his gentle features revealing a hint of hostility. "Do you have any proof, bald ass?"
The monk tilted his head to look at him, then suddenly sneered, "It's not you?" The iron chain on his wrist clattered, and his fingertips turned to Prince Rui, "That must be this prince."
"How dare you!" Chao Yinlong's body suddenly straightened beneath his python robe, and the dragon-patterned pendant on his jade belt shattered in two as it struck the blue bricks. He sank to his knees beside the Prince of Jin. The two brothers' shoulders touched, but they both turned their heads away, refusing to meet each other's gaze.
Grandson Chao Yunye clenched the coiled dragon jade pendant at his waist. He looked at Pei Ji for an answer, but saw that he was staring at the old scar on the monk's palm. The shape of the scar was exactly the same as the one left by the Prince of Jin when he blocked a knife for him three years ago.
"Grandpa Emperor." A childish call broke the dead silence. The young grandson clutched a corner of his dragon robe and watched his two uncles kneeling on the cold tile floor. He suddenly remembered that during the hunting trip last month, his third uncle had taught him how to shoot a white deer.
The emperor raised his hand, signaling Ye Shengwei to step forward. The imperial guard grabbed the monk's shoulder blades, and when his knuckles exerted force, the veins in the monk's neck bulged like earthworms. "Tell me! Who ordered you to do this?"
"Hahahaha!" The monk suddenly laughed crazily, his gold teeth gleaming coldly in the candlelight. "Back then, when the Black Wind Village was fighting for leadership, the second-in-command poisoned the first-in-command's wine, and the third-in-command hid a needle in the second-in-command's saddle—" He suddenly spat out blood foam. "When the royal family fights, it's much more exciting than us bandits!"
Ye Shengwei increased the force in his hands by another three points. The monk's face was distorted with pain, but he still shouted at the top of his voice: "What evidence do you want? I just can't stand the hypocrisy of you nobles!"
"Enough!" Pei Ji suddenly said. As he lifted his robe and knelt on the ground, the jade pendant on his waist jingled. "I request a thorough investigation of the monks' register at Xiangguo Temple." He raised his eyes and looked at the emperor.
The sound of teacups tapping could be heard from behind the dragon table. The emperor looked at his two sons kneeling before him and suddenly remembered the night the crown prince passed away. The prince of Jin had stood vigil before the coffin for seven full days, while the prince of Rui had braved the snow to go to the Daxiangguo Temple to pray for an eternal lamp.
The sound of a night watchman's drum came from outside the hall, startling the copper bells on the eaves and making them jingle.
Chao Yunye suddenly burst into tears. He threw himself into the emperor's arms, his bright yellow robe soaking through. "My uncles have made kites for me and taken me fishing for koi."
Pei Ji remained kneeling straight. He stared at the scattered Buddhist beads on the ground and suddenly remembered his teacher's last words: "In this game of chess, someone has to hold the hand."
"Tell the truth!"
Ye Shengwei's iron-like grip suddenly exerted force, and the monk, pinned to the blue brick floor, screamed in agony. His ochre robe was already soaked with cold sweat, and the veins on his neck bulged, like a dying fish.
"I honestly don't know!" the monk pleaded, banging his forehead against the cold brick surface. "That man only told me to bury a voodoo puppet in the Changning Marquis's wife's Buddhist temple to drive a widow away from Lord Pei and his son... Who would have thought, who would have thought he'd also secretly hidden the Crown Prince's birth date!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the ambergris rising from the copper censer in the imperial study froze. Prince Jin Chao Yinxi and Prince Rui Chao Yinlong knelt in unison on the golden bricks decorated with coiled dragons, the hem of their python-patterned robes brushing the lingering tea stains on the floor. "I beg your Majesty to see this for yourself!"
The emperor's jade ring clattered against the table. Ye Shengwei's knuckles turned white. The monk's dislocated right arm was twisted at an odd angle, yet he forced a sinister smile. "I'm going to die anyway. I can't drag a noble down with me...ah!"
Amidst a shrill scream, the black iron official boots crushed the monk's bloody knuckles. The dragon pattern on Ye Sheng's embroidered spring sword flickered in the candlelight. "Tell me! Who ordered you to frame Lord Pei?"
"Kill him if you want!" The monk suddenly spat out blood foam, which fell at Pei Ji's feet along with half a broken tooth. "Anyway, that man wants Pei Ji dead! You nobles... ahem... who knew that those waiting for his death in the imperial prison would line up all the way to the Vermillion Bird Gate!"
At this moment, a sharp voice came from outside the palace: "Duke Fengguo is here to see you——"
Pei Jiya's back suddenly straightened under his blue official robe.
All eyes in the hall turned to the carved door, and even the bursting of the crane candlesticks seemed terrifying. If anyone in the capital hated him the most, the grandson of the Duke of Fengguo, who had just been imprisoned, would be the first one.
The sound of footsteps on the palace road came closer and closer.
The Duke of Fengguo's round belly trembled beneath his purple court robes, his golden sash barely able to contain the fat. This old fox, a master of theatrics, clutched even the brocade handkerchief he was using to wipe his sweat tightly—his precious grandson, who had committed murder by robbing a woman, was now in the imperial prison, awaiting execution.
The palace door burst open, and the crane patch on Duke Fengguo's dragon robe was lifted up by the draft.
He slumped to his knees on the golden bricks, his voice shaking the dust from the beams. "This old minister risks his own life to offer this advice! Pei Ji condoned his mother's practice of witchcraft and cursed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. How can such a treacherous person be worthy of presiding over the Dali Temple?"
He banged his jade-inlaid ivory tablet heavily on the ground, tears streaming down his face. "My grandson has been wrongfully imprisoned for over three months. I beg Your Majesty to select another virtuous official to reexamine the case."
The last syllable caught abruptly in his throat. Duke Feng was struck by the eerie silence within the palace; even the dripping of the gilded clepsydra was audible. He raised his eyes tremblingly, only to see the emperor slowly crumpling a yellow talisman into a ball. The cinnabar-written birth date oozed crimson between his fingers.
"I sealed off the Changning Marquis's Mansion three days ago." The emperor twisted the ashes of the talisman paper between his fingers. "The Duke is so well-informed that he even made my Imperial Guards useless?"
A cold sweat suddenly broke out on the back of Duke Feng's neck. He recalled the twelve spies he had sent out that morning, all of whom had reported that rumors of witchcraft in the Pei Mansion had spread throughout the streets and alleys. Only then did he realize with a start that those rumors were clearly bait deliberately planted by someone!
The gilded dragon screen made his face pale. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Pei Ji calmly adjusting his crimson official robes. The Earl of Changning, though disheveled, had stopped sobbing. The two princes stared at the tips of their boots as if in trance. Only the young grandson bit his lip and stared at him intently—the look in his eyes was exactly the same as the late Crown Prince's when he was young.
"Old minister... Old minister..." His throat rolled, and beads of sweat rolled down his wrinkles into his collar. Suddenly, he remembered that half a month ago, someone sent a box of Dongzhu to his mansion. At that time, he just thought it was an ordinary filial gift.
A gentle tapping of teacups could be heard from behind the dragon table. Ye Shengwei's dark black boots stepped over the gold bricks, and the tassel of the embroidered spring sword at his waist brushed against the back of Duke Fengguo's hand, causing him to shudder.
"Go to the Duke's Mansion." Before the emperor finished speaking, Eunuch Ying Shuo's shrill voice penetrated the palace: "Go—"
Duke Fengguo slumped to the ground, his dragon robe hem stained with dark water. He suddenly rushed towards Pei Ji like a madman: "It's you! It's you, you despicable villain..."
"My Lord, be careful." Pei Ji dodged to the side, the Xiezhi pendant hanging from the jade belt hook swaying gently. "The blue bricks of the imperial prison are cold and hard, so don't hurt your knees."
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