The Long Night (1)
Chapter 1 The Long Night (1)
The remaining snow melted away, the sun set over the mountains, and a few crows perched on the plum branches outside the Daliang Palace.
With the eunuch's sharp call of "the banquet is about to begin", the crows were frightened and flew away in all directions. Only the remaining snow was left on the branches of the plum blossoms that were originally frolicking. Feng Siji withdrew his gaze with a lack of interest.
Turn your attention back to the hall.
Sitting opposite him were two familiar-looking ministers, both wearing purple-gold python robes and jade crowns on their heads, and the rings on their chests tinkled as they whispered to each other.
Tonight is a welcoming banquet specially hosted by Emperor Liang for Feng Siji.
But there was no singing or dancing at the banquet, no music, and even the candlelight seemed frozen, just like the rainy weather that had lasted for many days. Depression lingered over the hall, shrouding everyone in a gloomy atmosphere.
As the two ministers opposite him whispered to each other, Feng Siji could also sense their serious expressions.
Except Emperor Liang.
He raised his meaningful eyes and looked at the almighty Emperor Liang. He saw that he was wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, leaning lazily on the back of a chair, squinting his eyes, thinking about something, and smiling from time to time, looking very comfortable.
The light from the lanterns on the left suddenly dimmed. The man on the dragon throne half-rose, raised his wine jar, and said to him, "Lord Feng, I invite you back to the capital because the case of Concubine Li remains unsolved. Thankfully, Lord Feng, you have forgiven us and are willing to return to the capital to help me investigate this case. I offer you a toast."
There was a smile on his face and his eyes were full of kindness. He called him "My dear Feng" in a very affectionate way. However, the imperial edict that exiled him from the capital three years ago was signed by Emperor Liang himself.
During the three years he was exiled to Qianzhou, he had nothing. He went from being a high-ranking fourth-rank Dali Temple official to a homeless dog, bullied by others.
The scene of being mocked flashed before his eyes again. The man from Qianzhou was dressed in luxurious clothes and spoke arrogantly: "I told you to kneel, why didn't you kneel? I'm telling you, you've offended Lord Zhang, and you'll never be able to return to Kyoto in this lifetime. Don't even think about turning things around!"
Feng Siji also thought that he would never return to this place in his life.
But man proposes, God disposes. Concubine Li in the palace died suddenly, and the case remained unsolved for a long time. Emperor Liang summoned him back with an edict and personally appointed him as a special case envoy to investigate the case of Concubine Li.
He didn't want to go back to this dirty place, but... he had too many unfulfilled wishes, so he had to come.
I wonder how many people will lose sleep over my return to Beijing.
Feng Siji clenched the wine cup tightly, and when he raised his head again, there was an abnormal red in his eyes.
He stood up and nodded slightly to Emperor Liang. His voice was as cold as a spring, distant and polite: "Your Majesty, your words are respectful."
He tilted his head back and drank the wine in one gulp.
The candlelight at the banquet jumped into his eyes, covering up the unusual red.
At this moment, a loud announcement suddenly came from outside the hall: "The Princess of Yun'an County has arrived!"
"Your Majesty, I am late." A female voice came from far away, and the voice was like iced lychees in summer, clear and sweet.
My heart skipped a beat. This voice...
Doubts, uneasiness, and secret expectations were all overturned in Feng Siji's heart, and he couldn't help but look sideways.
The Lady of Yun'an County, dressed in red, walked gracefully into the hall. She stopped in the center and bowed gracefully to the person on the dragon throne. "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn't mean to be late. It's just that there were so many clothes you gave me that I was overwhelmed and that's why I was delayed."
Feng Siji couldn't hear what Emperor Liang said in reply, as his attention was completely drawn to Princess Yun'an.
Her fair face was hidden in a wide red cloak, and her facial features were naturally perfect, deep and charming, like pomegranate flowers blooming in May under the scorching sun, bright red and eye-catching, wanting to show off all the eye-catching brilliance and fragrance.
Feng Siji clenched the wine bottle tightly, squeezing it so hard that his finger bones turned white and ached.
For so many years, he almost turned the whole world upside down but still couldn't find her.
He thought she was dead, and planned to give up all hope, return to Kyoto to fulfill his unfulfilled wish, and follow her.
But I didn't expect to meet her here again. Compared to three years ago, she has become brighter, more gorgeous, more dazzling and flamboyant, and...
She smiled brightly and cordially at Emperor Liang, as if they were very close. After not seeing each other for many years, she would meet someone new and start a new relationship, but why would that person be Emperor Liang?
The weather was cold, and the wine bottle in his hand was even colder. The cold air seeped into his internal organs bit by bit, slowly numbing his whole body until he lost consciousness.
His worries were his own, and their fun continued.
Emperor Liang clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Since the county lady is late, I will punish you by making you drink a cup."
The county lady raised her chin proudly and said, "How can I be punished without someone to accompany me?"
Emperor Liang's smile became more doting: "Alright, I will allow you to choose someone to accompany you in punishment."
The ministers at the table were silent, and no one dared to stand up and point out the emperor's absurdity.
The Yun'an County Lady's eyes flickered, and she suddenly raised her orchid finger towards Feng Siji: "Then I choose him."
"Does Envoy Feng mind?"
Her voice was like breaking jade falling on a plate, but it reminded Feng Siji of the words "Marry me" during the snowy night three years ago.
Feng Siji's Adam's apple moved slightly, and he had a thousand words to say, but in the end he just lowered his eyes and said, "I don't mind."
The voice and expression are distant and there are no flaws.
The hem of her red dress brushed against the golden bricks in the hall. She sat down gracefully, poured a glass of wine, and faced him with a smile: "Envoy Feng, it's our first meeting. I offer you a toast."
She tilted her head back and drank it all in one gulp, a trace of clear wine overflowing from her lips.
His eyes followed the wine as it slid across her fair neck and seeped into her clothes.
…The Princess of Yun'an, with the teardrop mole beneath her peach-blossom eyes and the plain peachwood hairpin on her head. There was no mistaking her for Li Qi—the Li Qi who had held an umbrella for him in the rain in Qianzhou, asked him, "My dear, will you come with me?" and then vanished without a word.
She left without saying goodbye, and it turned out that she had gone to Kyoto to become a county lady personally appointed by His Majesty.
Now she was dressed in splendid attire, no longer the down-and-out woman who'd been 'drifting and displaced, with no choice'. He should have been happy for her... but a bitter, rusty feeling welled up in his throat.
"County Lady...you are so polite."
Feng Siji raised his head and drank the liquor. The liquor, as hot as lava, burned through his throat, but it could not dispel the layers of coldness surging in his chest.
He gripped the wine bottle with his knuckles turning white, and sat down calmly, as if all the worries he had just had had never existed.
"Lord Feng, you have a good alcohol tolerance," Emperor Liang casually praised him. Ever since Li Qi appeared, his narrowed eyes, deep in thought, had disappeared. So it was self-evident what he was thinking just now.
Emperor Liang looked at He Rucheng on the other side and said, "Lord He, briefly explain the case of Concubine Li to Si Ji."
Feng Siji tried his best to ignore Li Qi beside him. He held the wine bottle in one hand and supported his head with the other, focusing his attention on He Rucheng.
He Rucheng was his old friend, but they had no contact since he was demoted.
I remember that when he left Beijing, He Rucheng was still a small official, but he never expected that in just a few years he would become the head of the Ministry of Justice.
His eyes moved and noticed another minister, Chen Hu, sitting next to He Rucheng.
Chen Hu was originally a low-ranking adjutant who assisted him. After he was demoted, the position of Dali Temple Minister was replaced by Chen Hu.
It seems that everyone at this palace banquet is an acquaintance.
Chen Hu now sits in a high position, and there is a bit of arrogance in his eyes that Feng Siji had not seen in him before.
But this did not stir Feng Siji's emotions. He felt no envy, admiration or celebration. He just had a blank expression on his face, like a sculpture, drinking while listening to He Ruchen's explanation of the Li Fei case.
He Rucheng stood up and said, "Empress Li was murdered at last year's New Year's Eve banquet."
He Rucheng thought of Concubine Li's body and quietly looked at the emperor sitting on the dragon throne. He still remembered that the emperor once doted on Concubine Li and sent three thousand gifts into the Mingyin Palace like flowing water.
When Concubine Li died, he cried without caring about the emperor's face and fainted. He fell on the dragon bed for a long time and couldn't get up. The already neglected government affairs were made even worse.
If he were to listen to it again... he should just skim over the situation of her body.
These contents will be recorded in the files. Feng Siji is known as a "genius in strange cases". Could it be that he cannot understand the files?
He Rucheng only talked about his current progress:
"The Empress's body was dismembered in the kitchen boiler and served as a dish. Many concubines were frightened and became ill. We checked everyone who worked in the kitchen, but could not find any suspects. His Majesty was furious and executed all the palace servants who worked that month."
When Emperor Liang heard about the past, he collapsed weakly on the dragon throne, and under the shadows of his sunken eye sockets, he showed his pity for his old friend.
Seeing this, He Rucheng was deeply worried about bringing up his own sad past, so he spoke more cautiously, "Besides, the method used in the Li Fei case has never appeared in the previous files. We speculate that it was a new murderer. However, this person is familiar with knife skills and handled the Empress's body parts very properly. The cuts are smooth and uniform in size. The murderer may be the cook, the martial artist, or the woodcutter.
"Concubine Li has good relationships with people in the palace, and the Empress is the only one with whom she has some estrangement. However, during the New Year's Eve banquet, the Empress was beside His Majesty, and she was not present. We have also checked all the palace servants around the Empress, and none of them are suspicious."
After saying this, He Rucheng sat down with a sense of relief, picked up the handkerchief in front of him, and gently wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead.
Just as he put down the handkerchief, a mocking sneer echoed from within the hall: "So, Lord He has gained nothing in the past six months?"
He Rucheng was stunned for a moment, and looked in the direction of the voice. He saw Feng Siji looking at him coldly, with his upturned eyes and arrogance almost overflowing.
He Rucheng remained silent, thinking that Feng Siji was still the same as before. As long as it came to investigating a case, he would become confident, so confident that he was arrogant, which was far from his usual calm and steady self.
After all, you are young.
He Rucheng had been immersed in officialdom for many years, and his temper had long been tempered. He automatically ignored his ridicule and said calmly:
"At the time of the incident, the last person Concubine Li saw was County Lady Li Qi. After that, it's up to the County Lady to inform Envoy Feng."
When Feng Siji heard Li Qi's name, his heartbeat slowed down. His experience in handling cases told him that people who had seen the deceased for the last time often had a close relationship with the murderer, but how could it be her?
He raised his eyes slightly and looked at the fiery red figure beside him.
"County Lady?" Feng Siji called out deliberately, "Li Qi?"
This was the name he had longed for, and he finally had the chance to call it out. But he had to suppress the bitterness and longing, pretending to be calm and indifferent so that others wouldn't notice anything unusual.
Li Qi turned her head, a smile in her eyes: "Yes."
The smile was too dazzling and bright, and the eyes were strange, as if they were really just meeting for the first time.
Feng Siji's mind was shaken.
When she was in Qianzhou, she obviously didn't like to laugh and always looked like she was worried about something. She looked at the green mountains outside the window, at the pedestrians walking downstairs, and sighed melancholy from time to time.
She had said she wanted to reclaim Yunzhou, her homeland. As long as she didn't reclaim it, she wouldn't be able to smile.
But now... Feng Siji stared at her curved smiling lips. How could she have changed so much?
He tapped the tabletop rhythmically with his slender fingers, trying to keep his voice businesslike:
"Tell me in detail about your last meeting with Concubine Li. When did you meet? What did you say? When did you leave? Did you notice anything unusual when you left?"
Hearing this, her smile suddenly froze. She clasped her knuckles tightly around the wine flask, tilted her head back and drank a few gulps of liquor before she spoke in a hoarse voice:
"Before the New Year's Eve banquet, I promised my sister that I would make her a set of Yunzhou-specific Suzaku gemstone headpieces. That day, I brought the headpieces to my sister and gave her the gifts. After thanking me, my sister invited me for tea as usual, gave me some seasonal fabric, and sent someone to see me off.
"The New Year's Eve banquet is a reunion of the six palaces. The palace rules are very strict. Although I am a sworn sister, I am considered a woman of nobility, so I had to return home. When I saw my sister again, she had already been harmed by an inhumane person."
As if afraid he wouldn't believe her, she quickly added, "I'm telling the truth. Although the Empress is only my sworn sister, she's also the one who gave me a new life. She and I are more than sisters. I wish I could kill anyone who harmed her. I won't hide anything."
Feng Siji had not yet read the file, so he had no way of finding out whether she was lying.
He simply put down the bottle and said in a cold voice, "That's better."
Without waiting for a response, he stood up, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, the case of the Empress is very complicated and confusing. I will go back and take the files and examine them carefully. If there is any progress, I will come to the palace and report."
He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would lose control and recognize Li Qi, and then catch her and ask her what she thought of him and why she could leave without saying goodbye and not be heard from for many years.
He really thought she was dead, so he built a cenotaph for her and went to talk to her every day.
Over the years, he felt like he was living in a closed, narrow well. Opening his eyes, he saw endless darkness; raising his hand, he always felt bone-chilling cold water; his entire body exuded a musty odor.
With his life like this, it no longer mattered whether he was desperate or not, because he had gradually become accustomed to this suffocation.
Just hope to see you again.
Now that we are really saying goodbye, the feeling is not any less.
Feng Siji pretended to stand up calmly. Emperor Liang nodded from the dragon throne. "Alright, I'm tired. In that case, my dear ministers, please go back first."
"Kowtow to Your Majesty."
Everyone stood up and left in unison.
Li Qi was the last to stand up. She wanted to follow Feng Siji quietly, but the Liang Emperor's voice suddenly rang out from behind her: "Li Qi, you stay."
She paused.
I could only watch him walk further and further away, the corner of his green robe brushing the threshold and completely disappearing from my sight.
-
Feng Si walked quickly, leaving He Rucheng and Chen Hu far behind, but the cold wind still carried the sound of their conversation into his ears.
"Your Majesty, are you serious this time?" Chen Hu said, "It's so late, and you're actually leaving Li Qi here in front of us?"
He Rucheng sighed and said, "Even Feng Siji, who was demoted and dismissed, was invited back. How could this be true?"
Chen Hu was indignant: "But... although the County Lady and Concubine Li are sworn sisters, if they were in the common people, Concubine Li would be your Majesty's concubine. One for one, two for two. What's the difference between him and the County Lady's brother-in-law? How can he be made the County Lady a concubine!"
Hearing them talking about Li Qi, Feng Siji couldn't help but slow down his pace.
He Rucheng lowered his voice and said, "He is the emperor, how can we have any say in his affairs? Besides, it is not uncommon for two beautiful women to be favored in every dynasty."
Chen Hu was so disappointed: "After so many years, Yunzhou has not been recovered yet, and the people are still suffering. How can Your Majesty... Alas! No progress at all? You are so foolish!
"Not to mention that Li Qi is just a country girl, how can she be made a concubine? Absurd, absurd!"
He Rucheng grabbed him and said, "That's the emperor. You're talking nonsense like that. You're killing yourself!"
The sound of chatting stopped abruptly, Feng Siji clenched his fists and left quickly.
-
Yongshou Palace.
The window was half open, and the soft night light came in, illuminating the dragon bed and revealing the figure of Emperor Liang within the bed curtains.
He leaned against the head of the bed, his medium-sized belly exposed through his half-open shirt.
His deep-set eyes stared at Li Qi at the end of the bed. She had taken off her red cloak and was wearing a chest-length Confucian skirt of gold and white, and a necklace with gold beads and many treasures. She was half-crouching, revealing the spring light on her chest.
His gaze lingered on her beauty, and he narrowed his eyes to conceal the desire within. "I can hardly wait any longer. Once the case of Concubine Li is solved, I will take you as my concubine."
Li Qi smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness."
He suddenly remembered something, put away his smile, and looked at Li Qi with deep eyes: "Do you know Feng Siji?"
Li Qi looked straight into his deep eyes, without any fear in her heart. She knew better than anyone how capable this man was.
"What do you mean, Your Majesty? This is the first time I've met him tonight."
"Yeah?"
Li Qi said, "Your Majesty, don't you know my past intimately? Like Concubine Li, I am completely captivated by you, Your Majesty. How could I have the time to get to know anyone else?"
"Why, Your Majesty, are you jealous?"
He subconsciously retorted, "Why should I be jealous? Feng Siji's life and death are in my hands. Three years ago, he was banished to Qianzhou, and it was all just a word from me. Besides, he's a pedantic, rigid person who doesn't listen to others' advice. He has a cold and hard temper. Although he's an honest official loved by the people, he's not a blockhead that women would like."
After saying that, he wanted to hug Li Qi's slender waist, but she suddenly jumped off the bed and avoided his hand.
"Your Majesty is wise. I really don't like such a dullard. I only like you."
"Come back and prove your love."
Emperor Liang reached out to pull her back, but a handkerchief was suddenly stuffed into his hand. She smiled and pointed at his nose: "Your Majesty, wipe it."
Without waiting for an answer, she skipped out of the palace, "It's getting late. I have to go back to the palace to embroider my clothes, otherwise I won't be able to report to the Empress. Your Majesty will not be punished for me. Goodbye, Your Majesty."
Emperor Liang looked at her lively and jumping figure with a helpless and doting smile. While wiping the blood from his nose, he felt very sorry that he did not touch her fragrant hand tonight, nor did he hug her slender waist.
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