Chapter 6 The Emperor's Summoning
Xiao Yunzhan's fingertips paused on the table for a moment before he finally gave a curt instruction: "File the records first. Zhou Ping, increase the number of guards inside and outside the Qin residence. No one is allowed to leave without my order."
Pei Zhiwei wanted to say something, but Pei Lin stopped her with a look. The autopsy report was in black and white. Although there were doubts, there was no conclusive evidence pointing to homicide. Further arguments would only cause more trouble.
Liu had already collapsed into a chair, sobbing uncontrollably as she repeatedly murmured the name "Zhaochao," each word a tearful lament.
The deathly silence in the main hall didn't last long. Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard, and a eunuch rushed in, his high-pitched voice breaking the solemnity: "His Majesty's decree: Prince Rui, Grand Censor Qin, and Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Pei are summoned to the palace for an audience immediately!"
All three were taken aback. Although this matter involved a royal marriage, it was ultimately a matter within the Qin family's inner quarters. According to the law, it should be investigated by the Court of Judicial Review before being reported to the emperor. His Majesty's urgent summons at this moment clearly indicated that he had heard rumors and was furious.
Xiao Yunzhan bowed and said calmly, "Your subject obeys the decree." Qin Liang and Pei Lin also bowed in response.
The eunuch left in a hurry after announcing the decree, without even daring to drink a sip of tea, as if the air in the Qin residence was filled with bad luck.
“Father,” Pei Zhiwei stepped forward and lowered his voice, “I’ll investigate further here; maybe I’ll make some new discoveries.”
Pei Lin nodded, his brows furrowed: "Be careful, don't miss anything."
As Xiao Yunzhan was leaving, he glanced back at the rubbing paper in Pei Zhiwei's hand, his gaze lingering on the half-printed cloud-patterned shoe print. Without saying a word, he turned and stepped out of the moon gate.
As soon as the figure in red disappeared, the Qin family seemed to have lost its soul.
Liu was half-supported and half-helped by a maid into the inner room. The steward directed the servants to clean up the broken porcelain pieces on the floor. The brooms swept across the blue brick floor, making a soft rustling sound, which made the room seem even quieter.
Pei Zhiwei held the stack of rubbings and looked at them three times from beginning to end.
“Officer Li,” she called to the officer waiting beside her, “take me to see the side gate and the night patrol log.”
Xiao Li quickly led her around.
The west gate was guarded by two old servants with goatees. They said it was locked just after 9 PM last night, and the steward kept the key. It would not be opened until 3 AM, and there was nothing unusual about it.
The head of the guards also came to report, saying that between 1-3 AM and 3-5 AM, the four of them patrolled the various courtyards, and the sound of the clapper could be heard all the way to the street corner, but they didn't hear a single sound.
"You examined that wall in the back alley closely last night?" Pei Zhiwei pressed.
The head guard scratched the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face: "That place is very remote, nobody goes there usually. I only glanced at it from afar last night, and not a single tile was missing from the wall. Who would have thought something like this would happen?"
Pei Zhiwei didn't ask any further questions and turned to go into the back alley.
The shoe prints became increasingly blurred over time. She squatted down and traced the cloud pattern with her fingertips, her fingertips covered in a layer of fine soil, but she found no new traces.
The blue tiles on the wall gleamed brightly, and the even scratch marks were still there.
She leaped onto the wall and followed the marks to the back window of Miss Qin's boudoir. The window was tightly closed, and the mica paper pasted on the window was spotless and without any damage.
She spent another two hours turning the Qin residence upside down. But there wasn't a single unusual thing.
As the sun set, Pei Zhiwei dragged her leaden legs back to the Pei residence.
As soon as I entered the second gate, I smelled a burnt smell, as if something had been burned through.
Peeking out, I saw my mother carrying a dark, grimy plate out of the kitchen, her face covered in soot.
"Zhiwei's back? Quickly try the hibiscus cake your mother made for you! Your father just returned from the palace, and this is your first meal in the capital, so your mother specially cooked to show off her skills!"
Pei Zhiwei glanced at the few pieces of "Hibiscus Cake" on the plate whose original color was indistinguishable, and her lips twitched slightly.
Her mother is good at everything, except she has a strange obsession with cooking, and every time she cooks, it's like going through a tribulation.
Last year, Mom wanted to make longevity peaches for Dad, but she ended up blackening the kitchen beams with soot, and the final product was even blacker than this year's.
"Madam, please rest." Pei Lin had just changed into his everyday clothes and came out from the inner room. When he saw the food on the plate, his expression turned slightly unpleasant. "Let Granny Liu do these chores."
"That won't do," Yan Jinghong said, placing the plate on the octagonal table and putting her hands on her hips. "You two have been working hard investigating cases outside, so I have to do something to show my appreciation. I learned how to make this cake from Madam Li next door over three days, and I specially added osmanthus honey. Why don't you try it?"
Pei Zhiwei gritted her teeth and picked up a piece, but after taking just one small bite, she was overwhelmed by the bitter, astringent, and smoky flavor, making her eyes widen in disbelief. It was even harder to swallow than medicine.
She swallowed the words with feigned composure and forced a smile: "Mother... your cooking skills have improved again."
Pei Lin quickly picked up a teacup and handed it over, taking the opportunity to change the subject: "His Majesty summoned us to the palace, and his words implied that he wanted the case to be resolved quickly."
He took a sip of tea and lowered his voice, “Prince Rui is His Majesty’s most beloved younger brother. He has been personally raised by His Majesty since childhood, and His Majesty treats him even better than his own son. This marriage was originally a great honor, but now that this has happened, there are already rumors in the capital that Qin’s behavior is wrong and has affected the prince’s reputation.”
Pei Zhiwei's teacup trembled violently, spilling tea onto his sleeve: "Is this all Your Majesty is after?"
“This is what His Majesty is angry about.” Pei Lin sighed, his brows furrowing. “The original words were ‘Qin Shi is weak and cannot be a burden to the Prince.’ The implication was that the Dali Temple should close the case as a suicide.”
Prince Rui argued with His Majesty in the palace, saying there were doubts about the case. His Majesty didn't agree and sent Qin Liang and me back first.
Confused by what she was hearing, Yan Jinghong interjected, "Didn't Madam Qin hang herself?"
Seeing that the father and daughter both looked unwell, she wisely shut her mouth, took the plate of hibiscus cake back to the kitchen, and without a doubt, threw it into the slop bucket.
Pei Zhiwei stared at the document her father handed her; the words "Qin Shi hanged herself due to illness" stung her eyes.
The shoe prints she personally made, the scratches on the wall she recorded, and the inconsistencies in the autopsy records all became insignificant dust in the face of imperial power.
She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms, and ultimately said nothing more.
Without solid evidence, all the talk is useless.
The next morning, Pei Zhiwei got up exceptionally early, changed into a plain-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and went alone to the food stalls on East Street.
She ordered a bowl of flatbread and two sesame cakes, and was enjoying her meal when she suddenly heard someone chuckle behind her: "Madam Pei has quite an appetite."
Looking back, one could see Xiao Yunzhan dressed in a light gray casual outfit, with a piece of mutton fat jade pendant tied around his waist, standing by the stall, holding a blue cloth food box in his hand.
The morning light fell on his hair, fading his princely majesty and adding a touch of gentleness, like a noble young master who had stepped out of a painting.
"Your Highness?" Pei Zhiwei was taken aback, almost dropping the flatbread in her hand. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard this place has good flatbread," Xiao Yunzhan said honestly. He sat down on the bench opposite her and gestured to the stall owner with his chin. "I'll have a bowl of flatbread and two flatbreads too."
Pei Zhiwei raised an eyebrow. The breakfasts at Prince Rui's residence were so exquisite, why would they care about coarse food from street stalls? She didn't point it out and continued to drink her soup.
Xiao Yunzhan watched her wolf down her food, and his smile deepened: "Lord Pei has just returned to the capital, and Madam Pei has come early to tidy up the house. She must be very tired."
“My mother is the kind of person who can’t sit still,” Pei Zhiwei replied casually, and couldn’t help but smile as she thought of the plate of hibiscus cake from last night.
"Oh?" Xiao Yunzhan scooped up a spoonful of soup and said slowly, "I heard that less than a month after Madam Pei returned to the capital, the kitchen of the Pei residence has already caught fire twice. The last fire was quite big, and even the patrolmen of Wuhoupu were alerted."
Pei Zhiwei nearly spat out her soup, coughing and choking as she asked, "How did Your Highness know?"
“There’s nothing new in the capital, you can’t hide it even if you want to.” Xiao Yunzhan put down his spoon and looked at her face. “It seems that Madam Pei is not used to the chefs in the capital.”
These seemingly casual words stirred something within Pei Zhiwei.
The patrolmen at Wuhoupu were under the jurisdiction of the Prefect of Jingzhao. If a fire broke out in an ordinary household, it would never reach the ears of a prince.
"Your Highness, you came to see me today not just for idle chatter, were you?" Pei Zhiwei put down the sesame cake and wiped her hands.
Xiao Yunzhan raised his eyes, the smile fading and replaced by a serious expression: "What are your thoughts on the cause of Qin Niangzi's death?"
Pei Zhiwei was taken aback: "Didn't His Majesty issue an order to close the case?"
“An imperial decree is an imperial decree, and the truth is the truth.” Xiao Yunzhan’s voice deepened. “I would like to hear your opinion.”
"Why does Your Highness insist on hearing my opinion?" Pei Zhiwei asked, somewhat puzzled.
"I have reviewed all the files that Lord Pei has handled in recent years." Xiao Yunzhan looked up at her, his gaze becoming more serious.
"In those cases, many crucial clues that others overlooked were discovered by you."
He paused, leaned forward, and spoke with more earnestness, "So, Madam Pei, what is your opinion on Qin Chaochao's death?"
“I…” Pei Zhiwei hesitated.
She knew her father's meaning and understood His Majesty's considerations, but when she met Xiao Yunzhan's eyes, which seemed to see through everything, those doubts that had been forcibly suppressed sprouted up again like weeds that could not be burned out.
She took a deep breath, but even the morning breeze carrying the aroma of food seemed unable to dispel the heaviness in her heart.
“At the scene…” she finally spoke, her voice low and cautious, “there was half a clear cloud-patterned shoe print, the shape and size of which matched the characteristics of the ‘shadow’ described by Zhang Yanzhi.”
She paused, her fingertips unconsciously tracing lines across the rough tabletop. "On the green tiles atop the wall in the back alley, several evenly distributed scratch marks, of uniform depth, could hardly be left by anyone but someone with exceptional lightness skill. And..."
She looked up, her eyes bright. "The shoe print on the footstool only shows the first half of the palm's force, its shape hasty and strange, not at all like the work of someone who calmly hanged themselves."
After listening, Xiao Yunzhan remained silent for a moment. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw Zhou Ping rush over and whisper a few words in his ear with a solemn expression.
Xiao Yunzhan's face instantly darkened.
Pei Zhiwei suddenly stopped holding the spoon.
Xiao Yunzhan put down his spoon, his voice turning colder: "Zhang Yanzhi is in trouble."
"Something happened?"
“Last night, after His Majesty issued the decree, he was allowed to return to the Zhang residence. He hadn’t gone far from the Qin residence when he was stabbed in the alley,” Zhou Ping explained from the side.
"Although he wasn't seriously injured, he still hasn't woken up. The Zhang family has already taken the matter to the Dali Temple, insisting that it was the Qin family retaliating."
Pei Zhiwei's heart skipped a beat: "Any clues?"
The words had barely left his mouth when he realized it was inappropriate and quickly followed up, "When did this happen? How's the on-site investigation going?"
“Around the hour of Chou (1-3 AM),” Zhou Ping interjected. “I went to check it out; the alley was a mess, as if it had been deliberately vandalized.”
Xiao Yunzhan looked at Pei Zhiwei earnestly: "I know your ability to examine traces is better than others. They probably won't be able to find anything, so I'd like to ask you to take a look."
“Alright.” Pei Zhiwei put down her spoon and wiped her hands with a handkerchief. “Your Highness, please lead the way. If we’re too late, even the last trace of you may be blown away by the wind.”
Xiao Yunzhan's eyes flickered slightly, and the corners of his lips lifted almost imperceptibly for a moment before he stood up: "Let's go."
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