Chapter 40 Thorough Investigation of the Li Family
"If I had been any slower, you might have caused a huge hole in the sky." Pei Zhi shook his head helplessly, but his eyes held a smile. "Don't be so impulsive next time."
"Okay." Ye Wanning stuck out her tongue and directed the shop assistants to carry the goods back into the shop.
After watching the spectacle, the people praised Ye Wanning for her courage, and many even bought several boxes of rouge while watching the excitement. The shop's business was even better than usual.
After closing the shop, Manager Wang, covering his swollen face, came to express his gratitude: "Second Miss, thank you so much for today..."
"It's what I should do." Ye Wanning handed her a bottle of ointment. "Apply this, and it'll be better tomorrow."
Looking at the neatly arranged shelves, Ye Wanning felt uneasy. The Duke of Li had been arrested, but the Li family was deeply entrenched and wouldn't give up so easily. The battle had only just begun.
Duke Li was tortured for three days before being released. It was said that Empress Dowager Li pleaded with the Emperor all night, and Duke Li was ultimately not severely punished, only having his salary reduced by three months.
This outcome was within Ye Wanning's expectations, yet it still left her feeling heavy-hearted. She rummaged through her mother's old belongings in the Red Leaf Pavilion, hoping to find more evidence of the Li family's treachery. Suddenly, Chun Tao rushed in, holding a blood-stained piece of clothing: "Miss, a guard just gave this to me, saying... saying that Xue Lin'an hid it in a crack in the prison wall before he died."
Ye Wanning's heart tightened. She unfolded the corner of her clothes, on which was a hastily written "西" (Xi, meaning west) character in charcoal pencil, along with a strange symbol that looked like a bird with outstretched wings.
“West…” Ye Wanning frowned, “Could it be the western prison cells?”
She immediately sent people to find out where Xue Lin'an was imprisoned; it was located to the west of the imperial prison. But the cell had already been cleared out, so how could there still be anything there?
"Could it be somewhere else?" Chun Tao guessed, "Like the western city wall?"
Ye Wanning shook her head: "After Xue Lin'an was arrested, he's been locked up in prison and hasn't been to the city wall at all." She looked at the bird-shaped symbol and suddenly remembered something, "I know! It's the West Garden!"
The Western Garden was the imperial garden of the dynasty, where all sorts of rare and exotic birds were kept, the most famous being the blue phoenix, a tribute bird from the Western Regions. That symbol looks so much like a blue phoenix.
“We need to go to Xiyuan.” Ye Wanning stood up, but Chun Tao stopped her.
"Miss, that's a royal garden; you can't enter without imperial permission!"
Ye Wanning thought for a moment: "Go and ask Lord Pei for help."
Pei Zhi believed her: "It just so happens that His Majesty is going to the West Garden to watch birds tomorrow. I can find a way to get you in."
The next morning, Ye Wanning disguised herself as Pei Zhi's maid and followed him into the West Garden. The entire garden was filled with exotic flowers and rare herbs, a dazzling sight, but she had no mood to appreciate them, her eyes constantly searching the bird cages.
"The Azure Phoenix is over there," Pei Zhi quietly pointed to a high platform not far away, "It's kept alone in a golden cage."
The two pretended to admire the flowers and slowly walked towards the high platform. Upon seeing Pei Zhi, the eunuch standing nearby hurriedly knelt down and bowed, saying, "Lord Pei has arrived."
"The Emperor hasn't arrived yet?" Pei Zhidong chatted idly, his eyes constantly darting around the cage.
"It'll be ready soon. I just sent someone to inquire."
Ye Wanning noticed that the wooden plank at the base of the cage was loose. As the eunuch turned to pour tea, she quickly reached out and pulled out the plank, revealing an oil paper package underneath.
Just then, the distant sound of a eunuch announcing, "The Emperor has arrived!"
Their hearts tightened. Pei Zhi quickly stuffed the oil paper package into his sleeve and pulled Ye Wanning to kneel by the roadside. The Emperor's entourage thundered past them. Ye Wanning lowered her head, her heart pounding like a drum.
Once the Emperor was out of sight, the two finally breathed a sigh of relief. Back at the Pei residence, Ye Wanning hurriedly opened the oil-paper package. Inside was a letter and half a tiger tally. The letter was from the Third Prince to Duke Li, stating that he had already contacted the Turkic tribes in the Western Regions and that Duke Li should use the half of the tiger tally as a token to open the west gate on the night of the full moon, allowing for a coordinated attack on the capital from within. The letter was dated three days later.
"That's too ruthless!" Ye Wanning trembled with anger. "They actually colluded with foreign enemies!"
Pei Zhi's expression was also grave: "This half of the tiger tally is the half that the General of the North lost back then, and the Third Prince actually gave it to the Turks."
He quickly sent people to follow Duke Li, and sure enough, they discovered that Duke Li was in close contact with a merchant from the Western Regions and was behaving suspiciously.
“The full moon will be in three days,” Pei Zhi said. “We must quickly inform the Emperor and have him strengthen the defenses of the western city on the night of the full moon.”
“No,” Ye Wanning shook her head. “The Emperor is still wary of the Li family; he might not trust us. If we alert them, they might act prematurely, and that would be disastrous.”
"So what do you want to do?"
Ye Wanning looked at the half of the tiger tally and smiled slyly: "Let's play along."
On the night of the full moon, all was quiet outside the west gate. Duke Li, dressed in black, paced furtively at the foot of the city wall, clutching the half of the tiger tally tightly in his hand. The appointed time was fast approaching, but the Turks had yet to appear. His anxiety grew, a sense of foreboding creeping in.
Just then, footsteps sounded behind him. Duke Li turned sharply to see a burly man dressed in Turkic clothing standing behind him. He breathed a sigh of relief: "Why did you take so long?"
The burly man didn't answer, only extended his hand. Duke Li hurriedly handed over the tiger tally, and was about to speak when the burly man grabbed his hand.
"Go!" the burly man suddenly shouted in fluent Mandarin.
Shouts from countless imperial guards erupted, surrounding Duke Li and his private army. Pei Zhi stepped forward, lantern in hand, and coldly looked at him: "Duke Li, you've colluded with foreign enemies. What else do you have to say?"
Only then did Duke Li realize he had been ambushed. He collapsed to the ground, stammering, "I...I was forced by the Third Prince..."
Pei Zhi said, "It's too late to say anything now." He waved his hand, "Take him away!"
Standing atop the city wall, Ye Wanning watched as Duke Li was taken away, but felt no satisfaction. They had won the battle, but the Third Prince was still in the Imperial Clan Court, like a venomous snake waiting to retaliate.
"What are you thinking about?" Pei Zhi walked over and handed her a cloak.
Ye Wanning took the cloak and put it on: "I was thinking about the Third Prince. There must be many more cards in his hand that we don't know about."
Pei Zhi remained silent for a long time. "I have already ordered the Imperial Clan Court to strengthen its defenses. He won't have another chance." He paused. "The Emperor has issued an edict to thoroughly investigate the Li family, and Empress Dowager Li has been confined to the Cining Palace. This time, they shouldn't be able to recover."
Ye Wanning nodded, but she still felt uneasy. She looked at the full moon in the sky and remembered that her mother had died on a similar night, when the blood she coughed up stained half of her handkerchief red.
“Let’s go back,” she said softly.
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