Chapter 60 Secret Order
The eunuch brought the letter to Ye Wanning. She took it and unfolded it. Even if the handwriting was imitated to be very similar to hers, it was still quite different. The signature was written in simplified Chinese characters, while Ye Wanning always used the traditional Chinese character. Moreover, her handwriting had some strokes of clerical script. The characters on this letter were weak and lacked any elegance.
“Your Majesty, this letter is fake.” Ye Wanning threw the letter back to the eunuch, then took out a handwritten letter from Su Wanqing from her bosom. “This is my mother’s handwriting. My handwriting is like hers, with a slight slanted stroke. But the characters in this ‘secret order’ don’t have a single slanted stroke. Moreover, the characters in the clerical script are square and have a rigorous structure. The slanted stroke is the most distinctive feature of the clerical script.”
Ye Wanning coldly raised her eyes to look at Zhou Song, her words carrying a chilling light: "Does Lord Zhou know when this secret order was found in the branch of the Secret Sect? Just three days ago, I was still investigating the remnants of Duke Li's faction in Haitang Valley. How could I have written a letter to the Secret Sect from afar?"
Zhou Song's face suddenly turned pale, and he stammered, "This...this might have been written by you a long time ago, and you asked your subordinate to deliver it!"
"Oh? Does Lord Zhou know who my subordinate is? When did I order him to deliver the letter? Everyone around me can testify that I never left Haitang Valley three days ago. Are you trying to fabricate a false witness, or are you trying to frame my attendant?"
The Emperor held the two letters in his hands and compared them carefully. Sure enough, the handwriting was very different, and Ye Wanning's words made no mistake. He looked at Zhou Song with a cold face and said, "Zhou Song, you actually fabricated evidence to falsely accuse a minister. Am I blind?"
Zhou Song was terrified and knelt down with a thud, kowtowing once and then again: "Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life! I... I was forced by Duke Li! Before he died, Duke Li left me a will saying that as long as Ye Wanning was brought down, the Li family could be saved... I was confused for a moment and made a mistake!"
"Foolish?" The Emperor slammed his fist on the dragon throne in anger. "To associate with accomplices and fabricate evidence, is this foolishness? Guards! Seize Zhou Song and throw him into the imperial prison! Investigate his dealings with the Li family!"
The guards went down and dragged Zhou Song away. He was still crying and shouting, "Your Majesty, spare my life!" As he was being dragged out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he didn't forget to turn back and glare at Ye Wanning—the resentment in his eyes was chilling.
The Emperor sighed and said to Ye Wanning, "It's fortunate that you discovered it in time, otherwise I would have almost made a mistake. However, the remnants of the Li family are deeply entrenched, and it seems that we still need to clean them up properly."
Ye Wanning knelt down: "Your Majesty is wise, but I'm afraid there are others behind Zhou Song, and I'm worried..."
"Don't worry," the Emperor interrupted her. "I will have Pei Zhi thoroughly investigate this matter and make sure to wipe out all the remaining members of the Li family. You must be tired; go back and rest."
After she left the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Pei Zhi was waiting for her at the palace gate. Seeing that she had come out safely, he finally felt relieved. "How was it? Zhou Song didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"He wanted to frame me, but he didn't get the chance." Ye Wanning told him what had happened in the palace, but her brows didn't relax. "It's just that the resentment in Zhou Song's eyes makes me feel like he has a backup plan, and... I always feel that this matter is not so simple!"
Upon returning from the palace, Ye Wanning went straight to Ci'an Hall. The old shopkeeper was drying herbs in the courtyard, with perilla leaves drying on a large bamboo tray. Seeing her approach, he quickly put down the wooden rake in his hand and stood up: "It's good that Second Miss is back safe and sound. There were assassins at the gate earlier, which scared this old servant to death."
Ye Wanning looked at the old shopkeeper. He had been with her mother for so many years, and he had been in charge of all the affairs inside and outside Ci'an Hall. He was usually stern and rarely smiled, but he always helped her in crucial moments. But this morning when she went to change her clothes, she clearly saw the old shopkeeper blow a silver whistle in the corner of the wall, and then a dark figure flashed to the end of the alley.
She walked to the stone table and sat down, getting straight to the point: "Old shopkeeper, you have something you want to say to me, right? What exactly happened with the whistle you blew in the corner this morning, and that dark figure?"
The old shopkeeper's hand suddenly froze, and the wooden rake in his hand fell to the ground with a thud. After a long while, he suddenly knelt down with a "thud" and kowtowed on the bluestone slab: "This old servant deserves to die. This old servant has concealed the truth from the Second Miss for so many years. The Second Miss may punish me as she sees fit."
Ye Wanning quickly pulled him up: "Please get up and tell me what happened. You've been with Mother for so many years, I trust you."
When the old shopkeeper stood up, his eyes were red: "This old servant was originally named Su Zhong, and was the head of the secret guards by Madam Su's side. Back then, when Madam married Minister Ye, she was afraid that the Li family would harm us, so she scattered the twelve of us secret guards in various parts of the capital. This old servant was originally ordered to stay in Ci'an Hall, firstly to take care of the Second Miss's daily life, and secondly to guard the secret of the Tiger Tally."
He pulled out a bronze token from his pocket, engraved with the character "Su," with knife marks on the edge: "This morning, when I saw that fake eunuch was suspicious, I blew my whistle to alert the secret guards, telling them to investigate the eunuch's background. I never expected that the Second Miss would still fall into an ambush. It is my incompetence."
Ye Wanning took the token and ran her fingers along the knife marks on it—the token looked just like the jade pendant her mother had left behind: "Mother... Mother actually left us secret guards, how come I never knew before?"
“Madam doesn’t want her identity exposed, and we must not let the secret guards find out unless absolutely necessary.” Su Zhong sighed. “Back then, when Madam discovered that the Li family was colluding with the Secret Sect, she knew that her fate was very likely to be unfortunate. So she left a letter in advance instructing this old servant and the second young lady to protect the Tiger Tally no matter what, and not to let the Li family succeed.”
He then pulled out a slip of paper with his mother's handwriting on it: "This is what Madam left for you. She said she would give it to you when the tiger and the two tigers are reunited."
Ye Wanning opened the note, which read: "Wanning, the Tiger Tally can not only mobilize the vassal kings of the Western Regions, but also contains the secrets of the late emperor's armory. If you encounter danger, you can have Su Zhong mobilize the secret guards to help you."
It turned out her mother had prepared a way out for her. Ye Wanning clutched the note tightly, tears welling up in her eyes—her mother's love had always been there, she just hadn't noticed it before.
"Uncle Su, you don't need to keep it from me anymore." Ye Wanning returned the token to Su Zhong. "If there's anything, we can discuss it together. By the way, where are those twelve secret guards now?"
“They’re all waiting in various parts of the capital. Some are disguised as vegetable vendors, and some as coachmen. As soon as I send out the token, they come right away,” Su Zhong said. “Don’t worry, Second Miss, we’ll take care of you from now on. We will never let you suffer again.”
Just as she received her mother's note, the waiter rushed in and reported, "Miss, there is an envoy from the Western Regions requesting an audience in the front hall. He says he wants to see the holder of the Tiger Tally, and he has brought more than twenty fierce-looking followers with him."
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