Observing the Emperor's Favor Yet Worried About Heaven's Secrets (Part Two)
Almost the instant she saw the contents, Zhiwei's breath caught in her throat. A deep fear gripped her. When had Jiang Tan submitted this memorial? What did Zhu Liji think of it? How much of Li Tai's scheme had been discovered? And had the parts related to her been uncovered?
Zhiwei subconsciously turned her gaze to Zhu Liji, who was also looking at her. In his dark eyes were Zhiwei's trembling pupils, and Zhu Liji's expression was a half-smile.
Was he really looking at her? Zhiwei leaned back and turned away, only then realizing she had misjudged. Zhu Liji's eyes didn't show any sign of her panic; his heart was completely filled with Liu Meiren.
"What, didn't you hear me? Take Consort Liu to the storeroom." Zhu Liji spoke slowly after a while, his tone implying dissatisfaction. Only then did Zhiwei come to her senses and lead Consort Liu out of the hall.
After navigating the long corridor and opening several doors, the magnificent warehouse was finally wide open.
Before her were treasures beyond measure, and Zhiwei should have thoughtfully introduced them to Liu Meiren, but she was preoccupied with other matters and her mind was elsewhere.
Forcing herself to remain calm, Zhiwei accompanied Liu Meiren as they examined the pearls, corals, and several bolts of shimmering fabric in the storeroom before retreating to a corner to drift off into thought.
This was the first time that Consort Liu had seen so many treasures. She was dazzled and wished she could empty the national treasury. She picked out several gemstone necklaces and held them up in front of her.
"Do these beads suit me?" Liu Meiren picked up a string of perfectly round pearls and held it to her cheek, asking Zhiwei.
Zhiwei's eyes were vacant, the eight characters on the memorial repeatedly rolling through his mind.
Li Tai... Jiang Tan... Wan Qi... These names were a tangled mess in her mind.
“Miss Yan?” Liu Meiren raised her voice.
Zhiwei snapped back to reality, blinked, and gave a faint smile.
"Your Majesty is of unparalleled beauty, naturally everything suits you perfectly." Having spent so long in the palace, everyone knows these phrases, and they're surprisingly effective and universally applicable.
Upon hearing Wei's words, Liu Meiren smiled with satisfaction. Just as she was about to say something more, she caught a glimpse of a dark brown shadow suddenly darting out from the crack of a wooden box in the corner, moving so fast that it stirred up a gust of wind.
A shiny cockroach scurried by.
"Ah—!" Liu Meiren was so frightened that her face turned pale. She screamed and jumped backward, but tripped and fell backward.
Zhiwei was still holding the gilded box from the storeroom when she heard Liu Meiren's shrill exclamation behind her. She turned around and saw Liu Meiren tiptoeing backward, her skirt brushing against the porcelain vase on the shelf, about to fall.
Zhiwei stepped forward to support the porcelain bottle. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a cockroach scurrying around the corner. Before Liu Meiren could call out again, she swiftly and decisively crushed the insect under her shoe.
It had been a long time since I'd seen this little insect. Though it couldn't compare in size to the ones from the south, and it couldn't fly, it was still a familiar creature. Zhiwei suppressed the urge to greet Xiaoqiang and turned to comfort Liu Meiren.
Although Liu Meiren wasn't tripped by the porcelain vase, she was still startled. She lost her balance as she stepped back and fell straight onto the carpet, leaving a red mark on her elbow.
Zhiwei squatted down, took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, and gently pressed it on her wound.
"It was just a small bug, she's fine now." Zhiwei gently pressed on Liu Meiren's wound and carefully bandaged it.
Zhiwei's movements were so meticulous, and her lowered eyelids were just the right amount of gentleness. Liu Meiren stared blankly, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes were full of gratitude.
"Miss Yan, you are so kind to me. Even His Majesty has never been so considerate." Consort Liu smiled, revealing her bright teeth. "Since I entered the palace, you are the first person to treat me so well."
“Your Majesty treats the Empress very well,” Zhiwei said without raising her eyes or changing her expression.
Liu Meiren was seriously considering what Zhiwei had said. After a moment, Zhiwei put away her handkerchief, and Liu Meiren spoke again solemnly: "It's different, it's different!"
Zhiwei raised an eyebrow.
Consort Liu paused for a moment, then continued, "If His Majesty were to see a mere insect, he probably wouldn't even raise an eyebrow, and would instead lecture me, 'I am but a nobody, yet you dare to lose your composure over me.'"
As Liu Meiren spoke, she began to imitate Zhu Liji's tone, mimicking the emperor's gentle head-shaking and speaking with a condescending "instruction."
"What you see will determine the turmoil in your heart. If you see something filthy, you will feel fear and disgust; if you see it as nothing, it will not disturb you in the slightest."
Perhaps Zhu Liji would raise his hand to signal the palace servants standing beside him to come forward and handle it, the movement light and casual, as if sweeping away a speck of dust.
"Your Majesty has a deep understanding of His Majesty." Consort Liu's imitation was uninhibited, and Zhiwei, unusually attentive, watched the whole thing and nodded in approval.
“This is not a guess,” Zhu Liji said in this tone, recalling how he had been trying to catch butterflies in the Imperial Garden for the first time and was so tired that he wanted to give up halfway through.
Another time, she saw a spider in her room and was terrified. Zhu Liji then tied her eyes with a ribbon, led her to the bed, and said that since she couldn't see it, she wouldn't be afraid of anything...
Thinking of this, Liu Meiren's face flushed again, but Zhiwei had no time to pay attention to her daughter's shyness. Her mind was still on Jiang Tan's memorial impeaching Li Tai. She hastily responded to Liu Meiren a few more times, and after Zhu Liji finished the task assigned to her, she quickly took her leave.
Liu Meiren wanted to keep Zhiwei to say a few more words, but Zhiwei was clearly distracted. Her newly emerging desire to share was stifled by this obvious perfunctory attitude, and Liu Meiren couldn't help but pout, feeling somewhat disappointed.
Zhiwei didn't even have time to feel disappointed. After leaving the storeroom, she dismissed the maids around her under the pretext of "returning to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to report back," and went around to the palace gate.
As the sun gradually set, fewer and fewer palace servants remained on the palace road. Zhiwei leaned against the palace wall, keeping a close eye on the palace road that officials had to take after their shifts. She waited from dusk until nightfall, her feet aching from the friction, until she finally saw Jiang Tan's figure approaching from afar.
Zhiwei immediately went to meet him and blocked Jiang Qin's way.
Before she could speak, Jiang Qin stopped in his tracks. In the darkness, his gaze was calm and steady as it fell on Zhiwei's weary face.
“Lord Jiang.” Zhiwei’s voice was a little hoarse in the night wind.
Jiang Qin's eyes showed no surprise. His gaze swept over Zhiwei's dusty skirt and slightly stiff posture. Before Zhiwei could speak, he took the initiative and spoke in a rare low voice.
“Miss Yan, you should no longer associate with Li Tai.”
Upon hearing this, all the pleasantries and probing became superfluous. Zhiwei's heart sank, and all the questions she had prepared stuck in her throat.
She just stared at Jiang Qin, her voice extremely low: "You know everything?"
Jiang Qin did not deny it, and quietly looked at her.
Their dealings with Li Tai were handled with extreme caution. Since they were able to find Zhiwei about matters of life and death, the information could not have leaked from Li Tai's side.
That leaves only...
Zhiwei's voice turned cold: "You've been following me?" she asked definitively.
Jiang Qin remained silent for a moment, without denying it, and then said, "Today I have already submitted a memorial to His Majesty, impeaching Li Tai for frequently making friends with important officials in private, and for his unfathomable intentions."
"Why?" Zhiwei stepped closer. She didn't know if Jiang Qin knew everything, so she chose to state part of the facts. "Li Tai's relationship with Wan Qi is only because of General Li Mingjing's old friendship! Besides, the two were both military officers in the past. What's wrong with Li Tai going to ask him for advice?"
"If the two men have no ulterior motives, has Lord Jiang's actions chilled the hearts of all the court officials?"
"Heartbroken?" Jiang Qin chuckled lightly. "Isn't General Li about to return to the capital? His former subordinates from the Mingjing Army, now in charge of the Jinwu Guard defending the capital region, are frequently seen with the Grand General of the State... Miss Yan, do you see this as just a simple matter of old feelings?"
Zhiwei's anger flared, yet she couldn't directly state the plan to bring down Wang Miaoxiao. She could only say firmly, "Li Tai is loyal to the country and has never harbored any ambition for usurpation! Lord Jiang's impeachment petition—was it out of public interest, or was he acting under someone's orders?" Zhiwei's gaze sharpened, piercing straight to the point, "Was it His Majesty? Has His Majesty never truly trusted Li Mingjing? Now that he's about to return, does His Majesty want to first sever his arm, to completely...eliminate him from the root?"
“Miss Yan, please be careful with your words.” Another silence fell, the night concealing the complex emotions that flashed across Jiang Qin’s eyes. He finally sighed, his voice lowering: “I have found out that Li Tai contacted Wan Qi and intended to use you to gather information in the palace… to frame Wang Miaoxiao.”
Jiang Tan said solemnly, "Does the young lady know that this is an act that will disrupt the order of the court?"
Having said all that, Jiang Qin had already revealed everything he could and couldn't say between the lines. Logically, Zhiwei should now feign innocence and claim that she was coerced, thus having a chance to clear her name. However, that would ultimately be self-deception. Zhiwei stood firm, head held high, staring at Jiang Qin.
Jiang Qin was also looking at her, with a hint of sympathy or perhaps a touch of regret in his eyes.
Although she was dressed, Zhiwei felt naked, as if she were being seen cleanly, thoroughly, and sadly.
"Why?" Zhiwei asked.
Jiang Qin is a smart man. Zhiwei doesn't believe Jiang Qin couldn't see through the scheme Wang Miaoxiao set up back then.
“Li Tai just wants to seek justice for what happened back then. You know he couldn’t possibly have any ulterior motives.”
"It's late and the dew is heavy!" Jiang Qin interrupted Zhiwei's question, glancing at Zhiwei's shoes and socks that were soaked with something. "It's getting late, Miss Yan, you should go back and rest. Your feet... take care of yourself."
His continued refusal to answer was like a needle, gently piercing Zhiwei's bulging chest. Her taut nerves snapped abruptly, and the accumulated fatigue, anxiety, and bottomless despair surged into her heart instantly.
Zhiwei suddenly raised her foot and kicked her worn-out soft-soled embroidered shoes directly towards Jiang Qin.
Jiang Qin didn't dodge, letting the shoe hit his body and land on the cold stone slab with two soft "thuds".
Zhiwei stood barefoot on the cold ground, the moonlight illuminating the small bloodstains on her fair ankles and heels.
"Jiang Qin!" Zhiwei's voice was sharp and defiant, "Look at me, why don't you dare look at me?"
"Li Tai has no other desires! He only wants to fulfill his filial duty! He only wants to seek justice for the injustice committed in Siam back then! General Li Mingjing was also loyal and brave all his life, but what did he end up like? That treacherous Wang Miaoxiao, why can he still enjoy a life of luxury and ease, why can he still marry a princess and enjoy all the glory?!"
"Tell me, whose fault was it back then? Who orchestrated it? What did Li Tai do wrong? And what did we do wrong?!"
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