Chapter Forty-Five Evidence
Kyoto.
On the high platform of white marble, the Empress, dressed in plain clothes with her hair disheveled, held a tightly sealed bamboo tube in her hand—a secret letter from Mu Lian sent from Luoyang. During the day, the court officials had already debated the matter of Liu Zhang. While some indignantly proclaimed that Liu Zhang deserved to die for his disloyalty, many others subtly tried to exonerate him, their words veering towards accusations of "oversight." Just then, Liu Zhang's urgent letter of apology arrived, filled with weeping and lamentation, repeatedly stating that he "deserved to die," appearing utterly remorseful. The Empress, her eyes half-closed, listened patiently, then glanced at the assembled officials, discerning a hint of something amiss.
"Is Your Majesty worried that the Prince of Ruyang is stirring things up behind the scenes?" A thick outer robe fell from her slender shoulders. The Empress looked up and saw Zhang Songzhi with a concerned expression. The dim candlelight and the clear glow of the night pearl reflected in the man's clear eyes, creating a starry sky effect.
Taking the fragrant and delicious white fungus and snow lotus soup from the man's hand, the Empress nodded and sighed softly: "After all, I have no heir, so the old ministers all prefer that the Prince of Ruyang succeed me. Therefore, even though I know that the person behind Liu Zhang is the Prince of Ruyang, I cannot investigate further..."
Zhang Songzhi listened quietly, a subtle pang of heartache unconsciously rising in his eyes. If it weren't for the sake of the Great Xing Dynasty, how could this woman, who could have enjoyed a life of wealth and luxury, have missed out on the child she had finally conceived due to her tireless dedication to state affairs? Yet these foolish old ministers still favored the treacherous Prince Ruyang to succeed to the throne, simply because his empress had no heir. Truly, utterly incompetent and shameless!
No! He would absolutely not allow the prosperous Daxing, which his Empress had built with half a lifetime of hard work, to be destroyed by those power-hungry and greedy villains! It seemed that he should also send a message to General She, who was stationed in the Northwest.
As the night dew grew heavier, a thin layer of frost clung to the jade steps outside the palace. Zhang Songzhi took the celadon bowl from which the Empress had finished drinking, his fingertips inadvertently brushing against the secret letter on the table. The six-petaled plum blossom pattern, a signature of Mu Lian, was faintly visible on the wax seal. He knew the weight of this letter—Mu Lian's Judicial Office always investigated only substantive evidence. Half a year ago, it was they who had uncovered evidence of Liu Zhang's illegal weapon forging from the Salt and Iron Bureau of Youzhou, and further investigated the Prince of Ruyang behind Liu Zhang. Therefore, Mu Lian and her entourage, ostensibly escorting the Imperial Envoy, were secretly searching for further evidence of Liu Zhang's collusion with the Prince of Ruyang.
“Commander Mu must have found something important again in Luoyang.” Zhang Songzhi moved the gilded bronze brazier half an inch closer to the imperial desk. The camphor incense on his sleeve mingled with the agarwood incense in the palace, weaving a soft, warm net that swirled and danced in the deepening night of the imperial bedchamber. The Empress twisted her slightly sore neck, enjoying Zhang Songzhi’s attentive service. Casually raising her jade wrist, the gold-inlaid jade bracelet on her wrist clinked against the bamboo tube, making a tinkling sound. The Empress pulled out a letter, but a few dark brown bloodstains were right on the four large characters “Smuggling Military Grain”.
Smuggling military rations?
A sudden gust of wind swept past outside the palace, causing the twelve layers of silk curtains to billow open. In the flickering candlelight, the Empress stared at the alarming figures on the secret letter, her slender fingers involuntarily tightening their grip on the imperial edict. She recalled that just half a month ago, the Ministry of War had reported a case of embezzlement of border provisions. At that time, Wang Xun, a protégé of the Prince of Ruyang and the Minister of Revenue, had wept bitterly in court, swearing to the heavens that the transport commissioner had embezzled funds. Now, thinking back, his tearful appearance was strikingly similar to Liu Zhang's letter of apology.
"Ninth Prince, fetch the map of mountains and rivers..." The Empress's fingertips traced the surrounding counties and prefectures of Luoyang, and the canal map of late spring gradually unfolded in her mind. It seemed that during Liu Zhang's years in power in Luoyang, he had likely engaged in numerous corrupt practices, even the official ships built under Luoyang's supervision always had a waterline three inches deeper than elsewhere. If Mu Lian's investigation into the smuggling of military rations was true, those overloaded ship holds likely contained more than just rice.
A cool night breeze stirred the silk curtains, causing them to sway gently. As Zhang Songzhi massaged the Empress's shoulders, he suddenly coughed lightly and tapped three times on the map of Qingzhou with his jade-like knuckles. The Empress's eyes flickered; she recalled a report from her spy three days prior, stating that the carriages of the Prince of Ruyang had exchanged thirty fine horses from the northern deserts at the Qingzhou post station. Those horses had distinctive hooves, leaving crescent-shaped marks on the official road—marking exactly like the hoofprints of the assassins' mounts during last year's autumn hunt.
As the water clock ticked, the Empress suddenly chuckled softly. She rose and walked to the antique shelf, taking down the Longyuan Sword, a gift from the late Emperor. The sword gleamed coldly as it was drawn, reflecting the sharpness that had lain dormant in her eyes for years: "Tomorrow at court, order the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to re-examine the accounts of the Luoyang canal transport. Tell him that I dreamt of the pine and cypress trees at the imperial mausoleum breaking without cause, fearing that the ancestors resent my leniency..."
"Your Majesty is wise..." Zhang Songzhi bowed his head as he tied a new moon bead to the sword tassel. This was evidence sent last night by his mole in the Ruyang Prince's residence. Hidden within the bead was half a salt certificate, stamped with the private seal of the Ruyang Prince's younger brother—the prematurely deceased tenth prince. The case file of the tenth prince's drowning was currently locked in a secret compartment within the Zichen Palace.
As the fifth watch drum sounded, the Empress stood on the observatory and saw a guest star invading the Purple Palace in the direction of Luoyang. She stroked the half of the tiger tally that Mu Lian had attached to the letter, a fragment of a military tally found in a secret room in Liu Zhang's villa. The eastern sky was turning a pale white, and a ray of morning light pierced through the clouds, illuminating the Ruyang Prince's Mansion in the northeast corner of the imperial city.
Los Angeles.
On the surface, Luoyang has been outwardly calm lately. Liu Zhang claims to be still ill, and Luoyang officials are staying home as if nothing has happened. Therefore, Mu Lian and Meng Yuan secretly investigated Liu Zhang's villa at night, and after careful planning, they actually made some progress. Presumably, the evidence of the fragment of the military tally should already be on Her Majesty the Empress's desk.
However, this investigation seemed somewhat unusual. Mu Lian gently touched the arrow wound on her arm, deep in thought. Although the arrow wound hadn't hit any vital organs, judging from the marks, the archer was no ordinary soldier. Even with her own skills, she hadn't been able to completely dodge it; this person's archery skills were likely unmatched in Daxing. However, it seemed that the person ultimately didn't want to harm her and Meng Yuan's lives, so they held back, which allowed the two of them to break through the encirclement and pursuit.
If that person is a friend, not an enemy, then who is it?
For some inexplicable reason, the face of a richly dressed nobleman suddenly appeared before Mu Lian's eyes. If one did not examine the shrewd calculation hidden in that person's eyes, he was a handsome and refined man, comparable to Ye Tanhua, but with an added air of nobility and arrogance.
Yes, it's Li Peixuan, the heir apparent of the Prince of Ruyang.
“Oh right, isn’t there also the Prince of Ruyang?” Meng Yuan, who was standing to the side, finally managed to come up with the name after racking her brains.
Nodding, Mu Lian carefully wrapped the white gauze around her arm and said softly, "It's time to see him again."
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