Chapter 68 In the rain, I prefer rivers of blood. "...
The torrential rain poured down like a flood bursting its banks. The rain was cool and refreshing. Feng Tan ignored his teasing and turned to look at the stone lions at the Meridian Gate. He said, "If there's no clear path, then take the hidden one. Since Shen Shiyi wants to save Shen Ze, why not add Feng Youming to the mix?"
Xiao Yinshi's eyes darkened as he looked down at Feng Tan and said, "To you, Chen Ze is a fierce general of an enemy country, yet you are willing to bear the infamy of abandoning your country and family to save Feng Youming?"
Feng Tan did not answer his question, stubbornly asking again, "Should Lord Xiao agree or not?"
The boy's eyes held a clear and resolute determination. He decisively abandoned the open path and chose the covert one. Xiao Yinshi narrowed his eyes, reached out and pulled the boy very close to him. Between breaths, he asked, "Since it's a transaction, what are the bargaining chips?"
Feng Tan smelled the familiar, cool woody scent again. In the misty rain, she grasped his wrist, which was clutching her front. "I'll help you... save your mother."
The surroundings suddenly fell silent. The man's dark eyes were fixed on Feng Tan's face, and a sense of oppressive power slowly spread out. "When did you find out about this?"
Feng Tan said, "The night your identity was exposed, I sent people to investigate."
"Heh," Xiao Yinshi chuckled, his hawk-like eyes fixed on Feng Tan, pulling her closer to him, his breath tickling her ear, "Was this planned in advance? Or was it a spur-of-the-moment decision?"
Feng Tan said, "It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I didn't expect to lose so badly. Right now, this secret path is the last one I can take. You want the throne of Hua Dynasty, but the reason the current emperor of Hua Dynasty can control you in this dynasty is because your mother is in his hands. Once you return to the court and launch a military and political coup, Ban Huayun will be the first to be hit. I am still quite good at light footwork and I have a deadly weapon in my hand. To you, I am still a useful person."
Xiao Yinshi asked, "Aren't you afraid of trying to negotiate with a tiger and ending up with a bad end?"
Feng Tan paused for a moment, then replied, "I have no other choice."
"You can discuss the plan with Shen Shiyi. I can give you the defense map of the Imperial Prison, but no matter how you go to rescue people from the Imperial Prison," Xiao Yinshi said, a thin mist clouding his eyes, obscuring his emotions. After staring at Feng Tan for a long time, he slightly curved his lips, revealing a dark aura. "Just one thing: don't hurt yourself, and more importantly, don't die. You're right, you're... very useful to me."
Feng Tan keenly sensed the man's unfriendly gaze, which seemed to dissect her inside and out like a knife. Finally, his gaze landed on her from behind, and he narrowed his eyes slightly before asking in a low voice, "How did you offend the Prince of Chu?"
Feng Tan turned her head following Xiao Yinshi's gaze and saw that the King of Chu was holding an oil-paper umbrella at the end of the palace road and walking gracefully towards her.
Feng Tingxiao's expression shifted skillfully. When he approached Feng Tan, the gloom in his eyes disappeared, replaced by his usual smiling face. His gaze swept over Feng Tan's face and landed on Xiao Yinshi. He said, "It's been so long since court ended. Lord Xiao, you haven't left yet?"
Xiao Yinshi stood up and said, "There is an imperial decree and instructions from above."
Feng Tan looked up at Xiao Yinshi. This was a master liar. A casual remark implicated the Emperor's majesty, leaving you with no way to investigate.
Feng Tingxiao gave an "oh," then lowered his eyes to look at Feng Tan under Xiao Yinshi's umbrella, saying with a double meaning, "I recently read a thought-provoking supernatural story. During the reign of Emperor Yao, demons roamed the land. A pale-faced scholar, seeking high office and wealth, went to a wild temple that was said to be very powerful. She thought she was worshipping a god, but actually... she was worshipping a wild ghost, and in the end, she was bitten all over by that ghost. So, if you worship a wild ghost as if it were a bodhisattva, and cannot distinguish between good and evil, there will be no good end."
Feng Tan never lost a verbal battle. She looked at Feng Tingxiao and said sarcastically, "Your Highness read this story well. The pale-faced scholar cannot distinguish between good and evil, and the wild ghost is a fake kind-hearted person disguised as a bodhisattva. I guess the person who wrote this story also had no good intentions. Yao was a wise ruler, yet demons ran rampant during his reign. This shows that the writer's intentions were not upright and he is not a good person."
Everyone present was a shrewd official, and Feng Tan's tone, which was sarcastic and insulting without using vulgar language, was very appealing. When a word pleased Xiao Yinshi, he chuckled softly, a hint of mockery in his dark eyes.
Feng Tingxiao wasn't annoyed, but he found the sight of the two under the same umbrella somewhat jarring. He smiled and said, "What I mean is, the writer, the pale-faced scholar, and the wild ghost all have intertwined interests. Since they benefit from each other, instead of the pale-faced scholar seeking high office and wealth from a wild ghost, why not go directly to the writer? With pen and ink, what can't be written down?"
The rain continued unabated, and both men's robes were soaked through. After listening to his earnest and persuasive argument, Xiao Yinshi said, "Since it's a ghost, what's wrong with it crawling out of the book and swallowing the author whole?"
Feng Tingxiao said, "All things in the world are mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining. If everything is done in the opposite way, wouldn't the world be filled with bloodshed?"
Xiao Yinshi said, "But I prefer rivers of blood."
Feng Tingxiao looked into his eyes, their auras clashing as if they were locked in a standoff. "Coincidentally, I also enjoy watching rivers of blood flow."
"..." Feng Tan, who couldn't even get a moment's peace while being punished by kneeling, didn't want to listen to their drama. She looked up at Xiao Yinshi and said, "If you keep standing here with your umbrella, rumors will spread throughout the entire capital tomorrow. Please, sir, take a walk back to your residence."
Feng Tingxiao chuckled upon hearing this. Xiao Yinshi's eyes darkened, and she leaned down to look into the boy's eyes. After staring for a moment, she brought her thin lips close to his ear and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "If you want to save people... there is only this secret path."
The man's thin lips brushed against Feng Tan's ear, but his dark eyes were fixed on Feng Tingxiao. "Don't be fooled by sweet talk."
Feng Tan sneered and said, "No need for you to trouble yourself, sir."
The cool, woody scent faded away as the man strode off into the rain. Even after Xiao Yinshi's umbrella left, Feng Tan remained dry. Feng Tingxiao crouched down, moved the umbrella slightly closer to Feng Tan, and frowned, asking, "What did he say to you just now?"
Feng Tan turned her gaze back to Feng Tingxiao, her eyes sweeping from his golden crown to his embroidered robe, and said, "He said you are all show and no substance, and that I should not be deceived by your sweet talk."
“Heh,” Feng Tingxiao looked at Feng Tan’s profile, which was cool and aloof under the dim paper umbrella, and said in a low voice, “Then do you believe him?”
Feng Tan looked back into his eyes and said, "I believe you. There's no reason not to believe you."
Feng Tingxiao suddenly straightened his expression and said, "Xiao Yinshi has ill intentions towards you. He is known in the court for his ruthlessness and cruelty. You have never seen his cruel appearance when he massacred the imperial prison. He is a real bloodthirsty man-eating monster. Don't provoke him again in the future."
Feng Tan slightly curled the corners of her lips and asked, "He harbors ill intentions towards me, but isn't your royal uncle the same?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Tingxiao's eyes darkened slightly, and he said, "I'm different from him... Men have the most acute sense of smell. The way he looks at you... at least, I would be more considerate of you."
The damp rain splashed around the umbrella, and Feng Tan's lips curled into an undisguised sarcasm. "It's just the pot calling the kettle black. Since Your Highness is here, you must already know that I failed to overturn the case for my teacher and are trying to stop me from joining him. Are you perhaps pointing me in another direction?"
Feng Tingxiao's eyes flashed. In some ways, he and Xiao Yinshi had the same goal: to drive her to her doom. Therefore, he avoided answering and gestured to the servant behind him to bring over a cup of ginger tea. He spoke in a low, gentle voice, "This rain won't stop anytime soon. Have some ginger tea to dispel the dampness and cold."
He held a cup of warm ginger tea in his hand, looked at Feng Tan who didn't appreciate it, chuckled, and said, "Girls are weak, getting soaked in such a heavy rain, be careful you don't get a fever later... Tsk, really not going to drink it?"
Feng Tan had no desire to argue with him and ignored his words. Feng Tingxiao, on the other hand, seemed to have a very good temper. Looking at her still red eyes, he said, "Knowing it was impossible, you still did it. Shouldn't you have expected the bitter consequences today? What are you so sad about?"
What an annoying mouth! Feng Tan closed her eyes, not wanting to look at him at all, but Feng Tingxiao's voice continued, "I told you long ago that your father is no good. Look at how harsh he is on his own daughter."
Feng Tan couldn't hold back any longer and retorted, "He's no good, but you're a good one?"
A deep laugh came from Feng Tingxiao's throat as he said, "At least I can't bear to punish you like this."
His tone was familiar yet doting, which made Feng Tan want to vomit again. He said coldly, "If the Prince of Chu has nothing else to do, he should go back to his residence as soon as possible. He's just making himself a nuisance for no reason."
Feng Tingxiao laughed again, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Have you been investigating the cause of Feng Sangrou's death all along?"
Feng Tan's eyes sharpened, a fierce glint appearing in them. She finally shifted her gaze to Feng Tingxiao's face and said definitively, "You know how she died."
“Of course I know,” Feng Tingxiao handed the ginger soup to Feng Tan and raised his chin, “Drink a cup of hot soup to ward off the cold.”
"..." He's really sick. Feng Tan took the ginger soup from his hand and swallowed it all in one go.
Feng Tingxiao put away the porcelain cup and said, "Feng Sangrou died at the hands of Emperor Chongming."
The porcelain cup fell from Feng Tan's hand with a crisp sound. She looked into Feng Tingxiao's eyes and said, "This doesn't match the information I found."
Feng Tingxiao chuckled and said, "The information you found is that Emperor Chongming lost his beloved wife and massacred the Eastern Depot. Back then, the Eastern Depot was very powerful, and Emperor Chongming needed to launch a coup to weaken its power. Empress Xiaoxian was the biggest trigger."
The heavy rain continued all day, and night gradually fell. Water droplets splashed around the umbrella, reflecting a clear light. Feng Tingxiao stood up, holding the umbrella, and silently shielded her from the downpour all night, just like that snowy night many years ago when she protected him.
......
The next day, the sky was clear and the air was fresh. Feng Tingxiao hadn't slept all night. When he arrived at the palace gate, he was stopped by a palace maid in pink.
The palace maid whispered, "The Imperial Concubine has something to discuss with His Highness. She insists on seeing him today. She is waiting for His Highness in the Imperial Garden."
Yesterday, the Prince of Chu did not leave the Meridian Gate. Today, he had to go to pay his respects to Emperor Chongming. When he arrived at the Imperial Garden, he "coincidentally" met Consort Su. After the two exchanged greetings, only his personal attendants remained to serve him at the stone table, while the others stood some distance away.
Consort Su looked at Feng Tingxiao's somewhat disheveled face and said, "I heard that Your Highness stood outside the Meridian Gate all night with that official who insisted on overturning Feng Youming's case?"
Feng Tingxiao said, "Why does the Noble Consort ask questions she already knows the answer to? Just say what you have to say."
Consort Su's gentle expression turned icy, and her voice sharp and deep, she asked, "Who is that official?"
Feng Tingxiao poured a cup of tea and brought it to his lips, saying, "Your Highness should already know who she is."
Consort Su sneered, "As expected... as expected! It wasn't until yesterday that I suddenly realized that no one would willingly risk the wrath of the world to overturn the verdict, and no one could make the cold-hearted Prince Chu suffer a night of torrential rain. Only her, only her! Only Feng Qinghuang!"
Seeing her become frantic, Feng Tingxiao raised an eyebrow and said, "Your grudges with the Feng family have been mostly settled..."
"Not enough, not enough!" Consort Su's voice rose with agitation as she spoke, her eyes turning bloodshot. "I want the entire Feng family dead!"
Feng Tingxiao slammed his teacup down on the stone table, making a crisp sound. The shadow hidden beneath his handsome face emerged. "I helped you rise from an ignorant village woman to the position of Imperial Concubine, not so that you would rebel against me! The Princess Consort has already reminded you of what you should and shouldn't do. Don't let hatred cloud your judgment and make me discard you as a pawn."
The imposing aura of the superior emanated from her, and Consort Su's turbulent blood calmed down slightly. She frowned and asked, "Since Your Highness wanted her, why not just tie her up and imprison her with a rope while Emperor Chongming was unaware of the truth? Why deceive her about the cause of Feng Sangrou's death and make the situation so confusing?"
Feng Tingxiao was unwilling to say more, only saying, "She has her own things to do, and I also have things I need her to do. The time is not yet ripe... but I think it will be soon. As for deceiving her about her mother's death, she is as suspicious as Emperor Chongming, and she may not believe it."
"As Your Highness instructed, Emperor Chongming has discovered that the princess in the palace is a fake. I persuaded him to keep her under control and remain silent until the real Yongle returns," Consort Su said, her eyes full of doubt. "What exactly does Your Highness intend to do by restricting the fake princess's movements?"
After the rainstorm, the various summer flowers in the Imperial Garden were in full bloom. Feng Tingxiao casually plucked a branch from beside him. "If there is a flower to pick, then pick it. If I want to pick it, I must first deal with its thorns."
Consort Su was taken aback for a moment, then smiled charmingly and said, "Very well, Your Highness has ruined her. She will never be happy for the rest of her life. If the Feng family is unhappy, I will be happy."
Upon hearing this, Feng Tingxiao's expression turned somewhat sinister. He squeezed the red juice from the flower petals in his hand and said, "Consort Su, I haven't allowed you to speak so recklessly."
“If Your Highness doesn’t want to hear it, then I won’t say it. But there’s a saying that goes, ‘Jing Ke presented a map, but hidden within was a deadly trap.’” Consort Su stood up gracefully, resting her arms on the stone table. She leaned down to look at Feng Tingxiao’s handsome face, her gaze gradually moving to the flower juice on his fingertips. “Your Highness, it’s not so easy to pluck a man-eating flower. Since I am a pawn in Your Highness’s hands, I should do my best to help you successfully pluck her.”
Feng Tingxiao frowned slightly, looking back at Consort Su, whose expression held a hint of madness and ruthlessness, and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Consort Su smiled slightly and said, "I will pick flowers just like Your Highness."
As the two were talking, a blue-robed eunuch came over on imperial orders and said to Consort Su, "Your Highness, His Majesty is in the Taiji Hall. Please come over."
Consort Su glanced at Prince Chu, then rose and asked the blue-robed eunuch, "Is there anything I can do for Your Majesty?"
The blue-robed eunuch on duty in the Taiji Hall today said, "This servant does not know."
Their conversation was interrupted, so Consort Su had no choice but to follow him to the Taiji Hall. Before leaving, she glanced back at the King of Chu, who was holding a flower in his hand.
Under the sunlight, the man, dressed in a four-clawed python-dragon gold brocade robe, with a face whose bone structure was extremely smooth and whose whole body exuded a majestic aura, sat upright among the colorful summer flowers, the bright red rose he was playing with between his fingers dripping juice that stained his fingertips red.
Consort Su knew that it was his blood that was on his hands.
She looked up at the sun and instinctively shielded her eyes from the blinding light; they didn't deserve to live in the light.
As soon as Consort Su entered the Taiji Hall, the eunuchs serving in the inner room withdrew, leaving only Sheng Honghai to attend to her. When Emperor Chongming saw Consort Su approaching, he raised his head from the imperial table and said, "Consort, come here."
Consort Su approached and saw two bowls of clear water on the imperial table, containing bright red blood.
Emperor Chongming pointed to each bowl and said, "This first bowl of water is the one used for the blood test during the Fengshan ceremony at Jingshan. I had the imperial physician examine it, and there was nothing fishy about it; the two drops of blood truly mixed. This second bowl was tested a few days ago, and the water is fine too. How could it not mix? Both bowls of water were taken from Yongle..."
Consort Su lowered her eyes to look at the two bowls of water in different states. She wondered what trick the imperial physician had used to freeze the blood in the state it had just fallen into the water. After a long while, she pondered and said, "Your Majesty, I suspect that on the day of the Fengshan ceremony at Jingshan, there were many people and many eyes. Did the princess do something to it?"
After pondering for a moment, Emperor Chongming said, "On the day before and after taking the princess's blood, the princess only came into contact with that white tiger. Could it be that the white tiger has Yongle's blood on it? That's impossible. Yongle raised that white tiger from a cub. It doesn't allow anyone to approach it except Yongle. When Yongle led it away that day, it was very obedient."
He was completely baffled. Sheng Honghai poured Emperor Chongming a cup of tea, and their eyes met. Emperor Chongming looked at his heavily bandaged hand and said, "Sheng Honghai, if you have something to say, just say it. It's not like I forbid you from interrupting."
Sheng Honghai said humbly, "This old servant dares not, but I do have something to say. This old servant is a rough man who grew up in the countryside. In folk customs, there are always some folk methods. Our local doctor said that the blood test for kinship is not accurate."
Consort Su's eyes flickered slightly, concealing her stern expression, her voice still gentle, "Does Eunuch Sheng's hometown have any reliable methods worth using?"
Sheng Honghai said, "No... Whether the two are related by blood cannot be determined by these things alone; it is up to the two of them to discern... Your Majesty, since the princess returned to the court, she has been exactly the same as when she was a child. This old servant is the princess's chief attendant. If I may be so bold as to say that when the princess was young, Your Majesty was busy with court affairs, and the princess spent more time with this old servant than Your Majesty did. This servant's intuition is that this princess is the same princess, and there is no mistake."
Consort Su felt a little gloomy upon hearing this, and said, "What Eunuch Sheng said makes sense. However, if the person impersonating the princess is unusually familiar with everything about the princess, or grew up with the princess since childhood, it is possible that they could imitate her perfectly and confuse the public."
Emperor Chongming glanced indifferently at Sheng Honghai, then at Consort Su, and said, "We still need to send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate again."
After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "Your Highness, you may leave now. I will visit you again tonight."
After the palace doors closed again, leaving only the master and servant in the hall, Emperor Chongming flicked his robe with the hidden pattern of nine dragons, his gaze falling once more on Sheng Honghai's white-veiled fingers, and said, "You dared to stop Wei Shengxian from wielding that Embroidered Spring Blade that can cut through iron like mud? You truly have great courage."
Sheng Honghai stiffened, bowed slightly, and said, "My master is wise. It is only right for this servant to do whatever he is supposed to do."
Emperor Chongming snorted coldly and said, "Don't try to curry favor with me; I can't accept it. I thought about it for a long time yesterday. You want to save that fifth-rank official? Tell me, what's the reason?"
Sheng Honghai said, "I just felt that she had a friendly demeanor, like an old friend."
“Like the wind, they are all tough nut to crack,” Emperor Chongming said, calming himself down. “This minister cannot be kept alive. He is too stubborn and inflexible. Tell the Ministry of Personnel that his official rank can only reach the fifth grade. He cannot be promoted any further.”
Author's Note: Lord Feng is about to deliver the final blow, and at the same time, his true identity will be revealed.
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