"The iron stove of Sunset Valley." Wei Zheng spat out a sentence.
These were the words Emperor Tiansheng had whispered in the Golden Luan Throne Room. Aside from the Xu father and daughter and the Emperor, no fourth person should have known them.
Wei Zheng looked at the crack in the door. "May I enter now?"
The wooden door let out a dull scrape. As the crack opened just three fingers wide, a black-mud-stained official boot forcefully squeezed in. The night wind rushed through the gap, carrying the damp chill of the water clock and the unique dusty scent of the capital.
Wei Zheng didn't hesitate, pressing his body against the doorframe to squeeze into the courtyard. The wind stopped, and the sound of the night watchman's clapper in the alley became distant. The Tang sword in Xu Wuyou's hand didn't yield an inch; the blade was already half an inch out of its sheath, its cold gleam pointing straight at Wei Zheng's throat.
Just a hair's breadth away.
Yet Wei Zheng's expression remained normal, his gaunt cheeks showing no superfluous emotion in the darkness. He raised his hand, his knuckles casually pushing his hood back, revealing a pair of calm eyes. He didn't look at Xu Wuyou, nor at the sword pressed against him. He merely cast his gaze past the courtyard, toward the pitch-black main hall.
Li Sheng walked silently behind the door and re-engaged the bolt.
"Please." Li Sheng stepped half a pace aside, making a gesture, though his right foot subtly blocked the direction in which Wei Zheng might retreat.
Xu Youde sat in the grand armchair like a warlord, still draped in the outer robe he hadn't had time to tie. He didn't rise to welcome the guest, nor did he speak; he only stared coldly at Wei Zheng as he slowly approached.
During the day in the Golden Luan Throne Room, this old fool had wanted nothing more than to skin the Xu family alive. Now, deep in the night, he knocked on their door alone. The plays in this capital were sung faster than those of the Jiangning troupes.
Wei Zheng crossed the threshold, bringing in some of the damp night air. He stopped before the lower guest seat, not sitting down immediately.
"Lord Xu, this Marquis of Changping Manor is quite peaceful at night."
Xu Youde snorted, blowing a puff of air from his nose.
"Lord Wei's skill at scaling walls and drilling through holes in the middle of the night is even sharper than his impeachment of people in the imperial court during the day." Xu Youde reached for the cold tea on the table to moisten his dry throat.
Wei Zheng paid it no mind, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly—whether in a smile or mockery, it was hard to tell. He settled into the guest seat, reached into his wide sleeve, and pulled out a long object wrapped in yellow silk. With a flick of his finger, the yellow silk fell away. A scroll lay quietly on the table.
"Lord Xu, the south is prosperous; you must have seen many antiques, calligraphy, and paintings." Wei Zheng tapped the table twice with his finger, producing a dull thud. "Consider this piece of calligraphy as a meeting gift for my night visit."
Xu Youde didn't move. Xu Qinghuan stepped forward, her pale fingers pinching the edge of the scroll and slowly unrolling it. The halo of the dying candle illuminated the Xuan paper. There were only four large characters on the paper: Three Friends of Winter. The brushstrokes were vigorous, piercing through the paper, every stroke carrying a condescending aloofness and arrogance. There was no signature, only a very small personal seal stamped in the lower left corner.
That was the seal of the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Xu Jie.
Wei Zheng leaned forward slightly, a trace of vitality finally appearing on his gaunt face.
"Only in the bitter cold of winter does one know that the pine and cypress are the last to wither." Wei Zheng's voice was very soft, yet every word struck the blue bricks of the side hall. "Lord Xu, the wind and snow in this capital are much colder than in the south." He paused, his gaze like a torch, staring straight into Xu Youde's eyes.
"In the imperial court today, the Emperor's favor was real, but the guillotine hanging over the Xu family's head is also real. Among all the civil and military officials, no one dares to stand shoulder to shoulder with Lord Xu. Does Lord Xu know the fate of an isolated official?" Wei Zheng slowly slid his fingertip across the table.
"This piece of calligraphy from Grand Secretary Xu offers a shred of dignity. Only when pine and cypress depend on each other can they shield against the wind and rain. The Xu faction is willing to be the umbrella over the Xu family's head." The room was so quiet that only the faint crackling of the lampwick could be heard.
Xu Youde stared at the calligraphy, the flesh on his face twitching twice. He suddenly reached out with his rough, fat hands, grabbed the calligraphy, and practically pressed his face against the Xuan paper.
A trace of arrogance couldn't help but flash in Wei Zheng's eyes as he waited for this nouveau-riche merchant to shed tears of gratitude.
"Ouch!" Xu Youde suddenly let out a strange cry. He held the top and bottom of the calligraphy with both hands, examining it up, down, left, and right. He even stuck out his tongue to lick his finger and rubbed the edge of the Xuan paper.
"Hiss! This paper... this paper is top-quality Chengxintang paper!" Xu Youde's eyes sparkled as if he had seen a gold ingot. "This thickness, this texture! Tsk, tsk!"
Wei Zheng frowned fiercely. Xu Youde hadn't even looked at the characters; he had turned the calligraphy upside down.
"What are these ink blobs supposed to be?" Xu Youde pointed at the four large characters with a look of utter disgust. "Pitch black, not even a single flower, bird, insect, or fish. But this paper is indeed precious. Cut it into small pieces and take it to a pawnshop in Jiangning, and it could probably fetch a hundred or eighty taels of silver." As he spoke, he actually exerted force with both hands, making a motion to tear it.
The skin on Wei Zheng's face twitched violently, and he slammed his palm on the table.
"Xu Youde! You dare insult the Grand Secretary's calligraphy!"
"What Grand Secretary? There isn't even a name written on it; how am I supposed to know who wrote it?" Xu Youde rolled his eyes, crumpled the calligraphy into a ball, and casually tossed it onto the table. "Lord Wei, bringing a piece of scrap paper in the middle of the night to fool me, talking about umbrellas. I, Xu Youde, am a businessman; I only recognize real silver and gold. Take this paper back; I'm not buying it."
Absolute vulgarity, absolute coarseness!
With his body reeking of copper, Xu Youde had forcefully dragged the moral kidnapping and lofty solicitation most valued by the literati faction into the mud and stomped on it twice.
Wei Zheng took a deep breath, suppressing the rolling anger in his chest. He realized he had underestimated this corrupt official: playing dumb and being impervious to reason—this was the most troublesome type.
"Lord Xu, there's no need to play the fool." Wei Zheng's face turned cold, and he stopped beating around the bush. "The loom blueprints are with the Emperor, and your private troops are in Lingering Garden. The Emperor uses you today, but he can discard you tomorrow. Your Xu family is merely a stepping stone thrown out by the Emperor. Without Grand Secretary Xu's protection, your Xu family won't survive three months in this capital."
A faint sound of water interrupted Wei Zheng's words. Xu Qinghuan stood by the table, holding a tiny white porcelain water dropper. A drop of water fell onto the Duan inkstone, producing a crisp ticking sound.
She picked up an inkstick and unhurriedly drew circles on the inkstone. The friction between the inkstick and the stone surface produced a fine, steady rustling sound. Once, twice. The movement was very rhythmic, as if she hadn't heard Wei Zheng's threat at all.
"Lord Wei." Xu Qinghuan didn't look up, her gaze still resting on the thick black ink. Her voice was clear and cold. "Grand Secretary Xu's umbrella is indeed quite large."
The hand holding the inkstick paused slightly as Xu Qinghuan raised her eyes to look directly at Wei Zheng.
"But Lord Wei, can this umbrella cover the rain in the south, and can it cover the thunder in the sky?"
The thunder in the sky naturally referred to imperial power.
"The Emperor's grace is vast; naturally, both thunder and rain are the Emperor's grace." Wei Zheng's tone carried a hint of warning.
Xu Qinghuan let go of the inkstick, picked up a clean piece of cotton cloth, and slowly wiped the ink stains from her fingertips.
"Does Lord Wei know why this residence is called the former site of the Marquis of Changping Manor?" She didn't wait for Wei Zheng to answer and continued directly. "Twenty years ago, the Marquis of Changping had illustrious military achievements, and his disciples and former subordinates were spread all over the court."
"At that time, the Marquis of Changping Manor had more umbrellas than anyone else." Xu Qinghuan threw the dirty cotton cloth onto the table, the wad of cloth landing perfectly on the crumpled Three Friends of Winter.
"And the result? The entire family was executed. The blood stained the bluestone slabs outside the door so red that three months of scrubbing couldn't wash it clean. When an umbrella is too large, it easily blocks the light from above. If the ones above cannot see the light, naturally they will chop down the umbrella along with the person holding it."
These words sent a chill through Wei Zheng's heart. He stared intently at the young girl before him. A mere teenager, yet her eyes held not a single trace of the panic or hot-bloodedness that a youth should possess.
After a long while, Wei Zheng suddenly stood up. He reached out to adjust the collar of his cloak and then let out a deep sigh.
That sigh was extremely heavy and drawn out. Moreover, the pitch was deliberately raised half a step higher than his previous speaking voice.
"Lord Xu, a tree that stands out in the forest will surely be destroyed by the wind. Since the Xu family refuses to realize their errors, this old man can only say this much. Look out for yourselves!" Wei Zheng enunciated these words very clearly, his voice even echoing in the empty side hall.
Xu Youde had been picking at his fingers, but upon hearing this change in pitch, his movements instantly froze.
After all, an old fox's ears are sharper than a dog's.
There was someone outside the door! Crouching at the base of the wall must be some menial servant sent by the Internal Affairs Bureau, or a hidden spy from the Imperial City Department. Wei Zheng's raised voice, his sigh, and his expression of regret were not meant for the Xu family; they were deliberately spoken for the ears outside the door!
That must be it!
Xu Youde's eyes suddenly widened. He slapped his thigh hard and sprang up from the armchair.
With a loud bang, Xu Youde kicked over the yellow rosewood low table in front of him. The teacups and teapot on the table crashed onto the green bricks, shattering into porcelain fragments that scattered everywhere, tea spilling all over the floor.
"Bullshit!" Xu Youde shouted at the top of his lungs, cursing loudly. His voice was so loud it could almost lift the roof tiles. "Wei Zheng! You old bastard! During the day in the great hall you wanted to chop off my head, and in the middle of the night you come running to give me some broken paper! Do you think I'm a three-year-old child?"
He rushed up to Wei Zheng in a few steps, his finger almost poking the tip of Wei Zheng's nose.
"I, Xu Youde, am the Emperor's man in life, and the Emperor's ghost in death! The Emperor rewarded me with a mansion and an official post; he is my second parent!"
The more Xu Youde cursed, the more agitated he became. The fat on his face trembled as his spit sprayed all over Wei Zheng's face.
"You want to rope me in to form factions for personal gain? Bah! I am a clean man! Don't use these despicable tricks to dirty my reputation!" He roared towards the direction of the door, his voice extremely penetrating.
"I am loyal and devoted to the Emperor, the heavens and earth can testify! If anyone dares to play little tricks behind the Emperor's back, I'll be the first to hack them to death with a blade!" Xu Youde's curses echoed far into the night.
Wei Zheng did not dodge the flying spit. He let Xu Youde point at his nose and curse, but on that withered face, the corners of his mouth twitched in a way no one could see.
Wei Zheng flicked his sleeves, gave a cold snort, snatched the crumpled calligraphy scroll from the table, and stuffed it back into his sleeve.
"Dead wood cannot be carved! A fool is not worth plotting with!" Wei Zheng sternly retorted, then turned and strode outward.
Xu Youde was still jumping up and down behind him, cursing, "Get lost! If you dare knock on my door again, I'll let the dogs bite you!"
Li Sheng had already opened the back door a step ahead. Wei Zheng walked out the wooden door, his figure quickly blending into the pitch-black alley outside. Even his footsteps were extremely light, as if he had never been there. The latch fell back into place, and the courtyard returned to silence.
The anger and redness on Xu Youde's face faded rapidly, so fast it was astonishing. He casually wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, his chest still heaving violently.
Xu Qinghuan walked to the window, looking through the gaps in the lattice at the pitch-black courtyard wall outside.
"Is he gone?" Xu Youde asked in a lowered voice, his breath a bit unsteady.
"He's gone," Xu Qinghuan turned around. "Those ears outside should have also gone to report the news."
Xu Youde slumped back into his chair, reaching out to press his wildly beating heart.
"Being an official in this capital is really not for humans. This wasn't coming to rope us in; this was clearly coming to claim our lives!" Xu Youde said through gritted teeth.
Wei Zheng was a member of the Xu faction, that was true. But his coming tonight might not have been Xu Jie's idea. Xu Qinghuan walked to the table and righted the fallen water basin.
"I am afraid Wei Zheng came tonight under the Emperor's orders."
