The classics and history section on the second floor of the Songzhu Bookstore was dimmer than the first floor.
Xu Zijin stood before a row of bookshelves that reached the ceiling, holding a yellowed copy of the Great Qian Legal Code, but his gaze did not fall upon its pages.
Li Sheng stood motionless at the top of the stairs with his arms crossed, his tall frame like a pillar. The goose-quill saber at his waist rose and fell slightly with his breathing.
Xu Zijin closed the book, turned his head, and glanced through the rows of bookshelves at the second-floor window of the teahouse across the street.
Through the half-open carved wooden window, a glimpse of moon-white fabric could faintly be seen.
He knew Xu Qinghuan was there, and he knew who was sitting across from her. In the muddy waters of the capital, the sharp blade of the Xu family had already slashed the first opening. Now, it was up to the aristocratic families hiding in the shadows to make their move.
At the teahouse.
Outside, the sun was scorching. Cicadas shrieked themselves hoarse in the old willow trees, and gusts of hot wind carried the clamor of the streets through the window lattice.
Inside the private room, however, sat two massive brass ice basins. Wisps of cold air seeped through the cracks in the ice, forcefully carving out an oasis of coolness in the sweltering heat.
Xie Yunwan lifted the purple clay teapot. Her wrist hovered in midair, yet she hesitated to pour tea into the cup before Xu Qinghuan.
Faint white steam rose from the spout. The fragrance of tea mingled with the scent of aged wood unique to this century-old teahouse, permeating the space between the two women.
Looking at Xu Qinghuan's face, which was as placid as an ancient well, Xie Yunwan suddenly tilted her wrist.
The slightly cooled tea did not fall into the cup but splashed directly onto the mirror-smooth surface of the red sandalwood table.
The water stain spread rapidly, reflecting the glaring white sunlight from outside the window.
Xie Yunwan extended a slender, pale finger. Dipping its tip into the spilled tea, she traced slowly and forcefully.
A horizontal stroke, a vertical stroke, a left-falling stroke, a right-falling stroke.
A glaring character for Prisoner appeared right under Xu Qinghuan's eyes. The glimmering water exuded a chilling aura against the grain of the red sandalwood.
"I should think Commandery Princess Xu isn't so naive as to believe that the title of Count of Chengyi is truly a profound blessing from Heaven."
Xie Yunwan's voice was kept very low, yet every word struck hard against that puddle of water.
"Chief Grand Secretary Xu and his faction are clearly building a gallows with their own hands for Lord Xu."
Xu Qinghuan leaned back in her chair, her gaze resting on the character for Prisoner without so much as a blink.
She remained silent, merely listening to the increasingly deafening cicadas outside, waiting for Xie Yunwan to reveal her hand.
Seeing her unmoved, Xie Yunwan could not help but let a trace of the inherent superiority of the great aristocratic families seep into her tone.
"Titles of nobility in the Great Qian Dynasty have always been reserved for founding ministers or generals who fought to the death on the battlefield."
"Your Xu family, mere merchants who started by purchasing official ranks, have ruthlessly forced your way into the threshold of the nobility within ten days by confiscating estates and amassing wealth. Do you know what this means?"
"It means you have completely severed yourselves from your humble beginnings and cut off your retreat as merchants, only to be treated as filth reeking of copper and blood by the true aristocrats and nobles."
"You are now caught in the middle, completely isolated."
She tapped her fingertip heavily against the puddle, sending droplets splashing. "The Emperor is currently short of money. The military pay for the Nine Frontiers is a bottomless pit, so naturally, he protects you as his blade."
"But a blade will eventually dull. When the national treasury is full, or when those confiscated noble houses are driven to desperation, and public resentment boils over to the point where even the dragon throne feels too hot to sit on, things will become rather difficult."
The private room was so quiet that only the dripping sound of melting ice in the brass basins could be heard.
Xie Yunwan looked into Xu Qinghuan's eyes, trying to find a hint of panic.
But, as she had somewhat anticipated, those eyes remained profound and completely unruffled.
"I do not understand. During Lord Xu's time in the capital, it has been as if not a single blade of grass could survive wherever he went."
"The white marble floor tiles of the Zhao family, the koi in the Qi family's backyard, even the gold leaf scraped off the load-bearing pillars of their main halls."
"This vulgar conduct of digging three feet deep, showing such unseemly greed, and cutting off your own retreat leaves absolutely no face for the civil and military officials of the entire court!"
"You clearly possess the talent to govern the world, and the literary brilliance to outshine all of Jiangnan with a single poem. Why did you not stop him? Why do you indulge him in pushing the Xu family down a path of no return?"
After listening to this lengthy tirade, Xu Qinghuan finally moved.
"Lady Xie calculates the political situation; I calculate human lives."
"Do you think that if my father had acted with perfect propriety over these ten days, committing no offense, and even knowing how to show compassion to the old and young of those noble houses during the confiscations to leave himself a good reputation, our Xu family would still be sitting here alive drinking tea?"
Xie Yunwan frowned slightly, momentarily speechless.
Xu Qinghuan chuckled, her fingers slowly tracing the edge of an abacus. "Did Lord Xie never teach you in Jiangnan what kind of person Emperor Tiansheng is? He is suspicious, he is harsh, and he cannot tolerate a single grain of sand in his eyes."
"He plucked our Xu family from Jiangning to the capital, promoted us seven ranks in succession, and bestowed upon us blank imperial edicts, all to find a vicious dog with no attachments, no bottom line, and loyalty only to its master."
Xu Qinghuan leaned forward slightly. As the distance between the two women closed, the sense of oppression instantly multiplied.
"If this vicious dog, while biting people, suddenly learned to follow the rules, to buy people's hearts, or even to leave itself a way out by befriending the powerful..."
"Then the Emperor would feel that this blade has developed a mind of its own and is no longer under control. An uncontrolled blade has only one fate—that very night, due to some accident, both the person and the blade would be melted into molten iron, leaving not even bone fragments behind."
Xie Yunwan's breath caught slightly, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up involuntarily.
"Therefore," Xu Qinghuan leaned back in her chair and tapped heavily twice on the frame of the abacus, "since the entire capital wants our Xu family to be vicious dogs, then we will be mad dogs who lick even the floor tiles clean."
Xu Qinghuan glanced at the puddle on the table and continued, "Because a solitary minister who only cares for money and imperial power, and is despised by the whole world, is absolutely impossible to be wooed by anyone, nor could they ever rebel. This is the greatest loyalty to that paranoid Emperor. Our bargaining chip for survival is this un-washable stench of infamy."
This was a high-stakes gamble, trading reputation for lives.
"I understand. The Xu family is acting this way on purpose."
"I take back what I just said." Xie Yunwan's voice lowered. "I truly underestimated you."
Xu Qinghuan did not acknowledge this show of weakness. She turned her head, looking out the window at a straw bundle of candied hawthorns wilting under the scorching sun at the street corner, and abruptly changed the subject.
"Lady Xie need not pretend to be so blameless, either." Xu Qinghuan's voice turned cold again. "I am well aware of the Xie family's deep roots in Jiangnan."
"The Zhao and Qi families have fallen. The Xue family ate the meat, and your Xie family surely drank plenty of the soup in secret, didn't you? Lord Xie blockaded the news from Jiangning and sent you, a legitimate daughter, all alone into the deep waters and scorching fires of this capital. What is he plotting?"
"The new Emperor?"
These words mercilessly tore away the fig leaf of the Xie family's reputation as noble and incorruptible scholars, entirely exposing their own predicament of struggling in the very same mud.
Xie Yunwan remained silent for a long time. The ice basin in the private room emitted a faint chill, yet it could not suppress the gradually escalating game of wits between the two of them.
She knew that in front of Xu Qinghuan, any hypocritical disguise was futile.
But as a talented woman born into the Xie family, she could not possibly be foolish.
After a long while, Xie Yunwan loosened her tightly clenched cuffs. With a flip of her wrist, she pulled out a folded stiff paper invitation from her wide sleeves.
The invitation had a dark red background, inscribed with tiny, elegant characters in gold leaf. The edges were scented with a very faint agarwood fragrance, revealing an undeniable aura of nobility.
She placed the invitation flat against the table and slowly pushed it toward Xu Qinghuan.
Commandery Princess Xu, overacting is not a good thing.
Three days from now, Shichahai. Xie Yunwan's voice returned to a steady tone, entirely stripped of its former pretenses. Renowned scholars and great sages from both the north and south of the river, the Chancellor of the Imperial College, and several princes will all be there.
Xu Qinghuan glanced at the gold-stamped cover but did not reach out to take it.
Xie Yunwan continued, In name, it is a philosophical debate. In reality, it is a venue for various factions to openly recruit strategists and display their strength right under the old emperor's nose.
In the entire capital, no more than fifty people can get their hands on this kind of invitation.
She looked at Xu Qinghuan, her pace slowing down with a somewhat sincere analysis, You were right earlier. The Xu family must act like a mad dog right now.
But when the new emperor ascends the throne, the very first thing he will do is slaughter the mad dog as a sacrifice to the flag.
The Xu family cannot solely bear the infamous reputation of cruel officials and extortionists.
Xie Yunwan tapped her finger against the edge of the invitation. Under these circumstances, it is best to make an appearance.
Xu Qinghuan stared at the invitation for a moment.
She extended two fingers, pinched the invitation, and casually slipped it into her sleeve.
She did not say thank you, nor did she make any promises.
Why?
Xie Yunwan paused at this moment.
Just consider it mutual appreciation.
Xu Qinghuan could not help but be momentarily taken aback.
Then I thank you, Yunwan.
Xu Qinghuan turned and walked toward the door of the private room. Downstairs, Li Sheng seemed to sense that his master was leaving; he had already hurried up the stairs and pushed open a door panel.
With one foot over the threshold, Xu Qinghuan stopped in her tracks.
She did not look back. Her gaze fixed on the dim stairway, her voice drifted over her shoulder and landed lightly in Xie Yunwan's ears.
Also, help me tell Lord Xie that the fish in Jiangning is indeed delicious.
With that, she walked straight down the stairs, the hem of her cyan cloth gown disappearing around the corner.
From downstairs came Li Sheng's gruff urging, followed by the rumbling of carriage wheels rolling over the bluestone slabs, gradually fading into the distance.
The private room fell quiet once more. The hot wind outside made the window sashes creak, and the ice in the basin had mostly melted.
Xie Yunwan sat alone at the table, looking at the tea in front of her that had gone completely cold.
She only thought to herself, who was actually using whom? This game of chess had only just begun.
