“Hahahaha.” Yan Qichu threw back his head and laughed. “Since they exist, why don’t you call them out? Go on, bring them out to testify! Bring them out to report the crime! Where are your plaintiffs? Hahahaha, Lord Yan, you really do love to talk…”
Yan Tongshu’s gaze remained calm. “Look behind you.”
Suspicious, Yan Qichu turned around.
The bailiffs lit torches and raised them high, illuminating the courtyard outside the courtroom until it was as bright as day.
Yan Liangrong and Yan Liangyu stepped aside.
Behind them stood Lu Lan, Ding Xin, Lin Shuang'er, Wan Jie, Li Lu, An Yuelin, Tao Jiang…
All of them stood there together.
There were nineteen in total.
Three crimes had been committed, and three people had died. Of the twenty-seven still alive, nineteen had come forward.
As for the eight who had not come, it could not be said that they lacked courage. Perhaps some other reason had prevented them from coming.
Yan Qichu’s face twitched uncontrollably, turning pale and livid by turns.
“What does this prove?” Driven into a corner, he struggled frantically, shouting whatever came to mind. “We were all wearing the same clothes and masks. How could they possibly know who was who?”
Yan Tongshu shouted angrily, “So you finally admit that you did it?”
Provoked beyond reason, Yan Qichu shrieked, “So what? I admitted it myself! What does that have to do with these stupid women? They can’t do anything to me!”
Yan Liangrong spoke calmly. “Who says they can’t prove anything?”
A murderous glint flashed in Yan Qichu’s eyes as he turned on Yan Liangrong.
She met his gaze levelly, her expression composed and utterly unmoved.
Her voice was gentle, yet carried considerable force. “Li Lu, do you remember?”
One look at Yan Qichu’s blank expression was enough to tell that he did not.
How could someone like Yan Qichu remember the insignificant people he despised?
Yan Liangyu held out her hand to Li Lu, took her trembling hand, and led her forward.
Yan Liangrong said, “Li Lu was abducted by you the year before last, on the sixteenth day of the seventh month. Her father was once a physician. He died after being poisoned while testing medicine. You didn’t know this, did you? She knows how to take pulses.”
Yan Qichu fixed Li Lu with a vicious stare, as though he wanted to tear her apart alive.
Terrified, Li Lu gripped Yan Liangyu’s hands with both of hers. “I…”
“Shut up!” Yan Qichu roared.
Li Lu closed her eyes. Her shoulders trembled faintly. “That day… that day…”
Her lips had gone white. “In the fourth round, the man I had to please—I felt his pulse… He… he was impotent… I also touched his chest. He had… a deep scar about six inches and five fen long. One finger’s breadth above and to the left of that scar was another, cross-shaped scar.”
Yan Tongshu gave a slight nod. A bailiff stepped forward and yanked open Yan Qichu’s collar.
In the candlelight, the long scar was clearly visible. Above and to its left, the cross-shaped mark stood out just as plainly.
Yan Tongshu said solemnly, “I have examined your records. You received that long scar four years ago while campaigning alongside Sikong Minghua. The old cross-shaped scar was never recorded, so its origin is unknown. Li Lu has never had any dealings with you. If she had not been in close contact with you, how could she have known about such scars?”
Yan Qichu suddenly went mad, shrieking hysterically, “Bitch! Bitch!”
Yan Tongshu watched him rant like a clown. Only after he had finished did he speak again.
“Yan Qichu, you are insecure and cowardly, so you deliberately preyed on poor, timid girls who had no one to rely on. You drugged them and forced them to kill. But do not project yourself onto them. Your inability to face your own disability and the real world does not mean that they lack courage as well.”
The moment Yan Tongshu finished speaking, the encouraged An Yuelin took a deep breath and stepped forward.
“I know something too.” Her voice trembled uncontrollably, but her attitude was resolute. “I was abducted the year before last. The man I had to please bit my shoulder hard enough to draw blood, leaving a bite mark. After I woke up, I took an impression of it.”
She raised her eyes toward Yan Tongshu. “L-Lord Yan… Will this be useful?”
“It will!” Yan Tongshu replied firmly. “Bite marks are unique. A person’s identity can be determined by the arrangement, size, and shape of their upper and lower teeth. They are just like fingerprints. No two people in the world have the same bite mark, not even identical twins.”
A relieved smile appeared on An Yuelin’s pale little face.
A bailiff took the impression and compared it with the teeth of the ten men in the courtroom one by one. When he reached Weng Jin, the son of the Assistant Director of the Ministry of Revenue, the young man refused to open his mouth.
Qin Yi’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Zheng Tao,” he said slowly. “Dislocate his jaw.”
One of the Divine Might Army soldiers stepped forward and dislocated Weng Jin’s jaw with a single move. Sure enough, his teeth came together perfectly.
Weng Jin’s face instantly turned ashen.
Lu Lan also shared what she knew. The man she had encountered in the fourth round had a disabled right leg.
“Lord Yan,” Lu Lan said loudly, “besides that, although I can’t read, I’m very sensitive to voices. I can distinguish anyone’s voice. I heard that man’s voice just now.”
Lu Lan pointed at Yu Youjin.
It was over.
Yu Youjin helplessly closed his eyes.
“Ah!” Ding Xin suddenly cried out in surprise. “I thought I didn’t have any clues, but I remember now.”
She spoke timidly. “The man I encountered in the fourth round had something strange about the index finger of his left hand. It wasn’t shaped normally. It bent like this…”
Ding Xin used her right hand to bend the index finger of her left hand into a bizarre position. “When that man bent his finger, it looked like this. When he opened it, he couldn’t straighten it completely.”
At those words, Shao He, the son of a Senior Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, immediately hid his hand.
Yan Tongshu caught the movement sharply and ordered the bailiffs to examine it. Sure enough, Shao He’s finger was exactly as Ding Xin had described.
Li Fulin spoke up. “Lord Yan, I once heard that the Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Justice was an extremely strict father, and that he was even harsher with his own son. At the slightest mistake, he would beat and berate him. When Shao He was five, his father broke one of his fingers. Although it healed later, it remained deformed. I imagine it is this finger on his left hand.”
Shao He collapsed limply to the ground.
With several of the girls taking the lead, the others began speaking one after another, driving the accused men onto the pillar of shame.
Yan Tongshu looked toward the ten suspects and said in a grave voice, “There is no such thing as a perfect crime. If you have done something, you will leave traces behind. You thought these girls were nothing more than illiterate, ignorant, foolish, timid, and cowardly country girls. But you forgot that they, too, had survived in this difficult world by struggling on their own. They possessed far more courage, care, and intelligence than you ever imagined.”
Yan Qichu’s face was so dark it seemed capable of dripping ink. The bloodstained clothes clung to his skin, making it sting painfully.
He clenched his teeth. “But we didn’t kill anyone.”
The instant those words were spoken, all nineteen girls trembled faintly.
Yan Qichu looked at them, staring as monstrously as a demon. “The killer deserves death. And the ones who deserve to die should be the true murderers.”
“Stop trying to scare us!”
Tao Jiang’s body trembled. Her fists clenched tightly at her sides. “The female official said that my sister and the others were forced into it. You drugged them!”
Yan Qichu’s eyes bulged. “Then you’ve killed people too. If we can’t live, don’t think you’ll get to live either.”
Yan Liangrong pulled a book from her robes and turned its cover toward Yan Qichu. “Do you think we’re as ignorant of the law as you are?”
She flipped through the pages. “The crime of murder, Article Twenty-Five of the Seventh Statute: anyone who coerces another person into committing murder shall be guilty of intentional homicide. If the coerced party acted under threat to their life or while their consciousness was impaired and they lacked the ability to act independently, they may be exempted from punishment.”
Yan Liangyu said coldly, “When these women were forced to kill, every one of them had been drugged with Five-Stone Powder. Their minds were clouded, and you threatened them with death. Afterward, these girls tormented themselves every day out of guilt, even going so far as to injure themselves. By reason, by circumstance, and by law, they can all be exempted from punishment.”
Yan Liangrong’s gaze was icy as it swept across the criminals before the bench. “You, on the other hand, will pay the price for every one of your crimes.”
Yan Tongshu delivered the final judgment. “The ten of you acted as co-conspirators. You jointly coerced the victims, and all of you are principal offenders. Under the laws of this dynasty, anyone guilty of intentional homicide shall be put to death.”
Yan Tongshu rose and faced Qin Yi. “Your Majesty, I request that the death sentences of these ten men be approved in court, with their executions carried out at the execution ground three days from now.”
Qin Yi nodded. “Approved.”
Approved!
His Majesty had approved it!
The nineteen girls clutched one another’s hands tightly. Their faces were filled with the joy of having survived a catastrophe, though bewilderment outweighed even that joy.
Meanwhile, the ten men, including Yan Qichu, were ashen-faced. Some could not bear to face the consequences and even tried to kill themselves on the spot, but the Divine Might Army stopped them in time.
Yan Tongshu glanced at the man.
Cowards.
They did not want to be watched by a crowd as they were executed. They were afraid to face their parents’ accusations, so they wanted to end things with a quick death?
Not a chance.
They wanted to die painlessly, but she insisted on having them taken to the execution ground and put to death openly and lawfully before the eyes of the public.
Yan Tongshu ordered the constables to escort the men to prison.
Then she struck the courtroom block once more. “Court adjourned!”
Li Fulin and Zhang Jiu rose and left with Yan Liangyu, Yan Liangrong, and the nineteen girls.
After the constables had also withdrawn, Yan Tongshu walked over to Qin Yi. “Your Majesty, Yan Qichu and the other nine are utterly vile, and death is too good for them. But they still have relatives and families. Once they are dead, their powerful families may seek revenge. Even if only one or two of those family members are unreasonable, these helpless girls would have no way to bear the consequences.
“Your Majesty, could the court give these poor girls a choice? If they are willing, the court could provide them with new household registrations and identities, allowing them to change their names and faces and begin their lives anew.”
Something shifted in Qin Yi’s eyes. “Approved.”
Yan Tongshu was overjoyed.
Qin Yi added, “If they would rather live somewhere else, I will have the Ministry of Revenue select a fertile place for them and secretly arrange their household-registration records. I will also allocate some funds to help them through the initial difficulties of relocating.”
“Yes!” Yan Tongshu said excitedly. “Your Majesty has thought of everything. Long live Your Majesty!”
Infected by her enthusiasm, a smile touched Qin Yi’s lips. He stood and looked down at her, his gaze deep and solemn. “Yan Tongshu.”
Yan Tongshu looked up. “Yes?”
He said softly, “There are only the two of us here now.” It was private now.
He looked ahead. After an entire night of turmoil, the sky at the horizon had begun to pale.
“It will be dawn soon,” he said. “I should be going back.”
“Oh, oh.” Yan Tongshu hurriedly bowed. “This minister respectfully sees Your Majesty off.”
Qin Yi raised a hand and pinched her cheek hard. “Stop pretending not to understand.”
“I’m leaving.” With that, he bent down and gave Yan Tongshu a light hug before walking away. As he went, he said, “Minister Yan, you’ve worked hard tonight. I grant you one day of leave. You may return home and rest today, and report for duty again tomorrow.”
An extra day off!
Yan Tongshu called out loudly, “Thank you for Your Majesty’s gracious favor!”
Yan Tongshu hurried to tell Yan Liangrong and Yan Liangyu that His Majesty had approved the new household registrations. In recent days, the two sisters had been in contact with the girls. The girls trusted them deeply, and it would be best for Yan Tongshu to persuade them to let go of their self-loathing and self-punishment over the past, and truly embrace a new life.
Among the nineteen girls was Ding Xin, who had married an abusive man in order to punish herself and care for her mother.
Her marriage would need to be dealt with as well.
Yan Liangrong nodded. “Don’t worry, Eldest Sister understands. Liangyu and I will comfort them properly. If they had the courage to identify their murderers in open court, then once they have untied the knots in their hearts, I believe they will also have the courage to start over.”
“Mm.” Yan Tongshu nodded.
Only after everything had been dealt with did Yan Tongshu ride back to the residence to rest.
When Pearl and Jinbao saw her return, one went to prepare food while the other readied hot water for her bath.
After eating breakfast and washing up, Yan Tongshu lay down on her soft, fragrant bed and sank into a deep sleep.
While she slept, Qin Yi still had to hurry back to the imperial palace for the morning court.
After court, he received the ministers and reviewed memorials. He was busy until noon before he could finally catch his breath.
Qin Yi could not help wondering: If Yan Tongshu were in his position, what would she do?
Would that woman even be able to get out of bed?
After lunch, Qin Yi reclined on a couch and took a brief nap.
Red rain drifted down, and peach blossoms fluttered through the air.
Qin Yi looked around in confusion. He could not seem to remember how he had gotten there.
A figure suddenly flashed past him.
Yan Tongshu?
He stepped forward.
Suddenly, Yan Tongshu jumped out in front of him with a loud “Boo!” and startled him.
She burst into laughter. “Did I scare you?”
Qin Yi truly was stunned—not because she had appeared so suddenly, but because of everything before his eyes.
Yan Tongshu was wearing a dress that was red on top and green below. Flowers adorned her hair, and blossoms of every color bloomed brightly and enchantingly, setting off her snow-white skin and giving her a fresh, rosy glow.
She smiled at him, her bright eyes sparkling with vitality.
It was a vitality unique to Yan Tongshu.
Vivid and radiant.
Yan Tongshu looked at him in confusion and made a questioning sound, then waved a hand in front of his eyes.
“Mm. You scared me.”
He looked at Yan Tongshu, his gaze deep and dark.
Yan Tongshu twirled once. “Do I look pretty?”
Beautiful.
Far too beautiful.
Emerald brows.
Bright eyes.
Vermilion lips.
Qin Yi unconsciously fixed his gaze on those lips, which seemed to be saying something he could not make out.
They appeared to be coated not only with rouge, but honey as well, glistening in the sunlight.
“Ah, why aren’t you answering? Did you get angry because I scared you?” Yan Tongshu tugged at him. “Then I’ll apologize. Don’t be angry anymore, all right?”
Qin Yi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “How will you apologize?”
Yan Tongshu thought for a moment, then opened her arms. “With a hug.”
“All right.”
The moment his hoarse voice fell, Qin Yi leaned forward and kissed her eagerly.
Whoosh—
Qin Yi’s eyes flew open. His breathing was ragged, and he could hardly catch his breath.
Had he gone mad?
Was it because he had seen Yan Tongshu fooling around with Zhang Jiu, and that was why he had dreamed of her dressed as a woman?
Qin Yi’s lips parted slightly as his heart pounded violently.
It would not calm down at all.
He closed his eyes, trying to steady himself, but opened them again at once.
Mad. He was completely mad.
Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was the Yan Tongshu from his dream, dressed in a riot of colors and flowers—and himself... with her... doing that...
“Your Majesty.” Hearing the sounds from inside, Lu Xi asked from outside the door, “Would Your Majesty like this servant to come in and attend you?”
Qin Yi grabbed the thin blanket beside him and covered his lower body. “Prepare some water.”
Lu Xi stiffened.
It was daytime.
Did His Majesty mean the kind of water he was thinking of?
Could he perhaps mean tea?
Lu Xi asked cautiously, “Your Majesty, should I prepare tea?”
Qin Yi said, “Prepare water for a bath.”
Lu Xi was so stunned that he hurriedly held his breath to keep himself from losing his composure.
He said softly, “Yes, this servant will prepare it at once.”
…
In the case involving Yan Qichu, the Divine Might Army and the Divine Guard Army had both been dispatched. They searched every household and spent the entire night interrogating the suspects, passing judgment, and delivering sentences.
Not one of their parents could understand it.
Why?
Why on earth?
Were they short of money?
Were they short of women?
None of them lacked either, yet they had gone and done something so utterly absurd. What had they been thinking?
Though they were criminals, no one could stop their parents from seeing them.
Therefore, when the parents of the ten men came to him, Li Fulin agreed to let them visit their children in the imperial prison. However, two bailiffs had to be present to supervise each meeting.
The Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice came to the prison. Shao He was dressed in a convict’s uniform, crouched in a dark corner.
The Vice Director rushed forward and slapped Shao He across the face. “You unfilial wretch! You unfilial wretch!”
He had put all his strength into that slap, as though Shao He were not his son but his sworn enemy.
Shao He’s body slammed into the hard wall with a bang. The wounds that had stopped bleeding immediately split open again, and blood seeped through his prison clothes.
The bailiff hurriedly reminded him, “My lord, please do not punish the prisoner yourself.”
The Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice retorted furiously, “He’s my son!”
The bailiff insisted, “Lord Shao, please do not punish the prisoner yourself.”
The Vice Director’s face turned livid, but he did not dare strike again.
Shao He suddenly laughed. “Hahaha. Who would have thought that, in the end, the Kaifeng Prefecture would be the one protecting me?”
The Vice Director demanded, “Why did you do this? Have you gone mad? I’m your father, a Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice, and yet you went and did something lower than a beast!”
“Lower than a beast?” Shao He sneered. “Father, weren’t all the things I did at your instruction?”
The two supervising bailiffs looked at the Vice Director in unison. Could there be some hidden truth behind the case?
Under their suspicious gazes, the Vice Director grew slightly flustered. “You unfilial wretch, what nonsense are you talking about?”
“Am I wrong?” Shao He struggled to his feet. “Father, you taught me this. You taught me to curry favor with Young Master Yan. You said that Young Master Yan was the son of Prince Ming, and that I should obey him unconditionally and do as he said. Didn’t you teach me all of that? What is it, Father? You accepted the benefits I gained by pleasing Young Master Yan. Now that something has gone wrong, you refuse to acknowledge me?”
The Vice Director retorted, “I told you to be his friend!”
“His friend?” Shao He twisted his lips into a smile. He had just been struck, and even that movement caused him pain.
He prodded the wound with his tongue. “Father, what sort of person is he, and what sort of person am I? If I didn’t do his dirty and exhausting work, why would he be friends with me? Father, surely you understand that?”
Shao He looked as if he had gone mad. “Weren’t you Prince Ming’s dog? I only followed your example. I did exactly as you taught me.”
“You—” The Vice Director trembled with rage.
Shao He shouted back, “What about me?”
Things had already come to this. Shao He had nothing left to fear. He sneered, “If a son is not taught properly, the father is to blame. Father, your blood runs through my veins. You raised me. If I committed a crime, then that is your fault too. So!”
His voice suddenly rose as he advanced step by step toward the Vice Director.
“What right do you have to stand here and condemn me? Have you cleaned up all the filthy things you do behind closed doors? You’re dirty in secret, yet when you come home, you put on the face of a man of integrity. You nitpick everything I do and beat me at the slightest excuse.
“Father, all I did was slack off and read one less book, and you broke one of my fingers. But what about you? Have you never slacked off? Were you always such a brilliant student?”
Shao He glared at the Vice Director with the ferocity of a wolf. “If you hadn’t broken this finger and left it crippled, how could those bastards have recognized me? This is all your fault! What right do you have to pretend to be so noble? What right do you have to put on the airs of a father and lecture me? You disgust me.”
“You—you—” The Vice Director’s vision went black with rage. “How dare you curse your own father? I’ll hit—”
“Go ahead. Hit me.”
Like a madman, Shao He shoved the Vice Director to the ground.
“Father, you’re old, while I’m still young. I’ve spent years training in the army. You can’t beat me anymore. I didn’t fight back before because I learned that from you: when you’re weak, you must endure. But now, I have nothing to fear.”
Shao He walked over to the Vice Director and looked down at him.
“From this moment until the day I die, if you ever lay a finger on me again, I’ll take your life!”
The Vice Director was already so enraged that he could barely see. Now he could not catch his breath and promptly passed out.
The bailiffs hurriedly called for people to carry him out and find a physician.
Shao He merely cast a cold glance at the Vice Director before returning to his corner. He sat down, his eyes gradually losing focus until they became hollow and empty.
The heads of the other nine families arrived in the morning as well.
Some, like the Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice, were angered into fainting. Some were heartbroken as they watched their sons kneel and beg for help. In some cases, both parents came, only to start arguing with each other right there in the prison.
Prince Ming arrived in the afternoon.
Short and stout, he walked in with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression heavy and somber.
He stopped in front of Yan Qichu’s cell and looked at him with deep, inscrutable eyes.
Given Prince Ming’s special status, Li Fulin personally came to the prison to supervise the visit, standing silently to one side as though he were not even there.
The bailiff unlocked the cell, and Prince Ming walked in.
Yan Qichu sat on the narrow, damp bed. When he saw Prince Ming, he smiled. “Father, have you come to save me?”
Prince Ming said nothing. He only looked at him.
He had three sons and two daughters in his lifetime.
But Yan Qichu was his first son—the joy of becoming a father for the first time, and the only child he had raised with his own hands.
Their bond was unlike any other.
He had once placed great hopes in this son and personally taught him.
Later, caught in the vortex of political struggle, he could only tell him to endure. He had never expected that the boy would lose all spirit after that and never recover.
So be it if he never recovered.
He could still ensure that Yan Qichu lived a life of wealth and honor, safe and secure.
But Yan Qichu had actually…
“Were you lacking something?” Prince Ming finally asked the question that had been circling in his heart for so long. “Chu, if you needed something, you should have told your father.”
Yan Qichu tilted his head and looked at Prince Ming in a daze. “If I told you, Father, would you have helped me?”
