After leaving Duting Post Station, Yan Tongshu looked up at the sky and rubbed her hands together. It seemed even colder than it had been that morning.
But that was only natural.
It was winter, after all.
The temperature would continue to drop until spring returned, flowers bloomed, and all things came back to life.
Jinbao drove the carriage over. As Yan Tongshu climbed inside, she instructed him, “To the palace.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Before long, the carriage stopped at the palace gates.
As usual, Yan Tongshu had Pearl, Jinbao, and the others remain in the carriage. She took her token and entered the palace alone.
Chuigong Hall.
After announcing her arrival, Yan Tongshu hurried inside and came to the imperial desk. Placing both hands on it, she said, “Qin Yi, there’s something I need to ask you.”
Qin Yi set down the brush he had been using to review memorials and asked, “What is it?”
“The man the Empress Dowager was betrothed to before she entered the palace.” Yan Tongshu had run too quickly and was still catching her breath. “The Northern Liao spy she almost married. Do you know where he went afterward? What did he look like? And did the Empress Dowager have a son with that spy?”
Qin Yi looked surprised. “How do you know that the man the Empress Dowager was betrothed to was a Northern Liao spy?”
Wasn’t that supposed to be a secret?
“Don’t worry about how I found out. Just answer my questions.” Yan Tongshu was growing anxious.
Qin Yi closed the memorials on the desk and spoke as he recalled the events. “Before the Empress Dowager entered the palace, she was indeed engaged once, and the other party was indeed a Northern Liao spy. However, he got wind of the matter early and fled in a panic. The incident was then suppressed.
“Later, the late emperor visited the Empress Dowager’s family home. At the time, her father was the Vice Minister of the Department of State Affairs. The late emperor and the Empress Dowager exchanged poetry beneath the moon and developed feelings for each other. Her father confessed to the late emperor that she had once been deceived in a betrothal. The late emperor did not care about such a minor detail, so he made her a Consort Xiu and brought her into the harem.”
At that moment, Lu Xi brought over a chair. Qin Yi signaled with his eyes for Yan Tongshu to sit down, then continued, “Later, the late emperor favored the Empress Dowager. Some jealous consorts had their maternal families investigate her background. That was when it was discovered that the man she had been engaged to was a Northern Liao spy, and that she had given birth to a daughter twenty-five years ago.”
If Princess Tijia were still alive, she would be twenty-three this year. The Seventeenth Prince, the son born to the Empress Dowager, was nineteen. Xie Li was twenty-four and a half. The daughter born before them could be around the same age.
Yan Tongshu asked, “Are you certain the Empress Dowager gave birth twenty-five years ago? And that the child was a girl?”
Qin Yi replied, “That was what the midwife who assisted with the Empress Dowager’s delivery said. There should be no mistake.”
Yan Tongshu pressed him, “What happened to the midwife?”
“The Late Emperor flew into a rage and drove her from the palace. No one knows what became of her afterward.”
Yan Tongshu asked again, “Are you absolutely certain it was a girl?”
“Why are you asking that?” Qin Yi looked at Yan Tongshu in confusion.
Yan Tongshu’s brows drew tightly together. “Princess Xing’an said that the spy who had been involved with the Empress Dowager was called Uncle Jiang…”
“Correct. His alias in Bianjing was Jiang Hengzhou,” Qin Yi added.
Yan Tongshu continued, “Princess Xing’an also said that Uncle Jiang brought a boy back from Bianjing. She once asked him whether that boy was his son with the Empress Dowager, and he didn’t deny it.”
But that meant Uncle Jiang had not admitted it, either.
So although the record in Venerable Yu Ping’s handwritten notes was based on hearsay, perhaps it had not been mistaken after all.
The Empress Dowager had given birth to a girl.
Then… if the child born to the Empress Dowager and Uncle Jiang was a girl, who was the boy Uncle Jiang had brought back from Bianjing—the boy who was now Xie Li?
Yan Tongshu hurriedly asked, “Do you have a portrait of Uncle Jiang?”
“We do, but…” Qin Yi gave Lu Xi a meaningful look. Lu Xi understood at once, respectfully withdrew from Chuigong Hall, and ordered someone to retrieve the portrait.
Qin Yi explained, “By the time the Empress Dowager’s past was exposed, she had already given birth to the Seventeenth Prince many years earlier. Most of those who had seen Jiang Hengzhou had been driven out of the capital by the Empress Dowager’s maternal family. Their memories had grown hazy, so the portrait isn’t entirely accurate.”
Even if it was not completely accurate, some of his features should still have been captured.
Yan Tongshu could only wait for the portrait.
Seeing that she was deep in thought, Qin Yi asked, “Is this man connected to the case?”
Yan Tongshu said solemnly, “I suspect that one of the people in the delegation is Jiang Hengzhou.”
An hour later, the portrait was brought in.
Lu Xi unfolded it before Qin Yi and Yan Tongshu.
The man in the portrait wore the scholar’s robes favored by students. He had handsome, refined features, an upright bearing, and an air of carefree elegance.
He was tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist.
He was clearly the sort of man who looked slim when dressed, but was powerfully built beneath his clothes.
No wonder he had been able to charm the Empress Dowager, then still a young girl, into marrying him despite having no official rank or scholarly honors.
Yan Tongshu studied the features in the portrait carefully and compared them with Mangtai’s.
The man’s eyes were beautiful, but asymmetrical. One had several folds in the eyelid, while the other was a double eyelid.
They were the same as Mangtai’s.
The nose was different. Mangtai’s was higher and more pronounced.
The man had thin, pert lips.
Mangtai’s lips gave him a more pained, weathered appearance.
Near the upper part of the man’s ear, close to the hairline, was a tiny red mole.
Mangtai did not have one.
Yan Tongshu pondered for a moment before asking, “Are the details in this portrait reliable?”
She pointed to the red mole. “Is this accurate?”
“The Late Emperor’s agents investigated it. Many of those agents have since changed their names, gone into hiding, or retired to their hometowns. I don’t know how they conducted their investigation at the time,” Qin Yi said. “But the agents had a rule: anything uncertain had to be marked. For example…”
Qin Yi pointed to the scar on the back of the man’s hand. “This was drawn with a broken line, which means they were uncertain whether it was real. The red mole, however, was not circled with a broken line. That means it was genuine.”
“Then Mangtai is Jiang Hengzhou.” Yan Tongshu’s gaze turned cold and sharp. “Although Mangtai doesn’t have a scar on the back of his hand, the man who attacked me inside the palace did…”
Qin Yi narrowed his eyes, his tone turning icy. “The man who attacked you?”
Yan Tongshu nodded. “I remember clearly that before I lost consciousness, I saw a long scar on the back of that big-bearded Liao man’s hand. It was identical to the one in this portrait. That man was Mangtai, but Mangtai doesn’t have the scar now. He must have used some method to conceal it.
“And there’s the red mole. Mangtai doesn’t have one, either. But he has a circular burn mark in the same place. To hide his identity, he may have burned off the mole with an incense stick or something similar.”
Mangtai was Jiang Hengzhou. He and the Empress Dowager had had a daughter together, so Xie Li was not the son of Jiang Hengzhou and the Empress Dowager.
There was another secret hidden within all this.
After Yan Tongshu finished speaking, she realized that Qin Yi had not responded. She looked at him in confusion. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.” Qin Yi smiled faintly and secretly relaxed his clenched fists.
Yan Tongshu was still investigating the case. He would not interfere with her investigation or disrupt her rhythm.
But once Princess Xing’an’s case was over…
Whether it was Jiang Hengzhou or Mangtai, he would never let either of them off.
“Oh.” Yan Tongshu rose to her feet. “Then I’ll be going.”
Qin Yi grabbed her and pulled her back. “Yan Tongshu, are you really going to use me and then toss me aside?”
“What does that have to do with using you and tossing you aside? Are you even being reasonable?” Yan Tongshu protested indignantly. “That’s how questioning witnesses works in an investigation. Once the questions are over, it’s over. Otherwise, would I have to exchange pleasantries with every witness after questioning them and invite them to dinner?”
“You call that being polite to me?” Qin Yi’s face darkened.
Yan Tongshu was once again stunned by Qin Yi’s unreasonable behavior.
There was no talking sense into him.
She turned to leave, but Qin Yi caught hold of her and refused to let go. Then she suddenly noticed a familiar object on the imperial desk, lying lazily beside Snowfluff.
It was a chubby cotton doll made of white cloth, with round eyes, pink lips, long black hair, a fierce expression, and a neat Ru-style skirt.
Yan Tongshu pointed at the cotton doll and demanded, “What is that?”
Qin Yi opened his mouth, but couldn’t come up with an explanation.
Yan Tongshu walked up to him and interrogated him. “Do you beat it every night to vent your frustrations too?”
Qin Yi narrowed his eyes perceptively. “You beat ‘me’ every night?”
Oh no.
Yan Tongshu’s heart gave a little jolt.
She had let it slip.
Yan Tongshu tried her best to explain. “That isn’t you. It’s Little Treasure, my baby.”
“You mean…” Qin Yi’s lips curled upward, his eyes and brows brimming with delight. “It’s the baby of ‘you and me’?”
Yan Tongshu was once again utterly astounded by Qin Yi’s bizarre train of thought. She forcefully emphasized, “It’s ‘my’ baby.”
“It looks so much like me. Could you have given birth to it all by yourself?” Qin Yi retorted, lifting his chin slightly as he spoke.
Yan Tongshu fell silent.
That dog emperor was shameless beyond belief.
She took a deep breath and pointed at the cotton doll. “Qin Yi, stop changing the subject. What is this?”
“This isn’t you.” Qin Yi put on a serious and solemn expression, then imitated Yan Tongshu’s tone. “It’s another baby of ours—a baby girl. It isn’t you. You’re a boy.”
“And how can a boy give birth to a baby?” he added.
No.
Yan Tongshu was frantic. Qin Yi had completely led her astray.
With a cold snort, Yan Tongshu left in a huff.
Watching her retreating back, Qin Yi sat on the dragon throne and laughed smugly. Then his smile froze on his face.
Wait!
Wasn’t his original goal to stop Yan Tongshu from using him and tossing him aside, and to make sure he at least got a hug or a kiss?
Qin Yi was laughing with exasperation.
Fine. Fine.
That brat always managed to find all sorts of excuses to play dumb and slip away.
Yan Tongshu! Just you wait!
…
That evening, Yan Tongshu returned home from the Kaifeng Prefecture. When she entered the courtyard and opened the door, she saw that Qin Yi had already bathed and was lying on the bed.
The little cotton baby girl and the cotton baby boy were nestled together in the corner of the bed.
Propping his head up with one hand, he gazed at Yan Tongshu with a smile and raised his brows. Then he patted the spot in front of him.
Yan Tongshu was used to it by now. She turned around to change her shoes, had Pearl bring hot water for her to wash up, and then went behind the screen to change clothes.
These days, the screen had been covered with a thick, opaque cloth. Nothing could be seen through it.
After washing up, Yan Tongshu lay down on the bed.
The quilt was warm and cozy.
She suddenly felt that, in weather like this, coming home to a nice, warm quilt wasn’t so bad.
Yan Tongshu tucked her hands and feet beneath the covers and closed her eyes.
Qin Yi let out an irritated scoff. “Yan Tongshu, have you already grown tired of me?”
Yan Tongshu opened her eyes and glanced at him. Then she slipped her cold hand inside his clothes.
“Hiss—” Qin Yi drew in a sharp breath. “You’re freezing.”
Yan Tongshu blinked, lifted one foot, and placed it on his. Then she gave him a sidelong glance.
Qin Yi smiled. “I want that too.”
He slowly moved closer and pulled Yan Tongshu into his scorching embrace. Placing his hand on her waist, he began to massage it gently.
“My Minister Yan has been working hard, rushing about the country to investigate cases. You’ve had a difficult time. Let me massage your waist. When you wake up tomorrow morning, it won’t ache so much.”
Yan Tongshu lowered her long lashes and gave a soft hum of agreement.
Qin Yi massaged her carefully and slowly, applying just the right amount of pressure. Before long, Yan Tongshu drifted off to sleep.
Qin Yi smiled and continued massaging her.
The next day, when Yan Tongshu woke up, Qin Yi had already returned to the palace to attend the morning court.
She stretched and sat up in bed.
Her monthly cycle had always been regular and healthy. But during those few days each month, she still experienced some discomfort, and her lower back would ache slightly.
Today, however, the ache seemed to be a little lighter.
Yan Tongshu lingered in bed for a while to shake off her drowsiness before getting up.
Pearl had already prepared hot water.
After washing up, Yan Tongshu thought for a moment. “Pearl, let’s go out for noodles today. I haven’t had them in ages.”
Pearl had been missing Aunt Yang’s noodles too, and immediately agreed with delight. “Yes!”
After washing up, Yan Tongshu brought Pearl and Jinbao happily to Aunt Yang’s noodle stall.
“Oh my, Lord Yan!” Aunt Yang was always delighted to see Yan Tongshu. She immediately prepared three bowls of noodles, as was customary. As she stirred the noodles in the pot with long, slender chopsticks, she said cheerfully, “Lord Yan, my boy has been working very hard lately. He’s even started bringing money home, and he can save quite a bit now. I reckon that once his heart settles down completely, I’ll take out the savings I’ve accumulated over the years and find him a wife.”
In the past, Aunt Yang had never arranged a marriage for Zhao Sheng. For one thing, his reputation had been too terrible. No respectable family’s daughter would have been willing to marry a local ruffian like him. For another, she hadn’t wanted her son to ruin some good girl’s life.
But things were different now. Her son had become sensible. He could earn money and save it, and he was finally ready to settle down and live a proper life.
Yan Tongshu smiled. “That’s wonderful. When Zhao Sheng gets married, Aunt Yang, you must remember to send me an invitation.”
“Of course, of course. I might forget anyone else, but I could never forget you, Lord Yan.”
By then, the noodles were ready. Aunt Yang lifted them from the pot, placed them in bowls, ladled on a generous spoonful of toppings, and served the steaming noodles at the table.
The moment the noodles arrived, Meng Zheng came over.
He sat down across from Yan Tongshu and ordered a bowl for himself as well.
The two of them ate facing each other. Meng Zheng ate quickly, polishing off his entire bowl in just a few bites before letting out a satisfied burp.
“Refreshing.”
Then he set down his chopsticks. “Lord Yan, we’ve found something unexpected.”
Yan Tongshu put down her chopsticks. “What is it?”
Meng Zheng said, “Late last night, one of the delegation officials, Yongsheng, secretly slipped out through the back door. Duan Duo saw him, but didn’t stop him. My men suspected something was wrong, so they followed him all the way to Fortune Casino.
“Fortune Casino operates illegally after curfew, using a side entrance and admitting only regular customers. The delegation has been in Bianjing for less than half a month. How did Yongsheng become familiar with Fortune Casino?
“My men couldn’t get inside, so they climbed over the wall and continued following him from the roof. They saw Yongsheng enter the casino’s rear courtyard, then leave through the back door. He didn’t carry a lantern and entered a carriage in complete darkness. The carriage was pitch-black, and there was nowhere nearby for anyone to hide, so they couldn’t get any closer.
“After a long while, the man emerged from the carriage holding a bottle of water. He looked extremely excited. After praying several times, he drank the water, then returned to the casino the way he had come.
“My men continued watching the carriage. After the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, around five people emerged from inside. Every one of them was a trained fighter, dressed in black night clothes. They moved swiftly and scattered in all directions. After that, we couldn’t follow them.”
Yan Tongshu thought it over briefly. “You suspect those people are extremists from the Tianshen Cult who infiltrated Bianjing?”
Meng Zheng nodded. “Didn’t I mention this to you before? Before the delegation entered the capital, we were attacked by Tianshen Cult extremists. After that, I investigated the cult. The Tianshen Cult is the state religion of Northern Liao, and it acts under the authority of the Liao king. But seventeen or eighteen years ago, something suddenly changed within the Tianshen Cult. For some unknown reason, the sect split into two factions: the orthodox faction and the New Faction.
“The New Faction rose rapidly and tried to seize power. With the Liao king’s support, the orthodox faction sent troops to suppress them. The New Faction’s leaders were wiped out, while its middle-ranking members escaped. Ever since then, they’ve remained active among the people of Liao. Most of the Tianshen Cult’s extremists come from the New Faction. They use a miraculous holy water to spread their teachings. Supposedly, anyone who drinks it will be cured of every illness and live forever. Countless people have bankrupted themselves in their pursuit of the holy water. Yongsheng must have been drinking that.”
The name Yongsheng seemed vaguely familiar to Yan Tongshu. He was short and slight, wore a thick tiger-fur coat, and liked to wear a hat. He also had a full beard and always stood at the very back behind Chancellor Yelu, in a position no one paid attention to. He never said much and never drew notice to himself.
Yan Tongshu chewed her noodles, thinking carefully.
Logically speaking, now that they knew Yongsheng was a spy planted in the delegation by the New Faction of the Tianshen Cult, they could simply arrest and interrogate him.
But there was a problem.
Those who followed the Tianshen Cult were its most devoted believers.
They worshipped the Celestial God and considered it an honor to die for Him. In their minds, dying for the Celestial God meant they could serve Him after death and enjoy eternal life.
They weren’t afraid of death. In fact, at the slightest sign of trouble, they would take their own lives.
People who neither feared death nor hesitated to embrace it were the hardest to deal with.
Yan Tongshu finished the last half bowl of noodles, set down her chopsticks, and raised her head. “Let’s try tricking Yongsheng into confessing.”
Meng Zheng understood at once. “Then it’ll have to be tonight.”
People who couldn’t show themselves in daylight were bound to operate at night.
After finishing her meal, Yan Tongshu didn’t return to Kaifeng Prefecture. Instead, she took a detour to the area near the house Feng Feng had once rented.
It was a lively, prosperous district where the middle and lower classes gathered.
There were opera troupes, storytelling stages, teahouses, clinics, and pawnshops nearby. The food was plentiful, and the roads led in every direction, making it convenient to get anywhere.
“Osmanthus rice cakes! Osmanthus rice cakes, fresh from the oven!”
Fresh from the oven was always the best!
The moment Yan Tongshu heard the cry, she immediately brought Pearl and Jinbao over to join the queue.
She watched the line eagerly. Seven more people—only seven more before it was their turn.
The shop assistant wrapping the osmanthus cakes worked with practiced speed. Before long, he reached Yan Tongshu and the others.
Yan Tongshu held out her hand. “I’ll take six.”
“Coming right up.” The assistant lifted the lid. “What luck! There are exactly six left in this batch.”
As he wrapped them, he called out, “Customers behind them, this batch is sold out. You’ll have to wait for the next one.”
Everyone began complaining that the shop made far too few cakes in each batch.
The assistant apologized with a sheepish smile while packing up Yan Tongshu’s order.
The three of them each took two.
Yan Tongshu opened the paper wrapping and bit into one. The osmanthus cake was fragrant, soft, sweet, and still steaming hot.
After a bowl of spicy fish-paste noodles that morning, something sweet was exactly what she needed.
Yan Tongshu was savoring her cake when she turned around and spotted Xie Li standing in the queue as well. She waved. “You’re here to buy osmanthus cakes too?”
Yan Tongshu thought for a moment, then split another cake and offered half to Xie Li.
Xie Li shook his head, looking haggard. “They don’t have these beyond the frontier. The princess likes them. I wanted to buy some and visit her at Kaifeng Prefecture.”
Xie Li and the princess were master and disciple, as well as friends. They often sneaked out together to have fun, so their relationship was naturally close.
Yan Tongshu withdrew the cake. “Then I’ll go back to Kaifeng Prefecture with you later.”
“Mm.” Xie Li replied faintly, his eyes fixed on the osmanthus cakes ahead.
Just then, snow began to drift down from the sky.
It was only a light snow.
Yan Tongshu looked up. At this rate, it probably wouldn’t amount to much. It would drift for a while and then stop.
She held out her sleeve and caught a snowflake.
It was crystalline and beautiful.
Xie Li stared at the snowflake resting on Yan Tongshu’s sleeve. “The princess likes snow too. The snow two days ago was the first snow of the year.”
“Yes. It was the first snow of winter. It snowed for such a long time that when we woke up, everything around us was white.” Yan Tongshu followed his train of thought.
Xie Li pressed his pale lips together. “But I don’t like snow. I never have. I didn’t like the snow the night before last, either.”
Yan Tongshu gave a quiet hum.
Xie Li offered no further explanation.
He was in a foul mood, and Yan Tongshu didn’t feel it was appropriate to press him. So she wandered off to the side, browsing the nearby stalls while she waited for him to finish queuing.
The shop next door sold books.
Yan Tongshu chewed on her osmanthus cake as she idly flipped through the books.
“Young Master, look.” Pearl suddenly held up a book. “They have storybooks with illustrations.”
Yan Tongshu walked over. Sure enough, there were quite a lot of them.
The shop assistant enthusiastically recommended them. “What kind of illustrated storybooks do you like, Young Master? I’ve got all the new titles for the New Year—swashbuckling adventures, secrets of the previous dynasty, treasure hunts, detective stories, and even… romantic tales of passion. I have everything.”
Yan Tongshu swallowed the last bite of her osmanthus cake. “Don’t mind me. I’m just looking around.”
“Of course. Take your time. Just call me if you need anything.”
Yan Tongshu flipped through the illustrated storybooks.
She loved these little books, especially the ones from ancient times.
The ancients really weren’t as conservative and prudish as people imagined. Their artistic skills were superb, too. The illustrations were vivid and lifelike, and the plots were practically a collection of every melodramatic cliché imaginable.
They were also daring enough to depict anything: imperial consorts having affairs, civet cats replacing princes, and so on.
Of course, the “civet cat replacing the prince” story wasn’t the one from unofficial histories, where a real civet cat was used in place of the prince. In the ancient version, the civet cat transformed into a male infant on the day the princes were switched. Not only did he save the life of the displaced consort, he also used magic to help her eliminate the treacherous ministers. After eventually ascending the throne, he restored it to the true prince.
It turned out the civet cat had come to repay a debt of gratitude.
Naturally, the story also contained no shortage of dramatic twists and turns in its various romances.
Still, illustrated storybooks were ultimately just light entertainment, not respectable volumes. They had no value as collectibles and were simply thrown away after being read. To save on costs, lower the price, and increase sales, the publishers used the cheapest paper available. It was especially thin.
Yan Tongshu felt irritated the moment she touched it.
This was discrimination against illustrated storybooks.
Why should they be treated as inferior?
She put the storybook down and glanced at the volumes beside it.
Oh?
They even sold opera scripts.
Yan Tongshu had never liked reading books. She loved illustrated storybooks, and if those weren’t available, she would go watch an opera. She never read opera scripts.
But among the things Feng Feng had left behind were two opera scripts.
Without thinking, she picked up one of them.
Yan Tongshu flipped open a page—and grew even angrier.
This was discrimination. Pure, blatant discrimination!
People said illustrated storybooks were unfit for respectable circles, and fine, their books were small and their paper thin. But why was the paper used for opera scripts also much thinner than that of the Four Books and Five Classics?
Yan Tongshu angrily flipped through the pages. But as she continued, her movements gradually slowed.
“Shopkeeper,” Yan Tongshu called. “Do you have Spring Blossom Plume and Song of the Wind?”
“Of course. They’re classic plays.” The shop assistant went to the cabinet in the back, rummaged out two playbooks, and handed them to Yan Tongshu. “Are these the two you meant?”
Yan Tongshu nodded. He took the books, opened the covers, and gently rubbed the pages between his fingers.
