The night deepened.
The sounds of yamen runners hurrying through the city grew increasingly frequent. Torches darted through the streets and alleys like fireflies flitting up and down. Hoofbeats suddenly thundered close, then drifted away. Looking toward the yamen, one could see it brightly lit, as though it were daylight.
The interrogation had been forced to stop. If they continued, they might expose their whereabouts.
Shen Zheng ordered the guards to take Liu Kangren to the side room where Six Monkeys had once lived and let him rest there. To prevent him from doing anything rash, they left his shackles on.
Back in his own residence, Liu Kangren lay on the cold bed, staring at the room that was still the same but whose occupants and circumstances had changed beyond recognition. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He wondered how things were in the capital now, and what his father and mother would think when they heard that he had knowingly violated the law.
He truly was an unfilial son. After his second brother’s death, he ought to have taken up the burden of supporting the Liu family’s military household. But his abilities were limited. Though he had done everything he could, he had still ended in complete failure.
For ten years, he had not returned home or fulfilled his filial duties before his parents. And now, the next news they received of him would be that he had committed a crime punishable by death.
His elder brother had been bedridden for years. Now he himself was about to die. How would his parents endure such successive blows?
Tears soaked Liu Kangren’s lapel, his heart filled with conflicting emotions.
Yet the one thing that comforted him now was that he had revealed the full truth about the situation in Mianzhou.
He was becoming more and more certain that Director Wen had indeed come under imperial orders to eradicate Mianzhou’s entrenched abuses once and for all.
Otherwise, with Director Wen’s and that prince’s exalted identities, why would they have humbled themselves to sleep together for several days on the narrow bed in his main room?
Though the road ahead remained uncertain, a thread of consolation still rose in Liu Kangren’s heart.
The hour of Yin had arrived. Now and then, torchlight flashed across the window paper, making the room flicker between brightness and darkness.
Wen Zhuo lay fully clothed on the bed, already able to imagine how frantic Lou Changsui must be at that moment.
With the entire city being searched, the Liu residence might not remain a safe hiding place for long. Fortunately, their investigation into Mianzhou had already yielded some initial results. The only thorny matter was Liu Kangren.
Keeping him alive would be troublesome; allowing him to die would leave him wronged. For a time, Wen Zhuo had no idea how to deal with him.
If not for this constraint, he could reveal his identity at once, go straight to the yamen, and investigate the discrepancies in the old household registers and land records.
“Your Highness,” Wen Zhuo called softly.
He was not sure whether Shen Zheng was asleep. He simply could not sleep himself and wanted someone to talk to.
“Mm?” Shen Zheng answered at once, his eyes still closed and his breathing steady.
“Do you know how much time and effort it takes to verify landholdings and population figures?” Wen Zhuo turned onto his side, his tone faintly solemn. “We are short-handed as it is. Even if we summon the relief troops from the two prefectures of Ying and Jing, a complete investigation would still take three months.”
Earlier, he had refrained from contradicting Shen Zheng in front of Liu Kangren in order to preserve Shen Zheng’s dignity. In private, however, as his teacher, he did not need to be so circumspect.
Shen Zheng suddenly let out a soft laugh and struggled to open his eyes. “A complete investigation can be done slowly. But to verify whether Liu Kangren was telling the truth, we don’t need to go to such lengths.”
“Oh? How so?” Wen Zhuo was curious. Without thinking, he turned his head, bringing his profile right beside Shen Zheng’s face.
Shen Zheng took the opportunity to wrap an arm around his back. He lowered his head and gave Wen Zhuo’s cool cheek a light peck before replying leisurely, “Sampling.”
Wen Zhuo blinked. “?”
The warmth of Shen Zheng’s lips still lingered on his cheek. Since he had been kissed so often lately, he was behaving more and more improperly in front of Liu Yingqi and Jiang Manü.
He had originally intended to advise Shen Zheng to show some restraint and keep his word—if he lost a game of chess, he should not come up with other excuses to seek a kiss.
But at that moment, he was too curious about Shen Zheng’s strategy to care about the sudden intimacy. He pressed on, “What do you mean by sampling?”
“Food is the first necessity of the people. Everyone needs to eat, and cooking requires a hearth.” Shen Zheng had already been half asleep, but now he was forced to rouse himself. Even so, he explained patiently, “Take Liangping County, for example. We first randomly select thirty households and record the number of hearths in each household along with the actual number of people living there. From that, we calculate an average and determine approximately how many people each hearth supports in the area. Then, by simply counting the chimneys in Liangping County, we can estimate its actual population. Comparing that figure with the official household register will reveal at a glance how many unregistered people there are.”
He paused. As he patted Wen Zhuo’s back, he continued, “Once we have the margin of error, we can use it to estimate the true populations of the other commanderies and counties. It won’t be accurate down to the last person, but if Mianzhou truly has a population of a million, that degree of error will be acceptable.”
Wen Zhuo listened with utmost concentration. His thoughts were pulled along by Shen Zheng’s explanation, turning as hard as they could. He could not understand every word, but he grasped the general idea.
“The same principle applies to the acreage,” Shen Zheng continued. His voice grew lower, and his speech slowed. “We again select thirty households and count the able-bodied men between the ages of sixteen and sixty in each one. From that, we calculate the proportion of working men in the population, allowing us to estimate the total labor force in Liangping County and, in turn, the maximum amount of land that force could cultivate.”
“Then we find an experienced incense farmer and ask about the annual yield of a single suhe incense tree. We obtain the yearly shipping records from the incense merchants, and from those figures we can work backward to determine the total area in Mianzhou planted with suhe incense.”
“If the area planted with suhe incense, added to the farmland recorded in the land registers, far exceeds the number of acres that the local labor force could cultivate, then the registers must be false. The true amount of farmland would be nowhere near that figure.”
After hearing this, Wen Zhuo felt as though a sudden light had broken through the clouds in his heart, dispelling all his gloom.
With this method, they would not need to investigate every household. They could expose the discrepancies directly, saving both time and effort. It was ingenious to an extraordinary degree.
Shen Zheng actually possessed such insight into practical governance. Wen Zhuo could not help but look at him in a new light.
A subtle delight welled up within him. For a moment, he even wanted to draw a little closer and be kissed again.
But when he looked up, Shen Zheng had already closed his eyes once more. His breathing was long and even. Only the hand resting on Wen Zhuo’s back retained a hint of soothing intent, patting him lightly from time to time.
“Your Highness, are you asleep?” Wen Zhuo whispered. Propping himself up on one arm, he leaned beside Shen Zheng’s face.
This time, Shen Zheng did not hear him.
“Are you coaxing your teacher to sleep?” Wen Zhuo murmured again, casting a sidelong glance at the warm hand on his back. A smile rose unconsciously to his lips.
Though he could not see clearly in the darkness, he could easily imagine how large that hand was—almost large enough to span his waist.
During these days of sharing a bed with Shen Zheng on their journey south, he had stopped curling himself up to sleep as he once did.
Shen Zheng would not allow him to lean against the cold wall. Sometimes, he would call softly for Wen Zhuo to turn over and sleep against his chest.
Fortunately, Shen Zheng’s chest was broad and dependable, radiating a reassuring warmth. After only a little time adjusting to it, Wen Zhuo had accepted it completely and slept especially soundly every night.
At that thought, something stirred in Wen Zhuo’s heart. He carefully shifted his body, moving so lightly that he was afraid of making even the slightest sound.
Cautiously and slowly, Wen Zhuo leaned closer and brushed his lips against Shen Zheng’s warm ones, light as a dragonfly skimming the surface of water.
His cheeks grew faintly hot, but he was perfectly content.
He lay back down, finding a comfortable position with the tips of their noses nearly touching and their breaths mingling. Then he quickly closed his eyes.
—
The horizon resembled the belly of a fish, suddenly slit open by a knife, revealing a clear, cool light in an instant.
The heavy clouds dispersed. The full moon, slow to react, still hung awkwardly in midair.
Liu Kangren had already risen and was kneeling in the middle of the courtyard.
The wind and dew in the courtyard had yet to dry, and the chill seeped into the bones. He wore nothing but a thin prison uniform, yet still did his best to keep his back straight.
After roughly two quarters of an hour, the door creaked open. The first person to step out was Shen Zheng.
Liu Kangren abruptly raised his eyes and froze. It was not Prince Xian!
When he had been demoted and sent to Mianzhou, only Prince Xian and the Crown Prince among the capital’s imperial sons had reached adulthood; the other princes were still young. The youth before him had deep-set features and a tall, straight bearing. His air was relaxed in just the right way, and yet it was entirely unlike the deliberately gentle manner of Prince Xian. Who was he?
Though he had been far away on the frontier, Liu Kangren had vaguely heard that after Fifth Prince Shen Zheng returned from Nanping, he had astonished everyone at the Special Grace Banquet, founded the Meng School, and even earned the title of “Sage of Weiqi.” His reputation at court had been steadily rising.
His father had once mentioned in a letter that the Fifth Prince’s bearing and stature faintly resembled those of Emperor Taizong.
A dreadful premonition coiled around Liu Kangren’s heart. His blood seemed to freeze as he stood rigidly in place, filled with unease.
When Shen Zheng saw the man kneeling in the courtyard, he was slightly taken aback. Then, abandoning his usual easygoing demeanor, he clasped his hands behind his back and stood with a cold expression, allowing Liu Kangren to remain kneeling on the ground.
The pain Noble Consort Liang had suffered from being separated from her son, and the torment Shen Zheng had endured during his ten years as a hostage, were both inseparable from Liu Kangren. He ought to kneel and atone for his crimes.
The morning light grew brighter, illuminating Liu Kangren’s sallow face and cracked lips. He looked as though he might collapse at any moment. Only then did Shen Zheng finally speak.
“Lord Liu, why put yourself through this? I never asked you to kneel.”
Liu Kangren lowered his head in silence. His voice was hoarse, as though filled with grit. “This guilty subject deserves no less.”
Shen Zheng stepped forward and looked down at him. His voice was low as he said, “Still, it is only right that you kneel before me. Rise.”
“Your Highness is… the Fifth Prince?” Liu Kangren’s body suddenly trembled. His heart was twisted into a tangled mess, and he found himself unable to speak.
Although his father and Marquis Yongning had often held opposing political views and kept their distance, as men who commanded troops, they nevertheless shared a mutual respect. Liu Kangren had never wanted to bring the Marquis Yongning’s entire family to such ruin. As for Shen Zheng, all he felt was shame and remorse.
Bending his back, Liu Kangren lowered himself further and further, wishing he could bury his head in the dirt. “Back then… back then, I deserved ten thousand deaths for the defeat in the southern border!”
“To speak honestly, you truly should have died to atone for that defeat. Unfortunately, you did not.” Shen Zheng’s words were light and casual, yet they carried immense weight. Then his tone shifted, and he continued slowly, “But now you threw yourself into Mianzhou’s turmoil and risked your life to keep its people alive for four months. Since you have not abandoned that conviction, I will let bygones be bygones. Rise.”
The final two words carried added force. Liu Kangren’s nerves tightened, and he felt an oppressive authority that allowed no room for argument. His limbs moved faster than his mind, and he hurriedly rose to his feet, awkward and flustered.
Only then did Wen Zhuo lazily get out of bed. After wiping his face clean and tying back his dark hair, he slowly stepped out of the room.
Shen Zheng turned his head. The coldness in his eyes instantly softened, and he quickly tapped his own shoulder, indicating that Wen Zhuo’s robe was not properly arranged.
Wen Zhuo parted his lips slightly and understood at once. He reached up, tugged the outer robe back over his shoulder, and smoothed it neatly into place.
A faint warmth was beginning to circulate through the air when a sudden rustling sound came from the rear courtyard.
Everyone was startled. Their vigilance immediately rose to its peak, and they all turned toward the noise.
A small, nimble figure came rushing from the direction of the dog hole. His footsteps were unsteady, his face deathly pale, and he stumbled straight toward Shen Zheng.
“Six Monkeys!” Shen Zheng was the first to recognize him.
Six Monkeys panted desperately, clutching Shen Zheng’s sleeve with all his strength. His voice trembled with tears and utter terror. “Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong! Little Zhi, she…”
Wen Zhuo’s eyes sharpened. He immediately gave a signal, and Liu Qiying reacted with remarkable speed, bringing over a bowl of warm water.
Six Monkeys did not spare a thought for anything else. He gulped down several mouthfuls before barely managing to steady his breathing.
“Take your time. Don’t rush.” Shen Zheng crouched down so that he was eye to eye with Six Monkeys, his tone exceptionally calm.
Liu Kangren stood to one side, watching as a boy suddenly barged into his own courtyard. The boy was being utterly improper, even grabbing and tugging at the Fifth Prince’s clothes without a care. Liu Kangren could not help feeling bewildered.
Yet he also realized that whatever had happened must be extremely serious, so he did not dare make a sound as he listened.
“Little Zhi is gone!” Six Monkeys choked out. Half his grief came from the loss, while the other half was because he had been scared out of his wits. “My big brother and I followed the plan. We went to the shops near Wangtiangou and sold ourselves. We agreed to meet at the riverbank where I escaped from, no later than five days later. But they took me to Dongyazi. I searched the whole place, but I couldn’t find Little Zhi! Not just Little Zhi—even several of the children I recognized before were gone!”
“So I asked everyone I could. But not a single person I questioned had ever seen Little Zhi. And they hadn’t seen Bai Xiaogou either. Bai Xiaogou was our leader. He’d stayed in Dongyazi for so long—how could nobody know him?”
Shen Zheng’s brows immediately drew into a tight knot, and his heart sank to the bottom of an abyss.
He had thought this was merely a case of children being sold. Now it seemed the seriousness of the matter far exceeded his expectations.
“When I couldn’t find Little Zhi, I thought I should at least finish what you told me to do and count how many children were there.” Six Monkeys wiped his face with a sleeve that reeked of river water, his hands still trembling faintly. “I secretly smeared mud on my hand. Every time I saw a child, I left a mark on their clothes so I wouldn’t count anyone twice. But there were too many children, and I was afraid I’d miss someone, so the next day I came up with another method.”
Six Monkeys continued, “This time, I tricked them into playing a game. I had them draw mud marks on me, with each person allowed to make only one mark. But… but when I finished counting, there was actually one fewer person than before!”
Shen Zheng forced down the unease in his heart. “Maybe you miscounted the first time.”
“No! I’m absolutely sure!” Six Monkeys’ voice suddenly rose, his eyes opening wide. “More than ten children were sold in there over those two days. No matter how stupid I am, I couldn’t have miscounted by that much! I was completely stunned at the time. Where had all those extra children gone?”
Liu Kangren, standing nearby, felt a chill run through his entire body and could not help shivering.
“What did you find out afterward?” Shen Zheng held Six Monkeys by the shoulders, his tone deepening. Through his fingertips, he could clearly feel the boy trembling.
Six Monkeys pressed his lips tightly together. Only after biting down hard did he say, “On the third day, more than ten children came again, so I decided to count them one more time. I was only halfway through when people from the Wen family came to deliver food. I watched their boat and suddenly noticed that its waterline was unusually even. There was also a dirty water stain along the hull, which meant the weight aboard had never changed!”
“They sent the same fragrant meals every day, but none of the children in Dongyazi ever went hungry. So the Wen family must have known long ago that no matter how many children came in, the number who would ultimately remain to eat would always be the same!”
A flicker of surprise passed through Wen Zhuo’s eyes.
Six Monkeys looked thin and small, but his mind was remarkably sharp. He had even managed to detect something amiss from the tiniest details of the boat. He truly had the makings of someone worth cultivating.
“By the fourth day, I started paying attention to the guards who handed out the food.” Six Monkeys lowered his voice, a lingering fear in it. “Whenever they served us, they always asked, ‘Does your stomach hurt today?’ At first, I thought they were showing concern, so every time I would shout, ‘No, it doesn’t!’ But one day, there was a girl beside me whose hands were trembling around her bowl. Her face was as pale as paper, and she said, ‘My stomach hurts so much.’ The guards laughed and said they would take her to see a doctor in a little while.”
“I remember what she looked like. She never came back. Before we went to sleep that night, I counted everyone again, and there wasn’t a single person more than before.” At this point, Six Monkeys clenched his fists tightly. “That’s when I guessed that anyone who said their stomach hurt would never come back!”
Wen Zhuo said grimly, “There was something wrong with the food Wen Yingjing gave you, wasn’t there?”
Six Monkeys nodded vigorously, gooseflesh rising all over his body. “That food smelled unbelievably good—so good you couldn’t help wanting to eat more. I liked it too, but when I first entered Dongyazi, Bai Xiaogou always stole my food, so I was often still hungry. And I missed my mother, which was why I secretly escaped…”
Shen Zheng said softly, “So by a twist of fate, you ended up escaping disaster.”
“On the fifth day, I saw another boy complaining that his stomach hurt. He was sweating from the pain and couldn’t even eat.” Six Monkeys suddenly looked utterly miserable. “I lied to him and said, ‘Don’t tell them the truth. Otherwise, the Wen family will think you dislike the food and won’t give you anything to eat ever again.’ He believed me and endured it without saying a word. But that night, he died from the pain.”
“When they found him, his body was already cold. Both hands were still clutched over his stomach. While the guards weren’t looking, I secretly touched his belly. It was hard as a rock inside—just like he had a stone in there!”
“After the guards discovered him, they dragged him away. They even told us, ‘If you feel unwell, you must say so. The Wen family has a doctor.’ But I knew they were lying!” Six Monkeys’ voice warped with fury.
“By the fifth day, I didn’t dare wait any longer. I planned to escape that night. I squeezed through a narrow gap in the fence, but just as I reached the river, I heard a commotion nearby. I hid behind a tree and watched them in secret. They were carrying knives. On the riverbank, they cut open that boy’s stomach, took out a round object about the size of a palm, and then kicked his body into the river. It was swept away by the current and quickly vanished…”
At this point, Six Monkeys could no longer hold back and began to weep silently. He gripped Shen Zheng’s sleeve with both hands. “Little Zhi must have suffered the same fate! She’s been dead for a long time! They took the thing from inside her stomach and threw her into the river!”
