"If you dare deceive me with even half a lie, I will have every torture inflicted upon your child."
Mrs. Wei's eyes were bloodshot at the corners. She had always despised such tactics of threatening a mother through her child.
But she had been deceived for decades by the person before her and Ma Liang. Without retaliation in kind, she could never soothe the hatred in her heart.
"Every six months, someone would come to Yongning County under the guise of trade. Ma Liang... Ma Liang would hide the silver and then tell them the location," Concubine Feng said, her mind now wholly consumed by thoughts of her child, with no regard left for Ma Liang.
"Such a covert operation—given Ma Liang’s cautious nature, how could he have openly told you about it?" Mrs. Wei clearly only half-believed her.
"You know as well as I do that Ma Liang’s parents died young, and he had no brothers to rely on. He couldn’t fully trust the servants either, so he... he had me assist in the dealings," Concubine Feng replied, her face streaked with tears. "After each transaction, he would give me a sum of silver to keep for Wen'er’s future."
"Do you know the true identities of those people?"
Concubine Feng shook her head.
"There’s a rouge at the Rouge Pavilion called 'Mingzui.' No one else knows of its existence except that person. Whenever they came, I would write the hiding spot on a slip of paper and place it inside the rouge box," Concubine Feng struggled to recall, but it was futile. "They always wore a mask—only knew they were tall and broad, with a horizontal sword at their waist."
"A horizontal sword?"
Mrs. Wei’s mind stirred. "I’ll have a portrait artist come to sketch the sword’s design. You will cooperate truthfully."
An hour later.
Song Yu and Song Shihuan stared at the drawing of the sword, deep in thought.
Song Shihuan’s brow twitched. "This sword has a straight, narrow blade and a long hilt—unlike the common horizontal swords of Great Qi... almost as if designed to conserve iron."
Song Shihuan was intimately familiar with weaponry, and such minute details could never escape her notice.
Suddenly, her eyes widened. "This... could be a privately forged blade."
Privately forged.
The words sent a hush through the room.
Vast sums of money and privately forged weapons—when linked together, it was impossible not to think of one thing: rebellion.
She had assumed it was merely officials shielding each other, embezzling state silver. Never had she imagined it might be treason.
"I’m going to the prison," Song Yu said, his eyes narrowing with a ruthless edge.
......
The prison was dark and damp. Ma Liang, his back covered in wounds, groaned incessantly from the pain.
Footsteps echoed, and Ma Liang strained to lift his head, only to see Song Yu standing before him, his face like the King of Hell himself.
"This prince never imagined a mere magistrate of Yongning County would dare to plot rebellion."
At the word "rebellion," Ma Liang, already sluggish from pain, could only gape in shock, forgetting even to deny it.
Seeing this, Song Yu’s suspicions were seventy percent confirmed.
"Whether your identity is real or not, this prince will have to investigate further," Song Yu’s voice dripped with mockery. "You’re no simple man."
Ma Liang’s mind began to churn—until a sharp pain shot through his fingers.
"Ah—!"
The sound of cracking bone filled the air as Song Yu slowly crouched down, deliberately increasing the pressure on Ma Liang’s hand as he did.
Song Yu’s eyes curved upward, carrying the unique cruelty of royalty.
"Daring to rebel? Tell me, what has our Song family ever done to wrong you?"
Pain radiated from every part of his body, and Ma Liang seemed only now to react, struggling to speak:
"I know nothing of rebellion..."
"Too late to deny it now."
Song Yu smirked. "Using our ancestral lands to hoard wealth, then forging private arms to rebel—you’re trampling our family’s face into the dirt." He patted Ma Liang’s cheek. "Ma Liang, you’re finished."
By now, Ma Liang was trembling uncontrollably, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"Of all people to provoke—this prince is already trouble enough, yet you had to go after my father. Good luck."
With that, Song Yu stood and strode out of the prison.
......
In the study.
Song Yu sat behind the desk, his brush flying across paper. Within the time it took an incense stick to burn, the letter was dispatched by swift horse toward the capital.
Noticing Song Shihuan’s tension, Song Yu reached out and patted her shoulder.
"Ah Huan, never underestimate your grandfather. This time, you’ll see just how formidable he is."
When it came to rebellion, his father’s methods were unmatched in all of Great Qi.
......
The Hall of Purple Zenith.
An urgent dispatch, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in decades, arrived from Yongning County.
As Emperor Yuanyou unfolded the letter, his hands trembled imperceptibly.
He feared something had happened to Song Yu and Song Shihuan.
But when he read the contents, the aura around him shifted instantly. The ministers and palace attendants in the hall immediately dropped to their knees.
Outside, a bitter wind howled. Shen Qingping, kneeling among them, felt a tremor in his heart. A letter from Yongning—it must be from the prince and princess. What could have happened...?
"Prince Qin and Princess Fu’an have discovered that Magistrate Ma Liang of Yongning County embezzled state silver and treated human life as worthless."
Emperor Yuanyou’s voice carried imperial weight as he folded the letter.
"During the search, the amount of wealth found did not match the records. Upon closer investigation, it was revealed that Ma Liang may be colluding with rebels."
"Your Majesty, calm your wrath."
At this moment, everyone’s minds went blank. All they could utter was a plea for the emperor to restrain his anger.
"Calm my wrath? They amass wealth in the very place I grew up. If this silver truly reached the rebels, it would be a slap to my face!"
His voice reverberated through the hall, yet no one dared respond.
Outside, snowflakes began to drift—the first snow of the thirty-eighth year of Yuanyou.
"Shen Xiao, go to Yongning County yourself. Scatter all the Imperial Guards and investigate thoroughly!"
Emperor Yuanyou’s fury had reached its peak. "Gu Zheng, mobilize the army at once and prepare in secret."
"Shen Mingwen, under the pretext of investigating possible involvement in rebellion among court officials, retrieve the roster of regional officials. From the third rank down, every official must have two higher-ranking officials vouch for their innocence. Those without guarantors will be imprisoned pending investigation."
"If anyone vouches for a rebel, the guarantor will be punished as an accomplice."
The emperor’s thunderous decree forced every layer of the bureaucracy to prove their loyalty.
Emperor Yuanyou swept his sleeve violently.
"Leave no one involved alive."
