“Move, move.”
Urged onward, Li Zelin kept a tight hold on his daughter’s hand as he stepped into the garden before Sun Radiance Hall in the front courtyard of Earl Wending’s Residence. Before he even entered, he caught sight of all the masters and mistresses of the Earl’s residence being held under guard there by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
When the father and daughter arrived, everyone turned their eyes toward them. Among the crowd, the usually stern Countess’s face—rarely showing defeat—flashed with disappointment.
“Get inside.”
The two Embroidered Uniform Guards behind them were displeased by Li Zelin’s lingering. They reached out and shoved him, so Li Zelin hurriedly scooped up his daughter and carried her across the moon gate. The two guards followed him in and cupped their fists toward the middle-aged man sitting broad and imposing in a grand chair beneath the front veranda of the garden.
“Reporting to Your Excellency the Commander, the criminals Li Zelin and his daughter have been brought here.”
The man seated in the chair raised his head and gave an acknowledging sound. He glanced at Li Zelin, who was standing outside the crowd with his daughter clutched tightly in his arms, then nodded and waved his hand.
“Verify them.”
As his words fell, a man came out holding a brush in one hand and a register in the other. He looked like a clerk employed within the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
The man nodded and accepted the order, then led two junior clerks behind him forward and opened the register in his hands.
“Li Zelin of Earl Wending’s Residence, second in birth order, second legitimate son, twenty-seven years old, Third-Ranked Scholar in the forty-fifth year of Yong’an. Sword-shaped brows, phoenix eyes, a long face, tall and handsome. Li Wenzhao, daughter of Li Zelin, fourth in birth order, seven years old, sweet and simple-minded, with features as lovely as a painting… Hmm, they match.”
It was only a confiscation, but what a pity for this child—and for this Third-Ranked Scholar…
“Come, verify the portraits.”
The clerk thought it a pity, but his movements did not falter in the slightest.
As his voice fell, a junior clerk behind him hurriedly brought over the remaining two portraits and unfolded them. He carefully compared them with the father and daughter before him. After confirming that they were indeed the same people, he put away the portraits and nodded to the clerk.
The clerk nodded, then gave another order. “Come, bring them forward. Verify their identities.”
Another junior clerk immediately moved. Before long, he brought two servants of Earl Wending’s Residence who had eagerly declared their loyalty forward for identification. Only after their identities had been confirmed were they allowed to withdraw.
After three rounds of verification confirmed that there was no mistake, the clerk made a small mark with his fine brush and reported back to the Commander.
The Commander, who had been propping up his chin in utter boredom, made another acknowledging sound upon hearing this and waved his hand. Only then did the Embroidered Uniform Guards restraining them push the father and daughter into the circle of detainees.
The crowd erupted into commotion.
“It’s over. Even Second Son couldn’t escape!”
“Second Brother, you were actually in the residence?”
“Second Brother, didn’t you go out drinking yesterday and not return all night?”
Various voices rose and fell among the detained crowd.
The moment they realized that not a single person in the household had escaped this calamity, everyone was filled with panic and despair. The enormous garden became a complete clamor, provoking the Commander above them to frown in displeasure.
“Silence!”
With a threatening shout, and seeing that everyone had been gathered, the Commander issued his next order without delay.
“Confiscate everything.”
In an instant, the Embroidered Uniform Guards throughout the residence sprang into action. A line of them quickly emerged from within and advanced toward the detainees.
Their movements were rough as they snatched away bracelets and pulled off hairpins, provoking shriek after shriek and fresh panic throughout the Earl’s residence. Li Zelin had only enough time to carry his daughter aside when Old Madam Luo, standing among the crowd, darkened her expression and shouted sternly.
“Stop! In broad daylight, beneath the clear heavens, my Earl Wending’s Residence has served with loyalty for three generations. My husband has always been devoted and wholeheartedly served the sovereign. He is currently at court and has not yet returned. His Majesty’s oral edict only ordered the residence surrounded; it never determined that the people of my Earl Wending’s Residence were guilty. Yet Your Excellency the Commander is certainly imposing, daring to humiliate every member of my household. Have you already decided that my Earl Wending’s Residence will never recover?”
Upon hearing this, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard clicked his tongue and raised his brows. He rose from the grand chair, put his hands behind his back, and walked along the path the Embroidered Uniform Guards had cleared until he stood before Old Madam Luo. Then he gave a cold laugh.
“Heh. Countess, you certainly have a way with words. But Countess, His Majesty’s oral edict ordered the residence surrounded and confiscated. Since this is a confiscation, what is improper about those acting under orders?
“As for Earl Wending… I might as well tell you plainly. When I arrived, the criminal official Li Mingjing had angered His Majesty and had already rammed his head against the pillars and died in the Hall of Brightness. If you are wise, Countess, you should lead the entire household in removing your hair ornaments and awaiting punishment. That is how you show that you are prepared to bear the consequences.”
“What did you say?”
“What?”
All the family members’ expressions changed at once. Old Madam Luo staggered several steps, covered her heart with one hand, and stared at the man before her in disbelief as he uttered this shocking news. Her hands trembled, and her voice shook.
“You—you said what? I don’t believe you. I don’t believe it!”
“You don’t believe me? Hah!” The Commander shrugged, his face full of a sighing lament.
“They say that a civil official should die remonstrating and a military man should die in battle. I do admire Earl Wending’s backbone. Unfortunately, he failed to see people clearly, and his mind was too rigid. To shield a treacherous official, he splashed blood across the imperial court. His Majesty was consequently enraged, and Earl Wending’s crimes deserve ten thousand deaths!
“Countess, if you wish to keep your family safe and whole, I advise you to be more sensible. At the very least, you will suffer less, and you will avoid angering His Majesty further and adding crime upon crime. You are an intelligent person. Surely you understand?”
The Commander’s voice seemed calm and casual, yet it struck at everyone’s hearts like a drum mallet, blow after blow.
Old Madam Luo met the Commander’s icy gaze, and all the spirit seemed to drain from her body, leaving only desolation.
For a time, the only sounds throughout the garden were the intimidating noises of the Embroidered Uniform Guard searching and confiscating the residence.
“Those who know what’s good for them should hand everything over themselves. That way, you can avoid humiliation and suffering.”
The men and women, old and young, being held under guard heard that the backbone of their household had collapsed. Seeing that even the mistress of the house was dispirited and powerless, they began to sob and whimper timidly. No one knew whether they mourned their elder or lamented their own fate. All of them shrank back like quails, trembling as they removed the valuable items on their bodies and placed them into the cloth bags extended by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
Upon hearing the dreadful news of his father’s death, Li Zelin felt as though the sky had collapsed. His heart twisted with pain. Sensing warmth on his shoulder, he forcibly held back his tears, turned away, and hugged his daughter tightly as he lowered his voice.
“Sweetheart, don’t be afraid. Your father is here. We’ll hand everything over. Later, your father will buy new things for our Chaochao—better ones…”
Chaochao watched everything coldly and gave a quiet hum. She felt no grief for a grandfather with whom she had little affection; she only felt sorry for her Silly Dad.
Seeing her Silly Dad so nervous, with reddened eyes like a pitiful rabbit, Chaochao sighed. She decided not to make the rabbit sad anymore. Who would comfort him if she made him cry?
After obediently nodding, Chaochao began taking off the things she was wearing.
First, she removed the two little golden flower rings that Qiuxiang had placed atop her two bunches of hair that morning.
Then she took off the gold-and-jade safety lock around her neck.
She tugged free the little purse at her waist, its surface set with pearls from the Eastern Sea.
Just as an Embroidered Uniform Guard carrying a half-full cloth bag came near, Chaochao, being very well-behaved, leaned most of her body out of her Silly Dad’s arms and proactively held out the things in her hands.
“Here.”
The two Embroidered Uniform Guards, who had been preparing to collect her father’s belongings first, both froze when they saw Chaochao being so cooperative.
After all, their reputation was not good. The Embroidered Uniform Guard was notorious for being able to frighten children into crying at night; it was a place everyone feared.
And when property was confiscated, which criminal ever did not drag their feet and hand things over reluctantly in order to hide their private possessions? Yet this child before them was unbelievable—she was not afraid of them at all!
They were confiscating a household’s property, so how could the two of them still be distracted?
Chaochao frowned unhappily, finding their lack of professionalism extremely irritating. She simply wriggled free and dropped to the ground, then scampered several steps to the two men. Catching them off guard, she took hold of the bag in one of their hands and pulled it open, tossing everything in her own hands inside without the slightest reluctance.
Not only that, after throwing everything in, while the two men were still frozen in surprise, one little girl’s magical claws reached toward the golden longevity-and-prosperity bangle she had worn on her snow-white, plump arm since infancy.