She likes these things?
Zhang Yao carried Yu Lin back to the duty quarters.
Zhang Min hurriedly opened the door to the main room, intending to have Zhang Yao place Yu Lin on her bed.
Instead, Zhang Yao pushed open the door to his own room with his knee.
Following behind him, Zhang Min said,
“I can clear out my room for her. You—”
Zhang Yao placed Yu Lin into the coffin he slept in himself, tugged his half-loosened robe back into place over his shoulder, and straightened up.
“She has a fever. You’ve only just started recovering after taking the new medicine from the Inner Court. Don’t let her pass the illness to you.”
After saying that, he glanced outside.
“Tianji Temple has burned down. Although the Northern Pacification Bureau is currently assisting the Military Command with the firefighting effort, I can’t leave Li Hanzhou alone at the fire scene.”
“I have to go back tonight.”
Zhang Min asked,
“When will you return?”
“Hard to say. Depends on the fire.”
As he spoke, he looked toward Yu Lin.
“Don’t die from the illness before you get a chance to cause trouble again.”
Lying in the coffin, Yu Lin looked at Zhang Yao and nodded.
Zhang Yao pulled his own quilt over her.
Then he went into the kitchen, washed a bowl, poured some water for Yu Lin, and placed it beside the coffin.
Afterward, he went to the well in the courtyard, drew up a bucket of cold water, carried it into the room, and soaked half of an undergarment he had torn earlier that day.
He laid the damp cloth across Yu Lin’s forehead.
Only after finishing all this did he lead Zhang Min out of the room.
As they walked, he instructed her,
“When dawn comes, take my calling card and invite Imperial Physician Lou to examine her.”
“Put the consultation fee and medicine costs on credit. I’ll deal with them when I return.”
Zhang Min nodded.
Before parting, she still reminded him,
“You be careful too.”
“I know.”
Zhang Yao thought he had handled everything properly.
What he had not expected was that not long after he left, Yu Lin’s fever would worsen until she nearly slipped into unconsciousness.
She fell back into that nightmare.
The words—
“Xiao Fu, punish her.”
—echoed endlessly in her ears.
She wanted to answer that voice.
Yet her throat hurt unbearably.
Unconsciously, she curled into herself.
Cold sweat poured from her forehead.
Zhang Min tried several times to wake her, but every attempt ended in failure.
Yu Lin’s twisting body tangled Zhang Yao’s bedding into knots.
Sitting beside the coffin, Zhang Min rubbed her occasionally convulsing arms and finally endured the long night together with her until dawn broke in the east.
The moment the curfew was lifted, Zhang Min followed Zhang Yao’s instructions and took his calling card to the Lou residence.
Seeing Zhang Yao’s card, Imperial Physician Lou hurried over and examined Yu Lin’s pulse.
His diagnosis was that wind-cold had entered her body through injuries suffered under torture.
Months of inadequate food and poor recovery had gradually worn her down.
Now her life was hanging by a thread.
After the diagnosis, medicine was administered and acupuncture performed.
Yet Yu Lin still did not wake.
After seeing Imperial Physician Lou out, Zhang Min looked at Yu Lin’s burning-hot body and worried herself sick.
Just then, someone knocked at the door.
Thinking Zhang Yao had returned, she hurried to open it.
The visitor, however, was not Zhang Yao.
It was a finely dressed woman.
She was taller than most women, with thick brows and round eyes. She appeared to be about Zhang Min’s age.
Behind her stood several attendants, all dressed with equal elegance.
“And you are…?”
The woman introduced herself.
“Jiang Huiyun. Zhao Heming’s wife.”
For a moment, Zhang Min did not understand.
Jiang Huiyun added,
“When Yu Lin studied under Zhao Heming, she often stayed by my side.”
“I’m her master’s wife.”
Zhang Min immediately stepped aside.
“Please come in, Madam.”
Jiang Huiyun let out a cold laugh.
“No need to be so polite.”
“I asked around about her whereabouts and heard that the Ministry of Revenue assigned her to your household.”
“That Zhang Yao committed a crime of debauchery, yet ended up taking the victim as a servant.”
“The world has truly turned upside down.”
“I came here specifically to ask Commander Zhang what kind of logic that is.”
“I—”
Before she could finish, Zhang Min interrupted anxiously.
“If Zhang Yao deserves punishment or discipline, I’m his elder sister. I understand that.”
“But right now that girl is gravely ill.”
“We can’t get medicine into her.”
“She can’t eat or drink either.”
“I’m completely out of ideas.”
“Since you’re her master’s wife, please come look at her.”
“At the very least, tell me what foods suit her appetite so I can make some broth for her.”
Hearing this, Jiang Huiyun’s determination to confront Zhang Yao instantly disappeared.
Lifting her skirts, she hurried inside.
The stacked coffins in the courtyard were shocking to behold.
As she walked, Jiang Huiyun said,
“What exactly is the Zhang family planning?”
“The Northern Pacification Bureau’s headquarters stands high enough to touch the clouds.”
“Why are you living in a place like this?”
“And why buy servants to do work here?”
Zhang Min opened the door to Zhang Yao’s room.
The moment Jiang Huiyun saw the coffin inside and Yu Lin lying in it, she nearly cursed aloud.
As the daughter of a military family, she had followed armies in her youth.
Things associated with death did not frighten her.
What hurt her was seeing the Yu Lin she had once cared for being tossed into such a place and worn down by that man from the Northern Pacification Bureau.
“Xiao Fu… Xiao Fu…”
Holding onto the edge of the coffin, Jiang Huiyun softly called her name.
Yu Lin’s breathing was damp and burning hot.
Her eyes remained tightly shut.
Her entire body was curled up in misery.
Turning around, Jiang Huiyun asked,
“You can’t get medicine into her either?”
Zhang Min nodded.
“At first we managed a little.”
“Now she vomits most of it back up.”
“The biggest problem is that she hasn’t eaten anything in two days.”
“I’m afraid forcing medicine into her will damage her stomach, so I cooked millet porridge instead.”
“But she won’t swallow a single mouthful.”
Jiang Huiyun stood up and removed the jade bracelet from her wrist.
“She’s very picky about food.”
“Do you have polished stem rice?”
Zhang Min shook her head.
Jiang Huiyun turned toward the attendants waiting outside.
“One of you, come in.”
“Write down a list.”
“Go back to the residence and fetch everything.”
By dusk, Zhang Yao finally returned from the ruins of Tianji Temple.
Upon entering, he saw a sack of polished rice in the courtyard, several baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables, and even a basket of juicy white peaches.
Zhang Min was escorting Jiang Huiyun out.
The three met at the entrance.
Ignoring Zhang Min’s attempts to stop her, Jiang Huiyun walked directly up to Zhang Yao and met his gaze.
“A person like Commander Zhang actually has such a good elder sister.”
Zhang Yao looked at her.
“What kind of person is Zhang Yao?”
Jiang Huiyun let out a cold laugh.
“In front of your sister, I don’t want to say much.”
“I only want Commander Zhang to know one thing.”
“Although Xiao Fu is now a government slave assigned to the Zhang household, making it difficult for me to take her away…”
“She is not some orphan with no one to rely on in Liangjing.”
“She is not someone you can torment and amuse yourself with as you please.”
“Zhao Heming and the Ministry of Justice may need to avoid suspicion.”
“But I, Jiang Huiyun, do not.”
“I’ll come see her regularly.”
“Commander Zhang, take care of yourself.”
After speaking, she turned and gave Zhang Min a formal bow.
Then she left with her attendants.
Zhang Yao could not have cared less about Jiang Huiyun’s words.
He casually shut the door and turned to Zhang Min.
“How is she?”
Zhang Min sighed.
“She almost didn’t survive last night.”
The moment he heard that, Zhang Yao headed straight toward his room.
Zhang Min immediately grabbed him.
“Don’t go in.”
“We washed her and got her to eat a little.”
“She’s finally sleeping soundly.”
“You should return to the Northern Pacification Bureau and sleep there tonight.”
“I’m feeling better these past few days.”
“I can take care of her.”
Zhang Yao stopped and looked at her.
“What medicine does she need?”
“I’ll have Du Lingruo find it.”
Zhang Min replied,
“The Imperial Physician said she needs nourishment.”
“The best thing would be Liaodong ginseng.”
“But you can’t buy it in ordinary pharmacies.”
“Alright.”
Zhang Yao looked toward the fruits and vegetables in the courtyard.
“She likes these things?”
Zhang Min nodded.
Zhang Yao’s gaze swept over the coffins in the yard.
Finally, it fixed upon a pinewood coffin.
Yu Lin’s fever rose and fell repeatedly for ten straight days.
The fire at Tianji Temple also burned for ten full days.
The Five Cities Military Command cut down more than half of the apricot grove behind the temple and demolished several hundred homes north of it before finally managing to contain the flames along the southern moat.
On the ninth day, after days of violent winds, Liangjing at last welcomed a torrential downpour.
The temple’s main hall had long since collapsed.
Taking advantage of the rain, the Military Command drew water from the moat to extinguish the remaining flames.
At dawn the next day, the last traces of fire in the ruins were finally extinguished.
Thus ended the ten-day blaze that consumed a century-old temple honored with the Grand Sacrificial Rites.
From the Bodhi Pagoda at the mountain gate to the meditation quarters before the apricot grove, everything was reduced to ashes.
Not even a single intact wooden beam remained.
The monks of the temple suffered catastrophic casualties.
Aside from a dozen or so monks who happened to be sweeping the front courtyard when the fire broke out and barely escaped with their lives, no one else survived.
Countless citizens of Liangjing braved the rain to hold roadside memorial rites.
Incense would not stay lit in the downpour, so the people offered flowers and fruit instead.
For a time, the ceremonial archway before Tianji Temple was blocked by the sheer volume of public offerings.
On the tenth day of the ninth month, Zhang Yao received an imperial summons and entered the Inner Court through the rain.
The scene before Shenwu Gate was scarcely less tragic than Tianji Temple.
Dozens of punishment benches were lined up in the rain.
Seven or eight Censorate officials had been stripped of their robes, tied to the benches, and beaten until their flesh split open.
Yang Zhaoyue and Chen Jianyun, both Senior Eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial, stood beneath umbrellas supervising the punishment.
Li Hanzhou was overseeing the beatings on behalf of the Northern Pacification Bureau.
Seeing his commander arrive, he quickly stepped forward.
Zhang Yao tossed his horse’s reins to a mounted guard and asked,
“What’s the verdict?”
Li Hanzhou answered,
“They’ve been ordered severely punished.”
The imperial guards at Shenwu Gate requested that Zhang Yao surrender his saber.
As Zhang Yao unfastened it, he looked toward the punishment benches.
The officials’ screams had gradually weakened into feeble groans and pleas for mercy.
The older men had long since lost consciousness.
Only one handsome young official still clung desperately to the edge of his punishment bench, shouting in a hoarse voice,
“I beg Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the Tianji Temple arson case…”
“I beg Your Majesty…”
“Thoroughly investigate the Tianji Temple arson case…”
Zhang Yao found the man’s figure somewhat familiar.
Seeing his gaze linger there, Li Hanzhou stepped closer.
“That’s Song Yinbing, a prison official from the Ministry of Justice.”
At once, Zhang Yao remembered.
This man was Yu Lin’s senior fellow disciple.
Handing over his saber to the imperial guard, Zhang Yao walked closer to the punished officials.
When Yang Zhaoyue saw him approaching, he signaled for an accompanying eunuch to bring over an umbrella.
Then he stepped forward and greeted him.
“Our Chief Eunuch heard that Commander Zhang has recently been searching all over Liangjing for Liaodong ginseng and Li Gong peaches.”
“So he instructed me to help you locate some.”
“Liaodong ginseng wasn’t too difficult. Most of Liangjing’s noble households still have some in storage.”
“But these Li Gong peaches…”
Yang Zhaoyue glanced at the endless rain overhead.
“They become harder to find with each passing day.”
“When none could be found outside, the Inner Court awarded ten of them.”
“Our Chief Eunuch kept none for himself.”
“He sent all of them to you.”
“They’re currently stored at my residence.”
“Since I’ve run into you today, I thought I’d let you know.”
“When the rain eases, you can have your men come collect them.”
Zhang Yao replied,
“Tell your Chief Eunuch not to trouble himself.”
“This time I’m not looking for these things for Zhang Min.”
Yang Zhaoyue laughed.
“Our Chief Eunuch doesn’t only look after Miss Min.”
Hearing that, Zhang Yao let out a cold laugh.
Its sound blended into the cries of the punished officials, and Yang Zhaoyue failed to notice it.
The final strike fell before Shenwu Gate.
More than half the officials on the punishment benches lost consciousness.
Li Hanzhou signaled the guards to untie them.
None of them could move.
Only Song Yinbing struggled down from his bench, collapsed at Li Hanzhou’s feet, and tried to crawl farther toward Shenwu Gate.
Watching him, Yang Zhaoyue sighed.
“What a lovesick fool…”
Zhang Yao turned toward him.
“What do you mean?”
Yang Zhaoyue replied,
“Commander Zhang doesn’t know this man, does he?”
“I’ve been imprisoned by him once.”
Yang Zhaoyue paused before laughing.
“Ah, right. I forgot.”
“He’s a prison official from the Ministry of Justice.”
“What a coincidence that he ended up in Captain Li’s hands today.”
“Captain Li didn’t go easy on him, did he?”
Li Hanzhou smiled but wisely said nothing.
Yang Zhaoyue chuckled.
“Consider it revenge on your commander’s behalf.”
Zhang Yao had no interest in discussing such matters.
He asked again,
“What do you mean by lovesick fool?”
Yang Zhaoyue smiled.
“The woman you arrested at Tianji Temple for arson—what was her name again?”
“Liu Yinglian.”
“That’s right. Liu Yinglian.”
“Before Madam Liu killed her husband, Song Yinbing and Liu Yinglian were once engaged to be married.”