After seeing off the party from Duke Zhenguo’s Residence, the moon was already high overhead. Shen Ji stood alone in the courtyard, the night breeze brushing past and making the hems of his robes flutter. Today’s secret alliance with Duke Zhenguo’s Residence had given him an extra source of support, but it also meant being pulled more deeply into the vortex of the capital’s powerful nobles.
Thinking of Yan Shu, whom he had not had time to visit all day, Shen Ji turned toward the guest courtyard after hearing from the butler that he had already awakened in the morning. He should not be asleep yet.
Dim candlelight leaked through the paper window, casting a faint warmth into the deep night.
Shen Ji pushed the door open and entered. The smell of medicine mingled with a faint trace of blood. Yan Shu was being supported by a page boy, barely able to swallow half a bowl of rice porridge. His face was still frighteningly pale, his body weak to the core, but his eyes held a clear brightness. He had recovered somewhat and was no longer in danger.
When he saw Shen Ji enter, he quickly motioned for the page boy to take the bowl away. He struggled to sit up straighter, but the movement tugged at the wound in his chest, and he immediately broke into a muffled cough, fine beads of cold sweat seeping out at his temples.
“Don’t move.” Shen Ji stepped forward quickly and pressed a hand to his shoulder. “You’re badly injured. The residence physician instructed that you must rest carefully. There’s no need for such empty formalities. Just focus on recovering. Judging from the books in your basket, you must be a scholar heading to the capital for the exams? The imperial examinations are at the start of next month; there are only about ten days left. Getting your body back in order is the real priority.”
Yan Shu leaned back against the soft pillow as instructed, his breathing slightly labored. He raised his eyes and looked solemnly at Shen Ji.
“I, Yan Shu, am a Jiangnan scholar come to the capital to sit the exams.” His clear voice was somewhat hoarse. He paused, then continued, “Thank you, Heir Shen, for saving my life. If the Heir had not happened to pass by yesterday and extended a hand, I fear I would already have died in the Yellow Springs and become a lonely wandering ghost.”
He spoke slowly, with the lingering fear and sincerity of one who had survived a narrow escape from death. His cold, phoenix-like eyes were full of gratitude toward Shen Ji.
“It was nothing. Don’t dwell on it.” Shen Ji replied lightly, sitting down on a chair nearby. “How are you feeling now?”
“The residence physician has excellent medical skill, and thanks to the pill the Heir gave me earlier, I’m feeling a little better already.” Yan Shu paused. Deep pain and confusion flashed through his eyes. After a moment of silence, he forced the words out:
“Heir, I will never forget your life-saving grace. I should not have the nerve to ask for more… but now I have nothing to my name and am seriously injured. I can only… I can only beg the Heir to send someone to Ink Fragrance Studio in Yongtai Ward in the south of the city with a message. It’s a property of my Yan family in the capital. Just let them know that I am here.”
He spoke a little too quickly and triggered another fit of coughing, a sickly flush rising on his pale face.
“It’s a trivial matter. I’ll have the butler deliver the message tomorrow.” Shen Ji said, then asked, “Do you know who did this to you?”
At the question, Yan Shu’s body trembled almost imperceptibly. His long lashes cast a shadow under his eyes, and pain filled the depths of his gaze.
“I… I know.” His voice was dry, every word seeming to weigh a thousand pounds. “It was my classmate… Li Du. And… the page boy I’ve had by my side since childhood, Yantai.”
He struggled to spit out those two names, his chest rising and falling violently with agitation. Shen Ji did not press him, only listened in silence.
“We came to the capital together from Jiangnan to take the exams. We traveled together and stayed together all along the way. I regarded him as a sworn friend and confidant…” Yan Shu’s voice trembled with a sob. “Yesterday, when we reached West Mountain, he said he had found a quiet spring and invited me to go with him to brew tea and discuss poetry. I went gladly… who could have known… who could have known the tea had already been laced with deadly poison?”
“When I noticed something was wrong, my limbs were already numb. Yantai… I treated him like a brother, but he stabbed me from behind… with a sword, right through my chest…” Yan Shu’s fingers trembled as he touched his chest. “As he stabbed me, he cried and said he was sorry, said Li Du had promised his whole family wealth and a bright future… said I should not have stood in Li Du’s way on the road to becoming top scholar…”
“They forged the scene of mountain bandits robbing us and pushed me into the ravine… thinking for sure that I would die…”
Silent tears slid down his face and disappeared into the pillow beside him. Poisoned by a classmate and confidant, betrayed by a loyal servant who had been with him for years.
In the apocalypse, Shen Ji had long since grown used to the evil in human nature; betrayal was as common to him as everyday fare. But seeing the shattered look in the eyes of this young man, still so youthful and full of spirit, he nevertheless felt a trace of pity.
“The evil in human hearts has always been like this.” Shen Ji said calmly. “You don’t need to punish yourself for other people’s sins. See things clearly from now on, and be more on guard in the future.”
Yan Shu slowly turned his face back and looked at Shen Ji through tear-blurred eyes. There was no sympathy, no pity in that gaze, only a kind of calm that saw through everything and a powerful detachment. Strangely enough, it soothed his surging emotions.
“Heir… you’re right.” Yan Shu drew a deep breath and forced down his sobs, his gaze gradually becoming steadier. “I just never expected that after years of hard study behind closed windows, seeking only to realize my ambitions and save the country and its people, I would first see such ghosts and monsters! I nearly lost my life!”
“Rest well and prepare for the imperial examinations. There is no need to rush revenge. Don’t waste the years you’ve spent studying hard.”
Yan Shu nodded heavily. “Thank you for the reminder, Heir. I will recover in peace and prepare for the exams!”
“Rest here and recover properly.” With that, Shen Ji rose and left.
After leaving the guest courtyard, Shen Ji did not return to his room to rest. Instead, he went straight to the study.
“Someone here.”
A page boy hurried forward and bowed, waiting for instructions.
“Send Wenruo here.”
Before long, Li Wenruo arrived in a hurry. He wore an indigo long robe of fine cloth, looked full of energy, and had already regained some of the steadiness and capability of a Young Master from the Jiangnan imperial merchants.
“Heir, you were looking for me?”
“Yes. Investigate someone for me.” Shen Ji dipped his fingertip in tea and wrote two characters on the tabletop. “Li Du. A Jiangnan scholar who came to the capital to sit the exams.”
Li Wenruo’s gaze sharpened at once. “I’ve heard a little about this man, my lord. They say he comes from a poor Jiangnan family, and that since arriving in the capital he has gained a modest reputation among the scholars for his talent. What does the Heir want me to check?”
“Find out everything about him. Especially everyone he has contacted since arriving in the capital… don’t miss a single one. Also, find out whether there is a page boy named Yantai by his side, and where he is now.” Shen Ji’s tone turned faintly cold.
Li Wenruo was quick-witted enough to realize immediately that this was no small matter, and that it was probably connected to the seriously wounded Young Master the Heir had rescued yesterday. He bowed at once. “Understood. Wenruo will make it happen.”
“Be careful. Don’t alert the snake in the grass. There must be other threads behind this man.” Shen Ji reminded him.
“Rest assured, Heir. The people I assign are absolutely reliable. Not a word will leak out.” Li Wenruo answered confidently, then quietly withdrew.
The study fell silent once more. Shen Ji walked to the window, pushed open half of it, and let the chill air surge inside.
Li Du…
He carefully searched through the plot the system had given him, but only found a few scattered words.
In his previous life, after Yan Shu’s mysterious death, the new top scholar was this man.