Heavy snow fell in swirling drifts, and the entire capital was draped in white.
Shen Shuangyue had admitted to the theft, using her dowry to make up the shortfall in Sunjia’s betrothal gifts. In his fury, Xie Huaizhi had thrown her back into the Citang to reflect on her wrongs, while he himself dared not delay—he had men carry the goods to the Imperial City Department overnight.
This time he was not turned away at the door. The one who received him was a servant at Pei Yu’s side, named Mu Xin.
Mu Xin was handsome in appearance, cradling a long sword with his arms folded as he looked Xie Huaizhi over. “Count Xie, you’ve got some nerve—sending gifts to the Imperial City Department?”
“A misunderstanding.”
Xie Huaizhi dared not bear such an accusation and hurriedly explained, “The Imperial City Department is upright and incorruptible—how would I dare break the law? I’ve come today specifically to request an audience with Houye Pei, and I also have information concerning the salt tax case that I wish to discuss with him.”
The gates of the Imperial City Department loomed grandly, and even at night people came and went from time to time.
The goods the Xie Jia had brought were simply too many, and in mere moments they drew plenty of eyes.
Mu Xin raised an eyebrow. “Fine. Go in and wait. I’ll pass along the message.”
Xie Huaizhi’s taut nerves relaxed, and he quickly ordered his men to carry the goods inside.
Mu Xin led them into the front hall and then turned and left, while the master and servants of the Xie Jia remained in the hall to wait.
The front hall faced the main gate of the Imperial City Department directly. The hazy night could not conceal the grim, deadly air within. In just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the two of them watched several people dragged, bound hand and foot, to the punishment quarters at the back. The faint but constant screams made the Xie Jia master and servants fidget uneasily.
“Count, will Marquis Pei even see you?” Chang Shu asked in a low voice.
Xie Huaizhi pressed his lips tightly. He didn’t know either.
Pei Yu acted without restraint, and his temperament was impossible to read. Since entering the capital, he had sworn loyalty only to Emperor Jing. Aside from a rare few with whom he had some acquaintance, in all this time he was never seen being close with anyone.
The corruption in the salt tax had festered for years, entangling countless interests, and for all those years no one had dared take it on. Yet not only had he accepted the task, he had thrown the entire court into chaos.
In this period, besides the Sunjia of the Hubu, Vice Minister Yu of the Ministry of Works, two Attendants of the Ministry of War, several Secretarial Court officials, as well as Count Wenyu and General Fengcheng had all been implicated.
Pei Yu showed no one any favor, leading Imperial City Department men everywhere making arrests—even Old Prince Yong had nearly been brought in.
For trespassing on a prince’s residence and harming imperial kin, the matter was raised at court, and many officials impeached Pei Yu. But Emperor Jing was not angered—on the contrary, he valued him all the more. Meanwhile, those who had impeached Pei Yu had their legs broken that very day after court and were thrown into the moat.
Chang Shu said quietly, “I heard that after the Sunjia were arrested yesterday, they were put to torture at once. The Imperial City Department men are mad dogs—once they bite, they don’t let go until someone dies. If they deliberately make things hard for you, Count…”
“Shut your mouth!”
Xie Huaizhi’s eyes were sharp, and the look in them made Chang Shu shudder.
“You don’t know how to speak. Twenty strokes when we return.”
Chang Shu’s face went pale, and he dared not make another sound.
The front hall of the Imperial City Department faced the main gate with nothing to block the wind—unlike the homes of ordinary nobles, which had wind curtains for cover.
Inside there was neither a charcoal brazier nor anyone offering a cup of hot tea.
The winter wind cut straight through the hall, and in a short while it chilled them until their very bones ached.
Xie Huaizhi, wrapped in his cloak, still could not keep out the biting cold; his hands and feet had gone somewhat numb. Seeing that no one came for a long while, he could not help but rise to go out and ask—only to see two figures walking straight toward him.
The man at the lead wore a black cloak, his face cold, hard, and strikingly handsome. Unlike the pale, jade-like young men of the capital, his skin was somewhat darker, his eye sockets deep-set. As his tall frame moved, every step of his black riding boots seemed to land upon one’s heart.
After the slave brand had been carved away, a green scar remained on Pei Yu’s forehead, adding a fierceness to his already cold, hard features. He made no attempt to hide it—instead, he tied all his hair up high with a black hairpin, baring his entire face, unrestrained and defiant in his flamboyance.
As if sensing his gaze, Pei Yu raised his eyes and swept them over this way, the sharpness at the corners of his eyes making Xie Huaizhi’s heart tremble.
“Marquis Pei.”
Xie Huaizhi hastily rose to his feet.
With an indifferent expression, Pei Yu stepped over the threshold into the hall and walked straight to the seat of honor, sitting down. The lingering smell of blood on him made Chang Shu’s face turn deathly pale, while Pei Yu simply stretched out his long legs, glanced up lazily, and said:
“You sought me out. For what matter.”
Xie Huaizhi’s face tensed. Count Qing’an’s Residence had been a hereditary noble house for generations, and Old Madame Xie was related by blood to the Empress Dowager herself. He had always enjoyed the Dowager’s favor, and others treated him with courtesy—never before had anyone disregarded and slighted him the way Pei Yu did.
But Xie Huaizhi also understood that the situation was not in his favor. He was the one asking for help now, and Pei Yu had never been an easy man to deal with anyway.
Pretending not to notice the man’s coldness, he stepped forward and said in a warm voice, “The reason I have come to trouble you today, Marquis, concerns the Sunjia affair.”
“My younger sister was previously betrothed to the Sunjia. We truly had no idea that Vice Minister Sun was so audaciously bold as to embezzle the salt taxes and devour the wealth of the common people. Yesterday, the Sunjia was seized by you, Marquis, and our residence naturally dares not have any involvement with them.”
“The Sun household is filled with ill-gotten gains—who knows how many innocents they harmed for it. Our Bofu dares not conceal any of it. I have come today specifically to hand over the betrothal gifts the Sunjia previously sent to our residence, to be turned over to the Imperial City Department for disposal.”
Pei Yu glanced at the chests set out in the courtyard. “If they are stolen goods, there should be an inventory list.”
“There naturally is one.”
Since Xie Huaizhi had come to the Imperial City Department to distance himself from the affair, he had of course prepared in advance. Many of the original betrothal gifts the Sunjia had sent had vanished, and there had been no time to recover them, so he could only make up the shortfall in silver and have a new inventory list drawn up.
He glanced at Chang Shu beside him, and Chang Shu hurriedly took out the list and presented it with both hands.
Mu Xin took it and passed it to Pei Yu. Pei Yu lowered his head and scanned it once—and upon seeing what was written, he suddenly laughed, his thumb rubbing over the ink strokes on the paper, his eyes turning cold.
“Xie Huaizhi, are you toying with me?”
Xie Huaizhi hastily raised his head. “Whatever do you mean, Marquis Pei?”
Pei Yu flicked the paper in his hand. “The ink on this is less than three days old, and the paper smells of plum blossoms. What—is it that the Sunjia grew winter plum back in autumn, its fragrance lingering on and on? Or do you take me for a fool who cannot tell fresh ink from old?”
The Sunjia had sent the betrothal gifts two months ago.
Xie Huaizhi’s face changed instantly.
Mu Xin, standing to one side, curled his lips into a smile. “Count Xie, since you knew the Sun family members had been brought into the Imperial City Department, how could you imagine they would hold up under interrogation? Never mind these betrothal gifts of yours—even a single strand of hair the Sunjia ever gave away has already been recorded in our files.”
“Your Xie Jia embezzled the Sunjia’s stolen goods, and now you offer them up to fob off my Houye?”
Xie Huaizhi’s heart jumped. He had never imagined Pei Yu would be so perceptive, nor that the Imperial City Department had already interrogated the Sunjia and obtained the inventory list. He said urgently, “I have absolutely no intention of toying with you, Marquis.”
“The betrothal gifts sent by the Sunjia were indeed not these. A woman in the residence, greedy and foolish, took things from within them. I feared they might be stolen goods, so I compensated with silver at thirty percent above market price. If you doubt me, Marquis, you are free to have it investigated.”
Seeing that Pei Yu remained unmoved, Xie Huaizhi lowered his stance.
“Marquis, the Sunjia’s corruption was unknown to the Xie Jia. My wife acted out of momentary greed, and I beg Marquis Pei to show mercy and spare my Count Qing’an’s Residence.”
Pei Yu’s expression had been languid, but at Xie Huaizhi’s words, his eyes darkened in an instant.
“Your wife?”
“My humble wife, Shen, is the daughter of Shen Jingxian, the Yushi Zhongcheng.”
Pei Yu’s fingertips rested on his knee, tapping idly. “I have heard that this Shen was once your wife’s younger sister.”
Xie Huaizhi’s face turned ugly at once. “Shen was indeed once my wife’s younger sister, but she is now my wife. Back then, she was young and ignorant and committed a grave error; now, it was my failure to discipline her properly that allowed greed to arise. I have already punished her.”
“Oh? And how did you punish her?”
Before Xie Huaizhi could speak, Chang Shu beside him hurriedly cut in:
“My mistress stole from the Sunjia’s betrothal gifts. When the Count learned of it, he ordered her given the Zhangze, and she has been shut in the residence’s Citang to reflect on her wrongdoing…”
Pei Yu’s languid black eyes suddenly clouded with shadow, his voice icy and bone-chillingly cold.
“Mu Xin.”
Crack!
Mu Xin darted forward, the hilt of his sword striking viciously across Chang Shu’s face.
“When our master asks a question, who gave you leave to interrupt?”