Old Madame Xie swayed on her feet, her ears ringing with a buzzing sound. She grabbed the steward who had spoken: “Where is the Count? Did anyone see the Count?”
“No.”
The Jinwuwei were packed densely everywhere—there was no trace of the Count at all.
Panic surged in Old Madame Xie’s heart. After Sunjia’s troubles, they had feared being implicated, which was why Xie Huaizhi had taken people overnight to deliver those betrothal gifts to the Imperial City Department.
By rights, since they had made their stance clear and returned the betrothal gifts, the matter should have been put to rest. But now Xie Huaizhi hadn’t come back, and instead the Jinwuwei had come knocking. What on earth had happened? And Huaizhi—had something happened to Huaizhi?!
Xie Yuyin had already lost her composure upon hearing the words “Sunjia’s stolen goods.” Utterly at a loss, she said, “Mother, why would people from the Imperial City Department come? Didn’t Eldest Brother already gather the betrothal gifts and hand them over? What is this salt transport ledger about?”
“How would I know!”
How would Old Madame Xie know anything about a salt transport ledger? When Sunjia sent the betrothal gifts, she had only given the gift list a casual glance—it was nothing more than the usual items for a betrothal. After they were placed in the storeroom, she never checked them again, and by the time she thought of them again, the things had already been taken away by Xie Yuyin.
How was she supposed to know there was some wretched ledger among them?!
Seeing everyone around her in a panic, Old Madame Xie grabbed Xie Yuyin and demanded in a low voice: “When you took the Sunjia betrothal gifts, didn’t you see any ledger among them?”
“I—I didn’t…”
Xie Yuyin shook her head frantically. After taking those things, she had never examined them closely. What she used were all gold, silver, jade objects, pearls, and jewelry—at most she took a few scrolls of paintings for her husband to give away in cultivating connections. She had no idea what the rest contained.
Outside, the frightened cries of the residence’s servants drew closer, and the hurried, chaotic footsteps made the courtyard tremble.
Firelight illuminated half of Count Qing’an’s Residence. Xie Yuyin’s face was deathly pale as she clutched Old Madame Xie’s sleeve and said in a panic:
“Mother, the Imperial City Department people said they want to make arrests—they’re not here to arrest me, are they?”
“I really didn’t know those betrothal gifts were Sunjia’s stolen goods, and I never saw any ledger. I returned everything to Eldest Brother. Mother, you have to save me… I can’t go to the Imperial City Department, I can’t! If the Xujia find out I was arrested, I’m finished!”
Her voice trembled as she spoke, all trace of her earlier viciousness gone. Old Madame Xie clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Shut up! Are you determined to let everyone know it was you who did it?!”
Old Madame Xie yanked her hard, making her scram to the side and keep quiet. Her mind racing, she turned and said to Mama Cen: “Carry Jinque down!”
Shen Shuangyue’s head snapped up: “What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Naturally, to have her properly treated. The Shengyangdan can only preserve her life—it cannot heal external wounds.”
Seeing Shen, who had always been so docile, looking at her with cold mockery in her eyes, Old Madame Xie felt a surge of regret. If she had known Sunjia’s affair would implicate so much, and that the Imperial City Department would come knocking tonight, she never would have acted so ruthlessly.
She walked up to Shen Shuangyue and snapped at the people holding her: “What are you all standing around for? Help the Madam up!”
The few of them exchanged glances.
“Useless things!” Mama Cen hurried forward to support Shen Shuangyue. “Careful, Madam.”
Shen Shuangyue, eyes full of wariness, stepped back half a pace to avoid her hands.
Old Madame Xie seemed not to see it, only saying: “Jinque is gravely injured. Though you burned the Citang out of necessity, you still offended the ancestors of the Xie family. I was so enraged that I accidentally hurt you. But Shuangyue, we are family after all—some jokes must not be aired before outsiders.”
Shen Shuangyue lowered her eyes to look at her blood-soaked arm. Accidentally hurt her? Pressing her against the fire until her skin split and flesh tore—that was “accidentally hurt her”? Wanting to destroy her face, then feeding her a bowl of poison to turn her into a mute who could not speak—that was “accidentally hurt her”?
She had always known that Old Madame Xie was a practiced actress—kind and tolerant on the surface, yet utterly ruthless behind the scenes.
For a while after she entered the residence, her relationship with Xie Huaizhi had actually been improving. But it was precisely because Old Madame Xie repeatedly schemed against her that Xie Huaizhi came to believe her wicked nature was beyond reform and despised her utterly. Even Xie Chongyi, who was only six and knew nothing back then, came to hate her to the bone.
Old Madame Xie, as if not seeing the frost on her face, reached out to pull her along: “I know you harbor resentment toward me. But Huaizhi has just entered the Wuweiying, and the Wei Family’s tutor says Yi-ge’er will be able to sit for the Tongshengshi next year. Could you bear to see their futures ruined over today’s affair?”
“Do you know what kind of place the Imperial City Department is? Even Sunjia has only entered and never left. Pei Yu, that vicious villain, is the Emperor’s man. If he gets his teeth into Count Qing’an’s Residence, he will never let go.”
Shen Shuangyue’s motion to push Old Madame Xie away stopped, her lashes trembling, her thoughts in disarray.
She could disregard Xie Yuyin, could even disregard Old Madame Xie herself, but she could not watch Xie Huaizhi and Count Qing’an’s Residence come to ruin.
The ledgers of the salt transport embezzlement could be a matter big or small. If they were dragged in, it would mean confiscation of property and extermination of the clan. These years, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager had all but torn off the mask in their struggle for control of the court. That Pei Yu dared to have men force their way into Count Qing’an’s Residence tonight meant he would never let slip this chance to implicate the Wei Family and drag the Empress Dowager down with them.
If it were merely a matter of greedily taking the Sunjia betrothal gifts and spending them, then once it was investigated and cleared, so be it. But Xie Yuyin could not hold up under pressure at all. If Pei Yu coaxed her into saying something she should not, then the whole of Count Qing’an’s Residence would never know peace again.
And once Xie Huaizhi was ruined, what would become of Yi-ge’er?
Without Count Qing’an’s Residence, neither the Empress Dowager nor the Wei Family would shelter a young child with no usefulness and only thin blood ties.
The courtyard gate outside the Citang was slammed open. The servants keeping watch in the courtyard trembled all over. The Jinwuwei, torches in hand, marched in one after another, the sound of their boots shaking the ground, and once they flooded through the gate they took up positions on both sides, bristling with killing intent.
Stepping out from among them was a burly man with a face full of whiskers, his tiger-like eyes sweeping sternly toward the inner room, his voice deep and cold as he spoke.
“I am Ji Sanyi, Deputy Commander of the Jinwuwei. By order of the Marquis Dingyuan, I am here to apprehend the principal culprits of the salt tax embezzlement. Which of you is Shen, the Countess of Count Qing’an’s Residence!”
“She is!”
Xie Yuyin pointed at Shen Shuangyue without a moment’s hesitation, then hastily ducked behind Old Madame Xie when she saw her look over.
Shen Shuangyue pressed her lips together and forced herself to walk out, supporting her body: “I am Shen.”
Ji Sanyi looked at the woman who slowly came forward. He was first taken aback by the slap mark on her face, then a moment later his gaze fell upon the bloodstains on her body.
The rest might have been bearable, but that arm…
Ji Sanyi, who had spent years fighting and investigating cases in the field, could tell at a single glance that this Lady Xie had suffered grave injuries. The stench of blood on her was acrid even from that distance, her breathing was weak and labored, her steps unsteady, and there were her fire-scorched sleeve and her lacerated face…
Wasn’t she supposed to be the Count’s wife? Why did she look like a refugee fleeing disaster?
Ji Sanyi glanced at the chaotic Citang and announced in a loud voice: “Qinganbo Xie Huaizhi colluded with Sun Yiping, Vice Minister of the Hubu. Under the cover of betrothal gifts, they secretly hid the embezzled salt tax ledgers. After interrogation by my Houye, Xie Huaizhi confessed that you were an accomplice. By official orders, I am to take you back to the Imperial City Department for trial.”
“Wait!”
Old Madame Xie hurried forward a few steps and said anxiously, “Where is my son Huaizhi?”
Ji Sanyi frowned. “Xie Huaizhi colluded with the Sunjia, so naturally he has been thrown into prison.”
Old Madame Xie grew agitated at once. “Impossible! My son devoted himself to military affairs and never had any dealings with the Sunjia. When the Sunjia arranged the betrothal, he never involved himself from beginning to end, and he certainly had no idea that the Sunjia had hidden the salt tax ledgers among the betrothal gifts and sent them into our residence.”
“The Sunjia deserve death for their embezzlement, but my son truly knew nothing of the salt tax, let alone colluded with them…”
“Whether there was collusion or not is not for you to decide.”
Ji Sanyi’s voice was rough and utterly merciless as he spoke:
“Xie Huaizhi secretly swapped the Sunjia’s gift list and even tried to bribe my Houye with gold and silver. It was only out of regard for Her Majesty the Empress Dowager that my Houye ordered us to arrest Shen alone. Otherwise, given what Xie Huaizhi has done, everyone in Count Qing’an’s Residence, top to bottom, would be thrown into prison.”
With that, he coldly snapped,
“This is an Imperial City Department investigation, Old Madame. Step back, or don’t blame me for using force.”
Old Madame Xie was furious, but fearing they might truly lay hands on them, her face went pale and she dared not speak.
Shen Shuangyue, on the other hand, remained remarkably calm. “Mother, there is no need to worry. I merely took a few of the Sunjia’s items out of curiosity. The Count only swapped the gift list and made up the difference to avoid gossip. Once I arrive at the Imperial City Department, I will explain everything to Marquis Pei from beginning to end, and he will naturally clear the Bofu’s name.”
“It’s only that the Citang caught fire unexpectedly tonight. After I leave, the household will need your care, Mother. Please also look after Jinque for me…”
“Finished?”
Ji Sanyi cut Shen Shuangyue off directly, scolding her with an impatient expression. He was in a hurry to get back and report.
“Take Shen away!”