As Yuan Fuyu stepped out of Xingsheng Tavern, Jinshu overheard someone asking the waiter about the occupants of Yuan Fuyu’s guest room.
Jinshu glanced back at the inquisitive man before quickly catching up with Yuan Fuyu.
Bocai Pavilion was the largest private song-and-dance establishment in Chongren Ward.
Brilliantly lit, the building exuded waves of intoxicating fragrance mingled with decadent music and laughter, enough to inebriate passersby.
The Xiao Huaniang greeting guests at the entrance, seeing a female visitor, assumed she was some young lady coming to catch her lover. She promptly blocked the way with a practiced smile: “Young miss…”
Jinshu stepped forward from behind Yuan Fuyu, shielding her while pressing a silver-filled purse into Xiao Huaniang’s arms: “Madam Wei isn’t receiving guests today. Our young lady has business to discuss with her and won’t disturb your patrons. This is for you.”
Having said this, Jinshu followed Yuan Fuyu into Bocai Pavilion.
Xiao Huaniang, feeling the substantial weight of the silver, beamed and hurried after them: “This humble servant will guide our honored guests.”
On the octagonal central stage, a dozen dancers moved to the rhythm of strings and drums, earning roaring applause from the hall.
He Yichen, having shaken off his pursuers, slipped into Bocai Pavilion drenched in sweat.
His eyes scanned the room until he spotted Xiao Huaniang leading Yuan Fuyu up an inconspicuous painted staircase in the southeast corner.
He Yichen immediately squeezed through the crowd of patrons critiquing the dancers and gave chase.
Xiao Huaniang guided Yuan Fuyu through a corridor to the rear courtyard. After two turns, they reached Madam Wei’s door, where faint sobbing conversation between her and a man could be heard.
Xiao Huaniang knocked timidly: “Madam Wei, your guest has arrived.”
“Such ignorance! Don’t you know I don’t receive clients on the 4th, 8th, and 12th of each month?”
Before Madam Wei’s angry words faded, Yuan Fuyu had already pushed the door open…
The little flower girl who failed to block turned pale as a quail, shrinking by the doorway: “Ma…Madam Wei.”
Madam Wei, who had been sitting in the man’s lap, sprang up in shock, hastily adjusting her clothes. With tear-streaked eyes, she spat furiously: “How dare you!”
“Madam Wei, Left Commandant Qiancheng of the Golden Wu Guards. I have two business proposals to discuss with both of you.”
Hearing this, Qiancheng stared fixedly at Yuan Fuyu. Before he could order her out, he noticed He Yichen standing behind her.
Qiancheng’s expression shifted. Madam Wei quickly waved Xiao Huaniang away.
Though the Xiaoshi Bureau had merged with the Mystic Eagle Guards, and He Yichen had left the Bureau two years prior, who hadn’t feared him during its heyday?
Jinshu perceptively closed the door for the four occupants and stood guard outside.
Madam Wei subtly wiped her tears while smoothing her hair, assuming a smiling facade: “What instructions does Lord He and this young noblewoman have for this humble establishment?”
Qiancheng’s gaze settled on He Yichen: “What business does Lord He wish to discuss?”
How would He Yichen know? Cui Siniang had told him nothing.
Had Cui Siniang not come to the capital to investigate the Princess’s death, and had He Yichen not shown the Princess’s handwritten letter to her most trusted confidant after arriving, he wouldn’t have complied so readily with Cui Siniang’s request to come to Bocai Pavilion.
However, Cui Siniang’s visit to the Left Commandant of the Golden Wu Guards, He Yichen, could guess it was related to meeting Pei Du tomorrow night.
Yuan Fuyu removed the hood from her head and glanced at He Yichen. Their eyes met, and He Yichen understood her meaning.
Seeing Yuan Fuyu take a seat at the table, He Yichen assumed the posture of a follower, standing behind her with his hands clasped behind his back: “Regarding business, it would be more appropriate for the two of you to discuss it with Miss Cui.”
Upon seeing this, Madam Wei and Qiancheng immediately regarded this young girl before them with greater importance.
Yuan Fuyu drew a silver note from her sleeve and placed it on the table that Madam Wei had specially set with wine and dishes for the Left Commandant of the Golden Wu Guards.
“For five thousand taels to kill members of the Mystic Eagle Guards, how many people can Qianjin Pavilion provide?”
Faced with this girl of unknown origins yet followed by He Yichen, Madam Wei wore a guarded expression but did not dare to beat around the bush.
She leisurely walked to Qiancheng’s side and smiled at Yuan Fuyu: “Miss Cui, Qianjin Pavilion deals in lives but does not kill government officials. That is the rule. Has Lord He not told you?”
“Madam Wei and Lord Qian have known and pledged themselves to each other for years, yet because Qianjin Pavilion refuses to release her, Madam Wei has been unable to formalize her relationship with Lord Qian!” Yuan Fuyu looked at Qiancheng, who regarded her with full vigilance. “Lord Qian, as the Left Commandant of the Golden Wu Guards, has wasted five years still unable to marry the woman he loves, all because he cannot afford to offend the master behind Qianjin Pavilion.”
Hearing this, Qiancheng’s expression turned grim: “What exactly are you trying to say?”
Yuan Fuyu pressed her hand on the silver note: “My first business is to discuss with Madam Wei. Tomorrow, I and the former School Affairs Office Military Pacification Guard Commander He Yichen will kill Pei Du at the Pei residence in Anxing Ward.”
Both Madam Wei and Qiancheng were stunned and looked at He Yichen. Was this something they were allowed to hear?
He Yichen remained as steady as a mountain.
Yuan Fuyu said unhurriedly: “Qianjin Pavilion’s rule is not to kill government officials, but my silver… is to buy the lives of me and He Yichen. I will do the killing myself. Qianjin Pavilion’s people are to protect me and He Yichen and ensure our safe departure from the capital after I succeed. This does not violate Qianjin Pavilion’s rules!”
“That… is indeed correct.” Madam Wei hesitantly agreed.
Yuan Fuyu then looked at Qiancheng: “Lord Qian’s father and brothers died protecting the late Emperor. After the Yuan family gained the empire, to display imperial grace, they had Lord Qian join the Golden Wu Guards. Since the Princess passed away, Xie Huaizhou, the Uncle of the Emperor from the Zhai family, and the noble families—three factions—have been vying for power and profit, using the Princess’s death as a pretext to reform the responsibilities of various institutions. The position of Marquis of the Northern Army was abolished, the Golden Wu Guards were restructured, and power was decentralized. Lord Qian’s peers in the Golden Wu Guards have all been transferred, but with no family backing, Lord Qian could only remain in the Golden Wu Guards as the Left Commandant, with his actual authority greatly reduced.”
After the Princess’s death, Xie Huaizhou, relying on the Princess’s final instructions and her remaining influence, ostensibly took over all of the Princess’s forces, but he could not become a second Princess.
The Uncle of the Emperor from the Zhai family, as the Emperor’s maternal uncle and no longer restrained by the Princess, would not submit to Xie Huaizhou.
The noble families would not submit either.
Thus, this court reform was, in essence, the three factions dividing up the Princess’s power.
But all three factions wanted to save face and avoid appearing too greedy, so they carried it out under the guise of reform.
They reached a tacit understanding, and the reform faced almost no opposition in the court, completed with overwhelming force in just half a year.
Even the Mystic Eagle Guards and the Xiaoshi Bureau, which originally belonged solely to the Princess Manor and were established as the Princess’s private troops, had been merged and incorporated into the state.
He Yichen was one of those cast out during this reform.
Qiancheng looked at Yuan Fuyu: “So what if it is?”
“There is no Jingwu General in the court. The Golden Wu Guards are concurrently led by His Majesty’s maternal uncle, Zhai Heming… the Uncle of the Emperor from the Zhai family. Since the Princess passed away, the Uncle of the Emperor from the Zhai family and the Imperial Son-in-Law Xie Huaizhou have gone their separate ways, becoming as incompatible as fire and water in the court. Yet, the Uncle of the Emperor from the Zhai family has never been able to match Xie Huaizhou’s strength and has been suppressed by him.”
He Yichen lowered his gaze to Yuan Fuyu.
He hadn’t expected that Yuan Fuyu not only knew about the affair between Qiancheng and Madam Wei but was also so well-informed about the political situation in the court.