Chun Yao pushed the door open and saw her young mistress already dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed.
Her heart still pounded with fear: "Young mistress, there are many soldiers at the inn's entrance. When I came from there, they were everywhere along the way, as if searching for someone."
Liu Suisui was listless.
She asked Chun Yao: "Did you sell it?"
"Sold it." Chun Yao reached into her bosom and pulled out thirty taels of silver, her face full of regret. "That gold hairpin has been with you for many years. If not…"
If not for their dire circumstances, why would Liu Suisui have resorted to selling it?
Having just survived a life-and-death ordeal, Liu Suisui felt little sorrow.
Since her father's death and her mother remarrying before the mourning period was over, she had experienced too many upheavals and changes, too many scenes where places remained but people were gone. Her once delicate and sensitive heart had long grown numb.
It was just a gold hairpin. Sold was sold.
She told Chun Yao to keep the silver safe and then collapsed onto the bed to sleep.
Meanwhile, in Puyang Prefecture, to which the small town belonged.
Prefect Fan Chong paced back and forth in his study, his expression anxious and uneasy.
He would occasionally stop to peer outside, hoping for the good news he desired.
He waited from dusk until dawn, only to receive…
"Sir, my men have searched the entire prefectural city, but there is no trace of that person!"
Upon hearing this, Fan Chong's vision darkened, and he slumped into a rattan chair.
"It's over, it's over," he murmured, his face pale and expression despairing. "The Fan family is finished…"
The evidence of his bribery and selling of official positions had been stolen in broad daylight by a man in black.
He knew very well who that man in black was.
Under such a tight dragnet, the only person who could escape from his territory was the Imperial Guard Commander by the Emperor's side, who possessed extraordinary abilities. He could think of no one else.
If this evidence reached the Emperor's hands… Fan Chong dared not imagine the consequences.
It was as if he could see his entire family executed, rivers of blood flowing, and heads rolling.
He shuddered, steadying himself: "The only one who can save the Fan family now is that person in the capital. I will write a letter now. You must ride through the night to the capital and personally deliver this letter into that person's hands."
"Yes!"
…
In the early hours of the morning, in the dead of night.
A team clad in dark clothes traveled swiftly, their light horses kicking up dust, arriving instantly at the capital's main gate.
The gate captain on patrol, seeing someone seeking entry so late at night, was about to shout a reprimand when he spotted the tall man on a large horse, dressed in a dark red Feiyu uniform. The man's face was stern, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, a straight nose and thin lips, extraordinarily handsome yet radiating a sharp, murderous aura.
The Emperor's confidant, Imperial Guard Commander Shen Gongshen.
The captain, too frightened to look further, immediately ordered the gates opened.
As soon as the gates opened, a team of Imperial Guard attendants wielding Xiuchun blades galloped past, quickly disappearing from sight.
The gate captain stroked his chin, unable to resist speculating in his heart: The Imperial Guard handling a case so late at night—someone was probably about to suffer misfortune.
Shen Gongshen entered the palace overnight and did not emerge until daybreak.
Returning to the Shen residence, he had just bathed and changed into a black four-claw python robe, his hair tied with a jade crown, exuding an air of noble dignity without losing its sharp edge.
His personal attendant, Qixing, entered.
"Fourth Master, the Old Madam just sent someone over, asking you to join her for breakfast."
Shen Gongshen nodded and stepped out the door.
Qixing followed behind. Halfway there, he heard his master ask: "During my absence these past few days, has anything happened in the residence?"
"Nothing major, just that Third Master has taken another concubine, which angered Third Madam so much she returned to her parents' home again. The old madam scolded Third Master…"
Shen Gongshen said nothing.
His third elder brother was good in every way, except for being too sentimental.
He left traces of affection everywhere, and wanted to keep them all by his side.
The concubines in the third household were taken in one after another, yet his third sister-in-law was narrow-minded. Each time one was brought in, the two would quarrel.
Over the years, everyone in the Shen residence had grown accustomed to it.
Qixing was talkative, recounting all the trivial matters in the household.
Finally, he remembered something else: "I heard that relatives are coming to the second household today. They say it's Second Madam's niece from Su City coming to seek refuge. That young lady lost her father three years ago, her mother remarried, and she has no one to rely on at home. Second Madam pitied her plight and sent someone to fetch her after the three-year mourning period ended. I heard she's arriving today…"
Shen Gongshen had no interest in such matters.
He strode into Zhengyang Hall, and Qixing promptly fell silent.
In the side hall of Zhengyang Hall, the dining table was already set.
Old Duke Shen Chang and his wife Lin Shi sat together. Shen Gongshen entered the room and first bowed: "Father, Mother."
Old Duke Shen Chang was never one for many words. He glanced at his youngest son and nodded in acknowledgment.
Lin Shi, however, looked at her youngest son with heartache.
"Why have you lost weight again? Haven't you been eating well during your time away?"
Shen Gongshen was her youngest son.
He was also the child she and the Duke had in their later years, so naturally, she doted on him a little more.
Shen Gongshen took his seat opposite. Lin Shi personally served him a bowl of glutinous rice and red date porridge. Shen Gongshen reached out to take it, his voice unusually gentle: "Your son hasn't lost weight, Mother need not worry."
After breakfast, Shen Gongshen left the house.
The Imperial Guard Command was located at the foot of the imperial city, a complex of buildings covering a large area. Inside, towering structures blocked the sun, and the courtyards were deep, giving an inexplicably eerie and terrifying feeling.
Shen Gongshen rode on horseback, taking only the time of a cup of tea to travel from the Duke's residence to the Command.
He dismounted and strode through the main gate of the Command.
Xiao Zhen, the Commissioner of the Northern Garrison Office, came forward upon hearing the news: "Was your journey smooth, my lord?"
"Yes." Shen Gongshen did not pause, continuing his brisk pace. "Has Li Kuan started to talk?"
"He has been stubbornly refusing to speak, claiming he knew nothing, was not involved, and was framed."
Shen Gongshen, who had originally intended to go to his study, halted his steps, then turned and headed toward the direction of the imperial prison.
Passing through several courtyards, he entered the gate of the imperial prison.
The guards stationed at the entrance immediately bowed upon seeing him approach: "Commander."
Shen Gongshen nodded and strode inside.
Descending the steps, even with oil lamps burning on both sides of the passageway, it remained dim and sinister. The overwhelming smell of blood, mixed with piercing screams… sent chills down one's spine.
Shen Gongshen walked without stopping, clad in a black Feiyu uniform adorned with four claws, exuding an aura of stern lethality, like the King of Hell.
Finally, he entered the innermost interrogation room.
Li Kuan, the Vice Minister of Personnel, was shackled by his hands and feet to the torture rack, covered in blood, clearly having endured severe punishment.
His head hung low, his silver hair disheveled, and his dark gray brocade robe was now tattered beyond recognition.
The once lofty Vice Minister of Revenue had been tortured to the point of being neither human nor ghost.
Hearing the commotion, he lifted his eyelids and glanced upward.
When he saw the man standing before him, he sneered.
His mouth was full of blood, looking quite gruesome.
"Shen Gongshen, you're just a dog by the emperor's side. What are you so smug about?"
Shen Gongshen ignored him, stepping aside as his subordinates immediately brought his grand chair.
He swept his robe aside and sat down, placing his right leg over his left, leaning back against the chair. Though it was a broad, imposing posture, from him it exuded an air of refined laziness.
He seemed not to hear the words of Minister Li, only idly playing with the silver dagger in his hand.
The glint of the blade was terrifying.
Seeing him remain silent for so long, Minister Li grew impatient first.
"Shen Gongshen, I have neither broken laws nor committed crimes. As a minister for twenty years, I have served the court above and the people below with a clear conscience. You accuse me without evidence, and when I get out, I will report to the emperor that you abuse private punishment on innocent officials. You are lawless, you disregard the laws of Great Li…"
Perhaps the noise was too grating for Shen Gongshen.
Impatiently, he tossed the dagger onto a nearby table. The clattering sound interrupted Minister Li's furious rant.
He raised his eyes, his gaze deep, calm and profound.
Shen Gongshen stood up and approached, curling his lips into a cold, sinister smile. "They say Minister Li has been honest and upright all his life, with few servants even at home, and his carriage is nearly falling apart yet he won't replace it. Truly admirable."
Li Kuan snorted coldly: "If you know, then you should release me immediately."