Qingzhou stayed with Meng Qianzi outside the residence, waiting for Xiao Jiuyi, and kept trying to make small talk, but Meng Qianzi’s mind was heavy with worry and she kept drifting off. Qingzhou eventually gave up and quietly began holding a horse stance off to the side.
It was not until the moon hung high in the sky that Xiao Jiuyi finally left the palace and returned to the residence.
The man stepped down from his lavish carriage, and Meng Qianzi hurried forward to meet him. “Your Highness, you’re back.”
Xiao Jiuyi did not even glance at her as he stepped into the residence, only giving a flat “Mm.”
Qingzhou brightened, and reached out to push Meng Qianzi forward, signaling her to follow.
Meng Qianzi waited a long while in the side hall, turning over in her mind again and again whether, if he still refused, she should tell him something even greater to bargain with.
Such as how the Prince of Qin’s final battle against the Jin bandits ended in crushing defeat due to a misjudgment of the enemy’s forces, but that would be hard to explain, so she decided to leave that matter alone unless it became necessary.
Let the Emperor see clearly that not just anyone could take her father’s place leading troops into battle!
Taking her father’s place to turn the tide of the war was her last bargaining chip.
When the man came in, he had changed into warm-toned everyday clothes, his freshly washed ink-black hair still faintly damp, which softened much of the coldness about him.
After Meng Qianzi bowed, remembering what Qingzhou had said about him disliking those with no sense of proper conduct, she waited silently for him to speak first.
A maid brought in hot tea and pastries and quietly withdrew, and the air filled with the faint woody scent drifting from Xiao Jiuyi’s ink-black hair, which, strangely, gradually settled her restless heart.
Meng Qianzi glanced up quietly and saw him eat two pieces of the cloyingly sweet pastries in a row, and couldn’t help feeling relieved that he hadn’t strangled her for forcing that bitter medicine on him yesterday.
Xiao Jiuyi stretched out his long legs into a more comfortable position, his gaze landing on the torn section of Meng Qianzi’s skirt, and said, none too pleased:
“You wandered around outside all day dressed like that?”
Meng Qianzi let out an “Ah” of surprise at what he was focused on, though she felt no shame over it.
With a blade already at her family’s throats, she had no thought to spare for her appearance.
She lowered her eyes and said, “This subject was afraid of missing Your Highness’s return.”
Xiao Jiuyi’s eyelids lifted slightly, as if he wanted to roll his eyes but held himself back.
His slender fingers tapped idly against the small side table beside him, and Meng Qianzi’s mood rose and fell with the rhythm of his fingertips.
It was quite a while before he finally spoke. “How do you want this Prince to help you?”
Meng Qianzi’s heart lifted with joy, and she said urgently, “This subject begs Your Highness to ask His Majesty not to deal with my father so hastily, to give this subject a year’s time to find the evidence that he was wronged!”
“A year?” Xiao Jiuyi gave a scornful laugh. “You certainly dare to dream big.”
Thick-skinned enough, and bold enough besides!
Meng Qianzi said urgently, “This subject would not presume too much. I won’t hide it from Your Highness, this subject currently has not a single lead, and is afraid…”
“This Prince cannot do it.” Xiao Jiuyi cut her off without mercy.
Meng Qianzi’s spirits plunged at once, her raven-feather lashes trembling faintly as she lowered her eyes, but in only an instant she pulled herself back together.
She stepped forward, bowed her head, and cupped her hands, her tone firm. “As long as Your Highness can win this subject even a year’s time, this subject is willing to pay any price!”
Even at the risk of being seen as some kind of heretic, she would trade what she knew of the great matters of his own future to save the whole Meng family’s lives.
“Any price?” At those words, Xiao Jiuyi’s gaze swept over her entire body, as if against his own will.
Beneath her half-worn maid’s dress, one could just make out the slender curve of her waist and the rounded…
He suddenly remembered the warm, soft touch of her lips yesterday, his throat bobbing slightly, and said dismissively, “This Prince’s taste isn’t that poor.”
“Hm?”
Meng Qianzi was thoroughly confused, and couldn’t help looking up at him.
What did that have to do with his taste being good or bad?
Xiao Jiuyi cleared his throat lightly, his expression turning cold in an instant. “This Prince never helps those who are of no use. As for today’s matter, this Prince will count it as owing you a debt, this once, this Prince will give you a chance. If you can’t handle it, don’t come asking this Prince again.”
Meng Qianzi’s whole small face lit up with delight, as long as he was willing to give her a chance, that was enough. She nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice [1]nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice (xiao ji zhuo mi, 小雞啄米) Metaphor, nodding rapidly and eagerly, like a chick pecking grains jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3272274_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3272274_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, saying eagerly, “Please instruct this subject, Your Highness.”
“Half a month ago the Prince of Xiang brought his princess back to the capital to celebrate the Empress Dowager’s birthday. Three days ago the Princess of Xiang was found hanged, stripped bare, inside Consort Chun’s palace, the skin on her back peeled off in a single piece, and on that piece of skin, sutra verses had been carved with a sharp blade, edge to edge. The manner of her death was extremely gruesome. In his grief, the Prince of Xiang knocked his head against the ground before His Majesty and demanded that Consort Chun be put to death…” Xiao Jiuyi told it slowly, unhurried.
When Meng Qianzi heard the words “Consort Chun,” her whole being fell into overwhelming dread.
Consort Chun was no stranger to her, she was her own maternal aunt.
She had had no idea something like this had happened in her aunt’s palace, and did not know whether it had happened in her past life as well, or whether her aunt’s death had anything to do with it.
But she quickly composed herself, and waited only for him to continue.
Yet Xiao Jiuyi stopped there, his face filling with disgust, and said with a cold sneer, “I hear your aunt treated you as her own child, and yet hearing this, you can stay so unmoved!”
Meng Qianzi understood him a little better by now, but seeing his attitude toward the Elder Princess, she knew he valued the bonds owed to elders above all else. She lowered her head and explained in a low, steady voice, “This subject is not unmoved. I only wished to hear Your Highness explain the matter fully, so that I would know what I ought to do.”
Xiao Jiuyi reluctantly accepted her explanation, and said coldly, “The Princess of Xiang’s death remains a mystery. The chance this Prince will give you is this, find the killer within three days, and let this Prince see whether you’re worthy of his help.”
Meng Qianzi drew a sharp breath, three days!
What she had trained in was martial arts, not solving crimes, but this matter left her no room to refuse, partly for her aunt’s sake, and partly to buy her father one more thread of a chance at life.
Xiao Jiuyi watched the change in her expression with dark, unreadable eyes, curious to see whether she had the nerve to take it on.
Meng Qianzi did not keep him waiting, cupping her hands and saying solemnly, “This subject will surely not disappoint Your Highness’s expectations.”
The corner of Xiao Jiuyi’s mouth curled into a mocking smile, as though laughing at her for overestimating herself, and then he rose and left.
He said coldly, “Go find Qingzhou. Tomorrow you’ll come with this Prince to the Jinyu Si.”
Meng Qianzi agreed at once, again and again, and had to take several deep breaths to steady herself under the crushing weight of what lay ahead.
This matter had to succeed, failure was not an option. She firmly believed her kind-hearted aunt would never harm anyone. If she could not find the true culprit, then even if she offered up an even greater bargaining chip, Little Prince Yong might not be able to save her aunt.
Qingzhou led her to a courtyard planted thick with purple bamboo, and looking up she saw two characters written in wild, untamed cursive script above the gate.
“Rongjing”
What a contradictory pairing.
Qingzhou swept his arm out in a grand circle and said with a grin, “You’ll be staying here for now, Miss. The whole courtyard is yours, stay in whichever room you like.”
Meng Qianzi looked around at the side chambers built of fine nanmu wood, the beams beneath the eaves, the window lattices, and the doors all carved with delicate, auspicious images of the Eight Buddhist Treasures picked out in gold, every detail showing off the extravagance and dignity of the imperial family, and felt more than a little overwhelmed by such favor.
Even if Xiao Jiuyi had put her up in a woodshed, she would have been content.
“Also, tomorrow you need to be in the front hall waiting for His Highness before the chen hour (7 to 9 a.m.). His Highness doesn’t like people who can’t keep time.” Qingzhou gave her a few more careful reminders, and as he left, raised a fist toward her in a gesture of encouragement.
Meng Qianzi chose a room beside the main hall and settled down to rest for the time being.
Tomorrow she would need to rise even earlier, to fetch her own belongings and change into fresh clothes, so as not to be an eyesore to Little Prince Yong.
The moment she closed her eyes, her mind filled with a jumble of chaotic thoughts.
Was her aunt all right for now? Had she been tortured for a confession?
And how was she to even begin investigating the Princess of Xiang’s death?
It was a pity she knew nothing at all about the details of the case, she wished she could start looking into it this very moment…
Suddenly, a voice, neither loud nor soft, rang out from outside the courtyard. “Miss, may this servant come in?”
References[+]