Discovered
Chang Chun Inn
"So we are here, now what?" Qing Er asked, pouring herself and Xiao Jian each a cup of tea.
"I think perhaps we should go see Liu Qing and Jin Suo first. They would be able to let everyone else know of our being in the capital. When we see Xiao Yan Zi, then we can tell her everything."
"If we are going to go see Liu Qing and Jin Suo first, I'm not sure why we couldn't just go stay there in the first place."
"No, if we had all showed up at Hui Bin Lou, you know they'd make us stay there, and all we'd get would have been a demand for explanations right away. I want just the two of us to see them – to see Xiao Yan Zi – and talk first. I just want to tell this story once – or at least, systematically. And Xiao Yan Zi deserves to hear it first, too, not to mention Yong Qi."
"Shush!" Qing Er whispered, clapping a hand against his mouth, looking around, alarmed. It was only the two of them in the room. Still. "You can't call him that anymore."
"Yes, I know," Xiao Jian said, slightly irritated. "It is just strange, though, to call him anything else. And do you honestly think he'd mind?"
"It's not a matter of whether he minds," Qing Er stressed. (He wouldn't.) She knew that Xiao Jian understood the reasoning behind not speaking the name of the emperor – any emperor. Educated as he was, he could not have failed to grasp this lesson. This inability to actually practice it was more due to the fact that to Xiao Jian, he was his friend and brother-in-law first. Also, Qing Er suspected that the position and title of emperor held unpleasant connotations for her husband. It was probably why, even now, even after he had been back to Beijing previously and seen the Fifth Prince in his new position, Xiao Jian still found it unnatural to refer to him by it outside the palace and not being reminded of it. It was all well when they were in the privacy of their chamber and home, but they were currently not.
"Do you not think we should tell the family about Xiao Yan Zi first?" Qing Er asked. "I mean, that is sort of the whole point of coming back here."
"I – I don't want them to hear about her before they meet her. I don't want them to develop any preconceived notion or expectations of her by hearing about her first," Xiao Jian said.
"So you're going to just – what? Get her to Hui Bin Lou – which I warn you will be hard now – introduce everyone and then drop story on the family? That's hardly calmer than telling them first and let them get used to the idea before meeting her."
"There are downsides to both scenarios. I just know that Ah Yi would hardly be pleased to know her situation. He is hot-headed and impulsive enough as it is, I don't want him to have days of stewing over the situation and do something stupid."
"Impulsiveness is a family trait," Qing Er commented, the corners of her lips twitching into a smile.
"I resent that," Xiao Jian said, smiling back.
"You can be impulsive enough when the situation pushes you to it," Qing Er pointed out.
There was short pause.
"I suppose there is really no ideal way of telling your sister that the parents you both thought were dead are actually alive," Qing Er said.
Xiao Jian smiled wryly.
"It was hard enough telling her that our parents were dead," he said. "Now she's never going to believe anything I say. When I first met them, I said I was looking for a brother, and then I told them I didn't actually have a brother, which I now do have. It's a mess."
"And we haven't even gotten to the reason that you all were separated and caused this mess in the first place," Qing Er said, ending with a sigh.
"I'm not looking forward to that conversation with Father, at all. Here, meet the husband of your only daughter. By the way, did I mention that he's the emperor and his father was the reason you were sentenced to death years ago, leading to your family be scattered across the length of the country and causing your dearest friend and cousin to die in your place?"
Qing Er did not smile. None of this was amusing at all. Still, it was a secret that must come out, and soon.
"Would Father hold it against Wu Ye?"
"Is he Wu Ye now?" Xiao Jian teased.
Qing Er gave him an exasperated look. She knew they hardly were being discreet about this conversation, considering everything that had been said already, but it was dangerous to refer directly to Huang Shang by either title or name. This was the middle ground Qing Er had come up with. It was not an incorrect honourific, in any case.
"I don't know how much Father would hold it against him," Xiao Jian admitted. "I hardly think he'd be particularly happy. I do know for sure Ah Yi would be furious."
"Were you? When you first found out who he was?" Qing Er asked, curious.
"I – It was different then. They weren't married then. I thought, at first, maybe eventually I could convince her not to marry him. Then…he went away with us, and it was just all confusing, because I didn't want to like him, I didn't want to appreciate everything he's doing for her but it was all there before me. I just – it just all felt like fate had a twisted sense of humour." There was a moment of silence when it seemed that Xiao Jian was lost in thought. "I'm also worried about Cheng An's reactions to all this," he said after a while.
"Surely he would understand that Wu Ye would have no hand in his father's death," Qing Er said.
"It's one thing to know it, it's another to accept it, Qing Er. Believe me, I've been there. Cheng An doesn't even have any reason to think well of Yong – Wu Ye at all. It's not even about his father. His father was going to die anyway, and he chose to use his life to save Father's. It's just that, no man would be particularly pleased to know that his betrothed had married another man. And considering who Wu Ye is and how tangled everything is, I don't think Cheng An would be terribly fond of him."
"Cheng An was four and Xiao Yan Zi was one the last time they were even in a room together. I hardly think he holds a torch for her. Even if he did, he has no right to blame Xiao Yan Zi for marrying someone else when she didn't even know she was engaged to anyone in the first place. He knew and it's not as if he waited for her. He went and married someone else himself, and he liked Yu Lan enough. And you try talking to Xiao Yan Zi about an arranged marriage and see how she likes it," Qing Er pointed out.
"I'm not saying anything could become of them now," Xiao Jian said. "And if Yu Lan were still alive, I would not think anything of it, since they'd both be married. But now that Yu Lan is gone, Cheng An would marry again. I just hope he doesn't get it into his head that Xiao Yan Zi is still somehow his. Xiao Yan Zi never was his, Fang Ci was. But Xiao Yan Zi is not anything you could expect Fang Ci to be. It doesn't help that we – I – owe Cheng An and his father the world."
"This is like Chen Zhi Hua all over again, and a thousand times more complicated," Qing Er said. "You are right, fate has a twisted sense of humour."
Fu Zheng had never sat so motionless in his life, but now, the only thing he could do was sit and let the conversation he just accidentally overheard find its place to settle in his head.
He knew one of those voices, especially when paired with the name Qing Er. Qing Ge Ge.
Other names he heard ran around his mind in circles.
Xiao Yan Zi. Fang Ci.
Wu Ye.
Yong Qi.
A name that could not be spoken out loud, taken in vain.
There was only one person with a name that sounded like that with that logic applied.
What could he take away from this conversation?
Qing Ge Ge and her husband, who was, more importantly, Yi Fei's brother, were staying at the inn which belonged to him. They were unguarded enough in their conversation that he could hear them in the room next door. Then again, they would have no idea how thin the walls were.
Yi Fei, before she married Huang Shang, had been engaged to someone else. (He tucked that knowledge away for later use. It was interesting, but there were bigger things to consider now.)
The most interesting was, somehow – he didn't much care how – Yi Fei's father was alive.
Yi Fei's father, who was the key to her past, a past which both the previous and current emperor seemed overly careful to cover up.
Yi Fei's father, who was an official who was once convicted of treason and sentenced to death in the previous reign.
His daughter Wan Yun had told him this, and how she – along with the rest of the inner palace – came to know of this fact, as desperately as both Huang Shang and Yi Fei wished to conceal it. Somehow one of the concubines had learnt of the fate of Yi Fei's family, and reported it to Huang Shang in hope that it would get rid of Yi Fei. Wan Yun had been furious when she told him how the emperor didn't even bat an eyelash at the scandalous truth, and had even known all along. He could not be moved to do anything, and neither Huang Hou nor Tai Hou had even spoken a word in protest.
How such a woman with no connections managed to get such protection, Fu Zheng never really understood.
He had consoled Wan Yun as much as he could. They did not have to be hasty. It didn't matter how much Huang Shang wished to protect Yi Fei. Such an origin could only be damning, even if she had an imperial edict from all the previous emperors of the dynasty pardoning her family. Opportunity would come in time for them to exploit this.
Now, he had this: this truth that apparently even Yi Fei and Huang Shang did not know.
Yi Fei's father, a criminal who was supposed to have been beheaded years ago, had somehow escaped his death sentence and lived to this day.
How could the imperial edict from the previous emperor even matter now? Everybody knew that such edict – such a useless pardon when the person who was pardoned was supposed to be dead – was only a consolation prize. Fang Zhi Hang had to be dead to be pardoned.
He wasn't dead. Therefore he was a fugitive on the run, who had cheated out of his death sentence. The law had never been more against Yi Fei, and if he knew of her history, that was saying a lot.
Fu Zheng counted himself lucky that he had gone back from a long ride and decided to take a rest in this room before going back to his mansion. It had certainly been a productive afternoon, though he started expecting to get nothing of import done.
Dinner was a preoccupied affair for both Qing Er and Xiao Jian. After their conversation, while Qing Er tended to Zhan Er, their two-year-old son, Xiao Jian had gone to Hui Bin Lou to seek out Liu Qing, but found that Liu Qing and Jin Suo had gone to visit Liu Hong and her husband who lived outside of Beijing. The inn and restaurant was left in the care and management of Ah Hu, one of the boys – well, he was a man now – who had grown up under the care of Da Za Yuan.
Xiao Jian could have gone to find Fu Er Kang, but did not. Qing Er understood that while it was probably easier to get to Xiao Yan Zi to Er Kang's place to talk, the family would probably be highly suspicious to be brought to such an obvious place of prominence and it would start things off on the wrong note. Hui Bin Lou was neutral ground, and it did not hurt to wait a few days until Liu Qing and Jin Suo came back to start to put in motion all the introductions and explanation.
Qing Er suspected the excuse to procrastinate was just something Xiao Jian needed. It was hardly a good way to go about this, but Qing Er did not protest against it.
It wasn't that Qing Er herself wasn't nervous. She was. To be honest, she was terrified. Her in-laws had no idea of her own connections, they simply knew that she was from Beijing, that her parents were no longer living and she had been raised by wealthy relatives.
None of it was exactly a lie.
It wasn't even that Xiao Jian and she had intended to lie by omission either.
When they first met Xiao Jian's parents, all the information and reveals had been so shocking and overwhelming. It seemed too much to add to that their own drama.
His parents, too, were much too happy to be reunited with their eldest son to much care about the details of the origins of their daughter-in-law. They were too busy trying to make him happy by being as welcoming and accepting of Qing Er as humanly possible.
Qing Er wondered what would happen to the relations between them when the truth all came out. Relations between them were amicable now, but would they be alble to forgive Qing Er for keeping such crucial truth a secret from them?
It wasn't that they were bad people. No, reasons they have been missing from Xiao Jian and Xiao Yan Zi's lives for so long aside, they were good people. Qing Er understood enough that you could not judge a man on one, or even several, poems he wrote, and tie him up in a single word or box. She could honestly blame her father-in-law for resenting the loss of his own heritage to hers either. Prejudice and unhappiness and resentment were all too natural when they were all but people. Qing Er didn't believe her father-in-law ever really had the intention of rebellion.
She could not, however, be as sure of her brother-in-law.
Fang Yi had been born after Fang Zhi Hang had escaped from prison and Du Xue Yin had faked her death. Perhaps it was because he grew up in hiding, grew up knowing the reasons that he and his parents and adopted brother moved around so often, that he developed a deep resentment for Manchurian people as a whole and the Manchurian dynasty in specific.
Even now, in the middle of Beijing, where such hatred was highly dangerous when expressed out loud, it was apparent. Father, in trying to have a friendly conversation with the steward of the inn, was asking about the owner of the place. Apparently, the owner was a general of the Fucha clan. The steward could not be totally indiscreet when engaging in small talk with his customers, but he didn't have to say much for Qing Er much to understand the general in question must be related to Fu Heng. She kept this piece of information to herself, of course, because she was no longer Qing Ge Ge, to whom this understanding was too natural. In any case, the only person who would find the names and relations of interest would be Xiao Jian. He had served under Fu Heng with Er Kang and Wu Ye, though in Xiao Jian's case, it was in disguise as a Bai Yi man from Yunnan who "just happened" to want to be of help to the army. Xiao Jian had told her that Fu Heng likely was never fooled and knew that there was some prior acquaintance between the three men, but had never pressed the issue.
Fang Yi, upon hearing the inn belonged to a Manchurian official, looked displeased, though was mercifully silent. The silence did not last, however, when the inn's steward saw his expression and asked what was wrong.
"I detest Manchurians, especially those who lead good men into battle to die like your master, I wish he and those like him would all drop – " Fang Yi didn't end his sentence but growled in pain and turned to glare at his brother. Qing Er knew Xiao Jian must have stomped on his foot under the table. Meanwhile, their father snapped at him to hold his tongue and now was trying sooth the offended inn-keeper. Qing Er looked nervously around, hoping that no one had overheard the indelicate remark, especially anyone would could bring doom down on them.
Fang Yi was not happy. After learning about the identity of the owner of the inn, he had wanted his family to move to a different place. His brother had been the most vocal in shooting down his suggestion, and his father had agreed right away.
That was what Father did now, apparently. Agree with Ah Yan, on everything. Mother smiled every morning to see Ah Yan. Everything Ah Yan did was perfect. Everything Ah Yan said was right. Everything that passed through Ah Yan's hands was good. Ah Yan's wife was so clever and virtuous and such a lovely daughter-in-law. She was their darling for finally giving them the long-wished for grandson, who they so cleverly dragged along on this wild-goose chase up the length of the country.
Fang Yi found the whole thing very trying.
It wasn't that he wasn't glad that his brother was alive and reunited with them after all these years of separation. He was. He had been, at first, anyway.
The way his parents were acting now made him realise that he and Cheng An were never really enough for them, never mind that without Cheng An and his father, certainly Father and perhaps even Mother would be dead. No, Fang Yi, for nearly eighteen years, had only been a substitute for their precious Yan Er, and now that he was here, Fang Yi no longer was Father and Mother's most precious son.
It didn't take a genius to work it out, even if no one said such thing out loud.
And now, they had hauled themselves from Yunnan, where they were perfectly anonymous and at peace with their lives, to Beijing, with a toddler in tow, no less, to look for his (still) long-lost sister.
It didn't matter that Father, Mother, Cheng An and Fang Yi had once spent two years in the capital looking, but Fang Ci had never arrived at the Jiang family where she was supposed to be taken. They found no trace of her, no evidence she ever even arrived in Beijing.
It didn't matter that even Ah Yan admitted that he had spent time in Beijing looking for her as well. He didn't find her either, though he did find himself a wife. He even came back to Beijing a year ago, and must have done further investigation, though his real reason, he said, was to visit friends.
Just because now Ah Yan suggested that they return to Beijing again to try their luck again, they return.
It still was going nowhere, as far as Fang Yi knew. He didn't hold out for too much hope. He knew that even Cheng An had given up most hopes of finding Fang Ci the moment he married Shi Yu Lan. If the suitable girl came along, he would probably marry again now that Yu Lan was gone. He had stopped waiting for Fang Ci once, he would do it again. Even Father and Mother could not possibly blame him. After all, Cheng An was the last of his line, he needed a son to carry on his family name. That was one of the reasons his father sacrificed his life to save Fang Yi's father's life in the first place. Cheng An could not wait indefinitely for a fiancée that he wasn't even sure was still alive.
Today, Ah Yan had taken everyone out to the market, but Fang Yi did not feel like joining in. Even Qing Er looked excited, though Fang Yi wondered why she would be. She grew up in this city, but from the way she was acting, one would think she had never walked the streets of Beijing before.
So he was here, sitting in the corner of an inn that he detested, brooding.
He looked up from his tea cup when a man slid into the bench opposite him. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the man, other than the fact that he just joined a complete stranger at a table when there were at least five other empty tables around them.
"My name is Wang Xi," the man said. Fang Yi did not say anything but just raised an eyebrow at him. "I overheard you yesterday. You do not like Manchurians?"
"What is it to you?" Fang Yi asked. He disliked Manchurians, but he was not stupid. Such a line of question could be dangerous in so much more than one way.
"If you do hate the Manchu and their rule over this country, and want to have the chance to cause some change, to return the country to its rightful owners. I can help you there."
"Who are you?"
"I am Wang Xi, of the White Lotus Sect. We seek to return the world to the heirs of the Zhu family."
"How can I believe you?"
Wang Xi smiled and started talking. Later, Fang Yi would have no idea how long they talked, but Wang Xi certainly knew how to sell a cause, and drew a future no longer under Manchurian rule, returned to the Ming, where men were no longer forced and intimidated into following customs that were not theirs.
"We are having a meeting tomorrow, to discuss plans. Perhaps you should come. You do not have to pledge to anything yet, just come and meet people who think the same as us, who have the same ideals and are ready to sacrifice everything for a better world," Wang Xi said.
Fang Yi could not say he was totally convinced of anything, but then didn't Wang Xi just say he didn't have to commit yet?
Seeing Fang Yi hesitate, Wang Xi smiled. "Here, this is the letter that the sect leader sent me with information about the meeting tomorrow, the details of when and where. Take it. I have memorised it. Take it and come to this place, and this letter from the sect leader will let you in. We cannot just let anyone in, you know. There must be a guarantee we can trust you. This will earn you that trust of people at the door."
He should not go.
It was dangerous.
But really, it wasn't as if he was signing up to join a rebellion.
It was just to meet like-minded people.
So what if it was illegal? Laws were set by those in power and favoured those in power. Law had been the thing that tore his family apart. This mindless worship of the emperor and thinking everything he did, he wanted, was right, was insane. So was staying silent about problems that should and could be changed.
His father, ever since the disaster with the poem that ruined their lives all those years before Fang Yi was born, now refused to discuss politics in any capacity.
Cheng An was never really interested.
Fang Yan was as quiet about his ideals – whichever way they swung – as their father, though Fang Yi thought it was for a very different reason. He just wasn't really sure what that reason was.
The only one in their family who ever dared to say anything true to their heart was Fang Yi, and was always made to be quiet, first by Father, now by both Father and Fang Yan.
So what if he wanted to go somewhere he could really speak his mind for once?
"Where is Ah Yi?" Qing Er asked as they sat down for lunch.
"He said he was meeting someone," Cheng An replied.
"Who?" Xiao Jian asked.
As if to answer his question, two dozen soldiers swooped into the inn and surrounded their table.
"What in the world – " Xiao Jian cried. Next to him, Qing Er gasped and pulled Zhan Er into her arms.
Xiao Jian cursed the fact that just that one day, he had left his sword in the room upstairs. What was going on? Surely it could not be that after nearly thirty years of playing dead, someone finally realised Fang Zhi Hang was alive? How was that even possible?
"You are all the family of Fang Yi?" the captain of the soldiers barked.
"Yes. Where is my son?" Father demanded. "What have you done to him?"
"No one has done anything to him," the captain said shortly. "Arrest them!"
There had never been a more chaotic time in Xiao Jian's life, and considering everything he'd been through, he didn't think that was even possible. They were given no explanation, but were promptly arrested. When Xiao Jian tried to struggle against the soldiers, one of them tore Zhan Er from Qing Er's arms. She had screamed, begging them not to hurt him. Even if he had his sword in his hand, Xiao Jian knew he would at that moment throw it down. They held Zhan Er as a sort of bait, but if there was any relief to be found, it was that when they finally reached the big prison cell where all of them would be held, Zhan Er was given back to them, falling terrified into Qing Er's arms, both of them sobbing.
Then Fang Yi was thrown into the cell with them.
"Yi Er!" Mother cried, pulling him to her, looking over him for injuries or hurt.
"I'm fine," Ah Yi said, though Xiao Jian could see he was shaking with fear.
"What happened?" Father asked grimily. Xiao Jian did not know how he managed to look and remain so calm, despite the fact that they had all just been thrown into a dark dungeon for who-knew-what reason. From the panicked look that Ah Yi gave, Xiao Jian did not think this meant anything good.
Ah Yi slowly told them of his meeting with the man named Wang Xi.
"And you went to this meeting?" Xiao Jian shouted when Ah Yi finished. "Are you insane? How could you be so stupid? What good could come out of something like that?"
"What good?" his brother shouted back. "I actually agree with what he says. I want and am willing to do something about it, unlike you!"
Xiao Jian gaped at him, his body shaking with anger and fear. He knew that his brother did not take too well to those in power. He had always thought the resentment stemmed from their separated family only. He had thought Ah Yi was simply displeased, he didn't realise the displeasure ran so deep that he would consider joining a rebellion of all thing. Xiao Jian had only ever thought about opposing the throne when in pursuit of revenge. But his father was not dead, and the person whose father was dead – Cheng An – did not seem bent on revenge, so what vengeance was there left to take? What was Ah Yi doing and thinking?
"You want to do what?" Xiao Jian asked, both exasperated and desperate. "You want to throw us all in danger? Did you not think of the consequences? You know what it took to save Father's life! And now…now you throw all our lives away because you somehow thought you could singlehandedly overthrow an established dynasty? You are crazy!"
"Not singlehandedly. There is a group with this goal."
"Then where are they?" Xiao Jian demanded. "Why are you the only one captured? Why are we the only ones in here?"
Ah Yi could not answer.
"Do not shout at him anymore," Mother said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It does not help."
"I'm sorry, Mother, but I still cannot believe he could be so unbelievably stupid!" Xiao Jian cried in frustration. "This is going to kill all of us! And for what?"
He took a gulping breath. It wasn't only the danger to his parents' lives, his wife and son's lives that shook through him like a storm right now. If this somehow got traced back to Xiao Yan Zi, forget the Son of Heaven; Yong Qi could be Heaven himself and might not be able to save her…
It took Qing Er's restraining hand on his arm for him to not jump in and strangle Ah Yi, who, though the shock at the current situation was apparent in his eyes, managed to look defiant still. He had no idea just how far reaching the consequences of what he had just done could be.
Whose fault is that? a voice in his head mocked him. After all, he was the one who held out telling his parents about his sister. He was the one who lied and actually told them that he never found her, that he didn't know whether she lived. He was the only who lured them here to Beijing, in hope of finally telling them how he did find her, about how perhaps her life wasn't what they all imagined, but at least she was happy.
Still, he, at least, was trying to protect her.
And now…had his brother – their brother – just managed to unknowingly, idiotically, undo it all?
"I agree with everything you've been saying," Cheng An said, "but Ah Yan, none of this helps us now. We need to think of ways to deal with this."
Any answer Xiao Jian might make was cut short by Zhan Er's whimper. "Cold."
He looked over at his son. Qing Er was holding him as close to her as possible, but it was freezing cold in the cell. It was certainly no place for a child so young. Xiao Jian quickly took off his outer jacket and wrapped it around his son.
"You are right," he said, turning to Cheng An. "We have to think of a way to get out of here."
"It's easier wished than done," Father commented, looking around the heavy locks and the secure bar in the windowless room.
"You broke out of waiting-for-execution high-security prison," Xiao Jian pointed out.
"With plenty of help, bribery and connections with the jailers," Father said. "We have none of that at our disposal."
"I don't think bribing the guards quite work from the inside, either," Qing Er said. "But connections…"
"No, Qing Er," Xiao Jian exclaimed firmly.
His wife stared up at him, shocked.
"No," he repeated. "Even if we could somehow make contact with the outside, which is looking impossible, we can't possibly."
"Why not?"
"The last thing we need now is this to connect back to them! Do you really want to put her in that kind of danger? Both of them?"
He stared at her. Surely Qing Er understood that. She must. She had to see it, even without him saying it out loud.
She closed her eyes. "I know," she whispered. "But…Zhan Er….he cannot say here."
"What are you two talking about?" Cheng An asked before Xiao Jian could say anything.
"My…family could possibly pull some strings," Qing Er said hesitantly, looking pointedly at Xiao Jian. He knew she was asking him whether they should just tell the family now about Xiao Yan Zi. But now, more than ever, they had to continue keeping the secret. Pulling Xiao Yan Zi into this in any way would only make things worse.
He shook his head at Qing Er. "It would put…them in too much danger, Qing Er. And how do we even contact them in here anyway? No one would allow it. Even if we managed it, they would never be able to get all of us out without everything coming up in an even bigger mess. I cannot risk so much just because my brother is stupid enough not to realise – "
Fang Yi opened his mouth furiously to protest, however a glare from Father shut him up. Father turned to stare Xiao Jian. Xiao Jian wondered whether he saw that he and Qing Er were hiding something. If he was suspicious, however, he didn't express it out loud. He simply said, "Then we need to think of how to deal with the trial, assuming we get one."
"The reason we are here is damning enough," Xiao Jian said. "I hardly think we need to tell the whole truth. We have our cover stories, we should just go with them."
As they continued to discuss what they should say in the event that they were questioned, Xiao Jian exchanged looks with Qing Er. They both knew that if there were to be any chance that any of them would get out of this alive, it would have to involve Xiao Yan Zi. If they were determined to keep Xiao Yan Zi safe, then it was likely that all of them would die. There was no way around it. If it was only them, Xiao Jian knew neither he nor Qing Er would hesitate accepting that fate. But it wasn't just them, or even Father and Mother. It was Zhan Er too, and as he looked at Qing Er now, they both knew neither of them was strong enough for what was to come.
Qian Qing Gong
It was a slow morning, which meant one of two things: all things were fine around the country, or his officials were hiding things from him.
It was, of course, every emperor's wish that it was the former. Yong Qi was no different in that respect.
There seemed to be only one incident worth noting, and it came in the form of a report from Li Wei, the official in charge at Zhong Ren Fu.
"Huang Shang, yesterday Zhong Ren Fu received information from an anonymous source that the White Lotus Sect was holding a meeting. When your subject sent men there to capture them, only one man was found. We had the area where we found the criminal surrounded, but found no trace of any other member of the White Lotus Sect, or any meeting that was supposed to take place. He had in his possession a letter that definitely confirmed his connection to the Sect, and when he was captured, he practically declared himself a rebel. He has been arrested, along with all his family, consisted of six other people, who were staying at the Chang Chun Inn. They are being held now at Zhong Ren Fu. Your subject awaits your instruction."
Whispers rose in the hall. Everyone knew Chang Chun Inn belonged to Fu Zheng. The fact that criminals were found there was quite the loss of face for the owner. Yong Qi turned to Fu Zheng and found that he looked quite calm, however.
Fu Zheng stepped forward, and said, "Huang Shang, your subject has heard of this happening in the inn immediately after the arrest was made. Your subject is heartily ashamed that such travesty should happen right under my nose. Your subject begs Huang Shang to give out punishment."
"There will be no punishment. The meeting was not held at your establishment nor did any dealings take place there. You cannot possibly know what secrets your guests keep."
"Your subject thanks Huang Shang for your understanding and generosity. To make up for the chaos that had been caused under my roof, your subject would like to request that Huang Shang allows me to head the investigation of this case."
"This is hardly falls within your duty, General," Yong Qi said shortly.
"Of course, Huang Shang, but your subject feels that it is my duty to right the wrong that happened under my watch. It would greatly comfort me to be able to give good name back to my establishment."
"Because part of this has to do with your establishment, you cannot be seen to have any influence on the investigation at all, though we assure you that we do not suspect you have any involvement in this. You need not worry, the case will be properly investigated and good name returned to you."
"Thank you, Huang Shang, for your benevolence," Fu Zheng said.
"This clearly falls under the jurisdiction of the Board of Punishments. Er Tai."
Er Tai bowed. "Huang Shang."
"We are leaving this case to you. You must personally oversee it. It seems straightforward, but we want to know who these people are, what they are doing and what their connections are to the White Lotus Sect."
"Yes, Huang Shang, your subject obeys."
Later, in the private study at Qian Qing Gong, Yong Qi looked at Er Tai over the top of his tea cup.
"Well?" Er Tai said, picking up his own tea.
"Well, what?"
"Officials get tip off about a rebellion meeting, turn up to arrest rebels, find rebels with damning evidence, lock rebels up in jail. Presumably eventually rebels are executed. What about this simple case requires my direct attention exactly?" Er Tai asked calmly.
Yong Qi raised an eyebrow and put the tea cup down. "You think this is a simple case?"
Er Tai smiled. "No." He sipped his tea. "But I want to know why you don't think it is."
"First of all, it is one rebel, not rebels. That alone is suspicious. Why would someone tip off the authorities about a rebellion meeting when the meeting turns out to consist of only one person?"
"Maybe the rest of them got cold feet. Maybe the rest of them got tipped off about the tip off and decided to not show up."
"But didn't tell that one person to get out also," Yong Qi pointed out.
"So you're saying it's a frame job."
"I'm not saying anything. That would be establishing prejudice before the investigation has even started."
"Huang Shang sheng ming," Er Tai intoned, though with a smirk.
Yong Qi laughed. It was calming, sometimes, to know that there were still those like Er Tai who knew they could get away with teasing him like this.
"Shut up."
"What about Chang Chun Inn?" Er Tai asked, more seriously. "You don't think it's a coincidence, do you?"
"Fu Zheng didn't really seem that surprised about the whole thing and seemed very eager to head the investigation. He looked quite put out when I gave it to you," Yong Qi said. "Even from that distance away I saw it; surely you saw it as well?"
"I do not pretend to be an expert at reading the moods of our esteemed general. But yes, I know what you mean."
"This seems rotten to me, Er Tai," Yong Qi said. "I just have a bad feeling."
"About Fu Zheng? I can't blame you. For all that our fathers are close friends, and our families had always had good relations with one another, there is something about that man that sets me on edge."
"I have a bad feeling about the whole thing," Yong Qi said. "And what's worse, I feel bad about it, Er Tai, because what does it mean when I can't trust him?"
"You trust him on the battlefield. Just not in politics. And you are right, this reeks of a scheme."
"I just hope I'm over-thinking it."
"Don't worry about it. Seriously," Er Tai said. "I will run through this with a fine-tooth comb. We'll understand why this case looks so deceptively straightforward."
