Chapter 10: Home Again
Later that day
"Now that we have all our priorities straightened," Er Kang said, "we ought to start thinking how we're going to go about this whole scheme."
Both he and Xiao Jian had a very amused expression on their faces. Du An stared at the wall unblinkingly with a straight face, and there was the faintest hint of a blush on Mei Ru's cheeks. Xiao Yan Zi caught Yong Qi's eyes; they both turned away from each other, fast, and she bit down on her lip hard to stop herself from giggling.
"Somehow I don't think Mei Ru can quite turn into a butterfly and fly away, could she?" Xiao Yan Zi asked, after she'd composed herself.
"No, we definitely will need a more convincing story than that," Er Kang said.
"You know what I think? I think right now, we need to lay low a bit," Xiao Jian said seriously. "There's been too much attention on you three lately, with the double poisoning attempt. A lot of eyes are still on the three of you, especially Zhang Li will be watching very closely. If we want Mei Ru's escape to be successful, it's best to bid our time a bit, wait till things get relatively normal."
"I was thinking that as well," Er Kang said. "I think the best thing to do now, is to get Du An to Hui Bin Lou and see if he can safely stay there first. Also obviously we should wait till Yong Qi recovers and perhaps even until Xiao Yan Zi gives birth. Not only will that give us time to draw attention away from ourselves and sort out a plan, we're going to need all the hands we can get when we put the plan into action."
He turned seriously to Du An and Mei Ru. "Teasing all aside, do the two of you definitely want this? Are you willing to do what it takes, and that includes waiting, to pull this off?"
The couple looked at each other. At the same time, Yong Qi and Xiao Yan Zi glanced at each other and held their breaths. Then both Du An and Mei Ru said resolutely, "Yes."
"Good, now what we need is a plan," Xiao Yan Zi grinned.
"I have an idea…but it will need some working on, and I still need to check on some things to see if it would work and that will have to wait till we get back to the palace," Yong Qi mused.
"Do you want to tell us what your idea is?" Xiao Yan Zi asked when he didn't elaborate.
"No, not really, not yet. But I do have the beginning of a plan."
"Is it any good?" Er Kang asked, half jokingly.
Yong Qi looked affronted. "What do you mean, is it any good? You're not the only one who can scheme and strategise among us, you know."
"You know, what ever it is, chances are he'd been cooking up this plan ever since he became conscious and realised where he was and who Du An was. I'm sure he can't wait to get rid of me," Mei Ru said dryly. Yong Qi didn't answer but just smiled unfathomably at her.
"I'd say," Xiao Yan Zi said quietly, catching Mei Ru's eyes and they both tried not to laugh.
Du An spoke up, "I think Fu Da ye – "
"It's Er Kang!" Xiao Yan Zi, Yong Qi, Xiao Jian and Er Kang all corrected in unison. Mei Ru laughed.
"Honestly, seriously, if you want to do this, you have to call us by name," Er Kang said. "This could potential be a life and death situation we'd be moving through and it's a bit uncomfortable for you to always say Da ye this and Ge Ge that, don't you think?"
"Fine," Du An sighed, resigned. "I think Er Kang has a good point, that we should wait until Yong Qi recovers and Xiao Yan Zi gives birth." He took care to emphasise their names. "As we can't do anything right now anyway, we might as well delay the planning until when we know all of us are – well – alive to carry it out."
"And we might want to include Zi Wei and Qing Er in our planning. I don't think they'd be too happy if we kept them out of something this big," Xiao Jian pointed out. "Not to mention Liu Qing, Liu Hong and Jin Suo, considering they're going to be housing Du An and all."
"In the mean while, now that you two are finally speaking to each other, I'm sure you'll have things to keep yourselves occupied," Yong Qi said cheekily, looking at Mei Ru and Du An.
Mei Ru sighed, "You're never going to let me live this down, are you?"
"No."
They all laughed. There was some light-hearted banter until Xiao Yan Zi turned to Er Kang and asked, "What's your plan for tonight and tomorrow?"
"Well I'll go back early tomorrow morning to get the guards. Why?"
"Is there a date set yet for Xiao Qiao's execution?"
Yong Qi groaned. "Xiao Yan Zi, not again."
"It's set for three days from now. Again, why?"
"Can you get Huang Ah Ma to defer the date? I want to speak to her before…"
"Why would you want to speak to her?" Xiao Jian looked at his sister in astonishment.
"Because she pities the girl," Yong Qi said exasperatedly.
"You pity her?" Er Kang claimed, staring at Xiao Yan Zi. "What on earth for, pray tell? Even Zi Wei doesn't have much pity to spare for her, why should you?"
"She was just acting under orders," Xiao Yan Zi shrugged helplessly.
"If you take her words then she was not, actually. Either way, though, she was trying to..."
"There's no need to remind me of what she was trying to do," Xiao Yan Zi interrupted Er Kang impatiently. "It's just that…I can't explain it. I just want to talk to her…see if I can convince her to…say why she did it."
"Knowing why wouldn't save her life, if that's what you're intending," Er Kang said flatly.
"I know it won't," she said impatiently. "I just need to talk to her, all right? Can you just get Huang Ah Ma to defer the date until I can talk to her?"
"Actually I want a chance to speak to her as well," Mei Ru broke in. "Though for quite a different reason from Xiao Yan Zi, but still. I want to hear from her to me why she did it. I think her answer to me might be a bit different from what she'd tell you."
"I'll see what I can do to convince Huang Ah Ma then."
"Though just so you know, if I do get to see her, she's coming to me at Jing Yang Gong. There's no way I'm going to set foot in Zhong Ren Fu again if I could help it, even if I do joke that it's my second home and everything," Xiao Yan Zi said with a shudder.
Er Kang chuckled. "I don't think that would be too much of a problem. Huang Ah Ma is not about to send you to Zhong Ren Fu any time soon, especially not in your condition."
"Well, you're giddy tonight," Yong Qi commented later that night to Xiao Yan Zi when it was just the two of them together. She had been smiling to herself for most of the evening.
She grinned at him. "Of course. We finally have something exciting to look forward to, now that Mei Ru and Du An have gotten themselves together."
"You mean the fact that you're having my baby in three months wasn't exciting enough for you?" he teased.
"You know what I mean," she pouted. "It's nice to be able to feel happy for them instead of being annoyed at them for being so stubborn."
"Yes, it is. Though I think I owe Mei Ru a big apology, now that I know the annoyance she must have endured trying to get us together."
"It does come back hitting you straight in the face, doesn't it?" Xiao Yan Zi giggled.
"For Mei Ru as well, I think."
"Ah well…at least now we're all on the same page with the same motives in mind. Speaking of motives, you really are not telling me what your plan is?"
"All right, all right, I'll tell you. Mind you, a lot of it is very probable and I still have to check on a lot of things. Either way, we won't be able to put it into action until next year, though."
"Next year? So far off? The new year's just begun!"
"Well, the idea is that Huang Ah Ma is planning to go on a trip to Hangzhou next year."
"A trip?" Xiao Yan Zi cried excitedly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it's still in the planning stage, this trip."
"Why is it in planning now when the trip is not till next year?"
"Because this isn't a trip like the one we took last time. Last time we dressed up as commoners and went on the trip secretly. This time, Huang Ah Ma is planning a much larger-scale trip. This is going to be a very publicised trip, with whole armies of guards and servants and everything, where Huang Ah Ma will officially be touring the country. As the Emperor. Obviously this is going to be a nightmare of planning, since we have to inform the magistrates of every town and place we go past for them prepare proper accommodation, not to mention prepare the guards and everything. Fu Lun and Er Kang, actually, are in charge of the planning of all of this, and a lot of it is still in very early planning stages."
"What? We're not disguising as commoners? What's the fun in that? I mean, if Huang Ah Ma is going to inspect the country to see how it's doing, he shouldn't announce that he's coming! Everyone would make sure everything looks wonderful and perfect for his inspection and then he would never see any problem."
Yong Qi laughed. "Officially it's an inspection tour but I think Huang Ah Ma is looking forward more to a vacation. Oh, by the way, you're not supposed to know about this till much later so don't say too much about it when we get home."
"Why am I not supposed to know about it?" she asked, chagrined.
"Because Huang Ah Ma was planning to surprise you with it, considering we are going to Hangzhou, your birthplace and all, but if we're going to be planning Mei Ru's escape, you're going to need to know much earlier than Huang Ah Ma intends for you to know. That's another reason why the trip's not till next year. Huang Ah Ma wants you to be able to go. But will you want to go?"
"What do you mean, will I want to go? Why wouldn't I?"
He placed a hand on her stomach. "The baby would only be nine months old then, Xiao Yan Zi," he reminded her with a smile.
"Oh, right. But I want to go though, I want to go. Xiao Jian promised me ages ago that he'd take me to Hangzhou one day and I want to…I want to visit my parents'…grave. I've never…" she trailed off sadly.
Yong Qi took her hand and squeezed it. "I know," he said softly.
"Can we bring the baby along? Please? Huang Ah Ma wants me to go, and I want to go. Even if I don't go, Huang Ah Ma would want you to go, and I don't want to be away from you. We can all go, can't we? From what you've described, we'd be bringing half the palace servants along anyway, so it wouldn't be that much trouble. And if we're going to visit my parents, I want them to meet the baby."
"Well, Huang Ah Ma and I did talk about that, and that was one option we were considering. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, the trip is planned for six months anyway and I don't think we should leave the baby at home alone for so long. And I don't want to go alone; I'd miss both of you too much."
"You can be so sweet at times, you know?"
Yong Qi raised an eyebrow. "Sweet? That sounds a bit feminine."
"Well, sometimes you are an annoying and insensitive wet blanket too concerned with your macho manliness and meaning of words when I'm trying to compliment you." Xiao Yan Zi glared at him.
"Sweet…just that no one has ever called me sweet before." He wrinkled his nose.
"Good, I'd need to know if anyone ever called you something like sweet before, because chances are if someone had, it would be someone female. I can't imagine Er Kang referring to you as sweet, really."
"See? It is a feminine adjective."
"No it's not, it's just used by females. And only I'm allowed to call you that."
"Wouldn't dream of wanting to hear such a compliment from anyone else, love," Yong Qi chuckled.
"You're still an insensitive prat sometimes."
"But you love me for it."
"Since when?" she asked in mock surprise.
"What? You don't love me? I'm injured and stuck in bed; I reckon I deserve some love, don't I?"
"No, because you've been very bad, you still haven't told me what your plan is."
"I'm getting to it. You really have no patience."
"If you weren't injured I'd hit you for that, so count yourself lucky," she glared at him.
"What? I was just stating a fact!"
Xiao Yan Zi gave a disdainful sniff. "I call you sweet and you tell me I have no patience. That's nice."
"All right, all right, I'm sorry..." He took her hand and kissed her fingers, before adding with a grin, "…for saying it but it's true but if it weren't true you wouldn't be the Xiao Yan Zi I hopelessly adore."
"Oh, how do you do that?" She pouted. "Every time I want to get mad at you, you say something incredibly sweet – there it is again – and I can't stay mad at you."
"Call me a genius. It's my defence mechanism, otherwise you'd be mad at me and you're scary when you're mad, you know that?"
"Oh great, I've no patience and I'm scary. What is this? Point-out-my-bad-traits day?"
"No, it's point-out-your-bad-traits-and-still-love-you-for-t hem day," he grinned at her. "Actually, that's everyday."
She couldn't help but smile back. "That was definitely sweet. But anyway, your plan?"
"Sweet," he muttered, shaking his head. Then, clearing his throat, he finally got them back to what they were discussing before. "Anyway, I'm sure we can figure out a way for you to go on this trip somehow. The point is, Hangzhou. Usually when Huang Ah Ma goes on trips to Hangzhou he stays in boat houses on West Lake. The gist of my idea is that West Lake is a large lake. There's plenty of ways Mei Ru can…drown, so to speak, and we will be unable to find her body. Especially at night."
"You are a genius!" This put a smug look on Yong Qi's face. "No, really, that's perfect. They could go off together, we could say she drowned, there's no way we'd be able to search the whole lake for a body, there'd be a funeral where we shed some tears but inwardly delight in the success and everyone lives happily ever after. No having to prove and swear on each other's lives that she really turned into a butterfly."
"Well, that's the idea, anyway. There are still lots of planning for us to do. We still have to check when the trip is exactly, who's going and how the guards will be distributed and things like that, to plan how Mei Ru can "drown". And yes, I do have to check whether Zhang Li is going to be on this trip, because if he is, which is extremely probable, he'd be keeping an annoyingly close watch on us. It's best anyway, to plan out everything we can before hand so we can be prepared on the trip since I have a feeling, at some point or another, we'd all be rather distracted and preoccupied on this trip, including Huang Ah Ma, considering we are going to be heading for Hangzhou and we are going to go through Shandong."
"Shandong? We're going to go through Jinan, aren't we?"
"Yes. Somehow I think this is going to more of a visiting trip than an inspection trip."
"Hmmm…" She sighed. "I just wonder how it's going to be…this trip. There's going to be so much emotion and we're going to be adding more drama into the mix."
"A mix for mayhem, I can already tell," Yong Qi smiled. "But really, I should be used to it by now. From the moment I met you, it's been nothing but mayhem. It's certainly made life interesting and less monotonous."
"Of course, I take away the monotony of your brothers backstabbing you for the throne and people out to kill you. I just get you into situations where you risk your life yourself instead."
"At least then I'm risking my life for something that's worth it. I'd give my life for you rather than the throne any day."
"That was very – " she started.
Yong Qi rolled his eyes and interrupted, "Xiao Yan Zi! Don't say it!"
" – sweet," she said sweetly. Yong Qi just shook his head.
"I think I'll just shut up now if I don't want to risk being called sweet one more time," he chuckled.
"There's nothing wrong with being sweet. A lot of women would give rather a lot to hear the sweet things you say to me being said to them by their husband, you know. "
"The word is getting to be a little overused, sweetheart."
"Never! Such a wonderful word is never overused. And you just used it," Xiao Yan Zi pointed out with a grin.
"I know. It's your fault."
"I know." She smiled and kissed him.
When they slowly parted, Yong Qi said, "That was very – " He caught her laughing eyes and they both finished the sentence in great amusement, " – sweet!"
The remainder of their stay at Du An's house was uneventful after Er Kang went back to the palace and brought a group of two dozen guards who stationed around the house constantly. Er Kang also managed to convince Qian Long to let Xiao Qiao live until Xiao Yan Zi and Mei Ru could return to the palace to speak to her.
Meanwhile, the remaining twelve days passed almost like a dream to Mei Ru as the buried and forgotten bliss of happiness seeped back into her, making her feel almost drunk.
"So, how are you two this morning?" Xiao Yan Zi asked Mei Ru and Du An the morning Er Kang went back to the palace to get the guards. She put much emphasis on the 'two' and was smiling archly at them. Yong Qi seemed to be dissolved in coughs.
"Oh grow up, Xiao Yan Zi. I didn't tease you, you know," Mei Ru rolled her eyes.
"I know. And it was your loss, really. No one stopped you."
Mei Ru simply gave both of them a withering look which sent Xiao Yan Zi into a fit of giggles.
"I hope there won't be any need for me to defend Mei Ru's honour, Du An," Yong Qi said with a perfectly straight and serious face, raising an eyebrow at Du An, who looked torn between embarrassment, horror and amusement. Xiao Yan Zi pressed her lips tightly together to stop herself laughing.
"As if either of you are in any shape to defend anything right now," Mei Ru muttered under her breath.
"No, but that's the perk of being an Ah Ge, you have lackeys like Er Kang to do the fighting for you," Yong Qi joked.
"You go call Er Kang a lackey to his face and he'll probably fight you," Mei Ru laughed.
Yong Qi shrugged simply and grinned. "Which is why I have no intention of ever doing that."
"You call that a perk? What's the fun if you have to stand back and let others do the fighting? It's annoying, if you ask me," Xiao Yan Zi scoffed.
"Only you would think that, Xiao Yan Zi," Yong Qi said, shaking his head. "Anyway, what are we going to do once we get back to the palace?"
"What do you mean what are we going to do?" Mei Ru asked. "You have a plan which you are refusing to let the rest of us know about, but whatever it is, I assume it's not going to take place any time soon."
"Exactly. If we take Xiao Jian and Er Kang's idea of laying low for a while, I thought we might want to work out a way of getting the two of you to see each other in that time. Though I think it might look a little suspicious if you suddenly went to Hui Bin Lou on a regular basis with us."
"But I think you can still see each other at Xiao Jian's house," Xiao Yan Zi pondered. "You can always accompany me to see Qing Er and meet Du An there."
"And it's not suspicious that I'm suddenly coming with you to Fang residence?"
"Well, it's not as if either Huang Ah Ma or Yong Qi is going to let met go anywhere by myself now anyway, so that can be your excuse, that you're taking me."
"You're all taking this very matter-of-factly. Am I the only one who finds this strange?" Du An asked.
"What?"
"That you're being so casual about planning how to sneak Mei Ru out of the palace to meet me and looking forward to planning for us to elope."
Xiao Yan Zi and Yong Qi looked at each other and laughed. "Trust me, this is normal for us," Xiao Yan Zi assured him.
"Xiao Yan Zi would die of boredom, or wreck outrageous havoc in the palace if she didn't have a dangerous liaison to cover up, some great escape to plan and a secret to keep."
"As if she doesn't wreck havoc anyway," Mei Ru said.
"That's not fair! You two are ganging up on me. And Zi Wei is not here to defend me!"
"Somehow I don't think even Zi Wei would defend you against that truth, Xiao Yan Zi," an amused Er Kang said from the doorway.
"You're back."
"Yes, I left Xiao Jian with debriefing the guards about the area around here and dividing the shifts and so on. And by the way, your favourite sister is very worried about you and wishes she could come and see you," he told Yong Qi.
"Ok, tell Qi Ge Ge that was very nice of her," Yong Qi joked.
"Haha," Er Kang said, shaking his head.
"Why didn't you bring Zi Wei anyway?" Xiao Yan Zi asked.
"Because Huang Ah Ma wouldn't let her come. Actually both Zi Wei and Qing Er, who is still at my house, wanted to come see how you all were doing, but Huang Ah Ma said no. And I agree, really, it wouldn't do to draw attention to the fact that you were staying here."
"As if the fact you've just brought two dozen imperial guards here didn't draw attention?"
"No, the guards could be here for any reason. This area could be quarantined for some random reason. But having Zi Wei and Qing Er come here would make it rather obvious that they came here to see you. Right now, as far as anyone outside knows, you three are staying at Hui Bin Lou. It would hardly matter when we leave if it came out that we weren't at Hui Bin Lou all this time but for now it's safer to let everyone think that we're at Hui Bin Lou. This means that just for appearance, Hui Bin Lou is closed and not doing business for the time being, and there are a few guards around there as well."
"All that for the sake of appearance?" Du An asked incredulously.
"You'll be surprised at what the palace can do just for appearance," Yong Qi said. "Though mind you, anyone that knows us would find that Hui Bin Lou closing simply because I'm supposed to be there and injured is more strange than normal. If we were really at Hui Bin Lou, we'd be up in our rooms in the back and Hui Bin Lou would continue business like normal."
"Yeah, so it's good that no one actually know us and our activities at Hui Bin Lou that well. Anyway, the Liu's are probably enjoying their vacation, really. No work for ten days and still live comfortably on someone else's money and high-security protection around the clock? I'm sure they're not complaining. Though they are worried about you," he added.
"Whose money?" Xiao Yan Zi asked curiously.
"Huang Ah Ma's," Er Kang said with a smile.
"So I take it you've spoken to them?" Yong Qi asked.
"Yeah, I've explained the situation. As usual they're happy to help, keep the secret and die if necessary." The last part was added half as a joke.
"Well let's hope we don't get to the last bit," Yong Qi said dryly.
"Is it just me or has our stay here been too smooth?" Xiao Yan Zi asked the morning of the day they were due to leave Du An's house to go back to the palace. They were planning to leave at dusk later that day. "I mean, no one ever tried to attack or murder us or anything."
"Too smooth? I would think we should be grateful that no one did try to kill us," Mei Ru said, shaking her head. "And considering how guarded we were these last twelve days, obviously no assassin was be stupid enough to try."
"I still think it's too good to be true. Things shouldn't work out so well like this, they never do!" Xiao Yan Zi insisted.
"You're paranoid," Er Kang said, shaking his head.
"You tell me when our schemes have gone completely to plan? You name me one time when it all worked as we planned!"
"Sneaking Han Xiang out of the palace?"
"Qing Er saved you on that."
"We managed to sneak you out of the palace often enough pretty smoothly," Yong Qi pointed out with a smile.
"But we always get caught coming back."
"Why are you so agitated that no one's tried to kill you?" Er Kang asked disbelievingly.
"Because if someone is out to kill us, why did they suddenly just gave up and not try again?"
"Maybe it's because they only attempted when you were relatively unprotected and now that you are no longer unprotected, they are a little more cautious? Honestly, Xiao Yan Zi, you shouldn't be worrying your head on this, all right? I'm Yu Tian Shi Wei, remember? I'm supposed be the one worrying about this and protecting you."
Xiao Yan Zi huffed but ceased the argument.
"You know I almost wanted you to say 'you shouldn't be worrying your pretty little head'. That would certainly get her arguing more with you," Yong Qi said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, that's why I didn't say it. I don't think either you or Zi Wei would appreciate the fact that I find her head, little or otherwise, pretty." Er Kang smirked. "And only you would ever want to get into more of an argument with Xiao Yan Zi, you know. I reckon it's your way of flirting."
"Erm – I'm still here and I can hear you," Xiao Yan Zi said.
"We know," they both said in unison. Mei Ru laughed while Du An looked as if he didn't know whether he should laugh.
"They're odd, get used to it," Mei Ru told Du An.
"Anyway, let's get back to serious business, people," Er Kang cleared his throat. "Tonight, I'm sure you'll be all right. You'll be escorted to your doors by highly skilled guards so I don't think there should be any problems. I'll be staying back here for a little while to hold off whoever, if any, that may want to attack Du An – "
"We know this already," Xiao Yan Zi said.
"And I'm just going over the plan. I'll meet you all back at Xiao Jian's house. And…"
"And we go back to the palace tomorrow morning. End of. Stop worrying. It's not going to stop whatever unforeseen disaster from happening!" Mei Ru said.
The ominous "unforeseen disaster" Mei Ru referred to didn't happen. The trip from Du An's house to Fang residence, with Xiao Jian, Yong Qi, Xiao Yan Zi and Du An in the carriage and the guards outside, had gone totally without a problem. Chen Tai yi had gone home earlier in the day.
"We're there already?" Xiao Yan Zi asked, surprised, sticking her head out the window to see Fang residence as the carriage slowed to a halt.
"Yes. I told you nothing would happen," Xiao Jian said calmly, as Xiao Yan Zi had fidgeted restlessly for most the trip.
The front gate of the house was brightly lit with torches as the five of them descended from the carriage. They barely made it through the gate when both Qing Er and Zi Wei ran out to meet them.
"You arrived," Zi Wei exclaimed breathlessly as she took Xiao Yan Zi's hand.
"Did you expect us not to?" Xiao Yan Zi joked.
"We're just relieved," Qing Er said. "But anyway, catch up in the house, not the court yard."
When they all arrived in the parlour and have sat down, Yong Qi began with the introductions.
"Ladies, this is Du An, who saved my life and who is Mei Ru's Meng Dan, so to speak."
Mei Ru gave him a look, which he shrugged at. Zi Wei and Qing Er just looked amused.
"And Du An, this is Zi Wei, my sister, Er Kang's wife and Qing Er, my cousin, Xiao Jian's wife."
"One of many," Qing Er muttered.
"One of many what? Cousins? Or wives?" Xiao Yan Zi teased.
"Cousins," Qing Er said with a chuckle. Then she looked shrewdly at Xiao Jian, "unless there's something I don't know."
"No, dear," Xiao Jian shook his head furiously. Zi Wei and Xiao Yan Zi just caught each other's eyes and laughed.
"Why are you here, anyway?" Yong Qi asked Zi Wei.
"I come all the way from Xue Si Fu to here to meet you and see how you're doing and you're questioning it?" she feinted a hurt expression.
"All the way from Xue Si Fu," Xiao Yan Zi sniffed. "How far is that? Half a li and on a carriage?"
"Distance is immaterial," Zi Wei dismissed with a wave of her hand, smiling. "The point is I came to see my favourite fifth brother."
"You only have one fifth brother, Zi Wei," Yong Qi pointed out.
"Precisely the only reason why you're my favourite fifth brother," Zi Wei said with a smile and a hint of impertinence.
Xiao Jian shook his head as everyone else laughed. "You've been around my sister for too long, Zi Wei."
"Yes, I've been a very good influence, haven't I?" Xiao Yan Zi said, grinning.
"Wonderful," Zi Wei agreed.
They all settled down to some talking until Er Kang arrived, unscathed, much to everyone's, but particularly Zi Wei's, thankfulness.
"Actually we were right in our prediction. After you left and I told the remaining guards to hide themselves so it looked like I was alone, I sensed some movements around the house. I deliberately stood in front of the house, making myself visible. Reports from the guards told me that there were a group of people dressed in black, armed and masked lurking around the house but they retreated when they saw me. Obviously that means their target was indeed Du An and they retreated when they saw me. I have no idea who they were acting for but I think it's safe to assume that Zhang Li or whoever was after Du An now knows he is no longer there. And we definitely should keep our heads down for the time being."
"So what happens tomorrow?" Qing Er asked.
"Tomorrow, they, " Xiao Jian said, indicating Yong Qi, Xiao Yan Zi and Mei Ru, "go back to Jing Yang Gong, Er Kang and Zi Wei back to Xue Si Fu and I take Du An to Hui Bin Lou. Once everyone is settled, we'll discuss when we're meeting to discuss our next move."
"Do you think someone would be watching us in the meantime?" Zi Wei wondered.
"I think if, as if there's even a question of if, my father is behind this, he'd be watching me, not you. It's easier to keep track of what I'm doing instead of keeping track of all of you," Mei Ru said.
"Well, either way we'd just have to be careful about what we're doing and keep our eyes open," Er Kang said.
"Speaking of keep our eyes open, it's nearing midnight, we all should get some rest," Qing Er reminded them.
The next morning, they all went to their proper places. For the next few days, everyone was focused with settling in, making sure that Du An's staying at Hui Bin Lou was not creating any problems for the Liu's and treating Yong Qi's injury.
The day after they've returned to the palace, Qian Long came to Jing Yang Gong. After visiting Yong Qi and being assured that he was feeling better, the emperor pulled both Mei Ru and Xiao Yan Zi into the study.
"Er Kang told me you both want to speak to Xiao Qiao before she is executed?" he asked grimly.
They looked at each other for a brief moment then turned back to him. "Yes," Mei Ru said determinedly.
"Are you sure, Xiao Yan Zi?" he asked again, looking piercingly at her.
"Huang Ah Ma, I know…I know it will be hard to face her…knowing what she tried to do…but I feel I need to do this."
Qian Long sighed and nodded. "All right, if both of you are sure, I'll have her brought here tomorrow."
"Thank you, Huang Ah Ma."
That night
"Are you all right?" Yong Qi asked when Xiao Yan Zi turned restlessly beside him.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Xiao Yan Zi, Xiao Qiao is really not worth you losing sleep over."
"I'm just…I don't know…"
"You don't have to see her."
"I do. I will. I'll be all right. I'm just nervous. About what I'll feel."
"Do you want me there with you tomorrow?"
"No, it's fine. You just stay in bed. Besides, Mei Ru will be there anyway."
"Xiao Yan Zi…"
"No, Yong Qi. I know you don't want to see her anyway. I'll be all right. I promise."
"Just don't force yourself through anything, Xiao Yan Zi."
"I know. Don't worry."
The next morning
A pair of guards brought in a Xiao Qiao dressed in prison uniform into the study of Jing Yang Gong where both Mei Ru and Xiao Yan Zi were waiting. Xiao Qiao's hands were tied behind her back. The guards forced her to kneel down on the ground before releasing her and standing back.
"Leave us," Mei Ru ordered.
"But Fu Jin – " one of the guards protested.
"She's tied up, she can't do anything," Xiao Yan Zi said shortly. "Go. Don't come in till we call you."
The guards hesitated for a moment before stepping out the room and closing the doors behind them.
There was a strained silence as Xiao Qiao looked up defiantly at them, still kneeling on the ground.
Mei Ru looked at the girl who had followed her from her childhood home to here, the girl who had, for the last four years, ceaselessly spied on her, watching her every move. But how could she had done it? How could she had blindly followed orders to do such a deed? How could she had followed orders to kill an innocent unborn child?
"Stand up and sit down," Xiao Yan Zi said neutrally, indicating a chair opposite from her and Mei Ru.
Xiao Qiao sniffed contemptuously and stared coldly at her. But she remained kneeling.
"Fine," Xiao Yan Zi said coolly. She looked at Mei Ru, who shrugged. Xiao Yan Zi took a deep breath. "Now, Xiao Qiao, no one is here with us. You're going to die anyway. So you might as well be honest with us. Who ordered you to do it?"
"Am I supposed to answer you?" she asked back rudely.
Xiao Yan Zi sighed. "As I asked the question, it's customary that you'd answer me, Xiao Qiao."
"To you? No one ordered me to do it. I planned it for myself."
"Fine, answer me then," Mei Ru snapped. "Did my father order you to do it?"
Xiao Qiao turned her eyes slowly to her mistress. They stared at each other for a long time.
"What if I say yes, Si Xiao jie?" Xiao Qiao asked back quietly. "What would you do? Would you report him, Xiao jie? Would you put your whole family's lives in danger for truth, for justice?"
"I asked you so that you would answer me, not talk back to me with questions," Mei Ru said coldly, holding a steady glare.
"As Ge Ge here so aptly put it, I'm going to die anyway. Why does it matters whether I answer you or not?"
"Do not test my patience, girl," Mei Ru said. "I might have put up with you before but not anymore. You are not afraid of death, but are you afraid of a half life that is neither death nor life?"
Xiao Qiao just sneered. "I know you, Xiao jie. You might not have much sympathy for your father, but you do care about your mother and your family as a whole. I could tell you that Lao ye did order me to poison Ge Ge's soup and you wouldn't do anything, would you? You wouldn't report him, because you know if it was put to light, the whole family would suffer. Good people are so easy to predict, Xiao jie."
"Did my father order you to do it, or did he not? A yes or no will do, Xiao Qiao," Mei Ru said through gritted teeth.
There was a silence. Then, "Yes."
The syllable rang through the air. Even though both Mei Ru and Xiao Yan Zi predicted it, both were still shocked to hear it.
"How could you do it?" Xiao Yan Zi asked weakly, shaking her head. "How? Tell me how you could have ever even considered taking part in killing an innocent child?"
"I reminded myself of the good it would do," she said simply.
"Good? Good?" Xiao Yan Zi questioned, her voice rising shrilly. "What good could possibly come – " Here she broke off, words failing her. She looked at Xiao Qiao with wide eyes, herself trembling. Mei Ru ran her hand down Xiao Yan Zi's back soothingly, turning away from Xiao Qiao. There was too much danger of her strangling the girl with her bare hands if she looked into her defiant eyes.
"That child would ruin every prospect for Xiao jie should it be a boy," Xiao Qiao said calmly.
"As if you care about me," Mei Ru said bitterly.
"I do."
"You do? You care about me by trying to harm one of my friends?"
"She is not your friend, Xiao jie, she is your rival."
"I'll thank you to let me sort out my relationships for myself," Mei Ru retorted.
"You've got your relationship and priorities all wrong, Xiao jie. How could you not see that? All your father had done for you is to help you to get to a status where you cannot be hurt by anything, a place of high prestige and power. All he ever wanted was good things for you. Yet you despise him. And her, you could do with much better friends than her – "
"I think he and I have a very different definition of what 'good' is, Xiao Qiao," Mei Ru interrupted coldly. "As for you, you might have done better to sort out where you place your loyalty."
"I placed my loyalty in the right place, on the person who wanted the best for you, because I care about you."
"Really? In case you haven't noticed, placing your loyalty on my father led you to death. Why my father, Xiao Qiao, when you were serving me? I could have protected you from my father. Once we were in the palace, my father couldn't harm you any more. Why?"
"Jin Yun defied Lao ye and suffered for it."
"But she's not dead."
"You have a father who does everything that he can to get you the best. I never had that!" Xiao Qiao exclaimed, raising her voice suddenly. For the first time, there was vulnerability in her eyes. "You do, yet you go and defy him at every turn. You really don't know how good you have it, Xiao jie."
Mei Ru stared at her for a moment. She didn't know if she should feel sorry for Xiao Qiao. "Perhaps it's because what my father thinks is good for me is not really so," she said quietly. "Just because my father doesn't trust me to decide what I want, what is best for me, why should you have done the same? Why could you not have trusted me enough to make decisions about my own life if it's really true that you care for me? Why must you implicitly follow my father's orders without any consideration for what is right and wrong?"
"I grew up in Lao ye's house. As a servant, yes, but he took me in and fed me and gave me a place to grow up. I owe him my loyalty."
"That doesn't have to mean do everything he says regardless of moral. Especially when he couldn't do anything to you if you defy him considering you are now in employment of Jing Yang Gong," Mei Ru said in frustration. There was a pause. Then Mei Ru continued, looking at Xiao Qiao sharply, "You really don't believe what you did was right."
"I do."
Both Mei Ru and Xiao Yan Zi gaped at her.
"Well, I certainly don't know where you learnt your right and wrong, Xiao Qiao. Either you must have missed a few crucial lessons or you learnt it from someone incredibly delusional. Not even my father could justify murder of an innocent unborn baby as right."
Xiao Qiao just stared back at her. Mei Ru looked steadily at her for a long moment, before turning away. She faced Xiao Yan Zi and looked questioningly at her. Xiao Yan Zi just shook her head. Mei Ru sighed and called for the guards, who came in to take Xiao Qiao away.
"One day, Xiao jie," Xiao Qiao said quietly, "I hope you will realise that your father does want the best for you."
Then she was dragged away by the guards.
"Sure, he wants the best for me, but why? For my best interest or for the interest of his power, position and prestige? That's the difference, isn't it?" Mei Ru muttered to no one in particular as the door closed again behind the guards.
"Well…that was unexpected," Xiao Yan Zi said faintly. "She really does believe that she was doing the right thing."
"She may believe it, but it's not," Mei Ru said flatly.
"I know…but there's still something very sad about her."
Mei Ru looked up and met Xiao Yan Zi's eyes. "Oh, I don't want to feel sorry for her," Mei Ru exclaimed. "But I'm bordering on it…She's just so delusional that it's pitiful. So incredible…naïve in a way."
"I guess I can begin to see her reason," Xiao Yan Zi said, "in a mad kind of way."
"Well, I'm glad she thinks what she did was right. Then at least she's dying without regret."
"How was it?" Yong Qi asked when Xiao Yan Zi went into the bedroom much later. She had deliberately stayed away to calm herself after the interview with Xiao Qiao before going to see Yong Qi.
"Enlightening. At least now I know why she did it," Xiao Yan Zi said, sighing.
"Why?"
"In ultimate, but very deluded loyalty to Zhang Li. And in a very odd belief that it was the best thing for Mei Ru. Well, however delusional she may be, you do have to credit her for loyalty."
"If you say so," Yong Qi said.
"We can never consider what she did is right…but she does. So how do we dispute that? If she really believes it through her own reasoning, how to do we say that her reasoning is wrong and convince her of that? Right and wrong is very relative, you know."
"Xiao Yan Zi, please, not again with the relative argument."
"Well, it's true. She obviously has faith in her belief that what she did was right. How do we prove faith? Faith is such an intangible, improvable thing. If we can come to empirical proof for faith, then it wouldn't be faith anymore, would it? It would then be...a fact. How can we justify faith? How can we say that faith is either right or wrong? She has faith that what she did would ultimate be doing Mei Ru good…can we say that she is wrong?"
"I have a feeling you are arguing around in a circle, but Xiao Yan Zi, the ultimate question is, as I said before, how could killing an innocent unborn child ever be considered right?"
"Xiao Qiao believes it's right because she believes that it will do Mei Ru good. It is right from her point of view, because her ultimate loyalty lies with Mei Ru…or rather, what Zhang Li thinks is good for Mei Ru. Of course from our point of view, it will never be right…but we can't disprove her belief, can we? I'm just saying that to her, it was the right thing. And she obviously knows that she'd die if she got caught and she was willing to risk that. Doesn't that kind of remind you of what we did for Han Xiang? We hurt Huang Ah Ma, we risked death, helping Han Xiang, because we believed it was the right thing. To Huang Ah Ma, it can never be the right thing."
"That…is a very odd comparison, Xiao Yan Zi. Though I will point out we never tried to kill anyone."
"No, but still, it's a similar situation, isn't it?"
"If, hypothetically, I accept that it is similar, what's your conclusion?"
"That Huang Ah Ma was able to accept our actions, and forgive us. We should be able to do the same and forgive Xiao Qiao."
"There's a difference between Huang Ah Ma forgiving us for helping his concubine elope and us forgiving Xiao Qiao for nearly killing our child, Xiao Yan Zi. Huang Ah Ma has twenty odd other concubines. How many children do we have? And yes, before you say anything, I do realise that Huang Ah Ma did love Han Xiang, and it wasn't quite the purely physical relationship he has with his other concubines."
"All right, the magnitudes of the situations are definitely not the same, but still, can you see where I'm coming from? Ok look at it this way, if I'm able to forgive Huang Ah Ma for having ordered my whole family's deaths, why shouldn't I forgive Xiao Qiao? She's going to die anyway, she's paying for what she almost did already. If we don't forgive her, we will have to remember what she almost did, and isn't that just more burdens for us? Forgiveness is a virtue, right?"
"You're convincing me," Yong Qi said slowly.
"Ether way, she's going to die. She's hardly going to be bothered if we don't forgive her," Xiao Yan Zi concluded with a shrug.
"You are incredible, you know that?" Yong Qi said, looking at her with wonder. "You never cease to amaze me. How do you come up with all this?"
"I don't know," she said pensively. "I just realised, after all the near disasters we faced lately, that Heaven must be watching over us. We should be grateful for that instead of dwelling on what almost happened."
They both were silent for a long while, both lost in their own thoughts. Then Yong Qi asked abruptly, "Did she really say that she believes what she did was right?"
"Yes, she said she believes she was doing the right thing."
"Well, good for her, then," Yong Qi muttered.
"That's what Mei Ru said. No regrets."
"No regrets," Yong Qi echoed, shaking his head.