Xie Lanting felt that Song Juqing was saying far too much — a great deal of it had nothing to do with the case, and was entirely his own speculation.
That Lu Qingrong wanted Chen Baoxiang’s reputation destroyed and everyone around her driven away was hardly unexpected, was it? Chen Baoxiang was the one who had murdered her father. It would be strange if she wished her well.
And that final remark was even more baffling. Since she had filed a formal accusation, she would certainly want a result — how could Lu Qingrong possibly not care?
He continued to ask carefully about the situation in Nanzhou, and questioned who exactly had been present at the time of Cheng Huaili’s death.
It was not until the third watch of the night that he finally walked slowly out of the Court of Judicial Review.
“My lord, I’d like to request a day off tomorrow,” one of the junior officials said, barely able to hold himself together any longer. “Things have been busy at home lately. I can’t keep staying up this late every night.”
“My lord, same for me. I’ve been going back and forth between Guiliang and Shangjing — it’s been half a month since I’ve eaten a meal with my family.”
Xie Lanting, somewhat distracted, gave his assent.
The junior officials filed out in twos and threes, leaving him standing alone at the entrance.
He stood there for a moment, then walked slowly in the direction of his private manor.
“My lord.” A maidservant came out to receive him.
Xie Lanting glanced inside: “Where is Miss Lu?”
“I was just about to tell you, my lord. Miss Lu says she has found some relatives and will be moving in with them — she says she doesn’t want to trouble you any longer.”
He looked up in surprise: “What relatives? Hasn’t the Lu family been mostly implicated by now?”
“Miss Lu didn’t say. She only said to thank you for your care over these past days, and that the two of you are now even.”
“…”
The deep winter wind was cold, and it blew through Xie Lanting’s head until he could barely think straight.
Even?
What even?
The case wasn’t broken, Chen Baoxiang’s crimes hadn’t been established — and she considered her wishes already fulfilled?
Or perhaps her wish was not to bring Chen Baoxiang down — but rather—
On instinct, he turned around and looked behind him.
A solitary lamp cast a solitary shadow. The lane was empty, not a single person in sight.
His eyes widened slightly, and his mind — which had been immersed in the case all this while — was pierced by a single sliver of clarity.
“Surely not,” Xie Lanting murmured uncertainly. “I’ve been hunting hawks my whole life, and now a hawk has pecked out my eye?”
The maidservant standing nearby didn’t dare make a sound.
Xie Lanting turned over the details of their reunion in his mind.
She had appeared at the entertainment house, hinting that it was due to Chen Baoxiang’s abuse of power.
She had followed him to the Court of Judicial Review, saying she understood nothing of the proceedings and was merely taking a look around.
She had said that Chen Baoxiang bore a grudge against her, and that the moment she showed her face she would be in terrible danger.
Step by step, piece by piece — all of it resting on the suspicions and doubts about Chen Baoxiang that had already existed within him.
He had always been careful never to let preconceived notions cloud his judgment in a case — he bore this in mind at all times.
But Chen Baoxiang had a truly extensive record of past offences and an array of devious methods, while Lu Qingrong had seemed, up until very recently, so hopelessly dim-witted and easily duped.
Placed side by side, who could ever have thought it was Lu Qingrong with the scheming mind?
He leaned against the doorframe and turned it over for quite a while, but still could not figure out how Lu Qingrong had managed it.
What he did understand was her purpose.
—Not just to ruin Chen Baoxiang’s reputation and drive everyone around her away. She had no intention of sparing him either.
Filling in the gouge one had carved out of someone didn’t count as making amends. The only way it counted was if one dug an equal gouge into the other person’s leg in return.
“My lord!” His personal attendant suddenly came running back from outside, his voice urgent with anxiety. “Word of your purchasing the release of the indentured entertainer somehow reached the Master’s ears. The Master’s health was already poor, and now he’s coughed up blood and fainted from the shock.”
“The Mistress is beside herself and demanding you return to the East Rong residence at once.”
“Furthermore, the palace sent word this afternoon that the Censorate has impeached you for abuse of authority. Tomorrow you are required to answer in open court.”
“…”
His heart sank sharply.
Xie Lanting pressed his lips together, forcing himself to gather his senses as he gripped the saddle. He swung back into the saddle and set off at a rapid pace toward East Rong residence.
A fierce wind howled. The night lanterns flickered faintly. And Shangjing’s first snow finally began to fall, drifting softly down in the fading sound of hoofbeats into the distance.
·
Shangjing was mostly red walls and yellow-glazed tiles, which looked especially beautiful draped in snow.
Chen Baoxiang breathed warmth into her cupped palms, grinning as she crouched in front of a dozen or so chests.
“This one, fifty taels. This one, eighty taels. Oh — this one is a full hundred taels. Write it down, write it all down.”
Zhang Zhixu walked over with a puzzled look: “What is all this?”