Chapter 8#

Chapter 8#

Cao Fangzheng was the youngest younger brother of the late Empress Cao.

Emperor Shunyuan had had two empresses die on him—one was Empress Liu, mother of the Virtuous King, and the other was this Empress Cao.

About seven years ago, Cao, celebrated for her gentleness, elegance, tranquility, and virtuous refinement, was appointed empress. Less than a month later, Emperor Shunyuan suddenly decided to travel incognito to Mianzhou, the hometown of Wen Zhuo. Only the Imperial Guard accompanied this journey; no one knew its purpose.

It was said only that after returning, Emperor Shunyuan was deeply grief-stricken, and Empress Cao attended to him with meticulous care.

But who could have known that Emperor Shunyuan had unfortunate caught smallpox during the trip? With his low spirits, the illness suddenly flared up after he returned to the palace. Empress Cao spent several nights consoling and counseling him, but unfortunately she too was infected.

After extremely perilous medical treatment, Emperor Shunyuan recovered in the end, but Empress Cao passed away.

Overwhelmed with guilt, Emperor Shunyuan immediately appointed Empress Cao’s son, then the Second Prince Shen Zhen, as Crown Prince. To silence the clamoring public, before the court officials could react, he directly enfeoffed the First Prince Shen Bi as the Virtuous King, severing his hopes for succession.

Little did anyone expect that this act of setting aside the eldest to appoint the youngest would instead stir more princes into restless ambition, each thinking himself worthy—among them Shen Chen.

Empress Cao’s maternal clan also benefited from this. Her various good-for-nothing brothers were all given official posts. And because of the Crown Prince, they soon ran rampant, bullying others without fear.

It wasn’t just Shen Zhi; even princes like Shen Chen, who lacked strong backgrounds, were often looked down upon by the Cao clan. That’s why Shen Chen hated the imperial relatives so much that after ascending the throne, he wanted to exterminate them root and branch.

This Cao Fangzheng hadn’t managed to stay in the capital as an official; instead, he was sent to the relatively impoverished Qianzhou. Emperor Shunyuan originally had high hopes for him, but over the years Cao hadn’t accomplished much of note and gradually was forgotten by the emperor.

Throughout his life, Emperor Shunyuan only ever pined for his first love, Consort Chen. His guilt toward Empress Cao had long been eroded by time. So, when Cao Fangzheng repeatedly begged to be transferred back to the capital, Emperor Shunyuan refused on the grounds that there was no vacancy. Thus, Cao Fangzheng remained in Qianzhou for six years.

His return to the capital this time was due to the Spring Terrace Chess Tournament.

This national event became an opportunity for many local officials to request entry into the capital. Emperor Shunyuan, in a good mood, would generally allow them to come and join the festivities, while also allowing them to pay their respects to the Son of Heaven in person.

Local officials entering the capital usually stayed in official hostels. But someone like Cao Fangzheng, a relative of the imperial clan, would receive treatment a cut above. To flaunt this honor, he didn’t return to the Cao residence.

At this moment, Cao Fangzheng had become the center of attention. He wore a pair of large, beast-face patterned, gold-embroidered boots. Having just drunk, his nose was shiny and red. A round, fat belly strained his belt, and his thick lips and broad mouth were animatedly talking: “You people don’t know this.”

He held a horsewhip in his hand. Haughtily, he used the whip to lift the collar of Liu Qiyin’s garment, revealing a round, dark red mark below her collarbone and above her chest.

“This woman is a rouge bandit who fled from Qianzhou!”

“What is a rouge bandit?” The officials from various regions lodged in the hostel looked bewildered. They crowded around Cao Fangzheng, some curious, some sycophantic—either way, the effect of being surrounded and admired that Cao Fangzheng wanted had been achieved.

“Back then, a group of female bandits appeared at Lianghe Ferry in my Qianzhou. They would actively receive wealthy merchants and officials traveling by boat. Those merchants and officials didn’t know what spell they fell under, and they followed the women back to their village. But after just one night, they were robbed of their belongings and thrown back onto the main road.”

Someone gasped: “Such a strange thing exists?”

Cao Fangzheng: “When I, this official, heard of this, I flew into a rage. Under my governance, how could I allow such a bunch of female bandits to run rampant? So I led troops to suppress them, but discovered those female bandits had disguised themselves as honest citizens, blending into the common populace, making them hard to distinguish.”

“But that couldn’t stump this official. I had a squad of soldiers disguise themselves as wealthy merchants, take a boat to the ferry. Sure enough, the bandits targeted them. Just as they were about to strike, the soldiers already lying in ambush swarmed out and arrested them all. Only then did we discover that the entire village, old and young, were all female bandits!”

Someone—who knows who started it—praised: “Lord Cao is truly heroic and wise, ridding the people of a menace!”

“Lord Cao is resourceful and astute; I admit inferiority.”

“The people of Qianzhou are blessed.”

“Who would have thought a whole village could be taken over by female bandits? Absolutely baffling.”

Cao Fangzheng grew even more smug: “Not at all. They were originally local villagers. They simply took advantage of the men being away building dikes and sank into depravity, committing crimes.”

Someone expressed surprise: “All the men in that village went to build dikes? Why didn’t some stay behind to keep these lawless women in check?”

The person beside answered: “Ah, colleague, you don’t know. Seven years ago, Qianzhou suffered a great flood; several villages were washed away, people became homeless. The court allocated a lot of silver for disaster relief, so those dikes had to be built, and built quickly.”

“I see.”

Cao Fangzheng sneered: “Exactly. The court was so considerate to the disaster victims, yet these women didn’t think to repay kindness; instead, they turned to banditry. After I arrested them, I originally intended to behead them all at once. But considering that our Great Qian has always been short on population, I showed leniency. I branded a special mark on their chests, calling them ‘rouge bandits,’ and sold them to music academies or estates as maidservants. I also reminded the buyers to be cautious when they saw the mark.”

“But how did a rouge bandit end up in the capital?”

“Yes, judging by her appearance, her clothes don’t seem like those of an ordinary household. Just this outfit alone must be from the Jade Kingfisher Pavilion.”

Cao Fangzheng narrowed his puffy eyes and also noticed that Liu Qiyin was dressed in fine quality. Though she didn’t look like a young lady from a wealthy family, it was clear she lived comfortably.

He suddenly raised his whip and lashed out fiercely, tearing open the lotus-colored gauze robe on Liu Qiyin’s chest, leaving a long bloody welt.

If she were an ordinary woman, being held by officers, her clothes disheveled, and treated so harshly, she would have felt mortally ashamed, burst into tears, and wished she could dash her head against a wall to preserve her dignity.

But Liu Qiyin didn’t utter a sound. She didn’t care at all about the surprised, disdainful, or probing gazes of the officials in the hall. She knelt upright, as if those glances were merely stale overnight tea—muddy and insipid, not stirring a single ripple.

Her clothes gaped open, the whip wound bleeding, but there was no trace of tears in her eyes. Instead, her eyes were alarmingly bright, as if a ruthless blade was about to shoot forth from those eyes burning with blazing hatred, to cut Cao Fangzheng into a thousand pieces.

Several nearby officials were secretly startled. Her gaze shocked them so much that they dropped their eyes and turned their heads away, feeling the air grow colder.

“Look at her eyes! Is that the look a woman should have?” Cao Fangzheng, fortified by the presence of soldiers, showed no fear. He continued, “When we were escorting this batch of rouge bandits, there was a sixteen-year-old girl who, taking advantage of the night, used a sharpened tree branch as a blade to stab the guard and escaped with eighteen female bandits into Bozhou territory.”

“Hiss, Bozhou? That was under…” someone started but stopped.

Bozhou had once been under Wen Zhuo’s jurisdiction. In recent years, Wen Zhuo had rocketed straight up, becoming the emperor’s top favorite.

Though he didn’t form factions or cliques, appearing unrestrained and indifferent to power, he was a veritable powerful minister.

Because whatever Wen Zhuo said, Emperor Shunyuan would eventually agree.

This was not only because Wen Zhuo was truly learned and spoke with substance, but also because the emperor placed extraordinary trust in him.

In short, he was a special existence. Seeing that Cao Fangzheng was about to drag Wen Zhuo into this, several local officials discreetly tried to slip away, not wanting to get tainted.

But Cao Fangzheng hadn’t thought that far. First, Wen Zhuo had left Bozhou four years ago. Second, handling some rouge bandit wouldn’t possibly alarm the head of the Hanlin Academy.

“I immediately contacted Bozhou, and Bozhou fully cooperated in the pursuit. Unfortunately, this woman is vicious and cunning. She didn’t go deep into Bozhou; instead, she led those female bandits over the mountains and escaped elsewhere. Who would have thought that today she would latch onto some hostage prince and brazenly run to the capital? Unfortunately for her, she ran into me, and I brought her to justice!”

“Bravo! Lord Cao truly has sharp eyes!”

“Sharp eyes? I think you’re blind and heartless.” A voice, both contemptuous and arrogant, came from behind the crowd. The Fifth Prince, who had slipped away long ago, now swaggered back out. He pushed through the crowd, walked straight between Cao Fangzheng and Liu Qiyin, and without hesitation pulled Liu Qiyin to her feet.

In the hostel, the officers naturally had the lowest status. Even though Shen Zhi’s position was awkward, he was still a prince. They dared not stop him.

Liu Qiyin’s knees were numb from kneeling, and she nearly stumbled when she stood up. Fortunately, Shen Zhi held her steady, and she soon regained her balance.

She looked at Shen Zhi with some surprise.

Actually, when the incident happened and Shen Zhi slipped away, she didn’t complain. Because it was understandable.

They were of low status; they had no real connection with Shen Zhi. Besides, Shen Zhi had just been slapped by Wen Zhuo and driven out of Wen’s mansion; he was probably more upset than sympathetic and wouldn’t stick his neck out for them.

So, from the start, she hadn’t placed her hopes on Shen Zhi. Instead, she had told Jiang Man to run quickly and find Wen Zhuo for a solution.

But even when she was forced to her knees by the officers, had her collar torn open, and been lashed, she hadn’t rashly mentioned Wen Zhuo’s name. She was afraid that speaking out would interfere with Wen Zhuo’s plans.

Now, unexpectedly, Shen Zhi appeared first.

Wen Zhuo and Jiang Man also arrived by carriage at this moment. Wen Zhuo stepped down, wind billowing his sleeves and brushing across his exquisitely beautiful face. The attendants at the gate, seeing him, involuntarily held their breath, their hearts stirred.

Even as a man, he was breathtakingly beautiful.

But when Wen Zhuo indifferently flashed his official medallion, the attendants looked closely and broke out in cold sweat, dropping to their knees in unison: “Head of the Academy!”

Without a word, Wen Zhuo stepped into the hostel.

Once inside, he found the situation at a standstill. Jiang Man was about to rush into the crowd, but Wen Zhuo raised a hand to stop her.

Wen Zhuo remained motionless, standing behind the crowd, quietly watching Shen Zhi as he helped Liu Qiyin to her feet.

Cao Fangzheng looked Shen Zhi up and down, wondering how this kid had suddenly grown a spine. He twirled his whip and chuckled: “I thought Your Highness, seeing the situation was bad, had gone home. Oh, I forgot—Your Highness hasn’t yet been summoned by His Majesty, so you can’t go home, can you? How about I put in a good word for you before His Majesty, so that he might remember you despite his busy schedule?”

He guffawed loudly, and a few officials who hoped to curry favor with the Crown Prince joined in with forced laughter. The others watched cautiously, not wanting to offend anyone.

Shen Zhi also smiled, but only briefly before stopping. He clasped his hands behind his back, and making use of his height, deliberately raised his chin to look down at Cao Fangzheng: “With a fool like you around, I’ll soon get to see His Majesty.”

Cao Fangzheng couldn’t tolerate such humiliation. Though his position was below that of a prince, his sister had died for the emperor, and his nephew was the current Crown Prince. Offending him meant offending the Cao clan. And Shen Zhi was nothing but a prince the emperor despised as foolish. Even if the Virtuous King himself were here, what could he do?

“Your Highness, be careful that evil deeds don’t come out of your mouth. For the sake of a rouge bandit fleeing from justice, Your Highness is going against me and the Crown Prince? Could it be that the Astronomical Bureau’s words are true—that Your Highness is born with five deficiencies and has yet to have your spiritual aperture opened?”

Cao Fangzheng thought his sarcasm was biting and clever, so he was quite pleased. He was just about to burst into laughter again when Shen Zhi, without hesitation, lifted his leg and kicked him square in the chest.

Cao Fangzheng couldn’t dodge in time and took the full kick. His chest tightened, his vision went black, and he fell backward.

Fortunately, he was stout and fleshy, and there were people behind him. He stumbled back two steps and was caught, suffering no real injury.

But a neatly stamped footprint on his fine clothes looked utterly ridiculous.

Seeing this, Shen Zhi sighed regretfully.

Liu Qiyin was stunned by his actions.

Even if Wen Zhuo had come in person, he wouldn’t have casually kicked Cao Fangzheng, would he?

Liu Qiyin’s thoughts raced: could it be that after ten years as a hostage, Shen Zhi’s personality had changed drastically, sometimes timid and sometimes mad? Timid enough to crawl under a table, mad enough to touch Wen Zhuo’s face or kick the Crown Prince’s uncle?

Or was it that the Marquis of Yongning still had some influence, and Jun Dingyuan had returned in triumph, giving Shen Zhi the confidence to settle this?

“Master, is this the Fifth Prince?” Jiang Man gawked.

Wen Zhuo’s face revealed nothing, but his heart tightened.

He had thought that coming back would let him take control of the situation, but unexpectedly Shen Zhi had become an unforeseen variable.

Did Shen Zhi realize that offending Cao Fangzheng meant offending the Cao family and the Crown Prince?

This kick, with no thought for consequences, could embroil the Marquis of Yongning’s estate in a confrontation with the Cao clan. If that happened, Jun Dingyuan, who had just begun to show his brilliance, might become the Crown Prince’s thorn.

Wen Zhuo’s expression darkened.

Acting impulsively and hot-headedly didn’t look like someone capable of great things. Instead, he was only adding to Wen Zhuo’s troubles.

Just as Wen Zhuo was contemplating a countermeasure, he saw Cao Fangzheng shake off the officials behind him and point at Shen Zhi: “You all saw it! The Fifth Prince openly obstructs me from arresting a criminal and even assaults a court official!”

Shen Zhi snatched the whip from Cao Fangzheng’s hand and, mimicking his tone, pointed it at him: “I said you were blind, and truly you are both blind and heartless. Where is there any rouge bandit? That’s clearly a birthmark!”

Liu Qiyin’s eyes widened in disbelief. She couldn’t believe Shen Zhi could just spout nonsense.

Cao Fangzheng, for some reason, felt a blur before his eyes and had his whip taken away. But he ignored the whip and retorted loudly: “Nonsense! That’s clearly a brand mark. A brand mark like a scorpion’s stinger—it means a heart as venomous as a snake or scorpion!”

The brand on Liu Qiyin’s chest, worn down by time, had wrinkled into a red scar, but the shape of a scorpion’s stinger was still discernible, showing how vicious the person who designed the brand was.

“How do you know no one’s birthmark looks just like that?” Shen Zhi sneered. “Maybe you have a similar birthmark on your chest. Want to tear open your clothes and let everyone see?”

As he spoke, he raised the whip as if to slash open Cao Fangzheng’s shirt.

The whip handle was made of sandalwood, and the tip was bound with seven fine, sharp hemp threads. Even a spirited horse would rear and neigh when struck; on a person, it would be excruciating.

Cao Fangzheng was always hot-tempered. Unwilling to endure such agony, and emboldened by alcohol, he mimicked Shen Zhi and kicked out.

Shen Zhi didn’t dodge. The kick landed squarely on his chest. His lean frame stumbled back several steps, nearly colliding into Liu Qiyin.

Her expression complicated, Liu Qiyin steadied him.

Seeing that in his fury he had kicked a prince, Cao Fangzheng’s drunkenness sobered halfway, and he felt some regret. But then he thought: it’s just a despised hostage prince; the emperor won’t care. Besides, he has a legitimate reason—capturing a rouge bandit.

Moreover, even if he offended the Marquis of Yongning, he wasn’t afraid. The Marquis could never surpass his father, the Duke of Cao! Even if Jun Dingyuan had military merits, could he overshadow the Crown Prince?

Wen Zhuo couldn’t watch any longer. Did Shen Zhi really think that insisting this was a birthmark would get them off scot-free?

Utterly hopeless.

Just as he was about to push through the crowd and take charge, he saw Shen Zhi, after being kicked, show no sign of embarrassment. Instead, he let out a low, knowing laugh—a laugh devoid of anger, only mockery.

Before Cao Fangzheng could gloat, Shen Zhi’s eyes turned sharp and he suddenly thundered: “Cao Fangzheng, how dare you!”

The voice rang out like metal striking stone, forceful and resonant. In an instant, the hostel fell dead silent.

Shen Zhi’s face was handsome with thick brows and deep eyes. Where did this wrath come from? It made people’s spines chill.

Cao Fangzheng, momentarily dazed, involuntarily stepped back half a pace.

Wen Zhuo’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he halted in his tracks.

Not that he was exaggerating; Shen Zhi now had a completely different aura from his previous life.

Cao Fangzheng snapped out of it and began distancing himself: “Everyone saw it—the Fifth Prince attacked me first. I was only defending myself. Even if we go before the court, so many eyes have seen the truth. His Majesty will definitely not let you off easily!”

“His Majesty certainly doesn’t need to punish me easily, because it’s you who committed the crime of great disrespect!” Shen Zhi raised his right hand, parting the moon-white robe half open, and from where Cao Fangzheng had kicked him, he took out a gilt-edged short letter.

With a flick of his fingers, he raised the note and showed it to everyone. Above, ink marks were faintly visible, and in the lower right corner was stamped a vermilion imperial seal.

“On the road back to the capital, I often missed my imperial father, so I kept this imperial letter of favor close to my chest, always with me. When I am here, the letter is here; when the imperial father is here, he is here. Cao Fangzheng, when you kicked me, did you kick me, or did you kick His Majesty on the throne?”

Almost instantly, all color drained from Cao Fangzheng’s face.

If not witnessed with one’s own eyes, no one would believe that a person’s deathly pallor and despair could be so tangible.

The local officials quickly backed away from that spot, as if they could already see heads rolling and blood spilling.

Cao Fangzheng didn’t even kneel; his legs gave way, unable to support him. He trembled like a sieve, his throat seemingly locked, unable to utter a word for a long time.

Only then did Liu Qiyin understand: Shen Zhi had slipped away earlier precisely to retrieve the letter from his room and hide it in his chest.

Everything he said and did afterward was to provoke Cao Fangzheng into attacking him.

Regardless of Cao Fangzheng’s reasons, showing disrespect to the emperor’s own handwriting was a solid charge; he could not escape disaster.

The Fifth Prince had come up with this plan in such a short time—decisive, neat, a fatal blow.

But was it worth it, to offend an imperial relative over a maidservant suspected of being a rouge bandit?

Thinking this, Liu Qiyin suddenly realized she had asked Wen Zhuo the same question many years ago.

Shen Zhi couldn’t be bothered to look at Cao Fangzheng again. Instead, he scanned the terrified officials: “I said he had no eyes. Do you agree?”

“Yes… yes!” Who would dare say Cao Fangzheng wasn’t blind after he dared kick the emperor’s own letter?

“A man so blind and heartless says that’s a rouge bandit’s mark. Do you believe him?” Shen Zhi asked again.

“No… we don’t believe you!”

“It’s a birthmark! Definitely a birthmark!”

Shen Zhi tucked the note back into his chest, as if inseparable from his imperial father.

“Then it’s clear. Cao Fangzheng picked a quarrel, disturbed public order, insulted a prince, and kicked Your Majesty. According to the Great Qian Code, Volume N, Article N, all that’s left is to await death.”

His words flowed smoothly, eyebrows slightly raised. Though his wording was strange, there was an unspoken authority, as if all the light in the room should revolve around him.

Wen Zhuo clasped his hands behind his back, curling his lips in unexpected amusement.