Chapter 24 - 2#
“I only just got to the Directorate,” Jingzhe said. “Leaving already would be a bit much.”
Yunkui grinned. “Never mind that — do you want to go or not?”
By the look of things, if Jingzhe said yes, Yunkui had a way to make it happen.
Jingzhe pulled his blanket up over the lower half of his face and said, flatly: “No.”
Whatever advantages or drawbacks Shangyuan Garden had, they were none of his concern.
If he left the palace, how was he supposed to keep an eye on the Empress Dowager? How was he supposed to handle whatever new tasks the system might throw at him?
It had to be said — since leaving the North Wing, the vague, suffocating sense of confinement that had settled over Jingzhe had finally lifted.
He’d managed to get out of the North Wing. He could keep climbing, one step at a time.
Maybe, someday, revenge wasn’t out of the question.
After all — even when he tried to keep his head down, people like Noble Lady Yao and Consort Xu had come looking for trouble on their own.
And besides…
If he went to Shangyuan Garden, how would he ever see Rong Jiu?
His person was still here in the palace. How could he bear to leave?
*
[Task Six: Uncover Huang Yijie’s true identity and prevent her from achieving her goal.]
[Task Seven: Help Bi Xintian escape from prison.]
In the dead of night, Jingzhe was drifting half-asleep when the system’s voice jolted him awake.
He pressed a hand to his aching head and glanced at the bed across from him. Huiping was still sleeping.
Jingzhe turned to face the wall.
“Who is Bi Xintian?”
[A prisoner who will be brought to the capital and executed at the Meridian Gate. Formerly an official in Jiangzhe — he was caught embezzling funds meant for disaster relief.]
Jingzhe: “He sounds like he deserves it.”
A man like that genuinely wasn’t worth saving.
[Bi Xintian has a talent for accumulating wealth. His methods are crooked, but his ability to generate money is considerable. Used properly, he would be an inexhaustible source of funds.]
Clearly, this task was aimed at benefiting Prince Rui.
Jingzhe frowned, then after a moment said, “How do you know so much this time? Before, you couldn’t tell me anything.”
[The host successfully completed a task. The system’s capabilities have increased accordingly.]
…So when it had said earlier that task completion affected the system itself — that was apparently true.
The more tasks completed, the more the system could offer in return.
He set Task Seven aside for now; he’d already confirmed with the system that Bi Xintian hadn’t been brought to the capital yet.
Which left Task Six.
Uncover Huang Yijie’s true identity?
Other than being a member of the Huang family — what other identity could she have? Was she supposed to be some kind of imposter?
But she had been sent into the palace by the Empress Dowager. If something were wrong with her, the Empress Dowager would surely know… Wait. She would know.
Jingzhe sat up sharply. Had the Empress Dowager sent Huang Yijie into the palace on purpose? Was Huang Yijie’s task the very thing the Empress Dowager had sent her to do?
But then — all of these tasks were meant to serve Prince Rui, and Prince Rui and the Empress Dowager were on the same side. So why had the earlier task been to prevent Huang Yijie from entering the palace?
Did that mean whatever the Empress Dowager wanted Huang Yijie to do inside the palace… would actually harm Prince Rui?
So mother and son weren’t as unified as they seemed.
Jingzhe turned this over for a while, but drowsiness crept back in, and he yawned his way back to sleep. When he woke the next morning there were faint shadows under his eyes.
He was still mulling it over while sweeping.
The rest of it aside — Huang Yijie was housed in Zhongcui Palace. Getting information about what went on there was no easy task, let alone uncovering her background. Ha. You’d need connections that reached the sky to find out things that happened beyond the palace walls.
Both tasks were, frankly, a bit much for him right now.
This time, Jingzhe carefully confirmed with the system that neither task would be pressing for the immediate future, and let himself put them aside.
He finished his day’s work diligently, then headed off to find Huiping. The two of them had planned to go to the Office of Miscellaneous Purchases together — Huiping had a friend there, and Jingzhe wanted to find Zheng Hong.
Rong Jiu had sent him so much. He needed to send something back.
He hadn’t figured out what yet, so his plan was to have a look around and see if Zheng Hong had anything useful.
But Jingzhe searched the entire Directorate and couldn’t find Huiping anywhere.
He frowned. That wasn’t right.
Huiping was reliable and straightforward. If he’d agreed to meet Jingzhe, he would wait. Period.
They’d been working separately for the afternoon, but people didn’t just vanish.
Jingzhe circled back a few times. Shi’en caught sight of him from his room and looked out at the dimming sky curiously. “You’ve walked past my door three times now. What are you looking for?”
“Have you seen Huiping?”
“Huiping went out.”
Jingzhe frowned. “Someone came for him?”
“How do you know someone came for him? Maybe he just went out on his own.” Shi’en looked surprised, then thoughtful. “Actually, I genuinely don’t know. Let me ask around.”
He stepped outside, and Jingzhe fell into step beside him.
“Huiping and I had plans. He wouldn’t go off without a word.”
Shi’en nodded. “That’s true, he’s a steady one.”
Shi’en was social and well-connected. It didn’t take him long to find out that Huiping had been called away by someone from the Bureau of General Affairs.
But the moment Shi’en heard which bureau, something shifted in his expression — quickly suppressed, smoothed over so fast that only someone paying close attention would notice. He eased himself quietly away from the others.
Jingzhe, who was paying attention, followed as Shi’en drew him along by the arm. At first Shi’en walked quickly; once they were out of earshot, he broke into something close to a jog.
Jingzhe kept pace. “What’s wrong with the Bureau of General Affairs?”
Shi’en’s reaction was too off.
“We need to find Yunkui first. I’ll explain after.”
They searched the Directorate until they finally caught Yunkui near the entrance, and Shi’en grabbed onto him like a drowning man finding driftwood.
Yunkui startled badly, nearly swinging a punch before catching himself.
“Wufu took Huiping,” Shi’en said.
Yunkui’s face changed at once, his brow snapping tight. “You’re sure?”
“I just asked Laifù. It’s definite.”
“Damn it.” Yunkui threw them both a quick look. “You two wait here.” And he was off toward the Directorate at a run, heading in the direction of Jiang Jinming.
Jingzhe felt something cold settle in his chest. “Can you tell me now?”
Shi’en pulled Jingzhe somewhere out of earshot and lowered his voice. “The head of the Bureau of General Affairs is a man named Wufu. You just got here, so you don’t know — he’s… deeply unhinged. After he became a eunuch, something twisted in him. He doesn’t like women. He likes men instead.”
Jingzhe: “…So do you, for that matter.”
Shi’en waved an impatient hand. “That’s not the point. The point is the man is vicious with it. He puts people through things you wouldn’t wish on anyone. Back when he first made head of bureau, he had plenty of people willing to curry favor with him — but in the years that followed, one hanged himself, two drowned, and another…” He grimaced hard at the memory. “…was dragged out of Wufu’s room.”
Jingzhe: “He set his sights on Huiping?”
“Looks that way.” Shi’en gnawed at his fingers anxiously. “The thing is, it caused such a scandal that the Chief Eunuch came down on him hard — docked a full year’s pay. After that Wufu pulled back. He’d still call people to his room occasionally, but there were no more deaths.”
All this time, Wufu had kept to what was essentially his own territory.
He’d never gone after anyone belonging to a different bureau head.
Yunkui wasn’t gone long. Jiang Jinming appeared, Yunkui close behind him, along with a younger eunuch.
Jiang Jinming had a medium build, neither heavy nor lean, with a slightly round face that turned pleasant and easy when he smiled. He had something in common with Qian Qin that way — except without that smiling-tiger quality.
He glanced at Jingzhe and Shi’en as he passed and gave a small tilt of his head. “Since you’re the ones who found out, you may as well come.”
Jingzhe and Shi’en exchanged a look and fell in behind Yunkui.
Jingzhe understood what Jiang Jinming was doing — if things went sideways, having these two along meant they could be put forward as a buffer, keeping Yunkui out of whatever grudge Wufu might nurse afterward.
He understood the calculation, and he still couldn’t stand waiting behind.
Jiang Jinming led them through a series of turns into a different section of the compound. The layout wasn’t unlike the Directorate, and the occasional palace servants they glimpsed looked faintly familiar. Jiang Jinming moved without hesitation.
Just then, a figure came hurrying toward them, calling out loudly: “Why, if it isn’t Head Jiang! What brings you here? Are you looking for Grandpa Wufu? What bad timing — he’s not in just now!”
Jingzhe’s eyes narrowed. That voice was far too loud. Deliberate.
Jiang Jinming’s laugh was cold. “You know your Grandpa Wufu but you don’t know your Grandpa Jiang? Get out of my way before I pull out your tongue.”
Yunkui stepped forward and shoved the man aside without ceremony.
Jiang Jinming had had his doubts before, but this eunuch’s very obvious performance had settled them. He felt a sharp surge of anger.
Wufu was free to do as he liked with his own people — the other bureau heads had always turned a blind eye to that. But now the old cretin had gone outside his own territory?
Jiang Jinming looked mild, but his temper was not mild at all — as Yunkui could attest from having spent several days in bed after a run-in with him. When they reached Wufu’s door, he didn’t ask for help. He simply kicked it in himself.
The bar across the inside snapped clean. The door swung open — and from within came the faint, unmistakable sound of crying.
Jingzhe and Yunkui went rigid with fury. It was Huiping’s voice.
Jiang Jinming blocked Yunkui from charging forward, shook his head at him, and walked inside alone.
The shouting that followed was fierce.
Two voices — Jiang Jinming’s, growing steadily louder, and another, weak and oleaginous, falling over itself to apologize.
The louder Jiang Jinming got, the smaller Wufu’s voice became.
Then — footsteps, and a figure burst from the room in disarray, clothing askew, one sleeve pressed over his face. He nearly ran into Jingzhe.
Jingzhe caught him. The person was trembling violently.
Yunkui and Shi’en rushed to close in. “It’s alright, Huiping, don’t be afraid—” Shi’en said urgently, while Yunkui started pulling off his own outer robe. Jingzhe caught Yunkui’s eye and gave a small shake of his head.
“Huiping.” Jingzhe’s voice was quiet. He waited until Huiping could just barely see him, then reached out and took hold of his arm.
“Can I help you straighten up? Is that alright?”
He didn’t move until Huiping gave a faltering nod. Then, gently, Jingzhe set about putting him back together — smoothing out his clothing, pressing down the wrinkles, straightening the cuffs. Finally, he carefully drew the sleeve away from Huiping’s face, uncovering his tear-blotched features.
Jingzhe could hear Yunkui and Shi’en grinding their teeth in barely contained fury. He felt it too. But he kept his movements slow and steady, pulled out his handkerchief, and wiped Huiping’s face clean. There was water nearby; he made use of it, and by the time he was done, Huiping was presentable again.
Jiang Jinming came out just as Jingzhe finished.
His footsteps were heavy. The anger hadn’t quite left his face. Behind him shuffled a heavyset man in his inner robes, his face meaty and fawning.
The moment Huiping saw him, the color drained from his face and his breathing went ragged. Yunkui and Jingzhe moved at once, stepping between them so Huiping wouldn’t have to look at Wufu.
Wufu was apparently attempting some kind of quiet reconciliation. Jiang Jinming didn’t give him an inch.
“What you get up to is your own affair,” he said with open contempt, “but when you bring it to my door, I’m going straight to the Chief Eunuch. Don’t think I won’t.”
He shook off Wufu’s hand and went to Huiping.
Seeing that he’d been cleaned up, some of the anger left Jiang Jinming’s face. “Good lad. It’s over. Come with me.”
The tears Huiping had just managed to hold back almost fell again.
Surrounded by friends on every side, Huiping slowly steadied. As they turned to leave, he couldn’t help glancing back at Wufu.