Chapter 3#

Feng Bing stood frozen.#

Chunshi’s face and head were flushed crimson, his fingers twisting the hem of his lapel—unwilling, but his voice was very small: “My lord, several of the gentlemen suspect it was me… they say I stole it…”

Someone nearby said: “Prefect Feng simply saw you lurking suspiciously around the chests and asked you a few questions. Who knew you couldn’t answer? That’s why we grew suspicious.”

“I was not lurking suspiciously,” Chunshi argued, pressing his case. “I simply saw Prefect Feng opening the chests and taking inventory. I… I’ve never seen the wider world, and I wanted to catch a glimpse of the Jian’nan tribute goods. If I had truly stolen something, why would I still be standing right there in the open?”

“That sounds like quite the reasonable argument,” someone sneered with a laugh. “But who doesn’t know the principle of ’the guilty man protests too loudly—three hundred taels of silver hidden here under the bare sky’?”

Another person, seemingly trying to smooth things over, said: “Oh dear, let’s not wrong a good man. Why not just search this servant boy’s quarters? If nothing’s found, it naturally clears his name.”

“Yes, yes! Prefect Feng’s tribute inventory register has already been submitted, hasn’t it? Not a single piece can be missing—that’s the crime of deceiving the Emperor!”

“We could rush out and buy a few bolts of Shu brocade—wonder if that would do?”

“Isn’t that still deceiving the Emperor? Besides, Shu brocade woven by local government workshops each bears a unique serial number—there’s no way to forge it.”

Chunshi was forced into silence for a long while, casting furtive glances at Feng Bing. The latter’s face was deathly pale, his thin lips drained of even the faintest trace of color, and the sight made Chunshi’s heart clench with terror. His lord had suffered from a lung ailment since childhood; it had improved somewhat for a few years after his marriage, but then came exile to the pestilential lands of Lingnan, where hardship after hardship had worn him down until the old illness relapsed with increasing frequency. Chunshi felt as though his heart were being wrung to pieces, his remorse boundless. In a sudden rush, he lifted his lapel and knelt before Feng Cheng: “Prefect Feng! This humble servant truly would never dare to take or use tribute goods! I beg Prefect Feng to investigate carefully! My—my belongings can certainly be brought out for the prefect to examine.”

Someone immediately added: “What’s the use of bringing them out? That’s just the luggage—rooms are where one really hides things.”

Chunshi quickly turned his head: “This gentleman may not know—I sleep right outside my lord’s bedchamber. I wouldn’t dare enter the bedchamber to hide anything.”

The other man snorted.

At that moment, Chen Qiu stepped forward: “Gentlemen, you are all prominent tribute envoys from your respective jurisdictions—no one would want their own bedchamber ransacked either. But this loss of tribute goods truly concerns state ritual propriety—so what if we let Prefect Feng go into Master Li’s room alone to search? The rest of you needn’t stand around watching the show, eh? Master Li, consider it a favor to a friend—it’s a matter of conscience, after all.”

His words were diplomatic enough that the busybodies who had been itching to see the state of Feng Bing’s bedchamber immediately flicked their sleeves in displeasure and backed off. Feng Bing did indeed have a clear conscience; what paled his face was these people’s attitude. If tribute goods were truly missing, he would have no objection to the Ministry of Rites searching the entire courtyard. But why should he be searched first, privately? True, he was a commoner with no official rank or title—but five years had passed, and all the charges against him had long been cleared by the general amnesty. Why were they so quick to suspect the people around him?

He turned his head aside and coughed twice, lightly pressing a moon-white silk handkerchief to his lips. After a moment, he stepped aside. “Then please, Prefect Feng, do come into my room.”

Feng Cheng’s brow was tightly knitted—the loss of tribute goods was clearly such a serious matter that he had no attention to spare for anything else. With only a hasty fist-and-palm salute, he strode toward Feng Bing’s room. Feng Bing followed him in and closed the door. Some people were still craning their necks, peeping through the gaps—but Chen Qiu blocked every one of them, grinning: “It seems, no matter what, there’s definitely a thief in this courtyard. Shouldn’t everyone go take stock of their own chests?”

No one listened to him; they loitered and refused to leave. Chunshi shrank outside the door of the room. He hadn’t taken anything, so he hadn’t taken anything—on this point he was confident. But he feared his lord, being so open and honest, would have all the luggage unpacked for Feng Cheng to see…

A long time passed, and still Feng Cheng did not emerge. The murmurs of discussion among the crowd swelled once more. Chen Qiu frowned and stepped forward to knock: “Prefect Feng? Master Li?”

It was Feng Cheng who answered: “Envoy Chen, please come in.”

Chen Qiu pushed the door open and saw several trunks lying open on the floor. Feng Cheng sat to one side, and on the table lay a pomegranate-red round-patterned ruqun. Chen Qiu was stunned—for one fleeting instant, he thought Li Feng Bing had secretly bought that ruqun from the East Market the day before.

Feng Cheng turned the skirt inside out. On the lining, several serial numbers were sewn in exquisite embroidery thread. He looked up and said coldly to the figure on the other side of the room: “Why is there a tribute item from the Jian’nan Circuit, bearing the seal of the twenty-fifth year of Yongzhi, among Master Li’s belongings?”

Privately taking tribute goods was indeed a serious crime. But if it was only tribute from this year that had not yet been entered into the treasury, it was merely theft of government property, punished by penal servitude.

If, however, it was taken from the inner palace—tribute that had already been entered into the treasury—it constituted the crime of stealing items from the imperial carriage and regalia, punishable by exile to a distance of two thousand five hundred li.

Feng Bing gazed at the ruqun, one hand gripping the windowsill with such force that the knuckles stood out white against the bone. He said quietly: “It was bestowed by the late Emperor.”

Feng Cheng’s eyes narrowed slightly.

They all knew what manner of person Feng Bing was. To claim it was bestowed by the late Emperor was indeed unassailable. But Feng Cheng reacted swiftly: “Back then—after the great case, all your private possessions were confiscated by the government. This tribute item should have been taken back as well. Could it be that you hid it and failed to turn it in? Could it be that the private property you reported at the time was incomplete and untruthful?”

Even though Feng Bing had known he would face many pointed questions about “back then” upon returning to the capital, he had not expected them to come so swiftly and so bluntly. He was quiet for a moment. “It is not my private property. It was originally a bolt of fabric. In the twenty-sixth year of Yongzhi, the late Emperor bestowed it upon… Pei Dan. Pei Dan simply had it made into a garment.”

“Now that is even more curious,” Feng Cheng pressed, relentless. “The late Emperor bestowed it upon Chancellor Pei—surely he would not have passed it on to someone else—”

“Prefect Feng,” Chen Qiu hastily tugged at his sleeve. “Mind your words!”

Discussing Feng Bing’s old case was one thing, but one must not carelessly slander the current Grand Chancellor of the realm.

Feng Cheng fell silent. His gaze traveled over Feng Bing from head to foot, as though appraising a vessel from a previous dynasty.

Though the vessel’s shape remained beautiful, its glaze was already riddled with cracks, exposing the fragile, thin porcelain body within.

This Li Feng Bing appeared to have not a single means of resistance.

Feng Cheng finally said: “This matter is grave. I must report it to the palace and have them check the late Emperor’s gift records from that year. Or perhaps have the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicature and Revision check—whether there were any omissions when the old case led to confiscation of property into the government.”

“It’s that serious?” Chen Qiu let out a sudden “Ah!” “Prefect Feng may not know—when the Sage bestows gifts, it’s often on a whim, and it’s not necessarily always recorded in a register with seals. Besides, several years have already passed—it’s been seven years now, hasn’t it?” He leaned in closer, earnestly persuading Feng Cheng: “Think about the archive rooms of the Directorate of Ceremonial—they must be piled high with dust! To mobilize such resources over a single dress—bothering the Three Departments is one thing, but troubling the inner court as well? What if it startles the Sage? How would that be?… As for the Court of Judicature—I’ve heard the Chief Judge is terribly fierce. To bother him with something this trivial… this…”

Feng Cheng seemed to be swayed by Chen Qiu’s words, his gaze flickering—but his hand gripped the ruqun even more tightly.

Chen Qiu truly could not understand: this man was merely a minor local functionary. Coming to Chang’an, he should be keeping his head down—yet instead he insisted on causing trouble all the way to the inner court. What was the logic in that? But thinking of how he had lost the tribute goods, Chen Qiu also felt some pity, so he changed the subject: “Have all the other areas been searched? Are you certain Master Li didn’t take anything? Perhaps we should report this matter to the Guest Reception Bureau under the Ministry of Rites and let them adjudicate?”

Feng Cheng rose to his feet, still wrapping the ruqun in its original cloth wrapping. “One matter is one matter. I must take this tribute item back as well.”

With that, he left carrying the bundle. The various functionaries in the courtyard saw something in his hands and all gasped in a sharp intake of breath, thinking he had found the stolen goods.

Chen Qiu stamped his foot and turned to look at Feng Bing. Feng Bing had hardly said anything throughout—seemingly not knowing how to defend himself at all. He had not been like this yesterday.

Chen Qiu scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh: “Chancellor—Chancellor Pei used to give you women’s clothing back then?”

Feng Bing looked up at him as if waking from a daze, then immediately lowered his eyes. “It was only… some—some private pleasures between husband and wife.”

Chen Qiu had, in truth, already guessed as much, but he hadn’t expected Feng Bing to actually answer. The man before him was not conventionally dazzling in appearance—but after a few more glances, one could not look away, like a wisp of fine, drifting mist. Chen Qiu very much wanted to discover what lay within that mist. Surely it would be cold and clear—but it might just as well be scorching hot. Had Pei Yunwang seen it? Was that, perhaps, their “private pleasures”?

Chen Qiu involuntarily took one step closer and said: “Master Li, there’s no need to worry. That Feng Cheng is making trouble where there is none—he certainly won’t come out well from this—” Feng Bing turned his shoulder aside, just avoiding the hand Chen Qiu had been about to reach toward him with.

“Thank you, Envoy Chen,” Feng Bing said calmly. “Prefect Feng is merely anxious about his mission.”

Chen Qiu wanted to say more, but Feng Bing cut him off: “I would like to speak with Chunshi for a moment.”

The door closed.

The room was steeped in cold quiet.

It was only his second day here, and already the room carried the smell of medicine. Yesterday Chunshi had brewed decoctions behind the curtain; today’s dose had not yet been prepared. Feng Bing felt a dryness in his throat, as if all the snow had been burned away by the sun.

“Do you still remember what you put in my luggage?” Feng Bing asked slowly.

Chunshi dropped to his knees with a thud: “This servant was at fault—the fault was hiding it from my lord! But this servant has a clear conscience!”

Feng Bing had his back turned to him, both shoulders trembling. “A clear conscience?”

“Most of your belongings from the past were lost in the great disaster. Only this one piece remained.” Chunshi’s face was crimson. Even though he said he had a clear conscience, he already felt deeply ashamed. “I was just afraid that man would search and find it—after all, it is also Shu brocade…”

Feng Bing’s anger had no outlet and instead turned into deep bewilderment. “Why did you bring it with you?”

“This trip to the capital carries risks, but also opportunities,” Chunshi said mournfully. “This servant does not wish my lord to let slip any opportunity.”

Feng Bing felt he was truly cheap.

He went to fetch a teacup himself. “Feng Cheng said he would report it to the Directorate of Ceremonial, and then to the Court of Judicature.”

Chunshi was stunned. “What?”

“Do you think this will reach his ears?”

Chunshi was confused. “That Prefect Feng—he lost tribute goods himself, but he’s dragging us down to suffer the punishment with him! If it reaches—if it reaches Master Pei’s ears—”

Then it would be the most tremendous humiliation.

The commoner Feng Bing, exiled for five years, still unwilling to let go of his former husband, now the Chancellor—having finally received imperial grace to come to court, he had immediately gathered up all his old mementos and brought them to the capital, clearly hoping to rekindle the old romance.

Feng Bing let out a cold, faint laugh, his fingers tracing the rim of the teacup, muttering to himself: “This time I’ve really given him face.”

Pei Dan will be released soon!

Daily updates every morning from now on~

Under the Tang system, the tribute of prefectures and circuits was managed by the Guest Reception Bureau under the Ministry of Rites, which could be considered the supervising authority. The inventory of tribute goods was handled by the Court of Ceremonial, which after taking count would report to the Guest Reception Bureau. Here, however, the role of the Court of Ceremonial is abbreviated away, and only the Ministry of Rites is mentioned. As for items that already belonged to the royal family and were then bestowed upon ministers, these were managed by the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The chapter title is adapted from Li Shangyin’s poem “In Reply to Cui Ba’s Gift of a Poem on Early Plum Blossoms”: “Xie Lang’s sleeve first turned to snow.”