Jinyi Spring

In the streets and alleys of the capital, in teahouses and restaurants, people gathered in small groups, discussing the same important matter:
The Empress from sixteen years ago, now the nun Qingxin, has been devoured by a pack of wolves!

"Don't believe me? It's true!" A tea drinker lowered his voice, but couldn't hide his excitement. "My brother-in-law's brother-in-law works in the Flying Eagle Guard and saw with his own eyes those two bloody bones being found!"

"Tsk tsk, what a pity. Such a fine woman, how did she end up like this?"

"That's right. I heard that the wolf pack came down from Qingmiao Mountain. There were dozens of them, their eyes were green like will-o'-the-wisps, and they were all skin and bones from hunger. The few people chased them to the bridge and watched helplessly as the people were dragged away. No one dared to go forward. With dozens of wolves, whoever went up would be committing suicide. Later, they called dozens of people before they dared to go up the mountain to search. Apart from two bones, the wolves had already eaten everything."

"Alas, beauty is often short-lived."

……

Discussions rose and fell; some sighed, some lamented, and some ate sunflower seeds.

For some reason, the old story of the Empress Dowager's dream of a skinless monster has been brought up again. It is said that the Empress Dowager had a nightmare that night, dreaming of a bloody, skinless monster. The next day, Empress Xiao and Consort Xue went to Zixia Temple to pray for blessings, and then Empress Xiao gave birth to "Red Hare".

"What a coincidence!" someone smacked their lips, their eyes gleaming. "There's more to this than meets the eye..."

"Shh," the person next to him quickly tugged at his sleeve and lowered their voice, "Do you want to die? How dare you gossip about that person?"

The man shrank back, but still couldn't help muttering, "I just feel... there's something fishy about this. Do you think someone might be deliberately trying to harm the Xiao family? Her eldest prince is in someone's way..."

Before he could finish speaking, someone at the table covered his mouth. The teahouse fell silent for a moment, then buzzed again as people exchanged glances, hesitant to speak, yet still wanting to say something.

People living in grand mansions are much smarter than ordinary people.

Behind closed doors, their discussions deepened and became more explicit. They simply felt sorry for Qingxin; a perfectly good woman, ruined by others, her family destroyed, sixteen years of solitary meditation and Buddhist practice, and in the end, not even a proper burial…

-

Prefect Ming.

Xia handed an old bamboo flower basket to Yuxiang, saying, "Go to Xu's Bamboo Shop. I need four of these flower baskets for next spring. Go quickly and come back soon!"

Seeing Yu Xiang's retreating figure, Xia Shi became restless.

An hour later, Yuxiang hurriedly returned.

“Auntie,” her voice was a little tight, “Xu’s Bamboo Ware Shop has closed down.”

Xia's mind went blank for a moment, and she grabbed Yu Xiang's hand. "Did you close the door?"

"Yes. I asked the neighbors, and they said they moved south ten days ago and sold their shops and houses."

Xia's hand suddenly loosened, and she slumped into the chair as if all her strength had been drained. Her eyes stared straight ahead, motionless for a long time.

Did the Xu family flee, or were they silenced?
If it was to silence them, she would prefer that it was the Xue family who did it, since at least she still had the Ming family behind her.

If it was done by the Ming government, it means the Ming government knows what she did, and she's completely finished.

After a long while, Xia finally recovered, reached out and took the flower basket, her voice hoarse, "Go down."

Yu Xiang withdrew.

The moment the door closed, Xia's hand had already touched the mechanism at the bottom of the basket.

The letter is still there.

Perhaps Xu Hu was afraid and fled in advance.

She closed her eyes.

In the past, whenever I was in a bad mood, I would go to sleep, and when I woke up, I would have a solution.

She put down the basket and went to lie down on the bed.

The afternoon sun shone through the Korean paper, casting a shimmering golden light on the floor. The underfloor heating in the house was working well, and the kang (heated brick bed) was warm and cozy, creating a world apart from the biting cold outside.

The old Duke and his wife were talking with Madam Ming.

Madam Ming has just returned from the palace.

In the morning, a eunuch from Cining Palace came to deliver an imperial edict, saying that the Empress Dowager missed Princess Changning and requested that the princess and Lady Xia come to the palace for a talk. Unfortunately, both of them had caught a cold, so only Madam Ming went in their place.

"The Empress Dowager is as kind as ever," said Madam Ming. "I heard that my mother-in-law and Madam Xia are ill, so she gave them medicine and told my mother-in-law to come to the palace to visit her after she recovers."

She paused, her expression darkening slightly. "Consort Xue wasn't so polite. She said, 'What a coincidence that both of you are ill? Did you do something wrong and dare not enter the palace?' Her daughter-in-law replied, 'My mother-in-law is kind and benevolent, and Chan-mei is dignified and virtuous. She has never done anything wrong.'"

The old Duke snorted coldly, "The clothes and jade pendant were switched, and the Xu family members disappeared. Those two women and the Xue family must be frantic to dare to speak so bluntly."

Madam Ming continued, "Empress Dowager Xue immediately frowned and reprimanded Consort Xue in front of everyone, saying that Princess Changning was an elder and should not be rude."

"She also said she knows Princess Changning's character best, and that Xia Shi is a respectable person she knows well. They wouldn't do anything wrong. She also said that Consort Xue is suspicious all day long, and has no demeanor of a palace consort." The old lady slowly twirled her prayer beads, a cold smile appearing on her lips. "That old fox is still so good at acting, always appearing fair and lenient, without favoritism. However, even if all the evidence is complete, it has nothing to do with her."

As darkness fell, Guo Hei arrived at Feng's residence in Baima Village.

He was dressed in casual clothes, with a sheepskin coat over it, and a machete at his waist. He carried the chill of the mountains with him as he entered, looking exactly like a hunter who had just come down from the deep mountains.

He first kowtowed to Xiao Wan and said with a smile, "It's all arranged. My master and Lord Xiao will come here tomorrow to meet with the Dharma Master."

Xiao Wan was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes. She was finally going to see her brother and Shan Yue.

He then asked, "What about Heng'er? How is he?"

Guo Hei said, "His Highness Prince Qin is heartbroken and has fallen ill... His Majesty, out of compassion for His Highness, sent an imperial physician to examine him and also bestowed upon him many gold and silver treasures."

A mocking smile appeared on his lips. "I heard that the Empress Dowager cried bitterly, heartbroken that Qingxin Fagu died like that, and heartbroken that Prince Qin could not fulfill his filial duty. She also bestowed many gifts upon him."

Xiao Wan breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, his hatred for the Emperor and Empress Dowager paled in comparison to his son's safety. This arrangement could be considered to have achieved its purpose.

After that, Guo Hei began to talk about the trial proceedings of the past two days.

The case was heard from last night until late this afternoon before it was temporarily brought to a close.

Although the presiding judges were Commander Xie, Minister of Justice, and Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, it was mostly Xue Jicheng and Ming Shanyue who asked the questions.

First, a young nun named Zhimiao in the nunnery said that before Qingxin Fagu had an accident, she had said some things to her—those words were fragmented, but every sentence pointed to Ci'an's trickery into luring Qingxin Fagu out of the nunnery.

"...The nun is kind-hearted and doesn't want to implicate us, so she told me to remember these words. If something happens to her, these words might save our lives. She also said that we can't say this when only one official is present, for fear that these words won't get out..."

Cixi denied it to the death, saying that she had never said those words and that it was the nun Zhimiao who slandered her.

Another young nun also testified that on the afternoon of the day the incident occurred, she personally heard Cixi and Qingxin talking for a long time in the meditation room. Qingxin was crying sadly, and through the window she vaguely heard words such as "They killed my youngest son, and now they're trying to kill my eldest son. I want to see the Empress Dowager."

They all omitted Consort Xue, referring to her only as "she".

The people here are all intelligent, so they can guess who "she" refers to.

Jing'an was carried to the court. She said that Qingxin Fagu had devoted herself to Buddhism all these years, and apart from thinking about His Highness Prince Qin, she had never thought about anything in the secular world.

For some reason, Ci'an always mentioned General Ming. Qingxin reprimanded her for this several times, and once, in a fit of anger, even wanted to kick her out. It was only after Ci'an knelt down and begged that she was allowed to stay.

She believed in Zhimiao. The nun must have known she was nearing the end of her life and, unwilling to implicate the innocent, had said those things.

As for the garment and jade pendant, it was indeed placed inside the garment presented by the Princess Consort of Qin by His Highness Prince Qin. Qingxin Fagu only told Jing'an about this. Feeling that Ci'an's mouth was unreliable, she didn't dare tell her.

It must have been that Qingxin Fagu was bewitched by Cixi and truly believed that she had given birth to a son. After the son was thrown into the Baicang River, she lost her mind. Taking advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention, she ran to the Baicang River to mourn the little prince she thought she had, but unfortunately, she was devoured by wolves.

Jing'an was seriously ill and overwhelmed with grief, so she cried herself unconscious.

She had already been given instructions; she couldn't say that Qingxin and she had known all along that Cixi was the Xue family's spy, nor could she say that they had been wary of Cixi from the beginning. The point was to make it seem as if, from start to finish, they were the passive party, pitiful victims being schemed against.

At first, Cixi gritted her teeth and refused to admit that she had said those things to Qingxin. But as the torture was inflicted upon her, leaving her skin torn and bleeding, she finally relented.

"I'll confess, I'll confess..."

She was barely breathing, and she uttered four names in broken sentences: Wu Yanhua, a centurion of the Flying Eagle Guard; Ji Rong, a captain of the Flying Eagle Guard; Li Mancang, a soldier; and a woman named Ma Jinpo.

"Wu Yanhua made me say that..."

She was panting heavily, her voice like a broken bellows, "He said that in a couple of days he would find a chance to let Qingxin Fagu escape, and when she passed by the Baicang River, he would make her 'accidentally fall into the water.' But last night a big fire suddenly broke out, and I thought... I thought the plan had been brought forward..."

"Whom do they obey?" Xue Jicheng pressed sternly.

Ci'an dared not meet those two sinister gazes, and shook her head desperately, "My lord, I don't know... I really don't know..."

Ming Shanyue said gloomily, "Let's see just how stubborn you really are. Let's begin the torture!"

Empress Dowager Ci'an fainted once again on the execution stake.

The prison doctor rushed over and tried to administer medicine and acupuncture, but after a long while, she still didn't wake up.

The prison doctor checked his breathing and pulse, and his expression gradually changed.

“This…” He stood up, took a step back, and bowed to the officials, saying, “She’s dead.”

"Dead?" Commander Xie frowned. "How did he die?"

The prison doctor wiped the sweat from his brow and said carefully, "Ci'an was originally a woman, weak and frail. Having just suffered severe torture, her internal organs suddenly contracted due to fear, her blood and qi flowed in reverse, and her heart meridian broke..." (End of Chapter)