The world of film and television begins with Hikaru no Go

The next morning, Di Renjie got up very early.

After breakfast, he asked Di Chun to tidy up the study and set up an extra teacup on the desk.

Just after Chen Shi (7-9 AM), footsteps sounded outside the door.

Di Chun came in to report: "Master, a Tiger General requests an audience."

Judge Di put down his pen and straightened his clothes.

"please."

Zhang Rui took a half step back into the corner and gripped the kitchen knife he had taken from the kitchen.

Hu Jinghui changed out of his Flying Bear uniform as the General of the Thousand Bull Guard and into civilian clothes, but still wore a sword at his waist.

He wasn't very tall, but he had broad shoulders. When he stood in front of the door, he almost blocked half of the door frame.

His skin was slightly dark, his cheekbones were prominent, and there was a faint vertical line between his eyebrows.

Those eyes swept across the study, lingered on Di Renjie's face for a moment, then lowered, and he clasped his hands in a salute.

"This humble servant, Hu Jinghui, greets Lord Di."

Di Renjie did not get up, but raised his hand in a gesture of deference.

"Please sit down."

Hu Jinghui sat down in the guest seat, his back straight.

Di Chun brought in a teapot, poured a cup for each of them, and then left, gently closing the door behind him.

The study was quiet for a moment, with only the rustling of locust leaves in the wind outside the window.

Di Renjie picked up his teacup, took a slow sip, and didn't look at Hu Jinghui.

"Jinghui, we've crossed paths quite a few times in the court. Back when we were at the Dali Temple, you were serving in the Thousand Bull Guard, weren't you?"

"Yes. When you were the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, I served in the Court of Judicial Review a few times. However, I was just a squad leader at that time, so you may not remember me."

"I remember," Judge Di put down his teacup. "Once, when you were on night duty, you stood in the corridor all night long, and when you changed shifts the next morning, you didn't move an inch. At that time, I thought, this person is reliable."

Hu Jinghui's eyelids twitched slightly, but he didn't reply.

Judge Di leaned back in his chair and lightly tapped his fingertip on the table.

"I called you here today not to discuss official business, but to tell you about someone. You should know him; his name is Li Yuanfang. He saved my life in the Crimson Tent. That night, he told me that after the delegation was attacked, he protected Shibi Khan and fought his way out of the encirclement, hiding in an abandoned courtyard, where they encountered an extremely terrifying person. Do you know who it is?"

Hu Jinghui remained unfazed: "This humble servant is unaware."

"I know."

The air in the study suddenly froze. Hu Jinghui's hand had moved from his knee to the edge of the table without anyone noticing, his fingertips resting on the side of the teacup, no more than three inches from the hilt of the knife at his waist.

"I do not understand what you mean, sir."

Judge Di looked at him quietly: "Jinghui, what's your surname?"

Hu Jinghui's finger stopped on the edge of the table and remained motionless.

"Your question is strange, sir. My surname is naturally Hu."

"Is the surname Tiger, or Viper?"

These words were spoken softly, but Hu Jinghui's expression changed in an instant.

"grown ups--"

Before he could finish speaking, Judge Di took out a silk handkerchief from his sleeve and gently placed it on the table.

The handkerchief was folded neatly, with a golden snake embroidered on one corner. The snake's body was coiled, its head slightly raised, and its tongue flicking out.

In the morning light filtering through the window paper, the golden snake seemed to be moving.

Hu Jinghui stared at the silk handkerchief, motionless.

"This is what you left with Li Yuanfang. That night, you could have killed him. You didn't, you let him go, and you left this behind. Why? To show off? I don't think so. You wanted others to know that you did it."

Hu Jinghui didn't speak, his lips pressed into a line, and the angles of his cheekbones were even more pronounced than when he entered.

"You want people to know because you feel this is an honor. An honor for whom? Not for yourself, and certainly not for the court, but for your father and grandfather. You want them to see in heaven that Hu Jinghui has not forgotten his own name."

Hu Jinghui's eyes reddened, probably because something that had been suppressed for a long time suddenly welled up and made his eyes burn.

"Since you already know, why ask?"

"Because I want to hear what you have to say yourself." Judge Di picked up his teacup, took a sip, and put it down. "Some things don't count if someone else says them for you. Only what you say yourself counts."

The study remained quiet for a long time. Outside the window, the locust tree leaves rustled for a moment, then stopped.

Hu Jinghui pulled his hand back from the edge of the table, placed it on his knee, and slowly tightened and then slowly released his fingers.

"Yes, my surname isn't Tiger, but Viper, the Viper of vipers. I'm Empress Wang's nephew. Forty-five years ago, Wu Zetian framed the Empress, and all male members of the Wang clan over the age of fifteen were executed. My father and my uncle were torn apart by chariots; I was just a month old then. Wu Zetian was pleased with this and bestowed upon me the surname Viper. She said that those born of snakes and scorpions should take Viper as their surname, and exiled me and my family to Lingnan."

He paused here, his throat bobbing as if he were swallowing something.

"When I was ten, my aunt and sister died of plague. From then on, I drifted alone in the world. Later, the Turks invaded the border, and the court conscripted soldiers. I enlisted and changed my name from 'viper' to 'tiger.' On the battlefield, I never retreated a step. I charged where others dared not charge and defended where others dared not defend. Over the course of more than ten years, I accumulated merits and rose to the rank of Inspector General of the Leopard Guard. Later, when Empress Wu Zetian reviewed the troops in the Southern Garden, she said that I was exceptionally brave and promoted me to the rank of General of the Thousand Bull Guard."

"The official said that the Emperor has treated me with the greatest kindness imaginable—I wish I could eat his flesh and sleep on his skin."

Di Renjie didn't speak, but simply leaned back in his chair and looked at the person in front of him.

Hu Jinghui's eyes were red, but they weren't filled with tears; instead, they held a fire that had burned for forty-five years.

The fire that raged from the malaria-ridden lands of Lingnan all the way to the capital, from a newborn infant to a man nearing fifty, never went out.

A breeze blew in through the window, stirring the documents on the desk. A corner of the paper flipped slightly before falling back down.

"Jinghui, the matter of Empress Wang was not without controversy in the court back then. Chu Suiliang strongly advised against it, Changsun Wuji strongly defended her, and Han Yuan submitted a memorial to plead her innocence—you may not have heard of these things in Lingnan. But I witnessed them firsthand when I was in the capital."

"When the Empress was deposed, there was no conclusive evidence. The so-called charge of 'poisoning' was of dubious origin and lacked sufficient evidence; even the officials presiding over the trial at the time could not justify it. Later, it was all over again and again about 'cursing curses,' nothing but fabrication. Therefore, I can tell you face to face in this study—the Empress is innocent. This is not just comforting words; it is the truth."

Hu Jinghui's shoulders trembled slightly. In all his life, no one had ever told him openly and honestly to his face: "Your aunt is innocent."

Judge Di gently placed the silk handkerchief on the table and pushed it in front of Hu Jinghui.

"The Empress is indeed innocent. But what you're doing now is harming many more innocent people like her back then. What do those Turkic envoys, guards, and attendants have to do with the events of forty-five years ago? What does Li Yuanfang have to do with your feud? You want to avenge the royal family, but which of the people you've killed has the surname Wu?"