Chapter Five

Actually, when she first fell into the water, Ming Tan and Liang Zixuan felt the same way: the river was icy cold, bone-piercing, unbearable. She swallowed two mouthfuls, struggled and coughed for a long time before she finally registered what had happened.

—She had been bumped and fallen into the water!

In the great residential compounds, the “accidents” that occurred because of dodged marriages and forced matches were countless. Sharing a room to change dirty clothes, being rescued after falling into the water and thereby having skin-to-skin contact — these two things were the most ordinary of all.

Madam Pei had taught her from a young age how to guard her seven orifices and private parts when out and about, and when they went to other estates to escape the heat she even engaged a female instructor to teach her how to swim.

Because she rarely had the need to use it, and by nature she was so delicate that she would rather stay in a sedan chair than touch the ground, those onshore had no idea that she actually knew how to handle the water.

Unfortunately, the timing was wrong: before Ming Tan could warn them, Liang Zixuan had already taken off his outer robe and jumped down.

In a panic, she had no choice but to sink into the river, planning to go around Liang Zixuan and come ashore from the other side of the dock.

Her quick reaction counted as clever, but the river was too cold, and she wasn’t an active person to begin with. After swimming only a short while, a sudden ache came from below her waist.

The pain throbbed, paired with the river’s bone-chilling cold, like needles pricking; her vision went white, and she couldn’t swim another stroke.

In that instant, many thoughts flashed through Mingtan’s mind.

One moment she thought, “If Liang Zixuan rescues me, it would be better to die here and preserve my honor,” and the next she thought, “Forget it, I should call for help—dying here and having my body bloat and decompose would be a waste of my still-unparaded beauty that hasn’t yet dazzled the capital.”

Just as she finished hesitating and decided to surface and call for help, suddenly a black band shot down into the water without warning, wrapped once around her waist, then tightened, hauling her to the shore and dumping her in a secluded patch of reeds some distance from the dock.

The force at the other end of the band was swift and neat, showing no mercy. Ming Tan was thrown so hard she felt dizzy; in a blur she only caught sight of the half of the black band’s tail being pulled free from her waist.

Judging by the years she had spent pampered and privileged, that band was no ordinary piece: the material must be exceptional, the dark pattern finely and elaborately worked, as if woven with xuan-gold thread, each strand split delicately; even under the heavy cloak of night it gave off a faint sheen.

Before she could follow the band and see who stood there, an outer robe fell, covering her body and blotting out her view.

……

“And then?” Bai Minmin hurriedly asked.

“Then, someone carried me back.” Ming Tan leaned against the bedside, pushing aside the spicy, warming ginger soup and taking back the hand warmer the maid had handed her, recalling, “On the way I asked several times who they were and where they were taking me, but they didn’t answer. They set me down at the back gate of the Marquis’ residence and vanished together with the outer cloak.”

“Them? More than one person?”

“The one who saved me and the one who brought me back were definitely not the same person; their clothing was very different, and the person who returned me seemed to be following orders, like… an attendant guard.”

Bai Minmin chewed that over for a moment, but still had many questions: “Wait, so you never said from the start that you were from the Jing’an Marquis household, and yet they still accurately brought you back to the manor?”

“Mm, that’s exactly what I found strange.” Ming Tan leaned against the bolster and sat up a little. “If their intentions had been impure, I checked carefully after returning and nothing of my personal belongings was missing.”

Those who covet something will take proof. They took nothing. “That is indeed very strange,” Bai Minmin said, frowning in thought, murmuring.

“Alright, let’s not dwell on that for now.” Ming Tan thought of something more pressing. “How are things on Liang Zixuan’s side?”

“What could he be like? You already sent Suxin over there; do you think I’m stupid enough to let it go? Of course I made it look like he fell into the water, and I happened to pass by so my attendants rescued him. Don’t worry, I’ve already had him sent back to the Ling Gongfu Mansion.”

Hearing Bai Minmin say this, the knot in Ming Tan’s chest finally loosened. In public, the story would be that Liang Zixuan fell into the water; no matter what happened afterward, the official line could only be that he fell in.

After all, on the surface the familial ties between the two households were still very solid. Her being the young lady-to-be of the heir apparent’s family getting into trouble wouldn’t be a point of pride for the Ling Gongfu Mansion. If they didn’t want to tear ties with the Jing’an Marquisate and end up worse off, they would have to accept that explanation.

Come to think of it, she felt something fishy about today’s incident. At the time, people rushed over one after another when they heard someone shouting about a thief, but compared to being bumped, she felt more like someone had shoved her, which led to this mishap.

Thinking of that, she said, “Minmin, go back and find someone to check on the two people who bumped into me today.”

“Do you suspect the fall into the water wasn’t an accident?”

“I don’t know yet, that’s why I want to investigate properly.”

Bai Minmin nodded and readily agreed. Seeing Ming Tan’s little face still drained of color, she tucked the blanket around her again, then took the warming soup from the maid: “Don’t worry about those things for now, here, drink the ginger soup.”

The taste was too strong; Ming Tan didn’t want to drink it.

Bai Minmin was stubborn too, refusing to let it go and kept shoving it toward her mouth while nagging: “Drink it, drink it—for your own sake, and think of me too. If you don’t drink this ginger soup and end up with a chill bedridden, that’ll be my fault. You still don’t know how hot-tempered my father is. Can you bear to watch me get punished to kneel in the ancestral hall? If kneeling leads to something tragic and I can’t be married off, I might just—”

The scolding gave Ming Tan a splitting headache, so she simply took the porcelain bowl, closed her eyes, and swallowed it in one go.

Bai Minmin looked thoroughly satisfied. Seeing that the incense mark for timing had burned down more than halfway, she rose and clapped her hands: “Very well, you should get some good rest. It’s getting late; I’ll return to the residence first. Suxin, Lve’e, take good care of your young mistress.”

Suxin and Lve’e replied in unison and respectfully escorted Bai Minmin out of the Zhaoshui Courtyard.

After all that fuss, Ming Tan felt somewhat worn out and truly needed a proper rest. She no longer bothered with the elaborate pre-sleep regimen; she only applied some honey dew to her face and soaked her hands in fresh goat’s milk for a while—

A light rain fell in the dead of night, thick clouds concealing the round moon. Ming Tan, wrapped in her brocade quilt, had already fallen into a deep sleep, and the entire Jing’an Marquisate lay sunk in the dim, tilted rainlight and tranquil darkness.

The Dali Temple prison, its dungeon descending along the steps, was vast and dim; oil lamps stood every ten paces yet could not dispel the oppressive chill.

The assistant director walked ahead, bowing to lead the way: “Your Grace, Second Master Shu, this way please.”

Shu Jingran, always noble and refined, was visiting a prison for the first time; the surrounding oppression and stench of decay left him extremely uncomfortable. He glanced at Jiang Xu — who must have spent days licking the blood on the battlefield, which would be a hundred times worse — and yet he walked on with hands behind his back and an indifferent expression. Shu sighed, quickly covered his nose and hurried to follow.

In the interrogation chamber, the instruments of torture hanging on the wall gave off a faint cold gleam; the person to be questioned had already been bound to the rack by the jailers. Perhaps the torture had not yet begun, for the man looked disheveled, but on closer inspection bore not a scratch.

The temple steward drew back the round-backed chair for Jiang Xu and respectfully invited him to sit.

Jiang Xu didn’t decline; he lifted his hem and sat down without ceremony, fingertips lightly tapping the armrest, his face expressionless as he stared at the darkened torture rack.

“Prince… Your Highness.” The man on the rack recognized the newcomer and fear welled up in him. “Why, Your Highness, why have you brought this humble servant here? I am innocent!”

“Innocent.” Jiang Xu tilted his head and looked him squarely in the face. “You can wait a bit longer for that. Wait until the Marquis of Cheng’en is thrown into the prison as well, then you can both shout about your innocence together.”

Cheng’en Marquis!

The man on the execution rack felt his blood freeze in an instant.

In fact, ever since he was inexplicably arrested on his way back to the residence and no one had explained why he was being taken, he had harbored a vague premonition. But he had been unwilling and afraid to think about it further. After all, if it truly involved the Cheng’en Marquis, it would mean utter ruin for him.

“Although this lowly minister has had dealings with the Marquis, but, but…”

“Zhang Ji, I consider you clever, which is why you’re still whole and unscathed. Are you sure you want to keep circling around me?”

Jiang Xu rose, walked slowly forward, and tilted his head to look at him.

Perhaps because of the dungeon, that faint ferocity of conquest and slaughter around him spread outward, carrying an overwhelming pressure. His voice wasn’t loud, but it inexplicably sent a chill through people.

Zhang Ji opened his mouth, but was crushed into silence for a moment.

He knew this was the beginning of reckoning, and he knew why Jiang Xu had come; a deathly silence spread through the dungeon along with the fetid smell of rot.

After a long moment, he hesitated and mouthed words, still unwilling to give up, trying to bargain for something: “I do have, indeed, some things useful to a prince—if Your Highness agrees to one condition, I will… ah—!” He didn’t finish the sentence before suddenly crying out in pain.

Shu Jingran stared, and only then noticed that the hooked torture blade on the wall had somehow avoided the vital spots and plunged into Zhang Ji’s waist and abdomen; blood was gushing out, Zhang Ji’s white robe quickly staining red, the thick blood still dripping onto the grimy floor.

“What right do you have to negotiate terms with me?” Jiang Xu leaned in, close to Zhang Ji’s ear, and asked carelessly.

He didn’t let go of the handle; the barb pressed against flesh, inching deeper with each push, twisting back and forth.

Zhang Ji’s face drained of color, beads of sweat the size of mung beans popping on his brow. After all, he hadn’t endured much hardship; in less than a moment he rolled his eyes and fainted cold.

Jiang Xu stood up straight and let the prison guard splash cold water on Zhang Ji to revive him.

The brazier by the execution wall had also been lit; the branding iron glowed red. Just as Zhang Ji regained consciousness, he saw the guard approaching with the hot iron and, with no chance to call out to stop him, the iron was pressed straight onto the wound he’d just received.

Another heart-wrenching scream.

Among the prison instruments, after just two rounds Zhang Jicai had already wet his pants; a rank, bloody stench filled the air. He regretted not drinking the sacrificial wine earlier, and with a hoarse voice he cried out, “Prince! Prince, I’m telling you! The Cheng’en Marquis forcibly seized the estates and secretly opened a salt mine! The evidence is in the suburbs, in the private house I set up at Jiuli Slope! It’s buried under the apricot tree in the back yard!”

At the hour of the rat, the dungeon door opened.

Stepping out of the Dali Temple prison, Shu Jingran finally exhaled a breath of stale air. Perhaps a brief rain had fallen; tonight the capital’s atmosphere felt unusually clean to him.

Just the memory of what had happened moments ago in the dungeon—Jiang Xu driving the hooked blade into Zhang Ji’s lower belly without batting an eye, then twisting it inch by inch—made him certain he would be plagued by nightmares all night.

But then again, Prince Dingbei was already notorious for being ruthless and heartless. Back when the Minister of Revenue embezzled military funds and delayed troop deployments, he returned from the battlefield covered in blood, ignored the imperial summons and refused to enter the palace — the first thing he did was take the corrupt official’s head.

His wife, knowing she had no chance of survival, begged for her life to save the family’s two stunning daughters; the twins volunteered to become servants and stayed at his side.

With such breathtaking beauty, any man would normally be tempted, and sparing the two women would have been a mere finger snap for him. Yet he remained unmoved, searched the household by law, wiped out the family and beheaded them — not a single one was spared.

So, “Earlier by the river, why did you step in to save Miss Ming, and have the covert guard return her to the Marquis’s residence? Being gentle and cherishing beauty… that doesn’t sound like something you, Qi Zhi, would do.”

He had thought that Jiang Xu had changed on this trip back to the capital, that pity had softened him after his stint in the dungeon—but he was the one who’d overthought it.

Thinking of the corner overheard in Tingyu Tower, he laughed again. “Could it be that you fell in love at first sight with that Miss Ming?”

Jiang Xu kept his gaze lowered, tugged at the corner of his mouth, and, while leisurely wiping the blood off his hands, replied without hurry, “As expected of the famed Second Young Master Shu of the capital—truly gentle and sentimental.”