by Qinghan CeCe
Wang Yun frowned slightly, like he was thinking. “You are a great detective,” he said to Huang Zixia.
Wang Lin froze like a statue, staring at his son. Wang Yun had no idea what his father had done so many years ago. He didn’t know the secret that Wang Lin and the Empress shared. Huang Zixia almost felt sorry for him.
The Emperor looked at the Empress. She stared stiffly at Huang Zixia. He gently touched her hand, then took it in his. “Don’t worry. Wang Yun is your cousin, so he’s also mine. I’ll look after him no matter what.”
“Thank you, my Emperor,” she said.
“So do you admit to it? Did you spread the rumors about Pang Xun’s spirits, and make Wang Ruo disappear?”
Wang Yun stood tall. “Yes. It was all me.” Wang Yun spoke slowly but clearly. He glanced at Huang Zixia, then turned to the Emperor and kneeled. “Please punish me, Emperor; this started small and got out of hand. I deserve to die!”
“Oh?” the Emperor said with a frown. “Why did you want to harm Wang Ruo?”
Wang Yun explain how Wang Ruo acted strangely after she found out she was going to be Princess. “I knew that she was brought here by my father. That she wasn’t who everyone thought she was. I thought of the unspeakable things Huang Zixia did and felt I should break up the marriage to spare the Prince of Kui the same humility that I faced.”
Huang Zixia couldn’t help but start at the mention of her name. She saw Wang Yun look back at her out of the corner of her eye and tried her best not to reveal her secret. She clenched her hands in her sleeves and let her nails dig into her palms.
“Wang Ruo was already his Princess-to-be,” Wang Yun continued. “I knew she couldn’t back out, so I had to move behind the scenes. Since the Prince of Kui put down the Pang Xun rebellion, I thought I could cause a commotion, using his spirits to spread confusion. That’s why it was easy to get ladies and eunuchs to help me. The Empress didn’t know. Please forgive me, Your Highness.”
Huang Zixia frowned. “So what about Jin Nu’s death?”
Wang Yun looked at her. He closed his eyes. “Yes, I designed it all.” Wang Yun’s voice was calm, like he wasn’t talking about things he’d done himself. “I never expected the truth to come out. Mr. Yang is truly talented; nothing can escape you.”
Huang Zixia knew that Wang Yun played a part in this whole mess. He’d thought that Wang Ruo was an imposter picked out by his father. He was afraid of the shame she would bring the family. He wanted to protect the legacy of his family and also protect Li Shubai. What she didn’t yet understand was why he would admit to killing Jin Nu. Wang Yun wasn’t the killer. He wasn’t the one behind everything; his plan with the birdcage just happened to coincide with everything else. The deaths of Feng Yi and Jin Nu weren’t because of him. No, they were because of someone with much more power—the person his father had been helping for years, the person who really requested that Wang Ruo be picked as the Princess of Kui.
Huang Zixia shook her head. “Why are you admitting to more than you did? Who are you protecting?” Huang Zixia said.
The crowd looked around, confused.
“Jin Nu loved that rosin powder. She kept it on her from the moment she received it. The powder was poisoned when she received it,” Huang Zixia continued.
Wang Yun frowned and averted his eyes.
“Commander Wang is only responsible for the altered engagement note and trick at Xianyou Temple. As for everything after that, he’s just trying to take the blame for someone higher up. The real killer behind all of this.” Now Huang Zixia hesitated. She looked at the Emperor, Empress, Minister Wang, his son, and Li Shubai. She knew, of course, that what she was going to say, in addition to being the truth, could be her own death sentence.
Li Shubai nodded at her, encouraging her to continue. His look said, I can guarantee your life. His calm expression hid unshakable commitment.
Huang Zixia pressed her hand to her chest. She took a deep breath. “Though you want to protect the real killer, protect the hope of the Wang family ambition, the truth is the truth. No number of scapegoats can clean the blood from her hands!” Huang Zixia stared at Empress Wang.
Everyone followed her gaze.
“Empress Wang, the one behind all this, the person he is protecting is you.”
Yanji Hall was silent.
The Emperor slowly let go of her hand and looked at her like she was a stranger.
Xian Run and Ran Yun didn’t dare look up from the ground. Wang Lin’s expression was steely, apart from a slight tremble of his chin.
Only Li Shubai looked normal as he played with his fan. “Yang Chonggu, what did Her Highness do wrong?”
“A capital offense,” Huang Zixia said without hesitation.
“Yang Chonggu,” Empress Wang said, slightly hoarse yet dignified, “I would appreciate further details on how you think I’m related to this case. First of all, Ruo was my beloved cousin. Why would I want to make her disappear before her wedding, and leave her whereabouts unknown today?”
“Right, you’re very close to Wang Ruo. Everyone who saw it noted your unusual warmth around her, which I also admired.”
“So?” she said with a slight sneer.
“Twelve years ago, when you entered the palace, Wang Ruo was only four or five. I wondered how two cousins with such a big age difference and physical distance could act like they grew up together. Why would your love for her be so great?”
“She’s an exceptional young woman and is family. The palace naturally cared for her,” Empress Wang said stiffly.
Huang Zixia bowed slightly. “That made me wonder why you would want to ruin her marriage and have her go missing.”
Empress Wang glared at her.
“I began to have doubts about her identity when I began teaching her the palace law,” Huang Zixia continued. “And the music Wang Ruo had studied was not the great music of Langya but common folk music.”
“What does lax family discipline have to do with the Empress?” Wang Lin said.
Huang Zixia nodded and held up her finger, indicating she had more to tell. “I also had the fortune of getting a ride with her. In the carriage, I met a woman who didn’t enter the palace with her.” Huang Zixia turned to Xian Yun and Ran Yun. “I’ll ask you first. Who was the woman who came from Langya?”
They looked at each other, too scared to speak.
“Out it with!” Emperor Wang said.
“She . . . ,” Xian Yun said. “I think the girl called her Feng Yi.”
Huang Zixia took out her copy of the portrait of Chen Nian and Feng Yi from her pocket and held it up.
Xian Yun’s and Ran Yun’s hands shook as they took it.
“Feng Yi is a musician from Yangzhou’s Yunshao Court. Four or five months ago, she escorted Wang Ruo to the capital.”
They grimaced.
Huang Zixia told them about Chen Nian’s search for Feng Yi.
“Did all of you hear about the migrants who died of poison?” Huang Zixia asked. “Feng Yi was one of the bodies found among them.”
Wang Yun’s brow furrowed slightly. Xian Yun and Ran Yun moaned.
Huang Zixia ignored them. “Zhou Ziqin and I went to the burial site and found a piece of jade from Chen Nian on one of the bodies. She was poisoned to death and had swallowed that jade to keep it with her, which allowed us to identify the body.”
Everyone was horrified. “In your view,” Li Shubai said, “what was the cause of Feng Yi’s death?”
“She was poisoned because she did that favor for an old friend and escorted the girl to the capital. Her cause of death was knowing too much.”
Now even Empress Wang turned pale. “Does this eunuch know the consequences of slander? We’re an old and dignified family. You should weigh your words carefully before you speak!”
“Don’t worry, my Empress. I was prepared to risk my life to explain the details of this case,” Huang Zixia said with a bow. “Shortly after I met Wang Ruo, she asked me worriedly about Empero
r Jing of Han’s Empress Wang Zhi. She wanted to know if it would’ve been bad if people found out she was married and had a daughter before entering the palace.”
Empress Wang looked at her, and even her petal-like lips were paler now. She glared at Huang Zixia, then said, “That girl didn’t know what she was talking about. How could she discuss such a question?”
The Emperor leaned back, his gentle face now ashen. But he didn’t stop Huang Zixia or even look at Empress Wang. Huang Zixia finally broke the silence. “I wondered if Wang Ruo had already married and was hiding her past during the selection process. But then I realized she was talking about someone else. Wasn’t she, Empress Wang?”
Empress Wang looked at her coldly and slightly lifted her right hand to stop her. She looked at the Emperor. “Your Highness, will you really indulge this person’s nonsense?”
The Emperor’s gaze slowly turned from Huang Zixia to Empress Wang.
Outside was the verdant shade of early summer, some cicadas here and there in the foliage. Only Yanji Hall was silent.
“Empress, we’ve listened to this much. Why don’t we let the eunuch finish and find out the reasoning before we make a judgment? What do you think?” The Emperor clearly had his suspicions.
Empress Wang looked even paler. She slowly lowered her hand and sat up with impeccable posture, still unmatched in noble arrogance. Wang Lin’s eyes showed such annoyance, she was sure he would have gotten rid of her if he could.
Wang Yun stood quietly, his face also pale, watching the eunuch that looked like Huang Zixia and unconsciously pursing his lips.
Li Shubai looked at Huang Zixia. She nodded to say she was all right. “Why did the Empress want Wang Ruo to disappear? Because of the appearance of two people and the death of one.”
Everyone leaned forward slightly, in awe of what was unfolding in front of them.
“The first person to appear was Commander Wang Yun. He appeared at Xianyou Temple to scare Wang Ruo into withdrawing, but he ended up scaring you. Commander Wang thought Wang Ruo was just an imposter found by his father. Of course, the fewer people who knew, the better, so the Empress and Minister Wang even kept Commander Wang in the dark about who she really was. But Commander Wang also kept his plans from the Empress and minister. When they heard about the man in the temple, they never imagined it was their own Wang family son.”
Wang Lin looked sad, and Wang Yun just stared into nothingness and listened.
“The second person to appear was Jin Nu,” Huang Zixia continued. “I’d met her several times, and she always talked about her master, Mei Wanzhi, who passed, long ago. Little did she know Mei Wanzhi was still alive. Alive and living a life of luxury, isn’t she, Empress?”
The room buzzed. Everyone wanted to know what this meant. Was the Empress not who they thought she was? Could she really be this Mei Wanzhi character?
Empress Wang’s hand trembled slightly, and she raised her chin stubbornly.
“I was with Jin Nu the first time she saw the Empress. She panicked, but I thought it was because she knew Wang Ruo.”
Empress Wang sneered. “Mr. Yang, Jin Nu is dead. This so-called evidence can’t be verified, so the palace must dismiss it as nonsense. I’d urge His Majesty not to listen any further and punish this eunuch for his disrespect!”
The Emperor looked at his trembling wife. He stroked her back and pondered Huang Zixia.
Wang Lin brushed the sleeve of his robe and kneeled. “Your Highness!” he said, trembling. “Our old, illustrious family has flourished for centuries in Langya. Only the royal house surpasses us. The Empress is our family’s greatest daughter. She’s been by Your Highness’s side for twelve years and is now an example for all women in the empire. I don’t know why this little eunuch wants to disgrace us, suggesting that the Empress is an impostor. I beg you not to listen to his nonsense!”
Huang Zixia and Li Shubai could tell by Wang Lin’s reaction that Huang Zixia’s theory was correct. The Empress was not who everyone thought she was. She knew Ji Nu and Feng Yi. They recognized her for who she really was and died because of it.
“Minister Wang is incorrect,” Li Shubai said, calmly playing with his fan as he leaned back comfortably in his chair. “As the Emperor said, if he’s wrong, he’ll be punished, but so far everything is supported by unambiguous evidence. As I see it, Minister Wang should be more patient.”
The Emperor nodded. “That’s right. Let him finish. I can determine whether it’s true or false.” Wang Lin shivered at the firmness in the Emperor’s voice and that he spoke without a glance at Empress Wang.
Wang Lin offered a hand to help his father up and the two stood stiffly side by side.
“Jin Nu had to die because she glimpsed the secret. The day after Wang Ruo went missing, the palace gave her a pipa pick, strings, and rosin powder. I thought it was strange since the Empress doesn’t like music very much. Jin Nu probably thought it was a reward for keeping the secret.”
“This is ridiculous! I just saw that pipa player once and gave her a gift. What about someone in the palace or the academy that had it out for her, or she got involved with some unsavory characters outside? Why couldn’t they have poisoned it?” Empress Wang said.
Huang Zixia reminded everyone of the strict process the palace uses to send gifts. In order to prevent mistakes and bribes, the palace has three people inspect all gifts and three more send it. It’s inconvenient but prevents tampering.
“I believe that if the Emperor checks, he’ll discover the Empress selected that box of rosin powder herself. Also, Jin Nu cared so much for the gift that she carried it close. How could anyone have had the chance to poison it?”
The Empress clenched her teeth.
“These two people appeared,” Huang Zixia went on. “And, as I said before, someone died. The person who died is Feng Yi. It is because of her death that I know who Wang Ruo really was. It also revealed who really asked Feng Yi to escort Wang Ruo to the capital.”
No one spoke in the gloomy hall. Everyone was slowly figuring it out.
“The person who asked her for the favor was a friend from twelve years ago at Yunshao Court. The second oldest of the Six Women of Yunshao, Jin Nu’s teacher, a woman married with a daughter, the pipa master Mei Wanzhi.” Huang Zixia spoke quietly and firmly. “Isn’t that right, Empress? Or should I call you Mei Wanzhi?”
The Empress glared. She crossed her arms across her chest. “This is all nonsense. You can’t believe this little eunuch. He is just seeking attention.”
The Emperor didn’t say anything. He stared at Huang Zixia.
“And as for Wang Ruo, she is your daughter. But you didn’t name her Wang Ruo; you named her Xuese!” Huang Zixia said.
Empress Wang looked deflated as she listened to Huang Zixia. Then she straightened her skirt. “Ha, baseless accusations!”
Huang Zixia nodded. “You can say that if you wish. But I have more. I know what happened twelve years ago. And you may not be able to bear it, but I have to tell you the worst consequences of all your efforts.”
Empress Wang glared at her with disregard.
“That woman you beheaded and killed is not who you thought she was. In fact, she is the last person you would want dead,” Huang Zixia continued steadily. “Chen Nian told me a story of the six women who founded the musical troupe at Yunshao Court; the second eldest, Mei Wanzhi, disappeared one night, leaving behind a daughter named Xuese.” She repeated the story Chen Nian had told her. Everyone listened intently.
Everyone looked back and forth between Huang Zixia and the Empress.
“Another story came from the Prince of Kui.” She paused and looked at him, and he nodded slightly. “Four years ago, when putting down the Pang Xun rebellion, the Prince of Kui went to Xuzhou to lead the six governors in a joint military operation. The day Xuzhou fell, he rescued two girls who had been held captive by Pang Xun,” she began. “One of them, with the surname Cheng, said she was going to live with her aunt Lan Dai, but she had al
ready moved to Yangzhou because of the chaos. She gave the Prince of Kui a silver leafy hairpin, but he was uninterested so he discarded it. Their faces had been dirty and haggard throughout, so the Prince didn’t get a good look at them.”
Everyone, even the Empress, quietly pondered her words.
“Those were stories told to me firsthand. It is because of these stories and recent events that I have made my best deduction. Feng Yi received a letter at Yunshao Court, asking to escort a friend’s daughter to the capital. That girl was Cheng Xuese. Feng Yi picked her up in Puzhou and took her to Changan. It was only then that she realized the elevated identity her old friend had taken on. The little she knew was too much.”
The Empress pursed her lips.
“Meanwhile, Feng Yi’s close friend Chen Nian came to the capital to look for her. She looked all over but never found her. She did, however, have a chance encounter with Jin Nu. Jin Nu’s connection got her a place in Li Run’s palace. Later, I gave Feng Yi’s jade tablet to Chen Nian, and she promised to help me get a painting Lan Dai had of the Six Women of Yunshao done by Mei Wanzhi’s husband. She asked Cheng Xuese to bring it to the capital.
“The day before yesterday, Cheng Xuese finally arrived from Puzhou with the painting, but she was met with a fatal disaster. The painting was stolen, and she was decapitated and thrown in the channel.”
“You just said Xuese came to the capital with Feng Yi months ago,” Empress Wang said. “Now she came alone two days ago? Who’s the real Xuese?”
“This is the part you aren’t going to like,” Huang Zixia said with some pity. “The two girls the Prince of Kui saved in Xuzhou were about the same age. They made it to Yangzhou, then moved to Puzhou with Lan Dai. One of them was a Cheng, the other called Little Shi. You thought Wang Ruo was Xuese, but she wasn’t. Xuese was actually the woman that was beheaded outside the music school.”
The Empress shook. “But how? How can that be? How do you know?”
Huang Zixia mustered a small, compassionate smile. She explained how she had heard Wang Ruo call out Xuese’s name in her sleep.
Empress Wang trembled slightly, and her face turned purple. She was still as a statue, expressionless. She looked dead, her soul shredded by the devil, staring into nothingness.