Wei Xichen produced a booklet—the “Brief Biography of the Yide Empress” found by the Governor’s subordinate at Gong Fei’s residence. Tucked inside were two letters: one unsent by Gong Fei, the other from Cui Shihan.
The correspondence all concerned the Yide Empress. Gong Fei used the letters to recount her life to the girl. She responded with admiration and sorrow for her “sister.”
“Can she escape liability? Jiang Yinyue, step aside.”
Jiang Yinyue clung tightly to Cui Shihan, refusing to let go.
“Making something out of nothing—I won’t admit it!” Cui Shihan struggled. “One who does the deed bears the responsibility. Yinyue, get out of the way.”
Jiang Yinyue used all her strength to block her friend. “Calm down!”
Wei Xichen’s patience wore thin bit by bit amid Jiang Yinyue’s protectiveness toward outsiders. He suddenly drew the saber from the guard at his side and pointed it at the woman who should have softened his heart. “Get out of the way.”
Hong Mei and the others had their arms seized by a large group of guards, unable to struggle free.
They were outnumbered.
“Miss!”
The glare from the long blade stung Jiang Yinyue’s eyes slightly, but she stared straight at the man holding the knife without blinking. “If you want to take her, kill me first.”
“You think this prince doesn’t dare?” On the last two words, Wei Xichen’s tone sank lower and lower.
Jiang Yinyue hugged Cui Shihan and retreated step by step, testing the Heir Apparent’s bottom line.
The guards surrounding them heavily shifted backward as well, the human wave rippling.
Without a word from the Crown Prince, they didn’t dare act rashly.
Wei Xichen’s fingertips turned white on the knife hilt, his finger bones creaking. Just as he was about to lower the blade, his ear twitched slightly. Suddenly, he thrust it toward Jiang Yinyue.
Jiang Yinyue closed her eyes and tilted her head, burying it in Cui Shihan’s neck.
Cui Shihan pushed Jiang Yinyue away and blocked the front.
Hong Mei broke free of her restraints and rushed forward desperately, shielding the two girls.
A lock of hair from her forehead drifted down.
A man’s hand gripped the blade.
The knife tip was less than half an inch from Hong Mei’s brow bone.
Blood dripped down the blade.
“Your Highness, calm your anger.”
Wei Qin, who had appeared abruptly, gripped the blade, blood staining his cyan official robe.
Jiang Yinyue: “Wei Qin!”
Cui Shihan: “Wei Qin!”
Hong Mei: “Uncle…”
Jiang Yinyue released Cui Shihan and ran to Wei Qin’s side. Ignoring the blade’s sharpness, she reached out to push. “Don’t hurt him!”
Wei Xichen sheathed the blade.
The edge sliced across Wei Qin’s palm once more, blood flowing nonstop.
The guard beside him hurriedly gripped the hilt, still warm from the Crown Prince.
Wei Xichen asked, “What teachings does Transport Judge Wei have to offer?”
Wei Qin pressed his injured palm and shook his head at Jiang Yinyue. “The letters found by the governor’s subordinates at Mr. Gong’s residence—may Your Highness allow everyone to see them?”
Wei Xichen had no intention of hiding them.
Fu Zhongcai took two letters from his sleeve and spread them out for display.
Cui Shihan stared at the handwriting, sneering disdainfully. “That’s not my handwriting!”
Wei Qin reminded her, “County Princess, note the form of address.”
Cui Shihan suppressed her anger. “The handwriting is not from this subject’s hand. Someone must have framed me—Your Highness, see clearly!”
Fu Zhongcai chuckled evasively. “A comparison will tell.”
Wei Xichen had no plans to call a deer a horse. After a moment, guards forcibly searched Cui Shihan’s study and found several worn notebooks.
After comparison, the letters indeed did not match Cui Shihan’s handwriting.
Suspicion naturally shifted to another person.
Wei Xichen closed his eyes briefly and had someone “invite” Wei Yangwan over.
Cui Shihan pressed her cheek, appearing furious but abnormally calm. Caught in a vortex of scheming, one needed quick wits. As early as when the burly man named Mo Hao had placed Mr. Gong in Jiangning, she had prepared a backup plan against mishaps. The notes and letters were meant to be found, to frame and confuse.
The clueless Wei Yangwan sauntered over languidly. Under his elder brother’s coercion and inducements, he casually wrote four large characters.
Raise Fame and Fortune.
The handwriting matched.
The youth, unaware of the gravity, leisurely sketched a self-portrait on the paper with a few strokes, his drawing skill remarkable.
The guards surrounded the youth in unison.
“What? Kidnapping Gong Fei? Who’s Gong Fei?”
“What are you doing, pointing knives at me? Outrageous!”
Mr. Gong, who had gone hungry for days and nights, spoke up at the right moment. “Those who understand the times are the wise—this old man confesses. The Third Prince helped me escape and treated me to good food and drink; I had to repay him. His men wanted me to frame the Huai Jin County Princess. I was in a bind! One’s mouth is soft from eating another’s food—I had no choice but to commit this lowly act!”
Mr. Gong had “confessed” voluntarily from the post station’s woodshed. Held captive with him was also Yan Zhuyu.
As for the screams from the prison cells…
On the way back, Jiang Yinyue supported Wei Qin as she asked , “Can someone imitate Mr. Gong’s voice?”
Wei Qin, with his arm around his wife’s shoulders, replied, “The Crown Prince has no shortage of talented experts around him. Imitating a voice is nothing unusual.”
Jiang Yinyue gripped the hand Wei Qin had placed on her shoulder, lest he collapse. “It really was one scheme after another, rife with deception.”
The man’s other hand throbbed numbly, but he didn’t make a sound. He merely tugged the corner of his lips faintly, his worries hidden in the sunset haze.
Zhou Family Clinic.
After treating the wound on his hand, Wei Qin didn’t leave in a hurry. He waited for Doctor Zhou to brew the medicinal soup.
Jiang Yinyue bustled about, fine sweat beading on her forehead and nose tip.
“We still need to wait a bit longer.”
The back room of the clinic, filled with the smell of bitter medicine, held only the young couple.
They sat shoulder to shoulder on the small couch, legs outstretched.
Jiang Yinyue stretched her legs straight, not as long as Wei Qin’s casually bent ones.
She smiled. “Father-in-law and mother-in-law aren’t tall, so how are you so tall?”
Before Wei Qin could answer, she provided her own explanation. “Mother-in-law must have scrimped and saved to give you special treatment.”
Wei Qin tilted his head back and closed his eyes. His slender neck flickered bright and dark in the lamplight, like fine jade in shifting shadows.
“I’m an adopted son.”
Jiang Yinyue knocked her head. Silly her, living under the same roof as her in-laws, as close as blood family—she occasionally forgot that Wei Qin was adopted.
Wei Qin used his uninjured hand to capture her little hand as it knocked her head, kneading it in his palm, gradually increasing the pressure.
“What are you doing?”
“Want to tell you a secret.”
“What secret?” Jiang Yinyue knelt up, perking her ears.
“Not the right time yet.”
“Tell me.” With her appetite whetted, Jiang Yinyue pried at Wei Qin’s mouth, mischief rising. “Let’s see how tight-lipped this mouth really is.”
Wei Qin’s jaw stiffened under her prying. He hissed softly, then gripped the back of her neck and pulled her close.
“Still fooling around?”
Jiang Yinyue’s eyes curved into crescents with laughter. “What secret needs time to ripen?”
“A big secret.”
“Putting on airs—I don’t want to hear it anymore.”
The young lady feigned displeasure and moved to rise from the couch, but that hand tightened on her neck.
In the flickering lamplight, Wei Qin gazed intently at the woman. Some secrets, revealed before their time, could bring catastrophe. So many fates were tied to his; he couldn’t be careless. But he didn’t want to hide it from her anymore.
It still needed the right opportunity.
“Let go. Doctor Zhou could come in anytime.”
Jiang Yinyue complained softly, her voice like a mosquito’s hum.
The intimacy in the cramped little room could be shattered any moment by footsteps from beyond the thin wall. For some reason, it gave Jiang Yinyue a strange sense of taboo.
Wei Qin didn’t release her. His thumb rubbed the soft flesh of her slender neck.
The Crown Prince was suspicious and wouldn’t drop his doubts about Cui Shihan. The Third Prince, wrongly implicated, would surely leave Yangzhou soon to avoid retaliation. The longer he stayed, the more his confidants would suffer losses, even if he himself was safe.
“His Third Highness will leave Yangzhou in a couple of days. Miss can return to the Capital City to reunite with your brother.”
Partings were always sorrowful. Thinking of not seeing Wei Qin for a long time after departure, Jiang Yinyue stopped pulling at his hand. Earnestly, she urged, “Take good care of yourself. Don’t get hurt again!”
“Mm.”
“Ying’er needs better treatment. If possible, send her to the Capital City.”
“Before I leave Yangzhou, I’ll arrange for someone to escort Ying’er.”
“Shouldn’t you, as her brother, handle it personally?”
“I need to return to the Capital City early to reunite with Miss.”
Jiang Yinyue’s cheeks burned. She couldn’t suppress her smile and lowered her head with an “oh.”
Muffled.
Wei Qin’s hand slid slowly downward to her lower back. With a slight push, he drew the kneeling woman toward him.
He leaned forward and sealed her lips.
“You…”
Her soft exclamation drowned between their lips and teeth.
Jiang Yinyue’s restless hands pressed against Wei Qin’s chest, clearly pushing away, yet softened by the intermittent footsteps outside. She didn’t dare make too much noise.
It gave Wei Qin the chance to press forward steadily, sucking the sweetness from her lips.
Wei Qin’s hand came to rest on Jiang Yinyue’s hip bone—first the uninjured one, then the bandaged one—as if measuring her curves.
The perky arc was immeasurable.
Jiang Yinyue’s teeth parted in fright, her whole body trembling as Wei Qin claimed her.
Her thoughts scattered in the kiss. She had no attention for anything else, most worried that Doctor Zhou would suddenly lift the curtain with some instruction.
If such an indecent scene fell into the old man’s eyes…
“You—you let go.”
“Miss likes it too, right?”
Otherwise, with her temperament, how could she not push away someone she disliked?
Wei Qin knelt on the couch, supporting Jiang Yinyue’s hips to seat her on his forearm. With his arm strength, he lifted her upright.
The tall pine bent amid the pear blossom fragrance.
He raised his injured hand to stroke her face, lowered as far as it could go, and tilted his head to kiss her.
On the eve of parting, tangled emotions turned to intimacy, making it hard for the man and woman to restrain themselves.
Jiang Yinyue, kissed into a daze, gradually followed her heart.
She didn’t dislike being “bullied” by him. She even liked it a little.
When pain came from the back of her long skirt, Jiang Yinyue, just immersed, shuddered involuntarily.
This was a clinic.
She struggled free of his arm. No sooner had she sat on the couch than Wei Qin pulled her back into his embrace.
The layers of skirts rumpled.
Rustle, rustle.
Jiang Yinyue frowned suspiciously against Wei Qin’s shoulder, her dark lashes fluttering like wings.
Did Wei Qin like pinching people?
She shrank to the corner by the wall and reached back to smooth her skirt.
A pair of embroidered shoes had fallen to the floor unnoticed. Her silk stockings twisted around her dainty feet—somewhat disheveled, somewhat pitiful.
Wei Qin, whose clothes were neat, pulled her toward him. Amid her resistance, he smoothed the back of her skirt and said softly, “It’s fine now.”
Jiang Yinyue scrunched her little face. She felt something was off. What did he mean, it’s fine? He was clearly the one bullying her.
Ow.
The ever-unwilling Miss Jiang bit Wei Qin’s shoulder once more.
Wei Qin glanced sideways. “Didn’t you tell me not to get hurt?”
“It’s my bite—no big deal.”
Wei Qin held her tighter, drawing in the warmth and fragrance from his embrace to dispel his inner gloom.
He would hurry back to the Capital City to reunite with her, lest longing turn to illness, pining day and night.