Chapter 152: As the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman...

Hearing this, Princess Yuzhen, who had been standing right beside them and listening intently when Du Shiyi gave his instructions to Du Shisiniang, could not help silently praising the girl in her heart. Du Shiyi could only give Du Shisiniang a general framework; the real test of on-the-spot adaptability depended on the young girl herself, and she had phrased it wonderfully!

Eliminating the Wei faction and supporting the Emperor's father to ascend the throne—was this not the supreme achievement that brought the greatest pride to the reigning sovereign and won him the most devoted allegiance of his subjects?

True to expectation, after a momentary flash of surprise, Li Longji suddenly burst into hearty laughter. When his laughter subsided, he said thoughtfully, with a hint of intrigue, "Brother and sister backing each other up—you certainly possess remarkable courage. Let me ask you this: since these musical scores and the pipa belonged to your elder brother, how did they make their way into the imperial palace?"

Despite keeping her spine rigidly straight, Du Shisiniang had been thoroughly startled by the Emperor's sudden laughter. Confronted now with this most crucial question, she gently bit her lower lip, and then lowered herself into a kneeling bow: "The pipa is a rare treasure, yet it originally belonged to Advisory Officer Zhang of the Eastern Capital; the musical score is equally extraordinary, crafted by Master Sima of Mount Tiantai. Today, I merely borrow flowers to present to the Buddha, offering them to Your Majesty. It is only regrettable that my humble skills are crude and clumsy, falling short even a ten-thousandth of capturing their true essence, thus offending the pure ears of the Sage."

"Is that all?"

"My elder brother begged Her Imperial Highness to bring me into the palace to present the pipa and the musical score, asking only that the Sage show mercy to the five retainers of the Cui family who are still detained in the Jingzhao Prefecture offices! Though they are not warriors of the battlefield, they are nonetheless loyal and righteous men. Every single one of them bears wounds from that day, and while they are the victims, they have been subjected to endless interrogations within the Jingzhao Prefecture offices, enduring hardships they can scarcely withstand! My elder brother has already gone to see the Grand Administrator Yuan of Jingzhao Prefecture, pleading to face the interrogations alongside those five men!"

Had it not been for Du Shisiniang's opening remarks, Li Longji would naturally have considered this making a mountain out of a molehill. However, he publicly prided himself above all on filial piety and old bonds of loyalty. For Du Shiyi to abandon his prefectural examination and rush back to Luoyang was the height of deep-rooted affection and righteousness. And if those Cui retainers truly were the men who had followed Cui Ezhi when he aided Li Longji in eliminating the Wei faction, the significance was entirely different. Even if they were merely Cui family bondservants, they were, after all, men who had rendered meritorious service in the past!

Gao Lishi had long since dismissed all the Pear Garden performers. Seeing the contemplative look on Li Longji's face, he quietly ascended the raised platform, came to a halt a step behind the Emperor, and spoke in a soft voice: "Your Majesty, that abandoned earth temple outside the city that was set ablaze is still standing, and the traces of the fierce battle in the woods remain crystal clear. What is there to interrogate in this case? Could it be that Du Shijiu, rushing back frantically from Luoyang to Chang'an for the Jingzhao prefectural examinations, had the idle time and leisure to frame innocent people?"

Although Gao Lishi delivered these words with casual lightness, Princess Yuzhen acutely caught the undertone of assistance. Remembering how, after she entered the palace and sought out Gao Lishi, this most trusted personal attendant to the sovereign had hesitated only for a moment before readily agreeing to arrange the meeting, and how he was now subtly lending another helping hand—having foreseen this exact scenario before agreeing to let Du Shiyi make this move—she smiled faintly and immediately added a remark of her own.

"Old Sir Yuan of Jingzhao Prefecture has always been of frail health, and he fell ill a few days ago. Matters of this nature must have been taken over by the Judicial Advisory Official of Jingzhao Prefecture."

Li Longji was not yet senile. With a sharp raise of his brows, he asked directly, "Could it be that the criminals captured by Du Shijiu's party have some sensitive status?"

The conversation had finally turned to this most critical juncture. There was no longer any room for Du Shisiniang to interject, especially since she was completely unaware of the details. Faced with this ideal setting devoid of outsiders, Gao Lishi cast a casual glance at Princess Yuzhen, and then said with a beaming smile, "Why not... send Yang Sixu to Jingzhao Prefecture to make inquiries?"

***

Inside the inner chambers of the Zilan Palace, Consort Wu stared blankly at the swaddling clothes presented before her, watching her infant son sleep soundly with his eyes tightly closed, until she drifted completely into a daze. It was not until a trusted personal maid nearby stepped forward and called out softly that she was jolted back to her senses. Reading Consort Wu's expression, the maid made a hand gesture instructing the wet nurse to carry the infant away, and then lowered her voice: "The Fifteenth Imperial Prince has developed a fever again."

Ever since entering the palace, Consort Wu had enjoyed deep favor, bearing three sons and a daughter over the years. However, one son and one daughter had already died prematurely, leaving her with only the newborn Eighteenth Imperial Prince, Li Qing, and the Fifteenth Imperial Prince, Li Min, who was not yet two years old. Yet this child, whom she had raised with such difficulty to the age of two, was as pretty as a picture, but fell ill at the slightest draft, causing her endless anxiety.

"She is already the Empress; why on earth won't she let me go!" Consort Wu clutched the handkerchief in her hand with nervous, trembling fingers, her voice turning venomously bitter. "She has only lost her father, but what about me? Father abandoned me and my mother long ago, and after I entered the palace, I lost a son and a daughter. Now even Min'er is in this sickly state! Yet she still wants to drive me to absolute ruin, resorting to such despicable and shameless tricks! And where is Sanlang? Could it be that even at a time like this, Sanlang still cares about her face as Empress and stays cooped up in the Hanliang Hall, unable to spare a thought for his infant son in swaddling clothes?"

"His Majesty did go to the Hanliang Hall, but came storming out shortly after, heading north along the Taiye Pool. We originally thought he would surely come to the Zilan Palace, but who would have expected him to turn toward the Pear Garden halfway there."

"The Pear Garden?" Though still within her postpartum confinement, the lunatic who had caused a massive uproar and met his end on the Zhuque Avenue had long since banished any thoughts of peaceful recovery from Consort Wu's mind. She sat straight up instantly, her cold gaze locking onto the maid Yaoguang as she demanded, "What is Sanlang doing going to the Pear Garden in the middle of the night?"

"Her Imperial Highness Princess Yuzhen brought someone to the Pear Garden to wait upon His Majesty." Yaoguang was a trusted servant brought from Consort Wu's family home, and currently enjoyed her utmost trust. Kneeling beside the couch, she leaned close to Consort Wu's ear and whispered, "Although His Majesty dismissed everyone else and we could not find out what was discussed, it is said that Du Shijiu—who arrived in the capital to take the Jingzhao prefectural exams just a day after the incident on Zhuque Avenue—finished his examination papers ahead of time today and went straight to see Princess Yuzhen as soon as he left the examination hall. This servant's speculation might be baseless, but since Du Shiyi happened to be blocked outside the city because of the Zhuque Avenue incident, and the assassins who ambushed him chose precisely this night to strike, could the two events be connected?"

"Hmm?"

Consort Wu had been entirely consumed by the earlier accusation branding her as a demon wreaking havoc upon the nation, while dismissing the latter incident as a minor aside. Now, however, she hurriedly commanded Yaoguang to recount the whole sequence of events in detail. When the tale was finished, she deliberated carefully for a long while before nodding thoughtfully, a profound realization dawning in her eyes: "The timing is indeed too coincidental. Not only does the Empress refuse to admit any connection to it, but she even insists that the affair is either the will of heaven and the resentment of the people or a self-inflicted trap of mine! If that is the case, we shall use this opportunity to get to the bottom of the matter once and for all, and see whether she is as upright and honorable as she claims, or if I am truly blameless! You are to immediately dispatch a message to the Duke of Chu's estate. The Duke of Chu enjoys a close friendship with Jingzhao Administrator Yuan Qianyao; he will surely be able to help me with this matter! That lunatic is dead, but Du Shiyi has managed to keep so many living captives locked away in prison!"

Yaoguang knew all too well that an affair of this magnitude must leave no incriminating evidence in her own handwriting. She nodded silently and withdrew. Only then did Consort Wu narrow her eyes, gazing down at her long nails, which had gone untended for days. The former glory of the Wu clan had faded like yesterday's withered flowers, bringing her not honor, but endless peril; yet, it had ultimately imparted a priceless lesson.

Misfortune is the cradle of fortune, and this calamity presented a brilliant opportunity! Even if Empress Wang possessed past merits, she was now nothing more than yesterday's fallen blossom!

Meanwhile, inside the Hanliang Hall, the atmosphere was far from the tense yet orderly state of the Zilan Palace; it was a scene of utter devastation. Had two maids not blocked her path with their lives, Empress Wang would have smashed everything within her field of vision to pieces. Exhausted of all strength at last, she collapsed against the couch, her eyes dry and bloodshot, though her tears had long since run out.

Following her father's death, her husband, the Emperor Li Longji, had not only rejected the proposal submitted by her and her elder brother Wang Shouyi—to construct a tomb following the precedent set for the father of the former Empress Zhaocheng, yielding to the remonstrances of Song Jing and others—but had also, a mere month after the mourning period ended, directly promoted Consort Jieyu to the rank of Consort Hui, bypassing the nine concubine ranks entirely! Powerless to stop this, she had managed to narrowly block the concurrent promotion of Consort Jieyu Liu to the nine concubines, only for the events of three days ago to strike like a thunderbolt! She had hoped Li Longji would finally realize how deeply the Wu clan was dreaded and resented by the officials and people across the realm, but instead of turning back in remorse, her husband had actually suspected her of orchestrating the whole affair behind the scenes!

Back when her brother-in-law Zhangsun Xin had been beaten to death with staves, she should have realized that the man sharing her pillow was no longer the Prince of Linzi who once willingly consulted her on matters of great import!

"Your Majesty, His Majesty has graced the Pear Garden with his presence, and has met with Princess Yuzhen and her attendant entourage!"

"Oh?" Empress Wang raised her brows listlessly. When the middle-aged palace woman leaned in close and whispered a full report, she let out a soft exclamation of surprise. After meditating on the news for a long time, she finally sneered, "So there is such a hidden link. Good, excellent! Since such a flaw has presented itself, would it not be a tragedy not to seize it? Send a message to Wang Shouyi immediately, and tell him to go to Jingzhao Prefecture and see Yuan Qianyao. If they think they can pin this blame on me, they are gravely mistaken!"

As she smilingly bade farewell to Princess Yuzhen and Du Shisiniang's departing entourage outside the palace gates, Gao Lishi smiled with triumphant satisfaction at the thought of having recommended Yang Sixu. Whether it was Empress Wang or Consort Wu, infighting and scheming within the inner palace were hardly surprising; however, pulling off a stunt like the one on Zhuque Avenue had simply crossed the line into the unthinkable! Among the confiscated murder weapons was a bow bearing the carved insignia of the Imperial Guard, meaning the Northern Gate garrison could not possibly wash its hands of the matter. And Wang Maozhong—who, despite holding no official supervisory post over the Northern Gate, maintained dangerously close ties with the Northern Gate garrison—would inevitably be dragged into the light; otherwise, what was Yang Sixu's reputation worth?

That young scholar named Du Shiyi was truly a stroke of good fortune sent by the heavens! Wang Maozhong had never once looked upon high-ranking eunuchs like themselves with respect, and had subjected them to humiliation more than once. Because of the Emperor's favor, they had been forced to swallow their pride and endure it all. Yet this time, they could ride the furious waves of the Empress and Consort Wu's wrath to pursue the matter to the very end. What a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity this truly was!

"General, messages have been dispatched out of the palace from both the Hanliang Hall and the Zilan Palace."

"Understood. Let the matter rest here for now. Do you understand?"

Watching the minor eunuch nod repeatedly before backing away with lowered eyes, Gao Lishi gazed at the slowly closing palace gates and chuckled quietly to himself, murmuring under his breath: "For a storm of such magnitude to rise, this alone is worth ten top examination scores!"