Chapter 154: Tonight the Stars Are Shining Bright

Du Shiyi had only a faint impression of Jiang Jiao, a recollection owed entirely to Du Siwen having previously mentioned taking him to a banquet hosted by high-ranking officials and nobles, during which he had even caught a glimpse of this close confidant whom the Son of Heaven addressed directly as "Seventh Jiang." Therefore, when Jiang Jiao found an excuse to speak privately with Cen Qi and summoned the fearful Judicial Adjutant to the side hall, Du Shiyi saw Du Siwen crook a finger to signal him over. He readily complied, walking up to his elderly granduncle, bending over, and whispering, "Thank you, Granduncle, for your protective stance."

"You already sent the Thirteenth Lady to pass a message to me; did you really think I would stand by and watch you get bullied by outsiders?" Du Siwen no longer looked as robust and booming as he had just moments before. Treating him like a child, he reached out as if to pat Du Shiyi's head, only to realize a second later that Du Shiyi was now almost taller than him. He let out a long sigh. "I'm getting old, and I can only do things like shielding my own kin. It's not just other families who know how to protect their own; our Jingzhao Du clan has been passed down for centuries, and surely we aren't all just backstabbing vipers! Du the Nineteenth, remember this: when you reach my age in the future, if you encounter something like this..."

"Naturally, I shall act just as Granduncle has, and shoulder the burden for the younger generation!"

Seeing Du Shiyi utter these resolute words without a moment's hesitation, Du Siwen burst into hearty laughter. At that, Du Shiyi smiled and said, "That is why, upon meeting with danger on the road, my very first thought was of Granduncle."

"Quite right. Your imperial examinations must not be delayed; as for other matters, I, old as I am, can simply clean up the mess for you. Heh, that abandoned Earth God temple that burned down—if I hadn't sent men to guard it tightly, it probably would have been torn apart by now!"

When a bailiff eagerly brought over a seat, Du Siwen unceremoniously handed his cane to Du Shahan, crossed his legs, and sat down. Only then did he say with a half-smile, "Since the night trial has already begun, there is no sense in stopping halfway through; you might as well continue. It has been years since I last set foot in the Jingzhao Prefecture offices, so this will give this old man a chance to listen in! I imagine that the Duke of Chu rushed over here despite the nocturnal curfew simply for more than just a few casual words before turning back."

Just as his voice trailed off, Jiang Jiao's voice rang out, "Lord Jingzhao, speaking ill of people behind their backs is hardly a good habit! But you guessed correctly—tonight I am indeed here precisely to witness this night trial."

Hearing this, Du Shiyi looked toward Jiang Jiao, but his gaze merely swept past the face of the notorious Duke of Chu and landed on Cen Qi standing behind him. Unlike his arrogant and condescending attitude when first facing Du Shiyi earlier, and unlike the utter discomfiture he had suffered under Du Siwen's sharp rebukes just moments ago, Cen Qi now wore a rather dazed and soul-navae expression. It was evident that Jiang Jiao's arrival had also brought some very bad news. If his guess was correct, Consort Wu—onto whom a heavy bucket of filth had been splashed in the prophecy case that had stained Zhuque Avenue with blood—had finally made her move!

"Oh?" Du Siwen was clearly very satisfied with Jiang Jiao's reply. He immediately beamed at Cen Qi and asked, "Adjutant Cen, please go ahead and continue the trial!"

Seeing that Jiang Jiao had also ordered someone to bring a seat, placing himself on one side of the Hall of Prayer Beads while Du Siwen sat on the other, Cen Qi felt his heart turn bitter, sour, and achingly painful. For a moment, he intensely envied the Jingzhao Mayor Yuan Qianyao, who had fallen ill days ago and washed his hands of all affairs. Yet, at this moment, he could not even find an excuse to stall. Gritting his teeth, he took his seat at the main desk, drew a deep breath, and commanded, "Bring in the Cui family members and those murderous suspects!"

Not only the Cui family retainers, but the suspects from the prison as well—at these words, even the bailiffs in the hall realized that the political winds had shifted dramatically. After exchanging bewildered glances for a moment, someone immediately dashed off to relay the order. The commotion continued for quite a while; far from quieting down, the atmosphere seemed to grow even more boisterous. Deeply flustered, Cen Qi snapped angrily once more, "I told you to bring the prisoners in! Such a clamor—what sort of demeanor is this!"

***

However, no one answered him from outside, and the clamor gradually subsided a little. At that moment, a bailiff who had just gone to fetch the prisoners hurried into the hall, glanced at Du Siwen and Jiang Jiao, and bowed as he reported, "Adjutant Cen, the Duke of Jin and..."

"What Duke of Jin? It is I, Wang Shouyi, who has arrived! I heard that the Jingzhao Prefecture offices are holding a night trial for a bizarre case? It seems I have arrived just in time!" Striding across the threshold, the man in his early thirties wore plain mourning attire, followed by a single retainer. He cast a condescending glance around the room, nodded slightly and somewhat courteously to Du Siwen, completely ignored Jiang Jiao, and issued a direct order: "Bring a couch and place it right beside Lord Du of Jingzhao! Such a major case—I must hear what the outcome is as well!"

Watching Wang Shouyi boldly sit right next to Du Shiyi, Du Shiyi maintained a stern expression, but catching sight of the twitching corners of Cen Qi's mouth, he found it so wildly amusing that his stomach ached with suppressed laughter, though he dared not show it on his face. Du Shahan, however, lacked his composure; breaking into a grin, he nudged Du Shiyi in the ribs with his elbow and whispered with a half-smile, "The spectacle in the Hall of Prayer Beads tonight is truly a rare sight!"

Rare indeed; it felt like Mount Tai pressing down upon their heads! Cen Qi felt as though three massive mountains were crushing down upon him, rendering him entirely unable to move. As an official serving in the Jingzhao Prefecture offices, he was not so ignorant as to fail to understand the sheer weight of the two men who had so gracefully arrived.

Jiang Jiao, the Duke of Chu, was deeply favored by the Emperor; even Song Jing's remonstrances had failed to shake his standing, and he had now been reinstated as the Director of the Palace Library. Meanwhile, Wang Shouyi was the Empress's own brother, enfeoffed as the Duke of Jin and married to Princess Qingyang, currently holding the office of Vice Minister of the Palace Court. One belonged to Consort Wu's faction, while the other was the Empress's brother; their purpose needed no asking. They were clearly not here for this minor case at all, but rather pointing their spears directly at another much larger, unresolved mystery!

Ever since they were thrown into the Jingzhao Prefecture two days ago by Du Shiyi, Chibi, and the other Cui family retainers, Xiao Le and his men had been living in the prison with their external injuries tended to, messages being passed, and their food and lodging well looked after. Moreover, no one had once pulled them out for a trial, so their initial worries and fears had long since vanished. At this moment, when the bailiffs came to summon them for a hearing in the Hall of Prayer Beads, a soldier with a wounded leg could not help swaggering a bit as he remarked, "Have they found out those fellows were just spouting nonsense? Are we men of the Northern Gate Imperial Guards people that just anyone can push around?"

Xiao Le, however, was not so optimistic. Especially when he saw the lead bailiff with a deadpan expression ordering heavy cangues and fetters to be clapped on all of them, a jolt of anxiety pierced his heart. Taking advantage of the moment they left the cell block, he noticed that the person walking beside him was the very man who had been smuggling messages for him all along. Feigning difficulty in walking due to his injuries, he stomped hard on the bailiff's instep. The bailiff let out a miserable groan of pain, and unable to withstand Xiao Le's piercing gaze, he irritably whispered, "Watch yourself later today! Aside from Adjutant Cen, those sitting in the Hall of Prayer Beads to observe the trial include the Duke of Chu, the Duke of Jin and Imperial Son-in-law Wang, and the retired Lord Jingzhao of Zhupo!"

Du Siwen showing up in person to observe could still be understood—he was obviously there to back up Du Shiyi. But why on earth were the Duke of Chu, Jiang Jiao, and Imperial Son-in-law Wang Shouyi here?

"Has word of this been sent out?"

The bailiff wanted to say there hadn't been enough time, but under Xiao Le's needle-sharp gaze, thinking of the colossal power of the Northern Gate Imperial Guards and the powerful founding ministers behind them, he gritted his teeth and said, "This evening, General Wang, the Duke of Huo, came to see Lord Jingzhao, Elder Yuan, but left shortly after. As for tonight's affair, I'll try to find a way to get word out, but I can't guarantee if it will reach them in time."

Xiao Le's heart instantly turned half-cold. Wang Maozhong had personally gone to see Yuan Qianyao, only to leave shortly after? Could it be that they had parted on bad terms? This was terrible! Tonight's business was truly no small matter. Jiang Jiao was on extremely intimate terms with Consort Wu, while Wang Shouyi was the Empress's brother. All his subordinates had assumed that their actions on that fateful night were merely settling a personal grudge for him, but only he knew that it was done to fulfill Wang Shouzhen's promise. Even that madness on Zhuque Avenue—where a madman spattered blood amidst a prophecy that caused the city gates to close early and threw the entire capital into martial law—was something he could vaguely guess at.

***

Upon entering the Hall of Prayer Beads, seeing the intense scrutiny directed at everyone present, Xiao Le felt the chill down his spine grow steadily colder. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Judicial Adjutant Cen managed to maintain a semblance of calm as he took a sip of tea to moisten his parched throat, then said with a straight face, "The lot of you, recount the events of that night from beginning to end, truthfully and without omission!"

Before anyone below could answer, Du Siwen coldly interjected, "I reviewed the records earlier, and the depositions concerning the Cui family retainers were meticulous down to the finest detail. What sort of questioning is this, asking things in such a vague and sweeping manner? Adjutant Cen is not spending his first day as a Judicial Adjutant. There are seven people in total here; if you make each of them recount the whole thing, it might not even be finished by dawn tomorrow! Pick the ringleader to question first, and have the rest locked away under guard. If anything suspicious turns up later, call them in one by one and cross-examine their stories. Wouldn't that make right and wrong immediately clear?"

Cen Qi's petty little scheme was exposed in a single sentence by Du Siwen, causing his pale complexion to flush a dark, mottled purple. However, setting aside the fact that Du Siwen, even in retirement, was not someone he could afford to provoke, Jiang Jiao and Wang Shouyi—who had both also read through the depositions—were staring at him with icy glazes. With no other choice, he could only order the others temporarily taken away, and gritting his teeth, he picked up the depositions that Chibi and the others had given over the past two days and nights, beginning to interrogate Xiao Le point by point.

Cen Qi had originally pinned his hopes on the idea that since Xiao Le had communicated with the outside world, he would have prepared his story. Yet when he questioned Xiao Le about why he had gone out of the city at night, why he had gone near the ruined temple, and who exactly had burned it down, Xiao Le stubbornly insisted that Du Shiyi's retainers had done the deed. At that moment, Du Siwen unceremoniously chimed in with another question: "I sent people to inspect that abandoned Earth God temple, and the traces of lamp oil are exceedingly obvious. Since you claim that Du the Nineteenth had his men burn it down, and all five Cui family retainers are right here, who carried the lamp oil, and who actually set the fire?"

Without even turning his head, he instructed Du Wenhan behind him, "Thirteenth Lad, take a bailiff outside and keep watch over those other suspects to prevent anyone from passing messages to them. Ask those six people this exact same question, then bring them in one by one to identify the culprits and see if their stories match!"

姜还是老的辣—姜老辣！ (Ginger grows hotter the older it is—meaning experience is invaluable.)

Seeing Cen Qi struggle to maintain his composure while Xiao Le turned ashen-gray in an instant, and watching Du Wenhan obey by casually pointing at a bailiff, dragging him along, and striding out of the hall, Du Shiyi felt his spirits soar. Meanwhile, Du Siwen saw Chibi and his companions standing calmly beside Xiao Le, and when Xiao Le, after struggling through repeated hesitation, suddenly claimed that the lighting that night had been too poor to see clearly, Du Siwen burst into laughter.

"Although it wasn't as brilliantly starlit and moonlit as tonight, I remember the moon on the night of the twelfth quite well. I was drinking with friends at my villa on Mount Zhupo at the time, and I remember it clearly. Furthermore, illuminated by the fire itself, if you couldn't even make out a face, on what grounds did you accuse Du the Nineteenth's retainers of setting fire to the temple? Blatant falsehoods and malicious intentions!"