The Qinglü Office was an anti-corruption agency established by the Emperor himself. It answered only to imperial commands and took orders from no one else.
As Chief Commissioner of the Qinglü Office, He Tianzheng was stationed in Jiangnan, an important seat of provincial government. By rights, he should have been presiding over his own offices, with no possible reason to appear at desolate Luanshi Ferry.
Yet here he was, carrying a gold token bestowed personally by His Majesty and using it to mobilize the local garrison.
In that instant, countless thoughts churned wildly through Wei Xiao’s mind.
Was the Emperor secretly keeping watch on him? Or had someone on his own side leaked the news and sent a covert report to the imperial presence?
But his adoptive father, Tan Ying, served constantly at the Emperor’s side. If anything had stirred at court, surely word would have reached Wei Xiao.
Though his thoughts turned over a hundred possibilities, nothing showed on Wei Xiao’s face. He quietly clenched his fist, suppressing every trace of suspicion and savage anger in his eyes. After a long silence, he finally raised a hand and said coldly,
“Stand down.”
Swords slid back into their sheaths, their keen edges hidden once more.
The Eastern Depot agents, unwilling as they were, dared not defy Wei Xiao. They stepped back together, exposing the mountain of silver chests stacked behind them.
“My thanks, Chief Eunuch.”
He Tianzheng slowly put away the gold token, but then spoke again.
“There is one more favor I would presume to ask. I hear you are holding two people in the Eastern Depot’s private prison. To my embarrassment, one of them is my good-for-nothing second brother. He did not know his place and offended Your Excellency. I shall discipline him severely when we return. I hope you will not hold it against him.”
When Wei Xiao heard He Tianzheng say that two people were still being held in the Eastern Depot’s private prison, killing intent flashed across his eyes. He forced it back down and slowly pulled his lips into a smile full of mockery.
“So that little registrar is Lord He’s second brother. Your He family truly has an upright household and knows how to raise its sons.”
With a contemptuous flick of his sleeves, Wei Xiao turned and left Luanshi Ferry with his men without looking back. Inside, he was seething.
If Wei Xiao still could not tell who was behind this, after everything that had happened, he might as well have lived all these years for nothing.
Who else knew where the salt silver was and possessed the right to submit a secret memorial directly to the palace? There could be no one but Gongsun E!
Wei Xiao stormed back to the residence and kicked open the door to Gongsun E’s room. Gongsun E was at his desk, copying calligraphy. At the crash, his brush paused. He looked up, lifted a brow, and asked with precisely the right amount of bewilderment,
“What has happened, Chief Eunuch? You seem terribly angry.”
He dared ask?
He actually had the nerve to ask?!
It took all Wei Xiao’s willpower not to explode on the spot. He still had enough sense to dismiss the people behind him. Only when the two of them were alone did he stride forward and force a low question through clenched teeth.
“Gongsun E, do you truly not know, or are you only pretending?”
Gongsun E set down his brush and blinked with an innocent expression. “Know what?”
Still pretending.
Wei Xiao’s gaze turned icy. He ground his teeth so hard he could almost have shattered them. “No sooner had I finished recovering the salt silver today than He Tianzheng of the Qinglü Office swooped in and took it away. He kept claiming to be acting on the Emperor’s orders! How would His Majesty suddenly know I’d found the silver? Dare you say you haven’t secretly memorialized the throne?!”
At that, Gongsun E gave a leisurely “Oh.” He placed his brush back on the inkstone without the slightest hurry, then finally raised his eyes to Wei Xiao. The corners of his lips lifted, and there was even a hint of someone hoping to be praised in his light tone.
“So that’s what this is about. Don’t be upset, Chief Eunuch. I had intended it as a surprise for you. I never imagined His Majesty’s orders would arrive quite so quickly.”
“A surprise?” Wei Xiao could scarcely believe his ears.
“Naturally. A surprise.”
Gongsun E spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“You’ve recovered the stolen salt silver, Chief Eunuch. Such a tremendous achievement must of course be made known to His Majesty. I happened to be drafting a confidential letter, so I included the matter in my memorial. To spare you further trouble, I even asked His Majesty to send Lord He from nearby to escort the silver. That way, you gain the credit and rid yourself of a dangerous burden. Whatever goes wrong with the shipment later, no one can blame you for it.”
Wei Xiao stared at him. The fire in his chest burned hotter and hotter until he could restrain himself no longer. He grabbed Gongsun E by the collar and snarled through clenched teeth,
“Gongsun E, stop playing the fool with me. Don’t tell me you couldn’t guess that silver was meant for the Crown Prince?!”
“And what if I guessed? What if I didn’t?”
Wei Xiao froze for a moment at that answer.
Gongsun E wore a smile as he asked, yet his dark eyes were unfathomably deep, exerting an invisible pressure. He continued slowly, his low voice difficult to read.
“Didn’t you tell me, Chief Eunuch, that no matter what happened, you would choose me and abandon the Crown Prince? If that’s so, what is there to be angry about?”
Wei Xiao was so furious at Gongsun E’s twisted argument that his mind nearly went blank.
He had said those words, yes, but he had meant when all other roads were closed and there was no choice left. Now he could earn the Crown Prince’s trust through the salt-silver affair. Wasn’t Gongsun E destroying his escape route with his own hands? It was absurd!
Wei Xiao’s grip on Gongsun E’s collar tightened another fraction. His face was dark with anger as he forced out the words between his teeth. “Gongsun E, what exactly are you trying to do?!”
Gongsun E frowned faintly and lowered his voice, sounding a little displeased. “Are you blaming me, Chief Eunuch? Am I less important to you than the Crown Prince? Were all those things you said to me that day lies?”
“When have I ever lied to you?!”
The instant he said it, Wei Xiao realized Gongsun E had dragged him away from the point. He spoke again, low and bitter.
“Stop changing the subject! I’m asking why you did all this behind my back!”
“If I’d done it right in front of you, would you have agreed?”
“You!”
Wei Xiao choked on his rage. He wanted to say more, but as he met Gongsun E’s serene, faintly amused gaze, it was as if someone had thrown a basin of cold water over the fire inside him. A chill swept through his whole body.
That was true. What difference would it have made if Gongsun E had told him? Would he have agreed?
No…
Wei Xiao knew perfectly well that he would not have agreed.
He and Gongsun E were two utterly different kinds of people, walking two entirely different paths.
One cleared the names of the wrongfully accused, his own reputation spotless.
The other wielded a bloodstained blade for the Emperor, steeped in filth and infamy.
Gongsun E had used a scheme to seize the salt silver for the good of the country.
Wei Xiao had schemed to obtain that same silver solely to satisfy his own desires.
His own desires, and the Crown Prince’s as well…
In that moment, Wei Xiao could no longer tell whether the anger or the humiliation in his heart was greater. His fingers slowly loosened their hold on Gongsun E’s collar. He retreated two steps and, after a long while, asked hoarsely,
“Gongsun E, you’ve been staying at my side all these days because you wanted to keep me away from Luanshi Ferry. Isn’t that right?”
Gongsun E smiled. “Do you want the truth, Chief Eunuch, or a lie?”
Wei Xiao jerked his head up. Both his eyes were bloodshot.
Gongsun E showed no fear. He reached up to stroke Wei Xiao’s cheek, as tenderly and intimately as he had during their moments alone together over the past few days.
“It seems you want the truth. Then the truth is that I was indeed keeping you occupied on purpose.”
It felt as though an invisible hand had clamped down upon Wei Xiao’s heart. The pain stole his breath. Instinctively he turned his head away from Gongsun E’s touch, while the hand hanging inside his sleeve trembled uncontrollably. His hatred rose so fiercely that an uncontrollable urge to kill flashed through him.
Afraid something terrible might happen if he stayed another moment, Wei Xiao spun around to leave. He had barely taken two steps when Gongsun E suddenly pulled him into his arms and held him fast.
Wei Xiao struggled with all his strength, but could not break free. He spat out two words in fury. “Let go!”
“Chief Eunuch, you’re as impatient as ever. You never let anyone finish speaking.”
Gongsun E leaned toward Wei Xiao’s ear and whispered,
“I did keep you occupied deliberately, but whether I did so or not would not have changed the outcome. I merely wanted a few days alone with you. We’ve been inseparable all this time. Hasn’t it been happier than before?”
Wei Xiao stiffened. He could find no answer, and his expression turned thoroughly ugly.
Gongsun E smiled again. With a fingertip, he gently tipped Wei Xiao’s chin upward, forcing him to look at him, then lowered his gaze and kissed him as though it were nothing at all.
Wei Xiao clenched his teeth and turned his head away. But this time Gongsun E kissed him hard and deeply, allowing him not the slightest chance to evade him. Their lips and teeth met, and every route of retreat was cut off.
“Mmph…”
A muffled sound escaped Wei Xiao’s throat. Forced to part his teeth, he was then pressed against the cold, hard desk as Gongsun E continued to kiss him deeply.
Gongsun E was exceptionally skilled at kissing. He took his time, with a quiet, unyielding intensity. Yet whenever his lips reached Wei Xiao’s brows and eyes, he became suddenly gentle. After a while, it could almost give a person the illusion of being deeply loved by him.
Wei Xiao’s arms and legs weakened beneath the kisses, and tremors ran through his body. Just then, a sharp pain shot through his earlobe, itching and burning as though someone had bitten it.
Gongsun E leisurely released his earlobe. His gaze darkened as he murmured in a voice meant for the two of them alone,
“Haven’t I told you? There can only be one person at the Chief Eunuch’s side, and that is me. If you take your anger at someone else out on me again, I really will be displeased.”
Wei Xiao looked up at him sharply. Whether from fury or provocation, he was trembling a little. He thought everything Gongsun E said was nonsense. “When have I ever taken my anger at anyone else out on you? Gongsun E, the Crown Prince is heir to the throne! What good could possibly come to you from offending him?!”
“I don’t know whether it will do me any good.”
Gongsun E lowered his head and bit Wei Xiao lightly on the collarbone, his breath intimate and warm. “All I care about is whether the Chief Eunuch has anything to offer me.”
Pinned against the edge of the desk, Wei Xiao’s collar had come loose, baring a collarbone normally hidden from sight. A pale red bite mark stood out upon it. The dark-red cloth lay in disarray, like a flower rotting in decadent bloom. Gold thread embroidered into the python pattern glimmered among the folds with every breath he took, throwing the cold whiteness of his neck into a beauty that was almost uncanny.
Wei Xiao’s breathing was uneven, yet his eyes still blazed with cold anger. He snapped in a low voice,
“Get up. Stop this nonsense!”
He was flustered, afraid Gongsun E might lose control.
Gongsun E pressed his nose against Wei Xiao’s. Whether deliberately or not, his long, bony fingers slid down the opening of Wei Xiao’s robe to his waist and traced a leisurely circle there. His lips curved, his warm breath spilling over Wei Xiao’s neck.
“Chief Eunuch, you’re forever doubting my feelings. When I tell you, you don’t believe me; when I explain, you refuse to listen. Must I really show you before you’ll understand?”
As he spoke, he made as though to undo Wei Xiao’s sash. Wei Xiao was frightened already, and now panic seized him completely. Summoning strength from somewhere, he shoved Gongsun E away, stumbled back two steps, regained his balance, and hurriedly straightened his clothes.
His expression shifted between anger and uncertainty. He stared at Gongsun E for a long while before finally throwing out a few words between clenched teeth.
“You win this round!”
An hour earlier, Wei Xiao had charged into the room full of murderous fury.
An hour later, he left looking almost as though he were fleeing in defeat.
Gongsun E watched his retreating back until Wei Xiao vanished completely. Only then did he look away. He slowly straightened, rubbed his fingertips together, and after a moment let out a soft laugh.
A paper tiger. One poke, and it fell apart.
With Gongsun E’s interference, the Crown Prince’s plan had been utterly ruined. Since the salt silver was now beyond reach, there was no point in killing Shen Wanjin. Nor was there any need to keep He Tianyang locked up any longer.
The following day, He Tianzheng personally went to bring his younger brother out of the Eastern Depot’s private prison.
He Tianyang had been shut in the dungeon all this time, with no idea what was happening outside. At first he had worried that the Eastern Depot would bury the case in secret, never to let it see the light of day. When his older brother suddenly told him that Gongsun E had sent a secret memorial to the Emperor and the salt silver had been entrusted to He Tianzheng for transport, he was overjoyed.
“To think Lord Gongsun had another move prepared all along! I’d only heard people say he solved cases like a god, and thought they were exaggerating. But now I’ve seen it for myself. His reputation is well deserved! What a beautiful move! I bet Wei Xiao’s face turned green with rage!”
He Tianzheng was walking ahead with his hands clasped behind his back. His steps halted at those words, though he did not turn around. His voice was icy. “And you still find this funny? Do you think Wei Xiao is someone you can afford to offend? You meddled in the salt-silver case without permission and got yourself thrown into the Eastern Depot’s private prison. If Father hadn’t had a few old friends at court willing to intervene, do you think you would have got out so easily?”
“When we return, settle down and study properly. No more reckless behavior. And stay away from that Gongsun E as well.”
He Tianyang had said nothing to the earlier scolding. He knew he had caused trouble and had no defense. But at the last sentence, his brows drew together in displeasure. “Why?”
He Tianzheng’s face remained expressionless. “There is no why.”
He Tianyang had never got along particularly well with this cold-faced older brother, even as a child. Now he was even less willing to submit. “If there’s no reason, why should I listen? Lord Gongsun is an upright official of great ability. I’ve always looked up to him. Why shouldn’t I associate with him?”
“An upright official?”
He Tianzheng stopped and finally turned to face him, his gaze frosty. “I told you long ago not to be so naive. We haven’t seen each other for years, and you haven’t grown up in the slightest. Some people are not as simple as they appear.”
He Tianyang was no fool. He heard the implication at once and protested angrily, “Elder Brother, I’ve always respected you, but how can a gentleman tarnish another man’s good name without proof? If Lord Gongsun hadn’t uncovered Shen Wanjin’s feigned death, we would never have followed the clues to the salt silver. If he hadn’t petitioned His Majesty in time, the Eastern Depot might already have succeeded. I call him a man of unbending integrity, and you spread ugly insinuations about him. Why?”
He Tianzheng glanced at him and gave a cold laugh. “What you say is true. But it isn’t the whole truth.”
“It was indeed Gongsun E who discovered Shen Wanjin had faked his death, and indeed he who located the salt silver. He also submitted the evidence of Prince Jin’s embezzlement and murders to the throne. But if he’s truly so incorruptible, why didn’t he risk offending the Eastern Depot himself? Why ask His Majesty to summon me from a thousand miles away instead? And if he’s so uncompromising, why did his memorial enumerate every crime of Shen Wanjin and Prince Jin, yet say nothing of Wei Xiao’s wrongdoing? He even gave Wei Xiao the credit for recovering the salt silver.”
He Tianyang turned pale with shock. “That’s a lie!”
He Tianzheng swept his sleeve coldly. “You’re a stubborn rock buried in mud, impossible to reason with. Why would I make all this up just to deceive you?”
He Tianyang opened his mouth but, for once, could find nothing to say.
He knew his elder brother’s character. He Tianzheng had risen to be Chief Commissioner of the Qinglü Office and was renowned for absolute impartiality and swift, decisive action. He would not lie. And that was precisely why He Tianyang found this so impossible to accept.
The Eastern Depot’s private prison was in the very residence where Gongsun E was staying, and they had not yet gone far. He Tianyang stood rooted to the spot, his chest rising and falling, his brother’s words spinning through his mind until he felt dizzy.
Then he clenched his teeth, spun around, and ran back. He rushed straight into the residence. The Eastern Depot guards at the gate recognized him as the man just released from their prison and hesitated to stop him. He managed to charge all the way into Gongsun E’s courtyard.
“Lord Gongsun!”
For the first time in his life, He Tianyang was so discourteous that he burst inside without even knocking. The door slammed against the wall with a bang, shattering the room’s former stillness.
Gongsun E was in his study, sorting through Shen Wanjin’s confession and the charges against him so that Prince Jin would find no loophole through which to overturn the case. At the sudden noise, he looked up and saw He Tianyang rush in, breathless, his clothes askew from running and his face taut with worry and urgency.
Gongsun E raised a brow, then smiled. “Brother He, what has you in such a hurry? I heard Lord He came to take you away today. Why have you returned so quickly?”
Wei Xiao had originally refused to release He Tianyang. It was only because Gongsun E had used certain methods that he was let out today.
Ignoring the question, He Tianyang stared stubbornly at him. “Lord Gongsun, was it you who sent a secret memorial to His Majesty asking him to summon my brother to escort the salt silver?”
Gongsun E smiled faintly. “What if it was?”
He Tianyang’s hands clenched into fists at his sides, his chest heaving. “You had an imperial warrant. You could have mobilized the garrison yourself. Why didn’t you escort the silver? Why insist on bringing my brother here?”
Hearing the challenge in his voice, Gongsun E set the confession papers down unhurriedly and replied evenly,
“The Criminal Investigation Office handles wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice. The Qinglü Office investigates corruption and recovers stolen state assets. My responsibility is to investigate the massacre of the Shen family; the salt-silver embezzlement implicated in that case falls under the Qinglü Office’s jurisdiction. Yangzhou is also within your brother’s territory. Wasn’t it right to summon him?”
He Tianyang faltered. Some of his anger ebbed away. The explanation did seem reasonable; perhaps his brother had misunderstood. But then something occurred to him, and he pressed on.
“In your secret memorial, did you mention that the Eastern Depot was shielding the guilty and detaining witnesses? Did you report that Wei Xiao was involved and meant to misappropriate state funds?”
Gongsun E answered calmly, “I did not.”
He Tianyang’s pupils contracted. Disbelief filled his eyes. “Why?!”
Gongsun E did not answer directly. He raised his eyes and regarded him. “Brother He, you’ve investigated cases yourself. You should know that in a major homicide case, one must have all five: the body, the wounds, the physical evidence, the traces, and the testimony, before proceeding to interrogate and investigate.”
“Even if I listed his crimes in my memorial, would you have conclusive proof? And even with proof, do you think His Majesty would punish him for this?”
He would not.
That was the art of an emperor: to value a person’s usefulness, not the person himself.
The Eastern Depot oversaw the imperial prison and investigated officials and commoners alike. It was His Majesty’s sharpest and most convenient blade. So long as Wei Xiao remained useful, the Emperor would never willingly sever his own arm by acting against him so readily.
A mere sheet of accusations would only breed resentment and suspicion, accomplishing nothing.
He Tianyang, however, cared nothing for these calculations of court politics. For once his thoughts turned unusually sharp, and he fixed Gongsun E with an unblinking stare before asking a question that struck straight to the heart of the matter.
“What if His Majesty would punish Wei Xiao? Lord Gongsun, would you write it then?”
“…”
Gongsun E looked at him in silence.
But that long silence already said everything.
He Tianyang swayed where he stood and stumbled two steps backward.
The principles of justice he had trusted throughout the first half of his life cracked apart in that moment. He had always thought Gongsun E a pure stream in a corrupt world, unafraid of power. He believed Gongsun E judged cases impartially, cared for the people, and carried himself with a proud integrity that would never bow before those in authority.
Yet now it seemed Gongsun E, too, would weigh advantages against disadvantages and shield a powerful, corrupt official.
He, too, would let a guilty man go for reasons of his own.
The man before him still had the same gentle, clear features and easy grace as ever. But to He Tianyang, he suddenly seemed a little like a stranger.
His throat tightened. Disappointment and bewilderment roiled painfully in his chest as he demanded, one word at a time,
“Who are you, really? Are you still the Lord Gongsun I thought I knew?”
“…”
Gongsun E did not speak. The faint smile in his eyes slowly faded as he leaned back in his chair. Dusk had settled, and the dying sunlight slanted through the window, cleaving his face sharply into light and shadow.
The half in the light was as gentle as ever: the upright and peerless Jade-Carved Gentleman known to the world. The half in shadow held eyes dark and unreadable, concealing the indifference and coldness of someone who had weathered the rise and fall of political power.
He studied the young man standing before him, so pure in his convictions, so certain that right and wrong were black and white. After a long while, he answered in a deep, measured voice,
“Then who do you think I should be?”
A sudden evening wind swept through the hall, sending the sheets of writing paper on the desk fluttering and rustling, disturbing the room’s stillness.
Who could he be?
Nothing more than an emperor who had died and come back to life from the depths of a fathomless abyss…