CH 31

Stranded at a place where he had no kin to turn to and where danger lurked at every step, Wu Xi seemed to have always lacked a sense of security since birth. He was not fond of coming into contact with other people, and even if the conversations were absolutely essential, he would keep it as brief as possible — but there was only one thing that could make him loosen up a little: familiarity.

He did not know the reason why, but when it came to that white-haired man, there was a strong feeling of intimacy as if it had been carved deep in his bones. Even though the face of the other person was hardly visible in his view, he could feel that he had known this man for a very long, long time — long enough to the point that when his palm came into contact with the other's slender body, there surged a peculiar yet hidden kind of excitement and joy in his heart.3

Amidst the hazy state of mind, Wu Xi was guided by the other man, and, like a little animal, he gave in to his impulses to nibble at that person's skin, lightly and finely, as he brought their bodies together in entanglement with much eagerness, wanting to be closer and closer to him, even just a little more.

Beyond the blinds was the cold autumn frost, behind the curtains bloomed a warm spring dream.2

Never once that Wu Xi had gone through such an experience: his soul seemed to have escaped from the body and floated up in the air, and next to his ears rang a faint laugh. He looked over with an attentive gaze — in that flashing instant, the face of that white-haired man seemed to have somewhat become more distinct; the pair of peach-blossom eyes brimming with laughter crashed into his heart. Startled, Wu Xi woke up in suddenness.

The sky was already glowing bright.

On the bedding, there was something sticky and moist — Wu Xi got up, his mind still immersed in the dream that felt too real from just a moment ago, bewildered.2

Since medicine and poison had never been separated from the beginning with, if there was any incurable illness in his clan, the Great Sorcerer would undertake this responsibility and bring the patient from the herbal physician's place back. Naturally, Wu Xi knew exactly what kind of thing that was: Fei Cui Court was a pleasure house, thus, albeit having never been there prior to this, he had heard that in order to liven things up for the guests, at these places, a moderate amount of arousal-inducing incense would be utilized. The effect was rather mild — in theory, it should have not left much impact.

However, considering that he was at the age of entering one's full vigor, it would be normal for him to experience such a dream.

Wu Xi understood that, at most, this was only a proof that he had grown into a normal adult male — yet, it didn't necessarily mean that he would not feel embarrassed.

Especially when those eyes of unparalleled familiarity that belonged to the man in his dream came back to his mind. As soon as he thought about that, all the details, from the fragrance that could only be faintly discerned, to the quiet, indistinct chuckle of that person, seemed to have already been traced back to the source.

Wu Xi propped his forehead on one hand, a low groan left his lips.

He felt that this dream was completely absurd. Why did it have to be that person? Indeed, he really liked Jing Beiyuan — although he did not say these words out loud, but if he had not liked the other man, he would have not squandered that much of his time keeping that person company and going to places that he could never see himself fit into. Since he was a child, the Grand Sorcerer had taught him to remember all the good deeds other people did to him: if someone treated him well, even just for a little, he ought to repay their kindness twice as much.

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Nu A Ha once told him, the reason why those people whom Wu Xi had chased away before did not come back to stir up trouble was because Ping An from Nan Ning Wang's Residence had quietly given him a hand to arrange everything. There were countless other times put together, and it was not that Wu Xi was ungrateful — in his heart, he also already regarded Jing Beiyuan as his best friend. Whatever that person requested , as long as Wu Xi was capable of doing, he would be willing to risk his life to accomplish.

But... no matter how favorable my impression of this person is, Jing Beiyuan is still a man!

Wu Xi was truly too simple — despite having witnessed numerous extravagant and lustful affairs after his arrival in the capital city, in the end, his understanding was still awfully limited. Although Jing Qi wasn't very reliable, it was not to the point where he would bring a young man still in his teenage years to the filthy sorts of places — the "Night Creation of the Orchid Chamber" from the evening before was indeed Wu Xi's very first visit to the red-lantern district.

Hence, Wu Xi had no clue that two streets and thirty steps from Fei Cui Court existed another place called "Huang Hua House" where their guests would not be served by the ladies but boys with pretty faces and fine brows, fully covered in rouge and powder.

Jing Qi told him about the political landscapes from ancient to recent and also the path that allowed one do anything and everything unhindered, however, he had forgotten to mention about the "household" affairs of emperors and princes — such as how Helian Qi had a specific manor to keep more than a dozen of "talented and beautiful" young men, or how the older those ministers become, the more they would take liking in young girls. Needless to mention about other people, just inside the residence of Minister Jian, Jian Sizong, alone there was already a bunch of eleven- and twelve-year-old adoptive daughters.1

Compared to that, it was rather too nitpicking of Master Lu Shen for fiercely remonstrating with His Highness the Crown Prince upon the latter's occasional visit at Miss Su's place to just listen to a few songs.

Thus, at that moment, Wu Xi felt nothing but utter haziness about life.

He kept reminding himself over and over again that it was simply a dream, a misunderstanding that arose from the taint of incense at that wanton place that was worsened by Jing Qi's feigned-drunken, importunate pestering. But the more he thought about this, the more he could not resist but compare the man from his dream last night with Jing Qi: that pair of smiling eyes, the long and slender brows that curved towards his sideburns, the intrepidly straight nose, the slightly pale lips, the warm body, the cold fingers, and even the waist with resilient limberness...4

Wu Xi somewhat suspected that he himself had gone into qi deviation — even until when A Xin Lai, realizing that his master hadn't gotten up yet, came to knock on the door with the thought that the other had fallen ill, he still had yet to snap back to reality.

By afternoon of that day, during the usual time when he would come to Jing Qi's place to sit for a while, Wu Xi, at last, committed a very shameful act —— avoiding. Yet, Jing Qi was worried about whether he had gotten hurt last night, even specifically sending Ping An over to the Sorcerer's Residence to inquire after his health — Wu Xi thus only used the lousy excuse, "I've caught a cold last night," to get away with it.

He genuinely could not figure out how to face this friend at all.

Jing Qi also did not take notice, nor was he aware of the "youthful affection" the other person was embracing, and that was because there were more important matters for him to take care of — for example, plotting the next move with Zhou Zishu to figure out how to handle Su Qingluan's incident.

By then, Zhou Zishu had already sent someone to keep a close watch on Su Qingluan. Last night, Wu Xi's group carried out their acts in an extremely swift and organized fashion. Having waited for the corpses to be disposed and the scene to be cleaned up, Lu Yu, before heading back, made sure that when the morning came, no one among the passers-by could realize that just a few hours ago, at that Cheng Wu Gate, twenty something people had been quietly wiped out without a single trace.

For the time being, the questions were how to deal with Su Qingluan and whether they were supposed to tell Helian Yi or not. Even then, it would not be long until Helian Qi realized that the band of Black Sorcerers whom he kept all these times had disappeared into thin air, and whether Su Qingluan had the brain to escape his suspicion was another question. There were too many things that were still up in the air.

Lu Shen, after having entered his career in court for several years and even joining the Ministry of Revenue upon his leave at the Imperial Academy, had become considerably more clever and diplomatic in his way of dealing with people — but after all, he was still a man of integrity. He Yunxing had the youthful zeal and vigor, unfortunately, his personal character was overly straightforward. Hence, these kinds of matters could only be discussed between Zhou Zishu and Jing Qi.

They both came to a conclusion that the truth about Su Qingluan's identity could not come from them: the Crown Prince, luckily, was also a wise man, and it'd be better for him to realize that himself. These kinds of affairs that involved love and romance were the most intricate — although Helian Yi was only the heir apparent to the throne, his heart was inscrutable, and with regard to this point, Jing Qi could not be more familiar. At the moment, the best tactics would be to meet any changes with constancy: first was to pretend like nothing had happened on their side in order to avoid stirring the grass and startling the snake, then wait and see how Su Qingluan would react.

Who could have thought that the Black Sorcerers would end up giving them a hand in this matter. The leader of their group who had soon suspected that Helian Qi was harboring ill intention began to devise her plan. In order to destroy all ties, they inflicted gu poison (1) upon all the insiders who had come into contact with them during their stay at the Taoist temple, completely undetected. As soon as they departed from that place, the poison was immediately activated – only the dead could best keep the secret.

But Su Qingluan's value only lasted until they could kill Wu Xi – to those Black Sorcerers, such a weak and fragile woman like her could be effortlessly sent to death with one slash of their blade right before departure.

This early caution in their arrangement rendered Helian Qi completely unable to fathom how those Black Sorcerers had gone missing — he even thought that they had left without bidding farewell; meanwhile, it was an oversight that allowed Su Qingluan's life to be spared.

Thus, at that point, as long as Su Qingluan was not foolish enough to bring herself to Helian Qi and admit her mistake, this matter would conclude right here.

Su Qingluan was able to evade the mishap from that side, yet, over here, the moment she caught Jing Qi's sight, she would immediately begin to tremble in fright – it was just that she didn't breathe a single word about anything, and Jing Qi was blithely playing along with his act and immersing in the role of a good-for-nothing, prodigal playboy. After a long time, Su Qingluan became truly convinced that the Black Sorcerers had walked into the misfortune themselves, and that no one had found out about her, thus, eventually, was able to retrieve a peace of mind.

This sort of affairs which involved colluding with the Black Sorcerers was something that could never leave Helian Qi's mouth, much less to be vaunted with a grand, showy display; as a result, he could only hold his tongue and suffer this loss.

No one could have expected, however, that something would happen again in court right at that moment, which allowed His Highness the Second Prince to think that he had stumbled upon an opportunity to unleash all his wrath that had been pent up during that entire time.

Jing Qi originally wanted to go check on Wu Xi as he was unsure why this child had been hiding from him for some time — who would have thought that before his feet could even cross the gate, he had already been snatched away by an urgent letter from the palace. Since when did His Majesty, who had always holed up in the chambers of imperial concubines, have to rush and summon the court officials? This time, it must have been a major event — however, Jing Qi truly could not recall what exactly was supposed to happen. Oh well, no one can do anything this time — let's get into the palanquin then.

Helian Yi was already there when Jing Qi arrived at the palace — he shook his head at the younger man, a rather solemn expression worn on his countenance. After paying respect to Helian Pei, he walked over to stand beside Helian Yi and quietly whispered his question. Helian Yi lowered his voice and answered: "Something happened in Liangguang."

That gave Jing Qi a jolt; only then that he finally recalled what had happened this year – as the summer flooding occurred in the south, the victims, noticing that the winter was approaching close and rendered survival impossible, resorted to riots.

During this time in his past life, it was precisely Jing Qi who was devising plans on behalf of Helian Yi while beginning to wield the actual power in court. Although the uprising in Liangguang was a major event, he was not overseeing the matter — it was actually Helian Qi who had besought to be sent there as an imperial envoy.

The uprising of these victims was not simply a problem about the flooding, but rather about how from the top down, starting with Viceroy Liao Zhendong of Liangguang, everyone had flagrantly defied both heaven and the laws to pervert justice for bribes, even selling ranks, bartering titles, increasing tax on their own, and going great lengths to do all sorts of wicked things — that was exactly the reason why unrest was incited among the people, and not to mention how there existed a mastermind who instigated the situation, causing the rising tide of violence to worsen.

That Liangguang land was of great distance from the capital, and with a bunch of officials shielding one another, the entire problem had become much more twisted and complicated to handle. This job was extremely messy — if done well, the person was merely fulfilling their duty; but with one wrong move, grave trouble would befall.

That very year, Helian Qi had begged to offer himself for this job due to no other reason but the fact that Liao Zhendong's chief support at the capital city, as luck would have it, was his very own eldest brother, Helian Zhao.

Later on, it was also Helian Qi who added fuel to the fire, thus, Helian Pei, in an outburst of anger, ordered Helian Zhao to be placed in confinement, which essentially stripped him from his luck for the throne. And just like that, the First Prince's faction was never able to revive after the collapse.

Jing Qi felt a chill in his heart: he had been keeping a low profile all his life and only operating in the dark; the chess piece had long been buried next to Helian Zhao along with his hope to bring it out for the fight against Helian Qi one day. If things were to be thrown into a tumult like that, I am afraid it will be difficult to make the next move. Today, I will absolutely not allow Helian Qi to go to the south as he wishes.

It did not take long until Helian Zhao, Helian Qi, the Six Ministers, and all the senior officials were fully present. Helian Pei then ordered Eunuch Xi to bring the urgent report from Liangguang so that they could all look through it at once, his face overcast with silent somberness. As expected, when the gathering of people was roused into commotion and began to discuss statecraft and how to resolve this problem, Helian Qi was the first person who stepped forward.

Helian Qi said: "Imperial Father, since ancient times, it has always been the officials who exploit and infuriate the people into rebellion. Liangguang is a remote location, and Imperial Father is residing in the capital, which makes supervising them difficult. Thus, it is inevitable there would exist these corrupt and fawning officials who ride roughshod over their people, being a horse that brings trouble to its herd. This is a matter of utmost urgency, and it is imperative to first mobilize troops to subdue the violence, then appoint someone as an Imperial Envoy to do a thorough investigation of the cause, give the public a justifying answer and the officials what they deserve. That will greatly calm the people's agitated hearts."

Helian Pei raised an eyebrow and asked: "You tell me, who should go investigate this?"

Jing Qi caught a glimpse of the man from the corner of his eye, all sorts of thoughts whirling around in his head — refuting words were already on the verge of passing his lips.

Yet unexpectedly, Helian Qi answered: "I think that it is a tremendous honour for one to investigate corrupt officials for the sake of the nation and the people, and it is just right when we have the new promising talents joining the court, this can serve as a great learning experience. Nan Ning Wang has been astute since birth, a talent despite his young age — since the day he started attending court and contributing to state affairs, everything has been done with devotion and diligence. In due time, he will certainly become the pillar of our Da Qing nation. Thus, I would like to make my bold recommendation."

Helian Yi was appalled — in a subconscious attempt, he reached out one arm to pull Jing Qi back yet his grasp had failed him. Meanwhile, Jing Qi had already taken one step forward, calm and unaffected: "Much gratitude to His Highness the Second Prince for the praises and consideration. Your Subject is willing to risk life and limb to fulfill this duty. I plead to Your Majesty to issue the decree."

Helian Pei pondered for a moment — obviously, in the eyes of this ruler, the so-called "uprising in Liangguang" was merely a mob wanting to stir up some trouble. Based on what Helian Qi had suggested just then, it would not be any major issue to dispatch troops to suppress the riots, and he could use this opportunity to capture a few corrupt officials. This was nothing that one could not afford doing, not to mention it would become a great achievement in their political career.

It was also a good idea to borrow this chance to send this child, who only knew how to idle away in the life of pleasure all day long without being able to accomplish anything proper, to the outside world to train himself — if this kid was able to become someone worthy of respect, it would be considered that he had not let Jing Lianyu down.

Helian Yi could tell with a glance that his glutenous, good-for-nothing father was about to do something senseless, thus hastily spoke: "Imperial Father, this... I am afraid that Beiyuan is too young to convince the crowds." At the same time, he motioned to Jing Qi with a wink, hinting that the other ought to be sensible of the situation and not try to wade into this muddy waters anymore.

Little did he know that the remark the Second Helian went on about was exactly what Jing Qi desired — the young Nan Ning Wang stood there like a blind man, persistently unable to see His Highness the Crown Prince's gaze full of worries.

Indeed, one couldn't care less, and one was anxious to death...

Helian Qi operated the calculation in his mind with exceptional shrewdness — with Helian Zhao as the mainstay of Liang Guang officials, when Jing Qi went there, would he choose to set things right or wallow in the mire with them? If the former was the case, he and Helian Zhao would undoubtedly fall out, and Helian Yi would as well be dragged along into the water: amidst the strife between these two factions, to Helian Qi, the gains would ultimately be his.

And if the latter was the case... one could only fear that, while other people could forgive, His Highness the Crown Prince who donned a face of perfect impartiality all day long would be the first one unable to spare him.

Thus, Helian Qi rejoined with a smile: "Those words of the Crown Prince, I beg to differ. Corrupt and sycophant officials are borers of a nation, and anyone has the right to punish them. What qualifications and experience does one even need? Your Royal Highness, what is your thought on this?"

"It is exactly what Your Highness the Second Prince said." Jing Qi was far beyond coordinating with Helian Yi, "In ancient times, there used to be a twelve-year-old Prime Minister. Although Beiyuan has no talent, I am willing to follow the footsteps of distinguished predecessors, serving the state and the people."

Helian Pei burst into laughter: "Good! Good, good! You have ambition! Someone, come! Issue the decree—"