Today, the capital was so bustling it seemed about to boil over. The crown prince was marrying the eldest daughter of the Zhang family, a grand dowry stretching for miles and deafening drums and gongs. The entire main street was packed tight with spectating commoners.
Blending into the crowd, I squeezed desperately toward the Zhang manor. In my ears, there was nothing but admiration and praise for this match of the century. But every word that reached my ears sounded like a death knell. Li Chongjing would make his move tonight. This wasn't a wedding procession at all. This was a prison carriage escorting Zhang Beiyu to the execution ground.
Avoiding the clamor of the wedding reception in the front yard, I climbed over the wall from the withered, crooked nectarine tree in the backyard of the Zhang manor. This was next to the dog hole I used to crawl through when I was a child. I knew every blind spot of the Zhang manor by heart.
The main courtyard was completely empty. All the maids and older servants were in the front hall, attending to the bridal envoys from the palace. I kicked open the door to Zhang Beiyu's bedchamber. The door swung wide open, and the clamor from outside instantly flooded in.
Zhang Beiyu sat upright on a chair in the very center of the room, clutching an extremely sharp pair of scissors in her hand. Hearing the door burst open, she looked up abruptly. The moment she saw clearly that it was me, the scissors in her hand clattered to the ground.
"How did you escape? Is Wei Wuyuan dead? Get back to the Eastern Depot right now. The bridal procession will be here any minute. If the Eastern Palace's people see you, we will both end up without a grave."
"I'm not leaving. Zhang Beiyu, I saw everything. The letter in blood left by Mother, and Wei Wuyuan's hidden hand. I know all of it. The one who killed my mother was the empress. You are going to the Eastern Palace to perish together with Li Chongjing, aren't you?"
"That madman, Wei Wuyuan. What does he know? Don't listen to his nonsense. Let go. I have to board the sedan chair."
"How much longer are you going to keep lying to me? You handed over all of the Zhang family's private ledgers to the Eastern Depot. You deliberately provoked Li Chongjing to make him launch his rebellion early. You used the lives of the entire clan to set a trap to satisfy the emperor's appetite. You beat me half to death and threw me into the Eastern Depot just to keep me away from tonight's execution of our entire family. Zhang Beiyu, do you think you are some kind of savior?"
"I set this trap. So what? The great mistake has already been made. Father's embezzlement of three million taels is already ironclad evidence. The empress wants the Zhang family dead. The emperor also wants the Zhang family dead. Aside from using Li Chongjing's life to pay the price, what other way out does the Zhang family have? I am the legitimate daughter of the Zhang family. This is the responsibility I must bear. But I cannot watch you die. Your mother was poisoned to death by the empress just to protect the Zhang family's secrets. I owe your mother a life."
"I don't want you to pay it back. I don't care about the Zhang family. I want to take you away. We are leaving right now. The world is so big. Wei Wuyuan won't find us. And the crown prince won't find us either."
"We can't escape. Wake up. His Majesty's inescapable dragnet has already been cast. The Eastern Palace will surely become a sea of fire tonight. If I don't go, Li Chongjing won't believe that the situation is secure, and the Zhang family's charges of treason will never be cleared. I must keep him steady. I must watch him drink that cup of poisoned wine."
Zhang Beiyu pushed me away hard. From the front courtyard came the sharp, high-pitched announcement of a eunuch.
"The auspicious hour has arrived. Will the crown princess please board the sedan?"
"I won't let you go. If you go, I will beat the Dengwen drum. I will shout in the streets that the crown prince is planning a rebellion. If we die, we die together."
"Nanji, take a good look at the spring waters of Jiangnan for me in the future."
In the next second, Zhang Beiyu's hand struck at an extremely tricky angle, chopping hard against the back of my neck. Just a second before losing consciousness completely, I saw in the shadows of the room a tall figure slowly walking out. It was Wei Wuyuan. He hadn't stopped me from escaping jail. Instead, he had followed me all the way here.
"Commander, take her away. Lock her in the lowest level of the imperial prison. After tonight, there will be no living members of the Zhang family left. She will be free."
"This commander never goes back on what he promised you. Eldest Miss Zhang, safe travels on the long road to the Yellow Springs."
"No."
Zhang Beiyu turned around, never to look back again, striding toward the sedan that led straight to hell.