Chapter 25: Seeking Refuge

“This humble official is willing to follow Your Highness and wholeheartedly assist the Crown Prince. What does Your Highness think of it?”

Pei Wenxuan recognized that this was Li Kui, the Director of the Bureau of Arrests. He just looked at this man for a moment, not making a sound either. Li Rong heard the commotion outside and lifted the curtain with her golden fan. After seeing the officers from the Bureau of Arrests, she couldn’t help but laugh and call out: “Li daren?”

Li Kui didn’t expect Li Rong to know who he was, so he was a little surprised. He hurriedly saluted and said: “Greetings Your Highness. May Your Highness live a thousand years.”

“I wonder what Li daren is doing here?” Li Rong looked at Li Kui as she asked in a soft voice. Pei Wenxuan turned to the side and helped Li Rong roll up the carriage curtain.

“Reporting to the Princess.”

Li Kui heard Li Rong’s inquiry and respectfully said: “Today, merchant reported a case in Shuntian Prefecture, claiming that Pei daren killed his master. This official came here on orders to ask Pei daren to go to prison and cooperate with the investigation.”

“Does His Majesty know about this?”

“This humble officer knows that Pei daren has currently accepted the imperial decree to investigate the Yang clan’s case. However, this order was handed over to the Ministry of Justice from the Shuntian Prefecture office, and in turn, the Ministry of Justice reported it to His Majesty this afternoon. Only after receiving His Majesty’s will would this humble officer dare come.”

Li Rong couldn’t help but laugh when she heard this.

“A case that was reported this morning could be directly presented to His Majesty, even passing through the two divisional offices along the way,” Li Rong turned to Pei Wenxuan and smiled, “It seems that Pei daren is also a rather important person.”

Hearing Li Rong tease him, Pei Wenxuan also turned around and smiled: “It seems that I need to go with Li daren. Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan saluted as he declared, “As for what is to follow, this one can only rely on Your Highness.”

Li Rong nodded, then she seemed to have remembered something and asked: “Li daren, who was the merchant that came forward to report this?”

“Reporting to Your Highness,” Li Kui sternly responded without missing a beat, “The deceased victim was a foreign merchant named Tuoba Yan.”

Li Rong nodded. As expected.

Pei Wenxuan glanced at Li Rong. Li Rong gave him a reassuring look, then she said to Li Kui: “If this is the case, then Pei daren should go with Li daren, but Li daren,” Li Rong eyed Li Kui with a somewhat meaningful look in her eyes, “Bengong has heard that the prison in the Ministry of Justice is rather harsh. There would be no such thing as using torture to extort a confession, right?”

“No,” Li Kui hastily said when he heard this, “Your Highness can rest assured. This humble officer is only acting on orders. Pei daren is an upright gentleman, so this humble officer believes Pei daren and is only following the usual procedures. Nothing will happen to Pei daren.”

Li Rong heard Li Kui guarantee Pei Wenxuan’s safety and knew that Pei Wenxuan would not have many problems in prison, but after thinking about it, she still was not at ease and waved at Li Kui. Li Kui hurried over. Li Rong looked directly at him and lowered her voice, “Pei Wenxuan is currently one of Bengong’s people and may ‘continue’ to be one of Bengong’s people in the future,” Li Rong emphasized the word ‘continue’ as she stared at Li Kui, “Bengong will go to see Pei Wenxuan in prison every day. Li daren, do you understand what Bengong is trying to say?”

“Understood.”

Li Kui hurriedly responded in a low voice: “Rest assured, Your Highness, the Ministry of Justice will arrange a suitable cell for Pei daren.”

Li Rong nodded when she heard this. She looked at Pei Wenxuan and only said: “I will find you if there’s anything. Go on.”

Pei Wenxuan calmly smiled and said to Li Kui: “Li daren, please lead the way.”

Pei Wenxuan followed after Li Kui and left. Jing Lan climbed up onto the carriage and worriedly said: “Your Highness, if Tuoba Yan is dead…”

“It won’t be that simple.”

Li Rong tapped the small table and slowly said: “Consort Ning must have done this. She has lived deep in the palace for so long that she doesn’t understand these people’s means of protecting their lives.”

Li Rong nonchalantly said: “He is a foreigner who dares to do this kind of thing, dangerous as licking blood at the tip of the knife. He is capable of doing this kind of dangerous thing, so if he manages to escape now, he must have a hidden card up his sleeve to bring down the Yang family.”

As she spoke, Li Rong shook her fan and couldn’t help but laugh: “Did Consort Ning it will be over if Tuoba Yan is killed? She has to know that killing the donkey after unloading the mill is a taboo in business. Even if Tuoba Yan does not come back to take revenge, those who used to help them launder money will definitely strike. Otherwise, their circle will fall into the hands of the nobles like dough. Will it still be up to them?”

Merchants have no power. If not for their nature as ruthless people who could sink their teeths into flesh and tear it, how could they establish themselves in Huajing?

For that reason, Li Rong had no intentions of protecting Tuoba Yan from the very beginning. After all, it didn’t matter if Tuoba Yan died or not. As long as the Yang family dealt a blow to him, he would certainly be able to tear down the Yang family and let them bleed out.

Now that the account books have been obtained, they just needed to wait for an opportunity to let Li Chuan and Qin Lin go to the border station. Pei Wenxuan was currently in prison…

It may not necessarily be a bad thing.

Pei Wenxuan has been involved in too many outside, and the Yang family is vigilant, afraid that there would be more to come. Now that Pei Wenxuan was in prison, the Yang family could at least have some peace of mind.

Li Rong tapped the small fan in the palm of her hand as she thought to herself. She sat in the carriage, closed her eyes and headed straight to the palace.

Back in the palace, Li Rong went over to a table, took a piece of paper and wrote: “Leave the city at daybreak tomorrow. Look for Qin Lin at Jiulu Mountain. Don’t let anyone know.”

After she finished writing it, she handed it to Jing Lan and calmly said: “Give this note to the Crown Prince, and don’t let anyone find out.”

Jing Lan heeded the order. Li Rong walked into her room.

Not long afterwards, Li Chuan was discussing the Northwestern military front with his advisors when a servant brought tea. Li Chuan continued to speak as he picked up the tea. As soon as he took the cup of tea, he noticed that something about it did not feel right, but his expressions did not change. He calmly tucked the slip of paper away into his sleeve and waited until the discussion ended. He sent everyone away and returned to his room alone before unfolding the slip of paper and taking a look. He saw Li Rong’s handwriting and below her message was a secret sign that only the elder sister and younger brother knew.

Li Chuan had it planned out in his head and gave orders to a servant: “I will leave the palace tomorrow and go to Huguo Temple to pray for blessings for Mother Empress.”

After Li Chuan gave the order, the eunuch heeded the orders in a soft voice.

At this time, while the bright moon was shining in the sky, in Ming Le Palace, Consort Rou rubbed Li Ming’s shoulders and softly said: “Consort Ning caused such a great disturbance, is Your Majesty not concerned about managing the situation?”

Li Ming let out a low laugh: “What is there to manage? That kid Pei Wenxuan wants to be Zhen’s knife. If he can’t cut through all these things, then he might as well die.”

“Your Majesty,” Consort Rou sighed, “Fortunately, Ping Le didn’t marry Yang Quan. The Yang family is currently already raising trouble. If the Yang family and Shangguan family were bound by marriage, what kind of disaster would it be?”

Li Ming was silent. He picked up the cup of tea and blew on the tea to scatter the leaves on the surface.

“Indeed,” His voice was a bit cold, “I underestimated the Yang family.”

As he spoke, his voice dropped an octave: “I also underestimated the Crown Prince.”

The people in the palace could not sleep the entire night. Only Li Rong slept very well. When she got up early in the morning, she went directly to the Ministry of Justice to check on Pei Wenxuan’s situation.

She took a command token from the palace and used bribes to freely move about. She was able to uneventfully see Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan slept in the cell all night and looked very invigorated. Li Rong looked at him and couldn’t help but laugh: “Did you have a good time here in prison?”

“Certainly,” Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong and smiled, “Running back and forth day after day out there, I never got enough sleep. Now that I’m here, I don’t have to do anything all day, and I can sleep well.”

“Daren will have to stay for a while.” Li Rong took a step forward and approached Pei Wenxuan, “It might be best that daren stay in here for now.”

Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan also walked forward. The two of them leaned in very close despite being separated by wooden bars.

“Has Your Highness found that person?”

Pei Wenxuan asked in a low voice. Li Rong gave a monosyllabic response then quickly said: “You can just wait in here for a bit, I’ll be in here in a few days too.”

“You too?”

Pei Wenxuan was a bit baffled as he asked: “Why would you be sent in here?”

“The Yang family will make their move soon. When the time comes, I’m afraid the imperial court will take action. If I can’t get it under control, I will also be imprisoned. We will both stay in prison and wait for Chuan’er to go to the front lines and get the Yang family under control. Then, I will have people write memorials to the throne to release us.”

Pei Wenxuan pondered over Li Rong’s words for a moment before nodding. Li Rong took a look at his cell and said: “You’re living here now, so take a good look and learn how to live more comfortably, then pass on your experience to me.”

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

“Your Highness,” He had to remind Li Rong, “I think you may have more experience than me regarding this matter.”

“It’s been too many years,” Li Rong whispered back, “I forgot.”

Having said that, she quickly said: “I brought you some food and daily necessities. You can take care of it yourself, I’ll be going now.”

Pei Wenxuan nodded. The two of them stood facing one another for a moment. Li Rong couldn’t help but smile.

“I never thought that there would be a day I stand on this side of the cell and talk to you.”

“Treat it as an interesting experience.” Pei Wenxuan smiled softly, then just as he was about to persuade Li Rong to quickly leave, he heard someone respectfully call out at the doors: “Your Highness.”

Pei Wenxuan and Li Rong both shifted their eyes and saw Su Rongqing standing at the doors, respectfully saluting. He then straightened up and looked at Pei Wenxuan first before his eyes settled on Li Rong.

Then he laughed and softly said: “This humble official heard that Your Highness was here and came to find Your Highness.”

“Oh?” Li Rong raised her eyebrows, “What is the matter, Su daren?”

“Your Highness previously asked this humble official to retrieve the accounts from the Ministry of War. This humble official has done as Your Highness has ordered.”

Li Rong involuntarily stiffened when she heard this. She did Su Rongqing to get the accounts from the Ministry of War, but she didn’t expect that the people there would hand over the accounts so easily. She was afraid that they would push the issue back and forth, and she might even have to borrow Li Chuan’s people to get it done. Who would have thought that Su Rongqing actually got it done for her?

She was only a bit surprised, so she quickly recovered and laughed, “Su daren must have been troubled. Let us go over there then.”

Su Rongqing smiled and nodded before standing aside. Li Rong looked back at Pei Wenxuan and smiled: “Pei daren, Bengong is leaving first.”

Pei Wenxuan respectfully saluted and watched Li Rong leave.

Li Rong led Su Rongqing out of the Ministry of Justice. She got onto her carriage first, then she remembered Su Rongqing’s presence. She turned around and said, “If Su daren does not mind, how about riding together with Bengong? Anything that needs to be discussed can be discussed during the carriage ride. When we reach the Ministry of War, we will check the accounts directly.”

Su Rongqing respectfully saluted then got onto the carriage.

After getting onto the carriage, he sat opposite of Li Rong and maintained a proper distance in a courteous manner.

Li Rong felt familiar yet unfamiliar with Su Rongqing like this. In her memory, she and Su Rongqing were like this before he came to the mansion.

There is a bit of thoughtfulness in his gentleness and courtesy. He is indeed an upright gentleman everyone praises.

The two were silent. After a while, Su Rongqing poured tea for Li Rong and calmly said: “Now that Pei daren is in prison, how does the Princess plan to investigate the Yang family’s case?”

“Normal procedures. First, check the Ministry of War’s accounts, then after negotiating with the Yang family, take the testimonies of subordinates in their residence.”

Su Rongqing listened quietly without saying a word. Li Rong raised her eyes: “What does Su daren think?”

“Why did Your Highness and Pei daren go to Tuoba Yan’s villa?”

Su Rongqing suddenly asked such a question. Li Rong slightly chuckled: “This must be a question I should ask Su daren. Su daren happened to be in Tuoba Yan’s villa and save Bengong just in time. How could there be such a coincidence?”

“There are no coincidences in this world, only intentional actions,” Su Rongqing slowly said, “I originally went to Tuoba Yan’s villa and saw the Princess and Pei daren at the banquet early on. In order to not run into one another, I avoided both of you, but I was concerned that something might happen to the Princess, so I prepared a dancer’s costume beforehand and waited for the Princess to come.”

Li Rong never thought that Su Rongqing would answer so frankly. She tapped the fan in her hand and said in an unhurried manner: “Su daren is only supervising the case. I wonder why Su daren is actively investigating the case and helping Bengong in this way. It is a bit difficult to understand.”

Su Rongqing held the cup of tea and took a sip.

“This humble official wishes to give the Princess proof of allegiance.”[1]

Su Rongqing spoke slowly. Li Rong paused. Then she saw Su Rongqing bring his eyes up to quietly observe her: “This humble official is willing to follow Your Highness and wholeheartedly assist the Crown Prince. This one wonders,” He gave Li Rong a meaningful look. “What does Your Highness think of it?”

[1] Lit. cast a name (like cast a vote of confidence) — phrase used in The Water Margin to describe a rite of passage to prove allegiance, ie. eliminating a political adversary.