《一世真》中英翻译 CH. 14
--------
The pond is not deep. A team of imperial guards and other servants have jumped in after Prince Jing, and within a few moments, both Jingyan and Tingsheng are safely out of the water. In the meantime, Nie Feng has captured the maid, though her lips are tinged with purple and her eyes already dilated.
“Blast! She swallowed poison!” the commander shouts in dismay. He flips her around and tries to make her vomit, but all she coughs up is some bloody spit and then dies before they bring her to the emperor.
“How dare someone try to harm my grandson! They think that since Prince Qi and Noble Consort Chen are not here, they can get away with this?!” the seething emperor slaps the table hard in the banquet hall, everyone else kneeling before his anger, including Mu Qing and Nihuang who have just returned from Noble Consort Yue's place.
“He is just a baby! What kind of cruel and sadistic person could shove him into the freezing waters??” he screeches hoarsely, then points a trembling finger at the dead maid below, “dismember her body and feed it to the dogs! Find out where and whom she serves!”
Eunuch Gao enters the hall in a hurry and reports, “Your Majesty, Prince Jing and the Imperial Physician are here.”
“How is Chengting?” asks the emperor hastily.
“Your Majesty, the young prince is still in a coma,” replies the physician, head bowed low, “He is too young to endure such harsh cold waters, I am afraid that……”
The emperor takes a menacing step forward, “Afraid what?”
“That he may be on bed-rest for a long time, even when he is completely cured,” the man almost bites his tongue in his hurry to finish the sentence.
“Dammit!”
“Thank goodness that Prince Jing saved him on time, otherwise…” the imperial physician trails off.
The emperor turns his attention to his seventh son, who has been kneeling quietly since entering the hall, his face drawn and ashen, “You've done well this time.”
Jingyan is covered with Nie Feng's cape, his fingers blue with the cold as he bows, “I happened to see the nanny pacing outside the banquet hall, and she told me that the young prince had gone missing, so I enlisted the help of Commander Nie Feng with the imperial guards to search for him. When we arrived at the gardens, I heard the young prince yelling for help and saw this woman push him into the pond!” his fingers are trembling uncontrollably with lingering fear.
“Your Majesty,” ventures the physician, “the young prince was holding onto this handkerchief when we got him out of the water, perhaps it belongs to the criminal?”
The emperor squints at the handkerchief but is too far to see clearly, “Bring it closer,” he commands.
Eunuch Gao's expression freezes immediately when the physician passes him the handkerchief. He hands it to the emperor and points at the embroidered flower with emphasis. Eyes fixed on the offending object, the emperor's face grows more and more livid, and he rasps out in unrestrained fury, “Find everyone in the palace who uses this kind of handkerchief!!”
His sons have never seen him in such an enraged state before and can only exchange bewildered glances with each other in their shock. Prince Xian has been in a disbelieving trance ever since he saw Nihuang and Mu Qing also present in the hall, knowing that his Mother's plot failed. Prince Yu says after a brief pause, “I would like to be of service---” only to be harshly cut off by the emperor.
“No, not you. Jingyan, I leave this matter in your hands. This is a Hua pattern, find everyone who has it! Those rebels want my grandson dead, I will kill them all!” commands the emperor.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” comes Jingyan’s only reply.
----------------------------
Lin Shu had wanted to come back to the capital before the New Year's, but his request was delayed due to the mailing distance, so when he finally got the emperor's permission to return, it was only two days before New Year's Eve. Weighing the options, he decided to spend the New Year's with his soldiers in the base at Bianzhou, and then take his time to return. Three days later, in a rest stop not far from the capital, he overhears the terrifying news about what happened in the palace when he was indulging in drunken revelry: Prince Qi's son pushed into the freezing pond, and Jingyan wholly responsible for rounding up every Hua person as per the imperial decree.
This task should have gone to the Xuanjing bureau, but they are also swamped with a new case: the servants sent by the emperor to deliver royal dishes to homes of nobles and officials were all attacked on the same night, and only one out of twelve teams returned unscathed. The emperor was furious over this series of incidents both within and outside the palace, and immediately dismissed Nie Feng from his duty as Commander of the Imperial Guards. Instead, Meng Zhi, who was the Vice Commander and also one of the few men that escaped from the attackers, took his place. The Xuanjing bureau has mobilized all the personnel to find the perpetrators.
------------------------------------
Finding all the Hua people within the kingdom is no small feat, and the emperor knows that it would be an arduous and slow process, so imagine his surprise when only two days later, Jingyan comes to him with a two-page list full of Hua spies embedded in the homes of nobles and high-ranking officials.
Shocked, the emperor inquires how Jingyan obtained the list, and Jingyan says that he found girls using similar patterns in the servant's prison. After a brief interrogation, they revealed a hideout in the city, where this list was found. He then adds that it is all thanks to the hard work of the officials from the Ministry of Justice that they were able to extract so much information so quickly.
In reality, nothing useful came out of that interrogation; they did find the hideout but it was empty except some everyday objects; it certainly did not have the list. Mei Changsu was the one who compiled the list in the last life after years of careful surveillance, and Jingyan has merely duplicated it except for a few who are too young to be active now.
The emperor orders for a personal interrogation of those girls, who initially are skeptical of the existence of this list, but after hearing a few names, they pale alarmingly and commit suicide by biting their tongue, their last words some repentant howl that they have failed their princess.
“Looks like this list is real, even the gods are on our side. Arrest everyone on here right away,” orders the emperor, then adds, “kill everyone who resists, and...if you find anyone of Hua royal blood, send them directly to me, not to the Ministry of Justice.”
Jingyan knows whom the emperor has in mind; when those Hua girls yelled out ‘Princess’ earlier, he saw his Father's abruptly frozen expression.
With her still alive, his secrets are not safe.
With her still alive, his kingdom is always at risk.
“If she also resists capture?” asks Jingyan.
The emperor's face twists into a venomous scowl, not even bothering to hide from his son, “......Then kill her too. Remember this is your task, do not let anyone else interfere, be it the Ministry of Justice or other nobles.”
“I understand.”
“Then you may go. I wanted you to have a relaxing New Year's, but that will have to wait until this matter is settled,” he waves Jingyan off, then pauses, “aren't you going to speak for Nie Feng?”
Jingyan counters calmly, “Why does Your Majesty ask? Nie Feng was responsible for the safety of the entire palace, and something so grave happened under his watch. If his negligence goes unpunished, it would propagate a lax attitude in other officials too.”
The emperor feels relieved at Jingyan's mature response.
---------------------------
When Lin Shu finally enters the capital, he encounters Lie Zhanying who is busy sending a group of men into the house of Chancellor Liu Cheng. Lin Shu shouts a greeting and receives a curt nod in return. The men come out shortly after with a middle-aged woman, her hands bound. By now, a rather sizable crowd has gathered to watch the guards march away with the her.
Before he goes back home, Lin Shu first goes to the palace to hand in his military report, then goes to greet the Grand Empress, who keeps him there, prattling on for quite a long time. With everything done, Lin Shu finally returns to his own home.
His mother cannot stop looking at him after being apart for so long, and her eyes tear up at the thought of the bleak conditions at Bianzhou. Lin Shu tries his hardest to take her mind off such melancholy thoughts, saying that he was always the one eating all the meat from the pot, eventually earning a teary laugh from her.
At a long yawn from Lin Shu, his mother sends him immediately to his rooms for a nap.
Back on his bed, however, sleep eludes him. He tosses and turns for another hour, then decides that he can still do the things he did in his youth, and promptly climbs over the wall towards Jingyan's place. When Jingyan first moved in there, Lin Shu would always find a new excuse everyday to keep him company. Now he knows the route by heart.
He's made it to Jingyan's bedroom door without being detected, internally cheering at his own stealth, he realizes that Jingyan is not alone. A voice coming from the inside is clearly a girl's. Lin Shu raises an eyebrow in interest when he recognizes Nihuang's voice.