Chapter 567
Qi Zhaoning
the next day.
The sunlight was scarce, with only a hazy gray-white peeking through the clouds in the east.
In the new house in Shaojiu Hutong, Chen Ji sat at the cold stone table, holding a piece of fine linen in his hand, wiping the whale knife repeatedly with extremely slow and heavy strokes.
The roof tiles rattled, and a dark cloud leaped onto his taut shoulder, meowing softly, "Didn't sleep all night?"
Chen Ji hummed in agreement: "I used to sleep in because I wanted to dream more, but I can't dream these past few days. I need to figure out a lot of things... Why did you only come back at dawn? Did you go to see the princess?"
Dark Cloud jumped from his shoulder onto the table and whispered, "I was afraid someone would harm her at the most crucial moment, so I kept watch all night."
Chen Ji finally stopped wiping his whale knife: "How is she?"
Wu Yun slumped listlessly on the table: "She's still kneeling before the statue of the Three Pure Ones, her back ramrod straight, but she's so thin she's practically unrecognizable. She didn't touch the food the eunuch offered her, only eating some of the discarded offerings. We need to rescue her quickly, take her to Li Ji to buy the softest brocade, and to Tianbao Pavilion to get the most fashionable hairpins and rings. She loves those clean white clothes, like freshly fallen snow… We need to burn that blue Taoist robe immediately; I don't want to see it again."
"Yes, let's get her out of here quickly," Chen Ji looked up at the sky, a hint of weariness in his eyes. "I used to think that time flies by and can't be held back, but now it feels like the days are frozen, and even a single day is so hard to endure."
The cloud meowed, "Six more days."
Chen Ji sighed, "Yes, there are still six days left."
Wu Yun asked curiously, "How are your injuries?"
Chen Ji spoke casually, as if he were talking about someone else: "It's alright."
Ninety strokes of the cane were delivered, breaking nineteen of the canes, yet Chen Ji's injuries were less severe than he had imagined. The first forty strokes had left his skin torn and bleeding, but by the time he dragged Yuan Wang back, he had fully recovered.
The change in reputation brought about by creating the two sections on "Establishing a State for the People and Benefiting the World," as well as the change in the furnace fire brought about by the four striped patterns, actually made him bear the punishment of being caned, without even the stripes being used.
When he returned to Shaojiu Hutong, the injuries he had sustained from the fifty strokes of the cane had healed overnight.
Suddenly, Wu Yun said, "By the way, I saw a strange little eunuch tonight. I saw him reading a book by moonlight under the Duixiu Hill in the northwest corner of the Imperial Garden. He read for a long time without moving. When I passed by, he suddenly turned to look at me and even greeted me."
Chen Ji pondered that what Wu Yun saw must have been Chang Xiu. This person was no ordinary person, as he could detect Wu Yun in the dark.
This person should be a confidant of the Prime Minister. Now he has been appointed as the commander of the Jiefan Guard. It is likely that after Lin Chaoqing's incident, the Prime Minister regained some of the power of the Jiefan Guard.
Strange, why isn't this kind of person a zodiac animal?
Just then, someone knocked on the courtyard gate.
dong dong dong.
Chen Ji looked up at the closed door, slowly wiping the whale knife with the burlap in his hand: "Who is it?"
A voice came from outside the door: "Chen Ji, it's me."
Qi Zhaoning?
Chen Ji frowned, picked up his sword, and stood up.
He lifted the latch and opened the door a crack.
In early autumn, Qi Zhaoning wore a long, dark brown Hangzhou silk robe with a high collar, the collar and cuffs embroidered with a finger-width gold trim. She wore no jewelry today, only a simple white jade hairpin holding her long hair in place.
Behind Qi Zhaoning was Qi Zhenzhu, still wearing a veil, while the Qi family's carriage waited far away outside Shaojiu Alley.
Chen Ji looked around for a moment, making sure there were only these two people outside the door, before returning his gaze to Qi Zhaoning's face.
Qi Zhaoning looked down at the whale knife in Chen Ji's hand, hesitating to speak.
The two remained silent for a long time across the threshold before Qi Zhaoning asked in a low voice, "Aren't you going to invite me... in for a while?"
Chen Ji pondered for a moment, then stepped aside to make way.
Qi Zhaoning walked straight in, looking around the courtyard.
The courtyard is a neat rectangle, paved with blue bricks. At the foot of the west wall, an old locust tree spreads its sparse branches, while a simple grape trellis stands by the east wall, where a horse is tethered quietly. It's not exquisite, but it's not shabby either.
Qi Zhaoning looked up at the eaves and slowly said, "I heard from my brother that this used to be the residence of Physician Yao. In the old days, if officials and nobles in the capital fell seriously ill at night, they would send them here, as it was more effective than sending them to the Imperial Hospital. I saw Physician Yao in the mansion when I was a child. He came to treat my grandfather, and he cured illnesses that others couldn't cure in just three days. After my grandfather recovered, my father casually said, 'Thank Buddha for his blessing,' and Physician Yao retorted to my father, 'I cured the illness, why are you thanking Buddha?'"
At this point, Qi Zhaoning couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Chen Ji was momentarily stunned; it did indeed sound like something his master would say. He turned and re-examined the small courtyard, only then realizing that Emperor Ning had given him his master's former residence.
Qi Zhaoning asked curiously, "What kind of person is Physician Yao?"
Chen Ji looked at Qi Zhaoning's back and said, "He's just a mean old man... Miss Qi, is visiting so early to advise me not to go to the brothel in six days?"
Qi Zhaoning didn't answer, but beckoned Qi Zhenzhu to bring a small white porcelain bottle: "This is the medicine that the Lao Jun Mountain Daoist Temple sends to my Qi family every year. Ordinary external injuries can be healed in a day, and more serious ones will take three days. Your injury from yesterday... does it still hurt?"
Chen Ji stood still, not taking the porcelain bottle, but instead cupped his hands and said, "It's alright, thank you, Miss Qi."
Seeing that he was unwilling to take it, Qi Zhaoning placed it on the stone table beside her and lowered her eyes: "Chen Ji, don't touch Feng hope."
Chen Ji was somewhat surprised: "Why?"
Qi Zhaoning said sincerely, "I heard from my second uncle and brother that they summoned the Qi family's officials to the capital last night and are waiting outside the Court of State Ceremonial for you to arrest Feng Xi today. Feng Xi is dishonest, but the witnesses and physical evidence are in the hands of the Qi family and can be destroyed at any time. They have agreed that if you kill Feng hope, they will destroy all the evidence and use it to convict you. At best, you will be exiled to Lingnan; at worst, you will be executed in the autumn."
Chen Ji said calmly, "Miss Qi is a member of the Qi family, why are you telling me these things?"
Qi Zhaoning stared into his eyes: "Today I am not a member of the Qi family, but simply Qi Zhaoning."
Chen Ji fell silent.
Qi Zhaoning smiled and said in a low voice, "Chen Ji, at first I was obsessed with the Four Dreams of Bianliang, and I always thought of you as Li Changge, and I always thought that you would treat me like that princess in the storybook. Later, when we got engaged, I would feel secretly happy when I heard the women in the capital talking about you and admiring you. You don't belong to them, you belong to me."
Chen Ji didn't speak, he just listened quietly.
Qi Zhaoning sighed softly: "But later I understood that you are not Li Changge, nor are you mine, you belong to someone else. When I saw you buying hairpins for Bai Li, I was so jealous that it felt like a cat was scratching at my heart. When I saw in the newspaper that you and Zhang Xia were walking side by side outside Chongli Pass, facing life and death, I was so jealous that I wanted to go crazy, but I knew that going crazy would be useless."
“I thought I hated you to death, but I couldn’t help but worry when I heard you were flogged. When I was young, I always felt that there were many stories in the opera that I couldn’t understand. I didn’t understand why some love looked like hate, and why some hate looked like love. Only after I experienced it myself did I understand that life is like this. It’s too absurd to say it’s love, and too absolute to say it’s hate. It can only be mixed together.”
Qi Zhaoning looked up at Chen Ji: "But we are engaged, destined to be together. I know you don't like me, but generations of our ancestors have all gone through this. At first, they didn't like each other, but as they lived their lives together, they got used to it. My grandfather didn't like my grandmother either, but now they respect each other and grow old together. You've become a member of the eunuch faction, and many people are cursing you—my father, my second uncle, my brother, the entire court are cursing you—but I don't care. As long as you promise me one thing, I'll immediately go back and beg them to stop making things difficult for you, stop pressuring you..."
Chen Ji asked, "What is it?"
At this point, Qi Zhaoning's voice carried a hint of pleading: "Chen Ji, please don't go to the brothel, okay? We're still engaged. If you go to the brothel to redeem a convict in such a grand manner, what will become of the Qi family? If you really like that Bai Li girl, I'll go to the brothel to buy her in six days. But you can't see her yet. Once things have calmed down in the capital, and we have a child, I'll allow her to be your concubine. Then I won't send her to Jinling; I'll let her stay by your side, okay?"
The courtyard fell silent. Chen Ji looked quietly at Qi Zhaoning before him. It was the first time he had ever seen the other man adopt such a humble posture. But he couldn't accept what the other man was saying.
Chen Ji finally sighed and said, "Miss Qi, I'm sorry."
Qi Zhaoning turned her back and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand: "Does it have to be like this? Even if I give in like this, it's not enough?"
Chen Ji hummed in agreement.
Qi Zhaoning, having made a decision, suddenly turned around and stared into Chen Ji's eyes: "I know you only have her in your heart right now, and only want to be with her forever, but you have no money. In six days, I will go to the brothel to buy her and take her with me, so that you can only be with me. What I want must be mine!"
After saying that, Qi Zhaoning brushed past Chen Ji and walked away without looking back.
The cloud meowed, "What do we do?"
Chen Ji shook his head: "Do it as originally planned. I'm going out. You stay home and get a good night's sleep."
He smoothed out the wrinkles in his robe adorned with the qilin emblem, then led his horse out of the liquor alley. (End of Chapter)