The matter of finding an antidote for Liu Yun was put on hold for the time being.
Fortunately, summer had arrived. According to Liu Yun, the poison didn’t flare up as severely in the summer as it did in the winter. Shen Yuezhuang still had time before the next winter to think of other ways.
But although the antidote search was stalling, the debt collection was proceeding very quickly!
Firstly, with the Xiongnu Khan captured alive, victory was imminent. There was no longer any need to argue about war or peace. Without the debate over war and peace, Shen Yuezhuang saved at least half her effort.
Secondly, that day at court, the Emperor had made it clear that this money was to be used to subsidize the Northwestern Army. So, paying back the debt now was equivalent to sharing in the army’s achievements for the nation!
No one was foolish enough to turn down such a good opportunity for merit, and also oppose the Emperor and the whole world at the same time.
Suddenly, Shen Yuezhuang’s rate of flipping through the account books couldn’t keep up with the rate people were paying back their debts!
The day after the court session, following the rest day, the doors of the Ministry of Revenue never rested. In just over ten days, seven or eight-tenths of the debts in the ledger were cleared.
For over ten days straight, Shen Yuezhuang was busy from morning till night. Apart from checking account books, she also had to deal with the officials who came to repay their debts.
The Emperor had said that day that many of the debtors were from families she had almost married into. And he was absolutely right! They were all old acquaintances now!
Vice Minister Zhao of the Ministry of Personnel, Grand Official Qian of the Censorate, and Lieutenant General Li of the Imperial Guard. By a happy coincidence, all three arrived on the same day!
While her subordinates were checking the accounts, Shen Yuezhuang entertained them on the side.
She had even borrowed a square table from a noodle stall outside. It was piled high with melon seeds, peanuts, and walnuts.
When repaying a debt, you had to make them feel comfortable, feel at home!
“Crunch, crunch.”
“Crack, crack.”
While papers were being rustled and accounts checked on one side, Shen Yuezhuang sat at the table, inviting the three officials to eat melon seeds and chat idly.
When Vice Minister of Works, Chen Chuan, arrived, he saw the four of them sitting around the square table by the window, each occupying one side.
He couldn’t tell what they had been talking about, but apart from Shen Yuezhuang, who looked incredibly energetic, the other three had embarrassed expressions and seemed to be about to take their leave.
However, Lord Qian among them brightened up at the sight of him, as if seeing a lifeline.
“Oh! Isn’t this Vice Minister Chen of the Ministry of Works!”
Lord Qian was from the Censorate and wasn’t familiar with the Ministry of Works… or rather, the Ministry of Works wasn’t familiar with any department.
Everyone in the Ministry of Works followed the lead of their Minister, Lord Lin, and was uniformly taciturn and not good at expressing themselves.
Lord Chen was about the same age as Shen Yuezhuang’s father. But perhaps due to the monotony of work at the Ministry of Works, Lord Chen looked a bit worn down, uncommunicative and somber.
He was used to being a loner. This was his first time repaying a debt. He was instantly surrounded by the group and pushed into a seat, four pairs of eyes staring at him intently.
It wasn’t their fault for being like this. Shen Yuezhuang was just too friendly and talkative!
She chatted about all sorts of things. Things like, “Doesn’t Young Master Zhao like the courtesan Ninth Lady at the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion? How are they doing now? Has he brought her into the residence? They should hurry up and have a child! Oh, they already have a child? Ah, so this happened ten months ago! Lord Zhao is truly blessed! This time, you can learn from the lesson of not raising your son well and raise your grandson properly instead!”
Then turning, “Young Master Qian doesn’t care about worldly conventions. Young Gentleman is not one to disdain the poor. I heard that Young Master Qian was even beaten for this young gentleman? Lord Qian is also blessed! Genuine lovers are rare in this world! Perhaps this will become a beautiful story passed down through the ages!”
Then turning again, “Lord Li…”
Shen Yuezhuang seemed to have forgotten why the engagement with the Li family hadn’t worked out. Her attendant, Chun Rui, stepped forward just in time. “Miss, Ms. Li, I mean, Young Master Li… he likes to wear women’s clothes.”
“Ah!” Shen Yuezhuang suddenly understood. An awkward silence followed. Then, after a moment, “Buddha has no form. Young Master Li sees through illusions and has achieved the great talent of returning to simplicity. Congratulations, Lord Li!”
Lord Zhao & Lord Qian & Lord Li: You don’t have to make conversation if you can’t. We don’t want to be congratulated like this!
The three exchanged glances, then simultaneously forced out smiles and grabbed some melon seeds from the table.
“Crunch, crunch, crunch.”
They had waited a long time for the accounts to be settled and had wanted to leave. But seeing Lord Chen arrive, they couldn’t bear to miss out on a bit of a show. So, suddenly, the office wasn’t busy, the memorials weren’t many, the children weren’t crying. The three of them sat down firmly.
But before they could speak, Lord Chen spoke first to express his thanks. “Lord Shen, thank you for recommending that physician a while ago. My son’s condition has improved a lot!”
Over a month ago, Lord Chen’s son had called off the engagement with the Shen residence due to a hidden ailment. This wasn’t exactly a secret in the capital. The nature of the hidden ailment was also not entirely unknown within the private quarters of the mansions.
Lord Chen didn’t seem to find it shameful at all. He expressed his thanks freely, asked someone to settle his office’s accounts, and then took his leave with a bow.
Watching Lord Chen’s retreating figure, Shen Yuezhuang let out a long sigh. “Lord Chen is wise in his foolishness, never clinging to illusions. Lord Chen is truly blessed!”
The three who hadn’t seen a show: …Would you like this blessing for yourself?
Shen Yuezhuang turned to face the three officials.
The light in her eyes, like a deity distributing blessings, was even brighter than before.
“My lords, how about a little more chat?”
Chatting was out of the question. So Shen Yuezhuang saw the three of them out.
Afraid that she would say something else in the few steps they walked together, they earnestly begged her to stay. Shen Yuezhuang smiled innocently and purely, her big eyes looking harmless. She looked up at the sky.
The sun was setting in the west, and the sky was filled with red clouds. It was the perfect time for dinner.
“No worries. After seeing you three off, I should also go into the palace to leech… I mean, report my progress.”
~~~
Due to the active repayment by all the officials, Shen Yuezhuang’s mission was progressing quickly, and she was visiting the palace frequently.
After greeting A Sang, who was waiting outside the Ministry of Rites, she prepared to head towards the Fu’an Gate.
It had rained the day before, so the day was wonderfully cool. Shen Yuezhuang found the sedan chair stuffy and decided to walk over instead.
As she reached the palace gate, she saw Lord Jiang standing outside.
Shen Yuezhuang greeted him with a practiced bow and cupped fist salute. “Lord Jiang, what a coincidence. Are you reporting your progress to the palace too?”
Unlike Shen Yuezhuang’s smooth progress, Lord Jiang’s case regarding the missing women had yielded no leads.
Since his last trip to the palace, when he had discussed with the Emperor about strengthening city defenses, there had been no more reports of missing women.
Either the perpetrators had fled upon hearing the news, or they were lying low because the situation was tense.
While it was a good thing that no one else had gone missing, it was also unsettling that the perpetrators hadn’t been caught.
“It’s not a coincidence.” Amidst the bustling crowd, Lord Jiang’s expression was solemn. “I was waiting for you.”
With that, he pulled Shen Yuezhuang to a secluded spot by the wall.
“Little Shen, remember you asked your men to send word to me earlier, asking me to look into the two women at the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion?”
Indeed, Ninth Lady and Rui Niang had disappeared. According to Second Brother Nie’s report, their last appearance was on the night of the fifteenth. But they hadn’t performed; they had been taken away without a sound.
The madam of the establishment said they had gone to entertain some guests and adamantly refused to reveal any more.
It was debatable whether this actually counted as a disappearance. And at the time, Jiang Heng had been afraid of alerting the enemy, so he hadn’t told Shen Yuezhuang to make it public. But today, the Ministry of Justice had brought in a case involving a brawl at the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion. Among those arrested was the pimp from the establishment.
Jiang Heng had interrogated him. The pimp said that Ninth Lady and the others were entertaining people from the palace!
After listening to his account, Shen Yuezhuang’s first thought was that they were entertaining Huang Dequan, the man she had seen that night.
Then she remembered Liu Yun’s cold, harsh words that day: “If it’s a woman, kill her. If it’s an official, execute him.”
But as far as Shen Yuezhuang knew, that matter had simply fizzled out. She had assumed Huang Dequan hadn’t been able to meet whoever it was. Now, she couldn’t be sure if it was Huang Dequan. So she just asked, “Lord Jiang, does this mean this case doesn’t count as a disappearance?”
Jiang Heng shook his head. “It can count.”
Shen Yuezhuang looked confused. “Huh?”
Jiang Heng lowered his voice further. “Now that the Empress Dowager is in charge of the imperial harem, she is very strict with the eunuchs. If she finds out about this, she will inevitably conduct an investigation and a clean-up.”
Shen Yuezhuang didn’t understand. “Wouldn’t that alert the enemy?”
“That was the old way of thinking.” Jiang Heng’s eyes shimmered with a wisdom that Shen Yuezhuang couldn’t quite grasp. “They’ve been hiding for too long. We need to strike the mountain to scare the tiger, only then can we lure the snake out of its hole!”
Shen Yuezhuang suddenly understood. “Lord Jiang came to see the Empress Dowager!”
Jiang Heng shook his head again, looking somewhat regretfully at Shen Yuezhuang’s head. He sighed. “If that were the case, I wouldn’t need to go through all this trouble talking to you here!”
“Then you…”
“It seems someone has planted eyes near me, so it’s inconvenient for me to make a move. You’re the most suitable person to deliver this message!”
~~~
Bearing the responsibility of two reports, Shen Yuezhuang entered the palace with a heavy weight on her shoulders.
After she finished her usual report on her accounts, as the Empress Dowager stood up to order the meal, Shen Yuezhuang grabbed her and ducked into the inner chamber.
Lord Jiang’s cautious attitude towards this matter made Shen Yuezhuang cautious as well. The inner chamber had small windows and was dim, not as bright as the outside. But it was precisely this kind of secrecy that suited Lord Jiang’s caution!
Beyond the partition, the footsteps of the palace maids were as light as a cat’s. The only sounds were the gentle clink of bowls and cups being set on the table.
Inside the partition, Shen Yuezhuang pulled Liu Yun to hide behind the screen, next to the rosewood chest.
The corner was cramped, with Liu Yun’s back against the chest.
Shen Yuezhuang had intended to wait for the maids outside to leave before speaking. But as she looked up, Liu Yun leaned in and gave her a deep kiss.
Over the past ten-odd days, Shen Yuezhuang had countless times pulled her aside in here to seek a kiss.
Especially around the middle of the month, when Shen Yuezhuang often stayed overnight in the palace. She would use the silvery moonlight streaming through the small window as cover to pour her surging, secret desires into their entwined lips and tongues.
Hidden deep like water, she held her like an antidote, wishing to devour her…
Today, Liu Yun was already weary from being busy with the tedious details of the Empress’s enthronement ceremony and the imminent return of the army. Seeing her beloved throw herself into her arms so eagerly, a dark glint deepened in Liu Yun’s eyes. Without waiting for Shen Yuezhuang to speak, she bent down and kissed her passionately!
Some things: the first time was madness, the second time was madness. By the third or fourth time, it had become routine.
A soft “thump” sounded as a body hit the screen. An official’s hat rolled out from behind the partition.
The palace maids outside didn’t dare to spare a single glance. After they finished serving the evening meal, they all withdrew.
As the wooden door creaked shut, the sounds from the inner chamber became even more unrestrained. Shen Yuezhuang, unsteady on her feet, was held firmly around the waist by Liu Yun.
Her eyes were filled with moisture, her lips red and swollen. Her breath ragged, Shen Yuezhuang supported herself on Liu Yun’s shoulder, her tone feigning innocence. “Why did you kiss me the moment you came in?”
Liu Yun let out a mocking laugh, as if she couldn’t believe she was being blamed for this. She leaned in and bit Shen Yuezhuang’s lip. “Didn’t you pull me in here to kiss?”
Liu Yun had given up on maintaining her cool restraint in front of Shen Yuezhuang. She had self-destructively and silently thrown the choice back to Shen Yuezhuang. Whatever Shen Yuezhuang wanted, she would just go along with it.
She had never been a good person capable of self-sacrifice. Being selfish was in her nature!
Shen Yuezhuang was her one exception. She wanted to give her this exceptional “goodness.” But her fragile goodness couldn’t withstand her greed and desire. Not overstepping was already her final line. Going back to being just old friends willingly… She couldn’t do it. She didn’t want to.
But Shen Yuezhuang was clearly unaware of the power she wielded. The flush on her face was still there, though whether it was from embarrassment was uncertain. Her tone was a bit petulant. “Who said that pulling you in here means I wanted to kiss?”
With that, Shen Yuezhuang reached into her robe and pulled out the pimp’s testimony that Jiang Heng had given her. “Here, Lord Jiang gave it to me.”
She then added, with an air of seriousness, “It’s official business!”
Although she had been mistaken, Liu Yun didn’t seem to feel the least bit embarrassed. Instead, she bit Shen Yuezhuang’s cheek in a gesture of punishment, as if blaming her for the misunderstanding. One hand took the testimony while the other picked up Shen Yuezhuang’s fallen official hat.
Shen Yuezhuang’s hair was in complete disarray, but she was oblivious as she followed behind Liu Yun. “Ninth Lady left the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion on the night of the fifteenth. They said she went to entertain someone from the palace. Was the person she met Huang Dequan?”
