Chapter 3: Rainy Night in the Imperial Mausoleum

Facing Cui Daoyuan’s scrutiny, Cui Wangshu showed no fear at all. She lowered her head and said, “I wasn’t in the mood last night, so I went to Xiaoyun Pavilion.”

Cui Daoyuan narrowed his eyes. “Men or women?”

Cui Wangshu replied, “Women. Father knows I have no interest in men.”

Cui Daoyuan said nothing, merely fixing his gaze on Cui Wangshu’s face and scrutinizing her closely for any flaws. After a long moment, he finally said, “As long as you keep mingling with those women and don’t say anything, it won’t ruin your reputation. But rumors and gossip could harm your official career. Once Prince Cheng returns triumphant, I will help you two marry.”

Cui Wangshu lowered her eyes and said respectfully, “Yes, Father. I have always kept my mission in mind.”

Cui Daoyuan flicked his sleeve and left with a cold snort, seemingly quite satisfied with Cui Wangshu’s obedience. Cui Wangshu watched his departing back, her eyes icy cold.

During the morning court session, someone reported that lately, the Capital City had seen many oversized rats with glowing red eyes—extremely eerie. At the Chaotic Burial Mound outside the city, graves had been dug up, and many corpses were missing. They suspected someone had revived the Corpse-Eating Rats from the decadent era of the previous dynasty.

Li Cong narrowed his slender phoenix eyes. “Corpse-Eating Rats? Didn’t the late Emperor ban them long ago?”

Cui Daoyuan said, “The late Emperor long ago prohibited the raising of Corpse-Eating Rats within Great Zhao. This was the rotten custom of the previous dynasty’s eunuchs—how could our Great Zhao tolerate such depravity? I request Your Majesty to order a thorough investigation, with me in charge. Within seven days, I will drag the culprit into the light.”

Li Cong said, “Good! My dear subject truly lives up to being my left and right arms. I entrust this matter to you—give me a satisfactory result.”

Cui Wangshu frowned. This matter was probably not so simple. The Corpse-Eating Rats issue had been raised by someone from the Emperor’s faction, yet it ended up handed to the Empress Dowager’s people. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like a trap. The Cui Family still saw her as a valuable piece right now; she absolutely could not allow the family to lose an arm because of this.

On the carriage back to the Cui Residence after court.

Cui Daoyuan rested with his eyes closed. Cui Wangshu didn’t dare disturb him and simply waited quietly at the side. After a long while, once the carriage had left the Forbidden City, Cui Daoyuan opened his eyes. “You’re not returning to your own residence but coming back with me—it’s about the Corpse-Eating Rats, isn’t it?”

Cui Wangshu said, “Daughter believes this is a trap set by the Emperor. Father must know that too.”

Cui Daoyuan snorted coldly. “The Emperor was once my student. His thoughts bear my shadow—how could I not know?”

Cui Wangshu asked, “Then why did Father take it on? Do you have other plans?”

Cui Daoyuan’s gaze drifted into the void. “Ever since the Emperor fell gravely ill, his temperament has grown increasingly effeminate. Haven’t you noticed?”

Li Cong had been on the throne for half a year, with only the Empress and no other concubines. But after that severe illness, his personality changed drastically. Not only did he hold grand selections to fill the rear palace with beautiful women from all over, he even deposed the Empress for the sake of an unremarkable consort’s child.

Cui Wangshu had once suspected there was more to it, but after witnessing Jiang Chenbi’s methods, she thought it might just be her way of extricating herself. In any case, Cui Wangshu had no intention of sharing these thoughts with Cui Daoyuan.

Seeing Cui Wangshu silent, Cui Daoyuan continued, “The Emperor is obsessed with women, his body growing ever more hollow. He listens to the ravings of sorcerers and seeks elixirs for immortality—it wouldn’t be surprising if he secretly raised Corpse-Eating Rats based on some hearsay, hoping for longevity. For the peace of Great Zhao, I must consider the common people.”

His words rang with false righteousness. Any outsider hearing them might think Prime Minister Cui was a benevolent official who loved the people like his own children. But Cui Wangshu knew her father’s wolfish ambitions beneath the hypocrite’s mask.

Cui Wangshu said, “Father loves the people as his own children. Daughter can only look up to you in admiration.”

The rest of the journey passed in silence. After dining with her mother that evening, Cui Wangshu prepared to return to her residence.

Before she left, Cui Daoyuan summoned her to his study. “Father knows you bear the Cui Family’s mission on your shoulders, and it’s hard to untangle those knots in your heart. You need some simple people to help you unwind. But outsiders aren’t safe. Why not let Father find a beautiful woman to keep in your residence? That way, you won’t need to go to Xiaoyun Pavilion anymore. If one isn’t enough, a few more will do. Just take care of your health.”

Cui Wangshu paused, thought for a moment, and said, “Naturally, I will follow Father’s arrangements. But Daughter has one woman she’s satisfied with—could we bring her into the residence?”

Cui Daoyuan narrowed his eyes. “From Xiaoyun Pavilion? Have you fallen for her?”

Cui Wangshu feigned surprise. “Father worries too much. That woman has no ambitions, but she does have some beauty. Keeping her around for amusement would be fine.”

Cui Daoyuan pondered briefly. “Very well. But Father has already sent people to search for some for you. Why not have them all enter together in half a month, once this matter settles?”

Cui Wangshu nodded. “As Father says.”

After leaving the Cui Residence, Cui Wangshu drank heavily at home. Eventually, overcome by the alcohol, she returned to her room to rest.

In the dark of night, within the Cold Palace, a black shadow slipped silently into the main hall. The beauty on the couch heard the movement behind her and said faintly, “I thought Minister Cui had her soul hooked by someone from Xiaoyun Pavilion tonight and wouldn’t come to me.”

Cui Wangshu narrowed her eyes. “Having me watched?”

Jiang Chenbi sat up. “Your father is watching you. Can’t I?”

Cui Wangshu poured herself a cup of tea to quench her thirst. “If he doesn’t know part of it, his suspicions will only grow.”

Jiang Chenbi drew near and sniffed lightly. “Drinking? With some woman from Xiaoyun Pavilion?”

Cui Wangshu rubbed her forehead. “It was just to fool my father. I never set foot in Xiaoyun Pavilion.”

Jiang Chenbi leaned forward gently, settling into Cui Wangshu’s lap and wrapping her arms around her neck. She said coquettishly, “Is Little Minister Cui explaining herself to me? But with your father’s temperament, if you really never went, how would he believe it?”

Cui Wangshu frowned and said coldly, “Get down. What kind of decorum is this?”

Jiang Chenbi didn’t retreat but leaned closer. “Unless you say it, I won’t.”

Cui Wangshu sneered. “Threatening me?”

With that, she stood abruptly. Jiang Chenbi lost her support and tumbled down, though her quick reflexes kept it from being too embarrassing.

Jiang Chenbi straightened her clothes and muttered, “No sense of romance.”

Cui Wangshu remained coldly impassive. “Why did you summon me?”

Jiang Chenbi curved her lips. “Didn’t you hear some strange noises in the secret chamber yesterday?”

Seeing Cui Wangshu still unwilling to respond, Jiang Chenbi stopped talking and gestured for her to follow.

The two came to a dry well. Jiang Chenbi looked at Cui Wangshu. “Little Minister Cui, I don’t know martial arts.”

Cui Wangshu stared at Jiang Chenbi, her probing gaze sweeping over that glib tongue. A chill brushed her nose tip. She looked up, and fat raindrops fell into her eyes.

In an instant, torrential rain poured down.

Cui Wangshu lit some dry grass she’d hastily gathered with a fire starter and tossed it into the well to gauge the depth roughly. She then adjusted the hemp rope on the winch to a suitable length, confirmed it was secure, and approached Jiang Chenbi. She said gravely, “The passage is narrow. Hold on tight to me.”

Jiang Chenbi met Cui Wangshu’s eyes, a sly glint flashing in hers that sent a chill down Cui Wangshu’s spine. But Jiang Chenbi said nothing and obediently complied.

After binding them together with the rope, Cui Wangshu descended into the well with Jiang Chenbi.

The passage was pitch black. The dry well had lacked fresh air for ages, filled with a putrid, decaying stench. The rain showed no sign of letting up.

Cui Wangshu lowered the rope slowly, her full attention on the distance to the ground. Soaked by the rain, their clothes clung tightly to their bodies. The surrounding chill contrasted sharply with each other’s body heat.

Jiang Chenbi was extremely close to her. In the cramped passage, their breaths mingled. By the faint moonlight, Jiang Chenbi seemed able to make out Cui Wangshu’s striking collarbone.

The dry well wasn’t deep, and they soon reached the bottom. As Cui Wangshu untied the rope, by the weak firelight, Jiang Chenbi spotted beads of blood in her palm.

Cui Wangshu acted as if it were nothing and lit a fire starter, examining the dry well. As expected, it concealed a passage.

Cui Wangshu sniffed and frowned. “Do you smell rotting flesh?”

Jiang Chenbi glanced at the dark passage ahead and smiled lightly. “Walk forward and you’ll find out.”

As Cui Wangshu moved to advance, Jiang Chenbi grabbed her wrist. Cui Wangshu said displeased, “What now? This minor injury is nothing.”

Jiang Chenbi rolled her eyes. “You don’t think I care about you, do you? Use this handkerchief to wrap the wound—lest the blood attract things that shouldn’t come.”

After handing over the handkerchief, she added snidely, “In such a narrow passage, no matter how skilled Little Minister Cui is in martial arts, you can’t use it. Better not invite trouble.”

Cui Wangshu said nothing, apparently agreeing with Jiang Chenbi’s logic. She wrapped the handkerchief tightly around her hand and raised a brow. “Shall we go?”

Jiang Chenbi raised a brow in return, brushed past Cui Wangshu, and jerked her chin. “Follow me.”

Cui Wangshu shook her head and trailed after her closely. Though behind, her ears were keenly attuned; the moment she caught a sound, she yanked Jiang Chenbi behind her and signaled silence.

She extinguished the flame and pulled Jiang Chenbi into a crouch, holding their breaths. The faint “rustle” in the passage grew louder, like the scuttling of some multi-legged insect.

Jiang Chenbi quietly took a sachet from her waist and sprinkled its powder in a small circle around them on the ground, then smeared the rest on their bodies.

The noise intensified. Cui Wangshu felt vibrations from the ground ahead and smelled the thickening rot in the air. Holding back her nausea, she sensed something huge passing right in front of them.

As her eyes adjusted to the dark, Cui Wangshu vaguely saw countless red points swarming past. Jiang Chenbi produced a vial from somewhere and smeared its liquid directly onto Cui Wangshu’s eyes.

The liquid was miraculous, granting night vision. Cui Wangshu saw hordes of enormous rats streaming by.

Each carried a grotesquely rotted corpse, gnawed beyond recognition, full of holes with maggots devouring the flesh, dripping corpse oil and fluids.

The rats’ eyes glowed red, their fur glossy, teeth razor-sharp, bodies the size of piglets—precisely the Corpse-Eating Rats raised by the previous dynasty’s eunuchs!

But before Cui Wangshu could fully process her shock, her peripheral vision caught something even larger. She turned slowly: more rats bore a colossal corpse like a small mountain.

The corpse’s owner must have been over two meters tall in life, weighing more than three hundred jin, to swell so massively in death. The procession of corpses and rats filled the entire passage; when it reached them, there’d be no way through. Cui Wangshu felt a twinge of despair.

Jiang Chenbi frowned tightly too. She’d scouted several times before and never encountered such a massive corpse. She’d thought the corpse tide would pass, allowing them to proceed.

The secret was so close now, but who knew if they’d see it? They might end up buried here.

Watching the approaching corpse, Cui Wangshu thought to go down fighting, her hand already on the dagger at her waist. But as she drew it, her foot caught on an uneven stone behind.

Silently, she pried at the stone. Unexpectedly, the wall they leaned against vanished, and they tumbled inside unawares.

Their commotion alerted the rats. The horde halted, red eyes fixating eerily on the noise.

Jiang Chenbi’s powder had some bewitching property; the rats that approached seemed addled and dared not advance. After milling about, the horde moved on.

The two tumbled and crawled deeper underground, rolling wretchedly into a smoother-walled area.

Cui Wangshu couldn’t grab anything to stop and could only clutch Jiang Chenbi tightly, lest the slender woman die in the passage before the end.

After what felt like an eternity, as if their organs had been scrambled and brains churned, they crashed onto flat ground outside the passage. Cui Wangshu’s clothes were torn to shreds, her scrapes innumerable.

Limping to their feet, they were awestruck by the grand Imperial Mausoleum architecture before them, forgetting their pains.