As the saying goes, it’s easy to invite a god but hard to send one away. Liu Cuicui and Old Lady Liu had settled into the west room at Embroider Maiden’s house. For three straight days, whenever Eldest Sister Li came by to check in, she lobbed a few sarcastic jabs. But Liu Cuicui acted as though she hadn’t heard a word and refused to budge.
It wasn’t as if Embroider Maiden could be too harsh with her words—not with Old Lady Liu there too. Besides, the sun was beating down mercilessly these days, turning the air thick and sweltering. Without Li Tieniu to fetch them, Old Lady Liu could hardly manage the dozens of miles of rugged mountain road back home.
Every day, Embroider Maiden served them the finest polished rice and steamed buns. In return, she got nothing but Liu Cuicui’s increasingly envious glares. The girl stuffed her face until grease dripped from her chin, all while muttering passive-aggressive barbs.
Worried that Embroider Maiden might get taken advantage of, Eldest Sister Li left her sharpest daughter, Er Ya—the quickest wit and smoothest talker of the bunch—to help out. Er Ya bunked with Embroider Maiden in the east room. During the day, she kept an eye on the courtyard for her. And whenever Embroider Maiden was out, Er Ya stood guard at the east room’s doors and windows, backed by their four loyal dogs. Liu Cuicui couldn’t even get close.
That was how Embroider Maiden finally held out until word came that Zhang Cheng was returning home in glory. Zhang Shuisheng—her second brother-in-law—gave her the heads-up a day early: Zhang Cheng would be back in the village tomorrow, with the ancestral rites at the hall the morning after.
Embroider Maiden was thrilled. She barely slept a wink that night.
On the day of the rites, she donned a smart new outfit and set out bright and early. She waited in the shade, about an arrow’s shot from the Zhang Family Village Ancestral Hall.
The ceremony dragged on for a full two hours. Amid a barrage of firecrackers, a blue plaque with gold lettering was hung in a prime spot inside the hall. It bore four gleaming golden characters: “Cradle of a Jinshi.”
The village chief and Village Head threw a feast. But Zhang Cheng? He was far too proud for that. Back when he’d been down and out, no one had outright tormented him, but plenty of gossip had spread. Now that he’d endured all those setbacks and finally passed the exams with flying colors, he had no interest in settling old scores come autumn. Still, smiling and making nice with the local gentry and elders? Out of the question.
With an official post to his name now, when Zhang Cheng said he wasn’t going, no one dared press him. Instead, the village chief and Village Head made excuses for him, smoothing the way.
The feast had to go on regardless—this was cause for celebration. Even without Zhang Cheng, the villagers were eager to make merry.
But the banquet hall lay in the opposite direction from Zhang Cheng’s home. As the crowd spilled out from the ancestral hall, they split into two groups: the village chief and Village Head led the Zhang Family Village folk eastward, while Zhang Cheng and Zhang Shuisheng headed west.
Zhang Shuisheng had squared things beforehand with the village chief and Village Head. He claimed he needed Zhang Cheng to name his son, so it was only natural to walk out with him.
Once the village chief’s group was well out of sight, Embroider Maiden slipped out from behind the tree and hurried after Zhang Cheng and Zhang Shuisheng, keeping a discreet distance.
Zhang Shuisheng could still chat easily with Zhang Cheng. They were about the same age, childhood friends who’d grown up together—though Zhang Cheng had gone off to school after just a few years of play. Zhang Shuisheng’s family was upright folk, never speaking ill of him over the years. And later, they’d worked together writing Spring Festival couplets. So even now that Zhang Cheng was County Magistrate, he remained cordial toward Zhang Shuisheng.
The road wasn’t the place for serious talk, so Zhang Shuisheng filled the time with village news from after Zhang Cheng’s departure. He planned to fill him in on Wu Wei’s situation once they reached the Zhang Family home.
“Second Brother-in-law! Brother Zhang Cheng!” Embroider Maiden called, breathless from running. The two turned to see her. Zhang Shuisheng glanced at Zhang Cheng, who gave a faint smile, cupped his hands toward her, and said, “Miss Liu, good to see you’re well. Why didn’t Wu Wei come with you?”
Zhang Shuisheng seized the opening. “Even if Weiwei wanted to come, she couldn’t. She’s in trouble.”
Zhang Cheng’s expression shifted. Gravely, he said, “We’ll talk at my house.” With that, he quickened his pace ahead.
Embroider Maiden hurried to catch up, falling in beside Zhang Shuisheng behind Zhang Cheng. The two exchanged a glance: Weiwei was saved!
At the Zhang Family home, a servant brought three cups of tea before Zhang Cheng dismissed him. Zhang Cheng took a sip from his cup and asked, “What happened to Wu Wei?”
Zhang Shuisheng and Embroider Maiden shared a look. Zhang Shuisheng recounted the whole affair from start to finish, with Embroider Maiden chiming in where needed. At this point, she knew there was no hiding it anymore, so she revealed Wu Wei’s connection to Dongfang Rui as well. Zhang Cheng listened, brows furrowed, silent for a long moment.
Embroider Maiden and Zhang Shuisheng grew anxious. Her hands clutched at the fabric of her skirt as she asked softly, “Brother Zhang Cheng? What’s wrong?”
Zhang Cheng sighed. “If Wu Wei had merely offended the court in session, with my current position—even greasing a few palms—it wouldn’t be hard to spring her from the Heavenly Prison. But…”
Those few breaths felt like an eternity to Embroider Maiden, as if Zhang Cheng were weighing his words carefully. At last, he continued, “Qinglu County is far from the Capital; news travels slow here. But this business has some real entanglements. If Zhang Kuan plays it right, forget me—even the Prefect or Provincial Governor couldn’t force his hand.”
Zhang Shuisheng couldn’t hold back. Leaning forward, he pressed, “Brother Zhang Cheng, don’t keep us in suspense. What’s really going on?”
Zhang Cheng sighed again, lowering his voice. “You’ve seen the Imperial Court’s arrest warrant—dead or alive. But do you know who Dongfang Rui killed? The Fourth Prince!”
“The Fourth Prince?!” Embroider Maiden gasped. She’d never heard tales of this Fourth Prince, but she knew what it meant to be an imperial son—his status was beyond measure.
Zhang Cheng went on. “By rights, I could’ve come back sooner, but this shook everything up. The whole Capital went into lockdown. Officials from every department searched house to house. Leaving the city meant passing layer after layer of checkpoints. Yet Dongfang Rui vanished into thin air. They turned the Capital upside down and still came up empty. That’s when the Court issued the arrest warrant. The Fourth Prince was the Crown Prince’s full brother—the Empress had only two sons who reached adulthood: the Crown Prince and him. I heard from fellow exam graduates in the Capital that the Crown Prince was named heir as a child and lives in the East Palace, so his bond with the Empress isn’t as close as the Fourth Prince’s. That one was raised in the Empress’s own palace, under her personal care, until he was thirteen and got his own residence. Even then, he paid his respects morning and night. He even married a niece from the Empress’s own clan—the wedding was her doing, start to finish. Word is, when she got the news of his death, the Empress fainted dead away. She was still abed, ill, when the arrest warrant went out. Now every local office is walking on eggshells—they all want to catch Dongfang Rui themselves but dread her turning up in their jurisdiction only to get nabbed by someone else!”
Embroider Maiden felt her strength drain away. Her mind flashed to a story Weiwei had once told her: “When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer.” Wasn’t Weiwei exactly that unlucky fish, living quietly in distant Qinglu County, thousands of miles away?
Zhang Shuisheng panicked too. He never imagined the celebrated figure from those tales would assassinate imperial blood!
Just as Zhang Cheng said—if Zhang Kuan used this to hold Wu Wei, no one could touch him. You didn’t defy Heaven’s wrath. Better to kill the wrong person than let the guilty go free!
Embroider Maiden had never felt so powerless. Dongfang Rui. The Fourth Prince. The Empress. Any one of those names was enough to crush her.
She was just a common Embroider scraping by on her needlework. Events had spiraled far beyond what she could handle.
Her teeth sank into her lower lip, eyes reddening as she trembled yet declared firmly, “Weiwei’s innocent! I can vouch for her!”
Zhang Cheng raised a hand to stop her. “Don’t say that again—not unless you want to join her in the Heavenly Prison when we fail to get her out.”
“But…”
Zhang Cheng cut off her protest. “We need to think this through carefully. For now, the priority is keeping quiet about her Bright Mirror Division ties. The Bright Mirror Division isn’t what it used to be. The day it happened, the Ministry of Justice and Imperial Guards sealed it jointly. The seals only came down two days before I left the Capital. Who knows how many from the Division ended up in the Heavenly Prison under torture? You’d best head to the County Yamen Jail right away. Tell Wu Wei to watch her words—don’t mention anything she shouldn’t. Distance herself from it all. Don’t give Zhang Kuan any shadows to chase.”
“I’ll go now!” Embroider Maiden shot to her feet.
Zhang Cheng nodded, then turned to Zhang Shuisheng. “If the boy’s name isn’t urgent, give me a few days to think it over properly.”
“No rush. I’ll call him by a nickname at home for now. Weiwei comes first.”
“Good. Let me mull it over.”
Zhang Shuisheng asked cautiously, “Any chance of success?”
Zhang Cheng pondered. “As long as Dongfang Rui wasn’t caught here in Qinglu County, Zhang Kuan can’t move against Wu Wei. Anyone sentenced to execution gets reviewed by the Ministry of Justice at year’s end—they check the dossiers and send back approvals. Only then, next autumn, does the deed happen. The Ministry isn’t staffed by fools. Qinglu County is thousands of miles from the Capital—how could Wu Wei be involved? Zhang Kuan wouldn’t dare forge that. He’s already taken his lumps with the rod. Right now, he’s just sitting on her, refusing to release.”
His words sent a chill through Embroider Maiden—death sentences, executions—until the end, when color returned to her pale face.
Barely holding herself together after leaving Zhang Cheng’s place, the Embroider Maiden’s knees buckled. She sank to the ground. Zhang Shuisheng hurriedly helped her to her feet.
“Third Sister, you have to take care of yourself,” he urged. “All the arrangements outside depend on us. If you collapse, what will happen to Weiwei?”
“Second Brother-in-law, I need to go to the County Yamen.”
“Alright. I’ll borrow an ox cart right now. I’ll go with you!”
The Embroider Maiden went home first. She brought Wu Wei a new quilt, two fresh sets of clothes, and several vegetable dishes she had made by hand—ones Wu Wei particularly liked. She loaded them all onto the cart.
Zhang Shuisheng whipped the old ox, which let out mournful moos as they jolted along the bumpy road to the jail.
The guard on duty wasn’t someone they knew, but enough silver could bend any rule. The Embroider Maiden handed over two taels, and the jailer unlocked the cell door for them before stepping away to the entrance.
Wu Wei could already sit up by then. Her wounds had mostly healed, though her waist still ached—a pain she suspected came from a cracked bone. She spent most of her time lying on her stomach to rest.
She lit up with joy at the sight of the Embroider Maiden. When she spotted Zhang Shuisheng, whom she hadn’t seen in ages, Wu Wei cried out in delighted surprise, “Second Brother-in-law!”
The Embroider Maiden didn’t rush into explanations. She waited until Wu Wei had finished her meal before laying out the situation.
The cell was utterly quiet. Zhang Shuisheng and the Embroider Maiden fixed their gazes on Wu Wei, but she showed no sign of panic. Coming from the modern world, she wasn’t burdened by all the feudal scruples of this era. The death of a single prince hadn’t rattled her in the slightest.
Ever since the Embroider Maiden had told her a few days earlier about Zhang Cheng returning as a successful scholar, Wu Wei had been mulling over fresh strategies for getting out.
She let out a long breath, her brows smoothing out. “Second Brother-in-law, you know Zhang Cheng better than anyone. How sincere do you think his offer to help is? And how much pull can he really bring to bear?”
Zhang Shuisheng thought it over for a moment. “Since he shared the straight news from the Capital with us and suggested we take the long view, I believe he’s genuine about helping. Zhang Cheng has a quirky temper, but he’s a man of true character.”
Wu Wei nodded. “In that case, I’ve got an idea. Go back and run it by Zhang Cheng—see if he thinks it’s feasible.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“I want to change my official residence to Clear River County!”
“Change it to Clear River County?”
“That’s right. If I register my household there, even if they lock me in prison, it wouldn’t be up to Qinglu County’s magistrate to hold me. And if they’re investigating any connection between me and Dongfang Rui, that trial should fall to Clear River County’s magistrate. The Imperial Court is treating this case with the utmost seriousness. If Zhang Kuan stubbornly refuses to let me go, he’s bound to draw suspicion of trying to steal all the credit.”
