In all her years as an official, Yun Qian had faced countless thorny problems, and always weathered them. Against this woman’s counsel, she felt helpless.
What she faced now was more than imperial power—it was the will of the people…
She looked at the woman, speaking hesitantly: “Who else was involved in the Warm Valley affair? Write them down. If they’re in our dynasty, I will pursue them.”
The woman laughed coldly. “Who are you?”
“Yun Qian.” Yun Qian was overwhelmed with guilt.
The woman’s smile faltered. The contempt faded. The Prime Minister was the head of all officials—she could seek justice for the people.
She composed herself, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Prime Minister Yun, the Empress Dowager has accepted a woman. Can you free her? Can you make the noble ladies led by the Empress Dowager abandon their pursuit of eternal youth and beauty?”
Pain settled into Yun Qian’s chest, gnawing at her. She couldn’t do it.
If the ruler wants a minister dead, the minister must die.
But how could a minister control the ruler’s desires? She could only offer remonstrance.
In her past life, she had knelt before the hall begging the Emperor to abandon his plan to make that woman Empress. She knelt until her knees ached, and still the Emperor hadn’t changed his mind.
This time, even if she exposed the Warm Valley affair, the Empress Dowager wouldn’t give up.
She closed her eyes. The murderous aura that had seeped from her bones vanished in that moment. She was a minister, eating the dynasty’s salary, serving the people.
Loyalty to the sovereign, dedication to the people—that was her core. But this time, her conviction was crumbling.
“Take it slow. There’s always hope. Leave now. Be free. I’ll give you silver.” Yun Qian was lying to herself, and to the woman as well. But hope still stirred within her. She added, “If a citizen of the Southern Dynasty committed a crime, I will pursue it to the end. Please trust me.”
“I truly don’t understand why the Prime Minister would involve herself in this. It has nothing to do with you or your people. Why interfere?” The woman remained wary.
Yun Qian smiled bitterly. “Perhaps because a blade only hurts when it cuts one’s own flesh.”
The woman was even more confused, but she accepted the Prime Minister’s kindness. “I’ll await the Prime Minister’s good news. I won’t leave the capital, but I won’t show myself in public either.”
After the interrogation, Gu Huangying returned, reeking. The moment she entered the Ministry of Justice, she received countless disgusted looks. She had no energy to care.
But she’d heard that the Prime Minister had summoned the Capital Governor—the doors wide open, sounds of scolding emanating from within.
Suddenly, she wanted to run. She didn’t want to touch that hot iron. Just as she turned, the Capital Governor emerged, official hat in hand, face dejected.
Suspended from office, sent home to grow sweet potatoes.
The Prime Minister didn’t have the power to dismiss him, but she could suspend him. The Capital Governor was simply unlucky—hauled in after dark, yelled at, then suspended and sent home.
He was utterly confused and instinctively asked Gu Huangying about it. Gu Huangying was equally baffled. “Someone filed a complaint and you ignored it—that’s punishable, sure. But it’s not that big a deal. How did it cost you your position? Which case did you ignore?”
“I forgot! I can’t even remember what it was about.” The Capital Governor’s hair was turning white with worry. He had no one to complain to.
Gu Huangying gave him a withering look. “Ignoring complaints means you’d better get used to growing sweet potatoes at home. The Prime Minister has been in a foul mood lately. Pray for yourself.”
“I heard she’s about to hold a wedding banquet. Why would she be in a foul mood?” The Capital Governor assumed newlyweds would be happy—jubilant, overjoyed.
Unless she didn’t want this marriage.
As if discovering some earth-shattering secret, he whispered to Gu Huangying, “Lady Gu, is the Prime Minister not happy about getting married?”
“How could she not be? The two of them are inseparable—glued together like one person. You’re overthinking.” Gu Huangying shoved him. “You’d better go think about whose cases you’ve been blocking.”
“How could I possibly remember? There are too many!” The Capital Governor wailed. He complained to Gu Huangying: “These years, some cases I simply didn’t dare touch, didn’t dare try. I’m only a small official!”
“Does the Prime Minister not know that? It’s probably not a big case—something related to the people’s livelihood.”
“Really? Then there are even more!”
Gu Huangying stared at him. “You should go home and grow sweet potatoes.”
The Capital Governor: “…”
The moonlight was deep. The Ministry of Justice blazed with lights. The Minister of Justice lounged in his chair, yawning lazily. No one in the entire Ministry dared leave, forced to accompany the Prime Minister in her madness from the inner room.
The Ministry personnel searched through case files. Any case related to the Northern Frontier was pulled out and re-investigated.
No one dared question the superior’s decision. The subordinates just had to stay up working.
The Capital Governor suspended—his subordinates’ eyes were wide open. No one dared slack off, lest they be sent home too.
After hours of searching, more than ten cases were found and presented to the Prime Minister.
But upon closer examination, none were related to the Wengu case.
Not found. Keep searching.
They worked until dawn, every face haggard. Officials of the third rank and above went to court; the lower ranks kept searching.
Yun Qian seemed determined to search until she found something. But the Ministry of Justice’s case files were countless—the cases handled over ten years were beyond number.
At court, the Empress Dowager specifically kept Yun Qian behind to ask about the Ministry of Justice’s activities the previous night.
Unlike the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Justice handled criminal matters. This commotion had many courtiers on edge, terrified of crossing the Prime Minister.
Yun Qian made up a story to deflect, adding that the Capital Governor was lazy—that citizens had complaints he ignored, and the aggrieved had come to her directly.
The Empress Dowager considered for a moment. “I understand. Show me the evidence.”
Only with conclusive evidence could a conviction be made.
“Your Majesty, is the Capital Governor clean enough to withstand investigation?” Yun Qian’s words carried mockery. “If you wish me to look into it, I can begin immediately.”
The Empress Dowager seemed uneasy. “Never mind. Do you have a candidate in mind?”
“There are many colleagues willing to serve the people.” Yun Qian refused to recommend anyone. After all, she was the one who had removed the Capital Governor. If she then recommended a replacement, the Empress Dowager would suspect her of ulterior motives.
After thinking for a moment, the Empress Dowager nodded. “At a time like this, you’re careful to avoid suspicion. You may withdraw. I’ll think it over.”
Yun Qian bowed to leave. Just as she straightened, the Empress Dowager spoke again: “What about your husband?”
“Your Majesty, he will be sitting the examinations this year. He doesn’t yet understand the ways of the world. He’s not suitable.” Yun Qian refused again. The Capital Governor was a third-rank post. Who ever started at third rank? The Empress Dowager was testing her.
The Empress Dowager nodded. “What about that Gu Huangying of yours?”
“Lady Gu has capability, but she’s too blunt. She wouldn’t be up to the task.”
“What about Gu Qinglan?” The Empress Dowager thought of her twelve female officials. She wanted women to rise to high office and serve the people.
Yun Qian was briefly startled. “She is your personal attendant. If she takes the post, the courtiers will likely be displeased.”
Female officials sent down from the Empress Dowager’s side always started from the bottom. Even Gu Huangying had climbed from a minor clerk at the Ministry of Justice to her current position. With luck, she might one day aspire to the Vice Minister post.
But even a Vice Minister was fourth rank—far below the Capital Governor.
The Empress Dowager smiled. “You’ve thought this through carefully. If we can’t find anyone, what then?”
Only then did Yun Qian say, “Lady Mei Jinyi.”
This Mei lady had a somewhat extreme temperament. In her past life, when her remonstrations to the Emperor went unheeded, she resigned and left office. Later, she fell ill with a terrible disease, had no money for treatment, and died.
The Empress Dowager finally remembered she had once placed such a person in court. She nodded. “Do as you suggest.”
Yun Qian and Mei Jinyi were not friends—they even differed on politics. Yun Qian’s recommendation surprised the Empress Dowager, but it raised her esteem for Yun Qian all the more.
Yun Qian withdrew from the hall and hurried back to the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry personnel, having stayed up all night, still dared not slack. Just then, someone came looking for Yun Qian.
A subordinate led an elderly man into the hall—Xu Jie, the shopkeeper of Su clan’s business, a man who served Su San.
Xu Jie walked before Yun Qian with a confident air and announced his name. Yun Qian perked up—she’d been looking for someone close to Su San, and here he came walking into the trap.
“Have you come to plead for Su San?”
News of Su San’s death had been sent to the Su residence, but it hadn’t spread publicly yet. This Shopkeeper Xu probably didn’t know his master was already dead—and dead horribly.
Xu Jie bowed. “This humble one has brought a gift for my lord.”
A gift? Yun Qian frowned. For some reason, whenever she heard the word “gift” these days, she thought of that beautiful woman from the Wengu clan. She asked, “What gift?”
In gift-giving, one had to understand the subtleties. If the recipient refused outright, the giver withdrew. If the recipient hesitated, there was hope.
Xu Jie immediately said, “The Prime Minister surely knows that some women of the Northern Frontier possess beauty-preserving properties. This humble one has come today to present one to you.”
Yun Qian looked at the smiling old man before her and felt revulsion. She curved her lips into an appropriate smile, swallowing the fury in her chest. Why hadn’t anyone come to gift her in her past life?
Perhaps Gu Huangying was right—she had her own bias, paying attention to this matter because of Qin Xiang.
In her previous life, she wouldn’t have concerned herself with cases unrelated to this court.
She saw the certainty of victory in Xu Jie’s eyes. Who could refuse such temptation? Longevity, beauty—things all humans coveted.
She sucked in a breath. “How many such women do you have in your possession?”
Xu Jie blinked. Was the Prime Minister demanding them all?
No, that wouldn’t do. He said cautiously, “This humble one has only one.”
Yun Qian sneered. “Is that so? I’ll have someone take you to meet someone.”
Xu Jie was puzzled. Yun Qian ordered a subordinate to take Xu Jie to see Su San’s corpse.
After he left, she grew increasingly agitated. She lifted one eyelid, her breath a series of rolling hills. She slammed her palm on the table’s edge, the impact jarring her wrist.
The bone-deep pain finally calmed her. A thousand-li embankment crumbles from an ant hole. The Northern Frontier case had destroyed the foundation of this dynasty, causing countless wrongful deaths.
Qin Xiang… Qin Xiang…
She looked up in a daze. Someone came in through the door, kicking their feet along—a figure in crimson robes, a pouch she had embroidered at her waist, carrying a large food box.
“Sister, are you hungry? I bought lots of food!”
Yun Qian looked down at her own wrist and slowly tucked her hand into her sleeve. The voice at her ear grew louder. “Sister, your face is so pale. Are you exhausted?”
The young person reached out to feel her forehead. Her hand was icy cold.
The soft, smooth skin touched her cheek. Yun Qian couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath. She caught her wrist. “Why are you here?”
“You didn’t come home last night. A-Gui found out you were at the Ministry of Justice, so I came. I saw someone come to see you, so I waited for you.”
Yun Qian looked at her, and a hint of a smile finally touched her lips. “That person just now—he wanted to give me a woman as a gift.”
Qin Xiang’s lashes trembled.
