Chapter 017

Chapter 017

When Cui Xun returned to the Cui residence, it was already the third watch of the night. He went straight to the study, where he could vaguely see a light through the green window screens. Cui Xun knocked on the door, but after a long while, no one answered.

He frowned. Since the light was on, Li Ying should not have been asleep yet. Why was she taking so long to open the door? Could something have happened to her? His eyes narrowed as he prepared to push the door open, but before he could, the wooden door creaked and opened.

Li Ying was wearing a fox fur cloak, her hair undone, flowing like silk. Her red clothes were like fire, her hair like clouds, and her black tresses like a waterfall, making her cheeks appear snow-white, exuding an indescribable tenderness and beauty. Whenever Cui Xun had seen Li Ying before, she was always neatly dressed, showing the dignity and grace of a princess of Great Zhou. She had never appeared with her hair down and clothes disheveled. Seeing Cui Xun staring at her, she felt a bit embarrassed: "I'm sorry, I was just about to rest, hence my disheveled appearance. Please forgive me, Cui Shaoqing..."

Cui Xun realized something and shifted his gaze from her to the white porcelain lamp burning inside: "You lit the lamp, so I thought you hadn't rested yet."

"I have a habit of lighting lamps at night."

"Why?"

Li Ying lowered her head and smiled bitterly: "Perhaps because the lotus pond is too dark, so I became particularly afraid of the dark after leaving there."

As she spoke, her voice grew softer. Perhaps she did not want Cui Xun to see the sadness in her eyes, so she bowed her head completely. Cui Xun noticed the delicate shoulder blade revealed by her hair. His fingers unconsciously clenched within his official robes, but then relaxed after a moment. He said to Li Ying: "I have something to tell you."

Li Ying looked up: "What is it?"

Cui Xun looked into Li Ying's eyes, but for some reason, the words he had prepared could not come out. Li Ying, seeing this, suggested: "It's cold outside. Cui Shaoqing, please come in, have some tea, and we can talk slowly."

-

Cui Xun sat upright at the desk, while Li Ying sat opposite him. She placed a purple bamboo tea cake over the candle flame to roast it briefly. After the aroma spread, she ground it into powder using a gilded floral tea mill, then sieved it finely. Finally, she placed the sieved tea powder in a silver tea kettle, which she placed over the tea stove. She meticulously rekindled the extinguished litchi charcoal with a copper poker, the dim red glow of the charcoal casting a serene and beautiful light on her face, like a tranquil painting.

Cui Xun watched her prepare the tea, feeling a sense of peace he had not experienced in a long time. The tea water in the kettle began to boil, filling the room with a fragrant aroma. Li Ying intended to pour the brewed tea into a silver teacup but noticed that the wooden window was not fully closed. She got up and gracefully walked over to shut it. When she returned to the desk, Cui Xun had already poured himself a cup of tea. He took a sip and said: "Good tea."

Li Ying smiled modestly: "Cui Shaoqing flatters me."

Cui Xun also noticed a piece of dragon brain incense on the desk: "Dragon brain incense is the king of all medicines. Is the princess making an incense pouch for the Empress Dowager?"

Li Ying was taken aback. She hid the dragon brain incense in her hand and lowered her head, giving a noncommittal "yes." Cui Xun put down the silver teacup: "The princess is truly virtuous and skilled in both tea and incense arts. No wonder the late emperor and the Empress Dowager loved you so much."

Li Ying smiled faintly: "As a daughter, there is little I can do for Father and Mother except these small acts of brewing tea and burning incense."

Her words conveyed a deep affection and respect for the Taichang Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Cui Xun suddenly recalled the Empress Dowager's words: "Moon Pearl, she is my most beloved daughter, thirty years ago and even more so now."

He lowered his eyes, picked up the silver teacup again, and sipped the fragrant purple bamboo tea. The tea had a clear green color and a lingering aroma. Cui Xun put down the teacup and finally said to Li Ying: "Today, I arrested Wang Ranxi."

Li Ying was stunned: "You arrested Wang Ranxi?"

Cui Xun nodded. His hand in his sleeve unconsciously clenched again. He pursed his lips and said calmly: "I brought her to the Prosecutor's Office and found a performer who looked very much like Wang Tuan'er to pretend to be her ghost. Wang Ranxi has always been terrified of ghosts, and she fell for it, confessing out of fear."

He looked at Li Ying and said word by word: "She confessed that she killed you."

Hearing the answer she had sought for so long, Li Ying was first shocked, then murmured: "Indeed, it was her..."

"Do you want to ask her why?"

Li Ying bit her lip. She had waited thirty years for this moment, but perhaps because she had waited so long, she suddenly felt a sense of unreality. Seeing her hesitation, Cui Xun said: "If you don't want to go, then don't."

"No, I want to," Li Ying said, looking up. "I shouldn't have died. I need to know why she wanted me dead."

-

This was the second time Li Ying had entered the prison cells of the Prosecutor's Office. The first time, Cui Xun had deliberately taken her there to scare her by showing her his brutal interrogation of Wang Liang. This time, Cui Xun led her to confront the person who had killed her.

Following behind Cui Xun, she looked through an iron window at Wang Ranxi, who was curled up in the cell. Wang Ranxi's face was covered in blood, with grotesque bloody marks. Li Ying glanced at Cui Xun, who said: "It wasn't me; she did it herself."

In the cell, Wang Ranxi, with her long, henna-dyed nails, waved her arms frantically, shouting: "Ghost! Ghost! Stay away! Stay away!"

"There are no ghosts scaring her anymore," Cui Xun said. "She scared herself insane."

Seeing Wang Ranxi like this, Li Ying felt a mix of pity and hatred: "Those who do no wrong fear no ghosts. She thinks ghosts are terrifying, but she is far more terrifying than any ghost."

Wang Ranxi continued to claw at the air and her own skin: "Ghost! Ghost! Get away! Get away!"

Her face was a gruesome sight. Cui Xun turned to Li Ying: "What do you want to ask her?"

Li Ying was silent. She had many questions for Wang Ranxi—why she killed her, how she did it, and why Zheng Yun had confessed to the crime. There were so many threads, and she didn't know where to start.

Cui Xun seemed to understand her complex emotions and said: "Let me handle it."

He knocked on the iron window of the cell. Wang Ranxi, hearing the sound, looked toward the window in panic. Cui Xun's elegant face appeared behind the window.

Though he was like a death god, Wang Ranxi saw him as a lifeline. She crawled to the window, stood up, and pounded on the wall: "Cui Shaoqing, save me, save me!"

Cui Xun said calmly: "If you want me to save you, answer whatever I ask."