Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Both men remained silent, staring at the ground.

Lian Cheng rubbed his knees nervously, feeling embarrassed and at a loss. After a long while, he reached for a bowl of tea to drink, but the two men on the torture rack suddenly shuddered violently, struggling like black carp thrashing in a net. "If you've got the nerve, untie us and fight us man to man. If we lose, we'll be at your mercy."

Lian Cheng held the tea bowl in his hands, his tone puzzled. "Even if I don't fight you, you'll still be at my mercy. Why would I go to all that trouble for nothing?"

"Enough talk—just tell me who sent you." Lian Cheng lowered his head, watching the white foam floating on the tea, letting his mind go blank, refusing to dwell on those grander questions.

"Pah!"

Wei Xiaoyu couldn't stand seeing Lian Cheng provoked and insulted like that. He grabbed a red-hot branding iron and went to brand the man until smoke curled up, but Lian Cheng stopped him, asking one of the men if he had ever heard of "playing the pipa."

The man muttered something about pipas and gourds, telling him to kill or maim as he pleased and stop being cryptic.

Lian Cheng shook his head and said, "Not the instrument an actor plucks, but rather taking a blade and dragging it across the flesh of your chest and abdomen, laying bare several ribs to serve as strings. Back and forth, every bone comes loose. A skilled hand can even coax real tunes out of it. Personally, I most enjoy 'The Injustice Done to Dou E'—'Earth, you cannot tell good from bad—what kind of earth are you? Heaven, you wrongly judge the wise and foolish—then you are Heaven in name only! Alas, all that's left is a torrent of tears.'"

"Fine lyrics, truly fine lyrics; fine tune, truly fine tune. Too bad the blade scraping bone always kicks up bone dust and noise, never as good as hearing it properly in a pleasure house. However..." Lian Cheng paused deliberately, set down the tea bowl, and reached out to pat the chest of the man before him. "You've got a fine set of bones. Plucked, you'd sound a lot sweeter to the ear than most."

"Someone, bring two long benches and strap these two down." Lian Cheng drew his blade from his waist, picturing himself as a hulking, vicious butcher.

He continued, "Today, this magistrate won't just play the two of you like pipas—once I've had my fill, I'll fetch two spears, shove them up your assholes, and ram them through like a dragon, splitting flesh from bone. In no time at all, I'll yank your spines clean out, and the spears will poke out the backs of your necks, skewering the two of you alive on those poles. Only then will you learn what this magistrate is really capable of."

Ji Xing and Qiao Yuer had never seen their Assistant Magistrate like this. Since taking office, the Assistant Magistrate hadn't done a single lick of real work—naturally, he hadn't dared get within a mile of any wrongdoing either, like some kind of good-luck charm.

Hearing about "playing the pipa" for the first time, the two shrank back, not knowing what to do with their hands or feet. Only Wei Xiaoyu, who hadn't had a job in ages, let out an "oh!" and happily went to drag over two long benches.

Lian Cheng, copying Qiao Yuer's trick, dipped his waist knife in salt water. But just as he was about to wave the knife in front of them, they couldn't take it anymore and suddenly started wailing like ghosts.

"Let us go! We were just doing what we were told!"

"Magistrate, you were born into a house of privilege—how would you know the suffering of those who lack food and clothing? Whoever feeds us a bowl of rice is our dad and mom. As sons, how could we not be filial?!"

After Lian Cheng scared the hell out of them, and with the Imperial Prison's fearsome reputation, the two were now spilling everything. It was a gift for Lian Cheng, but Wei Xiaoyu was crushed—what a waste of all that bulk.

The two didn't wait for Lian Cheng to ask—they talked over each other.

Turns out they were sent by the son of Shaan Province's Left Administration Commissioner. This man was related to Lord Wang by marriage. Seeing his in-laws' family ruined over the imperial timber business, he naturally went after the one who'd first blown the whistle. By crashing the Song family's funeral, Lian Cheng would get charged, and killing Lian Xiusheng would buy Lord Wang time to spin things. If they killed Lian Pu too, all the Lian brothers would have to observe three years of mourning.

Lian Cheng sat in the chair, thinking for a long while, then said, "Lord Wang's youngest son helped himself to imperial timber, and plenty of people knew about it. Even Chief Grand Secretary Ye knew. Surely you don't intend to kill him too?"

"How could we dare touch Grand Secretary Ye? Our Left Commissioner and Grand Secretary Ye were fellow disciples in their early years, and close friends..."

Lian Cheng fell silent, thinking quietly. Lian Xiusheng was a student of Ye Jie. The other side dared send a group to kill openly, likely certain that Ye Jie would not stand up for Lian Xiusheng, and even more certain that if the matter traced back to them, Ye Jie would help mediate.

Lian Cheng also thought that Ye Jie, after seeing the list Lian Xiusheng had compiled, probably knew the Shaan Province faction would move to obstruct. Having reached the position of Chief Grand Secretary, his influence extended far beyond the capital—he likely understood the bureaucratic workings of the thirteen provinces and two capitals better than the emperor himself.

But Ye Jie had only said that a few names on the list might need to be singled out and not reported.

In Lian Cheng's view, these men weren't untouchable—they were simply impossible to move. In the end, it would only become a joke of "who accuses this official before the court."

As for the others on the list, they too were untouchable. If moved against, the other side would surely turn desperate and fight back, and those who had stirred up this storm couldn't escape unscathed either.

But none of this had Ye Jie told Lian Xiusheng.

"Magistrate, what are you thinking about?" Wei Xiaoyu stood nearby, asking the silent Lian Cheng in a low voice.

"Heaven can be measured, earth can be weighed, but only the human heart cannot be guarded against. Sixth Brother's ascent is like climbing to the sky, yet as precarious as morning dew." Lian Cheng sighed. "I merely pity his situation..."

Just as he was lamenting, a call of "Young Lord Lian" came from Qiao Yuer nearby. Lian Cheng's back stiffened with a jolt, and he quickly shut his mouth, turning around—sure enough, it was Lian Xiusheng.

"Why have you come?" Lian Cheng asked.

"The Minister has claimed illness, so this case falls to me alone to report to His Majesty. I didn't get to see the Minister, and when I returned home, Third Brother wasn't there either. I asked Huqiu, and he said you'd gone to the yamen. I figured Third Brother would be in the Imperial Prison." After speaking, Lian Xiusheng looked at the two men on the torture rack behind Lian Cheng, both still in good flesh, and asked, "When does the interrogation begin?"

"It's done. The instigator is from the family of the Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shaan Province," Lian Cheng said with a pout. "That time we played polo with Luo Ke of the Luo family, he was full of righteous talk. I thought his family had fine upbringing—turns out his father is an old turtle who claims illness and hides at home the moment things look bad."

Lian Xiusheng was silent for a long while, then walked around Third Brother and approached the two men, asking, "I have a deal. Would the two of you care to try it?"

-

A few days later, after the morning court, Lian Xiusheng spoke privately with the emperor, presenting his memorial for review. Li Xi read as he spoke, first with some surprise, "Shaan Province has always been obedient and submissive—yet behind my back they dare steal my timber to build estates and polo grounds? To keep me from knowing, they even attempt to assassinate Ministry of Works officials! What audacity!"

"In the Left Commissioner's home, they found Vice Commander Lian's blade and the teacher's private seal. Who would have thought they were rebels—no wonder they framed Vice Commander Lian and murdered Assistant Magistrate Meng's nephew."

Li Xi closed the memorial and leaned back in the dragon throne. "But I don't quite understand—if they are Li Jiao's people, why would they misappropriate imperial wood?"

Lian Xiusheng had already prepared his answer. "If Xielu Hall is completed, the world will know Your Majesty's deep brotherly bond with the late Crown Prince, and all will praise Your Majesty's boundless magnanimity in setting aside old grudges. How could they bear it?"

Li Xi sat with lowered eyes, looking quite composed for a long while, then suddenly leaped up in fury, snatched a fan from a nearby palace maid, and snapped it in two. He hurled the broken fan at Lian Xiusheng's feet, speaking coldly from above, "Have all these people executed. If they love my imperial brother so much, let them go below and sing his praises before him."

"Eunuch Cui, come grind ink for me!" Li Xi flicked his sleeves and sat back down. Looking up to see Eunuch Wu, he suddenly sighed and said, "Eunuch Wu has grown old."

Eunuch Wu bent over, the ink stick gradually grinding in his hand. He wiped his sweat and said, "This servant has been in the palace for nearly forty years now."

Li Xi gave a light snort. "When you were young, you weren't very kind to me."

Eunuch Wu's sweat dripped down.

"Get out. I don't want to see your old carcass for the rest of this month. Send Eunuch Cui." Li Xi said coldly.

A cup of tea later, Lian Xiusheng received the decree. Its wording differed from Li Xi's volatile and shallow nature—it was restrained and elegant. It praised Lord Wang for his loyalty and chastity, and the Left Commissioner Lord Li's family as renowned officials of pure lineage, pillars of the state. The crux lay in the final sentences: dozens of households were to be confiscated or fined, not a single one omitted.

But Li Xi was not entirely foolish. Those he fined were all deeply rooted old ministers, while those he executed were those with shallow foundations and little importance. Lian Xiusheng understood Li Xi well—his grandfather had once mentioned his temperament: extremely patient and forbearing, skilled at using people. Whether it was Eunuch Wu, whom he disliked, or Grand Secretary Ye, who wielded power at court, anyone he couldn't touch or replace, he resolved never to move a hair against.

When the decree went out, the court and the common folk alike erupted in uproar. Some officials packed their bags and resigned overnight, fleeing home; others laughed in their sleep. Among the people, voices were all favorable, calling the current emperor the greatest wise ruler of a thousand ages, unmatched by any—even Yao and Shun could not compare.

The cases were interconnected, and the Three Judicial Offices and the Imperial Guard Office tried them jointly, taking a full month to dispose of each according to law. During this time, the emperor issued several more rewards to the Lian family, and the Song siblings came to express their deep gratitude. Matters like Yun Jieer's birthday banquet went unmentioned. But the most astonishing recent decree was this: Lian Xiusheng was dismissed from his post as Vice Minister of Works and transferred to the Ministry of Rites as Vice Minister.

Lian Cheng had been spinning like a top these days, with no mind for preparing promotion gifts. He merely dug a chest of gold from the storehouse and sent it to Lian Xiusheng, thinking his younger brother would surely like it.

That night, the chest of gold was returned to Penglai Pavilion untouched.

Tong Xue brought a candle over and said softly, "The young master hasn't been to Yiqiu for a month. When Sixth Brother came by earlier, you had Huqiu send him away. Sixth Brother must be nursing a grudge—he won't accept your gift."

Lian Cheng pressed his lips together and said, "I have something on my mind. I can't tell him."

"Can you tell me?"

"Even less so with you. If I told you, you'd surely go inform Mother. This matter, I won't tell anyone." Lian Cheng wore a worried expression. Huqiu came and poured him a bowl of sweet soup, but even drinking it, he found no sweetness.

Tong Xue stopped pressing. "Then why not set that matter aside for now, and just get along with Sixth Brother as before?"

Lian Cheng said, "Let me think about it."

Tong Xue said no more, only gently fanning beside him. Before long, Man Cai entered carrying a bowl of shaved ice-like dessert, clear as white jade, carefully placed on the octagonal table with a spoon for Lian Cheng. After two bites, Man Cai said, "Summer nights are hot. Our young master remembered that Third Brother has always feared the heat, so on his day off today, he spent the whole day in the kitchen to make this bowl of snowflake cheese for Third Brother."

As Man Cai detailed how many sweet and sour preserved fruits had gone into the snowflake cheese and how much effort it had taken, Lian Cheng's heart grew heavy. He shouldn't have been ignoring Lian Xiusheng. He should have talked things through with him.

-

After eating the snowflake cheese, his mind cleared considerably from the chill. Familiar with the path, he made his way to Lian Xiusheng's study.

He was practicing calligraphy, with the painting of brothers in harmony that Lian Cheng had given him hanging behind him, and the "Eight Honors and Eight Shames" scroll that Lian Cheng had gifted him by his side.

Lian Cheng's heart ached with an indescribable bitterness. He truly couldn't bear to lose Lian Xiusheng as a brother, which was why he had been hiding in his own courtyard lately, unwilling to poke through that window paper. But without poking through it, he didn't know how to face the other man.

The snowflake custard he had just eaten lost its effect, and Lian Cheng grew restless again, a cowering dread creeping into his heart. Just as he was about to turn back to steel himself further, Lian Xiusheng in the study noticed him.

"Third Brother?" Lian Xiusheng spotted the corner of a robe outside.

Lian Cheng quickly crouched down, "Meow~"

Lian Xiusheng stood before him holding a lantern, his voice low, "Why is Third Brother meowing like a cat?"

"..."

Lian Cheng's whole body burned as if on fire. He said it was the courtyard cat meowing, not his elder brother—his elder brother only knew how to roar like a tiger—rawr.

Lian Xiusheng curled the corner of his mouth and asked, the night was dark and the road long, so why had Third Brother come to Yiqiu?

Sarcastic. Absolutely sarcastic. Lian Cheng immediately stood up straight, tilting his head up to ask the other man, what lantern do you use at home?

Lian Xiusheng said that since Third Brother rarely came to Yiqiu, he had used the lantern Third Brother gave him for New Year's.

What does my coming or not coming have to do with what lantern you use? Lian Cheng asked with righteous indignation.

Lian Xiusheng said, hungry eyes pierce through, greedy mouth drools in vain, and I suffer lovesickness to the marrow, empty and alone—the lantern is but a mortal object, but who would have thought a deity resides within it.

At this moment, Lian Cheng hated himself for understanding this confession. His heart leaped like a white rabbit trapped in his chest. He gripped the windowsill tightly with both hands and said, if there's no lovesickness, there's no suffering from it.

Lian Xiusheng said his little brother wasn't made of stone.

Fishing the moon from the water, gazing at your reflection in the mirror—you, you must not speak of this again. Be, be careful—I'll cut your robe and break our bond! Lian Cheng stammered.

Lian Xiusheng saw Third Brother's cherry lips part and his peach-blossom eyes grow red, then lowered his head to kiss Third Brother, licking him with fine, dense strokes. When he tried to probe further with his tongue, he was pushed away.

But Lian Cheng didn't leave. He was both ashamed and furious, wishing he could jump up and stomp on Lian Xiusheng a few times. Wiping his mouth, his entire face flushed crimson, he said, I have no such fate with you! Go beg the King of Hell in the underworld, or the Moon Elder in heaven!

Lian Xiusheng asked Third Brother, how did he know this fate wasn't something he had begged from the King of Hell and the Moon Elder?

Lian Cheng was speechless for a long moment, his eyes fixed on the other man, then demanded with a tearful voice, "So everything you said before about having no feelings for me was a lie!"

Lian Xiusheng said it wasn't a lie, it was a tactic.

"Nonsense!" Lian Cheng grabbed Lian Xiusheng's collar with both hands, and even tried to snatch the lantern to stomp it to pieces.

Lian Xiusheng saw through Third Brother's malicious intent, trying to peel him off his body. When he couldn't peel him off, he had to use one arm to hold the man against his chest, kissing his cheeks and temples. After taking a slap to the face, he lowered his lashes and asked, Third Brother, why exactly won't you have me?

It's not that I won't, it's that I can't—Lian Cheng answered hastily. Realizing what he had said, his body stiffened. Unlike Lian Xiusheng's delight, Lian Cheng was on the verge of collapse, frantically repeating, I didn't mean it that way, I didn't mean it that way. But the other man set down the lantern, scooped him up in an embrace, and sat him on the windowsill, where he could neither climb up nor climb down.

The night was deep with a bright moon hanging, the evening breeze threading through willow paths. Lian Cheng was held in Lian Xiusheng's arms and kneaded. He turned his head left and right but couldn't dodge the other's kisses. Once his chin was gripped, there was nowhere left to flee. His warm tongue was found, drawn into the other's mouth, and his saliva was licked clean. His black crown hat fell off, his thin summer robe loosened and fell open—a slender, fair leg kicked out from the hem of Lian Xiusheng's crimson robe, a foot like a small white fish, only to be gently trapped by the man's palm.

Lian Cheng's strength was far inferior to Lian Xiusheng's. After struggling for a long while, he gained no advantage and suffered every disadvantage. When the other man finally loosened his grip for a moment, Lian Cheng trembled his lips and softly begged, "Good little brother, let me go, have mercy on me."