Chapter 356: Extending Life (IV)

Chapter 356: Extending Life (IV)

Xiang Zhiyun had just finished sealing the lips of all the servants with a mix of authority and favor when Secondary Consort Cui finished her snack of melon seeds and returned to the small courtyard.

Seeing a whole courtyard full of people, with both the prince and princess having personally arrived, Consort Cui was somewhat taken aback.

Fortunately, the couple had already gotten their story straight, taking turns explaining the made-up chain of events.

Cui Shi didn't really know Xiaoxizi well. She couldn't even match his face to his name.

They were there to serve the imperial grandson, not her, and normally followed the rules, never lingering around her.

She only vaguely remembered that such a person existed.

Though it was somewhat inauspicious, at least the acute intestinal illness wasn't contagious. Cui Shi was a bit grossed out but decided not to make an issue of it.

However, she had always been competitive and quick to seize opportunities. How could she let such a perfect chance slip away? She immediately put on a scared, fragile act, hoping Xiang Zhiyun would spend the night.

But Xiang Zhiyun had just witnessed the gruesome sight of a dying man, his mind full of the purplish face and the blood seeping from seven orifices. How could he stand to stay?

Though he had served in the Ministry of Justice, he'd only reviewed case files and listened to reports—he'd never seen a real dead body!

Xiang Zhiyun gave a few half-hearted words of comfort, offered her his well-worn Hetian jade pendant to calm her nerves, and then left on his own.

Cui Shi clutched the jade pendant, admiring it from every angle, beaming with joy. "This works too! Better than having him stay!"

Meanwhile, back in his room, Xiang Zhiyun found himself face to face with Xiang Zhijie, who had returned. He was momentarily confused.

Didn't he say he was leaving?

His mind was spinning, so much so that he couldn't even remember if he'd actually sent Xiang Zhijie away. He forced himself to pick up where they'd left off: "Something came up at home, keeping my sixth brother waiting. I..."

Before he could finish, Xiang Zhijie looked up and got straight to the point: "Fifth brother, simply throwing the body out may not be wise enough."

The weak smile Xiang Zhiyun had just managed froze on his face.

Xiang Zhijie explained: "When I was leaving earlier, I bumped into some servants from your household."

Xiang Zhiyun drew a deep breath.

Xiang Zhijie read his mind, his voice still gentle: "Please don't blame them, fifth brother. They kept their mouths shut. But in their haste, the wind caught a corner of the cloth. I noticed the man's fingernails were blackish-blue with bruising underneath, which made me suspicious."

He paused, then added: "In years past, I studied under Master Yue. He was well-versed in criminal matters, and from being around him, I became particularly sensitive to such things."

Xiang Zhiyun: "..." No one asked you about that.

He was now completely on alert: "You came all the way back. What exactly do you want to say?"

"I came to remind you of something, fifth brother." Xiang Zhijie spoke frankly. "Since I asked you to help me today, and now you've run into trouble, it's only right that I, as your younger brother, help out."

But Xiang Zhiyun wasn't about to accept this favor.

He said coldly: "Sixth brother, you've read too many scriptures and become too soft-hearted. One of my servants ate something bad, and it's kept you running around in the middle of the night. You must be so tired."

Xiang Zhijie ignored his sarcasm: "Fifth brother, I have no interest in your household affairs. I just want to remind you of one thing—the Anle Hall in the capital is not in the direction your servant was headed."

Xiang Zhiyun furrowed his brow slightly.

The Anle Hall, as it was called, was the place in the capital where the dead were cremated.

Didn't he know that burning the body was the cleanest way to get rid of it?

However, the Anle Hall in the capital had clerks from the Ministry of Justice posted there all year round.

If he were to send over a corpse with blood seeping from seven orifices...

He was currently in his father's favor, and the eyes watching his every move were more numerous than the will-o'-the-wisps in a mass grave—some hoping he would ascend to the throne, and naturally, others hoping he would come crashing down.

...Xiaoliu, which category did he fall into?

Under Xiang Zhiyun's watchful gaze, Xiang Zhijie rose to his feet.

"Fifth brother, things have come to this point—there must be some 'explanation' after all. I've bothered you enough today. I'll be going now."

Xiang Zhijie had come abruptly and left just as quickly, leaving Xiang Zhiyun alone to mull over the meaning behind his few words.

He paced for a moment, then his eyes lit up:

Of course!

The Anle Hall!

Less than half an hour had passed since the incident, and in all the rush and confusion, he hadn't thought of this!

Logically, if a servant died of a sudden illness, it could only be blamed on his bad luck—no one would investigate how he died.

But the problem was, he'd died from eating something the palace had sent.

And this man not only had a brother in the palace, but that brother was also the adopted son of Eunuch Xue.

Therefore, he had to provide an "explanation."

Rather than wait for those above to question him, he should report the death himself.

To report the death, he needed to account for the body.

So, he could simply say that Xiaoxizi had a sudden attack of illness and died, and fearing it would frighten Consort Cui, he had sent the body to the crematorium overnight to be burned.

Of course, Xiang Zhiyun couldn't openly send someone to the crematorium to burn a poisoned corpse, but he could find a way to quietly take some ashes from the day's cremations and pass them off as Xiaoxizi's remains.

Xiang Zhiyun had been through enough over the years to have learned his lesson.

He had no interest whatsoever in pursuing the truth.

Too much trouble.

Xiaoliu's suggestion was indeed a lasting fix.

But he had come back specifically to remind him—what was he really up to?

If he intended to harm him, he could have simply gone to the Shuntian Prefecture and reported that Prince Hui's residence had a dead body on its hands. Why bother coming to see him at all?

Could it be that he genuinely wanted to help?

Did he really have such good intentions?

Xiang Zhiyun ordered his servants to secretly procure some ashes to prepare for the "explanation" to the palace, while he sat alone in his study, frowning as he thought deeply.

After a long while, his personal attendant came to report: "Your Highness, the Secondary Consort has gone to bed for the night. I had a discreet search done of all the servants' quarters in her courtyard, but didn't find anything suspicious."

"Where are Xiaoxizi's belongings?"

The attendant brought over a wicker trunk: "Everything is here. I've already had the residence physician secretly examine them, and they're confirmed non-toxic, rest assured, Your Highness."

Inside the trunk were Xiaoxizi's everyday clothes, along with ten small silver ingots that Consort Cui had rewarded him with when he first arrived at the residence.

On top lay several items sent from the palace that he had come into contact with before his death.

Not having had the chance to examine them closely earlier, Zhi Jie now took out a red candle from the pile under the relatively bright candlelight of the room and studied it carefully.

Upon closer inspection, he was somewhat surprised.

This was a candle used for worshipping deities in the palace—a tribute item.

He then examined the incense sticks.

Indeed, these were of the finest quality.

When the Dayu dynasty offered sacrifices to their ancestors, Zhi Jie had once presented the same kind of incense.

Even Consort Zhuang, who was fond of burning incense and seeking the Tao, probably couldn't use incense and candles of this grade.

Besides these candles and incense sticks, the pastry box was empty, with only some crumbs remaining.

Could the poison have been administered here?

Zhi Jie asked, "Have you questioned all those who were familiar with him?"

"All have been questioned."

"Tell me in detail how Xiaoxizi conducted himself on a daily basis and what he favored."

The attendant was efficient and reported truthfully.

Since Consort Cui's child had not yet been born, these joy slaves only performed daily sweeping and cleaning tasks, leaving them quite idle.

And because Xiaoxizi was the adopted son of Eunuch Xue, he was regarded as the leader of these joy slaves.

In the servants' communal sleeping quarters, there was an adjoining side room.

It had originally been assigned for Xiaoxizi's exclusive use.

But he enjoyed company and had no airs about him. Whenever items came from the palace, if there was something tasty or fun, he was happy to share them with the other joy slaves and often squeezed into the communal sleeping area with them.

That side room gradually fell into disuse and was used to store miscellaneous belongings of the joy slaves.

However, they had only been there for two months, so there wasn't much in the way of personal possessions. Xiaoxizi, however, would often go in there alone, and no one knew what he did.

Someone, curious, had peeked in and found him sitting alone on the wicker trunk, mumbling to himself.

When asked, he said he was worshipping deities.

Hearing this, Zhi Jie rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on: "I have Eunuch Xue's adopted son in my residence, and I didn't even know?"

The attendant said, "Xiaoxizi had urged them not to tell anyone. He said Eunuch Xue had specifically instructed him to work diligently and not to abuse his status."

At this point, the attendant hesitated, then lowered his voice: "Xiaoxizi also said that His Majesty... places great importance on your child. Eunuch Xue had examined his birth chart and said he was a man blessed with good fortune, and told him to bring blessings to the Secondary Consort. But this matter was not to be made public..."

Zhi Jie understood the hidden meaning at once and grasped the deeper significance behind "not to be made public."

Such matters should indeed not be made public.

His Majesty placed such importance on his unborn child that he had already sent his own personal eunuch's adopted son to serve as the child's personal attendant and companion. What did this signify?

It was almost an explicit signal that His Majesty favored him!

Zhi Jie's mouth twitched involuntarily.

He was both amused and exasperated.

Under normal circumstances, realizing this would have sent him into ecstasy.

But this so-called man of great fortune, who had not yet revealed his identity, had died so quietly in his prince's residence.

Clearly, his fortune was limited.

But Xiaoliu's warning was indeed correct.

He needed to prepare some ashes to pass off as Xiaoxizi's ashes, then announce that he had been blessed with great fortune, having sacrificed himself to avert disaster for Consort Cui, and met an unfortunate end.

Zhi Jie forced himself not to think about the truth of the matter. He sighed, lowered his head, and idly flipped through Xiaoxizi's personal effects again.

He felt that something was missing.

To verify, Zhi Jie bent down and turned the wicker trunk completely over himself.

As he searched, he thought that this matter was truly suspicious.

According to what the servants said about Xiaoxizi, wasn't he quite generous?

So why had he been so selfish this time, eating all the pastries himself and not leaving any for others?

From the residue on the oil paper wrapping the pastries, there had been at least seven or eight palm-sized pastries.

Although a growing boy can eat a lot, could he really have devoured all those sweet pastries in the time it takes to eat a meal? Without leaving even one?

Midway through his search, Zhi Jie's hand paused.

He had finally noticed what was wrong.

"If he burned incense and worshipped day and night..." Zhi Jie said in confusion, "then where is the statue of the deity he worshipped?"

...

While Zhi Jie's attendant snuck back into Consort Cui's courtyard to search everywhere for the deity statue, two groups of servants from Prince Hui's residence were each bustling about with great fervor.

One group was crouched in the cremation ground sifting through ashes, while the other was crouched over a mass grave digging a pit.

In winter, there were especially many who had died on the streets, and the mass grave was littered with unidentified corpses, most of them wrapped in straw mats and dumped there.

The servants feared that Xiaoxizi's appearance with blood seeping from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth might be seen by anyone, and they unanimously agreed that burying him was the cleanest option.

Unfortunately, the ground was frozen solid, making digging extremely difficult. Moreover, with corpses strewn about and the occasional eerie flash of will-o'-the-wisps passing by like wronged spirits carrying lanterns on a night walk, the men were terrified as they worked. They hastily dug a shallow pit, threw Xiaoxizi, who had only a breath left, face-down into it, carelessly covered him with a thin layer of loose soil, clasped their hands together and bowed a few times, and fled down the mountain as if running for their lives.

The surroundings fell silent once more.

After a long while, a jackdaw landed on a nearby branch, cocking its head as if listening intently.

Beneath the shallow soil, the faint breathing not only did not cease but gradually grew stronger.

Suddenly, a thin, small back arched up from beneath the earth, leaving a distinct crack across the soil's surface.

With eight solid pieces of pastry filling his stomach, he could barely fend off the winter chill.

The jackdaw, startled, let out a harsh caw and flapped its wings to take flight.

...

Meanwhile, in the palace city, Xiaoluzi seemed to hear that piercing caw, jolting upright, breaking into a cold sweat.

He glanced around in panic, fumbling to unbolt the door, then tiptoed out and cautiously peered around.

After making out the towering palace walls looming in the night, his legs went weak, and like a frightened rabbit, he darted back inside, dove into the still-warm bedding, burying himself completely, his body trembling uncontrollably as if he'd just been through something truly terrifying.

In the dead of night, the place should have been deserted.

A swaying tree shadow fell through the window, landing on the blanket that Xiaoluzi had pulled tightly over himself.

And unnoticed, at some point, a human silhouette had silently merged with the tree shadow outside the window, quietly watching the curled, trembling figure within.