Chapter 4 Don't Cry, Zhenzhen 1
April 2nd is the birthday of Princess Changping Song Yiyue. In the 26th year of Yuanqi, Princess Changping married Wei Youya, the son of General Wei Lin, who moved to the west. After marriage, she established a palace in the south of Chang'an. Song Yiyue was the first child of Emperor Xuanhe. She was low-key and modest. She never asked for extravagance on her birthday every year. She only had a small party with her family at night.
Emperor Xuanhe praised the eldest princess for her courtesy and understanding, and in addition to the gifts given by others every year, he also gave her a bowl of longevity noodles.
But this year, the eunuch who announced the decree only brought jade and pearls, but not the bowl of noodles.
"Thank you, father, for your gift." Song Yiyue hid her disappointment and accepted the order to express her gratitude. Song Siyue stood up and helped her elder sister up. She said with envy, "Every year on my elder sister's birthday, my father gives her so many beautiful jewelry. I only get some small things every year."
If someone else said this, it would be disrespectful, but when this little girl said this, it made people feel that she was innocent. Song Yiyue was amused by her and felt relieved. She just glanced at the table. In previous years, the four sisters were all there, but this year, it was deserted, with only Ankang coming.
"My third brother was sent to Yanzhou by our father and asked me to deliver a gift to celebrate my sister's birthday." The fourth prince, Prince Xin Song Ji, presented the gift. Seeing that Song Yiyue looked unhappy, he asked with concern, "Is my sister feeling unwell? Do you want to call the imperial physician?"
"Don't bother. I just have a headache, an old problem."
"My sister has had a headache since she gave birth to Wan'er. She must have worked too hard today. Why don't you let Ankang take you back to rest first? I'll take care of things for my sister here, and I'll send the servants to see you off after the banquet."
Song Yiyue frowned, and while she was still hesitating, Song Siyue held her arm tightly and said tenderly: "Fourth brother is right, we are all family members, we all know the problem of the eldest sister, it won't be a big deal."
Song Yiyue nodded and looked at Song Ji: "Thank you for your hard work."
"Don't worry, sister."
When the third prince, Min Wang Song Huaishi, went to Yanzhou, Song Yiyue's husband Wei Youya went with him. Now that it was her birthday, Wei Youya could not make it back. The more lively the banquet was, the lonelier she felt. It was a good thing to avoid it. She said a few polite words and then left the table with Song Siyue's help.
The atmosphere at the banquet suddenly changed, and Song Ji greeted the guests with a warm smile. In addition to Wei Youya, the Wei family also has a legitimate son, Wei Wuji, who is now serving in the Imperial Guard. He took a sip of wine, raised his eyebrows and looked at Song Ji with a sneer, saying, "My eldest brother sent a letter back a few days ago, saying that life in the Yanzhou military camp is very hard, but Prince Min never complained. Prince Min is a prince, while some people who only eat and drink for free in the capital and make friends everywhere are now just princes. Otherwise, how can we say that our Majesty is wise and can see what kind of people should take what path early on."
Song Ji slowed down his action of pouring wine for others, and the relative of the Wei family next to Wei Wuji echoed: "Prince Min is the son of the imperial concubine. He has been a noble from a young age. He can do everything by himself. After all, the imperial concubine has brought him up well. He is much better than some people with humble backgrounds."
Everyone in Chang'an City knew that Prince Xin's mother was a maid. Although Wei Wuya married the eldest princess as his consort, Song Yiyue had no chance of ascending the throne. The Wei family was closer to Prince Min, who was in charge of military affairs. They looked down on people of low birth. Song Ji had heard such sarcasm in words many times, but this time they insulted his mother in front of so many people.
Song Ji's fingertips trembled as he held the wine pot. The people over there burst into laughter, and the laughter filled his ears like a ghost. Holding such a light wine pot in his hand felt like a thousand-pound weight. His hands could not bear the weight, and the wine pot was about to fall. He stretched out his hands horizontally to hold the spout of the pot, and raised his hands. It fell to the ground with a "snap" sound, breaking into pieces.
The noisy room suddenly became quiet. Song Ji looked at the person who came. Cheng Jue was wearing a black robe with bamboo branches and leaves embroidered on the collar. His already cold face was made more solemn. Seeing Cheng Jue coming, the man who had just helped Wei Wuji fell silent.
At the beginning of the year, he and the grandson of Zhongshu Ling Liu Da Ren beat a civilian. The case was reported to Dali Temple. Cheng Jue ordered people to beat him with a stick without saying a word, and almost broke his leg.
Master Liu was beaten and was so angry that he said, "Cheng Jue, just wait for me. You even dare to hit me. I won't let you go!"
At that time, Cheng Jue stood still, his brows and eyes were deep: "Then I will wait for you in the Dali Temple."
As a result, when the Minister of the Central Secretariat, Lord Liu, heard that his grandson had beaten someone and was causing trouble in the Dali Temple, he was furious and beat him up according to the family law. To this day, Master Liu still cannot walk properly.
Wei Wuji glanced at the reactions of the people around him, cursed them inwardly for being useless, and leaned lazily: "Master Cheng is not good enough to show off his power in the Dali Temple on weekdays, and he doesn't know how to restrain himself here. Look carefully, this is the residence of Princess Changping, how can you be so presumptuous!"
"Prince Xin is the current prince, and General Wei is only the General of the Imperial Guards, a fifth-rank military officer. General Wei insulted Prince Xin and committed an insubordination. As the Minister of the Supreme Court, I am here to uphold the laws of Dayu. However, today is Princess Changping's birthday, and I don't want anything unpleasant to happen on this happy day, so I smashed the wine pot to stop General Wei from continuing to speak nonsense."
"you!"
Wei Wuji's clothes were tugged at by someone, and the people around him shook their heads at him. He snorted angrily and walked away. When he left, most of the people at the banquet followed him.
Song Ji smiled bitterly: "Why do you have to offend them because of me? These words are unbearable after hearing them too many times."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Since I became an official, I have offended too many people. One or two more of them is nothing. By the way, where is Princess Changping? I have something to give to her personally."
Song Ji asked, "Is it something that my aunt asked someone to send?"
Speaking of his mother, Cheng Jue's eyes rarely showed tenderness: "That's right."
Cheng Jue's mother is the younger sister of Emperor Xuanhe, Princess Fengjue. The princess has been familiar with the art of war since she was a child, and her character is more decisive than that of men in the world. In order to join the army and fight, she did not hesitate to escape from the palace and disguise herself as a man. Everyone in the palace thought that the princess disappeared for no reason and was kidnapped, but they did not expect that a year later, Dayu won a great victory in the battle against Xiqiang, and the young general who led a team of men to attack the enemy camp was actually Princess Fengjue.
The late emperor was overjoyed and praised the eldest princess for her ability to do as well as men. He personally selected many noblemen from aristocratic families and asked the eldest princess to choose a prince consort from them. However, the eldest princess could not find anyone she was satisfied with after selecting so many, and finally she fell in love with Cheng Jin, the then Minister of the Central Secretariat.
Although Cheng Jin is both talented and virtuous, he comes from a poor family. Moreover, Dayu has a rule that those who are consorts of the emperor are not allowed to enter the court. At that time, Cheng Jin's career was bright, so how could he give up the position of consort of the emperor? If he was forced to marry Feng Jue, it would be tantamount to marriage robbery.
The late emperor was in a dilemma, so Cheng Jin took the initiative to write a letter asking to marry Princess Fengjue, and also submitted a letter of resignation.
After the death of the previous emperor and the accession of Emperor Xuanhe, Feng Jue left Chang'an with her husband and only came back twice in all these years. In the 25th year of Yuanqi, Emperor Xuanhe met the champion of the imperial examination and found that the cold young man standing in front of the prince was actually his own nephew.
Jue is homophonic with jue.
Those two people who had nothing in common actually joined hands in the martial arts world, and lived in love for many years away from the troubles of the court.
Their outstanding son combined all the advantages of the two and soon established himself in the Dali Temple. Emperor Xuanhe suddenly realized that Feng Jue had taken away a pillar of the court, and now, he returned a better one.
Cheng Jue and his companion walked to the backyard. The maid standing at the door went in to inform them, and a moment later, Song Yiyue and her sister arrived at the flower hall.
"Mother knows that the eldest princess is not in good health. She happened to get a snow lotus and asked someone to make some pills. If the princess feels dizzy or has chest tightness, just take one." Cheng Jue took out an exquisite white jade porcelain bottle and handed it out. Song Yiyue took it in his hand, and a smile appeared on his pale face.
Song Yiyue said: "Aunt is really thoughtful, and it's hard for Master Cheng to come here."
Cheng Jue bowed and said, "This is what I should do. In addition to presenting my mother's gift, I have something else I want to talk to the princess alone."
Song Yiyue frowned and clenched her hands under her wide sleeves.
Seeing this, Song Siyue put her tender hands on Song Yiyue's forehead and said, "Sister, do you have a headache again? Why didn't it get better after taking the medicine this time? I must tell my father when I return to the palace. These imperial doctors are really useless!"
Cheng Jue's gaze was fixed on Song Siyue's fingertips. There were several red marks on the index and middle fingers of her right hand. His right hand moved slightly unconsciously, and the Wangxing Pavilion in the heavy rain that day appeared in front of his eyes.
The water on the ground diluted the bright red bloodstains.
Song Yiyue rubbed his forehead and turned to Cheng Jue: "I have been busy all day today. I am really not feeling well and have a splitting headache. If Master Cheng is not in a hurry, can you come back tomorrow?"
Song Siyue's hand then dropped, and Cheng Jue's thoughts returned to reality.
"It's not urgent. Princess, please take a good rest. I will take my leave now."
Cheng Jue walked out of the door and turned to look at the Princess Changping's mansion. When he was younger, he was very confused as to why his mother gave up her position as the eldest princess of the state and followed his father, a sour scholar, to wander around.
When he understood the truth and distinguished loyalty from treachery, he finally realized one thing: the higher you stand, the lonelier you are.
In the royal family, authority and interests take precedence over family ties, and in the end, one is left alone.
Meng Fan and the others were so drowsy that they were about to fall asleep. Cheng Jue knocked on the bamboo hat on his head, and the hat hit his face and woke him up.
"What did you find out, sir?"
"No." Cheng Jue narrowed his eyes slightly, the cool breeze blowing his clothes like the wind, "But it doesn't matter whether you ask or not."
Cheng Jue did not return to the Dali Temple, and asked Meng Fan to drive the car to Princess Jintai's residence. The moonlight was thin tonight, and a figure could be vaguely seen at the door of the princess's residence, leaning against the wall with his knees hugged, scratching something on the ground with a dry branch in his hand.
Hearing the footsteps, she jumped up like a frightened deer, wiped the traces on the ground with her feet, paused, and asked tentatively: "Master Cheng?"
Cheng Jue approached, and Zhou Zhenzhen opened her eyes wide. He was afraid that her eyes would pop out, so he pushed her forehead with his palm: "What are you doing here so late at night? What were you drawing on the ground just now?"
Meng Fan came over with a lamp. Zhou Zhenzhen moved her feet away, and a four-cornered frame could be vaguely seen underneath.
"I suddenly remembered something and came here to verify it, but I forgot that I couldn't get in." Zhou Zhenzhen smiled and crossed her legs. "I was wondering if Master Cheng would come, so I squatted here and waited for a while. I didn't expect that Master Cheng would really come. Don't you think this is what we call telepathy?"
She raised her voice at the end, looking very charming. Cheng Jue pushed her forehead again and scolded her, "Nonsense!"
Cheng Jue knocked on the door, and Ying'er came to greet him. Zhou Zhenzhen jumped and chased Cheng Jue in. Meng Fan was stunned for a moment. He felt that there seemed to be something wrong with these two people.
Nonsense?
Adults actually curse and make trouble?
Compared to how he usually says people have no brains or eyes, it almost sounds like a compliment.
Meng Fan touched his chin, hissed, and said, "There's something fishy going on."
Zhou Zhenzhen was indeed stubborn like a fool in some aspects, but she was not really stupid. Cheng Jue would not believe that she would not sleep and squat here in the middle of the night to meet him. She heard that tonight was Princess Changping's birthday banquet and Cheng Jue would go to celebrate, so she guessed that he would most likely come to Princess Jintai's mansion.
With his meticulous personality, there was no reason for him not to notice what she noticed.
The furnishings of Wangxing Pavilion were the same as before, with no signs of movement. Cheng Jue paused twice, but Zhou Zhenzhen didn't notice and walked straight behind the glass screen. Cheng Jue smiled and followed him.
He was not mistaken about the person .
The chessboard behind the screen still looked like the previous endgame. Zhou Zhenzhen couldn't remember everything she had seen without trying to remember it like Cheng Jue did. But after being scolded by Cheng Jue last time, she deliberately memorized the direction of the black and white pieces on the chessboard.
"Left one, left three, right four... here!" She pointed at a white piece and said to him in a voice that was a little too loud to hold back, "This was supposed to be the white piece, but someone came into Wangxing Pavilion and moved the chessboard."
Last time, the white piece was only faintly like a dragon breaking through the clouds, but now, with just one move, he has forced the black piece into a dead end.
Cheng Jue nodded and said, "Not bad."
"Master Cheng, are you saying that I was right, or... that I did a good job this time?"
Cheng Jue picked up a white piece and said casually, "I have both."
Zhou Zhenzhen raised her lips and smiled, revealing a dimple on one side of her cheek.
The chessboard and chess pieces are made of fine white jade, which is transparent and warm to the touch.
"Bring another lamp." Zhou Zhenzhen went outside and took two lamps and placed them on one side of the chessboard. Cheng Jue lifted up the chess piece, and the light shone through it, and he could see clearly inside. With the center as the point, the small chess piece actually had eight vertical "lines" passing through that "point". He tentatively rubbed it with his fingertips, and his frowning brows relaxed, "It's a needle."
Eight hair-thin needles are delicately embedded in each chess piece, and no one would notice them on weekdays. But when playing chess, people will habitually rub the chess pieces, and the tiny needle tips will leave scratches on their fingers. If you are fully immersed in the game, no one will pay too much attention.
The tips of the index and middle fingers of the right hand have the most and most obvious scratches.
"When I hypnotized Princess Ankang before, I saw some scratches on her fingertips, but they were very shallow. I heard that Princess Ankang was obsessed with chess, and I thought that anyone who played chess would definitely get their fingertips injured, so I didn't pay much attention to it. But today, I saw the hands of Mr. Li Er, who often played chess, in a teahouse. His fingertips only had a few thin calluses, and there were no such tiny scratches. I felt something was wrong, so I came over."
Being sensitive to all aspects of the case is also a talent and instinct as an investigator.
Cheng Jue put down the chess piece, looked at the bloodstains, and said thoughtfully, "The red marks on Princess Ankang's fingers tonight are similar to the ones on my hands now. They must have been made in the past two days. The white marks on her hands when you hypnotized her in the Dali Temple were caused by the last time she sneaked into the Wangxing Pavilion. The one who entered the princess's mansion after Princess Jintai's death was indeed not Huo Chi, but Princess Ankang Song Siyue."
Zhou Zhenzhen recalled that in the Dali Temple, facing the silver chain hanging around her neck, Song Siyue was innocent and kind, like a frightened little girl, crying and saying that she had witnessed the murder of her third sister.
But after leaving the Dali Temple, she took off the white rabbit-like mask, avoided everyone's eyes and came to this place soaked with the blood of her third sister. She sat in front of the chessboard, holding the white piece, staring at the end of the game intently, looking for a way to crack it.
The needle hidden in the chess piece scratched her delicate skin as it spun between her fingertips, but she was so focused on the game of chess that she didn't notice the scratch on her hand at all.
A cool breeze blew, and her pretty face was hidden in the darkness, under her hood, with the corners of her mouth pursed, looking extremely cold.
