Xiao Zhi insisted that Yun Yi stay at Yongsui Hall—that is, the Emperor’s own bedchamber.
That tyrannical dog emperor wouldn’t even lend her his old residence.
Yun Yi pestered him for a long time.
Xiao Zhi: “I won’t lend it. I’m petty and stingy—are you satisfied now?”
“You stayed in my brother’s room, and I lent it to you without a word of hesitation.”
Xiao Zhi retorted: “My bedchamber is far larger than your brother’s room.”
Comparing real estate—that was no fun.
She had thought she could just laze around here, eating and drinking, waiting quietly for the next time-crossing to take her home.
But the dog emperor made her work.
Rising before dawn, Yun Yi was forced to change into eunuch’s clothes and stand duty at Wende Hall.
So sleepy—she desperately wanted to yawn, but she was afraid of embarrassing the Emperor, so she forced herself to hold it in.
Her eyelids involuntarily drooped over her eyes. As she drifted off, she was already thinking that before court tomorrow, she would have to draw a pair of eyeballs on her eyelids.
Inside the hall, the ministers stood in several rows. Cen Ni stepped forward to report on the case.
It was exactly the case involving the Fifth Prince.
The drowned Hu girl was the top entertainer at Zui Luan Pavilion.
On the day of the Shangsi Festival, the Fifth Prince, Xiao Li, had specially invited her aboard the painted boat for a chat.
“Alas, who would have thought she would lose her footing and fall into the river?” Xiao Li put on a look of lingering fear.
Yun Yi stood in the corner, where a hanging curtain happened to block the upper half of her body, preventing her from seeing the black mole at the corner of Xiao Li’s mouth.
She only heard him say arrogantly: “This prince has already sent people to Zui Luan Pavilion to check on her condition, delivering fine ginseng and lingzhi to help her recover.”
At the mention of the Hu girl, Yun Yi snapped awake.
Xiao Li continued: “This prince is not a good swimmer. Fortunately, a kind-hearted commoner saved her. Such a righteous act deserves generous reward.”
“!” The world had turned upside down!
Why didn’t he just send her a banner of honor!
Yesterday on the canal, Xiao Li had indeed seen his imperial sister Xiao Qingzhu disguised as a manservant, standing on the shore enjoying the view.
But the woman standing beside the princess was a stranger to him—Xiao Li didn’t recognize her.
Soon after, the Hu girl fell into the water.
She was merely a Hu girl—dead or alive, it didn’t matter.
But then the woman beside his imperial sister jumped in to save her.
And on the boat was Helian Tu, the Young Khan of the Northern Di. To avoid trouble, Xiao Li hurriedly ordered the boatman to steer the painted boat away.
Looking back at the shore, Xiao Li saw a crowd gathered in a circle. He didn’t care whether the Hu girl and her rescuer were dead or alive.
Hah—so she hadn’t died after all.
What a nuisance.
·
Xiao Zhi sat on the dragon throne, watching Xiao Li as if he were watching a play.
“Oh, really?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Then I should be asking Fifth Brother for a reward.”
Xiao Li looked up, checking repeatedly that the Emperor wasn’t joking.
Cen Ni: “Yesterday, His Majesty and the Princess were traveling incognito and happened to encounter a woman who had fallen into the canal.”
You could hear a pin drop in Wende Hall.
Xiao Li knew it was bad. So the Princess and the Emperor had been out together.
Since the Emperor had taken part in the rescue, did that mean he had also witnessed him kicking the Hu girl into the water?
Xiao Zhi: “Prince Zhao Xiao Li, for negligent injury, is fined three months’ salary.”
“Your servant accepts the decree and thanks His Majesty for his grace.” Xiao Li had no choice but to accept.
It was only three months’ salary.
“Fifth Brother, don’t be so hasty,” Xiao Zhi said, his smile spreading, his fingertip idly tracing the dragon head on the throne, as if making casual conversation. “I haven’t finished yet.”
Xiao Li knelt lower, his heart, which had just settled, now suspended once again.
“Let’s close the case of the assassination attempt on me while we’re at it. Minister Cen—”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Several men carried in an object made of brick and tile—old, stained, mottled, with bloodstains everywhere.
This was a section of wall dismantled from the dungeon of the Ministry of Justice.
Cen Ni, solemn-faced, pointed to a bloodstain: “This is the blood letter written by the palace attendant who attempted to assassinate His Majesty.”
The ministers gathered before the wall, buzzing with discussion.
“What is this?”
“Could it be…”
“Tsk! Utterly treasonous!”
Xiao Li knelt on the ground, not daring to look at that wall. Every word of outrage from the ministers pierced his ears.
Hidden behind the curtain, Yun Yi poked her head out. As luck would have it, the Emperor behind the dragon throne also glanced over casually.
A warning look: Stand properly.
Yun Yi flinched and slowly retreated back into the curtain.
Then she heard a voice from within the hall—somewhat similar to the Emperor’s. The man clicked his tongue: “Fifth Brother, that’s not very good of you.”
If Yun Yi had looked down, she would have seen a face identical to the Emperor’s. It was his twin brother, Xiao Qian.
Prince Huai, Xiao Qian, was a carefree prince who usually couldn’t be bothered to attend court.
But today he had come—because he had heard that his dear imperial brother and sister had been secretly playing together behind his back.
He had come to demand an explanation!
“Your Majesty, see clearly—how can you be certain the assassin was referring to me based only on half a ‘five’?!” Xiao Li was frantic.
Kicking the Hu girl was a minor matter—even if she drowned, she was just a lowly life. If the Emperor really made an issue of it, he could fine him all his salary, and at worst, strip him of his title “Prince Zhao.”
But plotting to assassinate the Emperor—that was a capital offense.
The court fell abruptly silent.
Cen Ni, who had been unable to get a word in for a while, spoke up: “How does Prince Zhao know there is half a ‘five’ on that wall?”
What? Xiao Li’s head snapped up.
The ministers clustered before the wall parted.
Only then did Xiao Li see the wall clearly. The mottled surface bore only splattered bloodstains—no blood letter at all.
A bluff! He had fallen for it!
Xiao Zhi seemed dissatisfied: “Minister Cen, I thought the Ministry of Justice handled cases confidentially. This is a leak on your part.”
“Your Majesty, this old minister is wronged!” Cen Ni knelt. “The assassination of the Son of Heaven is no small matter. Apart from Minister Qian and Minister Wang, no one knows the specifics of the case.”
Ministers Qian and Wang knelt in response. Yun Yi heard Minister Wang “thump-thump-thump” crawling forward on his knees and thought: Now that’s dedication.
“Your Majesty, see clearly! We did not leak anything!”
“Fifth Brother,” Xiao Zhi soothed, “you see—they all say they didn’t leak it. So how did you know?”
“Your servant—” Xiao Li was already drenched in sweat. He looked at the wall and changed his tune: “Your servant was merely afraid of being wronged. I didn’t know the wall only had bloodstains.”
Xiao Zhi said in a casual tone: “Oh—’only’ bloodstains. Minister Cen—”
Cen Ni ordered another massive object brought in.
It was an entire wall from the dungeon of the Ministry of Justice. Near the corner, there was a half-written character—”five.”
“That’s not ‘five’!” Xiao Li was nearly hysterical.
Xiao Zhi walked to the wall and pointed at the character missing its final stroke.
He looked up and asked his eldest imperial brother: “Prince Huai—what character is this?”
Xiao Qian: “It’s naturally ‘five.’”
“You’re full of shit!” Xiao Li roared.
“Minister Yue?” Xiao Zhi asked again.
“Your humble minister also believes it is ‘five.’”
Xiao Zhi: “Though it lacks one stroke, even an illiterate would recognize this character. Minister Cen—take Prince Zhao into the Ministry of Justice dungeon. This case is yours to handle.”
Cen Ni’s back was long soaked in cold sweat. He could only obey.
Illiterate? No one in the hall understood. But Yun Yi, hidden behind the curtain, understood.
When Xiao Zhi had been transported to the modern era, Xiao Liu, the graduate student under Yun Guoqiang, had once called him an “illiterate.”
He probably hadn’t understood it at the time, and hadn’t asked her what “illiterate” meant.
Unexpectedly, this ancient man had figured out the meaning on his own.
Xiao Li was dragged away.
Court was adjourned.
Xiao Qian chased after the Emperor outside the hall and saw a vast crowd surrounding him—a sea of eunuchs.
No wonder there had been recent rumors that the Emperor favored eunuchs and was suspected of having a fondness for men.
“Little Chair, come here,” the Emperor called to one of the young eunuchs, his voice noticeably more relaxed than during court—as if the earlier confrontation had never happened.
That eunuch was different from the others. He didn’t walk with that cowering, obsequious gait.
Instead… he walked like a boss.
“What?” The young eunuch let out a huge yawn and complained: “I’m so sleepy I could die.”
Xiao Qian recognized “him.”
Little Chair, nothing—that was Little Tiger.
The little tiger that the Emperor kept hidden so well and took everywhere with him.
Seeing Little Tiger sneak a glance behind, Xiao Qian concealed himself behind a vermilion pillar.
The palace grounds were wide open.
Sunlight spilled over the glazed tiles on the rooftops. Two early-rising birds, their long beaks poking about, were searching for bugs in the gaps between tiles.
Yun Yi sidled up beside the Emperor and quickly muttered under her breath: “Aren’t you afraid his mother will make a scene?”
By his reckoning, Xiao Zhi had been on the throne for less than six months, and he was already striking at the Empress Dowager’s precious son.
If Xiao Zhi did this, the Empress Dowager was bound to kick up a fuss.
Xiao Zhi absorbed the word “mother”—he understood about seven or eight parts of it—it must mean “mother” or “maternal figure.”
Looking utterly unruffled, Xiao Zhi said: “If making a scene worked, what would we need the police for?”
“…” You!
Was he a parrot reincarnated? Why had he absorbed all her phrases?
Hidden behind the pillar, Xiao Qian pricked up his ears. What the Emperor and Little Tiger were saying sounded like the coded talk of bodyguards.
What did “police” mean? Xiao Qian’s brain couldn’t keep up.
He gave up. He slipped back into Wende Hall and walked out with the other ministers.
.
Xiao Zhi: “You’ll stay by my side every day for the next while—understand?”
Yun Yi lowered her gaze. Their shadows were tangled together like conjoined twins. They were already this close—how much closer did he want her to be?
She wasn’t interested in palace intrigue.
“I just want to know what was up with those two walls.”
Were ancient prison walls that well-built? Made of bricks? And so easy to pry off?
“Shh.” Xiao Zhi signaled her to be quiet.
He took Yun Yi’s hand.
In that later era, he had seen the colorful little bricks in Yun Xi’s room, built into a beautiful house.
It was only after asking Yun Yi that he learned they were called Lego street scenes. Yun Yi had even brought out an unopened box to show him.
Xiao Zhi curved his finger and, drawing from memory, wrote on her palm.
L-E-G-O.
Those four strange symbols—this was how they were written, right? He was sure he hadn’t misremembered.
He wanted to tell her quietly that the idea of Cen Ni bringing in the prison wall had been inspired by those colorful little bricks.
Yun Yi held her breath, her palm tingling.
Her attention wasn’t on the letters at all—it was entirely on Xiao Zhi’s long, slender knuckles.
“Do you understand now?” Xiao Zhi stopped.
She was half a beat late in responding: “Are you writing a talisman?”
Xiao Zhi flicked her forehead.
“Ow.” She clutched her forehead.
“You can’t even understand this—illiterate.” Xiao Zhi tucked his hands behind his back and walked off, leaving the illiterate one behind.
The sun had just climbed into the blue sky, the glazed tiles on the grand hall glittering with gold.
“Whoo-whoo-whoo~” A hoopoey with orange-brown feathers flapped its wings and soared, circling another of its kind, round and round.
“Hey—who are you calling illiterate!”
“Hey—wait for me!”
Xiao Zhi turned back with a smile.
On the long palace path, the petite eunuch shattered the burst of spring light and caught up to his steps.
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