Chapter 18: Bodhisattva Barbarian (Part 6)
“I’ve had people inquire at the Ministry of Personnel. That Ni Qinglan was indeed a scholar from Que County,” Assistant Minister Pei Zhi Yuan said, scattering fish food into a fishbowl. “But his name wasn’t on the list of successful candidates, so the Ministry didn’t pay him any further attention and wasn’t aware of his disappearance after the examination.”
“However, didn’t the Yin Ye Si capture a jailer in the Guangning Prefecture Yamen who tried to silence a witness?” Pei Zhi Yuan put down the bowl, rubbed his hands, and turned to look at the purple-robed minister. “The murderer was afraid the woman would appeal to the Dengwen Drum Court…”
If Ni Su appealed to the Dengwen Drum Court, the case would be brought directly to the Emperor’s attention.
“The Dengwen Drum Court has a rule that anyone who appeals, regardless of gender, must first be subjected to a beating to prove their sincerity. This alone deters countless people,” Meng Yun Xian said, casually glancing at a memorial. “The murderer saw that Miss Ni endured the Guangning Prefecture Yamen’s welcome beating. If she were released from the Silu Prison unharmed, she wouldn’t hesitate to endure another beating at the Dengwen Drum Court. That’s why the murderer was so eager to bribe Jailer Qian San to silence her.”
“How did the Yin Ye Si interrogate that Jailer Qian San? Did he confess anything?”
“Han Qing hadn’t even started the interrogation when he bit down on poison and killed himself.” Qian San had swallowed poison hidden in his teeth as soon as he entered the Yin Ye Si.
“Of course. If the murderer revealed themselves so easily, it would be too anticlimactic.” Pei Zhi Yuan wasn’t surprised. “But that Ni Qinglan’s sister… should we say she’s brave? Even in the Yin Ye Si, she stuck to her story. Could it be that her brother really did appear to her in a dream?”
Meng Yun Xian looked up at the light streaming through the carved window and suddenly said, “If only the dead could truly appear in dreams.”
“What do you mean?” Pei Zhi Yuan took a bite of a green date.
“If that were possible, I would also like to ask someone to appear in my dream,” Meng Yun Xian said, closing the memorial, “and ask him whether he was truly wronged.”
Pei Zhi Yuan choked on the date pit, his face turning red as he coughed. He waved his hands. “Minister Meng, be careful what you say!”
“Min Xing, after all these years in the Eastern Depot, you’re still so timid. There’s no one here but us. What are you afraid of?” Meng Yun Xian chuckled, amused by his colleague’s reaction.
“Minister Zhang’s return has already aroused the Emperor’s suspicion. You should be careful what you say,” Pei Zhi Yuan, having finally swallowed the date pit, said, wiping the sweat from his forehead and bowing to Meng Yun Xian.
“Take a look at this,” Meng Yun Xian said, handing him the memorial.
Pei Zhi Yuan took it and read it carefully in the sunlight, his expression turning to surprise. “Minister Meng, this is an excellent essay! It addresses current issues and offers insightful solutions for the new laws. The parallel prose is also beautifully written!”
“It was written by Ni Qinglan,” Meng Yun Xian said, picking up his teacup. “There’s a scholar surnamed He still in the capital. Ni Qinglan interacted with him frequently after arriving in Yun Jing. I obtained this from him.”
“That’s strange,” Pei Zhi Yuan said, examining the memorial again. “If this was truly written by Ni Qinglan, why wasn’t his name on the list of successful candidates? Such a talented individual shouldn’t have been overlooked.”
“Indeed,” Meng Yun Xian’s smile faded, his expression turning serious as steam rose from his teacup. “Such a talented individual shouldn’t have met such an end.”
Pei Zhi Yuan, having served under Meng Yun Xian since his youth, knew how much the new policies meant to him and how much he valued talented individuals who could implement them effectively.
Seeing his serious expression, Pei Zhi Yuan understood that Meng Yun Xian was determined to investigate this matter. He wisely remained silent, taking another bite of his date.
“Where did you get those dates?” Meng Yun Xian suddenly asked.
“Minister Zhang gave them to me this morning. He said the date trees in his courtyard were laden with fruit, and he didn’t want the birds to ruin them, so he had them all picked and distributed among us. They’re quite sweet,” Pei Zhi Yuan said, spitting out the date pit. “You didn’t get any? Of course, Minister Zhang has severed ties with you. Why would he give you dates?”
“Minister Meng, everyone is assembled,” an attendant announced from outside.
Meng Yun Xian ignored Pei Zhi Yuan, put down his teacup, and walked out, his hands clasped behind his back.
In the main hall, Meng Yun Xian saw that many officials were eating dates, but his desk was empty.
“Minister Meng,” the officials greeted him, rising and bowing.
“Mmm.” Meng Yun Xian walked in, ignoring their hurried attempts to swallow their date pits, and sat down beside Zhang Jing. He couldn’t resist asking, “Why didn’t I get any?”
“Minister Meng, you’re a connoisseur of fine cuisine. I hear you even wrote a cookbook yourself. How could the humble dates from my courtyard be worthy of your palate? Besides, by the time they reached you, there wouldn’t be any left,” Zhang Jing said, his gaze fixed ahead.
The officials in the hall exchanged glances, holding their breath.
“Zhang Chong Zhi,” Meng Yun Xian chuckled, exasperated. “Are you even excluding me from eating dates now?”
Ni Su recuperated at the Grand Commandant’s residence for some time, finally able to walk again. During this period, Zhou Ting from the Yin Ye Si visited, bringing news of Jailer Qian San’s suicide and another important piece of information.
Director Han Qing had requested Ni Qinglan’s examination papers, but the Imperial College had misplaced several papers from the unsuccessful candidates, including Ni Qinglan’s.
Although the papers of unsuccessful candidates weren’t considered important, according to Qi law, all papers should be sealed and kept for a year before being destroyed.
The Imperial College had punished several officials involved, but the trail seemed to have gone cold.
“Miss Ni, I truly didn’t suspect anything at the time. He had caught a cold and wasn’t feeling well at the Imperial College… I just assumed he had failed the examination due to his illness and left without saying goodbye out of frustration.” The young man in a dark blue robe, his face filled with regret, sat across from Ni Su at a tea stall.
He was He Zhong Ping, the Yanzhou scholar who had sent the letter to the Ni family in Que County.
Since sitting down, he had repeated the same story. As a fellow scholar who had participated in the winter examination, he genuinely didn’t know anything more. “However, an officer surnamed Zhou from the Yin Ye Si took an essay from me. It was written by Brother Ni. I had borrowed it and hadn’t returned it yet. It’s now in the Yin Ye Si’s possession. I believe they will bring justice to Brother Ni.”
Ni Su held her teacup, then said, “But justice requires evidence.”
Hearing this, He Zhong Ping’s expression turned somber, and he fell silent.
Ni Su didn’t stay long, leaving after a few sips of tea.
Yu Wen and several guards from the Grand Commandant’s residence waited under a large banyan tree across the street. As Ni Su walked towards them, a child, held in someone’s arms, stared at her intently even after walking some distance away.
Ni Su looked down. The fluffy, white light flickered on the ground.
She stopped, and it stopped too.
A faint smile touched Ni Su’s pale lips.
“Miss Ni, Mistress asked us to go directly to the Yan Hui Pavilion. The other ladies from the poetry society have arrived, including Lady Sun,” Yu Wen said, helping Ni Su into the carriage.
“Alright,” Ni Su’s expression changed slightly at the mention of Lady Sun.
Literary culture flourished in the Great Qi. In the bustling capital of Yun Jing, it wasn’t uncommon for women to form poetry societies. Bookstores often published collections of poems written by these women, and several talented female poets had gained considerable fame.
One of them was Lady Jiang Shao, the wife of Grand Councilor Meng Yun Xian.
The Ru Qin Poetry Society had originally been formed by Lady Jiang and her close friends at the Yan Hui Pavilion. But fourteen years ago, when Minister Meng was demoted, she had accompanied him to Wen County, and the poetry society disbanded. Only Lady Zhao, the wife of a Minister, had continued to maintain it, inviting younger women to join.
Cai Chun Xu was one of them, and Lady Sun had joined two years ago.
“Mistress said Lady Sun’s monthly cycle started yesterday. Thankfully, your prescription worked. Otherwise, she would still be suffering from stomach cramps and unable to leave her house today,” Yu Wen said as they arrived at the Yan Hui Pavilion and walked towards a waterside pavilion.
Ni Su was about to reply when a bright, female voice called out, “Sister A-Xi!”
Looking up, Ni Su saw Cai Chun Xu, sitting at a table, writing, her eyes crinkling with a smile. She wore a bright orange jacket embroidered with butterflies, her hair styled in a cloud bun, adorned with pearl hairpins and fresh flowers.
“Everyone, this is my benefactor’s younger sister, Ni Su, A-Xi for short. She’s also well-read, so I invited her to join us today.” Cai Chun Xu put down her brush and introduced Ni Su to the other elegantly dressed women.
A woman in her forties, wearing a dark green dress, put down the flowers she was arranging and looked Ni Su up and down. “You’re a beautiful young lady. But you look so thin. Are you unwell?”
Her words were kind and appropriately concerned. The other women also looked at Ni Su, but a younger woman in her twenties had a strange expression.
Before Ni Su could reply, another woman spoke. “Lady Cao, you don’t know. She sustained those injuries in your husband’s Guangning Prefecture Yamen.”
The pavilion fell silent.
“Lady Sun, what do you mean?” Lady Cao asked, her face stiffening.
The woman who spoke was Lady Sun, the one Yu Wen had mentioned. Now, with everyone staring at her, she looked slightly uncomfortable. “I heard she made absurd claims and was beaten in the Guangning Prefecture Yamen’s Silu Prison…”
“Sun Yun,” Cai Chun Xu interrupted, the smile vanishing from her face. “I think you’ve been ill for too long and your mind is addled!”
“No need to remind me,” Sun Yun muttered, glancing at the pale young woman standing beside Cai Chun Xu, then looking away. “If you hadn’t brought her here, I wouldn’t have said anything.”
A young woman sitting by the railing, confused, asked softly, “Lady Sun, what’s going on? Why don’t you explain clearly?”
“You don’t know,” Lady Sun said, touching her hair with a handkerchief. “This girl… she’s a medicine woman.”
What? A medicine woman?
The women exchanged glances, then looked at Ni Su, their expressions varying. In their circles, being a medicine woman wasn’t a respectable profession.
“Sun Yun,” Cai Chun Xu’s face darkened. “Have you forgotten who diagnosed your irregular periods and gave you the prescription that allowed you to leave your house after months of suffering from stomach cramps? She comes from a family of physicians. It’s not surprising that she knows some medicine. You thanked her profusely that day. Even if you don’t acknowledge it now, why insult her?”
The women in the pavilion had only known that Sun Yun had been ill and hadn’t joined their gatherings, but they hadn’t known the nature of her ailment. Now, they all looked at her.
Sun Yun, embarrassed that her secret had been revealed, said defensively, “If a woman does such things, isn’t she a medicine woman? Did she only treat me?”
She stood up and took off her jade bracelets and gold bangles, thrusting them into Ni Su’s hands. “I received treatment and used your prescription. Here’s your payment!”
“Sun Yun!” Cai Chun Xu was about to explode, but Ni Su, who had been silent until now, grabbed her wrist.
“Yes,” Ni Su said, meeting the gazes of the women in the pavilion, the sunlight glinting off the water. “I’ve treated other women as well, and I’m not just superficially familiar with medicine. Men study for ten years for fame and fortune, while I’ve dedicated ten years to medicine. I’m indeed different from you. I read medical texts, not poetry. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I’m grateful to Sister Cai for helping me leave the Yin Ye Si early. I treated you because Sister Cai mentioned your ailment. If you want to talk about payment, consider it already paid by Sister Cai. I won’t accept this.”
Ni Su tossed the jewelry onto the floor. The jade bracelets shattered with a crisp sound.
“I won’t disturb your gathering any longer. Excuse me.” A faint smile touched Ni Su’s lips as she bowed to the women.
“Sister Cao, everyone, I’ll escort Sister A-Xi back,” Cai Chun Xu said, glaring at Lady Sun, then bowing to the others and hurrying after Ni Su.
The pavilion fell silent.
“Looking at that young woman… she doesn’t seem like a medicine woman…” one of the women said, gazing at Ni Su’s retreating figure.
In their minds, medicine women were usually old crones, not young, educated women like her.
But they had clearly heard her admit to treating patients.
“Sister A-Xi, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you there. You were humiliated for no reason…” Cai Chun Xu said, frowning, as they rode back to the Grand Commandant’s residence.
Ni Su shook her head. “Sister Cai, you know I wanted to ask Lady Sun about something. She rarely leaves her house, and it’s not convenient to visit her. This was the only opportunity. I’m grateful for your help, even though it caused you trouble.”
“I wish your prescription hadn’t worked so well! I hope Sun Yun is still suffering from cramps and can’t even open her mouth!” Cai Chun Xu said, crumpling her handkerchief in frustration.
Back at the Grand Commandant’s residence, Yu Wen opened the door to Ni Su’s room, and the three of them were immediately hit by the overwhelming scent of incense, making them cough.
“Sister A-Xi, why did you light so much incense before leaving?” Cai Chun Xu asked, waving her hand to clear the air. “I don’t see any Buddha statues here.”
“Huh?” Ni Su’s eyes were slightly red from the smoke. “I offered it to one.”
“Where?” Cai Chun Xu asked, peering into the room from the doorway.
Ni Su, unsure how to reply, mumbled, “In my heart…”
If Yu Wen hadn’t closed the windows before leaving, the smoke wouldn’t have filled the room.
They couldn’t enter the room for now. Yu Wen placed a cushion on a stone bench under a tree for Ni Su to sit on. Several maids and servants swept and chatted nearby.
With Yu Wen gone, Ni Su rested her chin on her hand. “Xu Zi Ling, Lady Sun is a dead end.”
To prevent cheating, examination papers were anonymized and transcribed before being presented to the examiners.
Lady Sun’s husband, Jin Xiang Shi, was one of the transcribers for the winter examination.
“Aspirations are not determined by gender.”
Ni Su heard a voice from the deep shadows of the tree and looked up to see the hem of his white robe.
“I know,” she said, gazing at him. “I’ve known since I was young that besides the narrow-minded men my mother spoke of, there are also women who will never understand me.”
Like Lady Sun, who, after using her prescription, had categorized her as a lowly medicine woman and couldn’t tolerate Cai Chun Xu bringing her to the Ru Qin Poetry Society.
“But I think I’m still better off than my brother,” she continued. “I’m a woman. They can’t use propriety as an excuse to restrict me, so they resort to labeling me as low-class. But why should I accept that label? Is it written in the laws of Great Qi?”
“They think I should be ashamed, that I should cower. But I won’t. I will live with dignity, carrying the aspirations of my brother and myself.”
The dappled sunlight made it difficult to see his face clearly. “Why don’t we go directly to Jin Xiang Shi?”
“What do you have in mind?” the young man with cold eyes asked, his gaze meeting hers beneath the rustling leaves.
“You pretend to be a ghost…” Ni Su paused, realizing her words were redundant. He was a ghost. “We go at night, and you scare him. How about that?”
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