Time slipped by to the first day of the twelfth month. With the New Year close at hand, Chang'an grew busier than ever.
Sixty years ago, Great Yue had breached Chang'an on that very day, the first of the twelfth month. In that do-or-die battle against Great Qi, more than a hundred thousand men fell on both sides, and the countryside beyond Chang'an's walls was left so desolate that only old horses that knew their way home wandered there, and not a living soul was to be seen.
After Emperor Xiaozong entered Chang'an and the realm was settled, he had a Martyrs' Mound dug beside Qujiang Pool and every last bone of the soldiers of both sides buried within it, proclaiming that the hundred-year standoff of three kingdoms was ended, and that all were henceforth subjects of Great Yue.
Countless wives had waited at home for husbands who never came back, and after long years of silence some of them, every year, traveled a thousand li to find this place. Some threw themselves into Qujiang Pool to die beside their men; some wept themselves to death before the Martyrs' Mound. This went on for more than ten years, until Emperor Xiaozong had no choice but to station officials beside the mound to comfort these women who had lost everything, and to have the Empress come and make offerings there each year.
Now times had changed, and what happened sixty years ago was long past. Yet the custom of coming to Qujiang Pool to burn a stick of incense on the first of the twelfth month had never been dropped; it had merely become, for the most part, an outing of snow-viewing and merrymaking, much like the Dragon Boat Festival's commemoration of Qu Yuan—a festival that had come into being to suit the times.
The present Son of Heaven, however, had never named another empress since the Empress died of illness, so the duty of escorting the titled ladies fell on the Empress Dowager's shoulders.
As a daughter-in-law of the Xiao family, Madame Lu had been widowed soon after her marriage. On account of her good name she rarely went visiting, and was not well acquainted with the other great ladies of Kuishou Street. Naturally, then, she brought Xu Buling along, so that she would have someone to talk to at Qujiang Pool.
And Xu Buling's reasons for going to Qujiang Pool with Madame Lu went beyond a little diversion; he had other arrangements to see to as well.
When the Empress Dowager took a flock of great ladies out of the city to admire the scenery, the security could not be allowed to go wrong.
Xu Buling had quietly had Ning Qingye make a show of scouting around Qujiang Pool, deliberately leaving a few traces behind.
Once the Investigation Bureau found Ning Qingye's traces, it naturally dared not treat the matter lightly. On the first of the twelfth month it put more than a hundred Wolf Guards on alert around the area, and nearly a thousand Imperial Guard troops cleared the surroundings of Qujiang Pool in advance; apart from titled ladies and local worthies whose backgrounds were known inside out, no suspicious person was allowed in. Commander Zhang Xiang himself came out with his blade at his side to stand guard near the Empress Dowager.
With Zhang Xiang lured out of his hole, Zhu Manzhi could naturally take the opportunity to enter the Records Vault on the pretext of consulting case files. But Zhang Xiang was certainly not the only man stationed at the Records Vault, so a little more chaos would have to be stirred up in the Investigation Bureau...
Early morning on the first day of the twelfth month.
The vast Prince Su estate had been tidied up a little at Madame Lu's insistence. The eight estate guards were deathsworn men whom Xu Buling normally had no use for, so he set them to work as industrious gardeners, making ready for the New Year.
The sky had only just paled, and a moderate snow was falling over the courtyards. Xu Buling straightened his clothes before the bronze mirror. Since the excursion was nominally to make offerings to the fallen, among whom were many soldiers who had served under his grandfather Xu Lie, his dress was fairly formal; but as he was not yet of capping age he need not wear the ceremonial crown robe, only a rather solemn brocade robe and a jade belt.
Old Xiao stood before him leaning on his cane, laying out the day's arrangements:
"There's a bamboo grove near Qujiang Pool, and everyone going in or out has to pass through it. The traps are already laid. Ning Qingye certainly can't kill Zhang Xiang; she'll just kick up some chaos, and whether she gets away afterward is down to her own skill.
Zhu Manzhi goes into the Records Vault at midday, right at the dinner hour, when the Wolf Guards on patrol are at their thinnest. I'll find a way to make some trouble and draw them off. That gives her about half a quarter-hour to get in and go through the files...
Xu Buling listened closely, and once he was sure there were no holes in the arrangements, he gave a slight nod. "Take the eight guards with you, just in case. If you get yourself killed in there, I'll be left a lonely man with no one about him."
Old Xiao chuckled. "Set your mind at ease, Young Prince. This old man has no other skills, but staying alive is a first-rate one. As things stand now, if that poison in you doesn't get cured, I may well end up seeing you off first."
Xu Buling truly had no retort to that. He gave a soft laugh, took his sword from the carved-tiger stand, hung it at his waist, and went out the estate's main gate.
The usually solemn and dignified Kuishou Street was uncharacteristically noisy. Dozens of carriages came out of the mansions of the princes, marquises and ministers, servants and maids crowding around them, the womenfolk making up most of the party.
In this place where Chang'an's top families clustered, even the haughtiest noblewoman obediently took the position that was her due. No one had to direct the order of precedence; it had been won through generations of open and covert rivalry.
The Xiao family's carriage went at the front. Xiao Chuyang's wife, Madame Cui, had already set off ahead with her maids, while Madame Lu had her carriage halted before the stone lions of the prince's estate, waiting.
Light snow drifted down. Xu Buling led Zhuifeng out the estate gate, treading the snow, and looked up to see Madame Lu in dark blue titled-lady's robes leaning at the carriage window and gazing into the distance. Her cheeks were bare of powder, her emerald earrings perfectly still; she looked to be woolgathering.
Yuenü, holding a white oiled-paper umbrella against the falling snow, stepped forward at a leisurely pace and made a graceful curtsy. "Young Prince, the snow is heavy—mind you don't catch cold. Do get in." She raised a hand to take the reins.
Since she was blocking the door, Xu Buling did not bother with futile resistance. He handed the horse to Yuenü, lightly pushed off the street and vaulted up into the carriage, entering the warm, splendid interior.
Madame Lu shut the carriage window, shifted her hips a little on the soft couch, and patted the seat beside her:
"Buling, come sit here."
The carriage was spacious, and there was in fact a seat for guests to one side. Xu Buling had already sat down there, but at this he could only get up and sit beside Madame Lu, unbuckling his sword and laying it on the small table nearby:
"Aunt Lu, what were you woolgathering about just now? Something on your mind?"
Madame Lu leaned lazily against the soft couch, her eyes fixed on Xu Buling, sizing him up. "What could I have on my mind? You're all I think about. I keep feeling you've been hiding something from me lately..."
Xu Buling's expression stiffened slightly; he shook his head with a smile. "A man has to have some private business. I know what I'm doing."
Madame Lu's brows drew together. She thought for a moment, then leaned a little closer and sniffed at his robe.
Xu Buling bore it calmly. These past few days, whenever he had dealings with a woman, he scrubbed off a layer of skin before going home; if she could still smell anything on him, he would have nothing to say for himself.
Detecting no scent of a woman, Madame Lu's eyes regained a bit of spirit. "And what's the story with that Miss Song? I hear from the servants that Libationer Song's daughter has been wandering about near the estate these past few days, and seems to want to come to the door. Hmph... I went and asked at the Imperial College too, and they say you've been copying books at the Bell and Drum Tower, and that girl runs over there every single night..."
That resentful tone made Xu Buling's scalp prickle. Yet he could not say just anything, for fear of making Madame Lu more resentful still; he could only shake his head and smile. "She just helps me copy books when I don't feel like it. Grand Libationer Song is a model for his students and has always kept strict family discipline. How would Miss Song do anything to disgrace the family name?"
The explanation was quite convincing. Madame Lu nodded slightly and said no more; she took out a chessboard and two baskets of pieces from beside her, and chatted about this and that household matter as the carriage headed for Qujiang Pool...