Chapter 14

Wen Jing stood beneath the window, his expression blank for a moment.

“Your humble servant dares not act on his own accord,” he said, taking a half step back. “I shall report this matter in full to Commander Pei and await his judgment.”

Jiang Luan waved her hand casually. “Go on, go quickly with the report.”

Wen Jing turned and walked a few steps away. The soreness from the military baton strike on his thigh the day before still throbbed faintly. Though young, he could not suppress the turmoil in his heart; he strode back, eyes reddened, and asked, “Princess, are you deliberately making things difficult for your servant? Is that why you chose to trouble me while I was on duty?”

“Not at all, General Wen,” Jiang Luan replied, counting the golden pellets in the box with an air of indifference. “You’re simply having bad luck.”

Wen Jing felt a surge of frustration welling up inside and stood stubbornly beneath the window, unwilling to leave.

The golden pellet she had just bestowed rested in his palm. In a fit of pique, he said, “I come from humble origins and dare not accept such lavish rewards from the princess.”

At last, Jiang Luan lifted her gaze from the box; her dark eyes shimmered like rippling water as they lightly settled upon the young general’s stern, aggrieved face.

“General Wen is angry,” she teased softly.

Wen Jing pressed his lips together in silence.

He stood rigid beneath the window, the precious golden pellet cupped in his hand, adopting the stubborn stance of one who will neither relinquish nor relent.

Jiang Luan leaned forward; her pale fingertips crossed the window frame and gently touched the open palm before her.

Startled, Wen Jing instinctively curled his fingers inward, gripping the golden pellet tightly.

“Gifts bestowed are yours to give away or discard as you please. I never take back what I have granted,” she said.

Stepping back half a pace from the window, she regarded the slightly flustered young general with interest. “You do look quite charming when you’re angry.”

Wen Jing froze in place, fingers still curled, clutching the golden pellet. His face flushed, the skin on his neck blooming red as well.

But Jiang Luan soon grew bored, turning to head toward the western sleeping quarters. “Of course, General Wen may report this to Commander Pei for decision. But your commander is very busy. By the time he finishes his midnight duties and sends word back, I fear I will have already used those ten large golden pellets myself. Think carefully, General Wen.”

The attendant Yuan followed behind, holding the box, unsure of what expression to wear.

Outsiders might not know, but those who served closely were well aware: there were no such ten large golden pellets.

The late emperor had granted the princess a box of golden pellets for amusement—each pellet was either two qian or half a liang in weight, used for shooting birds and small game. The princess’s wrist strength was insufficient to shoot anything but the smallest two-qian pellets; the half-liang ones were merely for show.

The largest so-called “two-liang golden pellet” was but a single piece, melted down by Jiang Luan herself from a golden hairpin as a whim, tested in a slingshot but could barely be fired far.

It was all a glaring deception.

---

The attendant Yuan glanced back toward the window where Wen Jing stood, his expression grave as if facing a dire enemy, softly instructing the soldiers to rush out with the report…

Forget it. The princess can deceive whoever she wants; he’s just the unlucky one.

—

Commander Pei Xian received the news just as he stepped out of the council hall.

From afar, the sharp clacking of the patrol’s wooden clappers rang out repeatedly, announcing the onset of the first watch of the deep night.

Wen Jing’s personal soldiers had waited outside the hall for half the night, and finally, seeing their commander in person, hurried forward to deliver the message.

“General Wen was eager to hear the commander’s decision and has been waiting outside since dusk. The commander has been too busy and has not yet met with him.”

“At lamp lighting time, General Wen urged several more times. I reported truthfully each time; the commander was still not seen.”

“Around the first watch, General Wen sent word that the situation at Linfeng Hall was critical. The three female attendants sent by the Empress Dowager were believed to be in mortal danger. General Wen took it upon himself to expel the three attendants.”

Pei Xian, having spent the day locked in heated debate at the council hall, parched and dry-mouthed, took a few sips from a water pouch handed by his aide Mr. He. Then this utterly unexpected news reached his ears.

“General Wen took it upon himself to expel the Empress Dowager’s attendants from Linfeng Hall?”

He choked slightly, tossing the water pouch back to Mr. He. Glancing at the scattered officials nearby, he motioned to walk and speak. “What kind of mortal danger? Explain carefully.”

Wen Jing’s soldier followed closely, whispering, “Golden pellets. The imperial golden pellets in the princess’s hand.”

He gestured empty-handed. “They weigh two liang each, imperial-issued for shooting horses and men—heavy, solid golden pellets! The princess ordered General Wen to carry three wooden planks in at night, saying she would use the golden pellets to kill those three attendants tonight and have their bodies removed by dawn!”

Pei Xian: “…”

Too incredible to believe; he laughed quietly. “I never realized Princess Hanyang had such abilities.”

The soldier insisted, “Everyone saw it! Princess Hanyang personally used an iron slingshot loaded with golden pellets, effortlessly shooting sparrows from high branches with perfect accuracy!”

“Iron slingshot…” Pei Xian recalled.

During last night’s search of Linfeng Hall, he confiscated all dangerous weapons in the hall but left the slingshot Jiang Luan insisted was “the late emperor’s relic,” something to “evoke memories.”

He himself was a fatherless son. His father, the head of the Pei family, had died early last year. Pei Xian, a regional military governor, was detained and prevented from attending the funeral. When he received the royal summons to the capital in early spring, the mourning period was not yet over.

Out of respect for the sentiment attached to the relic, he had refrained from further investigation and left the slingshot behind.

He had never expected it to be used tonight.

---

That “imperial-issued golden pellet for hitting people.”

Pei Xian felt a vein throb on his forehead and let out a cold laugh, cutting off the soldier’s hand gestures. “If she truly wished to end the lives of the Empress Dowager’s attendants, why bother with all this posturing—words and threats, and such a roundabout way of intimidating you?”

“She’s using me as a scapegoat, standing between her and the Empress Dowager… quite the tactic to drive out the tiger and swallow the wolf.”

He pondered, descending the white marble steps outside the council hall. From the shadows of an unlit corridor ahead, a figure emerged.

The octagonal palace lantern carried by the soldier revealed the man’s face—none other than Zhong Yongliang, the Empress Dowager’s most trusted senior eunuch in charge.

Zhong Yongliang wore a sullen expression, holding a dust whisk as a barrier before him, bowing respectfully.

“The Empress Dowager requests the commander’s presence.”

Pei Xian’s gaze fixed on the dust whisk attempting to block his path. Two armored guards stepped forward briskly, brusquely pushing Zhong Yongliang and the whisk aside to the side of the palace road.

Zhong Yongliang wailed in protest, “Sir, slow down! I am but a humble servant, compelled to come by orders.”

Pei Xian’s tone was courteous but his steps unyielding as he strode toward the palace exit. “It is late at night. Please convey to the Empress Dowager that a nighttime meeting is inconvenient. I shall pay my respects in person tomorrow.”

Zhong Yongliang dared not block further, trailing behind with a low voice. “The Empress Dowager cannot sleep. Since the commander’s nighttime entry into the inner palace is inconvenient, she waits at Liangyi Hall. She ordered that tonight the commander be seen in person, whether at the third or fourth watch, she insists on summoning the commander.”

If the man before him was a wolf, then the Empress Dowager was a tiger. Zhong Yongliang felt caught between tiger and wolf, his life barely intact, anxiously calling after them.

“The three tutors sent from Jiaofang Palace this afternoon were dispatched to Linfeng Hall but were driven back by the commander’s men tonight. The three tutors were publicly humiliated before the entire palace, but the ones truly losing face are not them—it’s our Empress Dowager. She wishes to speak with Commander Pei in person. Perhaps the Xie family in the capital has offended the commander? The Empress Dowager hopes to apologize on their behalf.”

Pei Xian paused silently, stopped walking, and turned. “It has nothing to do with the Xie family. The Empress Dowager need not worry. Very well, since she is at Liangyi Hall, I will see her personally and explain. Lead the way.”

The palace path to Liangyi Hall passed in front of the council hall. On the return route, the soldier sent by Wen Jing still stood by the roadside, watching anxiously.

Pei Xian shot a sharp, icy glance their way.

The soldier shrank back, realizing their commander had made a grave mistake and caused serious trouble for their superior. Fearful, he knelt on one knee.

“The matter happened suddenly. General Wen acted in haste… we hope the commander will show mercy, considering General Wen’s lack of ill intent…”

“Relay my orders to Linfeng Hall.”

Pei Xian loosened his iron gauntlet and threw the heavy piece to the soldier.

“I will not sleep tonight, and neither shall those responsible inside Linfeng Hall. Have Wen Jing light all the lamps inside and out, and keep watch on the one who wields that skilled slingshot. Tell her to wait. I shall first visit Liangyi Hall, then pay a call to Linfeng Hall.”