“No.” The captain of the Imperial Guards said, “Among the people who broke into the Ministry of Rites last night, there was one person who was especially skilled in martial arts. It is said that Official Gu is an exceptional fighter so we will be inviting him to go along with us to the Ministry of Punishment.” 

Feng Zhi Wei didn’t try to object but only turned to smile apologetically at Gu Nan Yi, “It’s my fault. I have dragged you down with me.” 

Master Gu calmly handed his sword over to the captain and turned to say to the male servant that had followed them, “Go get a cloak. Your master has a bad back, it’s for sleeping.” 

With trembling legs, the servant acknowledged Gu Nan Yi’s order. The officials looked at each other with a dumbfounded expressions– does this guy think they are going on a vacation? 

“Tell little miss, her dad is on vacation, I still owe her the two times of sleeping with her.” 

“………….”

The officials bit their lips, wanting to laugh but didn’t dare to— he really is going on a vacation. 

Some people with impure thoughts are already busy deliberating on that sentence– if this dad wasn’t going to go on a vacation then he would be sleeping with his daughter? With? Daughter? Sleeping?

Ahahahahahahah…………..Indecent!

“At noon, send stewed pigeon soup. Simpler at night.” Master Gu is still nonchalantly arranging their food menu for their vacation, “She doesn’t sleep well if she eats too much meat at night.” (The Chinese translation uses a female “she” in written form, but in spoken form, “he” and “she” sounds exactly the same so this wouldn’t expose our heroine’s true gender. In fact, on a side note, “it” also has the same spoken sound but is written differently as well.) 

The officials have started to sniffle…. Ahhhhhhhhhhh, these two broken sleeves, see how deeply in love they are……….

A royal sedan chair came over slowly. The person in the sedan was about to lift up the curtain to get out but his hand paused when he heard those words. 

Over there, Feng Zhi Wei seemingly also remembered something, “Quite a lot of things were burned last night. Buy new bedding and send them over. They need to be the feather cloud kind that is produced in Jianghuai. They are the best quality, with cloud-like feel.” 

The officials’ eyes are now sparkling with excitement— ahhhhhhhh, cloud like, ahhhhh..they are going to “make waves” even in prison! 

“Also….bring 20 pounds of small walnuts.” 

“Official Wei.” Once the dumbfounded guard captain snapped out of his shock, he immediately came over to stop them, “The other stuff is fine but not the walnuts. It is said that Master Gu is extremely skilled in martial arts and is especially good at using walnuts as flying darts.” 

“Take off the shells and only bring in the walnut kernels.” Feng Zhi Wei immediately ordered, then turned to explain to the captain in a very gentle tone, “Walnut kernels are too light to be used as darts, don’t worry.” 

“……………”

After the two have finished making arrangements for their “vacation”, they followed the Imperial Guards out. Out of deference to Wei Zhi’s identity, he wasn’t tied up or handcuffed but he was escorted by no less than a thousand guards. 

A royal sedan chair was parked by the side of the road. The hand that lifted the sedan curtain was slender and white. Behind the curtain, the person’s gaze was as tumultuous as the stormy sea.

Feng Zhi Wei smiled at the person in the sedan and bowed, “Your Highness.”

“Official Wei, please take care.” Ning Yi looked at her and said slowly, “Official Peng of the Ministry of Punishment came from your Ministry of Rites. He is a most upright gentleman. Don’t worry. As for your case, there are still many things that are unclear right now. His Majesty will make his edict known later. The Ministry of Justice and the few of us brothers will certainly follow the case closely.” 

Feng Zhi Wei’s bowed again and said, “Thank you, Your Highness, for your concern.” 

There was a lot of information in Ning Yi’s words. He said Official Peng is “most upright”. That’s a hint that this person might be too “hateful of any wrongdoing” and would attempt to do something to Feng Zhi Wei. He said the Ministry of Justice and his few brothers would all be sure to follow the case closely. That means this case is a serious one and he would think of a way to hold a joint trial with the three judicial courts. This way, it would prevent the Ministry of Punishment from being able to do anything underhanded. However, His Majesty doesn’t entirely trust him- the prince who is in charge of the three judicial courts, so Second Prince and Seventh Prince could end up joining this mess at any point. Moreover, the three judicial courts, after the Emperor made several staff changes earlier this year, not all of them are Ning Yi’s people now so she must be extra careful. 

Their gaze met, Feng Zhi Wei suddenly smiled softly. 

Her smile was not the usual distant and indifferent sort, like looking at a flower through the fog, seemingly close but far in reality. Her smile this time was soft and gentle. Her eyes sparkled, with a bit of joy and gratitude in them. Seeing her smile, Ning Yi’s heart trembled, remembering how long it has been since he had seen such a smile. The last time he saw it, it was more than a year ago in the South Sea when she was bedridden.  Every time he personally fed her medicine and wiped her mouth, she would smile softly like this. 

That smile, a smile that would weaken the sun, the moon, and the stars. A smile that launches one’s heart onto the floating clouds so that even at night, one’s dream would be sweet. 

Later, that smile became a memory. A memory to be remembered in the cold dark long nights again and again…until he started to doubt if that smile has ever really existed and perhaps it was just a figment of his own imagination. 

Now, he has finally seen it again. 

Even if that smile appeared in the midst of a siege, and was as short as a spark of fire, his lips could not help but curve up. He gently let down the sedan curtain and smiled in the darkness. 

——————————————–

Feng Zhi Wei and Gu Nan Yi got into their own iron carriages that are specially made for the Ministry of Punishment. Escorted by a thousand guards, the iron carriages only had a thin gap for ventilation. When they are halfway to their destination, Feng Zhi Wei heard three soft knocks from above her head. 

Using her fingers, she tapped the iron carriage roof in response. Above her head, there were sounds of wind rushing by. (That is a way of saying whoever was on top of the carriage left after getting the response.)

Zong Chen had brought people to follow her all along to protect her but they wouldn’t be able to get into the dungeon at the Ministry of Punishment for a while. Zong Chen is asking if they should try to find a way to sneak in guards but Feng Zhi Wei rejected the idea. 

After a while, the sounds of birds chirping came. The carriages traveled a bit further but when they turned a corner, Feng Zhi Wei’s carriage suddenly swayed. 

The Imperial Guards quickly formed a tight circle around the two carriages and then gathered to see what had happened. They found that an iron tenon in the wheel was a bit loose and promptly used a sword to knock it in firmly. 

Since everyone was bending down to look at the bottom of the carriage, no one noticed someone had passed by them above like a fallen leaf. Using the branches of the big trees on the side of the road, bouncing up and down like a spring, two small bottles slipped into the carriage from the gap in the roof. 

Feng Zhi Wei hid the small bottles in her sleeve. 

The carriages soon arrived at the Ministry of Punishment, but instead of stopping, they kept going inward and then down. Judging by the sound, they are heading straight for the heaviest-guarded underground death cell in the Ministry of Punishment. 

A sneer appeared on the corner of Feng Zhi Wei’s lips. 

Ordinarily, someone with her status who is actually on the same level as the Minister of Punishment… the usual saying is– invite you to drink tea. Of course, that’s only a saying and you are obviously not here to really drink tea, but they would still give you a single room with everything provided. At most, your freedom is restricted. Once the trial started, then they would politely invite you to come out. No one would give you a hard time. 

They are all high-ranking officials, with their own respective masters and allies, who knows if someone will make a comeback one day and seek revenge thirty years down the line? Who knows if some unexpected ally or master would suddenly step in? Even if execution is right away, then they would still send you off with delicious food and drinks. This has always been the rule here. 

However, now that it has come to her, she is an exception. 

Wei Zhi is a lone man, not joining any sides, yet had risen with astonishing momentum. Wei Zhi’s rise was all because of Tiansheng emperor’s preferential treatment of him so once the emperor showed the slightest change of heart, then everyone will jump in to drag Wei Zhi down. 

The emperor might not necessarily order people to make things hard for her but in court politics, there are too many things that happen in the dark. If some people intentionally drag the case on for a few days, then she is just like a fish on the chopping board in the dungeon. 

Besides, this Minister of Punishment…wasn’t he the previous Minister of Rites? She had returned at a too coincidental of time and ended up messing up his promotion. This guy probably blamed her for it. 


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