Ink Burns

Chapter 270 Yin'er
Xue Xiao had a well-thought-out plan; he made one trip to handle two matters, and everything was arranged perfectly.

The only question is: will this trip even be possible?
Xue Xiao didn't think Liu Heping and his wife would leave the capital so easily: "They lost their daughter, why don't they stay and demand an explanation?"

Shan Yue replied, "No. They will definitely leave, and they will leave quickly and urgently."

Shan Yue rarely speaks definitively.

Xue Xiao raised an eyebrow: "So certain?"

Shan Yue's lips twitched slightly, her expression tense.

"Why are you so sure?" Xue Xiao asked again.

Shan Yue shifted her gaze to the old locust tree branches rustling against the windowpane in the desolate wind of early winter in the capital. Her expression and tone were indifferent: "I will tell you why after they have truly left the capital."

******
Consort Qiao's edict was issued hastily and abruptly. There was no set procedure for the affairs of the inner palace at the moment, so Empress Dowager Fang naturally had no one to restrain her. In addition, the Liu family had been completely stripped of their wealth, and Liu Bozhu was not exactly the daughter of an official. Dealing with Liu Bozhu was as easy as accidentally crushing a louse in the vast palace—all that was needed was to throw out a charge of "offending the royal family," and that would be an explanation.

On a misty morning, Liu Bozhu's body was dragged from the palace's Department of Punishments to Xue Nan's residence.

The white cloth covering her face was lifted by the wind, revealing a bloody face and a twisted body. Liu Bozhu was already unrecognizable. Her jaw was dislocated and never closed again, with bones and flesh swinging around. The flesh on her waist was a blurry mess, with the flocculent flesh and tattered silk mixed together, indistinguishable and impossible to tear apart.

Liu Heping's wife, Qiu, screamed and then fainted.

Liu Heping was more afraid than angry. He wanted to go out and find someone to inquire about the news, but he could not find a way to do so and had nowhere to seek justice. He broke into the second gate twice and finally saw Shanyue on the third time.

The mountain moon is calm, situated in a high position, looking down.

Qiu rushed forward, her voice trembling with tears, and demanded, "Which woman in the inner quarters hasn't harbored such wicked thoughts and schemes?"

"Fighting sisters, scheming against the stepmother, vying for the father's and husband's favor, fighting for husbands and dowries—who hasn't done all that! Who hasn't plotted and schemed! Bo Zhu only schemed against the child in your womb, yet you want her dead! Madam He—Madam He—how cruel you are! How cruel you are!"

Qiu Shi's eyes were bloodshot and blazing with fury: "You vicious woman! If you have the guts, kill me! If I live another day, I will avenge my son!"

"The inner quarters? A battle for favor?"

Shan Yue laughed out loud, "You still think this is just a power struggle within the inner quarters? My dear parents! The battle for 'Azure Phoenix' is a fight to the death! In the eyes of those in power, we are worth nothing but our lives!"

"If they are defeated, Yao Zaozheng, Liu Hezhou, and Chang Lin will die without a burial place!"

Shan Yue smiled, turning to look at Liu Heping, who remained silent beside Qiu Shi: "Besides, if it were truly just a power struggle within the inner quarters, why would it require the decree of Consort Qiao? — Liu Bozhu almost exposed 'Qingfeng' in public!"

Liu Heping's hand, which was tucked into his sleeve, trembled. Since entering the inner room, he had kept his head down. Only after hearing Shan Yue's words did he raise his head, his voice trembling: "What did you say?"

He heard it clearly; he was just pretending not to understand.

Shan Yue sneered, ignoring Qiu Shi, her eyes fixed on Liu Heping: "In front of Empress Dowager Fang, Liu Bozhu, in a fit of rage, blurted out that 'Qingfeng' had chosen me to marry into the Xue family instead of her! Empress Dowager Fang, like a cat smelling meat, wished she could dissect Liu Bozhu and find out 'Qingfeng's' origins, operations, and purpose. If it weren't for the Noble Consort's decisive action, you, me, the Grand Princess Jing'an, the Noble Consort, and Vice Minister Yuan would all have been killed by Liu Bozhu's confession! — Everyone knows that the Emperor is worried about not finding a way to pry open 'Qingfeng'!"

Liu Heping's hands trembled like leaves, and his panicked and frightened eyes looked just like a mouse pinned down by a cat's paws.

Shan Yue leaned down and lowered her voice: "I advise you, parents, if you want to save your lives, leave the capital as soon as possible to avoid disaster before 'Qing Feng' can deal with you!"

Qiu cried out, "No! I won't! I won't leave the capital!"

Qiu Shi knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down her face: "I won't leave the capital. Bo Zhu died so tragically! So tragically! So tragically!"

Qiu's voice was mournful, accompanied by the autumn wind, like a lingering note following the sound of the mountain moon.

No one paid any attention to her.

Shan Yue stared intently at Liu Heping and continued, "From the east dock of the city, we'll travel along the Grand Canal and depart early tomorrow morning. I'll ask Xue Xiao to get you five hundred taels of silver and official travel permits, which will be valid for entering and leaving the capital. The Liu family has fallen on hard times. If you want to return to your old residence in Songjiang Prefecture, it's best to wait until things calm down. If you don't want to go back to the old residence and suffer all the constraints, you can settle down elsewhere with your son. Five hundred taels of silver should be enough for you to live on for a few years. Once the capital is less turbulent, since I've taken the surname Liu, I will naturally support you. I don't have much to offer, but one hundred taels of silver a year won't be difficult."

Liu Heping swallowed hard, raised his eyelids, and glanced quickly at Shan Yue, as if weighing his options.

The capital city is too dangerous!

They were merely indulging their daughter in giving her musk, hoping to cause her to miscarry. It was a trivial matter, but who would have thought that their daughter would lose her life!

Of course he wants wealth and glory, but you have to be alive to enjoy them!

It would be better to take five hundred taels of silver and go home!
Five hundred taels of silver is quite a lot!

Even when the Liu family was at its peak, they, as a collateral branch, didn't gain any significant advantage! They could only watch Liu Hezhou live in a luxurious house with carved beams and painted rafters, eating delicacies from land and sea. He at least had a degree, but he could only help the Liu family with accounting and managing tenants! Five hundred taels of silver would take him three to five years to save!

As for the dead daughter...
When Liu Heping thought of Liu Bozhu, his hand suddenly stopped trembling: If he really married this girl off, who knows if he could get five hundred taels of silver!

"Enough!" Liu Heping reprimanded his weeping wife. "If you hadn't failed in your parenting, Bo Zhu wouldn't have lost her life for disrespect in the palace! Since Shan Yue has spoken and arranged our itinerary, we should just do as she says!" He lowered his voice. "Look, Bo Zhu has been dead for three to five days, and have any of the dignitaries who summoned us to the capital come to see us?!—Even Lord Zhao himself has lost power! The Grand Princess they talk about hasn't even sent a steward! We mustn't risk offending them any further!"

Qiu looked up in disbelief.

Shan Yue sat motionless atop it.

Liu Heping still retained the mannerisms of a scholar, speaking in a refined and literary style, both persuading and scolding Qiu Shi. Seeing Qiu Shi crying so pitifully and embarrassingly, Liu Heping simply stood up, uttered some harsh words, and left: "Whether you leave or not, I'm leaving! If we were capable, we would have settled down in the capital long ago, instead of waiting until now! If you really don't leave, I will write a letter of divorce, and you will have nothing to do with me anymore. Even if you commit some serious or heinous crime, it won't affect me or Qi Ge'er!"

Liu Heping turned and left.

Qiu put her hands on the ground, clenching the blanket tightly with each clench.

Shan Yue lowered his eyes and calmly looked at Qiu Shi's knuckles, which were white with hatred: "Madam Qiu, isn't that right?"

Qiu looked up in fright.

"Don't hate the wrong person."

Shan Yue's voice remained calm throughout: "Who sent you to the capital to be pawns, yet left you to fend for yourselves? Whom do you hate?"

"Who do you hate for sacrificing Bo Zhu out of fear of 'Qing Feng' being exposed?"

"Whoever doesn't value the lives of ordinary people like us, who do you hate?"

“I did scheme against Bo Zhu, but didn’t Bo Zhu scheme against me as well? If I had succeeded and she had successfully impersonated me, would I, a fake heiress with a fake surname and a fake identity, still be alive?”

dead.

All must die.

Those who serve as chess pieces, having fulfilled their mission, may be sacrificed.

Those who fail to complete the mission will be sacrificed.

There is no other way but death. What's the point of chess pieces killing each other?

Qiu's lips twitched slightly. She hunched her head and stared intently at the deep indigo of the carpet on the ground. The color was so dark that it seemed to congeal into a bloodstain that had become a deep black like rust, or like a thin bead of blood.

not that simple.

not that simple!
It's not that simple to treat her daughter as a pawn destined to die!

Liu Heping and his eldest son both wanted to leave. Men's opinions can be quite important at times. The next morning, five carriages headed east. Since they were relatives in name only, it was proper for Shan Yue and Xue Xiao to see them off together. They hurried as fast as they could and finally got them onto the ship before dusk.

Shan Yue and Xue Xiao returned and, according to plan, stayed overnight at Hanshan Temple in the east of the city.

The abbot personally greeted Xue Xiao and exchanged a few pleasantries. Seeing that Xue Xiao was unyielding and showed no respect, the abbot chanted "Amitabha" and used the excuse of reciting scriptures to leave the hall, leaving Master Yueming of the Du Temple to entertain the guest.

Xue Xiao walked straight ahead, and Shan Yue bowed apologetically to Master Yue Ming: "My father grew up in a Taoist temple when he was young. There is a difference between Buddhism and Taoism. Please don't take offense, Master."

Master Yueming clasped his hands together, a compassionate and knowing smile on his face: "Amitabha, ignorance, anger, and greed are all great taboos of the Buddha, so how could a monk complain?"

Xue Xiao walked even further, his figure almost disappearing into the shadows of the trees.

Shan Yue said softly, "The last time I saw you was a year ago. Today, when I visit you, you are as peaceful and energetic as ever."

Master Yueming's smile was perfectly measured: "Thank you for your concern, Madam. It's been a long time since I've seen His Highness and Madam Zhou. I wonder if you two are well?"

Shan Yue first met Jing An and Fu Ming Jiang at Hanshan Temple.

Jing'an arranged to meet at Hanshan Temple, proving that this was a place she trusted.

A place of trust is made up of people who trust.

The man standing before her, Yue Ming, was the monk who had waited for her in the side hall the first time to guide her.

Upon hearing Master Yueming's words, Shanyue knew that Jing'an was not here.

“Whether the sun is hot or cool, His Highness’s health will be good or bad.” Only after Xue Xiao had completely disappeared did Shan Yue lower her voice to answer: “The Chang family is in trouble, but Madam Zhou still has an elder brother who is a prince consort to support her. She can take care of the young lady and her life is not difficult.”

Upon hearing Shan Yue's straightforward words, Yue Ming's polite smile deepened: "Amitabha, after this humble monk finishes chanting the sutra, I will personally add half a pot of wax to Your Highness and Madam Zhou's eternal lamps and offer my sincere blessings."

Shan Yue sighed, "These are turbulent times; all we can do is pray for divine protection."

Changing the subject, Shan Yue paused and then said, "The Marquis of Wuding's mansion is very devout, which is why they are often unable to reach them for help."

The Marquis of Wuding's residence was the Cui family's residence.

Yue Ming's cassock shimmered twice in the light. Remembering the lame, buck-toothed man beside the young master of the Cui family who came every ten days to add fuel to the ever-burning lamp, charging twenty taels of silver each time, he felt this business was quite successful: "The young master is devout, and with Princess Suiyuan's delivery imminent, the young master's ever-burning lamp has never been extinguished. Now, he even requests five catties of tea oil and oil from the offered Buddha lamps daily for its lighting, and has specially chosen a good spot in the southeast corner, with his back to the Buddha statue and facing the incense burner. Furthermore, he even specially orders a servant to come every ten days to chant sutras and kowtow for the young master's ever-burning lamp."

Since Madam Xue spoke so directly and frankly, Yue Ming was afraid that she might be being cryptic and that Madam Xue wouldn't understand: "In front of the Buddha, one doesn't seek help at the last minute; the effort comes from ordinary practice. If you are so inclined, Madam, you can also donate some incense and merit at the temple to seek the Buddha's blessing."

"Ah! Sure!" Shan Yue showed great interest: "Just then, there was a bloody light beside me..." He swallowed the rest of his words and hurriedly said, "I would like to request two ever-burning lamps, one for my unborn child and one for my second sister who just passed away. Master, what do you think is an appropriate number of kilograms to offer?"

The deal was finally done.

Master Yueming: "Amitabha, unborn children are infant spirits, and two catties of lamp oil can be offered daily for their wishes; a young woman who has just passed away has a lot of resentment. If the lady is willing, this humble monk can perform a ritual and then offer five catties of sea lamps daily to strengthen the Buddha's wishes."

“Yes—yes—” Shan Yue nodded repeatedly.

Master Yueming was most efficient when doing business. Before long, he made an ever-burning lamp and handed it to Shanyue to deliver to the Buddha in front of the pagoda. Three layers and then three more layers, the nine-story pagoda in the hall enshrined the Bodhisattva and Buddha statues with compassion and grandeur.

Shan Yue peeked out and saw a row of ever-burning lamps, some with porcelain portraits in front of them. He asked curiously, "Master, what is the purpose of these?"

Master Yueming replied, "The porcelain plaques in front of the eternal lamp are mostly portraits of people. If they are for the deceased, they are painted with things that the deceased loved during their lifetime."

"What if the painting depicts the joyful life of young children?" Shan Yue pursed her lips, quickly pointed, and asked with a light laugh.

Master Yueming chanted: "Amitabha, it is mostly the young children who died young, and the birth mothers make these wishes for their deceased children's next life in order to remember them."

Shan Yue's back stiffened almost imperceptibly, but he quickly recovered, knelt down on the prayer mat, closed his eyes, and softly and devoutly murmured something.

Seeing that Shan Yue no longer asked any questions, and noticing that it was getting late, Yue Ming turned to the side, yawned, and then bowed to take his leave under the pretext of reciting scriptures. Shan Yue was the only one left in the huge pagoda hall.

With a flicker of light and shadow, a dark figure slipped through the window.

Xue Xiao leaned against the wall and slightly raised his chin: "There's no one outside the hall."

Shan Yue immediately gathered her skirts and stood up, pursed her lips, and ran to the southeast corner of the nine-story Buddhist pagoda. She quickly looked around and finally fixed her gaze on the eternal lamp with the most wax and the brightest yellow sheen.

"The monk said that every ten days, Cui Yulang would send his servant to offer an ever-burning lamp for the unborn child." Shan Yue tiptoed and carefully took down the lotus-shaped ever-burning lamp. "I don't believe it. You can't love someone just because you love their house. Cui Yulang doesn't like Fu Mingjiang, so how could he care about her child?"

Shan Yue squinted as she looked.

The eternal lantern beneath the blooming lotus flowers bears the inscription in small characters: May my son, Cui Yin'er, be healthy and live a long and happy life.

Yin'er appears to be the nickname Fu Mingjiang gave her child.

The formal name of the child should be chosen by the elders after the child is born.

Looking at it from all angles, there's nothing strange about it.

Shan Yue doubted that her guess was wrong and hesitantly put the oil lamp back.

"and many more."

Xue Xiao's voice behind him was deep, like sandalwood floating on water, with a strong, skeletal structure.

Xue Xiao stretched out one hand, ignoring the flickering flame, and grabbed the oil lamp in his palm, gesturing for Shan Yue to look again: "Take another look at the bottom of the oil lamp for any abnormalities."

Shan Yue bent over and looked.

The bottom of the oil lamp was crooked, and a few words were engraved on it with some sharp object: "My son Li Yin'er is safe and healthy."

The person who carved the characters must have been illiterate. The character "康" was missing two strokes and a stroke, and the character "健" had an extra dot and a horizontal line. The characters looked weak and thin. In fact, due to the haste, all the characters were of different sizes, and the last character was obviously superficial and perfunctory.

Shan Yue's eyes widened slightly as she repeated, "Li Yin'er is not Cui Yin'er. It's Li Yin'er Li."

Whose surname is Li?
Why are these words written at the bottom of the ever-burning lamp?
Who wrote it?
Shan Yue hesitated, unsure of where to begin. Just then, Xue Xiao's deep, driftwood-like voice rang out again, as if all his hesitation and astonishment had been digested in the moment of silence, leaving only his usual steady tone: "The lame servant beside Cui Yulang is surnamed Li and named Musheng."