Chapter Thirteen: Chao Ge (III)

“Great!”
Du Jingtian excitedly waved her fists and smiled upon hearing this.
“But this case might involve many people, and we might even offend some powerful figures. Brother Nan, you…”
Li Kuo frowned slightly and earnestly warned him.
Nan Jiyun waved his hand to interrupt, “How could Brother Nan be someone who fears difficulties? Stop talking. If you keep it up, it’s as if you’re looking down on me.”
With that, no one spoke anymore. They exchanged smiles, filled with trust in their friend.
“Well, since Brother Nan has decided to join, I’ll explain my plan in detail. Please point out any flaws if there are any.”
Li Kuo said softly. “Dezi’s case is full of oddities. Since we can’t go and inquire about it personally, the best approach now is to start with his closest people.”
“Do you mean his cousin who works in the Ministry of Works’ Land Reclamation Department?”
Zhang Yanji leaned closer to Li Kuo and whispered.
“That’s right. With Dezi in trouble, logically he should make every effort to rescue him. But instead of trying to save him, he took the chance to seize Dezi’s share of the family estate. In my opinion, there’s only one possibility.”
Li Kuo took a sip of tea before continuing.
“That unscrupulous cousin must think that Dezi and his brothers will surely die miserably in prison, with no chance of survival.”
Nan Jiyun thought for a moment following Li Kuo’s line of reasoning and came up with an answer.
Chen Xiaoliu filled everyone’s teacups and asked doubtfully, “But his cousin is always suspicious. I doubt we’ll get anything by going to ask him directly.”
“Of course not.”
A smile appeared on Li Kuo’s lips as he called everyone over. “Let’s proceed according to this plan then.”
Flowers flew everywhere in the spring city, and the willows by the palace swayed in the east wind during the Cold Food Festival. Early spring had arrived, with petals drifting in the air. Chang’an was in the season when apricot blossoms filled the air and beauties sang.

In a small courtyard of Yongning Fang in the Eastern City, a middle-aged man of short stature, dressed in a dark-colored round-neck cotton robe, sat in front of a large locust tree, fiddling with a newly acquired jade pendant. He was Feng Dequan, an official in the Ministry of Works’ Department of Reclamation, and Feng De’en’s cousin. These days, he had been in high spirits. His cousin had gotten involved in a major scandal, allegedly linked to the Eastern Palace. The emperor was furious and ordered Wang Xuan, the governor of Jingzhao, to investigate thoroughly without any leniency. The whole court was in shock, and everyone felt threatened. According to his colleagues in Jingzhao, the governor was determined to err on the side of caution—preferring to execute a thousand innocents rather than let one guilty person escape. De’en, it’s not that I’m heartless, but who told you to get involved with the Eastern Palace for no reason? Do you think by clinging to the Prince’s side you can suddenly rise to fame? The Eastern Palace is like a pot of boiling water—those who get too close get severely burned, even the owner of the pot can only barely make ends meet. Although his cousin hadn’t achieved much, he still owned a few acres of poor-quality land. With some maneuvering on his part, those lands were quickly transferred to his name. Chang’an was a place where land was scarce and expensive; those few acres might not be worth much in other provinces, but in this land-scarce city, they could fetch a considerable amount of silver. He had never taken big risks in his life, always pausing to think before acting. That’s why he won every bet he made. He bet that there would be discord between the vice minister of the Ministry of Works and the former head of the Department of Reclamation, so he secretly gathered “evidence” against the former official to help the vice minister eliminate the “traitor,” thus securing the lucrative position for himself. He also bet that the court wouldn’t conduct annual inspections of grain supplies, so he exchanged old grain for new, processed it into silk, and reaped huge profits. Though less than 10% of it stayed in his hands after paying bribes to his superiors, he still won every bet and became extremely wealthy over the years. Never associating with imperial relatives and never betting on uncertain ventures—these were Feng Dequan’s life principles.

With his eyes slightly closed, letting the gentle breeze brush against his cheeks, Feng Dequan felt an immense sense of comfort and gradually fell asleep, accompanied by the dreams of the gods. He seemed to be in a countryside filled with rice fields; the breeze blew, and the golden wheat stalks swayed like a beautiful sea of clouds. Lying on his back among the wheat fields, a beautiful maid beside him warmed a pot of wine and poured it for him. As he was lost in thought, he heard the sound of horse hooves approaching from afar, growing louder and louder. Along with the deep, rhythmic beats of drums, a group of silver-glowing cavalry rode through the wheat stalks as tall as a person and arrived beside Feng Dequan. The officer at the head suddenly raised an eight-zhang long spear and swung it at him.

“Ah!”

Feng Dequan jolted awake from his dream. Sweatdrops the size of beans slid down his forehead, and the back of his clothes was already soaked through. How could he be dreaming in broad daylight? It was surely a ghost! But why did that officer’s face look so familiar? It was actually somewhat similar to Deen’s. Dong dong dong, dong dong dong. There were indeed horse hooves—was he not dreaming just now?

The more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became. He quickly got up and ran a few steps to the front door. Peeking through the crack, he saw four men on four horses standing at the door.

The man at the head had a square face, sharp eyebrows, and fierce eyes, exuding a heroic aura. He held the reins in his left hand and pointed forward with his right.

“Feng Dequan, get out here right now! If the vice minister doesn’t act soon, you might not even know how you die.”

At first, Feng Dequan was skeptical. Only after seeing the man mention the vice minister’s name did he open the door and stumble outside.

“Your humble servant, Feng Dequan, greets you, sir. I don’t know what orders the vice minister has, but for him to send someone personally—your humble servant is filled with anxiety.”

Who else could it be but Li Kuo and his group? After some discussion, they decided to disguise themselves as officials and come under the guise of the vice minister’s confidants to give Feng Dequan “personal instructions.” The leader was Nan Jiyun. Having long been in official circles, he looked quite imposing after some dressing up. With a light snort, he laughed loudly, “I say, Officer Feng, are you telling us to stand outside all day? Or do you look down on the vice minister?”

Feng Dequan was shocked inwardly—these people were so difficult to deal with. It seemed he would have to make a significant effort to get through this. Though pained, he forced a smile and said, “There’s no need for such formalities. Please come inside.”

After inviting the four men into the main hall, Feng Dequan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Still suspicious, he asked tentatively, “Your humble servant has always been loyal to the vice minister. I don’t know what mistake was made, but for you all to take the trouble to visit my humble abode…”

Nan Jiyun set down his teacup with a clatter and snorted coldly, “I ask you, Lord Feng—do you truly not know, or are you pretending to be ignorant? I heard you seized the farmland belonging to your cousin. Is that true?”
Feng Dequan cursed inwardly, never expecting a high-ranking official like a vice minister to target his family’s land. Gritting his teeth, he smiled and said, “My younger brother was imprisoned due to a case. As his elder brother, I’m merely handling matters on his behalf temporarily. Once he’s released, I’ll return it to him.”
“Oh? But I heard your cousin was released unharmed. Given what you’ve done to him, I’m afraid you won’t have an easy time explaining it then.”
Nan Jiyun gave Feng Dequan a thoughtful look and warned him.
“What? He’s already out?”
Feng Dequan was shocked and nearly fell.
Nan Jiyun helped him up and asked suspiciously, “It seems Lord Feng isn’t very happy. Could it be you hope your cousin dies in prison?”
“No, no. That’s not what I mean. I’m just too excited, too excited.”
Feng Dequan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hurriedly replied.
“I have no time to care about your brotherly relationship. I came here to give you some advice from the vice minister, so you won’t even know how you die.”
Nan Jiyun glanced at Feng Dequan disdainfully and rudely cut off his excuses.
“I’m willing to hear the details, I really am.”
Overwhelmed by Nan Jiyun’s dominance, Feng Dequan didn’t dare say no.
“Do you know why your cousin was able to escape unharmed this time? It’s because someone in the palace intervened.”
Nan Jiyun bowed slightly in the northeast direction and whispered, “Prince Heir!”
Feng Dequan exclaimed, “He’s struggling to save himself—how could he go rescue my brother?”
“What do you know? Tell me quickly!”
Hearing him get to the point, Nan Jiyun pressed him impatiently.
“I, um, this…”
Realizing he had said too much, Feng Dequan muttered hesitantly.
Noticing his distress, Nan Jiyun tried to calm himself down and waved his hand, “Never mind. It’s fine if you don’t want to talk. The vice minister sent me to save you out of respect for your loyalty to him. If you have no desire to live, why should I go to such trouble?”
“No, please. How could I dislike you? It’s just that this matter is extremely serious. I’m afraid, I’m afraid…”
Feng Dequan glanced at Li Kuo and the others behind Nan Jiyun and asked doubtfully.
“Haha, look closely—who am I? If even I can’t tolerate such talk, I doubt Grandpa would dare send anyone else.”
Zhang Yanji pushed forward and laughed loudly.

“Yes, it’s the eldest prince!”
Upon recognizing the person before him, Feng Dequan was overjoyed: “I truly was blind—fail to recognize the eldest prince. Well, since the vice minister values me so much, I’ll entrust my life to him this time!”
Gathering his courage, Feng Dequan continued, “It all dates back to a month ago. My younger brother, Deen, has always been kind and unconflictual. But on the fifth day of the third month, while working at the Furong Tower in the East Market, he encountered some trouble.”
He paused briefly before continuing, “That day, as usual, my brother delivered food to a private room on the third floor of the Furong Tower. Unexpectedly, while serving food in one of those rooms, he angered a group of Turks. Those Turks were extremely vicious, threatening to break his bones. Just then, a wealthy young man from the neighboring room stepped forward and ordered his servants to subdue the Turks. My brother thanked him profusely and vowed to follow him from then on. It was only later that he learned the wealthy young man was actually the crown prince. Overjoyed, he naturally got in touch with Yu Chaoyen, the head steward of the imperial palace. It is said that, impressed by his honest nature, the crown prince even gave him one of his own imperial tokens.”
Taking a sip of green tea, Feng Deen sighed, “At that time, I advised him not to get involved with the crown prince, but he wouldn’t listen at all. After that, it seems he did something for the crown prince, and then he was captured by the governor of the capital!”
Note 1: Ministry of Works, Department of Reclamation: Historical records show that this department was responsible for land reclamation across the country.