At Prince Jin's residence, apricot blossoms fell onto the roof tiles, and the sound of water gradually faded.
"Your Highness wishes to honor the bond between teacher and student, while I must safeguard the larger undertaking..."
Pei Zhi fell silent for a moment, then sighed softly. "Then let us handle the two separately."
"Your Highness can release them in person, openly and honorably, silencing the other princes' impeachment memorials while preserving your reputation for virtue."
"As for whether the caravan makes it out of Taiyuan..." Pei Zhi's voice sank, his expression darkening.
"That will be my concern."
"Pei Zhi." Jiang Xuan stared at him.
Pei Zhi wore a blue robe. Was its hue a fresh, tender green, or the green of moss at the bottom of a well, so deep it verged on darkness?
"At your service."
"You want me to release them openly, then kill them in secret?"
"Yes."
"You want me, on the one hand, to write Qin Gong a reply about 'respecting one's teacher,'
"and on the other, to have you kill the people under his protection halfway along the road?"
"Your Highness." Pei Zhi raised his head. "I have ways of making this seamless, without a single loose thread."
"Bandits in the mountains, flash floods during the spring thaw, a passenger boat catching fire...
"There are a thousand ways to die, and not one can be traced back to Your Highness."
Jiang Xuan watched him for a long time, seeing only the blue robe he wore.
Its hue was not a tender green, but the green of moss at the bottom of a well, deep and dark.
Blue robes were the attire of lower-ranking court officials.
As Du Fu's poem said, "Of court officials, those in blue robes suffer most."
The blue of such robes already