"I'll go with you."
Snow Empress looked at him. The afternoon sun shone from the side, casting their shadows on the bluestone slabs, one long and one short, very close together. She looked into Yin Wujou's eyes, illuminated by the sunlight, and saw a familiar, almost stubborn seriousness within them. She remembered the first time she met him; he was still a subordinate of the Spirit Vein Bureau, meticulous in his work, even wiping his hands clean before handing over case files. Later, the Spirit Vein Bureau disbanded, and he went to find Mu Canglan. The two hid in the mountains for ten years, waiting for an opportunity to overturn the case.
"You could have left," Snow Empress said. " The Spirit Vein Bureau has overturned the verdict, and your arrest warrant has been withdrawn. You're free; you can go wherever you want."
Yin Wujou's lips curved into a smile, a smile more natural than before. "I've thought about it. Whether I'm free or not isn't really important. What matters is who I'm with and what I'm doing." He put away the empty bowl, stacking it next to Snow Empress's. "You just mentioned rebuilding the Spirit Vein Bureau and needing help. I'll count you in. I don't want a salary, just meals."
Snow Empress looked at him and suddenly chuckled softly. This time she laughed out loud, though it was very short, like a soft breath, but Yin Wujou heard it clearly. She reached out and took the empty bowl, then turned and walked towards the safe house in the east of the city.
"Let's go," she said. "Go back and pack your things. We'll move to the old Spirit Vein Bureau office tomorrow. The Emperor returned the old office to us; it's in terrible condition, but we can fix it up and it'll be habitable."
Yin Wujou quickly followed. The two walked through the quiet afternoon streets, the autumn wind swirling a few sycamore leaves past their feet. In the distance came the cries of street vendors and the laughter of children; everything was ordinary yet vibrant. Yin Wujou walked half a step behind Snow Empress, watching her white dress flutter gently in the wind. Suddenly, he remembered something from a long time ago: ten years ago, on the day of the incident at the Spirit Vein Bureau, he stood outside the courtyard gate, watching Snow Empress being escorted onto the prison cart. She had glanced back then, her gaze piercing through the crowd and landing on him. At that time, he didn't understand the meaning of that look.
Now he understood. It meant: to live.
They reached the alleyway leading to the safe house in the east of the city. Snow Empress pushed open the door; the house was exactly as they had left it. Half a cup of cold tea remained in the lamp on the table, and the thin quilt on the bamboo couch was neatly folded. Yin Wujou went to the backyard to fetch the horse, while Snow Empress stood at the doorway. She took out the copper bell from her sleeve, glanced at the Southern Frontier runes on the inside in the afternoon sunlight, and then hung it on the lintel.
The copper bell swayed gently in the wind, emitting a very soft hum.
Yin Wujou led his horse out from the backyard and paused, noticing a new copper bell on the lintel. "Not taking it with you?"
"Keep this as a memento." Snow Empress dusted off her hands. "From now on, this will be the Spirit Vein Bureau's contact point. Mu Canglan said to leave a code if he needs anything; we need a place for him to find us."
Yin Wujou tied the reins to the hitching post in front of the door and looked up at the bronze bell. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the bell, casting a small patch of light on the ground, which moved slightly with the gentle sway of the bell. He suddenly felt that from this moment on, something different had come to the entrance of this simple safe house. It was like a period, and also like a beginning.
Snow Empress had already turned and gone inside. Her voice came from within, carrying a hint of barely perceptible lightness. "Bring the horse in. We have to go to the old headquarters of the Spirit Vein Bureau tomorrow. It's been abandoned for ten years, but there's plenty of life there. Go to bed early tonight."
Yin Wujou responded and led the horse back to the backyard. When he returned to the house, Snow Empress had already laid out bedding on the bamboo couch in the outer room and was sitting at the table writing something by the light of the lamp. Yin Wujou did not disturb her, and tiptoed into the inner room, lying down on the bamboo couch.
He closed his eyes and heard the scratching of pens on paper outside, the soft tinkling of the brass bells on the doorframe in the evening breeze, and the faint voices of people in the distant market. These sounds blended together like a quiet melody, gradually easing the tension in his nerves that had been building up for days. He turned over, facing the wall, and his breathing gradually became long and even.
Outside, Snow Empress stopped writing and tilted her head to listen to the sounds coming from inside. Yin Wujou's breathing had become steady. She put down her pen, picked up the half-written page, and looked at it. On it was a list of the old members of the Spirit Vein Bureau that she had compiled from memory. There were 327 names, and she had written down nearly 200 of them. She would have to think of the rest slowly.
She folded the list and put it in her sleeve, then got up and blew out the lamp. Moonlight shone through the window paper, casting a thin layer of white on the ground. She walked to the door of the inner room and glanced inside. Yin Wujou was fast asleep, wrapped in a thin quilt, one hand hanging by the edge of the bamboo bed, his fingers still wrapped with the white handkerchief she had given him.
Snow Empress stood at the door for a while, then gently closed it and went back to her couch in the outer room to lie down. She placed the copper bell that she had taken from the lintel beside her pillow, rested her fingers on the bell, and slowly closed her eyes.
A night breeze slipped in through the cracks in the window, causing the pages of paper on the table to turn slightly. Moonlight shone on the half-written list, on the quiet brass bell beside her pillow, and on Yin Wujou's deep, sleeping face in the inner room. Everything fell silent, except for the tireless autumn night wind of the capital, which slowly dispelled the last traces of warmth from the day and gently ushered in the dawn of a new day.
The next morning, Yin Wujou was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door. He sat up groggily and heard Snow Empress open the door outside. An unfamiliar voice said, "Chief Snow Empress, Vice Minister Pei sent me to deliver a message: Meng Qi committed suicide in the Court of Judicial Review prison last night."
Yin Wujou snapped out of his daze. He threw on his coat and rushed out, only to see a bailiff from the Court of Judicial Review of Judicial Review standing at the door, holding a letter. " Meng Qi left a will, saying that he would bear all the blame himself and requesting that the court not implicate his family. Vice Minister Pei said that this letter was to be presented to the Emperor, but he wanted you to see it first."
Snow Empress took the letter, read it once, and then handed it to Yin Wujou. Yin Wujou glanced at it; Meng Qi's handwriting was messy but clear, and the whole letter said, "My crime is my own, and has nothing to do with my family." He returned the letter to the constable without saying a word.
After the bailiff left, Snow Empress stood at the doorway, gazing at the rising sun at the alley entrance. Yin Wujou stood beside her, and the two remained silent for a while.
"He certainly left decisively," Yin Wujou said.
Snow Empress didn't reply. She stood there for a while, then turned and went back into the house to pack her things. Yin Wujou followed her in and saw her roll up the papers on the table and put them into her sleeve, pour out the remaining lamp oil from the lamp, and fold the thin quilt on the bamboo bed. Her movements were quick and efficient, as if she were doing something very ordinary.
"Let's go." After finishing packing, she stood at the door and glanced back at the safe house she had only lived in for a few days. "To the old Spirit Vein Bureau. We need to repair the roof tiles in the main hall today, otherwise it will leak when it rains."