Filing Charges

Chu Moqi lay facedown on the bed, his eyes closed.

It was not that he wanted to lie facedown; he truly could not sit any longer. Earlier, his vision had gone black in the study, and Yan Huai had caught him. When he woke again, he had already been stripped and pressed down on this couch. His lower back felt chilly, probably from the medicine, and both hurt and itched.

Yan Huai crouched beside him, holding a long, slender medicine spatula and carefully applying ointment to the worst ulcerated patches on his buttocks. One stroke, one sharp intake of breath. Two strokes, another sharp intake of breath.

The sound irritated Chu Moqi. "What are you sucking in air for!"

Yan Huai's hand paused, his voice muffled. "Young Master, this... it's ulcerated this badly. Just look at it yourself. I-I can barely stand to look."

Chu Moqi did not open his eyes. "It's fine. Keep going."

Yan Huai opened his mouth, wanting to say something, then swallowed it back. He lowered his head and continued applying the medicine, his movements even gentler.

As he worked, he could not help speaking again. "Young Master, if you keep this up, it'll rot away."

Chu Moqi lay motionless, his muffled voice coming from the pillow:

"Have you found anything about what I told you to investigate?"

Yan Huai froze for a moment, then puffed out his chest, though all he faced was the back of Chu Moqi's head.

"Don't worry, Young Master! With my brother and all those brothers on the job-" He paused, then added, "And me too, of course! You can put every last worry to rest!"

Chu Moqi ignored him.

Yan Huai waited but received no reply, so he could only continue applying the medicine, beginning to dawdle.

"Are you done yet?" Chu Moqi's voice came from the pillow, tinged with impatience. "I may not be able to feel it, but don't go touching me all over, all right?"

Yan Huai's face flushed scarlet.

"What are you thinking, Young Master!" His voice rose half a pitch. "I'm applying medicine! It's all ulcerated! How about-how about I get a bronze mirror and show you? You can look for yourself!"

Chu Moqi's brow furrowed even deeper. "Hurry up! Less nonsense!"

Yan Huai pursed his lips. Not daring to chatter any further, he quickened his hands.

The spatula scraped over the wounds. Chu Moqi lay there without moving, his eyes closed, as though asleep.

But he was not asleep.

He was thinking.

Thinking about those two sheets of paper, that false Cui Minghai, where the real Cui Minghai actually was, and whether Yang Xiu and Yue Niang were safe now.

Thinking about Wanwan.

Remembering how she had huddled in the corner, trembling all over, saying, "Don't touch me."

His heart hurt again.

After finishing the medicine, Yan Huai quietly put everything away. Halfway through, he suddenly remembered something and muttered:

"Young Master, Madam woke once while you were unconscious."

Chu Moqi's eyes flew open. "What?"

His sudden reaction startled Yan Huai so badly that he almost dropped the spatula.

"Only-only for a little while!" he hurriedly said. "Qiaoju and Changfeng were watching over her. Madam asked where you were, and Qiaoju said you were in the study. Then Madam fell asleep again..."

Chu Moqi's taut body slowly relaxed, and he settled back onto the pillow. "I see..."

Yan Huai stole a glance at him, then quickly lowered his head, pretending he had seen nothing, and continued packing up. When he had put away the ointment and was about to withdraw, Chu Moqi suddenly spoke:

"Is Wanwan's medicine ready?"

Yan Huai stopped and turned around. "It probably needs a little longer. The physician said that calming prescription has to simmer slowly over low heat. It can't be rushed."

Chu Moqi gave a hum. "Go find two pieces of candy."

Yan Huai froze, then scratched his head, looking puzzled. "Young Master, what do you need candy for?"

Chu Moqi opened his eyes and shot him a look. "Candy... for you to eat!"

Yan Huai choked on his words. He rubbed his nose sheepishly, dared not ask again, and dashed out.

Candy?

As he ran, he pondered it. What does Young Master want candy for? Is Madam's medicine too bitter? But Madam isn't a child. Does she still need candy to take medicine?

He shook his head and decided to stop thinking. Whatever Young Master said went. Off to find candy.

An hour later.

Chu Moqi slowly propped himself up from the couch. The wounds on his lower back still throbbed faintly, and the badly ulcerated patches on his buttocks could not bear even a touch. Yet he gritted his teeth, shifted himself inch by inch into his wheelchair, dressed, and wheeled himself toward Cui Wan's room.

The door stood ajar. Seeing Chu Moqi approach, Qiaoju and Changfeng silently stepped away.

Chu Moqi pushed the door open and went inside.

Cui Wan leaned against the headboard, her face still a little pale.

Chu Moqi wheeled himself to her bedside and saw a freshly delivered bowl of medicine on the small bedside table, wisps of steam still rising from it. He picked it up, stirred it gently with a spoon, and lowered his head to blow on it.

Cui Wan watched him without blinking. "A-Qi," she asked softly, "are you feeling better now?"

Chu Moqi raised his head and glanced at her.

Her eyes were full of worry as she carefully looked him over.

"I'm fine."

Cui Wan pressed her lips together and asked no more. She looked down at the bowl of dark medicine, smelled its bitterness, and frowned.

"I don't want to drink it," she muttered softly.

Chu Moqi did not get annoyed. He set the bowl on the little table, took two pieces of candy wrapped in oiled paper from his sleeve, and placed them beside the bed.

"The physician said you've had too much of a fright, and your body's weak." His voice was very soft, with a little patient coaxing. "Just a few doses, all right?"

Cui Wan looked up at him. His eyes were bloodshot, and his complexion was still terrible, but the gaze he rested on her was as soft as a pool of spring water.

She nodded.

Chu Moqi picked up a piece of candy, peeled away the oiled paper, and held it to her lips.

Cui Wan paused, then opened her mouth and took the candy in. Its sweetness melted across her tongue.

Chu Moqi picked up the medicine again, scooped up a spoonful, brought it to his lips to blow on it, then held it to her mouth.

Cui Wan looked at him, her eyes curving. "Is A-Qi going to feed me my medicine?"

Chu Moqi's hand paused.

He looked at the little smile emerging on Cui Wan's pale face. His voice was mild, yet held an awkward tenderness:

"Since you're so talkative, why don't you drink it yourself?"

As he spoke, he made to set the bowl back on the little table.

"No!" Cui Wan quickly reached out and caught his sleeve, her eyes round and wide.

Chu Moqi looked down at the hand gripping his sleeve, then raised his eyes to her, the corners of his mouth lifting. Without another word, he scooped up another spoonful and held it to her lips.

Cui Wan obediently opened her mouth and drank.

One spoonful, then another.

As she drank, she stole glances at him.

A-Qi seemed... less fierce today.

The old A-Qi had coaxed her too, but he had always worn a stern face and acted fierce, as though coaxing her were something terribly embarrassing. These past two days, A-Qi had been different. His voice was soft, his movements slow, and the way he looked at her was soft and very gentle.

The medicine was finished.

Chu Moqi set the empty bowl aside, unwrapped the second piece of candy, and handed it to her.

Cui Wan took it and popped it into her mouth, her cheek bulging.

"Wanwan."

Cui Wan raised her head and hummed a questioning sound around the candy.

"I might be rather busy for a while." Chu Moqi looked at her. "If you feel frightened, ask Qiaoju or Changfeng to stay with you, all right?"

Cui Wan nodded. Although she did not quite understand what A-Qi was going to do, she trusted him.

Just then, a soft knock came from outside.

Tang Xiang pushed the door open. At the sight of Chu Moqi beside the bed and Cui Wan leaning against the headboard with her cheek still bulging, she could not help laughing.

"Oh?" Her voice carried a smile. "So sweet together? Have I come at the wrong time?"

"Sister-in-law, I..." Cui Wan blushed, then suddenly remembered how she looked now-her face was pale, and she must look awful.

She lowered her head and bashfully shrank a little under the covers.

Tang Xiang walked over, sat beside the bed, and gently patted her quilt. "Wanwan," she said more softly, "you nearly frightened your sister-in-law to death."

As she spoke, she turned and glared at Chu Moqi. "It's all A-Qi's fault for not protecting you properly. I'll punish him."

Cui Wan quickly raised her head. "It wasn't A-Qi's fault! I was the one..."

Before she could finish, Tang Xiang interrupted with a laugh. "All right, all right. Already feeling protective of him."

Cui Wan flushed even redder, pressed her lips together, and dared not speak again.

Tang Xiang smiled, stood, and walked over to Chu Moqi. Looking down at him, she lowered her voice, but every word remained perfectly clear:

"Whatever you want to do, go ahead. I'm here to look after the household. Don't have any misgivings. The Marquis of Ningyang's Residence and the Tang Family will both stand behind you."

Chu Moqi looked up at this sister-in-law who had been widowed for years yet had always shouldered the weight of the entire residence, and nodded. "Sorry for the trouble, Sister-in-law."

Two days later, a crowd packed the area outside the Censorate's main hall.

No one knew where the news had leaked from-that Second Young Master Chu of the Marquis of Ningyang's Residence, paralyzed for three years and never seen outside, was coming to the Censorate today to file charges against his own father-in-law. The capital had not seen a spectacle like this in years.

Spectators crowded the stone steps outside the hall, the spaces beside the pillars, and even the second-floor windows of the teahouse opposite. People huddled together whispering, their eyes repeatedly darting toward the carriage parked before the hall.

The carriage curtain lifted. Yan Qin jumped down first, unloaded the wheelchair, and set it firmly in place. Then he climbed back inside, carried Chu Moqi out on his back, and carefully settled him into the chair.

A rustle ran through the crowd.

"That's Second Young Master Chu?"

"In a wheelchair... He really is crippled."

"Accusing his own father-in-law? How deep must that hatred run?"

"I heard he married that Cui Family girl only half a year ago..."

Chu Moqi could not hear those whispers, nor could he be bothered to listen. He merely lowered his eyes and waited for the summons from the hall.

"Court is in session-"

The bailiff's drawn-out call came from within.

"Bring in the plaintiff-"

Chu Moqi raised his eyes as Yan Qin wheeled him into the hall.

Censor He Tan sat upright in the center of the dais.

He was past fifty. While Chu Rong had been alive, he had met that Marquis of Ningyang a few times and had held considerable respect for his character and integrity. Now, looking at the young man in the wheelchair below, a trace of complicated emotion flickered in his eyes.

The Chu Family had declined after all.

Yet the young man's back was perfectly straight, his gaze clear and upright, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Second Young Master Chu," He Tan said, his voice quiet but echoing clearly through the hall, "what charges do you wish to bring?"

Chu Moqi took the written complaint from his sleeve and presented it with both hands.

"Your Honor, Censor He of the Censorate, I, the commoner Chu Moqi, accuse the brothers Cui Mingjiang and Cui Minghe of the Cui Family of conspiring to murder and impersonating an imperial official. Their crimes are heinous in the extreme!"

An uproar erupted both inside and outside the hall.

Impersonating an imperial official?

That was no ordinary charge.

He Tan took the complaint and quickly read it, his brow furrowing ever more deeply.

Jealousy in youth, faking his death to escape, hiding for years...

Joining forces with Eldest Cui, Cui Minghe, to engineer an accident at the Ministry of Works, killing thirty-seven people...

Falsely accusing Second Cui, Cui Minghai, having him imprisoned, then torturing him to death in prison...

Then taking his identity and living under it...

He Tan raised his head and looked at Chu Moqi, his gaze complicated.

This case was too big.

So big that a mere censor like him could not possibly decide it himself.

The hall fell deathly silent.

This was far too appalling. If true, Cui Mingjiang's crimes were enough to warrant execution.

But if it was untrue, Second Young Master Chu would be guilty of falsely accusing an imperial official and would likewise face punishment.

He Tan's voice was grave. "Bring in the defendants!"

A short while later, two men were brought into the hall.

The one in front wore a blue-green robe and had a thin face. He was precisely the man who called himself Cui Minghai. Following him was Eldest Cui, his face ashen and his gaze evasive.

The moment Third Cui entered, his gaze fell on Chu Moqi. There was not the slightest panic on his face; instead, he wore just the right touch of helplessness.

He knelt before the dais, his voice grief-stricken:

"Your Honor, I have been wronged! This Chu Moqi is my son-in-law. When my daughter was only fourteen, their Chu Family forcibly took her in marriage. I merely wished to bring my daughter home for a few days, and he bore a grudge over it. Now he is actually slandering me as an impostor! Your Honor, you must uphold justice for me!"

Another stir rippled through the crowd outside.

Forcibly marrying a young girl?

That was no minor charge either.

He Tan looked toward Chu Moqi.

Chu Moqi did not look at him.

He merely stared at the "father-in-law" weeping bitterly before the dais, a cold smile slowly curling his lips. "Is that so?"

His voice was quiet, but it drove straight toward the man like a blade.

"Cui-Ming-jiang!"

He pronounced the three syllables one by one, biting down hard on each.

Third Cui stiffened slightly, then wailed even louder. "Your Honor, listen! He even gets my name wrong! He is clearly slandering me deliberately! I am Cui Minghai, Cui Minghai!"

Chu Moqi ignored him.

He turned to He Tan and took two more sheets of paper from his sleeve.

"Your Honor, this was written personally by my mother-in-law, Yang Xiu. She and Cui Minghai were husband and wife for decades, together day and night. She knows better than anyone whether this man is real or false."

He raised the other sheet.

"This is the record of the Ministry of Works waterworks accident in the fourteenth year of Yongchang. Yet the blame was pinned on Cui Minghai, and false accusations sent him to prison. The actual accident was the work of these two men conspiring together!"

He presented the two sheets of paper.

Third Cui stared fixedly at the two sheets. Tears still clung to his eyes, but his gaze had changed.

"You..." His voice trembled slightly. "My lord, this Chu Moqi forcibly married my daughter last year, and this time he caused her to be violated and lose her chastity. Now, in his humiliation and rage, he's turning around to bite me!"

The murmuring outside rose again-

"That's right. In our dynasty, a girl under fifteen isn't allowed to marry."

"He caused her to lose her chastity! That's a serious matter!"

"Not just her chastity. Maybe Chu Moqi never touched her, and this was her first time!"

"You're right. He's paralyzed, after all... That Cui Family girl probably really was a virgin..."

Chu Moqi ignored them. He merely looked at Third Cui, his gaze as cold as a blade quenched in ice.

"Cui Mingjiang," he said, his voice quiet but every word distinct, "if you're still coveting Wanwan, if you still harbor wicked intentions toward her-"

He leaned forward slightly, his hands resting on his knees slowly clenching:

"I, Chu Moqi, can still lift a spear."

His voice was not loud. It could even be called calm. Yet what lay suppressed beneath that calm sent a bone-deep chill through everyone present.

"Enough! Second Young Master Chu! You will not act recklessly in court!" He Tan struck the sounding block, looked at the two sheets, then at the three people below, and fell silent for a long time.

"This case has far-reaching implications and concerns matters of grave importance." At last, he spoke, his voice heavy. "I cannot decide it alone. Guards-take all three into custody. Once I have submitted the case files to the Court of Judicial Review, the Three Judicial Offices will hear the case jointly before a decision is made."

"Court dismissed-"

The sounding block fell, its sharp crack echoing through the spacious hall.

Yan Qin's expression changed at once.

Almost instinctively, he stepped half a pace forward, his hand already on his sword hilt.

Chu Moqi did not turn around.

He merely tilted his face slightly and swept Yan Qin a glance from the corner of his eye.

That gaze was faint, as faint as a pool of stagnant water, yet two words were plainly written within it:

Don't move.

Yan Qin's feet abruptly rooted to the spot. His hand remained on his sword hilt, but in the end, he did not draw it.

The bailiffs took a few steps forward, only to stop before the wheelchair.

They looked at Chu Moqi in the wheelchair, then at He Tan presiding over the court, their faces troubled.

This was the Chu Family's second young master. Even if the Marquis of Ningyang's Residence had fallen into decline, he was still one of its people. And with his body in this state... how were they supposed to take him into custody?

He couldn't even stand. They couldn't march him away...

Chu Moqi raised his eyes to the bailiffs exchanging helpless looks. His voice was perfectly even. "Take me away however you usually take prisoners away."

The bailiffs froze.

He Tan sat at the bench, his brows tightly knitted. He lowered his voice a little, a trace of complicated emotion in it that even he had not noticed:

"Second Young Master Chu... I... don't wish to make things difficult for you."

Chu Moqi did not look at him.

He merely lowered his eyes to his utterly insensate legs. "It's all right."

The bailiffs exchanged a glance and finally stepped forward. One on either side, they took Chu Moqi by the arms and lifted him out of his wheelchair.

His legs hung limply, his toes touching the floor but unable to support any weight at all.

Chu Moqi neither struggled nor made a sound. He merely kept his eyes lowered, allowing them to hold him up, allowing those legs that would not obey him to sway beneath him.

He looked at no one.

But he could feel those gazes-those inside the hall, those outside, those of the onlookers, those whispering among themselves, those filled with pity, curiosity, or delight in his misfortune.

He knew what he looked like now.

A rag doll held up between them.

A useless cripple who could neither stand nor walk.

Another rustle of murmuring rose from the crowd outside.

"He really is paralyzed..."

"Those legs haven't got any strength at all..."

"Poor thing..."

He Tan's eyelid twitched.

He looked at those legs dragging along the floor, at the young man's pale face, and at those lowered eyes that betrayed no emotion.

He gave a soft cough.

The bailiffs took the hint and immediately hoisted Chu Moqi higher so he would not be dragged along. One supported him beneath his arms, the other at his waist, holding him securely with both feet off the ground.

Chu Moqi's body stiffened for an instant.

He raised his eyes and glanced at He Tan.

There was no gratitude in that gaze, no anger, only something deep and heavy that could not be clearly discerned.

It was not pain.

It was that naked humiliation of being seen, with nowhere to hide.

He clenched his teeth without a sound, lowered his eyes, and let the bailiffs carry him out of the hall.

Yan Qin stood where he was, watching his young master's retreating figure as he was carried away, watching those legs sway helplessly, his jaw clenched tight.

He wanted to rush forward, to shove those bailiffs aside, to take his young master on his back and carry him home.

But he could do nothing.

He could only watch...