Drink to the Dregs

At the head of the banquet, the heir apparent and Commandery Princess Bai Li sat behind their tables, listening to the others without joining in. The two whispered together, though no one knew what they were discussing.

Chen Ji watched the varied faces at the literary gathering and felt out of place. He had no idea when Consort Jing intended to speak with him.

Just then, Chunhua quietly came to his side, bent down, and said in a low voice, "My lady would like a word with you."

Chen Ji surveyed the gathering and breathed a sigh of relief only after confirming that Consort Yun had not come.

Now, in Consort Jing's eyes, he was with the Secret Intelligence Directorate, while in Consort Yun's eyes, he was with the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Directorate. It felt rather like walking a tightrope ten thousand meters above the ground.

He rose and followed Chunhua to a pavilion. Looking through its bamboo curtain, he could make out only Consort Jing's hazy figure.

Chunhua withdrew, leaving only Chen Ji and Consort Jing, with the curtain between them.

Consort Jing said nothing for a long time, and Chen Ji simply stood there. It was as though both had come to devote themselves to the literary gathering.

After an unknown amount of time, Consort Jing asked evenly, "Everyone says Liu Shiyu was driven to his death by the Secret Intelligence Directorate. Why do you say he was killed to silence him?"

Chen Ji said slowly, "I examined the body myself. Someone conspired with the guards in the inner prison to make his death look like a suicide by hanging, but he was actually strangled. The Secret Intelligence Directorate has a case file you can consult."

Consort Jing frowned. "How am I supposed to consult the Secret Intelligence Directorate's files? How do I know you aren't deceiving me?"

Standing outside the pavilion, Chen Ji thought for a moment before saying, "You actually know I'm telling the truth. Since the Liu Family was willing to give you that cup, they naturally wouldn't have spared Liu Shiyu's life either. I'm just a nobody who works for the Secret Intelligence Directorate. Consort Jing, I'm not the one you should seek revenge against."

Consort Jing said in a stern voice, "Don't think you can wash your hands of this. Someone told me that if it weren't for you, the Secret Intelligence Directorate would never have found anything to use against Liu Shiyu! Since you sent Chunhua to bring me a message, tell me how to take my revenge. Otherwise, you'll die too!"

Chen Ji looked at the scholars and refined gentlemen before him. Others were talking about flowers, snow, the moon, and political ideals, while he was in another world, discussing life and death. "My lady, who is currently in charge of the Liu Family's affairs in Luo City? Is it Liu Mingxian?"

At that name, Consort Jing's voice grew openly venomous. "It's him!"

There was a touch of madness in Consort Jing's restrained voice. First she had lost her son, then the next day she had lost a nephew close to her. One sorrow after another had pushed her to the brink of losing control.

Chen Ji inwardly praised Liu Mingxian's acting. On the night he surrounded the Zhou Residence, he had worn sackcloth and mourning clothes, his eyes red-rimmed and his expression exhausted. However one looked at him, he had seemed a model of filial devotion. "How do you want to get back at him?"

"I want him to die a horrible death!"

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief. Her hatred had shifted to Liu Mingxian. "When did he give you the cup?"

"At the beginning of spring!"

Chen Ji asked again, "He must have asked you to do something then, and you refused, so he gave you the cup to get back at you. May I ask what exactly he wanted you to do for him?"

"Why are you asking about that?"

Chen Ji replied, "If I don't know what he's trying to do, how can we get back at him?"

Consort Jing pondered for a moment. "At the time, one of the prince's former subordinates was about to be promoted to commandant and take charge of two thousand troops stationed at the Directorate of Works in Luo City. Liu Mingxian wanted me to contact that former subordinate for him in the prince's name..."

Chen Ji froze for a moment.

Zhou Chengyi had arranged for the skinny horse Cuihuan to get close to the Directorate of Works, and Liu Mingxian's request of Consort Jing had also been intended to get close to the commandant leading the troops stationed there.

Why was the Directorate of Works so important that the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Liu Family had gone to such painstaking lengths? And why did the Ning Dynasty's Directorate of Works need two thousand elite soldiers to guard it?!

Wait.

Just now, a scholar had also said that if Jing Dynasty cavalry approached Chongli Pass, the Ning Dynasty's defending general could use cannons and firearms to drive them back.

A ray of light seemed to flash through Chen Ji's mind, linking all the clues together: the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Directorate wanted the secret formula for manufacturing the Ning Dynasty's firearms!

This was the proof of sincerity the director of the Military Intelligence Directorate had demanded from the Liu Family!

And the Liu Family had already worked with Consort Yun and obtained the firearms. That cup had not been intended merely to kill the child...

The condition for Consort Yun's cooperation was probably that the Liu Family kill the disobedient Consort Jing and help her become the principal consort, as a pledge of allegiance.

Otherwise, why would Consort Yun have sided with the Liu Family?

As Chen Ji was thinking, he heard someone at the banquet ask loudly, "Brother Wenzong, the Chen Family has produced two outstanding talents, and both look set to take first place in this year's provincial examination. But some time ago I heard you had another younger brother. Why have we never seen him?"

"That can't be right. I remember my father once asked Uncle Chen how many children he had, and Uncle Chen said two sons and a daughter!"

Chen Ji looked up. His two legitimate elder brothers were dragons and phoenixes among men, the center of attention among the scholars, so their family affairs naturally drew interest as well.

The man who had first raised the matter asked in puzzlement, "Brother Wenzong, did I hear wrong?"

Chen Wenxiao spoke up from beside him. "Our younger brother is a man of poor character, so our father simply acts as though the Chen Family has no such son."

The fat man with a large head and ears grew interested. "How so? Is there more to the story?"

Chen Wenzong shot Chen Wenxiao a glare. "This is a family disgrace. Say no more about it."

But Chen Wenxiao paid him no heed and continued, "My younger brother Chen Ji was addicted to pleasure quarters from childhood, and he was also a regular at the gambling dens in Red Clothes Alley. Three years ago, Father had intended to send him to study at Eastern Grove Academy too, but who would have thought a gambling den would come calling with an IOU to collect his debts-a whole six hundred taels!"

"What?"

"Six hundred taels!"

Chen Wenzong frowned at Chen Wenxiao. "Say no more. You're staining our family's name and giving others something to laugh at!"

Chen Wenxiao casually picked up his cup and took a sip of wine. "That boy's record is littered with misdeeds. How could we possibly keep them hidden? Brother, stop deceiving yourself."

He looked at the others. "After Father learned of it, he ordered the steward to take the servants and investigate. They found that he owed gambling debts at more than one place. There were six gambling dens in Red Clothes Alley, and he owed money at every one of them."

"What happened then?"

"Then? Father wanted to beat him to death on the spot, but my mother was kindhearted and stopped him. She said we should find him a way to make a living and leave him to fend for himself. First, she had him work as a shop assistant at a pharmacy. Later, he complained that the work was too tiring and begged my mother to donate some silver to get him an apprenticeship at the Imperial Medical Hall. Now I don't even know where he is."

Someone at the banquet remarked, "Tsk, tsk. To have a gambler in the family-what a misfortune."

But then came a bang, and She Dengke overturned his table and sprang to his feet. "Bullshit! Chen Ji isn't like that! He isn't a gambler, and he isn't lazy and gluttonous!"

The food on the table scattered across the floor, and wine splashed onto the scholar at the table in front.

Everyone turned to look at She Dengke. Chen Wenxiao looked at the heir apparent in puzzlement. "Your Highness, who is this?"

The heir apparent was a little bewildered too. He had not invited this man.

She Dengke introduced himself. "I'm She Dengke, an apprentice at the Imperial Medical Hall. I studied alongside Chen Ji for two years. He's absolutely not the kind of person you say he is!"

Chen Wenxiao narrowed his eyes. "Chen Ji is my younger brother. Of course I know him better."

She Dengke's face flushed red with anger. "You know him, my-"

"Dengke? As in passing the imperial examinations and taking first place? Hahaha!" Someone suddenly burst out laughing. "With such a grand name, why didn't you take the imperial examinations instead of becoming an apprentice at a medical hall?"

"And those cloth clothes-how does he have the nerve to come to a literary gathering dressed like that?"

Liu Quxing could no longer bear to listen either. He immediately stood and said angrily, "What do someone's clothes have to do with a literary gathering? We've known Chen Ji for two years. He's absolutely not the kind of person you're making him out to be."

"Oh, look, this one at least seems respectably dressed. But that tasseled, ridged cap doesn't look like it came from Li's Shop. It looks more like an imitation made by some little workshop."

Liu Quxing was lost for words. He had indeed bought an imitation because it was cheap.

Just then, Commandery Princess Bai Li stood and asked loudly, "Is this what your academy teachers taught you-to judge people by their appearance? What do his clothes or his occupation have to do with what he said? I assume none of you have met this Chen Ji. I haven't either, but in my view, a person these two are willing to risk their pride to defend can't be all that bad."

The heir apparent burst out laughing. "Bai Li has a point! Let me ask you all: if someone slandered you out in the world, would even one person speak up in your defense? Do any of you have friends like that?"

With that, the heir apparent raised his cup to She Dengke and Liu Quxing from afar. "My admiration. Drink to the dregs!"