Chapter 27: The Scapegoat Princess Is Sentenced to Death (27)
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Meanwhile, Ding Shui had already returned to Zhao'an Prefecture.
Dawn had come.
Not the faint gray before sunrise—the sun had risen in the east!
It was pouring down its dazzling light with all its might, illuminating the dim earth. The people of the city had long since risen and resumed their orderly daily lives, scarcely different from any other day. Only a very few knew that something had happened at Prince Lu's residence, and fewer still knew the details. There was, however, no shortage of people discussing the Princess Consort of Lu.
After all, she had only just been ordered to die the day before.
Everyone knew that much.
The common folk, who lived without worry and never had to fret over what they would eat tomorrow or how they would scrape together the rent due the day after, gathered at alley entrances for idle conversation. Some chatted with friends while buying vegetables; others exchanged gossip with the vegetable sellers. Those with more money and leisure went to restaurants and teahouses to gossip, or listened to storytellers while trading a few words with those around them.
Even some of the people working in the government offices were no exception.
Who could meet someone without mentioning the latest news?
Besides, their subject of discussion was Ding Shui herself. She also wanted to investigate what people thought of her after her death—whether they truly believed she had been the mastermind behind everything.
So, quite naturally, she wandered all over the city beneath the blazing sun, listening to other people talk.
And her mood was fairly good. Perhaps it was because the residents of Zhao'an Prefecture lived relatively close to Prince Lu's residence and knew very well what sort of man Prince Lu was. Some of the very people who had once traveled to the capital to appeal directly to the emperor were locals. As a result, most people did not believe the accusations and felt considerable sympathy for the Princess Consort of Lu.
“How could the Princess Consort of Lu possibly be the mastermind?
“I’ll tell you this much: I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know the Princess Consort of Lu quite well. Her mother, the Lady of the Duke of Shu’s household, has always been a devout Buddhist and performed charitable deeds every year. The Princess Consort followed her example. Last year, hoping to have a child, she donated three hundred mu of land to the orphanage.
“She also donated a thousand taels of silver to Guanyin Monastery on Mount Qing.
“And another eighteen hundred taels to the Charity Home for the Needy.”
“Monks never take elixirs or practice alchemy. If nothing unexpected happened, the Princess Consort must have been a Buddhist herself. Why would she persuade Prince Lu to refine elixirs? To put it bluntly, she was obviously taking the blame for him.”
“There are also people saying that the Princess Consort’s dowry servants were accomplices, and that they recently realized the depth of their crimes and killed themselves out of guilt. That is impossible too.
“I have a country relative who rents farmland from one of the Princess Consort’s estates. A few days ago, he complained to me that a new estate steward had been installed half a year ago. He had assumed the rent would remain the same as before, but when rent collection came around recently, the steward said it had gone up and demanded seventy percent of the harvest.
“My relative tried to argue, and they beat him with a whip. The steward openly claimed to be one of Prince Lu’s men.
“The former estate steward was well known to everyone. He had been part of the Princess Consort’s dowry.
“That former steward and his entire family disappeared. They have been gone for half a year. No one knows where they went. They simply vanished overnight without saying a word.
“If they disappeared half a year ago, how could they have only now killed themselves out of guilt? Their families too? Did the whole family somehow kill themselves out of guilt?”
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“Now that you mention it, the owner of Springwater Pavilion also changed suddenly half a year ago, and his entire family disappeared with him. If I remember correctly, the owner of Springwater Pavilion was part of the Princess Consort’s dowry too. But half a year ago, they hadn’t even gone to the capital to appeal to the emperor yet, had they?”
“Wait, I suddenly remembered something. Hasn’t the Princess Consort of Lu also been missing for half a year?
“In recent years, she had unfailingly gone to worship Guanyin and pray for a child during the first few months of the year, then donated money and performed charitable deeds. A few months ago, when she failed to go, quite a few people whispered privately that perhaps she had become pregnant and, having had her wish fulfilled, no longer needed to continue.
“Others said her devotion was insincere.
“Could it be that she had already disappeared at that time, just like those trusted aides of hers? Perhaps she was imprisoned—or perhaps she was already dead.”
“Then who was the woman ordered to die?”
“My heavens. I don’t even dare think about it.”
“Marriage really is a second rebirth. No one knows whether the person they marry is human or ghost, or what sort of family they are marrying into. It seems marrying a daughter into a powerful household is truly not advisable!”
“Why are you suddenly saying that… Oh. I understand.”
“That isn’t necessarily true. Do you think marrying into a poorer family means nothing can happen? You all know the Zhao family of Tancheng, don’t you? At the height of their prosperity, people called them ‘Half the City Zhao.’ They had only one daughter, though unfortunately she was rather plain. If they wanted to marry her into a powerful household, genuine nobles would never have taken an interest; anyone who did was probably after the family’s wealth.
“They wanted the best for their daughter, so they deliberately found her a kind and honest family of modest means and married her into it. The bridal procession stretched for ten miles, and I heard the dowry was worth well over a hundred thousand taels of silver.
“Their backer didn’t fall two years ago?
“The Zhao family was implicated as well. Their clan was not exterminated, but the family was confiscated and sent into exile. And guess what? Last year, their daughter, who had been lively and healthy for more than twenty years, died of a common cold.
“Less than two months after her death—before the earth on her grave had even fully dried, I’d wager—the Zhao family’s son-in-law took another wife, marrying his cousin.
“He even redeemed two famous courtesans from the pleasure quarter and took them as concubines.”
“Alas. The Zhao family deliberately found their daughter a husband from a humble household, thinking it would protect her. Now the entire family has been exiled, yet at least none of them has died. Their daughter—the only one not sent into exile—was the one who was killed early.”
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“By that logic, the Duke of Shu’s family has it even worse. They have just lost one daughter, and now they have to send another into a den of demons.
“Alas, I’ve been wondering whether I ought to move. Prince Lu will be confined for the next year and ordered to reflect behind closed doors, so there probably won’t be any trouble. But what about after that? Who can guarantee that Prince Lu won’t…? As the saying goes, even a dog can’t change its appetite for filth. Moving still seems the safer choice—if only houses in the capital weren’t so expensive.
“I’ve even thought about moving to the capital.”
“You could throw a brick anywhere in the capital and hit some imperial relative or noble. What would people without connections like us go there for? If you’re truly moving, you might as well go somewhere farther away.
“Somewhere beyond the emperor’s reach.”
“What, are you planning to exile yourself? Somewhere beyond the emperor’s reach? Places that are truly beyond the emperor’s reach either have local tyrants, foreign pirates, or barbarians. If you really moved there, your bones would probably be devoured before long. You’d better be careful.”
“What nonsense. Your home is less than thirty paces from the prefect’s residence, so of course you have nothing to fear. No matter how audacious Prince Lu is, he would still have to keep his distance from the prefect’s residence.”
“Hey, hurry—come see the spectacle with me! I just heard the news. That new steward at Prince Lu’s residence has gone to the prefect’s residence to beat the grievance drum and lodge a complaint. The sun must have risen in the west.
“What could a steward of a prince’s household possibly have to complain about?
“Could he be planning to accuse the prince himself?”
“That happened? Waiter, put it on my account for now. I’ll pay when I get back. Don’t clear away the food—warm it up later and I can still eat it. I’m going to watch the spectacle, not skip out on the bill!”
“Wait, sir!”
“What about the dishes that haven’t been served yet?”
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