Chapter 2670: The Capital (Part 26)

"Many thanks for the Lao Gong Zu's kind intentions." Wang Yehao cupped his hands in thanks, then turned to Mr. Zhou. "Would Mr. Zhou care to partake in such refined diversions?"

Mr. Zhou was quite satisfied to see Wang Yehao being so sensible. Judging by his expression, he had originally prepared to demur with false politeness, but fearing the cooked duck might fly away, he restrained himself for half a moment before finally squeezing out: "Haha, if the Master is occupied, then perhaps I shall go have a look."

Zhou Lezhi nearly burst out laughing at his Teacher's coy manner. He reflected that over these past days of traveling together, the Teacher's true nature was revealing itself bit by bit. Yet he found he didn't dislike it.

Nearby, Prefect Zhou observed Wang Yehao yielding the courtesan queen to a mere Qingke while remaining perfunctory throughout the banquet. Clearly, this must be someone Master Wang valued highly. He immediately scrutinized this "eccentric" with his peculiar accent and vulgar speech more carefully. The man's face was white as jade, his fingers slender as scallion shoots—evidently the son of a wealthy family. Probably hadn't read much, likely a dandy whose household possessed considerable wealth and power. With this assessment in mind, Prefect Zhou hastily summoned a servant boy to lead Mr. Zhou in his pursuit of fragrant pleasures.

The Teacher departed to seek fragrance. Zhou Lezhi hesitated over whether to follow and attend him, but then Master Wang gave him a meaningful wink, so he hurried after.

Mr. Zhou followed the turtle slave through winding paths until they reached a small building. The turtle slave bowed and scraped, saying, "Great Master, this is the place."

Zhou Lezhi quickly produced a string of copper coins to reward the servant and dismissed him. He stationed himself downstairs to wait. Above, he watched the Teacher bound up the stairs two or three steps at a time, then pause at the door to ask in an affected tone of refinement: "Is this Miss Youqing's boudoir?"

"Is that Master Wang?" A young woman's voice drifted from within.

Zhou Lezhi had expected the Teacher to announce his own name. Instead, the man cleared his throat, dragged out his words, and adopted an official air: "It is indeed this Official."

The response nearly made Zhou Lezhi laugh aloud.

From the pavilion came a soft, feminine voice: "Master Wang, please enter. This slave is changing clothes and cannot properly receive you. I hope the Master will forgive the discourtesy."

Though Zhou Lezhi was downstairs and couldn't hear clearly, the tone of seduction alone was enough to set his blood racing, stirring an involuntary physical response. He thought, A famous courtesan is truly a famous courtesan—formidable indeed! The Teacher is blessed! I wonder when I might be like the Teacher...

Upstairs, Mr. Zhou was faring no better, calling out eagerly: "This Official is entering!"

The sound of a door opening followed—he had probably gone inside.

Then the woman's voice came again, carrying a slight tease: "Master Wang, do remember to close the door."

A creak sounded, followed by the thunk of a door bolt dropping into place. Zhou Lezhi thought: The Teacher is quite cautious!

Yet scarcely a moment after this theatrical entrance, the Teacher let out a blood-curdling scream: "I'm going to die!"

Zhou Lezhi chuckled to himself: Teacher, isn't this rather too fast!

What followed, however, was a woman's sharp cry: "Shameless Eunuch Party lackey—die!" Then came the crash of overturning tables and chairs, objects clattering to the floor. A shudder ran through Zhou Lezhi's entire body. Realizing something had gone terribly wrong, he leapt up and rushed for the stairs.

Before he could reach the top, a chaotic clamor erupted from within. Amid the noise came the Teacher's desperate screams: "You! What do you want! Don't come any closer! Help! Someone help!"

Zhou Lezhi threw himself against the door, but it refused to budge—the bolt inside held firm. In desperation, he slammed against it with all his might while shouting for help: "Come quickly! Quickly! There's an assassin!"

"Dog official! Die!" The woman's hate-filled voice nearly split his eardrums. Then, suddenly, silence fell inside, followed by a heavy thump—the sound of a body hitting the floor. Zhou Lezhi's anxiety sent sweat streaming down his back as he continued shouting for help.

Turtle slaves and household guards heard the cries and scrambled upstairs in a panic. Unfortunately, the door remained bolted. It took several of them, working together with Zhou Lezhi, a considerable while to pry it open. When they finally looked inside, everyone stood dumbfounded. The room was in complete disarray, objects strewn everywhere. On the floor, a scholar was pinning down a young woman while still crying for help without pause. To intervene seemed wrong; not to intervene seemed equally wrong. The scene was thoroughly awkward.

One turtle slave offered, "You don't understand. They're performing 'Guo Ai Drunkenly Beats the Golden Branch.' The person who gave offense represents the Princess, so after the beating, he must beg forgiveness."

A guard quickly presented a different theory: "Nonsense. 'Beating the Golden Branch' involves begging for forgiveness—this is calling for help! Clearly this is 'Tang Sanzang Trapped in the Daughter Kingdom'!"

Zhou Lezhi stamped his foot in agitation: "This is an assassination! Save Master Zhou at once!"

Mr. Zhou heard this and felt utterly aggrieved, shouting in a voice near tears: "She's a female assassin! Look—there's a dagger over there!"

Upon hearing the word assassination, everyone finally surged forward and helped Mr. Zhou to his feet. Just then, a yard worker let out a shriek: "This... this isn't Miss Youqing!"

Only then did the gravity of the situation dawn on everyone. Several men quickly twisted the arms of the woman attempting to rise and forced her to the ground. Others rushed to the front hall to report.

Within moments, Wang Yehao and his entourage arrived. The crowd of onlookers at the door parted hastily. Prefect Zhou immediately barked at the accompanying bailiffs: "Bind the prisoner at once!"

The bailiffs stepped forward promptly, seized Mr. Zhou, dragged him aside, wrenched his arms behind his back, and prepared to tie him up.

"Wrong one! Bind the woman!" Prefect Zhou caught the error and corrected himself hurriedly.

By now the woman's arms were twisted behind her, pinned down by several burly men, with no strength left to resist. Even after being bound, she continued cursing without pause. Prefect Zhou gave a pointed look, and the guards quickly found a rag to stuff in her mouth.

"Teacher, you must be shaken. This..." Wang Yehao began.

"This female thief attempted to assassinate Master Wang. Fortunately, I managed to subdue her." Mr. Zhou caught his breath, still visibly shaken. "The dagger is still over there."

At these words, Prefect Zhou went pale. Someone had attempted to assassinate a high minister at a venue he had arranged. When he arrived just now, he had heard the woman shouting something about the "Eunuch Party." If anything had happened, never mind his black gauze cap—he might not keep his head.

His expression darkened. "What brazen banditry, daring to cause chaos here! Summon the Procuress!"

The Procuress was already ashen-faced before she was called. Never mind that the assassination target was Master Wang's staff member—even if an ordinary guest had met with mishap, she could hardly explain it away. Trembling, she ascended the stairs, fell to her knees with a thump, and began defending herself frantically: "Two Masters! This slave truly has no idea what happened..."

"Who is this woman? Why is she in Miss Youqing's room?"

"Reporting to the Master, this slave doesn't know. This girl isn't anyone from this slave's establishment..."

"Impudent! If she doesn't belong to your house, did this Official bring her?" Prefect Zhou snorted coldly. "Men! Twenty strokes of the small board!"

The bailiffs answered in unison, dragged the Procuress to the floor, and began beating her with a sharp, crackling rhythm. The Procuress screamed in agony, crying her innocence repeatedly.

"This slave truly doesn't know... truly doesn't know... Aiya! Aiya... Master, spare my life..."

Zhou Lezhi was already frightened out of his wits, shrinking into the background and keeping silent. Glancing at the Teacher, he saw the man's face had turned iron-blue, his expression inscrutable—clearly deep in troubled thought.

After the beating concluded, Prefect Zhou asked slowly, "Do you know now?"

The Procuress wept: "This slave truly does not know. Tonight, this slave arranged for Miss Youqing to wait in this room. Before the banquet ended, I even came to check—the Miss was still here then... Master, spare my life..." She kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy.

By now the lamps and candles had all been lit, and the room was finally bright enough to see clearly. Liu Zhao poked his head in to look at the female thief and instantly froze, eyes widening, a chill running down his spine. He hurriedly leaned close to Wang Yehao's ear and whispered, "My Lord, this is the daughter of Mr. Guo Yuan."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yehao's look of surprise flickered for only an instant before he moved to take control of the situation: "Master Zhou, in this Official's opinion, this matter should not be made public."

Seeing that Wang Yehao not only bore him no blame but was actively helping him out of this predicament, Prefect Zhou quickly agreed: "What Master Wang says is most wise!"

"There are too many people here, and the situation is complicated. I must trouble Master Zhou to clear the venue. As for this female thief's attempted nighttime burglary, this Official shall interrogate her personally."

Hearing Wang Yehao define the incident as theft rather than assassination, Prefect Zhou knew his official position was secure. Moreover, the would-be assassin had repeatedly mentioned the "Eunuch Party" just now—he was even more eager to avoid any fire that might burn him. He agreed hastily: "Yes, yes, of course. Everything shall be as Master Wang decides." He then instructed his subordinates to transport the female thief quietly to Master Wang's boat.

Meanwhile, the yard workers and turtle slaves conducted a search and finally located Miss Youqing. She was on the canopy bed, bound tightly with strips of skirt fabric, her mouth stuffed with cloth. According to her account, she had been applying makeup in the room when suddenly she was struck hard from behind and lost consciousness.

"This slave lay on the bed in a daze and knew nothing of what happened outside..." Youqing wept. Seeing how the situation had developed, she knew something suspicious was afoot and insisted she knew nothing.

"Old Ancestor, since there has been a theft at this Moon Plucking Tower, this student should not impose any longer. I shall take my leave." Wang Yehao finished speaking and smiled faintly.

Prefect Zhou understood perfectly and immediately ordered: "Men! Take this Procuress and this whore into custody! Deliver them to the Prefectural Yamen for interrogation!"

The Procuress and Youqing protested their innocence repeatedly. But the bailiffs descended upon them like wolves and tigers, wrapping iron chains around their necks, dragging and hauling the two women away.

Zhou Lezhi stood stunned. It was his first time witnessing a high official adjudicate a case. When his clan handled disputes, favoritism and bent laws were common enough, but at least they maintained some pretense of reason to save face. This high official was something else entirely—directly disregarding right and wrong, inverting black and white. He turned back toward Youqing's boudoir and saw Mr. Zhou sitting on the edge of the bed, breathing heavily, still clearly in shock.

Zhou Lezhi approached and whispered, "Teacher, are you all right? Master Wang is preparing to depart..."

Mr. Zhou shook his head and whispered back, "Bring me that powder compact."

"Powder compact?" Zhou Lezhi was puzzled. Following the Teacher's gaze among the overturned objects scattered across the floor, his eye caught a pink compact made of some peculiar material. He quickly retrieved it and handed it over. The Teacher took it and examined it for a moment. His face filled with horror. His hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

With a clang, the powder compact slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor. Zhou Lezhi hurried to pick it up. As he did, he saw a line of Western text printed prominently on the back of the compact—"Made in China."

(End of Chapter)