…Change to what way?

Amidst the mingling of hot breaths, Lizhu’s thoughts were somewhat slow. She did not pay much attention to his words; she cared more about what he had just said—“missed a wound”—what did that mean?

What wound had she missed?

Before she could figure it out, her thoughts were scattered by his intermittent, pecking kisses.

“…I want to discuss something with you.”

His tone carried a trace of coaxing.

“What is it?”

“Tomorrow is the trial of Danzhu’s case, right?”

Lizhu, kissed to the point of drowsiness, was a little sleepy, yet Pei Zhaoye held her face and made her look directly at him.

Lizhu slowly nodded.

“Yes, what about it?”

“Nothing much, just to let you know in advance,” he said with a smile, “tomorrow Hongye Fort will go to break into the prison.”

Lizhu, who had been half-asleep, slowly sat up straight, all sleepiness gone.

Pei Zhaoye, stared at by her, felt a little uneasy. He rubbed his nose and looked away, saying: “Why aren’t you speaking?”

He thought she would either stop him or get angry and scold him, just like when he had mentioned the matter of smuggling private salt before.

Yet this time, she seemed very calm.

Those almond eyes looked over, clear and bright, as dark as a fine inkstone.

“…I understand.”

Lizhu was surprised, yet not surprised.

This time Danzhu was willing to obey her words, not running away, but willing to wait for the government’s judgment—this was out of gratitude for Lizhu saving her elder sister Zhu Qing, and also out of trust in Lizhu.

However, she was also the third leader of Hongye Fortress.

Just by seeing how, on the day Danzhu had gotten into trouble, more than fifty brothers from the fortress had risked everything to protect Lizhu and rescue her, one could tell Danzhu’s prestige in the fortress even surpassed Gu Bing’an, the second leader.

If Danzhu were really sentenced to death, the people under her command would never sit still and wait.

Lizhu thought again and asked: “But you weren’t so radical before, is it because of the Jiacao Canal incident?”

Pei Zhaoye’s fingers twined around her black hair, his lowered eyelids hiding the emotions in his eyes.

“I once thought, as long as I firmly held this small piece of land in Yushan, relying on the terrain, relying on the salt pools, I could keep to one corner, shelter these brothers willing to follow me——Gu Bing’an was right, once you step onto this path, if you do not advance you retreat, either you are recruited and pacified, or you revolt, besides these two routes, the rest are death, only a matter of sooner or later.”

At least that person definitely wanted him dead.

A cold bitter smile rose in Pei Zhaoye’s heart.

How upright he was, how lofty he was, his eyes could not tolerate a single grain of sand, how would he allow himself to be entangled with a lowly-born grassroot salt tyrant?

So he wanted to wipe out the entire Hongye Fortress together.

Perhaps what he most wanted to eliminate was the self from twenty years ago, yet he could not do that, so he settled for the next best thing, wanting to burn this disaster he had provoked to a clean ash with one fire.

Unfortunately he could not burn it down.

What a pity, whether now, or in that strange dream, he failed.

This perhaps was the second failure in his life.

Lizhu’s fingers on her lap slowly closed.

Breath accumulated in her chest, and after a while she asked aloud: “Have you already chosen?”

If he truly intended to break into the prison, then afterwards they would be enemies——at least publicly it would be so.

A princess of a nation being together with a rebel daring to break into a prison would be fatal to both of them.

Lizhu said: “You and I each have our own positions. I cannot resolve your trouble, thus I have no reason to influence your decision, but I still want to remind you, this path is perilous, once gone there is no return, the ruler should think carefully.”

Pei Zhaoye watched the girl before him pretending to be calm, yet actually her eyes had begun to mist over, his pupils were like a night pool, with rippling moonlight spreading.

“I actually want to choose the third route.”

Lizhu’s eyelashes trembled, somewhat bewildered.

Where did a third route come from?

“However, that route seems not yet ready.”

His two long legs, bent, slowly drew together, pressing Lizhu’s whole person against his chest.

The cooling medicinal ointment on his body had already dried, only the bare, burning body covered her, as if he could not wait to burn her desire and whatever else together.

“I also do not want to be a rebel. When the time comes your father the emperor sends those mighty and brave great generals to kill me, I cannot beat them. Good princess, you are so clever, why not think of a way for me, help me.”

He half-smiled, half-not, as if lazily acting spoiled.

Lizhu truly had never seen such a——such shameless person.

He clearly knew the Nanyong’s constellation of generals had withered, where in the court could one find any mighty and brave great generals?

He was simply deliberately mocking.

The princess, whose nape was being touched, pushed at his chest and straightened up.

“You can’t become a rebel, as long as I don’t give you that chance.”

Lizhu’s eyes were bright as quenched fire, carrying a bit of stubborn heroism.

“Tomorrow, just you wait and see! I will definitely rescue Danzhu!”

She shoved him away, stomped angrily toward the door, then turned back to look at him.

“And let me tell you, this time I’m really jealous!”

The door slammed shut with a bang.

Pei Zhaoye was stunned for a moment, then smiled as he looked at her departing figure.

A moment later, Gu Bing’an stepped into the room. With one glance, he roughly guessed what had happened.

“You’ve laid your cards on the table with the princess?”

Pei Zhaoye gave a quiet hum, then said, “How is the fortress prepared?”

“All ready. Before the verdict is announced tomorrow, we will descend the mountain. If the outcome is unfavorable, we’ll act at once.”

Gu Bing’an glanced toward the direction the princess had left, and couldn’t help pressing his lips together in a faint smile.

“Actually, with the princess’s wit, she’ll soon realize that what the mountain master is doing is just not wanting her to bear the pressure of the court alone. If Hongye Fortress breaks into the prison, it can be said that the princess was merely coerced and threatened by the mountain bandits, not acting of her own will.”

After all, their Hongye Fortress was already at odds with the court—what was there to fear in adding another crime of ‘abducting the princess’?

Pei Zhaoye said calmly: “That’s what you said, not me.”

—–٠✤٠—–

Lizhu was already a light sleeper, and Pei Zhaoye’s words last night made her almost sleepless all night.

Yet when she woke in the morning, she was not tired at all—on the contrary, she was full of spirit and fighting will.

She asked Xuan Ying, who was combing her hair: “Has the imperial physician gone to the prefect’s residence? Is Cui Shiyong still claiming illness and refusing all visitors?”

A few days ago, Lizhu had already felt something was wrong. The blow Cui Shiyong had taken was perhaps a bit too heavy.

Now she realized—Cui Shiyong was pretending to be ill.

Xuan Ying replied, “Exactly. That Lord Cui, it seems, simply doesn’t want to wade into these muddy waters.”

Lizhu said angrily, “Whenever it’s a case that’s easy to offend the people, hard work with no reward, he just wants to step back. So that’s how this so-called good official in the people’s hearts earned his name.”

Noise came from the front hall.

Chang Jun hurried inside and reported: “Princess, they are ascending the hall ahead.”

“Understood.”

After finishing her dressing and washing, Lizhu rose and said, “We depart, go to the prefect’s residence. Chang Jun, you remain here, when the time is right, do as I instructed you yesterday.”

“Chang Jun understands.”

Lizhu and her party went from the guesthouse behind the government office toward the front yard.

Before reaching the front main hall, they already felt the commotion of the crowd overflowing.

Today is a public trial session; many commoners had gathered outside the government office early, waiting only for Lin Zhang to open the court.

As Lizhu passed by the main hall, she happened to hear Lin Zhang just finish reciting the statutes from the “Great Yong Code,” denouncing Zhao Ji for occupying a good family’s woman, and according to the law should be sentenced to the five punishments.

——That is, successively use tattooing of the face, cutting off the nose, cutting off toes, flogging to death, beheading and displaying the head, and finally chopping into meat paste.

Zhao Ji had already been kicked in the crotch by Lizhu and Pei Zhaoye that day, long since left with only half a life.

He had thought his father could, as before, smooth all these matters for him, so he had clung to life until today, not expecting to hear such a pronouncement in court.

“Pitiful five-hundred-stone petty official! How dare you sentence me! My father is the county assistant!! The whole Yiling County is decided by my father Zhao Weizhen! He only has me as his sole son, how dare you—”

Zhao Ji’s face turned like paper, he choked on a breath, and fainted onto the straw mat.

Lin Zhang shouted, “Douse him awake, take him down to carry out the execution.”

From the crowd came an instant chorus of approval, only Zhao Weizhen, waiting below the hall, wept copiously, crying piteously.

“Zheng Zhuqing,” Lin Zhang said, “you are the injured party, you should go to witness the execution.”

Zheng Zhuqing only hugged her bound younger sister.

She was still nursing wounds, her face pale, her figure slight, yet she still clung tightly to her sister who was stronger and bigger than her.

“Judge of the tribunal has already sentenced him to heavy punishment, to vindicate the wrong done to the common woman. Since he is to die, he is a person of no consequence. The common woman only asks, Your Honor, how will you sentence my sister?”

The crowded government office instantly fell silent, Zhao Ji’s wails continued to echo.

Lin Zhang’s forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.

He glanced at Lizhu passing by.

“The state has state law, according to the statute, Zheng Danzhu broke into the Mei residence, slaughtered the Mei couple and their son Mei Changping, and should be given one hundred lashes and strangled and discarded in the market……”

At the end of his words, Lin Zhang’s voice grew smaller, while the voices of the onlookers in the government office grew louder.

“What kind of dog official! Is this something a person can say!”

“Exactly! If the Mei family died, does that mean what they did no longer counts!”

“I heard Zheng Zhuqing once reported this matter to the government office, but these dog officials turned a blind eye for Zhao Weizhen’s sake. If not for having a sister like Zheng Danzhu, today the one who died would have been Zheng Zhuqing!”

Zheng Zhuqing, holding Danzhu, was also streaming tears:

“When the Mei household trampled on lives, no one paid heed, when the Zhao father and son protected each other with official privilege you all feigned deafness, my sister was forced and had no choice but to take revenge for me, and now you officials jump out to pass judgment! Heaven is truly blind!”

The people’s voices boiled like water, almost as if ready to throw Lin Zhang into a pot to be boiled.

Although Lin Zhang had long foreseen this, he still could not help his legs beginning to tremble.

He cast a pleading look toward the direction of the Princess of Qinghe.

Lizhu sent him an encouraging look from afar, then turned her head to Xuan Ying and said:

“Let us walk more quickly. This Lin Zhang is indeed an inexperienced greenhorn; if he delays, I truly fear he will abandon the bench right there in court.”

Xuan Ying held back a smile and hurried to help Lizhu into her sedan chair.

Not only was the government office crowded, but walking along the main street one could see countless people looking toward the government office; all the teahouses and taverns nearby were full of talk about today’s public trial.

Some taverns even sang and played Lizhu’s “Ode to Golden Orchid.”

The poem wrote of a pair of sisters who grew up together; the younger sister took to the mountains and became an outlaw, the elder sister married—once a pair of twin flowers, their fates turned utterly different. Because of worldly eyes they could not meet for years, yet their hearts still longed for each other.

When they met again, the elder sister nearly suffered harm at the hands of a scoundrel, was beaten in her husband’s home, and nearly died.

The singer’s voice, plaintive and mournful, seemed to weep and tell the tale.

It was precisely because the officials had no heart for true justice and the common people had no voice that the virtuous were driven to take up the blade, to enact the way for this blind Heaven.

Seeing the spectacle on the street, Xuan Ying said: “Princess, that ‘Ode to Golden Orchid’ of yours is like timely rain; if not for that poem, this matter would never have spread so quickly.”

Lizhu thought to herself: To say that this is all thanks to the ‘Ode to Golden Orchid’ may not be entirely true.

This catchy tune and the Zheng sisters’ case were only a single spark in a pile of dry grass.

The people of the realm had long suffered under these corrupt officials.

Now, with the favorable timing and conditions, the long-suppressed popular rage had finally kindled into a great fire.

Lizhu’s sedan stopped outside the Cui residence.

Lu Yu stepped forward and knocked, but after the time of one incense stick there was no response from inside the residence.

He asked, “Princess, shall we force the door?”

Lizhu hesitated; after all this was the prefect’s mansion, an official of two thousand stone—if she forced the door, would the repercussions be appropriate…

From the eaves behind them suddenly sounded a voice:

“Weren’t you going to make me wait and watch? Princess.”

Lizhu and the others all turned back together.

The early winter sky was gloomy and dim; on the eaves stood a dozen black-clad bandits.

The one leading them wore a robe of peacock blue trimmed with dark black, and, rare for him, the angry-ape mask from their first meeting with Lizhu. He stood tall and straight, like a pine.

With one hand resting on his sword, his voice carried a smile:

“That Lin Judge doesn’t look like the kind of man who can stand firm under pressure. Princess, if you move any slower, my sword might just find its way to the neck of some court official.”

Lizhu, hearing this, could not bear it.

Clang—!

Lu Yu stared in astonishment at the young girl who suddenly drew her sword and slashed at the door latch.

With the sound of splintering wood falling to the ground, Lizhu gritted her teeth and said, “Lu Yu, kick the door open for me.”

At such a time, Cui Shiyong still dared to play dead.

How wishful!

If he didn’t want to wade into muddy waters and risk his reputation, then she would drag the muddy waters right into his own house.

“You all stay outside. I’ll go in alone.”

Lizhu carried a sword so heavy her hand ached, and under the shocked, panicked gazes of the people in the Cui residence, she went straight toward Cui Shiyong’s courtyard.

At that moment, Cui Shiyong was drinking his medicinal soup.

Before the bowl even reached his lips, the tip of the princess’s sword was already held before his eyes.

Lizhu’s breathing was fast, but her gaze was clear. She said:

“In the Yuanjia era, there was an old case—a man killed his mother’s murderer, the matter reached the throne and caused an uproar, yet in the end he was found not guilty and released. With that precedent, today we may follow it and judge Zheng Danzhu innocent.”

“If it succeeds, you, Cui Shiyong, will win fame across the land; if it fails, you will still be known among the people as a righteous, upright official who sought justice for them. Does Lord Cui not wish to do what even the master of Hongye Fortress could not? Today I give you this chance, let’s see if you dare take it.”

A pair of clouded eyes fixed on her; the medicine bowl quivered, sending ripples spreading outward.

At that same time, from among the indignant crowd outside the government office came the loud, clear cry of a young eunuch:

“That Lin Judge is just a petty official of six hundred stone, how could he judge any case! Better go to Huaiyang Alley and find Lord Cui Shiyong, that’s the true upright magistrate of our Yiling County!”

On the roof, Pei Zhaoye watched the vast tide of people surging from the end of the street, and silently smiled.

He knew it.

A rabbit won’t bite until it’s poked.