gnovel Chapter 059: Flawless
Chapter 059: Flawless
September 5th.
The old ginkgo tree outside the back gate of the old camp in the southern suburbs has begun to shed its leaves, and the golden leaves cover the ground, making a rustling sound when stepped on.
The flag on the gate was replaced by a new one by Xin Qizong, the flag bearing the emblem of the Imperial Clan Court.
Zhao Bocong arrived at dawn.
At this moment, he was sitting in the archives waiting to see someone: Jiao Qiong, the commander of the Divine Valiant Army of the Palace Guard.
Xin Qizong waited for someone outside the gate.
He wasn't wearing his old military robe today; he had changed into a slightly worn military officer's uniform. Standing at the gate, hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the direction of the official road.
At Chen Shi (7-9 AM), a horse came galloping from the official road to the north.
The horse's hooves churned up ripples on the fallen leaves and loose soil. The man on horseback was in his forties, with a square face and high forehead. Thick eyebrows covered his narrow eyes, and a few stubbles were interspersed in his newly grown short beard.
When he dismounted, his right leg landed first, while his left leg was a beat behind. It was an old wound that hadn't healed properly since he was shot through the knee by the Western Xia during the breakout at Xihe.
Xin Qizong stepped forward and supported Jiao Qiong's shoulder.
"It's been fifteen years, Lao Jiao."
Jiao Qiong stood up straight, clasped his hands in salute, and said in a hoarse voice, "General Xin."
Xin Qizong led him into the archives. Zhao Bozong stood up and bowed.
"Prince Pu'an," Jiao Qiong returned the greeting with clasped hands, his gaze sweeping across the sixteen-year-old prince's face before lingering on the jade sword at the prince's waist for a moment. "General Xin said that Your Highness needs to borrow my patrol team."
"It's not just the patrol teams."
Zhao Bozong picked up Xin Qizong's Xihe waist knife from the table and placed it in front of Jiao Qiong.
"Commander Jiao, General Xin said you are from Xihe. I've summoned you here today not to ask you to help me kill or commit arson."
I need you to help me guard the line from Jiuying in the southern suburbs to Houchaomen.
The Zongzheng Temple has applied to the Ministry of War to include the old camp in the southern suburbs in the key night patrol area of the Palace Guard.
If the application is approved, your patrol team will be able to legally make a few more trips along this route.
Jiao Qiong looked down at the Xihe waist knife.
He recognized the knife, the varying depths of wear on the scabbard, and the old, slanted notch on the blade.
"Your Highness is not only guarding the old camp." Jiao Qiong's voice was low, his fingers slowly tracing the stitching on the scabbard.
"Your Highness is to guard the entire road from the southern suburbs to the city. If any messenger at any outpost is spotted by the Imperial City Guard, Your Highness's supply line will be cut off."
"Your Highness means that I should lead a patrol team to patrol this road, so that if something really happens one night, we can catch the person before the constables arrest them?"
Zhao Bocong looked at him but did not answer.
Xin Qizong gestured to him: "Jiao Qiong, you've seen the Ministry of War's approval." The old general placed one hand on the bronze box, the lid of which was engraved with the seal of the Palace Guard.
The Privy Council and the Palace Guard jointly approved the adjustment of the patrol area, dated September 1947.
Jiao Qiong stood up, took a step back, and clasped his hands in a fist salute again. "I couldn't sleep the night I received General Xin's letter."
On the day we returned from Xihe in the second year of Shaoxing, it was snowing heavily. Yue Shaobao handed us wine jars at the camp gate and said that being alive is better than anything else.
"Of the eight hundred men who broke through the siege together at Xihe, only General Xin and I remain."
His voice choked for a moment, then returned to normal. This knife, this patrol area, these words tonight—he would have to answer them all.
"Your Highness's message, I will come to inspect."
Xin Qizong stood up and gripped Jiao Qiong's shoulder tightly.
Jiao Qiong clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, his left leg still dragging very slowly. As he turned and stepped out of the warehouse, ginkgo leaves rustled and crumbled into dust at his feet.
On the seventh day of the ninth month, the Ministry of War issued its approval.
Qin Hui read the approval document in the signing room and wrote the words "Approved" on it.
How could he refuse? The Zongzheng Temple's application was flawless.
Since the old camp in the southern suburbs has been used as a repository for the imperial clan's archives, and since it concerns the safety of the imperial clan's records, it should naturally be included in the night patrol area.
Qin Hui survived eleven years of bloodshed in Shaoxing, and his greatest skill was never giving his political enemies any ammunition in public.
Rejecting this application is tantamount to him openly admitting that he has reservations about the legitimate authority of the Imperial Clan Court.
However, he added a line of small print next to the "approved" notice: "Patrol routes are limited to the official road outside the old camp and are not allowed to enter the camp. The guards inside the camp shall still be managed by the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs."
The purpose of this line of small print is very clear.
Patrol teams can patrol outside the old camp in the southern suburbs, but they cannot go inside.
If someone launches a surprise attack on the old camp, the patrol team can only engage from the outside and cannot directly participate in the camp's defense.
Qin Hui left himself a narrow door for his next move.
Zhao Bocong glanced at the annotation, closed the reply letter expressionlessly, and said to Zhao Shiyi, "That's enough."
On September 12th, the first informant Qin Keqing sent out to observe Yuwen Xu returned with an initial report.
The report reads: Yuwen Xu, a 52-year-old scholar from Qiantang, was promoted to the Imperial Observatory in the first year of the Shaoxing era while serving as a night watchman in Lin'an Prefecture. He improved the method of using copper bells to signal fires.
This man was fond of drinking. Every day after get off work at dusk, he would drink alone in a small tavern in Xihefang. He had a huge capacity for alcohol but never lost his composure. He would finish a pot of yellow wine and then leave.
He rarely interacted with his colleagues. In his early years, a superior who had promoted him was demoted due to Qin Hui's machinations. He publicly burned the book that the man had given him to avoid suspicion.
For the next twelve years, he never got involved in politics, but everyone in the Imperial Observatory knew that there was a secret drawer under his desk with a lock on it, which even the supervising official had never opened.
Qin Keqing carefully read the report, folded it, and put it into the paper bag that was specially used to store Yuwen Xu's information.
Then he picked up a pen and added a line of text to the bag opening: "Starting today, Xihefang Tavern will add an observation line. The size and model of the drawer lock need to be checked."
......
On September 15th, Zhao Bocong paid his first formal visit to Consort Wei.
The official purpose of this visit was to verify the genealogical records of the imperial clan at the Grand Court of Imperial Religious Affairs.
On the morning Zhao Bocong went to Cining Palace, Shen Qingci was warming porridge in the kitchen. Qin Keqing pushed open the door and added a piece of firewood to the stove.
"Miss Qin," Shen Qingci stirred the porridge in the pot without looking up, "Will His Highness be in danger going to Cining Palace today?"
"No, the Empress Dowager is on our side."
"That's good." Shen Qingci was silent for a while, then ladled the porridge into a bowl. "When I was in Xiuzhou, I always felt that His Highness married me to win over the Shen family. Later, when I came to the Prince's Mansion, I felt that His Highness didn't have me in his heart."
Qin Keqing did not respond.
"But now I understand." Shen Qingci stood up, holding her bowl of porridge, and smiled. "Your Highness has too many things on your mind; romantic feelings don't come first. Knowing this is enough for me."
She carried the porridge out of the kitchen. Qin Keqing sat alone in front of the stove, the firelight flickering on her face. She pushed a burnt piece of firewood deep into the stove, then stood up and dusted the ashes off her hands.
Two days in advance, Zhao Shi sent a document to the Cining Palace, saying that Zhao Bocong, a member of the imperial clan of the Taizu lineage, needed to confirm several pieces of information about him in the genealogy in person.
Qin Hui's men couldn't stop the document, because verifying genealogies was a legal duty of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs. The fact that it was being conducted in the Cining Palace was simply because the Empress Dowager, as an elder member of the imperial clan, had the right to verify the genealogical records of deceased members of the imperial clan.
When Zhao Bocong entered Cining Palace, he noticed that the two guards at the alley entrance were still standing there.
But their gaze wasn't on him, but on Zhao Shiyi behind him.
The sound of the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan's peachwood staff tapping the ground echoed in the alley, and the two inspectors subconsciously lowered their heads slightly.
Consort Wei waited for him in a side pavilion on the east side of the main hall of Cining Palace.
The side room was very simple and plain, without brocade curtains or gold and silver utensils. There was only an old nanmu wood table and two armchairs under the window.
On the table sat a plain white porcelain vase, with a few sprigs of osmanthus flowers inserted inside.
Consort Wei sat in the armchair, still wearing the same coarse gray cloth dress.
But she wasn't carrying the ebony box today.
The ebony box was placed in the shrine behind her, where three incense sticks were burning. Wisps of smoke rose from beneath the shrine, turning into a pale blue mist in the sunlight.
Zhao Bozong bowed deeply, and as he lowered his head, he smelled the scent of osmanthus mixed with sandalwood and beeswax.
This is the solemn atmosphere unique to Cining Palace, carrying a deep sense of anticipation.
Consort Wei told him to get up and sit down. Then she looked at him and said something that made Zhao Bozong's heart skip a beat.
"How is your mother doing at the Prince's residence?"