Chapter 4

"The northwest is bitterly cold. You couldn't bear it..."

"If you can, so can I. Besides, it's time I went there to settle a few old debts."

I left the rest unsaid.

Huo Jingxiu's former subordinates were still there.

The dowry he'd seized in our previous life, the military craftsmen he'd driven to their deaths, the army provisions he'd embezzled... all of it was there.

And I doubted those were his only crimes. Evidence of others might still be scattered somewhere in the northwest.

Only by going myself could I dig it all out.

On the day we left, Lu Yufu appeared at the city gate.

She'd grown thin, her pallor frightening. Rushing forward, she caught Shu'er's reins.

"Sister, please save the general! He's innocent!"

"If you tell His Majesty the designs were just a misunderstanding, they'll release him. Please!"

From her horse, Shu'er looked down calmly.

"You're asking the wrong person. The Court of Judicial Review will decide whether he's innocent."

"I won't speak for him again."

Lu Yufu gave a bleak laugh.

"You do hate him. That's why you deliberately ruined him!"

I rode up and reined in before her.

"You're wrong."

"We don't hate him. Hatred clouds judgment. We simply don't want him anymore."

"What you've picked up as a treasure, we discarded long ago."

She sank to the ground, shaking.

"You'll regret it. You will..."

I rode away without another glance.

Shu'er followed in silence.

Ten li beyond the city, she suddenly said, "Mother, she's so pitiful."

I looked back.

"She's not. She chose this path and must bear its consequences."

"You mustn't pity her. In your dream, she never pitied you."

Shu'er lowered her eyes, thoughtful.

A month later, we reached the northwest.

The wind seemed to come straight from hell, whipping yellow sand against our faces.

Yet Shu'er seemed to have come home. She buried herself in the arsenal, revising plans and repairing crossbows day and night.

Meanwhile, I quietly contacted the people my mother had left behind.

They were old spies who'd long since concealed their identities.

At the sight of my token, they knelt.

"Madam, you've finally come. We've kept the evidence of Huo Jingxiu's crimes here for you all along."

They handed me an iron box.

Inside lay a handwritten ledger and several letters.

The ledger recorded how, under the guise of military procurement, he'd skimmed layer after layer from the court's army funds. The sums were staggering.

The letters revealed his collusion with wealthy frontier merchants, smuggling army provisions to the Northern Di.

One even bore a Di tribe's hawk-head seal beside the signature.

Holding the box, I stood beneath the vast northwestern dusk.

Some people truly did have a taste for evil.

Shu'er came to stand beside me.

"Mother, is this... enough?"

I closed the box. My voice carried clearly through the cold wind.

"Enough. It's time certain people fell beyond all hope of recovery."

07

The day I returned to the capital, the northwest won a great victory.

Shu'er's improved crossbows had proved their worth on the battlefield, driving back three successive Di charges.

The officers and soldiers submitted a joint memorial requesting recognition for her.

Delighted, the emperor made an exception and appointed her Commandant of Precision Craft, a full sixth-rank post, with permission to continue serving in the army.

When the news reached the capital, nobody in the Lu household dared say a word.

On my return, my sister-in-law came trembling to pay her respects. The Old Madam wanted to discuss a banquet celebrating Shu'er's achievements.

I smiled.

Once Shu'er was settled in her room, I went alone to the Hall of Prosperity and Longevity.

This time, the Old Madam was truly very ill, wasted almost beyond recognition.

She didn't rage when she saw me. She merely watched through clouded eyes.

"A sixth-rank female official in your branch. What an honor. But have you considered how much harder life will become for our family in the capital?"

"Will the great houses accept a girl who outshines their men?"

I approached the bed and looked at her.

"Anyone who objects can come to me."

"I'll be waiting."

She closed her eyes and said no more.

The next day, I took the evidence to the Censorate.

Its Left Censor-in-Chief had once been my father's pupil.

His face turned livid as he read. After a long silence, he spoke.

"Qingrong, have you thought this through? Once this is submitted, Huo Jingxiu will certainly die. His family will fall."

"But their allies at court will become your mortal enemies."

I regarded him calmly.

"Would they leave me alone if I didn't submit it?"

He sighed and accepted the box.

"Give me three days. Then I'll present the memorial."

During those three days, chaos consumed the Huo household.

Madam Huo sought help everywhere. She even asked Lu Yufu to plead with me.

Yufu knelt outside my courtyard all afternoon, weeping.

"Aunt, leave him a way to live! He knows he was wrong. He truly does!"

"Just say the word, and we'll leave the capital at once. We'll never trouble you again!"

Three days later, the Censorate's memorial was submitted.

The court erupted.

Embezzlement of army provisions. Illegal trade in military supplies. Collusion with the enemy and treason. Murder to silence witnesses. Every charge against Huo Jingxiu had irrefutable evidence behind it.

The emperor flew into a rage. Huo was to be brought from prison and rigorously interrogated under torture until his accomplices were identified.

The Huo estate was confiscated.

Lu Yufu was sent back to her family.

When she returned, she was like a living corpse.

My sister-in-law held her and wailed. The second master smashed up his study.

That evening, he confronted me, eyes bloodshot.

"Sister-in-law, whatever crimes he committed, he's still Yufu's husband."

"By sending him to his death, aren't you driving her into a dead end?"

"Such resentment, Brother-in-law. Did I order him to embezzle provisions and betray the country?"

"Your branch schemed to steal this marriage. I should be asking who put Yufu on this road."

"Huo Jingxiu—or you?"

His face flushed and paled. He slammed the door and left.

A month later, Huo Jingxiu was beheaded.

On the day of execution, the capital's streets were packed.

08

After his death, undercurrents stirred at court.

His family's old allies began to strike back.

They dared not attack Shu'er openly, so they argued that "women in office violate ancestral institutions."

Several censors petitioned to have her appointment revoked.

Three times the memorials went up. Three times the emperor retained them, neither approving nor rejecting them.

I knew this was temporary.

He was waiting for her to achieve something greater.

After the northwestern victory, Shu'er returned to report.

She'd grown thin. Her hands were covered in cracks and frostbite sores.

"Mother, they don't hurt."

She hid them behind her back.

I drew them out, had warm water brought, and gently washed and treated them.

"Let the people who need to see these wounds see them. The more you hide, the easier they think you are to bully."

When she reported at court, the emperor asked what reward she wanted.

"Nothing for myself, Your Majesty. I only ask that women throughout the realm be given a way to earn their living through their own abilities."

The court fell silent.

After a long pause, he decreed that, as Commandant of Precision Craft, she could train at the Ministry of Works, specializing in military equipment reform.

He also established Jinggong School for Girls under her direction, recruiting common women to learn the crafts.

The news shook the realm.

Some condemned it. Some praised it.

More simply watched.

Watched to see how far this daughter of the Lu family could go.

The second branch fell completely silent.

The second master gave up his clan duties and stayed behind closed doors.

My sister-in-law stopped making trouble. She avoided me whenever we met.

Lu Yufu was sent to a convent outside the city, nominally to recuperate. In truth, the family had abandoned her.

I visited once.

In plain white clothes, she knelt before the Buddha.

At my footsteps, she looked back, eyes empty.

"You won."

I stood behind her, looking at the perpetual lamp before the statue.

"I never considered you my opponent. You were never the one I meant to defeat."