Chapter 7

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Chapter 7

Xiao Chengli kicked the door open, pointed into the inner room, and rushed inside.

“Everyone, see her true face—”

His voice abruptly died.

The bed was empty. Even the bedding had been folded neatly.

Qinghe sat beside the desk. On either side of her were the Deputy Minister of the Dali Temple and two Jinwu Guard officers.

The packet of drugs, the banknotes, and a confession bearing fingerprints were laid out on the table.

If the beggar had appeared on that bed, Shen Qinghe would have been dragged into the mire beyond redemption.

Xiao Chengli’s eyes widened as he stared at the evidence.

But there was none of the chaos he had hoped for—only people waiting for him to walk into the trap.

The moment he kicked the door open, Xiao Chengli had proved that he knew in advance a scene had been staged in the east-side room.

He turned to flee, but the Jinwu Guards had already sealed the doorway.

The Deputy Minister of the Dali Temple rose and called to him in a low voice.

“Xiao Chengli, you have some nerve.”

The official pointed to each item on the table.

“At an academy opening granted imperial approval, you bribed a servant to drug someone, schemed to ruin the academy’s reputation, and framed a court-appointed noblewoman. Then you led a mob into the inner courtyard to cause a disturbance. Do you have any regard for the law?”

Xiao Chengli’s legs gave way, and he collapsed to his knees.

“No, that’s not what happened. This must be a misunderstanding…”

Just then, the Grand Princess and I entered the room with the others.

The students who had been shouting the loudest all knelt at the sight of the Grand Princess.

Qinghe turned to the last page of the confession and spoke calmly.

“Xiao Chengli, the drug you went to such trouble to buy was delivered to the Dali Temple long ago.”

She pointed to two other statements.

“The beggar you brought here and the servant you paid are both being held in the Dali Temple’s prison.”

The promises he had made them and the threats he had used were all recorded in their statements.

Cold sweat ran down Xiao Chengli’s forehead, but he still tried to make excuses.

Qinghe looked at him and gave him no further chance.

“I used to clean up after you, so you came to believe you could really command the winds and rains in the capital.”

She stripped away his last self-delusion.

“Without someone else to deal with the mess you leave behind, your schemes are no better than those of a street thug.”

Not a single person in the room pleaded for him.

Even the students he had stirred up lowered their heads and looked away one after another.

The seller who had supplied the drug had identified the packet, and the place where the fifty-tael banknote had been exchanged was already known.

The servant had revealed where he put the drug; the beggar had named the person who promised him food and wine. The Jinwu Guards had kept both men under watch throughout, so no one could claim the Shen family had coerced their testimony.

Xiao Chengli had wanted to use the crowd’s gaze to ruin Qinghe. In the end, those same people witnessed his crimes.

12

The evidence was overwhelming, and both witnesses and physical proof were in hand. Xiao Chengli had no way to deny it.

After hearing the statements, the Grand Princess laughed in anger.

“What an audacious scoundrel!”

She would not allow anyone to conceal the disgraceful events that had taken place at the academy’s opening.

The Grand Princess immediately ordered Xiao Chengli’s arrest.

“Seize him and hand him over to the Dali Temple for severe punishment! To cause a disturbance beneath His Majesty’s decree—he could die ten thousand times and still not atone for his crime!”

Two Jinwu Guard soldiers stepped forward and seized his arms.

Only then was Xiao Chengli truly afraid. He turned frantically toward Qinghe.

“Qinghe, I was wrong! For the sake of all our years as husband and wife, please beg them to spare me!”

Qinghe stood still and looked straight at him.

“I was muddleheaded for a moment. Qinghe, save me this once!”

He still thought she would clean up after him, just as she had always done before.

Qinghe studied him for a moment, her expression as calm as if she were looking at a stranger.

“Take him away. Don’t let him soil the academy grounds any longer.”

Xiao Chengli was dragged out of the courtyard. His pleas gradually faded into the distance.

The Grand Princess looked at Qinghe, the anger in her eyes slowly giving way.

“You stayed calm in a crisis and acted decisively. Shen Qinghe, I can entrust the academy to you with complete confidence.”

Qinghe bowed.

The bell in the front hall rang at that very moment, announcing the next part of the ceremony.

We returned to the main hall, where the eunuch resumed reading the imperial decree.

Despite the turmoil, the academy’s opening ceremony concluded successfully.

After the guests had departed, more applications for admission appeared on the desk.

Some influential families were willing to send their daughters. Poor girls were also being sponsored so they could claim a place.

Qinghe and I stood side by side on the academy steps.

Sunlight fell on the large, gilded characters on the signboard, so bright it was hard to look at them.

The girls were crossing the high threshold one after another.

They came from different families, but they were all entering the same school.

Looking at those young faces, Qinghe seemed to see herself seven years earlier.

Now she was taking charge of the academy, and not only for the Shen family’s sake.

Qinghe later told me she had founded the academy so girls would know they could choose a different path in life.

They could escape being confined to the inner chambers and stop being trapped in a mire. Some would read and study; some would keep accounts; perhaps one day, one of them would preside over a school just as Qinghe did.

When they stepped inside, they did not know who Xiao Chengli was. Qinghe’s future was finally no longer tied to that man.

She turned her head and called to me softly.

“Mother.”

Looking at the clear blue sky, she smiled.

“What a beautiful day.”

I held her hand in mine and felt its warmth.

Yes, the sun was shining everywhere.

She was no longer confined to the inner chambers.

She would not be trapped in the mud again.

Shen Qinghe’s own life—and the paths those girls would take—had only just begun.

The End

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