After a great deal of commotion, the Imperial Guard, Eunuch Lian, and Su Huailing at last finished clearing the scene. Unfortunately, they found that the assassin who had tried to get up had been the very last survivor. And that very last one had also been killed by the empress.

The empress looked a little apologetically at Emperor Jingren.

Emperor Jingren, who had by now switched to a different horse, said quietly, “It was an emergency. Of course safety comes first. You did all you could. As for the origins of those assassins, a whole crowd of people couldn’t have infiltrated the hunting grounds without leaving any traces. And those people clearly came prepared to die. Even under interrogation we might not have been able to get anything out of them. It’s better to follow the traces and perform our own investigation. If they had made a false accusation, even if we did not believe them, we would not be able to help being suspicious. So it’s better not to question them. Dead men can’t lie.”

“Your Majesty is wise.” The empress smiled at Emperor Jingren.

Emperors suffer from paranoia. This lofty position is too lonesome. Even the best ruler in history can’t escape being paranoid and killing loyal subjects by mistake. Emperor Jingren was aware that he had this weakness; he didn’t deny it, but he could control it. He considered questions calmly, doing his best to check his suspicion. This assassination attempt, for example: it had been a very dangerous situation, yet he had kept his head and calmly analyzed what was happening, not letting himself be controlled by anger and fear, considering the issue rationally.

This was a person who valued the bigger picture over his own desires. This sort of person inspired admiration, but it also made those who cared for him worry.

It was so hard to control all one’s emotions with reason. Faced with this unknown enemy, faced with people who had silently snuck into his presence, would the young emperor be afraid? Probably he would. That was a normal human reaction.

The empress took the reins of Emperor Jingren’s horse and said gently, “Your Majesty, I’m here.”

“Naturally.” Emperor Jingren looked directly at the empress. His eyes were clear.

After such an incident, the autumn hunt naturally couldn’t continue. Emperor Jingren returned to the temporary residence. He sealed off the hunting grounds and had everyone inspected. No one who could have introduced a large company into the grounds was spared. A tally was made of the number of persons in the parties of the imperial clan members and officials upon arrival and at present. At the same time, everyone at the hunting grounds who might have let the assassins in was rounded up and questioned. He had to find out how those seventy-eight people had infiltrated the hunting grounds.

Emperor Jingren didn’t return to the palace at once. Instead, he ordered a large number of imperial guardsmen to hasten to the hunting grounds. When the investigation here was finished, they would all return to the palace.

Unmoved at the moment of danger and brave enough not to flee the scene of danger at once, instead calmly remaining on the scene to investigate the truth—Emperor Jingren was a man of remarkable courage.

Of course, he was only staying at the hunting grounds because he was confident he had the situation in hand. It was hard enough to bring people into the grounds. Even using all possible means, it wasn’t possible to bring more than a hundred people or so. The assassination attempt had already used up seventy-eight people. Now, even if there were still assassins in the hunting grounds, only a few would be left. Moreover, everyone was now being watched. If anyone took action, it would be plain to see. No one would try it at a time like this.

But a large company leaving the hunting grounds was another matter. It was too easy to stage an attack on the road. If he went out on the road with a few ill-intentioned people in his traveling party, he might be attacked again on the way, or else someone might escape.

After examining the advantages and disadvantages, Emperor Jingren decided to run the risk of staying at the hunting grounds and awaiting the arrival of a large contingent of the Imperial Guard.

When he had given these orders, his subordinates went to carry them out, while Emperor Jingren remained in the temporary residence, protected by the Imperial Guard, his personal bodyguards, and the guards of the temporary residence. But to Emperor Jingren, all these people put together couldn’t equal the empress alone.

On the road, while no one was watching, the empress slipped into her carriage and put on her phoenix robe. When they reached the temporary residence, she was once again the solemn and dignified empress. Holding Emperor Jingren’s hand, she was conducted along with him, closely guarded, into the temporary residence and remained at Emperor Jingren’s side.

While his subordinates all went off to work, Emperor Jingren wasn’t idle either. He had finally learned from Yan Xu that the woman dressed in eunuch’s attire was Su Huailing.

It was no small matter that a woman, unaided, on her own, had snuck into the hunting grounds. This time, Emperor Jingren decided to question Su Huailing personally.

After listening to Su Huailing’s account of how easily she had snuck into the hunting grounds, Emperor Jingren really did come to believe in Su Huailing’s good luck. The process of her sneaking in was like that time he had hit his head: it simply couldn’t be explained with common sense and had to be put down to Su Huailing’s preternatural good fortune.

Emperor Jingren imagined what would have happened if he hadn’t had the empress with him but had been attacked while accompanied by a hundred imperial guardsmen, and then encountered Su Huailing. He had a peculiar feeling that if that had happened, he really might have been rescued thanks to Su Huailing’s good luck.

This thought made Emperor Jingren feel a little more well-disposed toward Su Huailing. He wanted to ask her some other questions. “Last time you went to so much effort to see us, and now you keep saying that you want to see the empress. What colossal wrong can have taken place that you require the empress and ourself to resolve it?”

At last hearing this question from Emperor Jingren, Su Huailing was beside herself. She explained how wonderful her foster brother Little Fuzi was, and how he had been framed by Concubine Xiang and how she was going to have him beaten to death. The empress sat by watching Emperor Jingren question Su Huailing and didn’t say a word.

“Your Majesty,” Su Huailing related, crying, “my foster brother was about to be beaten to death, and I couldn’t save him. Someone said that you were in the imperial gardens, so I wanted to beg you to clear my foster brother’s name. There was a human life at stake, I-I couldn’t do anything else…”

She was very beautiful. Though not as outstandingly gorgeous as the pure consort, she was still lovely. She cried very prettily too, a regular weeping beauty: a sight to inspire pity.

“Later, thanks to Your Majesty’s mercy, my foster brother and I went to the cold palace, and he wasn’t killed. I deserve to be punished and sent to the cold palace for intruding on Your Majesty, but my foster brother hasn’t done anything wrong. H-he shouldn’t be in a place like the cold palace!” Su Huailing said tearfully. “So I wanted to beg the empress to clear my foster brother’s name and let him leave the cold palace…”

After hearing this account, the empress slowly began, “I…”

“Hold.” Emperor Jingren took the empress’s hand and interrupted her. “We know you have a kind heart, Jinyi, but there are some rules that cannot be broken, and some things that cannot be tolerated. We will explain.”

The empress was silent.

She’d been wondering how Emperor Jingren had come to the conclusion that she had a kind heart.

“Su Huailing, you know that the palace has its own rules. The only punishments the women of the harem are permitted to mete out against their servants are confinement to quarters, kneeling, facing the wall, copying regulations, boxing of ears, and kowtowing. Never mind beating to death, even an order to administer a debilitating beating can only be given by us or by the empress, who bears the phoenix seal. Concubine Xiang is a mere sixth-rank concubine. Who gave her the right to administer a serious beating to a palace servant? You shouldn’t have come to us then, but gone straight to Kunning Palace to plead with the empress, not to spare your foster brother, but simply to inquire into Concubine Xiang’s unauthorized punishment. Couldn’t you have saved your foster brother that way? Are you aware that the palace has these rules?” Emperor Jingren asked sternly.

“I…know.” Su Huailing nodded. “But…”

Emperor Jingren didn’t give her a chance to make excuses for herself. He continued: “So when you didn’t go to the empress but went to us instead, was it because you thought the empress would be unable to give you justice?”

The final word was spoken with a hint of anger.

Su Huailing had been weeping quietly. But now that the emperor was angry, she didn’t dare to make a sound. She bowed her head low.

“And after you intruded on us in the imperial gardens, you and your foster brother were sent to the cold palace together. You came this time to bring a grievance to the empress. Was that because you thought your foster brother was innocent?” Emperor Jingren asked.

Faced with the emperor’s might, Su Huailing didn’t dare to speak. She only nodded slightly.

“You must be joking!” Emperor Jingren said coldly. “Your intrusion on us was treason, and your foster brother was the cause of your hasty actions. He was also culpable. Sending the two of you to the cold palace was already a mercy. You have no grievance!”

“How can you lump that together?” Su Huailing said, boldly raising her head. “It was all my fault. It had nothing to do with my foster brother!”

“A poorly educated child is the fault of the father. A family, a village, a clan all hang together. There are some crimes that a single person cannot answer for alone,” Emperor Jingren said coldly. “Out of consideration for your sincere attempt to rescue us in the hunting grounds, we will not punish you for entering the hunting grounds without permission. But those who by their neglect permitted you to sneak into the hunting grounds will all be discharged from their posts and prosecuted. You cannot bear the blame for their crimes!”

When he was through, Emperor Jingren waved a hand; Su Huailing was still proclaiming her grievance. At Emperor Jingren’s gesture, guards came to cover Su Huailing’s mouth and drag her away.