The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship is an eternal challenge. Xue Miao Yin, lacking a natal family, occasionally confided in me, her eyes reddening as she spoke. The eldest brother was troubled, burdened with grievances and a few white hairs.
I contemplated that while Mother was fierce, she was not unreasonable. Initially, when the eldest brother arranged this marriage, she had been happy and praised it. So why had she suddenly turned against the new daughter-in-law?
Deliberately shopping with Mother, I subtly inquired about the reason. To my surprise, she had numerous complaints about Miao Yin. First, she criticized Miao Yin for being incompetent in housework, with terrible needlework, and claimed she even made the eldest brother cook, showing no consideration. Second, Miao Yin was too strong-willed, and the eldest brother listened to everything she said, disappointing Mother. Lastly, she could not forgive Miao Yin for encouraging the eldest brother to abandon a stable future and open a restaurant.
I sensed Mother’s subconscious belief that the eldest brother, now a notable figure in Yan Feng City, had many girls eager to marry him and that marrying Miao Yin was a bargain for her.
I broke into a cold sweat and suddenly found my mother-in-law quite endearing.
Of course, the An family had many servants for housework, but traditional needlework meant for a daughter-in-law was something I had never attempted. Morning and evening greetings felt even more distant. With my mother-in-law having only one son, who had cut off the family line, I felt like a great sinner to the An family. However, my mother-in-law was somewhat cold but never imposed any tasks on me, while my father-in-law treated me kindly, like my own father.
Feeling fortunate, I tried to persuade Mother, but she was stubborn and wouldn’t listen. I subtly conveyed her dissatisfaction to Miao Yin, who quickly understood and learned housework while occasionally appearing submissive to her mother-in-law and eldest brother. Their relationship gradually improved. If Miao Yin could become pregnant in the future, Mother would surely forget her frustrations.
We had An Jin; the eldest brother had Miao Yin; Si Tian had Tang Wei; and Yuan Xiang had a child. In this atmosphere of couples, the younger sister also became involved in matchmaking, and the two families seemed to be moving towards a harmonious and happy future.
However, the words “however” and “but” are like a large ink spot on a beautiful scroll, dark clouds drifting across a bright sky.
A fire broke out in the palace of Emperor Ji, burning down a side hall where the coffin of Princess Nan Rui was placed. My back chilled. An Jin was right; in His Majesty’s eyes, it would be better to make the Fifth Princess disappear than to let her become a threat to Qi Kingdom. The Su family’s people likely sneaked into the side hall at night because they believed the Fifth Princess’s coffin was hidden there. How did they get this information? The mechanism in the side hall burned the entire palace but failed to trap a single assassin, letting him escape – this was inexplicable.
There were many doubts about the incident. I sensed something but struggled to untangle the details. An Jin apparently had a clear understanding of the events.
“Your feeling is correct,” An Jin nodded, his eyes encouraging. “Don’t miss any clues. Think about what might be hidden here: the Su family, His Majesty, the side hall, that assassin. Start by thinking about how the Su family got their information.”
In the past, he would have revealed the truth immediately, but now he only provided hints, encouraging me to think independently. Perhaps this was due to my joining the Secret Department.
I calmly sorted out my thoughts. The Su family was in confusion after losing the Fifth Princess’s body and had received information about the palace designing mechanisms for a side hall.
There were two possibilities for sending an assassin. First, they might have known the side hall contained the Fifth Princess and wanted to retrieve her body; second, they were uncertain and wanted the assassin to confirm the identity.
The first possibility was unlikely. If they had known it was the Fifth Princess, they wouldn’t have sent just one assassin, regardless of urgency. The chances of success were low, and even if they succeeded, it would be meaningless; killing the Fifth Princess could provoke relations between the two countries, but with the Southern Rui envoy gone, what could they do with her body?
So only the second possibility remained.
They could not confirm whether the body was the Fifth Princess, so they sent an assassin to investigate, unwittingly triggering a mechanism that caused a fire.
The fire burned the entire side hall but left an escape route for the assassin. This was uncharacteristic of the Tang family, and even if the assassin escaped the side hall, he should not have evaded the alerted imperial guards.
The only explanation was that this assassin was deliberately allowed to escape. The only person who could order Tang Wei to leave an escape route and have the guards let the assassin go was the current Emperor.
Had this assassin seen the princess’s face to confirm her identity? I believed he must have. Otherwise, letting the assassin escape would serve no purpose. Did the Emperor let the assassin escape to report back to the Su family?
I imagined my face turning red and white with complexity. “Is this the Emperor’s ‘other arrangement’ for the Su family?”
An Jin exhaled. “Correct. The information the Su family received about the side hall was likely deliberately leaked by the Emperor.”
The assassin confirmed that the body in the side hall was indeed the Fifth Princess. The Su family would soon realize their conspiracy was exposed, and the Emperor’s retaliation was inevitable.
“Why would His Majesty do this? Isn’t he afraid the Su family might make a desperate last stand?”
“No matter how powerful the Su family is, this is Qi Kingdom’s territory. They cannot outmaneuver the current Emperor,” An Jin said, opening a military strategy book and pointing to a line: Retreat is the best strategy.
I understood. “You mean the Emperor wants to force the Su family to flee?”
“Exactly. The Su family are Western Liang’s agents. Once they flee, they must return to report to Yan.”
“But isn’t this like releasing a tiger back to the mountains?”
“His Majesty must have a purpose,” An Jin replied, closing the book and lightly tapping his knuckles on the table. “His plan might involve the Secret Department, but I haven’t received his decree yet.”
I felt uneasy, sensing an ominous premonition. “What will he make the Secret Department do?”
“I don’t know,” An Jin said, turning away, his expression cold.
I suspected he did know, but his speculation might be too difficult for me to bear, so he chose not to reveal it. I stopped asking, preparing myself mentally. During this process, clarity emerged in my mind as overlooked details and forgotten clues started to resurface.
Given our current knowledge, significant doubts remained.
If the Emperor aimed for the Su family to send an assassin to confirm the Fifth Princess and force them to flee, why involve the Tang family in designing the mechanism? The mechanism, aside from causing a fire, appeared to serve no other purpose.
Could the Emperor be using this assassin to destroy the Fifth Princess’s body, effectively killing two birds with one stone?
However, if the Emperor wanted to destroy the body, he could do so himself. This suggested he might be wary and preferred using the assassin for his goal.
