I couldn’t understand why, instead of the solemn and moving farewell scene that should have been, we ended up shouting for help while stranded in the middle of the lake?
Discussing remarriage with a jealous husband in the middle of a lake was truly an unwise choice.
The next day, An Jin left home for morning court as usual. Different from before, he did not return.
Chapter Fifty: Defection to Western Liang
A major event occurred in Yan Feng City, and everyone in the streets and alleys knew and discussed it.
The incident began when the Ministry of Punishment’s Secretary Duan Chang received a secret report accusing the Ministry of Personnel’s Vice Minister An Jin and the Ministry of Rites’ Secretary Su Xi of participating in a case of buying official positions under false names, and abusing their power by coercing a witness to give false testimony, allowing the two to escape legal consequences. The Ministry of Punishment took this case very seriously and immediately reported it to the current Emperor.
His Majesty was furious, ordering the three judicial departments – the Ministry of Punishment, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate – to jointly investigate and get to the bottom of the case.
The witness, originally exiled to the border, was brought back for re-questioning, and the implicated parties, Vice Minister An Jin and Secretary Su Xi, were detained in the imperial prison, awaiting trial at any moment.
My parents rushed to see me upon hearing the bad news. I simply said it was a wrongful imprisonment, just a misunderstanding, to reassure them.
The old eunuch, upon hearing this, asked nothing, only looking at me with a somewhat guilty expression. The more he acted this way, the more I felt he knew everything but was just playing dumb.
My mother-in-law came to see me once. We sat facing each other in silence for a while. Finally, she gave me a meaningful look, stood up and left, patting my shoulder as she passed. “Take care of yourself.”
I did not go to see An Jin. I just counted the days in my heart, waiting for his return.
