Ye Jiao glanced at the cangue. Its surface was clean, unmarred by blood or filth, and the lock was new, likely not too heavy. Yan Congzheng had deliberately sought such a cangue to help Ye Jiao delay for time—and he had indeed found the most suitable one. Ye Jiao gave him a faint smile of gratitude.
"Deputy Commander, please wait a moment," she said calmly. "I ask your leave to tidy my hair. I was unaware I would be required to wear a cangue today. My hair is loose and may become entangled."
Her hair was styled into a small "Wangxian" bun, the rest cascading softly down her back like a ripple of black silk. She was composed, neither servile nor arrogant, and didn't even bother to respond to Yan Congzheng's earlier inquiry. It appeared that the thought of escape had never crossed her mind. Perhaps she had not even considered how to find an undisturbed room amid the chaos of over a hundred Imperial Guards ransacking her home. Or how, amidst the screaming and terrified maids fleeing in all directions, to find one calm enough to help her dress.
Yan Congzheng's expression darkened, rage flaring from his own impotence. He raised the cangue and slammed it fiercely against a stone post by the shadow wall.
With a deafening crash, the cangue split in two.
"Miss Ye need not dress her hair," he said coldly. "This commander has clearly failed to choose a proper cangue."
Ye Jiao's face was a swirl of emotion—relief, concern for his impulsiveness, and finally a twinge of guilt. She stepped back, curtsied gracefully, and said, "My thanks, General."
"Spare me your gratitude," Yan Congzheng turned away, pain twisting his features. "I shall stand guard outside the Xuanzheng Hall. I will keep watch."
He dared promise nothing, but he would remain at her side. If punishment or calamity befell her, he would do all he could to shield her. But beyond that—there was nothing more he could do. He had even led the Imperial Guards in turning the manor upside down and personally taken Ye Jiao into custody for trial at court.
An hour passed. The Duke of Anguo's residence was thoroughly searched. Yan Congzheng assigned a guard to shadow Bai Lixi without leaving his side. That same guard now clutched a wooden box, contents unknown. Aside from that, only a towering stack of account ledgers had been seized from the household.
"Why take the ledgers?" Ye Jiao's heart tightened. "If the Censor so much as glances at them, he'll know at once these books document the family's entire business network. But this case has nothing to do with business."
"The young lady may think not," Bai Lixi glanced at the shattered cangue, folded his arms, and bowed toward the palace in the distance, "but His Majesty might disagree."
So, they wouldn't escape a full audit after all.
Ye Jiao turned to the main hall. Lady Ye was already standing in the corridor, her back straight but visibly aged within a breath. Her eyes were clouded with anxiety, lips cracked, and cheeks hollowed—her frailty was heartbreaking.
"I ask leave to bid my mother farewell," Ye Jiao said.
Bai Lixi had likely obtained what he needed, and thus allowed her some leeway.
"Go on, then."
Ye Jiao walked slowly to her mother's side, removed her crimson fox-fur cloak, and wrapped it around the older woman's shoulders. Then she leaned in and whispered, "The silver we sent out…"
Lady Ye's expression changed; panic flared in her eyes. "It was all your father's doing," she stammered. "None of it had to do with us! If His Majesty questions it, just confess his name. Let him come down from the mountain and spend some time in the Dali Temple's prison!"
The Anguo residence had long had mysterious expenses—only traceable in the ledgers. Ye Jiao had overlooked this detail, never imagining Bai Lixi would seize the books. Her mother's response told her there was nothing more to be learned. She could only pray the officials auditing them wouldn't decipher too much.
When they left the manor, the street outside was unnaturally quiet. The usual crowd of curious onlookers kept a wary distance. There was no jeering, no mockery—only hushed tension, worried whispers.
"Why?" someone murmured."What in the world happened?" another suddenly asked aloud.
"That's right!" The question sparked more unrest. "The Duke's household often performs charity. They distribute porridge every winter. Since Marquis Ye took office, banditry's even decreased. Why arrest her?"
No one answered.
Yan Congzheng strode forward, face ashen, while Ye Jiao was flanked by four guards, walking slowly between them. It was a scene of formal arrest. The news of the search had long since spread.
As the crowd pressed with more questions, Bai Lixi finally mounted his carriage and responded coldly, "This is the Emperor's decree. Will you defy the imperial will?"
At once, the crowd fell silent. The street was deathly still.
The Emperor's decree...It was over. The Duke's family was finished.
At court, officials stood in neat rows according to rank inside the Xuanzheng Hall. Most were of fifth rank or higher, forming a vast sea of purple and crimson, like clouds at sunset. In the center lay a pale expanse—reserved for the Tri-Bureau tribunal.
When Ye Jiao arrived, Ye Changgen and Lin Jing were already kneeling on the floor. Ye Changgen's clothes were the same he had worn for days; though his gaze remained sharp and determined, he looked disheveled. He knelt with solemn dignity, a man resigned to die with honor.
Ye Jiao sneered inwardly, then turned her eyes to Lin Jing.
He, at least, wouldn't die so soon. But having been dragged suddenly to court, he knelt trembling, forehead pressed to the ground, not daring to lift his head.
He was shaking from head to toe. Arms, legs, body—nothing remained still.The majesty of the Son of Heaven had clearly terrified the boy.
Ye Jiao stepped forward and knelt.
"Your subject, Ye Jiao, pays her respects to His Majesty."
Though suspended from her post, she remained an official of the Tang Dynasty—a subject of the Emperor.
She remembered the last time she had stood before him. Because she had saved Li Ce, the Emperor had bestowed rewards upon her. His smile then had been indulgent, like a father offering sweets to a favored child. He'd even shown disappointment when she hadn't chosen Li Ce.
But now...Now, it was a court trial—attended by the Emperor himself.
Which was just as well. This grand hall of the Daming Palace, atop Longshou Plateau, would offer far more impartial justice than the halls of the Dali Temple.
Yet today, the Emperor's gaze was unrecognizable—stern, austere, unyielding. When his eyes passed over Ye Jiao, they carried detachment and wary scrutiny.
"Is the search complete?" he asked, ignoring her entirely and addressing Bai Lixi instead.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Bai Lixi knelt. "I have seized numerous account ledgers from the Duke's residence, along with property deeds and several confidential letters."
"Good," the Emperor replied. "The Ministry of Revenue is present; they are skilled with accounts. Let Assistant Minister Yan take the lead in the audit. The Dali Temple and Ministry of Justice are ready. All that remains is for the Censor to strike the gavel."
His tone held clear favor for Bai Lixi.
The latter humbly declined the honor but moved beside the Dali Temple Minister and the Minister of Justice, requesting that Dali Temple Minister Wang Chenming preside.
After some polite refusals between the two ministers, the responsibility was eventually passed to Bai Lixi. Though lowest in rank, he had been entrusted by the Emperor. And this case—volatile and highly sensitive—was one neither the Dali Temple nor the Justice Ministry wished to handle.
Thus, let Bai Lixi interrogate.
His first question set Ye Changgen ablaze with fury.
"General Ye," Bai Lixi began, "you deny colluding with Tibet, yet can you explain why, during the escort of the Tibetan delegation, the Princess of Tibet spent the night in your tent and did not return?"
Ye Changgen instinctively denied it, then remembered something, and said, "Because I was injured while hunting wolves. The princess came to offer her regards."
He did not mention that Gesang Meiduo had applied medicine for him. After all, she was a woman—her reputation must be protected.
Bai Lixi sneered. "Half an hour of 'regards'? That's plenty of time for conspiracy."