I traveled back to the Southern Song Dynasty and was actually outmaneuvered by Yue Fei.

Chapter 053: Zhang Quwei

Zhao Bocong's gaze lingered on the ebony box for a moment.

At this moment, Zhao Gou stepped down from his throne, walking quickly, almost rushing to greet him.

His eyes reddened, his lips trembled, and when he walked up to Consort Wei, he bent his knees and was about to kneel down.

Consort Wei reached out and helped him up.

"Your Majesty," her voice was neither loud nor soft, "do not kneel in front of the entire court."

Zhao Gou was helped up by her and did not kneel down.

He grasped Consort Wei's hand, his lips moved, and he said something.

Zhao Bocong was too far away to hear clearly. But he saw that after Zhao Gou finished speaking, Consort Wei shook her head slightly.

The head shake was very small, as if to say "no need to say anything more," or as if to say "it's all too late."

Next came the audience with the officials.

Qin Hui was the first to step forward. He carried his official tablet to Consort Wei, bowed deeply, and uttered the usual welcoming words.

"Long live the Empress Dowager! Your subject Qin Hui respectfully welcomes the Empress Dowager back to the capital!" The voice was solemn and loud.

Consort Wei looked at him, her expression unchanged.

She simply nodded slightly, said "Prime Minister Qin, you've worked hard," and then looked away.

As Qin Hui stepped down, Zhao Bozong noticed that his hand, which was holding the scepter, trembled slightly inside his sleeve.

The tremor was so slight that it was almost invisible.

When the imperial clan members came to pay their respects, Zhao Bocong was ranked fourth.

He stepped forward, bowed according to protocol, and said his title and name.

Consort Wei's gaze lingered on him.

"Prince Puan," she repeated, her tone as if recalling, "the son of Consort Zhang."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Consort Wei stared at him for a long time, so long that the members of the imperial family behind him began to exchange uneasy glances, so long that Zhao Shiyi coughed softly on the outside of the line.

Then Consort Wei said something that no one present expected.

"When your mother entered the Prince's Mansion, it was I who combed her hair."

Zhao Bocong raised his head. Consort Wei was looking at him, something churning in her eyes, but it quickly died down.

She looked away and gestured for the next member of the royal family to step forward.

As Zhao Bozong stepped down, he noticed that her left hand was still tightly gripping the ebony box, never letting go.

That night, the lights in Cining Palace stayed on very late.

Qin Hui requested an audience at the second quarter of the hour of You (5-7 PM).

He was accompanied by two guards from the Imperial City Guard, carrying a stack of security registers from various wards of Lin'an. Ostensibly, he was there to report to the Empress Dowager on the security arrangements for her arrival.

However, Consort Wei only allowed him to stand outside the palace for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and then sent Zhang Quwei out to deliver a message: "The Empress Dowager is weary from her journey and will not see any officials today. Prime Minister, please return."

Qin Hui stood outside the Cining Palace for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

His face was indistinct in the twilight, but when he left, his steps were a beat faster than when he came.

Zhang Quwei stood inside the Cining Palace gate, watching Qin Hui's sedan chair disappear at the end of the alley.

Then he turned and went into the hall. Consort Wei was sitting by the window, with the ebony box in front of her. The box was not opened; she was just looking at it.

"He filled the alleys with the Imperial City Guards," Zhang Quwei said.

"Let him lay it." Consort Wei's voice was indifferent. "What haven't I experienced in the north? A few scouts, how can they compare to the Jurchen's sword?"

Zhang Quwei remained silent.

Consort Wei placed her hand on the ebony box, her fingers slowly caressing the half-open lotus flower on the box's surface.

"Zhang Quwei, do you think His Majesty remembers what he put in this box?"

Zhang Quwei did not answer.

"He wanted to kneel before me in front of Lizheng Gate today. I refused to let him."

Consort Wei's voice suddenly lowered, "It's not that I feel sorry for him. It's that if he had knelt down, all the sixteen years I suffered in the north would have been his fault."

The entire court will think he's the one who ruined me. I can't let him kneel; he's the emperor.

Zhang Quwei remained standing in the lamplight, his head bowed.

On the fifth day of the eighth lunar month, the night after Consort Wei returned to the palace, a heavy rain fell in Lin'an.

The rain started at 5 PM and continued until 7:45 PM without stopping.

The red lanterns on Yujie Street were mostly extinguished by the rain, and the bluestone slabs in the alley were wet and slippery.

The night watchmen huddled under the eaves to avoid the rain, and even the imperial guards retreated into the corridors on both sides of the Cining Palace.

Qin Keqing lit a lamp in the small room in the side courtyard and was recording the day's intelligence summary in a booklet.

News came from Zhenjiang that Yue Yinping had safely returned to Xiangyang, and that Li Bao's six detachments of surrendered soldiers had all completed their dispersed encampments at this time.

Feng Yi sent a message from the palace saying that Qin Hui had requested an audience with the Empress Dowager again today, but was still turned away at the door.

The cat was lying on the windowsill, its tail drooping down, occasionally flicking it.

Then there was a knock on the door, three knocks, neither too loud nor too soft, with even intervals.

Qin Keqing closed the booklet, stood up, and walked to the door. "Who is it?"

"Miss Qin, someone from the palace has arrived. His Highness requests your presence in the study." It was Liu An's voice.

Qin Keqing quickly stuffed the booklet into her sleeve, opened the door, and followed Liu An through the corridor.

The rain outside was pouring down, and her cloth shoes splashed up tiny water droplets with every step she took on the stone slabs of the corridor.

The door to the Prince's study was ajar, light shone from inside, and a deep voice could be heard speaking.

Qin Keqing pushed open the door and went inside.

Two people were standing in the study. Zhao Bozong sat behind his desk, his expression calm but his eyes slightly darkened.

A man wearing a straw raincoat was standing in front of him, and water was still dripping from the raincoat.

The man turned around; he was in his early sixties, with a sallow complexion and high cheekbones.

"This old servant, Zhang Quwei, greets Miss Qin." His voice was hoarse, but his words were clear.

Qin Keqing stood still. She didn't ask, "How do you know who I am?" Instead, she sat down on the side of the desk, took out a booklet from her sleeve, and turned to a blank page.

Then, in a flat, almost indifferent tone, he asked, "Which door did Zhang, the magistrate, come in from?"

"At the East Gate, there are few people on rainy days. The eunuch guarding the gate is an old acquaintance of mine from my days at Deshou Palace. He didn't look at my waist tag."

"Did you encounter any inspectors on the road?"

"There are two at the entrance of Cining Palace Alley. One is taking shelter from the rain next to the land god temple, and the other is huddled under the eaves of the tailor shop."

They all kept their heads down and didn't notice that the old servant had changed into black clothes under his raincoat when he came out.

Qin Keqing held an extremely fine charcoal pencil in her hand and looked up to continue asking, "From Cining Palace to the back gate of the Prince's Mansion, you need to pass through two Imperial City Guard outposts, one neighborhood, and a checkpoint where the night patrol of Lin'an Prefecture hands over."

It's raining heavily tonight. We can bypass the checkpoint by walking along the riverbank, but we can't get past the sentry post—where did you change into your raincoat?

"There's a crooked locust tree behind the land god temple at the alley entrance. That's where I replaced it."

First, they removed the eunuch's blue robe and placed it in the tree hollow, then put on his raincoat and circled around from the back of the temple.

At this moment, Qin Keqing's eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

Zhang Quwei looked at her and suddenly smiled.

The smile on his sallow face didn't offer much warmth, but it softened after a moment of scrutiny.

"The way Miss Qin questioned me was exactly the same as Zhijia's back then."

Qin Keqing stopped writing.

Zhao Bozong pushed the chipped copper coin on the table half an inch towards Zhang Quwei.

When Zhang Quwei looked down and saw the copper coin, his thin shoulders visibly tensed up for a moment, then slowly relaxed again.

"There is indeed a descendant of Zhijia in the Prince of Puan's mansion."