novelAbuy Chapter 094: Birthday
Chapter 094: Birthday
The 28th day of the first lunar month, Lin'an.
Qin Keqing has not been recognized as a member of the Qin family in public for nearly half a year.
Every time she left the mansion, she wore the official robes of a female official from the Imperial Clan Court and a jade hairpin in her hair. This was a new habit she developed after leaving the city for Xiuzhou, and she began to use her identity as a female worker from the Imperial Clan Court to cover up the traces of her past as a laundry shop worker.
This prevented the Imperial City Guard's spies from matching her with the "illegitimate daughter of the Qin family."
But today is different.
Today is the official banquet for Qin Hui's fifty-third birthday.
Qin Hui's birthday is the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, and according to past practice, the formal banquet would be held at the end of the first lunar month.
Because no cases are tried, no executions are made, and no prison meals are served during the first month of the lunar calendar, it is the most suitable time to hold a banquet.
Three days ago, Qin Keqing received a message delivered by the steward of the Qin family. It contained only one sentence: "Master is hosting a banquet on the 28th of the first lunar month and invites Miss to return to the mansion."
This is not an invitation, this is a summons.
Qin Keqing didn't tell anyone; she simply wrote it down on the last page of the booklet and then continued compiling intelligence for the day.
Between the first and twenty-fifth days of the first lunar month, she recorded a full seventeen pages of intelligence, from the expansion of the Imperial City Guard to the spying on the Xiangyang Bell Tower to Xiao Bieli finding Zhu Fu's former residence in Ezhou. Each entry was accompanied by its source and cross-verification.
But she didn't write down any of her feelings about the family dinner. On the evening of the 27th of the first lunar month, she wrote on the last page of the booklet: "Go to the Qin residence tomorrow night. If I haven't returned by dawn, don't bother looking for me."
Qin Keqing pondered for a long time before locking the booklet at the bottom of the rattan box, placing it together with the land deed, Yue Yinping's letter, and Xiao Jinluo's straw grasshopper.
Then she took out all four pieces of paper from the bamboo hairpin and read them carefully again. One of them was the date of the secret conversation she had overheard in the Qin family study for the first time when she was a girl.
This includes the guest list for the Jin envoy's banquet in the spring of the twelfth year of Shaoxing and the disguised identities of the accompanying scouts; the original records of the naval deployment warning sent from Zhenjiang before the Battle of Jiaoshan and the evacuation plan from Xiuzhou.
Each one was earned with her life. She spent an hour checking the contents of each piece of paper again, adding brief reference information next to the key dates and names, and then put them back in the hairpin as they were.
On the evening of the 28th day of the first lunar month, Qin Keqing stood at the back gate of the Qin residence.
The door was different from the one she had passed by on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. The dust on the stone steps had been swept clean, new couplets had been pasted on the door frame, and even the black lacquered wooden door that had been closed all year round had been repainted.
Six gauze lanterns were hung in front of the door, twice as many as in previous years.
The old saying circulating in official circles still holds true: "If the lanterns at the back gate of the Qin residence are extinguished for one day, the court will be at peace for one day; if they are extinguished for three days, someone will surely be imprisoned."
The extermination usually lasts for more than ten days, but this time it lasted for almost a month, and nothing happened.
But today, all six lanterns were lit, illuminating the entire narrow alley in a bright red glow.
Qin Keqing was wearing a slightly worn gray-blue jacket, her hair was simply tied up with a bamboo hairpin, and she was not carrying anything in her hands.
When she walked in, the steward was stunned for a moment before recognizing her, not because she had changed her clothes, but because Qin Keqing's way of walking had completely changed.
In the past, the third young lady of the Qin family walked lightly and quickly, her toes touching the ground as if she were always ready to avoid everyone's gaze.
She still walks very lightly, but each step is firm, with her heel and toes landing completely on the ground.
"Third Miss," the steward said in a low voice, "the master is waiting for you in the signing room."
Qin Keqing nodded.
The signing room was still the same as before, with a rosewood desk and the painting "It is easy to bind a tiger, but difficult to release it" hanging on the wall.
The candlelight flickered on the calligraphy and paintings. Qin Hui sat behind his desk, wearing a plain-colored jacket and his hair tied up with a jade hairpin. He looked no different from before the massive roundup last December.
But in front of him was an ebony food box.
The food box was opened, and inside was a plate of osmanthus cake. The cake was decorated with the words "Serve the Country with Utmost Loyalty," and the decorations had not yet been removed.
This is a winter solstice cake that was bestowed upon Qin Hui by the palace last December. Consort Wei gave it to Qin Hui, who placed it exactly as it was in the document signing room.
"Your mother made a plate of cakes last winter solstice and saved a piece for you," Qin Hui's voice remained as flat as ever. "She still doesn't know you no longer live in the mansion."
Qin Keqing remained silent. She did not intend to explain why she had moved out of the Qin residence, nor did she intend to explain everything that had happened between her and Qin Hui over the past year.
She was Qin Hui's daughter, and she knew her father all too well. A man who could sit idly by and watch the Dali Temple kill Yue Fei in the eleventh year of Shaoxing without changing his expression would not get angry just because his daughter moved out for half a year.
Qin Hui summoned her back not to reminisce, but because he had questions to ask.
"Tian Ruyi investigated you in Xiuzhou for five days," Qin Hui said directly, as expected.
"He found that all seven sets of travel permits you used were genuine, each one was registered with the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, your household registration was genuine, your age and place of origin were genuine, and even the guarantor was genuine."
He'd spent half his life in intelligence work, and he'd only ever found one person capable of creating such a convincing fake identity.
Qin Hui's voice didn't rise, but there was something in his tone that Qin Keqing had never heard before—not so much anger, but more like confusion.
"From an intelligence perspective, he did a great job, but from a father's perspective—not good."
Qin Keqing remained silent, but her fingers slowly curled up inside her sleeve.
She spent most of her life waiting for her father to admit that something she had done was good. Now he had admitted it, but he did so while looking at Osmanthus Cake in the signing room, as if he were judging a knife he had personally sharpened.
"When did you start working for the Prince of Puan's residence?"
"Father need not ask."
Qin Hui remained silent for a moment, then continued speaking.
"Together with him, you reduced the number of secret sentries in the Imperial City Guard from seven to zero, wiped out the Zhenjiang navy in one fell swoop, and helped the Empress Dowager, that dusty Bodhisattva, out of the Cining Palace."
He also used Zhao Shiyi, that senile old man, to set up a system of overt and covert operations in the old camp in the southern suburbs.
These are all things you did, but not all of them.
Tian Ruyi only found out half of your story in Xiuzhou. He didn't find out about Zhenjiang, nor about Xiangyang, and he didn't even get close to Tongling.
But you left him a flaw. You used seven sets of guides, all of which were genuine. The genuine ones are the flaw.
Because no one in this world can be claimed by seven branches of the imperial clan at the same time, and sooner or later someone will notice this.
Hearing this, Qin Keqing finally spoke. "If Father called me back to say these things—I already know."
Qin Hui slowly turned a string of plain wooden prayer beads on his wrist with his fingers.
Qin Keqing noticed that the string of prayer beads was new; it wasn't there last year. Before last year, Qin Hui didn't wear prayer beads; a person who never repented didn't need to count prayer beads.
"As a father, I would not kill my own daughter, but as the Imperial City Attendant, Tian Ruyi has already found flaws in three of the seven sets of travel permits you used."
Wan Qixie is unaware that he will not see Tian Ruyi's complete report until after the first month of the lunar calendar.
After he finishes reading it, he will investigate. The Imperial City Guard doesn't need to go through me to investigate cases; they are directly under the Emperor's command.
"Every day you stay at the Prince of Puan's residence, the Prince of Puan's residence is burdened by you for that day."
After she finished speaking, the signing room was quiet for a long time. Qin Keqing could hear her own heartbeat, which was very steady, much steadyer than she had expected.
"Father, there's something I want to ask you."
"ask."
"On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month of the eleventh year of Shaoxing, the day Yue Fei died—did you ever dream of it?"
Qin Hui's hand stopped; the Buddhist prayer beads rested between his thumb and forefinger. Outside the window, the night wind of the late January made the gauze lanterns sway gently.
"no."
Qin Keqing stood up, gave Qin Hui a very light and casual bow, then turned and walked out, stopping half a step at the door.
"Father, you just said that the osmanthus cake was left for me by my mother, but my mother is in Jiaozhou, not in the Qin family. This cake was left by Wang Shi. You are mistaken."
Qin Keqing pushed open the door and went out.