Just as the heart-stopping turmoil at the prayer ritual had barely subsided and everyone was still shaken, a seemingly abrupt yet impeccably precise frame-up—like a poison-tipped cold arrow—shot straight at the Su family, and at the already taut nerves of the Eighth Imperial Princess, Xiao Linyue.
It happened on a morning shrouded in thick fog. Officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate, together with palace eunuchs, suddenly arrived bearing an imperial warrant to surround a garrison post of the Northern Guard of the Imperial Army—precisely the jurisdiction where my eldest sister, Su Pei, was currently serving. The charge was collusion with grain merchants, reselling military provisions, and embezzling the proceeds.
The evidence was "conclusive": account books, merchants' testimonies, and even several sacks of old grain bearing special markings—grain that should have been sent to the frontier troops but had instead appeared on the black market around the capital. Witnesses and physical evidence alike pointed directly at Su Pei and two of her trusted subordinate captains.
When the news reached us, Father collapsed on the spot, Mother's face turned ashen, her fingernails digging deep into her palms. I stood in the hall, feeling as though all the blood in my body had frozen. Eldest Sister Su Pei—that valiant woman always clad in armor, who stuffed novel trinkets into my hands, who once said she would teach me to ride a horse but never managed to—she might not have been smooth or worldly, but she was upright and incorruptible, loved her soldiers like her own children, and would never have committed such an act that hollowed out the very foundations of the army and the state!
This was clearly a false accusation! A precise strike against the Eighth Imperial Princess's military faction, launched while the court was in chaos and the Empress's attention was diverted! Su Pei was a daughter of the Su family, and also a highly capable mid-level commander under the Eighth Imperial Princess. Taking her down would both severely weaken Xiao Linyue's influence within the Imperial Guard and intimidate—if not implicate—the Su family as well. Truly killing two birds with one stone.
Mother immediately intended to enter the palace to plead our case, but an inner eunuch sent from the palace stopped her, politely yet firmly. "Her Majesty is deeply troubled by the Crown Princess assassination case. This matter has already been handed to the Three Offices for joint review. If Lord Su enters the palace at this moment, it may give rise to suspicions of 'interfering with judicial proceedings,' which would be even more detrimental to Captain Su." Between the lines, it was both a demand that the Su family avoid suspicion and a complete severing of Mother's chance to appeal directly to the Empress.
My heart went ice-cold. This was meant to put my eldest sister to death—and to block every route the Su family had to save her. Who was it? The Eldest Imperial Princess? Or… that figure hidden even deeper, pleased to see both the Eighth Imperial Princess and the Su family suffer losses—the fisherman waiting to reap the gains?
I was frantic, yet utterly helpless. During those days, Aunt Qin's expression was grave. The secret notes ceased, replaced by only four words: "The storm is perilous. Do not act." Xiao Yuhuang also told me to lie low. I understood her caution—at this moment, any move connected to Su Pei could be magnified and twisted, dragging her into the mire as well. But that was my sister, bound to me by blood!
After three days of torment, permission was finally granted for Mother to take me to visit the Ministry of Justice prison. The passageways were dark and damp, heavy with the stench of blood and mold. When we saw Su Pei being dragged out by the guards, Mother nearly collapsed. I bit down hard on my lip to keep a cry from escaping.
The Imperial Guard uniform she had once worn with pride was gone, replaced by a thin, filthy prisoner's garment, stained with dark red, eye-searing blood. Her hair was disheveled, bruises marked her face, her lips were cracked. Most horrifying of all were her hands—her ten fingers swollen and purplish, the flesh at the tips mangled and torn. Those were the marks of severe torture. She sat slumped against the icy stone wall. Hearing our voices, she laboriously raised her head. Her once bright, keen eyes were now filled with bloodshot fatigue, yet when she saw Mother and me, she still forced out the faintest, reassuring smile.
"Mother… Yuzhi…" Her voice was hoarse and broken. "I… I'm fine. Don't worry."
"Pei'er!" Mother rushed to the bars, her voice trembling. "They… they dared to use torture on you?!"
"Routine… questioning, that's all." Su Pei drew a breath, her gaze shifting to me, filled with apology. "I frightened Yuzhi, didn't I? Sister… I'm fine."
I looked at her hands—those hands that had once held a sword and lifted me onto a horse, now barely able to move—and it felt as if a heavy hammer smashed into my chest. The dull pain surged violently, a metallic sweetness rose in my throat, and I began coughing violently, bending at the waist as my vision darkened.
"Yuzhi!" Mother and Su Pei cried out at the same time.
I waved my hand, covering my mouth with a handkerchief, forcibly suppressing the dizzying cough and the twisting pain in my chest. In a hoarse voice, I asked, "Eldest Sister… who was it? Who harmed you?"
Su Pei's eyes dimmed. She shook her head and said softly, "The water is too muddy… Yuzhi, listen to your sister. Go back and take care of your health. Don't ask anything. Don't do anything. Remember—our family's foundation does not rest on me alone." Her words were already an implicit warning that the forces behind this ran deep, and a plea that we put the family first and not risk everything for her.
The visit was brief. When we left, my steps were unsteady as I leaned against Mother, feeling as though the chill and blood-stench of that prison had seeped into my very bones. After returning home, I developed a low fever. My cough worsened, the suffocating pain in my chest clinging to me like a shadow. Aunt Qin kept vigil day and night, adjusting medicines, yet she could not ease the sickness lodged in my heart. I hated my own powerlessness and worried for my sister's fate day and night. My body visibly wasted away, and my spirit grew weaker by the day.
Just when Su Pei's case seemed on the verge of becoming a foregone conclusion and despair hung over the entire Su household, an unexpected person, under extremely secretive circumstances, managed to send me a message.
It was the Eighth Imperial Princess, Xiao Linyue.
The method of delivery was bold and risky—she bribed a eunuch who delivered imperial medicinal herbs to the Su residence each day, slipping a wax pellet in among the herbs. Inside the pellet was a tiny slip of paper, the handwriting pressing fiercely into the page:
"Tonight at the third quarter of the Zi hour, the corner gate of the Su residence's rear garden. It concerns Su Pei's life and death. Come alone."
There was no signature, but I recognized the powerful, forceful script. It was her.
My heart churned with violent waves. At a time when she herself was barely safe, she dared to take such a risk to meet me? Was it for my sister—or did she have another motive?
The danger was immense, but the words "Su Pei's life and death" outweighed everything. I concealed it from Father and Mother. Aunt Qin seemed to sense something, but in the end remained silent. Taking only Chunyu, whom I trusted absolutely, I wrapped myself in a heavy cloak late at night and slipped quietly into the rear garden.
The corner gate was ajar. Pushing it open, I saw an utterly unremarkable blue-cloth carriage waiting outside. The curtain lifted slightly, revealing half of Xiao Linyue's face hidden in shadow. She glanced at me once and said in a low voice, "Get in."