The Tyrant's Beloved Empress

25

The delicacy in his hand had a clear amber surface with crushed pine nuts in the center and emitted a sweetly burnt fragrance. An Chang Qing put one candy in his mouth and felt the mild sugary taste filled with the delectable scent of pine nuts invigorating his taste buds. He closed his eyes briefly and said, "It's so sweet."

Xiao Zhige was watching attentively. When he heard his compliments, his brows eased up and he smiled. An Chang Qing saw that he was looking his way and took the opportunity to place a piece to his mouth. Copying him, he said, "Your reward."

Looking at the candy handed to him, Xiao Zhige hesitated before opening his mouth to eat it. The tasty candy was spreading in his mouth but he only found that the point where the tender finger had touched his tongue was enticingly sweet.

Even after the candy had melted, the sweetness remained.

An Chang Qing carefully stuffed the paper bag into his sachet and hung it at his waist. He then handed Xiao Zhige his sachet, "These are from mother and Yu'er, one for each of us."

The sachet was embroidered with twin carps, one gold and one red, circling each other. At the bottom right, the word 'Xiao' was embroidered on it. Xiao Zhige glanced at the sachet filled with pine nut candies at An Chang Qing's waist. It also had an 'An' word at a corner.

Quietly adjusting the straps, Xiao Zhige also tied his sachet to his waist.

....

Before dawn the next day, An Chang Qing ordered Anfu to find a beggar and wait for the Imperial Supervisor to leave his house to deliver the letter to him. According to the beggar, after receiving the letter, the person did not make any inquiries and went on to attend the court session.

On the way back from the streets, Anfu found that the story of the Wu uncle and nephew fighting over a widow had spread to every corner of Yejing.

It wasn't just the general masses who were gossiping, even the storytellers had begun spinning tales with regards to this scandal. In no time, the reputable Wu family was shoved into the mud. How respectable they were before, after this event, they could not escape from being turned into a laughing stock.

After the court session today, Marquis's Wu face was three points darker than the bottom of a pot. He did not speak to anyone and grumpily shook his sleeve and left. His adversaries in the court were scoffing while speaking to the Imperial Supervisor, "The mask that had been perfectly erected all these years finally has a crack."

The Imperial Supervisor, a tall and thin middle-aged man, thought about the covert letter he had received this morning and his eyes lit up, "It's not over yet, wait and see."

.....

In less than two days, the Marquis's house had become the talk of the town.

In the beginning, it was just a spicy gossip about a dispute between an uncle and nephew over a woman. The people were lamenting for the Marquis's good name which had been ruined by two imbeciles. However, from somewhere came murmurs that offset the discussion into another direction: "You can't exactly blame everything on the two of them. As the saying goes, the fish rots from the head down. I've heard that Marquis Wu himself is not as upright as one would think. Did you know that long ago, he had another wife? People said that his first wife died of an illness but there were also rumors that he had beaten her to death!"

The listeners gasped and looked at one another in surprise. They then went on to spread the story, adding a bit of salt and pepper along the way.

By the time it reached the Marquis's ears, the story was already bent out of shape. But upon hearing the part about him killing his first wife, the Marquis turned light-headed.