#minmotl

Unfortunately, Xue Bing was not at the Northern Administrative Court, and the men currently on shift are unfamiliar faces to Tang Fan, so Tang Fan asked a few questions and seeing that they were reluctant to reveal any information to him, he did not force the issue, turning around to leave.

However, a familiar, cold voice sounds from behind him, “Why are you looking for Lao Xue?”

Tang Fan turns around and grins, “Guang Chuan-xiong, you have returned?”

Sui Zhou still has that stoic, icy face on, but the moment he sees the genuine delight on Tang Fan’s face, his eyes reveal that little bit of happiness, and he nods, “Hnn, you were looking for Lao Xue?”

Tang Fan smiles in return, “I was intending to look for you and made a trip here a few days ago. Lao Xue told me that you left on a trip, so I didn’t expect you to return so quickly. If it is convenient for you, I do have some things I would like to discuss with you.”

Sui Zhou replies, “I did hear about the request you made of him.”

Pausing for a moment, Sui Zhou looks to the side slightly to indicate at the person standing behind him, “In the future, if both Lao Xue and I are not around, you can look for Pang Qi.”

Pang Qi is similarly dressed as an Embroidered Uniform Guard, but at a glance, his position seems to be slightly lower than that of Lao Xue’s. He is also younger with a child-like face, the kind of person who smiles constantly and gives off a gentle and harmless feeling.

Yet, Tang Fan would not underestimate him just because of this. Any person who works at the Northern Administrative Court and does not bat an eyelid even at the sight of various kinds of prisons cannot be judged with the standards of a normal person. Out in the world, one should not read a book by it’s cover, and it is often that the more harmless a person looks, the more capable he is.

Tang Fan nods at the man in acknowledgement and introduces himself, “I’m Tang Fan, Tang Run Qing, a prefectural judge at Shun Tian Prefecture. We met the day you accompanied Guang Chuan-xiong to Hui Chun Tang for the investigation.”

This person before Pang Qi calls Sui Zhou by his birth name, and after hearing Sui Zhou himself tell the man that he can look for Pang Qi next time if he needs to, even if Pang Qi was dumb, he knows that this man has a very good relationship with his superior. This is a man that Pang Qi cannot afford to offend, and so he puts his hands together and greets, “Tang-daren is too polite, if there is anything you need in the future, just let me know!”

Sui Zhou turns impatient, listening to the both of them exchange unnecessary pleasantries, and so he interrupts them, “Jian Xian, you can get back to work first.”

“The location of that White Jade Horse that you asked Lao Xue to search for, we’ve found it,” Sui Zhou continues.

“Where is it?” Tang Fan asks quickly.

“In the house of the Eastern Depot’s Head, Shang Ming.”

Tang Fan’s expression turns strange at that.

Sui Zhou adds, “Shang Ming was the one who paid a high price to buy the White Jade Horse from Ying Guo Gong, and Wang Zhi wanted one at the same time but was unable to snatch it out of Shang Ming’s hands, so he’s not involved with that object.”

Tang Fan laughs wistfully, “Pan-daren is in a difficult position if that’s the case. Why did Wang Zhi prank him like this without any reason?”

It was futile, because even if he knew the location of the White Jade Horse, how could Shun Tian Prefecture go to Shang Ming and ask for the object? The fact that the White Jade Horse was originally Shang Ming’s aside, even if it was not, with Pan Bin’s position, if he really went to ask for it, would Shang Ming have simply given it to him?

Considering this from another perspective, wouldn’t Wang Zhi have known that the object was at Shang Ming’s? And yet, he still asked Shun Tian Prefecture to look for it, is it not clear that Wang Zhi is putting Pan Bin in a spot?

Is Wang Zhi really as the rumours say, an arrogant and selfish who marches only to the sound of his own heartbeat?

Sui Zhou thinks about it and says, “Wang Zhi has always been enemies with Shang Ming, his motive could be simply to disgust Shang Ming.”

Tang Fan puts out both his hands, “Pan-daren who has nothing to do with this was dragged into this when he he was never involved in the first place.”

“Then how are the both of you going to handle this?”

Tang Fan shakes his head, “I’ll go back and let Pan-daren know about this. Oh right, there is something I wish to tell you.”

He briefly explains the situation with Lee Man murdering his wife and his mistress, surname Chen, disappearing, before mentioning the White Lotus Sect mark again.

“The White Lotus Sect has risen from the ashes again, and all they will do is create trouble from the dark, I will get my men to keep an eye on this.”

He doesn’t know why, but once Sui Zhou says this, Tang Fan knows for certain that the man will treat the matter seriously. On his part, Tang Fan is also assured, as if he has entrusted this important task to someone reliable.

Perhaps there are simply people who handles tasks well and are naturally able to set others at east, and Sui Zhou is exactly this kind of person.

Tang Fan smiles then, “Then I will leave this to you. I should be sitting down with you and having a chat with you since you have just returned from your trip, but because of the White Jade Horse matter, Pan-daren has been very concerned so I have to quickly head back and let him know. Let us reschedule for another day?”

Sui Zhou makes a sound of assent and they slip into a moment of awkward silence, before he asks abruptly, “What time will you get home today?”

“If nothing else comes up, the court will be dismissed at the usual time and I will go home then, what is it?”

“Then I will find you tonight,” Sui Zhou says.

Tang Fan unconsciously agrees, and looking back now he thinks that something is amiss, but what exactly is wrong with what Sui Zhou suggested?

The incredibly intelligent Tang-daren thinks hard about this on his way back, but is unable to come to a conclusion.

Pan Bin’s dilemma over the news of the White Horse Jade is put out of his mind for now. Without Ah Dong sending snacks over to him, Tang Fan usually settles his dinner outside after he is dismissed from work before going home, but considering that Sui Zhou said he is coming over, Tang-daren veers off to the side of the street and buys some meat stewed with soy sauce from a snack stall, and also buys a bottle of rice wine from the wine stall next to it.

He makes a huge detour and by the time he makes his leisurely way home, he realizes that someone is already standing at the door to his house, and isn’t that Sui-qianhu?

“If I’d known you were coming over so early, I would have come home first and save you the wait standing outside my door!” Tang Fan increases the speed of his footsteps as he walks towards Sui Zhou, an apologetic smile on his face.

“It is no bother,” Sui Zhou says.

Tang Fan realizes that there are also some snacks in Sui Zhou’s hands.

“My house is quite a distance away from yours, I will just stay here tonight, you don’t mind, do you?”

“Ah? I don’t mind at all, it’s a rest day tomorrow, we can take the opportunity and chat through the night!”

Tang-daren lives the legendary bachelor’s life. Other men, when they become officials, even if he is not married and has a family, he would at least have one or two companions at his side, but only Tang Fan lives alone. He faces the moon in the night, nibbling on snacks and reading his novels, and this life can be considered quite entertaining as well.

Of course, with one more person around, the place becomes more lively, so it cannot be helped that once night falls, it feels colder and emptier. Even though this person is often expressionless and doesn’t like to talk much, it is better to have company than not.

Both men put their things down. Tang Fan goes in search of cups for the wine, while Sui Zhou opens the paper bags containing snacks.

Tang Fan bought pig’s ears and tongue stewed in soy sauce, fragrant and delicious, and is the best snack to have with wine.

Sui Zhou brought peppered pig intestines, crispy-fried tofu, slated peanuts and raw cucumbers mixed with sauce.

“Since you are visiting, why did you still bring things over? You and I are so familiar with each other, you must not spend the money on this next time!”

Tang-daren says these pleasantries out of courtesy only, taking a bite out of the crispy-fried tofu. The tofu skin has been fried to a crisp, but once he bites into it, the inside is white just like beancurd, so soft that it almost drips out, the aroma of the tofu fragrant.

“Where did you buy this crispy-fried tofu from, why is it so delicious?” Tang Fan asks, bewildered.

“I had some ingredients at home,” Sui Zhou answers simply.

“You know how to cook?” Tang-daren asks, astonished.

Sui Zhou’s mouth curls upwards, the motion a rarity, and stays silent.

After a few breaths, Tang Fan is still immersed in his surprise, “Guang Chuan-xiong, you can actually cook? This is… is… this is…”

He stammers for a long while but is unable to come up with the right words for it, and that’s when hurried knocks sound on from outside.

“You’re really great!” Tang-daren exhales, finishing his thoughts on the matter before getting up to open the door.

Ah Dong is standing outside, and without waiting for Tang Fan to open his mouth, she blurts, “Tang-daren, save me!”

The girl is about to kneel down, but Tang Fan stops her, “What happened?”

With tears on her face, Ah Dong answers, “Ah Chun jiejie told me that tomorrow Master Li will get the dealer to come over, and they’re going to sell me!”

Tang Fan startles, “They’re selling only you?”

Ah Dong nods, “They sold off a batch of us a few days ago. The steward knew that I wanted to come over to your place and didn’t have anything to say about it originally, but who knew that they would suddenly change their minds today, saying that they are going to sell me off!”

She held back her tears and told her story in detail through gritted teeth, but when she got to the end of it, she could not help but choke, “Tang-daren, what do I do, can you please go tell the steward, that I don’t want to be sold off!”

Tang Fan knows that this is definitely not the steward’s intentions, and it is likely the idea of the Li family’s young master Li Lin.

Li Lin probably resents Tang Fan for what happened this morning,  but at that time he was unable to oppose Tang Fan directly, so he decided to act first to gain the upper hand and sell Ah Dong off so that Tang Fan would end up empty-handed. She is after all the Li family’s slave, and no one can say otherwise.

As his thoughts come to this, Tang Fan finds himself momentarily struck speechless.

When Lady Zhang was still alive, he met Li Lin a few times and the boy was shy and a person of few words then, but because they were both scholars, Li Lin admired Tang Fan for passing the imperial scholars examination at a young age, and Tang Fan did give him some advice in the past.

Who could have known that with the passing of time and changes in the family, Li Lin’s character would change so drastically, becoming this irrational. He wonders what Lady Zhang would think of her son under the netherworld.

It is true that it is Li Lin’s right to sell Ah Dong off and it also holds true that Tang Fan is unable to do anything about it. He was intending to think of a solution to Ah Dong’s situation, but who knew that Li Lin plans to sell her off immediately. If she’s sold into a bad family, Ah Dong will have to suffer through some tough days ahead.

Looking at this adorable young woman, Tang Fan cannot bear the thought of that happening to her.

“Let’s do it like this, don’t panic. Go back to the main house first, I’ll think of something.”

Ah Dong has a natural sense of faith and trust in Tang Fan, and so after listening to his words, she obediently nods and heads back, wiping her tears away as she goes. She snuck out earlier, so she cannot leave through Tang Fan’s main door, and when she leaves, she makes a detour and leaves by the back door as well.

As Tang Fan watches her figure disappear from his line of vision, he thinks about what can be done.

Behind him, however, someone says, “You want her?”

Tang Fan nods, then realizing that the sentence could be understood in a few ways, he explains Ah Dong’s situation briefly.

“Coincidentally, I am short of a helping hand that can help me with household chores and cooking. Ah Dong is hardworking and can do the job well.”

Sui Zhou nods, “This is not a difficult matter, you don’t have to concern yourself with this anymore, I’ll settle it for you.”

Where would he go and find such a loyal friend, and Tang-daren is touched by the gesture, hurriedly putting out both hands, “Then I’ll have to thank Guang Chuang-xiong!”

Sui Zhou adds, “Since you’ve fallen out with the Li family, then what are you going to do about your accommodation?”

Tang Fan did not tell him about how he was currently searching for a house, but for Sui Zhou to actually notice this detail, he can see just how meticulous Sui Zhou is.

“Jing City is large and there are many houses, I can still find one,” Tang Fan says.

Sui Zhou is silent for a moment, before he suggests, “If you are willing, you can move out and come and stay with me.”

Tang Fan startles, “This… it’s not appropriate, is it? Won’t sister-in-law be unhappy?”

Sui Zhou returns coldly, “I have not yet taken a wife.”

“Then you should at least have a lady of the house…”

Sui Zhou is now upset, “Since I have not yet wed, I do not dally with any servants either.”

Before Tang Fan can ask further questions, he continues, “My parents stay with my older brother, I have moved out on my own, you do not have to worry.”

Since he has said so much and with Sui Zhou’s sincere invitation, if Tang Fan continues to refuse it would not be good. He puts his hands forward and bows, and says with sincerity, “Then I’ll have to impose on Guang Chuan-xiong temporarily.”

In reality, even though Sui Zhou seems cold at times, he’s not a difficult person to be around, and the both of them have common topics to talk about. Most importantly, not only does Sui Zhou cook, his cooking is more than a hundred times better than Tang Fan’s.

Now that he thinks about it, Tang-daren is feeling quite excited about moving in with Sui Zhou.

The end of Sui Zhou’s lips finally curve upwards a little.

“You and I are so familiar, you don’t have to stand on ceremony.”

===

Notes:

*北镇抚司 bei zhen fu si - Northern Administrative Court

This is the organization that the Embroidered Uniform Guards 锦衣卫 (jing yi wei) belong to, and they are primarily in charge of the imperial prison. They are authorized to make arrests, interrogate, torture and execute suspects, and they don’t have to go through the usual process that other departments have to. They’re known for having a variety of torture methods and in cases where there is a big investigative case, it is possible for the cases to bypass the legal and law enforcement department 刑部 (xing bu) and go straight to the Northern Administrative Court. During the Cheng Hua years, the Northern Administrative Court reported directly to the emperor, and not even the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s Commander could interfere in this process.

Translated as Northern Administrative Court as per iQiyi’s English subtitles.

*千户 qian hu

There are four ranks within the Embroidered Uniform Guards - 千户 (qian hu)、百户 (bai hu)、总旗 (zong qi)、小旗 (xiao qi) arranged highest to smallest rank, aside from the Commander 统领官 (zong ling guan).

*老薛 lao xue

This is referring to Xue Bing where Xue is his first name and Bing his last name - In Chinese we usually affix terms such as lao-, xiao-, a- etc. to names and this usually indicates familiarity with the other person. In this case they used lao- to indicate someone who’s older as a nickname for Xue Bing.

*广川兄 guang chuan xiong

As mentioned in my introductory post and on courtesy names, Sui Zhou’s courtesy name is Guang Chuan, surname Sui. -xiong can be affixed to the end of someone’s first names and means ‘brother’. I’m not translating it as Brother Guang Chuan because it looks weird, so I’m settling for typing out -xiong instead.

*回春堂 hui chun tang

The name of the medicine hall involved in the first case. Hui Chun in general means to ‘return to spring or youth’ and Tang means hall.

*字 zi

Courtesy name, as in 表字 (biao zi). As I explained in the introductory post, a courtesy name is a name chosen by someone’s elders or significant person like a teacher etc once they turn of age and to be used in public from then onwards. In this novel’s case, the courtesy name is not used usually and people are addressed by their given birth names, and only those who are close to each other can call the other by their courtesy names. A little counter-intuitive, I know, but that’s how it is in this novel.

*唐大人 tang da ren

Tang is Tang Fan’s surname, followed by da ren as in Lord. It literally translates to ‘big person’ but it’s general term that most officials use regardless of their ranks i.e. for most civilians, when they see Tang Fan (who’s a sixth rank official in the beginning and then a third rank official later in the novel) or Sui Zhou (who is a qian hu and then vice-commander later) it’s alright for civilians especially to simply address them as da ren rather than their formal titles/ranks.

*见贤 jian xian

Pang Qi’s courtesy name.

*白玉骏马 bai yu jun ma

This is a white jade horse decorative piece that can come in the shape of a horse or refer to a white piece rectangular or oval plaque-like piece with a horse carved on it and they used to be very expensive and valuable. Now you can buy one for less than 40 bucks on Taobao.

*英国公 ying guo gong - The Grand Duke

The closest equivalent would be a duke. It’s a title, among many others, used to indicate royal and noble ranks. In the beginning it was used only for members of the royal family, and then shifted to be used to promote rankings of well-performing officials in court as a reward.

*黄酒 huang jiu - Rice wine

Originating from China, this rice wine can be made by fermenting various types of rice and wheat, and the alcoholic composition is usually between 14-20%.

*人牙子 ren ya zi

A slave-dealer or slave smuggler back in those days.

*管家爷爷 guan jia ye ye

Guan jia means butler/steward (someone who takes care of the house in literal translation), while Ye ye means grandpa. Ah Dong refers to the steward as a grandpa due to his age and likely grandfatherly role in her life.

*九泉之下 jiu quan zhi xia

In the netherworld or underworld. Literally means under the ninth stream/river, which is traditionally used to mean the deepest point in the ground, where a corpse is buried.

*京城 jing cheng

Cheng means city, and in this case jing cheng is actually today’s Beijing, and is noted as China’s capital city where the Emperor and most royals reside in.

*嫂夫人 sao fu ren

Sao as in sister-in-law, usually meant to refer to an older brother’s wife. Fu ren means wife.

*纳妾 na qie

To take in concubines. A usual Chinese family in those times would have one lawful wife 妻 (qi) in the main house, and then several other 妾 (qie) concubines. Who becomes the lawful wife and who becomes a concubine is dependent on status of the woman and reputation, especially in big reputable families. For example, a prostitute that a man takes home and weds may not be approved of as his lawful wife (by his family usually), which is reserved for a woman who comes from a family of ‘good upbringing’ or with money etc. It’s possible for a man to take in concubines without having an official wife in a sense, which is why Tang Fan refers to Sui Zhou possibly having a lady of the house even if it’s not a lawful wife.

*侍婢 shi bi

It is difficult to explain a person’s sixth sense and intuition as it is oftentimes indescribable. Just earlier, Tang Fan’s entire body felt a little uncomfortable and immediately after, his sixth sense was proven accurate. Danger befalls him, and from the strength used around his neck, his assailant clearly wants him dead!

His eyes widen, and all he can see before him is a white blur shadow. Even though his assailant is so close to him, Tang Fan cannot even see what the person looks like because a white mask has been worn over it.

Along with the intense pain around his neck, melancholic, ghostly and resenting wails sound next to his ears. It stops for a moment, then continues again, as if someone is calling out for spirits, but the noise is muffled and unclear and all he can vaguely hear are words such as “wronged, vengeful spirit” and “fox deity”.

Tang Fan grew up reading books written by extraordinary and noble academics and has great respect for both spirits and the gods, but in his situation at present, the thought that surfaces in his mind is that this is a ruse!

Regardless if his assailant is a real spirit or a fake one, the person came prepared and is using an immense amount of strength. Tang Fan, on the other hand, was ambushed without warning and had no time to protect himself, so it does not take long for him to be choked until he can barely breathe.

In the span of a few breaths and futile struggles, Tang Fan seems to be on the verge of passing out.

Right at this moment, the sound of a blade being unsheathed cuts through the air!

The pressure on Tang Fan’s neck loosens and with one hand, he reaches out to support himself on the surface of a wall, and the other touches at the injured area where he was choked. He cannot help but fall into an intense coughing fit.

The white shadow seems to float unrealistically before him, but then it begins to fight with another black shadow.

Someone grabs at Tang Fan’s arm, pulling him up.

“Tang-daren is so quick-witted and speaks so glibly, but how are your physical skills so inadequate?”

Tang Fan raises his eyes and upon closer look, oh, this is someone he knows! Isn’t this the Embroidered Uniform Guard from the Northern Administrative Court he met two days ago at Hui Chun Tang, Sui Zhou?

Sui Zhou’s tone is just like his personality, icy cold and void of emotions, but Tang Fan still manages to hear an undercurrent of mockery from this cold question, and cannot help but laugh bitterly.

Sui Zhou does not think much of him, and Tang Fan knows it’s not just because of the case with Marquis Wu. The Embroidered Uniform Guards have never seen eye to eye with Shun Tian Prefecture, and this history can be traced back to the guards’ profession and abilities. In any case, the grudge was sown a long time ago and is a long story to delve into, so there’s no need to elaborate on it either.

Tang Fan coughs a few more times and doesn’t have any time to refute the man. With a hoarse voice, he asks, “Who is he, and why did he attack me? Why did Sui-daren turn up here as well?”

Sui Zhou coldly responds, “These are just the remains of the ‘Demonic Fox Case’, just some people trying to deceive others.”

As he’s talking, the person in white is caught and restrained by one of the guards under Sui Zhou, and he picks off the assailant’s mask as well, revealing a normal but panicked face. Illuminated by the lantern, Tang Fan notices that on the white mask, a faint lotus has been drawn in the position between the brows.

“The White Lotus Sect?” he freezes, then connecting what Sui Zhou just said, he quickly reacts again, “Don’t tell me that the ‘Demonic Fox Case’ from two years ago is connected to the White Lotus Sect?”

“Tang-daren has seen the crest of the White Lotus Sect?”

“Yes, when I was younger and travelling as I studied, I passed by Qin Zhou, and chanced upon a court arrest for a disciple of the White Lotus Sect. He had this crest of his body that matches the one this mask exactly. But why would a White Lotus Sect disciple want to attack me?”

Sui Zhou does not speak, but the guard standing next to him who’s holding the lantern replies, “Since the end of the ‘Demonic Fox Case’, Li Zi Long’s followers who believe in his teachings have been creating trouble everywhere. Recently, they’ve been targeting scholars and scheming to spread rumours and create chaos with the help of prophecies, following int Li Zi Long’s footsteps. Last month, a scholar who did not succeed at the imperial examinations was returning home late at night after getting drunk and was almost killed by this bunch of people. It is likely Tang-daren became a target of theirs because you are not wearing your court robes today. In the future, it is best not to come out so late at night.”

Tang Fan smiled at him, “Thank you for informing…”

Although he was not choked for a long period of time, due to the excessive force the assailant used on him, Tang Fan’s throat is currently hurting and even speaking is a challenge for him.

Seeing that he is alright, Sui Zhou gestures to his subordinate to bring the White Lotus Sect disciple along. He turns around to leave.

Uncaring of the pain in his throat, Tang Fan quickly calls him, “Sui-zongqi please wait a moment!”

Sui Zhou turns back coldly and asks, “Tang-daren should go back and rest, what else do you want?”

“Marquis Wu’s case, I will have to ask Sui-zongqi to reconsider. The both of us working together can only bring double the benefits!”

Sui Zhou remains unmoved, “What benefits are there?”

Tang Fan coughs, “The Northern Administrative Court has Zheng Cheng’s body, and I know what went wrong with the medicinal pills that Zheng Cheng ate before he died!”

Sui Zhou finally turns around fully.

With his hoarse voice, Tang Fan continues, “The ingredients used to create the pill is indeed based on the list of ingredients for the aphrodisiac, and I found an expert who managed to recreate the pill with all of its ingredients. There is something strange about this, and if Sui-zongqi is willing to cooperate, I am willing to reveal everything I know.”

Sui Zhou stares at him for a moment, before finally saying, “I will find you tomorrow.”

Seeing that there is hope for cooperation, Tang Fan heaves a sigh of relief.”

“It is a rest day tomorrow, you should just come straight to my house. Cheng Bei Ding Fu street, the first house inside Liu Ye Hu Tong.”

Sui Zhou nods his head slightly, turning around to leave. He really treasures words like he would gold, unwilling to say even more than is required.

Watching as these figures meld into the darkness, Tang Fan shakes his head and touching his throat, he laughs wistfully and wonders if it is even possible for him to speak tomorrow?

As if to prove his concerns correct, when he wakes the next day, Tang Fan’s throat hurts even worse than it did the night before. Looking at his own reflection in the bronze mirror, he can still see the green and purple choking marks on his neck and each press of his fingers make it hurt.

As he made an appointment with Sui Zhou, Tang Fan does not leave the house to buy medicine. Instead, he cooks himself some porridge and eats it together with pickled vegetables, the meal fresh and delicious.

Since Tang Fan became an official in Jing city, he rented this little house enough for one person and with a single door on Ding Fu street. This house was originally next to the Li family’s, but a Li ancestor was a servant to the royal family and managed to buy this large house in Liu Ye Hu Tong. In the end, word has it that in one of the smaller parts of the house, a Li family concubine hung herself and the master of the house felt that it was inauspicious, and so he built up more walls to separate the house and this smaller part of the house alone was set for rent. Because it is an ‘inauspicious house’ and doesn’t feature much space, the price was cheap, so Tang Fan ended up renting it.

It is well known that living in Jing city is difficult, and even on Ding Fu street, a majority of the people living here are high-ranking officials, so the houses here become even more expensive. If it wasn’t for the history of the house, Tang Fan might never have been able to afford the rent.

***

Tang Fan smiles, and gestures to welcome Sui Zhou.

Sui Zhou steps into the house.

“If Tang-daren truly has any clues on hand, please do let me know directly. If it is of use, I will naturally reconsider cooperating,” Sui Zhou gets to the point directly and skipping past all pleasantries, settling on a stone seat in the courtyard.

Tang Fan sets aside the basket of fresh fruits brought over by Ah Xia, filled with yellow pears. If placed together with sugar cubes and steamed slowly, it gets rid of heatiness in the body and moisturizes his throat, which would be perfect for his current condition.

“After shopkeeper Liu and the other two people from Hui Chun Tang were taken to the North Administrative Court, did they say anything?” Tang Fan’s voice is almost gone and he has to pause after he says each word, the speed of his speech slow.

Sui Zhou does not hide it from him and says, “After interrogation, we found that they have nothing to do with the case and have since been released.”

Tang Fan takes out a piece of paper and places it on the stone table, “The aphrodisiac that Zheng Chen consumed before his death, I have looked through some old records and finally found the source of the prescription.”

Sui Zhou picks up the paper and sees two listed lines of medicinal herbs, with many repeated names. He doesn’t understand what he’s seeing and lifts his eyes from the paper to look at Tang Fan.

Tang Fan explains, “The line at the top, is the prescription for the aphrodisiac and is the same as the one that Zheng Cheng’s male servant passed to me. And the line underneath, those are the herbs that I asked someone to analyse from the pill. Sui-zongqi please look, what is the difference between both?”

Sui Zhou recalls what Tang Fan said earlier, and even though there is no prescription for it, there are plenty of skilled doctors in the world who can trace the origins of a pill just by smell and other factors, finding all the herbs used. Upon closer look, he realizes that the line below has one additional herb that the top line does not have.

“Bupleurum chinense?”

===

Notes:

*圣贤 sheng xian

According to Confucian teachings, the realm of the living is split into the saints 圣人 (sheng ren), the nobles/sages 贤人 (xian ren), the gentlemen 君子 (jun zi), the scholars 士人 (shi ren), and the commoners 庸人 (yong ren). When they use 圣贤 (sheng xian) together they mean that this person is a noble person of morals, who is highly intelligent. According to Baidu Encyclopedia, people who are referred to as this are “considered to have contributed to the history and society of Confucian life values”. 

*装神弄鬼 zhuang shen nong gui

Literally this means to ‘play god and conjure ghosts’, and used to describe someone intentionally playing tricks to deceive someone else.

*身手 shen shou

Literally it means body and hand and is used to describe physical skills, especially martial arts. If you say someone has good (hao) shen shou, it means they are fairly skilled in fighting.

*北镇抚司 bei zhen fu si - Northern Administrative Court

This is the organization that the Embroidered Uniform Guards 锦衣卫 (jing yi wei) belong to, and they are primarily in charge of the imperial prison. They are authorized to make arrests, interrogate, torture and execute suspects, and they don’t have to go through the usual process that other departments have to. They’re known for having a variety of torture methods and in cases where there is a big investigative case, it is possible for the cases to bypass the legal and law enforcement department 刑部 (xing bu) and go straight to the Northern Administrative Court. During the Cheng Hua years, the Northern Administrative Court reported directly to the emperor, and not even the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s Commander could interfere in this process.

Translated as Northern Administrative Court as per iQiyi’s English subtitles.

*总旗 zong qi

There are four ranks within the Embroidered Uniform Guards - 千户 (qian hu)、百户 (bai hu)、总旗 (zong qi)、小旗 (xiao qi) arranged highest to smallest rank, aside from the Commander 统领官 (zong ling guan).

*谶言 chen yan

Prophecies or signs that are usually interpreted by shamans or alchemist.

*富阳春 fu yang chun

A well-known aphrodisiac in those times. Fu means rich or abundant, yang means positive energy and in feng shui, yin and yang - yin is usually used to represent female energy while yang for male energy, and lastly, chun means youth.

*唐大人 tang da ren

Tang is Tang Fan’s surname, followed by da ren as in Lord. It literally translates to ‘big person’ but it’s general term that most officials use regardless of their ranks i.e. for most civilians, when they see Tang Fan (who’s a sixth rank official in the beginning and then a third rank official later in the novel) or Sui Zhou (who gets promoted up to qian hu and then vice-commander later) it’s alright for civilians especially to simply address them as da ren rather than their formal titles/ranks.

*回春堂 hui chun tang

The name of the medicine hall involved in the first case. Hui Chun in general means to ‘return to spring or youth’ and Tang means hall.

*京城 jing cheng

Cheng means city, and in this case jing cheng is actually today’s Beijing, and is noted as China’s capital city where the Emperor and most royals reside in.

*柴胡 chai hu