The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 50

To discover that he had been cursed, only to learn he was merely an incidental addition…

For an emperor who stood above ten thousand men, the realization was particularly infuriating.

Emperor Longqing handed the two birth records down to the grand councillors, his face dark.

“Hundred-Household Commander Zhao, what do you believe should be done?”

Zhao Li considered the question.

What else? Deal with it as they normally would.

First, however, she decided to reassure the roomful of frightened old men so that they could sleep that night.

“To begin, none of you need worry about the curse. It will not harm you.”

If the White Lotus Sect could attack an entire group through curses so easily, its members would not have spent all these years scurrying from place to place like rats.

Only someone with the same birth date would be struck by the bane.

At worst, the others might experience a little bad luck. Spending time in the sun would resolve it.

The moment Zhao Li said this, Emperor Longqing led the room in a collective sigh of relief.

Now that ghosts and supernatural forces had appeared in reality, no one could remain calm after learning he had been cursed.

That was especially true of Lin Zhu, once the most hardened skeptic among them.

After personally witnessing those unnatural events, he had gone from the staunchest unbeliever to the opposite extreme.

Emperor Longqing’s expression eased.

“Good.”

“Next, we need only capture the perpetrator and resolve the Mother-and-Child Bane,” Zhao Li said lightly.

Whatever connections emerged beyond that were no longer her concern.

…

The torture chamber of the Imperial Prison, Pacification Office.

Screams rose one after another as the smell of blood spread through the room.

Once again, Zhao Li witnessed the exquisite craft of Old Liu, the torturer.

Granny Oil and her nephew had been bound side by side to wooden frames.

Granny Oil no longer resembled the slippery, shameless woman from earlier.

Once that disguise was stripped away, she proved to be one of the most fanatical and unyielding believers of the White Lotus Sect.

Old Liu had used more than half the implements in his toolbox on her.

Yet when Granny Oil opened her blood-filled mouth, she declared, “Unborn Venerable Mother, Home of the True Void. The second Chen son’s wife and those children went to enjoy blessings in heaven!”

“I liked those children best. I specially selected them to go first, yet evil people like you ruined their opportunity.”

Beneath her disordered gray hair, Granny Oil’s drooping eyes made Zhao Li’s scalp prickle.

A brazier stood beside Zhao Li’s feet, but chills still ran through her.

Fortunately, though Granny Oil remained stubborn beyond reason, her nephew soon confessed.

You Xiang had known that Granny Oil believed in the White Lotus Sect.

In the past, however, the sect had operated on a small scale, developing believers in the wilderness and swindling them out of money.

More than three months earlier, a capable Incense Master had arrived from the sect’s headquarters with ambitions to expand its operations.

They started out as child snatchers.

After tasting the benefits of wealth, they distributed rice, grain, and eggs through the countryside to attract followers.

Finally, for money, they began performing services such as casting petty curses on behalf of customers.

As a well-informed parasitic hanger-on, You Xiang fit among them like a fish in water.

With him making introductions, both sides earned considerable sums.

Two months earlier, someone from Marquis Ningsu’s Estate approached him to commission a major undertaking.

Everything that followed had grown from that meeting.

Zhao Li breathed in slowly when the written confessions were placed before her.

…

Heavy clouds covered the sky, dark and utterly silent.

The vermilion gates of the Pacification Office crashed open.

Nearly a hundred Jingning Guard riders streamed out.

Red silk hung from the horses’ necks. Hooves thundered over the flagstones as they raced through the curfew-bound streets of Shengjing.

Zhao Li led the scarlet cavalry whose very approach terrified civil and military officials, vanishing into the distance in a cloud of dust.

Within one courtyard of Marquis Ningsu’s Estate, everyone had gathered despite the late hour.

Basin after basin of foul water was carried from a room, while agonized howls sounded inside.

The current Marquis Ningsu, Song Xiu, watched the door with a deeply troubled expression.

Someone offered him a cup of tea.

A refined, scholarly young man with an open and graceful bearing comforted him.

“Father, do not worry. Elder Brother will certainly be all right.”

“You have exhausted yourself over his illness these past few days. Why not return and rest? I can remain here.”

The filial concern of his second son comforted Song Xiu, but he could not set aside his worry for the eldest son he valued so greatly.

“You are thoughtful, Hongfu, but how could I possibly sleep?”

“You should rest early instead. You must return to the academy tomorrow. Do not exhaust yourself and delay your studies, or you may harm your prospects in this year’s examinations.”

Song Xiu patted his second son’s shoulder.

Seeing the deep fatigue on his father’s face, Song Hongfu paused.

“With Elder Brother like this, how could I return to the academy in peace? Perhaps—”

Before he finished, Song Xiu glared.

“Your studies have always been excellent, and this is the year of the great examination. You must not neglect your education and ruin your future.”

Song Hongfu went rigid. After a moment, he forced a smile.

“I’ll look in on Elder Brother again.”

Ignoring Song Xiu’s reaction, he went straight into the room.

It was dim inside and filled with a stench mingled with medicinal odors.

Servants hurried in and out. They carried basin after basin of warm medicinal broth into the room and emerged with basins of black water streaked with bloody filth.

As Song Hongfu drew closer, the increasingly heavy smell of rot entered his nose.

He frowned in disgust, but then seemed to remember something and relaxed.

“Second Young Master.”

The servants bowed when they saw him.

The screams from the bed immediately stopped.

“Is… is that you, A-Fu?”

The voice was thick with suppressed pain.

“Yes, Elder Brother. It’s me.”

Song Hongfu looked at the person lying on the bed.

Not long ago, Song Hongjun, heir to Marquis Ningsu’s Estate, had been a gentle, handsome man.

Now he lay within brocade quilts, his body covered in black patches the size of fists. He resembled an overripe persimmon that had fallen from a tree and begun to rot.

At first, the marks had been no more than pale gray shadows, like faded patches of cloth. They neither hurt nor itched.

He had taken medicine for a long time without improvement.

Instead, the patches steadily darkened. As the color changed, they gradually began to itch.

With Song Hongjun’s birthday approaching, the condition worsened.

The black patches grew hot and swollen and began leaking bloodstained pus. Even the soles of his feet developed them.

The slightest touch hurt as though a finger were being severed.

Song Hongjun lay naked upon the brocade bedding, coated in black mucus.

He looked less like a human being than a man-shaped slug.

Yet even in that condition, his mind remained exceptionally clear.

When he saw his younger brother looking, humiliation flickered through his eyes.

“A-Fu, don’t look. Go outside. I don’t want to frighten you.”

A deeply complicated emotion crossed Song Hongfu’s eyes.

He was about to speak when Song Hongjun continued, “You still need to attend the academy tomorrow. Go and rest.”

Even as illness tortured him in bed, the elder brother still worried about his younger brother’s studies and future.

The complicated emotion in Song Hongfu’s eyes abruptly receded, leaving only coldness.

“Elder Brother, you need not worry about me anymore. Everything will be better soon.”

Song Hongjun panted lightly. “That is good. That is good.”

He could no longer suppress the pain in his voice.

Then a commotion erupted outside.