Chapter 32
THE RAIN PERSISTED until it finally cleared on the dawn of a new day.
Jiang Suizhou slept peacefully through the night.
When he woke up early in the morning, he saw that the clouds had completely dispersed. Sunlight illuminated the clear blue sky, and the glow filtered through the window, crisp and bright.
Jiang Suizhou’s gaze immediately fell on the daybed by the window.
It was empty. Huo Wujiu was sitting in the wheelchair beside it, adjusting his robes.
“Do your legs still hurt?” Jiang Suizhou asked, his voice hoarse from sleep.
“I’m fine,” Huo Wujiu said, glancing up at Jiang Suizhou.
As he spoke, he picked up a white object from the daybed and tossed it over.
Jiang Suizhou fumbled to catch the flying object sailing toward him. But the thing was too velvety and slipped right through his hands, landing gently on his bed.
Looking down, Jiang Suizhou identified it as the hot water bottle Meng Qianshan had given him yesterday.
The hot water inside had long cooled, but the fur on the outside still carried a faint warmth, as if it’d retained someone’s body heat.
“Thank you,” Huo Wujiu said flatly.
Oh, for the hot water bottle.
Jiang Suizhou couldn’t help but smile slightly.
He’d always maintained that the great General Huo was truly a good, upstanding person. Meng Qianshan had given him so many hot water bottles yesterday, yet he still remembered the specific one Jiang Suizhou had lent him. He even made a point to thank him for it.
“Of course,” Jiang Suizhou said, his voice tinged with amusement.
Huo Wujiu glanced at him indifferently, then looked away.
The sun rose higher, and Jiang Suizhou got out of bed.
Although the emperor’s birthday banquet was finished and today was a day off for the officials, the Ministry of Rites couldn’t take a break. There was still so much that needed to be organized and documented after the big event.
Ji You had offered to excuse Jiang Suizhou due to his poor health, but Jiang Suizhou didn’t want to make an exception for himself. He planned to go and see if there was anything he could do to pitch in.
As he thought about this, he also remembered the books Ji You had lent him a while ago.
Two volumes of nonstandard history, neither of them very thick. By his calculations, it was about time to return them to Ji You.
Just as he stood to call Meng Qianshan in and inform him of his plans, someone pushed the door open in a terrible hurry.
Meng Qianshan stumbled in, panicked and out of breath.
“Your Highness, something’s happened!” Meng Qianshan said urgently.
Jiang Suizhou frowned. “What is it?”
“The Ministry of Rites is in trouble! I’ve received word that Minister Ji has been impeached and taken away by the Ministry of Justice!”
Jiang Suizhou froze.
“On what charges?”
This wasn’t right. Ji You’s life story was a known part of the historical record. Jiang Suizhou knew how the man’s story went, and there shouldn’t have been such an incident. Although Ji You’s lifetime accomplishments were largely unremarkable, so too were his troubles. After the fall of the Jing dynasty, Northern Liang tried to recruit him, but he refused and retired to the countryside to enjoy a life of leisure.
Why had he suddenly been arrested?
“The officials from the Ministry of Justice said that Minister Ji embezzled funds from the emperor’s birthday banquet. They say that he used inferior materials and cut corners. It was discovered this morning!”
That was even more impossible.
Jiang Suizhou frowned. “Has he already been taken to the Ministry of Justice?”
Meng Qianshan nodded hard.
“Help me get dressed,” Jiang Suizhou said, his expression serious.
“Your Highness, what are you…”
“I’m going to the Ministry of Justice.”
“What are you planning to do?” Meng Qianshan asked, tapping his foot nervously. “All the other officials in the Ministry of Rites are avoiding the place, afraid the authorities will come knocking. Why are you rushing over there?”
“Enough,” Jiang Suizhou snapped. “Don’t waste my time.”
Meng Qianshan didn’t dare to disobey and quickly helped him change into his robes.
Jiang Suizhou’s gaze was dark.
Now that this fire had broken out, they would surely interrogate all the other officials in the Ministry of Rites after arresting Ji You. As an imperial prince, it wouldn’t be out of line for him to head over and clear his name first. It wouldn’t raise any suspicions.
But he wasn’t actually going there to clear his name.
He wanted to know why Ji You, who shouldn’t have gotten into any trouble, had been arrested.
Was it because everything here was off the record and unofficial history, so it differed from the official accounts? Or was it because he, having traveled through time, had interacted with Ji You and become a variable in his life?