Chapter 89:
Frame-up
WITHIN THE STUDY, Li Longji turned to Li Heng. “We are exhausted. You may withdraw; get some rest.”
The crown prince had no choice but to accept the dismissal, leaving Li Longji alone with Yang Guozhong and Gao Lishi.
The instant he was gone, Gao Lishi smiled ingratiatingly at the emperor. “His Highness is young yet. His actions are understandable.”
“That may be so for Heng-er,” Li Longji said, “but Li Jinglong’s actions are inexcusable. To think he had the gall to disturb the Li family’s ancestral graves for such a stunt!”
Gao Lishi instructed a guard to bring forth the witnesses, and a man soon arrived—one of the crown prince’s advisors.
“Where did you see His Highness go on the night of the eighteenth?” Gao Lishi asked.
“Reporting to Your Majesty and my lords.” Recognizing the delicacy of the situation, the man said, “That night, His Highness had his carriage prepared and visited the Department of Exorcism. This plot was conceived by several members of the imperial court, His Highness, and these exorcists.”
“What did you hear?” Li Longji was shaking from anger. “Leave nothing out; you will not be blamed for anything you say here today.”
This young strategist planted among Li Heng’s staff had evidently been bought off with a hefty sum of money by Gao Lishi. The Chief Eunuch had instructed him on what to say in advance, and he promptly spun up an appropriate story.
As he told it, the crown prince, hoping to frighten Li Longji into ending his obsession with his beautiful consort, had availed himself of the spiritual techniques used by Li Jinglong and the Department of Exorcism to stage a supernatural hoax. After consulting with the crown prince, Li Jinglong broke into the imperial mausoleums to collect material for their ruse. With the deaths of the guards, however, the situation soon began to spin out of control. Fearing the consequences should things get truly out of hand, Li Jinglong attempted to abort their plan, but the crown prince was determined to press ahead. This was why Li Heng had gone to the Department of Exorcism last night—to convince Li Jinglong to continue.
And indeed, Li Heng did seem to have had something he wanted to say to Li Jinglong just now. Recalling this, Li Longji descended into silence.
Gao Lishi dismissed the man with a wave, then turned to Li Longji. “Your Majesty, the first time this subject heard this man’s tale, this subject thought it was complete nonsense; it didn’t seem worth reporting. For this, this subject truly deserves a thousand deaths…”
Li Longji raised a hand to silence him. It was Yang Guozhong who spoke next: “Your Majesty, there is one more witness. Shall I summon him now?”
The second witness fell to his knees the moment he arrived, kowtowing to Li Longji. “Your subject Cheng Xiao, aide of the Imperial Court of Judicial Review, pays his respects to Your Majesty.”
“Tell us. How did Li Jinglong intervene with regard to the case of the imperial mausoleums?” Yang Guozhong asked.
“He said…since the Department of Exorcism was taking over the case, they would handle the investigation from beginning to end, and that the Court of Judicial Review was not to interfere.”
“When you entered the Zhao Mausoleum to investigate, did you see a black dragon?” Yang Guozhong continued.
Li Longji frowned slightly, as if recalling something.
“I did not,” Cheng Xiao said earnestly. “Kong Hongjun may say otherwise, but I have never seen any black dragon.”
“And did you find anything else unusual inside the imperial mausoleums?” Yang Guozhong pressed.
“Responding to Your Excellency, there was nothing of note within the Qian Mausoleum—not so much as a footprint on the ground. The only unusual thing about the case is the deaths of the guards. While at the Qian Mausoleum, a fish monster under Li Jinglong’s command forced my subordinate to inhale some sort of drug. When we returned, he had forgotten everything about the incident. All of this is in the official record. I ask that Your Majesty, Your Excellency, and General Gao review it at your leisure.”
Yang Guozhong was about to dismiss the young man when Li Longji said, “We hear that you are an old acquaintance of Li Jinglong?”
As Cheng Xiao bowed once more, Li Longji asked, “What are your thoughts on this case?”
“There are no such things as gods and ghosts,” Cheng Xiao responded. “Yet since last year, there has been an undeniable increase in the number of strange incidents in Chang’an. Some people are saying that…”
Li Longji’s expression turned stormy, and the atmosphere in the study immediately grew tense.
Yang Guozhong intervened. “Forget it, you may go.”
“Speak,” said Li Longji. “You will not be punished for speaking the truth.”
“The people are saying this is surely a sign of a nation on the verge of…well…” Cheng Xiao trailed off, ducking his head even lower. “Entrusting the fate of the country to the mystical and illusory will inevitably lead to the rampant spread of rumors. Since the Department of Exorcism exists, of course the people will believe in monsters.”
“Yet we have seen with our own eyes that yaoguai exist.” Li Longji seemed older than ever as he sagged back against the couch. Closing his eyes, he said, “We didn’t want to believe it either.”
“Your Majesty, even what you see with your own eyes may not always be true,” Cheng Xiao said.
Just like Wu Zhao’s ghostly apparition, these words seemed designed to strike at the heart of Li Longji’s worries.
“Seeing as this case was formerly under your charge, we will leave it in your hands,” Li Longji said, recovering his composure. “As for Li Jinglong, the imperial mausoleums are of utmost importance, related to the sovereignty of our nation. To think he would be so brazen as to collude with…”
Given Cheng Xiao’s presence, it wouldn’t do for Li Longji to say with the crown prince. “…with others to pull such a trick,” he finished. “He must be taught a lesson! For now, we shall take him into custody. But Cheng Xiao, whether it is a yao, a ghost, or an ordinary man deliberately orchestrating this hoax to attack the noble consort, you must provide us with an explanation before the noble consort’s birthday celebration.”
Cheng Xiao hastily bowed, accepting his orders.
“How should the other members of the Department of Exorcism be dealt with?” Gao Lishi asked.
“Li Jinglong’s subordinates are all possessed of uniquely powerful techniques,” Yang Guozhong said. “In my opinion, this is what we must do…”
Back at the Department of Exorcism, everyone waited for Li Jinglong to return. Visiting the palace was a common occurrence for him; even after he’d been gone a whole afternoon and night, Hongjun and the others didn’t find it unusual.
When Huang Yong arrived the next morning to summon them to the Court of Judicial Review, however, everyone exploded into outrage.
“You want written statements?” Mergen asked, utterly baffled. “But wait, where’s our chief?”
“He’s being detained at Xingqing Palace,” Huang Yong said, mopping at his sweat with a handkerchief. “Go record your statements in writing first. To think word would get out like this—ay!”
Everyone was stunned. Realizing something had gone wrong, Hongjun wanted to set out for Xingqing Palace to find Li Jinglong immediately—and he wasn’t alone. Only after Huang Yong pleaded with them using every exhortation he knew did he manage to stop the members of the Department of Exorcism from charging into the palace after their leader. He quickly laid out the rest of the details: that the case of the imperial mausoleums had become contentious, that His Majesty was incandescent with rage, and that no matter what happened, they mustn’t act rashly.
“I don’t even know how to write in Han script—how am I supposed to give a written statement?” Lu Xu demanded, furious.
“Do I have to give one too?” the carp yao asked. “Every ‘person’ doesn’t include me, right? I’m a fish.”
“Someone can write it for you, and you can just sign and seal it.” Once again, Huang Yong tried to counsel them. “Your chief’s been framed. At a time like this, you mustn’t do anything impulsive, under any circumstances.”
To these exorcists, neither the military, the court officials, nor even the human emperor posed any threat whatsoever. Usually, with Li Jinglong around to keep them on a tight leash, they politely coexisted with the people of Chang’an. But now that Li Jinglong had been detained, Hongjun had half a mind to fight his way into the palace and whisk the chief away before agreeing to anything else.
Surprisingly, the Court of Judicial Review asked nothing more of them after taking their written statements. Hongjun attempted to find Cheng Xiao, but Cheng Xiao refused to see him. The exorcists were allowed to return to their headquarters.
The moment they were home, Hongjun declared, “I’m going to save the chief.”
“I support you,” Lu Xu said. “Let’s go together.”
“Both of you, calm down!” Mergen said. “Didn’t we discuss this ages ago?”
“What did we discuss?” Hongjun asked. “They arrested him! Why would the emperor arrest him?” He was frustrated, and to make matters worse, he had no idea whom to fight.
“Xie Yu has made his move,” Qiu Yongsi said. “The chief warned us things would turn out like this if Xie Yu struck first.”
“But we still don’t know who he is,” Hongjun said.
“He’s Yang Guozhong,” Mergen responded without hesitation. “I’m certain of it now.”
Hongjun was on the verge of panic. Not only had Xie Yu been surveilling the Department of Exorcism’s every move, now Li Jinglong had fallen into his hands. They didn’t even know whether he was dead or alive.
“The next step in his plan may very well be dealing with the rest of us,” Lu Xu said. “The only question is, when will he come knocking?”