The days leading up to the merchants' inquiry passed in a blur of ink-stained fingers and sleepless nights. Yuanlong had sequestered himself in his study, surrounded by stacks of ledgers, receipts, and correspondence spanning the past five years. He had known the family's finances were strained—his brother's spending had seen to that—but as he delved deeper, he discovered irregularities that made his blood run cold.
There were payments recorded to merchants who did not exist, loans taken out under false names, and a series of small but suspicious transfers to a bank in the southern prefecture—a bank that, upon inquiry, had no record of the Zhang family's business. Someone had been systematically siphoning silver from the estate long before the poison and the pledge. The trail led back at least three years, to a time when his father was still healthy and his mother still played the role of dutiful wife.
Yuanlong sat back in his chair, the evidence spread before him like a map of betrayal. His mother had been embezzling from the family for years—not out of greed, but as a slow, patient act of revenge. She had been bleeding the estate dry, ensuring that when the time came for the inheritance to pass, there would be little left but debt. The pledge to Huan Decong was not the beginning of her plot; it was merely the final stroke.
He summoned Suo Fahui and showed her the ledgers. She studied them in silence, her face growing graver with each page. "This is not just fraud," she said finally. "This is a deliberate attempt to ruin the family name. If these transfers are discovered by the merchants' panel, they will assume you were the one behind them. The timing is too convenient—the withdrawals stopped just before your father's death, which makes it appear that you took control of the accounts and then hid the evidence."
Yuanlong nodded. His mother had planned for every contingency. She had set the trap years in advance, and he had walked into it the moment he became the custodian. "I need to find the original bank records—the ones that show who actually authorized these transfers. If I can prove that the signatures are my mother's or my brother's, the panel will see that I am not the culprit."
He knew, however, that such records would not be easy to obtain. The southern bank was a two-week journey away, and the merchants' panel would convene in five days. He needed a faster solution.
That evening, a servant announced a visitor: a thin, nervous man in a dusty traveling cloak, who gave his name as Wei Cheng. He claimed to be a former clerk at the southern bank, dismissed for a minor infraction, and he said he had information that could save Yuanlong from the merchants' accusations. Yuanlong met him in the main hall, his senses alert for any sign of deception.
Wei Cheng bowed, his eyes darting around the room as if expecting an ambush. "Master Zhang, I heard of your troubles from a friend in the county yamen. I know about the transfers. I know who authorized them, because I was the clerk who processed the documents. The orders came on behalf of Lady Wang—she signed each one with a chop that was distinct from your father's, a smaller seal that she kept in her own possession. I still have copies of the authorization slips. I kept them because I suspected she was up to something, and I thought they might be useful one day."
He reached into his cloak and produced a bundle of yellowed papers, tied with a faded ribbon. Yuanlong took them and examined the signatures. They were indeed his mother's, unmistakably matching the handwriting on the letter she had sent through Jingying. The dates matched the transfers in the ledgers. It was the evidence he needed—if it was genuine.
He looked up at Wei Cheng. "Why are you helping me? What do you want in return?"
The clerk licked his dry lips. "I want protection. The southern bank has a new manager, and he is ruthless. He knows I took these documents, and he has threatened to have me arrested for theft. If I can prove that I was only exposing a fraud, I might be spared. If you present these to the merchants' panel and name me as a witness, I can claim I was acting in the public interest. I need your promise that you will speak on my behalf."
Yuanlong studied the man's face. The fear in his eyes was genuine, but so was the avarice. Wei Cheng was not a hero; he was a survivor, looking for the best deal. But his information was valuable, and his testimony could turn the tide. "I will speak on your behalf," Yuanlong said. "But if these documents are forged, I will see you prosecuted for fraud. Do you understand?"
Wei Cheng nodded vigorously. "They are genuine. I swear by my ancestors."
Yuanlong paid the clerk a modest sum and sent him to a safe lodging in the city. Then he returned to his study, the authorization slips in hand. He had the evidence to prove his mother's embezzlement, but presenting it would open a new scandal—the matriarch of the Zhang family, a thief and a poisoner. The family name would be further tarnished, and the merchants' inquiry might still punish him for failing to detect the fraud earlier.
He needed a strategy that would expose his mother without destroying the estate's remaining reputation. He decided to present the evidence selectively: he would show the authorization slips to the merchants' panel but frame them as discoveries made during his own audit, rather than as proof of his mother's long-term plot. He would highlight his own diligence in uncovering the fraud, turning a liability into an asset.
The day of the inquiry arrived. Yuanlong dressed in his finest robe and arrived at the county yamen with a leather satchel full of documents. The panel consisted of three local merchants—a grain dealer, a silk trader, and a moneylender—all known for their probity but also for their rivalries with the Zhang family. They sat behind a long table, their faces grave and their eyes sharp.
Magistrate Xu presided as an observer, his presence a reassurance that the inquiry would be conducted fairly. The merchants presented their petition, alleging that Yuanlong had hidden assets and falsified accounts to avoid paying creditors. They submitted a list of suspicious transactions and demanded a full audit.
Yuanlong rose to respond. He laid out the ledgers, the receipts, and the authorization slips, walking the panel through each irregularity with calm precision. He did not accuse his mother directly; instead, he presented the evidence as a problem he had uncovered and was now rectifying. "Your Honors, these transfers were made without my knowledge, using a seal that is not my own. I have identified the source of these authorizations, and I am prepared to pursue legal action against the individual responsible. However, I wish to emphasize that I have acted in good faith throughout my tenure as custodian. I have opened my books, I have paid all debts that were lawfully owed, and I am committed to restoring the Zhang estate to solvency."
The grain dealer, a portly man named Liu, leaned forward. "And who do you claim authorized these transfers?"
Yuanlong hesitated for only a moment. "I cannot name the individual until I have confirmed the evidence with additional witnesses. But I assure you, the person is not a member of my current household, and the funds have been recovered in full. The estate will pay its creditors in a timely manner."
The silk trader, a sharp-faced woman named Madam Zhao, studied the authorization slips with a magnifying glass. "These signatures are consistent with a woman's hand—fine, controlled, with a distinct flourish. Do you have any female relatives who might have had access to the estate's seal?"
Yuanlong met her gaze. "My mother, Lady Wang, has recently left the compound to live in seclusion. I will not speak ill of her, but I will say that the seal used in these transactions is not the official family chop. It is a private seal that I have not seen before. I suspect it was used without my father's knowledge."
The panel conferred among themselves in low voices. After a long discussion, Madam Zhao announced their preliminary finding: "Master Zhang, your presentation is thorough, and your cooperation is commendable. We find no evidence of intentional fraud on your part. However, we recommend that the county appoint an independent auditor to review the estate's accounts for the next two years, to ensure that all debts are properly addressed. We will submit this recommendation to Magistrate Xu."
Yuanlong bowed, his heart swelling with relief. The inquiry had not exonerated him fully, but it had cleared him of deliberate malfeasance. The independent audit was a minor inconvenience compared to the ruin that had been threatened.
As he left the yamen, Deng Fu approached him with a message. "Master Yuanlong, a rider arrived from the southern bank. He says that a woman matching your mother's description recently withdrew a large sum of silver and disappeared. The bank manager is concerned that she may be fleeing the prefecture entirely."
Yuanlong's relief curdled into unease. His mother was on the move again—and if she was withdrawing funds, she might be preparing to activate her network. He had thought the threat was contained, but her latest movements suggested otherwise.
He returned to the compound and went straight to the garden, where the plum blossoms had begun to fade. He stood beneath the boughs, his mind racing. His mother was still out there, and she still held the originals of the incriminating documents. She had not used them yet, but the fact that she was drawing silver meant she was preparing for something—whether escape or attack, he could not know.
Suo Fahui found him there, her face drawn with worry. "I heard about the inquiry. They cleared you?"
"They cleared me of fraud," he said. "But my mother is moving again. She is withdrawing silver from the southern bank. I do not know what her next move will be."
Suo Fahui took his hand. "Then we must find her. Before she does something that cannot be undone."
Yuanlong looked at her—his wife, his partner, his anchor in the storm. "We cannot both go. I need you here, to manage the estate and to watch for any sign of her network. I will go alone, with Deng Fu. I will track her to the southern hills and confront her directly. It is time to end this, once and for all."
He embraced her, holding her tightly. "I will return. I promise."
She nodded, her eyes wet. "You had better. I will not raise our children alone."
He kissed her forehead, then turned and walked toward the stables. The sun was setting, painting the sky in shades of crimson and gold. He mounted his horse and rode out of the compound, Deng Fu following close behind. The road to the south stretched before him, winding through hills and forests, leading toward the unknown.
As they passed the city gates, Yuanlong glanced back at the rooftops of Luozhou, now gilded by the dying light. He did not know what he would find at the journey's end—whether his mother would greet him with cold fury or weary resignation, or whether she had already vanished beyond reach. But he knew one thing: the poison that had haunted his family was not a substance in a vial. It was the hatred that had festered in his mother's heart for forty years. And the only way to neutralize it was to face it, look it in the eye, and refuse to let it consume him.
The road stretched on, and he rode into the gathering dusk, his heart heavy but his resolve unshaken. Somewhere ahead, his mother was waiting—and with her, the final key to unlocking the chains of the past.
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!