The Grand Ruen Dynasty's Imperial Capital.
On the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, the festive New Year atmosphere had gradually faded, and ordinary civilians had returned to their daily routines.
Su Yi had to go to the Imperial Academy Hall today. He walked down the street wearing the official robes of the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, a prestigious first-rank position. His attire was eye-catching. Ordinary people rarely saw dignitaries wearing robes such as these because they usually traveled in carriages instead of making their way about on foot.
Su Yi glanced around, and those who had been staring quickly lowered their heads, afraid that Su Yi might catch them in the act of sneaking glances.
He smiled wryly to himself. Judging by their reactions, he guessed that he was probably the only official in the capital to go out without a carriage. A child’s innocent, clear voice sounded from behind him.
"The crane he's wearing is so pretty!"
Su Yi paused for a moment, turning toward the voice. He saw a woman covering her child’s mouth, trying to keep him quiet.
When she noticed Su Yi looking her way, she quickly knelt to apologize, repeatedly saying, "Forgive us, my lord. My son is young and doesn’t know any better. He didn’t mean to offend..."
Su Yi walked over to help the woman up, and gestured for her not to worry. He looked at the boy beside her, a thin, fragile child of around four or five, dressed in a patched linen shirt. The child, realizing he might be in trouble, looked timidly at Su Yi.
"What were you trying to say?" Su Yi asked the child with a gentle smile.
"I... I..." The child looked helplessly at his mother, unsure if he should answer Su Yi’s question.
Su Yi kept his smile, finding the child’s reaction amusing and bewildering. Was he really that scary? Just as he was about to speak, the mother fell to her knees again with a thud.
With her voice trembling, she said, "My lord... please forgive us! My son is young and doesn't know any better... If you must punish someone, punish me instead!"
Her child, frightened by the scene, also burst into tears, creating a rather chaotic scene.
Su Yi couldn’t help but take a step back, unable to understand how things had turned out . He had merely found the child endearing and wanted to say a few encouraging words, but he had no idea how it had come to this...
He looked around and noticed many people on the street were watching, whispering, and pointing. When they saw Su Yi looking their way, they immediately lowered their heads, trying to pretend as if they hadn’t been watching.
When he looked back, the woman was still kneeling at his feet, and the child was crying even louder. Su Yi opened his mouth as if to say something, but couldn't quite manage it. In the end, he said nothing and turned to leave, almost as if he were fleeing.
By the time he finished running all the way to the imperial palace gates, Su Yi was already gasping for breath. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. The guards on duty, who naturally recognized him, hurried over when they saw his disheveled appearance and asked, "Lord Su! What’s happened? Why are you in such a state? Were you chased by a criminal?"
Panting heavily, Su Yi could not speak, so he simply raised a hand, gesturing that he was fine.
Under his official robe, the inner lining was already soaked with sweat. Su Yi looked down, his gaze landing on the majestic crane embroidered on his chest. The official robes he had once been so proud of now felt strangely harsh to his eyes.
After catching his breath, Su Yi straightened up and adjusted his robe from top to bottom. Only then did he bow slightly to thank the guards and stride into the inner city.
Walking beneath the red walls and golden tiles, Su Yi’s expression grew somewhat dazed as he pondered a question... were the people truly afraid of him as a person, or was it the uniform they feared?
This thought brought him back to something Ye Fan had said to him ten days ago when he left the Storm Listening Pavilion.
"Today’s ministers... are no longer ministers."
After saying that Ye Fan had released him just like that, almost casually. Su Yi himself could hardly believe it; he had even mentally prepared himself for torture.
But nothing happened. In fact, at the Storm Listening Pavilion, he lived well and ate well. Aside from being restricted from leaving, no one attempted to do anything harmful to him.
After a few days had passed , Ye Fan came to him on his own initiative. Su Yi only later learned that this man was called Ye Fan and that he was, in fact, the master of the Storm Listening Pavilion.
When they first met, Ye Fan had said to him, "Young Master Su, I hope that after you return, you can forget everything you saw here."
Is he afraid I’ll report this to the authorities? Su Yi thought.
As if knowing what Su Yi was thinking, Ye Fan directly said, "Mute Ye and the others have already left the capital. I assure you, even if you report this, it won’t do any good. You won’t be able to catch them."
"And if I refuse?" Su Yi looked at Ye Fan coldly. "Does that mean you won’t let me leave?"
Ye Fan shrugged. "Who knows? Perhaps... But honestly, Young Master Su, you should be able to tell that I don’t actually harbor any ill intentions toward you."
Su Yi did not respond definitively, merely nodding slightly.
"If I had wanted to do something to you, I could have acted long ago." Ye Fan walked over to the table, sat down, and poured himself a cup of water. "But you’re not my enemy, so there’s no need for that... However, to ensure you don’t go out and spread word of what you’ve seen here, I’ve decided to make a trade with you."
"A trade?" Su Yi raised an eyebrow. "What kind of trade?"
"The one thing I have in abundance here is information." Ye Fan raised a finger, looking confident. "You can get one piece of information from me for free. If I know it, I’ll tell you everything."
Su Yi snorted, about to mock Ye Fan for making such a frivolous trade, when Ye Fan suddenly looked over again, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He said, "I heard you have been investigating a certain matter recently, right?"
Su Yi’s eyes widened in shock, and a chill ran down his spine. He cried out, "How do you know?!"
It was no wonder he felt fear. If his covert investigations were exposed, he would certainly face beheading.
Ye Fan waved his finger in the air nonchalantly and said, "I know a great many things... Your little secret is hardly worth mentioning to me."
Su Yi slammed his fist on the table, glaring fiercely at Ye Fan. "Are you threatening me?"
"You misunderstand, Young Master Su." Ye Fan calmly wiped away the droplets that had splashed onto the table. "What I mean is, I can tell you everything about the matter you’re investigating, from start to finish. In return... once you leave here, you forget about me and forget about the Storm Listening Pavilion."
Su Yi was silent, staring hard into Ye Fan’s eyes but finding no trace of malice.
Su Yi was escorted to the door by Ye Fan himself, yet even after stepping outside, he hadn’t fully recovered from the shock. He was stunned by Qi Zongbi's ruthless cunning as well as the man's willingness to wage war at any cost... There was so much to process that Su Yi felt he would need time to digest it all.
"Why did you let me go?" At their parting, Su Yi couldn’t help but ask Ye Fan. "You could have killed me. Surely that would have been the safest way... I’m a minister in the imperial court too. Aren’t you afraid I’ll turn you in?"
Ye Fan tucked his fan into his collar, his eyes narrowing with a smile. "In my eyes, you’re not an minister. You’re different from the others."
"Different?" Su Yi didn’t understand.
Ye Fan laughed. "You’re more like a seeker of the Dao, an Enlightened One."
"If they are ministers, then you are not," Ye Fan continued, his words becoming more obscure to Su Yi. "In other words... maybe you’re the true minister, and they are not.
"Today’s ministers... are no longer ministers."