Chapter 25: The Offering of Tangerines

The hall was illuminated by flickering candlelight. The Emperor wore an inscrutable smile, while Cheng Ruyi, kneeling on the ground, dared not even breathe heavily. Eunuch He, standing to the side, looked at his sovereign with equal confusion, unable to decipher the Emperor's intent.

The Emperor deliberately adopted an air of official authority and said sternly, "Yes, Chen Da! This official has a vivid impression of you, a very vivid one... You say it was a misunderstanding? If you truly had a clear conscience, why did you hide the moment you saw me... eh?"

Regardless of whether the Emperor recognized him or what his true intentions were, Cheng Ruyi had no choice. Even if it were a performance, he had to play along.

Cheng Ruyi improvised, "This lowly one... this lowly one thought your Lordship possessed such a noble and imposing aura, and I had just taken a fall, so I was afraid... afraid of causing an offense."

"And have you washed your face today? Raise your head and let me look at you," the Emperor squinted as he scrutinized him.

Whether he lived or died was no longer in his control. As Cheng Ruyi raised his head, his hand moved like lightning, pinching and twisting his own face hard. He thought to himself that if he had known the Emperor was coming, he should have slapped himself a hundred times before leaving the house, swelling his face into a pig's head to see if he would still be recognized.

The Emperor frowned at the red welts on Cheng Ruyi’s fair skin and stretched his neck forward. "You look familiar. Have you... met me before?"

Cheng Ruyi bit the bullet and said, "How could this lowly one... have such good fortune? If you have been to Wang Lou, perhaps you saw me running errands there..."

The Emperor shook his head. "But when I saw you yesterday, I felt you didn't look like this... You look very much like, like who was it again?"

Cheng Ruyi shook his head repeatedly. "Not like... not like... not like anyone at all..."

*Bang!* The Emperor suddenly slammed his hand against the desk, startling Cheng Ruyi so much he nearly fell over.

The Emperor was so delighted he blurted out, "I remember! I remember now!"

Cheng Ruyi: "..."

"Cough, be careful of the slippery floor, my lord," Eunuch He reminded him from the side.

The Emperor also coughed lightly and said, "Yes, I mean, I 'truly' remember."

It would have been better if he hadn't explained. Cheng Ruyi thought to himself that he was surely dead now, and the item he was clutching was nearly soaked through with sweat.

The Emperor said languidly, "You look just like that unfortunate top scholar."

It was all over. Cheng Ruyi wanted to say something but stopped, eventually falling into silence, waiting for this unfathomable sovereign to tire of his games and pass judgment.

At that moment, he only hoped that Yan Kuang, who had been taken away earlier that morning, would run fast and far once he was released.

*I am not afraid of death... but I am bringing others down with me again,* Cheng Ruyi sighed silently.

*Lord Yan, you saved me, but I will be the death of you.*

*Indeed, this life of mine only brings disaster to others.*

Just as Cheng Ruyi was consumed by guilt, the Emperor sighed with pity, "What a shame, what a shame. I heard that scholar is already gone. They say he couldn't survive the torture of the imperial prison and was dragged out to be buried... What a pity."

Cheng Ruyi froze, his emotions overriding his reason. Borrowing courage from somewhere unknown, he looked up and stared steadily at the Emperor. "Your Lordship jests."

His tone carried a hint of interrogation. "If he deserved his punishment, pray tell, what is there to pity?"

"Audacious! You commoner, how dare you speak to his Lordship like that!"

Eunuch He scolded him loudly, but the Emperor waved him off and looked at Cheng Ruyi. "You say... he deserved his punishment?"

The Emperor laughed. "They say, under the heavens, there is no land that is not the King's... Naturally, if the Emperor says you are guilty, you are guilty; if he says you are innocent, you are innocent."

Before Cheng Ruyi could react, the Emperor stood up, brushed off his robes, and waved his hand. "It seems he only looks like him. How could his spirit and demeanor compare? It was my eyes playing tricks on me; I mistook the person. Release him..."

"Let him go."

***

Cheng Ruyi was carried out by the guards, his mind filled with questions.

The moment he was pushed down the steps and back into the light of day, he expected to tumble down clumsily, but he felt his waist tighten as he fell into a firm, sturdy embrace.

"Yan... why are you here! Why didn't you... run..." Cheng Ruyi steadied himself, pulling away from the man's arms, his voice muffled.

Yan Kuang waved his hand. "If you don't want to die, follow me now."

"I understand... You weren't really whipped, were you?" Cheng Ruyi followed reluctantly, quietly tucking away the object he had been clutching.

*Whatever...* he thought. *I am like a wandering soul, destined to drift with the tide. I might as well follow his path.*

Yan Kuang said, "As you instructed, I paid the ransom."

"Oh my, finally out?" No sooner had Yan Kuang spoken than Ruo Niang came running toward them, holding a half-eaten pork knuckle.

"Ruo Niang? You're here too?" After the extreme tension, the sense of rebirth made Cheng Ruyi feel a glimmer of joy at seeing a familiar face.

Ruo Niang moved close to Cheng Ruyi to inspect him, and seeing he was neither injured nor maimed, her words came out like a hail of arrows. "You fair-faced scholar, are you a fox turned human? I thought you ran away because you were afraid of being implicated by the King of Hell, so I advised him not to look for you... Who knew he would insist on searching, and once he found you, he had to stay with you! It wore me out waiting for you two for an entire day and night. My business has been ruined!"

Cheng Ruyi blushed, could only offer a smile and a nod. "I'm sorry, Ruo Niang... It is I who delayed your business again."

Having heard her past and seeing her now, Cheng Ruyi felt not only pity and regret but also an inexplicable sense of guilt.

Yan Kuang, appearing awkward and embarrassed, interrupted, "Ruo Niang, how did the task I entrusted to you go?"

"Look!" Ruo Niang took a large bite of the knuckle and mumbled to Cheng Ruyi, "Ugh, some people, just to wait for you, sent me running errands!"

Using a hand free of grease, she slapped a document and a pouch of silver into Yan Kuang’s arms. "Here, the boat deed. We can leave now; the boat captain is waiting at the shore."

Yan Kuang accepted it. "Thank you. I will certainly give you an account regarding Yue Ru."

"Let fate decide..." Hearing the name "Yue Ru," Ruo Niang couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Seeing the desolate expression on her face, Cheng Ruyi felt a pang of sympathy. Thinking she was someone who didn't stand on ceremony, he reached out and patted her shoulder.

"Ruo Niang, trust Lord Yan," Cheng Ruyi said. "He is not a man who breaks his word."

Yan Kuang paused, as if surprised that Cheng Ruyi would say such a thing.

Cheng Ruyi smiled and nodded at Ruo Niang. "He said there would be an account, so there will be one."

Ruo Niang was clearly taken aback, then said dismissively, "Fine, fine... hurry on your way. If there’s trouble later, I won't be able to help! Go on! And... and never see each other again!"

"Alright, I'm off! Don't see me out!" Ruo Niang walked away with a swagger, still carrying her pork knuckle.

In this world, apart from Yan Kuang and Yue Ru, she cared for no one. Now that she had met Cheng Ruyi, and her life had been disrupted by these two men, she couldn't tell if she was annoyed or something else.

She had never been educated, and though she was used to dealing with people with false pleasantries, now that she had shed her mask, she couldn't find any more kind words to say.

Walking through the bustling streets, Ruo Niang chewed on her pork knuckle, striding toward the city gates. The prosperity here had nothing to do with her; she didn't covet it, nor was she attached to it.

She still preferred her dilapidated hut by the river. It was absolutely safe and absolutely free. Looking out, whether it was a clear sky or dark clouds, the horizon was vast. To her, the smell of decaying corpses was better than the stench of alcohol and rot on the wealthy.

Nothing could trap her anymore.

She was free forever.

Yan Kuang and Cheng Ruyi watched her back disappear into the crowd. Cheng Ruyi felt an indescribable sadness; he even wanted to call out to her, but he had no reason to do so. He could only follow Yan Kuang toward the Jinghe Port.

***

"Lord Yan," Cheng Ruyi said, "are we really going to walk together so openly like this?"

"Otherwise?" Yan Kuang glanced back at him. "Do you want to go back to the city gate to beg?"

Mentioning the shameful past, Cheng Ruyi quickly changed the subject. "Sigh, where are we going?"

Yan Kuang answered, "Outside the pass, to Longquan Prefecture."

"Outside the pass? Why?"

Cheng Ruyi was from Sichuan; to him, the capital was already cold enough. Outside the pass? Longquan Prefecture? That was a place he had only heard of in legends, where they said if you stood outside for half an hour, you would turn into a snowman... Why would this King of Hell want to go there?

"I want to see the snow," Yan Kuang said simply.

It was an absurd answer. Cheng Ruyi rolled his eyes, knowing this wasn't the real reason. But if the other party wouldn't say, it was useless to ask.

Driven by curiosity, Cheng Ruyi still asked, "Does it not snow in the capital? By the way, Lord Yan, are you from the capital?"

"In a manner of speaking." Yan Kuang slowed his pace. Reminded by Cheng Ruyi, he realized that by leaving, he was bidding farewell to his homeland.

Yan Kuang thought about his own health; he would likely never return alive.

He said, "The capital has snow. But you haven't seen the snow outside the pass. It is vast and overwhelming, stretching to the ends of the earth."

"Once the blizzard passes, everything is buried cleanly, without a single trace left behind."

Cheng Ruyi felt that hearing this from Yan Kuang's cold lips was somewhat chilling.

Yan Kuang continued, "It is the cleanest place in the world. I think if I could be buried there, it would be a neat end."

Cheng Ruyi coughed twice, not knowing how to respond, so he changed the subject. "Hey, I haven't seen the snow outside the pass! I haven't even seen it in the capital... It doesn't snow in Sichuan. I thought I'd see it when I came here, but I haven't waited long enough for it to snow..."

Suddenly, the sound of a merchant selling oranges drifted over. Yan Kuang stopped. "Wait here, I'll go buy some oranges."

Cheng Ruyi nodded, staying in place as he watched the tall figure hurry off to buy oranges and then return, holding four or five of them in his arms.

Yan Kuang looked back at the capital and said softly, "The noble tree of the past, the orange comes to serve, ordained not to move, born in the southern land."

"Is the great lord reluctant to leave home?" Cheng Ruyi tilted his head.

Cheng Ruyi had never thought the King of Hell would be prone to such "melancholy," so he couldn't help but tease him.

He added, "I didn't know oranges could grow in the capital."

Yan Kuang replied, "Of course they cannot. An orange grown north of the Huai River becomes a trifoliate orange."

"So... the one in your hand was already moved from its home. Why talk about 'ordained not to move'?" Cheng Ruyi raised an eyebrow.

Yan Kuang let out a rare laugh, tossed an orange to him, and nodded. "It came from thousands of miles away; aren't you going to taste it?"

Cheng Ruyi caught the round orange, peeled it, popped three slices into his mouth, chewed, and shook his head. "Neither sour nor sweet... it has no flavor."

"But when this orange left home, it must have been crying inside; it is certainly full of juice."