Chapter 45: Poisoning (Fourth installment!)

A light drizzle fell over Xingyang on that afternoon.

It was already late spring. Rain had become frequent, though none of it was particularly heavy, which was exceptionally beneficial for the crops. However, the humid, stuffy air after the rain felt quite uncomfortable. The weeping willows in the courtyard swayed in the evening breeze, seeming to whisper of some hidden matter.

Zheng Shize arrived at the residence of his elder brother, Zheng Shiji, but Zheng Shiji was not at home.

He paced back and forth in the room, feeling restless and uneasy, until he finally stepped out into the garden, hoping to appreciate the scenery of late spring.

Yet, the fallen petals floating in the pond and the messy state of the duckweed beaten by the rain suddenly filled Zheng Shize’s heart with an ominous premonition.

He refused to accept that the position of clan elder had slipped through his fingers, and he resented even more that Zheng Renji had secretly plotted against him, pulling the rug out from under him and rendering over a year of his painstaking efforts completely useless. Not only that, but the Seventh Branch had become the laughingstock of the entire clan. Zheng Shize always felt as though people were pointing fingers at him behind his back, as if mocking him for overestimating his own capabilities, foolishly trying to stop a chariot with his bare arms.

Was it truly trying to stop a chariot with a mantis's arms?

Zheng Shize did not think so.

The decline of the Sixth Branch was already glaringly obvious. He was confident that if Zheng Wei had not changed his mind, his Seventh Branch would certainly have replaced the Sixth Branch and taken control of the Anyuan Hall. Every time he thought of this, Zheng Shize felt frantic and vexed. It was all because of that old eunuch... If he hadn't suddenly produced some grandson out of nowhere, how could the situation have become so murky and uncertain?

Therefore, in a fit of rage, he had sent people to find the fierce bandit Two-Headed Snake from Shouyang Mountain, offering money to buy Zheng Yanqing's life.

Neither Zheng Renji nor Zheng Shi'an was someone he could afford to touch within Xingyang. Even if Zheng Shi'an were to leave Xingyang in the future, he would be traveling under the banner of Anyuan Hall to take charge of the properties in Luoyang, and the entourage accompanying him would certainly not be small.

The Two-Headed Snake might not dare to provoke such a large group of people.

Zheng Yanqing, however, was different. With his retinue and servants, he only had forty or fifty people at most.

It would be a simple matter for the Two-Headed Snake to deal with him. If he could take Zheng Yanqing's life, it would at least vent the foul air trapped in his chest.

Zheng Shize's plan had seemed foolproof, but the way things unfolded left his heart pounding with fear.

First of all, Zheng Yanqing did not die!

Instead, the Two-Headed Snake lost his life... However, the news that Zheng Yanqing had been gravely wounded still brought him a grim sense of satisfaction. If I cannot take your life, I will at least strip a layer of skin from you! But the news that followed was not nearly as pleasant.

Fang Yanqian, the magistrate of Henan Prefecture, led the troops of the three prefectures to suppress Shouyang Mountain.

Even that might not have mattered much. But when Zheng Shize learned that the Two-Headed Snake turned out to be a disciple of the White-Robed Maitreya, and that in the wake of these events, the White-Robed Maitreya was swiftly branded as a heretical rebel, it caught Zheng Shize completely off guard.

The Two-Headed Snake had become a rebel?

If he himself had colluded with the Two-Headed Snake to waylay and murder Zheng Yanqing... wouldn't that make him an accomplice to the rebels, guilty of treason?

Zheng Shize began to panic!

Angry as he might be, when it came to matters concerning the rise and fall of the clan, he did not dare to conceal anything.

Therefore, he had hurried over, hoping to discuss countermeasures with his eldest brother, Zheng Shiji. But he had not expected that Zheng Shiji had been invited away by Zheng Shanyuan that afternoon, forcing Zheng Shize to wait here bitterly. Looking at the tattered duckweed floating in the pond, Zheng Shize let out a soft sigh.

If he had known things would turn out this way, why had he ever done it in the first place?

"Second Master, the Eldest Master has returned and is waiting for you in the study."

The steward came to report, instantly snapping Zheng Shize out of his self-pity and sorrow. He straightened his clothes and stepped out of the pavilion.

He followed the steward to Zheng Shiji's study in the courtyard, only to find that Zheng Shiji had set out wine and food on the porch outside the study and was drinking alone. Seeing the sudden increase of white hair on his elder brother's head, Zheng Shize felt a sharp pang of ominous foreboding pierce his heart.

"Eldest Brother..."

Zheng Shiji’s facial muscles twitched a few times. He glanced at Zheng Shize and motioned for him to sit down immediately.

"Brother, is there something you wanted to see me about?"

Zheng Shize said, "Eldest Brother, I have brought disaster upon us."

***

Zheng Shiji’s cheek twitched slightly. He closed his eyes and let out a long sigh after a long moment, "Is it about the Sixth Branch's boy being ambushed?"

"Ah?" Zheng Shize started, his eyes widening as he looked at Zheng Shiji, "Eldest Brother, you already know?"

"If you do not want others to hear, do nothing; if you do not want others to know, do not act at all."

Zheng Shiji’s words came from the essay *A Memorial Advising the King of Wu* by Mai Cheng of the Han Dynasty, which in later generations became the familiar proverb: *If you do not want anyone to know, you must never have done it.* Upon hearing this, Zheng Shize’s face turned ashen, and he remained silent.

"Who else knows about this matter?"

"Aside from my steward and his son, no one else in the world knows."

Zheng Shiji grunted, picked up the wine pot, but then suddenly stopped.

"Shize, your brother has some words for you, but I wonder if you are willing to listen?"

Zheng Shize hurriedly said, "An elder brother is like a father; please speak your mind, Brother."

"Over the years, you have given your all for our Seventh Branch, exhausting your mind and energy. Back in the day, our Seventh Branch was also prosperous and flourishing, but we simply did not meet the right times. Changes in the imperial court resulted in almost all of the elites of our Seventh Branch perishing.

For these many years, I have walked on thin ice, treading as carefully as if walking across an abyss.

You have also poured countless efforts into helping me, which is how we achieved our standing today.

Yet this time, you have truly been foolish... I know what you are thinking; you probably felt wronged at being outmaneuvered by the Sixth Branch. In truth, how could your brother have felt at ease? He who travels a hundred miles counts ninety as the halfway mark... You and I fell short at the very last step. But I always believed that as long as our family fortune remains, if we fail this time, there will be a next time, and a time after that."

At this point, Zheng Shiji let out a long sigh.

Zheng Shize simply listened quietly, not daring to interrupt his elder brother's words.

"Zheng Yanqing is currently unconscious, and this matter will likely not rest here."

Zheng Shize asked, "Eldest Brother, tell me then, what should I do?"

"Come, let us drink!"

Zheng Shiji poured a full cup of wine for Zheng Shize, his hand trembling slightly. Zheng Shize, however, failed to notice this detail and looked at Zheng Shiji with a face full of expectant hope.

Zheng Shiji raised his cup, "Brother, please drink."

Without the slightest suspicion, Zheng Shize hurriedly raised his cup and drained it in a single gulp.

Seeing him finish the wine, a look of profound anguish flashed across Zheng Shiji's eyes. He trembled as he raised his own cup and drank its contents, though whether from drinking too hastily or for some other reason, the swallow of wine choked him into a violent fit of coughing.

"Eldest Brother, are you all right?"

"I am fine!" Zheng Shiji’s eyes turned red. He grabbed Zheng Shize’s arm tightly, "Brother, do not blame me."

"Ah?"

"According to news sent from Yanshi, the Sixth Branch already knows that someone offered a bounty of ten thousand strings of cash to have the Two-Headed Snake waylay and murder Zheng Yanqing. If Zheng Yanqing dies, someone must take the blame; if Zheng Yanqing lives, someone must still pay the price. Brother, your elder brother has no choice. For the future of the Seventh Branch, I can only..."

"Eldest Brother, what do you mean by this?"

Zheng Shiji’s emotions seemed to suddenly stabilize.

He pushed the wine pot toward Zheng Shize. Zheng Shize opened it to look inside and saw that it had two separate inner compartments. Realizing the truth in an instant, Zheng Shize gasped in shock, "A Qiankun Pot?"

"In the pot lies heaven and earth; one choice brings death, the other life."

Zheng Shiji’s gaze suddenly turned fierce, "Shize, if you do not die, the Seventh Branch will face the peril of total annihilation.

The affair of Cui Junzhuo in past years remains vivid in our minds.

Your elder brother must protect this lineage of our clan, and this is an act born of absolute necessity.

If you must blame someone, blame your own foolishness for failing to thoroughly investigate the background of the Two-Headed Snake before rashly making your move."

A sudden, violent cramp gripped his stomach.

Zheng Shize widened his eyes as a mouthful of black blood spewed out, splashing across the food and wine before him.

He seemed unable to believe that the elder brother who had always been so amiable toward him could harden his heart to poison him... The virulent poison taking effect within him made his limbs turn limp, and he slumped softly against the porch railing. With an expressionless face, not even glancing at Zheng Shize, Zheng Shiji suddenly stood up straight.

"Someone come here."

He steadied his mind, "Secretly bury the Second Master, and then immediately take people to the Second Master’s residence to send the steward and his son on their final journey. Tell the household that the Second Master has... by my order, gone overseas to manage family business.

Do not short them of their monthly allowance."

The steward, who had been standing with his hands folded respectfully outside the corridor, immediately bowed and obeyed.

Zheng Shiji turned and walked into the study, only to see a figure flash from behind the screen as Zheng Shanyuan slowly stepped out with a gloomy expression on his face.

His magnificent beard had lost its former luster, tinged with a grayish-white hue.

"Shiji, it has been hard on you!"

Zheng Shiji’s body trembled as he forced a smile, "Eldest Brother, handled this way, there should be no more trouble, right?"

"Zheng Yanqing’s fate hangs in the balance, and everything is still uncertain... However, since we are of the same clan, the Sixth Branch will presumably not push matters to the extreme. But you still need to make some reparations in exchange for the Sixth Branch dropping the pursuit of this matter... How about this: the two hundred qing of farmland that Shize owns in Gong County, coupled with another one hundred qing of fertile land from my own name, making a total of three hundred qing, shall be transferred to the name of the Sixth Branch."

"Ah?"

Zheng Shiji felt a sharp pain in his heart, "Those two hundred qing of farmland are worth at least one hundred and fifty thousand strings of cash."

Zheng Shanyuan smiled bitterly and shook his head, walking up to Zheng Shiji, "Shize wanted their lives and wanted to dig up their very roots!

That old eunuch, Zheng Shi'an, has now entered the Clan Council and enjoys deep friendships with the majority of the clan elders. If he truly insists on pursuing this, the matter is far from over. By then, let alone one hundred and fifty thousand strings of cash, I fear your entire branch will be utterly destroyed.

Endure it. The most urgent task is to appease the anger burning in that old eunuch's heart.

Consider these two hundred qing of land as... sending off offerings for that old eunuch!"

For great aristocratic families, official careers were the facade, property was the foundation, and family heritage was the root. As long as there was property and heritage, they could eventually rise again. The reason the Xiezhou Xie clan had remained dormant for a century was precisely because they lost the properties that sustained their survival. Whether it was the Zheng family or other noble clans, while passing down their family traditions, they also controlled vast amounts of wealth.

Therefore, when dealing with great aristocratic clans during the Sui and Tang dynasties, the approach was often not to exterminate them completely, but to strip them of their property, causing them to lose the foundation of their survival. Cui Junzhuo had once been stripped of his property and forced to rely on the family's monthly stipend to live. This was also the reason why Cui Junzhuo actively participated when Prince Han, Yang Liang, raised troops in rebellion. The result was that his branch of the family was relegated to history from that day on.

Zheng Shiji felt a piercing ache in his heart, but he also knew that Zheng Shanyuan was speaking the absolute truth.

Zheng Shize had wanted to cut off the roots of others, and now those people were turning around to strip the skin off his Seventh Branch—one debt repaid with another...

Suddenly, the lingering trace of guilt he felt toward Zheng Shize vanished entirely.

Zheng Shiji smiled bitterly and nodded, "Since Eldest Brother has said so, your younger brother has no choice but to obey! Let us only hope that one hundred and fifty thousand strings of cash can satisfy that old eunuch."