The 5th day of the 10th month, Shaosheng Era, Year 3. Two days after the poisoning incident.
The entrance of Tea Ji was empty. Not that there were no people, but people stood there, not coming in. Groups of three or five, pointing and whispering, looking at it like a house about to collapse. Zhang Maocai had been calling out all morning until his voice was hoarse, but not a single soul entered.
Eunuch Li closed the ledger. His voice was soft, but every word felt like a stone. "Today's turnover: three strings of cash. Yesterday: five. The day before: ten. Same period last month: fifty."
Three strings. Not even enough to pay the staff's wages.
"Niangzi, people outside are saying Tea Ji's tea kills people. They say the palace is black-hearted. They say the Empress amasses wealth and wouldn't spare even an eight-year-old's life."
"The child woke up," I said. "The Imperial Physician sent word last night. He woke up, he can eat."
"But the people outside don't know."
"Then let them know."
The court was also in an uproar. Although Zhao Tingzhi had knelt, his people remained. The Censorate submitted a new memorial—not impeaching me, but impeaching Tea Ji. "Empress's Tea Ji caused poisoning, causing panic in Bianjing. We request Your Majesty to order the shop closed to calm the people's hearts." The wording was milder than last time, but the knife was hidden inside the cotton. Zhao Xu held the memorial back. It hung over everyone's heads, unknown when it would fall.
That afternoon, Zhao Xu came to Tea Ji in casual clothes. The white jade at his waist flashed slightly; the people at the door knelt. He waved them off and walked straight in.
"A-Heng."
"Why are you here?"
"To see you."
He sat opposite the counter and ordered a cup of Longjing tea. He lifted it, took a sip, and frowned slightly.
"The tea is cold."
"Not many guests today. Brewed it, no one drank it, so it got cold."
He looked at the teacup for a long time.
"The memorial in court, I can suppress. The rumors in the market, I can stop. That child, I have already sent people to investigate. Within three days, I will give you the truth."
"And then?"
"And then Tea Ji will be clean."
"Tea Ji has always been clean. It is not Tea Ji that is dirty."
He didn't speak. The water in the teacup rippled.
"I can issue an imperial edict. Say Tea Ji is innocent, say the Empress is pure, say whoever dares to spread rumors will be punished by law."
"And then?"
"Then no one will dare to speak."
"But they will think. Think more, spread further. You can suppress it for a moment, but not for a lifetime." I looked into his eyes. "When you were nine, the Dowager suppressed those people for eight years. Did she succeed?"
He remained silent.
"No. After you assumed personal rule, they were still there. Zhao Tingzhi is still there, Zeng Bu is still there, those who stand in the queue saying nothing, taking no sides, waiting to see which way the wind blows—they are still there. You cannot suppress them. Neither can I. But Tea Ji can—not by edict, but by tea. By every cup of clean tea. By that eight-year-old child waking up, standing at the door, and telling them Tea Ji has no poison."
He put down the teacup. The tea was cold to the bone.
"You have changed."
"How?"
"Before, you would let me stand in front. Now you stand in front."
"Because before, you were a child. Now you are not."
He smiled. Briefly, a bit bitter.
That night, the Imperial Physician sent news. The child woke up. He could eat, he could speak. He said that day he only drank Tea Ji's milk tea, he didn't eat anything else. But after drinking the milk tea, on the way home, an unfamiliar uncle gave him a piece of candy. Grey clothes, smiling. He ate it, and then he vomited blood.
Zhao Xu read that page three times.
"Grey clothes. Smiling. Unfamiliar uncle. Not Qingfeng Tower. Someone used Qingfeng Tower's hand, used Tea Ji's tea, used that child's life—to harm you."
"What do you plan to do?"
"Investigate. Investigate that person. Investigate that candy. Investigate who gave him the candy."
That night, I wrote on a slip of paper: Tea Ji empty. Turnover three strings. Court impeachment, market rumors. Zhao Xu wanted to suppress by edict, I said it won't work. Tea Ji relies on tea. Child woke up—grey clothes candy, smiling. Zhao Xu investigates. Tea Ji still open. Lamp still on.
There was no moon outside the window. The wind was strong, rattling the window paper. The lamp at Tea Ji was still on, orange and warm, swaying in the wind. No one came. But the lamp was on. Waiting for the wind to stop, waiting for people to come, waiting for that person in grey clothes to be found.
[End of Chapter 55]