Female Consort Chapter 76: Leaving the Capital

The next day, Li Qingwu went to the Court of Judicial Review with an umbrella in hand and officially took over the two cases, just as Qiu Che had said.

Acting as regent in the name of the princess naturally invited no small amount of discontent.

However, with Qiu Che still publicly recognized as the Princess Consort, even though they had not divorced and clearly had no intention to, most of the rumors stayed away from Li Qingwu.

She ignored all the noise and focused solely on her investigations.

There were no leads in Yuan Fu’s case. They had previously suspected that the emperor had orchestrated the incident from the shadows, but there were still inconsistencies in that theory.

If the emperor’s aim had been to intimidate Qiu Che, then the timing didn’t quite make sense, Yuan Fu was sent to the execution grounds before Qiu Che had gained any real prominence, and she posed no threat to him at the time.

The execution order came from the emperor himself. If he had also been the one to secretly save Yuan Fu, Yuan Fu wouldn’t call someone else his “benefactor.”

Which could only mean, the emperor might not have been the mastermind at all.

Maybe he simply happened to notice Qiu Che and Li Qingwu growing more disobedient. Maybe he just happened to find out Yuan Fu was still alive. Or maybe… he merely went along with the current.

But with the emperor’s involvement, uncovering the real puppeteer behind the scenes was nearly impossible.

The Li family would never allow them to dig too deeply, they couldn’t afford to have their weaknesses exposed. They would do everything in their power to disrupt the investigation.

As Li Qingwu spoke of this, she exchanged a glance with Qiu Che.

Qiu Che gave a faint, crooked smile. “Sometimes I wonder if he anticipated even this.”

As for the case involving the Qiu family, a certain woman had already entered the Red Sleeve House as a courtesan. But she only shook her head repeatedly, claiming she had simply trusted the wrong person and denying any suggestion of being manipulated.

Qiu Che could only feel pity for her.

With no breakthroughs on that front, Li Qingwu set both cases aside for the time being and turned her attention to the case of the Qiu family’s murdered girls.

Though Qiu Chudong had confessed under the public’s furious pressure, he stubbornly refused to reveal where the bodies of the young girls had been hidden.

For a man already sentenced to death to remain this tight-lipped, there was only one possibility:

The bodies had been moved. An outsider had helped, and that person, seeing Qiu Chudong could no longer be protected, had struck another deal with him, using threats or incentives to buy his silence.

Meanwhile, Qiu Zhe knew nothing. He just wept and wailed about being wrongly accused, crying for the crown prince to come rescue him and make their enemies pay.

He had no idea that with the recent political turmoil, the crown prince hadn’t stepped outside his residence in days, 

Let alone come to anyone’s rescue.

Qiu Che suspected the crown prince was holding back some grand move. His silence didn’t match his usual brash and foolish behavior.

But right now, she has no time to worry about that.

With nothing useful from Qiu Chudong or his son, Li Qingwu and Qiu Che reached a silent agreement to turn their attention to Madam Liu.

If Qiu Chudong wouldn’t talk, and Qiu Zhe didn’t know, what about Madam Liu?

Qiu Che had always felt complicated toward the Qiu family’s official wife.

She couldn’t bring herself to hate her, but she couldn’t say she felt any warmth toward her either.

After being imprisoned with the Qiu men for so long, Madam Liu was pale and gaunt, nearly unrecognizable, more haggard than the father and son combined.

When she looked up and saw Qiu Che and Li Qingwu seated together, she froze for a moment, something unreadable flashing through her eyes.

“This humble woman greets Her Highness, the Princess.”

“Madam Liu,” Li Qingwu nodded and gestured for her to rise. Her tone was gentle. “Let’s speak plainly. We summoned you today for the matter of the missing girls in the Qiu family. Are you aware of it?”

Madam Liu hesitated slightly.

“…I am.”

Both sides seemed momentarily caught off guard by the bluntness. Li Qingwu quickly collected herself, her tone softening even more. “Then do you know where the girls’ bodies were hidden? Who moved them?”

Madam Liu remained silent.

Li Qingwu thought for a moment, then looked at Qiu Che.

Qiu Che smiled slightly, returning her gaze:

Do whatever you think is right. No need to ask me.

Li Qingwu understood.

She steadied herself, then turned back, her eyes clear and resolute. “If you’re willing to speak, it would be a great merit. I will personally report it to His Majesty and request that your exile be revoked, and that you be removed from the Qiu family registry.”

“From that point on, you may go wherever you please. What do you say?”

Qiu Che herself had been removed from the Qiu family registry, still bearing the surname, yet now severed from them entirely.

To be fair, Madam Liu had never wronged her or her mother. In fact, in this repressive era, she was also a victim of the patriarchal system.

Qiu Che knew Li Qingwu had come to the same conclusion.

But what neither of them expected was that Madam Liu, after a long silence, knelt down once more.

“If I tell you everything, will Your Highness spare my son, Qiu Zhe?”

Li Qingwu’s expression grew cold.

Qiu Che let out a quiet laugh and turned her head.

With no answer for a long while, Madam Liu seemed to understand. There was no trace of resentment or defiance, just a faint, bitter smile. “Then there’s no need.”

“No need for what?”

“No need to trouble Your Highness to plead for me,” Madam Liu said, bowing low. “I’ll tell you everything I know, but there’s no need to bargain on my behalf.”

“If my son dies, what would I still be alive for?” she murmured. “A woman who’s been cast off… no husband, no son… that’s the end.”

She closed her eyes and spoke softly, “Perhaps, Your Highness could let me follow my son… to the afterlife.”

Qiu Che could tell, this was no sarcastic jab, no empty words.

Madam Liu meant every word.

She was old. If she left prison with nothing and no one, she couldn’t survive.

For someone raised to believe a woman must follow her husband or son in life and death, perhaps death really did seem like the easier path.

Li Qingwu looked at her for a moment, then said, “As long as you’re sure you won’t regret it… then so be it.”

Madam Liu gave a weary, relieved smile and bowed again.

Then she turned slightly toward Qiu Che. “Before… before the master was imprisoned, I saw someone come to see him, secretly, through the back gate.”

“Who?”

“He was dressed like a guard, but not one from our residence.”

“What did he look like?”

“He wore a bamboo hat, was tall… the rest, I don’t remember,” Madam Liu said. “That night I got up and saw him with a few others, digging in the backyard.”

“You didn’t think that was strange?”

“Of course I did,” she said slowly. “The next morning I asked the master who he was. He suddenly flew into a rage, yelled at me for being up at night… then told me not to ask questions, that it wasn’t something I should know.”

“And after that?”

“I felt uneasy, but didn’t think much of it. Later, when I heard about the girls’ case… I finally realized what they had been digging for.”

Qiu Che’s eyes darkened thoughtfully.

Just as she’d suspected, the timeline aligned with when she had driven Qiu Chudong out of the Princess’s Residence. He had already begun setting the stage for his revenge.

Qiu Chudong had wanted her to suffer, to realize that his reach extended far beyond what she could defend against.

But the one behind the scenes… what they wanted remained a mystery.

But if she guessed correctly, none of them had expected Qiu Che to resort to such a desperate move, to injure herself nearly as much as her enemy, to explode her own spirit force just to prove her innocence.

"One last question," this time, it was Qiu Che who spoke. "Why did you confess?"

Madam Liu clutched at her tattered sleeves like they were her last lifeline.

From a noblewoman wrapped in silks and riches to a disgraced criminal condemned by all, it had only taken one night.

Why had she given in so quickly? Why had she so easily spilled all of Qiu Chudong's secrets?

Just when Qiu Che thought she wouldn’t answer, two bailiffs stepped forward, yanked her up from the ground, and began dragging her away.

On the wind came her faint, almost inaudible voice:
“…I once had a daughter too.”

She had believed, for years, that her child had been stillborn. She had mourned for a long time.

It wasn’t until she was imprisoned that she overheard idle chatter among the guards, about a shocking case involving a young girl.

Only then did she begin to understand the truth.
She had served, with genuine devotion, the very man who had killed her daughter. For over ten years. Had even fought with other women for his affection. Had turned bitter and sharp, all for him.

In the end, the one who had lost everything, who had become the biggest joke, was herself.

The night before Qiu Che's departure, Yang Qiu held a farewell banquet for her at Linglong Pavilion.

He was already used to Qiu Che’s unpredictability, so even her sudden decision to lead troops north didn’t raise much protest from him.

…Or perhaps he still hadn’t recovered from the blow of Yao Tai’s death.

The dinner passed in heavy silence. One side thinking of the late Yao Tai and the turmoil in court, the other thinking of her looming separation from Li Qingwu, and the long, arduous march to the north.

Only Wu Yiqi ate cheerfully, without a care in the world, gorging himself until his cheeks were round and shiny.

As they stepped out of Linglong Pavilion, Yang Qiu suddenly paused.
“There’s a new storytelling session today. Why not stay and listen before you go?”

Qiu Che hesitated, then shook her head. “No.”

“You’ve never read those old tales? They always say, if you fulfill all your wishes before doing something dangerous, you’ll never come back.”

Yang Qiu gave her a look, half amused, half helpless.

“Once I return in triumph, we’ll have all the time in the world to watch plays.”

Qiu Che had actually wanted to delay her departure until after Yao Tai’s funeral. But the border troops couldn’t wait.

The moment news of the war spread, conscription became inevitable. The capital grew heavy with anxiety, rumors swirling like falling leaves.

Qiu Che took the initiative to submit a memorial, asking that recruitment standards be relaxed, allowing eligible women to enlist.

The moment the memorial was presented, even knowing how sharp-tongued Qiu Che could be, the ministers couldn’t contain themselves. They rose in unison to denounce her, accusing her of sheer recklessness.

Just because Qiu Che knew martial arts didn’t mean other women did.
Letting women onto the battlefield, wasn’t that madness?

This time, Qiu Che didn’t argue back. She let them mock her, but stood firm on her proposal.

Li Shi, plagued by a headache from all the shouting and fearing Qiu Che would stir up more trouble, finally gave in.

Even so, even Yang Qiu thought she was being reckless.
Women, after all, had weaker bodies. The long journey north, was that really something they could manage?

And yet, two days after the recruitment notice went out, to everyone's astonishment, over two to three hundred women came to sign up, excluding the old, weak, and sick.

Some had trained in martial arts from a young age. Some had admired Qiu Che for a long time. Some simply wanted to serve their country.

Qiu Che quickly weeded out those who truly couldn’t endure the demands, and from the rest, formed a fledgling women’s battalion.

Li Qingwu had stayed up all night preparing the case files, just to ensure the Qiu family would be marched to the execution grounds before Qiu Che left.

The day she departed, dawn had barely broken. Li Qingwu and Madam Wang both came to see her off at the gates of the Princess's manor.

Madam Wang was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, fussing nonstop, telling her to take care, to stay safe, to watch her health.

Qiu Che nodded at it all.

She said goodbye to everyone, one by one. When she finally stood before Li Qingwu, the other woman fastened a warm cloak around her shoulders and handed her a bundle full of dry rations.

They looked at each other for a moment. Then Qiu Che asked softly,
“I’m leaving. Don’t you have anything you want to say?”

Li Qingwu parted her lips, hesitated, and finally said just one word: “Take care.”

Qiu Che was stunned. For a long while. Then she smiled.

“Qingwu.”

“Mm?”

“…Come run away with me.”

Li Qingwu’s heart skipped a beat.

But before she could respond, Qiu Che chuckled and said, “Forget it. I misspoke.”

“Keep the capital safe for me,” she whispered, hugging Li Qingwu tight. She pressed a kiss to her earlobe, seen by no one, and her breath misted in the cold air. “Wait for me to come home.”

Li Qingwu: “…Okay.”

Wu Yiqi had been waiting a while. Together, they rode out with the newly formed women's battalion, galloping down the avenue of the capital.

They passed the prison convoy heading in the opposite direction.

Inside one of the prison carts, Qiu Zhe and his son looked out, their gazes complex as they watched Qiu Che ride past in her crisp military gear.

She didn’t look at them even once.

As though their paths, and lives, had forever diverged.

In that moment, everything from her past life dissolved into smoke.

Everything was cause and consequence.

The people lined the streets. Word had spread quickly, and many had come to see her off. Some with tears in their eyes, some with doubt at the idea of a female general, and others shouting:

“General Qiu! You must return in triumph!”

Qiu Che smiled at them, one by one.

In the murmurs of the crowd, a little girl with twin pigtails tugged her mother’s hand and looked up at the heroic figure on horseback.

“Ma, who’s that pretty big sister?”

“That’s our great general. She’s going off to protect the country.”

“…Girls can be generals too?”

Her mother froze, then looked at the silent but resolute women riding behind Qiu Che. She smiled through tears and said:

“Of course.”

The sky had begun to pale in the east.

Night was over. Morning had come.