A Taste of Frost - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Rank blood splashed across my face. I shook with exhilaration, even as tears streamed endlessly from my eyes.

I tumbled out of bed, staggered to the window, and slammed it open with my body. Then I threw the murder weapon outside.

Hair flying, I ran to the door and screamed in terror, “Help! An assassin!”

My voice, pitched almost beyond recognition with fear, tore through the still night and carried far.

The marquis’s residence erupted into chaos.

Soldiers came running with torches, too many to count, and surrounded the courtyard Xiao Yu and I shared.

At their head was Xiao Zheng, his trusted general and confidant. Xiao Yu had placed great faith in him; many of his most secret affairs had passed through the man’s hands.

Xiao Zheng stepped into the room and saw his master’s severed head. His face went white. He threw himself beside the body, wailing, “My lord!”

Such a faithful dog.

After weeping for some time, he drew a deep breath and looked up at me. “Did you see the assassin, my lady?”

Suspicion flickered in his eyes in the darkness.

Instead of answering, I sobbed and pointed out the window. “General Xiao, look! There’s a sword!”

Instinctively, he followed my finger and spotted the bloodstained blade in the grass.

He froze. After a moment’s hesitation, he climbed out through the window and picked it up.

I followed, wiping my eyes. “And there’s a cord here.”

Xiao Zheng looked down.

He had fought beside Xiao Yu on the battlefield, and his instincts were sharp. The instant he saw the cord, his pupils contracted. Frowning, he reached to pull me back.

“Don’t—!”

A sharp whistle cut him off.

I had already snapped the cord.

The hidden bolts shot out like lightning.

He knocked the first aside with the sword.

The second pierced his throat.

By the time the other soldiers realized something was wrong and rushed over, he was beyond saving. His eyes stared wide, unable even to close in death.

No one had heard our exchange.

Nor had anyone noticed the crossbow I had secretly fixed in a tree opposite us during the day.

The cord broke.

The bolts flew.

Within a single night, both Xiao Yu and Xiao Zheng were dead. Xiao Zheng had even died in full view of others, yet the assassin had vanished without a trace. The gruesome murders shook the whole of Shengjing.

The emperor flew into a rage. He gave Zhou Mu, chief justice of the Court of Judicial Review, fifteen days to solve the case.

The following day, Zhou Mu invited me to the court for questioning.

An invitation, supposedly. The officers behaved as though they were arresting a criminal.

Zhang Hu, another of Xiao Yu’s deputy generals, slammed his hand on the table and sprang up.

“Our lord’s body isn’t even cold! What scum dares disrespect his widow? Do you think there’s no one left in this household?”

He was an honest man, and loyal, too. Neither quality had endeared him to Xiao Yu, who had neglected him.

“Please don’t be angry, General Zhang. My husband and I loved each other dearly. With him so cruelly taken from me, life holds nothing for me, and I wish only to follow him. But his murderer is still at large. If I can avenge him, there is no humiliation I will not endure.”

Tears in my eyes, I bent low before everyone.

“My lady, you mustn’t!”

Zhang Hu hurried to raise me. He stiffened as something slipped into his palm.

I gave him a long look. “My maid Songlu and I are very close. Please look after her for me. I would be most grateful.”

Then I turned and left without another pause.

After a day and a night in the women’s prison, an officer took me to see Zhou Mu.

We passed a torture chamber on the way. Inside, a prisoner was a bloody ruin, screaming without cease.

The officer smiled at me. “Do you know what that punishment is called, my lady? Dripping lead. We strip the prisoner, bind him to a bed, and fill that implement with molten lead or boiling oil. Then we sprinkle it over him using certain special techniques. Makes him suffer something awful.”

“Does it?”

I paused, watching the agony on the prisoner’s face with interest.

“How fascinating,” I said in all sincerity.

Others must have been terrified out of their wits at the sight.

Perhaps I was unusual.

The jailer gaped at me, speechless for a long time.

Once they had searched me and confirmed I carried nothing sharp enough to hurt anyone, the jailer led me into a reasonably clean cell.

No rats or cockroaches. No bloodstains that could never be scrubbed away. No unbearable reek.

There was even food and wine on the table.

I had eaten nothing since being locked up, and the fragrance tormented my empty stomach.

I cautiously raised my eyes to Zhou Mu at the head of the table. He was in his forties, with a straight nose and a broad mouth, but dark shadows lay unmistakably beneath his eyes.

The marks of excessive indulgence.

Xiao Yu had told me that he came from humble origins and belonged to the crown prince’s faction. To please his patron and secure promotion, he fabricated charges and filled the imperial prisons, eliminating the crown prince’s opponents like a man possessed.

As for his private tastes, there was nothing complicated about them.

Women.

Tears spilled from my eyes. I dropped to my knees, shuffled forward, and clung to his leg.

“Please, Lord Zhou, find the true murderer quickly! Avenge my husband!”

The crown princess, Lu Huashang, was the greatest beauty in Shengjing. I resembled her. One can imagine the rest.

Zhou Mu drew a sharp breath and waved his hand.

The jailer withdrew. Behind him, the cell door locked.

Once we were alone, Zhou Mu reached down to lift me. “Get up, my lady, get up. His Majesty has entrusted me with this case. Of course I shall find the murderer and avenge the young marquis. However…”

His tone shifted. He assumed a troubled expression.

“I have heard someone has accused you of murdering your husband.”

I stared, trembling all over. “Who would slander me so? Bring them here, my lord! Let them confront me to my face!”

“Don’t be frightened. Naturally, I trust you. Why else would I have brought you here to speak in private? Come, have some wine to warm yourself.”

He handed me a cup.

I gave a desolate smile and drank it, then poured him a cup in return.

We drank back and forth until the pot was empty. His face flushed deeply; his speech began to slur.

Then the beast in him broke free. He threw me to the floor and tore open my skirt.

Cold swept over my skin as scraps of fabric fluttered like butterflies.

I did not scream.

While struggling to evade him, I merely happened to kick the table.

The wine pot fell and shattered across the floor.

Red-eyed and lost in lust, Zhou Mu took no notice. He was pleased with my accommodating little show of resistance.

I seized the nearest piece of broken porcelain, gripping it so hard that it cut my fingers.

The next moment, I dragged it hard across his neck and severed his windpipe.