Early in the morning, fine snowflakes were falling, and the sky above the Forbidden City was overcast.

It's almost February, but the weather is still as cold as the coldest days of winter.

Shen Qingchen arrived at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices early in the morning and had just finished some official business. She was about to go to the Ministry of Rites to have Song Yue assign her some specific tasks when she passed by the back hall and heard her colleagues discussing the memorials.

An official submitted a memorial impeaching none other than the Ming Emperor, Zhu Rui.

The memorial reportedly read as follows: "Immortals, Buddhas and Taoists, imperial relatives, female attendants, sensual pleasures, material gains, and wondrous skills and crafts are all things Your Majesty has long been infatuated with, and those around you and your close associates have been tempting you in turn... Recently, ominous signs have appeared in the heavens, which are Heaven's admonitions and warnings. Therefore, Your Majesty is expected to be cautious in your words and deeds..."

After listening to the report, Qingchen quickly realized something, frowned, and returned to her cell. Given what had happened, Song Yue must have been summoned to the Qianqing Palace and wouldn't be at the Ministry of Rites; she wouldn't be able to find him there now.

She hadn't yet figured out the mystery behind the pattern that appeared at the entrance of the Imperial Observatory and Xu Yan's residence, and now a memorial related to it had suddenly appeared.

It's not unusual for a lowly official to dare criticize the emperor, nor is it unusual for a memorial to list the emperor's numerous crimes with sharp and unreserved language. What is unusual is that this memorial uses the strange blood-written pattern from two days ago, interpreting it as an ominous sign from heaven.

Such actions by the emperor were so outrageous that even Heaven could not tolerate them. How could this not shock the emperor and cause an uproar throughout the court and the country?

What Qingchen couldn't understand was why this memorial had appeared so coincidentally.

She sorted out her thoughts; there were essentially two possibilities. One was that the memorial had been written long ago, and the author added the "divine omen" explanation to bolster its persuasiveness, coinciding with the blood-stained image incident. However, the image was clearly man-made, and the omen explanation would easily be debunked. Another possibility was that the memorial's original intention wasn't to advise the emperor, but rather it existed solely for some purpose, to complement the image's significance…

If it's the latter, then what is the purpose of the person doing this?

Just as Qingchen was wondering what was going on, the Director of the Imperial Observatory was summoned to the Qianqing Palace. At the same time, the Grand Secretaries had just left the hall.

Zhu Rui sat on the gilded dragon throne, his face dark and gloomy.

He had spent the night making love with Consort Zheng, and when he woke up this morning he felt a little weak. He was already annoyed by his advancing age and declining strength, and after reading this memorial, he became even more displeased.

In the past, there were often memorials criticizing him, but they were always turned away by Xu Yan, who never saw such offensive language. This time, however, Xu Yan was shocked by the bloodstains thrown on his door and took leave, so the memorial was submitted directly to him as if by magic.

Being insulted wouldn't be a big deal; anyone who dared to insult the emperor was probably courting death. He could simply beat the insulter or execute them. But this time, the difficulty lay in the "divine omen." Zhu Rui was the "emperor," and he could disregard everything else, but he couldn't disregard the heavens.

On one hand, he didn't believe it was any kind of celestial omen at all. A few buckets of sheep's blood and a strange pattern—and they dared to call it a celestial omen? Zhu Rui wasn't stupid; he wasn't so easily fooled. On the other hand, things related to the heavens were hard to refute. Because the late emperor practiced Taoism, he had been forced to write Taoist eulogies since childhood. Seeing his father sincerely worship Heaven and live to such a long age, he still held the heavens in the highest esteem.

Therefore, Zhu Rui, conflicted, first detained the official who submitted the memorial, and then summoned Zhang Cong, the director of the Imperial Observatory, to interpret the so-called celestial omen.

"Lord Zhang, I have heard that this matter happened to you personally. What are your thoughts?" Zhu Rui asked, frowning slightly.

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Zhang Cong knelt down with a thud, his forehead hitting the ground as he said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me... Your subject, Your subject dares not speak."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Rui's expression grew even more unpleasant, but he could not disobey the will of Heaven, so he said in a deep voice, "I forgive you for your innocence, speak quickly."

“After that strange blood-red map appeared at the gate, I observed the celestial phenomena last night and found that since the night before last, the Ziwei star has been dim and unclear. Last night, the star became even dimmer due to its unusual movement, while Sirius was shining brightly…” Zhang Cong said tremblingly, “I suspect that the appearance of that blood-red map must have a reason, and I’m afraid, I’m afraid it’s related to Your Majesty.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Rui instructed the eunuch Huang Heng to fetch pen and ink for Zhang Cong. "I haven't seen what the pattern looks like yet. Draw it for me and tell me how it relates to me."

Zhang Cong accepted the order and lay down on the ground to draw a pattern—a circle on top, a dot in the middle, and the character "太" (tai) below.

After he finished drawing, Huang Heng took the drawing paper and handed it to Zhu Rui.

Zhu Rui stared at it for a while but couldn't figure it out. He just felt that the character "太" looked a bit off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. "Tell me," he said, "what does it mean?"

"Your humble servant dares to say that the circle above, with a dot in the middle, forms the character 'sun,' which represents the sky. Under the sky, all is earth, so under the sun should rightfully be Your Majesty. And in this picture, under the sun is... is..."

"What is it?" Although he already had a vague answer in his heart, Zhu Rui still asked patiently.

“It’s His Highness the Crown Prince…” Zhang Cong said, kowtowing deeply, “Besides, besides…”

"Besides what?"

“This pattern was drawn with sheep’s blood, and the Emperor’s nickname contains the character ‘lamb’…” Zhang Congyue said, his whole body trembling more and more, and the last half of his sentence was almost incoherent.

Zhu Rui stared at the top of his head and said in a low voice, "You mean to say that the sheep's blood was my blood? Heaven intends for the Crown Prince to replace me and become the master of this world with my blood?"

Zhang Cong simply kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Your Majesty, I dare not. I only spoke according to the unusual celestial phenomena and the patterns depicted. Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty, please forgive me..."

"I'd like to see who dares to take my blood!"

The Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

Huang Yu, the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, arrived at Qingchen's cell door, leaned against the door, and knocked.

Qingchen was slightly taken aback, then quickly put down his pen, stood up, and bowed, "Greetings, Lord Huang."

Huang Yu looked at the handsome young man in the scarlet robe before him, a slight smile curving his lips. "It's been a while since I've seen you. The last time I saw you, you were wearing a plain blue robe without any rank insignia, sitting on your horse." More than two months had passed, and Shen Shuchang had already been promoted to the fourth-rank official, Lord Shen. Yet he still looked as gentle and serene as ever, with a delicate, jade-like face and clear, watery eyes.

He had heard a lot of rumors about her recently, and among the young officials, she had become a hot topic and a popular figure.

Back then, he and Lu Shenyun were in their early twenties, and they won the martial arts championship one after the other. The two of them were quite a sight in the court, attracting the secret affections of many palace maids.

"I wonder what brings Lord Huang to see me?" Qingchen said, gesturing, "Please come in and have a seat, sir."

"I won't sit here. Please go to the Zhenfu Division."

"..." Qingchen was slightly taken aback.

Seeing her expression, Huang Yu couldn't help but smile and explained, "Don't be nervous. It's not that you've done anything wrong. It's just that my Lord Lu has something to say to you. That's why he sent me, a nobody, to personally invite you."

"...Thank you for your trouble, sir."

"It's no trouble. Besides, you're not the one who should be saying that. Let's go."

Upon arriving at the Zhenfu Division, Huang Yu led Qingchen to Lu Shenyun's house, knocked on the door, and then left.

A moment later, a familiar voice came from inside the house, "Come in."

This scene was somewhat similar to when Song Yue brought her to rescue Ming Xiang a few months ago.

Qingchen pushed open the door and entered the room, greeting him politely, "Lord Lu. May I ask why you have summoned me..."

Lu Shenyun glanced at her and simply said, "Sit down."

Officially, he summoned her to inquire about the events at the Xu residence that day. Personally, it had been a long time since he had spoken to her alone like this.

A few months ago, she saved his life, and fate painted a vivid picture of their destiny, making one mistakenly believe that it was enough to seal everything. But after that, it seemed that fate forgot to continue this connection; their destinies never intersected again, and they even met very rarely.

This made him often wonder whether this relationship was profound or superficial.

After Qingchen sat down, Lu Shenyun asked, "What kind of tea would you like to drink?"

"...My lord, you needn't be so polite. I am not thirsty."

“Then I’ll decide for you,” he said, walking to the cabinet, taking out some tea leaves and putting them into a small teapot, then carrying the teapot back. His tall figure paced back and forth in front of her twice.

After brewing the tea, he poured some into the teacup in front of her and gestured, "Drink up."

Qingchen no longer declined, simply nodding, "Thank you, sir. May I ask why you summoned me today...?"

"Do you remember what I told you last time?" He asked abruptly. Snowlight streamed in through the window, softly illuminating his face. His handsome features still held a cool air, yet there was a hint of gentleness in them.

A gentleness that even Lu Shenyun himself was unfamiliar with.

“It won’t change,” he added. “It will never change. Just tell me when you’ve made up your mind.”

"Lord Lu." Seeing that he was no longer the same as before, Qingchen finally couldn't help but interrupt, "I am a man. So are you, my lord."

"So what?" he said softly, looking at her.

“That means that one day in the future, we will both get married and have children, and each of us will have our own lives. It’s impossible for us to be together.” Qingchen looked back at him. “Besides, I don’t like you. Thank you for your kindness and affection, but please forgive me… I cannot accept it.”

The room became very quiet for a moment.

"Sir, I'm sorry."

Lu Shenyun simply looked at her without saying a word.

At this moment, a member of the Imperial Guard rushed in to report that someone had come forward to confess about the pattern drawn in sheep's blood. The person who confessed was the steward of the Marquis of Ningyuan's residence.