Chapter 219 Sharing the Same Ground: A Crime worthy of Extermination

In the small pavilion by the lake, Lou Cangyu hurriedly reported to Cui Jin that the Emperor would personally interrogate him two days later. Mu Chenbi neither explicitly said he would come nor refused, but Lou Cangyu felt that the Crown Prince could not possibly miss such a scene. Everyone knew that the Crown Prince favored Xingguo Fang, and at the last moment, he would personally stand up for Xingguo Fang no matter what. The thought of father and son turning against each other was exciting.

"Imperial Preceptor," Lou Cangyu asked curiously, "Princess Runhe, are you very afraid of people?"

Cui Jin raised his one eye, a mocking look on his face. "You saw the princess?"

Lou Cangyu recalled the scenes at the Eastern Palace, seemingly unconcerned about Cui Jin's gaze. "When I went to the Eastern Palace, I happened to see the princess also going to see the Crown Prince. Strangely, the princess only watched from a distance. Even after I left, the princess still didn't dare to go up and greet the Crown Prince. I heard that Princess Runhe is still very young. How come she acts like this even when she sees her own brother?"

Cui Jin's eyes narrowed. "The princess is closest to the crown prince in the palace. Why wouldn't she dare to step forward? She's afraid of you, an outsider."

Lou Cangyu immediately felt wronged. "I was very respectful and exchanged a few pleasantries with the princess. Besides... I was afraid of disturbing the siblings, so I left in a hurry. This matter cannot be blamed on me."

Cui Jin had heard that everyone in the palace had mistaken Mu Chenbi for the Crown Prince, even the eunuch Chang Lu, whose eyesight was failing, had made the same mistake several times. Only Princess Mu Runhe, upon first seeing Ajiu, recognized him as an outsider, and subsequently recognized him at a glance without fail. Cui Jin knew the wonder of the Creator; whatever Heaven deprives you of, it will surely compensate you in another place. Perhaps what it gave Mu Runhe was this keen insight, allowing her to distinguish the real from the fake at a glance.

—When the Crown Prince returned to the palace, Cui Jin had already sensed something was amiss. Mu Runhe's evasiveness confirmed Cui Jin's suspicions. The person in charge of the Eastern Palace was not Mu Chenbi, but a pawn he had been planning for many years: Ajiu.

"Hahahaha." Cui Jin suddenly burst into wild laughter, making Lou Cangyu uneasy, wondering if he had said or done something wrong.

"Does he really think I wouldn't dare kill him? Does he think I only have him as a pawn?" Cui Jin was as crazy as if he were drunk. "When I go crazy, I can even kill myself. Why would I be afraid of a small pawn? Hahahaha, how ridiculous, how ridiculous."

"Imperial Advisor? Imperial Advisor?" Lou Cangyu mustered his courage. "What...what are you saying?"

Cui Jin stopped laughing, grabbed Lou Cangyu by the collar, and frightened Lou Cangyu into not daring to move. "Dare you do something big for me?"

Lou Cangyu dared not refuse him at this juncture, nodding his head vigorously. Cui Jin released his hand, and Lou Cangyu rubbed his neck and coughed violently a few times. Cui Jin was very satisfied with his obedience, turned his back and looked at the frozen pool surface, "The day of the trial in two days is the biggest opportunity of your life, Lou Cangyu. It depends on whether you can seize it."

"Your subordinate begs the Imperial Preceptor for guidance." Lou Cangyu knelt down with a thud.

Cui Jin pointed towards the East Palace, shouting, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Kill? Lou Cangyu looked in the direction Cui Jin was pointing and recognized the location of the Eastern Palace. His body suddenly trembled. "Grand Preceptor... kill him? That's a crime punishable by the extermination of an entire clan. Your subordinate... cannot do it."

Cui Jin lifted Lou Cangyu's pale face and said, "Do you still have a clan to protect? You're all alone, what wouldn't you dare to do? If you succeed, you'll soar to the top; if you fail, you'll just have a worthless life."

“Grand Preceptor…” Lou Cangyu was truly terrified, curling up and shifting his knees. “Cangyu… cannot do such a thing.”

“If,” Cui Jin lowered his voice, “he wasn’t the Crown Prince, could you kill him? Or… you’ve been wanting to do it all along.”

Not the Crown Prince? Lou Cangyu's mind flashed with the face of Mu Chenbi from the Eastern Palace. He was Crown Prince Chenbi, Lou Cangyu recognized the Crown Prince. If he wasn't the Crown Prince, then who was he? On the execution ground… Lou Cangyu closed his eyes tightly, trying to recall. Yes, he had slashed Mu Chenbi's face with his sword, and he clearly heard Guan Ye call out "Mu Chenbi." Why did the Crown Prince show no signs of injury upon returning to the palace?

The person's black hair that covered their brows... and the profile that always turned away just when he was about to see clearly... and... and! Lou Cangyu suddenly realized, and Princess Runhe was hiding behind the jade pillar, too afraid to approach...

He is not Mu Chenbi, he is Ajiu.

“It’s him.” Lou Cangyu murmured, “It’s him…it really is him. He lied to me. I actually…” Lou Cangyu looked down at his knees with self-mockery, “I actually knelt down to him several times…Ajiu, what a…Ajiu.”

"Now you can make your move?" Cui Jin's face was etched with dark, sinister ink, like a ghostly talisman.

Lou Cangyu drew his sword, and on the blade materialized Ajiu, a figure with a scar on her brow bone, staring at him with a mocking expression. Lou Cangyu's face turned crimson, and his hand gripping the sword trembled with rage. "I will definitely kill him."

The day before entering the palace, Feng Shisan led everyone to the grave he had chosen for Xiao Ma. That day, he carried Xiao Ma's body on his back, feeling lost and unsure of where to go. He said he was walking towards an unpredictable future, not knowing where he was going or how long he could carry Xiao Ma. He thought it would be better if he collapsed and died immediately, so that Xiao Ma wouldn't be all alone. He would be brothers with him on the road to the underworld, and they could be brothers again in the next life.

Then he walked to the outside of a cave at the foot of a mountain. The entrance was marked with the words "Immortal Cave." Immortals… Feng Shisan felt, in a daze, that Heaven was guiding him, guiding them to ascend to immortality. Outside the Immortal Cave was an open area—no, Feng Shisan rubbed his eyes—it was a lush, verdant cemetery. Each grave had an inscribed stone tablet. Feng Shisan knew that the poor were simply wrapped in mats and hastily buried; to be buried in a cemetery and receive a stone tablet was a sign of wealth. Feng Shisan turned to look at the little horse dangling on his shoulder. The little horse was named Ma Lin, from the Ma family's mint. The little horse was a first-rate young master of Rongdu's wealthy family. With such a noble status, he should naturally be buried here, enjoying peace and blessings in the next life.

Feng Shisan saw a new grave. The soil on the mound was still soft and fresh. The characters on the tombstone were painted in deep red and read "Tomb of Song Er." Song Er was Song Mian. Like Xiao Ma, he had a beautiful and resounding name, but he could only hide his identity and be called by whatever name people wanted. Song Er, Xiao Ma, Feng Shisan...

If I die one day, will anyone remember that Feng Shisan's real name is... Feng Jian?

"This is it." Feng Shisan pushed away the servant who was supporting him, trying his best to stand up straight. He wanted Xiao Ma to see him in this weak and helpless state, so he would be laughing in his grave. "I thought he and Song Mian were in the same boat, and that he could look after each other in the afterlife, so I dug a hole with my bare hands and buried Xiao Ma here." Feng Shisan pointed to the lower corner of the tombstone, a smug smile playing on his lips. "Can you see anything?"

Guan Ye squatted down and saw four crooked characters carved on the lower corner of the stone tablet: "Xiao Ma is here." Judging from the marks, it must have been Feng Shisan's handwriting. "Xiao Ma is here..." Guan Ye suddenly smiled bitterly, "Young Master Shisan, you don't know how to write the character 'Lin,' do you?"

Feng Shisan blushed and waved his hand, saying, "A true man doesn't concern himself with trifles. A little horse is a little horse. If he can survive, I'll erect a five-foot-high monument for him and have the best craftsman fill in the words, telling the whole story of his life."

“If I can’t survive.” Feng Shisan bent down, grabbed a handful of fresh soil, and scattered it down. “I don’t care if my body is left to rot in the wilderness. Nobody will know that Xiao Ma is buried here. In the next life, he can live a good life for me again.”

Mei Shiyu looked at the two unmarked graves not far away. Perhaps it was someone in the dark who guided Feng Shisan to bring Xiao Ma here. The Ma family could not live together in life for three generations, but they could be together in death.

"Guan Ye," Mei Shiyu said, "you should put the things away safely."

Guan Ye nodded and reached into her bosom. "Besides what was left in Mei Changfeng's body, there is another piece of irrefutable evidence."

"—There's more irrefutable evidence?" Feng Shisan exclaimed in surprise. "What is it?"

Guan Ye stroked the engravings on the stone tablet. "Xiao Ma, can you hear me?" she said. "Do you still remember the package that Xiao Ma always carried with him? The one that Xiao Ma took back from Pei Chong's old house. Inside were the tinderboxes he had painstakingly collected."

“I can’t forget it.” Feng Shisan never really wanted to go back to the island. If time could turn back, he would stay on the island like Ji Yuan and Lou Shitou, not going anywhere, until he died of old age and turned to dust. “Without the tinderbox, we wouldn’t have been able to get into the cave, nor would we have found the dead bones.”

"There's something even more important in the package." Guan Ye stood up and took out a bloodstained piece of folded paper from her bosom. Mu Chenbi remembered that Guan Ye had accidentally found it on Xiao Ma. Lou Cangyu only wanted to kill Xiao Ma, but never thought that Xiao Ma was hiding the most important thing, a key piece of evidence that could prove the Ma family's innocence and identify the mastermind behind it all. "Xiao Ma kept it with him until the very end."

Feng Shisan looked up. He didn't know many characters, but he knew that Xiao Ma was smart and that anything he kept must be useful. Guan Ye said it was physical evidence, so it was irrefutable. Feng Shisan couldn't wait to go to the palace tomorrow.

Mei Shiyu took the folded paper, and a bloody smell wafted towards him. Mei Shiyu forced himself to open it slowly, suppressing his grief and indignation. After looking at the faintly legible handwriting on the yellowed paper, a mixture of joy and unease appeared on his pale face.

"Young Master Mei," Feng Shisan called out, "I can't read all the characters, can you tell me what's written on it?"

Mei Shiyu carefully folded the item according to the marks and handed it back to Guan Ye. He then smiled at Feng Shisan and said, "Now that this item is presented, there is no turning back. However, it seems that none of us will be able to leave the palace. Young Master Shisan, this matter is too big for your sword to handle."

"Hahahaha." Feng Shisan laughed loudly, "Bigger is better, I'm just afraid it's not big enough."

Guan Ye handed the folded paper to Mu Chenbi, but Mu Chenbi blocked her hand. He wasn't interested in what was written on the paper; he simply tucked Guan Ye's wind-blown hair behind her ear with affection.

Feng Shisanli watched with a sharp look, then coughed and said, "My sword can't handle big things, but I'm still capable of cutting off your hand, Mu Chenbi. You touched my brother's woman in front of me. I'm injured, not dead."

Mu Chenbi smiled at Feng Shisan, "We've been through thick and thin together, so why can't we be brothers?"

Feng Shisan thought it made some sense, and after a moment of thought, he said, "You're a good person and loyal enough, but there are only so many brothers, and not everyone can be one. You're not my brother, but... you can be considered my friend."

"Young Master Thirteen is a man of great righteousness. It is my good fortune to be your friend," Mu Chenbi said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.

"No, no, no." The sudden show of respect was a bit much for Feng Shisan. "Likewise."

"May I ask, Your Highness?" Mei Shiyu stepped between Feng Shisan and Mu Chenbi, his deep-set eyes filled with meaning, "Is Your Highness confident that you can handle something that Young Master Shisan cannot cover up?"

Their eyes met, and everything was understood without words. Mu Chenbi, of course, knew what Mei Shiyu meant. After a long look, Mei Shiyu had clearly gotten the answer he wanted from Mu Chenbi's eyes.

“If Your Highness cannot say it, someone has already devised a plan for you.” Mei Shiyu took a deep breath, his sunken eyes slowly sliding down to the sword in Mu Chenbi’s hand. Mei Shiyu remembered very clearly that this sword did not belong to Mu Chenbi.

Ajiu. Guan Ye's heart skipped a beat. Before she could say anything, Mu Chenbi's fingertip touched her slightly parted lips, and he shook his head at her.