Chapter Sixty-One That Night (Part 1)

Gazing in the direction of the prison of the Judicial Office, Mu Lian could still faintly hear the heart-wrenching roar of Prince Li Chong of Ruyang, and the scene of that night replayed in her mind...

The night was as dark as ink, and the palace was as deep as the sea. Layer upon layer of palace gates and majestic halls stood silently in the darkness, like lurking beasts. Mu Lian's figure moved so fast that only a blurry afterimage remained. With an almost instinctive grasp of the palace guards' shift changes, she bypassed squads of visible and hidden sentries, moving as if into an empty field, straight to the depths of the inner palace, to the place where the Empress governed—the Zichen Palace.

The commander of the Imperial Guards on duty outside the palace was the Empress's most trusted confidant. He was as imposing as an iron tower, his face as resolute as a stone carving, and his eagle eyes gleamed sharply in the darkness. When that figure, almost blending into the night, suddenly appeared beneath the steps of the palace, radiating a chilling aura, the commander's hand instantly gripped the hilt of his sword, his entire body tensed, and a sharp killing intent silently spread out.

"Who goes there?!" The deep, stern question rolled like a muffled thunderclap.

Mu Lian abruptly stopped and flung aside the veil. A few stingy rays of moonlight streamed down, barely illuminating her deathly pale face and her eyes, burning with the flames of revenge yet as cold as ancient ice. She met the commander's sharp, piercing gaze without uttering a word, simply and swiftly pulling from her robes the black iron token—a symbol of the highest authority within the "Court of Judicial Affairs," bestowed by the Empress herself.

The token gleamed with a cold, eerie light, and the ancient character "慕" on it resembled the eye of an abyss.

The commander's gaze lingered on the token for a moment before abruptly returning to Mu Lian's face. He saw the almost overwhelming resolve and sorrow in her eyes, and the undeniable, profound tremor emanating from the depths of her soul. His hand slowly released its grip on the hilt of his sword, and he stepped aside to make way, saying softly, "His Majesty has not yet retired for the night, Commander Mu, please." His voice carried a barely perceptible weight. He knew the weight of this commander of the Judicial Office, and understood that unless something truly dire had occurred, she would never have entered the Forbidden City in this manner at this time.

The heavy doors of the Zichen Palace were silently pushed open a crack. Mu Lian slipped inside. Only a few palace lanterns burned dimly within. The Empress was not seated behind her desk, but stood with her hands behind her back before a massive screen depicting mountains and rivers. Dressed in casual clothes, her back was as straight as a pine tree, yet in the dim light, she exuded a heavy, authoritative aura, as if she controlled the universe. A faint, calming scent of ambergris permeated the air.

Mu Lian's footsteps echoed clearly and forlornly on the smooth, mirror-like gold-brick floor. She walked to the foot of the imperial steps, stopping about ten paces from the Empress's back. There was no curtsy, no greeting. She simply knelt heavily on the ground with a thud. The dull thud sounded particularly startling in the silent, empty hall.

She raised her head, gazing at the Empress's retreating figure. All the grief and indignation, all the blood feud, and all the turmoil she had forcibly suppressed in the study found their only outlet at this moment. Her hands trembled as she solemnly took out, one by one, the pieces of evidence stained with the blood of the Mu family and branded with the heinous crimes of the Prince of Ruyang, and raised them high above her head.

"Your Majesty..." Mu Lian's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping, each word seemingly forced out from the depths of his throat, from his broken heart, laced with scalding blood: "Your subject, Mu Lian, broke into the Forbidden Palace at night, a crime deserving of death! Yet, the blood feud is irreconcilable! The fate of the nation hangs in the balance! Your subject... dares to testify..." Mu Lian's voice was not loud, but it contained a power strong enough to tear the soul apart, echoing in the empty hall.

The Empress paused almost imperceptibly upon hearing the words "blood feud" and "the nation in peril," then slowly turned around. The hall was dimly lit, obscuring her face; only her eyes, like bottomless, icy pools, calmly rested on Mu Lian's raised hands, on the scrolls, papers, and scraps of cloth. That gaze was deep and cold, seemingly capable of piercing through all illusion.

"Speak." The Empress's voice was calm and even, containing only one word, yet it carried immense weight.

Mu Lian took a deep breath, forcibly calming her almost collapsing mind, and first unfolded the portrait of her mother. The silk was spread out in the dim light, and the face of the person in the painting was vaguely visible.

"This painting, I obtained from the secret shrine in the study of Prince Ruyang. The person in the painting is my birth mother, the widow of the Mu family." Mu Lian's voice trembled with extreme pain. "The inscription on the corner of the painting, 'To have it is my fortune, to lose it is my fate,' is written by Prince Ruyang himself. My mother's chance encounter by the Luo River years ago became the beginning of his mad obsession! The entire Mu family..." Her throat tightened violently, and she could barely speak, "...the bloodshed of one hundred and thirty-two people, the root of which was this beast's insane madness of 'to destroy' what he 'lost'..." Then, she unfolded her father Mu Zhengqian's secret letter, each word filled with tears, and the cold order issued by Prince Ruyang's mansion, declaring the extermination of the Mu family.

"This is my father Mu Zhengqian's last secret letter. It clearly states that on the way back from Luoyang, he personally witnessed Prince Ruyang, Li Chong, secretly meeting with the special envoy from the Southern Frontier at Yehu Ridge! The discussion was not only about salt and iron smuggling, but also involved the crucial defense of our border. My father, loyal to the emperor and the country, wanted to secretly report to the emperor and impeach this treacherous villain! However, this letter was intercepted, which led to... led to..." Mu Lian's voice was once again overwhelmed by immense grief. She pointed to the order to exterminate the entire family, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably, "...leading Prince Ruyang to order the slaughter of all 132 members of the Mu family, the burning of the old house, and the destruction of the evidence..." Finally, Mu Lian held up the blood-stained border defense map, the usurped dragon jade seal, the torn corner of the dragon robe, and the densely packed list of his henchmen.

"This map is a secret document about our border defense, stolen by Prince Ruyang in collusion with an enemy state! This seal is a dragon-patterned jade seal he forged and usurped! This cloth is a corner of his hidden dragon robe! This list is a register of his traitorous cliques spread throughout the court and the country! Witnesses, physical evidence, and confessions are all linked together! Prince Ruyang, Li Chong, colluded with an enemy state, framed loyal officials, slaughtered entire families of ministers, usurped the imperial regalia, and plotted treason! His crimes..." Mu Lian suddenly raised her head, her bloodshot eyes fixed on the throne, and roared out her final accusation with all her might, each word filled with blood and each sound like a knife, "...His crimes are too numerous to count, he deserves to die! I beg Your Majesty—to make your judgment!"

As the last word fell, Mu Lian seemed to have all her strength drained away. Her raised hands fell limply, scattering the heavy evidence onto the cold, gold-brick floor. She bent over, her forehead slamming heavily against the hard ground with a dull thud. Her body trembled violently from extreme grief and anger, and an uncontrollable sob escaped from her clenched teeth, suppressed and desperate, echoing in the empty, deathly silent hall like the final lament of a wounded lone wolf.

In that instant, she laid bare her shattered soul, the injustice done to her hundreds of family members, and all the evidence she could gather about the traitor's crimes, without reservation, on the cold floor tiles that symbolized the highest power of the empire.