Song Yaozhu stared blankly at the lamp, her mind going completely blank.

“Last summer, a heavy rain almost blew this house down. After the rain, the temple relit the lamps, but the one for my sister couldn’t be lit no matter what we tried. The abbot said that my sister had been reincarnated, so the lamp could never be lit again. At first, I thought the abbot was just trying to fool me, but now that I think about it, maybe it’s true.”

Song Yaozhu bit her lower lip, not daring to look Xie Liwei in the eye.

"If it's true, I hope that one day, all the lights here will be turned off, and they can all rest in peace."

They were all watching, watching how the murderer would trap himself, watching the people they cared about.

The incense stick in Song Yaozhu's hand was half burned, and the ashes fell on her brightly colored dress. She straightened her numb legs, stood up, put the remaining half of the incense stick into the incense burner, and then took another bunch of incense and lit it.

"With so many people and only three incense sticks, aren't you worried they won't have enough?" she said reproachfully, but her tone was much lighter.

"The princess is right. Next time we come, we should burn more paper money for them. Perhaps we'll also have to use money to smooth things over and get them to protect us."

Song Yaozhu chuckled, her eyes fixed on the incense stick as it burned out completely, until the last bit of ash fell before she said, "Let's go back."

They have other things to do and cannot dwell on those painful memories.

Stepping out the door, Song Yaozhu suddenly stretched out her hand, presenting her palm to him. Xie Liwei smiled and covered her hand with his, their fingers intertwined. Behind them, the candlelight grew brighter and brighter, dancing in the air like a beating heart.

It was already dark when we returned to the city. The autumn night had become bleak, and the wind seemed to hide knives that could cut through people's clothes and send the chill into their skin.

"Let's go to the Peking Opera theater. I heard they've staged a similar play. I'd like to see what it's like."

Qin Yu drove the carriage on a different route, feeling that the prince and princess were now closer. Although this was a good thing, there seemed to be a faint sadness behind the two of them.

He shook his head and suddenly became alert.

"Your Highness and Your Highness, it seems we are being followed."

It's not just a feeling; someone has been watching them ever since they left the city. They just stayed hidden and didn't make a move on the way back. They wouldn't dare to do anything now that they're inside the city.

"Never mind that for now, let's go to the pear orchard."

The theater was packed, mainly because the new play was so exciting. It wasn't just the characters' identities that were so outrageous, but also the sense of immorality that made it impossible for them to stop watching.

People always like to seek out a sense of transgression in literature, because they know they can't do it themselves. That's why they seek such stimulation in some works, just as if they could feel it themselves.

"If you ask me, those two should be drowned in a pig cage! This empress has neither talent nor family background; she only relies on her good fortune in horoscopes!"

"Or you could say that being born into the right family is a skill in itself!"

"Speaking of which, does anyone still remember what happened between Empress Jingxian and her brother?"

Jingxian was Xie Wanqing's posthumous title, which Song Yaozhu disliked, feeling that the name mocked her life.

"Speaking of which, the prince must have been fourteen or fifteen years old back then, right? Perhaps this play was adapted from that rumor!"

"What adaptation? Maybe it's the inside story! Don't you think Empress Jingxian's death was very strange? A fire broke out in the palace and burned everyone in the palace to death! And I heard that the prince was also assassinated at that time. What a coincidence!"

"It seems that the current emperor knew about their impurities, so he killed them to cover up the scandal!"

"Shh! What nonsense are you talking about! The Emperor is deeply in love with Empress Jingxian. If the Empress had really done something wrong, how could the Emperor not have appointed a new Empress by now?"

......

Song Yaozhu knew there were people behind this, as well as their own. Since someone wanted to stir up trouble, then let things become even more chaotic.

Soon, the matter was impeached by the censor and brought to Yuwen Wuji's case.

Yuwen Wuji held back his words and instead asked Li Wei, "What's going on?"

Li Wei spoke cautiously about the prevailing winds among the people, his back already beaded with sweat.

Yuwen Wuji immediately slammed the memorial onto Li Wei's head, "Why didn't you wait until next year to bring this up!"

He paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, anxiously asking Li Wei to find out the wind direction outside again.

This matter is a sore point for Xie Liwei, but it is also his weakness! He is afraid that people will question whether he killed Xie Wanqing!

Xie Liwei and Song Yaozhu both thought of this sensitive issue, so they didn't come forward to clarify the matter. Instead, they kept spreading the idea that "Empress Jingxian died mysteriously" among the crowd, which led many people to start digging deeper into the truth of what happened back then.

But the truth had long been buried, and they naturally couldn't dig it up. This, however, shook public morale.

"What a wonderful woman Empress Jingxian was! When Liuzhou was besieged, it was she who traveled thousands of miles to Jizhou to obtain grain and supplies, preventing the people of the city from starving to death."

"Yes, yes, when the Western Rong invaded, it was she who persuaded several princes to stop the civil war and fight against the foreign enemy together, so that the Western Rong would not take advantage of our Great Chen territory!"

"Alas, after the founding of the nation, it was Empress Jingxian who established charity bureaus in various places, preventing so many children from starving to death and providing shelter for abandoned and homeless women. Such a good person, it's a pity that heaven is jealous of talent!"

All of this praised the late Empress Xie Wanqing to the skies. The earlier storybook, "The Charming Prince and the Beautiful Empress," had long been forgotten.

"How could such a good empress do such a thing! This is all just nonsense written by people today!"

"Exactly! The person who wrote this book is utterly wicked! I hope his guts rot and his stomach rots!"

Suddenly, the voices criticizing the storybook grew louder, and some students even organized themselves to go to Chenliu to pay homage to the late empress.

Meanwhile, Mr. Peach Blossom's masterpiece, "The Bright Moon Shines in the Sky," was published. The story also features a brother and sister who are not related by blood but support each other. Initially, they are family, but after the sister is tricked into marriage by a scumbag and suffers his revenge, she no longer believes in love. At this point, her brother asks her if she will marry him.

The older sister was initially reluctant because, although they weren't blood-related siblings, she considered him her own brother. But gradually, she realized that her brother had long since grown up and was someone she could rely on, so she slowly opened her heart and eventually married him.

After reading this book, Mr. Peach Blossom's readers commented, "Has Mr. Peach Blossom recently started eating vegetarian food?"

"What is this?! Tell me what this is?!" Cao Jing, who had rushed from the escort agency to the Prince's mansion, grabbed Ji Ming's collar and shouted, "How could you write such a beautiful love story! No way!!! This kind of thing will rot our brains! Weaken our will! Turn us into useless trash who can't even depend on anyone! You were only supposed to write mindless erotic novels!!!"

Ji Ming: "......"

If you want to die, don't stop me!