Chapter 113 I'll choose only one, and see the mountain myself...

The vast and empty Zichen Palace was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Light gauze curtains fluttered in the wind.

The palace maids knelt on the ground, their minds filled with thoughts of marrying the emperor's son and gaining immense wealth and honor—a single step to heaven. What woman in the world could refuse such a dream come true?

Lady Zhang will not only have a beautiful and noble imperial prince in her arms, but also a path to heaven personally paved for her by His Majesty. This is truly a great fortune and joy in her life!

Zhang Ting lowered her eyelids, making it impossible to see the expression on her face. However, her left hand slowly clenched, tightly gripping the hem of her robe, as if she was trying her best to suppress something.

A numb, stinging pain shot through her knees; her lips were pale, and she could barely feel her lower limbs.

This is the consequence of opposing imperial power; if she refused, her fate would only be more tragic.

The hall fell silent.

Zhang Ting pursed her lips, loosened her grip on the hem of her robe, and replied in a hoarse voice, "I am deeply grateful for Your Majesty's favor, but I feel unworthy of it. My husband... since he married me, he has been strict in managing the household, filial to his parents and respectful to his elders. Although we have no children, he has been with me from humble beginnings to where I am today. I am deeply grateful for all the affection and kindness he has shown me, and I cannot ignore him or abandon him."

"I am ashamed of Your Majesty's misplaced favor, Zhang Ting is guilty of a grave crime!" She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and kowtowed on the ground.

I thought regret would grow in my heart, but all that remained was the freedom of letting go and the ease of shedding a heavy burden.

Perhaps today's ending was already predetermined three years ago when we went to the mass grave to find Zong Suyi.

She was too soft-hearted to kill him back then, which led to this predicament.

As for whether it will be a bad outcome or a good outcome?

Zhang Ting thought that there are always some people who cannot be easily discarded like when interests are divided. Whether today's outcome is good or bad, she is happy with it.

There was no sound in the main hall for a long while.

Everyone was astonished by her choice.

Emperor Chengtai laughed heartily, then roared, "You, surnamed Zhang, are so devoted and loyal, yet I'm the one who's separating you two!" She sneered and flicked her sleeve, her voice as venomous as she looked at Zhang Ting, "There are countless top-ranking scholars under heaven, and talents are as plentiful as carp crossing a river; we don't need just one more like you, Zhang Ting. And what the capital has in abundance is clever people who are both useful and obedient!"

Zhang Ting touched the ground with his forehead, closed his eyes briefly, and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me."

Emperor Chengtai stared intently at her, his gaze filled with ruthlessness and hatred. Suddenly, he let out a sneer, "If you want to uphold loyalty and righteousness, then go back to your home and uphold them! What kind of official are you? Go and live a life of debauchery with your lowly servants!"

Zhang Ting felt a lump in his throat. He bit his lip and struggled to his feet, supporting himself with his hands on the ground. He looked at her with a solemn expression and said, "Your Majesty, Zong Suyi is the grandson of the deposed Crown Princess and your own great-grandson. She is by no means a lowly or contemptible person."

Emperor Chengtai was momentarily speechless, then flew into a rage. Was she going to lecture him?

Well, who gave her the audacity to do that! Deceiving the emperor wasn't enough, she even turned around and rebuked herself?

"Get out! Get out of here!!"

The palace maids inside the palace were silent as cicadas in winter; since Her Majesty ascended the throne, no one had ever dared to refute her mistakes.

"May Your Majesty be well. Zhang Ting takes her leave." She said weakly, then turned and limped out. One step her legs stiffened and she couldn't put any strength in them, so she stumbled and fell to the ground. Everyone in the hall watched her make a fool of herself with cold eyes, and the corners of their mouths seemed to be filled with a hint of mockery.

Zhang Ting braced herself on her elbows, pursed her lips, and got up from the ground again, stumbling slowly as she walked outside.

Once outside the main hall, the palace maids avoided her like the plague, and no one even came out to guide her.

She dragged her stinging, numb feet home, step by step.

As she passed by officials coming off duty, several familiar colleagues were about to greet her happily when they saw her, but they were pulled aside by those around them and said something, and then fell silent.

On the way, she also saw Fang Ting and Luo Zijun.

"Sister!" Luo Zijun called out to her, but Fang Ting forcibly dragged her away.

The head of the Hanlin Academy glanced at her with a disdainful smirk, as if she were some kind of trash, and turned away without a care.

The five ministers who once vied for her wouldn't even deign to cast a glance at her.

Zhang Ting used to be the center of attention, surrounded by admirers wherever she went. Now, with her downfall, everything has changed and everything has fallen apart.

At the end of the road, she saw Xu Pin standing there quietly, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

Limping and staggering over, Zhang Ting asked in a hoarse voice, "Is Prime Minister Xu waiting for me? Are you satisfied with the result you saw?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Pin clapped his hands and chuckled twice, patting her shoulder gently. "Both thunder and rain are the Emperor's grace, Lord Zhang should take good care of it." He glanced down at her knees and clicked his tongue lightly. "Lord Zhang must have suffered quite a bit today, right? Go back to your residence and rest well."

Xu Pin's kind smile turned cold. "You don't need to come on duty anymore."

Zhang Ting smiled back at her, "Thank you for your concern, Xu. However, whether I can be on duty depends on His Majesty's decision. You have overstepped your bounds."

Xu Pin's smile froze.

"This humble official takes his leave."

Zhang Ting bypassed her and walked forward, stumbling along the path, taking more than half an hour to reach the gate.

But misfortunes never come singly; the carriages in the mansion had vanished, and the gate of the mansion was deserted.

Zhang Ting bent down and rubbed her numb knees, her brow furrowed with deep exhaustion, before limping home.

Some officials around her were happily riding together in carriages, while others were joyfully traveling in groups. Only she walked alone, disheveled and dejected, down on her luck, into the alley.

She finally reached home, and it was already close to dusk. An unprecedented sense of weakness and exhaustion washed over her. She leaned against the doorframe to steady herself, and after a while, continued walking.

...

Zong Suyi heard from her senior sisters about what happened in court today. The coachman had also been driven back, and the people sent to find Zhang Ting had not yet returned.

He paced back and forth in the courtyard, so anxious he was about to cry.

This situation is all because of him, it's all his fault!

Where did the wife go?

Suddenly, a series of heavy footsteps sounded ahead. Zong Suyi looked over sharply, then widened her eyes and covered her mouth in disbelief.

The person he was longing for was limping toward him, her unsteady gait comical. Her official robes were filthy, and the once elegant and graceful wife of the top scholar now had a face as pale and thin as paper, her hair disheveled.

His tears fell uncontrollably, flowing like a river that he couldn't stop. He rushed over and embraced his lover, his vision blurred by tears, and he cried out hoarsely, "It's all because of me, I'm sorry Zhang Ting, I've dragged you into this! I'm sorry..." His voice was broken and so low that it was almost inaudible.

Zhang Ting straightened his bent knees with all his might, gently stroked his thin back, and wiped away the tears on Zong Suyi's face with a faint smile, "Why are you crying? If others want to harm me, they will find someone else if they don't use you as a raft."

Zong Suyi looked at her still gentle and considerate lover, silently shed tears, and shook her head in anguish.

It's all because of him, it's all his fault!

He's a jinx who harms himself and others! He should have just committed suicide when he was demoted to a slave, why did he have to live to bring trouble to his wife!

Zong Suyi gripped her hand tightly against his face, tears streaming down his face as he begged her, "Zhang Ting, please give up on me... please give up on me..." If he had just given up on her, he wouldn't be in such a sorry state. It was all his fault, all his fault.

His gaze was fixed on her, his heart aching as if it were being torn apart, the pain making it hard to breathe.

Zong Suyi felt as if his heart was being torn apart, and he choked back tears as he turned his head away: "Go and marry... Xu Pin's eldest grandson." His lips trembled slightly as he spoke of something he had never wanted to accept before, even at the cost of his life.

Looking at his lover's weak and pale face, Zong Suyi thought, if he were dead, would his wife not be in such a sorry state and suffer so much from being bullied?

In that way, the wife could not only live in harmony with the eldest grandson of the Prime Minister's family, but also rise to prominence, and perhaps... that man could even give birth to many babies for the wife.

Zhang Ting maintained a gentle smile throughout, wiping away his tears again and again. "Why would I marry him?" she asked, lifting one foot and swinging it. "He wouldn't even look at a cripple like me. I can only condescend to be a match for a crybaby like you."

Zong Suyi was amused and wanted to laugh, but she managed to force out a smile that looked worse than a grimace.

She stroked his swollen eyes and comforted him instead: "Even if you can't serve as an official in the court, your wife can still live a good life. At most, you'll just have to start over in another field. I know this very well, Zong Suyi, don't cry."

Zong Suyi threw herself into her arms again, clutching her clothes and sobbing uncontrollably, "I'm sorry..."

Although he had been freed from slavery over the years, the memory of his entire clan being executed and his origins as a slave remained a shadow hanging over him, causing him to feel anxious and uneasy every single day.

He dared not observe the three-year mourning period, nor go to pay respects during the Qingming Festival. He had to hide so that others would not know his background and cause trouble for his wife.

Zhang Ting ruffled his hair. "This day was bound to come sooner or later, it just came a little earlier." She put her arm around his shoulder and led him into the house. "Things will work themselves out."

Strangely enough, the heavy mood that I had felt upon returning home had completely vanished.

This day truly showed that true friendship is revealed in times of adversity.

Luo Zijun arrived at Zhang's residence just one step behind Zhang Ting, where she comforted her and offered many suggestions.

Fang Ting arrived under the cover of night, offering her words of comfort and warmth.

The teachers and senior students were equally enthusiastic, but Qiu Yuan never visited them in person or corresponded with them.

Kindness is revealed in times of crisis.

Time will help her select the friends she can best befriend.

...

The sky is high and the clouds are light, birds are singing and flowers are blooming.

The sun was blazing outside, and a hot wind was blowing, filling the air with the scent of heat.

Zhang Ting hadn't been on duty for a long time, spending her days at home tending to her flowers and plants and reading miscellaneous notes. She found these days quite interesting.

One day, Zhang Shu called her to his side alone, stood with his hands behind his back, and said, "Have you thought this through? Do you really want to choose her?"

"This disciple is certain."

"Why did they choose her?" Zhang Shu glanced at the clean desktop, thinking of that person's distorted appearance and personality, and suddenly felt powerless about life.

"Then I understand." Zhang Shu licked his lips. "I will do as you wish."

Anyway, she considered it as doing a good deed. That scoundrel Ning Yuanzhi hadn't come to see her for a long time. If the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain myself.

They will eventually tear Ning Yuanzhi's facade apart.