Chapter 167 You're still alive after all.
On the first day after the Zhao family's incident, Zhao Qi's students were ordered by the Emperor to go home and reflect on their actions for petitioning the Emperor in court, with no set date for their return.
Whether the official positions will still be vacant by the time they come back to reflect on their actions is uncertain.
After that, no one dared to go to the emperor and say that Zhao Qi was innocent.
Zhao Qi, who was imprisoned in the town, begged Bai Xiuming on the very night of his arrest, saying he was willing to cooperate. Here, no matter how stubborn someone is, a round of torture can pry open their mouth.
In the end, he confessed to all the crimes he should and shouldn't have confessed to.
In his confession, the Zhao family, from top to bottom, followed the lead of the Northern Wilderness King's Mansion, and everything they did to the Shang family was at the behest of the previous Northern Wilderness King. The previous Northern Wilderness King not only wanted the Shang family's wealth, but also their secret methods of cultivating ghost-controlling techniques.
This confession brought no benefit to the Zhao family, but it completely dragged the Northern Wilderness Royal Palace into the mess. One can only imagine that when the former Northern Wilderness King meets Zhao Qi in the afterlife, he will deeply regret not eliminating the Zhao family.
Two days later, Zhao Qi's confession, along with the various crimes committed by the Zhao family over the years, was presented to the emperor. The emperor, with his vermilion pen, approved the verdict and sentenced the entire Zhao family to be executed.
With the downfall of the Zhao family, many officials in the capital were successively dismissed due to their deep ties with the Zhao family.
In just a few days, the case of the Shang family's massacre, which had been over for many years, and the case of the murder of the Princess Dowager of the Northern Wilderness, finally spread throughout the capital.
The murder of the Northern Wilderness King's Dowager Consort was originally a huge event, but now it has been linked to the massacre of her entire family. Anyone who hears the whole story will sigh that the Shang family died unjustly and that the Dowager Consort's family was heartless and insane.
Zhao Qi's good reputation, which he had maintained for decades, was completely ruined in one day.
The Empress Dowager probably never imagined that after her death, others would spit on her and say, "Good riddance."
The outside world's turmoil had no effect on Achan. She continued to mind the shop in the incense store as usual.
After seeing off a customer who had bought incense, she moved a low stool to the outside of the shop. The sun was shining brightly today, and Mr. Xu, the owner of the bookstore next door, was also sitting against the wall, surrounded by several children.
Mr. Xu was telling them the details of the Dowager's murder case. Although the story Mr. Xu told was far from the truth of the case, everyone listened intently without blinking.
Achan rested her chin on her hands, her face slightly turned to the side, listening intently. The warm sunlight shone on her fair face, making it seem as if it were glowing with gold.
Mr. Xu finally finished telling his story. The children weren't scared at all; instead, they clamored for a new story. Mr. Xu had no choice but to continue telling them a new story, while Achan watched them with a smile.
This horrific case of blood relatives killing each other will eventually become a topic of conversation among the people of the capital, and will be passed down from person to person.
But she won't appear in the story.
Ah Chan's eyelids drooped, and Boss Xu's voice gradually faded away. Her consciousness suddenly plunged into darkness.
After the darkness, the brilliant sunlight still shone on her.
At this moment, she was lying lazily on the open ground outside the shop, her fur gleaming golden in the sunlight.
The streets were deserted. Boss Xu, who should have been sitting by the wall, was nowhere to be seen, and Hui Niang was not behind the counter in the shop either.
She was the only one in this world, and a black chain connecting her to the heavens was wrapped around her right hind leg.
The chain swayed back and forth, and the cracking sound kept reaching Achan's ears. Under her gaze, the last chain binding her crumbled inch by inch until it disappeared.
Achan stood up, shook her fur, and her eight tails swayed gently behind her.
She ran for a long time through the empty streets, which seemed to have no end in sight, but she felt no fatigue, only the exhilaration of freedom.
After running around in circles, she returned to her front door. She peeked into the house, but it was still empty.
She had expected something to happen after the last chain broke, but everything went as usual, and none of her expectations came true.
The joy in her heart was slowly replaced by disappointment. Achan sat at the door with her tail drooping to the ground, looking up at the blue sky and making whimpering noises.
"Miss Ji, Miss Ji, what's wrong?"
She heard a hurried call in her ear, and Ah Chan slowly opened her eyes. The person calling her was Boss Xu.
Mr. Xu asked her with some concern, "Is Miss Ji feeling unwell?"
Achan shook her head, then suddenly felt her face was wet. She raised her hand to touch her face, which was covered in tears.
Ah Chan paused for a moment, wondering if she had just cried.
"Should I call a doctor for you?" Boss Xu was still worried.
"It's nothing, I just had a nightmare and got scared," Achan said to Boss Xu with a smile.
Mr. Xu could tell that she wasn't telling the truth, but he didn't investigate further.
Achan glanced at the sky and decided not to stay outside any longer. She took a stool and went back into the shop, where Huiniang was organizing the account books behind the counter.
As she placed the stool in the corner, Achan wondered if everything she had experienced was truly just a lucky accident? It wasn't a deliberate plan, nor was it orchestrated by her parents.
It has been over a year since she became human. She has gotten used to being human, met many people in Beijing, made friends, and found someone she likes. She is happy every day.
It seems like things would be fine to continue like this?
Achan didn't disturb Chen Hui. She walked through the shop and returned to her room in the backyard.
As soon as I entered the room, a sudden wave of drowsiness washed over me, and I could barely keep my eyelids open.
After closing the door, Achan barely made it to the bedside, collapsed onto it, and fell into a deep sleep before she could even take off her shoes.
Ah Chan slept very soundly and didn't wake up until evening when Chen Hui came to call her for dinner.
Seeing that no matter how Chen Hui called her, she did not open her eyes or even react at all, Chen Hui became increasingly worried and specially invited a doctor to her home.
After taking her pulse, the doctor said that Achan was perfectly healthy and was just sleeping normally.
As for why I didn't wake him up, he was probably too tired. Maybe he'll wake up on his own tomorrow morning.
Chen Hui felt that this doctor was not very reliable, so she invited another one over, and this doctor gave the exact same diagnosis as the previous one.
After seeing the doctor off, Chen Hui closed the door. Instead of returning to her own room, she stayed in A Chan's room to watch over her.
On the bed, Achan's breathing remained even, and her complexion was rosy, which gradually calmed Chen Hui's anxious heart.
She finally believed the two doctors; perhaps tomorrow morning, Achan would wake up after she had slept enough.
Just after midnight, the candle on the candlestick burned out, the last ray of light disappeared, and the room was plunged into darkness.
Chen Hui remained seated in her chair, not getting up to fetch a new candle.
Suddenly, a flash of red light appeared outside, followed a moment later by a deafening roar of thunder.
Chen Hui walked to the window and opened it. It wasn't raining outside, but there was thunder and lightning rolling in the sky. For some reason, the lightning was red. Each time it exploded, it looked like a huge red net was spread out, which looked extremely terrifying.
After a few rumbles of thunder, Chen Hui quickly closed the window.
She stared at the sky for a while, and then her heart pounded with fear. The lightning in the sky instinctively made her feel the danger.
At this moment, thunder rumbled everywhere within the Great Xia territory, and many people saw this terrifying sky, with the red lightning resembling scars appearing in the heavens.
When thunder rumbled in the Ming King's mansion, the Ming King pushed open the door and came out.
He stood in the courtyard, looking up at the sky, a look of sadness on his face.
He said softly, "I thought you just didn't want to see old friends, but it turns out you're already gone..."
The five realms have fallen, and heaven and earth grieve together.
My old friend, with whom I once fought side by side, has left for reasons unknown.
With another thunderclap, Ming Wang's figure disappeared from the palace and appeared at Bai Xiuming's residence the next moment.
Bai Xiuming was still awake at this time; more accurately, he had already fallen asleep but was awakened by the thunder.
When the King of Ming arrived, he saw his son standing under the porch, wearing only a thin black robe, frowning and looking up at the sky, seemingly in a bad mood.
"Why do you look so bitter and resentful?" Ming Wang's voice suddenly rang out, but Bai Xiuming was not surprised.
"I'm wondering when this thunder will stop; I have to go to court tomorrow morning."
"vulgar."
Upon receiving the praise of being called "King Ming," Bai Xiuming remained unmoved: "You are not vulgar. You should go and work at the Mingjing Division. I won't have to work so hard."
King Ming immediately shut his mouth, ending the topic.
After listening to the thunder for a while, Bai Xiuming finally asked, "Father, do you know this fallen Fifth Realm cultivator?"
There was only thunder and lightning without a drop of rain. The thunder's appearance was strange and could only be attributed to an unusual celestial phenomenon.
If such a strange phenomenon could be triggered, it doesn't seem like someone emerging from the Fifth Realm; it must mean they have perished.
Last time, the emergence of a fifth-level demon race member failed to alarm my father, but this time he came to find me in the middle of the night, clearly he has something on his mind.
The king did not hide it from him: "Yes, it is a good friend of mine."
Which ethnicity?
"Demon race."
Bai Xiuming frowned slightly, but didn't say anything.
The King closed his eyes, and after a long time, when he opened them again, a dazzling golden light flashed in them.
He said to Bai Xiuming beside him, "My good friend has perished in the wilderness."
"so?"
"After you finish this case, go and pay your respects on my behalf."
The Ming King cannot leave the territory of the Great Xia without permission, but Bai Xiuming can.
"knew."
In the wilderness... Bai Xiuming suddenly remembered the half-demon that A Chan had released when he was in Xiling. It seemed that she had gone to the wilderness.
Perhaps, Achan would like to see her?
Meanwhile, in the northern wilderness, thousands of miles away from the capital.
Above the Northern Wilderness King's Mansion, thunder roared deafeningly, but it had no effect on the people in the study.
Inside the study, a lamp adorned with a hundred pearls hung from the beam, illuminating the large room brightly.
Bai Zhanhuang, dressed in a white, narrow-sleeved, round-necked brocade robe, sat behind a desk, the light of the pearl reflecting on his handsome face, which remained completely devoid of emotion.
At this moment, he was looking down at a gold book that was laid out on the table.
That is the Book of Earth Spirits.
At this moment, the Book of Earthly Spirits was opened. On the left golden page was the name of A Chan, and on the right golden page were the three characters Zhao Mingwei, which was the name of the Dowager Princess of the Northern Wilderness.
Originally, the names on both gold pages were grayish-white, but shortly after the disturbing thunder sounded, the name belonging to Achan on the left gold page seemed to come alive and slowly returned to its original red.
Bai Zhanhuang gently stroked the two words with his fingers and whispered, "Achan, you are still alive."
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