"These words don't seem to come from scriptures. Can they really have such great power? What does 'The true dragon emerges from the sea, the spiritual realm is unified, the phoenix is reborn from the ashes, life is death, and death is life' mean?" Cheng Liang also repeated it once with his master, but he looked completely bewildered.
After a long pause, Xuan Yuanhan seemed to have no clue whatsoever, so he compromised and said, "Forget it, neither of us, master and servant, will be able to guess anything tonight. These words came from Granny Zhang, so why don't you ask her tomorrow where she heard them from? See if she knows anything about them?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang immediately looked troubled, scratching his head and stammering, "Your Highness... this... this subordinate might... have a bit of a problem?"
"Difficult to handle? It's just a question, what's so difficult about it?" Xuan Yuanhan raised his eyes in surprise, then turned around and looked at Cheng Liang with a look of disbelief.
Cheng Liang pursed his lips, gritted his teeth, and said, "Your Highness, you should know that Granny Zhang was a loyal servant of the Dowager Consort her entire life. Eight years ago, when the Dowager Consort died, apart from Granny Zhang, we all truly considered it a pure accident, didn't we? Your Highness is the Dowager Consort's only remaining bloodline. Now, she's worried that Your Highness might also fall asleep and never wake up again, just like the Dowager Consort eight years ago. That's why she took advantage of Your Highness's dying moments to orchestrate everything that happened tonight, and was almost poisoned by Miss Lu's medicine. Whether Your Highness can hear or see this, she only wants to make the real culprit surface and confess their crimes in front of Your Highness." "Take responsibility and pay the price. That way, even if Your Highness really… wouldn't have gone to see the Dowager Consort in such a muddled state. But what about you, Your Highness? If Your Highness weren't sober, that would be one thing, but now that Your Highness is, shouldn't you investigate this matter thoroughly? Your Highness is always fair in rewards and punishments, but tonight why did you insist on only instructing Miss Lu to kowtow and apologize to Granny Zhang? You know perfectly well that this isn't what Granny Zhang wanted. Isn't this Your Highness indirectly protecting Miss Lu? Is it simply because she is Lu Xian's daughter that you are wary of her? Granny Zhang must be heartbroken and utterly disillusioned right now. Perhaps she has already lost all hope in Your Highness? I ask you, Your Highness, in this situation, will she still care about her subordinates?"
Cheng Liang seemed to have finally mustered up a lot of courage, and he angrily uttered such a long string of words in one breath, because he really couldn't understand why his master would protect a murderer like this.
However, Xuan Yuanhan stood aside without uttering a single word of rebuttal. But at some point, he had quietly turned his back, closed his pair of imposing, cold-eyed eyes, and seemed to be lost in deep thought.
After a long while, he suddenly took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes again, and asked Cheng Liang, "Actually, we all know in our hearts that the real murderer is not Lu Tianjiao. She was just playing around and was taken advantage of..."
Before Xuan Yuanhan could finish speaking, Cheng Liang hurriedly interrupted him, angrily shouting, "But doesn't she bear any responsibility at all?"
Xuanyuan Han also raised his voice and roared at him, "Of course she is wrong, but it is not time to alert her yet. Whether it is dealing with Lu Tianjiao or making the entire Lu family apologize for my mother's death, it is easy for me. But... have you thought carefully? If I deal with her, I might just fall into someone's trap."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liang looked surprised and puzzled, asking, "Did we alert the enemy? Did we fall into someone's trap?"
Xuanyuan Han exhaled a breath of turbid air and said, "In this world, there are so many people, why did the Empress Dowager choose her to do this? Is it all just a coincidence? Back then, she was already the Empress Dowager, yet she still tried every means to kill me and my son. This shows how ruthless she is. And Lu Tianjiao helped her do such a shameful thing, yet she was allowed to live until now. What's especially puzzling is that since then, they seem to have become strangers, with no connection whatsoever... If I'm not mistaken, she will definitely seek her out again?"
Cheng Liang suddenly realized, "Your Highness means that Miss Lu has been a pawn planted by the Empress Dowager in the Qin Prince's residence since eight years ago. And one that she won't be used lightly unless absolutely necessary?... The Empress Dowager chose Miss Lu to do this herself for two reasons: first, because the Imperial Concubine was less wary of Miss Lu, an outsider; and second, because the Empress Dowager knew that only Miss Lu could freely enter and leave the Qin Prince's residence. By having her do this, the Empress Dowager also left Miss Lu with leverage, which she could use to threaten her into submission again in the future. But she never expected that all her carefully planned schemes would be exposed by Zhang Mama... So if we suddenly deal with Miss Lu now, the Empress Dowager will be more wary of the Qin Prince's residence, and she won't be able to slip up in the future... The Empress Dowager is truly shrewd. What exactly is her next plan?"
The question Cheng Liang asked at this moment was exactly what Xuan Yuanhan had been pondering and unable to answer.
After pondering silently with his master for a long time, Cheng Liang suddenly seemed to remember something and asked in confusion, "But I don't understand. According to Miss Lu, she heard the Empress Dowager say that the Emperor did not approve of her taking action against the Prince of Qin's residence. So why did she still insist on going her own way and taking action against the Dowager Consort?"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan, recalling the events, slowly walked to the table in the center of the hall and sat down. He said softly, "When Father Emperor was alive, he doted on Mother Consort. Since ancient times, the harem and the court have been closely intertwined, so many ministers in the court naturally sided with Mother Consort. However, since the Empress Dowager has ascended the throne, she cannot harm the ministers out of consideration for their virtue, yet she also fears the threat that the power of too many ministers poses to her hard-won imperial authority. The Empress Dowager believes that I am young, and without Mother Consort's protection, I will lose the support of these ministers. Therefore, if she removes Mother Consort, it will be tantamount to breaking my wings. Before, I truly believed that they treated me so kindly, but now, I truly understand..."
"But they didn't expect that Your Highness not only successfully retained the support of the ministers who had supported the late Consort Dowager, but also secretly won over many of the Emperor's forces." Cheng Liang stood closely beside him, looking smug.
Instantly, the bedchamber fell silent. No one spoke, yet it seemed as if a momentous decision was quietly brewing.
Cheng Liang was pouring tea when Xuan Yuanhan, who had been silent for a while, suddenly burst out, "Notify all the ministers in the court who support me that I have changed my mind."
These words struck Cheng Liang like a bolt from the blue. His hand trembled, spilling tea on the floor. He immediately widened his eyes, wanting to confirm again, "Your Highness, this matter is of utmost importance. Have you thought it through? Once this is done, there is no turning back."
Xuanyuan Han said calmly, "Perhaps I should have done this long ago. If I had, perhaps my mother wouldn't have..."
Seeing Xuan Yuanhan's sadness, Cheng Liang poured him another cup of tea and handed it to him. Then he asked, "Does Your Highness know why Miss Lu went to such lengths to stay by the Princess's side? And why the Princess went to such lengths to persuade Miss Yi to come to the manor to be her physician?"
Xuanyuan Han had just taken a sip of tea when he heard this and immediately looked up, staring at Cheng Liang with a questioning look in his eyes.
Cheng Liang then recounted to her everything that the maid of Yanqi Pavilion had told him about Mei Xiyuan and Lu Tianjiao's plot, without missing a single word.
As Cheng Liang spoke, Xuan Yuanhan gripped the teacup in his hand tighter and his teeth clenched.
Cheng Liang pursed his lips and said regretfully, "It's a pity that the maid only knew that the King of Dongning had given the Princess a task, but she didn't know the details. She only said that there was a special person to meet her outside the palace, but she had never seen what that person looked like."
Unexpectedly, Xuanyuan Han replied without hesitation, "I already know who it is."
"Your Highness already knows?" Cheng Liang was shocked.
Xuan Yuanhan said solemnly, "Besides him, who else could it be? If I'm not mistaken, the reason she listened to Lu Tianjiao and went all the way to the south of the city alone must be to see him."
Cheng Liang then realized, "Your Highness means... Mei Zhixuan?...I will immediately send a message to the accompanying guards to be on high alert."
Xuan Yuanhan said, “There’s no need to rush. Perhaps Young Master Yi is right. The reason why our Western Qin has become the target of everyone’s attacks, with spies infiltrating from various countries, is simply because they are all here to investigate that mysterious power. Therefore, our primary task is to control that power before they do. Before this power manifests itself, they will not dare to make any major moves.”
"So Your Highness means that Mei Zhixuan stayed in Western Qin also for that mysterious power?... I wonder how Lu Xian has been searching for all these years?" Cheng Liang asked repeatedly.
Xuanyuan Han let out a long sigh and said, "Mei Zhixuan... not only that. I don't know why, but I always feel that Mei Zhixuan is secretly plotting something against Yun'er..."
Cheng Liang hesitated for a moment upon hearing this. Clearly, if even Xuan Yuanhan couldn't have foreseen this, he was even less capable of doing so. He had just said apologetically, "I misspoke tonight. I didn't expect Your Highness to be so insightful. I almost caused a serious mistake with Granny Zhang. Please punish me, Your Highness."
“I know you are all doing this for my own good. I couldn’t have done all this without you all these years. It’s getting late. You must have been very tired while I was unconscious. Now that I’m awake, you should go and rest for a few days. The things to come are even more important…” Xuan Yuanhan said, looking out the window at the sky.
Cheng Liang nodded, tidied up the hall, and then withdrew, gently closing the door behind him.
This commotion seemed to have completely thwarted his sleepiness. Xuan Yuanhan simply stood up and went to the window, gazing silently at the night outside, murmuring softly, "The true dragon emerges from the sea, the spiritual realm is unified, the phoenix rises from the ashes, reborn from the flames, life is death, and death is life... You must live, live well..."
Then I continued to gaze as the night gradually faded, the stars disappeared, the sky slowly turned white, and a ray of bright spring light shone into the window, eventually bringing it to full light.
Today is the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
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