Chapter 156 Her Relationship with the Cheng Family Late at night, what was she adding now…?
There were no hidden compartments or similar concealed spaces in the sleeping quarters.
To ensure everything went smoothly, Yu Nie instructed Cui Wei to remain in the palace to guard the cabinet containing the gunpowder register, in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Han Jie was unable to leave on the agreed-upon day, and the matter had to be postponed for another two days.
These past few days, Yu Nie has been at Xianliu Pavilion, where Xu Cai, who often comes late at night, discusses his plans after leaving Jian'an.
In any case, they must keep a firm grip on Zhao Yunfu so that they can ensure that after quelling the rebellion, they can remove Zhao Yunfu from the throne and replace him with someone they support.
As for who to replace him with, Yu Nie recalled what Qi Xun had once said.
Huan Xun intended to make Zhao Kang the future emperor.
However, this Zhao Xun, upon growing up, would, for the sake of power, listen to slanderous words and have Huan Xun's corpse whipped, thus carrying out a posthumous reckoning.
Qi Xun spoke of Zhao Kang's origins that night in the palace. He said that Zhao Kang was the son of the late emperor's favorite concubine, Lady Cheng, but Zhao Kang's father was actually Zhao Yunfu's son.
Huan Xun clearly had no affection for Zhao Yunfu, yet he wanted to support a child with Zhao Yunfu's bloodline to the throne. That left only one possibility: it was all because of the Cheng family.
The Cheng family...
The only daughter of Cheng Ying, the former governor of Xuzhou, she was exceptionally intelligent and possessed unparalleled beauty, which was once renowned throughout Beiye. After entering the palace at the age of eighteen, she was deeply favored by the late emperor and was bestowed the title of Consort Hui, becoming the most beautiful woman in the harem for a time.
The Cheng family thus became prominent, with the father rising from a mere staff member in the prefectural governor's office to the governor of Xuzhou, enjoying unparalleled prestige.
However, Cheng Ying was later jointly denounced by Zhao Shuhuai, the second son of the Prince of Yan, and Xiao Daozun, the crown prince of Nan Yin.
The two men testified that a witchcraft puppet inscribed with the names of the late emperor and the founding emperor was buried in the ground beneath their residence, plunging the Cheng family into disaster. At the time, Cheng Ying was secretly handling a very important case, but was imprisoned first.
Zhao Shuhuai was then the governor of Xuzhou, while Xiao Daozun, who was then the crown prince of Nan Yin, went to Beiye to attend the birthday celebration of the Empress Dowager. Later, because he liked Xuzhou, where the Bian and Si rivers meet, he stayed there on his way back.
At that time, Zhao Shuhuai was in charge of military affairs in Xuzhou. Although he was of the same rank as Cheng Ying, after obtaining the puppet, he did not take the latter seriously at all. He first imprisoned Cheng Ying and reported it to the court.
The evidence is conclusive, with witnesses and physical evidence. Moreover, the witness is a relative of Cheng Ying, Cheng Ying's cousin who works as a steward in the Cheng family.
However, due to the gravity of the matter, the late emperor sent the Crown Prince's tutor, whom he valued at the time, to investigate.
After an investigation, the Cheng family's crimes were confirmed, and dozens of family members were killed.
Because Lady Cheng had fallen ill for some unknown reason and lost a lot of weight, she was recuperating in the palace. The late emperor specifically instructed everyone in the harem to keep this a secret, lest she be too heartbroken if she found out, which would affect her recovery.
She had intended to ask Qi Xun for details, but the time for closing the palace gates had already passed, and she ultimately failed to do so. He only learned these palace secrets from Song Ai after returning from the palace that night.
Looking at the Cheng family's affairs, on the surface they seem to have no direct connection with Huan Xun, but Yu Nie still sensed the connection.
The Cheng family's roots are in Xuzhou, and Huan Xun was adopted by the Red Falcon tribe, who lived deep in the mountains of Xuzhou, when he was young.
Later, the Red Falcon Clan suffered a devastating calamity, and apart from him and Qi Xun who managed to escape, no one else survived.
The Cheng family's downfall was due to being framed, and now it seems that this is a foregone conclusion.
Thinking about it this way, could it be that because the downfall of the Cheng family was related to him, he insisted on supporting the descendants of the Cheng family to ascend the throne as a way of making amends?
To reopen the Cheng family's old case and clarify their connection with Huan Xun, she had to go to Xuzhou in person, but she simply couldn't spare the time right now.
As she pondered, Xu Cai's voice came from beside her: "Qiqi, what's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything? Are you worried about something?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Nie smiled faintly: "It's nothing, I was just lost in thought."
Immediately, she got up and walked around the pavilion, then changed the subject, her gaze landing on Xu Cai's face: "If we were to choose from the Zhao clan, would we really be able to find a prince worth supporting?"
She paused, then added a startling statement: "Even a princess... might not be out of the question."
"A princess inheriting the throne?" Xu Cai's eyes widened in surprise, his tone filled with disbelief: "Since the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the patriarchal clan system has always been based on male lineage. To establish a woman as emperor, let alone in this dynasty, even going back thousands of years, there has never been such a precedent."
Seeing his reaction, Yu Nie suddenly realized that his words, to the ancients who firmly believed in etiquette and law, were tantamount to subverting the established order.
She did not refute, but calmly said: "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny? The throne is not of one gender or surname."
Xu Cai remained silent for a moment, as if considering her words.
In the end, he shook his head and returned to the original topic: "The bloodline of the Zhao family is already thin, and there were not many children when the late emperor was on the throne. Among the eligible members of the imperial clan now, they are either mediocre or, even if we support them, we are afraid that one day they will be discarded after the birds are all used up, and we will eventually end up like the rabbits being killed and the dogs being cooked. Right now, we really can't find a candidate who meets our requirements."
Yu Nie knew that Xu Cai's words made sense.
The establishment of a new monarch concerns the future of all of them and is no trivial matter. They must find a reliable and steadfast candidate to accomplish this great task.
As she was pondering, she saw Xu Cai hesitate, as if she wanted to say something.
She asked, "Brother Wenji, is there any other way?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Cai stood up and paced back and forth for a moment before finally speaking: "It wasn't me."
He said, "Ah-Xi told me the day before yesterday that she has a solution to this matter."
"Junior Sister?" Yu Nie was slightly surprised: "What could she possibly do?"
Xu Cai shook his head: "She didn't tell me the specifics of how to proceed. Axi only told me to tell you that you don't need to worry about this. After she persuades Zhao Yunfu, you can go to Jinzhou to handle important matters. As for the court... she will take care of things."
As the two were talking, a series of light footsteps came from under the corridor.
A short while later, Sui En led Xu Cai's attendants to report.
The attendant entered, bowed, and said, "Young master, the young lady of the Wang family came to the house looking for you just now, but you were not there. She is crying sadly right now."
Upon hearing that it concerned Wang Ju'an, Xu Cai paused.
He turned to the side, his tone clearly impatient: "What trouble is she causing now, in the middle of the night?"
The attendant replied, "I don't know much either. I only heard Miss Wang sobbing and saying that she had a terrible nightmare and was so frightened that she rushed here to find you overnight."
Hearing that Wang Ju'an had another nightmare, Xu Cai frowned and her tone became increasingly cold and hard: "It's just a nightmare, is it really worth making such a fuss?"
After saying that, he bowed hastily to Yu Nie: "I have some mundane affairs to attend to at home, so I'll go back and take a look first. We can discuss other matters another day."
Before Yu Nie could respond, he suddenly turned around and strode out, his fluttering clothes indicating his haste.
The palace lanterns under the eaves swayed in the wind.
She gazed in the direction Xu Cai had gone, and she could see that beneath Xu Cai's deliberately stern face lay unconcealed concern.
Some feelings, the more you try to hide them, the more obvious they become.
Sui En, who was standing to the side, followed her gaze and couldn't help but sigh, "I have never seen Xu Wuwei like this since I met him."
Yu Nie withdrew his gaze, a smile playing on his lips.
The moonlight shone on the stone steps in front of the pavilion, creating a layer of soft glow.
It was getting late. Sui En looked up at the sky and said, "Your Highness, it's almost midnight. The guards in the manor should be changing shifts. I need to go on patrol."
At this point, Sui En seemed to recall something and said, "It's strange, but the guards assigned to Han Jinshi's residence these past two days all looked tired when they changed shifts. In my opinion, the shift schedule is probably too tight."
"During tonight's patrol, I will suggest to Commander Tian that they adjust the shifts to be more flexible so that the brothers can get enough rest."
Tian Weishuai was the leader specifically responsible for guarding the princess's residence.
As Yu Nie listened, his gaze swept over the courtyard where Han Jie lived.
She pondered for a moment, then said gently, "You're right. If the guards don't get enough rest, they're bound to be negligent when they're on duty. Go and make arrangements to ensure that everyone gets proper rest."
"Yes." Sui En bowed and accepted the order, adding a few more words: "Princess, please rest early as well. You have been overworked these past two days because of the gunpowder register, and you didn't even have a proper dinner tonight."
Yu Nie agreed and watched Sui En turn and leave.
As night deepened, the princess's residence was quiet, save for the occasional sound of footsteps from the patrolling guards.
She stood there for a few more moments.
The night breeze brushed her cheeks, its coolness penetrating her skin. Looking up, she saw a crescent moon hanging high in the sky. On this tranquil night, the moon's pure white light reminded her of Huan Xun, who was far away in Lingnan.
She wondered how he was doing... She thought of him, a deep longing quietly lingering in her heart.
Just as I was lost in thought, I heard Song Ai's gentle voice: "Your Highness, it's late and the dew is heavy. You should go back and rest."
Yu Nie came to her senses and saw that Song Ai had come to her side at some point, holding a plain-colored cloak in her hands.
She suppressed her worries for the time being and responded with a soft "Mm." Then, accompanied by Song Ai, she turned and slowly walked towards the bedroom.
Upon entering the sleeping quarters, most of the lights inside were on.
She called softly, "Cuiwei."
The hall was silent; no one responded.
She took a few more steps inside and saw Cuiwei leaning against the cabinet where the gunpowder books were kept, her head nodding as she slept soundly.
Seeing this, she went up and gently patted her shoulder.
Cuiwei woke up with a start, hurriedly stood up, wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, and said sleepily, "Princess, you're back!"
Remembering her duty, she quickly added, "Don't worry, everything in the cabinet is fine. I've been watching over it the whole time."
Seeing her trying to stay awake, Yu Nie said gently, "I know. You've worked hard. You don't need to guard here anymore. Go and get some sleep."
As per the past few nights' routine, Yu Nie personally puts away the items in the cabinet, and takes them out and places them under her pillow before going to bed, so that no one else has to put in any extra effort or worry.
Cuiwei bowed and said, "Then this servant will take her leave first. Princess, you should also rest early."
Yu Nie nodded.
After Cuiwei walked out of the palace and the door closed, she took off her cloak and handed it to Song Ai, then turned and walked to the cabinet to take out the gunpowder book.
But when she picked up the box containing the gunpowder book, her heart sank inexplicably.
She composed herself and opened the box.
Under the bright candlelight, the box was completely empty.
That gunpowder register, which concerned countless lives and the entire war effort, simply vanished into thin air.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
