"The Qin people, with their radiant spirit, shall return! May they rest in peace..."
As darkness faded, the eastern sky began to lighten with the first light of dawn. The gray eaves were washed clean by the sudden downpour, and tiny mosses grew rampantly after the rain.
At Chengxin Nunnery, no incense is burned; only flowers are offered to the Buddha, and the Buddha will appear when the flowers bloom.
Ten years ago, a turmoil erupted in the capital. The emperor, with a stroke of his pen, proclaimed to the world that the guilty would be punished, and the innocent would be treated leniently. The once-prosperous Qin family, all adult males were sentenced to beheading and executed immediately. Underage boys were confiscated and enslaved. The women, because Qin Heng's daughter had traveled to her maternal grandparents' home in Jiangnan a few months earlier and had not yet returned, and with the year-end approaching, were temporarily imprisoned in the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, awaiting Qin Heng's daughter's return to the capital for their fate after the New Year.
This stroke of the imperial brush was, in effect, a declaration to the world that the Duke of Dingguo had committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and that his death was inextricably linked to that of General Chu Lanzhe, who died on the frontier.
However, Lady Xiao Ci, the wife of the Duke of Dingguo, suddenly swung a goose-feather knife, knocking the black gauze hat worn by the emperor's eunuch Sun Shaopu to the ground.
Sun Shaopu flicked his whisk and shouted, “Xiao! Do you want to defy the imperial decree? His Majesty fainted in the Hall of Mental Cultivation immediately after the Duke of Dingguo committed suicide. The remonstrating ministers paid homage to His Majesty and said that the women and children of the Qin family should be exiled to Lingnan or sent to the inner palace immediately. However, His Majesty took pity on the women in your household and wanted to deal with them after the New Year.”
Xiao Ci merely glanced at him coldly, staggered a few steps to the blooming plum tree in the garden, and laughed angrily: "The fate of over a hundred of my Qin family's personal guards is unknown. My husband died before the emperor, whom I considered a brother, and my son and daughter are far away in Jiangnan, their fates uncertain." She scoffed: "You eunuch, what do you think I have to fear now?"
Sun Shaopu's eyes widened: "Madam Xiao, the Duke of the State treated our family very well in the past, so let me make something clear to you. Your son returned to the capital a little over a month ago with dozens of guards from your Qin family. Meanwhile, a secret letter from the Duke of Dingguo instructed that General Chu Lanze had died in a foreign land, and the young prince who accompanied General Chu on his expedition is now missing."
"As for the heir of the Duke of Dingguo, he didn't even have time to attend your nephew's full-month celebration. Madam Xiao, as far as I know, the heir of the Duke of Dingguo was supposed to wait until after the full-month celebration at the Xiao family in Jiangnan before setting off for the capital. But now, corpses lie everywhere outside the city, and there are hundreds of personal guards, as you mentioned, who have now joined your son in the outskirts of the capital, attempting to storm the palace to rescue their father. Madam Xiao, how do you intend to defend yourself in this matter?"
"If he surrenders upon entering the capital, Your Majesty may, out of consideration for your friendship with the Duke of Dingguo, do everything in your power to silence public opinion and save his life. If he resists stubbornly, only death awaits him!"
"Now everyone in the city is saying that your Qin family's advisor, Zhuang Shijun, deserted and went into hiding. Just as I suspected, Zhuang Shijun was also secretly plotting this for the Duke of Dingguo, wasn't he? Now that the Duke of Dingguo has committed suicide in the palace, he fled first to avoid trouble." He narrowed his eyes: "Xiao Shi, these are all solid pieces of evidence. Ever since the old Duke of Dingguo died, I'm afraid the Duke of Dingguo hasn't had a single day of peace these past years!"
He sighed slightly: "Xiao, His Majesty summoned the Duke of Dingguo to the palace in secret to find out the reason and save his life! Who could have imagined that he would commit suicide? His Majesty is still unconscious. Now, who is right and who is wrong will only come to light in a few days when the Chu family witness brings back irrefutable evidence of your Qin family's conspiracy to the capital."
Xiao Ci looked up and laughed. Sun Shaopu saw a flash of sword light before his eyes, and then a sharp pain shot through his right eye.
He reached out and touched his palm, which was covered in blood. He screamed in terror.
In the bitter winter of the third year of the Kang Le reign, when even a drop of water could freeze and the rivers were frozen solid, Xiao Ci, dressed in white, blended into the world and passed away beneath the Dengwen Drum. Zhu Ruo suffered a miscarriage and tragically died in the womb. Her father, Zhu Juyuan, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, petitioned to resign his post and pleaded with the Emperor outside the Taihe Gate for mercy, hoping to spare his daughter's life.
Soon after, Sun Shaopu pushed open the gate of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion and saw the Qin family's loyal servants hanging overhead, their bodies covered in white frost, their eyes wide open in death. He was immediately terrified and lost his composure. He fled in panic and did not return to the palace to report for duty that night, and his whereabouts became unknown.
Rumor has it that Sun Shaopu was assigned the task of guarding the women of the Qin family by the current emperor because of his poor performance. However, the Duke of Dingguo's wife was found guilty of slitting her throat in front of a crowd in the bustling marketplace.
On a snowy night, Crown Prince Jiang Yuanjun was placed under house arrest in the Eastern Palace. Shortly after his release, he and Tao Qingyun went to Penglai Xiaoding. Afterwards, they built a temple in the garden behind Penglai Xiaoding and named it Chengxin Temple.
Building temples to accumulate good karma and attract blessings to the imperial court is a virtuous and beneficial act. However, the crown prince of a country paid out of his own pocket to build a nunnery, and when the temple was completed, he also built a lantern pavilion on Taiji Lake behind it.
Inside the pavilion, a brass oil lamp, filled with a hundred catties of oil, burns continuously day and night, as bright and dazzling as a Mani jewel. This was intended to pray for the more than ten thousand soldiers who died on the frontier and to guide their souls to the underworld.
Then, river lanterns were placed in the lake on the shore of Taiji Lake, and their time was allowed to drift with the current.
He kept chanting, "O glorious soul of the Qin people, return! May you return in triumph..."
The palace and its surroundings were in an uproar.
In the imperial court, the Emperor asked, "My son, do you know your mistake?"
Jiang Yuanjun replied, “Your subject is not wrong. Brother Ashu and Xiao Xi are sworn brothers and have known each other since childhood. If I were to ignore, disregard, disregard, or not inquire about them, how could I be worthy of the title of benevolent ruler? If in the future people say that a crown prince has no heart to care for the people and is merely a figurehead, what should your subject do then?”
The Emperor's expression changed drastically, and he clutched his chest: "Crown Prince! Leaving aside my daughter Xuzhi for now, how many soldiers and officers in my court were killed by A-Shuo's massacre at Xiaopenglai that day, and how many relatives wept every night? Can you silence the public's ire and bear this heavy responsibility?"
Jiang Yuanjun replied, “Father, I have known Brother Shuoguang for over ten years. He is pure and upright, with a heart of pure innocence. In the year of the great drought in Ningzhou, famine raged across the land, and countless infants perished. Brother Shuoguang accompanied me to Ningzhou, kneeling on the cliff to pray for rain for the people. How could he possibly draw his bowstring taut on Little Penglai Island, aiming arrows at the flesh and blood of our soldiers?”
"Father, my grandfather was sworn brothers with the three great families of Qin, Chu, and Luo. They were also my childhood friends, and I will never forget those more than ten years of our youth!"
The emperor, enraged, threw an inkstone in the court, nearly disfiguring the crown prince.
"Crown Prince, are you blaming me!" The Emperor's face turned pale in an instant, and he remained silent for a long time. After a while, two streams of tears slid down his face and dripped onto his dragon robe: "Crown Prince! But Xu Zhi and I were once as close as brothers, and we have only known each other for thirty-nine years!"
Beneath the vermilion palace walls, his childhood friend had severed ties with him years ago, and the two seemed to be separated by a vast, clear pond.
The young man was dressed in brocade robes and a fox fur coat, riding a silver-saddled steed, exuding a chilling and murderous aura.
Jiang Yuanjun, who was twelve years old at the time, had just left the Eastern Palace. When he was seen again a few days later, he was emaciated and looked listless. At first, he was silent and taciturn, but later he protested by going on a hunger strike. Even when the palace servants brought him delicacies and fine wines, he remained unmoved.
Finally, several court officials submitted a memorial to the court, arguing that the country could not be without an heir for even a day, and only then did the emperor go along with the trend and lift the ban.
Behind red walls and deep alleyways, with snow-laden branches, he asked, "Do you intend to leave the capital?"
The young man held a sword in his arms, his black hair fluttering in the rain, snow, wind, and frost. "Born at the wrong time, this filthy Forbidden City, it's so much better to just leave."
"You still have us."
The boy's gaze was sharp, and he chuckled lightly: "So what? One day, I'll be like my father, letting this vast sky and these four walls bind and imprison my life with fame? Watching the smoke rise from the chimneys of the human world while my father sleeps in eternal rest? His Majesty has already granted me permission to return home to pay respects to my father. What, are you going to stop me?"
Jiang Yuanjun looked at him and said gently, "Ye Ning, you are my friend. Could you allow me to find the truth for all those who have faced death, and reveal it to the world?"
"Ye Ning, the borderlands are desolate, filled only with the smoke of war, and not a single kin remain. If you wish to stay in the capital, I will try again. If I can relinquish my position as crown prince and keep you here, Ye Ning, now... now too many people have died. But remember our childhood friendship..."
Before he could finish speaking, Chu Yening drew his longsword. With a flash of light, a corner of his undergarment fell to the ground with a hiss. He then grabbed the reins, spurred his horse hard, and galloped away.
Jiang Yuanjun stood there for a moment, watching the figure in brocade robes walk further and further away.
From the depths of the silence, a young man's clear voice pierced through the red walls of the long street: "If it is for the peace and happiness of the world, I am willing to die ten thousand times."
Later, more and more people came here to offer flowers to the Buddha, or to light lamps for friends, family, themselves, their spouses, their children, and for this land...
The group asked the young nun to offer yellow ginger flowers to the Buddha, and then ate the vegetarian meal sent from the temple. The golden wheel had quietly passed its zenith and was heading west, but Chu Yening was nowhere to be seen.
Tao Qingyun walked over with a blade of grass dangling from her mouth and two food boxes in her hands.
Luo Zhaoxing looked back with her bright eyes, but could not see the other three figures.
Tao Qingyun spat out the grass and said, "Are you asking about your brother or Old Wood? The weather in the capital has been shrouded in rain lately, and Taiji Lake is almost overflowing. Old Wood has sent people up the mountain to increase drainage. As for Chu Jiayou, Songyang, who was by his side, went up the mountain this morning and has now been summoned to the palace by his uncle, the Emperor."
Luo Zhaoxing chuckled when he heard him call him "Old Wood," saying, "He's no longer the naive boy he once was; he's now the crown prince of a nation." He then asked, "Third Brother, what are you holding in your hand?"
Tao Qingyun snorted and said smugly, "So when he sees me in front of my aunt, he still has to call me 'Big Cousin'?" He leaned against the carriage wall and crossed his arms. "It's just that he's taking some fruit from the back mountain to take back as a favor, so my old man won't say I'm always fooling around." He stuck out his neck. "He keeps saying I live the life of a pampered child. It would be better if he swallowed his pride and went to my uncle to get me a respectable job, so that I can face my ancestors in the afterlife."
"How could I possibly be compared to that spoiled brat Liang Gou'er?"
At this point, he chuckled and leaned closer: "I haven't told you yet, but do you know what strange thing that Liang Gou'er did? A few days ago, I ran into him at Shuiyun Tower. He was unusually humble, asking me if Miss Luo had returned to the capital. I was momentarily distracted and asked him which Miss Luo he was referring to. He then refused to answer. What exactly did he want by chasing after you that day?"
A carriage approached from afar, and soon a man jumped down from it – it was Tao Qingyun's attendant.
"Young master! You've made it easy for me to find you." His forehead was covered in sweat, and his clothes were soaked through, as if he had been pulled out of the water. He rushed over.
Tao Qingyun's face darkened when she saw who it was.
Fa Cai, bewildered, rolled his big, round eyes around and bowed to Luo Zhaoxing inside the carriage.
Tao Qingyun glared at him and readily accepted the question: "What? Went for a spring bath? Or went to feed the fish in the river?"
"How come you can find me no matter where I go?"
Upon hearing this, Fa Cai chuckled and said, "It's because you didn't return to the manor yesterday that we thought you were resting in the palace. We ran around a lot before finding out you hadn't returned from Xiao Penglai."
Tao Qingyun asked him, "What do you want with me? Did the old man send you?"
Fa Cai stared wide-eyed: "It wasn't you who told me to keep an eye on the Liang family, young master. This isn't Young Master Liang..."
Tao Qingyun glanced at him.
"Yesterday, Liang went to Shuiyunlou with his eldest son. Today, he went to Xingtan Lane and bought ten sesame seed cakes. In the evening, he went again..."
Tao Qingyun nodded slightly, smiled, and waved to him: "Come here."
The monk, completely bewildered, asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"
"Turn around!"
Tao Qingyun was about to kick him in the butt, but Fa Cai nimbly dodged by bending over. Tao Qingyun gritted her teeth and said angrily, "What did he have for breakfast tomorrow? How many times did he go to the toilet today? Are you going to tell me? Go away, go home!" As she spoke, she picked up two food boxes.
Fa Cai asked, "Is this for the old master?"
Tao Qingyun glanced at him.
Fa Cai immediately grinned from ear to ear: "Oh, and there's some for me too!"
Luo Ling and Jiang Yuanjun approached from afar, followed by a palace eunuch and two palace maids. She recognized one of the maids; she was Zi Shu, Jiang Yuanfu's personal attendant.
Jiang Yuanjun looked utterly helpless as she approached Luo Zhaoxing and said to her, "It's Afu."
Luo Zhaoxing looked up at him, indicating her confusion.
Zi Shu stepped forward and bowed to her. She said, "It's because the princess lost a bet with Miss Pei a while ago. Miss Pei said that the first thing you would do after recovering from your illness was to visit the princess in the palace. Yesterday, Her Majesty the Empress asked about His Highness the Crown Prince, and Miss Pei happened to learn in Her Majesty's palace that you had come to Xiao Penglai with His Highness and others. Miss Pei said that day that if the princess lost, then the princess should go to Her Majesty to propose that Miss Pei's engagement be dissolved."
“The princess refused, insisting that she resolve her own marriage. Miss Pei then suggested that the princess summon you to the palace.” Zi Shu seemed somewhat hesitant to speak at this point: “If the timing is right, it means that you rushed to the palace immediately after learning about this matter. In that case, the princess wouldn’t need to propose it to the Empress. If there isn’t enough time, she will want to annul the marriage.”
Luo Zhaoxing smiled faintly after hearing this, indicating that she was patiently listening to Zi Shu speak.
Pei Qing. The current Empress's niece. If she remembered correctly, she was betrothed to the only son of the Wei family, the Prefectural Magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture, since childhood. But this only son grew up to be increasingly violent, and he and Pei Qing were like two firecrackers that could not get along.
However, the engagement was already arranged, and it was personally arranged by Pei Qing's maternal grandfather, who was also Tao Qingyun's grandfather, and the old master of the Wei family. This matter was also publicly acknowledged before Empress Tao back then.
Tao Qingyun sneered, "Are you trying to torture people in different ways?"
Seeing this, Zi Shu quietly moved closer to Luo Zhaoxing.
Jiang Yuanjun said, "Xiaoxing, if you don't want to enter the palace, just ignore them."
Luo Zhaoxing turned to look at the shimmering surface of Taiji Lake, where the awning boat now stood alone on the shore.
She had no desire to get involved in the intricate relationships among these noble ladies, nor did she want to get caught up in their machinations. Ten years after returning to her homeland, she still had so much to accomplish. But if she could enter the palace now…
Luo Ling took a cloak from the carriage and draped it over her back.
She turned back and smiled at him, then said to Jiang Yuanjun, "Your Majesty has been so concerned for me these past few days; I should go to the palace to express my gratitude."
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