Chapter 322 The Truth Revealed (Two Updates)
Inside Renshou Palace, Empress Dowager Zhuang was dealing with the backlog of official duties from the past few days.
Having reached an advanced age, and after a long illness, it took her a long time to recover. Only now did she truly understand how difficult it was to recuperate in the countryside.
Leprosy is no ordinary cold; its contagiousness alone is enough to terrify everyone. I don't know how those two simpletons dared to take her in.
Besides, their family is already in dire straits, barely able to afford their next meal, and they still have to support a sick person.
Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed.
"Your Majesty, are you reminiscing about your days in the countryside?" Eunuch Qin asked with a smile.
"Hmm." Empress Dowager Zhuang did not deny it. "Back then, they lied to me, saying that I had tuberculosis and that I should not go out so as not to pass on my illness to the villagers."
Eunuch Qin asked in surprise, "You really believe that?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed, "How could I not believe it? I don't remember anything from that time."
After thinking about it, Eunuch Qin agreed: "And then... what happened?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang recalled: "About ten days or half a month later, they ate at the same table with me."
"Ah..." Even Eunuch Qin was surprised, "cured in just half a month?"
"No," Empress Dowager Zhuang shook her head. "It's just that I'm no longer contagious. I'm still taking the medicine, and I've been taking it for a full six months."
Ordinary people wouldn't do that; even if someone is cured of leprosy, they would still be avoided like the plague.
"Miss Gu and Xiao Xiuzhuan are truly devoted to you, and I am happy for you." Eunuch Qin's words came from the bottom of his heart. He had met the Empress Dowager when she was banished to the Cold Palace.
He was a lowly eunuch in the cold palace, but was favored by the virtuous empress and brought to serve her.
After Empress Dowager Xiande left the Cold Palace, he was taken with her. In the blink of an eye, he had accompanied the Empress Dowager through thick and thin for decades.
There are many people who try to curry favor with the Empress Dowager, but those who genuinely care for her and ask for nothing in return are extremely rare.
If the Empress Dowager were not the Empress Dowager, then they would not be the people she saw.
Miss Zhuang always complains that the Empress Dowager favors Miss Gu more than her own family, but Miss Zhuang doesn't even consider whether she truly has half the sincerity that Miss Gu has for the Empress Dowager.
Having spent most of my life in loneliness and hardship, I never imagined that I would meet such a few kind-hearted people in my twilight years.
"It's Xiao Xiuzhuan..." Eunuch Qin also noticed the strange relationship between Empress Dowager Zhuang and Xiao Xiuzhuan. Although he was the Empress Dowager's confidant, she didn't tell him everything.
He could guess half of the Empress Dowager's thoughts, but the other half was something he could never fathom.
"Could it be because he looks like the deceased young marquis?"
"I asked cautiously," said Eunuch Qin.
The Empress Dowager did not poison the young marquis, but the emperor did not believe it, the Marquis of Xuanping did not believe it, and no one in the world believed it. Even the Zhuang family probably thought it was the work of the Empress Dowager.
The difference is that the Zhuang family doesn't complain about the Empress Dowager.
But being wronged like this all the time, the Empress Dowager must have some reservations about seeing someone so similar to the young marquis.
Of course, this was just Eunuch Qin's idea; whether the Empress Dowager thought the same thing is unknown.
"I..." Empress Dowager Zhuang was about to say something when a palace maid's panicked voice came from outside the study, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you cannot go in!"
"I am the Son of Heaven! The entire world belongs to me! Yet Renshou Palace has repeatedly turned me away from its gates. Are you plotting a rebellion?!"
It was the emperor's angry shout.
Empress Dowager Zhuang frowned impatiently and gave Eunuch Qin a wink.
Eunuch Qin walked out with his whisk in hand and said to the palace maids, "You may leave." He then bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please come inside."
"snort!"
The emperor glared coldly at everyone, then flung his sleeves and entered Empress Dowager Zhuang's study: "Empress Dowager, you've got some tricks up your sleeves! Even while recuperating at Renshou Palace, you're not idle; you just have to make things difficult for me! Does the Empress Dowager not want me to have a single day of peace?"
When Eunuch Qin, who had followed them in, came in, he looked at the Empress Dowager, then at the pale-faced palace servants in the room, and his expression turned very grim.
Empress Dowager Zhuang said calmly, "You may all leave."
"Yes." Eunuch Qin and the palace servants withdrew.
Empress Dowager Zhuang glanced at the emperor expressionlessly, then threw the memorial in her hand onto the table: "What's gotten into you this time!"
The emperor sneered: "I should be asking the Empress Dowager these questions. What's wrong with you, Empress Dowager? Isn't it enough that you've been ruling from behind the curtain? Aren't you satisfied with controlling half the country? Aren't you satisfied with forcing my mother to a nunnery? Just how ruthless do you want to be? Do you have to kill everyone around me one by one?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang frowned and asked, "Whom have I killed this time?"
"Ha!" The emperor stood before his desk, looking at the dignified and imposing Empress Dowager Zhuang with a mocking tone, "What is this charade you're putting on now, Empress Dowager? You've already done it, so why are you afraid to admit it? We've already broken off relations long ago, there's no need for all this pretense!"
A cold glint flashed in Empress Dowager Zhuang's eyes, but her expression remained indifferent: "I have done too much. I don't know which matter you are referring to."
The emperor laughed angrily: "So you finally admit it! You're a heartless and vicious woman! If you have anything to say, come at me! Why did you kill Steward Zhang? What did she do to offend you!"
"Manager Zhang," Empress Dowager Zhuang frowned strangely.
The emperor angrily pointed at Empress Dowager Zhuang: "Stop pretending! Last night, Steward Zhang was summoned to Renshou Palace by the Empress Dowager, and he hanged himself as soon as he got back! Does the Empress Dowager dare to say that you didn't kill him!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang sneered, raising her eyes slightly and curling her lips in a mocking smile: "So what if I killed them?"
She slowly stood up, walked out from behind the desk, and approached the emperor step by step. "Can you depose me, or kill me? Even if I kill everyone around you, what can you do to me?"
"You wicked woman!" The emperor raised his hand!
"His Majesty!"
Xiao Liulang strode in, threw away his cane, grabbed the emperor's hand, and shielded Empress Dowager Zhuang behind him.
Empress Dowager Zhuang was taken aback when she saw the young man suddenly blocking her way.
Despite his frail physique and poor mobility, the boy showed no hesitation in stopping the emperor.
The emperor was furious: "Xiao Liulang, get out of my way!"
“It’s not the Empress Dowager,” Xiao Liulang said solemnly. He neither yielded nor let go. “It’s not the Empress Dowager, it’s your subject. Last night, it was your subject who summoned Steward Zhang. It had nothing to do with the Empress Dowager.”
The emperor was furious, his lungs felt like they were about to explode: "Even you're speaking up for her! You all... you're all on her side! Xiao Liulang! You are the newly appointed top scholar, handpicked by me!"
Xiao Liulang said solemnly, "I am Your Majesty's subject and Your Majesty's top scholar. That is why I do not wish to see Your Majesty make a mistake. Your Majesty's actions today will be recorded by the historians in the future. Your Majesty is a wise ruler, and your achievements should be recorded in history books and be remembered for eternity. You must not ruin your reputation for centuries due to a moment of impulsiveness."
The emperor, feeling both distressed and aggrieved, asked, "Was I wrong? Was I wrong?"
Xiao Liulang said, "Your Majesty is not wrong, nor is the Empress Dowager. The one who is wrong is me. I shouldn't have come to see Steward Zhang. If Your Majesty wants to blame someone, then blame me. I'm the one who killed her."
"You...you..." The emperor was so angry that his eyes turned bloodshot and his whole body trembled.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you must hear what happened," Eunuch Wei advised as he entered the room.
His Majesty, suppressing his urge to explode, nodded: "Alright, tell me, what brings you to Steward Zhang's office? And how did you end up killing her?"
Xiao Liulang couldn't say that he was investigating a case from fourteen years ago; the timing was wrong, and the evidence was insufficient.
Xiao Liulang thought for a moment and said, "I was returning something to her on behalf of someone else. When I was returning it to her, I noticed that she was not in a good mood."
That's the truth. When Steward Zhang got his hands on the broken inkstone, he was indeed in a bad mood, but Xiao Liulang didn't think too much about it at the time.
Upon closer examination, it seems that Steward Zhang and the old chief priest have a deeper bond and relationship than imagined.
"Whom are you delivering this for?" the emperor asked.
"I cannot say," said Xiao Liulang.
If he doesn't tell, won't the emperor guess?
How many people in the world would go to the trouble of him personally delivering a message to the palace? Since he has connections with Steward Zhang, he must be about the same age as Steward Zhang.
A name is about to emerge.
"Summon Chief Minister Huo!"
"Let go! Do you want me to bring Chief Minister Huo to the Empress Dowager's palace? Come with me to the Imperial Study!"
"Yes." Only then did Xiao Liulang release his grip.
The old chief priest was summoned to the palace.
The emperor did not give him or Xiao Liulang a chance to collude, and directly ordered Xiao Liulang to be taken away, and then began to question Steward Zhang about his relationship with the old chief priest.
The emperor did not tell the old chief priest Zhang that he was dead.
But what kind of shrewd person is the old chief priest?
It was easy to guess that something bad had happened.
When questioned about their relationship with female officials in the palace, most people would try their best to deny it, since disrespecting female officials is a serious crime. However, the old chief priest felt that this matter was not simple.
Without much thought, he said that he and Manager Zhang had a secret past, and that they had a token of their love. Last night, he asked someone to return the token to her, which was considered a way of ending their relationship.
If what the old priest said is true, then Zhang Xiu committed suicide because of love.
The emperor narrowed his eyes suspiciously: "Why was it resolved? Was it because of the Empress Dowager?"
"Your Majesty, I dare not! It is because... I am about to die..." The old chief minister began to feign illness and play the victim, using all sorts of tearful and innocent tactics, "...If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may summon the little divine physician, it was she who diagnosed this old minister with a terminal illness."
...
Upon exiting the Imperial Study, the old Grand Master of Ceremonies met Xiao Liulang, who had been waiting for a long time.
"I'm sorry, I've dragged you into this, teacher," Xiao Liulang said guiltily.
The old chief priest sighed, "It's not your fault, it's my oversight."
"The teacher's reputation..."
The old chief priest waved his hand: "I have no reputation to speak of. Although my relationship with her is not what I told His Majesty, in the end... I am the one who wronged her. She... is my wife's younger sister."
The wife's half-sister was adopted to another village when she was a child, and the two sisters were reunited after they grew up.
Before his wife died, she held his hand and asked him to take good care of his only sister, Zhang Xiu, no matter what.
Zhang Xiu wanted to marry him, but he refused, so she went to the palace in a fit of anger.
He fought fiercely with Zhuang Jinse, and to avoid implicating Zhang Xiu, he kept their relationship a secret. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been the only one exiled that year; his wife's younger sister, Zhang Xiu, would have been too.
After all, the late emperor had decreed that his entire family be exiled.
"When she was twenty-five and could leave the palace, she came to see me again and asked if I would marry her. I said I would take care of her for the rest of my life and treat her like my own sister. Then she smashed my inkstone. Afterwards, she regretted it very much and gave me a new one, the one I asked you to return. When she gave it to me, I didn't hold it properly and accidentally broke a piece... She laughed and said that we were even now."
The old chief priest sighed at this point, "Forget it, let's not talk about the past. She definitely didn't commit suicide for love. There are suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. I asked His Majesty for permission to send her off on her final journey. You will come with me."
Xiao Liulang: "Okay."
The old chief priest and Xiao Liulang, accompanied by Eunuch Wei, went to the Shanggong Bureau.
In the previous dynasty, suicide by hanging in the palace would bring misfortune upon the family. This dynasty has abolished this law, but the deceased cannot be buried and can only be left to rot in the wilderness.
The old chief priest gave Eunuch Wei a bag of silver.
After much hesitation, Eunuch Wei finally gave in: "I've already taken care of everything. The body will be taken to the mass grave outside the West Gate later. Just send someone there to wait."
"Thank you, Eunuch Wei," the old chief priest said.
Xiao Liulang examined Zhang Xiu's body and confirmed that it was indeed a suicide by hanging, with no signs of struggle or fighting.
Then Xiao Liulang noticed something and stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong?" the old chief priest asked as he walked over.
Xiao Liulang didn't speak, but instead lifted Zhang Xiu's left wrist, where a mole was clearly visible.
The old chief priest was completely stunned: "How could this be..."
yes?
How could it be Zhang Xiu?
Many details that had been overlooked last night flashed through Xiao Liulang's mind.
When Zhang Xiu first saw him, she was so frightened that she almost fell over. He thought she thought he had seen a ghost, just like Eunuch Qin and the others. But when he thought about it carefully, he realized that he and Zhang Xiu had never met before.
She shouldn't have known him.
Even if we knew each other, her reaction was a bit too much.
When he told her that he was investigating a palace maid with a mole on her wrist, she knew that what happened back then had been exposed.
But she didn't know that it was Xiao Liulang who was investigating; she only thought that the person investigating the truth was her brother-in-law, the old priest.
The old chief priest was Xiao Heng's teacher, so it's understandable that he investigated Xiao Heng's death.
The reason she left in such a desolate and lonely state was probably because she had already decided to die at that moment.
He used death to atone for his sins to his brother-in-law and his apprentice, and also to escape the possibility of reporting the matter to the mastermind behind it all.
What were her feelings when she framed Zhuang Jinse? And what were her feelings when she discovered that Xiao Heng, whom she had poisoned, had one day become her brother-in-law's last disciple?
The old priest's throat was sore: "It's all because of me..."
Zhang Xiu must have framed Zhuang Jinse because Zhuang Jinse was at odds with him, causing his exile and nearly costing him his life.
But who could have predicted that he and Zhuang Jinse would not become sworn enemies in the end, but instead Zhang Xiu would lose his life for nothing.
Eunuch Wei has made arrangements; they can take Zhang Xiu's belongings with them.
Zhang Xiu's belongings were simple: a few sets of clothes and a dressing box containing several pieces of jewelry that were extremely old. Hidden in a compartment of the box were dozens of silver notes, all bearing the name of the former chief priest.
There was also an inkstone that Xiao Liulang had given her yesterday.
The old priest's eyes were red.
“Teacher,” Xiao Liulang said softly.
"I'm fine." The old chief priest wiped away his tears, tidied up Zhang Xiu's belongings, packed them into a bundle, and staggered as he walked out.
Xiao Liulang helped him up.
The old chief priest's voice trembled: "I...I'm really alright."
Clang!
The inkstone slipped out of the bundle and fell to the ground.
The old libationer bent down to pick it up.
Xiao Liulang said, "I'll do it."
He picked up the inkstone first, saying, "I'll take it."
The old libationer did not persist.
His feelings were complicated, and his mind was in chaos. He felt that he had harmed Zhang Xiu, and he also felt that he had harmed Xiao Heng.
He choked out, "You...you mustn't blame her...you blame me...it's me...she did it all for me..."
Xiao Liulang sighed: "If it wasn't her, it would have been someone else. The truly hateful one is the mastermind behind it all. Teacher, don't blame yourself. What happened back then had nothing to do with you, and neither did what happened last night."
If he's going to investigate, he'll eventually find his way to this point.
The old chief priest's connection with Zhang Xiu only accelerated the process; it wouldn't change the outcome.
Zhang Xiu's fate was sealed the moment she laid a hand on an innocent child.
He could forgive, but Heaven would not.
The old chief priest went to collect Zhang Xiu's body, but Xiao Liulang did not go with him. Forgiveness was his greatest mercy, and he would not prepare for her funeral.
Xiao Liulang went to Renshou Palace.
Empress Dowager Zhuang continued to read the memorials presented by Grand Tutor Zhuang in her study. The memorials would pass through her hands before being returned to the ministers to be presented to the emperor in court.
When Eunuch Qin saw Xiao Liulang, his eyes lit up, and he said to Empress Dowager Zhuang, "The tea has gone cold. This servant will go and brew a pot of hot tea."
Empress Dowager Zhuang glanced at Xiao Liulang and scoffed.
Eunuch Qin smiled and withdrew, taking the rest of the palace servants with him.
"What brings you here?" Empress Dowager Zhuang asked indifferently as she flipped through the memorials.
"Just passing by," Xiao Liulang said.
Both of them were the type who would die if they had to explain themselves even once, so neither was willing to be the first to break the ice.
"I'm leaving."
It wasn't anything serious, I just came to check it out.
He had always known that the emperor and empress dowager had a strained relationship, but he never thought it would escalate to this level of direct confrontation.
I'm somewhat worried.
Empress Dowager Zhuang watched him turn around, cleared her throat, and asked, "Why are you speaking up for me?"
Xiao Liulang said calmly, "There's no reason why. It's a subject's duty to eat the emperor's food and bear the emperor's worries."
The eunuch Qin, who was eavesdropping outside, was almost frantic. What a load of rubbish about being a subject! Is it too hot to say something human?
I'm so anxious! I'm so anxious!
Even when the Emperor and Empress Dowager were at odds, he wasn't this anxious. After all, the young Emperor was truly infuriating. But Xiao Xiuzhuan was devoted to the Empress Dowager, and the misunderstanding between them was driving Eunuch Qin crazy!
If you care about each other so much, why do you have to treat each other like strangers?
Thud.
The inkstone slipped from Xiao Liulang's hand and fell to the ground. As he bent down to pick it up, the purse in his arms fell out.
Empress Dowager Zhuang's eyes flickered slightly upon seeing the purse.
That was a birthday gift from Empress Dowager Zhuang to Xiao Liulang on New Year's Eve, and Xiao Jingkong also received one.
Empress Dowager Zhuang embroidered orchids herself, but the embroidery was so ugly that it looked like weeds. So she asked the old chief priest to improve it and embroider it into a piece of green bamboo, and added some stitches to the seams.
But ultimately it's not very good-looking.
Empress Dowager Zhuang snorted, "Why are you still wearing such an ugly thing? Aren't you ashamed? You're a Hanlin scholar, after all."
Xiao Liulang said nothing, put the purse back into his pocket, and continued walking out.
return!
Empress Dowager Zhuang opened her mouth, but ultimately did not utter the words she was about to say.
If she weren't so eccentric, she wouldn't have had to take so much blame.
Although she has indeed done a lot of bad things.
She threw down the folded paper in frustration, feeling utterly miserable!
Suddenly, Xiao Liulang, who had disappeared, returned.
He returned so quickly that Empress Dowager Zhuang didn't even have time to conceal the irritation in her eyes.
He took a deep breath, as if gathering some kind of courage, and asked in a low voice, "Why am I the only one who doesn't have this?"
"Hmm?" Empress Dowager Zhuang was taken aback.
Xiao Liulang clenched his fingers, his face flushed, but he still mustered his courage and asked, "Why am I the only one without a token?"
Why didn't Renshou Palace prepare anything for me?
...Don't you want me anymore?
His tone was normal, but his eyes betrayed his grievance.
Empress Dowager Zhuang's heart clenched.
That feeling of injustice pierced her heart.
She lowered her eyes and said softly, "I... thought you didn't want it."
"Why don't I want to..."
Before he could finish saying "I want," Xiao Liulang stopped abruptly.
I thought you didn't want it.
This statement contains a wealth of information.
Aunt Xiao Liulang wouldn't not want it, it's Xiao Heng who wouldn't.
Empress Dowager Zhuang knew who he was.
She also remembered that she had once "poisoned" Xiao Heng, and knew that Xiao Heng had always been wary of her, hated her, and wished he could stay away from her.
"Didn't you ever think of... asking me?"
"I've thought about it, but I... I'm afraid." Empress Dowager Zhuang used almost all her courage and dignity to confess her emotions.
Because they care too much, they are afraid of being rejected, so they reject the possibility of rejection first.
She would rather take the blame a thousand times than confess her true feelings even once.
That's how strong her pride is, that's how stubborn she is.
But the hint of grievance in Xiao Liulang's eyes shattered the self-esteem she had built up over decades.
"I don't not want it," Xiao Liulang said, turning his face away, his tone aggrieved and awkward.
He's a conflicted person too.
He was too ashamed to talk about it.
And he's still a child.
In front of the elderly.
Empress Dowager Zhuang stared intently at him, her eyes shining: "What did you say?"
"Nothing!" Xiao Liulang walked out expressionlessly.
Before he had even left Renshou Palace, Eunuch Qin caught up with him, grinning, and said, "Commissioner Xiao, please wait! You've forgotten something!"
Xiao Liulang: "I didn't."
Eunuch Qin: "Yes, yes! Please come with me to get it!"
Xiao Liulang was taken by Eunuch Qin to a side hall of Renshou Palace.
Eunuch Qin pushed open the door and said with a smile, "Please."
Xiao Liulang stepped inside.
The large side hall was filled with bookshelves, which were crammed full of books.
Beside the sunlit window, there was a desk with the Four Treasures of the Study emitting a faint scent of ink. In the center of the desk was a brocade box.
Eunuch Qin took the brocade box and said, "Here you go."
Xiao Liulang opened it and was surprised to find a token from Renshou Palace lying inside.
Eunuch Qin sighed, "The Empress Dowager had prepared it long ago, but I don't know why she hasn't brought it out yet. And this side hall was also renovated by the Empress Dowager. At first, I didn't understand why the Empress Dowager would renovate such a large library, but today I finally understand its purpose."
They only have a small house or a small courtyard, yet he has such a large library?
Xiao Liulang found it hard to believe and couldn't put it into words.
He didn't doubt that Eunuch Qin was lying, after all, the token could be given on the spot, but the library couldn't be made on the spot, and the paint smell was brand new and strong.
He stood there blankly, looking just like a bewildered little chick.
At that moment, he shed his mature-beyond-his-years demeanor and gained a touch of childlike innocence and naivety.
Being forced to grow up is a helpless situation, but being pampered like a child again is a kind of luck and happiness.
"Xiao Xiuzhuan." Eunuch Qin found a bundle, packed the brocade box and inkstone, turned around and saw Xiao Liulang looking dazed, waved his hand in front of his eyes, "Don't be too happy."
"I wasn't too happy," Xiao Liulang said without changing his expression, and walked out with his bundle in a clumsy manner.
Qin Gonggong, his face darkening, was speechless.
Xiao Liulang, leaning on a cane in one hand and carrying a brocade box in the other, walked unsteadily through most of Renshou Palace, leaving the palace maids and eunuchs bewildered.
He looks decent enough, but why does he walk like that?!
Xiao Liulang had already left Renshou Palace, but after a pause, he turned back.
He stood outside Empress Dowager Zhuang's study.
I didn't go in.
Empress Dowager Zhuang said indifferently, "No need for thanks, I'm too nauseating."
Damn it, she already regretted saying so much. She must have been bewitched to give in to this kid's grievances.
If she were given another chance, she would stab him in the heart a hundred times over, but she would never admit that she was afraid of being rejected by him.
Xiao Liulang pursed his lips, poked his head in from outside the door, and childishly complained, "Grandma, Grand Tutor Zhuang bullied me!"
After saying that, he ran off in a flash!
Okay, this is the first time I've been so childish. I'm so embarrassed. I forgot that I'm a cripple. I ran and tripped, tumbling down the steps and falling flat on my face on the grass!
Everyone: "..."
They simply couldn't bear to look at it.
Empress Dowager Zhuang's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, but the next second, she regained her cold expression and said with an air of authority and dominance, "Summon Grand Tutor Zhuang!"
I probably stayed up too late recently, and I was so tired that I could fall asleep right at my computer desk.
This month's updates are more numerous than last month's. I can basically guarantee seven or eight thousand words a day, sometimes nine thousand, which is a serious overdraft.
Actually, my editor notified me on Monday to reduce updates and prepare for a large-scale update. I told my editor that I would not reduce updates before the specific date was announced, so that readers could have more to read. Once the date was confirmed, I would increase my writing intensity every day and I should be able to complete the task.
But I didn't expect that while updating seven or eight thousand words a day, I also submitted two side stories, which completely overdrawn my energy.
There won't be many updates today, please forgive me.
I'll get myself together as soon as possible. Goodnight.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
