Chapter 300 Eloquent Tongue
At Emperor Jingping's command, several eunuchs walked toward the osmanthus tree.
The crown prince's expression shifted, as if he had remembered something. He rushed to the cassia tree and knelt down: "Father, this cassia tree was planted by Mother herself. Your son—"
Emperor Jingping, enraged, interrupted the Crown Prince: "You dare to stop us from digging?"
He's feeling guilty, that unfilial son is feeling guilty!
Emperor Jingping trembled with rage: "Pull the Crown Prince away and start digging immediately!"
The crown prince was forcibly pulled aside and stared blankly at Emperor Jingping.
Emperor Jingping didn't even glance at the Crown Prince, his eyes fixed on the cassia tree.
Several eunuchs were digging into the cassia tree with shovels, while in the distance, armored guards watched every blade of grass and tree in the Eastern Palace with expressionless faces.
No one spoke again; they waited quietly for a potentially earth-shattering outcome.
Xue Quan quietly raised his sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, glancing at Master Miaoqing out of the corner of his eye.
Master Miaoqing, dressed in wide robes and flowing sleeves, fluttered in the wind, appearing utterly indifferent to joy or sorrow.
Xue Quan's heart sank.
It seems the Crown Prince will not survive this ordeal.
Although he hadn't read many books, he knew that historical witchcraft incidents often implicated many people and were extremely tragic.
Han'er, it seems there's no good ending for us, father and son. The Xue family line will not continue.
If only Qiuheng had known this earlier, she would have been right to say she was pregnant with Han'er's child.
How could that brat lie!
Xue Quan wished Qiu Heng wasn't in front of him, otherwise he would have jumped up and slapped her.
Ling Yun stood beside Master Miaoqing. After Xue Quan quietly observed Master Miaoqing, his peripheral vision naturally fell on his face.
Similar to the detached and emotionless demeanor of Master Miaoqing, Lingyun also possessed a serene and otherworldly air.
Xue Quan twitched the corner of his mouth.
No wonder this young master caught the eye of Master Miaoqing; they're all the same.
Han'er meant that Master Miaoqing was likely backed by Prince Fu. Although he couldn't understand how he came to this conclusion, Prince Kang and Prince Fu had been getting quite close lately, and Prince Kang's heir had become Master Miaoqing's lay disciple, accompanying him. This probably meant that Master Miaoqing didn't simply approve of Prince Kang's heir as a person.
Suddenly, a cry of surprise rang out: "Dig, we found it!"
Emperor Jingping stepped forward and said sternly, "Bring it here!"
Xue Quan lost all hope, and his face turned deathly pale.
The eunuch knelt down and took out the object he had dug up; it was a square sandalwood box.
Countless gazes fell upon the box.
The eunuch brushed the dirt off the box with his sleeve, bent down and carried the box over. He stopped some distance away from Emperor Jingping and waited respectfully for someone to come and receive him.
In such a critical moment, the only eunuch qualified to receive such a crucial item was Xue Quan.
Xue Quan took a deep breath and walked step by step to the eunuch, taking the wooden box with both hands.
The Emperor Jingping's deep, suppressed voice came through: "Open it."
Xue Quan held the wooden box in one hand and placed the other hand on it. He gritted his teeth and opened the lid.
The click of the lid being opened was very soft, but in this place where you could hear a pin drop, it was deafening.
Xue Quan stared intently at the contents of the box, his eyes glazed over.
Emperor Jingping, growing impatient, asked, "Xue Quan?"
Xue Quan seemed to wake from a dream, and walked over holding the box: "Please take a look, Your Majesty."
Emperor Jingping looked into the box and his eyes widened in surprise: "What, what is this?"
He was prepared to see things like dolls and hair, but what were those fancy things in the box?
Black background, multicolored, strangely shaped...
When Miaoqing Zhenren, who was standing beside Emperor Jingping, saw what was in the box, her pupils dilated and her calm expression cracked instantly.
"What is this?" Emperor Jingping suddenly turned his head and asked the crown prince kneeling beside him.
The Crown Prince seemed to be still in deep grief and appeared oblivious to Emperor Jingping's questioning.
Worried that Emperor Jingping would become even more dissatisfied with the Crown Prince, Xue Quan couldn't help but interject, "Your Majesty, this...this looks like a mud dog."
"Mud Dog?" Emperor Jingping looked blankly at the box Xue Quan was holding.
The gaudy mud dog in the box stared at him with its round eyes and a simple, honest expression.
"Your Majesty, these clay dogs are often sold at folk temple fairs. People buy them for their children to ward off disasters and pray for good fortune," Xue Quan explained.
Emperor Jingping slowly looked at the Crown Prince: "I ask you, why is there a mud dog buried under this cassia tree?"
Although they weren't evil objects like dolls, the random burying of things in the palace still made him feel uneasy.
Tears welled in the Crown Prince's reddened eyes: "I recently had a dream in which my mother missed me. Upon waking, I felt very sad thinking about the dream, so I buried the clay dog that my mother bought for me from the common people years ago under the osmanthus tree that she planted herself, to comfort her spirit in heaven..."
Listening to the Crown Prince's tearful complaint, Emperor Jingping remembered that for a time, the late Empress had liked to send people to the common people to buy some cheap but pleasing trinkets to give to the Crown Prince.
He didn't pay much attention to what specific gifts he gave; he just wanted the mother and son to be happy.
He didn't particularly love his wife, but he respected her. The crown prince was his only son at the time, so he naturally doted on and valued him greatly.
Therefore, when I recall that time now, although the details have long been blurred, the warm and peaceful feeling remains in my memory.
Seeing the Crown Prince's red eyes from crying, Emperor Jingping softened his tone: "You are filial to your mother. You offer incense to comfort her on ordinary days and burn more paper money on memorial days, instead of burying things everywhere."
"Your subject knows he was wrong."
"Reflect on your actions carefully." Emperor Jingping glanced at the somewhat faded clay dog in the box again, then turned and left.
Miaoqing Zhenren gave the Crown Prince a deep look before silently following Emperor Jingping.
"Your son respectfully bids farewell to Your Majesty." The Crown Prince's voice choked with emotion.
Xue Quan hesitated for a moment while holding the box, then handed it to the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, please keep this safe."
"Thank you, Eunuch Xue."
In the blink of an eye, everyone had left. The prince, still kneeling, tightly hugged the wooden box containing the mud dog and looked at the osmanthus tree that had been dug up in a mess. Large tears fell down his face.
The old mud dog, washed away by tears, had faded in color, but in the prince's eyes, it was still vibrant.
Emperor Jingping did not return to his palace, but instead went to the Hall of Longevity.
With fewer people around, Emperor Jingping wearily pinched the bridge of his nose and asked Master Miaoqing, "Master, that mud dog buried under the cassia tree shouldn't have anything to do with evil spirits, right?"
Although no evil spirit was found, his sudden discomfort was real, and he couldn't just let it go.
Seeing with his own eyes that the wooden doll that should have been buried under the osmanthus tree had turned into a clay dog for warding off disaster and seeking good fortune, Master Miaoqing's emotions were like a series of undulating mountains, but on his face he still maintained the demeanor of a hermit.
"It's both unrelated and related."
What does this mean?
"The mud dog itself is not an evil object, but it was given to His Highness the Crown Prince by the late Empress. This old object embodies His Highness's longing for his mother over the years, and has come to possess a spirit. Furthermore, it was buried under the osmanthus tree planted by the late Empress herself, thus connecting him with the late Empress's resentment..."
(End of this chapter)
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