Chapter 28 Twenty-eight days reveal a person's true character.
"Your Majesty!" Jing Ye suddenly called out, holding the ashes.
In the ranks of soldiers, brothers-in-arms are bound by loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness, a belief Jing Ye deeply held. He firmly believed that without brotherhood, there was no wealth or success. Yet, at this moment, he felt bewildered. He hadn't touched a single emperor's possessions, so how could he be so wealthy and powerful?
He was terribly tongue-tied; after a long pause, he finally managed to stammer, "Your Majesty, you...you broke your promise! A ruler who breaks his promise is no wise ruler!"
These words startled the guards so much that they immediately knelt down, none daring to stand.
Xu Heng turned around to face Jing Ye, his chest heaving slightly: "Yes, I am a tyrant, a tyrant!"
Xu Heng flung his sleeves and stormed out the door.
Between late afternoon and late evening, the bluestone slabs of Yongning Lane were gilded by the sunlight. Xu Heng circled around to the main street, where the peddler was still calling out his wares. Xu Heng leaped onto his horse, brushed past the peddler, and then suddenly pulled on the reins, stamped his foot, and turned back: "Wait."
The guards silently blocked the peddler's path.
"What would you like, sir?" the peddler asked first, then unloaded his load from his shoulder and put down his rattle drum. "Sir, you have a discerning eye. All of our goods are top-notch."
Xu Heng immediately looked down, remaining silent and still, while the peddler continued his introduction: "Look at this tassel, how about it? It's made of silk. Stirrups? Look at these stirrup rings, aren't they sturdy... And rouge, why don't you bring a box home for your wife? Our goods are so good you can compare prices with other vendors."
Xu Heng dismounted and picked up a pair of knee pads from the cargo.
The peddler hurriedly said, "Sir, you have a discerning eye. These knee pads were made by the best embroiderers in the area. Look at the stitching. They were just brought in before Qixi Festival. You're lucky, sir; they wouldn't have been available a few days earlier."
Xu Heng stroked the edge of the knee pad, a smile playing on his lips. It was chestnut brown with cloud and thunder patterns. He had immediately thought it looked like one, and now, touching it, he was even more certain that it was the kind Wang Yuying had given to Jing Ye.
That's right, why would she bother embroidering knee pads for another man!
She just bought it randomly on the street to appease Jingye!
Xu Heng was in a great mood, but he still didn't forget to buy knee pads and asked his guards to take them to Fuyou Mountain to see if the general store at the foot of the mountain sold the same ones.
The guards rushed back after half a day of comparison: "Your Majesty's predictions are indeed accurate. The general store does indeed sell the same chestnut-brown cloud and thunder knee pads, even the same size. Upon inquiry, I learned that they are all from the same batch of goods that came out of Qiqiao Embroidery Workshop on the first day of the seventh month."
After listening, Xu Heng held back for a long time, but still couldn't help but chuckle softly.
It was nearly 7 PM, but he still decided to go to the West Detention Center to tell Wang Yuying the good news.
The sky was as dark as ink, and the moon cast its light.
Wang Yuying ate late, and the palace servants had just finished their evening meal. The courtyard gate and the room door were both open, so Xu Heng simply brushed past the palace servants carrying the plates and bowls, went around the screen, and entered the room.
Wang Yuying was joking, but her face immediately fell when she saw Xu Heng.
Upon seeing the emperor arrive, the palace servants all retreated in an instant. Only Wang Yuying and Xu Heng remained, and she was extremely vigilant: "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Just as the first watch was about to begin, she said the third. Xu Heng felt a lump in his throat, then looked Wang Yuying up and down, his gaze growing darker with each glance. He sneered, "I am not that kind of philanderer who would leave after saying just a word."
Wang Yuying glanced at the ground and said irritably, "Speak up if you have something to say, or shut up if you have something to say."
Xu Heng felt frustrated again, but he suppressed his displeasure. He had come here specifically to ridicule her and watch her make a fool of herself: "The knee pads you gave Jing Ye weren't embroidered by you at all. You were just fooling him and lying to him."
Wang Yuying's eyes darted around, and she slowly looked up, smiling at Xu Heng: "So what if I coax you?" Her tone was light: "I'm only willing to coax you because I like you!"
She couldn't be bothered to coax this disgusting man in front of her!
Xu Hengxin's heart started clenching again, the pain excruciating.
"You can get lost after I finish this sentence," Wang Yuying pressed her advantage.
Because of his clenched jaw, Xu Heng's jawline appeared exceptionally clear. He stared down at the bronze bowl on the table, as if suppressing the cold and sharp storm in his eyes.
All the words became hard lumps, stuck in my chest.
After a moment, Xu Heng turned around. He thought Wang Yuying would say something sarcastic or unfriendly, but instead of saying anything, she followed him out. Xu Heng was surprised and wondered if she was coming out to see him off.
The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
As they approached the courtyard gate, Wang Yuying suddenly spoke up: "Oh, right."
Xu Heng had just stepped over the threshold when he immediately stopped, his heart trembling even more. Although he tried to lower his voice, it still sounded a little unsteady due to the trembling: "What's wrong?"
Wang Yu spoke fluent English: "If you have the guts, remove all the hidden guards at my door!"
Xu Heng finally couldn't hold back any longer: "You've followed me all this way just to tell me this?"
"And with the night dark and windy, we need to close the door to keep dogs away from uninvited guests!" Wang Yuying said, slamming the courtyard gate shut with a bang.
Xu Heng's heart was heavy because of the word "there is more" at the beginning, and he turned around angrily because of the second half of the sentence. However, he was half a beat late for Wang Yuying. He saw two doors that were close at hand and almost slammed on his head.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of the door being locked decisively came from behind it.
Xu Heng stared at the door panel for a moment, then turned around, took a step forward, stopped, glanced around, and flicked his sleeve: "Remove them all!"
They actually removed the hidden stakes outside Wang Yuying's courtyard.
This humiliation left Xu Heng feeling suffocated even after returning to his study. He felt as if there was a hard lump in his chest, or a red-hot iron blocking his breath.
It's completely impossible to approve memorials.
He couldn't help but raise his hand and rub his chest several times, but it didn't help at all.
Qingfu naturally noticed something amiss, and though he wanted to inquire, he dared not say a word. After a while, he heard the emperor himself order, "Pour some tea."
"Yes, yes!"
Logically, Sparrow Tongue tea is rich and potent, and it is most effective at opening the seven orifices. Xu Heng drank two cups of tea in a row, but it did not help. Qingfu watched him sit there, just sitting, leaning against the backrest, his hand on the armrest, not reviewing any memorials.
After a long pause, Xu Heng let out a sigh of relief: "Let's have a pulse diagnosis."
Qingfu immediately summoned the head physician of the Imperial Medical Academy, who boldly placed three fingers on Zhenlong's wrist. The pulse he detected was slightly weak and labored. After a moment's contemplation, the physician said, "Your Majesty, this is a case of liver qi stagnation, rising upwards to the heart. The *Neijing* states, 'Anger injures the liver, joy injures the heart, worry injures the spleen, grief injures the lungs, and fear injures the kidneys.'"
As the judge finished speaking, he closed his lips, and the emperor's five emotions were intense, as if they were still in a fierce battle.
The court judge hesitated for a moment before speaking again: "'All diseases arise from anger.' Your Majesty's body is the foundation of the nation; when Your Majesty is healthy, the country is at peace and the people are blessed. You must not let petty matters cause you to get angry and harm your health. Otherwise, if this continues, blood stasis and qi stagnation may lead to heart meridian blockage and heart pain. The way to maintain health lies in peace and tranquility. If Your Majesty can calm your mind and take care of your body for a period of time, your qi and blood will be in harmony, and you will live as long as the heavens."
Xu Heng was silent for a moment, then replied, "Understood, thank you for your trouble, Imperial Physician."
He issued an imperial decree to reward the chief judge with two bolts of palace satin, and said that it was too dark and the road was too long, so he ordered Qingfu to personally escort him for a while. The chief judge was naturally extremely grateful for such high regard. After everyone had left, Xu Heng leaned back, resting his elbow on the armrest and his hand on his temple—he would definitely take good care of himself; why was he angry? If he were to be angered to death by Wang Yuying, dying before her, wouldn't she become even more lawless?
Xu Heng felt that if he could outlive the Crown Prince to death back then, he would surely outlive Wang Yuying to death in the future.
He got up, sat cross-legged behind the green gauze curtain, and began to regulate his body and mind. Before long, when his breathing was not yet fully even, a eunuch came to announce that two guards who had accompanied him to Yuqing Temple were requesting an audience.
After a moment, Xu Heng's Adam's apple bobbed, and he said, "Let them in."
He still wanted to hear what kind of trouble Wang Yuying was up to this time.
As the two guards entered the room and bowed, Xu Heng had already sat back in his armchair and asked in a deep voice, "What else is there so late?"
The water clock was dripping, and it was already past midnight, the true third watch of the night.
The two guards hurriedly reported that after several days of interrogation, everyone at Yuqing Temple had confessed. They had now recorded in detail Wang Yuying's daily life, meals, and every word she had spoken during her three years at the temple.
The guards rode back to the capital under cover of night. If the booklet in their hands were a pancake, it would still be warm from the moment it came out of the oven until it reached Xu Heng's eyes.
They reported it immediately, without wasting a moment. As for when the king would review it, that was up to the king himself.
Xu Heng took a deep breath: "Bring it here."
The soft dripping of water, a gentle reminder that midnight had truly arrived, was a soothing sound. The guard, still bent over, held the book gently with both hands, placing it lightly on the edge of the table.
Then they retreated silently.
Xu Heng immediately grabbed it and flipped it over from back to front. He learned that Wang Yuying had braved the rain to go down the mountain to buy knee pads, her clothes were soaked with rain and her Taoist robe was splattered with mud. He was immediately out of breath, and his heart and the ribs next to it hurt.
Enraged, he threw the book on the table. The book flipped through several pages face up before finally flattening itself.
Xu Heng glanced at it unconsciously, his gaze already fixed on the pen holder, but he suddenly paused, then looked back at the secret book again.
On this flattened page, black ink on white paper silently narrates: The fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, the fifth year of Yuanjia. The first snow fell in the outskirts of the capital. That night, rustling noises came from the Immortal Master's backyard. We, the humble Taoists, thought it was broken bamboo. We sent two junior Taoists to investigate. They listened intently as they approached, and vaguely heard a low conversation, which later sounded like weeping and lamenting. Suddenly, the snow illuminated a ghostly shadow on the window, and the two Taoists fled in terror…
The ink characters finished writing a page here, and then abruptly stopped.
Xu Heng's eyes were cold and sinister. He pressed his lips together and turned the page. In their fear, the group of female Taoists confessed everything. On the back page, he wrote: "...Now, upon careful reflection, the ghostly figure was clearly a man's narrow and powerful body."
After a while, Xu Heng's thumb and forefinger, which were holding the paper, trembled slightly. He slowly turned back to the previous page and examined the year recorded at the beginning: the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month of the fifth year of Yuanjia.
He also remembered that day.
On the 12th day of the 11th month of the fifth year of the Yuanjia era, Wang Yuying finally recovered from his serious illness. A great weight was lifted from his heart, and he stopped sending imperial physicians to Yuqing Temple incessantly.
On the 13th, he ordered the imperial physicians to withdraw and at the same time decided to reinstate the emperor. He issued an edict, but was opposed by his ministers. The emperor and his ministers were deadlocked until the 23rd when Zheng Yangzhi crashed into the dragon pillar. The whole country was in an uproar, and the dispute ended with the emperor's compromise.
He was heartbroken and decided to accept his fate and let go, ending his relationship with Wang Yuying in this life.
It was a brave act of cutting off one's own arm, or severing ties of affection with a sword. On the fourth of the following month, he ordered the removal of all the hidden agents from Floating Mountain, as if not hearing news of her would sever all ties, and no longer caring about her would allow him to truly forget her.
On the fifth day, after the establishment of the new Empress Wei, the heavy snow that had blanketed the capital for several days finally stopped and the sky cleared. To set an example of frugality, the imperial bedchamber, which usually did not have underfloor heating in winter, was made an exception for the night of the Emperor and Empress's wedding. He let Empress Wei go to sleep first, while he sat by the bed, barefoot on the floor, feeling the warmth beneath his feet, yet his heart remained cold and desolate, like the melting snow outside the palace.
At this time, Wang Yuying had only been away from the palace for one year and two months, while Jing Ye was still guarding the border at Yangguan and would not be transferred back to the capital for another year and seven months.
Xu Heng's shoulders suddenly twitched.
In an instant, a sinister aura enveloped him: "Go and find out exactly when that blacksmith shop at the foot of the mountain opened."
The guard was quite meticulous in his work. He had already conducted a thorough investigation of the entire Fuyou Mountain before coming, and immediately replied, "Your Majesty, I know this. It was the sixth day of the twelfth month of the fifth year of Yuanjia!"
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