The study fell into silence.
Xiao Xun looked at Chu Lan and placed his teacup on the table.
“I know this matter is extraordinary, something Mister Chu has never even thought about in his entire life.” he said. “Mister Chu’s confusion must naturally be great.”
Chu Lan looked at the flickering dim lamp. Yes, how could he have imagined such a thing would happen? Even now he still felt like he might be dreaming.
“I could do this matter myself, without needing to sit here with Mister Chu and say so much.” Xiao Xun said. “This is one of Mister Chu’s doubts, isn’t it?”
Chu Lan nodded unconsciously, then stiffened. Wasn’t this admitting—
But Xiao Xun was already sitting here, clearly he had known everything long ago.
That’s right—he already knew everything. He could simply take action directly, without even appearing in person. Why come and say so much?
“Because I value Mister Chu too highly.”
Hearing this, Chu Lan could no longer restrain himself and stood up: “Stop talking nonsense. You—” He stared at this young prince. “You just want to borrow my hands to make me do evil deeds so you can claim to be pure and innocent!”
He might be cowardly, but he wasn’t stupid. Why say something even a three-year-old child wouldn’t believe?
Xiao Xun smiled, his dimples deepening: “I was teasing Mister Chu to keep you from being too tense. See, doesn’t Mister Chu feel better after venting your anger?”
Today he, Chu Lan, was just a mouse being toyed with by others—what could he do about it? Chu Lan felt dejected and powerless.
“Mister Chu, I am having you do evil deeds for me, but it’s not that I cannot or will not stain my own hands with blood.” Xiao Xun’s smile faded. “It’s because going forward, I need Mister Chu. Of course, to be precise, I need Chu Ling, but Chu Ling’s life is running out. So, Mister Chu, you are an indispensable asset to me.”
He was an indispensable asset? Chu Lan finally raised his head to look.
“Mister Chu, today you must surely understand your brother’s true position.” Xiao Xun said.
Chu Lan looked away, using silence in place of an answer.
“That person came to find you today because of this. I came to find you today also because of this.” Xiao Xun’s voice came again. “But after that person uses you today, all he’ll remember is Chu Ling’s merit. When Chu Ling dies, in his eyes you’re merely Chu Ling’s brother, negligible. But when I use you, I’m truly using you—it’s you yourself who helped me. After success, in my eyes you will no longer be Chu Ling’s brother, but a pillar minister.”
A pillar minister!
Minister!
This word “minister” nakedly placed himself in the position of sovereign.
This word “minister” was also a promise—
Chu Lan looked at Xiao Xun. He wanted to say something, but didn’t know what he should say.
Xiao Xun didn’t need him to speak and continued: “Moreover, after Chu Ling dies, you will still be alive. As Chu Ling’s only brother, you need to take over everything of his.”
Speaking to this point, he once again picked up the teacup and held it before Chu Lan.
“Mister Chu, when I said I value you, it wasn’t a joke. I came indeed because of Chu Ling, but what I truly need is you.”
“In the future, I will be your ladder to heaven, but at this moment, you are my ladder to heaven.”
“I ask Mister Chu to step onto the ladder to heaven with me, and together, ascend to the gate of heaven.”
He spoke these words again.
Hearing these words again, Chu Lan’s heart still pounded wildly, but this time he didn’t say he didn’t understand what they meant. Instead, he reached out and took the tea.
Xiao Xun smiled and stood up: “There have been too many unexpected events today. Mister Chu’s mind is shaken. I won’t disturb you further.”
With that, he walked toward the exit.
Chu Lan hesitated, holding the teacup as he stood up, uncertain whether to see him out or not.
Xiao Xun stopped and turned back: “Mister Chu, you needn’t worry about safety. My people are guarding your residence and will keep you safe.”
With that, he pulled up his cloak to cover his head and face, walked out, and disappeared into the night.
Whether Chu Lan understood the meaning of these words or not, Chu Zhao hidden in the cabinet understood clearly.
Not only did she understand the meaning of these words, she finally understood how unjust her death in that previous life had been—yet also how deserved.
……
……
When she had crept into the study, it was to see if Chu Lan was hiding someone here.
Some time ago, Chu Lan’s study had been given to her by Chu Tang. She was very satisfied with this study. It had to be said that the Chu residence truly was a fine estate—it had a garden like the Chu garden, and also had an exquisite study. No wonder Chu Lan spent all his time here.
This study even had a hidden small cabinet. Though it could only fit one person, it had a high window for ventilation, was close enough to the bookshelf to pull out books at will, and one could see into the study through gaps in the bookshelf.
The servants on this side were in a state of panic, all seeking dark places to hide. Chu Zhao smoothly climbed through the exterior window into the cabinet.
Chu Lan in the study paced back and forth in distraction, unaware of anything else.
But there was no one else in the study. Chu Zhao looked around and was about to leave when Xiao Xun arrived. Then she sat in the cabinet and finally understood her entire life.
The words Consort Liang had cursed at her, the words Chu Tang had cursed at her, the words Yan Lang had cursed at her—she understood them all now.
She finally understood clearly and completely.
Her becoming empress had indeed been a transaction.
The Young Prince had indeed been entrusted to the Chu clan, and then truly died at the Chu clan’s hands.
But what did this have to do with her? What did it have to do with her father? She and her father clearly hadn’t done anything, didn’t know anything—
Through the gaps in the bookshelf, Chu Zhao looked outside. Her gaze was focused yet empty, as if staring at Chu Lan, yet also seeming to look past Chu Lan toward the depths of the night.
So this was how she and her father had been toyed with in someone’s palm.
……
……
In the Imperial City shrouded in deep night, layer upon layer of high walls, hall after hall of palaces seemed to isolate everything.
In a hall in the deepest part of the inner palace, it was so quiet that even the candlelight seemed to stop flickering. The person lying on the wide dragon bed was like a stone statue.
Until he let out a long breath. In that instant, the atmosphere in the hall began to flow, the candlelight began to dance, the bed curtains swayed gently, and the eunuchs moved about softly.
“Your Majesty.” A eunuch said cautiously. “Would you like some refreshments?”
The Emperor made a sound of acknowledgment: “Bring some crispy yellow pastries.”
The eunuch was about to speak when the Emperor laughed at himself.
“I forgot—these are what the Noble Consort used to make.” he said. “Now the Noble Consort is dead.”
Just half an hour ago, the Noble Consort who had accompanied the Emperor for many years with her gentle charm had attempted to harm His Majesty and been strangled to death by the Emperor. She was still hanging from the beam in the room.
Not one person from the Noble Consort’s palace had been spared.
Thinking of the scene just now, the eunuch couldn’t help but shudder. Serving as a eunuch in the Imperial City, he prided himself on having seen all manner of wickedness, but this direct face-to-face slaughter and bloodshed—no matter how much one heard about it, witnessing it firsthand was still different in its impact.
“Your Majesty.” he hurriedly said. “Our imperial kitchen also knows how to make these.”
Only then did the Emperor make a sound of acknowledgment: “Then make some. The night is still long.”
The eunuch ordered someone to go while stepping forward to help the Emperor sit up. He didn’t know if it was because he himself was weak from shock, but he felt the Emperor was particularly heavy.
Alas, the woman who had been his constant companion wanted to harm him, and his two biological sons were slaughtering each other. Having such things happen, even if the Emperor didn’t say it, the shock and blow he suffered must be considerable.
After all, he was also a frail and sickly old man.
“What’s the situation?” the Emperor asked. “The Crown Prince is already dead—is it still not over?”
The eunuch lowered his head: “Not yet. The capital is still very chaotic, with burning and killing everywhere.”
“The Imperial City hasn’t been spared either, has it?” the Emperor asked again.
The eunuch dared not conceal it and acknowledged yes, then hurriedly added: “Your Majesty, though the outer city is a mixed jumble, the inner palace guards are all carefully selected and loyal to Your Majesty without question.”
The Emperor let out a laugh, strange and peculiar.
“I don’t trust them at all.” he said, then glanced at the eunuch. “Any of you.”
The eunuch’s scalp went numb at these words. He dropped to his knees with a thud: “Your Majesty, this old servant—”
But he couldn’t express his loyalty. The Emperor impatiently interrupted.
“Go summon Deng Yi.” he said.
Deng Yi? The eunuch was stunned. What was a Deng Yi?
The eunuch didn’t dare say he didn’t know. If he didn’t know, he could go ask—he certainly couldn’t ask His Majesty. He turned to leave, but was called back by the Emperor.
The Emperor pulled off his belt and tossed it over.
“Take this, in case he won’t listen.”