The hint of a smile at the corners of Emperor Jianzhang’s mouth was alarming. It wasn’t until Empress Lu was supported out of Xuanzheng Hall by Song Chuyi and Lu Chonghua, one on each shoulder, and blown by the cold wind outside, that she came back to her senses.
But coming to her senses was the same as not coming to her senses. She felt that she now was no different from a dead person. Except for her nose still breathing and her eyes still able to see things, she truly had not a shred of hope left.
After all, this was all because she was incompetent—she could bear children but not raise them. She had taught her son to become what he was today, harming others and herself, and in the end even dragging her family down into the water with her.
Princess Rongcheng and the Crown Prince were already waiting at Qingning Hall. Their hearts had been held high from beginning to end, never lowering for a moment. Only when they saw them did they simultaneously breathe a sigh of relief.
But just as they released this breath, Empress Lu turned her head to look at Song Chuyi: “You—you knew early on?”
She hadn’t closed her eyes the entire night. At this moment her mind was terribly muddled. Struggling to hold onto a breath, she asked again: “Have all the people been arrested? If they manage to send out information again, won’t even greater trouble arise?”
After the incident with Chamberlain Xie, such a large batch of people had been arrested, yet there were still Han Zhengqing and Prince Gong’s accomplices in the palace. Human hearts were the most difficult to fathom and the easiest to change—these past days she had also seen clearly that Prince Gong and Han Zhengqing were not people who would give up easily. If they didn’t succeed this time, there would always be a next time.
She no longer had the energy to ask about the reasons for the Lu family’s betrayal, nor the courage to ask. Her own older brother was excellent, she naturally knew that, but her brother’s wife and son were both muddled fools. This two-faced scheming had probably been planned long ago—otherwise how could they even command old Kong?
The only one she worried about was Old Master Lu, but at this point, even if she worried about her brother, she couldn’t spare the worry. This mess in the capital still hadn’t been cleaned up. Originally it was because of the imperial family’s affairs that the common people in Xibei suffered the hardships of war, and the people of the capital were also in panic. If people found out that the Lu family was also deeply involved and had contributed significantly, then people throughout the realm would probably all think the court was incompetent.
The Crown Prince also turned his gaze toward Song Chuyi. By now he also knew that the Lu family must be endlessly entangled in this matter, but he closed his eyes and asked nothing. Clearly they had planned early on. Right now he only hoped for Prince Gong’s death—as for everything else, he didn’t much care.
Song Chuyi helped the pale-faced and haggard Empress Lu sit in a chair and gently shook her head: “Imperial Grandfather has early arrangements. Imperial Grandmother need not worry.”
Empress Lu didn’t expect to really get any answers from asking. She truly had no mind to ask anymore. She nodded and then shook her head, and only then had the presence of mind to call Lu Chonghua to her side. Her nephew’s granddaughter who had returned from the dead now stood before her eyes again. She touched Lu Chonghua’s face, wanting to say something, but in the end said nothing: “Go rest for a while…”
Lu Chonghua had no mind to rest. Holding onto Song Chuyi’s arm, she entered Mingcui Palace. Seeing Crown Princess Lu, tears finally fell to the ground with a splat. When Crown Princess Lu reached out her hand, she grasped it and tears fell like rain.
Crown Princess Lu was no better off than her. She knew that her eldest brother had not conducted himself properly. He had no real ability and didn’t think about self-improvement, but always felt that the family’s nepotistic connections had dragged him down, making him bear the name of imperial relatives but not giving him real power, preventing him from going further to be second only to one and above all others. First he latched onto her, his younger sister, wholeheartedly trying to curry favor with the Crown Prince to gain benefits from him. When he saw that she, his younger sister, was useless, he conceived other thoughts.
But she had never imagined that Uncle Lu would be so conscienceless as to be willing to sacrifice even his own biological daughter. Now it was too late to say any of this. She patted the back of Lu Chonghua’s hand and asked Song Chuyi directly: “Xiaoyi, what did His Majesty say?”
Song Chuyi knew what Crown Princess Lu was worried about: “It has nothing to do with the Lu family. Kong Shun was just bribed by the spy Han Zhengqing sent to the capital. As soon as day breaks, he’ll be pushed to the vegetable market, and at the third quarter of the hour of the horse, he’ll be publicly executed.”
If it weren’t for Zhou Weizhao’s sake, Emperor Jianzhang would definitely hate the Lu family to the bone—how could he still be willing to give the Lu family this bit of face? Crown Princess Lu was already very content. Her maternal family no longer had anything worth being attached to—only her father worthy of concern. With Zhou Weizhao’s character, he would definitely arrange things very well. As for the others, if they could be ruthless even to their own biological daughter, since they dared to act, they should naturally pay the price.
Having received her answer, she asked no more, settling Lu Chonghua and letting Song Chuyi go busy herself.
Song Chuyi was indeed very busy. It was rare that there was someone even Lai Chenglong couldn’t handle. She rather wanted to go see this spy that Han Zhengqing had sent from thousands of miles away to the capital.
Xu Da had long since been tortured until he’d lost a layer of skin. His face which had been full of spirit in the morning was now so contorted that his features couldn’t be clearly seen, but even so, Lai Chenglong still hadn’t gotten anything out of him. In the gap while people went to bring him out, he told Song Chuyi: “His bones are very hard. We’ve tried all the Imperial Guard’s methods. He can’t endure it, but he stubbornly hasn’t opened his mouth once.”
The prison door was pushed open, and two Imperial Guards dragged him out like a dead dog, tying him to a wooden post in just a few movements. Beside him was red-hot branding iron. Song Chuyi only kept Lai Chenglong, Qing Ying and Qing Tao present. She pulled the red-hot branding iron from the charcoal basin, took a few steps forward to stand before Xu Da, her eyes looking at the iron tongs, then looking at Xu Da again. Her opening words were the confession Academician Chen had acknowledged: “I heard that today’s order to kill me was issued by you?”
Xu Da’s neck could no longer be lifted, so he simply didn’t lift it. He couldn’t die even if he wanted to. His gaze stared straight at the ground, but he just wouldn’t open his mouth.
“I also heard that when you came to the capital, besides murdering His Majesty to frame and slander the Grand Prince, then promoting some regent, you had another task.” Song Chuyi didn’t mind his coldness in the slightest. Unhurriedly, she blew on the red-hot iron tongs still flashing with sparks, and with a smile looked at Xu Da who had suddenly raised his head and seemed to be grimacing in pain, slowly and leisurely saying: “To bring Han Zhengqing’s lifeline, Prince Dongping, back to Jin territory?”
Xu Da wasn’t afraid of death. His entire family was in Xibei anyway. If he died, Han Zhengqing would surely not treat his family poorly. But if something went wrong with Prince Dongping, then he would truly be afraid—if Prince Dongping died, Han Zhengqing would definitely go mad! At that time, Han Zhengqing wouldn’t care whether his bones were hard or whether he had never betrayed him and Prince Dongping. He would only determine that he was incompetent.
It seemed that obsessive people truly did have common traits. She had known early on that if Han Zhengqing had calculated everything, then he naturally couldn’t possibly forget Prince Dongping. Since this person Xu Da was so important, then Han Zhengqing must have also tasked Xu Da with Prince Dongping’s matter.