The reason she had sought out Xu Da was simply because she didn’t want to cause any more trouble. Otherwise, though Old Kong wouldn’t say anything, she could have gotten most of the answers from Scholar Chen—it was just that what Scholar Chen knew certainly wouldn’t be as clear as what Xu Da knew.
Xu Da himself understood this point as well. He lowered his head and coughed a few times, then clearly disclosed everything from the letter Han Zhengqing had given him when he came to the capital. He also laid bare which officials he had contacted, separating those who had agreed from those who had refused.
With this information, the cleanup work would be much easier to handle. Though it was a major purge, it wouldn’t do the court any good if the situation kept escalating out of control. Besides, there were too many fence-sitters who wavered indecisively. When the water is too clear, there are no fish—sometimes one must understand the principle of letting things slide. With what Xu Da had provided, they could now clearly determine which people could be given a pass with a lenient hand and which ones absolutely had to be uprooted entirely.
Lai Chenglong followed her out and handed over a thick stack of papers. “These are all the details about the Lu family that Young Master Song asked me to investigate earlier.”
Before Lu Chonghua had fled to the capital, Song Chuyi had already felt something was off about the Lu family and had asked Song Jue to investigate them. But now there was no need for it. She was just about to shake her head when she paused and extended her hand after all.
Although she now knew without looking that the Lu family definitely had problems, Song Chuyi still wanted to know exactly why Elder Master Lu had become so utterly deranged.
She hadn’t walked more than a few steps when she ran into Prince Dongping hurrying toward her. Song Chuyi stopped in her tracks and waited for Prince Dongping to approach. She nodded slightly at him and was about to leave when he called out to her again.
“Sister-in-law.” Prince Dongping stood in place. After a moment, he willingly bowed deeply to her. “Many thanks.” He was thanking Song Chuyi for knowing full well that Xu Da had come for him, yet from beginning to end she had never exposed this fact before the ministers, nor had she used it to create trouble and ruin his reputation. She had even casually covered up the fact that Xu Da had been arrested in his chambers.
In the past, he had always heard Han Zhi say how formidable this young lady was, but most of the time he had been dismissive. It wasn’t until after the Yangquan incident that he truly felt she was formidable—but by then it was already too late. Thinking about it now, his mother had been arrogant and domineering her entire life, yet her assessment of Song Chuyi’s capabilities alone had been unexpectedly accurate.
Song Chuyi wasn’t being so kindhearted either—he knew this, just as Qian Ying and Huang Yiqing had said earlier. The fundamental reason Song Chuyi was willing to gloss over this matter was that the current Prince Dongping posed no threat to the overall situation whatsoever. With the mistakes his mother had made, he would never be able to turn things around. What he could accomplish in the future was limited—and he was different from Prince Gong, not being a regional prince commanding troops.
There was another reason: the Crown Prince’s physical condition was improving day by day. Song Chuyi didn’t want to cause the Crown Prince any trouble at this time, yet it wouldn’t be appropriate to do anything to the Crown Prince during this period of frequent warfare and unstable public sentiment. Naturally, the only option was to cater to his preferences. This way, she could win the Crown Prince’s favor while also making Prince Dongping grateful—killing several birds with one stone, so why not?
But even knowing these reasons, Song Chuyi had still preserved his dignity and left him a place to stand. What should be thanked still needed to be thanked.
Song Chuyi stopped and looked at him seriously for a moment, then waved her hand and stepped aside to let him pass. “I said before that as long as Your Highness stays peacefully by the Crown Prince’s side, I guarantee that Prince Dongping won’t be tainted by these vile rumors and slander.”
“Yes.” Prince Dongping reacted quickly. His gaze fixed on the ground, he said softly, “Imperial Grandfather asked me to supervise the execution of Scholar Chen and the others. I’ve come to take custody of the prisoners.”
Everyone understood what it meant to have Prince Dongping execute Han Zhengqing’s men. Prince Dongping couldn’t refuse and didn’t want to refuse at all. He wanted to make it absolutely clear to Han Zhengqing that his surname was Zhou, not Han, and that even when he died, he would only be buried in the Zhou family’s ancestral tomb!
Song Chuyi suddenly smiled. No one knew better than she how stubborn Han Zhengqing was. When such an obsessive fanatic learned of his son’s attitude, his heart would surely feel very uncomfortable, wouldn’t it?
The more uncomfortable he was, the happier Song Chuyi naturally became. Therefore, she nodded lightly. “Then I won’t delay Your Highness any further.”
Qing Ying’s eyes brightened. She followed for a few steps before coming to her senses. “Miss… Your Majesty and His Majesty did this on purpose, didn’t they?”
Han Zhengqing wanted to disgust him, so he made Han Zhengqing even more disgusted. Nothing wrong with that. Song Chuyi tapped her nose. When they exited the prison gate, she saw Qing Zhuo and Han Feng waiting by her ceremonial guard.
Qing Zhuo had originally been holding a belly full of fire with nowhere to vent, feeling so depressed he practically wanted to bang his head against a wall. He wished he could bite off a piece of Old Kong’s flesh, yet couldn’t help but think of all the kindness Old Kong had shown them over the years. He was truly shocked and indignant. But when he heard that His Majesty had personally sentenced Old Kong to death by a thousand cuts, his heart strangely calmed down. Even his earlier thought of definitely going to interrogate Old Kong about why he had betrayed His Highness had disappeared. He had been listlessly unable to summon any energy, but now seeing Song Chuyi, he finally showed a bit of life. Quick-eyed and nimble, he went to greet Song Chuyi. “Your Majesty, His Highness has come to receive you!”
The discussions on Emperor Jianzhang’s side must have concluded. Song Chuyi unconsciously squeezed the intelligence about the Lu family that Lai Chenglong had given her. Seeing that Qing Bai had already lifted the curtain, she stepped onto the carriage. Qing Ying and Qing Tao boarded the small oil cart behind.
Zhou Weizhao hadn’t slept all night, yet his spirits were still fairly good. Seeing Song Chuyi, his face finally showed a hint of a smile. He pulled her to sit down, took out tea leaves from the wall box, personally brewed tea and handed it to her. “Why didn’t you go rest first? Coming this afternoon wouldn’t have been late either.”
Song Chuyi held the teacup and took a sip. Through the steam, she looked at Zhou Weizhao’s face. Without answering his question, she reached out to touch his brows and eyes, sighed, and gently nestled in his embrace. After a long while, she finally spoke. “Don’t be sad.”
Even Zhang Tianshi felt sad about Daoist Ciyun’s betrayal. Such a worldly-wise, transcendent sage was still inevitably moved by the seven emotions and six desires, let alone Zhou Weizhao. No matter how composed or capable, he was still just a person. And people always have joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. Old Kong’s significance to Zhou Weizhao was truly different. The better he had treated him before, the deeper the knife stabbed into Zhou Weizhao’s heart now. Zhou Weizhao never spoke of it, but everyone could see how much he valued Old Kong. Those closest to you know exactly where to strike to cause you the most pain.
As she spoke, she had already spread out that stack of papers for Zhou Weizhao to see.
Zhou Weizhao stroked her hair, resting his chin on top of her head. He flipped through all the letters, then closed them.