Hua Chun looked up and glanced at Yuwen Jie, pressing her lips together faintly, her eyes seeming to hold an entire winter’s worth of snow. Stepping out of the cart, she held her belly and knelt on the platform, calling out loudly, “This humble consort greets Your Majesty! Long live the emperor, long live, long live!”
Her voice was so loud that both the stage and the crowd below fell utterly silent. The emperor looked down at her and asked, “Lady Hua, do you know your crime?”
“This humble consort’s crime was granted by Your Majesty himself, but I do not know exactly where I have erred!” Hua Chun said with a faint laugh. “Please, Your Majesty, enlighten me!”
The emperor paused, then turned to the old ministers beside him and said quietly, “Perhaps this question would be better answered by all of you, my esteemed officials?”
The old ministers startled, exchanging glances, and stammered for a long while without producing an answer. As for what exactly Noble Consort De had done wrong — truthfully, there was nothing. It was only that every disaster had somehow become linked to her, so everyone had simply decided she must be a demoness.
He Chang’an, standing to one side, called out clearly, “My lady has done nothing wrong. It is the common people and the court officials who have branded her with this crime. I only hope your decision is not mistaken — for if you wrong an innocent woman, you all the more deserve heaven’s punishment!”
The crowd below fell into dead silence, exchanging glances, until someone muttered quietly, “How could she be wronged? Every disaster has been tied to her — she must be a demoness.”
Once that voice spoke up, the others seemed to find their direction. Someone started it, and soon the whole crowd was chanting together, “Burn her! Burn her!”
Among the officials, someone stepped forward and said, “Since the whole world believes Noble Consort De is at fault, then she must be at fault. She cannot stand against so many — we beg Your Majesty to decide.”
The emperor nodded. He Chang’an spoke up beside him. “She is a noble consort of the palace, and carries the imperial heir besides — does Your Majesty truly intend to burn her before ten thousand eyes?”
“My lord Marquis.” someone said, cupping his hands. “Given what happened before, we beg the Marquis not to resort to any more tricks to hide the truth. Today, Noble Consort De must burn before ten thousand witnesses, so that all doubts are laid to rest and the people’s loyalty to the throne is restored.”
He Chang’an laughed coldly. “To think that to win back the people’s hearts, His Majesty now has to rely on killing a woman.”
“Chang’an.” the emperor said gravely. “I know Noble Consort De is your sister, but you may not be so disrespectful.”
“What Your Majesty has done today has chilled me to the bone!” He Chang’an said coldly. “If you insist on burning Noble Consort De, then the moment you give the order to light the fire will be the moment I resign my post and retire from court. I hope Your Majesty will grant me that.”
Those who had believed seven parts now believed nine. If even He Chang’an was ready to resign, then the emperor must truly be determined to kill the Noble Consort.
The emperor fell silent, turning his head to look toward the center of the execution ground.
Supported by Qing Niao, Hua Chun climbed step by step onto the platform stacked with firewood, her plain white robe fluttering in the wind, as if she were about to ascend to the heavens.
The emperor stepped forward and looked deeply at her. “Do you have anything more to say?”
Hua Chun lowered her eyes, the rims faintly red, her expression somewhere between a smile and tears. “Yuwen Jie, look me in the eye… do you truly have the heart to let me go?”
The emperor flinched, struck by a strange sense that he’d heard those words somewhere before.
The same execution ground, the same person about to be punished — only this time, she wore a white dress instead of a prisoner’s robe. Her hair was pinned up in a woman’s style, no longer in men’s dress.
Something flickered through his mind. Yuwen Jie stepped back and raised a hand to rub his temples.
All around them was silent, as though the whole world held only the two of them. The emperor’s expression was grave, while the Noble Consort’s face carried a hint of mockery.
After a long moment, Hua Chun spoke. “Never mind. Whatever fate bound the two of us in this life, it ends here. It’s only the child who is so innocent — I’ve never regretted anything so much in my life. Had I known it would come to this, I might as well have died at the bandits’ hands back then — at least I’d be remembered with some respect. As it stands now, I’ve truly lost everything, my name ruined for good.”
The words echoed across the execution ground, and even those who still harbored some doubt were now fully convinced. Amid the chants demanding the Noble Consort’s death, there were still many who felt a pang of pity. To go to her death together with the imperial heir — Noble Consort De might well be the first in history to do so.
The commoners fell silent. The emperor slowly retreated to the overseer’s platform. Soldiers holding torches stepped forward and stood beside the pile of firewood.
“Burn her! Burn her!” the crowd below chanted once more, and many who had been unsure joined in, following the crowd out of habit even though it wasn’t truly what they wanted to shout.
Hua Chun gave Yuwen Jie one last look.
He stood before the ministers, his gaze deep, watching her direction quietly, making no move to stop it.
Never mind, then! Closing her eyes, Hua Chun laughed loudly three times. “Truly, heaven has no eyes!”
The man holding the torch beside her was so startled by her laughter that the torch slipped from his hand before the emperor could even give the order.
The firewood had been soaked in oil, and the flames shot up quickly, creeping slowly toward Hua Chun’s feet.
The crowd cheered. Amid the chaos, Qing Niao slipped down from the platform. Rui’er knelt to the side, sobbing loudly. He Chang’an tried to move forward but was firmly restrained by Huo Zichong beside him.
“My lady!” Rui’er cried out, weeping.
Hua Chun gritted her teeth. “If I deserve to die, may heaven bless Great Liang with peace and prosperity! But if I am wronged, then everyone here today who called for my death will pay the price!”
The words startled the crowd. The commoners, angered, shouted for her burning all the more fiercely.
Timing it so the fire had grown enough, the emperor gave He Chang’an a look.
He Chang’an understood at once and quickly relayed a signal to those nearby.
“Crash—”
Rain suddenly began pouring from the sky, soaking everyone and startling the entire crowd. Looking up, the sky was filled with sheets of rain.
“This…” The old ministers were stunned, immediately turning to look toward the center of the execution ground.
The firewood had been soaked in oil, but somehow, once the rain began, the flames quickly shrank.
“Your Majesty!” He Chang’an sneered. “Do you see this? This is the will of heaven!”
Yuwen Jie pressed his lips together, gazing silently at the center of the execution ground.
The hydraulic device had been built in a hurry, and its effect didn’t seem very strong. Would she choke on the smoke? And would this little bit of water even be enough to put out the whole fire? Once the rain let up, wouldn’t the trick be exposed?
Just as she was worrying, a peal of thunder rang out overhead, and it truly began to pour in a thunderstorm.
He Chang’an was stunned. Even Hua Chun hadn’t quite expected this, and quickly looked up at the sky, blowing it a kiss.
Her plan had a flaw — the hydraulic device could only hold so little water, spraying from behind a few rooftops, and it would run dry before long. Once the crowd dispersed from the execution ground, they’d notice that only that one patch of ground was wet.
Luckily, her protagonist’s luck had returned — it had actually started to rain for real!
The firewood beneath her feet was soaked through, and someone shouted, “Even heaven is helping Noble Consort De! She truly shouldn’t have to die!”
The crowd erupted. Noble Consort De had just said that if she was wronged, everyone present would suffer the consequences — wouldn’t that be terrible for all of them now?