The atmosphere held a strange subtlety.

Everyone seemed to sense something, their gazes wandering between Shen Zhiyi and Jiang Xuening. They probably felt that Grand Princess Leyang was being far too kind to Jiang Xuening.

The eunuch named Zheng Bao had already given thanks and withdrawn.

A great burden lifted from Jiang Xuening’s heart. Although she still didn’t know what would happen next, her previously tense body finally relaxed somewhat.

If she were to use You Fangying’s words from her previous life, what would this be called?

Now that she thought about it, it should be called “drama queen.”

She wasn’t good at much else, but when it came to acting and playing pitiful, her skills were first-rate.

But thinking about it, it wasn’t actually that bad.

She had certainly used Shen Zhiyi to achieve her goal, but in another sense, she had also formed a good karmic connection for Shen Zhiyi, hadn’t she?

It didn’t count as doing evil, it didn’t count as doing evil.

Jiang Xuening admonished herself a few times in her heart, then said: “Let’s go.”

Shen Zhiyi naturally had no objections.

Although returning to Mingfeng Palace wasn’t in the same direction as the other study companions, she actually held Jiang Xuening’s hand and accompanied her all the way back to Yangzhi Studio. She even went inside the hall to sit and chat with them for quite a while before leaving.

Xiao Shu appeared somewhat silent throughout the entire process.

When Shen Zhiyi left, she looked at her several times, as if she had something to say. But seeing the other people sitting in the hall, she didn’t speak up.

It wasn’t until she saw Shen Zhiyi get up to leave that she silently followed after her.

Jiang Xuening turned to look and guessed she had something to say to Shen Zhiyi alone, perhaps related to today’s events, to Cining Palace and Empress Dowager Xiao.

But no one could properly chase after them to listen.

The moment Xiao Shu left, the hall strangely quieted down. Everyone looked at each other, but no one opened their mouth to speak.

After quite a while, Fang Miao patted her chest with lingering fear, exhaling the breath she’d been holding the entire way back, and sighed leisurely: “Running into something like this right after entering the palace nearly scared me to death.”

The others deeply agreed and nodded.

They all said: “Who knows what was wrong with that jade ruyi…”

Jiang Xuening naturally knew what tricks lay within the jade ruyi, but at this moment she simply kept her mouth shut.

After all, she had been standing below at the time and shouldn’t have known.

Yao Rongrong looked frightened, but unlike the others, besides fear there was also some poorly concealed curiosity. After hesitating again and again, she actually lowered her voice and timidly said: “When the Empress picked up that jade fragment earlier, I happened to be beside her. I, I glimpsed two characters. But, but what do ‘righteous children’ mean?”

“Righteous children?!”

Fang Miao, who had been frowning and pinching her fingers to divine good or bad fortune for herself, heard these two words and her hands trembled. She couldn’t help but cry out, looking at Yao Rongrong with an almost terrified gaze, even her voice somewhat distorted.

“You actually saw those two characters?”

Yao Rongrong was completely frightened by Fang Miao’s reaction: “I, I saw them…”

Zhou Baoying, the youngest and most naive about worldly matters, was utterly confused: “What’s wrong with those two characters?”

On this early winter afternoon, the sun in the sky was obscured by gloomy clouds. Along the edge of the stele forest at White Pagoda Temple, fallen leaves covered the ground, and withered tree branches trembled lightly in the cold wind.

A large bronze bell hung high inside Chaoyin Pavilion.

Beside it was a low stone platform. On the platform sat a qin table and a tea stand. In the corner was a lotus flower incense burner, inside which a partially burned incense seal sat properly arranged.

However, in the next moment it was angrily swept down and toppled over!

“Clang clang clang!”

The lotus flower incense burner fell onto the steps below, bouncing down the stairs level by level. Most of the pale incense ash inside spilled out, occasionally landing on several dead leaves lying on the ground—a truly shocking sight.

Jianshu’s eyelids wouldn’t stop twitching. He lowered his head, not quite daring to look up.

He only heard that usually warm and generous voice now frozen like ice.

It was Xie Wei asking with extreme calm in his great fury: “Who ordered it done?”

Jianshu said: “When this subordinate learned the news, the order had already been issued. When I questioned them, they only said the message came from Jinling, and their manner of speaking was quite impatient toward this subordinate, as if somewhat guarded. After this subordinate pretended to leave, I crouched there for half a shichen and saw a sedan chair come from the direction of Le’an Ward. A man got out, about fifty years old, gaunt in appearance, with a goatee, wearing gray clothing. If this subordinate saw correctly, he looked very much like Master Gongyi who is by the Sect Leader’s side.”

When not in the palace or handling official business, Xie Wei habitually wore white.

Plain white clothing without any pretense.

This made him appear even more unconnected to worldly troubles, untouched by half a trace of mortal karma. The same white clothing might make others look like common peddlers, but on him it always carried an unavoidably lofty quality.

Only now within this loftiness inevitably arose several traces of harshness.

He asked again: “What about Dingfei’s side?”

Jianshu lowered his eyelids, his voice becoming quieter: “After learning of this matter, Daoqin specifically ordered people to carefully review the secret letters that Young Master Dingfei sent to the capital over the past month. Not a single sentence mentioned today’s events.”

Xie Wei laughed once: “My heart hasn’t changed, but how do I know others’ hearts are the same?”

Jianshu didn’t quite understand these words at first. He wanted to say that when in Jinling, Young Master Dingfei obeyed the master’s every word, and even after the master came to the capital, he periodically sent secret letters reporting news from within the sect, clearly standing on the master’s side.

But just as he was about to speak, his own earlier words passed through his mind once more.

Gongyi Cheng had always been by the Sect Leader’s side, rarely leaving Jinling.

How could everyone else have already arrived in the capital while Young Master Dingfei, who was also in Jinling, remained completely unaware and gave them not half a word of information?

Thinking this far, Jianshu’s heart grew solemn: “Master’s meaning is…”

A few specks of incense ash had stained Xie Wei’s snow-white sleeves. He raised his finger to lightly brush at them, but far from wiping them away, he caused the specks to spread, staining even more.

His usually clear and distant eyes concealed a harsh chill.

His lip line straightened, and his expression actually showed a faintly intimidating danger that made people’s hearts turn cold just to look at: “Since Gongyi Cheng has come, he came at the Sect Leader’s command. This is because they suspect I’ve been inactive for so long—they’re guarding against me.”

Jianshu thought of the complicated situation within the sect and couldn’t help but frown: “Master has worked so hard cultivating connections in the palace, yet hasn’t taken action. Now Master Gongyi comes and issues orders, completely disregarding your previous arrangements, and even has the audacity to rashly stir up trouble by carving characters on the ruyi. It doesn’t matter if they failed, but if this implicates Master…”

After all, everyone involved was the master’s eyes and ears in the palace.

This completely placed the master in danger!

Xie Wei fell silent, only raising his eyes to look toward the stele forest ahead.

Fallen leaves covered the ground.

Each stele in the forest was six chi tall and one chi wide, very different from ordinary stone monuments. Carved on them were not Buddhist verses but one ordinary name after another.

Further back there weren’t even names carved anymore.

Only blank stone steles stood in the desolation covering the mountain.

“The current court situation is like an arrow on a drawn bow, ready to fire at the slightest touch. It wouldn’t matter if I were implicated, but I fear this matter will be exploited by those with ulterior motives, harming other innocent people.” He slowly closed his eyes. Thinking of the sect’s personnel matters, when he opened them again, the depths of his dark eyes, cold as a deep pool, already held a chilling solemnity, even revealing a trace of sinister coldness. “Destroying my plans. More hindrance than help!”

Jianshu had long found that bunch in the sect disagreeable and was about to say something at this moment.

But from the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of someone coming up the back mountain.

An old monk wearing a kasaya with kind brows and gentle eyes.

So the words about to leave his mouth were swallowed back.

That old monk was the abbot of White Pagoda Temple, with the dharma name Wangchen. Those who followed Buddha respectfully called him “Master Wangchen.” Today Xie Wei had arranged to discuss scriptures and doctrine with him.

He walked from the distance, and when he reached before Chaoyin Pavilion, he had already seen the mess of incense ash on the steps.

His footsteps stopped.

Xie Wei stood in the pavilion. Though clearly harsh and coldly stern moments before, when he turned around it was already gone. His lips curved slightly and he was already as warm as a spring breeze, as tranquil as distant green mountains, only saying: “Just now Jianshu was careless and knocked over the incense burner. I hope Master won’t take offense.”

Jianshu: “…”

Master Wangchen joined his palms in salute and only said generously: “Amitabha, it’s no matter.”

In Yangzhi Studio, anyone with a bit of sense could tell that since Fang Miao had such a strong reaction to the two characters Yao Rongrong mentioned, she must know something about it.

So they all pressed her with questions.

Fang Miao said: “Hearing the two characters ‘righteous children,’ can’t you think of anything?”

Everyone was somewhat confused.

Jiang Xuening remained silent.

It was Chen Shuyi who reacted quickly. Her eyelids jumped and she suddenly said: “Are you referring to… the Righteous Children’s Tomb?!”

As soon as these words left her mouth, someone immediately cried “Ah,” clearly having remembered something.

However, these were all events from twenty years ago. Most of them had only heard about it, knew such a place existed and that something had happened there, but weren’t clear on exactly what the situation had been back then.

Zhou Baoying was even more bewildered, repeatedly asking: “What, what happened?”

Fang Miao glanced at Chen Shuyi before saying: “It was twenty years ago when Prince Pingnan’s rebel faction joined forces with Heavenly Sect rebels to commit treason and rebellion…”

Prince Pingnan had originally been the Late Emperor’s brother, extremely brave and skilled in battle, quite supported in the court.

But he couldn’t withstand the Late Emperor marrying Empress Dowager Xiao.

Empress Dowager Xiao’s older brother was Duke Dingguo Xiao Yuan. Behind him was the entire Xiao clan. Moreover, at that time Xiao Yuan had married the sister of the neighboring Marquis of Yongyi—that is, Yan Lin’s aunt—as his wife. The two most illustrious families of the Great Qian dynasty were thus connected to the Late Emperor through marriage ties, supporting him together. How could the Late Emperor possibly fail?

So ultimately when the throne changed hands, it was the Late Emperor who won.

After he ascended the throne, he sent Prince Pingnan far away to his fief.

Who would have thought Prince Pingnan wasn’t reconciled? He secretly raised troops and actually colluded with the Heavenly Sect, which had spread widely among the people and attracted many believers, making his forces grow ever stronger.

Twenty years ago, together with that Heavenly Sect Leader, he led troops north, directly attacking the capital.

Heavy troops surrounded the entire imperial palace.

The Late Emperor was hunting at Shanglin Park at the time, and thus avoided disaster, protected by Shanglin Park’s elite troops as he fled north.

However, Empress Dowager Xiao—who was still Empress at the time—and Shen Lang—who was still Crown Prince—remained in the palace.

“Speaking of this matter, it’s also strange. When Prince Pingnan’s elite troops and the Heavenly Sect’s rebels killed their way into the palace, they didn’t see any trace of the Empress Dowager or His Majesty, so they suspected there was a secret passage in the palace that let them escape.” When Fang Miao spoke to this point, her voice paused, and a trace of fear already floated onto her expression. “But the rebel army had already surrounded the city. If the Empress Dowager and His Majesty escaped from the palace at this time, they would have to pass through various city gates to leave the city, so they immediately dispatched heavy troops to guard the city gates, not letting a single person out. Prince Pingnan hated the Late Emperor to the bone and wouldn’t rest without finding the Crown Prince, so he sent people to search house by house throughout the capital. Any household with boys aged four and above, twelve and below, or taller than three chi—they arrested them all…”

Hearing this, everyone felt chills run down their spines.

Jiang Xuening already felt somewhat nauseous.

Fang Miao’s voice became somewhat strained, yet mysteriously there was a force pushing her to continue, as if this matter ought to be known by many: “At that time many common people in the capital had already heard rumors of war and fled early, but there were still quite a few households remaining in the capital, so the boys arrested numbered over three hundred. The Crown Prince was about eight years old that year. Prince Pingnan brought palace servants who had once attended to His Highness to identify them, but among the three hundred-plus boys, not one was the Crown Prince. Prince Pingnan was thus enraged. The capital was already surrounded like an iron bucket—he didn’t believe people could sprout wings and fly away, so he sent orders throughout the city: if anyone was hiding the Crown Prince, they’d better hand him over early, otherwise he would slaughter all three hundred-plus arrested boys.”

Zhou Baoying apparently had never heard of this matter before. Her eyes were already round as saucers as she softly asked: “And, and then?”

Fang Miao’s face turned somewhat pale. She only said: “Later, when Duke Dingguo and Marquis of Yongyi’s reinforcements urgently repelled the rebel army and reopened the tightly shut city gates to enter the capital, they only saw corpses piled into mountains, all stacked at the palace gate. Three days of heavy snow had covered them and frozen the people together. Blood had frozen into solid ice that couldn’t be chiseled even with iron picks. If you chiseled a piece down, it might still be connected to someone’s flesh, so they didn’t dare move them anymore. When the snow melted into water, the bodies had all rotted…”

“Ugh!”

Yao Xi, who had been listening quietly on the side without speaking, finally couldn’t bear it. She covered her mouth and ran out of the room.

The others’ complexions were also very poor.

Fang Miao’s own stomach was actually churning as well. Thinking of the scene in Cining Palace today, she grew even more tremulous: “Later on, these three hundred-plus children were all given generous burials by the Late Emperor’s decree, with steles erected at White Pagoda Temple. They were ‘righteous children’ who died to save the Crown Prince, so the stele forest at White Pagoda Temple is also called the ‘Righteous Children’s Tomb.’ I heard that at the time, the seven-year-old young heir of Duke Dingguo’s household was among them…”

Counting it up, that should have been Xiao Shu’s older brother.

However, in terms of birth status, he was probably far superior to the current Xiao Shu—after all, besides being a son of the Xiao family, the young heir Dingfei’s birth mother was also Yan Mu’s sister, the Marquis of Yongyi. He was unprecedented bloodline jointly nurtured by the two great clans.

Although Earl Qingyuan’s household had declined, You Yue had also heard of this matter and couldn’t help showing off: “Speaking of it, after Madam Yan lost her son back then, she was heartbroken and grief-stricken. That very year she divorced Duke Dingguo and returned to the Marquis of Yongyi’s household, dying of illness not long after. It seems the Yan and Xiao families only stopped having contact after this incident.”

Yao Rongrong immediately cried “Ah!”

She looked very surprised: “So that means Miss Xiao is actually from a second wife?”

“Bang!”

Just as her words fell, the half-closed door at the front of the hall was pushed open hard by someone, slamming into the wall with a tremendous crash that frightened everyone into turning to look.

It was actually Xiao Shu standing in the doorway.

Her face showed unprecedented severity as she coldly said: “What nonsense are you all spouting!”