All the lamps in Xuanzheng Hall had been lit, illuminating this great hall as brightly as daylight. Even the glazed tiles on the roof appeared even more radiant and spectacularly beautiful due to this brilliance.

Yet at this moment, no one had the leisure to appreciate such beautiful night scenery. Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the occasions when civil and military officials lingered until lamplight time could be counted on one hand. The last time was during Emperor Jianzhang’s grandfather’s reign, when flash floods erupted in Leizhou. The Leizhou Prefect had kept it secret and failed to report it, resulting in corpses littering Leizhou. When the news reached the capital, Emperor Hanming flew into a towering rage. When the Son of Heaven was enraged, millions of corpses would fall. He immediately ordered the Imperial Guards from Anyuan’s Imperial Guard Office to escort the Leizhou Prefect to the capital. Who knew that very night, the Grand Eunuch Liu Ming, who was the Leizhou Prefect’s goduncle in the palace, received advance notice and plotted to launch a palace coup. After the plot failed, he was executed. That night the imperial city was thrown into complete chaos, and only after dawn when the dust had settled did the ministers gradually leave the palace. Now, the events of those days were repeating themselves once again, and this imperial city was once more thrown into turmoil.

Empress Dowager Lu’s face was hidden in this overly bright lamplight. The flickering light cast upon her face made it impossible for people to see her expression. She sat behind the screen, so tense she didn’t know where to put her hands.

Right now, Zhang Tianshi was her only support. If Zhang Tianshi ultimately still said he couldn’t do it…

With an anxious and uneasy heart, she watched Zhou Weizhao return, momentarily stunned. Only after Zhou Weizhao had walked close did she belatedly realize something was amiss.

At the time she had been too panicked and therefore hadn’t thought about it much, but now calming down to think about it—why had Old Kong said those things to incriminate Zhou Weizhao? Why did Zhou Weizhao seem not the least bit surprised? And clearly Zhang Tianshi had been helpless about Emperor Jianzhang’s poison initially, yet now suddenly said he could cure it?

She suddenly recalled what Emperor Jianzhang had said to her before, telling her no matter how difficult things became, not to panic, that it would eventually pass… “Weizhao.” She took a deep breath, looking through the screen at the vague shadowy figures beyond, turning toward Zhou Weizhao: “What is going on?”

In Qingning Hall behind them, the Crown Prince’s face was iron-blue as he looked at Lu Chonghua who had been brought into the palace, his eyes wide. If he remembered correctly, Lu Chonghua seemed to have already died. At the time, the Eastern Palace had even issued funeral rites to the Lu family. And although he was in Qingning Hall, news had been continuously transmitted from the front—wasn’t it said that the Lu family had produced a traitor named Old Kong, and that Old Kong had run out to accuse Zhou Weizhao, saying Zhou Weizhao had conspired with Zhang Tianshi?

What on earth was the Lu family up to?! He felt completely confused.

Princess Rongcheng, however, suddenly stood up, stepping forward in several strides to stand before Lu Chonghua in disbelief, her voice somewhat choked: “Chonghua! You… you’re all right…”

At noon, Song Chuyi had said it might be a few more days before coming to fetch her, but unexpectedly, in just the span of an afternoon, Song Jue had come. She herself was extremely surprised, until Qing Ying who came to fetch her mentioned the matter of Old Kong, and she suddenly understood.

Old Kong was the most capable old servant by Zhou Weizhao’s side, also the person Zhou Weizhao trusted most. Now that such a person had surfaced, even if there were still any moles or unclean people around Zhou Weizhao, they would merely be small fry, not worth mentioning at all. Moreover, with Old Kong, many things could now be questioned out, and there was no need to continue the charade.

Seeing Princess Rongcheng’s eyes brimming with tears, she involuntarily felt aggrieved. With a “patter,” tears fell to the ground. She rushed forward, embracing Princess Rongcheng and calling out “Cousin Aunt,” crying so hard her voice broke.

Princess Rongcheng patted her back, her whole person still in a daze, unable to react for a long while. After some time, she gently pushed her back a little and touched her face: “What is this…”

She thought of Old Kong, thought of the Lu family, her heart inexplicably pounding. The remaining words stuck in her throat, unable to be asked.

It was still the Crown Prince who asked again: “Your Lu family, what’s going on?”

Before Lu Chonghua could speak, Eunuch Jiang had already hurriedly entered from outside, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and bowing: “Miss Lu, they’re asking you to go over there…”

The Crown Prince was even more astonished and even more completely bewildered. He looked at her once, then at Eunuch Jiang, asking with some difficulty the question he wanted to ask: “What’s going on? Why would they… summon her for no reason?”

A female family member going to a place like Xuanzheng Hall?

Eunuch Jiang tucked his handkerchief back into his sleeve, respectful yet not without joy: “His Majesty has awakened…”

“Truly?!” Only now did Princess Rongcheng truly lose her composure. Tears streamed down her face as she stood up anxiously: “Father Emperor has truly awakened?!”

Just now when news had been transmitted saying Zhang Tianshi claimed to have a method to cure Emperor Jianzhang’s poison, although she had received hints from Ye Jingkuan and knew it must be true, the worry in her heart couldn’t be stopped. Now hearing that Emperor Jianzhang had truly awakened, she still felt somewhat unable to believe it.

If this was an act, it was being performed far too convincingly—just now even she had been worried whether Zhou Weizhao might truly be framed by Old Kong’s act of turning himself in.

Eunuch Jiang was busy heading to the front hall and didn’t dare offend the Crown Prince and Princess, hastily responding: “Indeed it is! Absolutely true! Though he just woke and doesn’t have much energy, it’s absolutely certain he’s awakened. Right now His Majesty has sent me to invite Miss Lu over…”

The Crown Prince’s gaze was complex. He had already guessed that matters were not simple, but regardless, Emperor Jianzhang awakening was always a good thing. He looked at Lu Chonghua once, furrowed his brow, and instructed her: “Don’t say things you shouldn’t!” Thinking it over, he added: “The Lu family’s affairs—don’t implicate him.”

This “him” naturally referred to Zhou Weizhao. Lu Chonghua looked at him once, curtsied, and acknowledged before hurrying out with Eunuch Jiang.

After they left, the Crown Prince became somewhat restless and unable to sit still. That the Lu family’s Old Kong would voluntarily step forward to report Zhou Weizhao meant the Lu family had encountered trouble. But Emperor Jianzhang hadn’t been poisoned after all, which meant what Old Kong said was certainly false. What exactly was going on with all of this?

The officials who had waited for most of the night and finally waited for Emperor Jianzhang to leisurely awaken had at last gotten their wish and waited for Emperor Jianzhang to open his eyes. While breathing a sigh of relief, they finally wanted to ask Emperor Jianzhang the same question.

Not having expected Emperor Jianzhang could still awaken, Liang Tong, who had been most indignant about Emperor Jianzhang being poisoned earlier, fell to his knees with a “thud” directly before Emperor Jianzhang, calling out to ask him: “Your Majesty, your poison…”

Emperor Jianzhang’s gaze was unfathomable, revealing neither joy nor anger. He surveyed the civil and military officials who surrounded him so tightly there was barely room to breathe, and the corner of his mouth pulled up in a cold smile.