◎This is the most terrifying “lighting of sky lanterns.”◎

A slumbering emperor needs hot, fresh blood splashed on his eyelids to open his eyes.

Su Huairen’s fresh blood indeed angered the Emperor enough to widen his eyes.

Since the Crown Prince’s death and Duan Boyan’s departure from Luoyang, after he had killed one group and demoted another, careful calculation showed it had been eighteen years since anyone had died before him in such a manner.

At the time, he closed his eyes in hatred, his hand continuously slapping the dragon head of his throne. Yet after his fury, he ordered Su Huairen be given a grand burial.

The Emperor still knew who Su Huairen was. Back when he was miserably framed and imprisoned, it was the Emperor who had Duan Boyan rescue him. All these years, he had always honestly remained at the Court of Imperial Stud raising horses for the dynasty, never causing trouble.

Because he was there, the Emperor actually felt at ease.

Especially when short of silver.

With his death, the Emperor’s heart also grieved.

He wasn’t truly stupid. He naturally knew that for his throne to sit firmly, people like Su Huairen who did real work were indispensable.

He summoned the Grand Prince over and asked, “Did you instruct him to do this?”

The Grand Prince sighed. “Imperial Grandfather, if Senior Minister Su could have been used by your grandson, I wouldn’t be so angry every day at those incompetents under Uncle Prince Qi that I can’t eat.”

The Emperor believed him. He also understood this logic. He murmured, “For Su Huairen to do this truly wounds my heart. Did he think I wouldn’t investigate Wang Deyi?”

Prince Qi’s brother-in-law was named Wang Deyi, serving as Vice Minister of War.

As the Emperor spoke, he grew angry again. “There were clearly so many methods—yet he insisted on remonstrating unto death!”

The Grand Prince remained silent, waiting until he had finished venting before saying, “Perhaps because he was already old. Such veteran ministers don’t care about life and death—they seek reputation instead. Students at the Imperial Academy and Imperial University are already crying injustice for him.”

The Emperor said, “He remonstrated unto death—what injustice is there?”

The Grand Prince replied, “Not dying of natural causes is injustice.”

The Emperor said, “Then there are far too many wronged people in this realm.”

He was extremely annoyed by this group of students who always wanted to cause a stir over everything. He said, “Have someone pass down the word—once students cause trouble, their degrees will be revoked and they’ll never be allowed employment.”

The Grand Prince nodded. “Yes.”

Then pausing, he said, “When your grandson just came in, I saw Uncle Prince Qi and Minister of War Lin Qi kneeling outside.”

The Emperor then said angrily, “What is wrong with Prince Qi? His subordinates are all insatiably greedy. Marquis Boyuan went to embezzle tea money, and Wang Deyi simply misappropriated military silver!”

He then recalled Su Huairen’s words. He had said: “Your Majesty, the Court of Imperial Stud’s remaining silver was supposed to be used for this plague disaster. In the end, only two hundred thousand taels remained, yet even that was taken. In my heart… in my heart, I’ve failed Your Majesty, failed the common people, failed the departed souls. I… I cannot go on living.”

The Emperor said, “Su Huairen was driven to this with no other recourse.”

He sighed deeply. “The timing was also wrong. Previous years were all fine, but this year there’s horse plague. He was anxious and distressed for several months. When he needed the silver, he discovered there was none—not a single tael remaining. Only then did fury arise in his heart, giving birth to the intention to remonstrate unto death.”

He was also afraid the Emperor would favor Prince Qi.

The Emperor then said angrily again, “This damned horse keeper truly underestimated me. When Marquis Boyuan embezzled, didn’t I also have him killed?”

The Grand Prince didn’t dare nod. The Emperor could say this, but he could not. He only said, “Imperial Grandfather, with the death of Senior Minister Su at the Court of Imperial Stud, yet with horse plague still present, what should be done next?”

The Emperor looked at him. “In your opinion?”

The Grand Prince said, “Your grandson wishes to have Yu Qingwu temporarily assume the position of Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud. He’s already the Junior Minister and familiar with these matters. If we change to someone else, it would actually be worse.”

The Emperor was silent for a moment, then said, “Your use of him has been quite good.”

That Wang Deyi dared misappropriate military silver—he was definitely working for Prince Qi. Pull up the radish and the mud comes with it. With only Wang Deyi’s death, the Grand Prince would definitely not be satisfied. He would also use Yu Qingwu to kill some others.

But Prince Qi had truly made him feel disgusted this time, so the Emperor didn’t object.

The Grand Prince then knelt down. “Though Yu Qingwu is dull-witted, he’s willing to do real work. At this time, the Court of Imperial Stud cannot withstand another storm…”

The Emperor sighed. “Then let it be him.”

He thought for a moment. “This horse plague—have him handle it well. Don’t let the common people lose heart.”

The Grand Prince replied, “Yes.”

He asked respectfully, “It’s just that disaster relief requires silver…”

The Emperor fell silent again. After a long while, he said, “Take it from my private treasury.”

If even the Emperor was drawing from his private treasury, naturally others had to contribute as well. The Grand Prince immediately said, “When your grandson returns, I’ll have Yuanniang calculate the accounts to see how much silver the Eastern Palace can produce.”

The Emperor laughed and scolded, “Yuanniang has been slow at the abacus since childhood!”

The Grand Prince said, “Last time Yuanniang complained that she actually isn’t slow—it’s just that you calculate too fast.”

The Emperor finally felt somewhat cheerful.

On the other side, Lan Shanjun knocked on Yu Qingwu’s study door.

Standing on the arched bridge, she asked, “Nanny Qian made you stir-fried meat with peppers. Do you want to eat?”

Yu Qingwu made a muffled sound of acknowledgment.

Lan Shanjun opened the door and entered, arranging the dishes from the food box on the desk. “Come eat first.”

Yu Qingwu walked over and sat down to eat.

Lan Shanjun looked at him, discovering his eyes were bloodshot—he had clearly been crying.

But at this time, he probably didn’t need her comfort.

Some words, when said too much, actually seemed affected. She just sat beside him and ate with him.

After Yu Qingwu finished eating, he sat there in a daze. Lan Shanjun asked, “What do you plan to do?”

Yu Qingwu said, “Senior Minister Su’s remonstrance unto death didn’t include denouncing His Majesty—he wanted to ensure Young Lady Su’s life wouldn’t be in danger.”

“But dying this way, those of us remaining… without him saying more, we can step on his corpse to strip away a layer of Prince Qi’s skin. This time, Prince Qi will definitely have to lie low for a while.”

This result was undoubtedly what Lan Shanjun wanted. She hated Prince Qi, wishing daily he would die without a burial place. But when his arm was severed in this manner—first Su Xingzhou, then Senior Minister Su—even her sense of satisfaction lost its joy.

She said, “After hearing of Senior Minister Su’s death, Nanny Qian sighed for a long time. She said, ‘Another one heavier than the mountains.'”

Yu Qingwu replied, “Since he used his life to open the path, naturally I cannot let his life be too light.”

He looked at Lan Shanjun. “Minister of War Lin Qi is Prince Qi’s man. The Court of Imperial Stud is under the Ministry of War. All these years, Prince Qi has planted quite a few people there. This time, they can be uprooted entirely.”

“Replace a batch of incompetent people, and a batch of useful ones can enter.”

“Moreover, this was the first time the senior minister openly discussed the Court of Imperial Stud having no silver left. He also wanted His Majesty to know—it’s time to save silver.”

How to save?

Some unnecessary official positions didn’t need to be kept.

The Court of Imperial Stud wasn’t a prestigious or important place in the eyes of the Emperor and others. Eliminating some positions didn’t matter.

But for Yu Qingwu, it was taking the first step.

His hand slowly moved across that promotion chart. “Shanjun, I wonder how long it will take, how many people must be sacrificed before we win.”

Lan Shanjun’s eyes dimmed.

It would take a very long time.

The next day, Senior Minister Su’s body was placed in a coffin. Young Lady Su had no news until the fifth day when she returned.

She arrived travel-worn, carrying a medicine chest as she entered the courtyard.

She didn’t cry though. She just knelt before Senior Minister Su’s coffin burning paper money.

Lan Shanjun poured her a cup of water, saying softly, “My condolences.”

Young Lady Su knew who she was and thanked her kindly. Then she shook her head. “I’m fine.”

Lan Shanjun said, “Will you… still leave Luoyang? If you’re not leaving, then come with me…”

Young Lady Su smiled with difficulty. “I still have to go.”

Lan Shanjun asked hesitantly, “Where will you go?”

She feared this young lady would come to harm. She owed Senior Minister Su a debt, so she wanted to repay the favor to Young Lady Su.

Young Lady Su replied, “Horses have plague—I must go treat them. People also have illness—I must go heal them.”

Hearing these words, a sour feeling surged into Lan Shanjun’s heart. Looking at Senior Minister Su’s coffin, then at her, she asked, “Then… have the horses been cured?”

Young Lady Su said, “The horses are cured, but not the people.”

Lan Shanjun’s hand taking paper money paused. “Is human illness more difficult to treat?”

Young Lady Su shook her head. “No.”

She lowered her head, burning paper money for Grandfather. “The people didn’t die of illness. They starved to death.”

Lan Shanjun’s eyes slowly widened. After a long while, she asked, “Then will you still go?”

Young Lady Su smiled. “Yes. There are still many places with horse plague.”

Then she added, “Madam Yu, I know you. Grandfather told me about you.”

“You and Minister Yu are both good people. If I don’t come back, could you help me during the Qingming festival to make offerings to Grandfather?”

Lan Shanjun sat there, unable to say a single word.

She thought—at the very beginning, she had only hated Song Zhiwei and Prince Qi. Her hatred was small, falling only on two people. But now, her hatred was beginning to spread. She had begun to hate the entire dynasty.

In this rotted, completely blackened dynasty, they were using the four words “common people under heaven” as light, leading this group of people still possessing fierce integrity to their deaths.

She saw them enduring, persevering, struggling—like trapped beasts, one after another crashing against the wall, still fearing they hadn’t hit hard enough, hadn’t shattered thoroughly enough. They believed that one day this would bring light, would forge a broad and level road.

But she knew this was futile.

From now until year fifty-seven of Yuanshao, still no one would break through. They would still be inside the besieged city, the common people still in suffering. The people in court would thread needles and patch things up—when a batch of people died, they would patch one place, then another batch would see this sliver of sky light and begin the cycle again, repeatedly going to their deaths.

This was the most terrifying “lighting of sky lanterns.”

【Author’s Note】

Wow, you’ve resonated with my framework—I’m so happy QAQ

That’s right, Shanjun experiences “lighting sky lanterns” twice. The first time was forced, the second time is voluntary.