◎”Thank you for never giving up on Shanjun.”◎

In Changle Palace, the Empress and the Crown Princess had been plotting how to save people.

At times like these, one must not panic. The Empress had, after all, weathered great storms. Apart from her initial alarm, she quickly calmed down and contemplated: “On Shanjun’s side, the Emperor sent Liu Guan, which means he takes this matter extremely seriously and doesn’t want to hear a single lie.”

Liu Guan had been at the Emperor’s side since he was four years old—over fifty years now.

—He had never lied to the Emperor.

The Crown Princess understood the implication. “Eunuch Liu…”

The Empress was silent for a moment, then said: “With him there, at least Shanjun won’t be subjected to unauthorized torture.”

The Crown Princess understood and slowly exhaled in relief, though her eyes reddened. “When I learned it was Song Zhiwei conducting the interrogation, I feared Prince Qi would be ruthless with Shanjun.”

She said in a low voice: “Prince Qi is too mad, too perceptive of the Emperor’s thoughts, and too fond of walking on knife’s edge.”

Such a person might very well risk killing Shanjun.

The Empress patted her hand. “Don’t worry. As long as the Emperor hasn’t completely abandoned A’Hu, Prince Qi won’t dare openly move against Shanjun. He also fears the Emperor will think he’s overstepping his bounds.”

She said sarcastically: “Moreover, whether it’s the Ministry of Justice prison or the Luoyang Prefecture prison, the Emperor has eyes everywhere. Prince Qi knows this—he wouldn’t dare.”

This was also why she forbade the Crown Princess from sending people to the Luoyang Prefecture.

“The Emperor already suspects you and A’Hu know Shanjun’s identity. If you go now, it would be worse.”

She had already prepared for the worst. “No matter what happens, we must protect A’Hu and Shanjun.”

The Crown Princess was about to nod when she suddenly grasped her meaning and said urgently: “But if Yu Qingwu dies…”

“What about Shanjun?”

She shook her head. “Imperial Grandmother, someone like Yu Qingwu shouldn’t die in conspiracies and succession struggles.”

The Empress remained silent for a long time, then said: “I’ve witnessed Grand Preceptor Zhe’s death, witnessed my own son’s death, seen worthy generals die in melancholy, and seen virtuous ministers forced to compromise and become mediocre—Yuanniang, this world is truly rotten to the core.”

“It doesn’t deserve to be saved, doesn’t deserve people like Yu Qingwu to be awakened.”

She murmured: “Dying in factional strife, dying in succession struggles, dying in conspiracies and schemes—sometimes that’s actually a kind of release.”

The Crown Princess knew the Empress was merely preparing for the worst, but her heart still filled with sorrow. Her health had been poor since the last poisoning incident, and anxiety brought on coughing. The Empress quickly had someone prepare medicine. Just as she finished speaking, the palace matron hurried in: “His Majesty has summoned Wu Qingchuan and Duke Songguo to the palace, and has sent Liu Zhi to Duke Zhenguo’s mansion to retrieve Madam Yu’s handwriting.”

Liu Zhi was Liu Guan’s godson. Apart from Liu Guan, Liu Zhi was most favored by the Emperor.

The Empress’s hand, which had been soothing the Crown Princess’s breathing, paused. “Shanjun’s handwriting from before she married Yu Qingwu? Why would he want that?”

She added: “I understand summoning Wu Qingchuan, but what about Duke Songguo? Is it because of Song Zhiwei interrogating Shanjun?”

The palace matron: “Both orders are mysterious. But news from the Hall of Supreme Harmony says His Majesty’s fury seems to have lessened somewhat.”

The Empress and Crown Princess looked at each other. The Crown Princess contemplated: “Perhaps Shanjun and Yu Qingwu’s testimonies have turned things for the better—A’Hu doesn’t have such capability.”

——

Things had indeed “turned” dramatically.

Wu Qingchuan and Duke Songguo looked at each other, both kneeling on the ground protesting their innocence. “Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible. I and Duke Songguo absolutely have no private relationship. Someone must be framing me.”

Yu Qingwu had never lost a verbal battle. He immediately asked: “If there’s no private relationship, how did Song Zhiwei follow you in pledging allegiance to Prince Qi? How does he obey your words?”

Then he said loudly: “Could it be he fancies your elderly charms? Could it be that to win your smile, he willingly boarded your treacherous ship?”

Wu Qingchuan: “…”

Duke Songguo: “…”

The Crown Prince couldn’t help but laugh.

The Emperor also recalled Song Zhiwei’s reputation. He rubbed his temples and said helplessly: “Yu Qingwu, don’t make trouble.”

Yu Qingwu stiffened his neck, straightened his back, clasped his hands and bowed: “Yes.”

But with just this one statement, Wu Qingchuan and Duke Songguo knew the situation was dire. Clearly when the Mid-Autumn Banquet had dispersed, His Majesty had been furious, but now he was already subtly favoring Yu Qingwu.

However, these two old foxes couldn’t be frightened so easily. Duke Songguo immediately said: “Your Majesty, everything requires evidence—even if there were one letter of correspondence as evidence, I would have nothing to say.”

Wu Qingchuan also hurriedly said: “Please investigate clearly, Your Majesty. Everything Yu Qingwu says is baseless nonsense!”

Yu Qingwu sneered repeatedly but changed the subject: “Your Majesty, I always thought I broke ties with Elder Wu because he killed my brother, and I could no longer pretend with him. But thinking about it now, even without this matter, I would have become his discarded piece—from beginning to end, I should have understood earlier that when he constantly mentioned in my ear how capable Song Zhiwei was, I should have known that he and Duke Songguo wanted to cultivate only Song Zhiwei.”

“I should have been raised to be Song Zhiwei’s enforcer.”

Wu Qingchuan: “Your Majesty, I request that Lord Yu present evidence rather than empty slander!”

Yu Qingwu immediately countered: “Elder Wu, this humble official dares tell His Majesty the truth—do you dare? This humble official dares swear to His Majesty that the Ni Tao case has absolutely nothing to do with me—do you dare? Do you dare swear you didn’t kill my brother because he knew your secrets!”

Wu Qingchuan had wanted to respond to the earlier words, but hearing this last statement, his heart skipped—he didn’t dare.

He was indeed connected to Su Xingzhou’s death.

The Emperor had previously ignored this matter, but ignoring it didn’t mean being ignorant of it.

But at such a critical moment, how could he retreat even one step? So he gritted his teeth and said: “Why wouldn’t I dare?”

Duke Songguo, who always understood the Emperor’s mind, felt his heart seize upon hearing this: It’s over.

Yu Qingwu had combined Ni Tao’s death and Su Xingzhou’s death in one statement—it was a trap. And regarding Su Xingzhou’s death, Wu Qingchuan shouldn’t have tried to distance himself.

Indeed, this pause, this “dare”—in the Emperor’s eyes, it became ironclad evidence of another kind.

The Emperor naturally knew why Su Xingzhou had died.

He sneered: “What wouldn’t you dare? I think you dare quite a lot.”

Duke Songguo secretly cursed Wu Qingchuan’s stupidity for still insisting on his innocence at this moment. What innocence did people like them have in the Emperor’s eyes?

He looked at Wu Qingchuan, signaling him not to be foolish at this time.

Wu Qingchuan also realized he had instinctively made the wrong decision. He hurriedly kowtowed: “Your Majesty, I do have some connection to Su Xingzhou’s death, but I didn’t kill him…”

He kowtowed in panic, still trying to make excuses. Yu Qingwu knelt to the side, that violent energy in his heart surging forth again.

His gaze grew colder and colder. The aggressive momentum from moments ago disappeared, replaced by a quiet question as he looked at Wu Qingchuan: “Elder Wu, don’t play such petty tricks before His Majesty.”

“Just because you didn’t personally act doesn’t mean you’re innocent—”

But Wu Qingchuan was no fool either. After his initial panic, he stopped defending himself and only said: “Then do you dare tell His Majesty about how you and Duan Boyan’s adopted daughter conspired to expose the Ni Tao case?”

Yu Qingwu bowed to the Emperor: “Before the Elder arrived, this humble official already explained this matter clearly. His Majesty, in his wisdom, has already sent for evidence.”

Wu Qingchuan’s hand tightened. He looked up suspiciously, not knowing what evidence he spoke of.

He realized he might have truly underestimated Yu Qingwu’s methods.

Duke Songguo’s heart grew uneasy. He understood the Emperor too well. His Majesty’s attitude had been strange from the start—most likely because of this evidence.

He looked at the Emperor and pleaded: “Your Majesty, what evidence?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Eunuch Liu Zhi entered the hall carrying several hand-copied scripture books to present to the Emperor.

The Emperor lifted his sleeve and took them to look. He found they were copies of the Taiping Scripture. He randomly picked up a sheet of paper that read: “Good should be met with good; the good naturally recommend each other. Evil should be met with evil; evil naturally follows evil. All have their roots, spreading up and down throughout.”

Liu Zhi said in a low voice: “According to Madam of Duke Zhenguo’s household, this was copied by Madam Yu in the winter of the forty-seventh year of Yuanshao—that is, when she first came to Luoyang—transcribing the Taiping Scripture for the old Duke Zhenguo and Duke Zhenguo.”

Written upon arriving in Luoyang, there was no opportunity for forgery. Moreover, this handwriting clearly showed years of practice, written so fluidly and naturally, without any deliberate imitation.

Such things could not be concealed.

The Emperor nodded and took out a memorial submitted by Song Zhiwei. With both handwritings side by side, one could clearly see that within the woman’s delicate brush strokes lay traces of Song Zhiwei’s calligraphic style.

Indeed, at a glance, they were about thirty percent similar.

Though he couldn’t make a final determination yet, the Emperor already believed seventy percent. His face darkened, and he suddenly slammed his palm on the table. “All of you deceive me! Deceive and deceive! Leading me around in circles—are you satisfied now!”

Duke Songguo hurriedly said: “Your Majesty, please calm your anger—I and Elder Wu truly had no private dealings before!”

The Emperor laughed angrily. “Look for yourself, come and see! These two handwritings—do they have no connection at all?”

Duke Songguo hurriedly crawled over to pick up the memorial and Taiping Scripture from the floor and look. Then he despairingly discovered that Lan Shanjun’s handwriting indeed partially imitated his son’s script.

He murmured: “This is impossible—”

How could this be?

He said: “Perhaps they coincidentally studied the same calligraphy model. Your Majesty, this does happen—”

The Emperor also suspected this, which was why he hadn’t yet flown into a rage. He suppressed his anger: “Then you find evidence!”

But Yu Qingwu said at this moment: “Your Majesty, I request Your Majesty summon my wife for confrontation.”

“Only my wife knows this matter most clearly.”

The Emperor shouted loudly: “Where is Liu Guan?”

Liu Zhi bowed: “Your Majesty, calculating the time, Eunuch Liu should return soon.”

Wu Qingchuan felt that something had been wrong from the moment they entered the hall to confront. He tried to redirect the Emperor’s attention to what they should be discussing today—the Ni Tao case. “Your Majesty, I and Duke Songguo are truly wronged. They have no evidence and can only slander, but the matter of Lan Shanjun being Duan Boyan’s adopted daughter—that has solid evidence.”

The Emperor was already displeased. Hearing this, he cursed loudly: “Shut up! They also say you had private dealings with Duan Boyan for over ten years, that you had Su Xingzhou bury Duan Boyan’s body, that you bought Duan Boyan’s coffin—isn’t this matter ironclad evidence? If we’re going to discuss it, you’re the one with sinister motives who sent Lan Shanjun to Luoyang!”

The more he thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. Duke Zhenguo’s household suddenly finding a daughter who had been missing for sixteen years was already bizarre. Perhaps Wu Qingchuan’s hand was behind this.

Wu Qingchuan: “…”

He grew anxious. “Your Majesty, I am wronged!”

The Emperor laughed in anger. “Wu Qingchuan, you are truly foolish.”

Duke Songguo shook his head at Wu Qingchuan, telling him not to speak further.

Now that matters were unclear, every additional word was another mistake.

But though he didn’t speak, Yu Qingwu kept interjecting remarks.

He first seemed to remember something and said: “Once, Song Zhiwei fell from a window, and the scar wouldn’t heal. Duke Songguo wrote a letter to Shuzhou to Elder Wu, and Elder Wu sent a bottle of medicine to Luoyang.”

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t respond.

Yet Yu Qingwu wasn’t finished. After waiting a moment, he added: “Oh yes, another time, Elder Wu received a letter—I secretly looked at it. Inside, Duke Songguo said—said that Your Majesty had privately told him something.”

The Emperor looked up. Involving his own taboos, he finally spoke: “What?”

Yu Qingwu recalled: “—It should have been a poem: ‘Autumn frost gradually descends, night brings cold; alone I lean on the window rail, watching the waning moon.'”

The Emperor shot to his feet.

Duke Songguo’s scalp began to tingle.

Yu Qingwu: “Duke Songguo said that though Your Majesty wasn’t skilled at poetry, you enjoyed composing verses and moreover liked having him revise them. Discerning Your Majesty’s intent, he didn’t dare change much, only altering one character—changing ‘autumn frost gradually descends’ to ‘autumn frost suddenly descends.’ Because his revision wasn’t as good as yours, You weren’t angry but laughed and scolded him: ‘Forget it then. You’re fortunate you didn’t take the imperial examinations.'”

It’s over.

Duke Songguo closed his eyes.

He naturally remembered this incident. At the time, no one else was around—only he and His Majesty.

Even Liu Guan wasn’t there.

And to this day, he had never told this to anyone.

How could Yu Qingwu know?

Duke Songguo couldn’t figure it out, but he also knew that with these words spoken, His Majesty would certainly believe the matter of his secret collusion with Wu Qingchuan.

Duke Songguo’s household was finished.

Wu Qingchuan was finished too.

The Emperor indeed flew into rage. He walked down and kicked Duke Songguo: “Beast! How I valued you! Is this how you repay me?”

Duke Songguo clutched the Emperor’s leg and cried: “Your Majesty, I truly never said this. Please give me time—I will certainly investigate thoroughly!”

But the Emperor no longer wished to hear his excuses. He shouted loudly: “Someone come! Lock up Duke Songguo and Wu Qingchuan! I want to see how many things these two are hiding from me!”

The Crown Prince knelt to the side, his heart settling.

—The Emperor’s words being leaked was the key to this case.

After Wu Qingchuan and Duke Songguo were taken away, the Crown Prince and Yu Qingwu still knelt on the ground. The Emperor was contemplating how to deal with these two when word came from outside: “Empress and Crown Princess have arrived.”

The Emperor hesitated a moment, glanced at the Crown Prince’s bloodied half-face, paused, then said: “Crown Prince, you may return first. Yu Qingwu… send him to the Court of Judicial Review for now.”

The Crown Prince acknowledged.

As the two left, the Empress and Crown Princess stood at the doorway.

The Crown Prince silently nodded to the Empress.

The Empress understood, then seeing the wound on the Crown Prince’s face, took a deep breath and said with effort: “Yuanniang, you return with the Crown Prince. I’ll see His Majesty alone.”

The Crown Princess nodded.

The Empress entered the room.

Inside the great hall was complete chaos. The Empress stood there with a stern face. The Emperor said: “I knew you would be angry.”

He continued: “Your health isn’t good. Better not get angry.”

The Empress fell silent, then silent again, before saying: “Is it clear now?”

The Emperor: “More or less.”

The Empress: “Is A’Hu guilty?”

The Emperor shook his head.

The Empress sighed: “Your Majesty, what exactly are you thinking? When I heard Shanjun was raised by my brother, I was overjoyed, grateful he still had a descendant in this world. Even if not biological, she’s still of our Duan family, isn’t she? Still your junior, isn’t she? How could you not be happy, but instead let rats like Wu Qingchuan manipulate your mind?”

The Emperor closed his mouth. Then suddenly said: “He even gave her the name Shanjun—what was he trying to do? Wasn’t he still thinking about before!”

The Emperor was also angry and said loudly: “When he left, he said he wouldn’t dwell on the past, but he chose a name to match the Crown Prince’s—Shanjun, Hu—was he provoking me?”

He had felt uncomfortable hearing this name.

But the Empress cut off his words: “The two characters ‘Shanjun’ weren’t chosen to match A’Hu’s name! Not for A’Hu! Not to bring her to Luoyang to meet A’Hu!”

The Empress also shouted back angrily: “It was for my brother himself, for you—Your Majesty, have you forgotten that when Grand Preceptor Zhe first named him, he wasn’t called Boyan?”

The Emperor froze for a moment and suddenly looked up.

The Empress, at this moment, even if it was an act, couldn’t help but shed tears: “Have you forgotten? My brother’s name was originally Bodu.”

Bodu—tiger.

The Emperor murmured: “Bodu…”

Indeed, he was called Bodu.

But when he and Duan Boyan were ten years old, Grand Preceptor Zhe suddenly changed Duan Boyan’s name.

Changed Du to Yan.

Grand Preceptor Zhe smiled and said: “Bodu means mountain lord, means a ray of heavenly light—such a heavy burden shouldn’t rest on your shoulders.”

He patted Duan Boyan’s shoulder. “You’re so handsome—better to call you Boyan.”

But Duan Boyan had quietly told him: “Your Highness, I will forever be your Bodu.”

The Emperor’s mind wandered. The Empress struck the table heavily: “But even after changing his name, did my brother ever slacken even slightly? Fighting a hundred battles in the south, so many scars on his body—did he ever complain once? He didn’t even leave behind his only offspring. But he still named the Crown Prince Hu, named the infant girl he found Shanjun—he still never forgot Your Majesty’s trust.”

“Your Majesty!” Her body trembled with anger. “Twenty years! Think about it—in all these years, aside from my brother, who else comes to mind when you think of brotherhood? Who else do you acknowledge?”

The Emperor stood dazed and silent.

The Empress continued: “Your Majesty is like this—don’t you have confidence that my brother was the same? Even if he became an old beggar, he would wish you well, would believe you were his brother.”

The Emperor thought of these sixty-plus years of storms, thought of Duke Songguo’s betrayal, and finally sighed: “Empress… tell me, in the end, did Boyan hate me?”

The Empress’s hand curled into a fist. She lowered her head and murmured: “He certainly didn’t hate you. Otherwise, Shanjun wouldn’t be called Shanjun, but Henjun—Resentment Lord.”

——

Outside the building, the Crown Princess looked at Yu Qingwu with guilt: “Thank you for saving yourself.”

Yu Qingwu was startled by her words, then understood her meaning.

He shook his head and smiled warmly: “Thank you for never giving up on Shanjun.”

“She knows—she must be very happy.”

This time, she had been chosen with certainty.