◎”No matter how many lifetimes pass, I probably won’t encounter someone like you again.”◎

In the great prison of Luoyang Prefecture, Zhu Shan kept his eyes fixed on Song Zhiwei without blinking, fearing he might do something foolish. Prefect Sun of Luoyang Prefecture accompanied them at the side, his heart crying out in misery.

This was truly gods fighting while small devils suffered.

He was a smooth operator, so he poured tea for both Zhu Shan and Song Zhiwei, then lifted the teapot to refill Lan Shanjun’s cup as well.

Lan Shanjun hurriedly rose to thank him. Prefect Sun said softly: “This is nothing.”

They were all shrewd people who had probably guessed something.

Duan Boyan’s adopted daughter…

He saw her expression was calm, tranquil and unruffled. Though in a dangerous situation, she remained fearless in the face of peril—truly, the tiger father has no dog daughter.

When Prefect Sun had passed the imperial examinations years ago, he had managed to squeeze beside Duan Boyan at the Qionglin Banquet to share a cup of wine. Duan Boyan had gently asked his name and native place, and finally given him a word of advice.

“As an official, as a father and mother to a region, don’t first think about what you can accomplish, but first learn goodness.”

A good official was what gave common people the confidence to survive.

Thinking of this, Prefect Sun felt ashamed—in his career thus far, he had truly failed to live up to this character for goodness.

But good officials could save the lives of common people, while corrupt officials could save their own lives.

Better a dead fellow Daoist than a dead poor Daoist—so let the common people die instead. That’s why he was still alive while Duan Boyan was dead.

He retreated to the side and glanced at the sky—it was already the first quarter of the hai hour.

With still no movement from the palace at this time, based on his many years of experience, it seemed Lan Shanjun’s side had the upper hand. He became even more enthusiastic toward Zhu Shan, saying: “Minister Zhu, would you like this humble official to fetch a thin quilt?”

For whom this was intended went without saying. Zhu Shan looked at Lan Shanjun, who shook her head and smiled: “Thank you, my lord, but there’s no need.”

She had probably also guessed that Yu Qingwu should have won.

This night was truly difficult to endure, yet extremely worthwhile.

Sure enough, before long, Grand Eunuch Liu Zhi arrived with palace guards to summon her to the palace.

Song Zhiwei apparently recognized the arrivals. He quickly grabbed a guard and asked: “I wonder if my father is well?”

The guard hesitated slightly but still said: “It shouldn’t be a secret… Duke Songguo and Elder Wu have both been sent to the Court of Judicial Review.”

Minister Xu of the Court of Judicial Review was from Shu and also one of the Crown Prince’s people.

Then with a flip of his hand, he skillfully produced a set of shackles and locked them on Song Zhiwei. “But Lord Song doesn’t need to go to the Court of Judicial Review. His Majesty has ordered you to be detained here in Luoyang Prefecture for interrogation.”

Song Zhiwei: “…”

This reversal was truly too swift. His face turned white, his heart plunged into an icy pool. He allowed the guard to place the shackles on him. For a moment, his mind was full of confusion and countless speculations, unable to comprehend what the truth actually was.

Not far away, Liu Zhi was removing the shackles from Lan Shanjun. Then he looked at Prefect Sun and said solemnly: “His Majesty orders Song Zhiwei detained, awaiting judgment.”

Song Zhiwei looked urgently at Liu Zhi: “Eunuch Liu, please let me see His Majesty!”

Liu Zhi: “Oh my, Lord Song honors this slave too highly. If you want to see His Majesty, His Majesty must give the order. If His Majesty won’t see you, what can this slave do?”

Song Zhiwei was about to say more when Prefect Sun, extremely perceptive, immediately had people restrain his hands, feet, and mouth.

Liu Zhi saw this and smiled, saying to Lan Shanjun: “Madam Yu, we must hurry. We mustn’t keep His Majesty waiting long.”

Lan Shanjun asked: “Eunuch Liu, may I say a few words to Lord Song?”

Liu Zhi smiled: “How could that not be permitted? Please.”

He tactfully led the group outside. Prefect Sun wanted to follow, but was stopped by him: “This is your Luoyang Prefecture office, my lord. It’s better to stay and watch.”

They couldn’t leave no one here.

Prefect Sun, who had just been about to slip away: “…”

He cursed Liu Zhi’s cunning silently and could only nod. “I was just thinking the same.”

He hoped not to hear anything he shouldn’t hear.

Thus, only the three of them remained in the prison, which instantly became quiet. Lan Shanjun turned around, glanced at Song Zhiwei in shackles, and slowly walked to his side. She discovered he had completely lost his usual pretense of calm composure, looking even more panicked and helpless than she had been when suddenly bound hand and foot all those years ago.

This man was actually quite useless.

She smiled mockingly and suddenly kicked him, making him fall to his knees with a thud.

Song Zhiwei immediately looked up, wanting to curse angrily, but before he could speak, Lan Shanjun reached out and grabbed his throat, choking him so hard he couldn’t breathe. His whole body struggled, his face gradually turning white.

Prefect Sun stood rigidly to the side, not knowing whether to stop her or to stop her.

He clearly sensed Lan Shanjun’s killing intent—how could a young woman have such intense murderous intent?

He opened his mouth, but couldn’t speak directly, just watched anxiously.

Lan Shanjun didn’t put him in a difficult position. Just as Song Zhiwei was about to pass out, she released her grip. She watched him cough violently, watched fear of death appear on his face, watched him glare at her through gritted teeth, angry but unable to make a sound—this scene was also very familiar, like the scene when she was sent away many years ago.

Only this time, it wasn’t her who would endure endless days waiting for daylight.

She silently mouthed to him: “This is just the beginning—”

Prefect Sun escorted her out of the prison. Lan Shanjun thanked him: “I’ve trained with swords for years, so my strength is excessive and I don’t know my own force. I hope you’ll forgive me, my lord.”

Prefect Sun hurriedly said: “This is nothing—just returning what Song Zhiwei did to others.”

Kicking and choking the throat—such actions were truly not what a man should do.

Lan Shanjun paused at these words, then smiled: “You’re right.”

…

Before a great mansion collapses, tiles and bricks must first fall. When Lan Shanjun was brought into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, she immediately noticed that the carved dragon above was hollow.

She stared at it for a moment before entering the great hall.

Inside were only the Emperor and Empress. Lan Shanjun knelt on the ground and repeated what she had told Liu Guan.

But the Emperor still had doubts about the handwriting and asked: “Your teacher’s calligraphy was excellent. Why didn’t you learn from him but instead learned bits here and there, even learning Song Zhiwei’s?”

Lan Shanjun: “My teacher forbade it.”

The Emperor: “Why did he forbid it?”

Lan Shanjun: “My teacher originally wouldn’t even let me read books. He said reading wasn’t good for women—even if they learned, they couldn’t take the imperial examinations, so it was better to learn knife skills and butcher pigs. Butchering pigs at least meant you could eat meat—he loved eating pork.”

The Emperor smiled. “That makes sense.”

The Empress: “My brother did indeed love pork.”

The Emperor: “Then how did you end up reading books after all?”

Lan Shanjun: “When my teacher wouldn’t teach me, I had originally given up. But when I was five or six years old, Su Xingzhou came to Huaishan. He stayed at a nearby monastery, and he had a sister who was just learning to read and write, so he taught us both together.”

She paused, then added: “I still remember that at first, Su Xingzhou bought two identical copies of the Three Character Classic from a shop—one for his younger sister, one for me.”

“That was the first book I ever received, so I cherished it especially and even brought it to Luoyang.”

The Emperor didn’t doubt she knew Su Xingzhou. His fingers tapped on the dragon-head chair as he only said: “But your handwriting isn’t the same as Su Xingzhou’s.”

Lan Shanjun: “It was still because my teacher forbade it. Su Xingzhou had just arrived at Huaishan then and wouldn’t stay long, so he didn’t dare disobey my teacher’s words. Thus he only told me how to read the characters in the book, but not how to write them.”

Knowing the Emperor was full of suspicion, she explained every detail carefully. “But before leaving, he left me some calligraphy samples that women could practice, and I learned secretly.”

Speaking to this point, she adopted a reminiscent expression: “I had asked my teacher before why, both being women, Su Yingying could read and write while I could not. My teacher said that the Su siblings would go to great places in the future, but we would never leave Huaishan, so reading would actually harm people and harm ourselves.”

The Emperor’s expression froze upon hearing this. He sighed: “This was his way of keeping his promise to me.”

At the time, he had required Duan Boyan not to leave Shuzhou after arriving there.

Lan Shanjun shook her head. “I don’t understand these things. Later, when I met Yu Qingwu, he told me that my teacher didn’t teach reading and writing because he feared I would eventually learn of his identity and those matters involving court officials and nobles. After all, if I only associated with pig butchers, I would never know the three characters ‘Duan Boyan.'”

The Empress covered her mouth and wept, turning her head away. The Emperor glanced at her, sighed, and turned his head to continue asking: “Then after arriving in Luoyang and learning your identity, why didn’t you go directly to the Crown Prince to seek protection?”

Lan Shanjun spoke very frankly: “My teacher never mentioned old friends.”

“Moreover, when my teacher left Luoyang, His Highness the Crown Prince was only eight or nine years old. No matter how I thought about it, I felt they couldn’t have had any deep feelings—I’m only twenty now, and I can’t even remember who I met at eight or nine. Even with relatives, I wouldn’t dare presume upon them, much less someone like the Crown Prince?”

The Emperor nodded upon hearing this. “Indeed… the Crown Prince was still very young back then. It’s normal for you to have concerns.”

Lan Shanjun kowtowed to the Emperor. “When I suddenly learned of this matter, I discovered that Your Majesty, Empress, and Crown Princess were all my teacher’s relatives, and I did consider seeking help. After all, anyone from the imperial family would be more formidable than Wu Qingchuan. But after long consideration, I didn’t dare.”

The Emperor: “Why not dare?”

Lan Shanjun: “When my teacher ‘returned from the dead’ back then, I couldn’t guess what was involved, so I didn’t dare rashly seek help. Furthermore, with Yu Qingwu there, my heart was at peace. After that, Wu Qingchuan never made a killing move, so I thought the matter had passed.”

She actually could have had better words.

She believed that if she said, “My teacher said he was a criminal, and a criminal’s daughter didn’t dare presume to seek protection,” it would move the Emperor.

But she was unwilling.

The old monk had not acknowledged any crime. Even unto ten thousand deaths, she could not speak such words.

But for the Emperor, this was already enough.

He accepted her explanations regarding the handwriting and the Crown Prince, and had people take her out. But just as she was about to reach the door, he suddenly shouted: “Wait—”

Lan Shanjun’s heart shook. She quickly knelt down.

The Emperor’s tone was icy: “Tell me, aside from Su Xingzhou, is there any other evidence that Wu Qingchuan and Duan Boyan were always in contact?”

Lan Shanjun shook her head. “No. Su Xingzhou only came twice—once when I was five or six, and once when my teacher died. I had asked my teacher before who Wu Qingchuan was. My teacher only said he was an old friend who didn’t need to meet in person—correspondence to know each other was safe was enough… At the time, I thought the other party looked down on us and was unwilling to visit him.”

She thought for a moment, then added: “My teacher and I were always poor. Later when my teacher became seriously ill, I also suggested borrowing silver from that old friend, but my teacher forbade it.”

Speaking to this point, her expression darkened. “If we could have borrowed silver then, my teacher could still have lived.”

All of this could be verified.

In the face of life and death, the Emperor’s suspicions finally dissipated.

The Empress cried: “How could he be so stubborn! Since he was in the same place as Wu Qingchuan and they exchanged letters, what would borrowing some silver matter!”

Lan Shanjun: “My teacher wouldn’t let me leave Huaishan, and he was unwilling to leave either. At the time, I heard there was a divine physician in Xiahe County of Huailing who could save him, but he simply refused to go…”

The Emperor fell silent. He thought through everything from beginning to end, felt all the details matched up, and that Lan Shanjun should not be lying. But just as he was about to let her leave, he heard her say: “—I remember Su Xingzhou seemed to have said something like this.”

“He said that Elder Wu had originally lived elsewhere in Huailing, but when passing through Duancang Mountain, he heard from locals that ‘Duan’ used to be written as ‘Duan,’ so he stayed there.”

Duancang Mountain.

Duan Boyan’s courtesy name was Cangnan.

The Emperor believed her completely.

No matter how false the words, these place names and traces could not deceive.

He said to the Empress: “This child seems frightened. You must comfort her well. But her identity cannot be proclaimed.”

The Empress nodded. “How could I not know this? A tall tree attracts the wind!”

The Emperor waved his hand. “It’s late at night. You should return and sleep too.”

The Empress wiped her tears. “Shall Shanjun sleep in Changle Palace tonight?”

The Emperor smiled. “All as you say. These are small matters.”

The Empress led Lan Shanjun out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. After walking a while and getting some distance from the great hall, the Empress turned back to look at Lan Shanjun and saw her expression was dazed. She couldn’t help but say: “Shanjun, what are you thinking about?”

Lan Shanjun came back to herself and murmured: “Duancang Mountain… once, Wu Qingchuan was also sincere, wasn’t he?”

Though the words were lies she had fabricated, thinking carefully, why had he chosen specifically to settle at Duancang Mountain?

She shook her head. “The old monk once said that coveting official positions and being full of selfish desires would leave endless troubles.”

She didn’t know whether Wu Qingchuan regretted it.

——

In the eighth month of the fiftieth year of Yuanshao, the case involving Wu Qingchuan and Duke Songguo shocked the court and countryside. Among these, Wu Qingchuan’s murder of Su Xingzhou also drew attention.

Yu Qingwu was released without charges. When leaving the Court of Judicial Review prison, he discovered that besides Shanjun, there were actually some students from the Imperial Academy.

They seemed embarrassed and didn’t come forward, only bowing to him from afar before leaving.

Though Yu Qingwu didn’t mind their attitude, being splashed with ink before and now receiving an apology were still different things.

He stood still for a long time. Nanny Qian, holding aged mugwort leaves and willow branches, called out: “Young Master Yu! Hurry over for the reversal of fortune ritual!”

Yu Qingwu quickly walked over. “Coming.”

He stared at Lan Shanjun, who had come to receive him, and smiled. “Shanjun—”

Lan Shanjun, learning from Nanny Qian, took a willow branch and sprinkled some water on his clothes, saying softly: “May fortune follow adversity.”

Yu Qingwu turned his head away, uneasy: “Shanjun, in this state… I’m truly bedraggled. Looking at me, will you think it’s not good?”

Lan Shanjun used the willow branch to sprinkle more water on him, then suddenly smiled: “I said before—though one may search a lifetime through jade trees on jeweled stairs, people like you are rare in this mortal world.”

She paused, lowered her head to straighten his sleeves, and said: “No matter how many lifetimes pass, I probably won’t encounter someone like you again.”