*Nanny Qian: “I’m an old ginseng spirit!”*

When you think the truth of a matter is already absurd enough, an even more absurd truth will be bloodily unveiled.

No matter how much Lan Shanjun had imagined hidden secrets lurking behind everything, she never thought it would be built upon a foundation of ten thousand innocent bones.

For a long while she couldn’t recover her senses. When she did come back to herself, tears were already streaming down her face.

She said hatefully, “This can no longer be called shocking—it’s utterly inhumane.”

Yu Qingwu sat beside her, his heart also feeling as though it had dropped a thousand pounds. But when he turned his head and saw her crying, he couldn’t help but become distracted with worry for her.

Shanjun rarely shed tears.

Apart from crying for herself and General Duan, and when Old Madam Shou was on her deathbed—oh, and last time she had also cried for him—beyond these instances, she had never cried again.

Whatever she cried for entered her heart.

But when a single person entered one’s heart, it was merely grieving for that person’s old age, weakness, illness, and death. Yet if the four words “common people of the realm” entered one’s heart, it meant placing oneself in mortal danger.

—This feeling, he understood.

Yu Qingwu felt vaguely uneasy and hastily handed over a handkerchief. Lan Shanjun took it but didn’t wipe her tears, only looking at Old Duke Zhenguo: “Regarding this matter, besides you all, who else knows?”

Old Duke Zhenguo: “Such an unspeakable matter—apart from His Majesty and whoever gave His Majesty this idea, everyone else should have been kept in the dark.”

“But if in the end Duan Boyan knew, and Ni Tao also knew… then it may have already leaked out before the thirty-first year of Yuanshao. There should be others who know as well.”

Yet clearly, without exception, all these people had maintained silence.

He sighed. “I also shouldn’t be telling you all this. But… Ni Tao wrote those three characters, and I feared that if you didn’t know the truth, you might be framed by others, which would be even worse.”

After finishing, he remained silent for a long time, then murmured, “I’m already a man close to death. If there are no other opportunities, today may well be the last time we meet.”

“That’s fine too… Being able to speak the truth at the end, I also…”

He had wanted to say the eight words “have a clear conscience and no more regrets,” but when the words reached his lips, he found he couldn’t speak them.

How could he possibly have a clear conscience?

In that final moment, he hadn’t protected those seized old, weak, sick, and disabled, but instead let them wear tattered armor and die on the battlefield.

He also hadn’t protected his own two sons, hadn’t brought them back alive.

He had moreover failed his ancestors, letting Duke Zhenguo’s manor decline from his own hands.

And the four words “die without regrets” could even less possibly fall into his final testament—the dead had no names, while the murderous villain sat high above, still wielding his brush to erase the lives of the common people throughout the realm.

What kind of “dying without regrets” was this?

Old Duke Zhenguo said in a daze, “The character for ‘person’—one stroke left, one stroke right—is inherently difficult, with only the upper body joined together. But I once saw—saw them cut in half, bodies separated from remains—that could no longer be called being human.”

Therefore, he bore guilt.

Kneeling before the Three Pure Ones, he was indeed atoning for his sins.

Fourth Master had long been sobbing uncontrollably. In great sorrow he said, “Father! Why didn’t you speak out… How wonderful it would have been if you had spoken out back then.”

Old Duke Zhenguo shook his head. “Back then, when I had finally won with great difficulty and stabilized the Shuzhou rebellion, only the Imperial Grand Prince remained of the Crown Prince’s faction. I suspected at the time that this matter might be related to Prince Qi, so I didn’t dare publicize it, fearing His Majesty would fly into a rage and depose the Imperial Grand Prince as well.”

“At that time the Imperial Grand Prince was only eight or nine years old, and Prince Wei hadn’t yet risen. I didn’t dare gamble on that move—I could only come back and tell His Majesty I was willing to serve the Three Pure Ones and never leave the Daoist temple.”

This was merely an initial helpless measure.

He had still harbored thoughts of overturning this matter. But having missed the opportune moment, it was already too late.

He could only endure in this Daoist temple, counting the days as he endured.

Enduring until the end, he no longer held any hope.

But at this moment, he unexpectedly felt a glimmer of expectation again and asked, “Now that you all know of this matter, what will you do?”

Fourth Master had already been listening in a daze. Hearing this, he looked blankly at Yu Qingwu. But he quickly discovered that Yu Qingwu was looking at Lan Shanjun.

His eyes contained worry, his entire being silent and still, yet at this moment even without speaking, Fourth Master could somehow understand that he was worrying about what Lan Shanjun would do.

Old Duke Zhenguo and Duke Zhenguo immediately grasped this point as well and looked at Lan Shanjun together.

Lan Shanjun sat upright on the prayer cushion, saying in a heavy voice, “If such an absurd truth cannot be brought to light, then what meaning is there in the loyal integrity that civil officials uphold, or the death before dishonor that military generals guard?”

“So many lives exchanged for today’s absence of war and chaos—should these unvirtuous people be allowed to openly enjoy it?”

She looked at Old Duke Zhenguo. “Are you truly reconciled to this?”

Old Duke Zhenguo: “What does being reconciled mean? There is only dying with eyes wide open in protest.”

Lan Shanjun said firmly, “I am the same.”

“If I knew such a truth yet could still sleep peacefully, pretending to know nothing as if everything were fine, then I too would die with eyes wide open in protest.”

She said, “—No matter what, since I know of this matter, I cannot allow so many people to die innocently without even having names.”

Hearing this, Old Duke Zhenguo first startled, then burst into hearty laughter, seemingly exhilarated, as though the pent-up gloom of many years had finally been expelled. He said loudly, “Never would have thought, never would have thought that the Lan family would still produce such a remarkable person. Even if I die, I can face our ancestors with dignity!”

After finishing his laughter, his expression slowly grew solemn as he said, “Shanjun, these old bones of mine will reach their end this year anyway. You all go discuss and see how to use this life of mine to exchange for what you want.”

Fourth Master began crying again. He had never imagined that in these twenty years he had spent complaining, he had actually lived the most carefree life.

He couldn’t help feeling ashamed. “If your son had responsibility and capability, perhaps Father wouldn’t be so despairing.”

This truly struck at Old Duke Zhenguo’s heart. If his descendants showed promise, he could still find ways to fight. But those few children of Duke Zhenguo’s manor had already been raised into uselessness. Each year when he saw them, he grew angry.

This anger only dissipated at this moment.

Being in good spirits today, he said a few more words to Fourth Master. “Old Fourth, regarding the matter of capability, don’t force yourself.”

Fourth Master: “…”

He felt both comforted and wounded. His emotions beyond words, he looked at Yu Qingwu again.

But Yu Qingwu remained silent as ever, like a centuries-old tree trunk—exactly the same as Duke Zhenguo beside him who had also not spoken.

Fourth Master asked curiously, “What are you thinking about?”

Yu Qingwu murmured, “I’m thinking about this matter…”

No matter how this matter was exposed, it couldn’t bypass Shanjun.

Someone had to stand forward as the primary accuser.

And Shanjun was undoubtedly the best candidate.

…

Coming out from the Daoist temple, Zhu Shi hurried over to ask, “What happened? Why did you stay inside so long?”

Lan Shanjun: “Grandfather fears he won’t survive this year, so he conveyed many words to Fourth Uncle.”

Hearing this, Zhu Shi sighed. “Seeing them today, I also felt they weren’t doing well.”

She wasn’t sad, only worried: “If that’s the case, it will delay Huihui’s marriage.”

Then remembering Huihui was also in the carriage, she immediately shut her mouth, afraid this little ancestor would come rebuke her again.

But Huihui sat to one side, not knowing what she was thinking about, not having heard her speak at all. It wasn’t until Lan Shanjun and Yu Qingwu reached their destination and were about to descend from the carriage that Huihui suddenly lifted the carriage curtain and called to Lan Shanjun, “Sixth Sister.”

Lan Shanjun was startled and walked over to stand by the window. “What is it?”

Huihui extended her hand. “Sixth Sister, my hands are also very large, and I’ve grown much taller too. This year, I’ll be sixteen years old.”

She grasped Lan Shanjun’s hand. “Elder Sister, though I don’t know what has happened, if something should befall the family, you needn’t worry. Do what you wish to do—I can hold up this household.”

Lan Shanjun’s eyes slowly widened, then she grasped Huihui’s hand back with exceptional warmth. “Alright.”

Even after Duke Zhenguo’s manor’s carriage had departed into the distance, Lan Shanjun still stood there watching.

Yu Qingwu accompanied her, waiting at her side. After quite a while, he heard her say, “I just cast a divination.”

Yu Qingwu raised his head. “You know divination?”

Lan Shanjun: “The old monk taught me. I estimate he learned it from the Daoist priests down the mountain.”

Yu Qingwu: “I saw you hadn’t moved at all—how did you divine it?”

Lan Shanjun: “By listening to the wind.”

“Have you heard of Five Tones Wind Divination?”

Yu Qingwu shook his head. But he also didn’t dare ask whether this divination was good or bad. He could only ask in a roundabout way, “Are you happy now?”

Lan Shanjun glanced at him, smiled slightly, and said, “It’s a good divination.”

Yu Qingwu became completely satisfied and went over to take her hand as they headed home. But today neither of them went to the study to deduce the full truth of the entire matter. Instead, they sat in the courtyard basking in the sun.

It was still the second day of the New Year, still the holiday period. Nanny Qian wouldn’t allow the young couple to overexert themselves. She said, “Just bask for a while and sun away all the bad luck.”

Lan Shanjun replied, “Yes, we should bask a while.”

Yu Qingwu made no sound in response.

Nanny Qian immediately detected something wrong!

The old woman became worried. She pulled Yu Qingwu to the kitchen to help, asking, “What’s the matter? Didn’t you go see Duke Zhenguo and his son? Why have you come back looking rather unhappy?”

Yu Qingwu helped peel garlic. “You can tell?”

Nanny Qian: “I’m an old ginseng spirit!”

Yu Qingwu then said, “We encountered something… something not particularly pleasant.”

Nanny Qian thought for a moment and asked, “Is it something that makes you both unhappy, or is it that Shanjun wants to do this unpleasant thing, and so you’ve turned into a bitter melon again?”

Yu Qingwu laughed. “Truly worthy of being a genuine old ginseng grandmother—every whisker has eyes of fire and vision of gold.”

But Nanny Qian suddenly sighed. “So you see, I’ve always felt that you scholarly types are too principled and reasonable.”

She took up a cleaver and chopped, chopped, chopped, chopped, chopped—the chopping grew louder and louder. Finally she took the garlic and smashed it, and with each smash her eyes reddened a bit more. She asked, “Young Master Yu, tell me honestly—is Shanjun also going to be like Mount Tai, unwilling to be lighter than a feather?”

Yu Qingwu nodded glumly.

Nanny Qian’s tears dropped as she heated oil in the wok while using her ladle to stir-fry. “What sin we’ve committed!”

“Why haven’t all the bad people in the world died off yet, while only good people suffer!”

The old woman wiped her tears and asked, “Why don’t you try persuading her?”

Yu Qingwu shook his head.

Nanny Qian banged her ladle against the wok. “Heavens above, just torment me then!”

Yu Qingwu said softly, “Shanjun said she cast a divination. It’s a good divination.”

Nanny Qian was fuming when she heard this and shouted, “In this situation, how can it still be called a good melon?”

“Oh my, you two melon children!”