Just as the Emperor was about to issue a decree to question the absence of the Lord of Pingling, a major event occurred in Pingling.
On the last day of the memorial for the former Lord of Pingling, Li Shan, the Princess of Danyang issued a letter of accusation, charging him with disloyalty and inhumanity.
In the second year of Daxing, due to a power struggle with the Commandant of Guards, Li Shan murdered the nearly fifty-year-old loyal court servant, Sun Weiwei, strangling him and discarding his body in the Cold Palace. In the third year of Daxing, he attempted to seize the Dowager Consort Feng, driving her to suicide, and instead of repenting, he slaughtered everyone in her palace.
That same year, Li Shan wrongfully killed the elder brother of Xu Xian, leaving his bones to chill at the border, unable to return home. He embezzled 300,000 taels from the national treasury to build a palace, ostensibly for the Emperor but actually for himself, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of laborers. Those who reported him were silenced, leading to a long-standing corruption in the court.
The Princess questioned why such a person deserved to be enshrined in the ancestral temple and receive three days of worship each year. The blood of the Li family flowing in his veins was a disgrace to the family!
The letter of accusation caused an uproar across the land. Few knew whether it was true or false, leading to widespread speculation.
However, soon after, the current Lord of Pingling, Li Fangwu, Li Shan’s son, personally confirmed these accusations as facts. He submitted a memorial to the Emperor, declaring that he would no longer travel to the capital to worship his father, only performing small ceremonies at home to express filial piety.
This decision was seen as appropriate, showing both filial respect and providing a valid reason not to go to the capital. The Emperor could not accuse him of being unfilial, nor force him to leave Pingling.
As a result, everyone knew that Li Shan was far from the virtuous figure praised in books and recorded in history.
Those with intentions began to verify the accusations in the letter, discovering that the Princess’s words were true. Following her directions, they quickly found the remains of Sun Weiwei in the Cold Palace.
The court was shaken, and countless memorials flooded the Emperor’s desk, demanding the cancellation of the annual three-day worship of Li Shan in the ancestral temple.
Li Huailin sat alone on the soft couch in Longyan Palace, the shadows in the corners falling over his eyes.
“Your Majesty,” Liu Yunlie entered and spoke softly, “It has been handled.”
The ancestral worship was decreed by Li Huailin, and Liu Yunlie knew the reason. It was impossible to change it due to a few memorials from the ministers. However, the Princess’s move caught them off guard, and the posthumous title originally intended for Li Shan might not be possible now.
Li Huailin’s voice was low: “Is what the Princess said true?”
Liu Yunlie paused, shaking his head: “You know the Princess’s nature, don’t you? After so many years, suddenly bringing this up must have some interest involved. Whether it’s true or false is no longer important; what’s important is to guard against her and see what she intends to do.”
Huailin shook his head: “I feel like the Princess is telling me she didn’t wrongfully kill Li Shan.”
Liu Yunlie remained silent.
He had thought the Princess would never bring up these old matters again. After all, she wasn’t someone who liked to clear her name. When the Lord of Pingling died, she held power alone, already having the world in her hands, yet she preferred to focus her energy on Lu Jingxing and never cried out for her injustice.
It was said that in the Princess’s eyes, reputation was the least valuable thing.
So what had happened now to make her change her mind?
“How’s my business doing?” Huaiyu gleefully waved the construction map of the Qu Lin River tributary in front of Lu Jingxing. “A letter for a map, is it a good deal?”
Lu Jingxing gave her a deep look: “You’ve made a fortune.”
She had stayed in Yixian City without going out, and no one gossiped in her ear, so Huaiyu still didn’t know that the outside world had changed dramatically.
It was more than just earning a map…
Lu Jingxing glanced out the window, where Jiang Xuanjin stood in the courtyard, his fox-fur cloak fluttering slightly in the wind, a jade crown neatly binding his black hair, looking like a young master enjoying the world’s beauty.
“Was it his idea for you to write the letter of accusation?” Lu Jingxing asked in a low voice.
Huaiyu raised an eyebrow: “How did you know it was his idea? But my handwriting is ugly, so he had Jiang Shen write it instead. Second Young Master Jiang may not be good at other things, but he’s excellent with pen and ink, turning old matters into a case worthy of the history books.”
With a slight movement in his eyes, Lu Jingxing held the cold fan bone for a while before saying, “He has a mind for it.”
“He doesn’t lose out either,” Huaiyu said, holding her belly. “The Lord of Pingling’s thank-you gift arrived today, filling my courtyard with large boxes. He’s generous. I suppose there will be more exchanges between Pingling and Ziyang in the future.”
Lu Jingxing raised an eyebrow: “I remember in the third year of Daxing, you refuted someone’s memorial, saying that too much interaction between fiefdoms was not beneficial to the country.”
“Yes, but Li Shan didn’t listen, and Huailin didn’t support it either,” Huaiyu shrugged. “Because Li Shan was a fief lord, he knew that interaction between fiefdoms helped consolidate the power of fief lords. If they could unite against a common enemy, they could stand against the court.”
Huailin thought Li Shan was wholeheartedly for his good. Now he should understand that Li Shan was also selfish back then, leaving a way out for himself while supporting him.
It’s fate’s trick that now she’s stepping on the path Li Shan left, having to contend with Huailin.
Taking a deep breath, Huaiyu felt a bit stifled and said to Lu Jingxing, “I want to go out for a walk.”
Lu Jingxing firmly shook his head.
“Oh, I’ve been cooped up in the house all day. It’s stifling! The doctor said I need to walk more to have the strength to give birth!” Huaiyu pouted, looking outside. “Today is the Winter Flower Festival of Northern Wei. In previous years, we always went out to drink during the Winter Flower Festival, didn’t we?”
Lu Jingxing counted on his fingers: “The day before yesterday, you went out, lost Qingsi after seven turns, and she searched for you for a long time, staying at your door for three days without daring to move. The day before that, you went out, with a big belly, to help someone snatch a purse, scaring Juwu half to death, and alarming the entire yamen. The thief thought he had stolen a stack of silver notes, but when the purse was recovered, there were only three copper coins inside. Yesterday… you finally didn’t go out, and Chijin personally cooked a hot pot to celebrate.”
The first few sentences made her blush, but at the end, Li Huaiyu was furious: “They had hot pot without me?!”
Lu Jingxing spread his hands: “Spare them. If they invited you, Chijin wouldn’t dare cook casually. He’d have to prepare three days in advance.”
Huaiyu was a bit amused: “I know my own body, don’t I? It’s sturdy. It was fine being locked up for so long, fine with all the bumps along the way. How could going out to eat cause any trouble?”
Taking a few steps forward to open the door, Lu Jingxing turned back and said, “If you want fresh air, just stand here for a while.”
Reluctantly, she stood there, took a breath of the cold wind outside, and pouted: “It’s not as fresh as the street air.”
Lu Jingxing’s temple twitched, and he forced a smile: “Make do with it.”
Her eyes rolled, and Huaiyu suddenly said: “How about this, let’s compete in pitch-pot. If I win, you let me go out, okay? Pitch-pot is your specialty, and I’ve never won!”
Lu Jingxing squinted: “If I win, you’ll stay in the mansion?”
“Yes!” Huaiyu nodded.
Jiang Xuanjin stood not far away with his back to them, but he could hear the two of them joking and laughing.
She said: “You’ve beaten me for five years. What’s wrong with me standing three steps closer?”
He said: “Are you walking with your legs spread? Standing by the pot isn’t pitching; it’s playing!”
She was unhappy: “Then… two steps?”
He sneered: “You’d better stay in the mansion.”
Jiang Xuanjin didn’t turn around, his dark eyes silently watching the distant clouds.
Chengxu frowned slightly and whispered: “Master, shall we go back? Ziyang sent many documents, and you haven’t read them yet.”
There was no response. The person in front of him sat silently, his thin lips pressed white.
The game was already set up.
Li Huaiyu held three arrows, looking desperate as she stood behind the line with Lu Jingxing. The line was eight feet from the pot. She aimed for a long time, considering the wind direction and her luck, but in the end, two arrows missed, and only one arrow stood lonely in the pot’s mouth.
Her head drooped, and she wrapped her tiger-skin cloak tighter, pouting at Lu Jingxing: “Can’t you throw less accurately?”
Lu Jingxing twirled the long arrow between his fingers, chuckling: “I can hit with my eyes closed. It’s too hard not to be accurate.”
“Then close your eyes.” Huaiyu seized the opportunity, “Qingsi, bring a white silk to cover Manager Lu’s eyes!”
Lu Jingxing: “…”
Qingsi did as told, and he helplessly took the white silk to cover his eyes: “Your Highness is persistent.”
It wasn’t that he was overconfident. Pitch-pot, a game for young masters, was something he had known since childhood. No matter who he competed with, he always won because he never missed an arrow.
With the white silk covering his eyes, he could vaguely see some light and shadow. Lu Jingxing stood straight, holding the arrow, and threw it.
Huaiyu was startled, seeing the accuracy, it was going to hit. If it hit, she wouldn’t be able to go out!
Feeling a bit desperate, she began considering whether to force her way out of the mansion.
However, just as the arrow was about to fall into the pot, a pebble flew in from the side, with a sharp momentum, precisely hitting the arrowhead.
The direction veered, and the arrow fell to the ground with a “snap.”
Not hearing the expected pot sound, Lu Jingxing was surprised, lifted the white silk to look, and frowned: “Did you cheat?”
Huaiyu stood beside him, innocently shaking her head: “No.”
As she spoke, she glanced at the person standing at the other end of the courtyard.
Jiang Xuanjin didn’t look at her, seriously staring at the already withered flower branches in the flowerbed, his long hand slowly retracting into his fox-fur cloak.
Retracting her gaze, Huaiyu smiled and tugged at the white silk over Lu Jingxing’s eyes: “You still have two chances.”
Lu Jingxing was puzzled, looked at the position of the copper pot again, memorized it, and covered his eyes to throw it again.
With two “pops,” two arrows with excellent accuracy fell on the ground not far from the copper pot.
Removing the white silk, Lu Jingxing was dumbfounded, while Li Huaiyu was so happy she almost jumped up, clapping her hands: “To the street!”
“This is impossible.” He couldn’t understand, “Why didn’t they go in?”
“Your hand is rusty!” Pretending to know nothing, Huaiyu comforted him, “Practice more in the future.”
With that, she cheered and walked out.
Lu Jingxing frowned at the copper pot for a long time, finally helpless, took his cloak, and followed the person ahead.
In Northern Wei, people loved camellias, so they established the Winter Flower Festival, set on the day when camellias bloomed the most, for people to enjoy flowers and play. Yixian City, a barren place, hadn’t celebrated the Winter Flower Festival for years. But this year was different, with many new Lu’s taverns and bookstores opening in the city, and even song and music halls opening their doors to celebrate the festival.
The people had food, the river was about to flow again, and all these happy events made the streets bustling.
Huaiyu’s eyes shone as she looked at the people around, sighing: “When we first came, the streets here were just yellow earth.”
“Yes.” Lu Jingxing walked beside her, shielding her from the crowd, “Thanks to Your Highness, Yixian City is alive.”
Unable to stop smiling, Huaiyu rubbed her mouth, wanting to be reserved, but she was really happy: “The Princess of Danyang did a good deed.”
She was finally not the scourge of the country in the people’s mouths. If she were to die again, even if someone still pointed at her coffin and cursed, there should be someone to speak a good word for her.
Danyang was a good person.
Thinking of the mourning lanterns with Danyang’s name that floated on Chang’an Street long ago, she subconsciously waved her hand again.
This time, you won’t be wronged!
Lu Jingxing glanced at her, supporting her as they walked to the nearby Lu’s tavern: “Too many people, go upstairs and listen to the storytelling.”
“Okay!” Huaiyu lifted her skirt and walked, holding her round belly, her steps surprisingly light.
The tavern was doing good business today, with few empty seats on the second floor. Fortunately, Lu Jingxing had reserved a spot, seating her at the table closest to the storyteller.
With a slap of the gavel, the noisy upstairs quieted down. The elderly storyteller cleared his throat and began, and Huaiyu listened with relish, holding a small snack. Lu Jingxing casually glanced to the side and saw more guests coming upstairs.
Jiang Xuanjin, with a cold face, found an empty seat and sat down. Chengxu and Yufeng stood behind him, the three of them conspicuous, drawing whispers as soon as they sat.
Raising an eyebrow, Lu Jingxing looked at the person beside him. She was engrossed in the story, seemingly unaware.
Resting his hand on his chin, Lu Jingxing suddenly reached out, offering tea to Huaiyu’s lips.
Li Huaiyu, with her hands full of snacks, didn’t bother to take it, simply drinking from his hand, swallowing the snack, and saying: “Why are you so nice today?”
Lu Jingxing smiled: “When am I not nice to you?”
“Many times, yesterday you argued with me about not going to Danyang’s main city. The day before, I wore a new dress, and you said it was ugly.” Li Huaiyu squinted, “Do you think I have a bad memory?”
Slightly choked. Lu Jingxing turned his head: “I was speaking the truth. Whoever wants to go to Danyang’s main city can go. Why did you choose a cyan color for the new dress? It’s ugly.”
“Chuniang chose it, what’s it got to do with me?” Huaiyu snorted.
Lu Jingxing wanted to say, “You wore it because she chose it?” But catching a glimpse of someone watching from the side, he paused, leaned forward, and whispered in Huaiyu’s ear: “It’s my fault. After these two cups of tea, shall we visit the fabric shop? I’ll have two new outfits made for you.”
“No need.” Huaiyu mumbled through her food, “If you get me another serving of these jade green bean buns, I’ll forgive you.”
With a doting smile, Lu Jingxing called a waiter and whispered instructions.
Jiang Xuanjin didn’t know why he followed. He disliked crowds and disliked seeing Lu Jingxing and Li Huaiyu close. Yet he sat there, watching them for a long time.
She had said that someone like him, who spoke one way and thought another, wasn’t very likable. Lu Jingxing was good with words, speaking softly and gently, making her laugh, and taking good care of her.
When he wasn’t by her side, her smile seemed more genuine.
“Master,” Chengxu, feeling sorry, said, “Shall we go back?”
“Yes, it’s noisy here,” Yufeng agreed, “Why not go back and look at the Buddhist scriptures Second Young Master found for you?”
“Mm.” Jiang Xuanjin lowered his eyes, responding softly, but when that table of people got up to leave, his feet followed them as if they had a mind of their own.
In the past, if someone told him that a young master was deceived and betrayed but couldn’t let go, stubbornly seeking a way out, he would have said that person was a fool, not knowing what their heart was made of, not feeling pain.
But now, walking on the sandy streets of Yixian City, he knew how foolish he was and how much it hurt, yet he still walked forward.
Why? He couldn’t understand himself. Could a fox, tamed by half a year of warmth, really stay in a cage for life?
One more street, Jiang Xuanjin thought, one more street, and he’d leave.
By the time they came out, it was near dusk, and soon it was dark. Lanterns lit up everywhere on the street, yet there were still many people. Huaiyu walked enthusiastically, reaching the street corner, and inadvertently looked up, seeing the lantern hanging from the eaves on the second floor.
The lantern was round and bright, emitting a pure light, much like the moon in the sky.
…
“Even when angry, you look so beautiful. I want to pluck the moon for you!”
“Then go pluck it. If you can’t, don’t let me see you again!”
“The moon I plucked for you.”
“……”
“You said if I couldn’t pluck it, you wouldn’t see me again. I said we’d meet every year, didn’t you remember?”
…
It seemed like it happened just yesterday, yet it was so far away now, unreachable. Huaiyu stood still for a moment, her vision blurring.
Perhaps no one would ever make her want to climb a building to pluck the moon again. The paper lanterns she used to keep in the main building of Moju were probably broken into pieces by now, thrown away somewhere.
Let it go. Fake is fake, and besides her, no one would be foolish enough to take a lantern for the moon.
“Here’s the candied hawthorn you wanted.” Lu Jingxing caught up from behind, handing her a large, red treat.
Shaking her head to clear her eyes, Huaiyu smiled: “See how obedient I am? I didn’t run off. I waited here for you.”
Lu Jingxing raised an eyebrow, looking closely at her face, sensing something was off: “What’s wrong? Weren’t you fine just now?”
Pausing slightly, Huaiyu quickly yawned, tears in her eyes: “I’m tired, and want to go back to sleep.”
“Alright.” Lu Jingxing sighed in relief, “It’s rare for you to feel tired.”
Smiling wryly, Huaiyu lowered her eyes, following him back.
Jiang Xuanjin had told her to be ready, his tone… even his grudges were elegant, unlike her, who seemed petty and malicious.
What was he planning to do to her? So many days had passed, yet there seemed to be no movement.
Speaking of which, this person had stayed in Yixian City for a long time, not returning to Ziyang. Why? Judging by the speed at which documents were sent from Ziyang, it didn’t seem like he was idle, yet he wasn’t in a hurry, showing no intention of returning after all this time.
Could it be that he didn’t want Yixian City to merge with Danyang, so he came here early to wait, ready to stop her if she made a move?
Thinking about it, this reason seemed most convincing. Huaiyu steadied herself, planning to test him once to see what his next move would be.
The courtyard was pitch black, only her room was lit. Li Huaiyu pushed the door open, intending to ask who was so considerate to leave a light, but when she looked up, there was no one in the room.
A round lantern sat by the window, emitting a pure light, reflecting the night outside, making her pause.
Qingsi looked puzzled, asking the servant guarding the door: “Did anyone come by?”
The servant was confused: “I’ve been here the whole time, didn’t see anyone!”