Chu Linlang once again expressed her fearful reverence, saying she would not dare.

At that very moment, a eunuch from the Empress Dowager’s palace came to summon Niangzi Chu, saying the Empress Dowager wished to see her immediately.

Seeing the eunuch who served before Noble Consort Jing standing there, Chief Eunuch An, who served before the Empress Dowager, smiled and said: “Little Quan, you are not attending to Noble Consort Jing — why have you run over here?”

The eunuch called Little Quan had not anticipated that the Empress Dowager would summon someone so quickly. He gave an awkward smile, made up an excuse, and took his leave.

Chief Eunuch An let out a cold laugh at the man’s retreating figure, then turned and invited Niangzi Chu to wait beside the hall within the palace.

Only then did Chu Linlang realize that the Empress Dowager had not yet finished listening to the sutras, and would likely not be receiving her at this moment.

In that case, what Chief Eunuch An had said just now was clearly a deliberate act of coming to her rescue.

Thinking of this, she could not help but once again turn to Chief Eunuch An and express her gratitude.

Chief Eunuch An smiled slightly: “Lord Situ said that this was your first time entering the palace and asked this servant to offer some assistance. It was nothing much at all — Niangzi Chu need not stand on ceremony!”

As it turned out, Chief Eunuch An’s nephew had been caught up in a rather troublesome lawsuit about a year ago, and it was Situ Sheng — who was serving as Deputy Minister of the Court of Judicial Review at the time — who had helped resolve it.

Chief Eunuch An owed him a favor, so when Situ Sheng asked him to help look after this Niangzi Chu, he was naturally happy to do so. The seasoned veterans of the palace understood better than anyone else who was currently in the Emperor’s favor.

After a while longer, the wooden fish and Buddhist chanting from the prayer hall at the front came to a stop, and someone finally called for Niangzi Chu to enter.

Upon entering the prayer hall, Chu Linlang immediately saw that Tao Yashu had also come, sitting cross-legged beside her mother next to a graceful and distinguished white-haired woman. Her female tutor, Hua Shi, was also present.

They had apparently been listening to the Buddhist sutras together with the Empress Dowager, and besides them, there was also a white-bearded monk sitting across from them.

It seemed that the noble, white-haired elderly woman must be the Empress Dowager.

Following the etiquette that Tao Yashu had taught her, Niangzi Chu properly paid her respects to the Empress Dowager. Supported by her palace attendants, the Empress Dowager settled back into her chair and looked at Chu Linlang with satisfaction: “Indeed worthy of a girl educated at Ronglin Female Academy — each and every one of them presents herself so well. Come closer, let this Dowager take a good look at you.”

Chu Linlang quickly rose and stepped forward a few paces, then knelt down again.

The Empress Dowager gazed at her attentively and could not help but smile: “The children of today truly grow more beautiful with each generation. Such an outstanding appearance — at my age, having seen all the children in the palace, I have rarely come across any quite like this.”

Hua Shi also smiled and said: “Is that not so — when I first laid eyes on her, I too thought Niangzi Chu was exceptionally beautiful. The poem’s description of ‘a beauty by the furnace like the moon, her pale wrists glowing like frost and snow’ — now at last I have a real person to picture in my mind.”

It was no wonder the Empress Dowager and Hua Shi praised her so. Chu Linlang was a girl from the waterways of the south of the Yangtze River, and she was naturally slender and graceful by birth. Add to that her snow-white complexion, and she was truly a sight that brightened the eyes — the more one looked, the more one wanted to keep looking.

In this world, it was not only men who appreciated beauty. Women too enjoyed looking at a pretty young girl — one who was pleasing to the eye was like a fresh flower, always a delight to behold.

The Empress Dowager turned to Hua Shi with a smile and asked: “It was truly this slender and delicate young woman who rescued so many people?”

Hua Shi smiled and replied: “If I had not personally experienced it, I would hardly dare believe it myself. Niangzi Chu is truly a heroic woman among women.”

Chu Linlang, being within the palace, did not dare to show off her eloquence. She simply answered the Empress Dowager’s questions honestly, expressing that had it not been for everyone’s bravery in repelling the enemy together, she feared so many of the women might not have escaped unscathed, and that she herself had been left quite shaken with fright afterward.

Yet the Empress Dowager nodded with satisfaction: “Though she is a woman, her courage is remarkable. I have heard several ladies who returned from the river port praising you continuously, saying that you worked hard to persuade everyone to disembark, and thus saved them. Come, tell this Dowager about the circumstances at that time.”

Chu Linlang immediately understood — this elderly woman who had long resided in the palace wanted to hear a good story told.

This was something she was very skilled at. And so she recounted the events of that time, adding a few thrilling embellishments, delivering a vivid and engaging narration.

This had the Empress Dowager repeatedly drawing sharp breaths, and even the Great Master Lingyun sitting beside them was somewhat spellbound as he listened.

Just as the group was chatting and laughing merrily, someone came to report from outside that Noble Consort Jing, having heard that Great Master Lingyun had come to recite Buddhist sutras for the Empress Dowager, had specifically brought a scroll of hand-copied sutras to present to the Empress Dowager, and was also requesting the Great Master to consecrate it on her behalf.

The Empress Dowager had not managed the inner affairs of the palace for many years. Although she had never looked favorably upon Noble Consort Jing, who managed the Six Palaces on her behalf, she still had to give her some face, and so she summoned Noble Consort Jing into the prayer hall.

Chu Linlang stole a sidelong glance from her position nearby. This Noble Consort Jing, who had enjoyed exclusive imperial favor in the palace for many years, did not look at all like the glamorous and alluring figure she had imagined. Instead, she had a quiet appearance and was quite slender — the type that followed the path of a delicately frail beauty.

It was said that Noble Consort Jing had once been full-figured and healthy. Yet over these many years, she had deliberately imitated the late Fang, her deceased cousin. To mimic her cousin’s frail and delicate figure, she had eaten only a fixed single meal each day and had never once eaten her fill.

And so, relying on this sickly appearance of hers, Noble Consort Jing had reigned as the most favored figure in the Six Palaces for many years, with no rival.

Chu Linlang deeply admired the tenacity of spirit it took to stop at nothing in competing for imperial favor, while at the same time, she kept this kind of calculating and scheming woman at arm’s length.

But it was quite evident that Noble Consort Jing had come today with no great devotion to Buddha. After entering and paying her respects to the Empress Dowager, her eyes immediately fell upon Chu Linlang. She looked her up and down and said: “You are the Niangzi Chu who so bravely rescued the female academy? These past few days, both inside and outside the palace, word of your deeds has been spreading everywhere!”

Chu Linlang gave a shy smile, put on an expression of timid restraint, and said nothing more.

Lord Situ had said: when entering the palace, observe more and speak less — speaking less means making fewer mistakes.

This Noble Consort Jing had wanted to see her earlier, but had been put off by Chief Eunuch An. Now she had come again to appear before the Empress Dowager in person, clearly harboring some malicious intent. What remained to be seen was whether Noble Consort Jing, in front of the Empress Dowager, might restrain herself somewhat — that imposing air of a mistress who managed the Six Palaces.

Sure enough, Noble Consort Jing gave a cold laugh and spoke: “You saved so many people — that should indeed have been rewarded. Yet it is a pity that my one niece alone was not rescued. While she was alive, out of concern for reputation, her parents and entire family would not breathe a word about it. Now that my poor niece is gone like this, I, as her paternal aunt, cannot leave the matter unaddressed. The head teacher of the female academy, Hua Shi, happens to be here today — this Consort would like to ask her directly: why was it that she, and she alone, did not disembark? I have heard… that this Niangzi Chu and the child Yixiu were never on good terms, and that they had even had a fierce quarrel just before this. Is that so?”

Upon hearing these words, even the Empress Dowager was taken aback, clearly not having expected Noble Consort Jing to come to her own palace to cause such trouble.

Furthermore, this was also the first time the Empress Dowager had heard of it, and she could not help but raise her eyes to look toward Chu Linlang.

Chu Linlang could hear the ill intent in Noble Consort Jing’s words, and was not sure who had gone to Noble Consort Jing to stir up trouble. So she simply answered honestly: “At the time, the river bandits had not yet arrived. Even though this commoner woman spoke up, everyone was half-believing and half-doubtful. Junzhu Yixiu was very drowsy at the time, and insisted on remaining on the ship to sleep — she refused to listen to anyone’s persuasion, which is what led to the disaster that followed. It was this commoner’s fault. Had I stayed behind on the ship with the Junzhu, perhaps we could have fought back against those bandits together. This commoner is a few years older than these fellow students, and I have always regarded them as younger sisters in ordinary times. As for the quarrel others have mentioned, it was likely just a bit of playful bickering, and I truly cannot recall it well.”

Chu Linlang had spoken very tactfully, yet she had essentially explained the situation clearly. Yixiu had not been forcibly kept on the ship by anyone. When she had said there was a threat, everyone had been disbelieving and full of complaints. Yixiu was of noble status — if she refused to disembark, who could drag her off?

For Linlang to say she should have stayed behind with Yixiu amounted to suggesting a suicidal martyrdom scheme. If Noble Consort Jing were to press the matter further, it would simply be unreasonable.

As for the quarrel — given who Yixiu was, which student at the academy had not argued with her at some point? Chu Linlang had always been patient and forbearing. Even if she had talked back, it had never come to a red-faced shouting match.

She wondered where Noble Consort Jing had gotten that last remark from.

Noble Consort Jing was clearly unconvinced. With a cold snort, she turned to address the Empress Dowager: “Empress Dowager, this Consort has come today precisely hoping that you might take charge on behalf of the girl from the Yun Family who died unjustly, and call for an investigation into the truth! Why was it that so many noble young women had to travel together to the river port? This Consort has heard that it was precisely this Niangzi Chu who first proposed going back to the river port to visit family, which then brought about all the misfortune that followed.”

The Empress Dowager heard this and furrowed her brow slightly, asking with suspicion: “Is that truly the case?”

At that very moment, Tao Yashu beside them spoke up: “Female academies everywhere have always had a tradition of summer outings. I have heard my mother say that when she attended the female academy, they even traveled together to places much farther away. Niangzi Chu had originally requested leave to return home and visit her family. How could a single student have organized a summer outing? It was several of us students who discussed it with Hua Shi, and the decision was made together. Niangzi Chu only found out about it later.”

When Tao Yashu said this, even her mother Wu Shi was somewhat startled, feeling that her daughter had overstepped today — she really should not have spoken up in a setting like this to defend that Chu woman.

Anyone could see that Noble Consort Jing had come here looking for trouble, intent on venting her spite.

For Tao Yashu to speak up at this moment — was she not inviting trouble upon herself? Wu Shi grew anxious inwardly and truly wished she could pinch her daughter’s thigh to make her stop talking.

After hearing these words, the spite indeed began to spread.

Noble Consort Jing raised her eyes to look at Tao Yashu and smiled once again, saying: “Worthy indeed of being the legitimate daughter of the Tao Family — the way you speak truly carries something of the bearing of the late Empress. According to your meaning, the bandits setting their sights on all of you was entirely coincidental?”

Hua Shi had originally not wished to speak up and offend Noble Consort Jing. But when she saw that even the student Tao Yashu had stepped forward to offer an explanation, she felt that as the head teacher of the female academy, if she avoided the issue and said nothing in defense of an innocent student, that would be utterly unbecoming of her.

And so she too offered gentle words of clarification: “Noble Consort Jing, this outing was indeed something several of the children requested of me, and I then had them go home to discuss it with their parents before a decision was made. It truly had nothing to do with Niangzi Chu… The academy has always had a tradition of summer travel, and no one wished to see such an accident come about…”

At this point, Hua Shi also found herself unable to continue. At the end of the day, how could this matter be blamed on any individual? If the Yun Family sought to assign responsibility, the academy itself would have to bear the greater part.

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager seemed to have grown somewhat weary, and her tone turned cool: “This is a prayer hall — it is no place to hear talk of fighting and killing. If Noble Consort Jing wishes to hear a case, she may go to the Court of Judicial Review and open proceedings there. There is no need to come here to one-by-one strike at people!”

Having detected the displeasure in the Empress Dowager’s words, Noble Consort Jing immediately rose to her feet and bowed to the Empress Dowager, saying: “I beg the Empress Dowager’s forgiveness. This Consort did not intend to disturb Your Highness’s peaceful retreat… It is only that my Yixiu had a fierce spirit, and to have left this world so young and under such grievous circumstances — her mother comes to weep before me every day, her eyes swollen shut from crying. I, as her paternal aunt, if I cannot right her wrongful death and restore her honor, I truly cannot eat or sleep in peace, day or night… I have heard that Niangzi Chu was on very close terms with the young lady of the Tao Family, and that they would often mock and ridicule my Yixiu, causing her to be quite isolated at the female academy, and that in the end, even when disembarking to seek refuge, they refused to bring her along… My poor Xiu’er — your aunt has been confined here within the palace walls and could not help you, allowing your fellow students to bully you as they wished!”

By this point, Noble Consort Jing had actually broken down into sobbing and weeping.

If Yixiu had not died, she would truly have had no grounds to bring this up at all, and would have had no choice but to keep her mouth shut and never speak of it.

But now that Yixiu was gone — and had died by her own hand, for the sake of chastity, in a most resolute and honorable manner — the Yun Family was the wronged party, and no matter how much of a scene they caused, it was not unreasonable. Moreover, the account she had heard just the day before was this: Chu Linlang, in her eagerness to ingratiate herself with the legitimate daughter of the Tao Family, had joined forces with the other students to bully and ostracize Yixiu at every turn, to the point that Yixiu, in a fit of sullen resentment, had refused to disembark from the ship.

Looking at the situation now, this Niangzi Chu’s relationships with people were actually quite good — not only was she being protected by Hua Shi, but even the aloof and proud Tao Yashu regarded Niangzi Chu with special favor.

These two were in cahoots with each other — cut from the same cloth.

Noble Consort Jing had not originally paid much attention to Tao Yashu, who was about to enter the palace.

A daughter of the Tao Family, whose looks bore some resemblance to the deceased late Empress — how could she ever win the Emperor’s affection?

Yet now, her own niece from the Yun Family had met with misfortune and lost her virtue because of Niangzi Chu joining forces with Tao Yashu and her kind to ostracize her. This showed that Tao Yashu was a calculating person.

Could it be that Tao Yashu was deliberately trying to bring shame upon the Yun Family and thereby strengthen the Crown Prince’s position?

Upon close observation today, Tao Yashu was truly too young, and her appearance was by no means unremarkable — she was even somewhat more beautiful than the Empress of former years.

Someone like this, once she entered the palace, if she were to play clever schemes like this, she might well win some degree of imperial favor!

Noble Consort Jing had dominated the rear palace for many years — she could not allow someone like this to come and compete with her for the Emperor’s affection.

What was more, Tao Yashu came from a distinguished background, and if she were to gain favor, it would not only strengthen the Crown Prince’s position — if the young woman, backed by her family’s standing, were to gain the Empress Dowager’s support as well, she might truly be able to take the long-vacant position of Empress…

Noble Consort Jing could not help but feel wary and take precautions early on.

As for this Chu Linlang, she was that Situ Sheng’s house manager — to touch her would be to show disrespect to that harsh official, and one could not afford to act without careful thought.

However, she had heard that she had already resigned and was no longer a servant of the Vice Minister’s household. This woman had recently become entangled with a tutor at the academy. From this it was plain to see that Situ Sheng would not stoop to want a woman of such a fickle nature and lowly birth.

That being the case, she could well use the pretext of Chu Linlang having caused her niece’s death to create a great scene and block Tao Yashu’s path into the palace!

So what talk of redressing grievances — that was all just a meaningless excuse. Preventing Tao Yashu from entering the palace was the true objective.

It was only after having decided upon this that Noble Consort Jing had persistently gone after Chu Linlang and made trouble for her. She was determined to attribute her niece’s death to the claim that Chu Linlang had organized the outing, that her niece had been ostracized by fellow students of Tao Yashu’s kind, and that this had caused her to miss the chance of being rescued.

In this way, Noble Consort Jing could fall out with the Tao Family’s young daughter in a manner that was justified and beyond reproach, and could then go before the Emperor in tears and implore him not to allow the legitimate daughter of the Tao Family — who had bullied her deceased niece — to enter the palace!

And so, as she spoke on, Noble Consort Jing was already weeping rivers of tears, so choked with sobs that she appeared on the verge of fainting, and continued to insist in a voice broken with grief that Chu Linlang and Tao Yashu give her an account of why, out of an entire shipful of people, only Yixiu alone had not disembarked.

Even the Empress Dowager had not expected that Noble Consort Jing would turn out to be someone who cared so deeply for her niece.

The girl had died under such pitiable and grievous circumstances, and even though she was the venerable Empress Dowager, she could not very well reprimand this unreasonably weeping Noble Consort Jing.

She was advanced in years and had long been weary of affairs in the Emperor’s rear palace, and was usually too indolent to intervene.

Yet this Tao Yashu was someone she was very fond of. Seeing Noble Consort Jing brandishing her wild strikes in all directions, clearly intent on dragging the legitimate daughter of the Tao Family down with her, the Empress Dowager finally spoke: “To say that others bullied the Junzhu might be one thing. But young Lady Tao is the most dignified and graceful of all — she would not even know how to curse someone, let alone bully anyone. Noble Consort Jing, you are of seniority in the palace, a figure of authority — when you speak, you must have grounds and evidence to back your words!”

Yet it was a pity that Noble Consort Jing had not come this time with any intention of being reasonable — she simply wanted to make a chaotic, unreasonable scene, and to create enough of a commotion to bring it before the Emperor!

These past few days, having wept her eyes red from grieving over her niece, the Emperor had come to see her several times.

Perhaps because her weeping and sobbing resembled her cousin Fang very much, the Emperor had lately been granting her every wish.

Emboldened by his abundant favor, Noble Consort Jing, feeling secure in her position, decided to go all in without hesitation — to stage another bout of heartbreak and devastation and take it before the Emperor as a performance of bitter sorrow.

As long as she could use the pretext of her niece’s self-inflicted death and insist to the end that it had been caused by Tao Yashu and Chu Linlang’s ostracism, she could then, in a natural and justified manner, beseech the Emperor not to permit Tao Yashu to enter the palace.

Thinking of this, Noble Consort Jing simply tilted her body back slightly and allowed herself to slump, feigning a faint as if overcome with grief.

The eunuchs behind her scrambled about in panic, calling for the imperial physician. The prayer hall descended into chaos — even reciting a few more passages of the Heart Sutra would have been hard-pressed to drive away all these shadowy specters of resentment and malice.

Chu Linlang had been kneeling to one side throughout and had not uttered a word. This place was filled with immortals and celestial figures of the highest order — where was there room for a small spirit like her to speak out of turn?

Moreover, she could see plainly that the Empress Dowager, this venerable old divine presence, was clearly unable to subdue the scheming consort’s unreasonable raving.

With Noble Consort Jing now having fainted, she was clearly determined to escalate the situation. In the end, she — the one guilty of provoking the Consort to faint — would inevitably be the one to receive a beating.

The beatings dealt out in the palace were the kind that could kill a person outright.

Even if she was full of clever ideas, they were of no use here. In the face of absolute power and authority, where was there any justice for an ordinary commoner?

Situ Sheng had told her to set her mind at ease. She had even shaken the turtle shells that very morning and drawn a lucky sign — together they amounted to two scoundrels joining forces to deceive her!

How on earth was she to sidestep this calamity that had come crashing down upon her?

At this very critical moment, a eunuch suddenly came with word that the Emperor, accompanied by Vice Minister of Finance Situ Sheng, had come to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.

As soon as the benevolent Emperor of the Great Jin dynasty stepped into the prayer hall, he saw the sight of Noble Consort Jing in a state of frail, barely-breathing collapse, and could not help but furrow his brow: “What is going on here?”

Perhaps having heard the sounds of the Emperor’s arrival, which lent her some slight resurgence of spirit, Noble Consort Jing let out another soft moan, then slowly opened her eyes. Upon seeing the Emperor, she trembled on her slender, soft waist, staggered to her feet, and knelt at the Emperor Ren’s feet, tearfully pouring out her grievances all over again.

Emperor Ren listened, and was just restraining himself from bending down to help Noble Consort Jing to her feet, when he heard the harsh official standing beside him — rigid as a block of wood — speak up: “According to Noble Consort Jing’s account, it was the young Lady Tao and Niangzi Chu who deliberately arranged this summer outing as a scheme to harm Junzhu Yixiu?”

In the Emperor’s presence, Noble Consort Jing could not very well resort to unreasonable raving.

She swiftly raised her eyes to glance at Situ Sheng, who had spoken, and in a languid tone, she struck out pointedly: “Lord Situ, although this Niangzi Chu was once a servant in your household, right and wrong are known in the hearts of all people. Such a vicious woman — it would be best for this official not to get involved with her.”

Situ Sheng lowered his gaze and bowed in salutation: “This official previously served in the Court of Judicial Review, and has formed the habit that when assigning guilt, one must dig down to the root of the matter and must never speak carelessly, assigning blame to people without basis. That has nothing to do with whether or not she was once a servant in my household. If this official has given offense to Your Highness in any way, I beg Your Highness’s magnanimous forgiveness!”

These words were as clear as day — a pointed accusation that Noble Consort Jing was opening her mouth to slander someone, yet producing no solid evidence.

Noble Consort Jing was inclined to lash out in anger, but she also had to maintain the appearance of a frail and willowy figure before the Emperor, so she could only hold her temper and say: “If not for Chu Linlang stirring up the female academy students to go to the river port, how would Yixiu have encountered this sudden calamity? If she had not joined forces with Tao Yashu and these young ladies to ostracize Yixiu, why would she have been the only one left alone on the ship? Lord Situ, you are skilled at judging cases — I ask you: is what I have said wrong?”

Situ Sheng said in a low, firm voice: “Does Noble Consort Jing know where this gang of bandits had originally planned to carry out their crime?”

Noble Consort Jing was caught off guard by the question, and said in flustered irritation: “Bandits committing crimes — how would I know?”

Situ Sheng replied with respectful composure and an unhurried tone: “The Maternal Uncle of the Yun Nation, devastated by the loss of his beloved daughter, led the Court of Judicial Review in a strict investigation of this case. As this official happened to pass by at the time and went to reinforce at the Oasis, familiar with the circumstances at the time, this official was assigned by the Court of Judicial Review to assist with the investigation. Fortunately, not failing the Maternal Uncle’s trust, this case has shown some leads.”

The incident of Ronglin Female Academy’s encounter with disaster had caused great shock and commotion.

With the Yun Family having lost their daughter, how could they accept it? And so the Maternal Uncle of the Yun Nation demanded an investigation into who had instigated this summer outing of the female academy, and whether they had been in league with those bandits. He also demanded an investigation into why all the young ladies from other families had been rescued, while his daughter alone had been left behind on the ship.

At this point, the Maternal Uncle of the Yun Nation was somewhat consumed by obsession, clinging to the belief that someone had deliberately targeted the Yun Family — as if by believing this, he could somewhat reduce the guilt and self-reproach he felt toward his daughter.

Yet the further the case was investigated, the more alarming the revelations became.

As it turned out, this gang of bandits had originally planned to take advantage of the Emperor’s summer retreat to launch a surprise attack on the Emperor’s ship and those of the rear palace consorts.

Even in the bandits’ hideout, maps had been found laying out the planned waterway routes, along with a complete rotation schedule for the guards on duty at the summer retreat — every detail of which had left even the Emperor chilled with fear upon reading it.

It was only that launching a seizure of the Son of Heaven and his consorts under heavy armed escort was far too difficult a task, and the bandits had been unable to make up their minds to attempt it.

Then by chance, word of the Ronglin Female Academy’s outing came along, and that grand vessel made such a great show of it that it lured this gang of bandits — who had already come to the capital — and drew them all the way south to commit their crime there instead.

As for the person behind the scenes who had recruited this gang of ferocious river bandits with a generous payment, it appeared to be someone from the Jing Kingdom, though the trail of investigation had led all the way north before going cold.

Once these details had been extracted through interrogation, no one remained intent on pursuing the matter of the female academy any further.

After all, the officials of the Court of Judicial Review handling the case had all submitted memorials stating that the teachers and students of Ronglin Female Academy had in effect shielded the Emperor and the rear palace consorts from disaster — and that it was truly a case of Heaven blessing the Emperor of the Great Jin.

Just a short while ago, when Situ Sheng and the Chief Justice of the Court had jointly reported to the Emperor the full details of the matter from beginning to end, the Emperor had been darkly silent for a long while, before seizing a teacup and hurling it to the ground.

The Great Jin had now long enjoyed peace, and this had caused a host of officials to let down their guard, completely forgetting the nature of the tigers and wolves that the Jing Kingdom harbored, and allowing their claws and fangs to reach deep into the capital without detection.

In particular, his own Crown Prince — the heir to the throne — had actually been single-mindedly doing business with powerful figures of the Jing Kingdom. Why had those bandits not gone to seize the Crown Prince’s vessel instead?

That would have spared him trouble — he could simply have installed a new heir who was not so shortsighted as to be so keen on doing business with tigers and wolves!

After the Emperor had somewhat suppressed his fury, Situ Sheng had ventured to make a personal request — he had heard that Great Master Lingyun had entered the palace that day to deliver a lecture on the sutras. He had previously had his mother’s memorial tablet enshrined at a temple and had long wished to ask Great Master Lingyun’s blessing, but had never had the opportunity to meet the Great Master. If it was convenient, he hoped to see the Great Master shortly and then send him out of the palace.

The Emperor was growing increasingly reliant on this young official, and Situ Sheng rarely made such requests. A small matter like this was hardly worth refusing, and it would not do to dismiss him out of hand.

It happened that the Emperor also wished to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager, and so he brought Situ Sheng along.

The sovereign and his official had not even taken a sedan chair — they had simply walked there, taking the opportunity to discuss the political situation in the Jing Kingdom along the way.

And so the Emperor arrived with Situ Sheng in search of Great Master Lingyun, only to find Noble Consort Jing in the midst of her assault upon Chu Linlang and Tao Yashu.

—