Jiapingguan Chronicle

The word "kiss" struck the flower hall like a thunderbolt, leaving everyone stunned and bewildered, unsure how to react.

Everyone had a blank expression. If they hadn't pinched themselves and felt the pain, they would have thought they had just hallucinated, that the two words they heard were just their imagination.

Master Jiang looked at the group of dumbfounded guys and sighed helplessly. He knew this would happen, which was why he tried to change the subject and dodge the question. After all, when they learned the truth, they would have the same reaction, or even more extreme than these guys, because they saw it with their own eyes, which was more impactful than hearing it.

Fortunately, these people did not remain stunned for too long. The first to react were Chu Han, Shen Haolin, and Shen Cha, followed by Xia Chen, Song Yaojia, and Xue Ruitian, who also recovered from the huge shock. However, their eyes were still filled with shock when they looked at Master Jiang.

Master Jiang looked at them and sighed helplessly. He didn't know what to say, so he simply remained silent, poured himself a cup of tea, and sipped it slowly, waiting for them to fully accept the fact.

The one who spoke was Song Yaojia, whose voice sounded a little hoarse, probably because he hadn't had any water.

Master Jiang waved to him, picked up the teapot, poured tea into his teacup, and gestured for him to drink some tea to moisten his throat.

Song Yaojia made a thank-you gesture, picked up her small teacup, drank the tea in one gulp, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"What do you want to say? Are you shocked and incredulous?" Seeing everyone nod, Master Jiang raised an eyebrow and said, "Our reaction is no better than yours. We are also very shocked and surprised. After all, Master Falian's public image has always been that of a highly virtuous monk. Although he is young, he is well-versed in Buddhism and has the Xiangguo Temple as his backer. Many people would not believe that this virtuous monk would do something so unorthodox."

"Wait a minute." Shen Haolin looked at Master Jiang. "You haven't met him before, have you?"

"Before the Lantern Festival, we hadn't seen him at all. Even on the day of the Lantern Festival, we didn't know anything about him. None of us knew anything. It was many years later, when the campaign against the Qinglian Sect began, that we investigated and determined that there was someone close to the Empress Dowager. This person was very likely to have a strong connection with the Qinglian Sect, and might even be the so-called leader of the Qinglian Sect." Master Jiang glanced at Chu Han. "Although Uncle Wang said he had seen him in person, he wasn't sure if he had seen his true face. He asked the capital if they wanted to draw a portrait, but that suggestion was ultimately rejected, right?"

"Hmm!" Chu Han nodded. "Back then, you thought there was something wrong with them, but you didn't suspect they were members of the Green Lotus Sect, right?"

“That’s right.” Master Jiang sighed. “Let me tell you what we saw back then. We saw the two of them kissing. We were all quite young then, and we’d never seen anything like that done in public before. We found it a bit novel, so we glanced at them a couple of times. But we just thought they were good-looking and a good match, and once we’d seen them, we moved on and went about our business. Years later, we saw them again in the capital, but they were speaking strangely, not any of the languages ​​of Xia, Jin, or Liao. It sounded more like Japanese. At that time, there were traces of Japanese people in Xia, Jin, and Liao, so it aroused everyone’s suspicion. Madam Xue and the eldest prince were fluent in Japanese, so they went to investigate together. The result is what you see now. Everyone involved in this matter is gone, and it even implicated their descendants.” He spread his hands helplessly. “If we had known it would be like this, we…”

"If I had known it would turn out this way, you would have investigated anyway," Chu Han sighed. "Everyone knows what kind of person you are and what you're capable of, so there's no need to say things like that." "Uncle Wang is right!"

"Wait a minute!" Shen Cha stroked her chin and looked at Fourth Master Jiang. "There are a few questions that I need Fourth Grandfather to answer."

"Ask away. If I know the answer, I will definitely tell you. But if I don't know the answer, then there's nothing I can do."

“Of course, if you didn’t know, we couldn’t make things difficult for you, right?” Shen Cha held up a finger. “Shouldn’t the little prince’s white moonlight, his beloved, be the Empress Dowager? When the Empress Dowager first came to Xijing City, before she married into the Eastern Palace, he was inseparable from her. The two of them were always together. Even after the Empress Dowager entered the palace, they would still meet at fixed times and places. If the person kissing someone in the teahouse was the little prince, wouldn’t that make him a hypocrite?”

"Where did you hear that they were lovers?" Master Jiang couldn't help but cover his eyes. "They supported each other and came together all the way, but there was no affair between them."

"No personal relationship?" Shen Cha looked at Chu Han with suspicion. "Master Mianbai once said that the two of them were close, and Boss Luan also said that they came all the way from Jiangnan. The two of them are not ordinary business partners, but can be considered as sworn brothers. Not only that, Boss Luan also said that the little prince once chatted with his father and brothers and said that the Empress Dowager was the only person he had met in all these years who was compatible with him. He had never met her before, and he probably would never meet her again."

“Their personalities and styles of doing things are indeed very compatible, and they trust each other a lot. Oh.” Master Jiang waved his hand, “That’s not accurate. The Empress Dowager should trust Master Falian a lot, but Master Falian may not trust the Empress Dowager. He definitely trusts her, but how much trust he has is hard to say. Only he himself knows.”

“That’s true.” Chu Han nodded. “He’s hiding too many secrets. It’s impossible for him to trust anyone. He can only be trusted to a certain extent.”

"So, only people who know him inside and out can gain his trust and have this kind of communication with him." Master Jiang sighed helplessly. "You all shouldn't say that the two of them have any private affairs anymore. They don't. They're completely innocent. You can't just say things like that. Besides, the Empress Dowager has been gone for many years. We must respect the dead and not spread rumors. Do you understand?"

“Yes, we won’t say it again. They are just innocent business partners.” Shen Cha exchanged a glance with Shen Haolin and Xue Ruitian. “Just now, Fourth Grandfather said that the only people who could have such an interaction with him, like kissing, are those who know him very well. So, the question is, is the other person necessarily the one behind it all?”

(End of this chapter)