Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 312 Recalling the Past
Zichen Palace, Warm Pavilion.

Inside the bronze crane incense burner, wisps of ambergris smoke rose gently...

Emperor Chongzhao rubbed his forehead, feeling inexplicably agitated.

Before him lay a mountain of memorials, his vermilion brush resting on yellow silk, already dipped in ink, yet he couldn't concentrate on a single word...

The hustle and bustle of the Baohua Hall during the day still seems to echo in my ears...

Xiao Qing'er's cries, Ruihe's explanations, and Xue Liu's vow to cut his wrists repeatedly clashed in his mind.

This caused his headache to worsen again...

Wang Chengxi silently stepped forward, carefully placed the ginseng medicine down, and, noticing the newly added white hairs at the emperor's temples, respectfully said:

"Your Majesty, Prince Duan requests an audience."

"Summon." Emperor Chongzhao coughed twice, his brows furrowing even more deeply.

Wang Chengxi bowed and withdrew.

A moment later, Li Huan strode in and bowed deeply in greeting.

"My son, I will meet my father."

"How's the investigation into the Shuiyue Nunnery going?" Emperor Chongzhao asked, shifting the memorial in his hand, his tone cold and hard.

Li Huan lowered his head, his voice clear and steady: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I ordered the officers of the Five Cities Garrison and the Ministry of Justice to search the place thoroughly, but found nothing unusual. The nuns in the nunnery live a simple life, and apart from ordinary Buddhist scriptures and coarse robes, they have nothing else."

Emperor Chongzhao pursed his lips and looked at him without saying a word.

Li Huan paused, then lowered his head to add.

"I have personally reviewed all the scriptures, documents, and incense oil accounts brought back from Shuiyue Nunnery, and there is nothing wrong with them."

Emperor Chongzhao gazed at Li Huan with a somber expression.

His eyes were scrutinizing.

"Digging three feet into the ground, yet finding nothing?"

The emperor's suspicions were obvious...

Li Huan met his gaze with a calm expression.

There was no sign of dodging.

"Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. It is true that some soldiers, eager for rewards and merit, circulated the faded scriptures they found as curses. However, after my investigation, I found no evidence of this. Shuiyue Nunnery is a place of quiet cultivation, and Abbess Huiming has always maintained a pure and upright character. Perhaps she has truly suffered an undeserved calamity."

"An undeserved disaster? Have you heard about what happened at Baohua Hall?"

Emperor Chongzhao coughed again, his voice thick with illness.

"A nun, cutting her wrists in court, blood splattering before the Buddha, and with just a few words, turned my harem upside down. This Xue Liu is no ordinary person. Prince Duan, you have a deep connection with her, do you really believe she is innocent?"

Li Huan felt a chill run down his spine, and his blood suddenly rushed back up his back.

He composed himself, showing no sign of it on his face.

"Your Majesty, you are wise. I have long since severed ties with Xue, but I still harbor resentment. This woman is extreme in temperament and sharp in words. Although her methods to prove her innocence were drastic, they were also... reasonable. However, the matter of Consort Li's miscarriage is too suspicious and needs to be thoroughly investigated."

Emperor Chongzhao nodded upon hearing this.

Suddenly, he changed the subject.

"I've heard that Ruihe has been frequently visiting your residence lately. What's your opinion on her situation?"

Li Huan bowed with his hands clasped, his posture becoming increasingly respectful.

"Merits and demerits, right and wrong, involve the inner palace. Your subject dares not make a rash judgment, but begs Your Majesty for a wise decision."

He neither protected Ruihe nor took advantage of Xue Sui and the Crown Prince's misfortune; his attitude was beyond reproach.

Emperor Chongzhao stared at him for a long time, then, as if exhausted, leaned back wearily against the soft pillow.

"Alright... Since there's no concrete evidence, send them back first thing tomorrow morning. Keep a close eye on the Ministry of Justice, investigate every single case thoroughly, and don't let those old, stale cases disrupt the clarity of the court... If they drag on any longer, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Yes, I obey your orders."

Li Huan respectfully withdrew.

He only breathed a sigh of relief when the heavy palace doors closed behind him.

He was also shocked when he heard about the Yama's Pictorial Book.

But he cannot let Xue Sui die, at least not now.

The booklet has been destroyed, and further investigation will only implicate more people and could even cost her her life.

So he simply ordered his mouths sealed.

Let her live.

Only if she lives can he...see some things clearly.
-
The vast warm pavilion was now empty except for Emperor Chongzhao.

He was deathly silent, like a lifeless clay sculpture, perfectly embodying the loneliness of a person at such a high place.

He sat there for a long time, and finally, with trembling hands, reached into the hidden compartment.

Take two things out of it.

One of them was a bright yellow scroll, which was the secret edict deposing the crown prince.

The other item was neither gold nor jade, but an extremely old wooden box with worn edges, rounded corners, and a dark color, exuding an aura of vicissitudes and bloodshed.

He carefully opened the box.

A few soft "ding-dong" sounds.

Several rusty copper coins of varying sizes lay on the imperial desk...

There was also a deformed arrowhead fragment, covered with dark brown stains, like years of bloodstains... Emperor Chongzhao trembled as he stroked the copper coins and arrowheads, his cloudy eyes gradually softening.

a long time……

He suddenly hunched over, buried his face in his palms, and made a suppressed sound, like a sob.

“Ziyan…Second Brother…if only you had listened to my advice earlier, things wouldn’t have come to this…”

“Ah Luo…that year at the Lantern Festival, you said you'd use this money to buy me half a day of peace…it’s not that I didn’t want to…”

"I've kept this arrowhead hidden for thirty years, but I've never had the courage to ask, 'Does it hurt?'"

Broken words, struggling to escape his throat, carried a broken sorrow.
-
As dawn broke, the first snowfall cleared.

The palace gates opened with a heavy creak.

The nuns of Shuiyue Nunnery received incense, candles, and vegetarian food bestowed by the Empress, and were politely escorted to the palace gate by eunuchs.

As everyone gazed at the low, leaden clouds pressing down, they all felt a sense of déjà vu, as if they had survived a catastrophe.

"Thank Buddha for his mercy, I've finally made it out safely."

"Master, let's go back to the nunnery quickly. I never want to come back again."

"Amitabha, you have all been frightened... Let's go."

As Huiming was being helped into the carriage by his two disciples, a young nun rushed out from the shadows around the corner of the palace wall in a panic.

It was Jingxin, the young disciple who stayed at the nunnery.

"Master...something terrible has happened, something has occurred at the nunnery..."

Jingxin squatted outside the palace in the cold wind for half the night, her face covered in dust and her lips turned purple from the cold. Before she could finish speaking, tears were already streaming down her face.

“Yesterday…yesterday a lot of fierce-looking soldiers suddenly came and broke into the nunnery without saying a word, turning the Buddhist hall and meditation rooms upside down. The east wing…Aunt Jinshu, Sister Xiaozhao, Sister Ruyi and the others in the east wing…were all chained up and forcibly taken away.”

Master Huiming stumbled, her face turning deathly pale.

"Wha...what? Soldiers are searching the nunnery?"

They were summoned to the palace to perform a religious ceremony.

But there's more to it than meets the eye.

Xue Sui's eyes flickered slightly, and his aura instantly turned icy cold.

She held onto Master Huiming's arm, her voice cold and devoid of any warmth.

"Master, please calm down. Now that His Majesty has granted us permission to leave the palace, this matter is no longer related to Shuiyue Nunnery. Master, please take everyone back to the nunnery first and reassure the disciples there. Jinshu and the others' matter is my own business, and I will handle it myself."

“Miaozhen…” Huiming looked at the simple white bandage on her wrist, hesitating to speak.

She was worried about Xue Sui's safety.

They were powerless to change anything, let alone offer any help.

"Be careful in everything you do and take good care of yourself. The old nun has prepared the incense burner at Shuiyue Nunnery and is waiting for your return."

"I know what I'm doing, Master, please rest assured."

Xue Sui nodded slightly and bowed solemnly.

Without another word, she wrapped her robe tighter around herself, pulled her hood down even lower, and strode towards the Duan Prince's residence, braving the chilly morning wind.
-
Prince Duan's Mansion.

Xue Sui stopped at the foot of the steps, tilted his head slightly, looked at the towering silhouette, and slowly stepped up the steps.

"Halt! This is a royal residence, no idlers allowed."

The guards shouted sternly, their halberds crossed, gleaming coldly.

Xue Sui stopped, slightly raised his chin, and calmly swept his gaze over the guards from under his hood, his voice cold and clear.

"This humble nun, Miaozhen of Shuiyue Nunnery, requests an audience with His Highness Prince Duan. Please inform him of this."

The guards didn't recognize her, but they knew who Miaozhen from Shuiyue Nunnery was.

They exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes.

"You wait here," one man said in a deep voice, then turned and went back into the mansion.

The wait wasn't long, but it felt as if the cold wind stretched it out.

Xue Sui felt like he had been waiting for a very long time...

This familiar doorway feels colder than usual...

Squeak!

The side door was opened again.

The person who came out to greet her was not the steward of the Prince's mansion or anyone else, but Princess Xue Yuechen, whose face was haggard and whose expression was complicated.

"Sixth Sister, why are you here so early? The Prince was busy with official business until late last night and hasn't gotten up yet. It's freezing outside, why don't you come inside with me to warm up and have some hot tea? If there's anything... perhaps we can talk about it after the Prince gets up?"

Her words revealed a sense of uncertainty and unease.

Clearly, she already knew about Jinshu and the others being arrested, and she was even more aware of Xue Sui's purpose in coming here.

Because of Ruihe's incident, she felt uneasy, as if she had been given leverage over something, and must be extremely anxious and fearful at this moment...

"Thank you, Your Highness. I apologize for disturbing you."

Xue Sui's voice remained calm. He clasped his hands in a salute and followed Xue Yuechen beside him. His slender yet upright back stood out against the snow-covered Weiwei Mansion gate, exuding a sense of isolation and fierceness, like a steel blade about to be drawn and drink blood.

　Li Zhao: Which one is the most unsatisfactory?
　　Xue Sui: Me.

　　Li Zhao: That's alright then.

　　Li Huan: But...she came to see me? Who should feel the pain?
　　(End of this chapter)