The Empress Kneels in Her Palace to Admit Her Mistakes After Slaying Her Ways in the Female-Oriented

Wang Ming glanced at Wei Shuo with considerable envy.

Marquis Changping is truly exceptional; he's so knowledgeable and worldly-wise.

They even managed to discover the secret passage.

"It's not that I'm so clever!" Wei Shuo understood the meaning in Wang Ming's eyes and said, "It's just that there are traces here. You see, someone should have been here."

"Leaving so many traces."

"All the traces point to this entrance."

Everyone then hurried to check and indeed found many traces. They roughly deduced that there should have been five or six people, and the traces were very fresh, suggesting that they had only left a couple of days ago.

Ren Tianye narrowed his eyes slightly.

Is there still someone investigating this white-robed prime minister?

Who else could it be but him?

Is it a united front?

That's the only possibility.

He said, "Send someone in to take a look."

"yes!"

Wang Ming took the lead, leading five elite soldiers into the secret passage. After walking for a while, the passage suddenly opened up before them, revealing a hollowed-out stone chamber.

The space is quite large, with a front hall and a waiting room. Further inside, there is a place inscribed with "Secret Meeting Hall". Even the secret trousers and living quarters are not lacking.

Clearly, this is the true core of the White-Robed Prime Minister's residence, which is equivalent to a complete mansion.

Wang Ming continued searching and, based on the traces left by the previous people, quickly discovered that there was an escape route behind the cave, and... there was also a very large secret chamber, in the middle of which was a coffin.

The coffin was made of white marble wrapped in bluestone, with the words "Liu Qingyan, the Third Palace Master of the Tongxin Alliance" engraved on it.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that where the stone coffin lid and body meet, there are six blue stone wheels, each three inches in diameter and half an inch thick. Each wheel is engraved with more than a hundred characters, and the bottom of the wheel is connected to a spring mechanism.

A three-foot-long, five-inch-wide bluestone slab was carved into the wall beside the wheel.

And a line of small characters was engraved on it.

"Five questions and five answers!"

Although Wang Ming didn't understand mechanisms, he could tell at a glance that the stone coffin was some kind of mechanism that required answering questions written on it to open.

"So..."

"Are those words next to it for answering questions?"

Wang Ming suddenly realized what was happening and, not daring to make a decision on his own, quickly returned to report the situation in detail.

He added, "Lord Duke, there are indeed signs of human activity in that stone chamber. Clearly, someone was here before us, and they may have already disturbed the coffin."

Ren Tianye nodded and said, "Let's go down and take a look!"

"yes!"

The group descended one by one and soon arrived at the stone chamber, where they saw the coffin and the questions and answers left behind.

"Lord Duke, this mechanism is irreversible. Judging from this mechanism, it will self-destruct once the wrong answer is given."

Su Pengcheng was the most knowledgeable and insightful, and he saw through the essence at a glance.

"It seems we'll have to be very careful when answering the questions."

As Su Pengcheng said this, a hint of smugness appeared on his face.

Answering questions is a real headache for most people, even Pei Jingzhi would probably struggle, but Su Pengcheng, the head of the Su family in the capital and a teacher to all the scholars in the country, is the only one for whom it is not difficult.

"I never expected General Wei Shuo to bring me such a reward!"

Su Pengcheng volunteered to go.

Then we saw the first layer of obstacles.

"These are ancient characters. Most people who are literate today can't distinguish them. Luckily, I can recognize them all."

Ren Tianye gave him an approving look.

He couldn't recognize the words engraved on the wheel.

Not only did he not recognize it, but Wei Shuo and Wang Ming were also completely bewildered.

Pei Jingzhi was a little better; he sat there for a long time, muttering to himself, clearly trying to figure out what the character was.

Only Su Pengcheng was confident and prepared.

"Solving this problem, I consider you to have done a great service."

With Ren Tianye's golden words, Su Pengcheng was even more motivated and quickly looked at the first question.

"Your Majesty!"

Su Pengcheng's brows furrowed instantly!

Your concubine?

What's wrong with me?

hiss?

Could it be that this white-robed prime minister is not only the empress's close friend, but also Xiao Jingyuan's mistress?

Is it this chaotic?

We can only keep reading.

It says so.

"I was careless!"

Su Pengcheng had an epiphany.

We were careless?

Does this mean there was some underhanded dealing between the Prime Minister in White and the late Empress? Were they both vying for the Emperor's favor? And in the end, the Prime Minister in White lost?

Is the relationship really that complicated?

If you don't understand these relationships, you can't answer this question.

There's no way around it, I'll just have to make time for it.

The third way.

"I shouldn't have been in the car!"

Yes, yes!

Su Pengcheng became even more certain.

The prime minister in white must have been vying for the emperor's favor with the courtesan, but he lost. That's why he sighed, "She shouldn't be in the carriage; she should be riding a horse or walking."

wrong……

Su Pengcheng then thought, what if the White-Robed Prime Minister succeeded in winning favor, but lost the Empress Dowager's trust?

Or perhaps Xiao Jingyuan forcibly established a hierarchy between her and the prostitute.

Su Pengcheng's head was starting to ache.

He felt confused.

It's too messy. The entanglement between Xiao Jingyuan, the prostitute empress, and the white-robed prime minister is too complicated.

So, let's look at the fourth one.

"Two and a half years of planning, how long does that mean?"

Su Pengcheng's head exploded.

It took two and a half years to plan, so what? Two and a half years.

Do you want me to ask how many months?

But this is too simple.

Or is this two-and-a-half-year scheme a veiled reference to her relationship with the Empress Dowager, or perhaps with the late Emperor Xiao Jingyuan?

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to read the last sentence.

"I drink alone and get drunk!"

as predicted!

Su Pengcheng was completely certain.

It's about Xiao Jingyuan, the prostitute empress, and the white-robed prime minister's messy relationship. But in this relationship, the white-robed prime minister mostly lost, which is why he has so many feelings of regret and melancholy.

That's why they ask questions like this!

only……

How is he supposed to answer this kind of question?

There are no allusions, no parallelism, and he can't even clearly state how many words should follow each sentence. How can he answer?

"What's wrong?"

Ren Tianye's voice rang out.

Pei Jingzhi said dejectedly, "Lord Duke, I'm sorry, this question... is too difficult, too difficult."

"I cannot answer without clarifying the relationship between Xiao Jingyuan, the prostitute, and the prime minister in white. This humble official is powerless to help."

After a pause, he said, "Just like the two characters '臣妾' (chenqie) written above, it seems like a self-reference, but in reality, there's much more to it than meets the eye."

"In ancient times, there was the term '臣妾' (chenqie), which was used by subjects to address their rulers and by wives to address their husbands. The fact that the white-robed prime minister used this term to refer to himself was by no means an ordinary act of self-deprecation."

"I believe there are only two meanings."

"Firstly, she considers herself a subject and is willing to be a servant, which shows that her status in front of Xiao Jingyuan is far inferior to that of the prostitute empress."

"Secondly, comparing herself to a concubine is clearly a self-degradation, and it reveals resentment and anger."

"This single word fully expresses the sorrow of losing favor, the bitterness of living under someone else's roof, and also hides the resentment and unwillingness towards the prostitute empress who monopolizes the emperor's heart."

Pei Jingzhi, who had come along, also said, "Indeed, this relationship is complex and difficult to understand; it must be clarified before we can understand it."

"Just like the sentence written here: I was careless!"

"Carelessness? How understated it is, yet how piercingly painful!"

"This was by no means an oversight. It must have been due to the palace intrigue and the struggle for the empress's position back then. The prime minister in white robes miscalculated for a moment and made a wrong move, allowing the empress to take the lead, ruining his future and cutting off his favor."

"A simple 'I was careless' hides deep regret, the realization that all the scheming went to waste, and the eternal sorrow that follows one wrong step!"

"This isn't just carelessness; it's a single misstep that led to total defeat!"

……