Chapter 342: When Love Becomes the Past

Late at night, in a secluded spot south of Chang'an, the cawing of crows never ceased. This place is where the aristocratic class of Chang'an buried their tombs en masse. The owners of the tombstones on the graves were, in those days, either rich or noble.

In the family cemetery of the Du Ling Wei clan, in front of an inconspicuous small tombstone, the lovesick Crown Prince Li Chang, alone, accompanied by his close eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen, paid tribute to his second consort, Wei Sanniang.

Today is the fourteenth day of the eighth month; folklore says the netherworld's ghost gate will close tomorrow. It is rumored that the souls of those who died unjustly will, tonight, roam the mortal world with heightened ferocity, seeking the "incense offerings" of relatives who worship their ancestors.

Li Chang appears here at midnight only because he wishes to speak with Wei Sanniang, seeking some solace for his soul. Though he knows those folk tales are largely baseless, he still fantasizes that perhaps during the "Ghost Festival" a miracle might occur.

But at this moment, Li Chang sees more than ten people sneaking around, pouring oil onto a coffin. Even though the coffin is already engulfed in roaring flames, they keep pouring oil onto it, as if the fire is still not fierce enough.

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He and Cheng Yuanzhen hide quietly behind a tombstone. In the dark, a person in darkness looking at someone illuminated by fire has excellent vision. Conversely, the person illuminated by fire searching for someone hidden in darkness has very poor vision.

However, those who have affairs with the Yang clan, if they hold no official post and are still in Chang'an, must be killed within three days, including their families.

The owners of these tombstones are either of sensitive status, already forgotten, or have had their inscriptions deliberately erased for various reasons.

He once again appreciates the precious fierceness in Wei Sanniang. Often, the weak have no choice; they prefer to be shattered like jade rather than crumble like tiles, which makes the strong wary.

A question flashes through Li Chang's mind, but he quickly perceives a paradox. If Li Xing seeks promotion, the support of the Yang clan is indispensable; the more aunties' factions, uncle factions, and the like, the better!

He is sent to the Dali Temple prison to investigate who has contracted my strange illness. Once confirmed, the three families will be exterminated, all killed.

"Yang Yuhuan's family."

Cheng Yuanzhen thought for a moment, then said flatly, "The Lady of Qin State, who is Yang Yuhuan's older sister, died of illness a few days ago. Oh, and the flamboyant Lady of Guo State, Yang Yuyao, who was involved in many incidents, also died drunk. That was just two days ago."

"Chief Yu, you say the saint once adored Yang Yuhuan so much, why first erase the inscription on her tombstone, and now General Gao wants us servants to dig up her solitary grave and burn her coffin?"

Ji Ge waved his hand lightly and continued, "I am asking, the men who have affairs with those three Yang women—have you found any, and how many?"

If there is no major upheaval, even a beast could not commit such a strange act, right?

When Li Chang was young, he hunted in the royal hunting garden and a trap caught a wolf's thigh. He felt compassion and ordered a guard to release the trap. Throughout the process, the wild wolf offered no resistance and showed no hostility.

Li Chang waited until Yu Chaoen and the others had been gone for half an hour, then slowly stepped out from behind the tombstone and ordered Cheng Yuanzhen to light a torch.

"I am not asking you about this matter."

"Shut up, you dog‑brained fool speaking out of turn! After the coffin is burned clean, scatter the remains and ashes. We still have to report back to General Gao (Gao Lishi). You talk too much; be careful that one day you die without knowing how you died!"

With the pain gone from his heart, Li Chang only feels that the world is unworthy for Yang Yuhuan. Since ancient times, beautiful women have short lives; this saying is not mere rhetoric.

Those holding official posts, within three months, have Zheng Shuqing find a way to get them into the Dali Temple prison; any pretext will do, such as speaking disrespectfully to me.

"Your Majesty, Yang Yuhuan's burial site has been leveled, and the coffin burned to ash."

Could this "adopted son" have been deliberately arranged as a backup for the future Crown Prince?

Even the long‑buried remains of Yang Yuhuan, when that old beast sent people to crush the bones and scatter the ashes, the witness of that scene… was still Li Chang.

They are like children who are lost, cannot find home, and do not know who they are, lingering emptily in the world.

"Extinguish the torch and quietly creep over to see."

…

Li Chang waved his hand, signaling Cheng Yuanzhen to shut up.

Cheng Yuanzhen quickly added, believing Li Chang should understand the true weight of this "adopted son."

Li Chang now understands even less: Yang Yuhuan gave Ji Ge a period of joy, while Yang Yuyao, besides sharing a bed, also bore Ji Ge a son.

Those with good luck can get a share; those with bad luck end up like Yang Yuhuan.

If healthy, dismiss from office, never reinstated.

Yu Chaoen scolded, ordering his subordinate eunuchs to continue working!

On their left was the large pit dug from the grave, on their right the coffin burning fiercely. This bizarre scene, along with the information conveyed by those words, was heard in full detail by Li Chang, who was hidden in the shadows.

Li Chang said calmly.

Compromising oneself sometimes means being manipulated.

Who could have imagined Yang Yuhuan's fate would be so tragic, even in death she cannot find peace? When a person dies, debts are cleared; no matter how great the hatred, it should be settled upon death.

Li Chang dares to lie low because he sees Ji Ge's fierce exterior masking a weak interior, strong outside but hollow within!

This Tang Emperor now can only cautiously maintain political balance. His age, his energy, his situation, can no longer allow him to shape the grand scheme again.

This scene, in the pitch‑black night, stands out strikingly!

Why is there such a huge blaze in the cemetery late at night?

Li Chang said calmly, his mind already set. He will find a way to investigate this matter.

After Yang Yuhuan's death, the only one who ever performed rites at her grave was Li Chang.

His expression was grim, looking as if he might eat a person.

People coming and going is not unusual; Li Chang also understands that when his love shifted to Wei Sanniang, Yang Yuhuan became merely a scar on his body.

Even if Yang Yuhuan appeared before him again, it would be no different. To put it bluntly, even if Yang Yuhuan still possessed breathtaking beauty, Li Chang's thoughts would only be to toy with her flesh, no longer the mutual devotion and lifelong companionship of before.

That beast never dies; how could they ever have a chance? If it never dies, are they expected to wait forever?

"How is the matter progressing?"

"Indeed, her son Yang Xing was even granted the surname Li by the saint and adopted as an 'adopted son.'"

According to Li Chang, if Ji Ge wants to depose the Crown Prince, then depose him; if Ji Ge wants to swing the executioner's blade, then swing it. Whatever the game, he doesn't mind.

Rather, he sees Li Chang as an opportunity in his own life! A chance for meteoric rise!

It was Li Chang who had Yang Yuhuan taken away by his father.

The two extinguished the torch, slowly approached the blaze, and, after seeing the situation, were instantly shocked!

Although this area is a noble cemetery, it is interspersed with one solitary, ownerless grave after another lacking any inscription.

"Sanniang, as long as that old beast hasn't died, I won't deliberately take my own life; I will watch him die with my own eyes. Rest assured, I will fulfill the promise I made to you before my death."

But even with a day's marriage and a hundred days of affection, no matter how one says it, Li Chang could not go so far as to crush Yang Yuhuan's bones and scatter her ashes, leaving her with nowhere to rest after death!

The more Li Chang disregards the Crown Prince's position, the more Ji Ge cannot strike him. It seems absurd, yet it is an even more absurd reality.

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Li Chang pounded the tombstone while laughing until tears streamed out!

"My brothers now all harbor hidden grudges, secretly plotting all sorts of unknown actions. And they, for sure, dream grand dreams each night, hoping that old beast dies quickly.

Cheng Yuanzhen hurriedly whispered a defense.

Those not in Chang'an: deadline one month, kill them all.

"San Niang, I'm leaving now; stay down there and watch carefully. The damned man will never escape Heaven's punishment."

"The Yang clan, regardless of age or gender, within three households, deadline six months, kill them all.

Give these court officials and external ministers a sliver of hope, let them each pick sides, and then the Emperor mediates from the side, pulling one to fight another, whoever steps forward fights whom.

Li Chang knows Ji Ge well; although he is arrogant, selfish, and especially greedy and deceitful, those who are kind to him must be rewarded to signal others to follow—this is the Emperor's most basic principle of conduct!

"Which Yang?"

Given Li Longji's cold, ungrateful nature, a dead woman has no use, so it's best to forget her quickly.

The dead Yang Yuhuan is not worth Ji Ge's lingering thoughts; besides, Yang Yuhuan has been dead for so many years—logically, he shouldn't.

Li Chang felt a wave of doubt, then an endless sorrow rose within him.

There are too many people surnamed Yang in the world; several high officials in the court bear that name, and they aren't from the same

"San Niang, you surely don't know what that old beast has become now."

Thinking of this, Li Chang could almost be certain it was his beastly father's

"Return to the residence; this Crown Prince is tired."

Generally, such tombstones are unattended, with weeds five zhang tall on the mound. If they occupy

Li Chang's face showed a mocking sneer; he glanced at Cheng Yuanzhen and said, "Cheng, the internal attendant, feel free to report every word of this Crown Prince,

At this moment Li Chang was struck by a question: back then that old beast took Yang Yuhuan from

In a bedroom of the Huake Xianghui Tower, Ji Ge, while "enjoying" leeches sucking blood,

Li Chang said in a deep voice, unhurriedly, making Cheng Yuanzhen unable to utter any refusal.

Now the civil and military officials each think of their own back‑roads, all know that this Emperor

Killing Li Chang would mean a new round of turmoil in the political arena, leaving the courtiers at a loss.

Replacing the Crown Prince follows the same logic; the princes balancing the Crown Prince's position

If that were so, who would help him govern the Tang?

Li Chang added paper money to the fire basin, his face bearing a gentle smile, his words causing Cheng Yuanzhen to gasp silently.

The air was filled with the strange smell of old wood burning, mixed with the acrid scent of blazing oil, making those nearby feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Drink to death by drunkenness?"

Rumor has it that the Ghost Gate opens on the fifteenth of July and closes on the fifteenth of August. Digging a grave on the night of the fourteenth of August, ghosts wander outside—truly makes the heart feel sick!

Honestly, he has already done his best. Those men who publicly bragged about playing with the three Yang sisters are all recorded in the books.

Gao Lishi said carefully.

People reaching seventy are rare; Ji Ge is already over sixty, those who understand know why, right? Cheng Yuanzhen was indeed sent by Ji Ge to spy on the Crown Prince, but he has already lost the will to obey orders.

This is the least costly solution. Li Chang understood clearly that Ji Ge is cautious, never daring to do anything to himself.

Cheng Yuanzhen asked in confusion.

Gradually, these ownerless solitary graves were moved to a relatively fixed area, which became the most secluded spot in the southern city cemetery.

Li Chang suddenly asked Cheng Yuanzhen a question that was completely unrelated.

The one who married Yang Yuhuan was me, Li Chang.

In fact, not only the civil and military officials realize Ji Ge is getting old and unreliable; even the Imperial Palace, the Crown Prince's residence, and the various princely mansions' eunuchs understand clearly and have basically started looking for successors.

The death must appear accidental; when the time comes I will still commend the Yang clan for their respectable service, so the matter must look good.

Li Chang raised an eyebrow, as if he smelled a familiar scent of conspiracy.

Li Chang gently stroked the tombstone, softly saying. His somewhat abnormal mental state was calm yet suppressed madness, making Cheng Yuanzhen beside him feel a chill!

"Recently, any major events concerning the Yang clan?"

Gao Lishi replied helplessly: "The three Yang sisters are naturally promiscuous; countless men have affairs with them, including many high officials. We have already uncovered some, but there are surely others that slipped through."

This Crown Prince, whom everyone doubts, hides deep enough!

Holding a midnight ceremony for Wei Sanniang is truly beyond the underworld, nothing a normal person would do! If the Sage learns of tonight's events, he will surely cause Li Chang great trouble.

Yu Zhaoen and his party, from start to finish, never noticed Li Chang and Cheng Yuanzhen's presence. In the end, the fire burned out, the coffin turned to ash, leaving only a few sparks on the ground.

Yu Zhaoen, after finishing the matter, tidied the scene, then led more than ten eunuchs away. This remote corner of ownerless solitary graves returned to peace.

After saying this, Li Chang turned and left. At that moment, he suddenly saw, in the distance, a place flashing with firelight.

But who dares say there is no secret affair behind it?

"That guy, a few days ago, was set on fire at the foot of the mountain and trembled in fear. When the flames reached near the summit, he looked just like a dog! Hahaha! It's a pity you didn't see it with your own eyes!"

"The Crown Prince worries too much; I keep my mouth tight and won't say unnecessary words to others."

But how to say it, the one who has hovered between life and death has already seen through it completely.

Li Chang felt a tightening in his heart, because the direction of the flashing fire was a place he once knew well.

He wondered if it was destiny.

How could it come to this?

Yet now the Lady of Qin has died, the Lady of Guo has drowned, and Yang Yuhuan's solitary grave was smashed by Ji Ge, which seems like an emperor venting his anger!

No matter how high the rank, however wide the involvement, those who must die should not be spared. Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let even one escape.

Ji Ge spoke coldly, uttering words that made Gao Lishi shiver with fear.

(End of chapter)