Chapter 129

Shen Shuangning ultimately did not spurn Su Ran's goodwill.

With the arrival of summer, the sun grew fiercer day by day, and the air carried a scorching heat.

Su Ran deliberately sought out a tea house famed for its iced drinks, pulled Shen Shuangning to a waterside seat, and sat down. The breeze blowing over the water brought a slight coolness, enough to dispel some of the heat.

Who would have thought that shortly after sitting down, a glance from the corner of her eye made Su Ran frown involuntarily—what a coincidence, she actually ran into the Crown Prince and Song Xizhi.

Only saw the Crown Prince help Song Xizhi alight from the carriage, the two walking side by side toward the tea house.

Shen Shuangning looked up, and her eyes happened to meet Song Xizhi's.

Song Xizhi also saw her, froze for a moment, then her face bore a graceful, proper smile.

They could ignore Song Xizhi, but they could not pretend not to see the Crown Prince.

Su Ran and Shen Shuangning rose from their seats, about to perform the proper salute to the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince first waved his hand, indicating no need for excessive ceremony.

The two understood, and only performed a modest salute.

The Crown Prince wore only a simple indigo-blue robe, a single plain jade hairpin to bind his hair, and at his waist hung a jade pendant and a sachet—no different from an ordinary noble youth in the capital, lacking a bit of the heir's dignity, yet exuding a gentler demeanor.

Su Ran dared not act rashly before the Crown Prince; after the salute she silently closed her mouth.

The Crown Prince, of such status, naturally did not take her seriously, merely exchanging a few polite words with Shen Shuangning.

Initially, Shen Shuangning served as a companion reader in the palace, and the Crown Prince, when idle, often went to the stables; they met quite often, so they were fairly acquainted.

After the Daoist maiden left, the palace had no news; Shen Shuangning temporarily had no need to enter the palace, and the Crown Prince had not seen her for quite some time.

Whether she had grown a bit, lost some childishness, or simply not been seen for days, the girl before them looked increasingly fresh and lovely.

Snowy skin, black hair, delicate brows like dark dye, lips like sandalwood, her simple elegant attire made her stand tall and graceful, like a lotus reflected in water.

The rippling light on the riverside water reflected in her eyes, clear and glimmering, like a pool of clear spring water.

The Crown Prince had been calm and detached since childhood, not easily moved by beauty, yet he couldn't help but gaze at her with pure admiration.

Song Xizhi watched from the side, her eyes dimming, yet she said nothing.

The Crown Prince smiled and said: "In a few days will be my wedding feast with Xizhi; Fourth Miss, you must come to share a cup of joy."

Since the Crown Prince had spoken, Shen Shuangning naturally had to reply: "When the time comes, this subject will certainly come to offer congratulations, wishing Your Highness and Sister Song marital bliss."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the Crown Prince was about to leave, when Shen Shuangning suddenly said: "It's been a while since I've been in the palace; I wonder how the Crown Princess's health has been lately?"

The smile on the Crown Prince's lips stiffened momentarily, as images of the Crown Princess's increasingly wan face and the suppressed cough at her lips rose in his mind.

Last night he returned to the Eastern Palace, yet the Crown Princess did not leave a lamp for him as usual, and even barred him from the door.

"I'm afraid I'll pass my illness to Your Highness; the side hall has already been tidied up, please excuse me for letting Your Highness go rest there first."

Although he is usually mild-tempered, he also has his pride, so he simply left.

The crown prince consort's health has always been frail, neither good nor bad; he felt resentful and never inquired about it.

At this moment, when Shen Shuangning brought it up, the crown prince actually became a bit dazed, and he said numbly, "She's fine; thank you for your concern."

Yet his heart felt empty, with a faint dull ache.

As the saying goes, "the onlooker sees clearly"; watching the crown prince now, Shen Shuangning recalled that in her previous life, after the crown prince consort's death, she had once accidentally bumped into him.

The usually mild-mannered heir apparent, after his wife's death, seemed to have become a different person—silent and reticent; even when he smiled, it carried a sense of sorrow.

Thus Shen Shuangning couldn't help but advise, "Your Highness, please spend more time with the crown prince consort."

Yet the crown prince felt a displeasure as if his sore spot had been poked; his brows and eyes turned cold in an instant, and he said lightly, "It's none of your business."

Afterwards he took Song Xizhi and left.

Su Ran clearly noticed that Shen Shuangning had upset the crown prince; she instantly became nervous, yet also puzzled.

Shen Shuangning, however, didn't mind much and sat back down.

Su Ran is lively and sprightly; before long she had completely forgotten the crown prince at the back of her mind, but she still remembered today's outing task.

Thus, before her seat in the teahouse had even warmed, she eagerly dragged Shen Shuangning off to go boating on the lake.

"Gu Fengchun is not a native of Jingcheng; his ancestral home is Jinling. He started his career by passing the clerical examinations, initially serving as a lowly clerk in the local county office, responsible for drafting documents and recording case details. However, due to his skill in arithmetic and law, he caught the magistrate's eye, and his path of promotion turned out smoother than others'."

The lake surface was rippled with fine waves by the wind.

Su Chen sat in the painted boat, his fingertips lightly tapping the tabletop, and said softly, "According to normal reasoning, with that county magistrate backing him behind the scenes, barring any mishap, securing an official post in the Ministry of Punishment is a sure thing."

"But he somehow went mad, took advantage of his position to dig up the old files of the Medicine King Valley, and even wrote a complaint, word for word, and submitted it! The magistrate was terrified, hurriedly suppressed the matter, and found a pretext to throw Gu Fengchun into prison!"

Medicine King Valley.

Xiao Jingyuan raised his brows, a chill flashing in his eyes.

These past few days he has also gained a rough understanding of this old case.

It happened twenty years ago, when the realm was at peace and the nation's strength was flourishing, yet a self-proclaimed demonic daoist claiming to have come from the Fobei Temple emerged, confusing the emperor with heretical words.

He proclaimed that the fortune of the state of Liang was exhausted, perilous at any moment.

He claimed to have descended by heavenly mandate, and only by relying on his protection could the emperor's life be preserved and the Liang dynasty's mandate prolonged.

In short, he linked the emperor's fate to the nation's fortune—if the emperor met with mishap, Liang would fall along with him.

At that time, Liang, from the emperor down to all civil and military officials, was high-spirited thanks to its strong national strength; yet at this very moment, a figure arose who cursed the nation's fortune and the emperor—truly a resounding slap to the face of the entire court.

By ordinary reasoning, such a purveyor of heretical lies who deludes the masses should have long been dragged out and executed to warn others.

Yet strangely, Emperor Xuanwen actually listened to these ghostly words, and despite opposition he retained that demonic daoist.

Afterwards, this demonic daoist built a place called Medicine King Valley in the suburbs of Jingcheng, dedicated to concocting longevity elixirs, the "immortal pills," for the emperor.

That daoist had the appearance of an immortal, with ethereal bones; he did not meddle in court affairs, focusing solely on refining pills for the emperor. The officials saw that he neither grasped power nor caused trouble, and the emperor grew ever more trusting of him; over time, even if they were dissatisfied, they gradually grew too lazy to bother—

Since he couldn't stir up a great wave, as long as the emperor was pleased, that was enough.

Who would have thought that, before three years of peaceful coexistence had passed, a shocking incident would occur.

It turned out that the so-called "immortal pill" of that daoist was actually refined using fetuses as the medicinal guide!

Such a deed, devoid of heavenly conscience and contrary to human ethics, once exposed, instantly provoked an uproar throughout the court—every item was shocking and outrageous!

Although it was the daoist's fault, those horrifying "immortal pills" had indeed been consumed in reality by Emperor Xuanwen!

If this matter were to spread, the people of the world would not know how to view this ruler, and the alienation of the populace would almost certainly follow.

Later, Emperor Xuanwen finally came to his senses, ordering with thunderous means that the Medicine King Valley be burned down, that the evil Daoist be executed by lingchi, and intending to keep the affair sealed within Gong Qiang.

But this affair from start to finish was nothing but a plot—a plot of the Holy Heaven Sect.

Its purpose was to unsettle the populace, to seize the opportunity to stir up trouble and overturn the court's order.

As expected, not long after, the rumor that the ruler was indulging in sorcery and disregarding human life spread like weeds among the people, everywhere.

What's more, supposed victims' families sprang up in various places, beating drums before the government offices to protest, lamenting that their relatives had been seized to make elixirs, each case pointing to the emperor's moral failure.

No one knows how much of this is true and how much false.

The Holy Heaven Sect took advantage of the chaos, flying the banner of 'executing Heaven's will and saving the masses', secretly recruiting troops and absorbing refugees, its strength snowballing rapidly, vaguely becoming a force capable of standing against the court.

The people can carry a boat, and they can also capsize it.

Emperor Xuanwen issued an order to kill many people, only then barely suppressing this calamity.

But he eventually fell ill.

After that, Great Liang began to go downhill.

Northern border barbarian tribes repeatedly knocked at the gates, while southern frontier tribal chiefs stirred restlessly. The Central Plains again suffered successive floods and droughts, taxes grew heavier, resentment deepened, and the prosperous era vanished forever.

Back then, the evil Daoist's rash words that 'the emperor is gravely ill and the nation's fortune is exhausted' actually came true.

The Medicine King Valley became Emperor Xuanwen's heartache, a taboo of the court; related documents were either destroyed or sealed, and no one dared mention them.

Su Chen smacked his lips, then said: 'Gu Fengchun was thrown into prison, yet someone pulled him out, and he even openly took a post in the Ministry of Punishments. Do you know who is protecting him behind the scenes?'

Xiao Jingyuan said: 'Pei Zhi.'

'Exactly him!' Su Chen slapped his thigh, saying: 'Gu Fengchun is his man!'

As he spoke, he pulled from his sleeve a yellowed scroll—Gu Fengchun's petition.

He had gone to great trouble to obtain this.

After Xiao Jingyuan took it, he merely glanced at a few lines, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

If Gu Fengchun's petition were to leak, it would be enough to cost him his head a hundred times over.

Because Gu Fengchun's petition accused the emperor, frankly stating that the present emperor should issue a self‑censure edict to apologize to the world.

Who among emperors would not wish to leave a name for eternity, to become the wise and virtuous ruler praised in history?

If such a self‑censure edict were issued, it would amount to admitting faults in governance and flaws in virtue—like an ink stain that cannot be washed away, forever etched in the emperor's biography, to be condemned by posterity and reeking for ten thousand years.

No ruler of Great Liang had ever issued such a self‑censure edict, and Emperor Xuanwen would certainly not do so; it is obvious this is impossible.

Su Chen rolled his eyes: 'You don't dislike Junior Tutor Pei, do you? Hand over this document, and you'll surely implicate him, causing him to suffer a major setback.'

Who would have expected Xiao Jingyuan to simply tear up the document, his expression turning grimly cold.

Su Chen stared, stunned.

Come to think of it, he actually did not know why Xiao Jingyuan had suddenly taken an interest in this old case that everyone avoids mentioning, and even demanded to investigate Gu Fengchun by name.

Su Chen also thought Xiao Jingyuan was trying to deal with Pei Zhi.

But judging from Xiao Jingyuan's reaction now, it is clearly the opposite of what he had guessed.

Su Chen rubbed his chin, sensing a subtle oddity, about to ask something.

Just then, a burst of girls' laughter came from outside the cabin.

Like a flock of butterflies suddenly flapping their wings into the cabin, they drifted lightly into the stagnant air, dispelling a hint of gloom.

Su Chen turned his head, his eyes lighting up, and blurted: 'Isn't that the Fourth Miss?'

Xiao Jingyuan, whose face had been gloomy, lifted his head at the words and followed the window, his gaze happening to fall on the bright figure at the bow.

Shen Shuangning stood at the bow with two aristocratic young ladies, having said something amusing that made her tilt her head and laugh, looking as lovely as a peach blossom just opening—charming and lively.

Xiao Jingyuan's tightly furrowed brows silently relaxed.

But the next moment, his gaze swept to the other side of the bow, landing on two handsome, vigorous young gentlemen.

One of them, dressed in a moon‑white brocade robe, waved his folding fan in a flirtatious manner, stepped up close to Shen Shuangning, and, as if performing a trick, handed her a flower.

Shen Shuangning did not take it, but the young lady beside her, quick‑eyed and quick‑handed, caught it and shoved it into her hand without a word.

Shen Shuangning did not return it.

The other, clad in treasure‑blue tight‑fitting attire, grasped an oar; though the boat needed no effort to glide, he deliberately struck a pose as if rowing hard, like a peacock flaunting its tail.

Shen Shuangning was indeed looking at him.

Seeing this, Su Chen raised an eyebrow and then glanced at Xiao Jingyuan.

His face showed no ripple, even the corner of his mouth bearing a faint, inscrutable smile.

But Su Chen clearly saw him narrow his eyes dangerously.

Tsk, someone's vinegar jar is about to tip over.