Chapter 485

Li Qingluo felt that Zhang Tinggui really was a talent.

Enduring humiliation and bearing burdens for so many years, he could still use the situation to wipe out his own enemies, and now he could even accept favors and voluntarily take charge of things.

Moreover, handling things is also quite thorough.

I really don't know how the Princess Zhiyuan's eyes grew, leaving such a prince consort to be trampled daily, yet she insists on placing her deep affection on Xie Huaiyuan for decades without turning back.

Although Li Qingluo did not fully trust Zhang Tingji, letting him handle the aftermath really left no better option.

Seeing a whole patch of monks dead, the townspeople, after their impulsive act, all began to feel frightened.

Everyone gathered together, all showing a panicked expression.

Zhang Tingji quickly rushed over and took charge of the situation.

"Folks, don't be afraid."

"You're merely trying to recover your own money and valuables; as the prince consort, I will uphold justice for you."

"However, I, the prince consort, ask you to agree to one matter."

After a while, Leng Dian found Li Qingluo and Duan Rongshi standing at the cliff edge and reported: "Your Highness, Miss. Zhang Tingji led people to dig up all the gold and silver underground."

"However, judging by the amount, it should not be enough."

"He said that the Xie family was implicated years ago in a corruption and bribery case, but after Xie Huaiyuan suddenly became a monk, the matter was left unresolved."

"Although the Xie family escaped that incident, they were still stripped of several layers, and had already been completely penniless for years."

"But strangely, the Xie family have been living quite comfortably these years, and Zhang Tingji investigated for a long time yet could not find the source of their money."

"The shops and estates they currently own cannot possibly support their present lifestyle."

"But just now Zhang Tingji seems to have figured everything out."

Li Qingluo: "So, although the Xie family ostensibly severed ties with Xie Huaiyuan back then, privately he has been secretly sending money to the Xie family all these years."

"What he sent was still the exploitation of the locals, deceiving the common folk, and even the money of nobles and officials in Nan'an."

Li Qingluo couldn't help but let out a cold laugh: "This Xie family is really just as rotten as Xie Huaiyuan—utterly corrupt."

"As for the corruption case the Xie family was implicated in back then, perhaps they truly weren't innocent."

Li Qingluo recalled what her mother had said: Xie Huaiyuan, in order to protect the Xie family, had deceived her and sent her to that person.

Now thinking back, Li Qingluo still feels that Xie Huaiyuan died too easily.

"Ah Shi, do you still remember how the Princess Zhiyuan, in the Guanyin Hall, pointed at Mother's face and hurled those insults?"

"She wants to dig up Zong Qingyue's remains, splash dog blood, and seal the soul nail!"

Li Qingluo, upon hearing that, clenched her fists at the time.

Duan Rongshi's voice was as cold as ice: "Forget?"

"Wait until their two corpses are burned to ashes; might as well also taste this flavor."

Leng Dian understood their meaning and nodded.

"Right, Zhang Tingji, in front of the townspeople, took all the blame for beating to death the monks onto the princess's manor guards."

"He also promised to safeguard the lives of these townspeople today, as long as they do not reveal the princess's background."

Li Qingluo: "With so many people, there will surely be some timid ones who slip up; thus it cannot be kept hidden."

"Is this his method?"

Leng Dian: "Looks like there will still be a follow-up. Right now everyone is carrying the gold and silver to the front mountain to dig out the buried, collapsed road."

Duan Rongshi: "Send half the people to help dig. Keep a close watch on him to see what other measures he has for cleaning up."

Leng Dian: "Yes!"

In the blink of an eye, only Li Qingluo and Duan Rongshi remained on the cliff.

This matter can also be considered concluded.

Once the mountain road is dug through, everyone will then leave this place one after another.

For now, the surroundings are finally completely empty, and no one will come by at this time.

Duan Rongshi lowered his head to look at Li Qingluo and asked: "Ah Luo, can you tell me the full story of Mother?"

He has already followed her steps, consigning those two enemies of Mother to eternal damnation.

Next, what other enemies does Mother have?

He has pursued the truth for so many years; it's time to get a clear understanding.

Li Qingluo quickly replied: "Of course."

She pulled Duan Rongshi to sit down on the cliff edge, just as, back when they were still in the netherworld, Zong Qingyue had pulled her hand to sit beneath a tree.

She began to recount slowly, the story of Zong Qingyue…

Zong Qingyue, from the time they could remember, is that small square courtyard in the cold palace.

She has a full-blooded older brother named Zong Qingri.

Their mother was the former queen of the Great Chu dynasty, a woman possessing both strategy and martial skill, unlike ordinary aristocratic ladies yet also stunningly beautiful among the Great Chu nobility.

The former queen, when young, accompanied the former emperor on eastern and western campaigns, offered counsel behind the scenes, and occasionally even took to the battlefield herself to slay enemies.

It can be said that their mother queen also made indispensable contributions in the former dynasty, and their entire maternal clan even helped the former emperor seize the realm.

But later, the former emperor was slandered by villains, believing that the queen's fate would clash with his own secure hold on the realm.

He forgot who had helped him slay enemies on the front lines, and also forgot who had helped him secure his throne.

He took another cousin from the queen's maternal clan into the palace as a concubine, appeasing the queen's maternal clan on one hand yet personally casting the queen into the cold palace on the other.

Even their legitimate son Zong Qingri was implicated and, together with the queen, was locked away in the cold palace.

The queen gave birth to Zong Qingyue in the cold palace.

Perhaps due to enduring humiliation and grief, in despair she clung on until Zong Qingyue was two years old, then succumbed to a severe illness and passed away.

Even after she died of illness, the seven-year-old Zong Qingri could not manage to summon an imperial physician, and not even any word perhaps managed to get out of the cold palace's gate.

The guards on duty were like two stone statues; no matter how Zongzheng Langri knocked his head bloody, they remained unmoved.

Zongzheng Langri could only hastily rely on his two small hands, carrying his sister on his back while using his hands to bury the Empress Mother, whom he had personally buried, under that tree in the courtyard.

After that, Zongzheng Langri brought his sister Zongzheng Qingyue to eat swill and drink rainwater, slowly growing amid extreme malnutrition and hunger until Zongzheng Qingyue was five, while he was ten that year.

The border pass and DaLiang were at war urgently.

Great Chu suffered successive defeats, losing several cities one after another.

The former emperor wanted to personally lead another campaign, but he suddenly realized that years of idleness and luxury had long since left him unable to muster the strength.

Even lifting a heavy blade, he couldn't manage ten moves before he was out of breath.

At that moment he recalled that there used to be a clever and capable Empress by his side.

He also suddenly remembered that the Empress who had once accompanied him was still imprisoned in the Cold Palace.

And they still had a son.

When he finally felt the urge to go see them, he discovered that his Empress had already died.