A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 92.1

The blind Daoist fortune teller who set up a stall at the Grand Temple of the Supreme Sovereign lost his footing, fell off a cliff, and died.

When Chen Liangyu came down the mountain, the sugar cakes wrapped in oiled paper were no longer hot against her palm. In front of the fortune-telling stall, Xie Yuan ordered her to immediately return to the Central Secretariat and discuss with Left Prime Minister Xun Xian and the high officials of the Six Ministries how to proceed with the handling of Liang Qiuting, the King of Nanzhou.

Walking along the mountain path, the only sounds in her ears were the rustling of the forest layers on the mountain.

Chen Liangyu guessed the people lurking in the woods were the Imperial Guards. At the foot of the mountain, she indeed saw a few familiar faces disguised as pilgrims loitering around the town.

Coincidentally, among those few people was a Junior Commander of the Imperial Guards whom Chen Liangyu had placed within the guard. That man led her to a courtyard and handed over a group of people tied up with ropes. Several of them wore the chain mail of the Changning Guard, and the others were Chen Liangyu’s personal troops. Upon seeing her, they all lowered their heads, looking ashamed.

Chen Liangyu and Xie Wenjun had only a small number of people left on patrol down the mountain, just a few routinely stationed there for escort when descending.

At this moment, all the remaining guards were sitting in the central courtyard, neatly bound in a row.

Chen Liangyu exchanged a few words with the Junior Commander in the shadows.

“How many Imperial Guards have come?”

“About two hundred.”

Chen Liangyu asked, “When were they deployed?”

“The day you were summoned back to Yongdu from the Northern Border, the first batch of people was already waiting here. A few dozen more were added the day Imperial Censor Zhao was imprisoned. The rest just suddenly appeared.”

No wonder.

Chen Liangyu quickly analyzed the situation. Xie Yuan’s sudden appearance at the Grand Temple of the Supreme Sovereign seemed not to be a spur-of-the-moment decision. He has always known that Xie Wenjun would stay at the temple for a short time between the spring equinox and the Qingming Festival every year, but he didn’t know Chen Liangyu would accompany her. Therefore, he didn’t deploy many people at first, only increasing the deployment around the temple after she and Xie Wenjun set off. Why did dozens of people suddenly increase the day Zhao Xingli was imprisoned? There is a doubt here.

The urgent matter now is to figure out what Xie Yuan intends by laying this line for so long. Is it to seize the power of grain and taxation from Xie Wenjun, or does he have other motives?

Agricultural and grain taxes are under Xie Wenjun’s control. If Chen Liangyu’s military power were added as wings, Xie Wenjun would no longer be the Imperial Sister who relieved Xie Yuan’s worries about the state; she would be a governing Grand Princess who could change the fate of Da Lin at any moment.

Emperor Xuanyuan’s secret edict, falsely authenticated by Xie Wenjun, has already caused one change in the world.

So, who would she change next time?

Xie Yuan was not afraid of Xie Wenjun’s rising prestige among court officials and didn’t mind her wielding power. When Xie Wenjun lived in the Eastern Palace with the former Crown Prince, she was educated and inspired by the former Crown Prince and Grand Tutor Zhang Diancheng. Her talent was exceptional, but she was still a woman, and no matter how capable she was, she could only serve as an auxiliary minister for the sovereign. If she were a prince, he would have to be wary.

He originally thought that even if Xie Wenjun harbored ambitions for power, with only the Changning Guard at hand, what major trouble could she cause? Thus, he never considered Xie Wenjun a threat.

The closer Chen Liangyu got to Xie Wenjun, the more he felt something was slipping out of his control.

He asked Chen Liangyu, “Since when have you become so close to Jiangning?”

Chen Liangyu reported, “The Empress Huixian and my mother were intimate friends. When Her Ladyship passed away, the Princess was young. Her Ladyship called me over and entrusted me to take good care of the Princess. Coming to the Grand Temple of the Supreme Sovereign this time is twofold: first, to fulfill Empress Huixian’s dying wish, and second, to mourn an old friend on behalf of my late mother.”

Empress Huixian died during the spring hunt in the seventeenth year of Xuanyuan’s reign. The palace servants who attended her were reassigned by the Six Bureaus of the palace; some were transferred elsewhere, and others were sent out of the palace. The transfer of maids and eunuchs is recorded in registers. It’s not difficult to find out who served Empress Huixian that year, and asking the former palace staff would confirm Chen Liangyu’s words.

Hearing her explanation, it seemed reasonable.

However, it would be fine if that were all, but she was afraid there were other matters.

Fortunately, when Xie Yuan ordered Chen Liangyu to return to the palace for discussions, she immediately accepted the order and descended the mountain without showing any lingering reluctance.

Chen Liangyu secretly regretted not being able to personally place the sugar cakes on Xie Wenjun’s dining table for her to wake up to. What worried her more was that Xie Wenjun was probably still asleep and unaware that Xie Yuan was at the temple. Since Xie Yuan followed her out of the temple, the vicinity of the Palace of Eternal Tranquility was likely filled with Xie Yuan’s people.

Chen Liangyu handed the sugar cakes to Dai Qing, instructed Pu Ping’er and Lin Yin to return to the Marquis Residence after waking up, and then turned to walk down the mountain path.

It was only then that Chen Liangyu looked up toward the mountain temple halfway up the slope. Just then, the morning bell chimed, sounding as if from the distant mountains.

It was the hour of Chen (7 am to 9 am).

Chen Liangyu drew her sword, cut the ropes binding the group of people, and left with her guards.

Before exiting the town, she saw a woodcutter running towards her, drenched in sweat, pulling a flatbed cart piled high with dry firewood. He was shouting, “Make way, make way!”

The firewood on the cart was heavily loaded, spilling over on both sides and occupying most of the road. Pedestrians quickly made way to avoid being scratched by the protruding dry branches.

Chen Liangyu reined in her horse and moved to the side of the road.

The firewood cart brushed past her, the branches almost snagging the hem of Chen Liangyu’s robe.