A Single Tie Of Long Hair Seals A Lifelong Commitment - Chapter 92.2

Curled up behind the pile of firewood was a person, looking like a corpse, tied around the waist with two loops of rope and secured to a wooden stake at the back of the cart.

The blood-stained Bagua banner Eight Trigrams flag stung Chen Liangyu’s eyes.

Her attendant immediately stopped the woodcutter. “What’s wrong with the person on the cart?”

The woodcutter was short and sturdy, with dark skin. Seeing someone in an official’s robe, he thought he had gotten into trouble and hastily explained, “I didn’t kill him, I didn’t kill him. This old Daoist was blind and insisted on going up the mountain. He fell from the mountain and died today. I saw him when I was chopping wood on the mountain, and he was already gone. I felt sorry for him, as he had no children, so I brought him back. I planned to wrap him in a straw mat and bury him, so he wouldn’t be eaten by wolves on the mountain.”

Chen Liangyu dismounted and checked the old Daoist’s injuries. She pressed and felt his ribs and limbs. His body was covered in bruises from the fall, and many bones in his limbs were fractured. He had undoubtedly died from falling from a height.

At first glance, it seemed perfectly reasonable for a blind Daoist to lose his footing and fall off a cliff. The old Daoist couldn’t see, one wrong step, and his life was over. But this old Daoist was clearly pretending to be blind. He had been lurking on and around the Grand Temple of the Supreme Sovereign Mountain for years. He committed a verbal transgression in front of Xie Yuan this morning and died by noon. It’s hard to believe the old Daoist’s death was an accident.

She also didn’t think Xie Yuan would be so petty.

But it’s not impossible that one of the Imperial Guards accompanying Xie Yuan this morning did it. In the past two years, Xie Yuan had become increasingly sensitive to anyone mentioning Emperor Xuanyuan and Princess Ruojia’s mental illness in his presence. He is the Emperor. His officials would not let him personally stain his hands with such matters; people would rush to remove anything considered an obstruction without him even having to give a direct order.

The Junior Commander of the Imperial Guards was resting at a nearby tea stall. Seeing the situation, he quickly brought two of his men over. “General, do you want to investigate the cause of death?”

Chen Liangyu placed the Bagua banner over the old Daoist’s face.

Regardless of whether the truth was as she suspected, investigating the cause of death would only offend the Sacred Will. Whatever the result, an investigation would imply a doubt towards Xie Yuan, only costing the Junior Commander his life as well.

Chen Liangyu said, “No need.”

She took out a few ounces of silver and placed it on the woodcutter’s cart. “Buy a coffin and bury the man properly.”

The woodcutter took the silver and promised, “This commoner will certainly do as you say.”

A sharp pain constricted Chen Liangyu’s chest. She leaned on the end stake of the cart to catch her breath before straightening up and mounting her horse, preparing to leave the small town at the foot of the Grand Temple of the Supreme Sovereign Mountain.

The woodcutter hoisted the cart, sighed heavily, and exerted his strength. The wheels began to wobble forward again. The woodcutter lamented, “Ah, people are busy their whole lives. In the end, all they seek is peace in the grave.”

After returning to the palace, Chen Liangyu went to the Central Secretariat and spent half a day drinking tea idly with Xun Xian and the old officials of the Six Ministries. They couldn’t reach a conclusion on how to deal with Liang Qiuting, the King of Nanzhou. Until the military report from Heng Miao in the Southern Border reached Yongdu, they wouldn’t know the situation in Nanzhou. Any discussion would be blind guesswork.

Chen Liangyu forced herself to sit for half a day, drinking most of a pot of stimulating tea. She nodded continuously and said “Good” to whatever anyone said. She waited until the officials dispersed after their shifts before riding back to the Marquis Residence.

The streets and alleys around the Marquis of Xuanping’s Residence had more people, and Chen Liangyu knew they were sent from the palace to watch her.

The Jade Lion galloped to the Marquis Residence gate. Before her feet even touched the ground, she learned that Chen Huai’an had entered the palace.

The publicly stated reason for this was the Empress Dowager’s decree.

Chen Liangyu let out a sarcastic sigh in her heart. Since things had progressed this far, why bother using the Empress Dowager’s name?

It was dusk, and the lamps were lit.

Pu Ping’er and Lin Yin also returned to the Marquis Residence shortly after. Due to their drunken stay at the Imperial Temple, Xie Yuan demoted both of them by one rank each and ordered Chen Liangyu to strictly discipline her subordinates. The monks of the Grand Temple of the Supreme Sovereign were also punished for breaking the no-alcohol rule, receiving ten strikes of the cane, a severe punishment for a minor transgression.

Just then, the steward of the secondary residence hurried to the Liangyuan Courtyard. “General, the Marquis orders this humble servant to ask the General to come to the ancestral hall to light incense for the late Marquis, the late Madam, and the late Eldest Young Master.”

“I’ll go now.”

The ancestral hall in the back courtyard of the Marquis of Xuanping’s Residence was brightly lit with candles, and the memorial tablets were neatly arranged.

The flames in the incense burner seemed to gently flicker in the gloom, and white smoke drifted down section by section. Chen Luan held a feather duster, standing before the memorial tablets, carefully dusting the incense ash around the burner.

Chen Luan had always worn a good-natured expression, but today he rarely showed emotion. Especially after his trip to the Six Ministries’ office today, his expression was even gloomier.

He said, “Right after you left the residence, a decree from the palace immediately arrived to take An’er into the palace. They said it was to choose a study companion for Princess Ruojia. Princess Ruojia can’t even speak a complete sentence; what kind of study companion is needed? Moreover, how old is An’er? She herself still only half-understands the classics and policy essays; how can she attend the Princess’s studies?”

He finished speaking and flicked his sleeve, his tone clearly showing displeasure.

In the past, when the palace selected study companions for a princess, the Ministry of Rites would start preparing three months in advance. After initial selection, policy tests, and art examinations, the Empress would personally review and filter a group of young girls from the families of officials and prominent scholars who were of the right age, had a dignified appearance, upright character, and superior talent in the six arts, to enter the palace and accompany the princess.

Chen Luan said, “I asked the Ministry of Rites; there has never been a decree issued to prepare for the selection of a Princess’s study companion. Even if they were to select one, the daughters of officials must first volunteer to take the examination before being chosen. Can the Emperor just forcefully seize an official’s daughter and bring her into the palace? What kind of logic is that? It’s nothing more than an attempt to restrain you, to restrain the Northern Border.”

Over the years, Yan Nian and Yan Baizhang have been supervising the construction of weirs and canals at the Qilian Snow Chasm River in the east, and Chen Liangyu has been guarding the border defense of the three Northern Border prefectures. Chen Luan has managed all affairs of the Marquis Residence, and he raised Chen Huai’an himself.

Chen Luan looked at the sky outside the ancestral hall gate, estimating the time, and said, “At this hour, An’er should be learning palace rules from the female instructors in the palace. She is still so young; she struggles to finish her daily schoolwork, yet now she has to go to the palace to learn those complex formalities.”

Chen Huai’an had a nature of roaming around during the day and burning the midnight oil patching pants at night. To do any serious work, she had to be well-fed, played with her crickets, and fought with her birds before she would remember her studies.

She had more than enough intelligence but lacked diligence.

In the past, when Chen Liangyu and her elder brother and sister-in-law studied, whether in the dead of winter or the height of summer, which day did they not strive to read and reread books until they were tattered, before going to the training ground to practice weapons and engage in real combat? This child inherited none of her parents’ and aunt’s industrious and hardworking spirit.

Chen Luan spoiled her and never disciplined her. If she stayed up too late burning the midnight oil, he would coax her to sleep and secretly take her place to do her homework.

Chen Liangyu had a long talk with Chen Luan about this, earnestly admonishing him that this was wrong. The effect was minimal; it just went from blatant to secretive.

Chen Luan had his own explanation for this: “I would rather An’er be mediocre and playful. As long as you, I, and your sister-in-law are here, we can shelter her from worry. She doesn’t have to carry such a heavy burden like you do.”

“Second Brother, no one can shelter her forever. You and I cannot, nor can Sister-in-law.”

Chen Liangyu had a disagreement with Chen Luan over Chen Huai’an’s schoolwork.

She said, “The perspective of a Chen family daughter should be the Qilian Snow Ridge. She is the flesh and blood of a military family; how can she willingly remain a caged bird clutching a girl’s cosmetic box?” If it weren’t for the Emperor insisting on keeping people in Yongdu, she would have taken Chen Huai’an to the military camp long ago.

The situation suddenly arose; Xie Yuan’s abrupt decree to bring Chen Huai’an into the palace needed no further explanation—he had already begun to suspect Chen Liangyu.

Chen Luan found it difficult to say those words again.

Chen Luan suddenly asked Chen Liangyu, “Do you think he can still sit firmly on that Dragon Throne?”

Chen Liangyu paused but did not show much surprise. “What does Second Brother think?”

Chen Luan continued, “Natural disasters, displaced people, and rebel armies are rampant in the populace. The Grand Princess personally inspected the fields despite the danger, suppressed the rebellion, re-measured the country’s arable land, drew up Fish Scale Land Registers, and calculated grain tax. Only then did Minister of Revenue Xun Shutai and Director of the Court of Agriculture Sheng Yu’an compile the new Land Tax Law. But the current Emperor fears that once the new tax law is promulgated, the Grand Princess’s prestige in the court will rise even higher, so he suppresses the proposal in the Hanlin Academy, delaying its implementation.”

“One sentence from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, ‘There is a guest star in the south,’ throws him into turmoil. To build his palace, he closes one eye to the Ministry of Revenue embezzling grain taxes and the Ministry of Works privately conscripting artisans, harming the state and exhausting the populace. Every day he suspects this person and that person. Zhao Xingli merely carried out his duty as Imperial Censor to offer counsel, and he was stripped of his position and imprisoned. The Grand Princess works hard for agriculture and fields to solve the nation’s financial difficulties, and you lead the army to guard the border, yet in the end, don’t both of us just provoke his growing suspicion?”

“Since his ascension, his obsession with the legitimacy of the throne has superseded the welfare of the people and the stability of the state. How can such an Emperor bring prosperity to the people? How can he make the state strong?”

“Sooner or later, he will commit irreversible mistakes against the court and the common people because of this chronic ailment.”

Chen Liangyu said, “You and I, as siblings, have never discussed our stances.”

“Let’s discuss it today.”

“Please speak, Second Brother.”

Chen Luan said, “In the court today, only a Sage Ruler’s absolute authority can awe the officials, ensure the unobstructed implementation of government orders, and rescue the people from distress. Unfortunately, the one in the position of the Supreme Sovereign is not a Sage Ruler; the one with the potential of a Sage Ruler is unable to occupy the Imperial Seat.”

Chen Liangyu asked, “Is that your stance, Second Brother?”