Even many years later, Feng Luodi could still recall what happened on this day.She kept thinking: If she had never come to the Xuan Kingdom, what happened afterwards would never have happened. She wouldn"t have gotten acquainted with Situ Muye nor Jiang Moyin.
If they hadn"t met, then their fates wouldn"t have been intertwined and she wouldn"t have to reproach herself for the rest of her life about the mistakes concerning that matter.
The imperial guards besieged Situ and the others while the Emperor confronted Situ, separated by the crowd.
Just when the Emperor thought that everything was going according to plan, that he could record Situ"s crimes into the annals, have the imperial guards encircle and annihilate Situ, reclaim the military power and fulfil his wish before he died, Jiang Moyin appeared.
What mattered wasn"t Jiang Moyin"s appearance but the words he"d said.
At that instant, a Court Historian stopped moving the brush in his hand and stared at the Emperor in bewilderment.
If there was someone in the Xuan Kingdom"s court who wouldn"t partic.i.p.ate in the grapple between the factions and was extremely loyal to the sovereign, that would be a Court Historian. The court historians didn"t care about their own ending. Their duty was to record history and history was written by the victors. Hence, their loyalty to the sovereign was towards the victor and not the Emperor.
The Emperor was struggling heedlessly before his death and the real victor was perhaps the First Prince who would be crowned as the new heir to the throne the next day.
The court historians had a tacit understanding of each other as they stopped their movements simultaneously. Such behaviour caused the Emperor"s face to darken.
He stared at Jiang Moyin, who was clad in simple white clothes, with a profound look on his face.
“Jiang Moyin, what are you talking about? With your ill and weak body, where did you get the energy to plan this matter? Besides, you don"t even have an official position anymore, so where did you get the manpower to do all that?”
The Emperor got more and more worked up as he spoke. He was completely unaware of the fact that his current behaviour made him look like someone performing a farce in others" eyes.
“Say, are those men standing beside Duke of Anping your people? Are you able to call out their names?”
It seemed as if the longer the farce persisted, the more it made the bystanders unable to laugh, sighing in their heart instead. Back then, he was a brilliant youth, who didn"t have a very powerful background. He only concerned himself with military affairs and ascended the throne step by step while soaked in blood. He then became a benevolent Emperor who actively implemented new policies for the welfare of the commoners. He put in every effort and did his utmost for the prosperity of the nation. He even dreamed of a grandiose plan for hegemony, to unite the other nations as one. How was the person standing before them now the same Emperor Cheng of the Xuan Kingdom?
He was simply a pitiful elderly person.
Sorrow suddenly welled up in Feng Luodi"s heart. She didn"t like the struggles in the imperial harem and didn"t like the struggles in the inner residence of eminent households. Unexpectedly, there were even more conspiracies in court, which consequently implicated the people in the inner residence. However, the Emperor wouldn"t consider this point. He would exploit the inner residence to control the court, but little did he know that such conduct had invoked antipathy and disdain in people"s heart.
Before this, the Eighth Prince and the Eleventh Prince were more than willing to take Situ down. But, they were more sagacious than their Imperial Father, they knew when to restrain themselves.
When the Emperor noticed that no one was paying attention to him after bellowing for so long, he finally realised that something was wrong.
“Could it be that all of you…all of you have revolted?!”
“Your Majesty, they didn"t revolt.”
Situ was about to say something, but Jiang Moyin beat him to it. The latter made a gesture to stop Situ and Feng Luodi from interfering in the ensuing matter.
Feng Luodi suddenly felt uneasy and wanted to dash out but, in the end, Situ hugged her by the shoulders and brought her back to her original spot.
“Situ, there is something amiss with Elder Brother. I want to go over.”
“Luodi, it"s already too late. Moyin has already decided. The only thing we can do now is to not let him down.”
“Situ, what do you mean?”
Feng Luodi wanted to discern a hint or two from reading Situ"s expression but to no avail. In the end, she could only stare at Jiang Moyin.
Jiang Moyin continued, “Your Majesty, as for how I"ve planned everything, from arranging the people to breaking into the court prison, I can tell you all of that, step by step, right now if you so command.”
It was as if that breath-taking and talented child prodigy, Jiang Moyin, was back. He was as eloquent and witty as ever.
He articulated everything clearly without leaving anything out, seemingly unaware of the ramifications that followed.
The Emperor"s complexion became increasingly ghastly while the court historians enthusiastically recorded everything down at a tremendous speed.
Feng Luodi finally realised that Moyin was taking the blame for Situ. In this case, Situ wouldn"t have to leave Chang"an and he could continue supporting the First Prince. Everyone would be able to lead their lives as usual, but he, Jiang Moyin, alone wouldn"t.
At this thought, Feng Luodi was panic-stricken. She still wanted to dash out and stop those court historians. Just like how she didn"t want Situ to be burdened with infamy for a lifetime, she didn"t want that for Moyin either.
All of them trusted Situ"s ability, so she knew that Jiang Moyin"s main intention wasn"t to take the blame for Situ. What he wanted to do was to help her, Feng Luodi, take the blame. In that case, she wouldn"t be known as a loathsome woman, and the Emperor also wouldn"t be able to use this matter to blackmail them anymore.
As expected, after Jiang Moyin eloquently finished elaborating on how he broke into the court prison, he started to explain how he made use of his spies to intrude the Imperial Palace and obtained Resonance. The purpose of seizing Resonance was naturally to please the beauty.
The Emperor didn"t want Jiang Moyin to continue elaborating but despite giving an order, no one went ahead to stop him, the pale-looking Jiang Moyin, who looked like he could collapse at any moment. The Jiang Moyin whose reputation once spread throughout Chang"an and spread throughout the Xuan Kingdom.
“Jiang Moyin!”
At this moment, Feng Luodi could no longer hold it in, and her tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. She had clearly promised Situ that she would never cry again, but she couldn"t help it.
Her voice couldn"t reach Jiang Moyin.
Feng Luodi finally realised that she shouldn"t have come to the Xuan Kingdom. She only brought about calamities. She only knew to selfishly search for a way back home; she couldn"t protect even a single person dear to her in this world…
By the time the Emperor noticed that the general situation was controlled by Situ, Jiang Moyin had already finished speaking and the court historians were also done recording.
The Emperor could no longer reverse the adverse situation and the imperial guards had already retreated.
He finally realised that he"d fallen into Situ"s trap before walking into Jiang Moyin"s. Once, these two were the two subjects that he was fond of the most. This all changed because of a woman.
“The saying "A woman could bring about the downfall of a nation" couldn"t be any truer.”
As the Emperor glared at Feng Luodi, his gaze was extremely vicious and sinister, seemingly cursing her for all that happened.
“You won"t live at ease. You have ruined two people.”
Feng Luodi had initially wanted to rebuke and say that all of this had happened because of the Emperor, but she was unable to do so.
“You don"t have to care about his words.”
Situ directly pulled Feng Luodi into his arms and cast a threatening look at the Emperor.
“You still say that you have no intentions to revolt when you look at me with such a treacherous gaze?”
The Emperor sneered, unable to conceal his exhaustion and deterioration with age. He was so close to seeing Situ rebel, but contrary to his expectations, Jiang Moyin had appeared in time to stop that from happening.
Jiang Moyin was still as powerful as ever. He could deliberate over many matters despite not being in court.
Everyone was safe and sound but only Jiang Moyin had to shoulder the blame for everything.
Only when the scene in front of him had returned to being tranquil did the Emperor look at Jiang Moyin, who was quietly standing there, at the same spot. His deep voice was callous and expressed the vicissitudes of life he had experienced as he said, “Did you know that the consequence for flaunting your superiority is that you"ll be sentenced with a death sentence? Ha! Senior Official Imperial Censor would never have thought that his only son would commit such a blunder and that he would go to h.e.l.l even before him.”
“Guards, arrest Jiang Moyin and throw him into the court prison. He"ll be beheaded tomorrow!”
The Emperor instantly commanded. Immediately, people went forward to shackle Jiang Moyin. Meanwhile, Situ and the rest couldn"t hold themselves back and instantly rushed forth to stop the guards.
“The Grand Consort Dowager"s death-exemption plate has arrived!” A familiar resonant voice was conveyed using inner force.
As Feng Luodi looked up, she saw Xue Yiqi and Shangguan Yan rush over to their side.
Only when they were in proximity did Feng Luodi notice the tattered clothes on Xue Yiqi. He had injuries all over the place, and there was even fresh blood seeping out from some of them. Of course, there were also a few injuries on his face, making him appear somewhat miserable, but that didn"t conceal his heroic bearing.
Held high up in Xue Yiqi"s hand was the legendary death-exemption plate bestowed by the Grand Consort Dowager. This was something posterity had to abide by.
Feng Luodi surmised that someone was hindering Xue Yiqi from fetching this death-exemption plate and Shangguan Yan, who was originally handling matters in her Sect, was informed about this and she hurriedly went to a.s.sist him. Thus, the two of them entered Chang"an together.
Delight instantly appeared in the fundus of Feng Luodi"s eyes. With this death-exemption plate, Jiang Moyin wouldn"t be held culpable and wouldn"t need to die. Everything would be resolved without a hitch.
Everyone would be alright. At this thought, Feng Luodi"s mood instantly brightened and she felt alive again.
Yet, under everyone"s watchful eyes, that person clad in white spurted out a mouthful of blood and collapsed.
Jiang Residence.
Imperial physicians and doctors rushed in and out of the room. Everyone was either wearing a distressed expression or sighing in despair.
In Jiang Moyin"s room.
Another doctor stood up again and shook his head at the gloomy-looking Situ.
In fact, even if the imperial physicians and doctors didn"t say anything, Jiang Moyin originally only had a few months left. Situ could also tell that from Jiang Moyin"s current appearance.
Donned in white clothes, he was quietly laying on the bed with his eyes slightly closed. There was no longer any colour in his eyes; no longer any smile tugged at his lips, and the hands that he used to play the zither could no longer be lifted.
“You…all of you go out.”
Jiang Moyin requested with a faint voice. Situ looked at Jiang Moyin"s half-asleep and half-awake appearance and waved his hand at the others in the room.
Everyone tactfully went out, leaving behind just Situ and Jiang Moyin.
Jiang Moyin expended a great deal of effort to take out something from beneath the pillow, but his gaze remained fixated at Situ. He wanted to flash a smile as he did in the past, but he was unable to move his lips.
“I thought that we wouldn"t meet again. Yet, when we meet again, it"s when I am about to leave.”
“You didn"t have to do this. I could have solved the matter by myself.”
Situ"s expression remained calm but his tightly clenched fists belied his emotions.
Jiang Moyin finally took out a handkerchief.
“When I learned that I only had a few months left, I was thinking about how I could make my death more valuable. I feel that dying today is totally worth it. This is my own choice and has nothing to do with all of you. You guys only need to accept this fact.”
Jiang Moyin used a lot of effort to utter these few words while fresh blood unceasingly overflowed from the corner of his lips. Situ wanted to move forward but Jiang Moyin reached out his hand to stop him.
“Promise me that you"ll take good care of her and that you"ll comply with all her wishes. You can"t complain about her.”
“That goes without saying.”
Situ"s voice was like cold water which carried an indescribable chilliness.
“Then, all"s good.”
Jiang Moyin finally revealed a smile.
“Aren"t you going to tell her? This is your last chance and the only time I"m being generous to you.”
Situ suddenly asked as he looked at Jiang Moyin, who was almost running out of breath.
“No need.” Jiang Moyin slowly unfolded that handkerchief.
“I don"t want to leave behind any burden for her before I die. She should be happy, carefree and without worries.”
His voice then came to an abrupt stop.
That unfolded handkerchief was embroidered with a cl.u.s.ter of green bamboo. Above it were two people"s namesーLuodi, Jiang Moyin.
Beside the pillow was an exquisite small box. In there were all the small handicrafts he had crafted for Luodi.
The Jiang Family had a prodigal son. He could already recite poems when he was three and already paint when he was five. He was known as a stunning and talented youth at age nine.
With the accomplishments of the four arts[1]"> he became independent at age thirteen.
He was a handsome man with features as beautiful as jade and a lofty spirit, who gained the affection of a myriad of women when he was fifteen.
He was a virtuous gentleman with astonis.h.i.+ng talent and became the Heir"s Grand Tutor at age nineteen.
When devising strategies, he always had the general situation in his grasp and his talent was unparalleled. He was known as a peerless talent of his generation.
Yet, he was thin and sickly. The Heavens was jealous of his outstanding ability. He pa.s.sed away at age twenty-seven.
1. The four arts were the four main academic and artistic accomplishments: Zither, Chess, Calligraphy and Painting. For more information: