It was not because of the Western Xia envoys’ affair. If memory served correctly, the Mingyue Pavilion ought to have a case involving the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishments.
In his past life, this case never reached his hands, yet it assisted him in abruptly demoting and exiling Dali Temple Minister Xue Xuan out of the capital, snapping away one of Nanrong Xian’s arms.
Since his old injuries had flared up once more, leaving him naturally unable to attend court, he would take advantage of his leisure to look into this bizarre case that had managed to entangle the Imperial Guards, the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishments, and the Censorate all at once.
Xie Chen once again curved his peach-blossom eyes. “Lin Ke was originally a songstress at the Mingyue Pavilion. After redeeming her freedom, she married, was widowed three years ago, and now shares the status of a fellow inmate at the Dali Temple with me.”
Nan Rongchen set down his jade spoon, inexplicably discerning a hint of dangerous intent within Xie Chen’s smiling eyes, and decisively interpreted it as a threat. “The Wu God is truly meticulous in every detail; it turns out We have wronged you.”
Xie Chen was a member of the protagonist group, and on the surface, stepping into this case meant helping him suppress Nanrong Xian. Once he went through the trouble of demoting Nanrong Xian to his fiefdom, the ultimate beneficiary would still be Nanrong Chengyu.
Along the way, it would also utilize his hands to earn Nanrong Chengyu the reputation of being close to the people and loving the masses.
Hearing those two characters “Wu God” made Xie Chen’s teeth itch. “Lin Ke was almost forced into a false confession through torture, and I have already taken the person under my protection. Considering your injuries, I originally did not plan to rush you.”
“As for who could possibly be inside that Mingyue Pavilion, is it worth you going to see them while injured?”
Nan Rongchen decisively set aside his jade bowl. Since Xie Chen had deliberately brought this up right before him, the matter of being tortured into a false confession naturally had to be pinned on the Dali Temple. “Wu God, please give your instructions. What crime would you like Us to assign to the Dali Temple Minister?”
Since Xie Chen insisted on disturbing his morning meal mood, in the spirit of reciprocal courtesy, he appended an ambiguous remark, “So long as you speak, We will naturally agree. Why bother going in circles when it is so exhausting?”
The Son of Heaven sat lazily and crookedly upon the couch, his phoenix eyes brimming with allure, two dark robes hanging loosely across his figure, lending the gold-and-blue dominant bedchamber the atmosphere of a wine-pool and meat-forest. As for who could play the part of a seducing imperial favorite, there was no one else in the hall besides Xie Chen.
The seducing favorite himself leaned forward, the ruby embedded within his brow casting a shimmering glow under the light. The distance between the two of them abruptly closed, bestowing an ambiguous hue upon the solemn and dignified Wu God Temple.
Nan Rongchen did not dodge either, condescendingly reaching out to cup the chin resting inches away. “It is simply a pity that We lack the inclination for it right now.”
Xie Chen batted away the chilling three fingers beneath his jaw, conjured a piece of indigo-colored marten-fur cloak out of thin air, draped it over Nanrong Chen’s shoulders, and spoke with absolute calm, “Spare me this routine. It won’t work on me.”
“Lin Ke is currently in the Dali Temple; how this case is judged is entirely up to you.”
Several claps of thunder erupted once more, and outside the divine hall, lightning flashed like a sword piercing the sky, reflecting upon Nan Rongchen’s face. He couldn’t be bothered to care why the void was rumbling with thunder as if falling ill. “Very well, if forced confession it is, then forced confession it is. The affairs of the court take precedence, and wrongful execution of two lives matters little.”
In common parlance, Nan Rongchen’s behavior bore all the hallmarks of warping into a tyrant. Yet if that were truly the case, Nan Rongchen had no need to voice it aloud. Xie Chen formed a hand seal and spoke, “You won’t. This seat will wait for you at the Dali Temple.”
The morning sun hung high, and the sky was a clear, unblemished azure without a wisp of cloud.
Following the imperial physician’s instructions, the palace maid lightened her movements to push open the two window panels, not daring to display the slightest slackness.
The current sovereign possessed an unassigned inner court and no heirs, leaving no one to personally attend to his bedside.
That “distinguished person” brought back from the temporary imperial residence could barely be counted as a member of the inner court, yet that distinguished person possessed a peculiar temperament, having only arrived at the main hall yesterday after Grand Historian Xiao departed to ask a single question before turning away with a stiff expression.
“His Majesty has woken up. You all keep watch here, I will go report to the Empress Dowager.”
Hearing this, the palace maid’s hands trembled slightly. Lowering her head, she walked toward the Son of Heaven’s couch, her delicate hands lifting the gold-inlaid bed curtains as she prepared to drop to her knees.
Yet she was intercepted by a slightly hoarse voice. “How long has it been thundering outside?”
The palace maid failed to catch the underlying meaning, her knees still descending to the floor. “Reporting, reporting to His Majesty, today is a clear sky.”
Nan Rongchen propped himself up, leaning against the soft pillows, and laughed for no discernible reason. “Is that so? It appears someone is deceiving the sovereign.”
The palace maid wished she could bury her head straight into the ground to avoid being hauled out and executed. “Your Majesty, this maid wouldn’t dare.”
Nan Rongchen suppressed a cough behind his hand and spoke lazily, “It is none of your concern, you may withdraw.”
Yet he ultimately found no tranquility. After a round of ritual announcements had finished sounding, the Empress Dowager hurried over, her phoenix-head hairpins swaying a rare few times as she seated herself beside Nan Rongchen’s couch with a face full of joy.
Nan Rongchen was choked by the incoming wave of face powder and sandalwood fragrance, coughing a few more times. Taking advantage of the gesture of covering his mouth, he withdrew his wrist from the Empress Dowager’s grasp and took the initiative to interrupt those cloying, honeyed words of concern. “Last time the Empress Dowager mentioned that the Zichen Palace lacks a manager, I wonder if a candidate has been chosen?”
Though the Empress Dowager had not anticipated Nan Rongchen bringing this up the moment he spoke, she responded in a gentle tone, “Does Your Majesty have someone in mind?”
The people around Nan Rongchen either knew nothing at all or possessed lips tight enough. Neither condition was difficult to achieve, so ultimately, who the person was mattered very little.
“No,” Nan Rongchen answered sincerely. The statement remained true. “Let Mother Empress make the arrangements.”
The Empress Dowager once again took Nan Rongchen’s hand, her willow-leaf brows knitted slightly in the picture of a heartbroken, loving mother. “Chen’er, the matter regarding the Chief Astrologer was due to Mother Empress’s lack of careful consideration. Mother Empress was only thinking of how your Imperial Father passed away with unfulfilled regrets regarding his grand enterprise. As a woman confined to the deep palace, Mother Empress can only pray for the protection of the Wu God.”
Nan Rongchen offered no struggle this time. “Mother Empress worries too much. Speaking of the Chief Astrologer, I had him cast a new divination yesterday, specially posed on behalf of Prince Xiang.”
“Come to think of it, the catalyst was quite interesting, being the blood from Prince Xiang’s side.” He raised a finger to press against the side of his neck, feeling his pulse beating relentlessly beneath the skin. “When Mother Empress is at leisure, you may come listen.”
“It should suffice as a form of diversion and amusement.”
The situation within the Hanyuan Palace had long since been reported to the Empress Dowager, yet she maintained her gentle tone. “Prince Xiang must indeed be guarded against, but there must also be a sense of proportion, lest you leave grounds for criticism in the Censorate.”
“Seeing Your Majesty like this, Mother Empress can rest easy.”
Nan Rongchen chuckled along. “Mother Empress may rest easy, I will certainly take note and find a pretext to quietly murder him.”
The Empress Dowager, however, found it rather difficult to keep smiling, adopting an excuse to mask her panic. “Your Majesty’s injury, was it inflicted by Prince Xiang?”
“How could that be? With Cousin presently leading the Imperial Guards to protect me, what sort of person could possibly lay a hand on me?” Nan Rongchen stared at the hands of the mother and son clasped together, speaking with a hint of regret, “If Cousin were willing to undergo castration and enter the palace to serve as the Grand Eunuch of the Zichen Palace, that would be splendid.”
The four fingers the Empress Dowager used to receive the medicine bowl stiffened. Just as she was pondering what to say, she heard Nan Rongchen’s smiling remark, “I spoke out of turn and frightened Mother Empress.”
Nan Rongchen took the medicine bowl and drained it in a single draught, speaking through the bitter medicinal aftertaste, “Speaking of which, the Chief Astrologer is indeed usable. I previously harbored no genuine faith in the Wu God’s prophecy, but now it appears one cannot afford not to believe it. For instance, he stated that Prince Xiang possesses peerless talent and must either be heavily employed or put to death.”
Only two parts of a smile remained on the Empress Dowager’s face; the Chief Astrologer could no longer be kept. “Better to kill by mistake than let go, your Imperial Father would not blame you either.”
The late emperor would certainly have blamed him. In the historical records, the late emperor was an enlightened founding sovereign of Lin Yue; how could he possibly tolerate a son who harmed his own flesh and blood?
Back then, those imperial brothers of his had stubbornly sought his demise, and when they ultimately failed, hadn’t they still been allowed to preserve their lives and live comfortably in their fiefdoms?
Nan Rongchen retrieved a candied fruit from the golden plate held by Xuetang. “Imperial Father disliked slaughter, and I too cherish talent. Prince Xiang’s contributions in procuring provisions were indelible, and at the Hanyuan Palace, he remained utterly loyal to me. He is a talent worth utilizing.”
“Now that I think about it, I plan to heavily employ him after all. How does Mother Empress find this notion?”
What else could the Empress Dowager find it? “This mourning mother understands little of state affairs; so long as Your Majesty has a clear plan in mind.”
The sweetness diluted the bitterness in his mouth, turning cloying instead, much like the moving display of maternal filial piety right before him. Nan Rongchen used a handkerchief to wipe away the sugar residue on his fingertips. “So long as Mother Empress does not blame me. Consort Liang previously harbored deep grievances toward Mother Empress, yet I am heavily employing her son.”
“However, there is no alternative, as we are in a period requiring personnel.”
Xue Tang raised the silver-threaded Lu silk umbrella specially selected by His Majesty from the Western Xia tributes, carving out a patch of shade beneath the midday sun. “The Empress Dowager can set her mind completely at ease now; His Majesty tells you everything without reservation.”
The Empress Dowager manipulated her round fan with her hand, uttering conventional pleasantries. “Only when Your Majesty turns his mind toward state affairs can this mourning mother truly feel at ease.”
Flattering conventionals had a way of pleasing the ear, allowing the stone suspended in her own heart for days to drop down for a moment. Through the incident with the Chief Astrologer, Nan Rongchen had instead discussed state affairs with her, suggesting he didn’t necessarily harbor deep suspicions toward her after all.
As for why Nan Rongchen’s temperament had become so inscrutable, it was probably all predestined.
“Have a few veteran servants dispatched from the Bureau of Internal Servants, demanding loyalty and steady composure. When Your Majesty has leisure, bring them to the Zichen Palace for Your Majesty to select. For the Zichen Palace to lack anyone managing affairs, what sort of state of things is that?”
After managing to enjoy peace for half a day, Nan Rongchen was not idle enough to manufacture trouble for himself, especially since it was only February, and the outdoors glared blindingly bright.
It was not until the following day that he had someone retrieve the three-judicial-review case files from the Secretariat, and accompanying the files were Prince Su and Xiao Yuanqing.
He leaned against the sandalwood-backed armchair in the bedchamber. Having turned tyrant, naturally, he had no obligation to observe those tedious seating etiquettes of a gentleman. “Summon Prince Su inside.”
Nan Rongchen raised a hand and tossed the case file to Prince Su, who had just stepped up before him. “Sluggish and lazy from illness, Imperial Elder Brother shall read it aloud for Us to hear.”
The palace maids and eunuchs serving within the hall were filled with terror. The person entering alongside Nanrong Xian had arrived, yet Prince Su had never set foot inside the Zichen Palace since they began their service, as rumors claimed he and His Majesty harbored deep mutual animosity.
To have checked the almanac poorly on duty today and run into a confrontation between His Majesty and Prince Su inside the Zichen Palace meant that whichever of the two directed their lingering wrath upon them, it would be enough to strip away a layer of skin.
Nanrong Xian was in an exceptionally fine mood simply because Nanrong Chen had barred that Xiao Yuanqing outside the hall. Intercepting the file with his palm, he nearly forgot the original purpose of his visit, unceremoniously selecting a chair to sit down and unfolding the memorial.
System 364: Detection that Xiao Yuanqing’s plotline is missing, please engage with Xiao Yuanqing promptly.
Engage then. The pain radiating from the injury on his chest had only just eased slightly, making it unworthy to suffer through another bout over Xiao Yuanqing. “Call Grand Historian Xiao inside as well.”
The words Nanrong Xian was about to read choked back down his throat at this imperial command. He snapped back defensively, “Why is Your Majesty calling him in? No matter how one calculates this case, it has nothing to do with him.”
“It has nothing to do with him; We are deliberately trying this case for Imperial Elder Brother’s sake.” Nan Rongchen lacked patience. “Speaking of which, it is also due to Imperial Elder Brother’s incompetence that even the Dali Temple under your control cannot be firmly grasped.”
Nanrong Xian only absorbed the first half of the sentence, concluding that his words at the Bureau of Astronomy that day were not false after all; Nan Rongchen truly wished to draw him in. “It was those dog-like individuals deceiving the sovereign and defying the law who dared withhold the memorials. Speaking of which, this prince also has questions for Grand Historian Xiao.”
Xiao Yuanqing wore a vermillion official robe, standing like an orchid in a jade tree. Even when cupping his hands in salute, his innate backbone remained unmasked. “This subject greets Your Majesty, and specially comes to confess his crimes.”
Nan Rongchen uttered a single “Mhm” before leaving him standing off to the side, pinching a grape from the fruit tray. “Imperial Elder Brother, continue reading.”
The blaze of anger in Nanrong Xian’s heart was more than half quenched by Nan Rongchen’s cold indifference toward others. Speaking of the most irritating person around Nan Rongchen, aside from that guard Chen Ping, it was Xiao Yuanqing.
One was still wet behind the ears, while the other was even better at acting than Nanrong Chengyu. Whether serving as a slave or a court official, they put on the airs of a seductive favorite, making one sick to the stomach.
Fortunately, Nanrong Chen had yet to degenerate to the point of favoring cut-sleeve relationships. He opened the memorial, and before he knew it, his gaze became glued to the plump, purple crystal fruit held within Nan Rongchen’s fingertips. The juice stained the thin calluses on those fingers, before thoroughly moistening those two lips, the soft fruit pulp slipping past the pink-white tip of his tongue. The memorial in his hand grew slick alongside it, his thumb involuntarily tightening its grip.
Growing impatient with the wait, Nan Rongchen took a handkerchief to wipe his hands, wondering what new madness had seized Nanrong Xian. “Since Imperial Elder Brother is unwilling, Grand Historian Xiao may proceed.”
In his past life, let alone letting Xiao Yuanqing stand to read memorials to him, he would have desperately searched for the most precious shark-skin furs and marten pelts in the entire realm to carpet the high dais, ensuring Xiao Yuanqing never had to brush against even a speck of dust.
At the time, he believed Xiao Yuanqing was meant to act as an untainted immortal of the world rather than rolling around in the filthy mud of officialdom to fight for a pristine reputation. Very well, he would grant his wish this time, using it as an opportunity to farm hatred value.
“Why have him do it?” Nanrong Xian’s brows piled back up with hostility. “This memorial is nothing but tedious nonsense. Jingzhao Prefecture Governor Gao Yue forced a false confession through torture from a widowed woman, Dali Temple Minister Xue Xuan overturned the verdict based on suspicious points within the case records, while the Ministry of Punishments dragged their feet and dragged the Censorate into the mix. Officials shielded one another to suppress the memorial and frame Xue Xuan.”
“Ultimately, it is because they view this prince as benevolent and easily bullied, thereby oppressing Xue Xuan and chopping off one of my arms.” Nanrong Xian stepped forward to hand the memorial back to Nan Rongchen upon the throne, taking the opportunity to look down condescendingly at Xiao Yuanqing. “Am I right, Grand Historian Xiao?”
An opportunity delivered right to his doorstep was too good to waste. Nan Rongchen did not reach for the memorial. “This Zichen Palace of Ours lacks a general manager, and We are currently fretting over the absence of a handy eunuch to peel grapes for Us. Imperial Elder Brother has arrived just in time.”
Though Nanrong Xian had never enjoyed paternal love or maternal affection, he had never once shortchanged himself. After being recorded under Imperial Noble Consort Shen’s name, his food, lodging, sleep, and traveling entourage outshone even what Nan Rongchen had enjoyed as the crown prince of the East Palace.
Moreover, Nanrong Xian held an extreme aversion toward eunuchs and palace attendants. To lump him together with a eunuch right now meant that even if Nanrong Xian did not erupt on the spot, he would assuredly log this grievance.
Logically speaking, Nanrong Xian was not part of the protagonist group, but peeling grapes was a thoroughly troublesome task, and Nanrong Xian’s hands, raised in pampered aristocracy, possessed a rare bit of utility that shouldn’t go to waste.
Causing trouble for Nanrong Xian was, after all, precisely what a tyrant should do.
Following a loud slap of sound, the memorial was slammed down right before Nan Rongchen. Nan Rongchen shifted his gaze away unconcernedly. “Since Imperial Elder Brother is unwilling, this case shall be handled according to Grand Historian Xiao’s wishes.”