The cold wind howled as Lu Qian strode out of the East Street of the Marquis of Lai’s residence, his hands tucked inside his sleeves.
Behind him, Lu Jun’s wife cried out as if she had lost her very parents.
But Lu Jun himself was strangely quiet.
His life was over.
In the Great Yin Dynasty, you might have the legal right to take a widow home through proper marriage.
But breaking down the widow’s door in the dead of night and doing whatever inside—that was a grave crime.
Especially since Lu Jun was a scholar.
Doing such a shameful thing made him utterly despised.
Lu Qian, right in front of him, had written those utterly rebellious words in Lu Jun’s own handwriting.
Once that calligraphy sample leaked out, Lu Jun was doomed.
Not just him—his entire family would suffer a tragic end.
The current Empress Dowager, a widow who had entered the palace and become Empress, had skillfully grasped power after the former Emperor’s downfall.
How could she be a kind-hearted simpleton?
Not a chance!
Lu Jun had no choice but to “surrender,” and personally destroy all his reputation and glory by throwing dirt on himself.
“Xuezheng, I guess we’re even now,” Lu Qian said with a faint smile as he glanced back at the small courtyard from which weeping cries still came.
The sky darkened.
Suddenly, the sharp clatter of hooves shattered the peaceful streets before and behind the Marquis of Lai’s mansion.
Lu Qian led his cavalry from the alley where they had been hiding, whipping up fierce winds as they thundered past the main gate street of the Marquis’s residence, frightening passersby into dodging hurriedly.
Shortly after, inside the Marquis of Lai’s estate, Lu Yu’s enraged shouts filled the air.
“Sink so low… utterly dishonoring our ancestors!”
“That scoundrel actually joined the eunuch faction? And came to our gate, showing off with people?”
“I… I’m so furious I’m close to dying! How do I even face Master Bai now?”
“Open the ancestral hall! Open it… no! I can’t deal with him right now?”
“Prepare the sedan chairs! Prepare the sedan chairs to go to the Marquis of Tian’en’s mansion… After all, someone there can still control him. I refuse to believe he isn’t afraid of being stricken from the clan register or being expelled from the Jingyang Lu family!”
“Bring plenty of brocades, silks, and red envelopes. The current head of the Marquis of Tian’en’s mansion is a gluttonous tyrant!”
The normally slow-to-react household of the Marquis of Lai finally understood: Lu Xiu’s grandson, Lu Chan's son, the usually mild and harmless-looking Lu Qian had actually joined the infamous ‘Eunuch Faction’ known for damaging the nation’s interests.
Countless Lu family members living in Haojing city spread the news eagerly, exchanging their thoughts about the matter, awaiting how the clan elders would handle this scandal.
How many years had it been since the Lu family branch in Haojing had been so stirred up?
Lu Qian’s affair was like a thunderclap, shaking the Marquis of Lai’s estate, the Marquis of Tian’en’s mansion, and stirring up a huge commotion.
Not to mention the Marquis’s estate and the Marquis’s mansion—the turmoil Lu Qian stirred was far greater.
At this moment, inside the Imperial City, the Inner Study, in the Winter Warm Chamber.
The warm glow of candlelight lit the chamber brightly.
An underground fire burned intensely, warming the room.
There, a shriveled, thin man with a head full of silver hair and a kind face—Yu Sandou—drooped his eyelids quietly, standing silently in a corner.
His presence was barely felt; he resembled a tired, old hunting dog dozing lazily by the fire.
His master, the Empress Dowager Le—the true helmswoman of the Great Yin Military Dynasty—sat behind a desk with a gloomy expression, her eyes flickering with a ghostly fire as she stared at the cluster of ministers seated inside the Winter Warm Chamber.
Le was nearly fifty but remarkably well preserved.
Her black hair was like a cloud, her skin white and lips red, her face fresh and radiant, making her seem hardly older than a young eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl.
Le’s background was humble; her ancestors for nine generations had been butchers selling meat and dogs in Haojing city.
However, fate had favored Le greatly.
Before marrying the former Emperor, her previous husbands were wealthy or noble.
Later, becoming Empress transformed her entirely—she now radiated noble grace and dignity.
Seated in the chamber were the ministers in purple robes.
Among them were the Chancellor Zhu Chong of the Great Yin Military Dynasty, Haojing’s city magistrate Linghu Jia, Supreme Judge Gongyang Xu, Fengdiao District Magistrate Shui Ying, Chief Inspector Lan Tianhe, Chief Justice Shang Yang, and the Grand Herald Li Zi of the Honglu Temple.
It was worth noting that Chancellor Zhu Chong was from the same Zhu clan as Zhu Yu, being Zhu Yu’s direct paternal uncle.
Also present was the Court Historian Lu Buyai, a tall man with a straight posture, bright sharp eyes, and a somewhat stern bearing.
He sat silently at the corner with the Four Treasures of the Study spread before him on a desk.
Behind him sat eight archivists from the Historical Records Office, all equipped with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, recording every word spoken inside the chamber without missing a single syllable.
Because of Lu Buyai’s presence, everyone acted with extreme caution and care, carefully selecting their words before speaking.
These historians were a headache.
They would record every deed and phrase of these important figures without any concealment.
Whether these people would become infamous for eternity or remembered with glory depended entirely on the movements of these historians’ brushes.
Even the Empress Dowager and Chancellor had to be cautious before Lu Buyai.
After all, in this world, no dynasty lasted a thousand years, no noble family held power forever, but the hereditary line of imperial historians had lasted for thousands of years.
Lu Buyai’s family history could be traced back through thirteen previous dynasties before the Great Yin.
Even the saintly ancestor of the Zhu family, when alive, had to respectfully take the role of a student before the historian Lu’s family.
“Therefore, the aftermath of the Siji District incident still requires the attention of Your Honors,” Le finally spoke after a long silence. “The princes’ heirs of the Siji District are likely unwilling to let this matter drop. They aren’t giving in simply because they’re right.”
“The court has indeed been remiss in treating them fairly. Such conflicts and armed battles should never have taken place in the Siji District.”
“I have already allocated funds and resources for compensation. But money can’t replace goodwill. Grand Herald, you have been friendly with them before. We must rely on you to comfort them well. We cannot let any of the regional lords harbor resentment or suspicion.”
Li Zi stood and cupped his hands in respect before settling back down, his face deeply troubled.
Comfort the hostages?
It sounds easy enough, but only someone in his position could understand just how hard it was to soothe those hostage princes.
This time, Li Zi wasn’t sure what cost he would have to bear.
The Empress Dowager glanced toward the diligently writing Lu Buyai and drew a deep breath.
“As for the Nine Yin Sect secretly nestling within Fengdiao District, hoarding weapons, and plotting treason—this matter involves remnants of the previous dynasty. Thus, I entrust the investigation solely to the Grand General’s Mansion. What say you, ministers?”
Before Lu Buyai, the Empress Dowager spoke extremely carefully, choosing her words with great caution.
She absolutely dared not say words like ‘Ghost Mother Cult,’ ‘Ghost Mother,’ ‘Consort Qi's transformation into a ghost,’ or ‘hauntings in the Cold Palace.’
If Lu Buyai were to record such words in the history books, Le would be set for eternal infamy—how could she risk being seen as the Empress Dowager who, during her regency, caused spirits to run rampant and chaos to break out because she forced the former Emperor’s consort to die in the Cold Palace?
That reputation would be utterly disgraceful.
So, blaming the ‘remnants of the previous dynasty,’ while putting her own brother Le Wu’s Grand General’s Mansion in charge of investigating the Nine Yin Sect’s treason was the only way the Empress Dowager could accept.
Supreme Judge Gongyang Xu nodded slowly.
“Your Majesty’s judgment is nor incorrect. The Nine Yin Sect case involves remnants of the prior dynasty and possibly foreshadows military conflict. Entrusting the Grand General to investigate is appropriate.”
He paused briefly, looking at Chancellor Zhu Chong seated nearby.
“As for the Siji District affair, it’s clear two factions coincidentally rebelled simultaneously. Since the Nine Yin Sect is being handled by the General, the nameless assassins should be pursued by this old servant’s Judicial Tribunal, in cooperation with the Ministry of Punishments and the Grand Justice Department.”
The Empress Dowager smiled modestly.
“The living witness connected to those nameless assassins, Xiong Dingtian, has already been handed over to the Supreme Judge. Ministers, I entrust this case to your careful investigation.”
She added lightly, “Perhaps they are merely opportunistic bandits seeking to harm a certain prince heir? Such things have happened before.”
Her smile was radiant, but her teeth itched with hatred.
Nearly a thousand death soldiers had killed and burned in Siji District, wielding standard military bows, crossbows, swords—all manufactured by official workshops of the Great Yin.
The worst part: all these enemies infiltrated Siji District and committed atrocities without any detection beforehand—not a single office, minister, official, constable, soldier, spy, or informant noticed a thing.
Chancellor, Judicial Tribunal, the six ministries, Grand Justice Department, Haojing Magistrate, and Fengdiao District Magistrate—all these literary officials shared undeniable guilt.
By the founding emperor’s laws, the Empress Dowager could even sentence them all to death!
But she dare not.
If she gave judgment on these senior ministers she stood before, they might as well expose the sordid secrets of the ‘Nine Yin Sect,’ ‘Ghost Mother,’ ‘Consort Qi’s ghost,’ and the ‘Cold Palace hauntings’—thus, making the Empress Dowager herself a national villain.
Like hitting a wolf with a stick on both ends, they were both afraid.
Now, the Empress Dowager and these ministers held each other’s secrets tightly, neither able to move against the other.
Chancellor Zhu Chong spoke calmly.
“Your Majesty truly speaks rightly. Perhaps these are assassins and the result of personal grudges between princes of the regional lords, only the recent scale is larger.”
Zhu Chong continued slowly, “Within ten days, we will provide Your Majesty with our report.”
The Empress Dowager pursed her lips and slowly made a gesture.
“If General Le Wu cannot resolve the Nine Yin Sect matter within three days... then I would be unworthy of the ancestors of the Great Yin Dynasty, and I would rather cease to live.”
The ministers stood silently, bowed to the Empress Dowager, and then quietly left.
Lu Buyai and the archivists methodically finished organizing the records and also bowed before taking their leave.
The Empress Dowager sat on her throne in silence for a long while before letting out a series of bitter chuckles.
“Do all women tend to be so petty?”
“Tsk, the opponent I must face… if I slip even once, I may ruin my reputation, or worse, die a miserable death.”
“And you all think you can get through this easily?”
“Ten days to give me an answer? Hah, I don’t even know where you’re going to dig up some scapegoats to gloss over this.”
“When you answer clearly, not only will you be innocent, you might even be hailed for your merits—and I’ll have to reward you properly, won’t I?”
“So I’m the only one carrying this burden?”
“Ah, ah, I can’t bear this anger.”
“If I’m unhappy, you all must be unhappy with me as well... Zhu Chong, Gongyang Xu, Lan Tianhe, Shang Yang, Linghu Jia, Shui Ying, Li Zi—they’re all in cahoots, aren’t they?”
“A Wu! A Wu! Come here this instant and figure out a way to deal properly with them!”
“If I’m unhappy, I’ll make sure they all end up embarrassed and shameful too!”
“Pick someone from their group, someone powerful enough to serve as my outlet for vengeance!”
(End of Chapter)