Only after Wang Chu finished speaking and the murmurs among the soldiers gradually died down did Lu Lingzhang rise unhurriedly and step out from beneath the shade of the grand canopy.
He walked up to Wang Chu, who immediately knelt with great deference and presented the letter, which was written in the “Quxia” style and containing fabricated military intelligence, “The evidence is here. This minister requests that Your Majesty examine it thoroughly!”
Lu Lingzhang, however, did not take it. He merely lowered his eyes slightly and scanned it while it remained in Wang Chu’s hands.
“This official seal can be obtained by anyone with the authority to enter or exit the Department of State Affairs; it is nothing unusual,” he spoke flatly. “The other is Minister Xie’s private seal. Where is the seal now? Present it to Zhen.”
Wang Chu replied immediately, “This minister has compared it with documents remaining in the Hanlin Academy from years past; this seal is likely the one Criminal Xie used frequently four years ago when he was still in the Department of State Affair. Since he returned to the capital to take office last year, he has not used it again. This minister has already dispatched men to search Wuyi Lane, but there are no results yet. If Your Majesty cannot wait, this minister can immediately order men to use torture to interrogate Criminal Xie.”
Lu Lingzhang did not answer him. After a long silence, he instead asked, “You just said… you wish to appease Zhen’s Imperial Sister’s soul in heaven?”
Wang Chu nodded, but Lu Lingzhang let out a soft sigh. “Speaking of the soul in heaven,” he said, “it reminds Zhen of something from some days ago; around the nineteenth day of the fifth month, near Emperor Father’s memorial birthday, he once appeared to Zhen in a dream.”
As soon as he said this, not only the hundred officials but even Wang Chu had to prostrate themselves on the ground to show respect for the late emperor’s divine manifestation in a dream.
“Since the Late Emperor’s passing, this was the first time Zhen had seen him in a dream. Zhen wished to speak with him, yet the Late Emperor said not a word; he stood alone in the center of the sleeping quarters, dressed only in an undershirt. When Zhen approached to look, Zhen saw that the Late Emperor was reduced to skin and bones. When he rolled up his sleeves, his entire body was actually covered in bruises!”
“Zhen felt a start of terror upon waking thinking that this was no auspicious omen. Sure enough, just a few days later, the grievous news of Imperial Sister arrived.”
Among the imperial family, what they most valued yet most feared were such omens and anomalies. The ministers exchanged uneasy glances, and Wang Chu then asked, “Afterwards, Your Majesty, did you summon the masters of the Northern Suburban Altar to divine the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness?”
Lu Lingzhang shot a glance at him, “This is a matter of the highest importance concerning the state and the fate of the dynasty. Simply performing divination or consulting the oracles could not set Zhen’s mind at ease, and Zhen deeply feared that the Late Emperor’s soul might not find rest.”
“Therefore,” he dropped his sorrowful tone, “Zhen thought that the only righteous path was to personally investigate and verify the truth of the matter.”
Wang Chu’s body went rigid, his movement halting for a clear moment, while the surrounding officials were just as baffled. The late emperor had passed away more than four years ago; no one understood exactly how this “personal verification” was supposed to be carried out.
While Wang Chu remained in a kneeling position pondering how to respond, Lu Lingzhang had already stepped past him. Facing the troops commanded by Lu Lingcong on the opposite side of the riverbank, he raised his voice and shouted, “Young Master Xie, please invite Emperor Father out to see us!”
Across the river, Lu Lingcong went still at the sound of it and abruptly turned to look at Xie Jun behind him. Following Prince Zhao’s line of sight, several courtiers recognized Xie Jun; the man who was supposed to be dead and gaped at him wide-eyed as though they had seen a ghost.
Xie Jun remained composed and gestured toward the Xuanshi. His subordinates accepted the command and at once led a contingent of men back toward the city gate, their intent unclear.
Only then did he bow to Lu Lingcong while whispering earnestly, “Please forgive me, Your Highness. His Majesty feared disrupting Your Highness’s plans, so he ordered me not to inform you in advance.”
Lu Lingcong shook his head without further words, merely gazing solemnly at the wide-open North Gate while waiting in silence.
Before long, the troop from Xuanshi reappeared beneath the city gate. Enclosed in their midst was, to everyone’s shock, a golden coffin that had grown slightly faded and darkened.
The officials and soldiers present erupted in an instant clamor; everyone was left speechless with shock. Before Wang Chu could even process how Xie Jun had “returned from the dead,” he looked up in disbelief, staring intensely at Lu Lingzhang, “Your Majesty… has privately excavated the late emperor’s mausoleum and disturbed the coffin!?”
Lu Lingzhang looked back at him with an expression that could almost be described as naive. “If Zhen hadn’t, how else could Zhen meticulously savor the profound meaning of the dream Emperor Father bestowed upon Zhen?”
“Your Majesty,” Wang Chu said, his voice was icy cold, “the dead do not speak, nor can they speak!”
“Which is why the dead do not lie, nor can they lie,” Lu Lingzhang sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. “Uncle, you are referring to the late Emperor; mind your words.”
The golden coffin was heavy, and the process of moving it was long and eerie, it sent a chill through the hearts of the thousands watching even in the bright light of day.
Lu Lingcong kept his eyes fixed ahead, his thoughts racing. Lu Lingzhang must have learned of the uprising through Cui Shushi, yet from Prince Zhao’s Mansion’s point of view, they had expected Lu Lingzhang to remain in the role of an uninvolved bystander—to play deaf and mute. They were completely unaware of the preparations he had made.
He suddenly asked Xie Jun, “Xiao Yao mentioned she couldn’t contact you for a few days at the end of last month. Was it to handle this matter for His Majesty?”
Xie Jun nodded. “As soon as His Majesty learned of the Eldest Princess’s death, he anticipated that Your Highness might use it as a catalyst for an uprising. He immediately ordered me to lead the Xuanshi to the Imperial Mausoleum at Zijin Mountain to transport the late emperor’s coffin and wait for today… And because the Eldest Princess had recently passed, funeral preparations were already underway, so the construction work near the Imperial Mausoleum did not arouse any suspicion.”
Rites dictated that the coffin could not touch the ground, so Lu Lingzhang yielded the Imperial Palanquin to serve as a temporary resting place. He then summoned several imperial physicians who had accompanied the army out of the city—led by Imperial Physician Qin, who had been recommended by the Wu family—and asked, “Zhen presume Lord Qin does not need Zhen’s instruction regarding how this should be done, right?”
Upon hearing his intention to publicly open the coffin and inspect the remains, the ministers could no longer hold back. They dropped to their knees, bowing low and knocking their foreheads against the ground as they cried out in unison, “Your Majesty, you must not!”
To exhume a former emperor’s tomb and then perform an autopsy was nothing short of shocking. Wang Chu warned coldly, “If Your Majesty truly does this today, you will not escape the infamy of acting perversely and being deranged; moreover, you will not be able to uphold a virtuous reputation for filial piety and brotherly duty. I fear you will no longer be considered a candidate for a wise ruler!”
But Lu Lingzhang clearly did not care at all. He cared neither for the overwhelming voices of opposition from the courtiers at this moment nor for how future historians would use their critical pens to record his absurdity.
He merely stared at Wang Chu with a strange, fixed gaze. After a long silence, the corners of his mouth curled into a smile as he commanded, “Open the coffin!”
Although the Xuanshi had already performed rites of purification when the golden coffin was brought out, they could not prevent the stench from instantly spreading the moment the lid was opened. The soldiers all covered their noses, while the officials raised their sleeves, not daring to look directly upon the “Imperial Countenance.” However, both Lu Lingzhang and Wang Chu remained motionless while staring deathly still at the coffin.
The late emperor had passed away in winter, and due to the change of regime, he had been hastily encoffined and buried; therefore, the body had not decayed much at the time. Since it had been buried deep underground all along, even though four years had already passed, there were still traces that could be discerned.
After examining for a long while and conversing in low voices, Imperial Physician Qin and the others came before the emperor to report, “Reporting to Your Majesty, purple-green erosion marks can be seen across the late emperor’s skeletal remains. If this minister remembers correctly, this should be a rare poison from Dianzhong called ‘Bone-stripping String.’ It is administered by embedding a silk thread into the human body. Its onset is slow, taking at least months, but once it has taken deep hold, it is irreversible; certain death with no chance of survival.”
Upon hearing this, the assembled officials immediately erupted into a great clamor. If what Imperial Physician Qin and the others said was true, then what had kept the late emperor bedridden in his final years was not a “disease” at all, but “poison.” The late emperor had not died of illness as both the court and the commoners had believed!
A voice immediately rose from the crowd, “In the late Emperor’s final years, those who frequently attended to him were nothing more than a group of eunuchs and palace maids as well as the Empress Dowager and Consort Dowager Wu.”
Someone promptly retorted, “Lest you all forget, this is a rare poison from Dianzhong. We have never even heard of it, let alone seen it in a market. The two high-ranking ladies and ordinary servants live deep within the palace; where could they possibly obtain such a thing?”
Wang Chu ignored the chaotic arguments of the ministers. He merely raised his eyes and said gloomily to Lu Lingzhang: “Before the late Emperor breathed his last, the only ones attending him in the hall were the eunuch Zhong Zhao and Grand Tutor Zhang. Zhong Zhao vanished without a trace after that day; there is no guarantee that he did not harbor treasonous intent by poisoning the monarch before fleeing out of fear of punishment.”
Lu Lingzhang neither agreed nor disagreed. Instead, he suddenly raised his hands and began to unfasten his dragon robes, outer jacket, middle tunic, and inner shirt, one by one, without haste.
What finally met everyone’s eyes was the Son of Heaven’s young, naked torso. Upon that sickly pale skin were massive patches of purple-green mottling with several areas even showing signs of ulceration. Dark purple bruising formed a deep, thin line, on his right forearm, appearing exactly like the condition Imperial Physician Qin described when the “Bone-stripping String” becomes irremovable.
“Uncle,” Lu Lingzhang said with a faint, lingering smile, “since Zhong Zhao’s whereabouts are unknown, could these marks on Zhen’s own body also be the result of his poisonous plot?”
From his vantage point atop the Jade Terrace, Xie Jing could clearly observe everything occurring below. Seven days had passed since the seventh day of the month, yet this month, Wang Chu had not permitted Cui Shushi to replace the “Bone-stripping String” for him.
This fact, together with Wang Chu’s secret borrowing of troops from Huaiyang Commandery by dispatching Wang Qi to escort grain and supplies, and the rumor that “the Emperor would leave the city to receive the Eldest Princess’s coffin,” all combined allowed Xie Jing to infer that Wang Chu had sensed trouble in advance and was already on guard against Prince Zhao’s Mansion exploiting the situation to launch a move.
Xie Jing’s own right forearm, tightly bound with hemp rope, had already begun to take on a faint greenish hue, interspersed with occasional sharp, needle-like bursts of pain. The moment he saw Lu Lingzhang’s upper body, Xie Jing understood completely what fate awaited him if the string remained unreplaced.
As everyone could see, Lu Lingzhang, like the late emperor, Cui Shushi, and Xie Jing himself, had been subjected to the “Bone-stripping String” by his maternal clan.
Cui Shushi was likewise the person who replaced it for him every month, and her arrangement with Lu Lingzhang must have started from that as the initial trigger.
Given the condition of Lu Lingzhang’s body, the thread had not been replaced for at least nearly a hundred days; the poison had seeped into his marrow, and there was no longer any way to save him. From Wang Chu’s shocked expression, it was clear that this order to “stop the replacement” had not been issued by him.
That left only Lu Lingzhang himself.
It was he who had instructed Cui Shushi to stop replacing the string to allow it to progress to this shocking and irreversible state, all to serve as the most blunt and powerful physical evidence to topple the Prime Minister’s Mansion this very day!
And based on Xie Jing’s understanding of Cui Shushi, she would do nothing to stop Lu Lingzhang from acting this way.
The two must have reached an agreement shortly after Lu Lingzhang ascended the throne. Thus, Cui Shushi had known all along that one day, Lu Lingzhang would eventually use his own life to topple the Wang clan of Langya. After that, the imperial throne would naturally fall into the hands of Prince Zhao’s Mansion—what Cui Shushi wanted was simply a monarch capable of supporting the Cui clan of Qinghe. This was the fundamental reason why she chose to extend a helping hand to Xie Jing and form an alliance with Prince Zhao’s Mansion!
Before the gathered ministers could recover from the shock of the emperor opening the coffin, they were successively informed that both the late emperor and the current emperor had been afflicted with the Bone-stripping String with one had already died from the poison, while the other likely did not have much time left. At this moment, they were unable to even express their astonishment or confusion, falling instead into a long, helpless silence.
Lu Lingzhang, however, did not care whether they could process this, nor did he give them time to weigh the pros and cons or consider which side to take. He addressed the thousands of officials and soldiers after draping his robes loosely over his shoulders:
“Wang Chu’s second daughter-in-law, Madam Cui, can attest to this: in the fifteenth year of Zhenyou, he accidentally obtained the recipe for the Bone-stripping String. Not long after, he colluded with the Empress Dowager and used it on the late Emperor. And shortly after Zhen ascended the throne, he repeated the same scheme, administering this deadly poison to Zhen in order to coerce Zhen into handing over state power to him so he could stir up the court and monopolize authority!”
“Zhen has heard that the Jiangnan clans within the capital have already drafted over a dozen counts of grave crimes against the Prime Minister’s Mansion. Adding to this the intent to murder two successive monarchs and the ambition to usurp the state, then regardless of whether the matter of falsifying military intelligence was Minister Xie’s doing, it cannot change the fact that the Prime Minister’s Mansion is deeply mired in sin and warrants destruction by all!”
He turned abruptly and called out with iron determination to Lu Lingcong: “Prince Zhao!”
Lu Lingcong understood instantly and dropped to one knee in salute, “This minister is here!”
“Today, Zhen hereby entrust Imperial Brother with the heavy duty of purging those close to the throne. He shall lead the Tiger Division to arrest the traitor Wang Chu and his two sons. The Capital Garrison who left the capital with Zhen in recent days and have been following the Prime Minister’s Mansion’s orders are to be immediately placed under Imperial Brother’s command!”
Hearing this decree, the Capital Garrison behind them fell into a moment of panicked confusion, unsure whether to obey the Son of Heaven or continue to protect their former master, whose guilt was now set in stone. Lu Lingcong, however, did not hesitate for a second. He immediately led his troops charging across the riverbank to surround Wang Chu, Wang Xi, and several henchmen. He then addressed the Capital Garrison, “Think carefully. The moment Wang Qi returns, he will be imprisoned to await death. The grain he transports will be confiscated directly into the national treasury. If you do not wish to obey the emperor’s decree or submit to my discipline, feel free to play deaf and remain idle; just do not complain when you starve to death outside the city walls.”
Hearing his words and seeing that the Prime Minister’s Mansion had indeed lost its influence, the generals realized that Prince Zhao and his followers were fierce. They had only reached a stalemate these past days because they were reluctant to kill their comrades and were mindful of reputation and legitimacy; if a real battle broke out, there would be no good end. Thus, they stepped forward one after another before unbuckling their swords and bowing in submission.
Lu Lingcong ordered Wang Chu and the others to be bound, then came before Lu Lingzhang and said, “Your Majesty, please allow this minister to explain. This minister had long suspected the cause of Emperor Father’s death, but because the Prime Minister’s Mansion held excessive power, this minister did not dare speak openly and could only secretly take Zhong Zhao out of the capital for interrogation. However, Zhong Zhao was later silenced as well and is now no longer alive.”
“May Your Majesty now issue instructions; should we set out for the capital at once and bring the Prime Minister’s Mansion to account and imprison them?”
Lu Lingzhang stood rooted to the spot while maintaining calmness from beginning to end that made one feel as if thorns were pricking their back. “No need to rush. Since we have disturbed Emperor Father’s rest today, we must naturally investigate the matter to the very end to save ourselves from future troubles.”
He suddenly cast his gaze back toward the several imperial physicians gathered around the golden coffin and said eerily, “Head Physician Qin, what else have you discovered?”
Imperial Physician Qin replied impeccably, “Your Majesty, according to this minister’s calculations, although this poison of the Bone-stripping String was administered while the late Emperor was alive, judging by the depth of the marks on the bones, the poison only reached an uncontrollable state and spread gradually after death.”
“Oh?” Lu Lingzhang asked with an almost playful tone. “You mean to say that while the Prime Minister’s Mansion did indeed poison Emperor Father with the Bone-stripping String, the toxicity remained under control during his lifetime and never reached the state Zhen is in now?”
“Precisely,” Imperial Physician Qin said while trembling. “This minister found a fatal wound caused by a blunt instrument on the late Emperor’s lower jaw. Barring any accidents, this was the late Emperor’s true cause of death.”
“In that case,” Lu Lingzhang murmured, “it was a violent death; killed before his time.”
He contemplated for a moment. Suddenly, he turned his head slowly, inch by inch, until his face fully shifted. His gaze, sharp and piercing like a hook, locked onto a specific spot among the gathered ministers. “Since Zhong Zhao is dead, then the only person left who guarded the Imperial Presence at the moment of Emperor Father’s death; and who personally oversaw the funeral arrangements afterward is you alone—”
Lu Lingzhang stared at Zhang Yan expressionlessly. “—Grand Tutor?”
