His hot blood gradually dispersed. During the execution, it was very difficult to hear his powerful curses and recitation of the laws of the Great Zhou, but Yang Xiushen's breath was still there. Although he was on the verge of death, exhaling more than he exhaled, his breath like gossamer, his bones were still hard, even though ten-some of his ribs had been broken long ago.
Yang Xiushen had never participated in the Grand Examination. He had entered the court through the ordinary imperial examination to become an official, and only after many years of hard work did he obtain the Divine Empress's appreciation, allowing him to become a civil official of the palace. In everyone's view, he should be thanking the Divine Empress for her kindness, but he continued to act as he did in the past, quietly doing his own work, recording everything that happened in the Imperial Palace.
Only in the autumn of the fourth year after the bloody incident of the Orthodox Academy did he suddenly submit a memorial.
This memorial was directed at Zhou Tong, and at the end, it also criticized the Divine Empress.
The Divine Empress was very unhappy and had him imprisoned in Zhou Prison. He suffered countless torments in prison, but he ultimately managed to endure and survive. In the end, he was pardoned, released, and transferred to the Bureau of Rites.
That was a matter from ten-some years ago.
Ten years later, he was once more imprisoned in Zhou Prison. This time, there were no more colleagues in the court to cry out for him, and the Divine Empress seemed to have forgotten his existence.
Zhou Tong looked through the bars at that mangled body lying on the grass. He squinted his eyes for a very long time before finally confirming that this was his greatest enemy from back then.
"Lord Yang truly is a loyal and chaste man. Even after suffering so much torture, you're still not willing to say a single word."
Zhou Tong continued, "But you're not the only one who knows of that matter back then."
Hearing his voice, Yang Xiushen struggled to move on the grass.
"Doctor Sun has spoken." Zhou Tong stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked out of the prison. "I came today only to bid farewell to you."
Hearing these words, Yang Xiushen's body tensed and then suddenly relaxed.
He had persisted until now, and now he finally had a reason not to persist. Of course, this did not mean that he would say anything, only that he could rest.
In the gloomy and gloomy prison cell came the sound of heavy objects being moved. Ten-some sacks filled with sand were carried in by the officials of the Department for Purging Officials and then placed on Yang Xiushen's body.
At the very start, Yang Xiushen's body would still twitch a few times and let out indistinct noises. Ultimately, his voice grew softer and softer until it stopped.
Black, almost congealed blood seeped out from his eyes and nostrils. It was as if he wanted to see if there was a Heavenly Dao in this world, if there was any justice.
Even if he died, he still had to keep his eyes open, as if he wanted to see if there was a Heavenly Dao in this world, and if there was any justice.
The autumn sun set in the courtyard. There were no flowers on the crabapple tree, but it was still beautiful.
Zhou Tong stood under the crabapple tree, his face slightly pale. It was probably because he hadn't seen the sun for many years.
An official of the Department for Purging Officials stood behind him, his body and mind so cold that not even the sunlight could warm him up.
An official of the Imperial Court had died in Zhou Prison.
Logically speaking, this was a very normal matter. Similar matters had occurred many times before, but this official of the Department for Purging Officials was Zhou Tong's most trusted subordinate and had followed him for several decades. He knew that this time was different from the past. In the past, those officials of the Imperial Court that had died in Zhou Prison had not been properly tried. Logically speaking, this was a grave violation of the laws of Zhou, but it did not go against the Divine Empress's will.
The Divine Empress did not want to see those officials again, so those officials would quietly die.
But this time was different. He was keenly aware that Lord Zhou Tong was privately investigating something. The Divine Empress did not know of it, nor did she know of the news of Yang Xiushen's death.
He gazed at Zhou Tong, his gaze falling upon that crimson official's robe. He did not see the endless sea of blood or the monstrous killing intent as he normally did, but he faintly felt a sense of unease and even fear.
Why was Lord Zhou Tong doing this? Just what did he want to know by taking the risk of the Empress' rage and secretly interrogating so many people? What is he afraid of?
…
…
If Black Robe could be said to be the person with the most secrets in the world, then Zhou Tong could be said to be the person who grasped the most secrets in the world.
To him, secrets were like gold and silver, or like power and status. The more he had, the better. The more he had, the safer he would feel.
Starting from a year ago, he had begun to attempt to discover the secrets on Chen Changsheng's body, but alas, he had never made much progress. The only progress he had made was because it involved the Imperial Palace and was highly likely to discover the Divine Empress's secret, so he had been forced to stop. However, no one knew that he had always been secretly investigating.
He was the person who had first suspected that Chen Changsheng was Crown Prince Zhaoming. The rumor that had suddenly spread through the capital last year had originally been deliberately spread by him.
The secret that he most wanted to know was this matter.
At the time, he had only guessed, but he had not been able to confirm it, because there were many areas that were difficult to understand.
If Chen Changsheng really was Crown Prince Zhaoming, why had Shang Xingzhou sent him to the capital, to the Empress?
The most dangerous place was the safest place?
Moreover, Chen Changsheng's age did not match with Crown Prince Zhaoming's. On the contrary, that little fellow called Yu Ren did.
When false becomes true, true becomes false?
Everyone who had met Chen Changsheng said that he matured early, that he was calm and composed, and that he did not seem like a youth.
Before Mei Lisha died, he was still reading the Scroll of Time.
Many clues were gathered in this courtyard of blooming crabapple blossoms, and countless details gradually began to weave together in his mind.
In the end, all of this pointed to an unbelievable deduction: Chen Changsheng was Crown Prince Zhaoming, and his age had been forcefully changed by the Scroll of Time.
This deduction was too wild and inconceivable. He still found it impossible to believe, so he continued to investigate in secret.
But he had searched through all the secret records of the palace and found nothing. He had secretly imprisoned many people who had been involved in this matter, including the midwife who had delivered the child and those old people of the Imperial Physician Bureau who had retired long ago. Only today did he finally confirm that when Crown Prince Zhaoming was born, the sun wheel in his body had already ruptured.
If it were merely this discovery, it would not have moved him. This was because he knew that the Divine Empress had once defied the heavens and changed her fate. When she sacrificed herself to the starry sky, she had sworn an incomparably vicious oath that she was fated to die of old age, so she naturally could not leave behind any children. Before the inconspicuously moving yet irreversible Heavenly Dao, Crown Prince Zhaoming would naturally die.
But a few days ago, he had seen a secret message between the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets and the Imperial Palace and learned of another secret.
Chen Changsheng was a member of the Imperial clan and he was sick. His illness originated from when he was still in his mother's womb, the sun wheel in his body had already ruptured.
Just like Crown Prince Zhaoming.
Zhou Tong began to feel uneasy, even fearful.
If Chen Changsheng really was Crown Prince Zhaoming and he was still alive, what did that mean?
It meant that the Divine Empress had not completely succeeded in changing her fate!
As long as Chen Changsheng was alive, the Divine Empress might suffer a backlash from the Heavenly Dao!
If this matter was used by those opponents hidden in the shadows, would the Divine Empress still be able to sit peacefully on the imperial throne?
Zhou Tong was keenly aware of what sort of miserable end he would face if the Empress lost power.
He was also loyal to the Empress, but he was different from Xue Xingchuan and the other Divine Generals. Those Divine Generals had armies under their command. If the Chen Imperial clan regained the imperial throne, for the sake of stabilizing the situation, as long as those Divine Generals were willing to switch allegiances, they would absolutely not suffer any attacks. At the very least, there would be no problems for the next several years.
But no one would permit him to live.
Everyone knew that he was the Divine Empress's most loyal and craziest dog.
He had bitten too many people to death for the Empress, shouldered too many debts of blood.
He did not want to die.
Even a dog had a desire to live out an ignoble existence.
How could this matter be resolved? It seemed very simple. Just as many people thought, the Divine Empress only needed to kill Chen Changsheng.
In the eyes of everyone in the world, the Divine Empress was callous to the extreme and simply did not care about these matters.
But Zhou Tong had followed the Empress for many years and knew that those legends among the people were not completely true.
The Empress truly did not have a bloodline to pass down and the Princess of Ping had been adopted, but when had she ever personally smothered her own son to death?
In the end, the Empress was still a woman. If she really did discover that Chen Changsheng was her own son and her heart softened, what would happen?
Her heart could not be softened, she could not disregard the Heavenly Dao, she could not take risks!
Zhou Tong's complexion grew paler and paler. His red official's gown slightly trembled, stirring up bloody waves in the early autumn sun.
"Let me share the Empress's burden."
He silently thought to himself.
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