Chapter 126: Embers
Ping Le’s gaze was vacant, her fingertips digging uncontrollably deep into her palm, as if trying to embed all her panic and anger into her skin and flesh.
“This is outrageous! Any Tom, Dick, or Harry dares to step all over this Princess, do they really think this Palace is easy to bully?”
The sound of clashing armor echoed from afar.
Before General Wei Yuan even arrived, his booming voice preceded him.
“Princess, please forgive me! Your subordinate was patrolling the capital region’s defenses and saw the villa catch fire, so I rushed to assist!”
Xue Qingxiu followed behind General Wei Yuan, closing the distance in a few steps. His right eye narrowed slightly as his gaze swept over Ping Le’s disheveled hair. He raised his hand.
A group of silver-armored guards stood in neat formation, startling the crows on the eaves into scattering.
“Princess, may you be safe. Your subordinates are here to escort you.”
Seeing this, Ping Le suddenly let out a light laugh.
“This Palace and the Imperial Son-in-law were admiring the moon when a candlestick tipped over, disturbing the two esteemed sirs.”
As she spoke, she gently twined her lacquered fingertips around Lu You’an’s sleeve, her voice carrying an unquestionable authority and arrogance.
“However, the open flame has been extinguished. Your grand mobilization makes it seem like a fuss over nothing. Please return.”
The mountain wind howled past, carrying a strong smell of burning.
Xue Qingxiu suddenly sniffed, his gaze falling on the cascading waterfall, his expression grave.
“This smoke smells like agarwood. Where exactly did the fire start? General, for the Princess’s safety, it would be best to conduct a thorough inspection.”
“Insolent!” Ping Le flicked her sleeve abruptly.
The dignity cultivated over twenty years of high position erupted at this moment.
“Is the Colonel Yi Hui intending to search this Princess’s separate villa? You have quite the nerve! Whose decree are you following? Whose master do you serve?”
Ever since she was poisoned at the Hundred Flowers Banquet, she had suffered from a chronic illness and her health had always been frail.
At this moment, her emotions suddenly surged, and her breathing became unstable, sweat breaking out, her legs weakening, and even her breathing becoming rapid and heavy…
Lu You’an reached out and pressed her trembling shoulders.
This action made Ping Le freeze instantly, and she quieted down immediately—after many years of marriage, he had never been so intimate with her in front of others.
“The Princess is drunk,” Lu You’an’s voice was as cold as if it had been steeped in a frigid pool.
He glanced at Ping Le, then walked forward with a complex expression, cupping his hands in a bow to everyone.
“Thank you both, sirs, for your concern! However, the fire has already been extinguished, and only embers remain. It would be too much to trouble you further. Moreover, the Princess has always preferred quiet and dislikes being disturbed. General Wei Yuan, Colonel Yi Hui, I beg your understanding.”
The smell of burning still faintly lingered in the air, but looking around, there was indeed no sign of open flames.
If the Princess and the Imperial Son-in-law were asking them to leave, and they insisted on staying, it would be a sign of their lack of social grace.
Qi Mingyang glanced at Xue Qingxiu.
“In that case, Colonel Xue, let’s go.”
Xue Qingxiu responded with a “Yes,” his gaze fixed on the direction of the cascading waterfall, lost in thought.
“Boom—”
Just then, a burst of fire erupted from the mountainside next to the waterfall.
It was already dry in the height of summer, and the mountain wind fanned the flames, which leaped up like ferocious beasts.
Xue Qingxiu’s eyes sharpened, and he shouted anxiously.
“General, look quickly, it’s burning over there!”
General Wei Yuan’s eyes widened.
“My heavens, this cursed weather, with such strong winds, what will happen if a mountain fire breaks out? Colonel Xue, quickly take your men to extinguish it!”
Xue Qingxiu quickly replied, “Yes, everyone, follow me!”
“Did this Princess give permission?!”
Ping Le blocked their path, her face filled with anger.
“You have no right to interfere in this Princess’s separate villa!”
Xue Qingxiu took a half-step forward and cupped his hands, “If the fire spreads, the consequences would be unimaginable.”
He paused, subtly blocking Qi Mingyang’s view, his gaze falling on the Eastern Pearls dangling from Ping Le’s earrings, as if hinting, with a hint of provocation in his eyes.
“Military supplies are a matter of national importance. We ask the Princess to reconsider.”
Ping Le’s pupils contracted sharply.
Seeing Xue Qingxiu’s expression, she thought of Xue Liu.
Thinking of Xue Liu, she was instantly enraged, letting out a cold laugh, trembling with anger.
“Do you, a third-rate servant, have the right to speak in front of this Princess? I don’t need you to teach me what to do. Take your men and get out immediately—”
Xue Qingxiu’s expression remained unchanged, but Wei Mingyang was furious.
He was Xue Qingxiu’s superior officer. Initially, he was reluctant when Xue Qingxiu wanted to get involved in the trivial matters at Ping Le’s separate villa.
But now that they were here, seeing the Princess so arrogant and dismissive of his soldiers, even calling them “third-rate servants,” he was filled with righteous anger.
“Princess, please calm your anger.”
Qi Mingyang spoke coldly, suddenly drawing the saber at his waist. The faded red silk wrapped around the hilt fluttered in the mountain wind—
“This horse-slaying saber was bestowed by His Majesty. It is my duty to defend the land and protect the people, and this is surely His Majesty’s expectation. The fire is urgent, and I hope the Princess will consider the greater good!”
Ping Le was furious.
She was already a person who couldn’t stand being provoked. Under the confrontation with Xue Qingxiu and Qi Mingyang, the mania from her chronic illness intensified. Her whole body trembled, her eyes were bloodshot, like a raging beast.
“This Princess forbids it, and it shall not be done!”
“Guards, throw these audacious wretches out for this Princess!”
In an instant.
A group of guards from the Princess’s Mansion quickly formed a line, blocking the silver-armored soldiers.
The two sides confronted each other, swords drawn.
However, in just a moment, the flames climbed up the mountain behind the waterfall, clinging to the withered vines, spreading rapidly and dyeing half the night sky a strange blood-red.
The heat, carrying embers, surged back towards the separate villa like raindrops.
Xue Qingxiu said urgently, “Princess Ping Le, if we don’t put out the fire now, it will be too late.”
Once the fire got out of control, the entire West Mountain Villa would turn to ashes.
This was something Ping Le had built with countless effort and resources…
She was reluctant to let it go, but dared not give her consent.
“This Princess will handle it herself. You do not need to worry. Get out!”
—
The raging fire illuminated the night sky.
The West Mountain was high, and the towering flames could be seen from afar.
“It’s the Dragon Sacrifice Pool!” The nearby villagers saw the fire.
Someone roared in anger, “The damned Princess, to build her villa, occupied our fields and houses, and filled in our Dragon Sacrifice Pool! Now the West Mountain is on fire, this is clearly divine retribution!”
“Let’s go, let’s go see!”
“Let’s go see!”
Countless villagers spread the word, their hearts filled with righteous indignation. They gathered like a surging tide, rushing towards the West Mountain Villa.
Unknowingly, hundreds of villagers had already gathered.
Some held shovels, some carried wooden poles, and the woman at the front tightly held a crying infant.
These were mostly villagers whose land had been forcibly requisitioned by Ping Le. Now, the anger burned in their clouded eyes, the rage of the long-oppressed, now fully ignited.
Some bolder ones climbed the walls, and some even climbed trees.
The crowd was incensed, shouting loudly.
“My ancestral graves are by the Dragon Sacrifice Pool. Princess Ping Le dug up my ancestral graves, it’s unforgivable by heaven’s law…”
“You forcibly occupied our land and ruined our livelihoods. Today, we must have justice!”
“Return our homes!”
“Return our hard-earned money!”
Accusations rose one after another, louder than the last.
Some cried out with tears, full of despair.
“We beg the esteemed sirs to show mercy and uphold justice for us common folk.”
The people’s grievances boiled over, and Qi Mingyang felt a cold sweat break out on his back.
He had only come to put out the fire, and had not expected to be caught up in this storm.
“Let’s put out the fire first!”
Xue Qingxiu also raised his arms and shouted, “Put out the fire!”
He then shouted to the villagers, “What are you all standing around for? Come and help put out the fire!”
As the villagers moved, the guards of the West Mountain Villa were no longer enough.
They dared not beat the villagers in public, so they could only use their bodies to block them. For a time, the two sides pushed and shoved, shouting at each other, and soon it devolved into chaos, with no one attending to the fire.
Amidst the towering flames, heat waves surged and rolled.
The smell of burning spices grew more intense.
In the stone cellar, flames leaped thirty feet high, burning through the carved beams and wooden frames. Spices, nanmu wood, and tribute silk were reduced to ashes. This relatively enclosed space became a high-temperature furnace, slowly melting the official silver…
And the scorched rocks near the fire source suddenly cracked open under the high temperature, and the molten silver flowed down the hot stone cracks, adhering to the stone walls and solidifying into a peculiar pattern…
Someone with sharp eyes suddenly screamed, “It’s molten silver! There’s silver hidden inside!”
This shout instantly caused an uproar in the crowd.
“There’s silver, it’s all silver inside!”
The crowd rushed forward with shouts.
Ping Le trembled all over, her distant eyebrows twisting into an unnatural arc.
“Who dares?”
“Stop them, stop these unruly commoners!”
At this moment, she finally understood that this fire was not an accident—
Someone had calculated the direction of the mountain wind, the melting point of the official silver, and had even drawn the displaced villagers to gather, clearly aiming to expose her secret of hoarding wealth.
But clearly, the other party had not accounted for the Emperor’s arrival!
“His Majesty arrives—”
A sharp announcement pierced the night sky, instantly breaking the chaotic situation.
Palace lanterns entered in a procession, their imperial yellow color particularly striking in the firelight.
Emperor Chong Zhao, majestic and imposing, strode forward through the scorched air, Consort Xiao by his side. The corner of her luxurious palace gown was lifted by the heat, her face beautiful and her demeanor graceful, not at all like a mother of two grown children.
Seeing this, everyone in the courtyard knelt down in unison.
“May His Majesty live for ten thousand years.”
The mountain-like cheers resounded through the heavens.
Ping Le suddenly let out a low laugh.
“This is fate. What’s the point of calculating everything?”
“This Princess is born noble, heaven protects me!”
She thought to herself, wiped her reddened eyes, and staggered forward to complain to the Emperor, but Lu You’an grabbed her wrist.
This Imperial Son-in-law, usually as gentle as jade, now had a coldness in his eyes that she had never seen before, his voice low but piercing.
“Princess, do not startle His Majesty, nor speak carelessly.”
Ping Le’s pupils contracted.
Lu You’an was warning her not to make baseless accusations.
He held something over her.
Emperor Chong Zhao frowned and glanced over, “What is going on here?”
Ping Le forced herself to calm down and, with perfect composure, walked towards the Emperor and bowed gracefully.
“Imperial Father, today your daughter and the Imperial Son-in-law were admiring the moon at West Mountain. Unfortunately, due to a moment of carelessness, the candlelight ignited. General Wei Yuan came to help your daughter extinguish the fire.”
Emperor Chong Zhao nodded slightly, “It’s good that no one was harmed.”
Having been a cunning old fox his entire life, how could he not see the strangeness of the situation?
Emperor Chong Zhao subtly raised his hand, signaling everyone to rise.
“With the fire at hand, there is no need for excessive ceremony. All soldiers, attend to your duties. General Wei Yuan, you may continue your patrol of the defenses; the Imperial Guards will handle this.”
The Emperor had brought quite a few Imperial Guards.
With the Emperor’s command, Qi Mingyang and Xue Qingxiu dared not delay and led their subordinates to retreat in an orderly fashion…
However, although the Emperor had sent them away, he could not send away the incensed villagers, nor the many more who were still arriving.
Hearing that the Emperor had arrived, some knelt and kowtowed, accusing the Princess of her wicked deeds, while others took advantage of the chaos to rush past the guards, intending to smash open the Princess’s treasury and see how much of the people’s wealth she had hidden.
The Imperial Guards had to stop the villagers and prevent them from approaching His Majesty. How could they possibly put out the fire?
The scene became more chaotic, and the fire grew more ferocious—
A loud explosion came from the depths of the stone cellar. The bronze cauldron cracked open from the heat, emitting a dull sound. The golden nanmu wood Buddha shrine had long since turned to ashes in the great fire, and the gold bricks on the ground gradually deformed under the high temperature, losing their original appearance.
The door of the stone cellar was finally forced open by the chaotic crowd in the raging fire. Someone had unlocked the ingenious lock…
When the golden Buddha head was presented to Emperor Chong Zhao, over fifty silver ingots engraved with “Chong Zhao Tenth Year Jiangnan Supervision and Tax Silver” were rescued from the embers and rolled to Emperor Chong Zhao’s feet…
When the scattered gold and silver treasures came into view…
When Fan Bing’s charred and twisted corpse was dragged out of the fiery pit…
Emperor Chong Zhao’s throat felt a sweet, metallic taste, his face turning pale and ashen.
He had thought Ping Le was merely willful and spoiled, never imagining she would do something like this…
