Chapter 296: Children’s Rhyme
“The Ziwei star falls, the Taibai star rises, the Azure Dragon breaks a wing and offends Tianshu…”
“The Eastern Palace’s golden seal is covered in dust, the blood in the Old Mausoleum Swamp has not dried…”
A strange tune, not quite music, droned and wailed, piercing Xue Sui’s ears with precision…
In the snowy ground of Fu’an Lane, a scrawny donkey was tethered. Three children in patched cotton jackets were hopping around the donkey, clutching frozen hardtack in their hands, their noses dripping with snot, singing with particular fervor…
Suddenly!
The donkey’s hooves struck the frozen hard ground, making a dull sound.
Startled, the three children screamed and scattered, running while still singing.
“The Ziwei star falls, the Taibai star rises. The Eastern Palace’s golden seal is covered in dust, the blood in the Old Mausoleum Swamp has not dried…”
Xue Sui sat in the green-curtained carriage heading to Sang Liu Courtyard and gently pulled aside a corner of the curtain.
She saw a vendor with a sugar cake sign hurrying past outside the carriage window.
By the wall, a blind fortune-teller in gray squatted, his fortune-telling banner greasy, and in the broken bowl before his stall lay a few frozen copper coins…
Two other women, their heads wrapped in scarves, walked along the wall with baskets of vegetables on their arms, murmuring softly.
“This dreadful weather!”
“Yesterday, we only heard it in the West City, how did it get here today as if it grew legs? Has it spread everywhere?”
Another woman hastily tugged her sleeve, her eyes warily scanning their surroundings.
“Hush, don’t say more, lest you bring trouble upon yourself.”
The cold wind, carrying snowflakes, gusted in. Xue Sui narrowed her eyes, feeling the elm wood bench beneath her make her waist and back numb.
What a chilling nursery rhyme that kills without drawing blood!
This was meant to nail Li Zhao to the execution platform for rebellion…
“They are quick, but this Heavenly Dao, its cycle has its own time, how can it be biased?”
She smiled faintly and was about to lower the curtain when she heard Jinshu softly call out.
“Young Lady.”
Xue Sui looked up.
At the alley entrance, a luxurious carriage with hanging silk curtains was slowly passing by, a conspicuous mark of Prince Duan’s Mansion carved on one corner of its body.
On the curtain, a slender hand painted with rouge slightly lifted a corner, and Xue Yuechen’s exquisitely made-up face peeked out.
“Sixth Sister…”
The sisters’ gazes, less than twenty feet apart across the wind and snow, suddenly met.
Xue Yuechen’s fingertips curled slightly into her sleeve cuff, and she immediately put on a smile.
“Long time no see, Sister seems to have lost more weight…”
“This nun, Miaozhen, greets the Princess Consort.” Xue Sui clasped her hands together. Her voice was not loud but clearly cut through the rumbling of the carriage, so polite that it made Xue Yuechen’s heart tighten, her smile freezing on her face.
“Giddy up—”
Prince Duan’s Mansion’s carriage stopped first.
Xue Yuechen steadied herself, forcing a smile.
“Sixth Sister? Where are you going? It’s so cold, why aren’t you dressed warmer? Is life in the nunnery bearable? Did you come from Xue Mansion? How is Grandmother’s health?”
She asked a string of questions, seemingly without waiting for answers.
Her gaze swept over Xue Sui’s Zen robe, then subtly glanced towards the depths of the alley.
The lingering echoes of the nursery rhyme still reverberated in the alley.
Xue Sui acted as if she hadn’t heard, her face as clear and cold as jade.
“I am going to fetch a doctor for Grandmother.”
Xue Yuechen sighed heavily, her eyes reddening again.
“Sister, you may not know… ever since you cut your hair and went to Shui Yue Nunnery, Grandmother’s health has not been good. The old ginseng that keeps her alive cannot be left aside for a day, but the mansion is not what it used to be. Most of the land has been sold, and our savings are long gone. Seeing the family decline, with constant legal troubles, and now this situation… alas…”
She paused at the right moment, leaving the unspoken implications for Xue Sui to guess.
“This is a time of many troubles. The Xue family is facing one misfortune after another. I don’t know when we can get through this storm and see a turning point, so we can preserve the family fortune left by our ancestors…”
Xue Sui watched her quietly.
“Did the Princess Consort also hear the nursery rhyme in the alley just now?”
The fingers Xue Yuechen used to grip the curtain tightened slightly.
In an instant, she forced a smile and said, “It’s just the nonsensical ramblings of street children, who would take it seriously? Sixth Sister, don’t overthink it.”
“This nun is an outsider; why should I overthink?” Xue Sui retorted.
She looked at Xue Yuechen, a smile curving her lips, but her gaze turned cold.
“However, to compose such a catchy nursery rhyme that spreads through the streets and alleys of the Capital City overnight, the ability to spout such nonsense is not small. Sister, residing in the Prince’s Mansion, with your ears and eyes everywhere, do you know where these rumors originate?”
Each of her words was heavier than the last, sharper than the one before.
Xue Yuechen subconsciously shrank back, her face turning somewhat displeased.
“Sixth Sister, speak with caution… such treasonous words, it’s enough if those ignorant commoners outside say them, but how can you and I speak them carelessly? If someone with ulterior motives overhears, they might twist things and bring immense disaster, implicating our maternal family…”
“I merely asked casually, the Princess Consort need not be nervous.”
Xue Sui’s voice remained steady, her eyes holding a knowing smile.
“Grandmother is gravely ill and cannot be delayed. I must hurry to fetch a doctor. If the Princess Consort intends to visit Grandmother at Xue Mansion, you should go now. Grandmother just woke up and is still lucid; she is thinking of the Princess Consort.”
“Very well.” Xue Yuechen felt a pang of guilt under Xue Sui’s gaze and seemed somewhat dejected.
“Farewell.”
Xue Sui nodded slightly, no longer looking at Xue Yuechen’s pale face, and lowered the heavy curtain.
“Go.”
With a soft command, the carriage quickly disappeared at the alley entrance.
Xue Yuechen remained frozen alone in the warm, luxurious carriage, her fingertips icy, Xue Liu’s question about the origin of the rhyme echoing repeatedly in her ears.
Her mind was in turmoil.
Xue Liu was finished, but the Xue family couldn’t be buried with her…
What should she do, how should she act…
–
The Eastern Palace.
Li Zhao’s tall figure cast a long shadow on the window paper, his handsome profile like cold jade, carrying a solitary, imposing pressure.
Yuan Cang stood before him with his hands clasped, reporting in a low voice.
“…The group in Yongfeng Back Alley withdrew in batches in the early hours, their movements secretive. Your subordinate has ordered men to tail the leader and observe their destination…”
He glanced at Li Zhao, his voice tinged with seriousness.
“Furthermore, the rumors outside are escalating. Prince Duan’s Mansion is fabricating celestial phenomena, spreading rumors, and instigating the Censorate to jointly memorialize, impeaching and framing ministers. Now the entire city points to Your Highness as a usurper, directly linking the Old Mausoleum Swamp bloody case to the Eastern Palace…”
Li Zhao stood with his hands behind his back by the window, gazing at the overcast sky.
“This widespread turmoil has finally arrived.”
At that moment, Lai Fu’s urgent and respectful announcement came from outside the hall.
“Your Highness… His Majesty’s oral decree summons you to Zichen Hall immediately to see him.”
Mei Ruhui’s heart suddenly tightened, and he looked up at Li Zhao.
A summons at this late hour, for what reason?
“Your Highness…” Mei Ruhui’s voice trembled, “Such a hasty summons, I fear it bodes ill.”
“Help me change.” Li Zhao said calmly, his voice betraying no emotion.
Mei Ruhui stepped forward quickly, “If His Majesty believes Prince Duan’s slander, it might be disadvantageous to Your Highness. Why not feign illness and postpone it for a night, and then make plans after investigating the truth…”
Li Zhao turned, his tone calm and unruffled, as if he had long anticipated this.
“This play has just begun, what is there to fear? They want to use celestial phenomena to suppress me? They must see if the heavens are strong enough.”
He strode out of the study, looking at the bamboo shadows swaying wildly in the courtyard from the strong wind, and suddenly let out a low laugh, a laugh laced with mockery.
Then, he calmly turned back and instructed Mei Ruhui.
“If I cannot return for a while, remember to send a message to Shui Yue Nunnery.”
