荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

‘Reprimanded’... ‘flogged’... ‘criticize’... ‘house arrest’... ‘profess his crimes’...

The records of the imperial household described a Prince completely disregarded by the sovereign and punished in every way, completely different from the wise and powerful sovereign who had opened a new golden age for the Great Tang. And what exactly did ‘improper conduct’ mean?

What sort of improper things had the Sage Emperor done before his enthronement? What improper things could he have done?

Was such a thing possible for a man of the Sage Emperor’s temperament?

One thought after another ran through Wang Chong’s mind, and for a moment, Wang Chong simply stood there in a daze.

He found it nigh impossible to connect the events in this book to the Sage Emperor.

Impossible! This can’t be... Where is the mistake?

Wang Chong shook his head, banishing these thoughts from his mind. He could not bring himself to believe that the man in the book was the same as the decisive and wise Sage Emperor he knew. He suddenly thought back to his grandfather and Yao Chong.

It’s not right! There must be a problem somewhere. A Prince that was unworthy and improper would never obtain the hearts and minds of the people. And Grandfather and the other major officials would have never chosen to protect him, much less do all they could to assist him onto the throne during that War of the Princes!

His grandfather would not misjudge someone!

Nor would Yao Chong and the other major officials of the court!

And what happened afterward proved that his grandfather and Yao Chong had been right. Because they had made the right decision in choosing the Sage Emperor, the Great Tang had experienced an unprecedented golden age!

In the final analysis, he could not make any hard conclusions based on this book and the fragmentary records it contained.

Moreover, Wang Chong still did not know what ‘improper’ things Third Son Xuan had done that caused the previous Emperor to call him unworthy and to bring down his birth mother from Empress to consort.

Wang Chong continued to read, but he quickly reached the end of the book.

Wang Chong stood there in a daze, unable to say anything for a long time.

The book was done, but it had not answered any of Wang Chong’s questions.

“Did Your Highness obtain what you wanted?” the blind elder suddenly said, noticing that the sound of turning pages had ceased.

Wang Chong shook his head.

“No. This book alone is not enough to conclude anything. Venerable Sir, are there any other books?” Wang Chong hopefully asked.

“There are no others. This was the only book preserved.”

Disappointingly, the blind elder shook his head.

“However, while there are no books, there are some scraps that might be able to help you.”

The blind elder stood up and began walking farther into the building.

“Your Highness, follow me!”

Wang Chong was even more astonished, but he did not refuse. He followed the blind elder into the back.

The blind elder was clearly very familiar with this place, deftly navigating the halls despite being blind. In the innermost depths of the estate, the blind elder stopped in front of a locked room. He extracted a key that he kept close to his body. Clack! The lock was opened, and the elder pushed open the door.

The room was practically empty, but in the corner, Wang Chong saw a massive metal pot. The outside had been scorched black, and it seemed to be very old. In addition, there was a lid on top of the pot.

Wang Chong didn’t pay it much attention at first, but then he saw a golden python on the pot handle, and his mind reeled.

“A Fire-Eating Python Basin!”

This was a fire basin the palace used specifically for burning memorials and books.

Wang Chong had not imagined that the blind elder had even managed to bring out this sort of imperial fire basin from the palace.

“Each member of the Compassionate Virtue Hall has two fire basins in case there is too much to be burned in a short time,” the blind elder said.

In the Compassionate Virtue Hall, the memorials connected to all the countless inhabitants of the empire were gathered. If there was a famine or flood, pleas for aid and memorials would engulf the capital in a blizzard.

But the Compassionate Virtue Hall had a rule that, barring certain exceptions, all memorials had to be burned on the same day they were presented, and they had to be burned in the fire basins.

“I worked in the Compassionate Virtue Hall for several decades, and the only thing I brought when I left was this Fire-Eating Python Basin. The gate guards saw that I was old and blind, so they didn’t inspect it, allowing me to get it out.”

The old man paused before revealing the secret of this fire basin.

“When that lordship left, I saved the one book and then placed the lid on the basin to extinguish the fire.

“These basins are made specifically for the use of the Compassionate Virtue Hall, and all of them are specifically made to be airtight. Once the lid was on, the fire went out in a second. After this old man left the palace, he left the fire basin here. For decades, the door has remained shut. Not even that child Zhao-er is allowed to approach.

“This old man is blind and cannot see how much was saved from the fire. This old man simply wanted to do everything that he could. If, in the future, someone came to find these books, they might be able to search through the scraps. But as for the specifics, Your Highness, you will have to look for yourself.”

Wang Chong stood in a daze, staring at the Fire-Eating Python Basin as his eyes flickered with emotion. He had never imagined that the blind elder would even have something like this.

Not even he could imagine just how the blind elder had done it or what he had saved.

Wang Chong quickly got ahold of himself, his eyes turning steely. No matter what, he needed to find the truth that had been sealed by history.

“Many thanks, Senior.”

After saying this, Wang Chong quickly walked over.

Clang!

Upon opening the lid, he saw the scorched remains of books.

The covering of the lid seemed to have stopped the time, and everything seemed to have been frozen in the moment when the fire went out those many years ago.

Wang Chong put down the lid and lightly placed a hand on the basin. A trickle of Stellar Energy poured out, flowing into the basin and wrapping around the charred remains, freezing them in their last moments.

Whoosh!

A moment later, a curled and blackened page soared into the air. This paper had been turned into charcoal, and it was impossible to make out any words.

Under Wang Chong’s control, one blackened page after another flew out of the basin.

As time went on, the number of blackened pages in the basin dwindled, but Wang Chong found no useful information.

The blind elder had said that Eunuch Gao had been forced to leave early for some other matter, but it seemed that he had waited until all the books were ablaze before leaving. In these circumstances, it would be hard to find any remains.

Whoosh!

Another blackened page flew up, but a moment later, Wang Chong’s eyes widened and his face paled.

With this blackened page, he had finally found something different in the fire basin.

This page had not been completely burned. It was about three feet wide and four inches long. Though it was a rather small piece, it was Wang Chong’s greatest harvest to date.

Wang Chong immediately called the paper into his hand.

‘...fifteenth year. Third Son Xuan summoned six palace maids to Jade Dragon Palace in the middle of the night for a private affair. Upon discovery, the One Above was enraged...’

Wang Chong’s heart fiercely thumped when he read these words.

He was missing the upper half, but this incident was probably the same incident previously described in the book he had read as having taken place in the fifteenth year of the previous Emperor’s reign.

Wang Chong had read one of the last of the books Eunuch Gao had brought to be burned, so they covered the latest time period. Logically speaking, those books burned in the fire basin should have gone from first to last. Even if they were out of order, it would only be by a little.

He determined that this recorded an incident where Third Prince Xuan had indulged himself in pleasure in the fifteenth year of the previous Emperor’s reign and had an affair with six palace maids.

And Third Prince Xuan was none other than the Sage Emperor before he took the throne. Wang Chong’s heart trembled as he immediately thought back to the matter of the Sage Emperor calling for a selection of talented women. These two had exactly the same style, and Wang Chong suddenly understood why the previous Emperor had reprimanded Third Prince Xuan and called him unworthy.

If this record was true, the current Sage Emperor’s actions were completely explainable.

But the Sage Emperor had diligently reigned for thirty-some years, earning the respect of the people and strictly cleaving to the laws. Even the selection of women was a recent development. How could one explain this?

Which one of the two was the real Sage Emperor?

Wang Chong continued to read. There were still some words on this paper, but they were too scattered to read anything from them.

Wang Chong continued to search through the burned pages.

At this time, it became increasingly evident how important it was that the blind elder had placed the lid on at the end. Ninety percent of the pages had been completely burned, but some of them had managed to survive.

These unburned pages quickly revealed their contents to him.

‘...Third Son Xuan rode a eunuch around the garden like a horse... eleventh day, Third Son Xuan ordered the eunuchs to fight with each other to amuse him. Two were heavily injured. When the incident was discovered...’

‘The thirtieth day. The Fifth Son visited Jade Dragon Palace to fulfill his brotherly duty to the Sixth Son and observed him gambling with Third Son Xuan... the One Above was furious...’

‘...twelfth year. Zhang Rui, director of the Hanlin Academy and Imperial College received an imperial decree... teach the Princes. Third Son Xuan visited, said that Rui was a minor third rank official and savagely beat him in anger... the One Above was enraged...’

‘The seventh month, Jiangnan Circuit offered as tribute an auspicious beast. The One Above was delighted to see this and placed it in the imperial zoo... when Xuan was passing by, he demanded to have it, treating the auspicious beast as a horse and riding it around... when the matter was discovered...’

‘The thirteenth year, in Supreme Virtue Hall, the One Above heard that a palace maid had been raped by Third Son Xuan and that he privately punished palace maids and eunuchs, leading to two deaths...’