The woods fell deathly silent until, after a moment, a crow flapped its wings and flew off from a branch.
Empress Lu’s face stiffened as she hissed, “Xiao Yan, you’re burning bridges!”
Xiao Yan’s eyelids lifted slightly. “When did I ever build a bridge with you?”
“You!”
Empress Lu hadn’t expected him to turn on her so quickly, her burned face twisting grotesquely. “You dare deny it?!”
“You promised that if I helped you bring down the Lu family and clear the He family’s name, you’d help my son ascend the throne. You swore to work with me, using the dead of the He family as your oath!”
“Now you go back on your word, aren’t you afraid their restless souls will haunt you, dragging you to eternal damnation?”
The He family!
The Song family trio flinched, and Song Jinxiu, trapped in the coffin, widened his eyes in shock.
Who else could Empress Lu be referring to, exchanging a throne for vindication, but the He family, obliterated over a decade ago?
Xiao Yan was from the He family?!
Song Hong reacted first, his face ashen, wishing he could cover his ears and silence Empress Lu. Hearing such a secret, how could they survive today?
Xiao Yan, seemingly oblivious to the Song family’s expressions, only smirked lazily. “I did promise you, but I never guaranteed he’d ascend the throne alive. Don’t worry, I’m a reasonable man. If you and your son die tonight, I’ll ensure your son’s corpse sits on the throne someday, fulfilling your wish.”
“Xiao Yan, you shameless bastard!” Empress Lu’s face contorted. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell His Majesty you’re a He?!”
Xiao Yan’s smile widened. “That assumes His Majesty knows you’re still alive.”
Empress Lu was horrified. “What do you mean?!”
Cang Lang chimed in helpfully, “Didn’t you know, Your Majesty? Resenting His Majesty for throwing you into the cold palace and ordering the Fourth Prince’s death, and knowing your affair with Prince Cheng was exposed, you set yourself on fire in the cold palace tonight.”
“With the wind in the capital tonight, the fire might’ve burned half the palace. By now, the corpse in the cold palace is probably charred to ashes…”
Empress Lu’s unscarred half-face went deathly pale, her wide eyes trembling as she glared at Xiao Yan. “You… you all…”
Xiao Yan, uninterested in her ramblings, cut in, “In the second year of Yonghe, how did Song Xi and his wife die?”
Empress Lu’s breath hitched.
Song Hong and his mother’s faces drained of color.
Xiao Yan’s tone was cold. “I don’t like repeating myself.”
Empress Lu’s voice shook. “What does Supervisor Xiao mean? What do the Song family’s affairs have to do with me? Everyone in the capital knows Song Xi and his wife died in an accident…”
“An accident? Or did you kill my mother because she noticed you were searching for Taizu’s relic?” Tang Ning’s words sent a chill through Empress Lu.
The August mountains weren’t as hot as before, and the grave’s eerie chill was terrifying.
Forgetting her pain, Empress Lu looked up in shock. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I knew your mother long ago and was close with the Rong family. We were friends when she was young. After Tutor Rong’s death, she entrusted you to me, leading to the marriage alliance with the Lu family…”
Empress Lu hid her panic, forcing calm. “I don’t know who told you what, but I’ve never heard of any Taizu relic, nor did I harm your parents…”
Mid-sentence, Tang Ning threw a box at her. Empress Lu instinctively recoiled, and the box crashed open on the ground, revealing a severed hand with a white jade pendant tied by a red cord, landing at her feet.
“Zheng’er!!”
Empress Lu recognized it instantly. The white jade Guanyin was one she’d personally sought for the Fourth Prince, and the red cord was a safety knot she’d woven for his seventeenth birthday. When it once broke, he’d pestered her to reweave it.
Kneeling, clutching the hand, she screamed, “Song Tang Ning, you’re insane! How dare you harm my son, you lunatic!”
“Whether I’m insane depends on you,” Tang Ning said coldly, looking down. “I don’t like hearing nonsense. Answer my question. If there’s one lie, I won’t mind sending your son to you piece by piece.”
Empress Lu wanted to curse, to say she wouldn’t dare, but meeting Tang Ning’s dark, chilling eyes and seeing the towering figure beside her, she knew Tang Ning meant it.
They already knew about Song Xi and his wife. Tonight, targeting her and the Song family, they had no intention of letting them go.
If she didn’t confess, Tang Ning would torture her son, making death a luxury.
Trembling, Empress Lu’s courage ebbed like a tide. She cursed herself for not killing Tang Ning back then, now slumped on the ground, clutching the severed hand in despair. “I’ll tell you, spare Zheng’er. He knows nothing…”
“Cang Lang, go cut off the Fourth Prince’s leg!”
As Tang Ning spoke, Cang Lang turned to leave.
Empress Lu, forgetting her bargaining, scrambled forward on her knees, shrieking, “Don’t go! Don’t touch Zheng’er! I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything!!”
Cang Lang stopped. Tang Ning looked down at her.
Swallowing hard under their gazes, Empress Lu said, “How did you learn about Taizu’s relic?”
Tang Ning’s eyes turned colder.
Empress Lu quickly backtracked. “I won’t ask. Back then, even the late emperor was kept in the dark about what Taizu left for the Crown Prince. By the time he learned, it was too late. After the Crown Prince’s death, he searched the Eastern Palace but found nothing.”
“Rong Qian’an was closest to the Crown Prince, but for some reason, the late emperor was wary of the Rong family and never searched their home until his death.”
“When I accidentally learned the relic might be with the Rong family, I investigated and found that after the Crown Prince’s treason case, Lady Rong had visited the palace and then left the capital for a time, her whereabouts unknown. I tried to get information from her, but she noticed.”
Looking at Tang Ning, she continued, “I never meant to kill them. I only wanted to bring them back to the capital secretly. But they fled desperately and ran into a landslide. By the time we found them, Song Xi was already dead.”
“Lady Rong was still alive then. Fearing trouble if the Rong family took them back, I turned to the Song family. I only asked them to pretend the couple was dead and bring their ‘remains’ back to the Song family. I didn’t want Lady Rong’s life.”
“When she was sent to the Song family, she was still breathing. I only asked them to find out about Taizu’s relic…”
“It was them! The Song family killed Lady Rong!”
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T/N: Finally some closure
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You can read ahead to chapterr 470 (100+ extra chapters) here
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