The ancestral hall was deathly silent. The dense array of memorial tablets seemed to peer down from the clouds, silent and mute.
Prince Ning stood there for a long while. His gnarled hand landed on his son's shoulder. "If you're guilty, what should I do?"
The sandalwood incense in the ancestral hall curled up, weaving a thin mist between the father and son.
"I, as the head of the Xiao family, was oblivious to the filth right under my nose. Instead, I indulged that guilty woman, which ultimately led to today's great calamity..." The old man's Adam's apple bobbed. "If I'm the one who's made your three elder brothers restless in their graves, then I am the chief culprit."
"Father..."
"Get up," Prince Ning said. "You've endured in silence all these years. In the end, it's because you were afraid of putting me and your mother in a difficult position... If your three elder brothers really know what's going on in the afterlife, they won't blame you..."
However, Xiao Jingnan still knelt there motionless.
With his head bowed, he was like a sword thrust into this desolate land.
Prince Ning looked at him for a while, then finally let out a long sigh. He patted his son's shoulder and walked out.
After Prince Ning's footsteps faded away, Li Wanming could no longer hold back. She lifted her skirt and slipped into the ancestral hall.
"Second aunt has gone to the palace. Do you know that?" she said impatiently. "What if she knows something and tells the Empress Dowager? Won't you all be doomed?"
She couldn't help reaching out to push him. "How can you still have time to repent here?"
But Xiao Jingnan suddenly raised his eyes and held her hand. He said something out of the blue. "Pei Yanqi has been dismissed by the Empress Dowager. Do you know that?"
"Ah?" Li Wanming was stunned.
Xiao Jingnan said, "The case of the Kang father and son has been investigated to the point where there's nothing more to investigate."
"The Empress Dowager wants to give a lenient punishment. The Court of Judicial Review has postponed the case due to insufficient evidence. The Ministry of Justice has said nothing, and Prime Minister Fang's attitude is unclear. Only the Censorate has been clinging to this case... Do you know why?"
His voice was calm, but the corners of his mouth slowly curled up. "Because Pei Yanqi is the assistant censor of the Censorate. He insists on handling the case impartially and punishing the Kang father and son..."
"Yesterday in the palace, Pei Yanqi offended the Empress Dowager again. The Empress Dowager was so angry that she immediately issued an order to deprive him of his official position."
Li Wanming was completely confused.
She couldn't understand at all why Xiao Jingnan was saying all this at this critical moment.
But since he wanted to say it, there must be a reason. She just listened quietly.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Jingnan suddenly let out a soft laugh. "But before the Empress Dowager's order could be issued, Censor Yan of the Censorate immediately took off his official hat!"
"He said that Pei Yanqi was upright and impartial in enforcing the law. He was exactly the young talent that the Great Sheng Dynasty needed. If he was dismissed for demanding the punishment of the national traitor who had colluded with foreign countries, then he, as a censor of the Censorate, didn't need to do this job either!"
"The Empress Dowager was so angry that she had an attack of her headache on the spot. The Hall of Longevity and Peace was brightly lit all night. Three imperial physicians stayed up all night, not daring to close their eyes."
He laughed so hard that he clutched his stomach. "Do you think the Empress Dowager will have the mood to listen to second aunt's complaints at this time?"
Li Wanming suddenly realized.
Yes.
First, the Kang father and son were imprisoned, and then there were rumors of black magic in the capital. The Empress Dowager Kang must be extremely annoyed now!
Kang Shi went to the palace at this time, and she was just hitting the Empress Dowager's sore spot.
Moreover, the night before last, there was a ruckus in Prince Ning's mansion. They caught a thief in the middle of the night and invited a doctor in a hurry. The whole place was in chaos... How could the Empress Dowager Kang not have heard a single word?
Black magic was strictly forbidden in the palace.
The Empress Dowager Kang was full of anger and had nowhere to vent it. As a result, Kang Shi just walked into the trap herself!
"The Empress Dowager didn't even see her. She just told the head maid to tie her up and send her to the Department of Punishment."
A huge stone in Li Wanming's heart finally fell.
"Thank goodness... Hey, how do you know all this so clearly?"
"Because I've been in the palace since yesterday," Xiao Jingnan's eyes flashed with a hint of cunning. "I didn't leave the palace and go home until I saw second aunt being escorted into the Department of Punishment."
The heart that Li Wanming had just put down was raised again. "Then you still have time to talk to me here! Once she's in the Department of Punishment, it's only a matter of time before she confesses. What if she really knows something..."
"Don't worry," Xiao Jingnan said. "I've already talked to the doctor of the Department of Punishment. I told him that after all, she's an elder of the Xiao family. They can't torture her. They must treat her well... They know the importance of this, so they definitely won't dare to interrogate her."
Li Wanming finally felt relieved.
The twilight was gradually deepening. The candles in the ancestral hall flickered unsteadily. The stacked memorial tablets loomed in the darkness, like dormant beasts.
Li Wanming subconsciously leaned closer to Xiao Jingnan.
"How much longer are you going to kneel?"
"Didn't you say you don't believe in all this nonsense about ghosts and gods?"
"Get up. Your three elder brothers won't blame you."
"Maybe they're even blessing you. Otherwise, how could you have lived to this day in good health?"
Xiao Jingnan finally burst out laughing. "If my elder brothers have spirits, they must be blessing me. Otherwise, they wouldn't have let me meet you."
Li Wanming suddenly remembered something. "Hey, I remember when I first met you, your health was very poor. It was only later that you gradually got better... Could it be that my birth date really can help you ward off disasters?"
"I was in poor health. Half of it was because I was born prematurely, and the other half was because my mother doted on me too much," Xiao Jingnan said. "My three elder brothers died young, so my mother regarded me as the most important thing in the world. She wished she could lock me in the room every day, for fear that something might go wrong... How could my health be good?"
"After I met you, you ignored me and didn't care about me at all. You just let me eat and drink as I pleased and wander around everywhere. Naturally, my health gradually improved."
Li Wanming proudly raised her chin. "So, it was me who saved your life."
"Yes," Xiao Jingnan whispered with a soft laugh. "May the ancestors bless me. They let me marry a beautiful wife who saved my life."
"Pfft. You're in front of the ancestors. Be more serious!"
Li Wanming raised her head and looked at the stacked memorial tablets that resembled a pagoda. Suddenly, she didn't feel so scared anymore.
Yes, the people resting here were all the closest relatives of the Xiao family. If they really had spirits in the afterlife, they would surely bless their descendants with peace and happiness.
"Second aunt was so eager to go to the palace to complain this time, but she didn't expect to run into you. She didn't even have a chance to say anything. It must be the blessing of the ancestors..."
"Well, just because she didn't say anything now doesn't mean she won't have a chance later," Xiao Jingnan suddenly tilted his head. A glint of uncertain light flashed in his eyes. "Maybe the Empress Dowager's headache will go away tomorrow, and she'll suddenly remember her?"
Li Wanming was anxious. Her fingers tightened on his arm. "Then what should we do?"
Xiao Jingnan looked up at the silent memorial tablets and let out a soft sigh. "So, we can only ask the ancestors to bless us!"
Ask the ancestors to bless them?
This was never Xiao Jingnan's style...
The wind howled through the corridor, swirling the fallen leaves in the courtyard.
A bolt of lightning flashed through Li Wanming's mind. She suddenly let go of her hand and staggered back two steps.
"You're going to... You're going to..."
She was extremely shocked. Her face turned pale, and her throat tightened. She tried to say something several times, but in the end, she didn't dare to say the rest of the words.