Chapter 198: Hello Chang’an
Chapter 198: Just in Time
2023-05-25
Chang Suining: “The heir is still ill, and your residence must be busy. Since you sincerely invited me, I will ensure not to disturb you unnecessarily.”
Li Lu smiled slightly: “Lady Chang is indeed considerate.”
He continued: “I anticipated that Lady Chang would come, and I also figured you might not use the main gate. So, I had instructed the guards not to stop you, to avoid causing any misunderstandings... But now, it seems I worried too much.”
Though he had instructed not to stop her, he also had ordered that if anyone arrived, they must first report to him.
Yet now, the person had already entered his private quarters, and none of the guards noticed.
His household guards were not entirely for show; among the obvious ones, there were some capable people, but they still failed to notice someone entering.
At this moment, hurried footsteps were heard from outside the room.
The person pushed the door open and stopped outside the bead curtain, bowing in apology, his voice tight with nervousness: “Your Highness…”
As he spoke, he raised his eyes through the curtain to look inside and saw a young figure standing there leisurely, one hand behind his back, unconcerned. His anxiety deepened, and he instinctively reached for the sword at his side.
Li Lu glanced over, and it was his head guard who had entered.
Li Lu sighed slightly, his tone showing a hint of helplessness: “Alright, go back and guard the door.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” The head guard had no choice but to retreat anxiously, closing the door behind him.
“The honored guest has been here for a while, but only now do I hear about it. It seems that my guards are more lax than your residence’s, Lady Chang. I must apologize for the oversight.”
Li Lu spoke, his expression showing a bit of curiosity: “However... Lady Chang, you came straight to my quarters without needing a guide. You seem quite familiar with the layout of my residence?”
“Somewhat familiar,” Chang Suining admitted without denying it, adding, “To understand both sides is always helpful in acting.”
“To understand both sides...” Li Lu chuckled and asked, “But that’s a strategy for dealing with enemies. Do you see me as an enemy, Lady Chang?”
“That depends on you, Your Highness.”
Li Lu replied earnestly: “I have always harbored no ill intentions toward you, Lady Chang.”
Chang Suining: “Unlike you, I prefer to judge based on actions, not intentions.”
For example, the earlier request for marriage — to him, what harm was there in desiring marriage? What malice could be found in it?
But to the one being asked, if they were unwilling, and after rejection, the suitor’s heart remained unchanged, it could no longer be seen as affection but as malice, no?
Li Lu heard the implied meaning in her words and felt apologetic: “I did not think it through before, Lady Chang. Please forgive me for my previous actions.”
“Whether I forgive you or not, Your Highness probably does not care,” Chang Suining replied, not wishing to dwell on the past. She moved to a chair and sat, looking at him. “Your illness seems to have conveniently appeared, but it doesn’t seem like a false illness.”
“Lady Chang speaks so frankly,” Li Lu sighed lightly. “Before the holy Emperor, how could I dare feign illness?”
“Then you’ve hurt yourself?” Chang Suining didn’t wait for him to answer, simply continuing with another question: “You’d rather hurt yourself than act as a witness, could it be that you already know the true culprit behind the death of Lady Changsun is from the Ming family?”
When Li Lu first refused to act as a witness, she thought perhaps he was waiting to observe something or seeking compensation for his testimony.
But after thinking it through, she believed that he might already know the truth, which is why he "fell ill" so conveniently.
Of course, these two possibilities were not mutually exclusive; knowing the truth could serve as leverage in a potential deal, strengthening his position in the transaction.
Li Lu, taken aback by her direct questioning, looked surprised: “Lady Chang... You’ve already figured it out?”
Chang Suining: “It’s not hard to guess, so it wasn’t hard to investigate.”
The difficult part was not finding the truth, but dealing with it afterward. Discovering the truth wasn’t the end, but the beginning of confronting the reality.
Li Lu smiled: “I thought you came to test if I knew the truth, but it seems I’ve underestimated you, Lady Chang.”
Chang Suining: “No matter whether or not you know the truth, in front of the Ming family, everyone is passive.”
The Ming family members who resided in the Marquis’s residence were unremarkable except for their fortunate birth, but the person on the throne also carried the Ming surname.
“Indeed,” Li Lu sighed. “Lady Chang is right. Although my surname is Li, it seems I too am in the same position.”
Chang Suining listened carefully, her thoughts stirring.
The heir of Prince Rong, outwardly respectful and obedient to the Ming family, wasn’t as devoted as he appeared.
After all, it was the Li family’s domain, but outsiders controlled it. How many among the Li family truly followed the holy Emperor's will? Furthermore, he, the heir of Prince Rong, was more like a hostage.
But all this she had already suspected before. What made her pause was the fact that he had chosen to reveal this to her now.
It wasn’t a slip, but a deliberate reveal.
The sickly young man, leaning against the couch, looked at her with an expression that could be considered sincere and said, “Since you already know, I have no intention of being evasive... On that day at the back mountain of Dayun Temple, I did indeed have a long conversation with your brother alone, until he returned to the others.”
“Furthermore, I remained sitting in the same spot afterward. To reach the maple forest, one has to pass a small path next to where I was. If your brother went there after, I would definitely have seen him.” His voice was slow but certain: “So, your brother is completely innocent. I am sure of it.”
“That’s one part,” Li Lu continued. “After everyone who had gone to pick chrysanthemums returned to the temple, I personally saw Ming Jin and a lady coming out of the maple forest, one after the other. Seeing their unusual behavior, I chose not to speak and disturb them.”
Chang Suining: “Was the lady disheveled, wrapped in a cloak?”
Li Lu nodded: “Exactly.”
This matched what the lady who shared a meditation hall with Feng Min had said.
Chang Suining looked at Li Lu: “So, not only did you already know, but you also witnessed it firsthand.”
She didn’t even believe that his decision to sit there was a coincidence.
Perhaps he already knew that Ming Jin and Feng Min had entered that maple forest, so he intended to stay and investigate...
Could she interpret this as him and his people secretly keeping watch on Ming Jin—the Ming family members associated with the holy Emperor—under his surveillance?
“Since you saw Ming Jin act strangely when coming out of the maple forest, even if you didn’t enter to check, you must have sent your guards to investigate, right?” she said. “If it was a ‘coincidence,’ perhaps you would have seen the ‘cleanup’ actions of the Ming family’s madam.”
Li Lu didn’t deny it, only saying, “The Ming family acts cautiously, so I couldn’t get close to investigate. That’s why I didn’t know about the jade pendant they used to frame your brother.”
Didn’t know beforehand?
Chang Suining was skeptical and said, “If you had disclosed this matter earlier, not giving them a chance to cover up the evidence, we wouldn’t be in this situation now.”
Li Lu looked troubled: “If I had spoken up then, I couldn’t explain to the holy Emperor why I was paying so much attention to Ming Jin, which would have made her suspicious that I was secretly watching the Ming family.”
Chang Suining: “You could have stayed behind the scenes, even when searching for people at the Changsun family, and discreetly provided some hints without revealing yourself. That would have avoided all the trouble later on.”
“Yes, I should have thought of that...” Li Lu said, his tone full of guilt. “But at that time, I was so startled that I didn’t think things through. I’ve always been cautious in the capital, and I had grown used to keeping my distance from Ming Jin’s actions.”
Really?
Chang Suining watched the calm look in his eyes, clearly not a trace of the startled expression he claimed.
The claim of being startled and not thinking things through was false; the truth was, he had no interest in speaking out early because he saw no benefit in doing so.
Perhaps, he wasn’t unaware of the jade pendant situation, but had been waiting for everything to develop, waiting for her to “seek” him out at this moment.
Looking at the sickly, harmless young man, Chang Suining’s eyes darkened: “If that’s the case, may I narrow-mindedly assume that you or your subordinates might have heard the cries for help from Changsun Qiniang and her maid?”
Since he was deliberately watching Ming Jin’s movements, if his spies were close enough, they would surely have witnessed Ming Jin’s crime.
“Whether or not they heard cries for help is not important,” Li Lu sighed. “Even if I had heard it, I wouldn’t have been able to stop it, would I?”
So, they had indeed heard it.
A vision of the innocent, honest face of the young woman flashed through Chang Suining’s mind, and her thoughts crystallized in an instant.
That young woman had been very unfortunate, but someone could have saved her from her misfortune. Yet that person chose to look the other way, silently watching as the tragedy unfolded.
She had no intention of imposing lofty virtues on others, nor was she inherently noble, but his sigh was truly hypocritical, and to call it “helpless” while profiting from it was wrong.
As she had just said, there were many ways to help the Changsun family, and back then, in that maple forest, with Ming Jin unalert, there were many ways to save her without revealing himself.
Even without intervening directly, he could have had his guards act covertly, scaring off Ming Jin and stopping the crime.
He chose not to save her, not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t want to.
For him, letting Ming Jin of the Ming family kill the Changsun family’s eldest daughter, who was to become the crown princess, was the best choice, no matter how things played out. It would weaken the external forces.
Seeing the change in her eyes, Li Lu hesitated for a moment before finally asking her, “Lady Chang, you think what I did was wrong, don’t you?”
This question hadn’t been part of his plan. He didn’t care what she thought of him, but for some reason, he still asked.
The young woman answered simply: “Yes.”
Li Lu: “Then why didn’t you just scold me directly?”
“Scolding would be useless, and I have no position to reprimand the heir of Prince Rong.”
"Perhaps Lady Chang already views me as a cold-blooded, hypocritical, despicable person," Li Lu said with a self-deprecating smile. "But if Lady Chang had been in my situation since childhood, had gone through what I’ve experienced, perhaps you would feel the same."
He seemed about to continue, but the young woman interrupted him coldly.
"I just said I have no position to reprimand the heir of Prince Rong, but that doesn’t mean the heir of Prince Rong can try to ‘educate’ me and use this hypothetical situation to imply that my lack of experience makes me naïve and shallow, not understanding the harshness and helplessness of the world."
Chang Suining looked at the young man with an indifferent expression: "Everyone makes different choices. If the heir of Prince Rong has a clear conscience, he should follow his own path. There’s no need to try to preach to me, to make me feel enlightened and agree with him—just as I haven’t brought out my many reasons or imposed a so-called moral superiority to try to preach and reform the heir of Prince Rong, have I?"
Li Lu froze in silence for a long time.
He often remained silent in front of others, whether out of disguise or to achieve some goal... but this time was different.
After quite a while, he smiled with complexity: "Lady Chang is right. I was being self-righteous."
Chang Suining had no intention of debating right or wrong with him, nor did she think he was worth wasting her energy on.
People are of all kinds; if she can tolerate them, she does. If not, she moves higher. Once she stands at a higher vantage point and possesses enough power, she no longer needs to let those she cannot tolerate hold the reins of this world. Instead, she can set her own rules.
She looked back at Li Lu, her tone unwavering: "I came here today to ask the heir of Prince Rong, what does the Chang family need to offer in exchange for you to speak the truth?"
Even though it was too late for him to speak out now, it was better than nothing, and she needed to extract his intentions through this question.
"This question..." Li Lu seemed to consider for a moment and was about to speak when footsteps could be heard from outside.
Soon, a female attendant entered and bowed to announce: "Young Master, several palace officials have arrived, saying they are here on the holy Emperor's orders to visit you."
Li Lu coughed twice and said, "Tell them I’m too weak to rise and greet them, and ask them to come here instead."
The female attendant replied, "I’ll go fetch the officials."
The attendant left, and as soon as she had entered, Chang Suining, who had been hiding behind a screen at the bedside, spoke: "Looks like I came at the perfect time."
It wasn’t for nothing that she had gone to handle other matters along the way and deliberately arrived a little later.
Li Lu realized: "So, Lady Chang came here with the intention of gathering information."
Chang Suining: "Why not? This is the best place to hear the holy Emperor’s will. Even if our deal doesn’t work out today, I can’t just leave empty-handed."
She wanted Li Lu to take action, but there were people who didn’t want him to do so.
If the Chang family had already confessed everything to the palace today, then true "noble guests" would surely visit the Prince Rong household.
Li Lu chuckled: "Lady Chang really doesn’t like to lose."
Chang Suining nodded: "Indeed."
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Lu, who had been leaning against the bed, felt a cold, sharp object pressed against him through the bed curtain.
The young woman, who had been hiding behind the screen, reminded him: "As long as you don’t speak carelessly and alarm those in the palace, the dagger in my hand will remain as obedient as you."
"Our deal isn’t finalized yet, so I would never alarm anyone in the palace," Li Lu sighed. "Does Lady Chang not trust me?"
"Compared to a prince trying to make a deal, I trust a prince trying to survive more."
Chang Suining said: "I’m doing this to ensure the deal goes smoothly."
Even if there was a one-in-a-million chance that something could go wrong, she couldn’t entrust her safety to him. She was here to save her brother, not to risk her own life.
"Then I must rely on Lady Chang to keep an eye out for me. My life is now in your hands."
Chang Suining didn’t speak further and simply checked that her hiding place was well-concealed.
Soon, the people from the palace arrived.
She then quietly held her breath.
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