A gray sky, a dim palace. The eastern morning sun had barely peeked over the horizon, not yet having had the chance to spread its warm rays across the land of Qing Yu Nian, when it was swallowed by a cloud of darkness that had arisen from who-knows-where and who-knows-when. The red light instantly dimmed and faded, and the sky grew even darker.

In the harem, palace maids who had risen early to wash and bathe began to boil water, and eunuch servants began to sweep the dust from the ground with bamboo brooms taller than themselves. No one knew what was happening in the imperial front palace, but like the common folk, they repeated their duties and lives day after day. The nobles were no exception. Although rumors of the recent oddities in Kyoto had vaguely reached their ears, the matter was confined to a very limited number of people in Qing Yu Nian, so they were not clear about what was happening.

Those important figures standing far away at the garden gate, gazing at the imperial study, were naturally among those who knew. However, their eyes were sunken, their faces solemn, as wooden and expressionless as clay or wooden sculptures, without the slightest reaction.

Director Chen had been inside the imperial study for a long time, but there had been no movement. Because they were so far away, the others did not hear the Emperor's rare roar of anger. Of these people, Ye Zhong and Eunuch Yao might have the ability to eavesdrop, but they were not foolish enough to gather their strength to listen to what was being said inside the imperial study. When it came to such matters, the less heard, the better.

Chen Pingping wanted to hear, wanted to hear a reason, an explanation. That was why he had returned to Kyoto, coldly sitting in his black wheelchair, quietly watching the master he had served for decades, the Emperor of Qing Yu Nian, hoping to hear from his mouth what had truly happened all those years ago.

When a person is about to die, what they cling to are none other than the most infuriating and inexplicable mysteries in their life.

However, the Qing Emperor did not answer. He merely looked at Chen Pingping in silence. Ever since hearing Chen Pingping's words, he had remained standing, watching him with coldness and a hint of mockery, for a long, long time.

The sharp glint in his eyes gradually turned into a faint mockery, along with much puzzlement. The corners of his eyes narrowed slightly, like a lion watching a wandering spirit passing over his kingdom, fruitlessly shaking the branches of the solid trees, proclaiming something to him.

The Qing Emperor laughed strangely, tilting his head slightly, his lips pressed tightly together. He looked at Chen Pingping and said softly, "So... it's because of these, because of these!"

The Emperor was greatly puzzled. He couldn't understand. He looked at Chen Pingping as if he were a monster, shaking his head in silence for a long time. Only now did he finally understand why this old black dog, who had followed him since childhood, had betrayed him, why he had been willing to risk death to return to the capital and question him.

The Qing Emperor was well aware of the affection that his former companions had held for that woman. However, no matter how he thought about it, he could never have imagined that Chen Pingping would harbor such intense desires for revenge because of a woman who had died many years ago, to the point of standing against him. He sat back on the soft couch, silent for a long time, his hands resting on his knees.

Chen Pingping's hands rested on the armrests of his black wheelchair, watching him in silence and coldness, not saying a word, simply waiting for an answer.

The Qing Emperor's face was slightly pale. After a long time, he said softly, "For her... you actually betrayed... me?"

The meaning contained in these words was very sad, very sorrowful, and also held a deep-seated anger and frustration.

"I just want to know why," Chen Pingping sighed. "In my life, I have never seen a woman like her, no, I should say I have never seen a person like her. She descended into this mortal world like a fairy, using all her strength to change what she should change, to save those she believed should be saved. She helped you, rescued me, saved Qing Yu Nian, brought beauty to the world... and you, you ruthlessly destroyed her."

There was no exclamation point in these words, no anger, only a sense of沧桑 (cāngsāng, vicissitudes) and sorrow.

The Qing Emperor was silent for a long time, slowly stroking his knees with his palm. No one had ever asked him this question to his face, and more accurately, no one had dared to ask him this question. Nor did many people even know about this question. All those who knew about this question were now wisps of wandering souls in the yellow earth.

None of his closest companions from those years knew about this matter.

"I didn't kill her." The Qing Emperor narrowed his eyes, facing this old black dog. He didn't need to explain anything, but for some reason, deep within his heart, there was a trace of hidden pain, a trace that he had forcefully suppressed for more than twenty years, that slowly seeped out, occupying his mind and body, wanting this most powerful man in the world to explain something.

Perhaps it was to explain to Chen Pingping, perhaps it was to explain to the woman in the yellow dress in the painting in the small building in the harem, perhaps... the Emperor simply wanted to explain it to himself.

"I didn't kill her." The Emperor's voice rose slightly, his tone firmer, his voice colder, repeating the sentence again, looking at Chen Pingping with narrowed eyes.

"You didn't kill her?" The wrinkles at the corners of Chen Pingping's eyes were so deep that they almost covered his eyes. He raised his head wearily, looking at the Emperor, and asked with a laugh that was extremely cold, "Then how did she die?"

"Don't say she never returned from the Western expedition, don't say there were rebellions by princes and nobles, don't say it was ordained by fate. It just so happened that I, Fan Jian, Wu Zhu, Ye Zhong... all of us happened to be away from Kyoto. It just so happened that she had just given birth and was at her weakest!" Chen Pingping's gaze pierced the Emperor's face like two knives, saying coldly, "Your Majesty governs the land with filial piety. It's best not to push all these sins onto Empress Dowager. The Queen, that idiot, and her family have already taken the blame for twenty years. Do you want your own mother to continue to bear the blame?"

"The Western expedition to the grasslands was your decree! Fan Jian was only the Secretary of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and an Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue at the time, responsible for all military supplies. Why was he also transferred to the royal tent with the army?" Chen Pingping's eyes were narrowed tightly, and countless coldness seeped out from those sparse and aging eyelashes. "Military logistics, according to our methods back then, had always been handled entirely by Fan Jian. When our great Qing Iron Cavalry went on foreign expeditions, he usually stayed in Kyoto to handle everything. Why did you have to make Fan Jian follow you into the Western expedition army that time?"

"What were you afraid of? Were you afraid that Fan Jian would stay in Kyoto, and the Tiger Guards he secretly trained would ruin Qin Ye's plan?"

A sneer appeared on the corner of Chen Pingping's lips. "Ah, we've mentioned Lord Qin's family again. Who would have thought that this veteran of three dynasties was actually the trump card Your Majesty left in Kyoto... Ye Zhong, who was then the Kyoto Garrison Commander, was also urgently summoned to Dingzhou. All of Kyoto was under the control of the Qin family. Even if the Queen wanted to rebel, wanted to attack the Taiping Manor, who could do it without Qin Ye's approval?"

"Three years ago, during the Kyoto rebellion, were you very happy when Qin Ye jumped out? Did you finally have the opportunity, an excuse, to eliminate the only person who knew the role you played in the Taiping Manor massacre and silence him?" Chen Pingping said coldly to the Qing Emperor. "Of course, you wouldn't bother silencing him. Even if the Qin family said anything, you wouldn't care. However, Fan Xian has finally grown up. You have to accept that your son with her is the most accomplished of all your children. The longer you spend with Fan Xian, the more you value him. The more unwilling you are to let him know that his biological mother died at your hands. So Qin Ye... how could he not die?"

Chen Pingping's high-pitched and slightly hoarse voice echoed in the imperial study. The Qing Emperor did not speak, only listening coldly and calmly to these words, word by word. His expression was slightly strange, as if there was a hint of sorrow, but also a hint of release.

"Let's go back to the Taiping Manor twenty-two years ago." Chen Pingping spoke a little too quickly. These words were probably the words and deductions that this old cripple had endured in secret for decades. Now, he finally had the opportunity to pour them out in front of the Emperor. He coughed loudly, and two unhealthy blushes rose on his face.

After a long time, he calmed down, sighing and saying, "Let's talk about me. Since you had already decided to attack the Taiping Manor, you would naturally not allow me to remain in Kyoto. So, the entire northern defense line suddenly became urgent, and rumors were constantly heard that the northern kingdom was about to launch a full-scale southern attack. As the Director of the Supervisory Council, in charge of military affairs, and with Your Majesty busy with the Western expedition, I had no choice but to go on a northern tour on behalf of the Emperor to personally investigate the situation."

"Now that I think about it, who could make the entire military system cooperate in this performance, and even mobilize the forces of a foreign country, other than Your Majesty's will?" Chen Pingping narrowed his eyes and said, "However, there has always been a question in my mind. How could you make the newly established Northern Qi Dynasty cooperate with Your Majesty's wishes? Could it be that you and that bald donkey, Ku He, secretly colluded?"

"Of course, Ku He is dead, and I have nowhere to ask." Chen Pingping shook his head.

"朕 (zhèn, I, the Emperor) did not seek out Ku He." Chen Pingping's accusations had reached this point, and the Qing Emperor finally spoke coldly, uttering his first sentence, "I did not need to seek out anyone, nor did I seek out anyone."

Chen Pingping looked at him with pity and disdain, saying, "Finally, let's talk about Wu Zhu. He was the least likely person to leave her side, but he happened to leave Kyoto at that time. Without a doubt, this is the thing I have been most unable to understand all these years. As long as Wu Zhu was by her side, I fear that no one in this world could have killed her."

The Qing Emperor's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he remained silent.

"Your Majesty, I have always been suspicious of you. I have even been suspicious of Fan Jian. I have never known who among our former companions did this thing." Chen Pingping's lips drooped, and he said slowly, "However, many years later, Wu Zhu told me that he had met a person in the alley outside the Fan residence. He killed that person and was seriously injured himself. Only then did I understand something."

"There are too few people in this world who can hurt Wu Zhu, except for the four Grandmasters." Chen Pingping said calmly, "So I determined that envoys from the Temple had come to the mortal world again."

"Since people from the Temple could come at that moment, then they could have come twenty-two years ago. You and I both know that only the arrival of people from the Temple could make Wu Zhu so vigilant, and even leave her side, striving to prevent the people from the Temple from approaching her."

"The assassination that the people from the Temple staged outside the Fan residence, targeting Fan Xian, but harming Wu Zhu, was because Your Majesty has always wanted to know where Wu Zhu actually was," Chen Pingping said. "And the first time the people from the Temple appeared, targeting her, but still drawing Wu Zhu away."

"Wu Zhu seems to be a wall, a wall that only the Temple can shake and mobilize." Chen Pingping suddenly laughed and said, "Although it only happened twice, both times were too coincidental, appearing at times when Your Majesty had a motive."

"Your Majesty, I know you have always been wary of Lao Wu." Chen Pingping's pupils appeared indifferent, quietly looking at the Qing Emperor and saying, "Ever since Fan Xian entered the capital, you have always wanted to know Wu Zhu's true whereabouts. Fortunately... Fan Xian has even kept it from me, so naturally, Your Majesty does not know either."

"Why are you so wary of Lao Wu?" Chen Pingping's lips curled slightly, mocking and laughing, "Are you afraid that Lao Wu knows what happened that year, and will take that iron skewer and kill you in the palace? As the supreme ruler, do you still have someone you fear?"

The Emperor suddenly laughed, shaking his head and saying, "No, it's just that people like Lao Wu should not exist in this world. They should return to where they came from. You may not know that when An Zhi was in Danzhou, I asked Uncle Liuyun to see Lao Wu once. As long as Lao Wu has not fully awakened, he poses no threat to me."

"This is your consistent view, that monsters like Grandmasters should not exist in this world." Chen Pingping said coldly, "So I am very curious, then why are you still alive? Why don't you go and commit suicide?"

These words were very vicious, but the Emperor's face did not twitch in the slightest. Perhaps that emotion was brewing in his heart, but it had not yet erupted.

Chen Pingping was not afraid at all, still saying coldly, "That year, you transferred all of us away, provoked the Queen, that idiot, to go crazy, and then let Qin Ye watch and control from the side. The Taiping Manor massacre thus happened. Although it looks simple, it was actually extremely difficult. If any link went wrong, she... might still not have died."

"A simple and powerful plan without any flaws. Perhaps only Your Majesty in this world could weave it."

Chen Pingping gently stroked the smooth armrest of the wheelchair, sighing and saying, "Especially regarding the matter of the people from the Temple, I still have not understood why, why the Temple would act according to your plan."

"Perhaps it is because your goals were originally the same, both wanting her, this figure who stood proudly in the world, to be quietly erased," Chen Pingping looked at the Qing Emperor with sarcasm.

The Qing Emperor was silent for a long time, not refuting this deduction, only smiling gently and saying, "You old dog, you have spent your whole life thinking about how to harm people. It is not difficult to figure out these things. I just never thought that you would be so obsessed with this matter."

"However," he emphasized, "朕 (zhèn, I, the Emperor)... did not kill her."

"Yes, you did not kill her." Chen Pingping laughed, laughing extremely strangely. "Our great Emperor, of course, would not personally kill that woman who had rendered a second creation's worth of service to Qing Yu Nian. Of course, you would not kill the great benefactor who helped the Lao Li family ascend the throne. Of course, you would not kill the woman you loved most in your heart. Of course, you would not kill the biological mother of your son."

"It is difficult to wash away blood. Of course, you would not let blood flow on your own hands." Chen Pingping's brows were furrowed tightly, and his voice was forced out from the depths of his chest, chillingly. "Your hands are still pure white. You are always incomparably bright and correct. Those with blood on their hands are only the foolish or violent people beneath the dragon throne..."

"We took revenge for her, sweeping away all the stubborn princes and nobles in Qing Yu Nian. How much blood flowed that night in Kyoto? That night, all the relatives of the Queen and the Empress Dowager were killed. Did you laugh very happily?" Chen Pingping asked quietly, "All the glory poured into your body, all the darkness and shamelessness belonged to your subordinates and relatives. There is nothing more beautiful than this in the world."

"Of course, you did not kill her." Chen Pingping pursed his lips, coughing softly as he spoke slowly, "Because you never moved a finger... especially after the death of the Lao Qin family, no one in the world knows everything that happened in the darkness that year. No one has any evidence to say that Your Majesty personally orchestrated the Taiping Manor massacre."

"However..." The old cripple sitting in the black wheelchair shook his head with sarcasm, "You can never convince yourself, nor can you convince me, nor can you change the fact... Twenty-two years ago, you personally killed her, killed a great... no, just a lonely woman who had just given birth to your son and was at the weakest moment of her life."

"The most despicable and shameless thing in the world is nothing more than this." Chen Pingping finished these last words, his entire body appearing exhausted. He leaned back in the black wheelchair and slowly closed his eyes.

The Emperor also slowly closed his eyes. His always calm face appeared somewhat pale. After a long silence, he said softly, "Correct, 朕 (zhèn, I, the Emperor) killed her."

Immediately, he opened his eyes, his eyes filled with calm and solemnity, saying, "So what?"

...

...

(After writing the last four words, "So what?", I suddenly felt very cold myself. I don't know if it is because of the cold wave... Having written this far, I will not write any more today, even if you beat me to death. I have been writing about emotions these days, so I must control the emotions and plot within a certain rhythm. The last imperial study dialogue between the Emperor and Chen Pingping is a very important, extremely important process. I have to write it well and carefully.

I will not jump the screen like Da Dongshan. Some book friends are worried, smiling and saying to rest assured, I want to finish this torment before it is Fan Xian's turn to appear. I would like to inform everyone that starting tomorrow, I will still update every day, but I want to make the update time less fixed, so that I can write more freely, so as not to always feel a little rushed around five or six o'clock every afternoon. I am afraid that the more I write, the rougher it will become.

Of course, I will definitely not write slowly. I just want to control the update time myself. Thank you everyone. Then, if you affirm these chapters, please do not hesitate to give your monthly ticket support to me who is writing seriously. Thank you very much.)