novelraw Chapter 540 - 539: Events of the Past
Chapter 540 - 539: Events of the Past
As soon as Lu Qing spoke his answer, a few memorials flew over, hitting him squarely on the head.
Though each memorial wasn’t particularly heavy when looked at individually, together they had weight, and when they were hurled at him, they struck Lu Qing directly in the face, causing his head to tilt to the side.
The memorials fell to the ground with a loud crash.
Mr. Gao was so frightened that he fell to his knees with a thud, buried his face in his sleeves, and lay on the ground without daring to lift his head.
Emperor Jin stood behind the desk, his chest heaving with anger, the veins on his temple bulging, evidently deeply upset.
He watched a trickle of blood slowly seep from Lu Qing’s forehead where he had been hit, flowing inch by inch down his face, and his tightly furrowed brows slightly relaxed.
"The dead cannot be brought back to life. I have never wanted you to be burdened by past events, as that would cause you to live in constant pain. Therefore, I have not previously discussed many things with you.
After all, at that time you were just an unremembering infant. I hoped you could live freely and unencumbered, not weighed down by matters that cannot be undone."
He sighed deeply, reversing his earlier anger, and spoke earnestly, "But as you have grown older day by day, I realize you may have felt the pull of your bloodline or been influenced by rumors outside, becoming restless, wanting to investigate past events.
I did not stop you; in fact, I made you the Golden-faced Imperial Censor, giving you a secret identity that could move freely outside, and I assigned the Chifu Guard at your disposal.
You’re right, your role as the Golden-faced Imperial Censor has indeed helped me resolve many matters that were inconvenient for me to inquire into or interfere with directly, but beyond that?
Your private investigations into past events were something I turned a blind eye to; I did not inquire further.
And now? After all this time, instead of finding the truth about the past, you were led astray outside, by hearsay and deceit. It’s truly disappointing."
After finishing his words, Emperor Jin sighed again, as if the action of throwing that stack of memorials at Lu Qing had drained him of all his energy, rendering him somewhat deflated as he sat back down in his chair.
Mr. Gao quickly reached out to support him, fearing the Emperor might unintentionally injure himself.
Blood from Lu Qing’s forehead had already reached the edge of his hair, but he seemed completely unaware, his gaze sweeping over the disarrayed memorials in front of him, before finally raising his eyes again to meet Emperor Jin’s.
"Your Majesty seems to have a touch of forgetfulness," Lu Qing spoke with a tone as still as a dead river, "While the Chifu Guard responds to my orders, what they actually do is carry messages between Your Majesty and myself. In essence, they are all Your Majesty’s eyes and ears.
If you are unwilling, with them by my side, what could I possibly uncover outside?
What I could see was only what Your Majesty wanted me to see."
Emperor Jin’s expression became exceedingly complex after Lu Qing spoke, tinged with sadness and disappointment, but mostly filled with anger.
"All right, all right, all right!" He sighed deeply, slowly nodding, "Since today we have spoken this far, I might as well tell you the truth about the past myself!
Your grandfather and father led your clan along with me to fight battles, quell disturbances everywhere, and achieved significant merits. And yet, just before I was about to receive honors, calamity struck.
That day was your grandfather’s grand birthday celebration. I intended to personally attend and toast him with a cup of celebratory wine, but was overwhelmed with affairs, so I sent fine wine instead.
Who could have expected that, just one or two hours later, I would hear the tragic news.
Immediately, I personally rushed over with people. Upon arrival, only the lifeless bodies of men, women, and children filled the courtyard, and after a thorough inspection, it was confirmed there were no survivors; all were dead.
As we were about to leave, a sound like a baby whimpering or a cat meowing was heard in a nearby room, so I had someone check it out. In the end, you were found hidden in a secret compartment in the wall.
At that time, you were still in swaddling clothes, unable to hide yourself in the compartment, so I had my men carefully check, and discovered your family and clan guests had all died in the front courtyard with no visible injury, as if they had died suddenly from poisoning. The rest of the servants were also found dead in the front courtyard, but not from poisoning; instead, their necks were twisted.
Only a woman dressed as a wet nurse died in the inner courtyard, also with her neck twisted.
The room you were found in was only separated by a courtyard from where the wet nurse died.
At that time, it was speculated that since the wet nurse needed to care for the infant, she stayed in the inner courtyard instead of attending the banquet in the front, thus avoiding eating the same food.
It was likely upon hearing noises in the inner courtyard that she realized something was wrong and quickly hid you, intending to later escape to investigate or seek help, but ultimately she met a violent end."
Lu Qing listened expressionlessly to Emperor Jin’s account, with Lu Chao raising his eyes seriously at the Emperor, intently hearing him out.
Regarding Lu Qing’s clan, Emperor Jin had always been cryptic over the years, and those around him either pleased him for their own reasons or abstained from speaking about it.
Thus, this was the first time not only Lu Qing but also Lu Chao heard about the tragic events of the past.
"That night, after a careful count, your entire clan, including the women and servants in the house, were almost all wiped out.
Except for you, who was hidden in the secret compartment, when the household servant registry was checked, initially one servant was missing.
This person was not born into your household; rather, he was a famine victim your grandfather and father took in as they followed me in putting down disturbances."
At this point, Emperor Jin, perhaps recalling past interactions with Lu Qing’s grandfather and others, seemed sorrowful, paused, took a deep breath, as talking about it left him drained.
Alongside him, Mr. Gao quickly rose from the ground, poured a cup of tea and handed it to him, to help moisten his throat.
"I also sent people out in all directions to search immediately, and after some time, did indeed find him," Emperor Jin said after drinking a few sips of tea, resuming his story, "When he was found, his body was lying face down in the shallows of a river in Liangzhou territory, already unspeakably chewed by fish. Were he not wearing the clothes of your household servant, he might have been hard to identify.
Regardless of whether this man fled amidst the chaos or betrayed you to serve as an accomplice and was then silenced, apart from yourself, a mere infant at the time, no other members of your household survived, and the investigation was not pursued further."