Volume 4 Chapter 43 - He Is Lying (2/2)

“Then why do you not leave her?” Jing Liuli instinctively said. When the words left her lips, she knew they were extraneous.

“If I left her, she would really be worried. Maybe, I would have been buried in this tea garden.”

But Zhang Luyang still answered her question.

His hand landed on the boiling jar. A gentle wave of primal energies of the universe flowed out of his hand, covering the jar, and sealing in all the venting steam.

When the jar was on the verge of exploding, he picked up the jar and placed it on the table. Then he smiled faintly at Ding Ning and Jing Liuli, saying, “The rice is done, let’s have another bowl.”

Jing Liuli finally remembered the role she was playing, took Ding Ning’s bowl and started to serve him rice.

“Min Mountain Sword Sect can guarantee your safety. If you are willing, you can leave Changling at any time.”

Ding Ning looked at the rice grains that were full and clear after a cultivator’s tactics, and poured a scoop of goose soup on the rice. He said seriously, “What secrets can you tell us about her?”

“In reality, the palace attendant the empress liked before was not her, but a Palace Attendant Huang.” Zhang Luyang took over the rice that Jing Liuli served him and slowly started to eat. He said slowly, “But that palace attendant said some things she should not have and was awarded death.”

Jing Liuli was about to speak but then she remembered her role and that Ding Ning told her to listen more and speak less. So she understood and bowed her head to eat.

“That palace attendant leaked a secret regarding something three years before the Holy One’s ascension.”

Zhang Luyang did not look at her and only Ding Ning, saying, “The Holy One went through a period of time of not liking women. The empress was with that person at the time, but the empress disguised herself as another woman and had relations with the Holy One. The Holy One had no more room to maneuver and so started the change.”

Even though Jing Liuli wanted to quietly listen to the story, after hearing these words, her expression immediately changed.

This kind of secret was so enormous.

Ding Ning took a deep breath. He put down his bowl and looked at Zhang Luyang, saying slowly, “So this matter was Palace Attendant Rong using the other palace attendant to leak on?”

Zhang Luyang nodded and grimaced. “This matter was almost written into storybooks. The Great Scholar Academy and the One Path Academy were burned down due to this matter. There were almost a hundred scholars burned to death.”

“Just this one matter is enough,” Ding Ning nodded and said.

“In reality, there is a flaw in this matter, so she thinks of it day and night, and mentions it frequently in her dreams.” Zhang Luyang looked at Ding Ning and whispered. “What she did caused an investigation into the day Palace Attendant Huang leaked this matter. At that time, Palace Attendant Huang was meeting someone who could have acted as witness. But that person did not know the connection between Palace Attendant Huang’s death and the fires of Great Scholar Academy and One Path Academy. He did not know what happened then, and Palace Attendant Huang herself did not know what the discovered clues all pointed to that time.”

“The bureaus would not have left behind the case files of the investigation but the empress has a good memory, and this matter will have left a great impression on her so she will remember every detail.”

“That person is Mo Shoucheng. She does not have the ability to kill someone of such status, so this has always been a weight on her mind.”

**

When Zhang Luyang finished speaking, Ding Ning had finished his bowl.

He looked at Jing Liuli who had half a bowl left and stood up. He bowed slightly to Zhang Luyang, and said, “Thank you for your help.”

Seeing him stand up and bow to leave, Jing Liuli also stood up and followed.

Zhang Luyang returned the bow but did not see them out of the tea garden.

As Jing Liuli started to drive the carriage to leave, Ding Ning said softly, “He is lying.”