Rebirth of Poisoned Empress, by 颜若优雅

Chapter 86

The Empress has passed away. The rain had come. The souls of the dead could not rest assured. The Heavens mourned for their injustice and rained their grievances on the world. 

Under the joint planning of the Nether Guards and Fu Yunxi, the Empress's death and the torrential rain and floods were inevitably and successfully linked. The Empress's spirit could not rest easy. That undoubtedly meant that she had concerns and grievances, preventing her from passing on to the next world. Under the Nether Guards' instigation and the Murong Family's capitalism and control over the market, in just one short day, the previous two events became warnings given by the Heavens over the civil exams' fraud case. The word of mouth was immediately spread amongst the public and soon, they were in an uproar.

Anyone with intelligence could see that the matter had a perpetrator and was instigated by someone behind the scenes. But the emperor was in an outrage and ordered a thorough investigation of the civil exams case to appease the Empress's spirit. In this world, the only authority and power that proved to be authoritative and all-powerful than the emperor's ruling was the words spread by the common people. Few rumors could be suppressed by iron fists and coercive methods. Once the rumors are spread, suppression and violent means would only be taken as methods of concealment. Through such methods, the consequences would only prove to be even more unimaginable to horrendous.

Shen Liang took full advantage of this principle. With Fu Yunxi, the Nether Guards', and the Murong Family's tacit cooperation, the rumors soon spread and reached every corner of the Imperial City. So what if the emperor didn't believe the rumors? He had no choice but to look into the case and Wen Yuan, one of the chief examiners. Otherwise, he'd be nothing more than a foolhardy tyrant who refused to even appease his deceased wife's soul. No one knew just how many dirty secrets the Imperial Family hid but, on the surface, they must maintain their facade of being a benevolent monarch who cared for the common people of the empire. No one else but Shen liang understood that more so than anyone else.

"Liangliang, what is this?" bright and early in the morning, Fu Ying immediately spotted Qi Yue concocting medication. When he inquired, Qi Yue said that it was for Shen Liang. Fu Ying hurriedly inquired for the reason, concerned that there was something wrong with Shen Liang.

"It's nothing. Just a migraine," Qi Yue responded while pouring the medication into a bowl, "I'm not sure why but ever since we've returned from the countryside, every time it rains, Shen Liang would develop a migraine. It was the same last time as well. For the past few days, I didn't see such a case and assumed that he had gotten better but who would've expected that we had only just finished handling the matters outside when the migraines started again."

"Perhaps it wasn't because it didn't hurt then but rather, it couldn't hurt then," Fu Ying lowered his gaze when he heard Qi Yue's words. He understood that the matter and affairs concerning the civil exams' fraud case being reopened was all planned and conspired by Liangliang.

"En. I share your opinion. Didn't he not sleep the entire night the night it rained. He was worried and concerned for the common people of Wangyue City. He was worried our plan would fail. His head couldn't hurt. But now that the Wangyue City's affairs and situation have been stabilized, the civil exams' fraud case has been successfully looked into, he can give in to the pain now." Qi Yue picked up the bowl and placed it on the tray. He didn't immediately leave but rather lowered his head to gaze into the torpid black medicine in the bowl. "Uncle Fu, perhaps you're unaware but Liangliang is afraid of pain the most. Although he wasn't doted and loved by the marquis, before he was ten, the eldest Master had always been there to indulge and love him. Every time, even if it was the slightest bruise or bump, he had to cry in the eldest Master's embrace for a long time. When we were forced to the countryside, he was still afraid of pain. At first, he would be like before. He would cry the moment he was hurt. Xiao Xuan and I would have to coax him for a long time. In the end, I'm not sure when he stopped crying. We thought he was no longer afraid, but it was only long after that Xiao Xuan and I realized Liangliang never stopped fearing. He only learned to hide and cry by himself because he didn't want to worry us. That time when we were chased by the bandits and Liangliang was cut by them, blood pooled from his wound, but he didn't shed even a single tear or cry out once. Even now, when it rains, he'd only tell us and wouldn't cry over it anymore."