Chapter 480: Chapter 480
No matter how turbulent the imperial capital became, or how deeply His Majesty now regretted his decisions, none of it had anything to do with An Ning and her disciple, who had long since vanished without a trace.
She tossed the storage jade ring containing their luggage and food (just one of them, of course) to her diligent and dutiful little disciple. As for the rest, An Ning didn't need to worry much.
After years of self-reliance, the young Sima Rui had already developed a decent set of survival skills at a tender age. Ahem... along with the skills to serve his own master.
He could handle everything from roasting meat and picking fruit to brewing tea and making wine.
Even outside, without the earlier entourage of maidservants to attend to them, the master and disciple duo still lived a blissful little life.
Of course, they still had to watch the show!
At night, lying in the soft and comfortable small courtyard, nibbling on the fruit her little disciple had just peeled for her, An Ning finally reached out and poked the system, which was busy watching the excitement.
The Capital, Xie Family Courtyard
Having personally witnessed the True Person's divine manifestation, especially the sword flight soaring into the sky that countless people dreamed of, the capital was instantly thrown into an uproar.
Even though An Ning was absent, it didn't stop Xuanzhen Temple's incense from becoming increasingly abundant. Even the long-declining Daoist religion now showed signs of revival.
Along the way, An Ning could even see many female Daoist priests, their attire and appearance not much different from hers before.
The only pity was Siya. She watched with eager eyes as her second sister took her little grand-disciple and flew away on a sword, right before her very eyes. The little girl was beyond frustrated at this moment.
"Ah, who knows when Second Sister will return now that she's gone!"
"Why didn't Second Sister take me with her?"
After sending away all sorts of people who came to cozy up to her, Siya propped her chin on one hand, her small fingers incessantly poking the willow branch in her other hand, feeling sullen. However, after a moment, she suddenly reacted, leaping up from the stone stool:
"I know! It must be because my cultivation is insufficient! That's why I can't go to the heavens with Second Sister!"
Thinking of her little grand-disciple, who could casually step on air, fly up and down at will, and even use energy to shoot birds from a distance, Xiao Ling felt regret for the first time.
Ah, if only she had tried harder back then!
It was just those boring, tedious stances and that huge pile of Daoist scriptures! She, Xiao Ling, could have done it too!
Of course, it was just a thought!
Those dizzying, complex, and profound scriptures, and having to face them day after day for years, were truly more than her small frame could bear!
Second Sister is truly a divine being!
Little grand-disciple? He counts as half... no, half of a half?
Squatting by the lotus pond, Xiao Ling couldn't help but think. But soon, she had no time to dwell on such matters.
For no other reason than that the show had arrived! And it was a monumental show!
If you asked Siya who she disliked most in the capital, it was undoubtedly the Wu Yang Marquis's Household!
What former young master, what madam... can't she just dislike the whole family?
Now that she finally heard about the excitement from her little friends, she immediately pricked up her ears to listen.
At the same time, through the system, An Ning's gaze also fell on the old woman standing in the center of the grand hall. She was dressed in the vermilion and gold ceremonial robes of the first-rank official's wife, with a vermilion gold ceremonial headdress.
In the grand hall, after performing a difficult bow, the person quickly knelt down and kowtowed heavily, not caring in the least about the fresh, mottled blood that kept welling up on her forehead.
After the bow, her clear voice rang out:
"Your subject's wife, Zhao Yuanjing, hereby accuses the Wu Yang Marquis of favoring his concubine and destroying his lawful wife. Ten years ago, he allowed his concubine to bully and poison the legitimate heir, then failed to punish her afterward, and even attempted to usurp the young master's position.
Several days ago, he even intended to kill his own son. Not only did he obstruct my efforts to seek medical treatment, but he also deliberately indulged the concubine, mistreated the eldest son, intending... intending to let my son die without treatment!"
"I beg Your Majesty and all ministers to judge. I ask, how can such a heartless, unrighteous scoundrel who scorns the law and propriety shamelessly occupy the position of a first-rank Marquis? How can he be loyal to the sovereign and serve the state!"
"And that earlier incident was also the Wu Yang Marquis. It was he who threatened me with my son's life, deliberately inciting me to offend the True Person..."
"And in the tenth year of Hongzheng..."
Not only that, under the nearly murderous gaze of the Wu Yang Marquis from not far away, Zhao Yuanjing went even further without holding back. She detailed every illegal act she knew of that the Wu Yang Marquis had been involved in over the decades.
This included, but was not limited to, accepting bribes, eliminating dissidents in the military, and, most importantly, his earlier ambiguous dealings with several princes.
Her goal was clear! She wanted to drag the entire Marquis's household down to hell with her.
Meeting the Wu Yang Marquis's gaze filled with violence and killing intent from nearby, Zhao Yuanjing looked back at him without the slightest courtesy.
What a joke! Afraid? Her only son's life was about to be gone anyway, so what did she have to fear!
At worst, the whole family could die together!
Since the household had already determined there was no place for her and her son, then having the entire Marquis's household as burial offerings... how could she not be happy about that!
Thinking of all the suffering she had endured over the years, at this moment, even though blood and tears had already blurred her vision, Zhao Yuanjing still smiled. She even laughed out loud!
Because she knew this Marquis's household was about to be finished!
Not far away, the Wu Yang Marquis, also sensing impending doom, heavily knelt to the ground:
"Your Majesty, this woman has gone mad. She is merely spouting nonsense. I beg Your Majesty to see clearly. How can the words of a madwoman be taken seriously!" Finally, he couldn't help but curse fiercely:
"You madwoman, shut your mouth before His Majesty!"
"Yes, a madwoman. I went mad long ago, driven mad by you, Marquis!"
Soon, a woman's nearly blood-soaked, hysterical laughter echoed in the grand hall. The assembled ministers couldn't help but frown.
"It was you, Marquis, who was incompetent! It was you who couldn't defy the Old Marquis's order, ultimately abandoning your childhood sweetheart, your lonely and helpless cousin, to marry me! It was your Wu Yang Marquis's Household that personally came to propose the marriage! It was you who carried me, a daughter of the Zhao family, into your house in a grand sedan chair with eight bearers!"
"But after I entered your house? What did I have to do with your cousin's poor health and her dying of depression? If not for you, the head of the household, repeatedly indulging the ambitions of those people, how could my Chen'er... my Chen'er, such a clever and diligent child, end up in such a state!" Chen'er... Zhao Yuanjing couldn't help but shed tears.
If not for Chen'er's collapse after the incident, leaving their mother-son status precarious, how could she have conceived such thoughts! To the point of offending the True Person!
Thinking of the past few years, where she and her son lived lives worse than pigs or dogs, where almost anyone in the entire household could step on them.
Letting countless streams of blood trickle down her forehead, blurring her vision, Zhao Yuanjing in the grand hall still straightened her spine.
Yes, her heart was malicious. She harbored ill intentions toward the immortal. But now, she and her son had already received their retribution!
So why should the Marquis's household, the root cause that brought her to this point, remain untouched? Why should they think they could emerge clean and pure?
If they were to die, then the whole family might as well go together, neat and tidy.
Today, no one would be left behind!
Gently stroking the ceremonial robes of the official's wife she wore, Zhao Yuanjing couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
That old bastard thought beautifully, wanting to sacrifice her and her son to appease the True Person's wrath. Little did he know, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. No matter how tightly they watched, so what?
She had long ordered her trusted maid to hide this set of robes and headdress, precisely for today.
Heh. With a sidelong glance at the Emperor seated above, whose face had almost turned completely black.
Having offended a genuine, proper expert, what need was there for evidence?
Once again meeting someone's nearly ashen gaze, Zhao Yuanjing in the grand hall burst into maniacal laughter once more.
They all said today was an exceptionally auspicious day. Well, since it was such an auspicious and fortunate occasion, why couldn't it also be the perfect, auspicious hour for the Wu Yang Marquis's Household to meet its end!
"Madwoman! You are a complete and utter madwoman!"
Cursing incessantly, the Wu Yang Marquis not far away could no longer hold on and heavily collapsed to the ground!
Undoubtedly, at this moment, he truly regretted his past actions!
If only he had known it would come to this... the moment he was heavily pressed to the ground, the Wu Yang Marquis couldn't help but think. He shouldn't have... shouldn't have been threatened by this woman, shouldn't have cared about the opinions of the court, and shouldn't have thought that only this way could he truly appease the True Person's anger.
If only, from the moment he first learned of it, he had decisively sent these two sources of trouble to their deaths. Or even earlier...