Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1147: Chapter 1148: The Backfired National Master_1

Bai Ruozhu remained in her prison cell. The meals were decent, but she barely touched them. Instead, when she observed a lack of guards nearby, she took some items from Space to satisfy her hunger.

Half a day passed, and Liu Sitong appeared again, smiling apologetically as he spoke of Wu Zhishang’s fate.

”Madame Jiang, His Majesty has sentenced Wu Zhishang to death by beating, and the execution was carried out immediately. By now, his body has likely been thrown out of the Palace,” said Liu Sitong.

Bai Ruozhu chuckled lightly, ”It’s better that he’s dead. Sometimes, death is a more fortunate fate than life.”

Liu Sitong shivered. Why did he feel that Bai Ruozhu had used some drug on Wu Zhishang? If Wu Zhishang were alive, perhaps his life would be worse than death.

”Furthermore, I’ve heard that His Majesty went to Imperial Concubine Liu and said she did not follow the Palace rules. He directly ordered her to be grounded for three months with no visitors allowed,” Liu Sitong said even more cautiously. He increasingly felt that Bai Ruozhu was not simple. Despite her current confinement in the prison cell, it was only for a few days, and he thought it would be better to maintain a good relationship with her.

Bai Ruozhu felt somewhat dissatisfied in her heart. Only grounded for three months? That was too lenient for Imperial Concubine Liu. However, the decree that no one was allowed to visit her for three months could be a great opportunity.

After Liu Sitong reported the situation to Bai Ruozhu, he paid his respects and left, making him seem like one of Bai Ruozhu’s subordinates. Meanwhile, Ning Yu, in the next cell, was all ears, growing more and more puzzled. Could it be that Liu Sitong was actually one of Bai Ruozhu’s subordinates?

In the blink of an eye, a day and a night passed, and Bai Ruozhu had been in the cell for two days. At night, when no one was around, she hid in a corner and entered Space to take a bath, so despite her stay in the damp prison cell, her spirits were high and unaffected.

The next afternoon, the Empress Dowager personally went to the Sky Prison and took Bai Ruozhu out, holding her hand and saying, ”My dear child, you’ve been wronged.”

Bai Ruozhu smiled at her, ”It’s alright, Team Leader Liu took good care of me.”

The Empress Dowager took note of the attentive Liu Sitong and soon had the Emperor promote him. So afterward, whenever Liu Sitong patrolled the Palace and encountered Bai Ruozhu, he treated her with the reverence of an indebted person, but of course, that was to come later.

The Emperor had the Shadow Guard investigate the relationship between the Bai Family and the Astrology Tower as quickly as possible. In the end, it was confirmed that Bai Ruozhu had only sought Ning Yu’s help once to save her brother, and there were no other connections.

The Emperor now had no choice but to believe the results of Ning Yu’s Array investigation. Although he still hoped, feeling that maybe it wasn’t Ning Yu and Bai Ruozhu who framed the Former Emperor, it could also be a mistake that led to such a result.

Thinking this way, he felt much better and decided to see the National Master to inquire about the events of the past, as many matters concerning his father were clear to the National Master.

The Emperor went to the Astrology Tower to seek an audience with the National Master, but the National Master still refused visitors on the grounds of being in retreat.

”Humph, am I also not worthy of seeing the National Master? The National Master’s airs are getting bigger and bigger!” The Emperor said coldly, disregarding the objections of the attendant and striding towards the secret chamber where the National Master was in retreat.

He spoke to the National Master inside from outside the mechanical door, ”It has been a long time since I have seen the National Master, I wonder if you would do me the honor of granting me an audience?”

These words were already quite stern, and the National Master’s voice from inside was somewhat hoarse and weary, ”Your Majesty, I am at a critical moment in my retreat and truly unable to move. I beg for Your Majesty’s understanding.”

”Just have the attendant open the mechanical door. There’s no need for the National Master to move. It would set my mind at ease to see you, if only for a moment,” said the Emperor.

”This...” the National Master hesitated for a moment, ”the mechanism cannot be opened from the outside.”

A flash of anger passed through the Emperor’s eyes, and he gave a subtle signal to the Shadow Guard beside him. The Shadow Guard moved towards the mechanical door like a ghostly shadow, so quickly that the nearby children didn’t have time to caution him, and the next second, the sound of the mechanism activated, and the door was opened!

The National Master’s face was still marked with shock, which quickly turned to fury, but then he wilted, realizing that the Emperor had seen him like this.

”National Master, how did you become like this!” Even the normally composed Emperor was thrown off balance.

The last time he saw the National Master, just a year ago, the Master was still spirited, his hair and beard had turned white, yet he had an air of youthful vigor and an aura of an Immortal, with bright eyes. But now, if not for his same face, the Emperor would have thought this National Master was an impostor!

Sitting cross-legged on the ground was a stooped old man on the brink of twilight, his hair now sparse, his eyes dull and lusterless, a face that once had few wrinkles now crisscrossed with them and dotted with age spots, the skin on his face drooping and loose.

His once robust body was now skeletal thin, his robes hanging emptily on him. The hands that protruded from his sleeves were as gnarled as chicken claws, also covered with age spots and wrinkles.

The National Master came to and soon regained his usual serenity, although his current appearance bore no trace of transcendence, looking as if the Death God could snatch his life away at any moment.

”This humble servant revealed too much of the heavenly secrets, hence the backlash. I did not want Your Majesty to worry, nor did I want to sadden my young disciple, so I chose seclusion to avoid seeing people,” explained the National Master slowly, ”and my body is now incapable of doing anything, let alone divination. I am no longer fit to sit in the position of National Master.”

The Emperor, who just moments ago stood righteous, suddenly found himself at a loss for words, not anticipating the National Master’s decline; his recent actions now seemed somewhat ruthless.

”Please do not overthink, National Master, perhaps there is still a way to restore you. I will also find a way,” the Emperor finally said after a long pause.

The National Master sighed softly and said, ”Ning Yu has caused trouble, he is ultimately too young, only seeing the surface and not always accurately. Otherwise, he could have succeeded my mantle. Please forgive his insolence on account of this old servant.”

”Do you know of the things he spoke of, National Master?” the Emperor inquired.

”I do not, but I once divined that he would face a calamity related to his speech,” the National Master said, shaking his head with difficulty.

...

It did not take long for the news of the National Master’s backlash to reach Bai Ruozhu’s ears, having come from the Empress Dowager herself. Bai Ruozhu was startled as well, but was it truly the retribution of probing into the mysteries of heaven? If so, did that mean every National Master was doomed to a similar end?

But how to explain those who had ended their lives well? Could they all be charlatans with no real skill?

The day after Bai Ruozhu left the Sky Prison, Ning Yu was released. Upon returning to the Astrology Tower and learning of his master’s condition, he wept bitterly. After that day, it was as if he had grown ten years in maturity overnight, at least in spirit.

Bai Ruozhu stayed in Cining Palace for two more days before the Emperor finally allowed her to return home, but not before giving her a stern talking-to. She nodded and agreed submissively, pretending to be quite shaken by the experience.

Yet privately, she wondered, both the Emperor and the Empress Dowager refused to acknowledge the Former Emperor’s act of transferring the curse to Princess Diao Bin, like avoiding a physician for fear of diagnosis. How then, could Princess Diao Bin’s ailment be cured?