Chapter 143: Dancing on Four Eggs (Part 1)

Upon the Emperor's decree, although the expressions of those present in the grand hall remained largely unchanged, their physiological reactions varied dramatically. The Crown Prince's countenance did not shift, yet his breathing noticeably slowed—evidently, he had secretly heaved a massive sigh of relief. Li Xian's expression was similarly composed, but the unconcealable brilliance in his gaze betrayed his excited inner state. Needless to say, compared to the Crown Prince, Li Xian was a full tier lower in the art of acting. As for Empress Wu, she likewise displayed no particular emotion, sitting composedly and serenely without the slightest intention of dissuading the Emperor. However, the icy chill that flashed momentarily through her glance as she inadvertently swept it over Li Xian was exceedingly faint—so faint as to be virtually imperceptible. Yet, to someone as acutely sensitive as Li Xian, the mere brush of it revealed the underlying anomaly, causing his heart to involuntarily sink.

"Damn it, the old hag is harboring murderous intent!" The moment he sensed the Empress's gaze, Li Xian's body involuntarily gave a slight shudder, his thoughts instantly racing like lightning. Intention to kill—this was unadulterated intent to kill. Although extremely faint, Li Xian knew that the Empress had truly developed the urge to slaughter him. He did not harbor the delusion that possessing the experiences of three lifetimes would enable him to single-handedly contend with the ruthless and sinister Empress. How to handle this perilous crisis had instantly become the primary puzzle Li Xian needed to solve.

Reconciliation? There was no such possibility. Things having reached this pass, even if Li Xian desired a reconciliation, the Empress's side would never show the slightest leniency, let alone the fact that Li Xian never harbored the thought of reconciliation in the first place. For no other reason, simply to avoid repeating the tragic fate of his past life, Li Xian had to exert his utmost strength to pull down and shatter the Empress. It was a pity that the actual strength he currently possessed was altogether too meager, truly insufficient to support such a heavy responsibility. Relying on his brothers for assistance? That clearly would not work either. Leaving aside the fact that the Crown Prince's side was unreliable, Li Xian was no different. In Li Xian's view, if he were genuinely to fall into trouble, those two would at most wail indifferently a few times; as for stretching out a hand to rescue him—that was an absolute impossibility. The only things Li Xian could truly rely on were his own experience and stratagems.

Solutions were not entirely lacking, but several obstructive hurdles among them gave Li Xian a tremendous headache. First and foremost was how to tidy up the current chaotic situation so as to achieve a result that could both sever one of the Empress's arms and rake in substantial benefits for himself. In this endeavor, he not only had to guard against a desperate counterattack by the Empress, but also watch out for the Crown Prince's attempts to trip him up, while further accounting for Li Xian's unpredictable mindset. Of course, he also had to satisfy the Emperor. It could truly be described as dancing on four eggs; the slightest carelessness would result in a total loss of the entire game, leaving Li Xian no choice other than to be exceedingly cautious.

Secondly, there was the matter of how to urge the Empress and the Emperor to depart for Luoyang as quickly as possible—ideally forcing the pair to remain away from the capital for a prolonged period, thereby buying himself a relatively relaxed timeframe and environment. Li Xian had long since devised a response strategy for this point in his mind; however, it involved too many complicated entanglements, and whether it could be smoothly realized remained uncertain. Moreover, the grasp of timing also warranted deliberation: too early would not do, since the Grand Court case still required an explanation to the people of the realm; too late would likewise be inappropriate, for should the Empress strike beforehand, Li Xian feared he would lose a layer of skin even if he escaped death. How to master this precise degree deeply vexed Li Xian. With these thoughts swirling, his heart inevitably grew irritated, leaving him entirely without the inclination to listen to Li Xian exaggerate the perils he had faced during the assassination attempt, as he sank into solitary, profound contemplation.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, a major event has occurred! Chen Renhao, the Vice Administrator of the Jingzhao Municipality, has committed suicide by drinking poisoned wine out of fear of his crime!"

Gao Hesheng, who had received orders to summon Chen Renhao, had left swiftly and returned just as fast. Before Li Xian finished boasting about his near-death experience, Gao Hesheng came rushing in from outside the hall with a look of utter panic, reporting in a trembling voice.

"What? How can this be? I, I..."

Upon hearing that Chen Renhao was dead, the Emperor was instantly struck dumb, stammering in utter bewilderment as his whole person froze right there in place.

"What is the situation? Speak!"

Not only was the Emperor stunned, but all three imperial princes were also struck dumb with astonishment, even Li Xian being no exception. None of them had anticipated that matters would take such a shocking turn. The sole person capable of maintaining composure was Empress Wu. Seeing that everyone else was struck senseless like wooden chickens, the Empress demanded in a cold, stern voice.

"Reporting to Your Ladyship, this lowly servant obeyed the imperial decree and went to Vice Administrator Chen's residence to summon him. Just as I reached the place and before even stepping through the gates, I heard wailing and weeping sounds echoing from within. When this lowly servant and the others went inside to look, we discovered that the Vice Administrator had already partaken of the poisoned wine in his study and had long since died an unnatural death. Informed by his family members, we learned that he died out of fear of his crimes, leaving behind a single suicide note. This lowly servant has retrieved it; please deign to examine it, Your Ladyship."

Prompted by the Empress, Gao Hesheng naturally dared not delay. He hastily extracted a letter from his broad sleeve, held it high above his head, and babbled out his account.

"Present it here!"

The Empress slightly furrowed her brows, her complexion turning somewhat gloomy in an instant, though her tone of voice remained as steady as ever. With an indifferent raise of her hand, she beckoned, and Gao Hesheng hurriedly scurried up the front dais, delivering the letter cradled in his hands directly into the Empress's grasp.

"Your Majesty, please deign to examine this."

Clutching the letter, the Empress did not rush to inspect its contents. Instead, she gracefully rose to her feet and handed the correspondence directly to the Emperor, uttering with unusual gentleness.

"Oh, good, good."

The Emperor snapped back from his somnambulistic state, responded haphazardly, and casually snatched the letter. Extracting a sheet of paper densely covered in regular script, he unfolded it, quickly scanned it by the light of the hall lamps, and his expression instantly turned hideous to the extreme. In the end, he emitted a heavy grunt, his hand clenching as if intending to tear the letter into shreds, yet in the end, he held back. Irritated, he shoved the letter back toward the Empress and began pacing back and forth rapidly upon the front dais on his own. The heavy sound of his breathing was enough to send a chill straight to the hearts of the three imperial princes standing below, none of whom had any clear idea what all of this possibly meant.

"Your Majesty, since the matter has already occurred, we must ultimately handle it properly. Otherwise, I fear it will prove disadvantageous to the imperial court."

The Empress smoothed out the letter that had been crumpled by the Emperor's grasp, scanned it with a furrowed brow, and finally let out a long sigh. Looking toward the Emperor, whose face was filled with pent-up fury, she softly advised.

"This scoundrel actually dared to commit such evil deeds in pursuit of advancement! His crimes are truly unforgivable, and I shall not spare him. Does he genuinely think a single death can wipe the slate clean? Hmph, I shall have his entire clan executed to the third degree!"

The Empress's advice made matters worse; upon hearing her words, the Emperor instantly erupted. Gritting his teeth, he roared with a dark, sinister snarl, his visage twisted in a terrifying manner.

"Father, calm your wrath! What the matter truly entails still remains to be deliberated. Please forgive your son for his ignorance, and I beseech Father to explain in detail."

Seeing the Emperor suddenly burst into such a fury, the three princes exchanged uneasy glances. Looking at one another, all three harbored deep suspicions regarding Chen Renhao's death. The difference was that Li Xian and his brother instinctively restrained the urge to question further, whereas Li弘, as the Crown Prince, could not simply play deaf and dumb at such a moment. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask.

"Take a look, all of you, take a good look! Hmph, I am fit to be infuriated to death!"

The Emperor was evidently enraged to the extreme, and did not afford a better expression merely because the questioner was the Crown Prince. Waving his hand impatiently, he barked in a disgruntled tone. Seeing this, Gao Hesheng naturally dared not delay; he hurriedly cast a sidelong glance at the Empress, using his eyes to cautiously seek instructions.

"Mhm, pass it down."

The Empress uttered an indifferent grunt, raised her hand to wave the letter, and gave a detached command.

"Understood, this lowly servant obeys."

Acknowledging the order, Gao Hesheng cautiously received the letter with both hands from the Empress, trotted lightly down the front dais, and transferred the missive into the hands of the Crown Prince.

"This..."

The Crown Prince practically snatched the letter from Gao Hesheng's hands, scanned it rapidly, and his complexion instantly turned a brilliant shade of alternating red and white, leaving him speechless. Li Xian, standing nearby, grew thoroughly irritated upon seeing that the Crown Prince had failed to pass the letter along for quite some time. Disregarding everything, he crowded forward, craned his neck to take a look, and saw his own complexion instantly turn the color of pork liver. The strange expressions of the two brothers complemented one another, magnificent to the extreme. Yet Li Xian had no heart to appreciate it; his heart sank heavily downward. Without needing to look, Li Xian had already guessed the contents of the letter, and even more, the anomaly hidden behind this affair!

"To think such an evil person and such evil deeds could exist in this world—tolerated neither by heaven nor earth, tolerated neither by heaven nor earth!"

The Crown Prince remained silent for a long while before suddenly shaking his head and exclaiming with deep emotion. Following that, entirely unconcerned with the expression on Li Xian's face beside him, he passed the letter with a darkened countenance to Li Xian, who had remained silent throughout. The motion was entirely natural, yet at the very instant of the handoff, he not only flashed a meaningful, probing look toward Li Xian, but his fingers also rapidly traced a few strokes across Li Xian's palm.

*Empress?* Heh, it seems this fellow the Crown Prince has also perceived the core location of the problem, clearly ranking a grade higher than that clumsy fellow the sixth brother! The moment Li Xian felt the cursive script of the character for "Empress" traced across his palm by the Crown Prince, he instantly knew that Li Hong had seen through this trap. Inwardly, he could not help but sigh with emotion, though his expression remained exceptionally detached without the slightest shift. He silently accepted the letter and began to examine it in meticulous detail.

*Just as expected!* Heh, what a magnificent maneuver of a gecko severing its tail! Playing the trick of sacrificing the rook to save the king is truly executed with consummate beauty! Li Xian merely glanced over the letter and saw that in his final testament, Chen Renhao not only confessed to having dispatched men to burn down the archives of the Grand Court case, but further explained that this action stemmed from an eagerness to achieve merit, attempting to rely upon solving this case to invite imperial favor. He mentioned that the man named Yan He had been acting under his instructions in order to hoodwink the public, and added that the actual perpetrators who set fire to the Grand Court had already been silenced by him, and so forth. All of this was basically within Li Xian's prior calculations, so there was nothing particularly surprising about it. What genuinely made Li Xian feel somewhat uncertain was what the Empress's true intention might be.

Whether it was a hero breaking his own wrist or a gecko discarding its tail, both constituted a form of sacrifice for the Empress, or rather, a compromise. If it were merely for the sake of smoothing over the assassination case, the sacrifice was altogether too grand. After all, such a move would easily chill the hearts of her subordinates; as a politician, she would never lightly resort to it unless driven to the final extremity. This being the case, what the Empress's true motives were became very much worth debating. Skilful as Li Xian's intellect was, he could not immediately grasp the Empress's pulse and had to use the pretense of reading the letter as cover while his brain spun at top speed...