Chapter 185 - Her Highness Should be Highly Rewarded!

In Chengqian Hall, Baili Qingcang rubbed his forehead with his hand. His expression was ashen and furious. He fixed his eyes on a group of officials who were kneeling in the middle of the Hall.

“Great, this is really great! One of you is a first rank official in the court while the other holds the title Princess Zhaohua which I personally conferred. How could you fight against each other in public? More seriously, many civilians were affected. Have you any respect to the laws of the court and me?”

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

“I can’t calm down now! Xiao Jingran, you gave a grand funeral for Xiao Huanxi. I thought that it was a sad thing for you, a father, to bid farewell to your daughter, so I would not pursue this matter. However, how come that your funeral procession made a detour of two extra streets and appeared in front of the mansion of Princess Zhaohua?”

Xiao Jingran was kneeling on the ground. When he raised his head and was about to respond, Baili Qingcang stopped him. He waved his arm at Xiao Jingran and did not give him the chance to speak. Then, he said, “Ninghua, I treat you as my most beloved daughter and have been spoiling you by all means. I thought you were more sensible than the other princesses, but I didn’t expect you to do such a foolish thing!”

Shen Ninghua kowtowed and said, “I’m guilty, please punish me, Father Emperor.”

“Do you think the impact of this incident will diminish simply by punishing you? At that time, the two streets were tightly packed and so many people gathered together…”

Baili Qingcang sighed deeply, his expression was full of tiredness. This incident had very serious consequences, and he didn’t know the details of casualties yet.

On the right side knelt Xiao Jingran and Xiao Fengjue while on the left were Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi. Behind them were other officials who also knelt with drooped heads. Those officials tried their best to shrink their bodies, for fear that they might become the target of the Emperor’s anger.

After a quite long while of silence, one eunuch finally came in and reported, “Your Majesty, the Minister of Revenue and Governor of Capital Guards sent to investigate the incident have returned.”

Baili Qingcang held back the rage in his heart and spat out a word coldly, “Summon!”

The Governor of Capital Guards knelt down in front of Baili Qingcang and submitted the report in his hands. “Your Majesty, over 500 civilians were affected in this funeral chaos. 26 of them died, 12 had minor injuries, and 6 were seriously injured. All injured have been sent to medical clinics for treatment. People were frightened somewhat by this chaos. But no unrest occurred.”

Many officials in the Hall were surprised upon hearing the report. They didn’t believe that people were just slightly frightened given such a large number of casualties. One of them, an imperial censor, couldn’t help but retort, “Governor of Capital Guards, don’t be so sloppy. The incident caused 26 deaths and 6 serious injuries. Such a number is already so large in the capital, how can you say that people were only slightly frightened?”

The Governor of Capital Guards turned around and said, “Lord Qin, I ‘m still reporting the incident to His Majesty. Can I just explain this to you after I have finished my report?”

Lord Qin was immediately choked to silence by those words. Frightened by Baili Qingcang who cast a cold gaze at him, he hurriedly lay prostrate on the ground and apologized, “Your Majesty, I was just so worried about the people that I got a little rash at the moment. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

“Governor of Capital Guards, continue your report. What else?”

“Your Majesty, thanks to Her Highness Princess Zhaohua, people were not in a serious panic. The situation was out of control at that time. Fortunately, Her Highness sent her guards to help the people and stabilize their sentiments. This allowed the situation to be under control. If it weren’t for Her Highness, no one knew how many people would have been killed or injured this time.”

Baili Qingcang looked at Shen Ninghua and said, “Ninghua, you sent your guards to save the people. Why didn’t you tell me this when I asked you just now?”

Shen Ninghua said with a look of shame, “Father Emperor, the chaos happened in front of my mansion. I’m extremely regretful in my heart that it made Father Emperor worried. No matter how Father Emperor punishes me, I deserve it. I confess my guilt and have nothing to explain.”

However, the Minister of Revenue disagreed greatly and said, “Her Highness is so modest. After over 500 people got panicked, Her Highness acted quickly by sending her guards to save the people, and thanks to her efforts, only some of them got minor injuries. This can be said to be a miracle. Your Majesty, I think that Her Highness should be highly rewarded!”

Other officials were all shocked. How could it be that only a few were seriously injured and a dozen got minor injuries after such a huge crowd of people fell into panic together?

Baili Qingcang was also startled, he remained silent for quite a while before asking, “What about the 26 deaths just mentioned…”

The Minister of Revenue’s expression turned strange. He looked at Xiao Jingran and said, “Your Majesty, all the dead people were from the funeral procession of the Xiao family. The one who was seriously injured was also a servant of the Xiao family. Civilians didn’t suffer any loss, and only a few stalls close to the scene were damaged after trampling.”

“What?” Baili Qingcang was shocked. He stared at Shen Ninghua who was kneeling on the ground. Suddenly, he laughed loudly and said, “Great! Ninghua, get up quickly. Tell me what exactly happened?”

Shen Ninghua straightened herself up, but she was still on her knees and did not stand up as required. “Father Emperor, as you know, Xiao Huanxi died because of her failed plot of murdering me. But Old General Xiao obviously didn’t think so. He wholeheartedly believed that I killed his daughter. For fear of Father Emperor’s decree, he didn’t dare to cause trouble to me openly. He could only try to set me up secretly. He intentionally wanted to embarrass me in the disguise of holding a funeral for her daughter. He also wanted to get some innocent civilians involved.”

Xiao Jingran suddenly raised his head and said, “Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Lord Xiao knows the best whether or not I’m talking nonsense. The funeral procession made a detour of two extra streets to my mansion and stopped there for fifteen minutes. As a result, civilians nearby were attracted and watched for fun in groups. It doesn’t matter if Lord Xiao admits it or not, those civilians could attest to what I have said!”

“At that time, there were so many people gathering in front of my mansion. I hurriedly asked my guards to stop them, for fear that something unexpected would happen. Fortunately, as a princess, I have 300 guards in the mansion. Otherwise, it would probably be impossible for me to handle the chaos.”

Xiao Jingran gritted his teeth tightly. His cheekbones trembled and he suddenly cupped his hands and bowed deeply to Baili Qingcang. “Your Majesty, this old subject of yours indeed felt sad. I have fought for the country for many years, and I have only one son and one daughter in my life. I didn’t expect that my beautiful daughter would lose her life suddenly. I did such a thing out of momentary fury. I beg Your Majesty to punish me for that.”

Xiao Jingran really made a nice move by showing concessions. When he realized that there was no way for him to deny the guilt he had committed, he simply admitted it. Even if the Emperor was furious at the moment, how would he punish an old official who had fought for the country for many years and had lost his daughter?

Shen Ninghua sneered. “Lord Xiao, I think what you’ve done was far more than that.”

Xiao Jingran suddenly turned around and asked with a frown, “Why did Your Highness say in this way?”

The Minister of Revenue nodded. “Her Highness is right. No chaos would happen at all if the civilians were just gathering there and watching fun. The chaos occurred only after the civilians started to fight for silver ingots. The state of chaos was purposely provoked by someone who deliberately threw out the silver ingots to the crowd from upstairs.”

“Someone threw out silver ingots?”

“Yes.” the Minister of War ordered someone to present the evidence. “Your Majesty, I obtained the evidence.”

Baili Qingcang held the silver ingot in his hand and looked at it for a long while. “This is just ordinary silver. Do you have witnesses?”

“The scene was in so great panic that witnesses were hard to find.”

These words made Xiao Jingran feel relieved. His tightly clenched fists were slowly loosened and his tense expression relaxed slightly.

Baili Qingcang sat on the throne, his brows furrowed tightly as he hesitated. If he convicted Xiao Jingran, it would be going too far since the civilians didn’t suffer any losses from this incident. If he did not punish Xiao Jingran, he would probably become more reckless in the future.

“Dear associates, what do you think about this incident?”

The officials present in the Hall glanced at each other before taking turns to offer their opinions.

“Your Majesty, I think that this incident doesn’t bring serious consequences, a lenient punishment should be considered.”

“No, although the consequences are not very serious. I believe that heavy punishment should be imposed. Otherwise, someone will probably follow suit next time. If that happens, I’m afraid that it will cause extremely serious consequences.”

“Although the nature of the incident is abominable, there are some coincidental factors. Furthermore, Lord Xiao was in sadness, so what he has done is understandable. If a heavy punishment is imposed upon him, old officials may be somewhat disappointed.”

The officials eagerly argued with each other, but none of them said a word about what kind of punishment should be imposed. Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes. She thought those officials were really good at smoothing things over without giving offence to others. Fortunately, she had backup measures. Otherwise, it would be difficult for her to deal a heavy blow to the Xiao family this time.

Just as the officials were arguing unceasingly, one eunuch walked in a flurry. “Your Majesty, the abbot of Guangning Temple is now outside the Palace.”

“What?” Baili Qingcang stood up abruptly. The officials stopped their argument immediately and wondered why the Emperor reacted so excitedly.

Chu Junyi looked at Shen Ninghua and nodded his head slightly at her.

The abbot of Guangning Temple was originally surnamed Qiu. Before becoming a monk, he had a wife who was Baili Qingcang’s aunt. She was assassinated because she supported Baili Qingcang in ascending to the throne. After her death, Qiu was also framed because of the factional fight. Later, he simply shaved his hair and became a monk. His dharma name was Guangshan.

A white-bearded monk who wore a kasaya slowly walked in and bowed to Baili Qingcang.

“Master, please don’t stand on ceremonies. Someone, bring a seat for Master Guangshan!”

“I really don’t deserve this.” Guangshan declined directly.

Baili Qingcang sat on his throne again, and a trace of nostalgic expression appeared on his face. In the blink of an eye, decades had passed. There were very few old acquaintances in the court now. “Why did Master come here?”

Guangshan looked at Shen Ninghua and said, “I’m here for a missing monk of my temple.”

“A monk of your temple?”

“Yes, Princess Zhaohua invited four monks from my temple to perform a ritual. However, three of them returned with serious injuries. The remaining one disappeared without a trace. May I ask Your Highness where that person is now?”

Shen Ninghua looked up and said, “Master, I’m afraid I will disappoint you. That monk will never be able to return to your temple.”

Guangshan’s expression changed as he closed his eyes and chanted, “Amitabha.”

Shen Ninghua raised her head and said, “Father Emperor, the Xiao family’s funeral procession carried the coffin and crushed the gate of my mansion apart when the several venerable monks were performing a ritual on a tall platform. When the gate fell down, it knocked down the tall platform. One monk died immediately and the other three were seriously injured.”

“There was actually such a thing?” Baili Qingcang frowned.

Shen Ninghua lowered her eyes and said, “I didn’t expect such a thing either. It is a pity that the four venerable monks suffered. Speaking of which, it’s all my fault. As mother’s birthday is coming, I have been having a hard time in sleeping these past few days. So, I wanted to hold a ritual for her and pray for blessings. I didn’t expect that it caused so much trouble.”

Jingyan’s birthday? Yeah, he used to celebrate Jingyan’s birthday with her…

Xiao Jingran’s face turned pale. He didn’t expect that the incident would involve Guangning Temple. Unlike others, he knew about the relationship between Guangning Temple and His Majesty. The matter got… difficult to handle…