Fu Rou was amending documents and could not sit still. She walked out of the room and looked at the sky.

The Crown Prince had attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself. Although he was saved, he had left a blood letter saying that Prince Han had killed his wife and was bullying his child. Prince Han had pushed him to the edge. The Emperor was extremely shocked. The Emperor also found out that there were people queuing up in front of the Han Mansion and there was a never-ending stream of guests delivering gifts. This caused the Emperor to become furious. He issued an Imperial Decree admonishing him. He scolded Prince Han for being arrogant and disappointing the Emperor. Prince Han was then punished to self-reflection. Everything that he was in charge of was to be handed over to Prince Zhou. The Literature School was instructed to close as well. As soon as this decree was issued, there was a commotion in court. Hundreds of ministers could not understand the Emperor’s unpredictable changes.

Fu Rou recalled what happened earlier on when she met the Emperor. Concubine Yan and Yu He had been pressuring her. Ever since Consort Han’s incident, she had changed her opinion of Concubine Yan. 

Everyone in the palace knew that Concubine Yan was highly favoured. She always handled things according to Buddhist teachings. Yet, the Empress was always wary of her and this made the Empress seem ungenerous. Today, Fu Rou thought that the Empress’ intuition was right. Concubine Yan was just very good at tolerating and looked as if she did not fight for anything. She could remain silent for three years, but as soon as she made a move, she would achieve the world overnight. 

The sound of footsteps neared. 

“Your Highness.” Fu Rou did not turn to know that it was Xinnan.

“What did you say to Imperial Father?” Xinnan was fuming.

“The truth.”

“Truth, truth. Do you think you are Great Tang’s justice turned into a person? Sanctimonious! Imperial Father declared that the Literature School was to be closed and took away all of Fourth Brother’s power. Fourth Brother is now under house arrest and Han Mansion has turned into a prison. This is all because of you!” In Xinnan’s eyes, Fu Rou was supposed to be on their side. 

“

caused it?” It was rare that Fu Rou got angry.

“Yes! You!” Xinnan was not thinking, she only wanted someone to take responsibility.

“Was I the one that instigated Prince Han to kill the Crown Princess?” Fu Rou had to argue back.

“...No.” Xinnan stammered.

“Was I the one that gave Prince Han the white silk?” 

“...” Xinnan swallowed, “No.”

“Then how is it that I am the one that harmed him and not that he harmed himself?”

Xinnan got scared by her interrogation. “You...you knew that Fourth Brother killed the Crown Princess because the Crown Princess killed Consort Han. Fourth Brother could not stand seeing the person that killed his wife continue living and was feeling pain. That was why he lost control and killed her. He had no choice.”

“The Crown Princess’ sister, Sun Lingwei, had been killed personally by the Crown Princess. The Crown Princess poisoned her jujube cakes with arsenic. What do you think the Crown Princess was thinking when she killed her own sister?”

“How...how would I know?” Xinnan could not hold her off.

“She must have been thinking that Consort Han was her enemy. Seeing Consort Han continue living must have caused her immense pain. She could not control herself and had to think of a way to get rid of Consort Han. Even if the price she had to pay was her sister’s life, it would not be a pity. The Crown Princess also felt helpless. Everyone that kills will have their own reason to kill.”

“You are being unreasonable.”

“I finally see through you! You are together with Concubine Yan!”

“Concubine Yan says that I am with Prince Han and now you are saying that I am with Concubine Yan. Your Highness, with the Empress’ soul watching from heaven, I will never be on anyone’s side. It is because of this fighting and scheming that people are divided. Not caring whether anything is right or wrong, they attack each other, causing even biological brothers to attempt to kill each other. Both sides are suffering. I only hope that both the Crown Prince and Prince Han have learnt a lesson and go back on the right path. They should not let the Empress down anymore.”

“You only know how to talk about principles. Hypocritical!” Xinnan knew that she was right but she was biased towards kindness. 

“What is wrong with principles? When did staying as a proper person, not lying to the Emperor, not helping people cover up their crimes become a hypocritical act? One lie requires ten other lies to cover. Ten lies would then need a never-ending number of lies to cover up. After killing the first person, you have to kill a second person to cover up. Then the third. The number of crimes will multiply to the point where there is no way to make up for it. Initially, the Crown Princess was kind as well. How did she turn into a cruel murderer that would kill even her own sister? It is because she took the wrong first step and did not know how to repent. She kept on doing one wrong deed after the other! Prince Han killed the Crown Princess and took the first wrong step. If I help him cover up, he will continue to do wrong. Will he follow the Crown Princess’ disastrous path? You are not helping him, you are harming him!”

Xinnan was completely intimidated by her, “Why...why are you so fierce for? What happened to the rules? I am the princess.”

“Prince Han made a mistake. His Majesty knows it and has punished him. Things will end here and it should be a good thing. At least it is better than covering it up with paper and having the paper catch fire later on. It is better than getting punished for deceiving the Emperor.”

“You are good. I cannot argue against you. I just don’t understand. If you like someone, why can’t you do everything for him?” Xinnan shook her head and turned to leave. “If it were for Chuling, I would throw caution to the wind.”

Fu Rou was finally silent.