Chapter 64: The Empress's Invitation!

What is this......

In the newly acquired Zhang family residence, Lady Luo, who had not even finished unpacking or settling the household affairs, was suddenly met with an invitation she could never have possibly imagined!

"An invitation from the palace?"

The entire Zhang family was dumbfounded. The old matriarch was too stunned to even find fault with or disparage her daughter-in-law, asking anxiously, "When is it?"

"The day after tomorrow..." Lady Luo swallowed hard and said, "It is the Crown Prince's birthday, and a banquet is being held in the palace. They have specially invited the female members of our Zhang family, along with my husband, to attend together."

"Oh, good heavens above!!" The old matriarch stood up with a start, pacing back and forth in the room while rubbing her hands incessantly.

She had never expected that she, a mere farming woman, would one day have the opportunity to enter the palace. Wouldn't that mean she might even get to see the legendary Empress?

Oh my, this truly is......

The younger sister, Zhang Meng, was also in a daze. Entering the palace?

Does that mean she would be able to see the imperial princes and grandsons? She didn't dare to harbor such wild fantasies, but even just catching a glimpse of them would give her something to boast about for the rest of her life.

Lady Luo herself was sitting on pins and needles, gripped by anxiety.

Ever since she decided to stay, she had been worrying about the so-called social circles in the capital. As a merchant's daughter, she knew all too well that even if her husband did not despise her, it would be inevitable for people to gossip about her in high society. She had already prepared herself for the worst, but she never expected that her very first opportunity to mingle with the noble ladies of the capital circle would be on such a grand scale.

She had heard of palace banquets, but weren't they usually restricted to female family members of officials of the fourth rank or above who held noble titles?

Although her husband's promotion had been rapid, he was still merely a minor sixth-rank official. Logically speaking, the people they initially connected with in the capital should only be of the same rank. She had originally planned to visit Mrs. Sun on Zhuque South Street at the beginning of the month. That family had also just arrived in the capital, and her husband served as an executive in the Capital Magistrate's Office, also holding a minor sixth-rank post. It was said that Mrs. Sun was likewise of peasant origin, meaning their social standing was quite compatible. Her plan was to first grow close to such a matron and slowly build her own social circle from there.

She never anticipated that her husband would be so extraordinarily capable that an invitation from the palace would arrive right at their doorstep.

"Mother..." Lady Luo looked at the anxious old matriarch, took a deep breath, and stood up to comfort her. "There is no need to worry. After all, it is just a banquet. As long as we make no mistakes, we will be fine. We still have a day to prepare. After the midday meal, I will take you both to choose a couple of well-fitting outfits, and then we can inquire about finding an experienced matron who used to serve in the palace to teach us the etiquette. It doesn't matter if you and I make a few fools of ourselves, but Little Sister is yet unmarried; regardless of how she performs, she must not make any major gaffes."

"Yes, yes, yes!" The old lady had clearly lost her wits at this point and failed to act like her usual argumentative self. Instead, feeling entirely helpless, she asked, "Should...... should Little Sister just not go?"

"Mother!!" The fourth sister immediately panicked in distress.

"That won't do..." Lady Luo shook her head. "Hiding away and refusing to see people will only lead others to gossip. The invitation explicitly invites the female members of the Zhang family. If we intentionally fail to attend, it would be a sign of disrespect to the Empress. Furthermore, this is also an opportunity for Little Sister. At the Crown Prince's banquet, all the noble households of the capital above the fourth rank, including military aristocracy, will be in attendance. It's not guaranteed that she will catch the eye of any particular family, but simply showing her face can only be a good thing."

"That's right!" Zhang Meng, in a rare display of solidarity, stood on the same side as her sister-in-law.

"Then...... then...... what if we make a fool of ourselves and become a laughingstock......?" The old lady still wore a worried expression.

"We will eat something to line our stomachs before we go," Lady Luo analyzed. "Once we get there, we will try not to touch the food or the wine. We will listen more, observe more, and speak as little as possible. If we are careful, nothing should go wrong. Tomorrow, after I consult with some matrons who have retired from the palace, as long as we do not commit any major taboos, there shouldn't be any serious issues. Mother, you don't need to worry too much."

"Is that so......" The old lady barely managed to steady her mind. "Then should we go and make preparations right now? Let's go inquire about where we can hire a matron."

"Mother...... we haven't had the midday meal yet."

"Oh, goodness me, who cares about eating at a time like this? Who could possibly have an appetite?"

Lady Luo: ".........."

***

"Kee-er, are you really going to stay?"

Just now in the front hall, when Father Luo heard the news, he had been stunned. Unable to get a word in edge-wise, he only had the opportunity to speak with his daughter alone when Lady Luo was preparing to pack her things and head out.

"Father..." Lady Luo put down what she was holding, looked at her aging father, bit her lip, and said, "Your daughter... wants to try again."

"Your father thinks he is not quite right in the head," Elder Luo shook his head. "His attitude toward you before was certainly not like this; otherwise, you would not have suffered grievances to such an extent. Now that his attitude has suddenly changed, it might not be a good thing. You might as well cut your losses and pull out now."

"Your daughter knows that, too..." Lady Luo lowered her head. "But what would your daughter do if she went back with you? Even if I obtain a letter of separation and remarry, can Father find a good man for me?"

"At least I can find someone who is easy to manipulate!" Father Luo frowned. "Having the initiative in your own hands is always better."

"If you were to look for a resident son-in-law, you would inevitably have to split a portion of the family property for your daughter. Given how generous the dowry Father gave back then was, my stepmother was already deeply dissatisfied. Now that my two younger brothers have grown up, if Father acts arbitrarily, the household will know no peace..."

Initially, Lady Luo had indeed planned to return with her father. She was truly exhausted in mind and spirit. Yet, after spending these past few days in the capital and calming down for a while, she realized the flaw in that plan.

If she was subjected to bullying by her mother-in-law here, wouldn't she simply be subjected to bullying by her stepmother once she returned home?

Things were already as they were; why make things difficult for her dear father?

She had failed to be a dutiful daughter to her father in this lifetime, and now that her father was of such advanced age, going back to be a burden to him would truly be far too selfish.

As for whether she could endure living in the Zhang family—

She recalled the look her husband had given her over the past couple of days.

Whether it was because that man's acting skills were simply too good—he had clearly looked at her with impatience in the past, but now when he looked at her, it was often... how should she put it? A bit apologetic, a bit sincere, and a bit... wretched?

Her intuition told her that her husband these past few days probably... was no longer the same person as before...

***

"Thank you both for waiting..."

When Shen Yuan returned to the inner hall of the Dali Temple once again, he was still alone with two guards, with no other officials from the Dali Temple present. This made Zhang Rui slightly curious, because when he had first entered the Dali Temple earlier, he had noticed that there did not seem to be many people inside the sprawling government office.

Could it be that everyone was too busy and had gone out to handle official business?

"My lord is too polite." Zhang Rui returned the courtesy first. "I wonder why Your Lordship summoned us here in such a rush. Is there some crucial clue that requires our assistance?"

Although Zhang Rui spoke politely, his tone carried a hint of interrogation. Even though the other party claimed to be assisting in the investigation of a case, they had bypassed the Ministry of Personnel and brought him here directly. It didn't feel like he was being summoned to receive a promotion; rather, it felt like he was being dragged in as a prisoner.

"Lord Zhang is truly somewhat different from how you used to be," Shen Yuan said, looking at Zhang Rui.

Zhang Rui frowned. Could it be that this fellow had known him in the past as well?

"Lord Zhang may not have any impression of this official, but this official has a very deep impression of Lord Zhang." Shen Yuan tapped on the tabletop, recalling a scene from three years ago. "Back then at the Qingfeng Pavilion, Lord Zhang must have been plotted against by the Lu family, becoming utterly infatuated with the nightingale. Such incidents actually happen quite often every year; it is not once or twice that the Lu family has used Miss Nightingale to scheme against others."

"So Your Lordship knew about it all along?" Zhang Rui asked curiously. "That being the case, why didn't anyone do anything about it?"

Shen Yuan gave Zhang Rui a puzzled look. "It is standard practice for major aristocratic families to use evil spirits to manipulate promising talents for their own use. Who could possibly manage all of them? Ordinary people might not know this principle, but does Lord Zhang not know?"

Zhang Rui gave an awkward laugh. "I really... wasn't very clear about the inner workings of these things."

The Lu family's centipede-spawn had acted with such swagger—it turned out that no one cared at all? But did the people higher up actually know about the effects of that centipede-spawn?

"However, what does this have to do with the case?" Zhang Rui asked with a puzzled expression.

"Originally, it had nothing to do with it," Shen Yuan stared fixedly at Zhang Rui. "Because back then no one knew of Lord Zhang's capabilities, nor did anyone suspect Lord Zhang, the investigation overlooked many things at the time. For instance, there was a day when you and Lord Cui got dead drunk at the Heavenly Bridge yet remained entirely unharmed. Did you happen to see anything?"

Zhang Rui fell silent. How could he possibly remember what had happened back then?

Cui Yan, on the other hand, looked at Zhang Rui in puzzlement. He did not understand what the Vice Minister meant by Lord Zhang's "capabilities."

He could only reply cautiously, "At that time, Big Dog—ah, no, Lord Zhang and I were in rather low spirits, so we drank together at the Zhuque Bridge. But there were quite a few people drinking there at the time, and we stayed in a drunken stupor until dawn before returning to the Fuzi Temple. Many people can testify to that."

He remembered that both of them had been quite despondent at the time. He himself had been ranked quite high; even if he couldn't make the top tier, there was a high probability he would have entered the Hanlin Academy, yet he had been exiled to the southern frontiers. The post Zhang Rui was assigned to back then wasn't great either—the Youzhou region—though at the time, Zhang Rui seemed more preoccupied with Miss Nightingale of the Qingfeng Pavilion. He had tried to persuade him for a long time; after all, his childhood friend was already married, and becoming so infatuated with a courtesan from a brothel was certainly no good thing.

"This official knows..." Shen Yuan nodded. "Originally, neither of you was suspected, but something actually happened in that vicinity at the time."

"What happened?" Zhang Rui asked with a frown.

"Lord Zhang truly has no recollection of it?" Shen Yuan looked at Zhang Rui scrutinizingly.

"Please enlighten this official first, so that I may ponder carefully whether I have any impression."

"On the very day you were drinking, Princess Jialin died a tragic death—right beneath the bridge where you were drinking!"

Upon hearing the four words "Princess Jialin," Cui Yan's fists visibly tightened.

Zhang Rui asked with a puzzled expression, "What does that have to do with this case?"

"The method of death is the same!" The other party nodded. "Bleeding from the seven orifices, flesh and bones dissolving, the body turning to mud, leaving no intact corpse!"

"This official had assumed that the victims of those cases were only men," Zhang Rui frowned. "Why wasn't a clue like this recorded in the archives?"

"Since it concerned imperial lineage, the case files were naturally sealed away," Shen Yuan said in a low voice. "When Princess Jialin died, Lord Zhang was right there on the bridge. Did you not notice anything at all?"

"No..." Zhang Rui could only deny it flatly. "Perhaps my spiritual cultivation was too shallow..."

"What a fine 'spiritual cultivation is too shallow,'" Shen Yuan chuckled. "This official has heard that the Empress invited the female members of your Zhang family to attend Crown Prince's birthday banquet the day after tomorrow, and among the invitees is naturally Princess Jialin's mother, Commandery Princess Yunyang. Take a guess, Lord Zhang—will the Commandery Princess accept this explanation of yours?"

"Whether she accepts it or not, this official has only this explanation to give," Zhang Rui said indifferently. "This official truly does not know!"