Arrangements

In another time and space, Princess Consort Gong had indeed been sacrificed in martyrdom.

When the emperor received news of Zhu Youdun's death, he considered how Zhu Youdun had repeatedly memorialized against Martyrdom Sacrifice and decided to honor his last wish. He decreed that the childless Princess Consort and concubines of Prince Zhou's Mansion need not be buried with him.

By the time the Imperial Decree reached Prince Zhou's Mansion, Princess Consort Gong and the six concubines' corpses had long gone cold.

The moment Prince Zhou died, Zhu Youjue followed precedent and ordered Princess Consort Gong and the six concubines to be sacrificed in martyrdom.

Since it was ancestral custom, Zhu Youjue had only acted a little too quickly. The emperor and the Imperial Court could not blame him for it; they could only sigh and bestow posthumous titles upon the Princess Consort and the six concubines.

But Pan Yun thought that compared with posthumous titles, they surely would rather have lived.

Seeing Prince Zhou stare suspiciously at the cat in her arms, Pan Yun quietly poked its belly with a finger. Say something human.

Pan Little Black said, "Meow—if I could speak human words in cat language, would I still need to cling to you?"

Prince Zhou met the black cat's glasslike eyes and suddenly drifted off. Only when it looked away did he abruptly come back to himself. Light burst into his eyes, and when he looked at Pan Yun again, he was far more solemn. "I believe you, little friend. Please, sit."

Pan Yun: ...

She lowered her head to glance at the black cat in her arms. What did you just do?

Pan Little Black was curious itself. Hadn't it merely snapped at Pan Yun on instinct?

Could it be...

Pan Yun and Pan Little Black both fixed their bright eyes on Prince Zhou. Could he also possess the ability to communicate with all things?

Pan Yun stared at his chest, desperately wanting to know how many openings his heart had, or whether he possessed some other innate talent.

She opened her mouth, suppressed the urge to ask, and ultimately did not voice the question.

Wasn't Tao Ji also deeply curious about her spells and talent?

Yet he rarely mentioned it. Clearly, people of this time considered such matters taboo.

Pan Yun repeatedly reminded herself inwardly: Be polite, be polite. There was plenty of time ahead, plenty of time ahead...

So she sat back down on her little stool.

Prince Zhou had lived a lifetime. What sort of people had he not seen?

Yet both in Pan Yun's past life and this one, her surroundings had been exceedingly simple. From birth to death in her past life, she had remained in school, nothing more than a graduate student with clear, foolish eyes;

In this life, she rarely stepped beyond the inner quarters, much less had many chances to play tricks and schemes.

Her most recent experience had been the battle of wits and courage with Xuan Miao and Tao Ji.

Though her face showed little expression now, her eyes seemed able to speak. Prince Zhou made only a slight guess and understood.

He could not help bursting into laughter, and he even brought it up himself. "A man on the verge of death may sense things others cannot. Looking at it, I sensed it."

Though death was drawing near, Prince Zhou was not trapped by the thought. Instead, he possessed a sense of calm composure.

He had been ill for too long. If he had struggled somewhat during the early stages of his sickness, then later on, he had simply lain flat and let himself go, deciding to submit to fate.

Whenever fate wanted him dead, that was when he would die.

He only needed to do all that was humanly possible.

Once he came to terms with that, Prince Zhou began to sense more things.

Especially since he had already endured a brush with death three years ago. After waking, he saw the world far more clearly and could more directly sense the true thoughts of those around him.

Resentment, hatred, love, reluctance, and calculation—every kind of emotion was there.

Take the young girl before him, for instance.

She might truly be able to commune with spirits, yet he still sensed the air of calculation around her. It was faint, but it existed.

What did this child wish to trade with him?

"Please enlighten me, little friend. What must I do to spare the people in my household from Martyrdom Sacrifice?"

Holding the black cat, Pan Yun made deductions from her meager knowledge and felt that there was a strong possibility.

The current emperor was a fifteen-year-old youth. He listened to one side and believed it, favored relatives and trusted intimates, responded to softness but not hardness. Therefore, pleading was more effective than submitting a proper memorial.

Though she hated him and Wang Zhen so fiercely that her teeth itched, Pan Yun still said, "Your Highness should personally write a letter of supplication to the emperor. Then, in the Princess Consort's name, take a large sum of money to seek Wang Zhen and ask him to put in a good word. That will make it eighty percent certain. The remaining twenty percent will depend on Heaven's will."

Prince Zhou's face darkened, his chest heaving unevenly. "Wang Zhen... How could His Majesty allow himself to be swayed by a eunuch?"

"The emperor cherishes and values Wang Zhen," Pan Yun said flatly. "We have no choice but to do this."

Prince Zhou was unwilling. Would that not be helping a tyrant do evil, needlessly building Wang Zhen's prestige?

When the truth came out in the future, the history books would record it against him.

Seeing Prince Zhou's reluctance, Pan Yun said, "Then write a letter from a dying man. It will depend on whether our emperor is softhearted enough."

Prince Zhou agreed with this method. He called for his Attendant and personally took up his brush to write.

But he had been ill for a long time and had not held a brush in ages. When he gripped it now, his hand trembled. He had to exert great effort to form each character, and even then, the strokes quivered.

Prince Zhou glanced at it and dearly wanted to throw it aside and have someone write it for him.

But Pan Yun thought this was perfect. It would make the little emperor certain that his granduncle truly was so sick he was nearly dying.

Prince Zhou finished a very logical letter, but Pan Yun felt he had written it incorrectly.

Putting herself in the little emperor's place, she felt the letter would be difficult to use to move him. She simply took up the brush and rewrote it for him, then had Prince Zhou copy it out.

Prince Zhou: ...

He read through Pan Yun's letter once, his brows furrowing tightly. "Nonsense. This letter is disconnected from beginning to end, full of incoherent rambling. If it says I am devoted to Daoist cultivation, tranquil and fond of peace, and do not wish the Princess Consort and concubines to disturb me, then how can it also say I feel deep affection for them and cannot bear to have them sacrificed in martyrdom? And then it says the common people are trapped in hardship and suffering, and I cannot bear for my family members and servants to suffer the agony of Martyrdom Sacrifice. Which of these three reasons is it supposed to be?"

Pan Yun said, "All of them."

Prince Zhou said, "But the first two contradict each other. Which one are you asking the emperor to believe?"

Pan Yun said, "He will believe both."

"Impossible!" Was the emperor an idiot?

Pan Yun looked at Prince Zhou and sighed. "Your Highness, you write dramas, so naturally you care about logic. But children like us do not care about that. We care more about feelings.

"This entire piece is filled with your emotions: love for yourself, love for your wife, compassion for the common people. The emperor is a man who values emotion. He will understand you."

Prince Zhou remained doubtful.

In the end, Pan Yun took a step back. "How about this? Copy it out first. Later, seal both letters and send them to the palace. Submit the one I wrote first. If the emperor becomes angry, or if it does not work, then submit the one you wrote."

"No." Prince Zhou felt that this letter insulted his profession and made him look like an unprofessional playwright. Thus, he said, "Submit mine first. Only if it proves useless should you submit the one you wrote for me."

Pan Yun secretly calculated, and her eyes lit up slightly. She nodded. "That works too, but I have a few things to instruct the messenger."

Prince Zhou glanced at her glittering eyes and agreed.

Thus, the Attendant went to find Prince Zhou's trusted subordinate, while Prince Zhou held his brush and copied out the letter.

By the time he finished, the trusted subordinate had already been waiting at the side.

Pan Yun sealed the two letters, marked them differently, and handed them to the trusted subordinate. "Submit the first letter first. If there is no reply after two days, ask the Chief Historian to submit the second letter. Say that the prince is critically ill and has already lost all awareness, that Prince Zhou's Mansion has prepared the funeral rites, and that this was the prince's final letter before he fell unconscious."

The trusted subordinate stared at her in dumbfounded shock, then looked toward Prince Zhou behind her.

The Attendant could not help rebuking her. "Insolence!"

But Prince Zhou's eyes were full of excitement. He said to the Attendant, "Say exactly that. Tell the Chief Historian that by the time you set out, I was already having a final flash of life before death and had little time left. Go now. Take men and catch up with the Chief Historian."

The trusted subordinate acknowledged the order, accepted the letters, and left at once.

Prince Zhou was still not satisfied. He had often guided others in acting, but taking the stage himself—using his own life and death as the performance—was a first.

Ah, if he had known it could be played like this, he ought to have started playing two years earlier.

Prince Zhou and Pan Yun exchanged a look, both feeling as though they had suddenly encountered a kindred spirit.

While Pan Yun stayed with Prince Zhou, Zhu Zijin went to the guest courtyard and asked Tao Ji and Xuan Miao to remain and treat Prince Zhou, also giving him a chance to thank them for saving Zhu Tongqie.

In any case, he was simply drawing them closer and keeping them here.

Tao Ji and Xuan Miao exchanged a glance. They had already cast their votes earlier, so neither hesitated before agreeing.

Zhu Zijin let out a breath of relief. After glancing around, he asked, "Where is Young Daoist Priestess Pan? My son has been thinking of her constantly. He has only just returned home and was badly frightened. In the future, I hope Young Daoist Priestess Pan can spend more time with him and soothe his emotions. Or perhaps they can play together from now on."

Play with a child?

No, no, no. Pan Yun's playmates were people their own age. Playing with a child—wouldn't that mean playing the child?

Tao Ji's lips curled slightly as he said gently, "She should be in the prince's main courtyard at the moment, shouldn't she?"

Zhu Zijin froze, hurriedly rose to take his leave, and rushed toward the main courtyard.

Prince Zhou's spirits were poor, and he spent most of his time asleep. He slept badly, so noise was what he feared most.

Hopefully Young Daoist Priestess Pan would not disturb Prince Zhou.

But halfway there, Zhu Zijin was stopped by someone from the Princess Consort's household. "Eldest Young Master, the Princess Consort has something to discuss with you."

Zhu Zijin could only turn around and go to the Princess Consort first.

Madam Gu was still feeding the child, so she had not brought him over. The Princess Consort's courtyard was empty and lacked much human warmth.

Zhu Zijin knew this was because she had dismissed many of those who served her. Only a few attendants remained at her side now.

The moment Consort Gong saw him, she handed him several contracts of servitude. "I had wanted to set Xin Niang and the others free as well, so they would not... But life outside is difficult, and I worried they would struggle after leaving.

"Since the prince has entered your name back under ours, take these contracts of servitude. If I follow your father when the time comes, keep them in service and give them a place where they can settle down and make a living."

Zhu Zijin was startled and quickly knelt. "Mother, why do you say this? Since I have been entered back under my parents' names, I am Mother's son. I will certainly support Mother in her old age."

Neither dared speak openly of Martyrdom Sacrifice, fearing someone might overhear and report them upward for words of resentment.

Zhu Zijin felt that the matter of the Princess Consort's Martyrdom Sacrifice should already have been settled, but the Princess Consort was more cautious than he was.

Her eyes reddened slightly. "Good child, I know your heart. But the world is ever-changing; nothing remains fixed forever. No one knows whether things will go smoothly. Take these contracts first. Remember this: I do not need maidservants and older female servants to accompany me in death. In the future, settle them properly. If... then give the contracts back to them and let them go where they will."

Zhu Zijin wept as he agreed.

The ten lucky numbers for this chapter are numbers ending in 4. Screenshots are accepted as proof; the deadline for screenshots is before the next chapter is released.