Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 336 The Use of the Heavenly Book

Zhou Zhao became suspicious upon hearing this.

Although the Six Paths Heavenly Book does not have the legendary effect of granting immortality, it certainly possesses divine abilities, doesn't it?

At least Su Changying had saved his deceased wife's life four times by writing her a letter.

Although immortality is impossible, everyone has regrets. If one could have a second chance, it would be no less worthwhile than immortality.

His Majesty, however, gave the Six Paths Heavenly Book to Princess Changyang.

The high and mighty monarch seemed to see right through Zhou Zhao's thoughts. His gaze was distant and carried a sharp arrogance.

"I have no regrets after making a move, I do not seek immortality, and I have no regrets."

Everyone must die eventually. I have loyal ministers and capable generals, and I rose from an unknown soldier to the pinnacle of imperial power. Every stroke of my life has been written by myself, and I am very satisfied. Even if I die now, it will be the will of Heaven.

Zhou Zhao looked up in surprise and met the emperor's gaze.

Every word he said was true.

He did not covet immortality, and was so powerful that he did not need to be reborn.

"After obtaining the 'Heavenly Book,' I had no way to decipher it. It looked no different from ordinary blank bamboo slips. I was not interested in it and left it to gather dust in my study until four years ago when Changyang wanted to build the Shanming Villa to be the number one library in the world."

Seeing that she was searching far and wide for rare books, I gave her the "Six Paths Heavenly Book".

Do you remember what happened in the court that spring?

Zhou Zhao pondered for a moment, his fingertips trembling slightly, "That year, His Majesty returned from a personal campaign with injuries."

His Majesty shook his head. "He was not only injured, he almost lost his life."

Zhou Zhao was an exceptionally intelligent person, and she instantly understood after His Majesty said that.

When the vassal kings rebelled, His Majesty personally led an expedition from Chang'an. Although he ultimately won the battle, he was seriously wounded. After he left Chang'an, although the Crown Prince was nominally in charge of the state, he was still quite young and inexperienced. How could he possibly control the court? In reality, the Empress was the true ruler of Chang'an.

The Empress was not a pampered young lady, but a capable and powerful woman.

At that time, the Great Qi Dynasty had only been established for three years, and Chang'an City was full of all sorts of monsters and demons.

When bad news reached Chang'an, the Empress acted decisively, executing many ambitious princes and meritorious officials.

Around that time, His Majesty saw that the Crown Prince was kind and benevolent. He would become emperor in the future, but whether the country would still belong to the Liu family was another matter entirely.

It was probably around that time that His Majesty began to consider changing the crown prince.

Many people in Chang'an were saying that His Majesty wanted to change the crown prince because he favored the mother of the third prince. But Zhou Zhao didn't believe that someone who could build a dynasty would want to change the crown prince because of so-called love affairs.

It was essentially a power struggle between the emperor and empress.

No one else could even get onto this gambling table; the couple, supporting each other, were evenly matched.

At that time, His Majesty was probably unsure of his own fate, so...

Zhou Zhao suddenly thought of the last line of Princess Changyang's four-line poem: "In the deep of night, I regret my quarrels."

Perhaps, on one of his drunken nights, His Majesty worried that he might die on his next personal campaign and have no time to make arrangements for his affairs.

So he left behind an important item for the succession struggle and gave it to Princess Changyang. He knew all too well that even if he changed the crown prince to the third prince, the empress would not sit idly by. This item, such as a will, was meant to be used by Princess Changyang to turn the tide if he died unexpectedly.

Thinking it over, Zhou Zhao suddenly felt enlightened. His Majesty gave Zhou Zhao a deep look, "You are very smart, you should have figured it all out by now. At that time, Changyang was worried about my life and wanted to decipher the Six Paths Heavenly Book in case of emergency. She had no clue herself, so she found the smartest person in Chang'an at that time."

That is, your elder brother, Zhou Yan.

Zhou Zhao clenched his fists as he listened.

"Zhou Yan is indeed a young prodigy. About half a month later, Changyang came to the palace to find me, bringing with him the Six Paths Heavenly Book, saying that Zhou Yan had already deciphered it. Inside were two important items: one was the true usage of the Six Paths Heavenly Book, and the other was a treasure map left over from the previous dynasty."

The Six Paths Heavenly Book is even more useless than I thought. It requires someone to sacrifice their own life in order to give the deceased a subtle reminder and a chance to turn the tide of their death.

Such mystical methods are impossible to verify, and who would be willing to risk their life for something with no certainty of a positive outcome?

His Majesty's words struck Zhou Zhao like the resounding beat of war drums.

If she didn't have the Six Paths Heavenly Book, she wouldn't have seen Su Changying's reminder at all.

If she wasn't smart enough to decipher the letter from her deceased wife as a death omen, then it would have been like casting pearls before swine.

If she deciphers the prophecy but is unable to reverse the deadly situation and still ends up dying... then Su Changying has simply wasted her life.

Even worse, is the so-called "Six Paths Heavenly Book" a complete scam?
Whether the deceased, after the blood sacrifice, receives any notification is something that cannot be verified.

No rational person should risk their life for something so unrealistic and uncertain.

However, Su Changying used it four times.

Without hesitation, he killed himself four times for her chance of survival.

As Zhou Zhao pondered, her lowered eyelashes trembled slightly.

Princess Changyang and Zhou Yan are both dead. Only His Majesty knows how to use the Six Paths Heavenly Book. Was he already successful and famous at that time? What did he use to exchange for the Heavenly Book from His Majesty? And what was his mood when he risked his life without hesitation?

Even Zhou Zhao herself could assert that if it were her, she would have risked her life for Su Changying.

What a fool.

Her fingertips dug into her palms until they bled, and Zhou Zhao kept her head down, afraid to look up, lest the Emperor see the surging emotions in her eyes.

Even though she had guessed that Su Changying would have to pay a terrible price for writing the letter to his deceased wife, the confirmation of it still made her heart ache.

She died so many times; it's clear that dying young was her destiny.

Fool.

Su Changying is such a fool.

"I had little interest in the Six Paths Heavenly Book. I only had Princess Changyang make a copy of the treasure map and send it to Consort Fan to search for the treasure. At that time, the Great Qi Dynasty was in dire need of reconstruction. The money offered to us was not used by me, but the traitors wanted to use it..."

Zhou Zhao took a deep breath. "The treasure pavilion of Prince Consort Fan was used to exchange precious treasures for gold and silver on behalf of His Majesty. His Majesty thought the secret was known only to heaven and earth, but he did not expect that the news would be leaked, which is why someone killed my brother Zhou Yan."

His Majesty's expression suddenly turned serious. "That's right."

Princess Changyang and Zhou Yan were murdered, and I immediately suspected it was related to a secret. I also want to catch the murderer and avenge them. The princess is my most beloved and trusted younger sister, and Zhou Yan is my most favored minister.

After that, I sent people everywhere to search for the whereabouts of that thing, but we only found the instructions on how to use the Six Paths Heavenly Book.

Therefore, I suspect that the princess must have hidden the clues to that thing in a secret compartment of the Six Paths Heavenly Book, replacing its original usage.

"I know that the blank bamboo slip among Zhou Yan's relics is the Six Paths Heavenly Book, but I have no way to decipher it."