Jian Zhaoxing

Chapter 305 No Historical Records Available
"Zhaoyan, are you mistaken? Aunt Mu didn't mention this to me before." Lin Zhiqing hadn't seen this information when she was learning about the history of the Great Sheng Dynasty, so she remained skeptical.

Moreover, the rites and laws of the Great Sheng Dynasty were extremely harsh on women, so how could there be any possibility of women ruling and holding power?

This is incredible.

Asagao shook her head: "Actually, I also found it strange, but my aunt's tone was quite certain at the time."

"When did you say that?" Lin Zhiqing raised an eyebrow. Aunt Mu wouldn't just make things up.

Asagao scratched her head:

"It was on the day my aunt had the accident that you asked me to inform the other households to have my aunt go to Miss Yangyang. She told me that when we went out together."

"But...but she wouldn't let me tell you, Miss, saying it was just her wild guess and she was afraid it would affect your judgment."

Asagao looked somewhat dejected: "Miss, I only suddenly remembered this matter today when I saw the Annals of Emperor Sheng. I miss my aunt."

Lin Zhiqing's thoughts suddenly began to churn.

At such a special time... why would Aunt Mu bring up the Empress's affairs for no reason?

There are two possibilities for this matter.

The first possibility is that Aunt Mu did mention this matter.

The second possibility is that Aunt Mu never mentioned this matter, and it was Asagao who wanted to reveal this information to her.

However, the second scenario seems unlikely.

Because all the conversations started with that book, "The Annals of Emperor Sheng".

But she just picked this book up from the bookshelf today.

Because looking at the account books can be tiring, she bought many books a long time ago, and there are three large bookshelves in Shuqing Pavilion.

These books cover a wide variety of genres, from the history of the Great Sheng Dynasty to ordinary storybooks, which can be considered one of Lin Zhiqing's ways of understanding the Great Sheng Dynasty.

She would often randomly flip through them, and today was no exception.

She doesn't have a fixed choice when picking books; she just randomly picks one.

Therefore, if Chaoyan deliberately used the book "The Annals of Emperor Sheng" to stir up a topic, then she had to anticipate that Lin Zhiqing would take the book.

The probability of that is extremely small. Even if she were to fall into the trap of psychology, it would be very difficult for her to be persuaded to choose one book from so many options.

Moreover, she was quite certain that she had not been guided in any way and had simply picked up a book at random.

Excluding the possibility that Asagao deliberately led or fabricated this topic, Lin Zhiqing is basically certain that Aunt Mu may have indeed brought it up.

If this was something Aunt Mu said before she died... Lin Zhiqing was shocked.

Could it be that the reason Jiang Liuyun ordered people to kill and silence witnesses was because of this?
In other words, this topic about the "Empress" is related to the neutral ministers who oppose the retrial of Lin Congrong's case.
As soon as this thought crossed Lin Zhiqing's mind, she took a deep breath.

It's no wonder she overthinks things; it's just that Aunt Mu said those words at such a convenient time.

Aunt Mu is usually a person who only keeps her head down and does her work, and doesn't gossip.

Lin Zhiqing fell into deep thought.

Seeing that she had suddenly stopped talking, Asagao asked in confusion, "Miss, Miss?"

“Asagao.” Lin Zhiqing grasped Asagao’s hand: “Think carefully about what Aunt Mu actually said back then.”

"Not a single word can be omitted!"

Seeing that Lin Zhiqing's expression was somewhat serious, Asagao immediately remembered that Aunt Mu had told her not to tell Lin Zhiqing, and her expression became hesitant.

"Zhaoyan, this matter is of great importance. It may very well be related to the reason why they killed Aunt Mu. No matter what Aunt Mu said, you must tell me!" Lin Zhiqing emphasized her tone.

Seeing Lin Zhiqing's anxious expression, Asagao immediately stopped hesitating:

“Miss, I remember it very clearly, my aunt said at the time…”

The current emperor's regime is extremely stable because, since the reign of Emperor Gaozu, the court has emphasized military affairs over civil affairs. However, what most people don't know is that the Great Sheng Dynasty actually had a period where it emphasized civil affairs over military affairs.

Fifty years ago, the Great Sheng Dynasty produced an empress, who was the grandmother of the current emperor, the mother of the late emperor, and the empress dowager at the time.

Hearing this, Lin Zhiqing frowned slightly: "I did not find any information about this Empress Dowager in the book before."

Asagao was equally puzzled: "I haven't read many books and I don't know much about these things, but I've never heard of any Empress Dowager since I was a child."

"When I asked my aunt, she said that information about this empress dowager was blocked by the royal family, and only a very few elderly people remembered it."

When I pressed her for details, my aunt said nothing more.

After listening to what Chaoyan said, Lin Zhiqing's mind was filled with complicated thoughts.

Aunt Mu would never bring up the empress for no reason. Her instruction to Asagao not to tell her this was most likely from her own perspective, believing that the matter was related to what she was thinking at the time.

However, Aunt Mu was unsure whether there was any connection, and fearing that it might disturb Lin Zhiqing's thoughts, she never told Lin Zhiqing about it.

Now that Lin Zhiqing has learned about this from Chaoyan, she still feels that this is very likely the reason why Jiang Liuyun killed Aunt Mu.

This is the reason why the neutral ministers opposed the retrial.

Judging from their age alone, the neutral ministers who opposed the retrial were indeed all elderly and were trusted advisors who had served two generations of monarchs.

Judging from their age and experience, they might know about the Empress's affair.

This seems to make sense.

But what does this empress have to do with whether or not they support a retrial of Lin Congrong's case?

Lin Zhiqing frowned slightly, then relaxed her brows gently: "Zhaoyan, find a piece of stationery."

She wanted to write a letter to Lin Qingshan.

Based on Aunt Mu's account of the Empress's existence, her grandfather, Lin Qingshan, should have known about this.

She needs to ask her properly.

After Chaoyan brought the paper over, Lin Zhiqing picked up the pen and quickly wrote down what Aunt Mu had said.

She wrote the character for "woman," and then frowned as she wrote the character for "emperor" twice.

"The Emperor?" she murmured, as if realizing something, and couldn't continue writing.

"Miss, what's wrong?" Chaoyan asked.

Lin Zhiqing's hand trembled, and the ink dripped onto the paper, spreading out.

At that moment, she had no time to think about the letter anymore. Instead, she picked up the stained letter in disbelief and examined it carefully.

After discovering that the letter was illegible, she started writing again, writing the character "女" (woman), but still only two strokes for the character "帝" (emperor).

Asagao leaned closer to take a look and whispered, "Female, Second? Miss, isn't this..."

That's right!

It's the girl and the second one!
But she was also a woman and an empress!

Lin Zhiqing had never thought about this before, but now she is writing in the traditional Chinese characters of Dasheng.

The font commonly used by the Dasheng Dynasty was similar to that of the Small Seal script. The upper part of the character "帝" (Emperor) was the character "二" (two).

In other words, the "second female lead" that Aunt Mu desperately wrote on her palm was likely unfinished.

What she really wanted to tell Lin Zhiqing was not that the murderers were two women, but the word "Empress".

Thinking of all this, Lin Zhiqing's eyelashes trembled slightly, her heart aching terribly.

Before she died, Aunt Mu wasn't thinking about who the murderer was, but rather about passing on any information that might be useful to Lin Zhiqing.

What was she thinking as she collapsed in the alley?