Miao Chu

Chapter 372 The Box
Song Miao didn't rush home.

As the situation developed, it eventually involved the royal family.

She naturally couldn't drag ordinary students into this mess, and she certainly didn't want to cause Imperial Censor Cao to stand out and end up being demoted and punished.

However, after learning that the Kyoto Prefectural Government had released the steward involved in the case from the Wu family because the Chief Secretary of the Prince Lu's Mansion had intervened, she felt more confident.

Three feet frozen, not a cold day.

How could the palace not know that the King of Lu was acting this way?

Because of the incidents involving the porter, Song Dalang, and the gambling den across the street, Song Miao had long inquired about the Prince Lu behind Master Wu. She knew that this brother of the late emperor was not only arrogant and domineering, but also secretly associated with civil and military officials. There were rumors about him in the streets and alleys. With just a casual inquiry, enthusiastic neighbors and villagers told her about the "secret affairs of Prince Lu".

Some say that the streets in the west of the city were blocked by his house, and that the fields in the two regions around the capital were seized by his retainers and servants. Others say that he was privately violent, often beating people without cause, and had even killed many pageboys and maids.

Some say that the current emperor is nearly thirty and still has no children, all because Prince Lu secretly hired evil people and used witchcraft and sorcery to poison the emperor and empress.

Some say he had already colluded with civil and military officials and members of the imperial family, and was just waiting a few years to send his grandson into the palace to be adopted by the current emperor, arguing that the emperor could not be without an heir. He believed that the throne should have been his rightfully, and called it "returning the rightful owner to the rightful owner."

The speaker perfectly imitated the tone and manner in which the King of Lu said "return the property to its rightful owner," even making a gesture of tilting his head back and snorting through his nose, emphasizing, "That's exactly what the Second King said that day. My cousin's mother-in-law had a cousin who became her godmother, and that godmother's apprentice happened to be working at the King of Lu's residence. He saw and heard everything clearly! He came out specifically to teach us!"

Regardless of whether these "someone said" things are true or false, or how much of it is true and how much is false, does the emperor really want to hear them?

Even though the emperor was gentle and kind, the empress dowager always had a fiery temper. When she was in power, she disliked a certain minister who always liked to quote classical texts when he presented his memorials, especially obscure and difficult ones.

Empress Dowager Yang was getting a headache from listening to this. She repeatedly asked for a change, but to no avail. One day, when the other party was giving a long speech, she couldn't stop him, so she simply picked up the inkstone on the table and smashed it over his head.

—His face was swollen from being hit.

After that, when court officials submitted memorials, they no longer dared to use classical allusions indiscriminately. As for presenting matters face-to-face, they learned to speak plainly overnight.

With a personality like Empress Dowager Yang, she might be able to pretend to be deaf and dumb most of the time, but when something is shoved right in front of her, how could she possibly tolerate it?
The other party had asked before, and I declined at the time, saying, "If the common people see and hear this, they will think that everything can only be resolved by the emperor's word, which may not be a good thing." I thought, "With Your Majesty's ability, you will not let the wicked go and let the good suffer."

But now the wicked have left, leaving the good people to suffer.

Although she had only interacted with Empress Dowager Yang twice, Song Miao felt that the Empress Dowager's previous question and promise to help her was not unfounded.

Compared to the Imperial Academy students and Imperial Censor Cao, this is a matter for the Imperial Family, and if possible, it would be best for the Imperial Family to resolve it themselves.

We just need to find a suitable opportunity and a suitable explanation.

Song Miao calculated the time and thought about the day, then asked the driver to go to the pharmacy to buy coltsfoot flowers, lilies, ophiopogon japonicus, and fritillaria cirrhosa. She also went to the fruit shop and picked out a basket of beautiful autumn pears.

She returned home, boiled all the medicinal herbs to make a thick broth, then peeled and cored the autumn pears, cut them into small pieces, and simmered them over low heat until she had several porcelain bottles of autumn pear syrup. Finally, she added honey and fritillaria powder.

This stuff takes a long time to form into a paste. After finally getting it almost done, Song Miao went back inside to grind ink and write down the prescription.

Just as she finished writing, a maidservant hurriedly came in to report, saying, "Madam, Madam Shen is here outside, saying she has something to ask of you..." Song Miao tidied up the table and went out the second door, where she saw Shen Xingniang standing behind the door with a large trunk beside her.

Upon seeing her come out, Shen Xingniang's face lit up with joy. She pointed to the trunk and said, "These are the things my master left behind—the rest were either burned or used as embellishments, leaving only these. I thought you asked in a hurry last time, and today I received the news that the things had entered the capital, so I simply went to the dock to pick them up and brought them over."

He then asked, "Where should I put it? How about we find an open space and I'll open it up and show you what's inside? It's just some ordinary stuff..."

The news came so suddenly that Song Miao was both surprised and delighted. Although she knew it was best not to have too high expectations, her heart still pounded for once.

Since the front hall is still used for business, it's naturally inappropriate to show these things in front of the guests.

The two returned to the backyard and found a corner to put the box down.

Shen Xingniang unfolded a piece of cloth and took out the items one by one, arranging them on the cloth.

The box was large and contained a variety of items. Besides several large wooden boxes, there were also many everyday items, all of which looked quite old. Among them was a rather large oil lamp, several hats and wrappings, some writing brushes and ink, and several embroidery patterns. The patterns were exquisite, but the colors had faded somewhat. The rest were items used for embroidery work, such as finger picks, needles and thread, and embroidery frames.

Song Miao looked around carefully, but none of them looked familiar.

Shen Xingniang, on the other hand, was very familiar with these things and kept introducing them to Song Miao, explaining what each item was used for and where each item came from.

Song Miao was quite disappointed after hearing this.

Apart from the oil lamp, everything else was bought later. But when she picked up the oil lamp and looked at it briefly, she found that the workmanship was too ordinary and there was no trace of the things from the mountains.

Seeing Song Miao's expression, Shen Xingniang hurriedly opened the wooden box again.

She opened the first one, saying, "These are pieces of jewelry that my master has collected over the years—do you recognize any of them?"

The box contained a full range of jewelry, including pearls, jade, gold, and silver. Even disregarding the craftsmanship, the materials alone were very valuable.

Unfortunately, Song Miao didn't recognize any of them.

Shen Xingniang opened them one by one, and when she opened the last box, just as she was about to take it out, she suddenly exclaimed, "Eh!" and said, "This box is so heavy!"

Song Miao reached out to take it, and sure enough, it was heavy. Upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't a wooden box, but a bronze one.

The box still faintly showed signs of burning, and there was a lock on it. The lock was very simple and casual, but Song Miao only glanced at it, and her heart, which had been gradually calming down, suddenly started beating even faster.

Shen Xingniang took the key, but no matter how she tried to use it or how she turned it, the lock didn't respond at all and she couldn't open it.

She paused, feeling puzzled, and looked down to examine it further, but Song Miao took the key from her and said, "Let me try."

　That's all I have. Sorry it's too late to get off work QAQ
　　(End of this chapter)