Chapter 38: The Scapegoat Princess Sentenced to Death (38)

As Emperor Tianwu departed, the remaining crowd at the Altar of Heaven, regardless of how shocked they were or how much they longed to discuss the event, dared not utter a word, choosing instead to remain in silent submission.

Those of higher status hurried away, while others stayed behind to clear the wreckage. The situation was manageable, save for one perplexing issue: the pile of mangled flesh that had once been Prince Lu. After a consultation between the Minister of Rites and the Clan Court, they could only carefully shovel the remains into a crate for temporary storage. They would wait for Emperor Tianwu to issue orders on how to proceed, or perhaps, if necessary, they would dare to ask in a few days. For now, no one had the courage to approach him.

As time passed, the citizens throughout the capital began to realize that the voice they had heard was not limited to their immediate vicinity; it had been heard miles away, seemingly echoing across the entire city as if it were a singular, omnipresent heavenly decree.

Furthermore, because the capital was home to more than one deaf individual, news quickly spread that even those who were deaf from birth or later in life had heard the voice clearly. People soon realized that the speaker was likely not human, and that Prince Lu had suffered a divine retribution. Their collective fear turned into a emboldened curiosity. Since everyone in the capital had heard it, who could possibly silence the entire population? As long as they did not discuss it openly, they felt safe.

"I was so stunned by that voice accusing the Emperor that I didn't catch the details of Prince Lu's crimes. What exactly did he do?"

"It turns out all those rumors in the streets were true. The officials of the Prince's estate, and even the late Princess Lu who was executed recently, were all scapegoats for the Prince. He was the one who committed those atrocities. Some of them didn't even know, and those who did were powerless to stop him, yet they were framed as the masterminds."

"I remember it clearly. Just to refine pills for immortality, that Prince killed over seven hundred people, including more than a hundred unborn infants. Even the thousand-year-old tree demon from that ghost story I read only killed three hundred people over a millennium."

"Thank goodness we live in the capital, under the Emperor’s own eyes; those princes have to show some restraint."

"It’s utter madness! The Emperor is in his fifties and hasn't started seeking immortality, yet this twenty-year-old Prince was obsessed with it? He's a beast."

"Do you think the Emperor will...?"

"Don't scare yourself, he certainly wouldn't!"

"So, has Prince Lu truly suffered divine retribution and had his soul scattered? Is there any way to verify this?"

"Just wait and see if he's still alive!"

"If he's dead, they can't hide it forever. They'll have to hold a funeral at some point."

"It's over, I think the Duke of Shu is in trouble. He might lose another daughter. You remember, don't you? A while back, the Emperor betrothed the Duke’s third daughter to be Prince Lu's second wife, with the wedding set for next year. Doesn't that make her his fiancée?"

"But they aren't married yet, are they?"

"Are you dim? Three years ago, Prince Jiang, Zhu Feng, died of a sudden illness half a year before his wedding, and his fiancée, the eldest daughter of Marquis Jing'an, was forced to be buried alive with him. If the Emperor insists on tradition, can the Duke of Shu's daughter escape the same fate?"

"Not necessarily. Didn't that voice say it would record every innocent life the Emperor took and settle the score after death? If it were me, I'd do more good deeds, but as for the Emperor..."

"Hard to say. Sigh..."

"Why worry? They’ve enjoyed a life of luxury for years; being buried with a prince is a gain! Ordinary people don't even get the chance. Look at Prince Jiang's case—besides his fiancée, didn't many maids and eunuchs in the new estate get buried with him? They would never have had the chance to be interred in the royal mausoleum otherwise. Even those on the fringes of the tomb, their families received generous rewards. Even the lowest-ranking servants' families got a hundred taels of silver, and the families of higher-ranking maids were granted official positions as battalion commanders. That’s a sixth-rank post! That’s an instant rise to prominence, and a hereditary one at that."

"There is no justice! Scholars study for decades, passing every grueling exam, only to end up as seventh-rank officials or, if lucky, sixth-rank scholars. And these people become sixth-rank officials just because their sister died?"

"How could they accept such a position with a clear conscience? As the Sage said, 'May the one who started this be without descendants!'"

"And what if they can't accept it? Are they going to scream at the Emperor to bring back their daughters or sisters? Is their neck too heavy, or do they have too many people in their nine clans?"

"Aren't the court officials all scholars of the Sages? Why does no one stop this? Even the Sages couldn't bear the use of clay figures in burial, yet the Emperor keeps using living people to accompany his sons. If this becomes a precedent, how many more innocent people will die?"

"Who among them dares to speak out?"

"The censor who once impeached Prince Lu—the weeds on his family's graves are three feet high now, with no one left to sweep them."

"Don't be so despondent. Isn't there a new variable now? That mysterious entity who struck down Prince Lu clearly cannot stomach these things."

"I wonder if it's a true deity or a malevolent spirit."

"Executing justice on behalf of Heaven—how could that be malevolent?"

"The victor is a god, the loser is a demon. If Zhang Jiao had succeeded, he would have been the Yellow Heaven; because he failed, he was merely a sorcerer!"

The private discussions among the citizens eventually reached a wider audience. The officials and nobles who had attended the ceremony at the Altar of Heaven, including Emperor Tianwu himself, realized an hour after the event that the truth was known not just to those present, but to the entire city. While the others had not witnessed the horrific dismemberment of Prince Lu, the knowledge of his fate was universal.

Emperor Tianwu’s composure shattered. He had never imagined that what he deemed "controllable" had, from the very start, been entirely beyond his grasp. How could he conceal something the entire capital knew? Was he to suppress the voices of the people, a task harder than damming a river?

In a fit of blind rage, he grabbed his sword and went to hold the useless monks and Taoists accountable. Since the perpetrator remained a shadow—with only a vague suspicion that it might be a woman—the Emperor had no choice but to vent his fury on their incompetence.