Chapter 330: Chapter 330: Meeting the Holy
330 Facing the Emperor
"Alright." Zhao Zhitong pursed her lips and changed the topic. However, she ultimately emphasized that Qiao Muchen shouldn’t keep rubbing her head in the future. Otherwise, she worried, she wouldn’t grow taller and wouldn’t be able to get married.
Qiao Muchen sighed and asked, "Who told you all this?"
Zhao Zhitong casually replied, "The matchmaker. The fat one who was matchmaking for my second cousin; I overheard her."
Qiao Muchen was speechless.
It must have been when the matchmaker was visiting a family to arrange a marriage; Zhao Zhitong had likely overheard a few snippets and remembered them.
Qiao Muchen couldn’t help but sigh again. He smiled and said, "Don’t listen to their nonsense. Even if you don’t grow any taller now, someone will still marry you."
Zhao Zhitong looked back at him with a puzzled expression. "How can you be so sure?"
Qiao Muchen countered, "Don’t you believe me?"
"Hmm..." Zhao Zhitong murmured, resting her chin in her hand as she pondered.
After a moment, she said, "Alright, I believe you."
Qiao Muchen couldn’t help but smile. He reached out and rubbed Zhao Zhitong’s head. Her soft hair against his palm felt like a fluffy kitten, bringing him an inexplicable sense of ease.
Zhao Zhitong resisted the urge to pull her head away. Alright, I’ll let you rub it since you’re feeling bad today.
After a while, Zhao Zhitong asked, "Are you feeling better now?"
Qiao Muchen replied, "Yes, much better."
Zhao Zhitong confirmed, "Really?"
Qiao Muchen nodded. "Really. To be honest, I was a bit depressed at first. However, when I recalled what Scholar Meng said earlier, I gradually came to terms with it. You often say that one doesn’t have to be an official to seek peace for the people, don’t you? Practicing medicine or traveling and lecturing are also ways to contribute to their well-being. Besides, I don’t harbor such strong ambitions for an official career. Since other paths can also bring well-being to the people, why should I let a momentary setback dishearten me and make me forget my original purpose?"
Zhao Zhitong looked at Qiao Muchen intently, not missing a single expression on his face. She knew he was speaking from the heart and was genuinely no longer upset.
A relieved smile unconsciously touched her lips. She patted her chest, as if vowing to be a loyal friend who would stand by him through thick and thin. "Alright! Whatever you do in the future, I’ll be with you. If you go to teach, I’ll go with you!"
Qiao Muchen laughed softly. "If you say so, I’ll take it seriously, you know."
Zhao Zhitong supported herself with both hands, tilting her head to look at the sky, and smiled. "I’m serious too."
...
The half-moon hung in the sky, and the stars shone brightly.
Two figures looked at each other under the night sky, a scene as beautiful as a painting.
「The next day.」
Zhao Zhitong and the others accompanied the princess into the Imperial Palace early in the morning. It was also the day of the palace examination. When they arrived, the morning court session was underway.
Zhao Zhitong and the others stood obediently outside the great hall, awaiting a summons.
Gradually, the sun rose. The April sun wasn’t very strong, but it was still somewhat uncomfortable to stand directly under it for long.
However, none of them moved.
There was a tall flight of steps leading from outside up to the great hall. They stood at the bottom of these steps, unable to hear what was happening inside.
After about half an hour, they heard a wail of remorse, and then several bodyguards carried a person down from the great hall.
This person was none other than Pei Shangqing.
It was obvious he had been caught cheating and punished by the Emperor.
As Pei Shangqing was carried past Zhao Zhitong and the others, he suddenly glared at Qiao Muchen and shouted, "You! What are you doing in the Imperial Palace? It was you, wasn’t it? You reported me to the Emperor, didn’t you! Do you think you’ll get off easy after reporting me? I am the Emperor’s nephew! If I lose face, the Emperor is disgraced! Do you think you’ll fare any better?"
His shouts gradually faded as the bodyguards dragged him away. Qiao Muchen and the others remained expressionless, seemingly unaffected by the incident.
About an hour later, a eunuch’s voice suddenly called out from the entrance of the great hall: "Summon the witnesses to the hall!"
Then, the bodyguard who had been standing with them led their small group up into the great hall.
Climbing the steps to the great hall for the first time, their initial impression was one of imposing grandeur. Looking back from the steps, the people below seemed incredibly small.
With their heads bowed, they entered the great hall and knelt before the Emperor, not daring to look around.
Even Zhao Zhitong, who was typically bold with strangers, couldn’t help but feel nervous at this moment.
A voice sounded from above their heads. "Which of you is Qiao Muchen?"
It was a somewhat low and hoarse voice. Although it was a woman’s, it carried an undeniable sense of majesty. This was the natural air of authority that came with her high station, commanding respect without any overt display of anger.
"Replying to Your Majesty, I am Qiao Muchen," Qiao Muchen answered, his voice neither servile nor arrogant as he knelt in the great hall.
Zhao Zhitong kept her head bowed. She longed to see the Emperor’s "sacred countenance," but the princess had warned them before entering the palace not to look directly at the Emperor. So, she remained kneeling obediently, determined not to move unless called upon.
The Emperor proceeded to ask Qiao Muchen several questions concerning the evidence of the King of Chu’s crimes.
Qiao Muchen did not mention that they had found the evidence based on Prince Liang’s clues; he only said that they had discovered it by accident.
The Emperor did not delve deeply into how it was found, focusing only on the authenticity of the evidence.
The King of Chu was kneeling to one side, his face ashen.
Evidently, Lord Zhang and Princess Anping’s faction had already dealt the King of Chu a heavy blow. However, the Emperor, still mindful of her kinship with her nephew, couldn’t bring herself to deliver a fatal one.
The Emperor asked again, "Who painted this portrait?"
Qiao Muchen replied, "Answering Your Majesty, it was done by my good friend, Zhao Zhitong."
"Oh?" The Emperor’s tone was unreadable as she simply said, "Which of you is Zhao Zhitong? Raise your head and let me have a look."
Her name called, Zhao Zhitong slowly raised her head. She finally saw the ruler of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
She was a woman in her fifties, but enthroned on high, her every gesture and movement commanded such authority that no one present thought of her merely as a woman.
Majestic—that was Zhao Zhitong’s first impression of her.
"You painted this? I heard from Jian Zhi that you have the ability to reconstruct a person’s appearance by looking at their skull?"
The Emperor spoke at a calm pace, not intentionally raising her volume or stressing certain words, yet her words naturally commanded respect.
Zhao Zhitong nodded. "Answering Your Majesty, yes, I can."
The King of Chu, kneeling nearby, looked at the Emperor and cried out anxiously, "Your Majesty, this is impossible! How could anyone possess such a skill? That would make her a god! She must have known the Twelfth Crown Prince’s appearance beforehand and deliberately painted him to match! Those arrows, those clothes—they must have fabricated all of it! Yes, they fabricated it all! They are trying to frame me, Your Majesty!"
He then whirled to glare at Zhao Zhitong. "Speak! Who put you up to harming me?"
The King of Chu thought that Zhao Zhitong, being a young girl, would surely break down if intimidated. Thus, his stare was exceptionally fierce.