Chapter 448: Extra Story - Chu Rui 6
However.
Two hours later, the death warrior reported: "Your Highness, the princess's coffin is empty..."
Chu Rui felt the blood in his entire body run cold: "What did you say?"
"Only this..." The death warrior took out a white round urn, "This contains ashes, likely the princess's remains..."
"Elder sister..."
Chu Rui's body trembled uncontrollably.
Holding the urn, his tears fell uncontrollably as he made his way to Kunning Palace.
When she saw the white urn, the Empress Dowager's face showed utter disbelief: "You actually... dug up the grave? Have you gone mad?"
"So, Your Majesty already knew that elder sister's body had been destroyed..." A desolate smile appeared on Chu Rui's face, "Let me guess - it was Your Majesty who personally burned elder sister's body, all to frame the Xie family, making the Court of Judicial Review believe it was the Xie family who committed such treasonous acts to destroy evidence. That's why the Emperor comforted Your Majesty with so many rewards..."
The Empress Dowager involuntarily took a step back.
Yes, she had ordered Fukang to be burned. Since she was already dead, why not use the body to gain more benefits?
A human body isn't easily reduced to ashes - she had personally shattered the bones of her most beloved granddaughter and placed them in this urn...
She too had suffered greatly.
But she had no other choice.
"Good, I understand. My guess was correct."
Chu Rui's voice was exceptionally calm, so calm that it frightened the Empress Dowager.
She stepped forward and said softly: "I will find an auspicious burial site for Fukang and invite forty-nine enlightened monks to chant scriptures for her..."
"No need."
Holding the urn, Chu Rui walked out step by step.
That night, he shouldn't have let his elder sister stay at the Xie residence. If only he had insisted, his elder sister wouldn't have died.
That morning, he shouldn't have fainted at the entrance of the Xie residence. If only his health had been better, his elder sister wouldn't have become a handful of ashes.
What happens to those whose bodies are burned? Are they denied reincarnation forever?
Step by step, weeping, he walked to Jinying Hall and buried the white urn beneath a patch of golden chrysanthemums.
These were the chrysanthemums his elder sister had planted with him when she held his hand as a child. His elder sister loved using these chrysanthemums to brew tea most of all.
Withered chrysanthemums bloom again, dried leaves turn green once more.
But would his elder sister ever return?
He sat in the courtyard and cried throughout the entire night, then returned to his bedchamber and found that small white porcelain bottle.
Without being fed human blood, the two gu worms had grown extremely weak, huddled together and nearing death.
Chu Rui picked up the worms and placed them in his mouth. Almost as soon as they touched his lips, the two worms slid down his throat.
"Elder sister, I'm following your words."
"Since you paved the way for me, I shall continue down this path."
"I won't let anyone who wronged you escape."
"The Lu family, the Xie family... the Empress Dowager!"
From that day onward, Chu Rui moved into Kunning Palace and voluntarily requested to drink medicinal soup using human heart's blood as the catalyst.
He began deliberately cultivating his own forces, secretly winning over court officials...
The Empress Dowager wept with aged tears: "Rui'er has finally matured and begun to understand my well-intentioned efforts..."
The following year, Lu Hao and his wife welcomed their firstborn son. However, on the night of the child's birth, a great fire broke out in the Lu residence. Lu Hao, his wife, and their newborn child were mercilessly burned to ashes in the flames.Chu Rui carried a black porcelain jar and buried it in the Golden Chrysanthemum Hall.
Kneeling on the ground, he murmured, "Elder Sister, I know you loved Brother Lu the most, so I’ve brought him to accompany you. May you rest together beneath these autumn chrysanthemums, united for eternity..."
The Lu family residence was burned to the ground in a great fire. The Court of Judicial Review investigated through the night but found no leads.
Empress Dowager Feng gazed at the pitch-black night sky: "Rui'er has grown up. He handles matters with method now, unlike three years ago when he killed Xie Zun and came begging for my help... Now, he can eliminate the heir of a great clan entirely on his own..."
In the fourth year, dozens of members of the Xie family suddenly died under mysterious circumstances.
The entire household of a high-ranking court official had perished. The Court of Judicial Review worked through the night and finally uncovered a faint clue.
However, just as the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review traced the clue to a witness, the witness died on the way to the court.
The case became an unsolved mystery.
Chu Rui looked at the blooming chrysanthemums and smiled, "Elder Sister, I've avenged you. Your soul should rest in peace now... You must be happy with Brother Lu, but I'm not. I don't want to live anymore. I want to die too... I also wish to rest eternally in the Golden Chrysanthemum Hall. Will I ever have that chance?"
In the sixth year, Chu Rui discovered that the gu worm inside his body had grown and produced three small gu worms.
To understand what these gu worms were, he traveled to the Western Regions. There he learned they were Nine Black Gu, the most difficult gu worms to refine in the Western Regions.
Since the emergence of Nine Black Gu, no one had ever succeeded in raising them to maturity.
Watching the three gu worms crawling across his palm, Chu Rui's eyes reddened: "Elder Sister, so this was the hidden card you left for me. Wouldn't it be a waste if I didn't use them to achieve great things?"
In the seventh year, at a palace banquet, he met a woman.
When he had drunk too much and contemplated ending his life, this woman saved him.
"Elder Sister, that Miss Yun looks so much like you, just as gentle as you were..." Chu Rui still sat among the chrysanthemum beds during blooming season, speaking slowly, "In this lifetime, I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to marry. If I could take a wife, I'd want someone like you, Elder Sister—someone I could rely on, who could bring me peace..."
As he grew older, the Empress Dowager became anxious about his marriage prospects.
He found none of the noble ladies worthy of his attention.
He directly petitioned the Emperor to revoke his title and fled the capital, attempting to escape the arranged marriages.
Leaving the capital wasn't just to evade the Empress Dowager—it was also to gather other forces. For the sake of his great undertaking, some matters required his personal attention...
In the eighth year, he orchestrated a confrontation between the Empress Dowager and Prince Pingxi. The Empress Dowager died.
Kneeling in the Golden Chrysanthemum Hall, he wept: "Elder Sister, you would surely blame me, you would hate me for this. But the Empress Dowager burned your corpse, preventing you from reincarnating for eternity, leaving your soul without peace. She deserved to die... She who cherished you most—why would she treat you this way? This is something I still cannot comprehend... Must we always sacrifice those closest to us to achieve great things? Now that I stand alone, I can still ascend to that position... Elder Sister, wait for me. Wait for the day when I posthumously honor you as the Eldest Princess..."
Yet, after using the gu worms to become the Regent who controlled the court, he seemed even more unhappy.
Standing at the pinnacle of power—what had he truly gained?It seemed as if he had gained nothing, and instead, he grew increasingly disgusted with such a life.
Yet, he had only stood at the pinnacle for a few short months before the entire structure collapsed, and everything came to an end.
From the moment his elder sister died, his lifelong wish had been to be buried alongside her, to be like her—never to reincarnate for all eternity.
But even such a small wish—Yun Chu was unwilling to grant it.
"Elder sister, elder sister…"
"Still, I hope there is a next life, where we can be the most ordinary siblings…"
"…"
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