Chapter 891
Will You Regret It?
Chapter 891 Will You Regret It?
At Zhang Zijin's level, one can naturally tell whether Pan Yun is telling the truth or lying.
It was precisely because she was upright and virtuous, and that more and more merits were constantly accumulating, that he was willing to turn a blind eye and ignore the letters sent by the Empress Dowager and the requests from Longhu Mountain.
Zhang Zijin stared at her intently for a while, until she became somewhat uneasy, before withdrawing his gaze and calmly saying, "What are you afraid of? The new emperor trusts you greatly, nearly half of the civil and military officials in the court owe you favors, and many others are grateful for your loyalty. You are now even more favored than the ancestors of the Zhang family. It's not certain that the position of Celestial Master will be revoked."
Pan Yun hurriedly said, "Only members of the Zhang family can be Celestial Masters. I am a student from the Longhu Mountain Academy."
Zhang Zijin chuckled: "Stop pretending in front of me. How many people did Zhang Li kill in Longhu Mountain?"
Pan Yun muttered, "Isn't Zhang Li also surnamed Zhang?"
Zhang Zijin waved his hand and said, "Go. Now that you've started, keep moving forward, don't look back, and don't regret it."
Pan Yun silently got up, took two steps, and couldn't help but turn back: "What if I did something wrong? Aren't you going to turn back?"
Zhang Zijin countered, "Did you do something wrong?"
Pan Jun's expression hardened, and he said in a deep voice, "No."
"Then do you regret it?"
Pan Yun: "No regrets."
Even if I am disgraced in the future, and bring shame upon my family, my teachers, and my friends?
Pan Yun was momentarily dazed; it turned out that this was what she had been worried about all along.
She bowed respectfully to Zhang Zijin, then turned and left.
Zhang Zijin watched her walk out, and the open door slowly closed.
The palace was quiet in the dead of night, with all the doors tightly shut, but Pan Jun moved as if he were in an empty place, slowly passing through each lock.
This was a small courtyard hidden deep within the palace, with three rooms on each of the three sides. In each room, there were three or four breathing sounds. Only in a small room on the left, a muffled "bang" made Pan Yun, who was passing by, stop in his tracks.
She paused for a moment, intending to lift her foot and continue leaving, but then she heard her feet kicking the ground repeatedly, along with the sound of the other person scratching unwillingly.
She frowned, turned around and flew up, leaping over the roof and into the courtyard. With a flash, the door was blasted open by her Yuan energy, revealing the four people inside.
An elderly female official stood with her hands clasped behind her back to Pan Yun, while two eunuchs held a white silk ribbon in front of her, trying to strangle the woman on the ground.
The door was suddenly smashed open, startling the female official and the two eunuchs. They loosened their grip and turned around in shock to look up.
The woman, whose neck was tied, knelt down, clutching her neck. She unconsciously opened her mouth wide, took two deep breaths, and then coughed violently.
As her senses and strength slowly returned, she looked up towards the door.
A woman dressed in a Taoist robe stood before the door, bathed in the pale moonlight, like a deity descended to earth.
Without thinking, she crawled toward her using both hands and feet.
The two eunuchs snapped out of their daze, immediately reached out and held her down, dragging her back.
The old female official also stepped aside to block the woman, looked at Pan Yun with a stern face, and scolded, "How dare you! Who are you to break into the palace at night! Get out of here now!"
The woman struggled to reach out to Pan Yun, wanting to speak but unable to utter a word. Her eyes were fixed on her, and tears streamed down her face.
Pan Yun walked towards her step by step, and lightly raised her eyes to glance at the old female official. The woman's body trembled, and she dared not move.
Pan Yun waved her hand, sending the two eunuchs who were holding her down flying. She reached out to help the woman up, looked at her face, wiped away her tears, and looked at the old female official: "Who sent you? How dare you use torture in the palace and execute a female official in private? You have a lot of nerve!" The woman immediately reached out and tugged at Pan Yun's sleeve, shaking her head slightly.
If she weren't quite old, Pan Jun, seeing her crying so miserably and having encountered such a thing, would almost suspect that the new emperor had done something bad as soon as he ascended the throne.
But seeing that the other party was not young, Pan Yun suppressed her doubts.
She casually yanked off their belts and tied the three of them up. Just as she was about to throw them to the Northern Garrison, the woman stopped her. She shook her head at Pan Yun and managed to say, "No..."
"Why not?"
The woman gave a bitter smile and said, "I was going to die eventually anyway. Thank you, but I... I'm just not quite resigned to it..."
Pan Jun looked her up and down, then turned to look at the old female official who remained composed despite being arrested, and simply began to search her.
The old female official couldn't help but shout, "How dare you treat me like this..."
Pan Jun then patted her up and down, and pulled out a token and a suicide note from her sleeve.
"Sui Shu?" Pan Yun looked at the woman and asked, "Is it you?"
When Sui Shu saw the suicide note, her face turned pale, but she still nodded.
Pan Yun smiled and waved the will in his hand, saying, "The will says that you have received great favor from the Emperor and cannot bear to leave the late Emperor without any burial offerings. You are willing to follow the late Emperor in death and serve him again."
As Pan Yun spoke, Sui Shu's face grew paler and paler until finally, all color drained from her face.
Pan Jun twitched the corners of his mouth and turned to look at the old female official: "I didn't expect that the high and mighty Empress Dowager would care so much about whether the Emperor has someone to serve him in the afterlife. It must be my fault that Her Majesty has such doubts but doesn't come to me, instead asking people like you to solve them."
Pan Yun sneered, "I should go see the Empress Dowager myself and answer her questions."
The old female official shivered as she met her cold gaze. Before she could react, Pan Yun had already dragged her away. Two pebbles flew in with a whoosh and struck the two eunuchs twice, rendering them unable to move.
Sui Shu stared blankly at everything until a gust of cold wind blew in from the doorway, bringing her back to her senses.
The Empress Dowager had not yet fallen asleep. In a small room on the left side of her palace, there was a Buddha statue, and she was kneeling in front of it, earnestly praying and repenting.
Pan Yun, carrying the old female official, silently passed through layers of white gauze and entered the Buddhist hall. Upon seeing the Buddha she was worshipping, she couldn't help but laugh and then threw the old female official in front of her with a thud.
The Empress Dowager was startled and sat back abruptly. The guards outside heard the commotion and tried to come in, but suddenly found that they couldn't find the door. When they finally found the door and pushed it in, they found themselves in another palace.
Pan Yun ignored the people pacing outside and stared only at the terrified Empress Dowager.
"I thought Her Majesty wouldn't be frightened. After all, Her Majesty has killed many people and doesn't seem like someone who would be afraid."
Upon hearing her speak, the Empress Dowager composed herself slightly and finally recognized her: "You are Pan Yun?"
Pan Yun said expressionlessly, "It is indeed this humble Taoist!"
The Empress Dowager clenched her prayer beads, her gaze filled with hatred: "You were the one who saw the late Emperor for the last time? What did he say?"
Pan Jun's eyes revealed a mocking expression, and he said without any attempt to hide it, "The last time the late emperor saw us was in front of the three armies. Everyone saw him, except for me."
Pan Yun lowered his body and stared intently into her eyes, saying, "As for his last words, although I wasn't there, I heard about them. He told Kuang Ye to open the gates of Datong!"
(End of this chapter)