After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

The young monk chuckled twice and asked Lu Zhiyuan if she knew how the shrine came to be.

Lu Zhiyuan, of course, had no idea. He racked his brains for a long time, only remembering that the original text mentioned that the Empress Dowager liked to worship Buddha and would stay at Huguo Temple every year on the birthday of the late emperor. As a reader, he naturally assumed that this was because the Empress Dowager and the late emperor were deeply in love, but he had no idea that there was also the matter of Zhang Qihe's shrine.

Zhang Qi, a character never mentioned in the original text, actually has a romantic relationship with the Empress Dowager. No one could have imagined that she would think of such a thing.

Seeing Lu Zhiyuan's blank expression, the little monk shifted his body, enduring the ant-like pain, and said, "Zhang Qi died because of your grandfather Xie Yuandao. In the Empress Dowager's eyes, he is the culprit who killed Zhang Qi. The Empress Dowager cannot touch Xie Yuandao, not only because he is a loyal minister, but also because he is a minister who guards the country of Beiliang. The Empress Dowager would not destroy the great country of Beiliang for her own selfish reasons."

After saying that, he stared at Lu Zhiyuan's face.

"The Empress Dowager also laid a hand on your mother, but your mother was lucky and escaped death every time. Your maternal grandfather knew this, but he could not confront the Empress Dowager, so he could only take your mother to the border city. By a twist of fate, your mother made military achievements and became the first female general of Beiliang."

Lu Zhiyuan squatted down, looked at the little monk's face, and asked, "How did you know about the royal secrets? You look no more than sixteen or seventeen years old."

The young monk smiled, leaned forward, and met Lu Zhiyuan's gaze: "My grandfather was originally Zhang Qi's page, and later became the Zhang family's steward. When Zhang Qi was forced to become a monk, my grandfather went to the temple with him. He was a loyal servant and died before Zhang Qi. Because of this, my father, with the Empress Dowager's support, entered officialdom and became the Vice Minister of War."

Seeing him convulsing in pain, Lu Zhiyuan fed him an antidote. After a while, the tingling pain from being bitten by ants gradually subsided, and the little monk's brows relaxed, but he was still weak in all four limbs and sat there in a semi-paralyzed state.

"The Empress Dowager resents my maternal grandfather and wants to get rid of him. Your father also resents my maternal grandfather. In addition, the Empress Dowager has been kind to him and specially arranged for him to work in the Ministry of War. Therefore, he will definitely use his power to target my maternal grandfather."

The young monk nodded weakly.

"That's right. He collaborated with the Southern Chu people to try and kill Xie Yuandao. Just when the plan was about to succeed, your mother single-handedly turned the tide. Your mother was rewarded for that battle. Your eldest and second uncles were no good people either. They investigated and found my father. For treason, his entire family was executed, leaving only my father alive. It wasn't that he was lucky, but that the Empress Dowager swapped him for a death row inmate."

This Empress Dowager is really clueless; she even dared to switch death row inmates who were colluding with the enemy.

The young monk looked up at the sky and said calmly, "The Empress Dowager sent him to Tingzhou, the place where Zhang Qi and my grandfather once lived. In the eyes of the people of Tingzhou, Zhang Qi and my grandfather had far greater influence than the Emperor in the capital. The Empress Dowager did this intentionally, and my father lived up to expectations by secretly replacing the Prefect of Tingzhou."

To replace or substitute for something always requires extraordinary measures.

Prefect of Tingzhou?

I remember now, this man's surname was Ye. His wife and children were killed by bandits, and he alone escaped death. After eliminating the bandits, he built a thatched hut next to his wife and children's graves and guarded it for three whole years. Moved by his story, people called him the most devoted prefect.

Yet this very man was sentenced to death for dereliction of duty. His concubine cried out for justice in the street and committed suicide by hitting her head against a pillar, causing a great uproar at the time. Many folk tales were based on him, and Liu Ying bought quite a few, as did Lu Zhiyuan.

His eyes darted around, and he stared at the little monk, saying, "The murderer wasn't a robber, and the dead weren't just Prefect Ye's wife and children. The three years of guarding the grave had ulterior motives. The charge of dereliction of duty was to cover up the real cause of his death; his crimes were far more than just dereliction of duty. The concubine's suicide by hitting her head against a pillar was at someone's behest; there's something else behind it."

"No wonder you're Xie Yuandao's granddaughter, no wonder I fell into your hands. Well, for a dying man, there are no secrets he can't tell." The little monk closed his eyes: "I only hope that after I die, you can spare my brother. He's different from me; he doesn't know martial arts, he doesn't kill, he did everything only because of me."

The image of that similar, yet gentle face appeared in her mind, and she nodded slightly: "If he did not harm Liuying, I can let him go, as if today's events had nothing to do with him."

"Thank you!" The little monk forced a smile. "It was my father who led the killing of the real prefect of Tingzhou, along with his wife and children. The bandit suppression was against real bandits, partly to cover up the truth of the massacre of the prefect, and partly because they truly harmed the people of Tingzhou. As for my father, privately, he was a vicious and wicked man; publicly, apart from conspiring with Nan Chu to frame Xie Yuandao, he was a decent official. Guarding the grave for three years was a covert arrangement, as it was inconvenient to act within the prefectural government. Also, he didn't want the people in the prefectural government to discover that he had changed."

"That concubine is your mother, isn't she?"

The young monk nodded: "She was the Empress Dowager's woman, responsible for relaying messages between them. She was bought into the household by my father as an orphan, and over time, she and my father fell in love and had my brother and me. The Empress Dowager lied to her, saying she wouldn't die after hitting her head against a pillar. She believed her and did so with great force, dying instantly. My brother and I were taken back to the capital by the Empress Dowager and placed in the Huguo Temple. I didn't want to work for the Empress Dowager, but she threatened me with my brother's life. We... had no choice."

"What was that charge of dereliction of duty meant to cover up?"

"What else could be covered up? It was betraying Beiliang, putting Xie Yuandao and the Xie family to death. Your second uncle was a smart man. He noticed the relationship between my father and those spies and investigated secretly. He almost uncovered the truth. The Empress Dowager couldn't let anyone know the truth, so my father had to die. Before your second uncle even reached Tingzhou, she had someone report my father for dereliction of duty. My father was willing to die for the Empress Dowager. He and my grandfather were both fools who died for their masters."

The young monk took something out of his robes—a faded amulet with the words "Peace and Safety Every Year" embroidered on it in yellow silk thread. He handed the amulet to Lu Zhiyuan.

"My brother and I were born with the surname Ye. Our father named us Ye Ansui and Ye Anping. Ansui and Anping are taken from the phrase 'peace year after year.' My brother and I are twins from the same mother. Unlike other brothers, our names are reversed. I am the older brother, named Ye Anping, and he is the younger brother, named Ye Ansui. This secret is known only to the two of us. Tell him about this and he will believe that my death was my own choice and has nothing to do with the girl."

Lu Zhiyuan held the peace charm with some hesitation.

The young monk suddenly stood up and snatched the short knife from her hand. Almost instinctively, Lu Zhiyuan took the knife back and slit it against the young monk's neck.