178: Chapter 178 Only on Snowy Days Can You Lie

And her foster father, Su Hu, could then wash away his title as a criminal official of the Yin Dynasty and instead become a major vassal ruling over Jizhou after the Ji Dynasty unified the world.

Not only that.

She, Su Daji, as a contributor who directly killed the tyrant.

Might even have the chance to directly join the ranks of the immortals.

At the end of the communication, her Master also specifically reminded Su Daji.

Su Chen might make a new move today.

If Su Chen leaves Zhaoge in the coming days, remember to remind them; they will arrange people to intercept and kill Su Chen.

Working together with her from the inside and outside to catch Su Chen off guard.

Su Daji had little interest in assassinating Su Chen today; she responded listlessly with a few words and then hung up the secret message.

Thinking of her sect's mission and her own hesitation, she couldn't help but rise irritably and pace aimlessly within the tower.

Su Chen treated her too well.

She wasn't an ungrateful fox; how could she just strike whenever told?

Su Chen's words at the Star-Observation Tower that night reminded her.

Some things she saw might not necessarily be the truth of the matter.

Unknowingly, Su Daji found herself walking outside the partition connected to Su Chen's study.

This was where Su Chen usually handled government affairs and reviewed memorials.

She wasn't interested, so naturally, she rarely stepped inside.

Today, by some strange twist of fate, she pushed open the slightly ajar carved wooden door.

The study's furnishings were simple: a large red sandalwood desk and several rows of ceiling-high bookshelves neatly stacked with bamboo slips and silk scrolls.

Several scrolls of memorials were spread out on the desk, with a vermilion brush resting to the side, as if the owner had just left.

The study was extremely tidy and warm.

Thinking of this, Su Daji's heart seemed to waver a bit more, and she felt it was somewhat ironic.

To outsiders, Su Chen's study would surely be filled with blood and various torture devices.

However, the reality was quite the opposite.

Su Chen—was he really that kind of bloodthirsty person?

Having intruded upon Su Chen's domain, Su Daji originally intended to withdraw.

But her gaze was caught by a corner of a slightly aged, large leather map peeking out from a corner of the desk.

The map was finely drawn, with mountains, rivers, cities, and towns detailed; it was the complete map of the Great Yin's territory.

And in the direction of "Jizhou," there seemed to be densely packed small notes in vermilion ink.

The handwriting looked slightly immature, but one could still barely make out that it was Su Chen's hand.

Jizhou...

Her heart skipped a beat for some reason.

After a moment of hesitation, she walked over and gently unfurled the map.

The familiar terrain of Jizhou came into view.

Right near the area marked as the main city of "Jizhou," several lines of vermilion annotations written in a bold, vigorous style caught her eye.

"Three counties of Jinnan, before the Taihang Mountains."

"From last year until now, rainfall has been scarce, many wells and springs have dried up; it is suspected that a Drought Demon is causing trouble."

"Experts in geomancy should be sent to investigate secretly. If there are abnormalities in the ley lines, deep wells can be dug at Qinglong Ridge, Baihu Torrent, and other places, or perhaps water can be drawn from an underground river a hundred miles away."

"This matter concerns tens of thousands of lives, yet it must be carried out in secret. Do not let the local areas be disturbed, nor let the Marquis of Jizhou, Su Hu, worry."

"Remember this, remember this."

The date at the end of the annotation was none other than.

"The first year of Di Xin, midsummer."

The first year of Di Xin...

Midsummer...

Su Daji felt as if she had been struck by lightning; her delicate body swayed violently, and she only managed to steady herself by grabbing the edge of the desk.

The first year of Di Xin was exactly during her blurred childhood years.

It was also the time when her entire Su family was slaughtered by an order from the King of Yin.

But...

What was written in these vermilion notes?

"Drought Demon causing trouble," "digging deep wells," "drawing from underground rivers," "concerning tens of thousands of lives," "do not let the local areas be disturbed," "do not let the Marquis of Jizhou, Su Hu, worry"

...

Su Daji did not see a cruel and inhumane order for extermination.

She only saw a monarch who cared for the people and was secretly planning drought relief and disaster prevention.

A cautious arrangement that tried its best to avoid disturbing the locals or causing panic.

He even specifically mentioned "do not let the Marquis of Jizhou, Su Hu, worry."

Clearly, he had considerations for this local vassal and did not want to make things difficult for him.

If he really were the murderer who ordered the slaughter of her entire family, why would he, at almost the same time, take such pains to plan to save the people of Jizhou from a drought?

This was completely illogical.

A tyrant who viewed human life as grass and would exterminate families at the drop of a hat.

Would he care if rainfall was "scarce" in remote prefectures and counties?

Would he secretly plan to "dig deep wells" and "draw from underground rivers"?

Would he instruct "do not let the local areas be disturbed"?

On the contrary, the current him,

The Su Chen she knew well, who treated her as a person rather than a tool, who cared about the people of the Zheng Territory and even went on incognito tours.

And the him in the records.

They were exactly the same.

Unless...

Unless that massacre.

Was not ordered by him at all.

Unless this blood feud, from beginning to end, was just a false lie.

It had nothing to do with Su Chen.

Unless the foundation of hatred that she had believed in for over ten years and that had supported her survival.

Was twisted and false from the very source!

"Master... was it you who lied to me?"

"Master, no, it can't be, it can't be..."

"But I really, what I saw, what I heard..."

Su Daji staggered back, her back hitting the cold bookshelf with a dull thud.

She couldn't breathe.

With trembling hands, she touched the line of vermilion notes on the map again.

In her heart.

Only bewilderment and fear remained.

"What exactly is real, and what is fake?"

Outside the window, the first light snow of this winter began to fall at some point.

The snowflakes were silent, landing on the high eaves of the Star-Plucking Tower and in the desolate courtyard.

It's snowing...

Su Daji vaguely remembered that the first time she saw snow was in Jizhou during her childhood.

a place in Jizhou.

This name, even now, she remembered exceptionally clearly.

It was a name that had almost fused into her blood and bones.

At that time, she was building a snowman with her parents.

Her playful mother first deceived her trust and then hit her hard in the face with a snowball.

At that time, she cried out.

"Mama, you lied to me!"

"Mama is bad!"

But her mother smiled and said to her.

"It is said..."

"Only on snowy days will you be forgiven by the gods."

Su Daji's little face puffed up with anger as she rolled up a snowball and threw it toward her mother.

The snowball burst into snowflakes, fluttering down to the ground and draping the palace of the Great Yin in a white coat.

That was the second time she saw snow.

Back then, she had not long arrived at Su Chen's side.

Facing the tyrant's question.

"Beloved Consort, do you love me?"

At that time, her answer.

Was love.

Very much, very much.

This lie turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

To the point that she loved him so much that when the tyrant asked if she wanted to go back to Jizhou to take a look.

She answered.

She didn't want to.

It's snowing.

The third snow she had seen.

She lied to her Master and Su Hu.

Telling them that Su Chen had never left Zhaoge.

Never.

But Jizhou was their territory after all.

Now that Su Chen and she were traveling by carriage to Jizhou, how could they possibly be outside their notice?

Her only way to protect this stubborn mule of a man.

Was to lead him away from the Jizhou provincial capital and the place close to the truth of that year.

The further, the better.

So.

When the carriage reached a place in Jizhou City, Su Chen asked her if she had any impression of this place.

Su Daji leaned against the carriage window, looking at a snowball thrown by a child by the roadside that happened to hit the window.

She told him with a light smile.

"Great King... this place, I am not very familiar with it."

[It is said that when you lie on a snowy day, you will be forgiven by the gods!]

Great King.

Look.

It's snowing outside the window.

So, please forgive me for deceiving you one more time.

...

(The plot is halfway through; let's see if any clever babies can guess how Nickname will eventually die.)

(This round's investment in Nickname's death will be very, very tragic, and the little fox's blackened state will also be very, very thorough... well, it's about the level of returning to reality and directly catching Nickname to lock him up and juice him dry~)

(Additionally, today is the weekend and the readership has dropped a lot again; what's going on, Fanqie? TwT.)