People by the carriage looked at each other in shock and rushed towards the source of the cries. They found only Zhang Nanny, Yu Yi, and Xia Yue at the cliff’s edge, with Shu Lan nowhere to be seen. Looking down from the cliff’s edge, they saw only a deep valley with dense forest, with no sign of a person. Falling from such a height would certainly be fatal.
The prince’s wife, who had been distraught and not eating for days, jumping off the cliff after completing Luo Zhan’s funeral arrangements seemed understandable.
Her previous words about seeing “His Highness one last time” could be interpreted as choosing to die where she could see the Imperial Mausoleum.
Zhang Nanny wept and ordered the servants to search for the prince’s wife at the bottom of the cliff. However, the servants found no body, only a ribbon from the prince’s wife’s dress on a tree branch by the river. With the river being rapid, it was presumed she had fallen into the water and been swept away.
After searching downstream for a while without success, they returned to the capital with heavy hearts.
The cliff where Shu Lan faked her suicide was not the highest point of Jade Dragon Mountain. She walked a short distance higher and met Xia Zhe, who was waiting there. Once everyone left, Xia Zhe escorted Shu Lan down the mountain to a farmhouse in the eastern suburbs.
Late at night, Yu Yi, Xia Yue, and Zhang Nanny arrived at the farmhouse and boarded a carriage that had been prepared long ago, heading far from the capital.
Three days later, Luo Ye ascended the throne and proclaimed it to the world. This was also the new emperor’s first imperial edict, transmitted from the capital’s post stations to state offices across the country.
After receiving the edict, local officials announced that the new emperor had ascended the throne and that land taxes would be exempted for three years.
When Meng Qing and Yu Yi’s terminals displayed the message of task completion, they were traveling in a carriage. They had learned about Luo Ye’s ascension to the throne and the three-year tax exemption. The task had been completed days ago, but their terminals had not shown task completion, and they could not contact Lin Bai.
