Nirvana in Fire 2: The Wind Blows in Chang Lin Episode 19 Recap
> Nirvana in Fire 2: The Wind Blows in Chang Lin Recap
The imperial palace was in chaos, with flames soaring into the sky. The Crown Prince's Eastern Palace was engulfed by the raging fire, and the night sky was dyed crimson. Empress Xun, worried about the Crown Prince, rushed towards the Eastern Palace without even dressing properly. Fortunately, Xun Feizhan carried the Crown Prince out of the fire. Although the Crown Prince was frightened, he was unharmed. Xiao Pingjing also noticed the fire and rushed to the palace in a hurry.
Xun Feizhan told him that the Crown Prince was safe, which allowed him to somewhat relax. However, Xun Feizhan questioned him on how he entered the palace so late at night. It turned out that the late emperor had granted the Changlin Prince's Manor a golden token that allowed them to enter the palace freely without reporting. Xiao Pingjing dared to enter the palace grounds precisely by relying on this golden token, which his father had never used.
But Xun Feizhan reprimanded him for misusing the golden token. He said such a token was merely a symbol of honor and should not be actually used, otherwise entering the palace late at night without reporting would inherently lead to various suspicions. Xun Feizhan told Xiao Pingjing to leave quickly while no one was watching, to avoid causing a major disaster. Xiao Pingjing left the imperial palace looking dejected. Imperial officials knelt all over the floor in the Empress's palace.
Empress Xun loved her son more than her own life, and such an incident enraged her. Upon hearing officials report that the fire might have been caused by night duty drowsiness, she sternly decreed that all palace maids on night duty should be cruelly beaten to death. She ignored all dissuasion and acted stubbornly, also ordering that the matter not be reported to the Crown Prince.
The next morning, Xiao Pingjing requested an audience with the Emperor to plead for those on night duty. Upon learning of the matter, the Emperor was slightly surprised and stated that he would send someone to stop the Empress's foolish actions. Xun Feizhan was currently suggesting to the Empress that the Crown Prince be moved to Taiqing Palace for temporary residence.
Just then, the Emperor's decree arrived, ordering the Empress to send those on duty to the imperial internal affairs department for legal punishment. The Empress guessed that someone must have reported this to the Emperor. Xun Feizhan knew it must have been Xiao Pingjing, and reluctantly admitted that he was the one who spoke out about it. Just as the Empress was about to get angry, Pu Yangying arrived. In her agitated state, the Empress allowed Xun Feizhan to leave.
Pu Yangying, looking flustered, prostrated himself before the Empress, proclaiming that something terrible had happened. He claimed that he had observed the celestial phenomena at night and had seen ominous signs, using his set of supernatural theories to tell the Empress that the Crown Prince would face a great calamity. The Empress already believed in white gods, and with the Eastern Palace just burned to ashes, she was even more distraught. Upon hearing Pu Yangying's words, she was instantly terrified.
However, she couldn't understand the heap of mystical nonsense Pu Yangying was spouting, so she asked Pu Yangying to directly state what would happen. Pu Yangying actually said that the imperial dragon vein would be severed, and the Crown Prince's life would be in danger. The Empress was furious upon hearing this, and slapped Pu Yangying hard, scolding him for cursing the Crown Prince.
Pu Yangying quickly claimed that a ritual could be performed to transfer the Crown Prince's tribulation to others, but if ordinary people were used as sacrifices, it would require hundreds or thousands. The Empress hesitated somewhat, but ultimately agreed to the matter under Pu Yangying's eloquent persuasion. Xiao Yuanqi discovered the person he had tracked last time and followed him all the way to Qiantian Courtyard, but he still couldn't figure out what Pu Yangying was plotting.
Pu Yangying secretly met with that person and learned that Chixia Town in Jingxi, with a population of over a thousand, was the most suitable place. However, that person reminded Pu Yangying that no matter whether their plan went smoothly or not, it would be easy to investigate, and then Pu Yangying would not be able to stay in the imperial capital of Daliang.
But Pu Yangying, with a sinister expression, stated that he had never come to Jinling City for a splendid future, but for revenge. Lin Xi came to the Changlin Prince's Manor, but saw Xiao Pingjing studying at his desk. Meng Qianxue then talked to her about her concerns for the Changlin Prince and Xiao Pingzhang. Xiao Pingjing suddenly interjected, making Lin Xi very unhappy that her conversation was overheard. Xiao Pingjing deliberately teased her, saying she wasn't confessing her admiration.
Lin Xi angrily turned away, her face flushing. Xiao Pingjing apologized to her, but she walked straight out of the manor, leaving Xiao Pingjing bewildered. Meng Qianxue accused him of being too foolish. Xiao Yuanqi came again to monitor the activities of Qiantian Courtyard. Pu Yangying suddenly appeared directly behind Xiao Yuanqi. He questioned Xiao Yuanqi about what he wanted to know.
He called Xiao Yuanqi into the courtyard for tea, bringing up how the current tragic state of the Laiyang Marquis Manor was triggered by the death of Xiao Yuanqi's father back then, and asked if he harbored hatred for Xiao Pingzhang's father. However, Xiao Yuanqi stated that he would not be easily swayed by Pu Yangying's words. Although he held resentment in his heart, he would not resent the Changlin Prince who investigated the case by imperial decree.
But Pu Yangying told him that the so-called "Xiao Pingzhang's father" did not refer to the Changlin Prince, which greatly astonished Xiao Yuanqi. It turned out that Lu Yuan was the Grand General of the Left Camp of the Changlin Army back then, commanding the military forces of eleven prefectures. And the Laiyang Prince's fief was within these eleven prefectures. It was precisely with Lu Yuan's support that the Laiyang Prince was able to commit such a major crime.
The Changlin Prince and his son Xiao Pingzhang would part ways in Yuanzhou. The Changlin Prince led him to an extremely simple grave, stating that it was Lu Yuan's tomb, and Xiao Pingzhang actually knelt before the small mound. It turned out that the Changlin Prince was one of the three children selected by Mei Changsu from Yeyou Court to practice sword formations back then, and Lu Yuan was the eldest among them.
When the Changlin Army was just founded, all three joined the military, campaigned across the northern battlefields, supporting each other, which led to everything they have today. However, Lu Yuan supported the Laiyang Prince and was overly greedy for power, which ultimately led to him having a grave but no tombstone.
But the Changlin Prince comforted Xiao Pingzhang, saying that Lu Yuan had ultimately saved seventeen witnesses whom the Laiyang Prince tried to silence, and to preserve physical evidence, he did not hesitate to surrender and atone for his sins. Facing the grave of his biological father, Xiao Pingzhang burst into tears. After he finished crying, he kowtowed to the grave. He asked the Changlin Prince why he still designated him as the Prince's heir, knowing what Lu Yuan had done.
The Changlin Prince comforted him, saying that the spirit of the Changlin Army lay not in bloodline but in spirit. Watching the Changlin Prince's receding figure, Xiao Pingzhang felt a mix of emotions, unable to tell if he was happy or sad. Meanwhile, under Pu Yangying's deliberate guidance, seeds of hatred were again sown in Xiao Yuanqi. Immediately, he sent people to collect blood used to create human "medicine" and dispersed it into Chixia Town.
He also planned to intervene through official court channels to prevent the authorities from knowing about this as much as possible before they could control the epidemic. At night, in the peaceful Chixia Town, Pu Yangying's subordinates poured the blood into the water wells.
