Chapter 31

Empress with No Virtue – Chapter 31

AUGUST 26, 2015 ~ LAMLAM1990

Ye Zhen Zhen was shocked for a moment.

Ji Wu Jiu then repeated what he said again, this time with a more confirmation tone, “you like your cousin brother, my empress” the last words that came out of him was pushed out.

Ye Zhen Zhen eyes grew big and replied angrily “what nonsense are you spouting!”

“Both of you grow up together, studied and trained together, he taught you your martial arts, you even know what number is sewed on his collar, it shows how close the both of you are, you don’t believe anyone, but you believe him, when your life was endangered when you met the tiger, also you didn’t cry, but you easily cried in front of him, you are worried about him, seeing that he got injured, you gift him expensive herbal medicine, you cover for him, even if you have to take on the accusation also would not question his trustworthiness. Correct or not?” Slowly he cornered her to a corner of the room, his tall build was towering over her. In his voice there was a suppressed anger tone, making his voice lowered, the effect towards Ye Zhen Zhen was as though there was a hammer waiting to hit her heart. Because they are in close proximity, their foreheads are almost touching, looking straight into her eyes, coldly, and when he spoke his breath falls upon Ye Zhen Zhen’s face, it was supposed to be warm but it reminded her of a poisonous snake.

Ye Zhen Zhen’s body started to shiver, not sure if it was because she was angered or because she was scared.

He continued “your father even wanted to marry you off to him, but too bad you ended up marrying me, very sad for you right?” While he said that his lips actually curved up into a small, despite a cold smile.

Ye Zhen Zhen finally found her courage and returned his gaze, lowered her voice and said “you are seriously spouting nonsense!”

“Cousin brother and cousin sister, a match made in heaven, is the true nonsense. What I have said was only the truth.” He held her chin up, and was brushing against her snow white skin, “if not, you are willing to proof it to me, that I was only talking nonsense, you and him does not have that sort of feelings, and your heart is filled with only me? Your husband.” He took her hands and placed it on his waist, one hand holding her face, and moves his head lower, as though as he was going to kiss her.

Ye Zhen Zhen was pushing down her feelings, closed her eyes tightly and started to frown.

Ji Wu Jiu though, did not kiss her, with a scoff he let her go, and took a few steps. Taking a good look at her with eyes as cold as the winter waters.

Ye Zhen Zhen was clenching her fists, looked down and did not say anything.

“Ye Zhen Zhen, when you are alive you belong to me, after you die you will still be my ghost”

No matter what, and no matter who is in your heart, this fact will never be changed. The more you like him, the more you will suffer, because you will never get him, and he will never get you.

What I can’t get, other people don’t even have to bother to think about it!

***

Ye Zhen Zhen locked herself up in the room for one whole day, not having appetite to eat. Su Yue thought that she was worried about the case, consoled her a little. And seeing that she was not saying anything, and was in a more depressed mood than previously, she could only leave her alone, and discuss what to do with Su Feng and Wang You Cai.

Nothing came out from their discussion, because the most important witness was the emperor, and neither one of them has the courage or power to speak with the emperor directly. Su Yue asked Feng You De earlier, about the emperor’s attitude, but he did not answer, because…. He himself don’t know what the emperor means.

Actually Ji Wu Jiu wasn’t going to let her take the fault, he just wanted to keep her on her toes for a few days, and when she cannot find any solution, he will save her.

Only at the very last moment, will she understand who is the one that can she truly depend on.

Ye Zhen Zhen’s depression lasted for one day, and slowly she came back to senses. The most important thing now is to remove the accusation , if not to take on the crime of harming imperial consort and to murder the emperor’s child, she would not be too far away from getting demoted.

Wang Zhao Yi already woke up, just that she was very weak, and could not even get out of the bed. Ye Zhen Zhen went to visit her, and ask her some things. Wang Zhao Yi answered while crying, and held on to Ye Zhen Zhen’s sleeve and said “Your majesty, you must help me, look for the real criminal!”

Ye Zhen Zhen was abit shock, “Why did you think that it was not done by me?”

“You are normally good hearted, surely you would not do something as evil as this”

“….. Speak the truth”

“If you really wanted to harm me, you would be more cautious than this, and try to not leave any clues behind, why would you so openly use the gun?”

Ye Zhen Zhen nodded. Such a big loophole, even Wang Zhao Yi knows, then the other people would definitely know as well, just that even if they know, they have to pretend they don’t know.

They want to push me to the end of the road. Ye Zhen Zhen ponders.

Just that, I purposely want to live properly, and live better and longer than everyone. Ye Zhen Zhen scoffed.

She called Wang Zhao Yi’s personal maid to the gate, and ask another maid servant to act out the scene. Then after thinking for a while, she said “Wang Zhao Yi was shot on the back of her shoulders, and since the bullet’s direction from up to down, means that the person must have shot her from the back on a higher position” She stood at the gate, and look at the opposite direction, it was a tall wall.

Lying on top of the wall to shoot, would be a matching position.

Beyond the wall is a quiet walkway, Ye Zhen Zhen brought a few person over to the location roughly to where Yu Hua Place is located, and examined the wall. Besides the foot prints following the walk way, there are a few foot prints was facing towards the wall, at a certain place.

And also foot prints on the wall where the foot prints on the ground ends.

Ye Zhen Zhen asked Wang You Cai to bring over the ladder, and she went up personally, and examined in detail. There were 2 roof tiles that were chipped, Ye Zhen Zhen touched it a little, and there was still broken dusts there, it means the tiles were chipped not too long ago, it seems like it was caused by something hard and sharp.

Then she suddenly thought of the flying claw.

It meant that the criminal used the claw to climb up the wall, to harm Wang Zhao Yi.

This walkway is very quiet, and not many people pass by, but normally there should be guards near this area as well. And if anyone were to turn and look here, surely they would have spot the criminal.

Ye Zhen Zhen ordered people to get her the eunuch that was on guard duty that day, and ask him if anyone suspicious passed by. The eunuch denied, so Ye Zhen Zhen did not ask and let him go.

“Niang niang,, if that person was lying, then what should be do?” Su Feng asked.

Ye Zhen Zhen smiled “not if, but confirmed. He is hiding the criminal” Someone has definitely pass through, and he said no one. Even if the person climb the wall from the other side, it was hard not to be found out. And from the foot prints left on the wall, the criminal’s martial arts is not very good.

That is why, if to say the eunuch on duty did not see anything, that would be impossible.

“Niang niang, so what should we do now?” Wang You Cai understood and quickly asked.

“Few of you, quietly find out, who is this person close with, and who did he communicated with recently, the more detail the better. Especially those that has connections with weapons, and also those that knows what is gun powder or bullets, that type of person”

“Niang niang you are saying…..”

“Correct, the gun that I have lost, Feng You De may not have found it, I am afraid it has fallen into the hands of someone else.” The bullets that Ye Zhen Zhen used in that gun is different from the ones in a normal gun, it was smaller, and the bullet that was removed from Wang Zhao Yi’s body was the same type of bullets that she used to test her multiple shot gun. Although there was a slight accident with the gun that day, but the body of the gun was not destroyed, with a little fixing it would be possible to use it again. Not to mention there was some gun powder and bullets left in the gun.

It should be, someone found the gun, and kept it for himself after fixing it, and used it this time, not only can get rid of the child in Wang Zhao Yi, but also to frame Ye Zhen Zhen.

Wang You Cai was astonished, what happened now is so similar to the evil thing that he has done previously. Not saying anything anymore, he thinks that the empress is very wise.

So this time Wang You Cai was even more concerned about the case then Su Yue and Su Feng.

Although Ye Zhen Zhen’s connections and relationship with the inner palace people is not really good, but the people under her was very good with the palace’s maids and eunuchs. Not for anything else, but because the empress was rich. Ye Zhen Zhen purposely gave them a sum of money to buy the hearts of others. Do not say that money is not dependable, in many cases, money is the only thing you can depend on. Su Feng , Su Yue and Wang You Cai the three of them, originally under the empress, and have never shown power, this type of people, if they don’t have the hearts of the people, what type of people will?

That was why under their search, Ye Zhen Zhen quickly got the answer.

In Li Concubine’s palace there is an eunuch called Chen Ke, like weapons, and has also once bought a weapon guidebook from outside, which has detailed drawings of all sorts of weapons. The more important part was that this person and that guard eunuch has a good relationship.

It was Li Concubine!

This woman just passed a few comfortable days, she started to again.

Because she was afraid it will alarm Li Concubine, Ye Zhen Zhen did not go to Lu Hua Palace to catch Chen Ke, but to wait at a path where he will definitely pass through, knocked him out and placed in a sack and brought him to Kun Ning Palace.

Chen Ke was already feeling guilty inside, when he was released from the sack, he was scared until he was speaking incoherent words.

Ye Zhen Zhen did not waste time with him “admit to the crime, I will spare your life, do not admit, die”

“i..i.. do not understand what your majesty is talking about” Chen Ke does not dare to admit, after he admit, confirmed he will not live —– To harm an imperial consort, this type of crime it was enough for him to die a thousand times.

“Seems like you do not believe me? I will only say this one time, if you admit I can get you out of the palace earlier, and help you go far from here, change your name and all. Li Concubine has some power in the palace, but her hands can’t stretch beyond that. She can’t.. I Can”

Chen Ke remained quiet.

“You think that you will live if you don’t admit? Even if I don’t kill you, as long as I show any signs of suspicion, Li Concubine would most probably not let you live?”

Chen Ke’s expression seems to be in pain, inside this palace, he was not looking to be someone, but only wanted to peacefully live, but it really was so hard. Earlier on Li Concubine used his life to threaten him, and made him do that, now he is threaten by the empress. This servant’s life are really hard to live.

Seeing that Chen Ke is contemplating, Ye Zhen Zhen ask Wang You Cai to bring in a bucket, inside it was a fired up coal stack. Wang You Cai placed the bucket in front of Chen Ke, Ye Zhen Zhen smiled “I have eaten too much pork legs, I have always wanted to try the taste of human’s hands, why not you give me the chance?”

The moment she completed her sentence, Wang You Cai catch on to his hands and was moving towards the coal, Chen Ke shocked started to shout and struggle, but was caught by two strong eunuchs at the back, unable to move.

Compared to oral threaten, nothing is more successful than the torture right now, Chen Ke was looking at his hands almost touching the coal, and feeling the heat from the coal, he finally shouted “ I will tell, I will tell, I will say everything”

We cannot deny, there are less truly hard boned people.

That multiple shot gun was really found by Chen Ke. That person loves guns like wives, but in Da Qi, towards the ownership of a gun was very strict, he could not own one, when he coincidently found one, even though he knew it belonged to the empress, but because he loved it too much, and wanted to play a bit with it only for a few days and will return after. But who knew, he got found out by Li Concubine, and she thought that since this item was lost by the empress, then there was no need to return it, and who knew if it could be used in the future, so she ordered Chen Ke to fix it. Chen Ke was happy initially and fixed the gun.

After that Wang Zhao Yi got pregnant, Li Concubine was very jealous, and wanted to frame the empress, so she used this one stone killing two birds plan, and hurt Wang Zhao Yi to frame the empress.

After listening to his recall, Ye Zhen Zhen ask “Where is the gun? I think the evidence would have been destroyed?”

Chen Ke replied “Li Concubine did ask me to destroy the evidence, but I couldn’t do it, and kept it secretly, right now at where I live”

Ye Zhen Zhen thinks that this person was really brave, but this way it was way easier to deal with the case.

***

Today, Ye Zhen Zhen gathered everyone at Kun Ning Palace and infront of everyone she interrogated Li Concubine.

Ever since Li Concubine found out Chen Ke went missing yesterday, she realise something was wrong. But then again, thinking that the evidence was destroyed, as long as she insist that she was framed, most probably the empress can’t do anything to her. Therefore she stood up to the empress without a change of expression.

But what she did not know was that Ye Zhen Zhen ordered people to get the evidence and Chen Ke admitted in front of everyone, that the item was found by him and used to harm Wang Zhao Yi, as well as show the evidence that Li Concubine wanted him to destroy.

Also this gun was found in Lu Hua Palace.

Li Concubine’s face darken, although was denying, no one believed her anymore.

The evidence was very solid, Ye Zhen Zhen’s enemy also can’t help her say anything, and can only see how the empress punish her. The whole time Ji Wu Jiu was acting mute, and in the end only said, “Li Concubine is demoted to be Su Jie Yu, the rest the empress may settle”

Ye Zhen Zhen ordered people to bring Su Jie Yu outside Kun Ning Palace and to be flogged 40 times. The person that was going to act out the punishment has already communicated with Ye Zhen Zhen, to use all their might to hit her, as long as in the end she is still alive.

After 40 hits, Su Jie Yu was already very pale, with weak breaths. To be hit infront of so many servants, is much more embarrassing then getting demoted.

“Su Jie Yu harmed imperial consort and bloodline, she was not supposed to be forgiven. Just that the empress dowager and the emperor is kind, today I have punished her with 40 hits. In the future if anyone dares to do anything that should not be done, I will definitely not forgive!”

Although there were many people there, not a sound can be heard.

Ji Wu Jiu was standing next to Ye Zhen Zhen, looking at her. Her charismatic expression, really looks like a little tiger. Her eyes were shiny, under the thick eyelashes, looks like a glittering black pearl, making people subconsciously fall for her.

Ye Zhen Zhen did not realise Ji Wu Jiu’s gaze, full of power she said “Today I will end it here, next time if anyone wants to do anything againsts the rules, I will definitely let them die beautifully!”

Ye Zhen Zhen let everyone off after her warning. Today to show her power a bit, surely there will be calmer days for some time.

After everyone left, Ji Wu Jiu was still standing there looking at Ye Zhen Zhen. She then asked “Your majesty, do you have anything that you want to say to me?”

—-Sorry. Ji Wu Jiu opened his mouth, but that word was stuck in his throat, and could not be pushed out no matter what.