CH 100

December 8, 2022Merchie

Shen Shijiu was taken to an unfamiliar place, it looked like a woodshed. It was empty and barren; there was only a small pile of firewood in the corner.

After those servants threw him inside, they left. Shen Shijiu was thrown to the ground with great force, and his arms and knees were burning with pain after he crashed to the floor. After finally getting used to the darkness around him, he groped around and leaned against the corner of the wall.

He racked his brains; he really didn’t use any unusual ingredients, so how could the Second Princess have suddenly been poisoned? He thought long and hard but still couldn’t find an answer.

The woodshed was too dim for him to see outside; he only knew that it seemed to be getting dark.

Shen Shijiu didn’t know when he would be freed, but he would never admit to something he didn’t do, no matter what.

After night fell, the door was suddenly pushed open, and the light from a few candles illuminated the small woodshed.

Shen Shijiu slowly lifted his head out of the crook of his arms, and a familiar dress appeared in his vision.

Qi Bingzhi stood at the door, unwilling to even enter this filthy, shabby woodshed. She covered her nose and mouth with a silk handkerchief, looking very uncomfortable.

Xiao Mei walked in with several servants in tow.

“You’ve had half a day; have you decided? Do you admit to your crime?”

Shen Shijiu shuddered and shook his head.

Xiao Mei stared at him, “I knew that you would be stubborn. Good thing I’ve already prepared it, all you need to do is provide your signature.”

As she spoke, one of the servants stepped forward, holding a piece of paper documenting the evidence of Shen Shijiu’s crimes. It fluttered to the ground in front of Shen Shijiu.

“Be good and fingerprint it, and this matter will be resolved. The princess won’t investigate your past wrongdoings either, so hurry up.”

Shen Shijiu skimmed over the paper. His shifu had taught him how to read, and he could recognize most of the words written on the paper.

Xiao Mei watched as he read over it for a long while without moving, and became a bit impatient, “Stop reading it, just hurry up and fingerprint it. You two, help him out.”

One of the two servants at the side grabbed one of Shen Shijiu’s hands, and tried to press it into the red ink pad, while the other picked up the paper and held it closer to Shen Shijiu.

Shen Shijiu struggled with everything he had. He understood what the words on that piece of paper meant; once he fingerprinted it, it would mean that he had admitted to the crime.

Even after wasting their time and effort, they were still unable to press Shen Shijiu’s hand on the ink pad, he had used all his might to resist them.

One of the servants simply drew a dagger, and sliced into Shen Shijiu’s finger, dying his palm red with blood.

Unexpectedly, when the paper was held up to his hand be fingerprinted, too much blood flowed out, staining half the paper scarlet. It was impossible to tell what was written on it.

Qi Bingzhi watched the servants busy themselves with this task for a long time. Unexpectedly, they weren’t able to obtain his signature, so she gave Xiao Mei a few instructions and left. Once Qi Bingzhi was gone, Xiao Mei called out to the two servants, and said that they were leaving as well. The door of the woodshed was shut once again.

Shen Shijiu’s body no longer had anything to hold it up, so he immediately collapsed limply to the ground.

The ground was ice-cold, but he could still feel the warmth in his palm, which was full of sticky blood that coated his entire hand.

He didn’t know how long he had been lying on the ground. It had been long enough for Shen Shijiu’s vision to become hazy; he couldn’t see anything clearly.

He heard the sound of the door opening again. Several people had walked inside; they seemed to be a large group, and a foul odor filled the entire woodshed as they entered.

Shen Shijiu’s eyelids were very heavy, and saw that the blurry figures in front of him were wearing ragged clothing. They looked to be beggars that panhandled on the main street.

He could faintly hear them discussing amongst themselves.

“Is that him?”

“He’s the only one in here, who else could it be?”

“Then let’s hurry up. If we finish early, we can collect the money early. The people of the Prime Minister’s Manor are generous, they’re letting us take advantage of him and giving us money for it.”

“That’s right! If anyone insults the lord of the Prime Minister’s Manor in the future, I’ll be the first to tell them that they’re wrong!”

After a heated discussion, the beggars all rubbed their hands together, and slowly walked toward the person lying on the ground. They made a commotion as they began to untie his robe.

Shen Shijiu was pinched, and woke up from the pain. He raised his head, his eyes glazed with tears.

“W-what are you all doing…”

The beggars noticed that he had woken up, but they were hardly frightened. Instead, they became even more excited.

“Hurry up! Now that he’s awake, he’ll probably start struggling, so he won’t be so easy to deal with anymore.”

Shen Shijiu really did want to struggle, but he had exerted too much energy earlier, so he couldn’t muster up any strength at all. Besides, he was in terrible pain from his bleeding palm, which rendered him unable to move.

A crystal tear slipped down the side of his face. Shen Shijiu was so terrified that he was trembling, but that would only bring him rougher, more abusive treatment.

At this moment, the clopping of hooves stopped outside the Prime Minister’s Manor, and a figure jumped off the horse, before charging into the manor, rushing straight toward the waterside pavilion.

Li Yu had already been waiting at the gate, and after seeing that black robe flash past, he anxiously followed.

“My Lord, he’s been in the waterside pavilion for ten hours now, and there hasn’t been a single disturbance! There’s no telling what’s going on in there!”

Pei Zheng’s expression was grave, and he didn’t say a word.

When he arrived at the door of the waterside pavilion, the building was completely dark. It looked like the person inside had long since gone to bed.

Pei Zheng didn’t care. He kicked the door open, and the doorframe cracked and split apart on the spot.

After that tremendous crash, candlelight lit up behind that thick, heavy curtain.

Xiao Mei walked out first. When she saw Pei Zheng, she looked shocked.

“L-Lord Pei, why are you back?”

Pei Zheng didn’t even glance at her. He simply shoved her aside, pulled open the curtain, and walked in.

Qi Bingzhi was lying on the bed, her robes half-undone, her cheeks pale and bloodless; she looked very fragile and pitiful.

“My Lord…”

She coughed twice, and clutched her chest as she frowned.

There wasn’t a shred of pity in Pei Zheng’s gaze. He walked up to Qi Bingzhi’s bed, and asked coldly, “Where is he?”

Qi Bingzhi’s eyes flickered, “My Lord, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Pei Zheng didn’t intend on showing her any mercy. He grabbed her by the collar, lifting her upper body off the bed.

“I’ll ask you again. Where, is, he?”

Qi Bingzhi was being strangled by her own collar and was having trouble breathing. Her face gradually turned red.

Xiao Mei, who was at the side, hurried over and supported Qi Bingzhi’s lower body, so anxious that she was about to cry.

“My Lord, please let go of the princess, the princess was poisoned by a contemptible scoundrel, she can’t handle this kind of rough treatment!”

Not only did Pei Zheng maintain his hold on her, but his grip tightened slightly.

“Poisoned?”

“Yes, yes!” Xiao Mei nodded her head repeatedly like someone who was reporting a crime, and pulled the prescription that Shen Shijiu had given Qi Bingzhi out of her bosom.

“This is the prescription. A doctor has already looked over it; this medicine clashes with the medicine that the princess drank before, but Shen Shijiu still gave her this prescription. He really does hold a grudge against the princess…”

Pei Zheng glanced over at the prescription, illuminated by the dim candlelight, and suddenly froze.

He recognized this handwriting.

But handwriting could be imitated; Pei Zheng understood that. But he still had other evidence he could use to prove it.

Before she could finish peaking, Xiao Mei was kicked to the side. She laid curled up on the floor for a long time, unable to move.

“This minister gave you a chance. If anything happens to him…”

Pei Zheng leaned into Qi Bingzhi’s ear, “… you’ll suffer a hundred times more.”

After speaking, he threw her back onto the bed. Pei Zheng didn’t want to spare Qi Bingzhi a single glance.

Qi Bingzhi began to cough violently, and coughed until her eyes flowed with tears. But the person in front of her refused to show even the slightest bit of concern.

She already understood. She had lost the wager. Even if she had bet her own life, she would still lose, still suffer a crushing defeat.

A large group of the manor’s guards suddenly rushed through the gate, and gradually encircled the waterside pavilion.

Both Chengfeng and Li Yu stood at the gate, waiting for Pei Zheng’s instructions. After a single glance from Pei Zheng, all of the guards charged through the door, and began to carefully search the waterside pavilion.

After a little while, a few screams of misery rang out from the courtyard behind the waterside pavilion.

Cheng Feng came to the outer hall with a report, “Master, we found him. But, the situation isn’t looking too good…”

Pei Zheng walked out the back gate and came to the woodshed. There were four or five ragged beggars kneeling there, pinned to the ground and unable to move.

Pei Zheng took a deep breath. He was suddenly a bit scared to face the truth. He suppressed the slight restlessness in his heart, and walked into the woodshed.

Shen Shijiu was being supported by Li Yu. His little hands were clutching at the lapels over his chest, keeping them tightly tucked; he looked as though he had been terrified by something. His eyes darted frantically, unable to find anything to focus on.

Li Yu saw Pei Zheng slowly walking over, and said, “My Lord, Guard Feng rescued him before anything happened, but he’s suffered quite a shock, and hasn’t fully recovered from it yet.”

Pei Zheng walked over, and gently stroked Shen Shijiu’s hair. Shen Shijiu lifted his head to look at him, and gazed at him for quite a while, before his eyes finally focused on his face.

Once Shen Shijiu realized that the person standing in front of him was Pei Zheng, tears welled up in his eyes, flowing endlessly, and he sobbed so hard that he couldn’t breathe.

“M-my Lord… I-I didn’t… poison… the p-princess…”

“Mm, I know.” Pei Zheng’s tone was gentle, without a trace of the cold hardness from before.

“I… I only know how to save… save people… I wouldn’t… hurt anyone…”

“That’s right, you wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

Pei Zheng gave Li Yu a look, and Li Yu sensibly placed Shen Shijiu in Pei Zheng’s embrace. Then he grabbed Cheng Feng, who was still standing at the side, and retreated.

Shen Shijiu buried his head deep into Pei Zheng’s chest, and smelled the lovely sandalwood fragrance on his body. Only then was he slightly soothed. His tears didn’t flow as furiously as before, but his eyes were still foggy.

“Don’t cry anymore. I’ll take you back to rest, okay?”

Shen Shijiu’s words were choppy, “Okay… But, I don’t want to be alone… I-I’m a little scared…”

Pei Zheng hugged him by the waist, and led him out of the woodshed.

Of course. He had never intended on letting him return to that little wing alone.

When the two entered the waterside pavilion through the back gate, there was only a row of candles lining the path. The servants had all been taken away. Qi Bingzhi and her entourage were also nowhere to be seen.

Pei Zheng led Shen Shijiu along that row of candles, walked into the back garden, and came to the door of the little pavilion.

— The author has something to say —

I will arrange for Little Pei to see the tattoo in the next chapter~