CH 138.1

Chapter 138.1 – Spring Has Come

Lu Qipei was not afraid of King Wei’s witness at all. In the past half month, she had already checked her subordinates several times and confirmed that, except for the late Qi Bo, none of them had participated in the Chaoyang Tower case. As for whether anyone from Xie Yuan’s side fell into King Wei’s hands, Lu Qipei didn’t care. Xie Yuan was already dead, so it didn’t matter whether others knew of her identity. As long as she didn’t admit it, it would only amount to slander.

If the late Emperor or Crown Prince were still alive, wouldn’t be able to withstand this slander. But now, both of them were gone, and the Little Emperor still needed her and Qi Yang’s support. So no matter what King Wei said or did, unless there was conclusive evidence, it would be meaningless.

Lu Qipei knew this, and everyone present knew it as well, so they were just watching the fun today. Lu Qipei squinted at King Wei, not sure if he was really stupid or if he had some ulterior motives.

King Wei came here full of confidence and didn’t care about how others saw him. When he heard what Lu Qipei said, he even felt that she was provoking him. Seeing that she was acting like she wouldn’t give up until the end, he personally left the hall to get someone to bring the witness there.

Not long after, the so-called witness entered the hall, an Lu Qipei glanced at him, slightly surprised.

Qi Yang naturally noticed the change in her expression, and approached her with a slight frown, whispering “What’s wrong?”

Lu Qipei withdrew her gaze and thought for a bit, then replied softly, “This person looks familiar, I seem to have seen him in the Lu Mansion before.” After saying this, she added, “There are some ordinary servants in the Lu Mansion, and they’re only responsible for some miscellaneous chores in the outer courtyard. They’re hired from the outside.”

Qi Yang understood what she meant, and her gaze towards King Wei suddenly showed a hit of displeasure. King Wei actually got a servant of the Lu Mansion to testify, or give false testimony – this had definitely been planned for a long time. It seems that he was targeting not just Lu Qipei, but also her!

King Wei had a triumphant look and did not pay attention to Qi Yang’s gaze. He waved to the witness and said, “Tell us what you know.”

In front of the Emperor and the high-ranking officials, the witness was visibly hesitating, but after hearing King Wei’s instructions, he stumbled and said, “This Little One is Zhang Wu, a servant from Lu Mansion, in charge of sweeping the courtyard. Before Shangyuan, the Prince Consort once returned to the mansion and talked to the butler Qi Bo. This Little One was cleaning Qi Bo’s courtyard back then, and when I was sweeping under the window, I heard the Prince Consort talking to Qi Bo about “fire”, “medicine”1, and revenge. This Little One didn’t understand what the Prince Consort meant back then, but when Chaoyang Tower exploded on the night of Shangyuan Festival, and Qi Bo also died on Shangyuan, this Little One, only then this Little One understood…”

This was just his interpretation, but because Zhang Wu was a servant of the Lu Mansion, it added some weight to his statement. But then again, how could you guarantee that everyone would be loyal in a mansion with dozens or even hundreds of servants?

The Three Teachers did not comment after hearing this, but the Little Emperor pretended to be serious and asked, “That’s it, there’s no other evidence?”

Zhang Wu shrank his neck and was at a loss, and secretly looked at King Wei. King Wei gave him a fierce glare before he said, “Yes, there’s gunpowder, there’s gunpowder hidden in the Lu Mansion. I once saw it when I was sweeping!”

Lu Qipei and Qi Yang did not even get the chance to open their mouths after hearing this – after watching the show for a while, the Country Protecting Great General muttered, “What a coincidence. Just a lowly servant in charge of cleaning, but his master couldn’t hide anything from him.”

Qi Yang couldn’t help laughing when she heard this, thinking that King Wei must have bribed other servants of the Lu Mansion, but those with some status in the Lu family were not ordinary servants. They had been loyal to the Lu family for generations, how could they be easily bought by King Wei? Even with the person in front of them, it was only because control over the Lu Mansion deteriorated after Qi Bo’s death that King Wei was able to exploit the opening.

But this person’s status was too low and he “knew” too much, which was the biggest flaw.

Lu Qipei was obviously not panicking at all, and just spoke calmly, “I rarely go back to the Lu Mansion, and only returned a few times after the butler died. This person claimed to have seen me return to the mansion before Shangyuan, this is simply ridiculous. As for the gunpowder, I don’t know about it, but I beseech Your Majesty to send someone to search.”

Her expression was calm, without the slightest hint of panic. Both the Little Emperor and the Three Teachers were somewhat convinced. Only King Wei was a bit incensed, as if he had recognized her guilt, and refused to let her go. “Then search, I don’t believe that you can hide everything perfectly!”

When he said this, it attracted Qi Yang and Lu Qipei’s attention, and they both had a hint of surprise in their eyes.

But regardless of what Qi Yang and Lu Qipei thought, King Wei’s momentum and noisiness had to end. Plus, Lu Qipei had taken the initiative to request it, so it was necessary to carry out the search.

After seeing his aunt’s expression, the Little Emperor nodded and agreed. But now Lu Qipei was in charge of the royal guards, and worked in the Court of Judicial Review. King Wei was not at ease leaving it to people from those places, so in the end he personally led the officials of the Prefectural Office to search the Lu Mansion.

But after searching the entire mansion, it was all clean. Not to mention gunpowder, there were not even fireworks and firecrackers left from New Years!

When they returned to the palace, King Wei was frustrated, but his gaze towards Lu Qipei became even sharper – so much that others would probably not believe that Lu Qipei had once saved his life, and instead think that there was some deep hatred between them.

Lu Qipei was puzzled by King Wei’s excessive hostility, and his gaze towards her was as if it was saying, “Don’t think that if you’re hiding it well, I won’t be able to find anything. Surname Lu, just wait, I’ll catch you sooner or later!”

After watching the farce for a long time, King Lu finally couldn’t listen to it anymore and waved his hand, driving him out of the palace.

However, it was unknown whether this farce left any marks in everyone’s heart.

However, it is unknown whether this farce has left any traces in the hearts of everyone.

Translator notes: