Chapter 103 - Doesn’t Have the Intelligence

"Your Majesty!" The woman hurried forward and curtsied. "Yin Lin Lin greets His Majesty Tianjun!"

"Mn." Rong Su didn't bother replying to her and instead glared at his brother-in-law. Why did you let her inside? Couldn't you have told her I was busy or — even better — not inside? At least hold her off for a while and send someone to give me a fair warning!

Qiang Yan shrugged barely perceptible. What could he do? That woman wouldn't listen to him.

"Your Majesty!", Yin Lin Lin cried out, her voice already getting on his nerves. "I came to report a shocking incident I was made aware of. A servant girl came and confessed to me that she had killed a god reincarnated for his trial in the mortal world!"

Rong Su nodded continuously and wanted to politely usher her out of the door when the implication of her words hit Qiang Yan.

"What did you just say?"

"Qiang Yan, I was speaking to His Majesty. How dare you interrupt!"

Rong Su straightened up at his brother-in-law's words. Indeed, what had she just said? "Just repeat your words for us!"

Yin Lin Lin puckered her lips. She didn't like the way the two were talking to her. But what could she do? Rong Su was the incumbent heavenly emperor while her status was lacking. "I said a servant girl came to me and confessed that she killed the mortal reincarnation of a god. Ah, that poor chap. He was attempting one of his trials but he must have crossed someone." Her gaze flitted to Shun Tao.

The fate's scribe gritted his teeth. "What are you insinuating, Yin Lin Lin?"

"I'm not insinuating anything! I'm just telling His Majesty what happened. It's not my problem your lover did something like that!"

"Hah?" Shun Tao didn't even understand but the heavenly emperor and the god of war looked at him immediately. "What … what lover? I don't know anything about that!"

The heavenly emperor frowned. "You still dare to say that? Even we heard of that scandal."

Qiang Wei hadn't heard of any scandal since the men in the god of war's palace wouldn't dare to gossip in front of him but he had seen Shun Tao and Hong Bao. "That should be the servant girl you got close to."

Shun Tao was still mystified. Which servant girl?

"Hong Bao", injected Leng Jin Yu before falling silent again.

Shun Tao's eyes went wide. "Hah? How is Hong Bao my lover? She only helped me out a bit."

Yin Lin Lin stood up without waiting for the heavenly emperor's permission and pointed at Shun Tao. "Shut up, Shun Tao! That hussy told me her whole sob-story of how you messed up someone's fate and how she got afraid something might happen to you and how she had wanted to help you. Would she break into the god of war's palace to steal the soul-devouring dagger if she wasn't your lover? Damn, you must have hated that god very much to have even his soul ruined for eternity!"

Yin Lin Lin had turned away from the heavenly emperor and Qiang Yan. Pointing at Shun Tao, she smiled smugly. See that? 'Fate's scribe'? Somebody like you, I can take out in one move! You had better not offended me. Now live with the consequences! That precious lover of yours certainly won't see the end of this day!

The heavenly emperor and the god of war were both stunned and didn't know what to say.

Leng Jin Yu pressed his lips together, feeling a little guilty. Had I not gone without a word and taken her with me to the god of war's palace … Maybe she wouldn't have done that? She's way too naive and doesn't know much about the nine heavens. She couldn't have come up with something like stealing a dangerous artifact and killing a reincarnated god by herself.

He had seen enough in the mortal world and heard of enough in the nine heavens to know that somebody must have plotted against her. And Hong Bao wasn't experienced enough to understand that. If somebody told her stealing the weapon and killing the reincarnation was the way to help the fate's scribe she would just believe it and do exactly that.

This crime … It was enough to warrant her death. And unfortunately, the god they were talking about was even the crown prince. If he had really been assassinated with that weapon …

Leng Jin Yu jerked and turned around to Qiang Yan and the heavenly emperor, cupping his fists. "Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but I believe something doesn't add up here. The servant girl in question should be Hong Bao, who helped the fate's scribe with an assignment previously.

But if I heard correctly, the one attempting to assassinate His Highness was fought off by a man of the dragon race. As far as I know, Hong Bao doesn't know how to fight. That man should have had an easy time subduing and apprehending her. As thus, the perpetrator should have already been handed over to the god of war's palace.

Since that isn't the case it is highly unlikely that Hong Bao is said assassin. Neither should she have been able to flee in such a situation nor should she have had the opportunity to report to this lady here."

Qiang Yan rubbed his chin and nodded. "I've seen her only fleetingly once but I got the same impression, Your Majesty."

Yin Lin Li frowned. "What is that supposed to mean? She told me herself that she killed him!"

The heavenly emperor looked from his brother-in-law to Yin Lin Lin and finally to Shun Tao. "Fate's scribe, do you remember that Hong Bao-woman?"

Shun Tao nodded. "Yes. After I found out about …" He looked at Yin Lin Lin and interrupted himself. "About that", he corrected, "I tried to find the perpetrator. It didn't seem wise to observe the possible targets myself so I asked a servant girl for help. I thought she might be less eye-catching doing such a task."

"Do you think it possible for her to … do such a thing?" The heavenly emperor's expression was as frosty as the aura of a ten-thousand-year-old frost phoenix.

Shun Tao gulped and really took a moment to think about it. "I'm not as knowledgeable about fighting as the god of war but I, too, believe she wouldn't be able to win against a dragon. Neither do I believe she has the intelligence to come up with such a plan in the first place." He coughed, slightly embarrassed on having to say something like that to His Majesty.

"Then why was she involved in the first place?"

"I asked a random servant for help since I felt that time was pressing. After noticing her … peculiarities, I found it quite fitting since I didn't want anybody to find out in case anybody might try to take advantage of the situation."

"Mn." Rong Su waved at his brother-in-law. "Have her imprisoned for now."

Leng Jin Yu knelt down before the god of war could nod. "Your Majesty, please summon her at least so that she has the opportunity to explain herself."

Rong Su frowned. First thing in the morning, he was told his precious son might die and he had to deal with this whole mess. He clearly didn't care for some random servant girl! Even more so if she really was involved in his son's near demise!

Qiang Yan saw his brother-in-law's expression darken and intervened hurriedly: "Leng Jin Yu isn't wrong, Your Majesty. This issue should be cleared up as soon as possible to make sure the demons aren't involved. Questioning her early on might save us some time."

Rong Su nodded. "Fine, then. Someone summon that woman."

Leng Jin Yu sighed in relief while Yin Lin Lin gritted her teeth and leveled him a superior look.

Who is that guy even? Why is he going against me? He doesn't look like anyone that important. It can't be that he also has the hots for that lowly servant, can it? What's so special about her? She looked at him a little longer and started to smile. Let's see how long you'll have that support, little girl!

Leng Jin Yu caught the gaze of the goddess in front of him and repressed a shudder. Why did he feel like he had been marked as prey just now?

Luckily, finding Hong Bao wasn't as difficult as finding the heavenly empress: Just a little while later one of the heavenly guards brought her into the hall, directing the tension onto her.

Hong Bao didn't seem to notice that, though. Seeing Shun Tao she smiled and her smile grew even wider when she saw the woman in the white dress standing next to him. "You're here, too!", she greeted before even acknowledging the heavenly emperor. "Does this mean what I did really helped?"

Leng Jin Yu put a hand to his forehead. Hong Bao … Do you know? What you just said is as good as confessing to your crime. Why did I work so hard to give you this opportunity?