Chapter 299 - 299 Jackal

299 Jackal

Yu Niaoniao recounted the process of the palace maid trying to harm her.

Wei Liao said with a faint smile.

“These are just your side of the story. Do you have any evidence?”

Yu Niaoniao replied frankly, “No.”

Wei Liao put on a troubled expression. “Actually, I’m willing to believe what you say, but we need evidence. If you don’t have evidence, it’ll be difficult for us to clear your name.”

Yu Niaoniao replied calmly.

“You don’t need to clear my name. I did kill someone. There’s no doubt about it. What you need to investigate now is the identity and background of that palace maid. To find out why she sneaked into the palace and why she wanted to harm me?”

Wei Liao spoke as if he hadn’t heard her question.

“You should know that you have to pay with your life for killing someone. Even if you’re the Princess Consort of Lang County, you can’t escape the law.”

Yu Niaoniao said, “I killed her in self-defense. According to the laws of the Dayan Dynasty, I can be exonerated.”

Wei Liao said, “But you have no evidence to prove that you killed someone in self-defense.”

Yu Niaoniao said, “But you have evidence to prove that there’s a problem with that palace maid’s identity. This has already indirectly verified my words.”

Wei Liao said, “But we still lack direct evidence.”

“The indirect evidence can only point out an investigation plan for you. You’ll have to worry about the rest. I’m just a suspect who has lost her freedom now. I can’t help you.”

At this point, Yu Niaoniao smiled and added ambiguously.

“When you say that you lack direct evidence, it means that you already believe what I said.”

Wei Liao had been trying to steer the conversation just now. He had even dug a few pits for Yu Niaoniao, to jump into. However, this woman was really smart. Not only did she not fall into the pit, but she also fought with him for the right to dominate the conversation.

This changed Wei Liao’s opinion of Yu Niaoniao greatly. Wei Liao had thought that she was just a pretty girl, but it seemed that he had underestimated her.

Yu Niaoniao said, “Do you have anything else to ask?”

Wei Liao turned to look at Xiao Juan, who was sitting beside him, and asked him if he had anything to ask.

Xiao Juan replied coldly.

“No.”

Wei Liao did not care about his cold attitude. He looked at Yu Niaoniao again and asked with a smile.

“I have one last question. How did you escape to the Glazed Jade Palace after killing the palace maid? I remember that you rarely enter the palace and are very unfamiliar with the terrain of the palace. The Glazed Jade Palace is also very remote. Don’t tell me you got there by accident. Not many people would believe such a coincidence.”

Yu Niaoniao was a little hesitant, not knowing if she should expose Shen Junzhi.

Wei Liao leaned forward with one hand on the table. His amorous peach blossom eyes stared at Yu Niaoniao as he said half-jokingly.

“Let me guess. Excluding the possibility of a coincidence, someone was helping you. That person knew that you had killed someone. To protect you, he brought you to the Glazed Jade Palace.”

At this point, he turned his head slightly and looked at Xiao Juan, who was sitting beside him and asked with a smile.

“Does Duke Lang know who the person who secretly helped the Princess Consort is? Do you know what their relationship is?”

Xiao Juan was silent.

Seeing this, Wei Liao’s smile widened as if he had seen a good show.

“Aiyaya, looks like the Princess Consort is hiding a lot of things from you!”

Yu Niaoniao was a little anxious.

She had thought of telling Xiao Juan about Shen Junzhi, but it was definitely not now.

The situation was special now. If she confessed her relationship with Shen Junzhi, not only would she not be able to clarify the misunderstanding, but she might also make things worse.

Xiao Juan said in a low voice, “Don’t discuss anything unrelated to the case.”

Wei Liao’s smile disappeared. “Alright, alright. Back to the main topic. How did you get to the Glazed Jade Palace? You haven’t answered my question.”

Yu Niaoniao weighed the pros and cons and finally decided to hide Shen Junzhi’s existence for the time being.

“Princess Tao Ran insisted that I killed the person and even brought people to look for me everywhere. She looked like she wanted to bring me to justice. I was afraid that they would act rashly, so I found a place to hide. I originally wanted to look for Duke Lang, but I was not familiar with the terrain of the palace and took the wrong path. I accidentally arrived at the Glazed Jade Palace.”

Wei Liao sighed. “It seems that you won’t tell the truth.”

Yu Niaoniao said, “That’s the truth.”

Wei Liao said meaningfully, “It seems that that person is very important to you. In order to protect him, you’re not even willing to tell Duke Lang the truth. Tsk tsk tsk, your relationship with that person is really deep.”

Yu Niaoniao frowned. “Please don’t talk nonsense.”

Wei Liao sat up straight and crossed his legs, looking relaxed.

He said slowly, “Usually, if I encounter a situation where the criminal refuses to cooperate with the investigation, I will usually choose to torture him to extract a confession.”

“Of course, you’re different. You’re Duke Lang’s wife after all. This is Duke Lang’s territory. I can’t torture you in front of Duke Lang.”

“How about this? I’ll give you another day to think about it. I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer at this time tomorrow.”

With that, Wei Liao raised his right hand and gestured for Yu Niaoniao to leave.

Yu Niaoniao glanced at Xiao Juan and saw that there was no expression on his face. She could not tell if he was in a good or bad mood.

She stood up and walked out of the interrogation room.

Meng Xizhou and Lo Pingsha had been waiting outside. When they saw Yu Niaoniao come out, they immediately went up to ask.

“How was it? Did Wei Liao make things difficult for you?”

Yu Niaoniao shook her head. “No.”

Meng Xizhou heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”

Lo Pingsha was more attentive. He realized that Yu Niaoniao’s expression was not right and asked.

“Did something happen to you?”

Yu Niaoniao hesitated before speaking.

“Where did Wei Liao come from? Why haven’t I heard of him before?”

Although Lo Pingsha did not know why she asked this, he still told her everything he knew.

“Wei Liao is Wei Huai’en’s adopted son. You should know Wei Huai’en, right? He’s a eunuch in the palace and one of the most trusted people of the emperor. At the same time, he is also the general of the Heavenly Wolf Guards.”

“Wei Liao had always been working for Wei Huai’en and had shown his face in front of the emperor. When the emperor established the Sky Wolf Guards, Wei Huaien recommended Wei Liao to the emperor.”

“Usually, Wei Huaien would be serving the emperor in the palace and could not leave. As such, the Sky Wolf Guards mostly listened to Wei Liao’s commands.”

“I had never interacted with Wei Liao before, so I didn’t know much about him. All I know is that he has a nickname, Jackal.”

Yu Niaoniao was puzzled. “Why do you call him Jackal?”

Lo Pingsha explained, “A jackal is greedy and cunning. As long as its prey is targeted, it will eventually become its meal.”