Chapter 117
Chapter 117
[After Five of the Prince’s Wives Died – 5]
Pan Zhenghe: “?!!!!”
The Prince of Chu: “?!!!!”
Pan Zhenghe had never expected to hear such an order and froze on the spot. The Prince of Chu was even more dumbfounded. Before he could recover enough to speak, the Imperial Guards stepped forward and seized him, then looked to the Emperor for confirmation of his will.
Ying Zheng waved an indifferent hand.
Without another word, two Imperial Guards took one arm apiece and hauled the Prince straight out.
The Prince of Chu finally came to his senses and cried out in terror, “Imperial Father, are you going to kill this son? Why? What has this son done wrong for you to despise him so much?!”
Ying Zheng had always been unyielding. Once he made a decision, he never turned back. Why would he waste time explaining himself to a cheap son who wore Hu Hai’s face? Without so much as blinking, he said coldly, “We do not wish to hear his voice again. Take him away and execute him at once!”
As soon as the words fell, the Imperial Guards gagged the Prince and dragged him out of the Imperial Study. Before long, they returned to report, “Your Majesty, the condemned former Prince of Chu has been executed.”
Ying Zheng nodded faintly, then suddenly turned to Pan Zhenghe. “Tell Us exactly what else you discovered, without omitting a single detail. We appreciate honest ministers who can accomplish real work. You ought to understand that.”
Pan Zhenghe had just watched the Emperor dispose of his once-favorite son in a handful of sentences. He was terrified into silence. How could he dare conceal anything now? He dropped to his knees with a thud. “This subject did uncover other matters.”
He did not dare keep the Emperor in suspense and poured out his report. “First, Qiao repeatedly insists that she poisoned all five Princess Consorts of Chu. Yet she is an orphan with neither trusted subordinates nor useful connections, and she lived in a separate courtyard from the Princess Consorts. How could she approach them and find opportunities to take their lives?”
“Second, the Princess Consorts all married the Prince through proper rites and were the legitimate mistresses of the residence. Each had numerous marriage attendants and personal maids. If one woman had been careless, that might be understandable. But how could every one of them be so incautious that an orphan with no foundation in the residence found an opening?”
“Third, even if Qiao were exceptionally clever and the Princess Consorts entirely unsuspecting, the senior matrons serving His Highness all came from the palace, and Noble Consort Wang kept a close watch over the residence. How could a mere orphan create such an enormous disturbance?”
Pan Zhenghe spoke at length without stumbling once. Finally, he explained the heart of his suspicions. “The Princess Consorts were married to the Prince for as long as two months and as little as half a month, yet postmortem examinations showed that every one of them remained a virgin. Is that not suspicious? This subject believes His Highness may well have known what Qiao was doing. Without his help erasing the evidence, Qiao could never have concealed her crimes for so long. This subject even has reason to suspect that Qiao was not the true killer at all, and that the Prince himself murdered them. After all, it is far too strange for him to marry five Princess Consorts in succession yet refuse to consummate any of the marriages…”
It was not strange. The Prince of Chu naturally had to preserve his chastity for the female lead who had not yet appeared.
Nor was anything strange about Qiao’s conduct. In the early stages, she played the pure little white lotus and stole the female lead’s credit. In the middle, she defended the male lead’s chastity on the female lead’s behalf. Later, her deception would be exposed and her reputation destroyed, turning her into a stepping-stone that deepened the leads’ relationship. With her work as a plot device complete, she would exit the story in a body bag.
Perfect.
Ying Zheng had his own suspicions, but did not voice them. He merely nodded. “The Prince of Chu is dead, but the case is not closed. Interrogate all his trusted subordinates and advisers, then question Qiao again. Use whatever methods are necessary. We want the truth.”
Pan Zhenghe hesitated. “Qiao’s love for His Highness runs bone-deep. This subject fears she will never talk. As for His Highness’s trusted subordinates and advisers…”
Before he could finish, Ying Zheng picked up a memorial and opened it. “If they refuse to talk, use torture. If they still refuse after that, there is no need to waste more words on them. Convict them of conspiring to murder Princess Consorts of the imperial family and exterminate their nine clans.”
At that, he frowned. “There is not only too much leave; the criminal penalties are also far too lenient, leaving officials and commoners without fear. If this continues, how could the realm avoid falling into disorder? No. We must think of a solution.”
Pan Zhenghe: “????”
Your Majesty, there was really no need!
Ying Zheng’s voice grew quieter, carrying a faint trace of melancholy. “The Laws of Qin were better. Every matter, great or small, was clearly codified, proclaimed to the people, and properly enforced. We must find time to write them down from memory. We will not sleep tonight. Alas, We remember only a little more than ninety percent. We have grown old. Our memory is failing.”
Pan Zhenghe had entered the palace filled with righteous courage. He had even resolved to state the Prince of Chu’s crimes plainly, no matter how badly it offended the Emperor. He never imagined that the Emperor would kill the Prince without hesitation, then decide the dynasty’s criminal law was too lenient and ought to be replaced with a newly reconstructed code.
Meow meow meow???
Your Majesty, you truly have been acting very strangely lately!
Even after leaving the Imperial Study and walking some distance, Pan Zhenghe’s legs remained weak and his steps unsteady. Then he caught sight of eunuchs in the distance carrying water to wash away the blood outside the hall. His heart chilled. He no longer dared delay and immediately obeyed the imperial command, leaving the palace to interrogate Qiao and the Prince of Chu’s trusted subordinates and advisers.
Qiao was exceptionally tight-lipped. She was the sort of woman so thoroughly bewitched by love that she had sworn to belong to the Prince in life and become his ghost in death. Apart from confessing that she had killed all five Princess Consorts, she refused to admit anything else.
She was an orphan and had no family to implicate. Once the report went up, her execution by dismemberment with five horses was quickly approved. The perfect tool of a second female lead thus finished filming her final scene.
The Prince of Chu’s confidants, on the other hand, had parents, wives, and children at home. They spilled everything they knew.
The truth was too astonishing-and far too embarrassing-to explain aloud, so Pan Zhenghe wrote it into a memorial and presented it to the Emperor.
Ying Zheng opened it casually and swept through the contents ten lines at a glance. His brows twitched several times despite himself.
More precisely, he was thunderstruck.
Liu Che, consummate lover of gossip, looked ready to transform into a giraffe and stretch his head straight out of the System space. He stared fixedly at the memorial.
Unfortunately, he was too far away and the writing was too small. He could not make out a single word.
He urged without pause, “Shi Huang, don’t just read it to yourself. Read it aloud for us. Everyone is dying to know!”
Ying Zheng glanced up at him. He did not conceal the truth, but summarized it in a few sentences. “It is true that Qiao killed the Princess Consorts out of jealousy, and it is also true that the Prince of Chu tacitly permitted her actions. A strange poison left him impotent, and he could respond only to the masked girl who saved him several years ago. He believed Qiao was that girl. Later, the poison deepened and he lost even that response. To preserve his secret, he ignored Qiao’s murders.”
Liu Che: “????”
The emperors: “????”
Seriously? That worked too?!
Ying Zheng sneered. “It is still slightly better than claiming he was a calamity star sent by Heaven specifically to kill his own wives!”
Pan Zhenghe had labored for more than half a month only to uncover such a result. Both legs trembled before he entered the palace, and he had even delivered his last words to his wife and children.
The Prince of Chu had been poisoned into impotence and could respond only to the woman who saved him several years ago?
Qiao, a mere woman of the jianghu, had casually poisoned five Princess Consorts to death?
The Prince of Chu had never feared that five powerful in-law families might join hands and destroy him?
Meow, meow, meow???
Good grief. Even Pan Zhenghe thought the story sounded like shameless fabrication!
By the time he reached the Imperial Study and reported everything, Pan Zhenghe did not dare raise his head. Standing below the throne, he found himself recalling the posture in which the Prince of Chu had been dragged away to his death and wondering whether the man’s eyes had grown wet before the end.
While he grieved silently, the Emperor said, “You handled the matter well. That will be all. Withdraw.”
Pan Zhenghe froze. “Hm?”
Ying Zheng gave him another look and repeated, “You handled the assignment well. Withdraw.”
Pan Zhenghe had not been dragged away, but his eyes grew wet too. “Your Majesty believes this subject? You do not think the memorial is filled with wild fabrication?”
They were both victims of the garbage logic governing this absurd world. Why torment each other further?
Ying Zheng laughed. “We believe you.”
Pan Zhenghe covered his mouth so the tears would not spill. Then, overwhelmed with gratitude, he declared, “Your Majesty is benevolent and magnanimous. This humble subject would gladly have his liver and brains smeared upon the ground in your service!”
Ying Zheng was deeply moved. Then he said, “In that case, Minister Pan may submit the memorial requesting that officials’ holidays be reduced and the legal code revised.”
Pan Zhenghe: “…”
After leaving the Imperial Study, Pan Zhenghe slapped himself hard across the face.
Why could he never control this mouth of his?!
The Prince of Chu had been executed, and the truth behind the deaths of his five Princess Consorts had been uncovered. As Pan Zhenghe’s direct superior, the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review made a special trip to the palace to ask how the case should be concluded and whether the truth should be announced to the public.
Ying Zheng said, “Make it public.”
“Yes,” the Chief Minister answered without thinking. “This subject will order everyone involved to keep their mouths tightly shut… What? Make it public?!”
His face changed dramatically. His knees went weak, and he immediately dropped to the floor. “Your Majesty, please reconsider! The Prince of Chu conspired with Qiao to murder his principal wives. The consequences are appalling, and the affair is already the talk of the imperial capital. If the details are spread any further, will the people not criticize the Imperial House even more? The damage will extend beyond the Prince of Chu and stain the dignity of the entire imperial family!”
The Prince had nominally been Ying Zheng’s son, after all. The matter did implicate his own reputation.
After a moment’s consideration, Ying Zheng said, “In that case, omit the part about the Prince of Chu being rendered impotent by a strange poison. Say only that Qiao bewitched him, and that the two beasts joined together to take the lives of the Princess Consorts. Qiao has now been dismembered by five horses, the Prince of Chu is dead, and every person involved has been executed. That should be sufficient to answer to the realm.”
The Chief Minister thought, Are we even discussing the same thing?
With a bitter expression, he said, “Your Majesty, this subject is concerned that if the affair becomes public, it will inevitably damage the imperial family’s dignity. Public sentiment may boil over, and then…”
Ying Zheng held his vermilion brush and continued reviewing memorials without looking up. “Is it true that the Prince of Chu conspired with Qiao to murder his Princess Consorts?”
The Chief Minister replied, “Every word is true. It cannot be denied.”
Ying Zheng asked again, “Is it also true that We ordered the execution of the Prince, Qiao, and everyone involved?”
The Chief Minister solemnly answered, “Your Majesty placed righteousness above family and demonstrated the highest moral principle. This subject reveres you!”
“Then why conceal the truth?”
Ying Zheng closed the memorial he had finished and looked up. His swordlike brows framed brilliant eyes, and his gaze shone with unwavering clarity. “The Prince of Chu and Qiao lost all humanity and took innocent lives. We did not instruct them to do so. Once the crime was discovered, We neither concealed nor protected them, but subjected them in turn to the full judgment of the law. We have done nothing to shame Heaven above or humanity below. Our conscience is clear in every direction. Why should We fear making the matter public?”
He gave a quiet laugh. “Chief Minister, you think far too little of Us.”