“Consort Li’s expression looks rather astonished. Is the person inside different from whom you expected? Emperor, the bird has been caught.”
A small chinese hwamei stood on Gu Hanjue’s slender finger. He kept teasing it with a small twig. Although the bird was not restrained, it never flew away, merely flapping its little wings from time to time and hopping back and forth on his fingertip, accepting his doting teasing.
Chu Yinheng slightly furrowed his brows and directly sidestepped Gu Hanjue’s question, pointing at the embroidered uniform guards. “These are your subordinates, yet they actually did such a thing with a palace maid in the imperial palace!”
The empress dowager also hurriedly said, “They truly show this dowager no respect! And you two—how have you trained the palace maids under your command?”
Jia Yinger and Consort Li were rendered speechless for a moment, both unable to believe how the empress had escaped and how she had brought their maidservants here.
Jia Yinger suddenly thought of Gu Hanjue and said, “emperor, my maidservant must have been framed. I fear Prince Bianjian’s subordinates coveted my maidservant.”
Consort Li also chimed in, “That is right. I have always been extremely strict in training my people; my subordinates would never engage in illicit relations. There are so many embroidered uniform guards on the other side—they must have forced them. How could two women have escaped?”
Although they were trying to throw dirt on Gu Hanjue, they did not dare look at him.
Chu Yinheng turned his gaze toward Gu Hanjue, who held power over life and death, and asked, “Prince Bianjian, what do you say about this?”
At that moment, Jiang Yiyun also hurriedly arrived. Seeing the scene, she asked in confusion, “What happened?” When she saw the “mess” everywhere, she quickly lifted her sleeve and held it before her eyes, blocking her view.
Tao Ying also ran over and used her sleeve to block her line of sight, urgently saying, “imperial consort, don’t look. It will sully your phoenix eyes.”
When Jia Yinger saw Jiang Yiyun arrive unharmed, her gaze was as sharp blade-like, wishing she could stab the woman before her to death with every strike. “Why are you here, Older Sister?”
“If this palace can be in this vicinity, younger sister, could you really not know why?” Jiang Yiyun said with a smile.
Jia Yinger froze for a moment. “Your subject and consort have been with Consort Li the entire time and do not know where you were.” Then she turned the accusation back, saying, “Rather, where did Older Sister go just now, and what did you do to my maidservant?”
“Younger sister, are you speaking in riddles? This palace merely went to the pond to enjoy the shade.”
At that moment, Huanyu tearfully complained, “emperor, empress dowager, I am innocent! It was… it was the empress who lured me here, and then this servant was… by them…”
Everyone immediately understood. It turned out that the empress and Prince Bianjian had plotted together, using bird-catching to scheme against consort li’s maidservant first, then luring Huanyu, Noble Consort Li’s maidservant, here.
The two maidservants had given matching accounts. Jiang Yiyun remained neither anxious nor impatient and asked, “You say this palace lured you here. Then what reason did this palace use to bring you here?”
“Empress, you… you said that you felt unwell and wanted to find somewhere to rest, so you had this servant help you here.”
“Ha!” Jiang Yiyun sneered. “How do I not remember any such thing?”
“Stop arguing! This is clearly a plot between the empress and Prince Bianjian. Empress dowager, emperor, you must stand up for your subject and consort!” Consort Li cried.
“Someone actually dares to scheme under this dowager’s very eyes. They are truly audacious,” the empress dowager said angrily again.
“I, Gu Hanjue, have never needed to act under anyone else’s eyes. If I am going to do something, I will do it openly and straightforwardly. Who would I have to fear?” As soon as these words left his mouth, everyone sensed the aura pressure hidden within the gentle smile and warm words of the speaker.
The empress dowager was forced into an awkward position and did not know how to smooth things over. Jia Yinger and Consort Li also felt somewhat frightened in retrospect.
“You think the truth can be revealed just by relying on two girls? Do you take the dozen or so people under my command for fools?”
Watching Gu Hanjue exert pressure, Jiang Yiyun felt rather pleased inside.
Gu Hanjue turned to the embroidered uniform guards and asked, “Tell us exactly what happened.”
One of them replied, “Reporting to the director, we subordinates were all searching this vicinity for traces of the chinese hwamei when consort li’s maidservant suddenly said that the bird had flown into this room, so she led us here.”
“You… you are talking nonsense!” the maidservant said urgently.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard ignored her and continued, “But after entering, we found no trace of the chinese hwamei, while consort li’s maidservant suddenly shut the door! Then we suddenly felt our bodies grow hot, as though we had been affected by some poisonous substance. Afterward, another person entered, but before we could see who it was, we gradually lost consciousness. Then…”
Huanyu hurriedly said, “That is not true! That is not true!”
Gu Hanjue approached her. With two sharp cracks, Huanyu’s and Lier’s chins dropped out of place.
“Did this seat give you permission to speak? Speak only when this seat tells you to. You do not understand the rules. Noble Consort Li’s training is truly lacking!”
Jia Yinger’s expression changed, as if she sensed that the situation had already been lost.
“Someone, summon an imperial physician and have them investigate whether there is any poisonous substance in this room,” Gu Hanjue ordered.
Among those present happened to be several highly respected officials from the Imperial Physician Office. They quickly discovered the “stolen evidence” in the room.
Imperial physician Li said, “This incense… this incense is…”
Gu Hanjue impatiently said, “Why are you stammering? Are you trying to say that this incense is the chief culprit responsible for turning them into this state?”
Imperial physician Li said, “Reporting to lord, that is precisely the case.”
The empress dowager was furious, but quickly seized the opportunity to step down. “You… you two lowly maidservants, how could you be so shameless? Noble Consort Li, Consort Li, how have you trained them?! Even after being exposed, you still spout lie after lie?”
Gu Hanjue said, “Consort Li was not lying. It is indeed true that she had her maidservant bring people to catch a bird. However, it turns out that the bird-catching she mentioned was this kind of ‘bird-catching’? It seems this seat misunderstood.”
His words were rather lewd. Quite a few people present flushed with embarrassment upon hearing them. Jiang Yiyun had not expected him to make such a vulgar joke today either, and suddenly found it difficult to hold back her laughter.
Consort Li was still unwilling to give up. “What about the empress? Is there anyone who can testify that the empress truly had nothing to do with this matter?”
“I can testify.” A handsome and distinguished man walked over calmly. It was none other than Chu Yexuan.
He swept his gaze over everyone, then cast a cold glance at Consort Li.
“The empress had just fallen into the pond after apparently slipping on the wet ground. I arrived in time and rescued her. Fortunately, there was no danger. During that period, the empress was with me the entire time and did not go anywhere else.”
Chu Yinheng felt somewhat uncomfortable upon hearing this, while Gu Hanjue’s brows twitched slightly.
Jia Yinger secretly clenched her teeth. She knew she had lost this time, and glared fiercely at Jiang Yiyun.
Chu Yinheng looked at the two maidservants on the ground and said coldly, “You are truly audacious!”
The two wanted to say “wronged,” but could not open their mouths. They could only make muffled sounds in their throats while kowtowing and Begging for Mercy.
Even if they had suffered a grievous injustice, they likely no longer had any chance to speak. With two sharp cracks, both collapsed to the ground.
Gu Hanjue gently wiped his fair, slender fingers with a silk handkerchief and said unhurriedly, “For committing such a grave crime, you would have died sooner or later. This seat has kindly given you a quick death.”
Everyone was left terrified. In the blink of an eye, the two had been declared dead, while the person who had killed them spoke so casually and carried himself so elegantly. That extreme contrast brought an overwhelming sense of fear.
“The evidence is right before our eyes, so there is no need for an interrogation. It would only waste time and make people’s eyes suffer. This seat may as well show consideration for everyone else and deal with it on their behalf.”
Although the two had deserved death, they should have been dealt with according to the palace regulations. Gu Hanjue had simply bypassed the “rules” and dispatched them with ease, yet no one could say that he had done anything wrong.
After all, given his current position, he could call black white and white black. More infuriatingly, he often made it sound so reasonable, when it was clearly nothing more than solemnly delivered nonsense.
Everyone was rendered speechless and could only listen to his arrangements.
Jiang Yiyun had crossed swords with him many times and had long grown accustomed to his ways. The extreme contrast between his appearance and his methods had created such a “devil.”
Jia Yinger had rarely interacted with him. Having heard more than she had personally witnessed, she had assumed that no matter how formidable Prince Bianjian was, he could not withstand schemes and intrigues. Who could have known that he would be so ruthless, effortlessly dismantling even the tricks she had secretly employed?
She began to feel fortunate that she was the most favored one, but she was also amazed that Jiang Yiyun could contend with Gu Hanjue for so long without being dealt with.
She had indeed underestimated the two of them. No wonder she had repeatedly made her moves yet still could not eliminate Jiang Yiyun.
Jia Yinger was powerless, but she still had one last lifeline—Chu Yinheng!