After all 108 lashes had fallen, Steward Wang was a bloody mess.
Xiaohua was so exhausted she could barely lift her arms. Chu Zhao was less than satisfied. “You gave him 108 lashes and still didn’t manage to beat him to death. What a useless thing.”
Xiaohua hung her head in shame.
Chu Zhao rubbed her ears. “That man’s breathing is so loud it hurts my ears.”
Everyone: …Are we sure he’s still breathing?
“If you find it so noisy, then bury him,” Yan Qi said mildly, turning to look at her with the indulgence of an elder toward a younger person.
Chu Zhao narrowed her eyes. She thought that grandson really had something wrong with him. He’d been acting incredibly strange since last night.
And that look in his eyes was even more offensive than before.
“Burying him would be such a waste. We might as well chop him into mince and feed him to the pigs.” She smiled sweetly.
Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li and the Shen Residence, who had just been “invited” into the residence, heard her. Li’s knees went weak, while the Shen Residence stared in disbelief.
Yan Qi lifted a hand, and Steward Wang was dragged away, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground.
Chu Zhao glanced at the people who had been “invited” over and curled her lips. “You got here pretty quickly.”
Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li didn’t dare make a sound. The Shen Residence looked even more disheveled: Second Master Shen was in disarray, with a rouge mark on his face, while Third Master Shen still looked more or less presentable, though his hands were tied behind his back and his mouth was gagged.
Shen Yuzhu had been dragged in by the armed maids, her disfigured face exposed—horrific and ghastly.
The servants had already brought chairs and served tea. Yan Qi and Chu Zhao took their seats at the head of the room. Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li had also been thoughtfully provided with a chair, but he didn’t dare sit properly; he only perched on the edge.
“Prince of You… H-how dare you!” Second Master Shen shouted, trying to sound fierce despite his fear. “W-we may not be high officials, but we are still nobles of the court! How dare you send soldiers to drag us here!”
“Nobles?” Yan Qi gave a faint laugh. “They have neither titles nor official posts. They were merely born into a good family and live off their ancestors’ privilege, yet they call themselves nobles? Nobility in this Great Xuan Dynasty must be worth very little indeed.”
Second Master Shen flushed scarlet.
Yan Qi glanced at Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li. “When a commoner brings a complaint against an official, what does the Great Xuan Code prescribe?”
Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li wiped his sweat. “Any commoner who brings a complaint against an official must first receive fifty strokes…”
A trace of mockery flickered in Yan Qi’s eyes, as if he were ridiculing the law itself.
It vanished in an instant. His expression returned to normal, and his voice remained unhurried, but every word weighed on them until they could barely breathe. “Duke Shen is dead. The rest of the people in Duke Shen’s Residence are commoners, yet they dared to bypass the proper channels and accuse the Princess Regent—and even brought their complaint to the Court of Judicial Review.”
“I returned to the capital not long ago. I didn’t realize the Court of Judicial Review had taken over the duties of the Capital Prefecture as well.”
Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li’s knees buckled, and he dropped straight to the ground.
That was all true, but even with Duke Shen dead, the whole pack of his descendants at Duke Shen’s Residence wasn’t going to collapse overnight. Besides, this complaint had been made at the behest of that person; it was obviously meant to make things difficult for the Prince of You. But who could have guessed… the Prince of You simply didn’t play by the rules!
“Shen Zhaozhao is the murderer—”
Shen Yuzhu suddenly shrieked hysterically. “She killed my mother! She poisoned her! She poisoned Mother and drove her mad, and that’s why Mother accidentally killed Father!”
Chu Zhao laughed, watching her with amusement. “I killed your mother? Second Young Lady Shen, are you talking about your birth mother, Concubine Liu, who turned into a vengeful ghost and came seeking her victim?”
“My mother was the Duchess! She was no concubine!” Shen Yuzhu shrilled, denying it outright. “There was no vengeful ghost seeking revenge! You… you’re behind all of it! I’m a witness!”
“You were the one who led people into Duke Shen’s Residence last night. Mother came to visit you at the prince’s residence before that, and you stabbed her hand with a hairpin. That’s when you poisoned her!”
Chu Zhao only smiled faintly, her expression languid, as if she were watching a clown perform.
Under Chu Zhao’s gaze, Shen Yuzhu felt she could barely breathe. Hatred festered in her chest like poison. She wanted nothing more than to rush over and tear ‘Shen Zhaozhao’s’ face apart. Why? Why? It should all have been hers!
The person seated beside the Prince of You should have been her!
She was Yuzhu! Shen Zhaozhao was just a curse-bringing fool who’d been born an idiot!
She’d been so close… Why? Shen Yuzhu hated Shen Jue, hated Concubine Liu… If they meant to steal Shen Zhaozhao’s blessed fortune, why hadn’t they gone further? Why had they left Shen Zhaozhao a chance to turn things around?
If she’d known the truth sooner, today’s outcome would never have happened! She would have been far more ruthless and thorough than Shen Jue and Concubine Liu!
The more Shen Yuzhu thought about it, the tighter the choking sensation around her neck became. She instinctively clutched at her throat, but there was nothing there. What was choking her?
Realization came late. She stared at Chu Zhao in terror as a chill crawled up her spine like a maggot. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly… and she saw the woman seated above her watching with cold amusement.
At last, Shen Yuzhu understood the meaning of Chu Zhao’s gaze.
It was the look one gave a dead person.
“Your birth mother, Concubine Liu, occupied the Duchess’s body for over a decade. Last night, when your father realized the truth was about to come out, he clearly tried to silence her. In her rage, she turned into a vengeful ghost and went after him. It happened in full view of everyone.”
“And then your own birth mother, that vengeful ghost, was stabbed by her own daughter with a peachwood spike until her soul was destroyed. Heh.”
Chu Zhao let out a soft laugh. A sudden cold wind stirred up the snow, and everyone present felt a shiver run down their spines.
Whether they had witnessed the “spectacle” at Duke Shen’s Residence last night or had only heard about it, the scene seemed to rise in their minds. Everyone looked at Shen Yuzhu differently now.
Even Second Master Shen and Third Master Shen looked more frightened.
Chu Zhao’s voice drifted through the room. “If any sentient being is unfilial to their parents, or even goes so far as to kill them, they shall fall into Avici Hell for thousands upon thousands of kalpas, with no hope of ever escaping.”
“Shen Yuzhu, you keep insisting that no vengeful ghost came seeking revenge. You murdered your mother first, then abandoned her. Since you have no faith in karmic retribution, why not turn around and see who is behind you?”
Shen Yuzhu’s body stiffened, as though a snowflake had fallen down her collar. She shivered uncontrollably.
She didn’t dare turn around. No! She wouldn’t turn around!
Chu Zhao suddenly leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees. Her voice pressed down on them like a weight. “I said, turn around!”
The command rang out like an edict.
Shen Yuzhu spun around against her will.
A hideous ghost face lunged into view. It was Concubine Liu, the vengeful ghost she herself had stabbed to death last night, whose soul had already been destroyed.
“Ahhhhhhh!!!!” She screamed, flailing her hands. “Don’t come any closer! Don’t come after me! It was Father—it was Shen Jue who turned you into this! You were stupid! You were the one who used the fortune-stealing talisman on Shen Zhaozhao! Don’t come after me, ahhhhhhh—”
Everyone around them turned pale. Shen Yuzhu had suddenly gone mad, screaming that there was a ghost—but where was it?
Why couldn’t they see anything?
They could only feel the cold wind all around them, and the people from the Court of Judicial Review were especially ashen-faced.
The cloth gagging Third Master Shen had somehow fallen out. He shook his head. “N-no, there are no ghosts in this world… I don’t believe it… Shen Yuzhu must have gone mad too. She’s suffered such a devastating blow; it’s only natural that she’s lost her mind…”
“Yes, yes, she’s gone mad! She’s the one who’s mad!” Second Master Shen echoed, shaking his head as well.
“Oh? Is that so?” Chu Zhao propped her cheek on her hand. “Then why don’t you two turn around, too? You can ask Duke Shen himself which of you he intended to inherit his title.”
As if Second Master Shen and Third Master Shen would dare turn around!
They didn’t need to, anyway.
A snowflake drifted into their eyes, chilling them so that they instinctively shut them. When they opened them again, Shen Jue’s mottled blue-and-white ghost face was right in front of them.
“Ahhhhhhh!!! A ghost!!!”
“Shen Changming, don’t come after me! You brought this on yourself! I don’t want the title… I don’t want it!”
“It was all Third Brother’s idea! He said we couldn’t admit that a vengeful ghost had come seeking revenge. He said we should blame everything on Shen Zhaozhao!”
The two brothers were so terrified they wet themselves. They fell to their knees, begging for mercy and constantly trying to shift the blame onto each other.
Everyone around them trembled with fear and stared in shock.
Well, this really was seeing a ghost in broad daylight!
“Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li…” Chu Zhao’s voice sounded, soft and amused.
Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li turned toward her on his knees. Good heavens, to him the Princess Regent was even more terrifying than the Prince of You!
“Can the Court of Judicial Review reach a conclusion on the deaths of Duke Shen and Madam Chu?” Chu Zhao asked unhurriedly.
“Yes! Yes, yes!” Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li hurriedly replied. “Duke Shen disregarded the law and practiced wicked arts. He plotted against his wife and tried to harm you, Princess Regent. His death was entirely his own doing. You were blessed with great fortune and survived, while the Duchess died an entirely innocent death!”
Chu Zhao gave a lazy hum. She held a folded sheet of paper between her fingers. Xiaohua saw it and immediately took it from her to deliver to Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li.
“Since that’s settled, then let Assistant Judicial Commissioner Li witness and sign my severance from Duke Shen’s Estate, along with this divorce letter.”
“After today, I’ll have no connection to Duke Shen’s Estate. And there will be no more Madam Chu, Duchess of Shen—only Chu Fanghua, the deceased daughter of the Chu Family, and Shen Jue, a disgraced husband cast off by his wife!”