As her respectful words fell, she pressed her forehead against the back of her hand, waiting to be questioned.
Yet, the hall remained silent.
There was no response.
Only an invisible pressure heavily enveloped her.
She continued to bow, not daring to move.
After what felt like an eternity, just as she was almost unable to resist looking up, a calm and unruffled voice finally came from above.
“Lift your head.”
Four words, concise and icy.
Last time, she had managed to slip by with her head lowered the entire time, but this time, it was absolutely impossible.
Shen Qingyao’s eyes flickered, then she straightened her body and raised her head. A few strands of dark hair slipped down her back and fell in front of her. She couldn’t smooth them back neatly, nor did she dare to look directly ahead, so she remained still.
But even kneeling, her graceful and elegant posture was pleasing to the eye.
Especially her appearance.
Exquisitely beautiful and utterly refined, her skin as smooth as congealed jade!
From his high seat, Song Jiuchen watched her quietly. The fingers resting on his knees, which had stopped their subtle movement, began to twirl lightly once more.
After a moment, he asked with a hint of confusion, “What crime?”
This meant she had to state it herself—another means of applying pressure.
Shen Qingyao understood. She steadied her mind inwardly. “The crime of deceiving Your Highness.”
“Oh?”
Song Jiuchen voiced a light question, as if hearing something unusual.
After a pause, he said, “Explain.”
Shen Qingyao steeled herself. “This commoner is not with child, nor do I have any beloved. What I said that day was entirely a lie fabricated in a moment of desperation to refuse Your Highness’s… favor.”
“Audacious.”
Upon hearing her words, Song Jiuchen narrowed his eyes and uttered a soft, angry sound, his twirling fingers coming to an abrupt halt.
Though his expression remained unchanged, he gave off an air of utter disbelief.
“So, the reason you gave that day was deception? You dared to deceive this prince?”
Shen Qingyao: !!
If she could, she would really like to award this guy an Oscar.
He was quite the actor.
But since he was acting, she could only follow his lead.
“Your High…”
“Why did you refuse?”
“…”
Shen Qingyao glanced at him quickly, then lowered her voice. “Because this commoner did not wish to become a mistress.”
“If you did not wish to, why not say so directly?”
Song Jiuchen’s questions followed one after another, striking at the core.
Shen Qingyao dared not overthink and began to defend herself. “Because this commoner was fearful. Under Your Highness’s majestic authority, I did not know if a direct refusal would succeed or if it would further anger Your Highness. In a moment of foolishness, I thought of this once-and-for-all solution.”
She lowered her stance to the utmost, attributing her motives to fear and foolishness rather than arrogance. This was the only defense she could offer at the moment.
After hearing her defense, Song Jiuchen remained silent. Such lies could not deceive him, but compared to the previous lie, this one was at least somewhat acceptable.
His fingers began to twirl again, as if he were considering something.
After a moment, for reasons unknown, he suddenly asked in a cold tone.
“Then do you know what your ‘once-and-for-all solution’ meant for this prince?”
Shen Qingyao nodded, her attitude utterly sincere. “It insulted Your Highness’s dignity and destroyed Your Highness’s trust.”
Good.
Song Jiuchen pressed his thin lips together, then mercilessly declared, “Since you have confessed your crime, this prince sentences you to twenty strokes of the cane, confiscation of your family’s property, and exile to a thousand li away for three years of hard labor. Do you have any complaints?”
??
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingyao immediately widened her eyes and looked at him.
But the words she had intended to plead for herself died on her lips.
Instead, she asked, “What about General Liu?”
Her main purpose in coming here was not so much to clear her own name, but more importantly, for her uncle.
“Your Highness, General Liu did not actually help me conceal anything. Yesterday, he harshly reprimanded me and gave me three days to personally come and confess to you. So, considering his loyalty to you, could you please not strip him of his official position?”
If her uncle could receive a lighter sentence, she would rather endure a beating and die than beg to become this man’s mistress. Twenty lashes would be enough to take her life.
However, Song Jiuchen coldly uttered two words, “Loyalty?”
He curled his lips mockingly.
Then he questioned, “Then let me ask you: if, within the time limit he set, you couldn’t bear the pressure and resented me so much that you decided to hang yourself, but before doing so, you deliberately left behind a will that would damage my reputation and spread it, misleading the people of the Southern Territory into doubting my governance—could he bear that responsibility?”
“…” Shen Qingyao was slightly taken aback.
She understood. This man meant that since she dared to lie, she must also be prepared to commit suicide if the Dongchuan incident came to light. But out of resentment toward him, she might deliberately spread rumors before her death, and those rumors would become facts after her death buried the truth.
Thus, this kind of blind loyalty was equally unforgivable.
So, when he gave her the ultimatum, he deliberately brought up her uncle, assuming she wouldn’t choose to end her life under pressure and abandon her uncle to a desperate situation?
Damn, what a cunning mind.
Shen Qingyao frowned slightly. Fine, if that’s how it is, she would go all out.
Seeing the woman suddenly get up and walk toward him, like a stubborn little cat with its fur bristling, Song Jiuchen’s eyes flickered, and his twirling fingers paused imperceptibly.
Ye Zhao and Ye Yu, standing on either side of him, turned cold-faced. “How dare you!”
The two prepared to step forward and stop her, but Song Jiuchen raised his hand to halt them and uttered two words.
“Leave.”
Hearing this, they paused briefly before obeying the order and withdrawing.
Ignoring them, Shen Qingyao lifted her skirt and scurried over to the man’s jade desk.
As if feeling this position wasn’t good enough, she scurried around the desk and went directly to the man’s side, her face showing anger, her red lips slightly pouted.
She met his gaze, which held a hint of something—whether surprise or delight, she couldn’t tell.
Then, the next second, she suddenly lowered her posture, knelt beside his leg, grabbed his robe, buried her head, and pleaded, “Your Highness, I truly know I was wrong. Please show mercy. Considering my foolish ignorance and my initiative to confess and seek leniency, could you give General Liu and me lighter sentences?”
This man had been acting all along, using her uncle to force her to plead, just to achieve his goal, right?
Fine, she would plead.
As long as the sentences could be lighter, he could propose any condition.
Song Jiuchen tilted his face, his gaze slanting down to the hands clutching his robe, a flicker of novelty swirling in his eyes!
This woman—where was her fear?
She was utterly audacious.
Yet her audacity didn’t provoke the slightest anger in him.
His gaze shifted upward, settling on the woman’s small, dark head, his eyes deepening.
Thinking that half of his goal had already been achieved, and that when she begged for mercy, she did so in a coquettish manner.
This feeling…
Then, the man turned his face away briefly, pleased, before coldly turning back.
But begging like this alone wasn’t enough.
His gaze dropped, and he arrogantly pinched his own robe and gave it a sharp tug.
But it didn’t come free.
Shen Qingyao held on tightly, her mouth pouting as he tugged, looking up with eyes fluttering like mosquitoes, “Your Highness, I beg you?”
“…”
This time, her plea for mercy was fully displayed before Song Jiuchen’s eyes.
Yet he was momentarily stunned.
Stunned by the woman’s seemingly pitiful but actually cunning and lively smiling eyes.