Chapter 446: The Seven n.o.ble Families’ Nether Clan
Amidst the commotion, Han Yunxi raised her hand to call for silence. But someone couldn’t help asking in curiosity, “Esteemed w.a.n.gfei, just who is this spy?”
Han Yunxi’s even tone turned icy as she ordered, “There were only a few people who went to the storehouse in the past few days. Someone come, bring them all to me!”
The estate guards brought over six servants, among them three who stocked the storeroom, two pageboys, and….Steward Luo! Everyone was shocked to see him among the suspected, but Steward Luo’s expression was placid as he stood tall and straight.
“These six were the only ones who used the storehouse in the past few days.”
Han Yunxi strode out of the pavilion and looked at the six servants with a severe, frosty expression. “His Highness and this w.a.n.gfei will never allow the existence of traitors here. Just who was it that broke the roof tile? Either confess, or…” Before she finished, she shot a glance at Xu Donglin, who tossed out a plank covered in nails!
The plank was only about the size of a stool, but it was covered with needles that glittered with wicked points. All of the servants knew that this nail plank was an extremely horrific punishment tool. Anyone who sat on it would be pierced by the needles with unbearable pain. Though it wasn’t fatal, it left the sufferer in agony for days before they died from blood loss.
Here was a fate worse than death.
Steward Luo remained unmoved, but the two little pageboys and three servant girls went pale with fright as they trembled. If the real culprit couldn’t be found, then all of them would be ill-pressed to escape punishment. Very soon, the servant girls all fell to their knees to beg for mercy.
“Esteemed w.a.n.gfei, it wasn’t me! Spare me!”
“Esteemed w.a.n.gfei, I didn’t do a thing! I’ve been wronged, ah!”
Su Xiaoyu wasn’t as calm as before anymore. She creased her brows as she suddenly remembered something, but Han Yunxi spoke up to say, “There will be severe punishment for those who refuse to admit their crimes and leniency…for those who confess!”
Su Xiaoyu’s heart thumped at those very words. She had the faint sense that Han Yunxi was doing all this on purpose! Back at the study, she’d said those same words—not to truly offer her clemency, but to make sure she heard them. Han Yunxi had long planned out her way of uncovering the sabotager via these storehouse servants! As expected, Han Yunxi’s words stirred one of the pageboys into falling on his knees as he kowtowed repeatedly against the ground.
“Esteemed w.a.n.gfei, have mercy! This one was threatened and had no other choice! Esteemed w.a.n.gfei, have mercy, ah!”
So it was him! One of Steward Luo’s charges!
Seeing this, Su Xiaoyu’s face blanched, never expected the person she picked to be so weak in the face of threats. Steward Luo turned furious and slapped the boy. “w.a.n.g Laifu,1 you worthless wretch. I haven’t treated you poorly, yet you had the gall for something like this!”
w.a.n.g Laifu allowed Steward Luo to rain curses on him as he pleaded for mercy, but in the end, he still didn’t say who had threatened him.
“Who threatened you? And who was the one that sabotaged the charcoal?” Han Yunxi asked loudly.
When faced with death, w.a.n.g Laifu’s courage grew. He began to haggle for terms. “Esteemed w.a.n.gfei, spare this one from death and torture first. Then this one will speak!”
With such daring, it’s no wonder he thought of betrayal!
Han Yunxi’s eyes flashed coldly before she accepted. “Fine, I’ll spare you from death and torture. Now speak!”
How could w.a.n.g Laifu knew there were worse things in life than death or torture? Without hesitation, he turned to look at Su Xiaoyu. Everyone else followed his gaze.
It’s her?
Everyone gave a start, never expecting such a young child—one saved by esteemed w.a.n.gfei herself—to do something so horrific! What a pretender! What acting! Han Yunxi was still calm. She’d long knew in her heart, but she wanted everyone else to accept her verdict as well. Su Xiaoyu finally revealed her true face as she gave Han Yunxi a cold, wicked grin. She was about to speak when Zhao mama cut in sternly.
“Su Xiaoyu, you despicable girl! Was your conscience eaten by the dogs?”
Zhao mama had no sons or daughters of her own, so she’d treated Su Xiaoyu with the same affection as a granddaughter! She was even thinking of how to prepare a dowry for the little girl once she grew older so she could marry out in grand style. But instead, she’d turned out to be a spy who hurt esteemed w.a.n.gfei. Zhao mama was so angry that she wanted to hit the child, but Su Xiaoyu grabbed at her first. Fortunately, Xu Donglin had been on guard and caught Su Xiaoyu’s hand just as two more guards appeared to restrain her.
The chaos in the courtyard quickly subsided. w.a.n.g Laifu remained kneeling on the ground, while Su Xiaoyu’s hands were held fast. Silence settled upon the scene. Han Yunxi walked to the girl who didn’t even reach up to her waist. She purposely bent down and asked coldly, “Have you any words to say?”
Su Xiaoyu remained silent as she stared at Han Yunxi’s eyes, a flash of regret pa.s.sing through her heart. It’s a pity. It’s really a pity that I didn’t meet Han Yunxi sooner. If I had met her instead of Chu Tianyin, maybe I’d even be able to follow her and learn poisons.
Somewhere along the way, she’d ended up admiring this woman.
Seeing Su Xiaoyu’s silence, Han Yunxi then asked, “Who sent you here? Just what do you want to do?”
Su Xiaoyu still remained silent. There was no way that she’d betray her master.
Han Yunxi waited a bit longer before rising to her feet. Coldly she commanded, “Someone come, string this d.a.m.ned girl on that tree and starve her to death!”
So vicious!
Su Xiaoyu grit her teeth as she stared at Han Yunxi, still refusing to say a word. Meanwhile, Han Yunxi tossed a bottle of poison at w.a.n.g Laifu, who caught it in confusion until he opened it to see its contents. Then he banged his head against the ground as he begged, “Esteemed w.a.n.gfei, have mercy, ah! Esteemed w.a.n.gfei, you said you wouldn’t kill me! Esteemed w.a.n.gfei…”
“Those who betray the Duke of Qin’s estate can escape execution, but they’ll definitely live a life worse than death! All of you, look closely! This w.a.n.gfei will never beat someone without cause, much less treat them injustly. But once this w.a.n.gfei finds the guilty culprit, this will be their end!” Immediately afterwards, she order, “Xu Donglin, feed him the pills!”
Frightened, w.a.n.g Laifu attempted to flee, but a servant like him was no match for specialized guards. Xu Donglin quickly forced the entire bottle of poison down w.a.n.g Laifu’s throat. Once he released the boy, w.a.n.g Laifu spat out a mouthful of black blood before all the skin on his face began to fester. Bit by bit, piece by piece, his face rotted and broke away.
“This w.a.n.gfei promised not to kill him, but it won’t be my fault if he can’t take it and begs for death instead,” Han Yunxi finished as she turned to leave. By now, half of w.a.n.g Laifu’s face was covered in ulcers that were quickly spreading down to his neck. It was a terrifying, disgusting sight that sent a wave of veneration rus.h.i.+ng through the servants’ hearts.
That’s right, veneration. A deep respect mixed with fear. Every word and action of their mistress was different from any masters they’d had before. She earned the acceptance and respect of all her servants even as her intelligence, shrewd mind, and cruel methods gained their deepset dread. They held fear against His Highness Duke of Qin as well, of course, but with esteemed w.a.n.gfei it was both terror and reverence.
Su Xiaoyu stared at w.a.n.g Laifu for awhile before involuntarily looking away. She had always been bold and ruthless herself, but w.a.n.g Laifu’s end made her heart quaver. When she saw Han Yunxi’s retreating form, then swept her eyes across the frightened servants and various guards, her face gradually paled. Finally, she realized that she’d made a mistake.
This woman wasn’t soft-hearted at all, but brutal and astute. She used the case to move the hearts of all the people at the estate. It would probably be impossible to bribe or threaten any servants here in the future. Soon enough, Xu Donglin hung Su Xiaoyu off the tallest tree in the Duke of Qin’s estate. The crowd dispersed, leaving her and a writhing w.a.n.g Laifu at her feet, crying out in agony. Su Xiaoyu didn’t dare to look down, afraid that she’d be the next w.a.n.g Laifu.
It was only after everyone else lift that she finally raised her head and viciously spat out a weapon concealed in her mouth. The object flew high into the air before exploding in a bright white light in the sky. Naturally, the guards on duty saw this, but didn’t move to stop it. Esteemed w.a.n.gfei had clearly hung up the d.a.m.ned girl to attract the real master behind the scenes. Despite this, both her and the guards were grossly mistaken.
Currently, a scout stationed near the Duke of Qin’s estate had seen the signal in the sky. After waiting a few moments, he quickly rushed to report to Chu Tianyin.
“To report to master, Su Xiaoyu sent out a white flare signal!”
Chu Tianyin could guess that Su Xiaoyu was in trouble, but he never expected her to deliver a white flare! He creased his brows and asked, “You saw it clearly?”
“This subordinate saw it extremely clearly. It’s one of our signs for sure, a white flare!” the scout replied.
Chu Tianyin seemed greatly shaken by the news as he fell heavily into his chair. He repeatedly shook his head and muttered, “How could this be? How could…”
He had made ample preparations before slipping Su Xiaoyu into the Duke of Qin’s estate. Different letters sent with different colors of paper would signify different things. Moreover, she was to find a way to relay her intel even if she was sentenced to death. A white flare meant that everything had been a futile effort, that Su Xiaoyu had seen Han Yunxi’s back but didn’t find the winged phoenix birthmark. In other words, Han Yunxi wasn’t the person the Chu Clan wanted!
His Chu Clan was none other than a member of the Seven n.o.ble Families—the Nether Clan! The very same clan who killed West Qin’s last heir while the baby was still in his swaddling clothes! Many other clans had witnessed the a.s.sa.s.sination with their own eyes, but only the Shadow Clan amongst them knew the truth. The boy baby that was murdered wasn’t royalty at all, but a replacement for the true heir!
The last surviving member of the West Qin imperial clan had been a girl. For the sake of protecting her, the n.o.ble consort had sent the baby away and adopted a boy in her place. And for the sake of protecting that very same girl, the Nether Clan had put on a farce to fool the East Qin imperial clan and the rest of the Seven n.o.ble Families into thinking that they’d betrayed their masters and shot the heir to death.
The royal daughter had been sent amongst the civilians and disappeared during the turmoil and chaos of the war. The Nether Clan had kept searching for her and her descendents over the next 100 years, but never found a trace. They only got wind of a clue by chance when a wet nurse mentioned that the eldest daughter of the Han Clan had a winged phoenix birthmark on her back. Then they’d followed the hint to here.
Every female member of the West Qin imperial clan were born with a winged phoenix birthmark!
This was their first lead after 100 years, yet the white flare had eliminated Han Yunxi as a possibility! How could he and father accept such news?
1. w.a.n.g Laifu (王来福) – w.a.n.g is a surname that also means prince or king, Laifu means “wealth/good fortune comes.” Curiously enough, his name also sounds like “One Life,” lol.