Murong Zhining"s expression was utterly calm, not a trace of fear could be seen on her face. "Your Majesty, if you only give me a chance, I can prove that I"m not the Zhuang family"s daughter-in-law. If Your Majesty only insists on punishing me because of my offensive words to you earlier, then I have nothing more to say."
Yan Feng had never intended to give Murong Zhining a chance to prove her innocence at all. In his perception, if this girl dared to call him a fatuous ruler, then what else wouldn"t she dare to do? He firmly believed that she was a bad person, so he never thought to give her any chance to get away with her crimes. However, what she said just now was, without a doubt, a retort that left Yan Feng with no other choice. If he sentenced her to death now, it would prove that the emperor was a petty person who took advantage of his position to carry out personal revenge. Would he be any different from a fatuous ruler then? Watching as Murong Zhining remained calm in the face of this crisis and recalling the sharpness hidden in her words, Yan Feng was shocked inwardly. This girl, she isn"t simple at all!
Yan Feng impatiently waved his hand. "Put these three servants in the prisons. I am tired. I"ll question them another day when I have the time."
The emperor"s quarters - Wan"an Palace（Wan"an: Permanent safety）, inside the Imperial Study.
At his desk, Yan Feng went through a variety of reports. Zhuang Cheng"s corruption case still had some loose ends to tie up as its scope was far too wide. All six ministries （六部）had personnel involved, and even two members of the Imperial clan were a part of it. Dealing with this case was like pulling radishes straight out of the ground（Idiom: Pulling white radishes out from the ground will bring out the dirt with it. If something is not handled completely, it will lead to more trouble.）, which gave Yan Feng an unending headache. He had been resolute to execute Zhuang Cheng in order to hide some details that were too sensitive to make public. However, as he brainstormed for a way to punish all of those corrupt scoundrels, the ever decisive emperor had never felt so tired in both body and soul when remembering that he still had to take into account the Imperial members involved in this mess.
Yan Feng pinched the spot between his brows and leaned back in his chair. He was truly exhausted. At this moment, a pair of small, soft hands reached out from behind and began to rub his shoulders. Yan Feng squinted his eyes in extreme pleasure, his lips curved up. "Thank you for your trouble, my beloved consort." Even with his eyes closed, he could tell who was behind him.
ChiYun ping"s charming face was full of smiles as her hands gently ma.s.saged, trying to ease up Yan Feng"s exhaustion. She was the only person that could appear next to the emperor at any time without making an announcement first. This sometimes displeased Yan Feng, but the position of her family clan could rival that of the Imperial clan"s power due to their meritorious deeds, and her brother, Chiyun Yuexuan, had even risked his life to save Yan Feng once. Based on these alone, Yan Feng had to unfailingly favor ChiYun ping, giving her unique privileges so she could simply enjoy tremendous Imperial favor that made her the target for envy and admiration of every woman in this world.
Yan Feng pulled the hard-working ChiYun ping to sit in his lap. As he gazed at her breathtakingly beautiful face, there was absolutely not a single ripple of emotion in his heart. He admitted that ChiYun ping was very beautiful, but for some reason, he never once felt any love for her. His feelings for ChiYun ping were so bland to the point that even Yan Feng himself felt apologetic towards her. He could only provide ChiYun ping with endless favor, because he married her only to make the Chiyun clan even more glorious; it really had nothing to do with love!
Yan Feng suddenly recalled his past empress. She was his wife, betrothed and married to him when she was only a fourteen-year-old girl and he, merely a common prince. The empress wasn"t beautiful and charming like ChiYun ping; she looked plain and was always forbearing, but Yan Feng liked that very much. Even though the empress didn"t possess a beauty capable of swaying a nation, he still liked her a bit more.
To compete for the emperor"s favor, often times, the women of the Imperial Harem would do stupid things that greatly annoyed Yan Feng. Compared to ChiYun ping, the empress had always shown herself to be magnanimous, which helped avoid many harem issues that could ensue, sparing Yan Feng a lot of troubles. Unfortunately, the empress had pa.s.sed away from illness two years ago. Using "yet to get over the grief of her death" as his excuse, Yan Feng had been rejecting appointing a new empress.
ChiYun ping dreamed of being Yan Feng"s empress, but not because she coveted the glory that came with it. She was already the most favored woman in the Imperial Palace; wealth and fame meant nothing to her. The only thing she wanted was Yan Feng"s att.i.tude. Through gaining the t.i.tle of "Empress," ChiYun ping thought she could confirm his love for her.
At night, the palace maids silently retreated to wait at the door after serving Yan Feng and ChiYun ping to bed. The entire Wan"an Palace quietened down, only the faint smoke from the burning candles as well as the fragrance of burning sandalwood incense drifted around the chambers.
On the Emperor"s bed, Yan Feng had no mood to make love, and soon fell into slumberland.
On the other hand, ChiYun ping wasn"t a single bit sleepy. She lay on her side with one hand propping her cheek and gazed unblinkingly at the sleeping man next to her. The emperor"s valiant face was illuminated by the gentle candlelight, and this extreme contrast enthralled ChiYun ping. She only wanted things to stay as they were now, she absolutely refused to share his love with any other woman. After the empress died, finally, there was no one left to compete for the emperor"s love with her, and ChiYun ping considered herself the only one who could firmly grasp Yan Feng"s heart.
Too busy with other national matters, Yan Feng actually forgot about the servant girls. Consequently, the three girls suffered a great deal in the prison. Today was the fifth day they were kept inside these wet and cold underground prison cells. Every day, their meals had been smelly mantou. Even water had a quota; there was not enough to drink, let alone wash their faces. After living in this condition for several days, the three girls were all utterly miserable.
They were kept in three separate cells. The three speechlessly looked at one another, then each sank into their own thoughts.
All of a sudden, Cai Sang angrily pointed at the maid that reported Murong Zhining. "Cai Qin, you have only been known to harm others, bet you didn"t think this time you would harm yourself as well, did you? People like you will come to no good in the end!"
Cai Qin scoffed, "So what if I hate her arrogant face? So what if I hate her for no reason? So what if I just want her to suffer? What can you do to me?"
Cai Sang furiously glared at Cai Qin. "We are all daughters of poor peasant families, yet you always try to corner others to death. Who doesn"t know what you think about?! You isolated Zhining and planned to become the family daughter-in-law yourself. Now that the family has collapsed, you vent your rage all on her."
The two girls broke into an argument and started exchanging verbal blows back and forth.
Murong Zhining leaned on the corner of the cell, looking as calm as ever as if everything that was happening here had nothing to do with her. She didn"t b.u.t.t in on the maids" quibbling either.
Murong Zhining knew from a very young age that the human heart was the most unpredictable thing. During her life of constant roaming in a pitiable plight, she soon developed a mind of steel.
In her memories, there was only endless fleeing and the miserable experience of being sold from one person to another. However, some vague but warm scenes would appear in her dream from time to time: A beautiful and well-dressed n.o.ble woman held a little girl and walked towards a handsome and imposing man. The man gently took them in his embrace and used his chin to nudge the little girl"s soft face, his eyes full of love and smiles. In turn, the little girl let out a bell-like and babyish giggle.
Every time Murong Zhining woke up from that warm dream, she felt an intense desire to know: Who am I really? Where were my parents? Why were there always people chasing after me and my nanny?
The entrance gate of the prison opened with a creak. Thanks to his guard"s reminder, Yan Feng had finally remembered the unfinished business five days ago at the Zhuang Estate.
Today was a rare day that he had some free time to spare, so Yan Feng decided to get to the bottom of this. Recalling the girl who had called him a fatuous ruler, a shadow flashed across his handsome face. "Bring those servants, I will question them myself."
The three girls were brought to the back garden of the Imperial Palace. Dressed in a normal outfit, Yan Feng sat in the pavilion above the lotus pond and gazed out into the distance. On the stone table next to him were dishes of beautifully arranged fresh fruits and delicate pastries.
Yan Feng fluttered a folding fan as he savored the tea and enjoyed the beautiful scenery before him. His attention seemed to be attracted by some unfamiliar birds flapping their wings at the edge of the pond. He completely ignored the three prostrating girls.
Cai Qin furtively raised her head a little. Through the corner of her eyes, she gazed at the pastries on the table with greed. The girl heavily swallowed her saliva, having been tortured nearly insane by her feelings of hunger.
Back in the Zhuang Estate, Cai Qin was in charge of serving Madam Zhuang. Madam Zhuang was a formidable and ruthless woman. Relying on the fact that she was the main wife as well as having her rich and powerful parent"s family behind her, she trained her man to be well-behaved. Even the servants didn"t get to pa.s.s a peaceful day in her hand.
Having stayed by Madam Zhuang"s side for long enough, Cai Qin thoroughly figured out her personality and knew just how to cater to her pleasure. Madam Zhuang loved flattery, so Cai Qin b.u.t.tered up to her every day. When Madam Zhuang loathed a maid for growing up too beautiful, Cai Qin would help her think of a way to handle that maid. That was why Madam Zhuang considered Cai Qin to be her trusted confidant.
Serving the madam, Cai Qin had never lacked delicacies to enjoy. However, since she had spent the past several days in prison eating smelly moldy mantou, the sight of the tasty pastries inevitably aroused an intense desire for food in her. Cai Qin hated that she couldn"t just s.n.a.t.c.h them and eat to her heart"s content.
Yan Feng retracted his gaze and glanced at the prostrating girls on the ground, his slightly furrowed brows clearly showed his contempt. Then, the emperor"s imposing voice resounded, "Who of you was the lowly servant that called me a fatuous ruler that day?" Cold, as if coming straight out of h.e.l.l, those words made everyone felt like they were in an icehouse.
"It was I." Murong Zhining kept a straight face. "That day, I only spoke out of despair and did not mean to offend Your Majesty at all. The Heaven"s Son of our Huayan Country is a wise emperor. This servant is terribly ashamed of her mindless words back then."
The corner of his lips curving up a little, Yan Feng scornfully growled, "Don"t think that I will let you off just because you apologize. That day, you called me a fatuous ruler in front of so many people. That is not something that can simply be written off with just some nice words."
Murong Zhining was neither overbearing nor servile. "That wasn"t an apology. I only wanted to explain myself."
Hearing this, Yan Feng"s expression that had just slightly softened instantly turned icy again. At his temples, green veins could be seen throbbing.
The surroundings suddenly lapsed into a dead silence. The palace maids and eunuchs were so nervous that they all drooped their heads, knowing full well that the emperor"s fury was going to explode.
Yan Feng"s eunuch-in-waiting shouted in a high-pitched and shrill voice, "Audacious servant! Just how many lives do you think you have? How dare you offend His Majesty again? This crime of yours deserves the nine familial exterminations!"
Murong Zhining"s expression remained unchanged, calm as ever, "If so, Your Majesty would be disappointed. Since I have no parents and have been an orphan since I was little, I have no such thing as the nine families. From beginning to end, Your Majesty has been refusing to give me a chance to explain for myself, so it doesn"t matter how many more crimes I am charged with in the end."
Yan Feng"s rage had reached its peak. Never before had he seen such an outrageous woman. He was the Son of Heaven. He never needed a reason to kill someone, but he never knowingly harmed an innocent life either. Yet, this girl repeatedly doubted his sagacity and criticized him to be a cruel murderer of a king.
Yan Feng"s temper was a bit out of control. He pointed at Murong Zhining with a shaky finger, "I will give you a chance to die a justified death. I actually want to see how you will prove that you are not the Zhuang family"s daughter-in-law!"