Silenced, Jing Wan"s Mischief (2)
T/N: Extra chapter as thank you for reaching my Patreon goal! It really wouldn"t have been possible to get this far without you all ??? Translated by Jen on Broken Jinsei!
Witnessing this, Zhong Qinw.a.n.g was rather indifferent, even faintly relaxing inside.
Zhong w.a.n.gfei still struggled with all her might, deathly glaring at the Grand Elder Princess.
The Grand Elder Princess eyes sharpened, indicating for the guards to have her pulled up. Before Zhong w.a.n.gfei could steady herself, the Grand Elder Princess swung a slap across her face, “Did you think that by relying on that bit of help your family gave imperial brother, your tail can raise into the skies? Letting you sit on the position of Zhong w.a.n.gfei, letting your son be the heir for this many years, is already an enormous favor. These years, you haven"t caused any less disturbances either, any more sentiments were already gone. Even if your son really has died a violent death, it"s still your own fault. Let imperial brother seek justice for you? Fine, then let"s just see, how will imperial brother seek justice for you? ———-Have her directly tied up.”
Have to say, Le Cheng Emperor letting his younger brother marry a merchant"s daughter for money was already considered a dark history in itself. However, he can also be considered to be a benevolent ruler, having not ‘tear down the bridge after crossing", nor for the sake of erasing that dark history, completely eradicate by roots. The bestowments he owed, he didn"t give any less of, mostly just hoping for them to shut their mouths and know their place, letting certain things fade from memory over time. But Zhong w.a.n.gfei has never been a smart one, and didn"t stir up any less trouble. At first, Le Cheng Emperor had even let the Empress meet with her, but after the Empress thoroughly lost her patience, she had her forever rejected outside the palace. However, Zhong w.a.n.gfei still didn"t notice this change.
This time, if her son really is dead, then she"ll inevitably wreck havoc, and this matter will also inevitably become known. Jin Qinw.a.n.g got schemed against, Sun Yi Jia"s reputation suffered damage, the Luo family also got involved, and moreover this incident occurred in the Grand Elder Princess"s Manor, so she also won"t be able to escape the responsibility, perhaps the matters back then will also get dug out by this crazy woman, causing everyone to all know, and Le Cheng Emperor to greatly lose face. Li Hong Yuan repeatedly letting Le Cheng Emperor"s dignity sweep the floor was one thing, everyone was all accustomed to it, but if anyone else tries…………
“Your Highness, the person has been found, under the fake mountain over there.” The head of the manor guards came over to report, somewhat in a hurry.
The Grand Elder Princess only needed to look at his expression to know, afraid it was just as they"d guessed, the person was already gone. She glanced to Zhong Qinw.a.n.g, “Imperial (younger) brother, my condolences.”
Zhong Qinw.a.n.g was much calmer than one had imagined. In contrast, because of the Grand Elder Princess"s one line of ‘imperial (younger) brother", he was actually startled by the sudden favor. Although the two were of the same father, most of the times in the past, the Grand Elder Princess had always ignored him, and when she occasionally would call out to him once or twice, it was always by his full name. Afterwards, after Le Cheng Emperor ascended the throne, she just called him by ‘Zhong Qinw.a.n.g". Suddenly calling him ‘imperial brother" was a bit……………
(T/N: Le Cheng Emperor and Grand Elder Princess are from the same mother, while Zhong Qinw.a.n.g is from a different mother.)
The Grand Elder Princess didn"t wait for his reply, “Let"s go over and see.”
The head of the guards actually wanted to stop her. A dead person, how unlucky. However, recalling that the Grand Elder Princess wasn"t really completely like how she was rumored to be on the outside, and judging from her look, this perhaps might not even be her first time seeing a dead body, thus he just silently followed over.
Zhong Qinw.a.n.g also followed after, while Zhong w.a.n.gfei was tied up like a pig and tossed to the side.
Sure enough, Zhong Qinw.a.n.g"s heir was collapsed inside an empty cavity under the fake mountain blocked by a cl.u.s.ter of flower bushes outside.
“How did he die?” The Grand Elder Princess indifferently looked on, as she calmly questioned.
“Slit at the throat, but not in one fatal cut. However, knock-out drug might have been used, that"s why he didn"t resist.” The head of the guards responded.
The Grand Elder Princess looked to that neck. It was even thicker than an average person"s waist, and the flesh was also very thick, indeed not too possible to kill in one strike. “Are there any other discoveries?”
“No, even the footprints on the ground have already been taken care of.”
“Where are Zhong Qinw.a.n.g heir"s two servant boys?”
“Temporarily still haven"t found them. However, this subordinate surmise that they most likely have similarly been murdered.”
The Grand Elder Princess nodded. According to the results of the interrogation, it is known that the two servant boys actually left a little later after Zhong Qinw.a.n.g"s heir, but the time in between was very short. It was unreasonable for them to not see their own master after coming out. Thus, the only possibility was that they"ve similarly been silenced.
As expected, not long after, in another flower bush, they found the two corpses.
It was very obvious, the three of them didn"t die by the hands of the same person.
Then, at present, the clues have thoroughly been severed. According to that person behind the scenes" level of meticulousness in conducting matters, to want to have their ident.i.ty dug out was very difficult. But, the person has died, they have to give an explanation.
“Imperial (younger) brother, your family"s heir acted improperly in my residence, you and sister-in-law, for this reason, broke out in argument. Sister-in-law enraged, desired to a.s.sault you. Your heir intended to block, but unexpectedly got injured by accident and died.” The Grand Elder Princess said to Zhong Qinw.a.n.g.
Zhong Qinw.a.n.g jolted inside, and immediately let out a bitter and sorrowful expression, “That shrew has been getting increasingly arrogant and domineering, this time, even daring to attack one"s husband. And my son, even because of this, lost his life, truly, truly…………”
The Grand Elder Princess nodded in satisfaction, “For sister-in-law to be such a disgrace, even harming a person"s life, she naturally is no longer worthy of being a daughter-in-law of the imperial family. These years, you"ve also suffered quite a few grievances. This princess will let imperial (older) brother, pick a young and beautiful, gentle-tempered, educated and virtuous new w.a.n.gfei for you.”
Under such a simply and light portrayal, this matter"s excuse towards the outside was decided. The most innocent was probably Zhong w.a.n.gfei. However, was she really innocent? If only she"d properly educated her son, and learned to restrain herself, things wouldn"t have gone this far…………
The culprit behind the scenes naturally needed to be searched for as well. Such a vicious and merciless person naturally should be punished severely.
Li Hong Yuan and the others naturally had long returned to their original spot. They although all left separately, one after another, and when leaving, didn"t act too obvious either, but their ident.i.ties were n.o.ble after all, so attracting attention was inevitable. For a moment, all kinds of guesses rose in continuous waves.
But if they didn"t open their mouths to speak, then naturally no one would dare ask them anything.
Because Sun Yi Jia needed to bathe, change clothes, dry her hair, and redress herself again, the time spent naturally was rather long. When they appeared again, the Grand Elder Princess had already taken her seat ahead of them.
Li Ru Yu also returned to her mother"s side. It can"t be helped, not that many young ladies with status and position were willing to stay together with her. And those with low status, she felt it was beneath her to play with them. Seeing Jing Wan and them appear, her eyes were just like dipped in poison.
As for Luo Jing Ying, as expected, was no where to be found.
While pa.s.sing by in front of a crowd of n.o.ble ladies, Jing Wan inadvertently saw a round red dot on a certain servant girl"s embroidered shoes. It was red like blood. To be this uncoordinated, what kind of hobby was this? However, Jing Wan only took a glance and moved along.
“Big sister Luo, you finally came back. How come you were gone for so long?” Yu Yao ran up, pulling on Jing Wan"s clothes.
“Aiyaa, doesn"t Yu Yao Wenzhu know, we young ladies are all very inconvenient.” Jing Wan winked at her.
Yu Yao had a confused look, failing to understand the reason why, but the others all instinctively covered their mouths and begin laughing. Regardless whether it was a young lady, or an already married madam, some things were indeed all very inconvenient.
The Grand Elder Princess had Jing Wan and Sun Yi Jia summoned before her, first holding up Jing Wan"s hands. Jing Wan"s ten fingers were all wrapped up, making it rather difficult to see just how serious her injuries were. “You"re also a show off, if the qin wasn"t easy to use, then just exchange it for another one.”
Jing Wan smiled, “If the qin was changed, then afraid this subject wouldn"t have been able to play to that good of an effect. Even this subject was shocked.”
“To boast like that, yet not feel embarra.s.sed.” The Grand Elder Princess tapped her forehead.
“This subject isn"t boasting, that piece, this subject, in the past, has never once been able to play in its entirety before.”
The Grand Elder Princess nodded, “Indeed very difficult, and moreover, it was in that state. Some people, afraid, would never be able to enter that state in their entire lifetime. ————The so called qin fanatic Cabinet Minister Jiang, you know, right?”
Jing Wan nodded.
“He previously even asked your grandfather to exchange him the qin score, even having a several hundred year old white peony from our Jiang family"s old residence brought out, really broke Yu Yao"s father"s heart. If not for learning that we received a eighteenth scholar from you, afraid they would"ve started fighting.” The Grand Elder Princess couldn"t help but laugh.
T/N: Also I updated the historical notes page with various t.i.tles from the imperial family. If there"s any other confusing t.i.tles or addresses that you want me to include, feel free to comment below. I"ll also find some time to update the character list.