Xie Jiuli did not hold back, informing the Empress that she had killed the Second Princess and set fire to the Imperial City Bureau’s secret dungeon.
The Empress pondered for only a moment before understanding: "You mean..."
"Princess Anyang will die in the fire at the Imperial City Bureau tonight, and as for my sister... I will ensure she lives the rest of her life in freedom and happiness."
She paused, then continued, "I still have matters to attend to, so I must stay in the Capital for a while. I will personally hunt down every person who harmed my sister. As for you..."
"I am not only the Empress of this nation, but more importantly, I am a daughter of the Feng family," the Empress said firmly.
Xie Jiuli had once heard Uncle Li say that the reason the Great Zhou had stood for thousands of years was that the Ji and Feng families had supported and worked in tandem with one another.
Before the High Ancestor, the Emperors of Great Zhou were of the Feng family, but as the Feng line dwindled, they gradually declined. From the High Ancestor onward, the throne was held by the Ji family, while the Empress was always a daughter of the Feng family.
The Empress no longer insisted that she leave the Capital. She took Xie Jiuli’s hand, feeling a pang of self-reproach. As a mother, she had never cared for her properly, yet in the end, it was the daughter who ended up worrying and running about for her sake.
"I will find an excuse for the Second Princess’s affair. Since your sister is safe, leave the rest to me. You attend to your own matters; once your sister is better, let me see her." Before Xie Jiuli could speak, she added, "I can handle this. I won't let those who harmed Yuer go free."
Hearing this, Xie Jiuli said no more. Although the Feng family had declined and possessed little influence, one who had served as Empress for so many years could not be a weak or soft-hearted person.
Let it be. Let her vent her fury; it would only be more agonizing for her to hold it in.
She would handle everything. Whether it was that dog of an Emperor or anyone else, she would not spare anyone who had harmed Ji Jiuyue or the people of Phoenix Valley.
***
After leaving the Cold Palace, Xie Jiuli entered the system to check on Ji Jiuyue. Under the remodeling effects of the Life Water, the wounds on her body and face were slowly healing. However, it would still take time for her to wake up and regain consciousness.
Xie Jiuli gently stroked Ji Jiuyue’s scarred face and whispered, "Yuer, I’m here. You must wake up soon. I’ll make your favorite candied haws for you."
After gazing at her for a long while, she rose and left, heading straight for the interrogation room within the system. She removed the silver needle from the maid’s glabella, and before long, the girl stirred, waking up in a daze.
"You... you killed... you killed the Prin..."
"Who I killed is irrelevant. The question is, do you want to die?"
The maid kowtowed repeatedly. "I don't want to die... I don't want to die! Please, spare my life... spare me..."
Xie Jiuli sat on a corner sofa, her voice heavy. "The Imperial City Bureau is an agency directly under the Emperor. How did the Second Princess pass through the heavy security to enter the secret dungeon? And how did she manage to command the jailers to harm Princess Anyang?"
Upon hearing this, the maid’s heart plummeted; cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
"I... I... I don't..."
"Think carefully before you answer," Xie Jiuli said, her voice chilling.
The maid slowly raised her head, finally seeing her surroundings—a dark, unfamiliar room where she could only vaguely discern the figure of a woman in red wearing a mask, sitting in the corner, and a sliver of light filtering down from an impossibly high wall. Her lips were parched, her tongue felt stuck to the roof of her mouth, and she was consumed by icy terror.
Xie Jiuli tapped her slender fingers against the armrest of the sofa.
A surge of electricity seemed to flood the maid’s entire body, causing her to writhe and scream in agony.
"Ah... ah... I’ll talk... I’ll talk..."
"The Second Princess... she entered the secret dungeon... through the connections of one of the Noble Consorts," the maid said, her face deathly pale, her voice trembling.
"Which Noble Consort?" She remembered there were two in the harem: Noble Consort Chen and Noble Consort Jiang.
"I... I don't know which one." The maid kowtowed frantically. "I really don't know! Please don't kill me... please..."
"Tell me everything you know, and perhaps I might leave you with a breath left."
Xie Jiuli’s voice was devoid of emotion, her phoenix eyes dark and menacing, like a predator lurking in the shadows, ready to strike at any moment.
"The Second Princess... she is infatuated with the top scholar, Zhou Qi. But for some reason, Master Zhou suddenly insisted that the Emperor bestow a marriage between him and Princess Anyang. The Second Princess was filled with hatred. She felt that Princess Anyang had seduced Master Zhou, but because Princess Anyang was the primary princess and favored by the Empress, she couldn't..."
The maid gasped for air, too terrified to look up, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Princess Anyang was suddenly imprisoned on charges of treason, and the Second Princess was overjoyed these past two days... Today... today, she happened to say how wonderful it would be if she could go into the dungeon and torment her personally."
At this point, the maid glanced nervously toward the corner, but the room seemed to have grown even darker, and she could only see a blurred silhouette. Yet, the gaze projected by that figure made her bow her head instantly. The air was filled with such intense malice that it felt suffocating.
Her body trembled uncontrollably, as if the force contained in that gaze could tear her apart at any second. She blurted out, "Before nightfall, a eunuch suddenly arrived, claiming to be from the Noble Consort's side, and said he could help the Second Princess enter the secret dungeon to vent her anger... Oh, right... that eunuch had a mole at the corner of his mouth. That’s all I know, please... please..."
"You may die now."
Xie Jiuli stood up abruptly and had barely stepped out of the interrogation room when—
"Pfft!"
The maid spat out blood and breathed her last.
"Clean up the body."
Ruyi shivered upon hearing the telepathic command. It hadn't seen its master kill three people in one night for three years. And she had done it with her own hands, too. Ruyi hurriedly sprinkled corpse-dissolving liquid over the body and purified the stench of blood from the room.
It remembered well: once its master was truly enraged, it meant fields of corpses and rivers of blood. After all, before her transmigration, she had personally blown up a Japanese maritime self-defense force base on Kyushu Island.
***
Cold Palace.
Prime Minister Xie Yizhou hesitated for a moment outside the bedchamber before stepping inside.
Before his attendant, Zaishan, could get close, Nanny Qin hurriedly closed the palace doors, fearing the man might change his mind and retreat. Zaishan opened his mouth, wanting to say that his master had changed his robes more than ten times just to keep this appointment. He had been so impatient he was ready to crawl through a dog hole to get into the Cold Palace; how could he possibly back out now?
In the end, he said nothing and stood guard outside with the nanny.
"Does Lord Xie not wish to see me?" She had come so late. If Lier hadn't saved Yuer first, she feared that by the time he arrived, Yuer would have already...
The Empress stood by the window, her back to the door, not daring to let her thoughts wander further.
Xie Yizhou instinctively rubbed the hem of his sleeve with his fingertips. "I am unsure why the Empress has summoned me in the dead of night?"
Though his tone was calm and distant, the look in his eyes as he stared at her back was turbulent with emotion.