Volume 3 Chapter 28
Chapter 28: The Corpses in the Well
“Even if there’s a first and second time, that doesn’t mean it’s alright for there to be a third and a fourth time. No matter what this prince will be killing that wretch tonight!” Whenever Ye Junqing saw that Yao Suluan was still living free and unfettered, he’d feel extremely uncomfortable.
“Prince hates Yao Suluan, but do you think that Mowan does not? The only reason Mowan has allowed her to live until now, other than because of that confession paper she possesses, is due to the more important goal of one day revealing the truth behind Eldest Sister’s death to the world. If Yao Suluan dies, then there is no evidence left! Does Prince believe? There will come a day when Mowan will make everyone that harmed Eldest Sister kneel in front of Eldest Sister’s grave and kowtow in admittance of their crimes, then have them commit suicide!” These deep pupils whirled with ice-cold light. Yao Mowan’s words seemed to stir the blood in the depths of Ye Junqing’s heart.
“As expected of Moxin’s younger sister. This prince hadn’t trusted in the wrong person!” Ye Junqing forced his tears back, then nodded firmly.
“So this means that Prince approves of Mowan’s plans?” Yao Mowan restrained the coldness in her eyes and looked towards Ye Junqing in slight surprise.
“Of course. You’ve considered things more thoroughly than this prince has. You’re right, since Moxin has died such a tragic death, those who have caused her harm shouldn’t die so easily!” said Ye Junqing. For the time being, he could set aside his desire to kill Yao Suluan.
“That’s good. Prince, hurry and eat. After you finish eating, help Mowan with something.” Yao Mowan knew that from now on, she could ask Ye Junqing to help with anything without any apprehension.
“I’m done eating, the work’s more important. What do you need me to do?” Ye Junqing immediately got up and looked towards Yao Mowan with eager anticipation.
“Mowan’s words can truly be compared to chicken’s blood…” Yao Mowan couldn’t help but sigh this when she saw how stirred up Ye Junqing was. When Ye Junqing heard this, he turned to stone.
That afternoon, Ye Hongyi was heading to Guan Osprey Palace to visit Yao Mowan, but as he was passing through the imperial garden, he heard the sound of arguing.
“What happened?” asked Ye Hongyi sternly.
“This old servant will send someone to take a look right away!” An Bingshan turned around to instruct the little eunuch behind him, but Ye Hongyi stopped him.
“Forget it, we’ll take a look ourselves.” Ever since An Bingshan’s pills were confirmed by Jue Chen, Ye Hongyi believed in the pills even more and took them at the set time daily. These last few days, he’d get a bodily reaction whenever he thought of Yao Mowan, but this reaction would only last a few moments before it vanished without a trace. In this kind of situation, he really shouldn’t be visiting Guan Osprey Palace.
An Bingshan’s situation was not much better than Ye Hongyi’s. Although he didn’t have any symptoms regarding arousal, ever since taking the pills, he had been feeling weak all the time and dizzy. Sometimes he’d even see doubles.
In front of the well, Ye Junqing was currently grabbing a young eunuch by his collar and glaring at him coldly.
“You actually dare to block this prince’s way?” Ye Junqing bellowed indignantly, then pushed aside the eunuch to stomp towards the well.
“Prince, please stop! There’s nothing there! Prince, what are you trying to do!?” The young eunuch rushed up fearfully to grab Ye Junqing by his legs as he beseeched him to stop.
“When did it become your place to get involved in this prince’s decisions? Move aside!” Ye Junqing kicked aside the young eunuch. Just as he was about to step forward, he heard a cold voice come from behind him.
“What are you guys doing here?” Ye Junqing turned around upon hearing this, and when he saw that it was Ye Hongyi, he immediately cupped his hands to salute him.
“This subject brother kowtows in salute to Your Majesty.” When the young eunuch saw Ye Hongyi appear, he was so alarmed that his entire body became covered with cold sweat. He couldn’t even be bothered to worry about the pain coming from his body as he trembled involuntarily.
“Junqing, what are you doing here?” Ye Hongyi glanced at the young eunuch, then turned back towards Ye Junqing.
“Replying Your Majesty, this subject brother just saw this servant throw something in the well and came to look out of curiosity, but this servant insisted on getting in the way. This subject brother found this suspicious, which was why we started fighting. This subject brother didn’t mean to alarm Your Majesty. Please forgive this subject brother,” replied Ye Junqing.
“Oh? What did you throw inside?” Ye Hongyi looked towards the young eunuch, only to see that the young eunuch had buried his face in between his knees and was currently trembling nonstop. When An Bingshan saw that the eunuch wasn’t speaking, he walked forward.
“Damned servant, His Majesty is asking you a question!” An Bingshan deliberately approached the young eunuch and finally saw that the person kneeling on the ground was none other than his trusted aid, Xiao Dunzi.
“Replying Your Majesty… The servant didn’t throw anything…” As Xiao Dunzi spoke, he looked towards An Bingshan beseechingly. It was only now that An Bingshan realized the severity of the situation. Last night, he couldn’t resist and had tormented a palace maid to death. He had left it to Xiao Dunzi to deal with, so Xiao Dunzi was probably in the middle of throwing the corpse into the well like usual.
“Liar! This prince had personally witnessed it, how could it be false?” Ye Junqing immediately stormed forward and sent a kick towards Xiao Dunzi’s chest.
“Junqing, what need is there to be so angry? We’ll have people check the bottom of the well. If there really is something disgraceful that is being concealed, we’ll just have him executed.” Right now, Ye Hongyi just felt exhausted. Simply standing there was very difficult.
“Your Majesty, leave this matter to this old servant. You should head back to rest?” An Bingshan timidly walked to Ye Hongyi and carefully suggested this.
“That works…” Just as Ye Hongyi was about to turn around, he suddenly smelled a familiar scent and immediately turned back with a stern gaze. The pill refining room was very carefully sealed. There was no way the scent could drift out, and even if it did, it wouldn’t drift this far. Although Ye Hongyi was fatigued, his brain was still working perfectly fine. This scent was clearly the scent of the pills he took every day.
“Your Majesty?” An Bingshan was confused.
“Junqing, there’s no need for you to get involved in trifles like this, just leave it to the servants to handle. We suddenly just remembered that we have an important memorial that we have not yet read over, so help us carry all the memorials on the dragon desk over to Guan Osprey Palace. Our current body…” Ye Hongyi’s voice was slightly weak as he said this.
“But… Alright, this subject brother will go right now.” Ye Junqing glanced at the well reluctantly before turning to leave.
Right after Ye Junqing left, Ye Hongyi’s eyes turned cold and he immediately commanded the guards to check the well.
“Your Majesty, this old servant will walk you back to Central Dragon Palace?” An Bingshan had gotten used to this smell so he hadn’t noticed anything. All he was thinking was to get Ye Hongyi away as soon as possible. However, when he saw Ye Hongyi’s ice-cold gaze, he instinctively fell silent.
An Bingshan knew that His Majesty was aware of some of his hobbies and was thinking that His Majesty had sent Ye Junqing away in order to leave him some face. As he was thinking this, the guards had already pulled out a corpse.
“Reporting, Your Majesty, there are at least thirty more corpses like this one below the well.” The guard’s words instantly caused Ye Hongyi’s gaze to turn cold as frost.
“Bring them all up!” snarled Ye Hongyi angrily as he stared at the palace maid’s corpse.
“What… What is going on?” The instant An Bingshan saw that woman’s corpse, he felt like all the blood in his body was turning cold. He swallowed hard as he walked forward with unsteady steps. The palace maid in front of him was clearly one of the ones he had tested the pills on. He had already secretly had her transported out of the palace, so why would she reappear here?
“Your Majesty…” An Bingshan looked towards Ye Hongyi, panicked.
“Guards! Go invite the state preceptor!” said Ye Hongyi angrily, his eyes whirling with dark cold light. At this time, the guards had already carried the rest of the corpses out of the well.
An Bingshan’s legs trembled uncontrollably as he looked at the corpses all over the ground. The horsetail whisk he was holding flew wildly in the wind. These corpses had ashen faces, bulging eyes, and were pretty much skin and bones. These were all signs of having been poisoned.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira