Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation When Yu Shu saw Xue Rui taking out the two items and Kong Qi's expression changed, she thought that he would deny it. However, he was only shocked for a moment before calming down.
He glanced at Yu Shu who was standing behind Xue Rui. Realization dawned on him but he did not panic. He took the ribbon and the jade from Xue Rui's hands.
"It's mine."
Xue Rui narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "It's good that you admit it. Let me ask you, where did you get this woman's accessory?"
Kong Qi lowered his eyebrows and said to Xue Rui, "It's not convenient here. Come with me."
After that, she led Xue Rui to the embankment.
Yu Shu went back on her heels, but kept a small distance between them.
Far away from the crowd, the surroundings were empty. Kong Qi stopped and looked at the ripples on the river.
She said to the people behind her, "Ever since I heard that the fortune-teller can determine life and death, I have been waiting for the day you find me."
Xue Rui's face darkened. No wonder he was not panicked when he was exposed. It turned out that he had a premonition that he would investigate the real cause of the Tenth Princess's death.
"If I don't find you, are you going to pretend that nothing happened?"
Kong Qi turned around and looked at him. Instead of answering, she asked, "What do you know?"
"I know that after I asked His Majesty to appoint a marriage, there was a man who secretly seduced the Tenth Princess and had a private relationship with her. He forced her to choose the day of my aunt's birthday to jump off a building and frame my sister to escape from the marriage. I did not expect that the villain was you, Kong Qi."
Xue Rui thought it was ridiculous. He did not owe Kong Qi a favor, but he did lend a helping hand when Kong Qi was down and out. In the end, he knew a person's face but not his heart.
Hearing Xue Rui's mockery, Kong Qi smiled bitterly and shook her head.
"The fortune teller truly lives up to her name."
He thought that Yu Shu's "Art of Death" alone could deduce all these, but he did not know that Xue Rui's judgment was also involved.
"So you admit it," Xue Rui stared at Kong Qi, feeling that his reaction was too calm, so calm that it was strange.
"It's the truth," said Kong Qi lightly. There's no need to deny it, it was my intention to seduce the Tenth Princess, and then I came up with a plan to make her injure herself, so that she could be married to your Xue family, so that I could get rid of the marriage arranged by His Majesty. Who would have thought that a beauty like her would have an unfortunate fate, and so she died just like that. "
Xue Rui frowned. He said coldly, "I'm afraid it's not that her beauty is unlucky, but that someone wants to kill her from the beginning."
The death of the Tenth Princess was not an accident, nor was it because she was unlucky, but because she had been schemed against.
Hearing this, Kong Qi tightened her grip on the soft ribbon in her hand and remained silent.
"I know Kong Qi. If you're not someone who's greedy for power, then who ordered you to do this? "
Kong Qi bowed his head.
"Are you unwilling to say it, or are you afraid to say it?" Xue Rui suddenly became aggressive —
"Are you threatened, or are you willing to give up? The Tenth Princess was willing to risk her life for you, and she didn't identify you even when she was dying. She was deeply in love with you, but you want to protect the murderer who framed her. I didn't realize that you were so heartless. You're such a coward! "
Kong Qi finally responded. He looked down at the bright color in his hand, and his voice was a little gloomy.
"If I tell you who the mastermind is, can you promise me one thing?"
"Say it."
"Let this matter be a secret, and don't expose it. You know, it's not easy for me to get to where I am today, and I don't want to ruin my future."
Yu Shu stood not far away and listened. She sneered at the corner of her mouth: That woman I've never met. Is it because of such a selfish man? Is that why she rejected Xue Rui?
Xue Rui looked at Kong Qi who bowed his head and begged, and his eyes became complicated again.
"Tell me the truth, exactly as it is. I can promise you to keep it a secret. "
Hearing Xue Rui's promise, Kong Qi seemed to be relieved and looked up at him.
"Thank you."
Xue Rui waved his hand. "You can say it now."
"The person who ordered me was Prince Ning."
Xue Rui and Yu Shu were both surprised, but they didn't feel surprised at all. This kind of insidious and shameless behavior was really like Prince Ning's style.
"I remember that you used to despise Prince Ning. Why did you listen to his evil deeds?" Xue Rui was puzzled.
Finally telling the secret she had been suppressing in her heart, Kong Qi felt relieved. She laughed coldly and said truthfully:
"After I offended him in the past, you mediated. On the surface, Prince Ning let me go, but then he plotted something else. He took advantage of one of my rides and had someone die under my horse. He threatened me that if I didn't lower my head, I would be charged with murder. If I listened to him, he would protect me and let me enter Wenhua Hall. So I was under his control and had to work for him."
Xue Rui thought, as expected, coercion and bribery have always been Liu Hao's methods. "When did you start to deliberately get close to Tenth Princess?"
"That year, the eighth month, the Mid-Autumn Banquet."
Xue Rui frowned. "At that time, I hadn't asked the Holy One to appoint me to marry, but Prince Ning had already started planning."
Liu Hao had foresight and foresight. In this aspect, Liu Hao was superior to others.
Kong Qi said, "After the Gentlemen Hibiscus Banquet, you suddenly became the disciple of Grand Scholar Lu to learn the Book of Tea. You also reined in your usual behavior and stopped going to the brothels. It wasn't hard for Prince Ning to guess your thoughts at that time."
Xue Rui pressed his lips together. He and Liu Hao hadn't fallen out at that time. Who would have thought that Liu Hao, on the one hand, was intimate with him, and on the other hand, plotted against him.
"After you asked for the edict, I successfully entered Wenhua Hall. Relying on the spies in Prince Ning's palace, I secretly met with Tenth Princess," Kong Qi said, his voice lowered.
"Tenth Princess was naive and didn't know the evils of the human heart. She thought that I sincerely admired her and gradually fell into Prince Ning's trap. When the time was right, Prince Ning told me to instigate her and make her pretend to be pushed down Sea View Tower by your sister, thus implicating the Xue family. If Tenth Princess died, you couldn't escape responsibility. Prime Minister Xue would lose the Emperor's heart, guifei would lose favor, and even more seriously, the entire family would be implicated. "
Xue Rui's handsome face instantly became gloomy.
Towards Liu Hao, he used to listen to Xue Lingnan's instructions because they were on different sides. He was close but distant. But today, after hearing all this, he confirmed that Liu Hao was the culprit who caused him to be doomed. How could he not hate him!
"However, it seems that Ning Wang also miscalculated. Your Xue Family's fate has not ended, and you managed to survive this calamity. After the death of the Tenth Princess, the Holy One did not hold you accountable." Kong Qi had a disdainful expression. He sneered because Liu Hao's scheming didn't get what he wanted.
Xue Rui secretly sneered: How would Kong Qi know that the Xue family's safety that time was exchanged for Royal Consort Xue's loss of the dragon fetus in her womb?
"I have told you everything I know. Whether Brother Xue wants to seek revenge or swallow his anger, I only hope that you keep your promise and keep my secret."
Xue Rui came back to his senses. He stared at Kong Qi's fair and delicate face for a moment and said,
"I have one last question, I hope you can tell me frankly."
Kong Qi nodded.
"When did you first meet the Tenth Princess?"
Kong Qi was stunned.
Yu Shu was confused. Didn't that person say that he began to seduce Tenth Princess at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet three years ago?
"…" Kong Qi's stunned face turned to the distance. His eyes fell on the brightest Lady Tree, and his dim eyes were dyed with a layer of glimmer.
"Four years ago, on the night of the Double Seventh Festival."
On the seventh day of the seventh month of that year, he and his classmate made an appointment to visit the river, but they got separated on the way. On the way, he picked up a beautiful silk ribbon and waited by the roadside to prevent the lost girl from looking for it anxiously.
Who knew that this wait would lead to a period of infatuation.
His absent-minded look. In Xue Rui's eyes, the last trace of unwillingness in his heart was peeled off in exchange for relief.
Xue Rui no longer said anything. He turned to look at Yu Shu who was waiting not far away and walked quickly towards her.
"Let's go."
"Ah?" Yu Shu didn't know what was going on, so she was pulled away by his arm. She turned back and pointed to Kong Qi, "Don't worry, the ribbon and jade are still in his hands. We have to take them back as evidence."
"No need." Xue Rui turned to look at her, and his dark eyes lit up again. He said leisurely,
"That is a token of love given by Tenth Princess to her beloved. What do I need it for? "
Yu Shu heard this and thought that he was envious of her. She rolled her eyes and said,
"It's just a lousy ribbon. How can you treat it as a treasure? I will give you a real treasure later, which will be thousands of times better than his."
Xue Rui smiled, "Even if you give me a hair, I will treat it as a treasure."
"Tsk, glib tongue."
"It's the truth. Don't you like to hear it the most?"
The two gradually went away, leaving Kong Qi standing alone on the embankment. He looked down at the yellow and crimson ribbons on his fingers and murmured,
"You knew that I lied to you, but you still listened to me and sacrificed your life for me. Is it worth it?"
A gust of wind blew, and the ribbon in his hand fluttered, caressing his fingers as if someone was comforting him.
A line of salty tea fell silently, and Kong Qi closed his eyes.
"It's me who's incompetent. Right now, I can only protect your chastity after you die. If you're aware of this in the afterlife, please wait for me. After I've avenged you, I'll accompany you to cross the Bridge of Helplessness … Liu Tan had accompanied Xia Jiangmin to hang the fortune pouch on the Goddess Tree. When he turned around, he didn't see Yu Shu and Xue Rui. When he asked the guards, he didn't know where they had gone.
"What should we do?" Xia Jiangmin eagerly looked at Liu Tan. "Brother Jiu, should we stay here and wait for them, or should we look elsewhere?"
Just now, Liu Tan thought it was inconvenient for her to call him Ninth Young Master, so he asked her to change the way she addressed him.
Calling him "Ninth Brother" invisibly narrowed the distance between them.
Liu Tan said, "Don't worry. They won't get lost with my cousin here. It's rare to see so many people tonight. Let's walk around, and maybe we will meet them. "
Xia Jiangmin nodded and did as he said.
She had had dinner with Liu Tan, and when they were alone together just now, she found that he was not annoying. On the contrary, he was calm and generous, so she gradually relaxed and got along with him.
Since she had decided to replace Xia Jiangying and be a princess, she would not back down.
Xia Jiangmin quietly looked at Liu Tan's side face with distinct facial features. She gently bit her lips and felt a little perturbed in her heart.
Would this person like her?
***
Last night, after they had enjoyed themselves to their heart's content, Xue Rui, Liu Tan, and the others finally met up at one place. They boarded the same carriage and first sent the two young ladies back to their respective homes before they returned to their respective residences.
That night, Yu Shu was relieved. First, she saw that Xia Jiangmin and Liu Tan got along well, and second, Xue Rui found out the culprit, Prince Ning, and the truth of the Tenth Princess's death was finally revealed.
However, what she couldn't understand was that Xue Rui didn't seem to want to pursue Kong Qi's responsibility, but wanted to help them hide it according to the agreement.
She could only guess that Xue Rui put all the blame on Prince Ning alone. There was still time for new hatred and old hatred.
Yu Shu slept at home until the sun was shining. As soon as she got out of bed, she heard a report from outside that the Celestial Commissioner had come.
Yu Shu went to the front hall to take a look. She saw that Kun Ling Bureau's Brush Supervisor Ren Yijia came in with two attendants, his hands carrying sandalwood trays. On one tray was a set of vermilion official robes and black muslin neatly stacked. On the other tray were green boots, fish pouches and other items.
When Ren Renjia saw Yu Shu, he first saluted with his hands folded in front, and then explained the reason.
"The day before yesterday, a foreign envoy came. Because he admires our Da An Yi School, he asked His Majesty to see it. His Majesty agreed to hold a land and water conference in the palace. All the masters of Yi above the seventh level in the capital must come, on the day of the Hungry Ghost Festival. Milord is a fifth level, and your name is in the prison, so you should accompany the Imperial Secretary. This is the summer dress prepared by the Secretariat in advance, please try it on. "
"I see." She didn't expect that she would have the opportunity to enter the palace so soon.
Last time when she worshipped the ancestors in the Imperial Mausoleum, she didn't even see what the Emperor looked like. This time, she must see it clearly.
Yu Shu took the official robes. Ren Renjia was very careful, and the two attendants he brought were both female servants. They accompanied Yu Shu to the backyard to try on the clothes and teach her how to wear them.
Yun Dou stood at the side and couldn't help. She stared at her without blinking, not daring to make a mistake.
The whole family knew that Yu Shu was going to be an official in the Celestial Commissioner, so they were very excited for the first few days. Zhao Hui was so happy that she couldn't sleep all night. She was afraid that she had a dream. Old Madam He got up early in the morning to burn incense, and even the servants who guarded the gate and ran errands in the courtyard raised their heads.
If it weren't for Yu Shu's order to not let people talk too much, the gate would probably be blocked for a while, making her unable to return home.
Yu Shu changed into the female official robes and looked at herself in the mirror. She was quite satisfied.
She had seen the official robes of the Celestial Commissioner before. Most of the high-ranking officials had the style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties. They wore loose clothes with big sleeves and long hats, making them look like immortals.
She didn't like those messy clothes. Fortunately, the style of the female official robes was very simple.
The robes were vermilion, a little dark in color. The tight waist and tight sleeves made her body look straight. From the collar to the cuffs, there was a black border that was two fingers wide. The beautiful iris pattern was only visible in the light. There were two moon-white patches on the shoulders, each of which was embroidered with a blooming iris flower. The deep blue petals were wide open, like the wings of a butterfly. They rested on the shoulders and emitted a fragrant fragrance. It was extremely beautiful.
Speaking of which, it was quite interesting. Officials of the Imperial Court had patches that represented their official rank. They were embroidered in different positions, and the types were also different. For example, military officials were embroidered with ferocious beasts on their backs. For civil officials, they were embroidered with birds on their chests. As for officials of the Imperial Court, they were embroidered with celestial phenomena on their shoulders.
The female officials were different. They were embroidered with flowers and plants. Because female officials were rare and there were only a few of them in the imperial court, many people didn't know about them.
For example, Yu Shu was a fifth-grade official, and the patch on her back was the iris flower.
Yu Shu didn't understand these things, so she asked the two female servants who worked in the Imperial Records Department,
"What about a first-grade female official? What kind of pattern is on her shoulder?"
The two were stunned. After looking at each other, one of them said carefully, "Your Excellency, we have never seen a first-grade female official before."
Yu Shu smiled, and her eyes flashed. She thought,
Why not? In the history of the Great An Dynasty, wasn't there Empress Ningzhen? She was the first Celestial Commissioner.
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