The punishment of the female imperial court

Chapter 289 The Curtain Rises
"Lord Suo, look."

The group had already walked some distance along the side corridor when someone suddenly noticed a dark shape on the window and pointed at it tremblingly.

This is probably the bloody handprint from when the case occurred.

Seeing that the door next to him was ajar, Lord Su adjusted his hat and crown, steadied himself, and took the lead in pushing the door open and leading everyone inside.

"His Majesty?"

The house was empty.

The wind howled through the gaps in the buildings, and the group of people who had tried so hard to remain calm finally panicked and began to whisper among themselves.

"What about Your Majesty?"

"Why were we called here?"

"Did we go to the wrong place?"

"How could this be! Wasn't that the bloody handprint outside the window just now?"

In her panic, she still managed to get even closer to the person next to her.

Suddenly, the room went dark.

Someone locked the door.

The person near the door let out a strange cry and squeezed through in the opposite direction of the door, trembling as they said, "The door closed by itself, but it seems to be moving."

Everyone crowded together against the wall inside the room.

"What's the panic!" Lord Suo quickly shouted to stop them. If things continued to descend into chaos, it might end up like what happened at the imperial tombs.

But there was also a hint of panic in his tone.

"What is this?" Wet stains spread from the inner room outwards, swimming past everyone's feet and wrapping around the hems of their robes.

"It's blood!" Some people covered their mouths and noses, while others vomited.

In the chaos, someone tripped over something and fell to the ground, covered in blood.

"Oh dear, gentlemen, what brings you here?" The young emperor's leisurely voice came from outside the door. He reached out and pushed the door open. "Why was the door locked from the inside?"

These two sentences were left unfinished, and the laughter and conversation outside the lonely palace on a cold night sent a chill down the spines of everyone in the room. It was as if the familiar voices came from strange monsters, and no one dared to open the door. Instead, they all crowded closer together.

"Excuse me." A strange male voice had barely finished speaking when the door was suddenly kicked open.

After the loud bang, several crisp sounds of beads falling bounced into the crowd.

The light from outside swarmed in and turned on the few lamps inside.

"My lords, you've worked hard. What's the matter with all this blood?" Jiang Jiqing and Empress Zheng entered the room, and only then did the officials see that there were many people following behind the emperor.

"We were unaware, Your Majesty!"

Everyone started offering their own explanations.

“Of course I trust you gentlemen,” Jiang Jiqing said with a frank smile. “Lord Yu, what do you say?”

"With so much blood, quite a few people would have to be killed. However, it's all pig's blood, so it's particularly foul-smelling, gentlemen, there's no need to worry."

Upon hearing the words "Lord Yu," the momentary ease the sage had displayed turned into resentment.

What's all this commotion about so late at night?!
Among them were Deming, who had left before them, as well as Wang Song, Yu Qiansi, and Boyi. But when the last few people squeezed into the outer room, both sides saw doubt on each other's faces.

Why are several imperial concubines from the Shou Kang Palace here?

Everyone's gaze fell on Yu Qiansi, each with their own thoughts.

Yu Qian Si had already washed up briefly and changed into a simple, clean dress, which made her face look even paler.

He noticed that everyone was looking at him.

She stood still, eyes lowered, saying nothing. "Lord Yu has encountered danger tonight in order to uncover the truth of what happened back then. I'm sorry for your trouble, Lord Yu. The thief is right here and has been put under guard. Once this matter is settled, Lord Yu can interrogate the thief however he wishes."

Yu Qiansi twitched the corners of her mouth.

No sooner had Bo Yi left than Jiang Jiqing ordered his men to take Shang Fu away and forbade him from having any contact with Shang Fu.

It was as if they already knew what was going to happen tonight.

Perhaps, he is the one who knows the most.

Yu Qiansi raised her eyes and looked at Wang Song, who was sitting quietly to the side.

Seeing Wang Song slowly nod, indicating that he already had a plan, she felt relieved and slowly began to speak.

"Ten years ago, the late emperor fell seriously ill and needed prayers for his recovery. This was the beginning of everything."

She walked to the center of the outer room, dressed in white, her presence forcing the courtiers to squeeze a few more steps towards the inner side of the room.

"By order of His Majesty, I have been investigating the truth behind the case at the Temple of Blessings. Now I know how the murderer committed the crime, which led to his own demise."

Before the senior officials in the court could even figure out why the emperor wanted to reopen the old case, some of them were already displeased: "What happened back then was witnessed by everyone. How can you, a mere child, be allowed to point fingers here?"

The speaker was a concubine. Whether it was the displeasure of being summoned in the middle of the night or her dissatisfaction with the insubordination, she had a stern and very dignified expression.

Yu Qiansi didn't even spare her a glance and continued calmly, "At the crime scene back then, the door was bolted from the inside, and there was only a corpse and Empress Mingde lying unconscious on the ground inside. Therefore, everyone believed that Empress Mingde was the one who did it."

Lord Suo glanced at Jiang Jiqing, then at Wang Song, a vague idea forming in his mind. He couldn't help but ask, "In this situation, could the murderer be someone else?"

"Just now, you gentlemen also locked the door from the inside of this room. If there happens to be a corpse in the inner room as well, are you gentlemen the real culprits?"

"of course not!"

Thinking of how Yu Qiansi had tricked them with pig's blood earlier, the group trembled with anger.

They were all together, so who would go into the house and kill them?

Wait a minute, could it be that Empress Mingde was like that back then?

Several people glanced towards the doorway, wondering why it had been bolted from the inside when it was perfectly fine just moments before.

No, it's more than that.

"Did any adults find anything strange just now?"

A courtier covered in pig's blood raised his hand: "A single bead! This thing made me trip and fall."

Yu Qiansi had no intention of taking the bead: "This is the most crucial part of the illusion."

Yu Qiansi picked up two jagged, broken pieces of the door bolt from the ground and pieced them together.

"The bolt was broken to begin with. As long as it's stuck behind the door and the door is slightly ajar, it will look as if the door is bolted from the inside."

"But just now, when I pushed the door, it was indeed bolted." Jiang Jiqing was very curious. "How did you manage that?"

Yu Qiansi took out a silk thread from her sleeve, with several beads strung on it.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, she placed the two wooden bolts behind the door, stuffed a bead behind the bolt on the left side of the door, pulled the string out of the door, and as she was about to close the right side of the door, she wrapped the string around the bolt on the right side of the door.

Then, she pinched the two ends of the thread and pulled, and the door slammed shut. The broken bolt indeed came together again, as if someone had bolted the door from the inside.

Yu Qiansi pulled out the thread and pushed open the door.

The broken bolt was held in place by several beads and remained motionless.

The room was completely silent.

I discovered some repetition in Chapter 270 today, but it's too late to fix it now. I'll correct it when I finish the book and revise it. I apologize again!

Thank you to Ge Guan Lou Tai Sheng Xi Xi, Xiong Ba Suan Suan, and Ma Shang You Qian--Jiuwo for the recommendation votes!