Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

The prison of the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Tong Qingyuan curled up on the hard bed made of straw, unable to fall asleep.

He was the youngest son of the Marquis of Cheng'an's family and was spoiled since childhood. Even when the Marquis of Cheng'an was dismissed for embezzling public funds and lending money at exorbitant interest rates, and the family fell into ruin as a result, he never suffered any hardship.

He later married a wealthy businessman's daughter, and his lifestyle became even more luxurious than before. The days he spent in prison were the most difficult days of his life.

What terrified him most was that he would soon be beheaded.

He didn't want to die, so he asked his parents to put pressure on Zhao Mingyue. Unexpectedly, Zhao Mingyue managed to curry favor with the powerful, not only speeding up the verdict but also getting the court to take back her dowry.

The extravagance of the Marquis's mansion over the years has all come from her dowry. How can it ever be replenished after it has been spent? Now that her parents are barely able to take care of themselves, they have no choice but to sell her mother's and sisters-in-law's dowries. Her second sister-in-law just came over and scolded her. No one is willing to help him anymore.

And all of this was caused by Zhao Mingyue.

"You bitch."

He cursed under his breath, "If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have been so kind."

She should have been killed sooner rather than later.

When have you ever shown me any mercy?

Zhao Mingyue's voice suddenly rang in my ears.

Tong Qingyuan suddenly opened his eyes. Zhao Mingyue was standing in the cell at some point, with Gui Yao by her side.

"You really are a vixen."

He pointed at Gui Yao and said to Zhao Mingyue, "You see, the cell door wasn't even open, and she brought you in."

She's not a normal person; she's the one who orchestrated all of this.

Mingyue, please drop the case quickly, and let's live our lives peacefully from now on...

"I have found my child."

Zhao Mingyue interrupted him, "The moment you threw him into the moat, the moment your dagger pierced my father's heart, we were destined to be enemies to the death."

"Those were all fabrications by this sorcerer; I have never betrayed you..."

Tong Qingyuan continued to try to argue his point.

Gui Yao reminded Zhao Mingyue, "Hurry up and do whatever you want to do."

She used her spiritual power to create a barrier, so the outside could not detect anything unusual about the cell, but the longer it went on, the more spiritual power she consumed.

Gui Yao cherished her spiritual power, and it wouldn't be worthwhile to waste even a little bit on someone like Tong Qingyuan.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Mingyue pulled out a dagger from her sleeve and began slashing at Tong Qingyuan. She had wanted to do the same thing when she caught him cheating that day.

Tong Qingyuan naturally resisted, but Gui Yao threw a pebble that struck his pressure point, rendering him unable to move.

The dagger was dull; Zhao Mingyue had specifically sought it out. It sliced ​​Tong Qingyuan's flesh piece by piece, and the entire cell was filled with the man's agonizing screams.

Gui Yao leaned against the railing, watching quietly.

She knew that Zhao Mingyue needed to vent.

After a while, Gui Yao finally spoke, "Since Qi Yu took the child, you must be keeping an eye on Qi Yu."

Tell me about Qi Yu. If it's helpful, I'll make Boss Zhao stop."

Tong Qingyuan was in unbearable pain when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "He's just a cripple, and he spends most of his time confined to the mansion. I can't keep an eye on him even if I wanted to."

"Then you can enjoy this torture of being slowly sliced ​​to death."

He wanted to drown the child, but the child had been given away by Qi Yu to someone unknown. Gui Yao didn't believe that Tong Qingyuan wasn't curious.

"I heard that after he became crippled, the Duke of Qi often beat and scolded him."

Gui Yao remained silent; this information was useless to her.

Zhao Mingyue understood Gui Yao's meaning, and she became more and more skilled at cutting flesh with a dull knife, causing Tong Qingyuan's forehead veins to bulge and sweat to pour down his face in pain.

What backbone could a man who lives off a woman have? Before long, Tong Qingyuan told him everything he had found out about Qi Yu.

Qi Yu suffers from hunger disease; if she doesn't eat on time, she will feel dizzy, have heart palpitations, or even faint.

The things like Qi Yu learning that her legs couldn't be cured and getting drunk and crying were all things that Gui Yao already knew, or information that was useless to her.

It wasn't until Tong Qingyuan said, "Qi Yu appears to be a gentleman, but he's actually a crybaby. He cries when his leg can't be healed, he cries when he's beaten and scolded by the Duke of Qi, and he cries when his sweetheart marries someone from another place..."

"etc!"

Gui Yao raised her hand to interrupt him, "You mean his sweetheart married someone from another place?"

Zhao Mingyue's hands didn't stop, and Tong Qingyuan, in pain, dared not disobey, "Yes, he has taken a liking to her and plans to propose marriage when she is in high school."

But fate was cruel; with a broken leg, she was no longer worthy of anyone, so she could only hide away and cry.

How did you know that?

Gui Yao narrowed his dark eyes. Even the Duke of Qi didn't know that his son had someone he liked.

"Qi Yu gave the child away, and I was afraid of leaving any future trouble by not eliminating the root of the problem. So I spent a lot of money to bribe Qi Yu's servant."

Unfortunately, the servant was found for Qi Yu by the Duke of Qi. Qi Yu was afraid that his parents would monitor him too much, so he dared not let the servant know many important things. The servant overheard him crying in the middle of the night.

Before the servant could inform the Duke of Qi, Qi Yu died.

Zhao Mingyue was furious.

They actually used her money to murder her child, which enraged her so much that she used the back of a dagger to forcefully slash at him.

Tong Qingyuan arched his back in pain and howled, "I'm going to die if you keep cutting me! Tell her to stop!"

Gui Yao glanced at the man, who looked like a blood-soaked gourd, but made no attempt to stop him. He simply asked, "Where is the servant now?"

"I don't know. He redeemed himself and left after Qi Yu died."

He later tried to silence the servant, but couldn't find him.

Gui Yao inquired about the woman's condition again. After Tong Qingyuan fainted from the pain, Gui Yao stopped Zhao Mingyue, saying, "Alright, the court will take his life."

After a series of actions, Zhao Mingyue was exhausted. Gui Yao took the dagger from her and placed it in Tong Qingyuan's hand. Then, he dispelled the barrier, flicked his hand, and a pebble hit Tong Qingyuan on the forehead. He then led Zhao Mingyue into hiding.

Tong Qingyuan was jolted awake. Seeing the two men were gone, he instinctively shouted, "Help! Someone's trying to kill me!"

The jailer on duty came over and was shocked to see him covered in blood. "What happened?"

"Some demon is trying to harm me!"

He couldn't say anything else besides that one sentence.

The jailer checked the cell door; it was securely locked. "The Master said, 'You do not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits.' Where did this sorcerer come from? And where did you get this dagger?"

Tong Qingyuan realized that Gui Yao had done something to him again, and could only use gestures to try to tell the jailer that Gui Yao had used sorcery on him, causing Zhao Mingyue to cut his flesh, and that the dagger was also brought by Zhao Mingyue.

He held a dagger in his hand and only said that one sentence. No matter how you asked him, he wouldn't answer. To the jailer, it looked more like he had gone mad and was slowly torturing himself.

The jailer took his dagger and found out that the second young mistress of the Cheng'an Marquis's mansion had come by during the day and said some nasty things.

The jailer suspected that the Marquis of Cheng'an's family wanted Tong Qingyuan to end his own life, which was why they gave him the dagger. He then reported the situation to the Prefect of Jingzhao.

The Prefect of Jingzhao glanced at the dagger, then buried himself in his official duties. "Keep a close watch on it. If the Tong family questions us, let them ask the Second Young Mistress of the Tong family themselves."

With the Emperor personally involved in the case, Tong Qingyuan is certain to die. Whether the murderer is Zhao Mingyue or a member of the Tong family, it's not worth the government's further effort.

After all, Zhao Mingyue's donations to the court were genuine, and compared to those who had rendered meritorious service to the court, Tong Qingyuan, who was to be executed tomorrow, truly deserved to die.

Gui Yaochong and Zhao Mingyue gave each other a thumbs up.

Zhao Mingyue looked excited. This was the first time she had ever schemed against someone like this. However, she felt no guilt at all. Previously, the second young mistress of the Tong family had bullied her quite a bit because she was a merchant.

Seeing that the authorities wouldn't investigate further, Gui Yao escorted Zhao Mingyue back to Xuanji Tower. She then returned to the prison and asked for some clues about the beggar.

For the next two days, Gui Yao focused on investigating Qi Yu's secret crush.

They actually found out that Qi Yu had a woman he admired and had commissioned a set of gemstone headdresses from the Treasure Pavilion, suitable for a young woman.

Just as they were about to investigate the Prince of Shu, Xiao Huaijin came to their door.

"The Ji family committed the crime because it was reported by the Prince of Shu."

Gui Yao's eyes darkened. "Qi Yu has someone he loves, a woman."

He is not a homosexual at all.

The two exchanged a glance, and both saw in each other's eyes that Ji Linchuan was indeed lying!