Chapter 139 Kill Him

Chapter 139: Kill Him

In a hidden corner.

The disturbance outside happened suddenly. Su Jiaojiao leaned out to look and saw the shadowy figure by the window panic, leaving behind whatever he'd pushed through the paper as he tried to flee.

She kicked off the blankets and got up just as Yu Ying, hearing the noise outside, hurried in frantically. Before even passing the screen, she called out loudly, "My Lady! My Lady!"

Yu Ying rushed over, her voice laced with concern as she asked, "My Lady, what happened? Are you alright? Were you harmed?"

Su Jiaojiao shook her head and replied calmly, "I'm fine. Someone's getting restless."

She turned her gaze to the window, where Xiao Songzi shouted: "Here! Quickly! Capture him and bring him before My Lady!"

The shadowy figure outside had barely taken a few steps before getting surrounded. Su Jiaojiao stood and opened the window. As the gap widened, a gust of cold wind rushed in, chilling her to the bone and making her shiver.

She looked at the trembling man pinned to the ground by the crowd, but it was too dark, and he was too tightly restrained to make out clearly. From his silhouette, she could vaguely tell he was a man—likely a eunuch.

Su Jiaojiao ordered coolly, "Bring him here. The rest of you, return to your duties. Xiao Songzi and Yu Ying will suffice for now."

With that, she unhurriedly closed the window. Yu Ying hurried over to drape an outer robe and cloak over her shoulders to ward off the cold before helping Su Jiaojiao sit on the couch.

The commotion was loud enough, and with the threat to My Lady being a grave matter, the servants of Yaoxian Palace had all risen and knelt solemnly outside the hall, awaiting instructions.

Xiao Songzi and two other eunuchs dragged the man inside and threw him at Su Jiaojiao's feet. Xiao Songzi then snapped and kicked the man hard in the backside, "Who do you think you are trespassing into Yaoxian Palace in the dead of night? You must have a death wish!"

He yanked off the black cloth covering the man's face, revealing the face of a man in his thirties.

The moment Xiao Songzi recognized him, his anger flared: "It's you?!"

"It was...it was..." The man was terrified, stammering and unable to speak.

Xiao Songzi grabbed him by the hair, forcing his face toward Su Jiaojiao so she could see clearly, and said through gritted teeth, "My Lady! This man is from the Night Watch, responsible for announcing the time and weather at dawn and dusk in the palace. I knew him before—we were even acquainted. Never thought he'd have the gall to sneak into Yaoxian Palace! Must've been bribed by someone."

The palace had strict rules, and messages were passed person-to-person.

Under the Directorate of Astronomy was the Chongtai Platform, which handled court announcements, while the palace had its own corresponding department.

The Night Watch rose at the hour of Yin (3–5 AM), traversing the palace pathways starting from the Taiji Hall and moving southward through the four rear palaces to announce the dawn.

In the rear palace, aside from patrolling guards, only those from the Night Watch could move about at night without raising suspicion.

Moreover, the Night Watch operated mostly in the dark, giving them a natural advantage. Whoever was behind this had certainly thought carefully.

But it wasn't yet time for the timekeeping announcements, and with the palace heavily guarded, even if he knew the patrol routes, he would inevitably leave traces.

Daring to sneak in for murder—even if successful—carried an enormous risk of exposure. Such recklessness suggested his master wasn't particularly clever either.

Su Jiaojiao looked at the trembling man before her, suppressing her fury and icy disdain as she asked coolly, "What's your name?"

The eunuch seemed taken aback that Consort Zhen's first question was merely his name, making him even more uneasy. He had no idea what she intended. He quickly bowed his head and answered respectfully, "This servant is Xiao Fuzi, from the Night Watch."

"Do I have to ask every question myself before you'll speak?" Su Jiaojiao fixed him with an icy stare. "Who ordered you? What did they promise you?"

Xiao Fuzi glanced around nervously, stammering, "It was...it was—"

Xiao Songzi snorted at his cowardice and said, "I know everything about you. You'd better confess honestly unless you want to face unnecessary pain. Remember, what you've done is a capital offense. If My Lady drags you before His Majesty and the Empress, even ten of your worthless lives wouldn't be enough!"

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" Xiao Songzi's words had already frightened him wide-eyed. He immediately bowed his head repeatedly, pleading, "This servant will tell everything! Please, My Lady, spare my miserable life on account of my confession and that this was my first offense!"

Xiao Fuzi took out a stack of silver notes from his collar, wearing a miserable expression, and said, "The one who ordered this servant behind the scenes is... is Beauty Xiao."

"Beauty Xiao?" Su Jiaojiao was momentarily surprised but quickly regained her composure. "Continue," she said.

Xiao Fuzi pushed all the silver notes to a spot three feet in front of Su Jiaojiao and lowered his head. "A few days ago, Beauty Xiao's personal maid came to find this servant, saying she wanted this servant to do something for Beauty Xiao. If this servant succeeded, she would give this servant three thousand taels of silver."

At this, Xiao Fuzi instinctively glanced at Xiao Songzi and whispered, "This servant works in the nightwatch office, and life is hard with no side income... In this palace, money paves the way, money makes life better..."

Xiao Fuzi raised his head, his face full of regret, tears and mucus running down his face as he put on a show of genuine remorse. "This servant was blinded by greed for just a moment! Please, Your Ladyship, show mercy and spare this servant’s wretched life... This servant has served diligently in the palace for so many years, never done anything wrong—this was my first misstep! Please give this servant a chance to redeem myself!"

Su Jiaojiao stared at Xiao Fuzi for a long while, her expression unyielding.

Yu Ying, standing beside her, glanced at him and leaned in to whisper, "Your Ladyship, it would be improper to disturb His Majesty now. Besides, the Empress is still recovering from her injuries, and it’s the middle of the night—"

"Perhaps it would be better to wait until dawn, after morning court, to bring Xiao Fuzi before him and have him confess everything about Beauty Xiao."

Su Jiaojiao remained silent, her gaze steady and cold.

She tapped the armrest lightly and said quietly, "No."

Beauty Xiao had always been at odds with her, but she had never ventured to move against her before. Now, she had.

She hated Su Jiaojiao and wanted her dead—but who was to say someone else wasn’t manipulating her from behind?

If it were only Beauty Xiao, Xiao Fuzi’s testimony and the silver notes bearing the Xiao family’s seal would be enough to secure her conviction.

But if the Empress wanted to have a hand in this, Su Jiaojiao believed the Empress could easily twist the blame back onto her with just a few words.

The evidence clearly pointed to Beauty Xiao, but precisely because it was so obvious, the Empress could fabricate more lies.

Moreover, if the Empress had a hand in this—

Xiao Fuzi’s so-called testimony might not be trustworthy at all. There could be a greater conspiracy waiting for her.

Beauty Xiao alone posed little threat. Even if she were brought down, it would do Su Jiaojiao no good.

But if this escalated and the Empress deliberately stirred trouble, Su Jiaojiao would only become more vulnerable during this time when she was out of imperial favor.

Yu Ying frowned at Xiao Fuzi and hesitated. "Then what does Your Ladyship plan to do? If exposing him is unwise, letting him go seems just as bad. If we release him and pretend nothing happened, wouldn’t that mean you would have endured this injustice for naught? If not for your quick reaction, you might have been his victim by now."

Su Jiaojiao sat quietly in her seat, her lashes lowered in silence.

The dim candlelight flickered gently in the hall, casting her beautiful profile in shifting shadows, serene as a painting, showing no trace of hostility.

After a few breaths, she turned her gaze to Xiao Fuzi and said quietly, "I don’t intend to spare him."

Yu Ying looked up sharply, her voice trembling slightly. "Your Ladyship means...?"

Su Jiaojiao looked down at Xiao Fuzi, her eyes devoid of warmth.

"Kill him."

Xiao Songzi was the quickest to react. Understanding her meaning, he immediately stepped forward and muffled Xiao Fuzi’s mouth.

"Don’t strangle him. Make it look like he drowned instead. Then take the silver notes—half on his person, half kept aside. Tomorrow, leave them at Beauty Xiao’s palace gates." Su Jiaojiao picked up the tea Yu Ying had just served and took a quiet sip. "If he prized silver so highly, he should not depart this life wanting."

Xiao Fuzi thrashed as Xiao Songzi muffled his mouth, his face turning cyanotic from asphyxiation. He flapped feebly against Xiao Songzi’s arm, but his strength soon faded.

Xiao Songzi dragged him away to an anteroom to dispatch him, leaving only Yu Ying and Su Jiaojiao in the hall.

In the palace, scheming and cutthroat rivalries were the norm, but killing someone within her own quarters was something Yu Ying had never seen before—something that shook her up a bit.

Still shaken, she watched Xiao Songzi’s figure vanish into the darkness, unsure of what to say.

Su Jiaojiao knew exactly what troubled her. Looking down as she blew on her tea, she spoke softly, "Killing Xiao Fuzi was the smartest move."

"Xiao Fuzi's disappearance, paired with evidence left for Beauty Xiao, is meant to show her—and those behind her—that I know what they’ve done and have leverage over them. First, it’ll make her rein herself in, and second, it’ll keep them on their toes so this doesn’t happen again and again."

She continued calmly, "Nothing scares people more than not knowing—knowing danger exists but not where or when it will strike, leaving them constantly uneasy and vigilant. Isn’t that right?"

Yu Ying nodded in relief, supporting Su Jiaojiao as they walked toward the bed. Gently, she urged, "It's over now, my lady. You've been through quite a shock—rest a little longer..."

Their voices, already hushed, grew fainter still as they moved away, nearly fading into silence.

Yet no one knew—

In the darkness, a shadow lingered, blending into the night unless you looked closely enough to notice.

After what felt like forever—

It finally turned and slipped away.