Chapter 174

Chapter 174

Prince Jing was speechless for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh. "...I didn't know Suisui had gotten so good at holding grudges."

Xie Run dabbed her tears with a handkerchief, her eyes red as a rabbit's.

"I definitely hold grudges. I still remember when Your Highness bit me!"

Prince Jing: "...What?"

When did that happen? Why didn't he remember?

Xie Run reminded him sweetly, "It was when Your Highness promoted me to Shu Fei."

Prince Jing suddenly remembered and couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head. "That was ages ago. You still remember that?"

Xie Run shot Prince Jing a glare with her red-rimmed eyes. "Hmph!"

Even with tearful eyes, she was stunning when she glared, and it made Prince Jing's heart skip a beat.

They talked a bit more. Then Xie Run went to the back room to wash up, and Prince Jing went to check on his son.

Xie Run had just finished changing when Eunuch Shi'an came to report: "Your Highness, Yuezhi survived!"

"Have Jing Wu interrogate her!"

Prince Jing was holding a fine jade pendant, dangling it in front of Taotao. He didn't react at all, just kept swaying the pendant.

Taotao's big, dark eyes tracked the pendant as it swung.

In this household, when Prince Jing told Jing Wu to question someone, it meant things were about to get brutal.

Eunuch Shi'an added, "Jing Wu is already on it. He says Yuezhi will crack within half an hour."

"Jing Wu wants to know if Your Highness and Cefei Xie want to listen in."

Prince Jing thought for a moment. "Alright, let's go hear it."

He tossed the pendant to Zi Hu, who was standing nearby.

Zi Hu looked confused.

Prince Jing: "Fifth Young Master likes it. Keep playing with him."

Zi Hu bowed and said yes.

Spotting Xie Run at the door, Prince Jing said calmly, "Come listen too."

Prince Jing smiled knowingly. "I'm curious to see who else she'll drag into this."

Xie Run: "..."

Xie Run had figured that with Jing Wu on the case, Yuezhi would spill everything.

But from what Prince Jing said, it sounded like Yuezhi might drag someone else down?

Did Prince Jing already know something?

Xie Run quietly followed Prince Jing to the side room.

As she reached the door, Prince Jing held out his arm to stop her, and she immediately smelled blood.

She looked up and saw Yuezhi lying on the bed inside, barely alive.

She'd just tried to cut her own throat, and now thick white bandages were wrapped around her neck, blood soaking through.

Her hair was a mess, her face pale, her eyes empty—like she'd just been through hell.

Even Dan Tao and Xiaoshu, who were following behind, were startled, let alone Xie Run.

Eunuch Shi'an quickly said, "Your Highness, Cefei Xie, maybe you should stay by the door. No need to be hit by the bloody smell in there."

Prince Jing nodded and asked Jing Wu, "Has she talked?"

Jing Wu glanced at Yuezhi.

She shook under his stare and stammered, "I'll talk, I'll talk... I'll tell you everything."

Terror filled her eyes, and she couldn't stop shaking.

"Just let me die, please, let me die..."

Jing Wu said coldly, "Talk straight, and you'll die quick. Hold back, and you'll beg for death."

Yuezhi's voice was raw, and she screamed in despair, "It wasn't Sui Ci who told me to do it."

"It was Ping'an! Ping'an from Concubine An's place!"

Xie Run's eyes went wide, shock flashing through them.

That was the last answer she expected!

Her first thought was that Prince Jing's words had just hit the mark.

Xie Run immediately looked at Prince Jing, and sure enough, he looked totally calm.

Like he'd seen it coming all along, without a hint of surprise.

Prince Jing shot Eunuch Shi'an a quick look, and Eunuch Shi'an had already sent someone to bring Ping'an.

Jing Wu asked flatly, "Got any proof?"

Yuezhi said, "There's a hidden compartment in the bottom of the bucket I use for Fifth Young Master's water. Two one-thousand-tael notes are stuffed in there!"

Everyone in the room was shocked.

Before Prince Jing even said anything, someone had already gone to check.

Yuezhi spoke in fits and starts: "Ping'an came to me half a month ago. It was my day off, and she dragged me into Yunjiao Alley. She told me about Wu Ge and Sui Ci sneaking around, and said she could help me get rid of Sui Ci—I just had to wait for her word."

"Seven days ago, I couldn't take watching Sui Ci and Wu Ge all lovey-dovey in front of me, so I made an excuse to go home. Really, I met Ping'an in Yunjiao Alley and agreed to her plan."

"She gave me two one-thousand-tael notes. I pushed for more—I told her she had to help me take care of Sui Ci, and her mistress had to find a way for me to marry Wu Ge. She said yes!"

"Everyone in Chunshan Courtyard knows when I had my days off!"

Yuezhi insisted, "Someone must have seen me around Yunjiao Alley!"

Jing Wu had worked plenty of cases, and he kept a clear head. "What you've said doesn't prove anything."

"And what would Ping'an and Concubine An gain from having you harm the Fifth Young Master?"

Yuezhi: "Ping'an said that the Fourth Young Master was born frail, which caused the Prince to despise her mistress, Concubine An."

"If the Fifth Young Master remained perpetually ill, it wouldn't make her mistress look bad for failing to care for the Fourth Young Master."

"Even Princess Duanmin from Concubine Li's courtyard—it seems Ping'an also poisoned her..."

Seeing that Jing Wu and the others didn't believe her,

Yuezhi gritted her teeth and dropped a bombshell.

"We have a contract!"

A contract?!

Everyone was stunned.

In this day and age, people actually sign contracts to commit murder?!

Jing Wu immediately asked, "Where is it?"

As Yuezhi spoke, tears streamed down her cheeks. "I sewed a wedding dress for myself... the contract is hidden inside the dress."

"I forced Ping'an to write this contract, and it bears both of our handprints."

Yuezhi said, "I've confessed everything. All I ask for is death."

Her lips trembled. "If possible... please don't destroy that wedding dress. Let me die in it."

"At least in my dreams, I can marry Brother Wu..."

Jing Wu showed no sympathy at all and only asked, "When everything came out, why did you insist on blaming Sui Ci? Why refuse to reveal the one behind you?"

Yuezhi was barely breathing, but at the mention of Sui Ci, she suddenly seemed to perk up.

Her eyes turned bloodshot, and she said hatefully, "With things exposed, I can't escape death. Even if I didn't die, I'd only live a life of shame and survival!"

"All of this is because Sui Ci shamelessly seduced Brother Wu!"

"Even if I die, I'll drag her down with me!"

Yuezhi's rage was so intense that her face twisted with ferocity, and suddenly she spat out a mouthful of blood.

The white gauze around her neck was instantly stained red.

Still consumed by paranoid gloom, she cursed, "That bitch Sui Ci did this to me. Even as a ghost, I'll never forgive her!"

Yuezhi kept spewing insults, seeming to lose all reason.

As she cursed, more and more blood poured from her mouth.