Novel Bin Chapter 169 Conspiracy is Revealed, The Death of Fourth Gongzhu and Fourth Wangzi
Chapter 169 Conspiracy is Revealed, The Death of Fourth Gongzhu and Fourth Wangzi
The Emperor was a very suspicious person. He hadn’t spoken for a long time and merely looked at Zi You, Imperial Tutor She, Fourth Wangzi, Rong Yunhe, and Rong Qiyan. He already felt that something was wrong.
It was indeed doubtful that Rong Yunhe colluded with the assassins to act internally and externally to assassinate him.
Zi You’s insinuation was correct. It was impossible for thirty people to sneak quietly into the Palace to assassinate him without someone familiar with the Palace to lead the way. And this person was not only familiar with the Palace’s terrain, but also with where there were guards patrolling in the Palace and which places the assassins could hide.
This person was unlikely to be Rong Yunhe. There must be someone else who colluded with the assassins.
The Emperor looked sinisterly at the officials, wangzis, the Empress, and the consorts. He then said to the guards, “Detain this Wang Haiji.”
Then he looked at Zi You and said calmly, “Come with Zhen, Mu Xiaojie.”
“Yes.” Zi You bowed and walked behind the Emperor.
The Emperor then said to Taizi, Third Wangzi, Fourth Wangzi, Old General Mu, Mu YingYi, Imperial Tutor She, Minister of Justice, and the others, “You follow too.”
Everyone, as well as the assassins, was brought into the Jade Palace Hall’s side hall. The Emperor told someone to shut the door. He then nodded to Zi You. “You can start.”
“Yes, Emperor.” Zi You bowed. She continued, “Emperor, I will use hypnosis. The criminal will tell the truth. But during the hypnosis, no one can make loud noises or suddenly interrupt.”
“Did you hear that?” The Emperor looked at everyone. He warned overbearingly, “Do according to what she said. If anyone dares to interfere, Zhen will not spare him!”
Zi You said to the guards, “Tie him to the chair.”
The guards tied Wang Haiji to a chair. Zi You looked at everyone before walking elegantly and dignified over to him. Her deep eyes stared at him for a full five minutes.
Wang Haiji had goosebumps. He didn’t know why the girl in front of him had eyes that seemed to be able to suck his soul out.
Wang Haiji involuntarily stared into Zi You’s eyes. He couldn’t move away.
Zi You saw that Wang Haiji’s eyes turned a bit blurry. She smiled and softly asked, “After you were reprimanded by General Rong, you were also kicked out his fu. Do you really hate him?”
“No...... I don’t hate him.” Wang Haiji gritted his teeth. He was desperately fighting against his will since he didn’t want to speak the truth.
Zi You then took out a crystal ball and placed it in front of him. She constantly swung it. Her voice grew gentler, as if it contained some unspeakable charm. “Tell me the truth. Do you really hate General Rong?”
“Yes.” Rong Haiji was drowsy and involuntarily said. “I hate him. He was too disloyal. He could clearly protect me. But he beat and scolded me just to appease the anger of a small senior provincial official. He finally kicked me out of the military and his fu. My career was ruined. Of course I hate him.”
The spectators were shocked. They didn’t what kind of magic Zi You’s crystal ball held that could make Wang Haiji change his story.
But the more magical thing was still to come. They saw that Wang Haiji had actually fallen asleep. He was asleep, but he could still answer Zi You’s questions.
One person asked and one person answered. The whole ins and outs of the matter were clearly revealed in front of everyone like this.
Zi You asked, “Do you want to avenge General Rong?”
“No. I was harmed by him until I was like a homeless cur. That darned senior provincial official even sent someone to kill me. Fourth Gongzhu’s subordinates saved me when I had no way out. She wanted me to act out a show to assassinate the Emperor and frame Rong Yunhe. I had no choice but to do it.” Wang Haiji answered slowly with his eyes closed.
Zi You looked at the Emperor’s livid face. She asked, “How did you find Rong Yunhe?”
Wang Haiji replied, “The General’s Manor is heavily guarded. I could not go inside. Then Fourth Gongzhu told me that the female medical team will buy things at the market on the 29th. She wanted me to wait for him at the market. She wanted me to persuade him to enter the Palace and act with us.”
“Then did Rong Yunhe agree?” Zi You had put her crystal ball away at this time. She stood there calmly and asked slowly.
Wang Haiji still answered with his eyes closed. “No. He was afraid of implicating Mu Xiaojie and his sister. He wouldn’t do it. Then Fourth Gongzhu said that she would send someone to help us, take us into the Palace, and call us......”
“You’re speaking nonsense!” Fourth Wangzi suddenly shouted. “Who are you? Why are you framing Fourth Gongzhu?”
Wang Haiji was suddenly disturbed. He was immediately restless.
Zi You looked coldly at Fourth Wangzi. Then she bowed deeply. “Chennu had said that there can be no disruptions during the hypnosis. But there’s no need to ask anymore. Emperor should know who really wants to kill you, right?”
“Impossible.” Imperial Tutor She rebutted for Fourth Gongzhu. “Emperor, who doesn’t know that you dote on Fourth Gongzhu? She has no reason to kill you.”
Zi You pretended to be sad and helpless as she shook her head. “Emperor, Fourth Gongzhu doesn’t want to assassinate you. She wants Chennu’s head. As Imperial Tutor She said, Rong Yunhe is part of the female medical team. As long as he was involved in the assassination case, Chennu will have to die for the crime. Even grandfather and uncle would be implicated and unable to plead on Chennu’s behalf. If Chennu is not mistaken, the assassins who committed suicide were sent by Fourth Gongzhu too.”
Zi You knelt down in front of the Emperor and kowtowed tearfully. “Chennu can’t even use Chennu’s death to make up for causing the Emperor to be frightened and leading to the deaths of so many officials and their families. Please hand out punishment, Emperor!”
Old General Mu and Mu YingYi went over to kneel in front of the Emperor too. “Chen is also guilty. Please hand out punishment, Emperor!”
The Emperor was so angry that the blue veins on his temple throbbed. At this point, he was a monarch in vain if he still didn’t understand what was going on.
He didn’t think that his own daughter was so tyrannical. To avenge her own personal grievances, she sent assassins to assassinate her Fuwang to achieve her purpose.
His daughter was like this, but his son not only did not dissuade her, but tried to defend her, cover for her, and tried to frame Rong Yunhe to achieve their purpose.
But they had no conflict with Mu Zi You. Why were they wholeheartedly bent on harming her? The Emperor did not understand.
He looked at the three generations of the Mu family kneeling in front of him. He knew that he could only severely punish Shangguan Lingluo to provide an explanation for everyone, including the dead and injured officials and their families.
The Emperor was so angry that he almost spat out blood. His original dislike of Shangguan Lingluo had turned into deep resentment. Swords had no eyes. Aren’t you afraid that you will hurt your Fuwang and your own siblings? Or do you not care whether we live or die?
Under extreme anger, the Emperor commanded Taizi, “Execute Shangguan Lingluo. Reduce Fourth Wangzi to a commoner. He will be forbidden from entering the imperial city again.”
“Please reconsider, Emperor!” Imperial Tutor She immediately knelt down. “You cannot proclaim Fourth Gongzhu and Fourth Wangzi guilty just based on Mu Xiaojie’s whatever hypnosis and the assassin’s words! Chen thinks that Mu Xiaojie’s whatever hypnosis is too absurd. Who has heard of it? Who has seen it? That crystal ball is probably the problem. How do we not know that it was a play by Mu Xiaojie and the assassin?”
Taizi then jumped out and looked meaningfully at Imperial Tutor She. “Imperial Tutor She is not being fair to Mu Xiaojie. Just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean that it’s absurd or unreliable. Fuwang, Erchen believes Mu Xiaojie.”
Taizi was bent on killing Shangguan Lingluo. That woman was too crazy! Who knew when she would act up again? She entangled with him in broad daylight and made him cut such a sorry figure.
It was too dangerous to leave her alive! He had lost a secret guard because of her today. That was already enough to make him distressed. It wouldn’t be worth it if he lost Mu Zi You and Mu Junyuan’s support too.
He was together with Shangguan Lingluo in the beginning not only for the *** excitement. It was mainly because she could say some good things about in front of Fuwang.
But now, she had obviously lost Fuwang’s love. She was an abandoned child. Keeping her alive was the equivalent of leaving a hidden danger behind to constantly make him afraid!
Imperial Tutor She did not expect that Taizi would refute him. This matter today was planned by the Empress for him to go up against Old General Mu.
Imperial Tutor She also did not understand why the Empress wanted to do this. His daughter had deep thoughts. Even he, her father, was ashamed that he could not guess what she was thinking.
Shangguan Lingluo was raised by the Empress and was just like the Empress’ own daughter. She had always been on good terms with Taizi. They were more like brother and sister than biological brothers and sisters. But why did Taizi not plead for Shangguan Lingluo?
Imperial Tutor She looked puzzled at his grandson. He looked embarrassed. “Taizi, Fourth Gongzhu is your sister. Can you bear to watch her die?”
“This Taizi can’t bear it, of course.” Taizi looked sadly at Imperial Tutor She and said vehemently, “But a Wangzi guilty of a crime will be punished the same as a commoner. Even if this Taizi can’t bear it even more, this Taizi cannot ignore the country’s laws. For her own private grievance, Fourth Gongzhu disregarded the country’s laws, Fuwang’s safety, and the life and death of the officials and committed such a heinous crime. How can this Taizi still shield her?”
Taizi’s rousing speech made a lot of officials nod fervently. Even Old General Mu’s impression of him had changed. He had a better understanding of him ruining his granddaughter’s reputation from before. Perhaps he really did like You’er. That was why he would speak up for You’er at this time.
Zi You seemed to be moved too. She gratefully bowed to Taizi. “Thank you for Taizi’s trust in Chennu.”
She then turned to look at the Emperor. “Emperor, if Imperial Tutor She is willing, Chennu can also hypnotize him. That way his doubts will be resolved. Also, the crystal ball is an ordinary crystal ball. If the officials here don’t believe it, everyone can crush it for verification.”
Zi You handed the crystal ball over.
A palace servant quickly took it and handed it to the Emperor. The Emperor turned and looked it over a few times before handing it over to the officials. “You can take a look to see if there is anything unusual about it.”
The officials passed it around and it finally landed in Third Wangzi’s hands. Third Wangzi carefully looked it over and volunteered, “Fuwang, Erchen is willing to smash this crystal ball for verification.”
“Permitted!” The Emperor immediately allowed it without any hesitation. Actually, he was shocked by Zi You’s hypnosis too.
A small ball could make someone speak the truth in his sleep. If Zhen can use this ability, then wouldn’t Zhen know what every official, Wangzi, and consort’s real thoughts are? But if she used hypnosis on me, then wouldn’t she know Zhen’s thoughts?
What a dilemma! Does this Mu Zi You really have some special ability like her mother? Should Zhen kill her or leave her alive? How is it good if Zhen leave her alive, but can’t use her? But if Zhen kills her, will some disaster happen?
The Emperor looked at the cold, calm, and confident Zi You. He was in a dilemma.
Humans always feared the unknown. Obviously Zi You’s actions made the suspicious Emperor fearful.
Zi You guessed what he was thinking by looking at his uncertain face. She seemed to have guessed exactly what he was thinking. She secretly sneered, but didn’t say anything.
She waited until Third Wangzi had smashed the crystal ball into a pile of broken crystal fragments and handed them over for the Emperor to check. She then said slowly, “Emperor, actually, hypnosis is just psychological suggestion. This method has long existed. There are records of it in ‘The Yellow Emperor’s Internal Canon.’ If you don’t believe it, you can ask the imperial doctors.”
The Emperor was suspicious, so of course he would thoroughly ask questions. He ordered Fourth Gongzhu and Fourth Wangzi to be imprisoned in solitary confinement. Then he appeased the injured officials and their families. Rong Yunhe and his sister were also locked in jail. This matter then came to an end.
Afterwards, he asked a senior imperial doctor about hypnosis. He even summoned and carefully asked Daoist Priest Tianxuan, whom he trusted.
The imperial doctor replied, “Replying to Emperor. The ‘Yellow Emperor’s Internal Canon’ does have records of hypnosis. But Chen has tried many times and did not succeed.”
Daoist Priest Tianxuan answered even more simply. “This poor Daoist knows about this method. The hypnosis effect on those with anxiety and fear is very good.”
The Emperor immediately said, “Then can you hypnotize Fourth Gongzhu? Zhen wants to ask her why she did it.”
But Shangguan Lingluo was never hypnotized. Shangguan Lingluo and Fourth Wangzi left behind letters asking for forgiveness. They had both hung themselves in their jail cells.