Chapter 274 Evil

On the afternoon of the day Qiu Heng returned to the inner prison, Consort Yu invited Emperor Jingping to the Jade Palace.

"Is my beloved concubine still troubled by Qiu Heng?" Emperor Jingping felt inexplicably guilty in front of his favorite concubine.

That Qiu Heng is really ungrateful; she stubbornly refuses to admit her guilt.

Then there's Xue Quan, who's usually quite clever, but he dragged his feet when it came to handling Qiu Heng's case.

Consort Yu suddenly knelt down: "Your Majesty, I invited you here because I discovered a misunderstanding regarding Princess Suiyun—"

Emperor Jingping quickly pulled Consort Yu up: "My dear consort, what are you doing? How could you misunderstand her?"

Consort Yu rose to her feet and sighed, "The maid who shared a room with Fang Rui came to report today that Fang Rui had said she wanted to find Princess Suiyun to avenge her family, even at the cost of her life. After hearing this, I ordered a search of Fang Rui's residence and found sleeping pills..."

Why didn't this palace maid say so sooner?

"I am also very angry. That palace maid saw Fang Rui's tragic death, and she also felt... and she also felt that I had treated Princess Suiyun indifferently, so she was afraid of being punished if she spoke out. Only today, unable to bear the pangs of conscience, did she muster the courage to speak." Consort Yu lowered her eyes, her long, thick eyelashes trembling slightly, like butterflies fluttering their wings. "It's all my fault for not disciplining her properly—"

“How can you blame my beloved concubine?” Emperor Jingping said disapprovingly. “As soon as my beloved concubine heard about the new developments in the case, she told me, unable to bear seeing Qiuheng wronged. This shows my beloved concubine’s kind heart…”

Consort Yu smiled and said, "I am relieved that Your Majesty is not angry about such a misunderstanding."

"What's this?" Emperor Jingping lowered his head and gently pecked Consort Yu's beautiful cheek. "In that situation, anyone would have misunderstood. My beloved consort has been very forgiving."

"Then Qiu Heng——"

"Since Fang Rui deliberately framed him, let him go," Emperor Jingping said casually. "And reward him with some gold and silver as well."

The eunuch who went to deliver the imperial edict quickly brought Qiu Heng with him, along with Xue Quan.

"Your subject Qiuheng greets Your Majesty and the Noble Consort."

Consort Yu stared at the kneeling girl for a moment, then smiled and said, "This sinful servant Fang Rui has always harbored hatred for Princess Suiyun, and even went so far as to frame her with her life. I was caught off guard and was deceived by her. I have wronged Princess Suiyun."

"Your Majesty and the Imperial Concubine are so discerning; I feel only gratitude and no resentment whatsoever."

"Haha, Princess Suiyun is so sensible, she deserves a reward."

Emperor Jingping immediately added a pair of jade ruyi scepters to the already agreed-upon reward.

Qiu Heng thanked the emperor for his kindness and left Yu Chen Palace.

Xue Quan also left with her.

Xue Quan was filled with confusion and kept looking at Qiu Heng.

"Perhaps the Imperial Concubine suddenly feels that I have been wronged. If Eunuch Xue is in such a hurry, it would be unpleasant if the wrongful case were to be overturned in the end."

Qiu Heng's words, spoken not long ago, echoed in Xue Quan's mind, causing him to tremble inexplicably.

He thought it was just stubbornness when he heard it, but now he is alarmed.

How did you do that?

"What?"

Xue Quan frowned and didn't ask any further questions.

He had already noticed something was off about this girl through the mysterious deaths of Han Wu and his ilk; he knew she was strange and that he wouldn't get anything out of her by asking her like this.

It's really strange that she looks like an ordinary little girl with just two eyes and a mouth.

Qiu Heng returned to the Yongqing Marquis's residence in a palace sedan chair with the rewards. The old lady was so shocked when she heard the news that she knocked over her teacup.

People from all the courtyards rushed to the front courtyard to watch as the palace servants placed down the various rewards and left.

The old lady grabbed Qiuheng's arm and looked her over carefully: "Sixth girl, are you alright?"

"It's alright, I'm sorry to have worried Grandma these past few days."

The old lady smiled: "It's good that you're alright—"

"How come you're alright?" Marquis Yongqing rushed over, his face full of disbelief.

Qiu Heng smiled: "Once it's confirmed that I didn't do it, everything will be fine."

"Heng'er, go back to Lengxiang Residence to bathe and change your clothes first. We can talk about it later." The old lady was annoyed by Yongqing Bo's words and urged Qiu Heng to return to Lengxiang Residence.

The Earl of Yongqing subconsciously lifted his foot to follow, but was stopped by the old lady: "Where are you going, Earl?"

When Yongqingbo regained consciousness, he felt even more bewildered, muttering, "This is strange, this is really strange!"

Why was Liu Yatou released for no apparent reason, and why did she bring back a bunch of gifts that were clearly meant to appease her?

Honestly, just for these imperial gifts, spending a few days in jail wouldn't be a bad deal.

The old lady felt a surge of pride and said calmly, "I told you long ago, Sixth Girl will be fine."

In the evening, the three families gathered at Qiansong Hall for a reunion dinner to celebrate Qiuheng's safe return home.

On the way back after dinner, Madam Zhao looked up at the moon, her voice dazed: "If it weren't for the old man, I would have thought I had returned to the time before the New Year, when the sixth young lady was released from prison and the third branch of the family gathered together for a reunion dinner..."

Master Qiu glared at her warningly: "Stay away from that girl, and don't offend her, understand?"

Those who are constantly in jail, whether it's the Dali Temple Prison or the Imperial City Prison, are best kept at a distance.

"Does the master need to say that?" Madam Zhao sighed deeply, feeling that the future of the Earl's Mansion was darker than the night.

While everyone in the Earl's mansion had different thoughts about Qiu Heng's return, Qiu Heng took advantage of the darkness to climb over the wall and meet Xue Han by Qinglian Lake.

When Qiu Heng arrived, she saw a tall figure standing quietly, having stood there for an unknown amount of time.

"Have you been waiting long?" Qiu Heng walked up and naturally took Xue Han's hand.

"Your hands are so cold, you must have been waiting a long time. Didn't you say you'd come out after dinner? Why were you waiting like an idiot?"

Xue Han pulled Qiu Heng into his arms, gently resting his chin on the top of her head: "You've suffered these past few days."

Qiu Heng was stunned for a moment, then gently hugged him back: "Thank goodness, we came out much earlier than I expected. Consort Yu came to see us on her own initiative..."

After explaining the conditions proposed by Consort Yu, Qiu Heng noticed that Xue Han's expression was somewhat solemn.

"What's wrong? Is the interrogation of Qingfeng not going well?"

"It wasn't that things didn't go smoothly, it was that there was no interrogation." Xue Han gave a bitter smile. "Before we even started the interrogation after closing in, Qingfeng died from the poison."

Qiu Heng's eyes narrowed: "The letter to Consort Yu—"

Consort Yu showed her the letter, which demanded that she be released in exchange for Qingfeng's life.

"Qingfeng was already dead when he sent that letter. He was thinking of tricking Consort Yu into releasing you first."

Qiu Heng's expression was somewhat strange.

So there's no real stake in it, it's a complete scam.

She suspected that Xue Han was inspired by her to deceive Consort Yu.

"Consort Yu did say that she doesn't care whether Qingfeng lives or dies; what she cares about is the antidote."

But it is Aomine who possesses the antidote.

"Although Qingfeng is dead, he left behind a lot of antidote pills. Uncle Xu said that if we give him more time, we might be able to analyze the prescription for those antidote pills."

Fearing that Qiu Heng would worry, Xue Han hesitated for a moment before saying, "Based on my understanding of Uncle Xu, he must be quite confident to say that."

Qiu Heng pursed her lips slightly: "I hope we can figure it out."

Without the antidote, Consort Yu's life hangs in the balance; she will surely go mad and fight her to the death.

(End of this chapter)