Chapter 133 This power, in the end, was borrowed.
When Shen Qingci followed Chu Jichen to the outside of Jingren Palace, before they even got close, they could hear a series of loud crashes of porcelain shattering coming from inside the palace, mixed with a woman's furious curses.
"You slut! Shen Qingci, you slut! And Chu Jichen, that cripple! You just wait!"
Chu Jichen maneuvered his wheelchair to a stop outside the palace gate. He did not go in, but turned to look at Shen Qingci, a meaningful smile curving his lips: "After all, Consort Shu is a woman. It would be inconvenient for me, an outsider, to go in."
He paused, a hint of indulgence and encouragement flashing in his eyes: "Qingqing, go in."
Shen Qingci looked up and met his deep eyes: "Your Highness, what do you plan to do with Consort Shu? After all, she is a palace concubine and the daughter of Prime Minister Liu."
Chu Jichen chuckled lightly, but his voice carried an undeniable coldness: "Even a prince is subject to the law. You only need to remember one thing," his gaze fell on her face, filled with absolute favoritism and support, "that it was Consort Shu who drugged you, and there is ample evidence. In this matter, you are entirely in the right."
"You can hit me, scold me, or punish me however you like."
"You can also... sow discord while you're at it." A wicked glint flashed in his eyes. "Whether it's sowing discord between Consort Shu and Emperor Yongming, or between Consort Shu and Prime Minister Liu, or between Consort Shu and her dear sister Liu Ruolan, it's all up to you."
"Today, you are in charge of Jingren Palace."
With those words from him, Shen Qingci had no more reservations.
She nodded, straightened her sleeves, and, accompanied by Qin Yun and Yun Lan, strode confidently into the main hall of Jingren Palace.
The hall was in a mess, with debris scattered all over the floor.
Consort Shu, Liu Rushuang, was disheveled and looked like she was insane. As soon as she saw Shen Qingci enter, her bloodshot eyes flashed with a terrifying ferocity!
"Shen Qingci! You dare to come here?!" She screamed, as if she had gone mad, and raised her hand to slap Shen Qingci hard across the face!
However, before her hand could even get close to Shen Qingci, her wrist was firmly gripped by a hand as strong as an iron clamp!
It is the sound of a zither.
Qin Yun remained expressionless, but she exerted a little force in her hand. With a "crack," Consort Shu's wrist felt like it had been dislocated!
"Ah!" Consort Shu let out a piercing scream of pain, and roared even more furiously, "You wretch! That aphrodisiac yesterday! Did you put it in my mouth? Did you?!"
Shen Qingci found her disgraceful appearance laughable.
She stepped forward slowly, her face displaying just the right amount of surprise and innocence: "What nonsense is Your Majesty spouting? Yesterday, I stayed in Jingren Palace with you the whole time. I did my duty and sat in my seat. The tea and incense were all from Jingren Palace. How could I have had the opportunity to drug you?"
"Moreover," she sneered, turning to take a scroll from Yunlan's hand and throwing it directly at Consort Shu's face, "your trusted maid has already confessed that you instructed her to put the poison in the incense burner! The evidence is overwhelming, and you still want to deny it?"
"You're lying! You're talking nonsense!" Consort Shu roared hysterically.
"Consort Shu, née Liu, is vicious and wicked. She plotted to drug me at the palace banquet, to ruin my reputation and disgrace the royal family! According to the laws of my Great Zhou Dynasty, she should be flogged twenty times, stripped of her title as consort, and banished to the Cold Palace!" Shen Qingci's voice suddenly turned stern and full of authority.
Upon hearing this, Consort Shu seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world: "You dare?"
Why wouldn't I dare?
Shen Qingci slowly squatted down to meet her gaze, her eyes filled with mockery and pity. "I've come here to tell you something. Just now in the Taiji Hall, His Majesty and Prime Minister Liu were both there, and they... didn't utter a single objection to how I intend to deal with you."
The color drained from Consort Shu's face instantly, her eyes filled with disbelief: "No...impossible! His Majesty and Father...how could they..."
Shen Qingci smiled, a smile that, in Consort Shu's eyes, was like a ghost: "Your Majesty, between you, a pawn that can be discarded at any time, and me, the princess whom the Regent cherishes dearly, who would His Majesty and the Prime Minister choose?"
"Weighing the pros and cons, is it worth offending the powerful Regent for someone as incompetent and detrimental as you?"
“Moreover,” Shen Qingci’s voice was extremely low, like the whisper of a devil, “I heard it with my own ears: Prime Minister Liu said that you are nothing more than a plaything for him to consolidate his power.”
"And yesterday, many people witnessed your absurd behavior with His Majesty."
"When the palace doors were kicked open, you and His Majesty were..."
Consort Shu screamed, interrupting Shen Qingci.
Of course she knew what had happened between her and His Majesty yesterday; it was a scene she dared not mention, or even recall!
Shen Qingci chuckled: "Your reputation is ruined, and you've become the subject of everyone's gossip, both inside and outside the palace. Do you think you're still as useful to Prime Minister Liu as before? He'll only feel that you've made him unable to hold his head up in court. He's already given up on you."
Consort Shu was completely devastated! She couldn't believe it! She couldn't believe that her father and His Majesty would treat her like this!
Before she could retort, Shen Qingci had already stood up and called out to the outside of the hall, "Guards! Bring the torture bench and the torture rod! This princess consort will personally supervise the execution!"
Soon, two strong old women carried in the torture bench and a thick, long torture stick.
Consort Shu was pressed firmly onto the stool. When the cold, hard stick, accompanied by a whistling sound, landed heavily on her body, all her disbelief and wishful thinking instantly turned into excruciating pain and despair!
"Ah—! I want to see His Majesty! I want to see my father!" she screamed shrilly, but no one paid any attention.
"Shen Qingci! You bitch! You're only taking revenge on me because of Ruolan, aren't you? Go find her if you dare! Go find Liu Ruolan!"
Shen Qingci looked down at her and smiled: "Your Majesty is overthinking it. Today's events have nothing to do with Liu Ruolan. It's purely because you drugged me."
"As for Liu Ruolan..." A cold killing intent flashed in her eyes, "What she owes me is far more than just twenty strokes. Naturally, I won't settle things with her with such a trivial matter."
After twenty strokes of the cane, Consort Shu was already on the verge of death, slumped on the stool like a dead dog.
Shen Qingci didn't even glance at her. He went straight to the desk next to him, ground the ink himself, and wrote a confession with flowing strokes. Then he grabbed Consort Shu's already weak hand, dipped it in ink, and pressed his fingerprint heavily onto the confession.
"Take the deposed Consort Liu to the Cold Palace! Keep her under strict guard and forbid anyone from visiting her!" she ordered coldly.
After doing all this, Shen Qingci gracefully walked out of Jingren Palace.
Chu Jichen was still waiting outside the door. When he saw her come out, he maneuvered his wheelchair to greet her.
"Is everything taken care of?"
"Hmm." Shen Qingci nodded, then lowered her voice, "Your Highness, have people keep a close eye on the Cold Palace and the Prime Minister's residence. If Consort Shu tries to send messages out, stop her immediately. Or... we can imitate Prime Minister Liu's handwriting and send some messages into the Cold Palace."
Upon hearing this, Chu Jichen's eyes flashed with an approving smile: "Good."
Looking into Shen Qingci's eyes, which seemed even brighter and sharper from the control she had over the entire situation, he couldn't help but chuckle softly, "How does it feel to hold the power of life and death in your own hands?"
A carefree smile slowly curved Shen Qingci's lips: "Of course... that's excellent."
But a voice inside me reminded me that this power was ultimately borrowed.
She needs to quickly, with Chu Jichen's protection, build a force that will be completely under her command!
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