Chapter 86 What a meticulous mind!
Sheng Lingxue nodded emphatically, her eyes brimming with tears: "I told you, I came tonight to wait for you, to hand over all the evidence to you. I didn't even know if you would come. I was thinking that if you didn't come tonight, I would come again tomorrow night, and the night after, until you appeared."
"Fortunately, you didn't keep me waiting any longer."
"Let's go, I'll take you to get the evidence."
Her gaze fell upon the pile of paper money that had been completely extinguished and turned to ashes, and a poignant yet relieved smile appeared on her face. This heavy secret had weighed her down for a whole year! Now, she could finally… find peace.
Shen Qingci followed Sheng Lingxue and secretly sneaked into the Sheng residence, heading straight for her courtyard.
Sheng Lingxue entered the room without hesitation and quickly took out a thick oil paper package from a very hidden compartment, handing it to Shen Qingci: "I couldn't sleep at night with these things here, but now I can finally give them to you."
Shen Qingci almost couldn't wait, so he tore open the oil paper package and opened one of the already yellowed envelopes!
Above was Huo Yunzhan's all-too-familiar handwriting! In the letter, he was explaining in detail how to find a way to obtain items bearing the handwriting of the enemy emperor or the enemy general, and then... to send them back to the capital quietly!
Sheng Lingxue looked at Shen Qingci's hands, which were trembling slightly with excitement, her eyes dark and brooding. She murmured softly, "Qingci... you must... avenge your parents, your elder brother, and the hundreds of innocent souls of the Shen family."
Shen Qingci quickly scanned the contents of the letter, and after confirming its authenticity, he completely believed everything Sheng Lingxue had said!
Her face was deathly pale, but she simply raised her head and nodded, her eyes filled with unwavering determination: "Don't worry, Sister Sheng, I definitely will!"
After much deliberation, she decided to be honest: "I have no feelings left for Huo Yunzhan or the Huo family, only hatred."
Her lips trembled slightly: "Huo Yunzhan... isn't dead at all! It's Huo Yunting who died!"
"It was Huo Yunzhan who took Huo Yunting's place and returned to the capital."
"For the past month or so, he has been using the identity of Huo Yunting to have sex with that bitch Liu Ruolan in front of me! He has also allowed that poisonous woman Liu Ruolan to bully me at every turn! He even... he even went so far as to drug me and send me to that tyrannical emperor's bed!"
Sheng Lingxue's previously calm face suddenly showed a look of astonishment: "What?"
Shen Qingci forced a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Huo Yunzhan and the Huo family have treated me this way, so I will never show any mercy to the Huo family!"
Sheng Lingxue frowned, somewhat worried.
Shen Qingci quickly said, "But don't worry, Sister Sheng, since Huo Yunzhan is going to fake his death, then I'll make him really die a complete death!"
"In about ten days, once his mourning period is over, I will immediately marry Regent Chu Jichen."
Sheng Lingxue's eyes were somewhat dazed as she murmured to herself, "Regent Chu Jichen?"
Shen Qingci nodded, a resolute glint in her eyes: "The moment I learned that Huo Yunzhan had faked his death and returned, I had already given up on him completely and was already planning my future and looking for a suitable person to remarry."
"My wedding with Chu Jichen is already being prepared."
"My enemies are not only Huo Yunzhan and the Huo family, but also Prime Minister Liu, who colluded with them! And that tyrannical emperor!"
"I married Chu Jichen. With Chu Jichen as my support, it will be much easier for me to take revenge."
Sheng Lingxue said thoughtfully, "Yes, but the Regent... he knows you..."
She fell silent halfway through her sentence, but Shen Qingci still understood what she wanted to express.
"Don't worry, Chu Jichen knows everything."
"When the late emperor passed away, Father publicly supported Chu Jichen's regency and his assistance to the new emperor in court. Chu Jichen believed that the reason why the tyrannical emperor would target the Shen family was largely due to Father's public support that time."
"Therefore, he has always felt guilty towards our Shen family. Over the years, he has also been secretly helping me investigate the truth behind the execution of the entire Shen family back then."
“I will take advantage of his guilt and use his strength.”
Sheng Lingxue nodded, finally letting out a slight sigh of relief. She nodded again, but her expression remained somewhat dazed: "I was going to say that if there was really no other way, I... I would just go all out and beg my father to think of a way to help you."
"But if you have the Regent as your support, then... that would be even better."
"In the current court, the only one who can rival the Emperor, the Prime Minister, and the Yongning Marquis's mansion is the Regent."
Shen Qingci let out a breath: "Yes."
She looked down at the heavy letter in her hand: "Then I'll head back now. Thank you, Sister Sheng."
Sheng Lingxue shook her head, her eyes still somewhat unfocused: "Having entrusted these things to you, and knowing that you are about to marry the Regent, I am relieved. I can finally... give your elder brother an explanation."
Her last words were spoken so softly, so very softly, that they seemed to have already drifted away in the night wind.
Shen Qingci didn't even hear her, and just waved to Sheng Lingxue: "Then I'm leaving, goodbye Sister Sheng."
As Sheng Lingxue watched Shen Qingci's resolute departing figure, a faint smile appeared on her lips, a bittersweet yet relieved one. She murmured softly, "Goodbye."
...
As soon as Shen Qingci returned to the courtyard, she went straight to the study. Almost impatiently, she took out all the letters she had received from Sheng Lingxue and carefully read them one by one by the dim candlelight.
Those letters were almost all correspondence between Huo Yunzhan and the two border guards.
The two border generals had clearly been bribed by Huo Yunzhan. In his letters, Huo Yunzhan kept instructing them to steal some of the correspondence between their father and elder brother and the capital, as well as the strategic notes they had previously prepared, from the border camp and send them to Huo Yunzhan.
Shen Qingci closed her eyes. Her father and brother were both rare military talents of their time, skilled in warfare and loving their soldiers like their own children. They were highly respected in the army.
The two border guards thought to themselves more than once that all they could find were some notes on strategic analysis and the deployment of troops on both sides, and nothing else of any suspicious nature.
However, Huo Yunzhan tricked him out of everything by claiming that he was General Shen's future son-in-law and also a military officer who would surely lead troops into battle in the future. He said he wanted to learn from his father-in-law and brother-in-law's strategic analysis and notes.
Shen Qingci's throat tightened slightly, and her whole body trembled uncontrollably. No wonder her father and brother said that these letters were not enough as evidence to save them and the Shen family.
Huo Yunzhan's letter was dignified and legitimate, without revealing his true purpose. All they knew was that Huo Yunzhan had taken these letters and imitated the handwriting of her father and elder brother, framing them for treason.
These correspondence alone are not enough to convict Huo Yunzhan.
Shen Qingci's hands trembled as she held the letter. Huo Yunzhan... what a meticulous mind he has!
In fact, if Sheng Lingxue hadn't witnessed Huo Yunzhan sneaking into her father's study to steal things, they probably wouldn't have thought much of it even if they had obtained these correspondences.
Hatred surged within her like a raging storm, threatening to engulf her entirely! Just then, she was suddenly embraced gently from behind in a warm and firm hug.
Shen Qingci paused for a moment before turning his head: "Your Highness."
The person who arrived was Chu Jichen. Chu Jichen had already learned from the secret guards about Shen Qingci's sneaking into the Shen residence that night and his meeting with Sheng Lingxue.
He gave a soft reply, then pulled Shen Qingci, who seemed so fragile at the moment, into a tight embrace, his voice low and gentle: "Don't worry, I will definitely... avenge you."
He covered Shen Qingci's eyes, which were brimming with tears, his voice filled with heartache and pity: "Alright, let's stop watching... let's stop watching for now."
"Go back inside and get some rest."
"Leave the rest to me! You're too tired..."
For some reason, Shen Qingci, who was just immersed in extreme anger and grief and unable to extricate herself, suddenly felt sleepy and tired just because of Chu Jichen's few words.
She nodded and let Chu Jichen lead her back to the house. She lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, she was woken up by Wanqing, who looked panicked: "Miss, something terrible has happened!"
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