After leaving Fan Yu’s house, Su Rong wondered if she should go to Rui’an King? After all, this case is officially led by the Rui’an King. Despite being ill, he is still the chief judge.
So, Su Rong said to Zhou Gu, "I’m going to Rui’an King’s residence, you should go back! You take the child first, stay at your house for tonight, and send him to the Shen Residence tomorrow."
Zhou Gu wanted to say, "I will go with you to Rui’an King’s residence.", but before he could speak, Su Rong bluntly stopped the words from coming out of his mouth, "You are wounded, stop messing around, hurry back."
Zhou Gu shut his mouth and silently nodded.
Fan Yu remained silent and let Zhou Gu take him to the Duke Residence first.
After the two of them left, Su Rong headed towards the Rui’an King’s residence.
After walking not far, she encountered a woman hidden in the shadows at the corner of the street. Dressed in night attire just like her, the woman’s silhouette suggested she was a female, with a veil covering her face, leaving only her eyes visible.
Su Rong thought to herself: as expected, those people in Fan Yu’s house were just a mere warm-up for this main event.
"Lady Su Qi, let’s make a deal! Give me what you obtained today, in exchange for your mother’s and six sisters’ lives. It’s a great deal," the woman’s voice was a bit hoarse.
Su Rong smiled and confronted her directly, "Honorable Imperial Concubine, coming out from the forbidden palace in the middle of the night must be exhausting? During the day you invited me to your palace, yet tonight you are too impatient and have come to see me. Unexpected."
The Imperial Concubine’s expression changed instantly upon realizing that Su Rong recognized her with only a glance. She reverted to her original, soft voice, "Lady Su Qi, your perception is keen; you recognized me with just one glance. Well then, since that’s the case, let’s get straight to it. Will you exchange the lives of your mother and six sisters, Lady Su Qi?"
"I haven’t had the chance to see evidence, how does the Imperial Concubine know it involves you?" Su Rong asked.
"Let’s not mince words. You’ve figured it out, haven’t you? During the day, you interrogated many in the palace, but you never came to see me," the Imperial Concubine replied, "I knew Fan Si had something of mine, and I thought he would’ve hidden it somewhere no one would have thought to look. Who would have thought he would hide it in his own house."
"So, you’ve been waiting for me to show up because you weren’t sure where he hid it? You planted people to track my every move in case I found any clues or evidence? So you could intercept me on time? The city is teeming with your spies who track my every move, isn’t it?" Su Rong raised an eyebrow.
The Imperial Concubine shook her head, "Not everywhere, just outside Shen Residence and the Eastern Palace. I simply arranged for people to keep an eye on you," she chuckled, "I really hadn’t expected that Lady Su Qi, you have such great capabilities. You have close relations with Crown Prince, and despite being engaged, you’ve managed to have Zhou Gu, who hasn’t fully recovered from his injuries, to accompany you."
Su Rong came to a realization, "Since Your Highness is willing to threaten me with my mother and six sisters, I assume that you must know they are my weak point. Without seeing them in person, I can’t be sure. So naturally, the evidence cannot be given to you."
The Imperial Concubine nodded, apparently anticipating Su Rong’s response, and said, "I have my men bring them here already. We’ll trade the people for the evidence."
With that said, she snapped her fingers, and a few people were dragged out of the carriage behind her.
Upon seeing, it was indeed her mother and her sisters. Each one was bound and gagged with a scarf. Her mother wore an indignant expression while her sisters were pale but relatively calm. When they saw Su Rong, they seemed to understand what was happening and looked at her with guilt, especially her mother who shook her head, whimpering.
Su Rong held her finger to her lips for quiet, and her mother immediately fell silent.
Turning to face the Imperial Concubine, Su Rong held out the sealed package she had retrieved from Fan Si. It was covered in damp soil, and she tossed it to the Imperial Concubine.
The Imperial Concubine Zhen hadn’t expected her to be so straightforward. After taking the leather paper parcel hesitantly, she opened it, took a quick look, saw that it was truly the evidence, a smile emerged on her face, and she finally let her guard down. "Lady Su Qi, you are decisive and straightforward, the type suited for great undertakings. Truth be told, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t want to be your enemy."
Su Rong replied, "My master had a daughter in his forties, whom he treasured dearly. Eventually, for the sake of his daughter, he retired from the martial arts world and settled in Jiangning County, where he served as a physician at Huichun Hall. On his deathbed, though he missed his daughter, he didn’t seek her out one last time. Today, I understand why it was impossible for him to see her. Who doesn’t know that the Imperial Concubine Zhen, who is favored among all women in the palace, is the daughter of the renowned assassin Fang Wuying from the martial arts world three decades ago?"
Imperial Concubine Zhen lowered her gaze, but after a moment, she laughed again, "So, in essence, you’re my junior sister as you’ve learned from my father. You should call me senior sister."
"Sure, senior sister," Su Rong agreed quickly, "I’ve given the evidence to you, senior sister, and you can let them go now. The dawn is about to break, it’s time for you to return to the palace."
Imperial Concubine Zhen looked at her, "Is baby sister too naive? Did my father only teach you how to kill? Didn’t he teach you anything else?"
Su Rong shook her head, "He also taught me to recognize medicinal herbs and neutralize poisons, but I’m not very proficient in these areas. However, I’ve learned the skill of killing with a golden needle exceedingly well."
Imperial Concubine Zhen said, "Killing is about strategy, It’s not enough to just know how to kill. For example, you gave me the evidence before I released them. If I were to go back on my word, what would you do?"
Su Rong raised her eyebrows, "Will senior sister go back on her word?"
Imperial Concubine Zhen laughed, "Since you’ve called me senior sister, it’s only natural that I should go back on my word. You only know that my father had one daughter, but you don’t know that the moment I entered the palace, I severed my relationship with him."
She stared at Su Rong, "I am not your senior sister."
"No issue, I won’t call you that then." Su Rong gazed at her, "So, you’re teaching me how to go back on one’s word?"
"Yes, to teach you a lesson so that you won’t repeat it in the future." The Imperial Concubine turned around, her face solemn, and ordered the people behind her, "Take them all away."
Su Rong cracked a smile, "I’m afraid, dear Imperial Concubine, you won’t be able to take them, let alone leave yourself."
Imperial Concubine Zhen abruptly stopped and turned back to look at Su Rong.
Su Rong snapped her fingers, and Fen Ling darted out from behind the wall previously occupied by the Imperial Concubine. With the sword at the Imperial Concubine’s throat, she laughed and said, "Imperial Concubine, don’t move. A single move, and your beautiful head will be separated from your body."
Imperial Concubine Zhen’s face turned pale.
Su Rong stepped forward and said with a smile, "Imperial Concubine, you’re indeed shrewd and well-prepared. I bet you had my mother and sisters kidnapped days ago. But how did you know that I wasn’t aware of your murderous intentions long before? You overlooked one thing: if you wanted to keep the kidnapping incident a secret from me, you should have also kidnapped uncle Xie who raised me."
She sighed, "It’s such a pity that you, Imperial Concubine, show no gratitude towards your own father. If you had acknowledged me as your junior sister, I would have respected you for my master’s sake. Unfortunately, you show no filial piety, and reneged on your words. Don’t blame me for being rude. I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave here unscathed today."
Imperial Concubine Zhen was lost for words, she hadn’t expected someone hidden behind her. How long had this person been following her? From the moment she left the palace?
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