Chapter 70 Innocence By day, he was as cold as ice to the court lady, but at night…
Fangru knelt on the spot, her body ice-cold, listening to the impending death sentence.
The princess's majestic voice descended from above, each word striking like a hammer blow: "...According to the law, he should be executed."
She subconsciously looked up at the person sitting on the throne.
Zhou Lingman casually fiddled with the jade thumb ring in his hand. Noticing her gaze, he lazily raised his eyes. In the instant their eyes met, Fangru clearly saw the indifference that flashed across his eyes.
My heart sank completely.
Just as the eunuch stepped forward to restrain her, a thought flashed through her mind like lightning: having lived several lifetimes, she knew the secrets of everyone in the palace.
"Your Highness!" Fangru suddenly looked up, her voice hoarse but unusually firm, "I have something important to tell you, and I humbly request that we move to the inner room for a discussion."
The eldest princess frowned in displeasure: "Now that things have come to this, what excuses do you have left?"
Fangru took a deep breath, her gaze sweeping casually over the indifferent figure seated on the throne, finally settling on the slightly uneasy face of the eldest princess.
She deliberately lowered her voice, but made sure that every word reached the princess's ears clearly:
"This matter concerns the Prince Consort..."
The princess's expression changed slightly.
At this moment, Zhou Muchen, who had been standing quietly by the sidelines, spoke up: "Aunt, since Miss Shen insists on telling us in private, there must be some hidden reason."
After a moment's hesitation, the princess finally stood up and said, "Come with me."
She bowed slightly to Zhou Ling: "Your Majesty, please wait a moment."
Zhou Ling waved his hand casually, his gaze never leaving the jade thumb ring in his hand.
Fangru stood up with difficulty and followed the princess to the side hall. As she passed Zhou Ling, she could clearly feel the gaze that never fell on her.
The door to the side hall closed behind her. The princess turned around, her voice icy:
"You'd better say something of value."
Fangru knelt on the cold bluestone slab.
The princess's condescending gaze was like an ice-cold knife, scraping her cheeks until they felt tight, and even breathing felt painful and difficult.
"Speak," the eldest princess said again, "What exactly is the problem with the驸马's private property in Jiangnan?"
Fangru's heart sank suddenly.
She had brought up this excuse in her haste to buy time, but now that she was about to explain, her mind went blank. Although she had paid attention to royal secrets in her previous lives, she had never heard of the prince consort having any connection with the private property in Jiangnan.
She lowered her eyes, her eyelashes trembling violently, her nails digging deep into her palms, forcing herself to calm down and not panic, because if she panicked, everything would be over.
She slowly raised her eyes, trying to catch some emotion on the princess's face, but only saw a bottomless coldness.
“Your Highness,” she said, deliberately lowering her voice to make it sound hesitant and cautious, “this matter involves many things and requires me to think it over carefully… After all, it was something I overheard my elders mention a few years ago, and since it has been so long, I can’t remember many of the details clearly.”
This statement was half true and half false; it neither directly fabricated nor did it give the speaker any time to prepare.
The eldest princess was clearly unconvinced, her brows furrowing even more deeply: "Shen Fangru, I'm not here to listen to your ambiguous words. If you can't produce concrete evidence, can you bear the charge of 'slandering the royal family' today?"
Fangru's back instantly broke out in a cold sweat, and memories of her previous lives flashed through her mind.
She desperately tried to recall every detail about the princess and her husband: the husband's political views in court, the princess's social interactions in the palace, the expenses of their household... But what horrified her was that the couple had always been dutiful in every life and had never done anything out of line.
She even recalled a past life where the imperial son-in-law offended Zhou Ling with his outspoken advice and was demoted and sent to a remote post, yet he still maintained his good reputation.
The incense in the hall gradually intensified, carrying a somewhat somber sweetness that made one's chest feel heavy.
Meanwhile, inside the main hall outside the palace, the atmosphere was also somewhat subtle.
Zhou Ling had already stood up from the dragon throne, raised his hand to straighten his cuffs, and said in a calm but undeniably authoritative tone: "Prepare the carriage to return to the palace."
"Your Majesty?" Zhou Muchen stepped forward hastily, his eyes filled with confusion. "The results from the inner chambers haven't come out yet. Shouldn't we wait a little longer?"
Zhou Ling turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the tightly closed palace doors, a faint, cold smile playing on his lips, though the smile didn't reach his eyes: "No need to wait. Since she dared to ask to see my aunt alone, she must have already come up with a plan. I have no interest in seeing her smug look."
Just as Zhou Muchen was about to speak, the Emperor suddenly turned around, his gaze as cold as ice: "Muchen."
The air inside the hall suddenly seemed to freeze, and Zhou Muchen unconsciously held his breath.
“The most beautiful peony in the Imperial Garden,” Zhou Ling’s voice was as soft as a whisper, yet every word was clear, “everyone wants to pick it.”
He finally turned half his face to the side, a cold star seeming to gleam in his eyes: "But you must remember, some flowers are not to be touched."
Having said that, he turned and left, his dragon-patterned wide sleeves fluttering in the wind like clouds.
Zhou Muchen stood there, stunned. Only after the figure disappeared outside the hall did he slowly look at the tightly closed hall door and unconsciously put his hand to his heart.
A faint, lingering feeling remained there.
The silence continued inside.
The candlelight flickered, casting the princess's long shadow on the wall, like a towering mountain.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Fangru's forehead, sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto the ground, leaving a small, dark stain.
She knew that the princess's patience was almost exhausted. The soft ringing of the jade ring just now had become noticeably faster, a sign of her impatience.
Sure enough, not long after, the eldest princess suddenly raised her hand, her voice turning icy cold: "It seems you're just spouting nonsense! Guards!"
"It's Your Majesty!"
Fangru blurted out the words almost without thinking, her voice trembling slightly with urgency, yet unusually loud, instantly interrupting the princess.
The air in the hall seemed to freeze. The princess froze in mid-air, her pupils slightly contracting as she stared at Fangru as if she were seeing her for the first time: "What did you say?"
Fangru took a deep breath, forcing herself to steady her voice, and repeated word by word: "The child in my womb belongs to Your Majesty. It is Your Majesty who has taken my innocence."
These words were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating ripples.
The eldest princess was taken aback for a moment, then let out a short, cold laugh as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world: "Absurd! His Majesty has three thousand beauties in his harem, what kind of beauty doesn't he have? How could he possibly take a fancy to you, the fiancée of a traitor? Shen Fangru, if you're going to make up a lie, at least make it believable!"
"I did not lie!" Fangru hurriedly looked up, her eyes filled with urgency and pleading. "If Your Highness does not believe me, I have evidence. Yesterday, His Majesty gave me a mutton-fat jade pendant, which was the only relic left by his birth mother, the Empress Dowager. I was flustered at the time and dared not accept it, so I threw it into the flower garden in front of the Prefect's mansion. There was a four o'clock flower planted in the corner of the flower garden, and the jade pendant was under the root of the jasmine."
She stared intently at the Princess's face, and seeing the lingering doubt in her eyes, she quickly added, "No more than three people in the world know the origin of that jade pendant. Back then, the late Emperor, traveling incognito, met the Empress Dowager when she was still a palace maid. That jade pendant was a token of love that the late Emperor gave to the Empress Dowager. Later, the Empress Dowager was forced to live among the common people, unable even to afford charcoal for heating in winter, yet she never considered selling the jade. After His Majesty ascended the throne, he found the jade pendant and carried it with him day and night, refusing to take it off even when sleeping."
These details were things she had heard from Zhou Ling in her previous lives. Fang Ru was betting that the Princess might not know these inside stories.
Sure enough, the princess's expression changed.
She did know that Zhou Ling possessed a highly prized mutton-fat jade pendant, but she had no idea of its complicated origins.
Her gaze stopped on the jade ring on her finger, falling on Fangru with a mixture of inquiry and uncertainty: "Are you telling the truth?"
"I swear on my life!" Fangru kowtowed heavily. "If I have uttered even the slightest lie, I am willing to suffer the punishment of being slowly sliced to death!"
The eldest princess remained silent.
She stared into Fangru's clear eyes, recalling how much Zhou Ling cherished that jade pendant. Once, at a palace banquet, a prince accidentally touched the pendant, and Zhou Ling's expression immediately changed. Although he didn't lash out, the atmosphere instantly turned icy. If what Fangru said was true, then the significance of this jade pendant was far more than just a "relic."
After a long silence, she finally called out to the outside of the hall, "Jinshu!"
The maid outside the door responded and entered, bowing and saying, "This servant is here."
"Take your men to the flowerbed in front of the Prefect's residence immediately, find a four o'clock flower, and search for a jade pendant at its base." The Princess's voice carried a barely perceptible urgency. "Remember, be extremely careful, and do not alert anyone!"
"Yes." Jinshu didn't dare to delay and quickly withdrew.
The palace doors closed again, and the inner chamber returned to silence.
During the waiting period, the atmosphere inside the hall was so heavy that it was hard to breathe.
To further gain the Princess's trust, Fangru slowly revealed several of Zhou Ling's little-known habits: "When His Majesty reviews memorials, he always likes to fold a small corner at the bottom of the page. This habit has been formed since he was thirteen years old and became regent. When drinking tea, he usually holds the cup with his left hand because his right hand needs to hold the pen to make annotations at any time. Also..." She paused, "He has a scar on his waist from falling into the water when he was a child. It is shaped like a crescent moon and is located below his right rib."
The eldest princess listened, her expression growing increasingly complicated.
These details are indeed not something outsiders could know.
She recalled what the late emperor had said: on the day Zhou Ling fell into the water, if it hadn't been for a passing palace maid who discovered him in time, the Great Zhou dynasty might have changed hands. This matter was considered taboo by the royal family, and few knew of it.
"Since you have such a close relationship with His Majesty," the princess's voice softened unconsciously, "why didn't His Majesty help you out when he was present?"
Fangru smiled bitterly and lowered her eyes: "Your Highness and His Majesty have known each other for many years, don't you know that his temperament is unpredictable? He is cold as ice to me during the day, but at night..." She stopped at the right moment, and a perfect blush appeared on her face, perfectly portraying the shyness and embarrassment of a young girl in love.
She continued, "As for Gu Zhou, his so-called crime of treason is nothing more than an excuse for His Majesty to seize his subject's wife. Your Highness, think carefully, if Gu Zhou were truly a member of the Baiyang Society, why not interrogate him thoroughly instead of rushing to execute him? This is clearly an attempt to silence him."
These words made the eldest princess fall into deep thought.
The eldest princess scrutinized Fangru's pale face and suddenly recalled how the late emperor had sighed to the young Zhou Ling many years ago: "This child is so deep that even I, his father, cannot see through him." At that time, Zhou Ling was only a child, yet he could silence a group of old ministers in the court.
Thinking about it this way, it's not impossible that he really did something like forcibly taking a minister's wife and framing a loyal official.
Fangru keenly noticed the change in the princess's expression and felt somewhat relieved.
But she knew perfectly well that one side's story was far from enough. The jade pendant she had discarded in the flowerbed yesterday had now become her only hope.
She glanced out the window without making a sound. Why hadn't the maid she sent to look for returned yet?
With each passing moment, Fangru's heart sank a little deeper. If she couldn't find that jade pendant...
Just then, hurried footsteps finally came from outside the hall.
Fangru's heart leaped into her throat, and she almost held her breath.
Jinshu pushed open the door and entered, holding a brocade box in her hands. She quickly walked to the Princess and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, we've found it! The jade pendant is indeed under the root of the four o'clock flower, exactly as the young lady described."
The princess took the jade pendant and examined it carefully in the light. It was indeed something Zhou Ling never parted with; she would never mistake its unique patterns and colors.
This jade pendant is something that no one outside the core members of the royal family could possibly know about.
The princess's fingers trembled slightly. She stared at the jade pendant, then glanced at Fangru kneeling on the ground, her expression incredibly complex. After a long while, she finally spoke slowly, her voice tinged with weariness: "You... get up."
Fangru was stunned for a moment before she realized what was happening. She quickly pushed herself up from the ground, but her legs were already numb. She staggered as soon as she stood up, but luckily she managed to steady herself by holding onto the corner of the table next to her.
The princess stroked the jade pendant in her hand for a long time before finally sighing, "Let it be. Let's just consider today's events a misunderstanding."
She stood up and walked to Fangru, gently supporting her arm with her hand, her tone much gentler: "You've been wronged. I'll give you an explanation when we get out later."
Fangru quickly bowed and said with just the right amount of gratitude, "Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness."
When the palace doors opened again, everyone waiting outside was stunned. The eldest princess personally helped Fangru out, her face bearing a gentle smile, a stark contrast to her previous coldness.
The sunlight shone on the two of them, giving them a golden glow, making them look exceptionally harmonious.
The eldest princess walked into the hall, her gaze sweeping across the entire room before finally settling on the pale-faced Lin Yueyao and Zhao Mingde. Her voice suddenly turned cold and sharp: "Upon my investigation, it turns out that the nanny who performed the examination was negligent and mistook the reaction to accidentally ingesting incompatible food for a sign of 'loss of virginity.' Miss Shen is still a virgin. Today's events were purely a misunderstanding!"
She paused, then her tone became even sterner: "Lin Yueyao and Zhao Mingde, you two have spread rumors and slandered others without distinguishing right from wrong. You are each sentenced to a month of confinement to reflect on your mistakes, as a warning to others!"
Lin Yueyao and Zhao Mingde's expressions changed drastically. They wanted to explain, but the princess's cold gaze forced them to swallow their words. They could only bow and accept their punishment unwillingly.
Fangru stood beside the princess, respectfully expressing her gratitude, but her heart felt heavy, as if weighed down by a stone. She knew that this was only a temporary respite.
As dusk settled, candlelight flickered gently in the breeze in the west courtyard of the Shen residence.
Fangru sat upright in the pear wood chair by the window, her fingertips holding the crumpled and then smoothed-out pulse diagnosis prescription.
The two characters "喜脉" (Xi Mai, meaning "joyful pulse") were written in ink, appearing particularly glaring in the dim candlelight.
She stared blankly out the window. The courtyard was eerily quiet in the night, even the usually noisy summer insects were silent.
Everything that happened at the flower viewing party today is playing back in my mind like a revolving lantern.
The resentful looks in Lin Yueyao and Zhao Mingde's eyes when they were punished, the seemingly gentle but actually scrutinizing gaze of the Princess, and the whispering of those noble ladies... every gaze felt like a needle piercing her heart.
She slowly got up and walked to the dressing table.
A pale, haggard face was reflected in the bronze mirror, the dark circles under the eyes particularly noticeable in the candlelight. This body was indeed changing; a strange nausea, sudden exhaustion, and...
Her slender hand unconsciously touched her lower abdomen.
"Impossible..." she murmured to herself in the mirror, "This is absolutely impossible."
The embarrassment of vomiting in public at the banquet today is still vivid in my mind; that feeling of nausea came so suddenly and was completely uncontrollable. If it really was poisoning, why would the pulse be so similar to that of someone pregnant?
"Congratulations, young lady, this is undoubtedly a pregnancy pulse. The pulse is slippery and strong, indicating that you have been pregnant for over two months."
The doctor's words still echoed in her ears; his gentle tone was like a needle chilled to the bone, piercing her heart with pain.
In this new life, she was cautious in every step she took, and never even touched the hem of a man's clothes. How could she suddenly become pregnant?
“Absurd…utterly absurd,” she murmured to herself, a tremor in her voice she herself was unaware of.
After much thought, the only explanation I could come up with was that I had inadvertently come into contact with Bai Yang's poison that day!
Those people are adept at using rare poisons to mimic illnesses, so this "pregnancy" is likely just a false appearance of poisoning.
Fangru suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the room.
To cure this poison, we must find Huang Jiang, the leader of the Baiyang Society. But that man is always elusive, with his spies all over the capital. She is a woman confined to her home, rarely even leaving her house. How could she possibly find his trail?
His steps suddenly stopped.
Memories of his past life flooded back, the scenes in the Baiyang Society's interrogation room particularly vivid. Zhou Ling had used Huang Jiang's background as bait, and even knew exactly which house Huang Jiang's old enemies lived in on Willow Lane in the south of the city.
That man was always like that, seemingly calm and collected, but in reality, he held everyone's weaknesses and secrets in his hands, manipulating the fates of others like a chess piece.
Fangru's hand unconsciously touched her lower abdomen, which was still flat, yet seemed to hold a thunderbolt that could explode at any moment.
The thought of begging him... was quickly extinguished as soon as it crossed her mind.
"No, I can't ask him." She shook her head vigorously, and as she turned around, her sleeve swept across the table, knocking the prescriptions for pulse diagnosis to the ground.
She stepped forward, her brocade shoes stomping hard on the paper, listening to the rustling sound of the paper tearing, as if she wanted to crush that absurd "pregnancy" along with it.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking and the thin mist had not yet dissipated, a small blue sedan chair quietly stopped in front of the Ministry of Justice.
The sedan curtain was lifted, and Fangru stepped down, supported by her maid Chuntao. She was wearing an elegant moon-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with a few pale blue orchids embroidered on the hem, which made her face appear even paler.
She looked up at the imposing plaque of the Ministry of Justice. The two characters "Ministry of Justice" were carved from dark blue stone, exuding a cold and hard aura in the morning light.
The two stone lions in front of the gate have deep-set eyes and protruding fangs, as if they want to devour anyone who comes near.
Chuntao squeezed her hand and whispered, "Miss, do you really want to go in? The Ministry of Justice is no ordinary place."
Fangru took a deep breath, suppressing her anxiety, and bowed to the guard at the gate. Her voice was steady: "Please inform the guard that Shen Fangru, daughter of Shen Wenzheng, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, requests an audience with Lord Zheng Yu."
The constable looked her up and down, and seeing that she was well-dressed and had an elegant demeanor, he thought she didn't look like someone who would cause trouble, so he turned around and went into the yamen.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the constable returned and led her away: "Miss Chen, Lord Zheng requests your presence in his office."
As you walk through several corridors, the smell of ink and paper gradually fills the air.
Zheng Yu's duty room was small, and the desk was piled high with files, almost completely obscuring him.
Hearing footsteps, he looked up from the files, his gaze falling on Fangru, his brows furrowing slightly: "Miss Chen? May I ask what brings you here today?"
Fangru sat down on the guest chair and slowly said, "I have come here today to help you investigate the Baiyang Society case."
Zheng Yu put down his wolf-hair brush, his fingertips pausing on the dossier, his expression distant: "Investigating cases is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. His Majesty has assigned personnel, so there's no need for Miss Shen to trouble herself. You should return to your residence and stay there to avoid unnecessary trouble."
“You flatter me, sir.” Fangru raised her eyes and met his gaze frankly. “My fiancé, Gu Zhou, had many dealings with the Baiyang Society before his death, and he told me some inside information about the Baiyang Society, such as their commonly used codes and several secret hideouts. This might be helpful to you, sir.”
“Gu Zhou is dead,” Zheng Yu shook his head, his tone tinged with impatience. “The words of a dead man are not to be trusted, especially since he was a traitor who colluded with the enemy. Please go back, young lady, and do not delay official business here.”
Fangru's hands, resting on her knees, tightened slightly. She had anticipated Zheng Yu's refusal and remembered the bargaining chip she had used in her fourth life.
"My lord," she said softly, but each word was clear, "your younger brother, Zheng Heng, is going to visit a friend in Hanzhong via Sichuan in three days, is that right?"
Zheng Yu's hand, holding the brush, suddenly paused. A drop of thick ink fell onto the rice paper, quickly spreading into a dark blot. He looked up at Fang Ru, his eyes now filled with inquiry and wariness: "How did you know?"
"I only overheard someone mention it by chance." Fangru lowered her eyes, concealing the emotions in them. "I've only heard that there have been many landslides on that mountain road in Sichuan recently, and your brother may suffer a bloody accident on this trip. If he insists on going, he may fall halfway down the mountain, break his spine, and be disabled for life."
Zheng Yu's face darkened. He stared at Fang Ru for a long time before slowly speaking, "Thank you for the reminder, Miss. However..." He stood up, gesturing for her to leave, but his tone remained firm, "The Baiyang Society's case is none of your concern, Miss."
Fangru didn't say anything more. She got up, curtsied, and slowly left the duty room with Chuntao.
As soon as I stepped into the corridor, I saw several female constables polishing their weapons. The silver blades gleamed coldly in the morning light, and the patterns on the blades were clearly visible.
Hearing footsteps, the female constables all looked up, their eyes filled with curiosity.
Fangru paused, turned to look at Zheng Yu who had come out to see the guest off, and spoke softly enough for the female constables around her to hear: "Lord Zheng just said that women shouldn't get involved in criminal cases, lest it cause delays." She raised her hand and pointed at the female constables, "Then how do you explain these female officials working in the Ministry of Justice? Aren't they women too?"
Zheng Yu's face froze instantly. He opened his mouth, but couldn't find any words to refute it.
The female constables under the eaves also stopped what they were doing, their eyes all falling on Fangru with some dissatisfaction.
Just then, a clear, cold voice suddenly came from the end of the corridor, interrupting the standoff: "Because they know how to follow the rules."
Fangru trembled all over. She would recognize that voice even if she turned to ashes.
She turned around abruptly and saw Zhou Ling standing under the corridor, dressed in a dark-colored casual robe with a white jade belt hook around his waist, his posture as upright as a pine tree.
The morning light shone through the gaps in the pillars and fell on him, casting interplay of light and shadow on his face. He was looking at her indifferently, his eyes devoid of any warmth, as if he were looking at an insignificant stranger.
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