Just then, a brilliant idea flashed into her mind.
With a slight dip of the wrist, the pen tip falls.
It appears to have been written quickly and in one go, but in reality, it contains hidden secrets.
Every stroke was deliberately written crookedly and carelessly.
Each stroke is blurred and connected to the next, like a ghostly scribble.
The three characters "Zheng Heyi" on the paper were written in a flamboyant and illegible manner, making them unrecognizable.
At first glance, she doesn't resemble "Zheng Heyi" at all.
On the contrary, he looks more like... Zheng Shiyan!
Qingju and Liuyun watched as Heyi put down her pen, their hearts aching with anxiety and tears welling up in their eyes, yet they were helpless.
The constables, like wolves, snatched the confession from her pen, fearing she might change her mind at any moment.
Qin Wuyu sneered smugly as he took the petition from the constable.
He only glanced at it briefly to confirm that there was ink on the signature, but he didn't bother to investigate whether the handwriting was from a human or a ghost.
Moreover, he had never seen He Yi's handwriting before.
The scribbled signature in front of him did not arouse his suspicion in the slightest.
Once the signature and fingerprint are on, the case is considered airtight!
In his eyes, these three beautiful young women were no different from the dead.
"Ink paste!"
The constable immediately brought over the bright red inkpad.
He Yi is the main culprit; only her signature is required.
But all three of them had to leave their handprints; not one could be missing.
Liu Yun was so angry that his eyes were spitting fire. Without even looking at it, he pressed his thumb hard on the inkpad box as if he wanted to puncture it!
With tears in her eyes and her body trembling, Qingju desperately left her fingerprints under the brute force of the constable.
Looking at the illegible "Zheng Shiyan," I felt a chilling sneer in my heart.
Qin Wuyu, in the future, you should go find that vengeful ghost named "Zheng Shiyan"!
[I knew I wasn't wrong! That vicious female supporting character is amazing! Zheng Shiyan, hahaha, let him go pay with his life!]
[The vicious female supporting character will insist that this wasn't your signature, and then have the people in your shop produce your own handwritten ledgers for comparison. Let's see how this corrupt official gets out of this mess!]
The handwriting is completely different; this evidence could be the knife that kills him in the future!
Seeing the confession signed and stamped with three bright red fingerprints, Qin Wuyu finally felt relieved.
A satisfied, extremely greedy smile spread across his face.
"A wise person knows when to yield! Little Princess, this is the right thing to do!"
"Alright, don't make things difficult for them."
Qin Wuyu waved his hand, as if shooing away a few annoying flies.
"Take them back and let them 'rest' properly."
"Once the money arrives, this government will arrange for someone to visit the prisoner."
He Yi, along with Qing Ju and Liu Yun, was once again roughly escorted back to that dark and damp cell.
The heavy iron gate slammed shut behind them with a loud clang, cutting off the last ray of light.
Qingju could no longer hold back and hugged Heyi, bursting into tears, crying her heart out.
"Princess, what are we going to do? We're in a real mess now!"
"How could you sign that confession? That's a life-threatening charge!"
Qingju's tears fell like broken beads, scalding hot, onto Heyi's arm. She wasn't complaining, but rather filled with pure fear and despair.
Liu Yun leaned against the cold stone wall, his face ashen. In his eyes, which always held a sharp edge, the anger was so intense it seemed to solidify and set the cell ablaze.
He Yi, however, remained unusually calm.
She gently patted Qingju's trembling back, once, then again.
"How can I not sign?"
Her voice was soft, yet it possessed a power that could soothe the soul.
"You've all seen what's happening today. If we sign, at least we'll still be alive."
"If we don't sign, I'm afraid we won't even make it through tonight."
Qingju was taken aback, raised her tearful eyes, leaned against the cold wall, and murmured, "That's true... If the princess doesn't sign, Sister Liuyun... she will be severely tortured."
He Yi nodded, her gaze piercing through the darkness to the small dormer window above her head.
A faint, almost negligible sliver of moonlight shone through there.
"We still have time from now on."
"These few days should be enough for my brother to figure something out."
She firmly believes it.
Zheng Yu will never sit idly by.
He was her only and most solid support in this world.
...
The door to Zhiweitang was violently kicked open.
"Clang!"
A piercingly loud bang startled the few remaining flies in the hall, causing them to buzz around wildly.
The head constable, with a face full of scars and eyes like knives, swept his contemptuous gaze across the deserted shop, finally fixing his gaze like a nail on the bewildered silkworm girl behind the counter.
The two constables following behind him, like two iron towers of menacing figures, blocked the only exit from the left and right.
In the past few days, the news has spread throughout the capital city.
The owner of Zhiweitang, the once glamorous Princess Heyi, turned out to be a murderer who killed without shedding blood.
Rumors spread faster than plagues.
The shop, which was once bustling with customers and where cakes were hard to come by, is now deserted and so quiet that you can hear the dust settling on the ground.
The workers, fearing trouble, ran away as fast as they could, not even bothering to collect their wages for the month.
The once grand Zhiweitang is now only run by Meicanniang, her young daughter, and a few old chefs who owe Heyi a great debt of gratitude and refuse to leave.
The bailiff strode up to the counter and slammed a crumpled letter onto the ledger with a loud "thud".
That look in his eyes was like looking at a dead person.
"So you're in charge?"
Meican Niang's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.
But she still straightened her back, met his fierce gaze, and nodded.
She knew this day would come sooner or later.
The constable snorted disdainfully through his nostrils and nodded condescendingly at the letter with his chin.
“Your master handed it over from the prison.”
"Prepare three hundred taels of silver before nightfall and deliver it to the government office!"
"Redeem your master's dog life!"
Three hundred taels?!
The beautiful silkworm girl was struck dumb.
She felt as if all the blood in her body had been drained in that instant.
Three hundred taels!
Not to mention that business has plummeted, with daily revenue less than an ounce of silver.
Even at the peak of Zhiweitang's success, after deducting all expenses, they definitely couldn't save that much in a month!
This is hardly a redemption.
This is clearly a death sentence!
"Can't you understand human language?"
When the bailiffs saw her standing there in a daze, their faces instantly darkened.
The letter was written in handwriting familiar to the princess.
The handwriting was neat and elegant, yet it exuded a sense of integrity. There was not a hint of pleading between the lines, only a cold and detached instruction.
Be careful in everything, and don't force things.
The moment the beautiful silkworm maiden saw this instruction, her tears completely burst forth.
What does it mean to not force something?
That's her employer!
He was her and Niu Niu's savior!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
