Chapter 125 [VIP]
Ji Nanke lowered her eyes, her reddened corners looking pitiful.
Xie Jing adored her; from their first meeting, he had thought of her day and night, unable to take his eyes off her. Seeing her on the verge of tears, Xie Jing secretly wondered if his tone had been too harsh. However, if he didn't speak more firmly, Ke'er would likely misbehave again next time.
Ke'er is lucky; everything she does goes smoothly. As a result, she becomes somewhat reckless and doesn't even consider the consequences.
Xie Jing was certain that, even with this matter, she had never considered what would happen if she failed.
"Ke'er".
Xie Jing released his hands from the armchair and straightened up. He wanted to suggest that he and she think of a solution together, perhaps by asking Master Qingping for a way to achieve the best of both worlds.
*Smack*
Before she could speak, Ji Nanke threw the papers onto the octagonal table and said with a stern face, "Your Highness, there's no need to worry. I will handle it. I won't implicate you."
After saying that, she pushed him away forcefully.
Caught off guard, Xie Jing stumbled, and it was too late to reach out and grab her.
She flung open the door to the private booth and rushed out.
Xie Jing was both angry and annoyed. He slammed his fist on the octagonal table and then angrily swung his arms, sweeping all the plates and dishes off the table.
Hearing the crackling sounds behind her, Ji Nanke frowned slightly.
What attracted her to Xie Jing was his arrogance and elegance, but now it seems that it was all a facade. He was just a short-tempered irritable maniac.
Why couldn't Zhang Lang remain faithful for long?
The female lead, with her face hidden behind her water sleeves, appeared on stage as if weeping and lamenting.
Ji Nanke had been looking forward to this play for a long time, but now she wasn't so eager to watch it anymore.
She glanced back down the corridor; Xie Jing hadn't followed her out.
Never mind, she'll handle it herself.
Ji Nanke bit her lower lip and ran down the stairs, lifting her skirt.
After leaving the theater, she first went to the place where Blind Chen set up his stall on Cat Street.
“Blind Chen hasn’t come for quite some time now.” The young woman selling herbal tea took a silver ingot from her and said enthusiastically, “I heard he’s getting married. Not long ago, someone came to give him a wedding gift, a whole silver ingot.”
After finding out where Blind Chen lived, Ji Nanke had an idea. Looking at the teahouse that was under construction, she asked, "I heard that a scholar was killed here."
“Yes, yes,” the young woman said indignantly. “Zhang the scholar is a real scoundrel. I don’t know how he tricked a girl from a good family into wanting to marry him. Not long ago…” she calculated the time, “it seems like about half a month ago, the girl finally came to her senses and didn’t want to elope with him. Zhang the scholar still wanted to keep pestering her, but unexpectedly, he was smashed to death in the teahouse. He deserved it.”
"You've figured it out?" Does that mean the marriage charm has lost its effectiveness?
Will a love charm become ineffective?
Why didn't the old blind man tell her that he took three handfuls of golden melon seeds from her? He kept such an important matter a secret.
Ji Nanke's heart pounded like a drum, and her face was terribly gloomy.
She went straight to Swallowtail Alley, inquired about Blind Chen's residence, and before she could knock, the door suddenly opened, and a thin, monkey-faced figure darted out, almost bumping into her.
"Blind Chen?"
Blind Chen jumped up in surprise, then recognized Ji Nanke as the one who had come to him to buy a marriage charm.
"It's you?"
Blind Chen looked haggard, his face contorted with illness and exhaustion, his tension suggesting he might explode at any moment. He was a stark contrast to the energetic person Ji Nanke had seen him the last time.
Chen the Blind ignored Ji Nanke, leaned against the wall, and moved back cautiously, as if he were avoiding some fierce demon or monster.
Ji Nanke stopped him and asked, "Will the marriage charm you gave me fail?"
"Marriage, a talisman for marriage."
Blind Chen was terrified of those three words. He would tremble all over and his legs would shake uncontrollably whenever he heard them.
"Speak quickly!"
"Yes, yes..."
Ji Nanke's heart sank, and she said angrily, "Why didn't you say so?"
"You didn't ask."
This is clearly an attempt to shirk responsibility! Ji Nanke gritted her teeth. If she had known it would fail, she would have been more careful in her planning.
She pressed on, "What will happen if it fails?"
Blind Chen cautiously peered into the courtyard, eager to get rid of her as quickly as possible, and said in a very fast voice: "The affection brought by the marriage talisman will also disappear."
If it weren't for this thought, Blind Chen wouldn't have been able to live a single day; he might as well have died sooner.
Chen the Blind wanted to leave, but she stopped him again. Ji Nanke pressed, "Will you die?"
"No," Blind Chen shook his head.
Master Changfeng only said that there was a time limit, but he didn't say that using the marriage talisman would cause death.
He said matter-of-factly, "The marriage charm is for bringing together men and women to be happily married, how could it cause death?"
Blind Chen's pupils habitually rolled upwards, revealing a large expanse of white in his eyes when he looked at people, which was unsettling to look at for too long. Ji Nanke looked away, about to ask another question, when a pretentious voice suddenly rang out, startling Blind Chen so much that he trembled and shrank into the corner.
Ji Nanke immediately dodged and hid. Soon, Liu Ling came out of the small courtyard. He looked around frantically and suddenly spotted Blind Chen. He grabbed Chen's clothes and called out affectionately, "Chen Lang, let's go back."
"Let go of me, let go, let go!"
The panicked voice of Blind Liu gradually faded into the distance.
After standing there for a while, Ji Nanke slowly walked back.
She didn't expect that the Ji clan chief would also come to the capital and even go to beat the Dengwen Drum, pushing her aunt and cousin in front of everyone in the most direct and brutal way.
Now Blind Chen says that the marriage charm will become ineffective, and once it does, the emperor, in order to stabilize the court, might tear his aunt apart. In that case, all her efforts will be in vain.
Ji Nanke's mind was in a bit of a mess.
Xie Jing was right about one thing: if even he could find out, it couldn't be kept secret for long.
She needs to make a decision soon.
ah.
Ji Nanke was lost in thought and didn't pay much attention to where she was going. She bumped into a wooden door with a half-drawn floral curtain. Her hand was pulled by a hook on the curtain, and a drop of blood seeped from her fingertip. Against her fair skin, the drop of blood looked like a cinnabar mole, delicate and beautiful.
She took the drop of blood into her lips, a glint of shrewdness flashing in her eyes.
There's nothing to worry about.
She doesn't need the emperor to live forever. As long as he dies in time, the matter won't be exposed, and her aunt will always be the emperor's cherished memory.
Ji Nanke closed her eyes and hurried away. She first queued up on Zhuque Street to buy freshly baked Hongyan Pastries, and then took the steaming hot Hongyan Pastries into the palace.
Lady Ji gave her a token that allowed her to freely enter and leave the palace.
When Ji Nanke returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, it was already past midnight. Li Deshun was with her.
Li Deshun came because of Ji's letter of divorce.
He faced the old lady, forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"Madam, the Emperor has issued an edict."
It was the third day after the clan chief Ji struck the petition drum. The old lady didn't care much about outside affairs and didn't like to go out. It was Gu Zhizhuo who told her everything after returning to the mansion.
As he spoke, Gu Zhizhuo took her pulse by holding her wrist and even placed the silver needles beside her. Gu Baibai and Gu Liaoliao were both there, fearing that something might go wrong and they could immediately provide emergency care.
There were some close calls, but at least the whole story was finally explained.
Even in her extreme anger, the Dowager Madam kept saying that if the Emperor had any shame, he wouldn't have come to ask for a divorce decree. Unexpectedly, he actually did come.
A mere letter of divorce from a concubine required an imperial edict to obtain.
The Dowager Lady, dressed in full formal attire, sat down on the grand chair in the main hall, her face expressionless.
For several years during the Great Qi Dynasty, she served as a first-rank imperial consort, always maintaining a dignified and imposing demeanor.
Gu Baibai and Gu Liaoliao were also there.
Gu Zhizhuo and Gu Yican stood on either side of the Grand Madam. Gu Zhizhuo lowered her eyelids, and her long eyelashes cast a light shadow under her eyes, perfectly concealing the emotions in her eyes.
The old lady said coldly, "No."
“Madam,” Li Deshun said with a fawning smile, “His Majesty…”
Li Deshun hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided against making a grand announcement of the imperial decree. The Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was already unlucky enough, yet they still had to kneel down to receive the decree and thank the emperor for his great favor; even he felt a little guilty about it.
Li Deshun hesitated, but Gu Zhizhuo raised his hand, and the servants left one after another.
"You may all leave now. I will try to persuade Madam Gu."
The eunuchs that Li Deshun brought were mostly his confidants and godson. After they all left, Li Deshun said with a sense of helplessness, "Madam, please accept the imperial decree."
"Alas, the Emperor wanted to make Lady Ji an Imperial Noble Consort. The Empress, along with all the concubines, took off their hairpins and knelt in the Phoenix Palace, pleading for the Emperor to rescind his decree. The Emperor was furious. The Empress was punished by being confined to the Phoenix Palace, and the other concubines were either confined or demoted. Consort Rong was banished to the Cold Palace for making sarcastic remarks about Lady Ji's appearance, and even Consort Rong's father and brothers were demoted."
Li Deshun meant that the emperor was determined, and if the Dowager Lady insisted on refusing to accept the imperial decree, the emperor would definitely be angry.
"Madam, please don't act rashly."
Li Deshun forced a smile and said, "His Majesty seems to be under the influence of..." He spoke very softly and quickly, "witchcraft."
Gu Zhizhuo's eyelashes trembled slightly. The emperor's unusual behavior was bound to arouse suspicion. People did not know about the incantation of the blessing, but they all knew about witchcraft.
Ji Nanke's idea that he could control the ruler of a country with a marriage talisman is nothing but wishful thinking.
Let alone the emperor, even the Zhou family suspected Zhou Jinnuo was possessed by an evil spirit because of her insistence on eloping with the scholar, and went to the Taiqing Temple to seek help from her senior brother. How could the emperor's close advisors not notice the clues?
Therefore, Gu Zhizhuo took the initiative to speak out to Xie Jing, thus igniting the final spark.
"Madam, please accept the imperial decree first," Li Deshun said politely, holding the decree. "...After this matter is over, His Majesty will surely restore justice to the Gu family."
He himself felt a little guilty saying that. Gu Yan's existence was enough to prove that the emperor and the Ji family had a long-standing relationship, which could not be covered up by witchcraft alone.
"Father-in-law."
Gu Zhizhuo curtsied, thanked him for his frankness, and asked, "Has Ji Nanke just been to the palace?"
Ji Nanke stood outside, looking inside. —When she and Li Deshun arrived together, Gu Zhizhuo used the excuse that the imperial decree was for the Gu family to kick her out, even though she wasn't a member of the Gu family.
"Yes." Li Deshun had already said what he shouldn't have said, so there was no point in hiding it. "Miss Ji went to the palace to pay her respects to the Ji family, and not long after, the Emperor issued this imperial edict."
Gu Zhizhuo didn't ask any more questions. She looked at Gu Baibai, who nodded to her, meaning that she would make the decision.
Gu Yican secretly hooked his sister's finger.
“Father-in-law,” Gu Zhizhuo said gently, “the Gu family will not make things difficult for you. We are willing to release the concubine’s letter.”
The old lady glared at her, turning back to look at her disapprovingly. The emperor had done such a thing, and he still wanted to release the concubine's certificate? Don't even think about it, drag this adulterous couple to their deaths! Without the concubine's certificate, they would forever remain "illegitimate lovers."
The old lady's pupils reflected Gu Zhizhuo's profile, composed and piercing. Alright, alright, this girl is very opinionated; we'll listen to her.
The matriarch maintained a stern expression and remained silent, signifying her support for Gu Zhizhuo. A shrewd man like Li Deshun immediately understood that the eldest daughter was now in charge of the Gu family.
He hurriedly said, "Miss Gu, please feel free to make any requests you may have."
“The Criminal Law states: ‘Anyone who commits adultery and is married shall be punished with ninety strokes of the cane, and the adulterous woman shall be sold off to another man as a result.’” Gu Zhizhuo paused deliberately after saying this.
As the Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Court, Li Deshun was quite familiar with the "Great Enlightenment Code". The students who sat quietly in the Meridian Gate Square were now reciting and writing it every day, and articles were being sent to the palace every day. Even those who were not familiar with it before had become familiar with it.
Gu Zhizhu smiled and said, "Daqi has a 'redemption' system. One hundred gold coins can be exchanged for one cane, and ninety canes can be exchanged for nine thousand gold coins. Isn't that reasonable?"
Li Deshun shook his head: "It's not an exaggeration."
When he left the palace, the emperor said that he would agree to any compensation the Gu family wanted.
Gu Zhizhu smiled slightly and continued, "A wicked woman follows her husband when she is married off. Ji Shi has been in the Gu family for so many years, and I was originally thinking of keeping her. Since Your Majesty wants her, I dare not go against Your Majesty's wishes, no matter how difficult it is. So let's sell her."
Her attitude was contemptuous, treating Ji Shi as a lowly concubine or servant to be sold by the master. Li Deshun chuckled dryly and asked, "How much is Miss Gu worth?"
"Don't worry, Father-in-law. We're business people, we'll tell you the truth. We'll never ask for an exorbitant price and then let you haggle."
Li Deshun couldn't help but laugh out loud, then quickly stopped himself.
Gu Zhizhuo shook the copper bell on the coffee table, and the head steward Chen Jin walked in, carrying a thick account book. Gu Zhizhuo gestured to him, "Give this to Eunuch Li."
"yes."
Chen Jin handed the account book to Li Deshun, who took it with a puzzled look and asked, "Miss Gu, what is the meaning of this?"
"The Ji family has been in my household for eight years. The money they embezzled and the properties they sold are all listed here, including two iron mines. She personally gave all of this money and property to Prince Rong."
The old lady's pupils constricted. She only knew that Ji Shi had been embezzling money to subsidize her own family, and that she had actually misappropriated the Gu family's money to subsidize the emperor.
Li Deshun opened his mouth.
Gu Zhizhuo couldn't say that the emperor had taken money from the Gu family, as that would be taboo. So, she referred to him as "Prince Rong," indicating that it happened before the emperor ascended the throne.
“Since His Majesty is willing to spend money to redeem the Ji family, the Gu family can’t just ask for more money. Let’s just double the price for these.” Gu Zhizhuo raised two fingers and shook them, then generously added, “The iron ore mine doesn’t need to be doubled; just return it exactly as it was.”
“Father-in-law, these two iron mines were personally promised to the Gu family by the founding emperor, and there is also the imperial edict of the founding emperor. They are by no means privately hoarded by the Gu family.”
Gu Zhizhuo covered his mouth and smiled shyly, looking like he was doing business seriously.
Li Deshun smiled bitterly, the account book in his hand feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds.
Oh dear, this is really not a good job.
"besides……"
And another thing. Li Deshun wanted to cry in front of her.
"Eunuch Li, please don't be anxious." Gu Zhizhuo's attitude was extremely good. "After the letter of release from the concubine, the Gu family and the Ji family will have no relationship anymore, right? Then, the Ji family's niece should no longer stay in the Gu family."
That's true. Li Deshun nodded. Ji Nanke had no blood relation to the Gu family and no affection for them, so there was no way she could cling to them.
He replied, "Our family will send someone to help Miss Ji move."
"Why don't we let Miss Ji stay in the palace to keep Lady Ji company?"
This was a very small condition, and Li Deshun readily agreed: "The Ji family dotes on their niece and must want to keep her by their side."
"We should not trouble two masters with one matter. Please have Your Majesty pay off the money that Miss Ji owes as well."
Gu Zhizhuo took out an IOU from his sleeve pocket and handed it to Li Deshun personally.
Xie Jing is a penniless man. Expecting Xie Jing to pay back the debt is worse than selling her off along with Ji Shi.
Li Deshun took a look and saw that the IOU also had the Third Prince's signature, which chilled him to the bone.
"The Gu family has only this request. Please have Eunuch Li return to the palace and report to the Emperor. If the Emperor is willing to buy her, the Gu family can issue a letter of release for the concubine today."
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