Chapter 398 Princess Zhenrou committed suicide.
Lin'an
Zhao Xuan knew that the stray cat adopted by Princess Zhenrou was not the key to the deaths of the concubines' children, but he still blamed her.
The Imperial Clan Court pressured her to identify Prince Rui as the one who ordered her to kill the concubine's child.
She was too kind to falsely accuse others.
That person was his second elder brother.
Zhao Zhenrou suffered torture at the Imperial Clan Court and became mentally unstable. One day, she committed suicide by hitting her head against a wall.
"The master is no longer breathing, he's really dead."
The Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices angrily berated his subordinates, "You worthless bastards! Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on her?"
"I never expected her to go crazy and kill herself."
"Keep a close watch on her body and don't let anyone know a thing. I'm going to the palace."
Zhao Xuan felt no emotion whatsoever when he learned that Zhao Zhenrou was dead.
The culprit who killed his child doesn't deserve sympathy; just bury him somewhere random.
The body of a princess was wrapped in a tattered straw mat, carried onto a cart, and pushed into the desolate mountains.
An elderly couple with gray hair and hunched backs walked behind them, supporting each other.
"Our poor son, he left us so young, and he hadn't even gotten married yet. I'm so sorry to our ancestors, sob sob sob..."
"Old man, why don't we buy a female corpse and arrange a ghost marriage for our son?" The old woman whispered in the old man's ear, but her loud voice was heard by almost everyone in the room.
The old man agreed, saying, "That's a good idea."
"We'd sell everything we own to buy a wife for our son, but where can we find one in this desolate wilderness?"
"First, let's ask around in the nearby villages to see if anyone has a missing daughter. There's strength in numbers, right? Once we find her, we can go and discuss it with them..."
The old woman said, "Alright, that's the only way."
Several jailers overheard their conversation and exchanged glances.
Brothers, the money's in!
Burying a body involves digging a pit and filling it with soil—just thinking about it is exhausting. It's much better to sell the corpse for a fortune and have some fun at a brothel, hehe~
"Wait a minute, we have an unmarried female corpse here. How much silver are you willing to pay?"
"You have it for sale? How much are you willing to sell it for?"
"Yes, a female prisoner died in jail. She was quite young, maybe in her teens. She's a perfect match for your son. Ten taels of silver. Want to buy her?"
The old man exclaimed in surprise, "Ten taels?"
A corpse is usually worth no more than two taels of silver.
"You think it's too expensive? You said you'd sell everything you own to get your son married, but you can't even spare ten taels of silver? Do you even deserve to be a father?"
"How am I not worthy..."
The old woman stopped him, "Old man, what are you doing? This is the last thing we can do for our son."
"Officer, please don't be angry. I'll try to reason with my old man."
The jailer said, "Alright, hurry up. If you don't buy it, plenty of others will."
The two turned around at the same time, rummaged through their clothes, and pieced together ten taels of silver.
Hua Murong handed ten taels of silver to the official, saying, "Sir, here you go."
"The body is yours." The jailer weighed the silver in his hand and shouted to his companions to walk back.
The two pushed the body away to a safe place, then lifted the white cloth covering Zhao Zhenrou, fed her a pill, and poured some water into her mouth.
She choked on the water and coughed a few times, "cough cough..."
"Princess, wake up."
Zhao Zhenrou opened her eyes and saw two unfamiliar faces. She sat up, shrank into a corner, and asked in confusion, "Who are you...?"
She had never seen either of them before.
Hongzao removed the white wig from her head. "Princess, I am a maidservant of the princess. The princess sent me to rescue you."
"Princess, guess who I am?" Hua Murong originally had white hair, so he didn't need to wear a wig. He just painted his face black and yellow.
He used his own voice again.
Zhao Zhenrou recognized his voice immediately, "Are you the Divine Doctor Hua?"
"Yes, it is indeed I."
Knowing that Zhao Xuan was going to harm Zhao Zhenrou, Yun Zhaoxue sent someone to deliver a fake death drug and a bag of blood to her, instructing her to pretend to commit suicide by hitting her head against a wall.
She faked her death to escape; the plan succeeded.
Red Date said, "Princess, our princess is waiting for you on the other side."
Yun Zhaoxue's carriage was not far away.
Hongzao took Zhao Zhenrou there.
She saw Yun Zhaoxue quicken her pace, and because of her injuries, she almost tripped and fell. "Cousin Xue'er..."
Yun Zhaoxue stepped forward to support her, holding her thin, bony wrist. "Zhenrou, you've suffered so much."
The Zhao brothers, Zhao Xuan and Zhao Rui, are both inhuman. One openly forces her to identify Zhao Rui, while the other secretly threatens Zhao Zhenrou.
Zhao Xuan sent assassins to kill Zhao Rui several times, but all attempts failed.
Zhao Rui was surrounded by a group of martial arts masters, all of whom had previously joined him but went into hiding after the capital was captured.
This group of people were stubborn and only did what they were paid to do. They even tried to rescue Zhao Rui on his way to Stone City, but they couldn't fight against so many people and failed.
They were the ones who secretly protected Zhao Rui as he returned to Lin'an from Dingzhou.
"I never expected that you would be the one to save me in the end. My second and third brothers only thought about using me..." Zhao Zhenrou cried sadly.
"Don't cry. Royal family ties are weak. Since they don't treat you like a sister, just pretend you don't have such a brother."
"Go hide in Lingnan for a while and come back when things have calmed down."
"Go to Lingnan? Can I not go?"
She was unfamiliar with the place and the people in Lingnan, and she was afraid.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com