15 - Imprisoned

Chapter 15 – Imprisoned

Shangguan Yan was dumbfounded and screamed silently in her heart.

This man is here to seek revenge and if he wanted to punish her, it would be as easy as crushing an ant!

No, she has to calm down!

The Daxing Dynasty has laws and even if he is the Imperial Commissioner, he still has to follow the laws.

She took a deep breath and said calmly. “Replying to my Lord, although this humble one is a secret constable, this humble one only knew the two people were thieves and didn’t know they were grave robbers.”

“Oh? Really?”

Upon hearing her tone, he did not believe her anymore.

Shangguan Yan quietly clenched her fists.

The situation is unfavorable to her! What if he directly convicts her of retaining stolen goods? What should she do?

“This Officer will investigate whether you are telling the truth or not. However, you are a suspect and since you can’t prove that you didn’t receive the stolen goods, so before this Officer finds out the truth, you will be imprisoned. Guards!”

Two guards standing at the side stepped forward and responded loudly. “Here!”

“Put Shangguan Yan in prison!”

When the piece of court-wood was slapped on the table, it determined her next stage of life in prison.

(Court-wood is a rectangular piece of wood used in ancient Chinese courts and has the same function as the gavels used in courts.)

She had never thought that one day she would land up in jail and the person who sent her there would be Di Jing with whom she had formed an enmity two years ago.

Shangguan Yan tightened her lips and did not say anything. At this time, no matter what she says will still be wrong, so she chose to remain silent and let the guards escort her to the prison.

After Bai Yuxiao received the news from Xilang, her Eldest Senior Sister’s subordinate, she paced back and forth in the house while she waited for Si Liujing’s return from the palace. Unable to control herself, she even went up to the gate and waited for the Wangye ’s return. When she finally saw the Wangye , she stepped forward happily………

“ Wangye …….”

Si Liujing had just gotten off the horse and when he saw his Wangfei rushing towards him with a look of eagerness and anticipation, his eyes shone brightly.

They have been married for three and a half years and their love only started to bloom in the third year. After she gave birth to a pair of dragon and phoenix twins, her face had turned mellow and full. She had become more beautiful than before and no matter how much he looked at her, he could not get tired of her.

The corners of Si Liujing’s mouth curved slightly and his cold gaze became warmer. When he saw his wife rushing towards him, he spread out his arms to embrace her.

“You’re so eager to see me, is it because you miss me?” He teased.

“You’re finally back, why are you so late today? I’ve waited for a long time.”

He noticed his wife was a little anxious. “Anything urgent?”

“It’s good that you’ve returned. I have something to ask you, come in quickly.”

Bai Yuxiao grabbed the horse rein from his hand and threw it to the stable servant beside him. Then she held his hand and pulled him into the house.

Feeling suspicious, Si Liujing followed her until he was pulled into the room. Without giving him time to even take off his outer robes nor did she order the servants to bring in water for him to wash his face and clean off his sweat, she pulled him directly to the table, made him sit down, and started to question him……..

“Let me ask you, what is the origin of that Di Jing?”

At first, Si Liujing was stunned then realized that his wife was not actually missing him. It turned out that the eagerness and anticipation on her face were not for him but another man.

Si Liujing tightened his lips and only let out a humph before he got up and walked into the bedchamber.

“Why did you only humph? Did you hear what I said?”

Si Liujing entered the bedchamber and gave an order to the servants. “Withdraw.”

The personal maids of Wangfei immediately withdrew and after everyone had left, Si Liujing immediately swept Bai Yuxiao into his arms.

“You’re indeed courageous. When your husband returns, you didn’t wait on him to change his clothes first but asked about another man in front of him?”

Bai Yuxiao felt pain in his tight embrace and as she struggled, she protested.

“Don’t pretend to be jealous! A few days ago, I asked you if you knew Di Jing and you said you don’t know. However, today I learned that he is the Imperial Commissioner. He is such an important officer, would you not know?!” Her tone was even fiercer than his.

When he saw his wife was angry, Si Liujing knew that his ruse had failed, so he sealed her lips with his.

Using both her hands to push his face away, Bai Yuxiao refused to let him kiss her and was determined on getting an explanation.

When Si Liujing did not get to kiss her and had his handsome face distorted by her pushing, he resorted to using rascal tactics.

“Huh, so what if you know?”

“Since you knew, why didn’t you tell me?”

“His identity was deliberately concealed by the higher-ups and my Royal Father had forbidden anyone from mentioning this. Naturally, I can’t talk about him, let alone you are a woman, why do you want to know? This is for your own good.”

“I am a woman? Don’t forget, on the surface, I am your Wangfei but unknown to everyone, I am also a secret constable of the Daxing Dynasty. When I asked you, of course, I have my reason but you refused to tell me. This time something went wrong and my Eldest Senior Sister was arrested and thrown into prison by him!”

Si Liujing lifted his eyebrows. Finally, he understood why his beloved wife was feeling angry and his curiosity was also aroused.

“He put Shangguan Yan in prison? Why?”

Bai Yuxiao told Si Liujing the news that Xilang brought to her.

“My Eldest Senior Sister can’t be related to the grave robbers. Those things were taken to the pawnshop by the robbers to pawn, so how would my Eldest Senior Sister know the goods were stolen?”

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“Since she was wronged, why should you worry? That Di Jing was granted this high position by my Royal Father and he is a fair and strict man without fear of the powerful. He won’t make false accusations at will, so you don’t have to worry.”

“How can I not worry? Is prison a place for people to live? I don’t care, you have to think of a solution!”

“Even if a prince commits a crime, the treatment received will be the same as the commoners. The Imperial Commissioner has the power to judge on cases and even as the Ling Wang , I can’t abuse my power.”

Bai Yuxiao stomped her feet in anger. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t help, I will think of a solution myself!” As she spoke, she turned around to leave.

How would Si Liujing allow her to leave? He hurriedly reached out and pulled her back into his arms to hug her tightly without the intention to let her go.

“Don’t be impulsive. In the past two years, the Emperor has been trying to rectify the Salt Administration of Lianghuai and had no time to pay attention to the corrupt officials. Now that the Salt Administration is on track, the Emperor is about to start fighting corruption, ready to take on those corrupt imperial courtiers and magistrates. The Emperor is using Di Jing as the first ‘face splitting’ knife, so don’t wade into this pool of muddy water.”

Bai Yuxiao stopped struggling, looked at him with her beautiful eyes and her eye rims instantly turned red.

“Can it be you want me to watch my Eldest Senior Sister suffer? We, the four sisters were all brought up by our Master. Although we’re not related by blood, we’re closer than blood relatives.” Her beautiful eyes blinked and then big drops of tears slipped down continuously as though the tears were free.

Even though Si Liujing knows that she would sometimes pretend to cry and is good at playing tricks on him, but he is still willing to buy it. If it was other women, he would feel annoyed and too lazy to deal with them. However, when he is facing her, he did not find her even a bit annoying. He is indeed controlled under her thumb!

“Don’t worry, I’ll send someone to the prison to take care of her. Before she is convicted, she won’t suffer. I still have a way to let her eat well, sleep well, and be clothed well. Don’t cry.”

He coaxed and comforted her but in fact, he still had something that he did not want to tell her……..

Recently after the imperial court had ended, the Emperor had several times held him back to partake in meals and play chess with him in the Imperial Study but in reality, they were holding secret discussions.

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This time, the Emperor is targeting the Ministry of Home Affairs that is in charge of the country’s treasury and the Minister of Home Affairs is one of the members of the Empress’s family.

Although the Salt Administration was rectified and the wealth of the royal treasury had increased, local corruption still existed.

The Emperor had endured this for many years and it was only because the Salt Administration of Lianghuai had kept him very busy. The power of the imperial courtiers and the Emperess’s relatives were intertwined and if action on them was taken too early it would affect the country’s foundation. That was the reason why all this time the Emperor had not taken action against those imperial courtiers who were reaping benefits in the imperial court while helping outsiders. On the surface, it seemed the Emperor was not taking action but traps were already being laid in secret.

That Di Jing was just a secret chess piece that his Royal Father had secretly placed all over the country. In the imperial court, only five people were aware of this matter. As early as three years ago, his Royal Father had already secretly informed himself, Di Jing, and the other confidants. With the Emperor’s secret order in hand, they were instructed to carry out their duties in secret and conduct secret investigations to gather all the evidence.

One year ago, while he was investigating this case, he was also attacked and almost lost his life, and because of that incident he met his wife, Yuxiao.

Si Liujing has selfish motives for he wants to protect Yuxiao and his two children because he knew that the Emperor had decided to slowly unravel the cocoon* while waiting for the right time. Then the Emperor would go on a rampage which would inevitably turn into another bloody storm. For this reason, he did not want Yuxiao to get involved too deeply.

(Unravel the cocoon means to do something taking one step at a step and carry it out paying attention to the details.)

Based on Yuxiao’s temper, the more she knows, the more restless she will become. Just look at her Eldest Senior Sister, Shangguan Yan, didn’t she accidentally got involved in it?

It is good if that Shangguan Yan is not involved in the grave robbery case. If she is innocent, Di Jing will not treat her unjustly. But if she is involved in the case, then even though he is the Ling Wang , he is unable to do anything.

However, he will not share his thoughts with Yuxaio.

Hugging his beloved wife in his arms, he deliberately protested helplessly.

“You’re really getting more and more presumptuous. After I return home from the imperial court, you didn’t come to serve me, and instead, you want to me serve you.” As he spoke, he used his hand to wipe away her tears and then planted little kisses on her forehead, her nose, and her cheeks.

“I was worried about Eldest Senior Sister. Now that you’ve promised me, you can’t let her suffer in prison. I am very clear about the secrets in the prison.”

“Alright, alright…….consider it as I’m afraid of you. I’ll immediately give orders for it to be done.” Then he summoned his subordinate and confidant, Fu Teng and in front of his wife, he told Fu Teng to go to prison to make the necessary arrangements so that Shangguan Yan would not suffer any grievance.

Fu Teng left after receiving his order and Si Liujing put his arms around his wife and pinched her chin.

“Now, do you feel rest assured?”

Bai Yuxiao nodded and immediately burst into laughter. At the same time, she stretched out her hands to help him to undress. “Husband must feel very tired after returning from the court. This concubine will help to massage husband’s shoulders.”

Si Liujing deliberately showed a gloomy expression and hummed. “Only my shoulders?”

This man likes to take advantage while feeling jealous and Bai Yuxiao had long ago understood his temper. She immediately kissed him on his face and then blinked and rolled her beautiful eyes seductively at him. Si Liujing was unable to hold on to his sullen expression and immediately kissed her on her lips, inserting his scorching tongue to seek more.

On the other side, Shangguan Yan who was put into prison was not as anxious. She sat cross-legged on the straw mat with an annoyed look on her face.

What does this Di Jing want to do? Is it to take revenge for the enmity two years ago?

Speaking of this, there should be two enmities……one is that she robbed him of the account book and the other is that she tapped him on his acupuncture points and threw him to that lecher, Qin Jikang.

If it was her, she would probably hold a grudge as well, right?