The Fearless Empress - Chapter 8

The dried meat had been taken from the warm pavilion, it was even part of the imperial consorts’ rations!

The young empress snapped back to reality and glanced at Cheng Sangyi, who was about to approach. Her heart pounded like a drum. If they collided again, the palace maids and eunuchs in attendance would surely be punished.

She quietly formed a hand seal and covered the dried meat with the quilt.

When Cheng Sangyi arrived, she didn’t head straight for the imperial bed. Instead, she sat on the couch opposite it, massaging her temples as if exhausted.

“Marquis Gu sent a letter to the palace today,” the female official suddenly spoke.

At the mention of Marquis Gu, the young empress immediately perked up.

Cheng Sangyi straightened slightly, her mind flashing to that youthful face those clear eyes made it impossible to dislike her.

Curious, she asked, “What did the empress do?”

“She strolled through the courtyard during the day, ran into Lady Mo, and exchanged some words. Lady Mo returned to her palace, while Her Highness continued wandering the gardens, admiring the scenery.”

“You mean she did nothing at all?”

The female official confirmed.

Cheng Sangyi, utterly fatigued, reclined against the soft pillow, her body languid as if boneless. A deeper smile curled at her lips as she watched, waiting to see what the empress would do next.

“It’s rather strange. Since entering the palace, Her Highness hasn’t even asked for the Phoenix Seal. She spends her days laughing and chatting with the noble consorts, as if uninterested in anything,” the female official speculated.

But Cheng Sangyi countered, “She wants far more than that.”

In her past life, this empress had been far closer to the Empress Dowager. Now, with the Dowager yet to return to the palace, the two had no interaction.

Cheng Sangyi didn’t press for details, instead allowing herself a lazy stretch before lying sideways on the couch. Seeing this, the female official took her cue to withdraw.

Cheng Sangyi stopped her. “Marquis Gu sent that letter in haste, it’s likely nothing clean. Tell me, how should this case be handled?”

Should she investigate thoroughly, exposing everyone involved? Or should she simply proceed based on the evidence already presented?

In her past life, she had pursued the truth relentlessly, yet Marquis Gu’s name never surfaced. Now, it seemed the investigation had been incomplete.

This case was far too entangled.

The female official replied, “Your Majesty, how do you wish to proceed?”

“The man is in the Ministry of Justice’s prison. Whatever I want to know, Zhao Kangyi may not be willing to say.” The empress was troubled.

Perched on the beam, the young empress frowned. See? The emperor didn’t trust her.

The female official withdrew.

Cheng Sangyi closed her eyes wearily.

The figure on the beam descended silently, lifted the quilt, and snatched the dried meat, taking a quick bite before leaving immediately heading straight for the Ministry of Justice’s prison.

The prison was grim, the winter night chilling to the bone, the cold seeping deep enough to make one shiver uncontrollably.

The young empress slipped into the prison unnoticed. After drifting around for a while, she still couldn’t locate the deputy commissioner.

Helpless, she crouched in a corner, chewing on her dried meat. After finishing one piece, two jailers passed by. One muttered, “That Zhao fellow says he’s cold. Go fetch him a blanket, it’d be bad if he died.”

“Damn nuisance. He’s going to die anyway.”

Those two sentences were enough. The young empress followed them.

When the cell door opened, a wave of blood stench assaulted her. She covered her nose, nearly retching.

The jailers tossed in the blanket and left. She stayed behind, lingering at the entrance, peering at the figure in the corner.

The young empress blinked, her lively eyes gleaming. She tiptoed closer and held out her dried meat. “Want some?”

The man under the blanket opened his eyes his face swollen, his gaze murky. Before him stood a radiant young girl, bright and beautiful.

“Who are you?” Zhao Kangyi recoiled in fright, struggling to move.

The little empress raised her hand and lightly tapped his forehead. In an instant, Zhao Kangyi felt his body’s pain vanish, leaving him astonished yet overjoyed.

With feigned solemnity, the little empress pointed upward, “I am from above.”

“An immortal?” Zhao Kangyi scrambled up from the ground and fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly, “Immortal, oh immortal, please save me!”

The little empress deliberately asked, “How should I save you?”

“I, I…” Zhao Kangyi froze mid-motion, lifting his head to stare blankly at the peach-blossom-faced maiden before him. Her eyes held laughter not mockery, not malice.

In a daze, he confessed, “I only took a few hundred taels of silver. I shouldn’t have, but they forced me forced me to take the blame. If I didn’t, my family wouldn’t survive.”

Unaware of the full circumstances, the little empress remarked, “You embezzled. This isn’t unjust.”

“If I didn’t take it, I’d be an outcast. They’d ostracize me.” Zhao Kangyi broke into sobs, “Ten years of grueling study brought me to this position. How could I not cherish it? I have a family, my wife, my child. If I take the blame, they’ll be exiled. But they promised to care for my wife and child in return.”

The little empress blinked, playing mysterious, “What if I care for them instead? Would you believe me?”

“I believe! I believe everything the goddess says!” Zhao Kangyi clung to this lifeline, kowtowing until his forehead bled, unwilling to stop.

“Then write it down. I’ll wait. Once you’re out, I’ll send them back to your hometown. Agreed?” The little empress helped him up, urging, “Quick, write it down!”

With no brush at hand, Zhao Kangyi bit his finger and wrote his account in blood on his undergarment, telling the goddess, “The evidence is with my wife.”

What was ‘my wife’?

The little empress didn’t understand. ‘My wife’? ‘My husband’? ‘My middle one’?

She didn’t ask but memorized the phrase: The evidence is with my wife!

Once Zhao Kangyi finished, the goddess smiled gracefully, “Rest assured, I’ll care for them. I’ll inform your emperor. Stay alive, don’t die.”

Zhao Kangyi wept with gratitude.

The little empress left the cell, retraced her path to the palace, and returned to the emperor’s chambers.

The empress had already retired. The candles were extinguished, leaving only a lone lamp by the dragon bed. Tiptoeing over, she lifted the brocade curtain and crawled in from the foot of the bed.

Lying beside the empress, she slowly tucked the confession under the pillow, then whispered hot breath into her ear: “The evidence is with my wife!”

Fearing the empress might not hear, she repeated it three to five times.

Afterward, she murmured, “I can’t read. Since you’re benefiting, could you teach me?”

She was troubled, unsure how or where to begin learning. She never clamored for the phoenix seal because she was illiterate.

Rolling over, she nestled against Cheng Sangyi, fingertips tracing her cheeks. From somewhere, she produced a red veil and draped it over Cheng Sangyi’s face.

With her majestic eyes hidden, Cheng Sangyi’s aura transformed, the veil lending her a touch of allure.

Leaning down, the little empress kissed the corner of Cheng Sangyi’s lips, her melancholy dissipating.

See? She had helped her, she wasn’t useless!

Her fervent kisses trailed from lips to collarbone, drawing soft moans. Suddenly, she trembled and looked up. Through the translucent veil, a pair of eyes had opened.

The young queen’s heart trembled, and she quickly released her, turning to flee.

Suddenly, those hands seized her wrist, gripping slightly was this an invitation?

Her resolve to leave faltered, and she leaned back in, repeating her earlier trick as she pressed a kiss to those striking, delicate lips.

She could feel Cheng Sangyi’s fingers tightening around her wrist, holding her with force.

The young queen winced at the pain but retaliated by twisting her grip, threading her fingers through the other woman’s until their hands were tightly entwined.

Perfect.

She murmured again, “I helped you solve such a big problem.”

The moon climbed the treetops, and the brocade curtains hung low. The dim lamplight flickered by the bed, casting shifting shadows within the canopy.

The young queen’s palm glided over the empress’s bare shoulder, skin against skin, and she watched as that fair, powdered cheek flushed crimson, like ripe fruit in the woods.

Leaning down, she kissed the side of her face, the skin there was already burning.

A face cold as ice, restrained and untouchable.

The young queen arched a brow, reaching to undo the sash at her waist, her palm pressing against the bare skin of her hip.

She repeated, “Remember the evidence is on your wife.”

Once the sensation of sleep paralysis faded, Cheng Sangyi bolted upright, her body aching fiercely. Instinctively, she reached beneath her pillow.

There lay a bloodstained cloth. Instead of discarding it immediately, she unfolded it and read it from start to finish.

It was written by Zhao Kangyi!

Which meant everything from last night had not been a dream.

Humiliation and fury burned through her, yet the evidence in her hands had resolved a major crisis. Clutching the cloth, she summoned her attendant. “Prepare a bath.”

Unaware of what had transpired in the chamber, the attendant quickly led the palace maids to draw the water.

As she bathed, Cheng Sangyi submerged herself entirely, the scalding heat searing her skin. Holding her breath, she refused to surface, the lack of air soon bringing a suffocating pressure.

Just as she felt she could bear it no longer, whispers echoed in her ears:

“The evidence is on your wife!”

“I can’t read. Since you’ve gained so much, could you teach me?”

“I helped you solve such a big problem.”

“The evidence is on your wife!”

That audacious woman, couldn’t read. Cheng Sangyi suddenly realized illiterate.

Who couldn’t read?

She broke through the water’s surface at last, gasping for air, her eyes steadying into calm. Her fists clenched, red petals floating around her in the bath.

Brushing away a petal clinging to her waist, she froze her mind replaying the memory of that woman’s hand gliding over her bare hip.

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