good season

Chapter 147 The Murderer (Two chapters combined)

Emperor Yongjia was stunned. How could he have forgotten that Yan Xia had never gotten married?

Yan Xia?

If Yan Xia and Zhao Yun were to be granted a marriage.
Emperor Yongjia quickly weighed the pros and cons of the matter in his mind. Recently, the spies he sent to Liang had brought back news that after the death of the old King of Liang, Liang was indeed in chaos for a short time, but it was only a short time. Since Zhao Tinghan returned to Liang, the region has gradually stabilized and is now thriving.

According to information gathered by spies, Zhao Tinghan had been living in the royal palace and did not even return to Liangdu for his wedding. His cousin, Zhao Tingshi, handled the wedding procession on his behalf.

After the grand wedding, the newlywed Princess Consort Meng was accompanied by the eldest princess Zhao Yunnuan on her return to her parents' home on the third day after the wedding. After that, Meng went back and forth between the royal residence and the royal mausoleum, and she looked exhausted. Meanwhile, Zhao Tinghan continued to live in the royal mausoleum, and doctors came and went.

Emperor Yongjia knew that the stability of Liang was due to Zhao Tinghan's role in stabilizing the morale of the army, while the one who enabled Liang to continue to develop was the Grand Princess Zhao Yunnuan.

Zhao Yunnuan's importance to Liang did not change with Zhao Tinghan's return. On the contrary, the sickly Zhao Tinghan relied on Zhao Yunnuan far more than the vigorous old King of Liang.

The spies also learned that Princess Nie's position in the Prince's mansion was precarious. Zhao Yunnuan claimed that Princess Nie was ill and refused to visit her. Furthermore, she brazenly placed people in Princess Nie's palace to keep an eye on her.

The catalyst that caused the mother and daughter to turn against each other was the adopted daughter of the old King Liang.

The adopted daughter usually lived in the manor and rarely returned to the manor. Occasionally she would return, but she would be beaten and scolded by Madam Nie. In a fit of anger, the adopted daughter left the manor and returned to the manor.

Zhao Yunnuan doted on her adopted sister, but upon learning of this, she was furious and had a huge argument with Nie Shi, which led to a complete falling out between mother and daughter.

The old Prince Liang had an adopted daughter, which Emperor Yongjia had known for a long time. The old Prince Liang had submitted a memorial saying that the girl resembled his deceased young daughter, and he felt compassion for her, so he adopted her and petitioned the emperor to grant her a surname.

She was just an adopted daughter, so Emperor Yongjia granted her permission and bestowed upon her the surname Zhao.

Later, the scouts sent back news that the old King Liang had found a young girl to be the adopted daughter's teacher and gave the adopted daughter a mountain connected to the estate. The master and disciple then moved out of the palace and lived on the mountain.

Emperor Yongjia did not care about this. Influenced by the retired emperor, people of all ages in the Dayong Dynasty took pride in cultivating immortality. Princess Jiarou was a prime example. The teenage girl rarely returned to the palace and spent most of her time living in Taoist temples.

Therefore, in Emperor Yongjia's view, Zhao Shiqing, like Princess Jiarou, had gone to the mountains to cultivate herself.

She was just a little Taoist nun, and an adopted daughter at that. She couldn't cause any trouble. If Zhao Yunnuan hadn't turned against the Nie family for her sake, Emperor Yongjia would have long forgotten that the old Liang King had an adopted daughter.

However, thinking about it won't change anything. In Emperor Yongjia's mind, even if Zhao Shiqing didn't become a nun, she was still a lay Buddhist like Princess Jiarou, plus a lover of cultivating immortality.

Of course, Emperor Yongjia did not remember the name "Zhao Shiqing" at all. A member of the imperial clan without even a title was not worthy of having a name in front of Emperor Yongjia.

At this moment, Emperor Yongjia remembered that there was such a person as her, all because of Zhao Yunnuan.

Zhao Yunnuan is extremely important to Liangdi.

Therefore, sending Zhao Yunnuan to the capital as a hostage in place of Zhao Tingxuan is no longer a petty, illogical scheme by a woman in the inner quarters; it is an urgent matter that needs to be resolved!

However, the Yongzheng Emperor had never had a precedent of sending women to the capital as hostages, and he did not want to be the first to do so.

Fortunately, Zhao Yunnuan and Yunying were unmarried.

The best way to get Zhao Yunnuan to relinquish her power is to kill her.

However, Zhao Yunnuan is not Zhao Tinghan. She is young and healthy. If she were to die suddenly like the old Prince Liang, it would definitely cause a huge uproar. Therefore, at least until Zhao Yunnuan is married, she cannot die.

Another way is to imprison her, give her a crime, and lock her up.

However, this is equally difficult to implement. Zhao Yunnuan is not Zhu Yu, and it would be extremely difficult to find any fault with her.

However, nothing is absolute. For example, the places where women were imprisoned were not only prisons, but also homes and private residences!
While it's not possible to send a woman to the capital as a hostage, one can marry her off to the capital, then imprison her in the inner quarters, trapping her in mundane affairs from which she cannot escape. This will wear down her spirit, deplete her vitality, cause her to break down, and leave her to wither away, turning her into a lonely soul in the inner quarters.
A barely perceptible smile appeared on Emperor Yongjia's lips. Yan Xia and the Duke of Wei's mansion behind him were absolutely loyal, but they were also capable of causing real trouble.

Emperor Yongjia shook his head; he needed to think it over carefully.

Meanwhile, Yan Xia, whom Emperor Yongjia had been mentioning, did not interrogate Zhu Yu.

He locked Zhu Yu in the same cell as before—yes, that same luxurious and comfortable cell that terrified Zhu Yu. It was Zhu Yu's nightmare, a place of terror in the dark, a place where rats' teeth gnawed at him, a place where he would be childless.

Zhu Yu roared like a wild beast: "Let me out! I don't want to be here! Let me out right now!"

The same guard was watching over Zhu Yu as before. Just like last time, he moved a chair outside, leaned against the door, and ate peanuts.

That incident affected everyone in the Ministry of Justice prison. Each person was fined three months' salary. Although Liu Qi was not fined, he did not stay in the Ministry of Justice prison. Instead, he went to another prison outside the city, which was far from home, but it was said that he would receive an extra half tael of silver each month.

The guard was fined three months' salary and was very sad. But on his way home from work that day, he saw a fat old man fall to the ground and couldn't get up for a long time. The guard couldn't bear it, so he helped him up. The fat old man said he was going to find his beloved granddaughter. The guard was worried that he would fall again, so he kindly took him to the teahouse where he had arranged to meet his granddaughter.

The fat old man's beloved granddaughter looked somewhat familiar; the guard couldn't recall where he had seen her before, and of course, he didn't dare to look at her too closely.

The grandfather and grandson thanked him for his help and gave him a gold ingot, which he accepted after much persuasion.

That gold ingot was a full ten taels, equivalent to ten years of his salary.

With this money, his pregnant wife looked radiant, and the whole family's life improved.

So the guard is in a good mood now, and even if he is transferred to watch over Zhu Yu, that madman, he is at ease.

He even took out two cotton balls and plugged his ears. These cotton balls were made by his wife based on the ones Liu Qi had given him, and they worked very well. Now the guards in the prison are all using them.

Zhu Yu shouted for a while until his voice became hoarse, but still no one paid any attention to him.

Although it was afternoon, a chilly wind was blowing in the cell. Zhu Yu's injuries had not healed. Ever since he entered this cell, he had been in pain between his legs, which made him sweat profusely and restless.

But no matter how loudly he shouted, no one paid any attention to him.

Zhu Yu was terrified. As darkness fell, the cell was dark and shadowy, making everything look like a rat.

Even his feet looked like a mouse's.

Zhu Yu quickly tucked his feet into his robe, hoping that if they hid, no one would be able to find them.

But the next moment, his hands turned into rats too. Zhu Yu quickly hid his hands behind his back, but when he looked down, he saw that the chair beneath him had also turned into a rat, staring at him with blood-red eyes. Zhu Yu was startled and rushed to the iron fence, shouting loudly, "Rat! There are rats! Come and catch the rats! Help! Help!"

Zhu Yu spent the entire night in this cell. The next morning, Yan Xia came to interrogate the prisoner and was shocked to see Zhu Yu lying naked on the ground. Upon seeing Yan Xia, Zhu Yu grinned and revealed an ugly smile.

"I caught that mouse, I did a great job, are you going to give me a different room?"

Yan Xia: "I have several cases here that require you to plead guilty and sign. If you want to change houses, you must plead guilty first."

Zhu Yu shook her head: "No, you're lying to me! What case? I won't admit to it! Get me a different room. Once the imperial decree for the marriage arrives, I'll leave, and I'll invite you to my wedding banquet later."

Zhu Yu came from a noble family and was skilled in martial arts. Although he lived a life of debauchery, he was actually quite robust.

But Zhu Yu, who has been recuperating from her injuries, spends all her time indoors, lying in bed, and never sees the sun. Now, when she takes off her clothes, she looks like a white pig.

Yan Xia frowned deeply, looking at the large, white, flabby body. He shouted outside, "Someone, wrap him up!"

Several people came in and couldn't help but twitch their lips when they saw the scene before them. This dead eunuch is really a pervert, taking off his clothes whenever he has nothing better to do.

Zhu Yu naturally refused, but two fists can't fight four hands, and soon he was unable to struggle.

Worried that he would continue to undress, Yanxia had someone wrap him in a tattered quilt and add a rope around the outside of the quilt. In this way, even if Zhu Yu wanted to take off his clothes, there would be no way to stop him.

After doing all this, Zhu Yu was still shouting, "The imperial decree for the marriage is about to be delivered! I want to receive the decree! Let me go! I want to receive the decree!"

Upon hearing Zhu Yu mention the arranged marriage again, Yan Xia became interested and asked, "You want to get married? To whom?"

That day, Zhu Yu and Old Madam Wei spoke in hushed tones, and Yan Xia only caught a few words, remaining confused and unsure of what they were saying. Therefore, Yan Xia was quite curious when Zhu Yu announced his intention to bestow a marriage upon them.

Zhu Yu puffed out his chest: "With whom? Of course, with Zhao Yunnuan! You guys hurry up and change my room, and I'll reward you with a wedding feast then."

Yan Xia was taken aback. Zhao Yunnuan? The name sounded familiar. Right, he remembered. This was the eldest princess of the Liang Prince's Mansion, Zhao Tinghan's twin sister, and Zhao Tingxuan's older sister.

Yan Xia could hardly believe his ears. Wasn't Zhu Yu a eunuch? How dare he marry Princess Liang?
But Zhu Yu kept insisting that it was an imperial decree bestowing a marriage upon him, which didn't seem fake.

Would the emperor really do that?
To betroth the dignified Princess of the Liang Prince's Mansion to Zhu Yu, a eunuch?
Yan Xia's conflict with the Liang Prince's Mansion was limited to the two companions. He couldn't say he disliked them, but he didn't like them much either.

Although the Yan family and the Liang Prince's Mansion were distant relatives, their relationship was limited to exchanging gifts during festivals.

These days, in order to investigate those corpses, Yan Xia has been investigating Zhu Yu very carefully.

Zhu Yu had never met Zhao Yunnuan. His only connection with the Liang Prince's Mansion was that he killed Nie Er, a relative of the Liang Prince's Mansion, and also extorted 10,000 taels of silver from Zhao Tingxuan.

But now, Zhu Yu speaks with absolute certainty, as if there really is such an imperial edict, and Zhao Yunnuan is his chosen wife.

Yan Xia suddenly felt indignant on behalf of Zhao Yunnuan, whom she had never met before.

How unlucky was this princess that a eunuch coveted her?
Yan Xia said, "Carry him to the torture chamber."

The torture chamber, as the name suggests, is a place for torture. Normally, Zhu Yu would never go there, but today he was so happy that he almost jumped out of bed.

But he soon stopped laughing.

Yan Xia made him sit on a blood-stained bench. Although Zhu Yu had killed many young girls, including children, he was still alive.

However, all the people he killed were people he knew; those people feared him in life and still feared him as ghosts after death.

But the blood and flesh stained on that bench now are not ghosts, yet they are more terrifying than ghosts.

Zhu Yu screamed, even though Yan Xia did not torture him.

His spirit completely collapsed. When Yan Xia interrogated him, he only struggled with his emotions for a while before confessing everything.

The first body dug out of the villa courtyard was Cousin Yan. He had kidnapped her, and Cousin Yan tried to escape but failed. She then said that she was a cousin of the Duke of Wei's family and that if the people of the Duke of Wei's family found out that she was not there, they would not let it go.

Zhu Yu went home and asked Old Madam Wei. Old Madam Wei was alarmed when she heard the news and immediately sent Granny Niu to the manor to kill her and silence her.

As for the other six corpses, they were all bought by Zhu Yu.

Some of these items were sold by their relatives, while others were stolen by Zhu Yu.

They had tried to escape and cried for help before their deaths, but in the end, they all became corpses.

Yan Xia was interrogating someone until midnight. Others advised him to continue the trial the next day. In the past, Yan Xia would have indeed continued the trial the following day in this situation.

But today is different. A nagging voice in Yan Xia's mind is urging him on. Perhaps if he convicts Zhu Yu, the emperor will not arrange a marriage between him and Zhao Yunnuan.

Yan Xia had heard that the princess of Liang was in charge of the personal guard and held a position of power within the army.

For someone so outstanding to have her name uttered by Zhu Yu is an insult.

Yan Xia just needs to convict Zhu Yu as soon as possible.

The next day, at the court assembly, both Yan Xia and Lord Xu were present. They told the emperor some important news: the names, hometowns, and causes of death of the seven bodies that had been found recently had been determined.

The murderer is Zhu Yu. Zhu Yu is a habitual killer, the evidence against him is conclusive, and Zhu Yu has already confessed.

Yan Xia presented the case file, and Emperor Yongjia glanced through it and was furious. All the evidence pointed to Zhu Yu!

Emperor Yongjia did not hesitate and immediately issued an edict to strip Zhu Yu of his title as heir apparent.

Zhu Yu became a commoner!

When the news reached the Marquis of Baoqing's residence, Old Madam Wei burst into tears on the spot.

Her Yu'er has lost everything.