Chapter 510: What The Hell Were They Up To?
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Su Ying threw the “female ghost” onto the ground and went over to check on the Imperial Guards. She found that they were only unconscious and were not in any serious danger.
She took out a bottle of medicine and placed it under the noses of the Imperial Guards.
The stimulating effect of the medicine gradually woke up the unconscious Imperial Guards.
When the Imperial Guards opened their eyes and saw Su Ying dressed in all black, all of them got a shock.
“Who are you? How dare you play tricks here in the middle of the night?”
Su Ying slowly got up. She then took out the phoenix token from her body and waved it in front of their eyes. “It is I.”
When the Imperial Guards saw the phoenix token, they were even more astounded. They hurriedly knelt in front of Su Ying. “You are the Empress. Greetings, Your Imperial Highness.”
“Rise, all of you. I have already caught the female ghost.”
The Imperial Guards turned to look at the “female ghost” on the ground with even more shock.
“This… this is fake?”
Su Ying gave a scornful laugh. “Of course it’s fake. No ghost in this world would be so free as to come and toy with you guys. Bring him away for interrogation. Before dawn, I want to know who on earth instructed him to do this.”
After confirming that the female ghost was a fake, the Imperial Guards stood up and brought him to a house in the back for interrogation.
Su Ying climbed over the courtyard wall, but there was nothing outside. She also didn’t know where Xiao Jin had gone.
Su Ying investigated the surroundings and noticed that there was a spark of fire at the corner of the wall. She walked over and picked up the thing. After sniffing it, she quickly threw it on the ground and extinguished it with her feet.
To think that they were able to fool the Imperial Guards with such a trivial trick. This is truly laughable.”
Just as Su Ying was about to look around again, she saw Xiao Jin returning with a person in his hand.
“Is he the one who’s causing trouble outside?” Su Ying asked icily.
Xiao Jin nodded.
The man had already been knocked unconscious. He was like a helpless quail in Xiao Jin’s hand.
Xiao Jin carried that guy to the house at the back for the Imperial Guards to interrogate him.
“How boring. And I thought it was some advanced trick.”
Just these two fellows alone were enough to cause such a big ruckus. Su Ying felt that their defense team was still quite weak.
However, it was understandable. The people of this era believed in ghosts and gods very much. After learning that there were ghosts, they instinctively felt fear in their hearts. One could not blame them entirely.
Nonetheless, Su Ying believed that as someone who carried a weapon, if he didn’t have the courage, then there was really no need for him to continue in this line.
“Do you want to rest for a while? Or should we go back first and wait for them
to report back tomorrow?” Xiao Jin looked at the sky and asked.
Su Ying shook her head. “Let’s just wait for the interrogation results. If they can’t do it, I’ll handle it personally.” Since she was already out, there was no point in keeping herself in suspense.
Xiao Jin pulled Su Ying to a pavilion that had already been repaired and sat down. The infrastructure of the academy was really well-built, and there were many pavilions and gazebos.
“Why did they abandon this academy back then?”
Su Ying took out a bag of snacks and looked at Xiao Jin. After some thought, she warmed up a piece of snack and handed it to him.
Xiao Jin held the snack that still had her body warmth. His gaze fell on her. When he took a bite, it was fragrant and soft. He felt as if he was biting on her body.
“Officially, the reason given was there were too many people who wanted to study in the academy at that time. This place was not big enough, so they moved to a more spacious and bigger place.” When the academy was abandoned, Xiao Jin was not even born yet. Even the late Emperor had not ascended the throne. This matter happened too long ago, so not many people knew now.
“However, this matter seemed to have been handled by Duke Jingguo back then. It’s a pity that such a place is left vacant. It’s just right for you to use it now.”
It was indeed a pity. In a place like the capital city where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, it would be a waste of money to leave such a big place vacant.
The Imperial Guards did not make Su Ying and Xiao Jin wait too long. Those two captured fellows confessed very quickly.
“Your Majesty, those two people said that they were the hoodlums from the east alley in West Street. They were paid to carry out this task. The other party gave them a hundred taels of silver and told them to play tricks here and think of a way to hinder the progress of the renovation works. After the matter is done, they will be paid another three hundred taels of silver.”
“Two hoodlums? Do they know who the other party was?”
The Imperial Guards shook their heads. “They said they didn’t know him. They met that fellow on the streets. Because the other party was generous, and these two guys happened to be short of money, they boldly accepted this deal.”
“Get them to sketch out the other party’s appearance. Tomorrow, look for an artist to draw the portrait.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
It was getting late. If Xiao Jin returned at this hour, he would be almost in time to attend the morning court session.
Su Ying didn’t want to delay his morning court session, so she instructed the Imperial Guards to escort the captives to the prison in the Ministry of Justice first. She would then look for a portrait artist to go there the next day.
When the two of them returned to the palace, the sky was already bright.
Su Ying looked at Xiao Jin with some sympathy. “Your Majesty, why don’t you come back to catch up on your sleep at noon?”
Xiao Jin looked at her with a hint of resentment in his eyes. He answered with
an ambiguous expression, “I will sleep properly tonight.”
Su Ying pulled the blanket over her and proceeded to catch up on her sleep.
When she woke up again, it was already noon. Su Ying hugged the blanket and rolled around on the bed. After she felt comfortable all over, she slowly sat up and summoned Bai Shuang and the others in.
“Your Imperial Highness has woken up. Your servant was just thinking that Your Imperial Highness should wake up about now. At this hour, regardless of the circumstances, Your Imperial Highness will be hungry.”
Su Ying’s eyes twitched. In their minds, the image they had of her only revolved around food?
Have the First Prince and the Young Princess returned?”
“Your Imperial Highness, the First Prince and the Young Princess returned 30 minutes ago. But they knew that Your Imperial Highness was still resting, so they did not come in to disturb Your Imperial Highness. Aunt Zhao arranged for them to have lunch first and they have already gone to rest now.”
Su Ymg nodded. It was really tough being a child in the Imperial Family.
After she got up, washed up, and took her lunch, Xiao Jin sent Zhang Shuming to come to Su Ying and explain the progress of the matter to her.
“Your Imperial Highness, the Ministry of Justice interrogated them again last night. They said that one of the culprits was rather cautious. Before he carried out his job, he secretly followed the guy who paid them and found that the other party went to a teahouse to meet someone. After those two people left, he followed the person who met the guy who paid and found that this guy was actually from the residence of the Minister of Revenue.”
Su Ymg frowned. “Minister of Revenue? Consort De’s maiden family?”
“Yes. The Ministry of Justice has already gone to the residence of the Minister of Revenue to search for the suspect. They have not returned yet.”
Su Ying couldn’t understand. What good would it do Consort De to disrupt her plans for the women’s academy?
If Su Ying couldn’t understand, Consort De did not know either. If it wasn’t for the people from the Minister’s Residence who found a way to send her a letter, she wouldn’t have known about this matter.
Which brainless person provoked that demonic woman Su Ying? Are they tired of living?” Consort De immediately started cursing in the palace. If this matter brought in massive benefits, it was fine if one were stubborn enough to do it. However, there wasn’t a single copper coin of benefit. What the hell were they up to?
“Go. Go to the Empress’s Palace and inquire around. See what the Empress’s attitude is.” After the incident where she blocked the dam’s crack herself, Su Ying’s reputation in the Chu State was already as firmly entrenched as it could be. If this matter was really done by someone from the Minister’s Residence, she could forget about having a peaceful life!
Before the people in Consort De’s palace could leave, a palace maid came in to report. “Your Highness, Her Imperial Highness the Empress has summoned you..”