Affected by the sight of Wei Luo's tears, Zhao Jie picked Wei Luo up and carried her to the nearby couch. He leaned over, took off her shoes, and eased his expression. "Were you scared?"

Wei Luo saw him throwing the shoes that had been stained by someone else's blood into the charcoal burner bowl. The fire gradually engulfed the shoes. A short while later, they had been burned into ashes. She shook her head. She actually wasn't scared. She was feeling angry. She had originally been very happy tonight and the sudden appearance of the black-robed people had disturbed her happy mood. She suddenly thought of something and jumped down from the couch. Without caring that she was only wearing white socks, she started to run out of the cabin.

Zhao Jie called out from behind her, "Ah Luo!"

Wei Luo stopped at the prow of the boat and saw that the lanterns were still floating nearby. Underneath the moonlight, she could clearly see the river scene. The river had turned red from blood. The colored lanterns were immersed in the water and more or less were stained by the blood. Wei Luo flattened her lips. This time, she really was angry enough that she wanted to cry. Full of grievances, she looked at Zhao Jie and complained, "The colored lanterns have been ruined. They can't be brought back home."

Zhao Jie didn't expect that the reason she had rushed out here was look at this. His long arm stretched out and picked her up so that her feet were stepping on his feet. He lowered his head, kissed her forehead, and said, "It's okay. In the future, I'll make more for you."

Wei Luo wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against his chest for a long time while feeling that life was difficult. She finally said, "Who were those people?"

She thought that even if they were hacked into mincemeat it wouldn't be enough of a punishment.

Zhao Jie's eyes deepened and his voice became quieter as he said, "I don't know yet, but I feel I'll be able to find out very soon." As he said, "Let's go home," he picked Wei Luo up and carried her as they disembarked from the pleasure boat.

After returning to Prince Jing's residence, Wei Luo went to the cleaning room to take a bath and went to sleep early. Zhao Jie went to the study and asked Zhu Geng, "What information did you get from your interrogation?"

Zhu Geng said, "To respond to Your Highness, two of them bit off their tongues and died. Another two were locked up. Yang Hao is watching over them. For now, we haven't been able to get any information."

Zhao Jie turned the jade ring on his thumb. Without any changes in his expression, he said, "Continue to interrogate. Try all of the torture methods. If they continue to refuse to speak, then skin them alive."

Zhao Jie's words weren't an empty threat. It was new method of punishment. Peel off a cross-shaped layer of flesh from a prisoner's head, then pour mercury into the wound. After that, you would be able to peel off a complete piece of skin from the head to the feet. It wasn't a baseless claim when other people called him vicious and merciless.

After Zhu Geng left, Zhao Jie sat in the rounded-back chair without moving.

It wasn't difficult to guess who would try to harm him. He was just missing evidence. Zhao Zhang was the only person that was able to compete with him for the throne in the imperial court. However, Zhao Jie felt Zhao Zhang's action was unexpected. Zhao Zhang had been confined to his residence for such a long period of time and was still able to keep track of his movements and had the courage to send assassins after him. Zhao Zhang's courage wasn't small. This choice would be cutting off all of his chances of retreating.

Unfortunately, Zhao Zhang has miscalculated the situation. The emperor was recently investigating Noble Consort Nong's matter. If Zhao Zhang acted too unreasonably, the emperor would only find him more bothersome.

Zhao Jie returned to the bedroom. After washing up, he lied down next to Wei Luo.

The young girl had fallen into a deep sleep a while ago. Her eyes were gently closed and her breathing was even. Zhao Jie raised a hand and gently stroked her eyelashes. His fingers felt itchy and his hand slowly moved downwards to trace her eyes, nose, and mouth. She was probably feeling ticklish. Her body moved away from his and she made an incoherent grumbling sound.

Zhao Jie took his hand back and suddenly thought of the scene on the pleasure boat when he had raised the sword to kill someone.

This hand was stained with blood, but she had embraced him without any concerns. He had killed someone and her first thought was whether or not the colored lanterns had been damaged. How could he not feel overjoyed about having such a wonderful, young girl?

Zhao Jie carefully brought her into his arms and quietly sighed, "Ah Luo, I wouldn't let you off in the past. In the future, I won't let you off either."

--------

Early next morning, Wei Luo received Zhao Liuli's invitation to enter the palace.

She heard that the army that had gone to Guang Dong to stop the armed rebellion would be coming back to the capital in a few days.

Wei Luo told Zhao Jie of her plans, tidied up, and went to the palace.

When she arrived at Chen Hua Hall, she had originally thought Zhao Liuli would be in really good mood. Unexpectedly, she saw her sitting on the couch with a depressed expression. Her face with supported by her hands as she miserably sighed.

Wei Luo walked forward and put down the pastries she had brought from outside the palace onto the small, vermillion-lacquered table carved with spirals inlayed with gold. "What's wrong?"

When Zhao Liuli saw her, it was as if she was seeing reinforcements. She grabbed her hand and said, "Ah Luo, stay here until lunch time and go with me to Zhao Yang Hall to eat lunch."

This was the reason why she was feeling miserable? Wei Luo sat down on the other side of the small table while feeling puzzled. She opened the oilpaper package and peeled a sweetened, fried chestnut. "If you don't want to go, can't you just stay in Chen Hua Hall for lunch?" Zhao Liuli usually ate her meals by herself. She would only occasionally go to Zhao Yang Hall to accompany Empress Chen for meals.

It seemed that Zhao Liuli was truly in a bad mood. She didn't even become happy at the sight of sweetened, fried chestnuts.

Zhao Liuli honestly said, "After I got better from my cold the day before yesterday, imperial mother has requested that I go to Zhao Yang Hall to eat for every meal. But, imperial father is also there and the mood between the two of them seems strange. Neither of them will speak to each other. Eating a meal there feels like being torture. At first, I thought imperial father was only carried away by a whim. One or two meals would have been fine. But, he's been there for the last three days. Even imperial mother seems annoyed."

Wei Luo froze for a moment. She didn't expect that something like this would happen. After the truth about Liuli's poisoning had been revealed, Noble Consort Ning had lost all favor. It couldn't be that the emperor was feeling guilty towards Empress Chen and was trying to make up to her for past mistakes?

Thinking of this, Wei Luo lightly laughed as if she was going to be seeing a good show soon. "Okay, I'll go with you."

She was their daughter-in-law. It would be considered doing her filial duty to eat a meal with her father-in-law and mother-in-law and keep them company.

~

Wei Luo peeled another chestnut. She had purchased these freshly cooked chestnuts on the way to the palace and they were still giving off heat. They smelled good and tasted sweet. She and Zhao Liuli both enjoyed eating these chestnuts. "Liuli, do you know about that matter with Noble Consort Ning?"

Zhao Liuli nodded. "Imperial father has imprisoned her in the Golden Hall. No one is allowed to visit her."

Wei Luo hesitated for a moment before she added, "Then, do you know..."

Zhao Liuli's expression didn't change much. She lightly said, "En. I know that Noble Consort Ning was the one that poisoned me. Actually, I hate and resent her, but I know that imperial father will definitely punish her for me. Moreover, my health has already recovered, so I don't want think about something that happened so long ago. Anyways, if I wasn't poisoned, I probably would have never met older brother Yang Zhen."

Wei Luo curved her lips into a smile, "You're very good at letting things go and being positive about the past."

If she was in Liuli's position and someone had harmed her, she would payback the person a thousand times over. She would torture the person until death became more appealing than living.

--------

Noon quickly arrived. Zhao Liuli and Wei Luo walked to Zhao Yang Hall.

Thirty-six dishes covered the table. Empress Chen and Emperor Chong Zhen had already sat down. On the side, the palace servant girls had their heads lowered with nervous expressions. Zhao Liuli and Wei Luo stepped forward to pay their respects to the emperor and empress.

Seeing Wei Luo, Empress Chen's expression slightly improved. She said with a faint smile, "Ah Luo, did you come into the palace to see Liuli? Come, sit down and have a meal with this empress."

Wei Luo nodded her head in agreement. After sitting down, she glanced at Emperor Chong Zhen, who was sitting in the head seat. The emperor didn't look any differently than usual.

After lunch started, Wei Luo discovered that her earlier impression was wrong.

Emperor Chong Zhen picked up a slice of fish marinated in vinegar and soy sauce and placed it on a small, flower-pattern plate that was in front of Empress Chen. He said, "Wan Wan, this emperor remembers that you use to like to eat fish the most. This fish was delivered from Sichuan early this morning. It's fresh and tender. Try it."

Empress Chen glanced at the fish on the plate and suddenly called a palace servant girl over. "Replace this plate with a new one."

Emperor Chong Zhen's expression slightly stiffened.

The palace servant girl was put in such a difficult position that she almost wanted to cry. She didn't dare to offend either of them. Seeing that emperor didn't say anything, she finally brought over another clean plate.

Zhao Liuli gave Wei Luo a look that said, "See, I just knew they were going to be like this."

Wei Luo silently nodded. No wonder Zhao Liuli couldn't stand eating with them. If Liuli had to keep eating every meal in this type of atmosphere, Liuli would definitely be driven to madness. However, she could happily watch this play of "the emperor has changed his mind, but the empress refuses to acknowledge his love" and feel completely untroubled.

During this period where they silently ate lunch, Emperor Chong Zhen tried adding more food to Empress Chen's plate and she had the plates taken away each time. Whichever dish he picked from, she would stop eating from that dish for the rest of the meal. The emperor had ample patience and never got angry with Empress Chen.

After the meal, the place servants brought bowls of blood-red bird's nest soup with red dates. When a bowl was placed in front of Empress Chen, the palace servant trembled and knocked the entire bowl of soup over.

The palace servant's face turned deathly pale and she kneeled down to kowtow. "Your Majesty, please spare me."

Emperor Chong Zhen hurriedly grabbed Empress Chen's hand. A few drops of the hot soup had splashed on the back of her hand. He used this thumb to check. "Is it hot? Does it hurt?"

Empress Chen furrowed her eyebrows and suddenly took her hand away from his grasp. She said to the palace servant, "You can withdraw. Go to Qiu Mama for your punishment."

The palace servant thanked her for her benevolence as she withdrew from the hall.

Empress Chen half rose from her chair and with a courteous and alienating attitude, she said, "This consort is going inside to change clothing and won't be able to attend to Your Majesty. Your Majesty, please forgive me."

Emperor Chong Zhen embarrassedly took his stretched out hand back and helplessly said, "Wan Wan, this emperor..." He truly wanted to make things up to her.

Unfortunately, Empress Chen had already gone to her inner room without waiting for his reply.

--------

After leaving Zhao Yang Hall, the emperor went to his study.

Eunuch Chu shook his horsetail whisk and said, "Your Majesty, those two palace servant girls have been found."

Emperor Chong Zhen opened a report at his convenience, briefly looked at it, and asked, "Have they been questioned?"

Eunuch Chu said, "Yes, and they confessed to everything." After he paused and glanced at the unpredictable emperor, he added, "Ning-shi was indeed the mastermind behind Princess Tianji's poisoning."

Emperor Chong Zhen closed the report, shut his eyes closed, and said, "Overturn Consort Shu's conviction." He stopped for a moment, then he slowly said, "As for the Golden Hall... Send three feet of white silk and a cup of poisoned wine. Let Ning-shi choose for herself."

(T/N: Sending three feet of white silk is telling her commit suicide by hanging herself.)

Eunuch Chu made a noise of acknowledgment, thought of something, and said, "Your Majesty, today is still within the fifth prince's three month confinement period. Does Your Majesty want to write a decree to end the confinement period?"

The emperor said, "There's no hurry. This emperor feel annoyed just by seeing him,"

Eunuch Chu didn't say any more words before withdrawing from the room.

--------

An hour later, Eunuch Chu led two young eunuchs with him as he entered the Golden Hall. He looked around and couldn't help sighing with sorrow. A consort's glory and splendor was truly tied to the emperor. When a consort had his favor, she could have anything that she wanted. When a consort lost his favor, she became nothing. She could only live in this simple and crude place that didn't even have any decent furnishings.

Ning-shi absent-mindedly sat by the window as if she had lost her spirit. It had only been a few days, but she had lost a lot of weight. Hearing footsteps, she hurriedly turned her head and subconsciously looked behind Eunuch Chu. Seeing that the emperor wasn't there, she inevitably showed her disappointment. Right now, the emperor wasn't even willing to see her.

The two young eunuchs placed the white silk and poisoned wine on a small table with three curved legs. Eunuch Chu lowered his eyes and said, "Ning-shi, His Majesty has said that he will allow for your body to remain intact on behalf of your many years of service to him. You can choose yourself."

Ning-shi had already seen the items on the trays before he spoke. Her face had become paler and paler. A long time later, she finally found her voice, "Did His Majesty really say this?"

She had stayed here for a few days and had originally though that the emperor was only temporarily angry. After he calmed and based on concern from mutual affection of many years, he would definitely release her from here. After all, he had favored her so much in the past. How could she have expected that after this bitter waiting period, she had only waited to see white silk and poisoned wine?

Eunuch Chu didn't reply and only looked at her with pity.

Ning-shi sat up on the couch. She still couldn't believe his words.

Eunuch Chu urged her, "Choose one. I still have to go back to report this after its completed."

Ning-shi's heart turned into ashes. She suddenly rushed to doorway as if she had gone insane. "No. I want to see His Majesty... I want to see His Majesty."

Eunuch Chu gestured at the nearby eunuchs and the two young eunuchs quickly stopped Ning-shi and brought her back. Eunuch Chu poured a cup of wine and very politely said, "If you don't choose, then I'll help you choose."

Eunuch Chu grasped Ning-shi's chin, forcibly poured the poisoned wine into her mouth, and tilted her chin upwards to force her to swallow.

After everything was done, Eunuch Chu threw away the golden wine cup and watched as Ning-shi slowly fell to the ground.

Ning-shi's face became paler and paler and it slowly became distorted. She was in so much pain that she couldn't make a sound. Once she stopped moving completely, Eunuch Chu led the people away and returned to the study to report that the matter had been concluded.

~

After returning home, Wei Luo asked the servants about Zhao Jie's whereabouts and found out that he wasn't home.

"Where did the prince go?" Wei Luo asked.

Steward Wang answered, "To respond to the princess consort, His Highness went to Shen Ji Barracks and won't be coming back until the evening."

Wei Luo nodded and didn't think too much about it. She returned to her room to rest for a bit, but she ended up sleeping until dusk. She drowsily woke up, asked Jin Lu, and found out that Zhao Jie hadn't returned yet.

Jin Lu said, "Miss, are you hungry? This servant can have dinner prepared."

When there weren't other people around, Jin Lu and Bai Lan were still more accustomed to calling Wei Luo, "Miss."

Wei Luo walked to the yellow rosewood gao mian pen jia and washed her face. She considered for a moment before she said, "Let's wait. I'm not hungry."

(T/N: gao mia pen jia - It's a type of ancient furniture from the Qing Dynasty. It's a rack used to hold a basin of water and towels.)

She had felt stuffed after eating at Zhao Yang Hall at noon. Because Emperor Chong Zhen and Empress Chen didn't speak, she and Zhao Liuli had their heads down as they focused on eating. She wasn't careful and ended up eating too much. Even now, she wasn't the slightest bit hungry.

Wei Luo read a book for a while. When she looked up at the sky, she saw that night had fallen and the courtyard was completely dark. Zhao Jie still hadn't come back. She asked Jin Lu, What time is it?"

Jin Lu said, "Miss, it's around 8 PM.

Wei Luo got up from the bed, put on her shoes and a purplish pink wide-sleeve outer robe that was embroidered with white cranes and clouds, and walked outside. "Let's go to Shen Ji Barrack."

Jin Lu was startled for a moment, then she hurriedly tried to persuade, "Miss, it's so late at night. It's not safe for you to go outside by yourself."

Wei Luo thought her words were reasonable, so she had Steward Wang look for a few residence guards to escort her to Shen Ji Barracks.

Jin Lu saw that her mind was made up, so she stopped trying to persuade her and called Bai Lan over to go with them.

Shen Ji Barracks was located in the northwest part of the palace. Zhao Jie was currently in charge of the troops that lived in this barrack. The imperial court considered these troops to be their most important soldiers.

--------

Jin Lu and Bai Lan thought that Wei Luo would rush into the barracks, but she only had the carriage stop at Shen Ji Barracks' entrance. She didn't make any movements to step closer to the entrance.

Jin Lu asked, "Miss, you're not going inside?"

Wei Luo gathered her clothes closer, shook her head, and said, "He's definitely inside handling official business. It'll be better if I stand here to wait for him."

Jin Lu said, "It's windy outside. I'll go get you another layer of clothes."

She soon came back dejected. "We left the residence in a hurry. This servant forgot to bring thicker clothing."