Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress

Chapter 114: Chapter 113: Silencing by Murder_1

Gao Demao feigned a foolish laugh, “Oh dear, His Majesty has truly bestowed a great favor upon the Bai family! Prince Liang is the Emperor’s son; marrying a prince is a blessing cultivated over several lifetimes!”

Seeing the Emperor squint his eyes, Gao Demao suddenly changed his tone, “But Your Majesty, Miss Bai suffers from a chronic ailment and is said to have poor fortune in childbearing! Allowing Miss Bai to be Prince Liang’s side consort is already an exceptional honor from Your Majesty. The Emperor is benevolent and compassionate; considering the sacrifice of the Bai family men, confers dignity upon Miss Bai by making her Prince Liang’s primary consort. However, this humble servant, being narrow-minded and selfish, feels it is too great a grievance for the Emperor’s dragon son.”

The Emperor glanced at Gao Demao and couldn’t help but chuckle softly, “Your flattery has improved considerably!”

“This is all heartfelt truth!” Gao Demao smiled at the Emperor like a blossoming flower.

In the dungeons of the Court of Judicial Review, the place was perpetually damp and dark, reeking of mold everywhere. Even during the day, without lighting lamps, it was as dark as night.

Marquis of Loyalty and Courage, Qin Dezhao, sat cross-legged in the dimly lit cell, relatively calm.

Achieving merit for supporting the rise to power had never been easy. Before allying with Prince Xin through Prince Liang, he understood that if Prince Xin won, he would gain glory. If Prince Xin lost, he too would lose everything.

Qin Dezhao always left a way out for himself. This time, his fearlessness stemmed from the life-saving Iron Deed in the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage’s residence.

Before the grain supply left Dadu City and was transferred from his hands, at least on the surface, it was top-grade new grain. He had already silenced those who needed silencing and cleaned up the aftermath.

Now that the grain supply had been lost, even if investigated, he would only be guilty of negligence, not implicating his entire family.

“Miss Bai, the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage is here, but the visitation time should not be too long, so please understand.” The prison guard bowed and whispered.

Bai Qingyan’s milk brother, Xiao Ruojiang, stepped forward and warmly handed silver to the prison guard, “Have some tea, brothers.”

“This can’t be!” The prison guard hurriedly declined, sincerity evident, “We are all protected by the men of the Duke of Zhen’s household in this prosperous capital. How can we accept money from Miss Bai now?! No, no!”

Qin Dezhao opened his bloodshot eyes and saw, under the flickering candlelight, that the person removing the black hat of the cloak was the stunning-featured Bai Qingyan.

He pressed his lips into a thin line.

Having been in this cell of the Court of Judicial Review for a day and a night, though Qin Dezhao’s dark blue cross-collared long robe was still relatively clean, his face clearly showed signs of fatigue.

Watching the prison guard’s departing figure, Qin Dezhao chuckled softly, “That prison guard… is also someone whose heart has been won over by Miss Bai!”

“These hearts were won by the Bai family with their lives. If the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage is willing to sacrifice his life, these hearts could also be won by the Marquis. But unfortunately…” Bai Qingyan raised her hand and handed the cloak to Nanny Tong, holding a plain silver floral hand warmer, standing in front of the cell door, “The Marquis of Loyalty and Courage’s family tradition has always been to cherish life, perhaps unwilling to let go.”

Qin Dezhao’s face darkened, “Miss Bai, lowering yourself to come to this dungeon, is it just to mock me a few times?”

She looked deeply at Qin Dezhao, extended her hand behind her…

Xiao Ruohai took out a ledger from his bosom and handed it to Bai Qingyan. Nanny Tong set down a long bench, wiped it clean with a handkerchief, and helped Bai Qingyan sit down.

Xiao Ruojiang opened the food box he carried, took out pen and ink on silk, and knelt down to write.

Their actions were methodical, but Qin Dezhao couldn’t decipher the reason behind them. Could it be… Miss Bai was here to interrogate him?!

“Shen Xiyao, Rank-Nine Grain Officer, died on the first day of the twelfth month in the fifteenth year of Xuanjia, due to drunkenness and falling into the water, at the age of forty-six…”

As Bai Qingyan read out the name, Qin Dezhao instinctively gripped his clothes tighter. He stared at Bai Qingyan, striving to remain calm.

Xiao Ruojiang’s writing speed was swift, almost as if he wrote the words as soon as Bai Qingyan spoke them.

“Li Sanhai, grain official of Jiaozhou, died on the sixth day of the twelfth month in the fifteenth year of Xuanjia, after drinking excessively while spending the night at a brothel, at the age of thirty-eight.”

With every name Bai Qingyan read, Qin Dezhao’s unease grew.

Particularly because these people that Bai Qingyan mentioned were participants in embezzling the grain sent to the southern frontier. They were already silenced by him.

How did Bai Qingyan know about these people?!

Bai Qingyan picked names from the ledger of the already dead and recited them, as expected, seeing Qin Dezhao’s face change drastically in the cell.

After reading the names of the deceased, Bai Qingyan closed the ledger and asked Xiao Ruojiang, “Did you get it all?”

“Got it all!” Xiao Ruojiang replied and raised the silk, handing it to Bai Qingyan to see.

Bai Qingyan read it and handed the silk back to Xiao Ruojiang, then looked towards Qin Dezhao in the cell, saying, “This morning, His Majesty decreed, posthumously honor my grandfather as King of Zhen and my father as the Duke of Zhen. Liu Huanzhang’s family has been exterminated, Prince Xin and his offspring demoted to commoners, and Prince Xin himself exiled to Yongzhou, never to return to the court…”

Qin Dezhao’s throat churned, biting hard on his molars.

“What do you think… if I hand this list over, how will His Majesty deal with you?” Bai Qingyan shook the silk in her hand, devoid of any smile, “If Prince Liang knows that I had come to the dungeons of the Court of Judicial Review to see you and then got this list, would Prince Liang be eager to silence you?”

Qin Dezhao’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe that Bai Qingyan even knew about Prince Liang behind the scenes!

Prince Liang was a person under Prince Xin. Now that Prince Xin had been demoted and exiled as a commoner, Prince Liang would certainly try every means to protect himself…

Qin Dezhao recalled the scene when he ordered the killing of Li Sanhai and Shen Xiyao. If he were Prince Liang… he too would need to silence those who knew the most to protect himself.

“How did Liu Huanzhang, far in the southern frontier, know that there was a problem with the grain, using that missing grain as an excuse to incite chaos within the southern frontier army? Had the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage long colluded with Liu Huanzhang? If so… Liu Huanzhang is a traitor? What would be the crime of the Marquis of Loyalty and Courage? If the Marquis implicates Prince Liang, what would Prince Liang’s crime be?”

Bai Qingyan’s tone was methodical, yet fear like a silent stream crept through Qin Dezhao’s body.

“Perhaps the death of the Bai family men is insignificant to His Majesty, he might even hope for their extinction. But the deaths of tens of thousands of Jin’s elite soldiers in the southern frontier due to your selfish desires, rendering Jin a once-powerful state humbled to plea for peace with Xiliang and Nanyan. Losing territories is a minor matter; once Jin shows weakness, Daliang and Rong could pounce at any time. Do you think His Majesty would not hate you?”

The Emperor’s dissatisfaction with the Bai family was clear to Qin Dezhao. It was this clarity that emboldened him to manipulate the grain supply.

But Bai Qingyan’s words were correct. The Emperor might want the Bai family dead… but he certainly didn’t want tens of thousands of soldiers to die with them!