Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Li Yuebai sat at the table, wiping the surface of the Jiaowei Lute with a soft cloth. His fingertips occasionally plucked the strings, making a deep and long sound.
He felt a little uneasy and couldn’t help but confirm the current situation with the system again.
“Host.” The system reported: “The emperor suspects that Concubine Hui is cursed… He has sent people to search your place.”
“Okay.” Li Yuebai nodded, his hands moving steadily without showing any panic.
After a while, the eunuchs came. The leading eunuch bowed and smiled: “Master Yun, we have no other intentions. We are just following the order of the saint to search.”
“Please.” Li Yuebai did not move.
The eunuchs searched everywhere in Qingxin Pavilion for a long time, but they found nothing. He had only lived in the palace for a year, and there were few utensils and furnishings. There was really nothing to find, so they had to return empty-handed.
This search was just the prologue, and the highlight was yet to come.
The eunuchs found nothing, but Concubine Hui would not give up. She would try harder to pretend to be sick, so that the emperor would have to send more elite men to search.
Zhao Ne was about to appear.
Li Yuebai waited silently for an hour until the door of Qingxin Pavilion was opened again.
Zhao Ne stepped inside. He was thin, steady, and sharp. He glanced at Li Yuebai and then whispered, “Search.”
A dozen Jinyiwei received the order and immediately broke into Qingxin Pavilion and rummaged through the boxes. Their actions were much more ruthless and professional than those of the eunuchs. They specifically searched in those tricky and remote places. They were accustomed to doing house-raiding work and were very skilled.
Zhao Ne sat down opposite the desk, his sharp eyes like a hawk piercing Li Yuebai for a long time before he said, “Master Yun is not panicked at all?”
“I have never done anything wrong and have a clear conscience.” Li Yuebai said coldly.
He watched Zhao Ne sitting in Murong Nan’s favorite seat, and felt a surge of anger in his heart, but he had to suppress it on his face.
“What a [clear conscience]!” Zhao Ne smiled.
His half-smile seemed to hide the pride of winning the game – so what if you have a clear conscience? There is still a way to sentence you to death.
The Jinyiwei searched for an incense stick of time but still found nothing. Zhao Ne showed a sinister smile, patted the table, stood up, walked around the table, and walked towards Li Yuebai step by step, looking down at him.
“Master Yun.” Zhao Ne said, “Can you move?”
“?” Li Yuebai raised his head slightly and looked back at Zhao Ne, indicating that he didn’t understand what he meant at all.
Zhao Ne’s face sank, and the two Jinyiwei immediately obeyed his orders and stepped forward, intending to drag Li Yuebai out.
“Oh?” Li Yuebai smiled, stood up and stepped back a few steps, saying: “Lord Zhao wants me to take a few steps back? Why don’t you explain it clearly, but take action?”
He dodged too quickly, and the Jinyiwei’s hands just stretched out stopped awkwardly in the air.
Zhao Ne walked forward without caring, squatted down, bent his fingers, and knocked on the white stone floor tiles.
The floor of Qingxin Pavilion was paved with white stone floor tiles. Each piece of white stone was cut neatly and looked the same. Zhao Ne’s eyes were focused on a floor tile near Li Yuebai’s seat. After checking it, he ordered someone to lift it.
Under the floor tile, there was a small hole in the ground, and a wooden box was hidden in the hole.
Zhao Ne showed a gloomy smile, and the Jinyiwei also breathed a sigh of relief, with a smug look on their faces, secretly saying that they could catch someone and would get the reward again this time.
“Master Yun, is this your clear conscience?” Zhao Ne opened the wooden box and took out the things inside one by one – there was a puppet used for cursing, and several letters.
“These things are not mine.” Li Yuebai’s body swayed, his face pale, but he still said firmly.
Hearing that the Jinyiwei had found something in Qingxin Pavilion, the emperor attached great importance to it and moved to Qingxin Pavilion accompanied by the eunuchs.
Zhao Ne presented the things to the emperor. The first one was the witchcraft puppet.
The puppet was made of common white cloth, nothing special. The special thing was that there was a line of words written on it with a pen – it was the birth date of Concubine Hui. There were also a few black hairs tied on the puppet’s head, which were black and long, very much like Concubine Hui.
“Doctor, what do you think?” The emperor was not in a hurry to get angry and asked in a deep voice first.
“This…” The imperial physician accompanying the emperor hurriedly replied: “I heard that the art of witchcraft requires the birth date of the cursed person, as well as hair and nails… This puppet has both of them.”
This imperial physician was not Concubine Hui’s confidant, he was just speaking common sense.
“So, Concubine Hui’s illness is indeed cursed by this thing?” The emperor frowned.
“I dare not conclude so.” The imperial physician said cautiously: “As a doctor, I cannot believe in witchcraft. However, the person who made this thing must have the evil intention of cursing Concubine Hui.”
Concubine Hui was fine before, but she came to Qingxin Pavilion yesterday, listened to Yun Weizhi’s playing, and was cursed when she returned. The most likely explanation was that Yun Weizhi had already written Concubine Hui’s birth date on the puppet, and when Concubine Hui came to Qingxin Pavilion to listen to the piano, he took the opportunity to pick up Concubine Hui’s long hair and tied it to the puppet’s head.
The emperor sent someone to check the handwriting on the birth date and found that it was exactly the same as Yun Weizhi’s handwriting.
“What crime is committed for practicing witchcraft in the palace?” The eunuch beside the emperor could no longer hold back and questioned in a sharp voice.
This eunuch was not Concubine Hui’s man, and he usually acted quite kindly. He questioned because he still had a little bias towards Yun Weizhi, hoping that Yun Weizhi could defend himself in time and clear the charges.
However, Yun Weizhi only said, “I have never done this.”
This sentence alone could not prove any innocence.
The eunuch sighed, and his eyes were almost like looking at a dead person.
Zhao Ne presented the letters again.
The witchcraft was just a prelude, and the real highlight was still on those letters.
The emperor opened the letter and his face suddenly darkened.
The letter was written by the Empress in her beautiful handwriting, but the content was unbearable to look at – it was a love letter to Yun Weizhi, and every word was full of love.
The emperor never showed his emotions, but when he saw such a letter, he couldn’t hold it back. His brows were furrowed, his face was full of anger, he held the letter in his right hand, and with his left hand he swept the utensils and shattered them all over the floor.
No one dared to breathe, and they all pleaded guilty.
The Jinyiwei had already stepped forward, grabbed Li Yuebai roughly, and locked his hands with heavy cast iron shackles.
With such a big thing happening in the palace, even the temperature seemed to have dropped to freezing point.
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