Rebirth of the Excellent Daughter of the Marquis Household (REDMH) - Chapter 165

The Empress shot a cold glance at the Virtuous Consort. At that moment, Zhang Wan Yi stepped forward and bowed. “Father the Emperor, Mother the Empress, this daughter-in-law has something to say, though I do not know whether it is appropriate to speak.”
“Go ahead and speak.” Emperor Jing’s mind was in turmoil, caught between the Empress and the Virtuous Consort. Seeing Zhang Wan Yi step forward, his eyes lit up. Zhang Wan Yi was the Empress’s niece, and also the Virtuous Consort’s daughter-in-law. It could not be better if she could mediate between the two sides.
The Empress, however, only continued to smile coldly.
Zhang Wan Yi might indeed be her niece, but thanks to her father, they had long since fallen out, alright?
The Empress had no sons, only a single daughter. Back then, in order to choose sides, the siblings had argued endlessly. She was the Empress! Why should she obey her brother? And that foxy Virtuous Consort, was she anything good either? Speaking of “two Empress Dowagers”, if that woman’s son were to ascend the throne, where would her own position as Empress Dowager be? The Empress and Prime Minister Zhang had long since drifted apart over the matter of the Crown Prince’s succession.
Still, the Empress had given her brother considerable face. Ever since Zhang Wan Yi married Yun Yi, she had basically withdrawn from the struggle for succession.
In any case, she had no sons, helping any of them would bring her no benefit. Perhaps by helping no one at all, she might actually end up better off.
However, she had always found the Virtuous Consort’s behaviour insufferable. Making her a little unhappy had already become something of a habit for the Empress.
“Then this daughter-in-law begs forgiveness for overstepping,” Zhang Wan Yi said with a graceful curtsy, then continued, “Aunt is right to call for severe punishment, and Mother Concubine is not wrong to ask Father the Emperor to think twice. The fault lies with Cousin Xia alone. If she had not kept it hidden all this time, things would never have come to this.”
The moment Zhang Wan Yi spoke, the Empress already knew that she would speak in support of the Virtuous Consort. Indeed, a fine daughter born of that good brother of hers, cut from the same cloth as him.
“But Cousin Xia was truly pitiful. Even if she was at fault, it was out of helplessness. This daughter-in-law merely speaks from sentiment and begs Father the Emperor to show mercy, to let Cousin keep a shred of dignity. After all, she is already gone, and when a person dies, the light goes out. As for the principles of law and propriety, this daughter-in-law, as a mere woman, cannot speak of great reason. Everything is up to Father the Emperor’s judgement.”
“Mm.” Emperor Jing nodded. “You may step back. What you said is quite reasonable. Law and reason cannot go beyond human sentiment.”
A trace of joy flashed through the Virtuous Consort’s eyes. She had known that she would not make a mistake in choosing this daughter-in-law. Even the Empress, when striking at her, would have to take her niece into account. The Empress, on the other hand, gave a heavy cold snort in her heart. Forget it, she could not be bothered to intervene anymore. She could already tell that the Emperor’s scales had tipped toward the Virtuous Consort.
Gu Yu Qi could not help but sigh inwardly. No wonder she had been thoroughly crushed by Zhang Wan Yi in her previous life. This woman was really good at talking. Logically, in this kind of situation, it should not have been her place to speak at all, yet she had stepped forward regardless. Relying on her status as the Empress’ niece and the Virtuous Consort’s daughter-in-law, she spoke with an air of impartiality and reason, and only from a place of sentiment, never touching upon politics. No one could accuse her of interfering in state affairs. Admirable, truly admirable!

Emperor Jing turned his gaze to the still-trembling An Le Marquis who lay prostrate on the ground. “Rise,” he said slowly. “Go in and take your daughter away. As for today’s incident, I shall pretend it never happened. Find a reason and bury your daughter quietly.”

“Yes…” An Le Marquis could not even describe how he felt. His heart was a mixture of complex emotions. On the one hand, his daughter was dead and he was stricken with grief. On the other hand, the marquisate had narrowly avoided disaster, and he could not help but feel a trace of relief.

He rose in dejection. As he passed by Yun Ke, he could not help but glance deeply at him.

Everything had been said well before his daughter got married. If everything went according to the process they taught her, there would be no problems. Yet now, something had gone terribly wrong. Did Yun Ke discover something? Or was it as the Virtuous Consort claimed, that his daughter, overcome with fear, had confessed everything of her own accord? An Le Marquis had no way of knowing.

As An Le Marquis passed him, Yun Ke suddenly grabbed Yun Yi’s hand. “Fifth Brother, your hand is bleeding?” On the back of his hand were several distinct scratch marks. Bl00d had flowed earlier, and though it had since dried, the marks were deep and clear.

Panicked, Yun Yi quickly pulled his hand back into his sleeve and replied with unease, “It’s nothing.”

“It’s good that it’s nothing,” Yun Ke said lightly. “I thought someone might have clawed at you.”

An Le Marquis sorrowfully took his daughter’s body back to his Marquis’ residence.

As soon as An Le Marquis’ wife saw her daughter’s corpse, she let out a cry and fainted from the shock. After finally being revived, she clutched her daughter’s cold body, wailing with grief. An Le Marquis could only repeat the Virtuous Consort’s account to her once more.

“Ying’er, how could you be so foolish!” An Le Marquis’ wife cried, holding her daughter close.

An Le Marquis eventually managed to calm her down. “Let’s focus on preparing Ying’er’s body properly for burial.”

“Ying’er was already married into Imperial Prince An’s household, why should we be the ones to bury her?” An Le Marquis’ wife protested bitterly. “I want Imperial Prince An to mourn her in person!”

“Enough of that,” An Le Marquis said through gritted teeth. “Regardless of whether Ying’er’s death had anything to do with Prince An, they never completed the wedding rites. There was no ceremonial bow so by law, the marriage was never formalised. His Majesty has already shown us tremendous mercy by not punishing us.”

“It must have been Imperial Prince An who exposed Ying’er!” An Le Marquis’ wife suddenly cried out, grabbing her husband and shaking him.

“Even if it was Prince An who exposed Ying’er, so what? He wasn’t wrong!” An Le Marquis said frustratedly. “Even if we wanted to find fault with him, there’s none to be found.”

At these words, An Le Marquis’ wife burst into loud sobs again, clutching her daughter’s hand tightly. As she cried, she suddenly sensed something amiss. “Marquis, what’s this under our daughter’s fingernails?” she exclaimed. She quickly rubbed her eyes, wiped away the tears with a handkerchief, then lifted Xia Ying’s hand and examined it closely.

An Le Marquis leaned in as well, bringing over a lantern. Under the light, Xia Ying’s nails, painted with bright red lacquer, appeared particularly striking. Yet, beneath those crimson tips, something was embedded in the nail beds and the very tips of her fingers bore traces of bl00d.

An Le Marquis removed a gold hairpin from his wife’s hair and carefully scraped at the material beneath the nails. Holding it under the light, he stared intently. “This…”

“This looks like flesh!” An Le Marquis’ wife gasped in horror, her eyes wide. “Why would there be such a filthy thing under our Ying’er’s fingernails?! Ying’er loved cleanliness the most!”

“This…” An Le Marquis’s hands trembled as he held the pin and lantern.

He had suddenly remembered what had happened in the palace. Yun Ke had grabbed Yun Yi’s hand and revealed those deep, fresh claw marks across the back of his hand. Even in his distracted state at the time, the wounds had been far too conspicuous to miss.

“Our Ying’er didn’t commit suicide by taking poison willingly!” The gold hairpin and lantern dropped from An Le Marquis’ hands at once. The lantern rolled twice across the floor and extinguished. He staggered back several steps and collapsed heavily into a chair, gripping his wife’s hand tightly. “She didn’t commit suicide by taking poison!” How could a person who willingly drank poison to commit suicide have clawed off Yun Yi’s flesh in the process? An Le Marquis was no fool, he had spent years navigating the schemes of the imperial court. As long as he thought about it clearly, the truth was not difficult to discern. It had to be Yun Yi and the Virtuous Consort working together, forcing their daughter to die. When their daughter refused to comply, they used force. She resisted and in the struggle, she scratched the back of Yun Yi’s hand.

“Marquis, what are you saying?!” An Le Marquis’ wife cried in agitation, seizing her husband’s hand. “Who was it?! Who killed Ying’er?!”

“It was Yun Yi… Prince Jing!” An Le Marquis shouted, stomping in fury. “It was your dear younger sister!”

At his words, An Le Marquis’ wife entire body trembled. Her legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground, her eyes hollow and vacant, “Why would she do this? All these years, we’ve stood firmly by her side, supporting her, supporting Prince Jing. Why? Why would she poison Ying’er? Ying’er is her own niece!”

After speaking, An Le Marquis’ wife gripped her husband’s knee and stood with difficulty, then stumbled out like a soulless ghost.

“Where are you going?” An Le Marquis cried out in alarm, rushing forward to wrap his arms around his wife from behind.

“I’m going into the palace. I must ask her, why? Why could she be so cruel?!” An Le Marquis’ wife said, lost and broken, her voice trembling with despair.

“You’re being foolish!” An Le Marquis shook her hard. “Ying’er is already dead. Even if you confront her, Ying’er will not come back to life.”

“How could she be so heartless!” An Le Marquis’ wife collapsed into her husband’s arms, sobbing.

“Sigh, she likely had no other choice,” An Le Marquis let out a long sigh. “It was probably to protect our marquisate.”

“But Ying’er is dead. Died at her hands, how could she sleep at night without being haunted by nightmares?” An Le Marquis’ wife cried bitterly, “All these years, we’ve supported her without question. Even when she urged you to use the jade pendant to force His Majesty’s hand in approving the marriage between Ying’er and Prince An, we did exactly as she said. And in the end, what did we get in return?!”

An Le Marquis was filled with bitter regret and irritation. If only they had not been blinded by ambition, if only they had not followed the Virtuous Consort’s schemes, things would never have come to this.

Now the jade pendant was gone, the Princess Consort title was lost, and their daughter was dead. Everything was thanks to the Virtuous Consort!

After the incident with Xia Ying, the matter of bestowing rewards was quietly set aside. Gu Yu Qi stepped forward to pay her respects to the Emperor and the Empress. Emperor Jing had little mind for such formalities and responded with only a few perfunctory words. The Empress, however, held Gu Yu Qi’s hand and spoke with her for a while. The Empresswas genuinely curious about Gu Yu Qi. At first sight of Gu Yu Qi’s appearance, the Empress immediately understood why the Virtuous Consort disliked her.

Whatever the Virtuous Consort disliked, she liked. The Empress generously bestowed Gu Yu Qi with many gifts before departing with the Emperor.

On the way out of the palace, Yun Ke kept holding Gu Yu Qi’s hand.

It was only when they reached a quiet, secluded path that Gu Yu Qi slowly asked, “You showed Yun Yi’s injuries on purpose to the An Le Marquis, didn’t you?”

Yun Ke raised an eyebrow ever so slightly and said nothing.

Gu Yu Qi sighed inwardly. This person was too cunning… Although she had always known this, witnessing it firsthand still sent a chill down her spine.

Fortunately, she had not done much to offend him in this life.