The Night Before Leaving the Palace, Reduced to the Tyrant's Plaything - chapter 17

“No,” Hu Jinzhong approached with a fawning expression. “This matter is grave, so I told them not to use torture yet. I thought it best to report to Your Majesty first.”

“Where is the jade pendant?” Qi Rang extended his hand.

Hu Jinzhong hurriedly presented the jade pendant with both hands.

Qi Rang took it and repeatedly rubbed it in his hand, lost in thought.

Watching his expression carefully, Hu Jinzhong cautiously inquired, “Miss Wanyu can’t speak and refuses to answer any questions. What does Your Majesty think should be done with her?”

Just then, Xu Qingzhan walked in. Hearing Wanyu’s name, his mind buzzed, and his expression changed at once.

Fortunately, everyone was watching the emperor’s reaction, so no one noticed him.

He quickly composed himself, just in time to hear Qi Rang say coldly, “Bring her before me. I will interrogate her personally.”

“Yes,” Hu Jinzhong replied hastily and scurried off to the Shenxing Si.

Qi Rang’s face was dark and inscrutable as he returned to the Qianqing Palace. Instead of going into the Warm Pavilion, he sat directly on the throne in the main hall.

Judging by this setup, it really looked like a formal interrogation.

Sun Liangyan directed Fuzi and Su Jin to serve tea, then shrugged at Xu Qingzhan and said, “Seal Holder, what do you make of this? Miss Wanyu has been longing to leave the palace every day-why would she choose this moment to steal the emperor’s jade pendant?”

Xu Qingzhan had been confused, but hearing this, everything became clear.

Someone didn’t want Wanyu to leave the palace and framed her with the emperor’s jade pendant.

Who was it?

Hu Jinzhong?

But if the emperor hadn’t given permission, would Hu Jinzhong have dared to take the emperor’s jade pendant on his own?

Xu Qingzhan looked toward the emperor sitting in the place of honor, feeling as if a heavy stone blocked his heart.

“Who knows? Let’s wait until she arrives and see what His Majesty says,” he replied perfunctorily to Sun Liangyan, then stepped over the threshold and approached Qi Rang.

Qi Rang accepted the tea served by Su Jin but did not drink it, merely scraping the rim of the bowl with the lid again and again.

No one could tell if he was pleased or angry at that moment.

Xu Qingzhan stepped forward and asked, “Your Majesty, what exactly has happened?”

Qi Rang mused for a while before replying, “That Mute tried to steal my jade pendant and take it out of the palace. She was caught at the gate. Tell me, what should I do with her?”

Xu Qingzhan’s mind was in turmoil, but he kept his expression calm. “Does Your Majesty truly believe she would do such a thing?”

“What else could it be?” Qi Rang retorted. “My jade pendant is kept on me at all times-how many people have the chance to touch it? Are you suggesting the Matron who searched her framed her?”

Xu Qingzhan thought that wasn’t impossible, but right now the whole harem couldn’t wait for Wanyu to leave. Besides the emperor himself, who would want to trip her up at this point?

Perhaps the emperor himself was crying thief to catch a thief.

Xu Qingzhan dared not say too much, afraid Qi Rang would notice something, so he said, “I don’t think Miss Wanyu is the type to sneak around. We’ll know more when she arrives.”

Qi Rang absentmindedly fiddled with the Bodhi Bead Bracelet in his hand and said nothing more.

This young emperor’s thoughts were deeper than the sea-even someone as skilled at reading people as Xu Qingzhan sometimes could not fathom his mind.

After a short while, Hu Jinzhong brought Wanyu in.

Her hands were tied with hemp rope. Although no torture had been used, after the body search and the struggle, her clothes were disheveled, her hairpin loose, and her appearance utterly bedraggled.

The moment Wanyu saw Xu Qingzhan, her eyes reddened and she immediately knelt, bowing her head low to the floor.

Xu Qingzhan clenched his fists inside his sleeves and was about to speak when Qi Rang waved his hand. “All of you, leave. I will question her alone.”

Xu Qingzhan had no choice but to withdraw with Hu Jinzhong.

As he passed Wanyu, his steps faltered for a moment, but only for a moment-he soon walked on.

With the doors closed, Qi Rang sat sternly on the dragon throne in his court robes, the might of the Son of Heaven filling the entire hall.

He silently watched the girl trembling on her knees before him, and, inexplicably, felt a faint sense of something lost and now regained.
“Did you steal My jade pendant?” Qi Rang spoke slowly. Though it sounded like a question, his tone made it clear he had already decided it was true.

Wanyu had spent a long time in the cold, gloomy Shenxing Si. The biting chill followed her all the way, and now, suddenly stepping into this warm, spring-like grand hall, under Qi Rang’s hawk-like gaze, she felt a fine sweat break out on her back.

She knelt upright, bracing herself to meet Qi Rang’s eyes, and shook her head firmly.

“You didn’t steal it?” Qi Rang said. “If you didn’t, how did the jade pendant end up on you?”

Wanyu shook her head again, gesturing with her hands to say she had no idea how it happened, but she truly hadn’t stolen it.

“So you’re saying someone framed you?” Qi Rang sneered. “You’ve been safe in My presence for five years, and now that you’re about to leave, someone uses My possession to frame you? Who would believe that?”

Indeed, no one would believe it.

Wanyu thought, all the noble ladies of the harem were risking their lives to help her leave the palace; no one would trip her up at this moment.

If she failed to leave because she stole the Emperor’s jade pendant, the ladies would surely think she herself didn’t want to go.

By then, wouldn’t they tear her apart?

So she absolutely couldn’t stay in the palace; she had to find a way to prove her innocence.

Unable to speak, she could only gesture, explaining she feared complications and hadn’t even brought her own belongings, leaving empty-handed. In such circumstances, how could she possibly hide a jade pendant on her person, especially the Emperor’s?

Qi Rang had grown very familiar with her sign language over the past five years. Watching her gestures, he could roughly understand her meaning.

But the more he watched, the more displeased he became, his brows furrowing.

She was willing to leave the palace, even abandoning her own possessions.

Did she truly want to go so badly?

Was she so eager to sever all ties with the Forbidden City?

Did she despise everyone here so much, leaving not a single fond thought?

He rose from the throne and walked toward her, step by step.

The imperial boots, embroidered with cloud dragons in bright yellow brocade, struck the golden bricks with a steady thud, each step seeming to tread upon Wanyu’s heart.

Wanyu held her breath, not daring to flinch, watching helplessly as he approached.

His tall figure, imposing court robes, loomed over her like a mountain, gazing down from above.

After a moment, Qi Rang bent down, reaching out to lift her chin. “Stealing the Emperor’s possessions is a capital crime. If you admit you love Me, can’t bear to leave Me, and wanted to keep My personal item as a memento, perhaps I could spare your life.”

Wanyu had already suspected Qi Rang had ordered Hu Jinzhong to frame her. Now, hearing Qi Rang’s words, she was even more certain.

Her heart filled with resentment and anger toward him. She turned her head to break free from his hand, stepping back two paces to put distance between them.

Qi Rang’s hand grasped at air, his brows furrowing, but he remained bent over, his sharp, narrow phoenix eyes filled with authority and anger as he looked at the disheveled yet strikingly beautiful woman before him.

She was truly beautiful, with a cold, distant grace like winter plum blossoms, unlike the harem’s other concubines who flaunted their looks, vying for attention with artificial charm.

For five years, she had quietly stayed in Qianqing Palace, so silent he often forgot her presence. Yet whenever he thought of her, she was always easy to find.

He liked that feeling.

It made him feel at ease.

So at ease that he had never considered she might one day leave.

He hadn’t even thought that, like other Palace Maids, she was entitled to leave the palace when she came of age.

That’s why, when he suddenly heard those Palace Maids congratulating her on her impending departure, he lost his composure and, under the influence of wine, pressed her onto the dragon bed.

Even then, he hadn’t truly intended to do anything to her.

But she struggled, resisted, begged for mercy.

Only then did he realize that, in her eyes, he-the Emperor everyone fought over-was worth nothing at all.

Qi Rang curled his lips and slowly straightened up. “Two choices: either admit you love Me, or go to Shenxing Si and face punishment. Choose for yourself.”