The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 69

“Han Yun colluded with White Lotus heretics and used the Beast-Making Art in an attempt to murder her legitimate elder sister, Han Yin. She is hereby placed under arrest.”

Zhao Li’s words struck the courtyard like cold water thrown into hot oil.

The entire gathering erupted.

Han Yin, pinned to the ground like a walking corpse, shuddered and raised her head in disbelief.

Han Qi blurted, “Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

Han Yun lay face-down beneath Li Qing, so no one could see her expression. But the trembling of her body made it clear she understood the gravity of the matter.

“Take her away.” Zhao Li waved for Li Qing to remove her.

He hauled Han Yun to her feet.

She immediately raised her bloody face. “Father, save me! I didn’t do it. I didn’t!”

Her once charming and innocent features were smeared with blood.

Tears and mucus streamed down her face, leaving her in a miserable state.

After begging Han Qi, she turned to Han Yin’s cousin.

“Cousin, I didn’t do it.”

He instinctively stepped forward, only to stop when he saw Li Qing’s fish-patterned uniform.

Han Qi steadied himself. “How dare the Jingning Guard arrest people at will?”

Zhao Li could not help scoffing. “Is this Lord Han’s first encounter with the Jingning Guard?”

He had learned long ago whether they dared arrest someone.

Han Qi froze. However much he opposed the Jingning Guard, he knew one thing: they did not arrest people without cause, especially not on a charge this grave.

Li Qing dragged Han Yun away with one hand.

“Zheng Lian, release Miss Han,” Zhao Li ordered.

Han Yin’s eyes had changed completely. Her gaze burned so fiercely on her half sister that it seemed about to burst into flame.

She probably would not try to kill herself again.

Zheng Lian obeyed.

Han Yin staggered to her feet and rushed at Han Yun.

“Why did you hurt me?”

A resounding slap snapped Han Yun’s already bloodied face to one side.

That slap seemed to open some hidden gate. Han Yin raised her hand again.

Li Qing and the others had read the case file. They knew what had happened here today.

He made no attempt to stop her. Instead, he held Han Yun in place so Han Yin could strike her and even helpfully pushed her a little closer.

Crisp slaps echoed through the garden.

“I didn’t do it, Eldest Sister. I didn’t!”

Han Yin remained a sheltered young lady with little strength. Her blows did not do much damage.

Han Yun could still shake her head and twist aside in an attempt to dodge.

Zhao Li watched with folded arms for a while before waving for Li Qing to take her away.

“Wait.”

A voice suddenly spoke. “Even the Jingning Guard should require evidence before making an arrest.”

“We all know that the Han family’s second daughter, Han Yun, is lively, innocent, and charming. She would never do such a thing.”

Zhao Li turned.

Zhao Yaoguang stood there in a long dress, back straight and expression righteous.

“There must be more to this.”

“Oh?” Zhao Li looked the meddling Zhao Yaoguang up and down.

Whenever the body’s original owner faced Zhao Yaoguang, she had always felt inferior.

There was no denying that a young lady raised in the capital amid luxury and refinement could shine like the moon in the heavens.

But to Zhao Li, she now looked like nothing more than a foolish girl whose head had been turned by an empty reputation.

Unable to distinguish right from wrong, she pushed herself forward in every affair.

Zhao Li had not intended to quarrel with her too much.

Compared with Zhao Yaoguang, Zhao Li had always found the parents and brothers of that family far more disgusting.

In the original body’s memories, Zhao Yaoguang had certainly played plenty of petty tricks, but the more physically inclined original Zhao Li had also made her suffer for them.

There had been that time she pushed Zhao Yaoguang into the water, for instance.

But though Zhao Li had no intention of settling old scores, Zhao Yaoguang seemed determined to ask for trouble.

“So Miss Zhao knows what lies behind the case?” Zhao Li asked with a smile.

Without waiting for Zhao Yaoguang to respond, her expression changed abruptly and she barked at the people beside her, “If she has inside knowledge, she must be implicated. Take her away!”

The sudden outburst frightened Zhao Yaoguang into retreating half a step.

The sharp-tongued little maid beside her seemed accustomed to talking back to Zhao Li. She caught Zhao Yaoguang by the arm.

“Miss A-Li, stop using public authority to pursue a private grudge! You’re plainly jealous of my mistress.”

Zhao Li looked at the maid and clicked her tongue.

“I truly don’t know how Zhao Huai raised his daughters or trained the servants in his household.”

At a time like this, the girl’s head was still stuck in the script of some household-intrigue drama.

Hearing Zhao Li call Zhao Huai by name made everyone who knew their history change expression.

They looked at her strangely.

Zhao Li did not care. She pointed casually at the maid.

“Another person with inside knowledge, apparently. Take her away, too.”

“Yes!”

The answer came from Lu Zhao.

He strode directly toward them.

He did not know as much as Shen Yan about what Zhao Li had endured in the Zhao household, but he knew enough.

A vicious grin spread across his face. “Come along. We’ll take a trip to the Jingning Guard’s Imperial Prison.”

The quick-tongued maid shrieked and clutched Zhao Yaoguang’s hand.

Zhao Li saw that Lu Zhao was deliberately putting on the expression and barely suppressed her laughter.

“A-Li, I know you’ve never liked me, but you need not abuse your authority to settle a personal grudge.”

Zhao Yaoguang had, after all, been meticulously cultivated by the Zhao family. At a crucial moment, she did not entirely fall apart.

Zhao Li said, “Weren’t you the one who said Han Yun was too lively and innocent to do such a thing, and that there must be hidden circumstances?”

“If you know nothing, what right do you have to speak here?”

Zhao Li spared her no face at all.

“Because Han Yun usually acts innocent and charming, she can’t possibly commit such a crime?”

She gave Zhao Yaoguang an exceptionally nasty smile.

“Then look at you, Zhao Yaoguang, dressed in fine clothes and putting on the airs of a proper lady. Who would guess you were born to a lowly military household on the border?”

“What? Have you worn silk for so long that you’ve forgotten what’s underneath?”

When it came to people she disliked, Zhao Li always knew exactly where to strike.

She had intended to remain serious while carrying out official business.

Unfortunately, some people insisted on courting humiliation.

Under Zhao Li’s cutting words, Zhao Yaoguang looked as though she had been stripped naked before the crowd.

Her body swayed, and her face went white.

“Next time, if it isn’t your place to spout nonsense, keep your mouth shut.”

Seeing her like this, Zhao Li abruptly lost interest.

She did have principles. She would not truly fabricate a charge and drag these two fools into the Imperial Prison.

She had rather hoped Zhao Yaoguang would resist so she would have an excuse to strike.

Zhao Li called Lu Zhao back. “Lord Lu, leave it.”

Lu Zhao gave two cold chuckles and deliberately patted the saber at his waist, frightening the maid into a trembling heap.

Only then did he turn and continue directing the accompanying guards as they made arrests.

Zhao Yaoguang hugged her shaking maid and bit her lip, no longer daring to speak.

Besides Han Yun, the case also implicated her maternal uncle. Zhao Li did not believe Han Yun’s mother truly knew nothing.

Before long, a beautiful woman dressed in formal scarlet was dragged out.

“What excellent household rules, Lord Han. Your concubine dresses herself in scarlet and green. Anyone who didn’t know better might mistake her for the mistress of the house.”

Han Qi finally jolted awake.

He stepped forward. “Thousand-Household Commander Zhao, could there be some mistake? How could A-Yun possibly collude with the White Lotus Sect?”

Zhao Li glanced at him. “You will soon learn whether she did or not.”