Chapter 97 – She is a Little Demon
Emperor Le Xuan blanked out for a moment before responding. He was clearly displeased. “What is going on? Did she escape from the prison? She did not die?”
These words were clearly a trap intended for Ning Xuemo. If she had admitted that she escaped, then she would be guilty of a crime…
Ning Xuemo immediately replied, “Your Majesty, it wasn’t that I escaped but that someone let me out…”
She had long since prepared an explanation. “I was wronged and taken away by Lord Lu who did not distinguish from black or white. He took me to the Ministry of Justice’s prison where sunlight does not reach and riddled with abundant injustices. Fortunately inside the prison, the chief jailer, Tu Yidao, listened to my grievances and felt indignant on my behalf. He was someone who respected my father, an official good to his people and loyal to his country when he was alive, hence Tu Yidao brazenly released me…”
“I could have take advantage of the night and went far away, but I am the only daughter of Marquis Ning. If I were to leave like this, I will disgrace my father’s name. Hence, I remained in order to clear my reputation and prevent ruining my father’s lifetime reputation. I, this humble woman, also felt that Your Majesty must have been kept in the dark about this injustice and would certainly return my innocence if you knew about the true circumstances. Therefore, I went to find His Highness, the Crown Prince, begging him to help me clear my name.”
“The Crown Prince is a magnanimous and upright man, therefore he immediately dispatched men to investigate this case. Because I was afraid of startling Your Majesty by appearing so suddenly when the situation was still chaotic, the crown prince let me enter the Palace in disguise…”
Her explanation was 7 parts true and 3 parts false. It could even be considered to be flawless. Even Emperor Le Xuan could not find anything wrong with her words for a while.
Emperor Le Xuan hesitated for a moment before coldly speaking, “According to my knowledge, Tu Yidao is not as chivalrous as you make him out to be!”
Ji Yunhuang stepped forward. “Imperial Father, I have also investigated this matter already. It is true that Tu Yidao did not release Ning Xuemo out of kindness. In fact, he had selfish intentions in mind. It must be due to Miss Ning’s expertise in medicine, which she used to help him cure his legs… This is why he took the risk to release her. His four subordinate jailers and the prison guards can be witnesses to this…”
He then went on to describe the events in detail before ending with Tu Yidao’s death from drowning due to being too drunk. He added, “Imperial Father, although Tu Yidao did commit a crime by secretly releasing someone, he did end up saving our Imperial Family’s name by preserving Miss Ning’s life. It was only this way that Miss Ning didn’t die with a stain on her reputation, allowing our Imperial Family to salvage the situation. Hence, he can be said to have done a meritorious deed. Perhaps it is due to the protection of the late Marquis Ning from wherever he is in Heaven…”
His last sentence suddenly reminded Emperor Le Xuan of the nightmare he had earlier.
Emperor Le Xuan coughed before continuing. At this point, he could only give up pursuing the matter. “Let’s forget about Ning Xuemo being released secretly for now. But why did she disguise as one of the children who serves the Ancestor?” It had resulted in him being unable to show favouritism and caused him to harm his own son…
Ning Xuemo widened her big eyes, and displayed an innocent expression. “I never said I was one of those children who serves the Ancestor. Could it be that Your Majesty had mistaken my identity?”
Emperor Le Xuan choked. Now that he thought about it, she never said anything about being one of the children who served the Ancestor; it was just him jumping to this conclusion on his own.
It was all because of the strange way she acted earlier which was very odd and similar to the behavior of those immortal boys serving under the Ancestor. In addition, the fact that Ji Yunhuang came with her also caused him to reach this incorrect conclusion…
‘Despicable! They clearly did this on purpose!’
Emperor Le Xuan could no resist glaring at Ji Yunhuang. He was still unwilling to let the issue end like this. “Ning Xuemo, I have already helped you restore your reputation. However, you did commit the crime of deceiving the monarch in front of so many people…”
Ning Xuemo blinked innocently. “Didn’t Your Majesty already promise me a pardon for that?”