Chapter 69: The Sleight of Hand Unveiled

When the private seal of Lady Jin unexpectedly fell from Summer Nine Ginger’s hand, Wang Yang, who was kneeling nearby, suddenly turned pale, his body trembling uncontrollably. Minister Wei, meanwhile, stared in despair, his widened eyes filled with shock as his mind went utterly blank.

Such an effortless dislodging of the seal made it clear—it had never belonged on this voucher. The seal and the voucher were not one and the same.

“How did this happen? Why did the seal come off?”

“Wasn’t the seal stamped directly onto the voucher?”

“So the voucher is a forgery!”

“Wang Yang must be mad with audacity, to openly frame Lady Jin!”

The murmurs in the hall shifted direction, once mocking Summer Nine Ginger, now rushing toward Wang Yang instead. Summer Moon’s face stiffened; the smug smile that had flickered earlier now faded awkwardly. She had expected to witness Summer Nine Ginger’s guilt laid bare, but in a sudden reversal, the tables had turned.

Summer Nine Ginger held up the voucher and declared, “Chief Wang, your methods truly are remarkable. This must be a petty trick from the Violet Hairpin Pavilion—using special glue to attach a genuine seal fragment onto a forged voucher, passing it off as real to falsify accounts and deceive superiors.”

Wang Yang trembled all over. These were insignificant methods, typically employed only for internal bookkeeping. Outsiders should have had no inkling of such schemes—how could Summer Nine Ginger possibly know?

He had cut out a section of the voucher matching the size of the seal, then trimmed a piece bearing the seal from another document, affixing it with special adhesive. On the surface, nothing seemed amiss; the forged voucher blended seamlessly into a single sheet, invisible to the eye.

Wang Yang’s strategy should have been flawless. Why had Summer Nine Ginger known to expose him by heating it over a flame? His face drained of color, unable to utter a single word.

Summer Nine Ginger gave a cold laugh. “I never imagined, Chief Wang, that you’d dare bring the sneaky tricks of the Violet Hairpin Pavilion before His Majesty. The seal is indeed mine, but it was never stamped upon this fifty-thousand tael voucher. Chief Wang sliced my seal from another document and attached it here.”

Wang Yang’s heart pounded violently; sweat broke out on his palms and brow. He had believed his plan secure, only for Summer Nine Ginger to dismantle it with ease.

She released the voucher, letting it drift lightly down before Wang Yang. “Here is your so-called evidence—you wanted to use this to accuse me of bribing Wang Yang to frame Minister Wei? Minister Wei, you truly flatter yourself. I have never regarded you as worth the trouble; why would I need to deal with you?”

Minister Wei’s face froze, his once confident mind left utterly blank.

Summer Nine Ginger continued, “It’s true I ordered a golden hairpin at the Violet Hairpin Pavilion and used my private seal. I never expected Chief Wang to perform such sleight of hand and present it as evidence against me—how absurd.”

She had long known that Summer Wen Tao sought out Wei Qi, who later hurried to the Violet Hairpin Pavilion that very night. Her secret guards had tracked everything, so she had purposely gone to commission a hairpin, openly showing her seal as Lady Jin.

With Lady Jin’s seal in hand, it was easy to accuse her directly. Wang Yang and Minister Wei, too clever for their own good, sought indisputable evidence against Summer Nine Ginger, only to fall into the trap she had set.

She was surprised Wang Yang would resort to such petty tricks for falsifying evidence. Only Lord Jun’s reminder had led her to realize the seal was genuine, but the voucher was not.

Minister Wei’s trembling face twisted into a false, fearful smile. “I...I don’t know how this happened. How could the voucher be a forgery? You scoundrel, how dare you frame Lady Jin? You must be mad!”

With the voucher exposed as fake, Summer Nine Ginger became the victim, and Minister Wei found himself in a dog-eat-dog battle.

Wang Yang, pale-faced, turned to Minister Wei. “Minister Wei, this is not what we agreed! How can you shift all responsibility onto me?”

Minister Wei slapped Wang Yang’s face. “What nonsense are you spouting? Was framing Lady Jin not enough, and now you wish to frame me as well?”

Wang Yang cried out in alarm, “You! You promised me fifty thousand taels of gold and the ownership of the Violet Hairpin Pavilion if I helped you frame Lady Jin. You said if I cooperated, no one would discover your involvement. Why are you now slandering me?”

Summer Nine Ginger feigned astonishment. “So the thief cries ‘catch the thief’!”

Wang Yang crawled forward on his knees, pleading, “Your Majesty, spare me! It wasn’t me—none of this was my doing. Minister Wei ordered me to destroy the Golden Phoenix Hairpin and wait near the Vermilion Bird Gate to accuse Lady Jin in court. It was Minister Wei who sought to harm her!”

Wei Qi exclaimed, “Nonsense! Your Majesty, I nearly suffered abduction by the Empress Dowager’s men—why would I dig my own grave? You mustn’t believe Wang Yang!”

Summer Nine Ginger scoffed, “I see no motive for Wang Yang to target me. From the start, I said I barely know Chief Wang; we’ve never interacted. So Wang Yang has no reason to harm me. Minister Wei, on the other hand…”

Wei Qi trembled in fear, gazing at Summer Nine Ginger as if seeing her anew. He realized his earlier belief that she was easy to manipulate had been mere wishful thinking; now she seemed like a venomous serpent.

His lips twitched stiffly. “Lady Jin, what are you implying?”

Summer Nine Ginger refused to let him escape. “Minister Wei, perhaps you bear a grudge because your concubine and Summer Cicada were cast out, one sent to a nunnery and the other banished. You wished for revenge, so you staged this elaborate drama.”

Wei Qi retorted angrily, “Impossible! Why would I act for the sake of a mere concubine’s daughter? She was only a pawn in my career—her death means nothing. Why would I target Lady Jin over her?”

Summer Nine Ginger shrugged. “That is a question for you, Minister Wei. Perhaps you claim not to care about your concubine only to escape blame…”

Wei Qi’s face paled. “No…no…”

How had things come to this? He had planned to deal with Summer Nine Ginger, but now she had him dancing in circles.

She sighed. “But this is merely motive; there’s no hard evidence. Does Chief Wang have proof he was used by Minister Wei?”

Wang Yang replied anxiously, “I do! I have evidence stamped with Minister Wei’s seal, and witnesses—the hairpin mistress at the Violet Hairpin Pavilion can confirm it was Minister Wei who instructed me.”

Furious, Wei Qi slapped Wang Yang again. “You fool, shut your mouth!”

Wei Qi’s mind was in chaos. How had the situation devolved so completely?

Emperor Zongkang’s expression grew cold. A perfectly good palace banquet had been turned into a den of chaos. He spoke, “The matter of Minister Wei colluding with the Violet Hairpin Pavilion to frame Lady Jin is to be handled by Prince Jin.”

Lord Jun bowed. “Your subject accepts the command. Nightkill, take them away.”

Wei Qi felt as if facing death itself. The Jin Guard? Prince Jin? He had offended Lady Jin—and now fell into Prince Jin’s hands. What hope remained?

At Lord Jun’s command, Nightkill led the Jin Guard to seize Wei Qi and Wang Yang. Wei Qi cried out in terror, “Prime Minister…Summer Prime Minister, save me…save me!”

He wailed in despair. Summer Nine Ginger commented, “Curious, isn’t it? With so many people in Jade Hibiscus Hall, why does Minister Wei call only upon the Summer Prime Minister for help?”