Chapter 90: The Princess Consort of Jin Is Thrown into Prison

Suddenly, a file of officers and soldiers poured in from outside and surrounded Tanyazhai with lightning speed.

Xia Jiujiang’s expression turned even colder. At the front she saw a stranger, a middle-aged man with a swollen belly, dressed in a dark crimson official robe. Cloud-patterned brocade covered the fabric, with auspicious motifs woven into the trim: clouds encircling cranes, cranes spreading their wings with a lotus in their beaks. As he moved, he looked dignified and imposing.

Beside the man in the long robe stood Xia Mingxuan. Ever since the last time at the Great Li Imperial Temple, when Princess Anya had seized Xia Mingxuan, he had become the object of ridicule and pointing fingers. Though Jun Qianye later intervened and rescued him, allowing him to walk free from the prison cell unharmed, many people still mocked him behind his back, saying he had tried to curry favor with Princess Anya and climb to power through her.

After that, Xia Mingxuan had been far more restrained. It had been a good while since she had last seen him, and she had never expected this scene today.

Lin Baixue, Xia Yueer, and now Xia Mingxuan as well—the people of Lingxiang Courtyard were all cut from the same cloth. Birds of a feather flocked together. Indeed, this time they had joined forces as one family to scheme against Xia Jiujiang.

Following Xia Jiujiang’s gaze, Xia Yueer looked outside. When she saw Xia Mingxuan appear, the corners of her lips lifted in a smile. Her brother had come quickly enough; now Xia Jiujiang had no way to escape.

Xia Mingxuan led the stranger before Xia Jiujiang. The man cupped his hands and said, “Princess Consort Jin, I am Gao Shanshui of the Security Office. Please come with me, Princess Consort.”

Though his hands were folded in courtesy, his tone carried a thread of arrogance, as though he placed no value at all on the princess consort before him.

Even without Xia Mingxuan’s appearance, Xia Jiujiang could tell this Gao Shanshui was trouble.

The Security Office and the prime minister’s residence were as far apart as north and south. For them to arrive so promptly was no small matter.

Xia Jiujiang let out a cold laugh. “Governor Gao, you certainly came in good time. To anyone who doesn’t know better, one might think you had already learned that something important was happening at the prime minister’s residence and had stationed yourself nearby long ago.”

Xia Mingxuan glared at Xia Jiujiang and said, “Princess Consort Jin, you do have a sharp tongue. But sharp words won’t solve anything. Governor Gao was handling a case not far from here. When he heard that something had happened at the Xia household and was about to report it to the authorities, he came here with me.”

He stared at Xia Jiujiang hatefully, thinking of how she had schemed against him last time, causing Princess Anya to have him imprisoned. That humiliation made him want to tear her to pieces.

Xia Yueer looked at Xia Jiujiang with mocking eyes. “Sister has been caught red-handed by everyone. Now that Governor Gao has come forward to arrest you, why don’t you hurry and kneel in repentance? If you beg for mercy properly, perhaps he might still be lenient. Clinging stubbornly like this will do you no good.”

Xia Yueer only wanted to see Xia Jiujiang abase herself and beg. And yet now that the charge of murdering their grandmother had been laid on her, Xia Jiujiang still looked so composed, calm, and unruffled?

Xia Yueer clenched her fists. She refused to believe Xia Jiujiang would know how to clean this up once the matter exploded.

Xia Jiujiang deliberately said, “How does my dear sister know that Governor Gao came to arrest me? Perhaps he has come to clear my name instead.”

Gao Shanshui held up a document stamped with the official seal and said, “Princess Consort Jin, you have harmed Madam Xia and been caught in the act, with indisputable evidence. Men, take the princess consort away.”

So Gao Shanshui had come prepared indeed; he had even brought the warrant.

Xia Jiujiang narrowed her eyes. “Governor Gao does not inspect the scene, nor does he investigate the evidence, and yet he moves to arrest me immediately. Does he not think I have been framed by someone’s design?”

Gao Shanshui replied with a cold face, “I am handling a case. Why should I need your instruction? Besides, the scene has both witnesses and evidence. Princess Consort Jin should be sensible and come with me.”

His expression seemed to say: so what if you have been framed? We are arresting you all the same. We mean to make you bear the blame.

Luoluo was greatly alarmed. “Our princess consort did not kill Madam Xia. The princess consort has been framed by someone!”

Xia Jiujiang grabbed Luoluo and said, “Stop talking. Can’t you see what’s going on?”

Luoluo froze for a moment, then her face darkened. So all of this had been part of the same trap.

Xia Jiujiang looked at Xia Mingxuan. “It is easy to laugh. What matters is who can laugh until the end.”

Xia Mingxuan gave a sinister smile. How did Xia Jiujiang know he could not laugh until the end?

With a snort, he thought Xia Jiujiang was merely at the end of her strength, still putting on airs. The matter of Madam Xia was proven beyond doubt. Even if Xia Jiujiang brought the Prince of Jin here, it would be useless, because every step had already been calculated.

Xia Wentao had not expected that after court, the old madam would be killed and Xia Jiujiang would be taken away by the Security Office. These two sudden events left him somewhat stunned.

He had originally wanted to use the old madam to deal with Lin Baixue, but that plan had come to nothing. Still, using the old madam’s death to deal with Xia Jiujiang was not a bad alternative.

Yet how could the old madam have died so coincidentally before Xia Jiujiang? Xia Wentao cast several puzzled looks at Lin Baixue. Could this be a trap set by her? If it was Lin Baixue, how had she colluded with the Security Office?

Xia Wentao felt that something had been miscalculated, but no matter how he thought about it, he could not make sense of it. The old madam was already dead, and the first thing Xia Wentao thought of was how to use her death against the princess consort. One could not tell whether to feel sorrow for the old madam or only ridicule for the Xia family.

This was a trap within a trap. Lin Baixue thought she had set the board, not realizing that her own board had also become a piece within someone else’s design.

Under Xia Mingxuan’s arrangement, the news that Xia Jiujiang had murdered Madam Xia spread through the capital. Add to that the earlier quarrel between Xia Jiujiang and Madam Xia at the gates of the Xia residence, and with Madam Xia’s death everything was tied together. People cried out that Xia Jiujiang was truly cruel and ruthless, willing even to strike down her own grandmother.

There were also those who argued that if Xia Jiujiang had truly murdered Madam Xia, how could she have been foolish enough to be caught on the spot? Clearly there was something suspicious about it. Yet all this uproar only made Xia Jiujiang’s case the center of attention.

That was exactly what Xia Mingxuan wanted: this matter could not be suppressed. In that way, even if the Prince of Jin possessed heaven-defying ability, he could not seal the mouths of the masses. Rescuing Xia Jiujiang would not be easy.

Still, convicting Xia Jiujiang was not something that could be done casually. Although the Security Office had arrested her on the spot, Xia Jiujiang held the status of princess consort. To sentence her, there had to be a public interrogation, with evidence established, signatures obtained, and confessions sealed, before the case could be submitted to the emperor and the authority to execute her in autumn could be granted.

When Xia Jiujiang was taken away, Youhua was hiding near the prime minister’s residence. Sensing that something was wrong, she immediately returned to the Prince of Jin’s manor to report to Ye Sha: “Something terrible has happened. The princess consort has been accused of poisoning the old madam and taken away by the Security Office.”

Ye Sha’s face changed at once. Frowning, he asked the first thing that came to mind: “What about Luoluo? Was Luoluo taken as well?”

After seeing Ye Sha’s reaction, Youhua’s eyes flickered. “Luoluo and the princess consort were both taken away.”

Ye Sha said anxiously, “I’ll go report to His Highness. He will surely find a way to save the princess consort.”

Only then did Ye Sha notice the shock and panic on his own face when he heard that Luoluo had been taken as well.

Youhua’s expression gradually turned cold. She had grown up among secret guards since childhood, so she knew exactly what kind of person Ye Sha was. His concern and urgency for Luoluo were practically written all over his face.

Who would have thought that that insignificant little maid, Luoluo, would become the soft spot of Ye Sha, the leader of the hidden guards? Unconsciously, Youhua clenched her fists.

Meanwhile, the jailers had locked Xia Jiujiang and Luoluo together in the same cell. The crude prison was damp and cold. There was only a short table and a cracked bowl; the wooden plank used for sleeping was covered with several layers of straw, and no one could tell how long it had been there, for it already carried a musty stench.

After the jailer delivered dinner, Luoluo brought the meal over and said, “Princess Consort, though the food here is plain, you should still eat something.”

Xia Jiujiang glanced at the meal on the tray. There were two dishes, a bowl of rice, and even soup. It was not bad at all. But after she picked up a bite with her chopsticks, her eyes turned cold.

“You need not eat dinner tonight.”