She chuckled as she watched Wei Hong's annoyed expression, and then the laughter grew louder and louder until she was doubled over with laughter and tears welled up in her eyes.
"She's been dead for so many years, and you still can't forget her?"
"I've already told you she doesn't like you and doesn't want to marry you, but you still don't believe me and insist on checking it out yourself?"
She laughed again as she spoke, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said, "You're so angry because you think everything I said back then was a lie, that she was deeply in love with you, and that if I hadn't killed her, you two would have been married long ago?"
Stop dreaming!
Suddenly, she became hoarse and desperate, her eyes bloodshot, her expression sinister, and her eyes revealing madness.
"Although I don't know who you heard this from, judging from your expression, you probably only know that I faked an accident to kill her, but you don't know what she did before she died, right?"
"Let me tell you, she has someone she likes! She fell in love with that person even before my parents agreed to your marriage!"
"The reason she keeps trying to bring me and you together is that she wants you to take the initiative to change the eldest daughter in the marriage contract to the second daughter, so that I can marry you in her place, and then she can be with the person she loves!"
"But you fool, you've set your sights on her and insist on having her. Seeing that this marriage is unavoidable, she actually wants to elope with that man!"
Ji Yunwan still harbored resentment in her eyes and spoke with indignation as she recounted the incident.
"She has a good idea: to elope with her lover to the ends of the earth and leave everything else behind."
"But what will happen to the Ji family after she's gone? What will happen to me? Even if we tell the public that she's dead, we still need to have a body, right?"
"If she disappears without a trace, arousing your suspicion and prompting you to investigate the matter, even if you are lenient and don't make things difficult for the Ji family, but only annul the engagement, the Ji family's century-old reputation will be completely ruined! As her sister, I can forget about marrying into a good family again! Let alone marrying you!"
“I can’t let her ruin the Ji family, I can’t, so… I have no choice but to kill her before she elopes. That’s the best way.”
As she spoke, her voice grew softer and softer, but her tone carried a deliberate certainty, as if she were emphasizing to herself that she had no choice but to do it.
But Wei Hong ruthlessly shattered her self-comfort: "If that's really the case, you can tell your parents about it and ask them to stop her."
He said in a deep voice.
Ji Yunwan's eyes flickered slightly, and a crack seemed to appear on her otherwise resolute expression.
Wei Hong did not stop because of her panic, and continued, "You didn't tell your parents or anyone else because you know that if they knew about this, they would only stop your sister from eloping and force her to marry me. Then you would never be able to dream of becoming the Princess of Qin again."
“But if your sister dies, you can rightfully ask them to take her place, and they will probably agree in order to maintain their relationship with me.”
"You killed your sister on your own initiative, not for the sake of the Ji family, but for your own sake."
Ji Yunwan's true feelings from back then were exposed by him, and she could no longer maintain her feigned ease. She revealed her ruthless and resentful appearance again.
"So what? She was the one who broke her vows first, having an affair with a man outside the clan! And she even conspired with someone to elope!"
"If she hadn't given me the reason and the opportunity, why would I have laid a hand on her! She deserved it all; she brought it on herself!"
Looking at her screaming with bloodshot eyes, Wei Hong asked again after a long while in an ambiguous tone, "Did you personally witness her meeting with someone in secret?"
"Of course I saw it with my own eyes! I not only saw her having a secret rendezvous with someone, but I also saw the letter they wrote agreeing to elope together!"
Wei Hong remained silent for a long time before saying, "The man you mentioned who wanted to elope with you was a poor scholar surnamed Xu who passed the imperial examination in the first year of Yongzhao, wasn't he?"
Ji Yunwan was taken aback, clearly not expecting him to know the other party's identity.
Since they know the other party's identity, they should also know about this past event.
Knowing this past event, why still question her about whether she killed her sister?
He should hate his sister even more than she does, and think she deserved to die.
Ji Yunwan was confused. Wei Hong looked at her bewildered expression, slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, and said, "It's true that your sister doesn't like me, and it's also true that she once liked that scholar surnamed Xu. But ever since your parents arranged her marriage to me, she has never had any contact with that man again."
"What you call a secret rendezvous is just that man deliberately harassing her and then making a hasty departure when you arrive, pretending to be afraid of being discovered."
"The rendezvous you witnessed was just him finding someone with a similar figure to your sister and showing you his back."
"This scholar surnamed Xu... was promoted by the late emperor himself."
"The late emperor did not want me to marry into your Ji family, but he could not personally break up the marriage and give others a reason to criticize him, so he deliberately came up with this plan to use you to... get rid of your sister."
"Your sister died unjustly."
Ji Yunwan knelt on the ground in a daze. Her usually straight back began to tremble uncontrollably after his words. Her body suddenly went limp and she almost collapsed.
Chapter 141 Not Angry
Ji Yunshu has been dead for many years, and Ji Yunwan can no longer remember many things about her, but she has a deep impression of her death.
After all, she was her own sister, and she had personally plotted to kill her. For a long time after her death, she couldn't sleep soundly and always dreamed of her face, which had been disfigured after falling off a cliff.
Although she had never seen it with her own eyes, she had heard that it looked terrifying. The elders in the clan were afraid of frightening them, so they did not allow them to get close and take a closer look during the worship.
But this did not prevent Ji Yunwan from imagining her bloodied and mangled appearance in her dreams.
But at this moment, what comes to mind is not these things, but other memories that she has long forgotten due to the passage of time.
She remembered that in the beginning, although she loved the King of Qin, she did not dare to show it because he was already engaged to her sister. She could only secretly look at him when no one was paying attention.
It wasn't until she caught her sister and Xu Cheng meeting in secret several times that she became certain she still loved that man, and only then did she boldly and intentionally reveal her feelings for the King of Qin in front of her.
My sister loves Xu Cheng, and she loves the King of Qin. If my sister were to give up this marriage and let me marry the King of Qin in her place, then everything would be fine, and they would both get the love they love.
However, the original marriage contract specified that the eldest daughter of the Ji family could be chosen, and whether she could take her place was not up to the two of them; it also required the consent of their parents and the King of Qin.
Or rather, it would require the King of Qin's consent.
For their parents, it didn't matter which daughter they married to the King of Qin. As long as the King of Qin spoke up, they would agree. But if the King of Qin didn't speak up, they would never bring it up themselves, let alone break off the engagement just because their sister didn't want to marry him.
However, the King of Qin was set on his sister and never mentioned changing the marriage agreement.
Ji Yunwan was unwilling to accept this, so she began to imitate her sister in every word and action, trying her best to impress him. But it was no use. Although he treated her well, he had no intention of marrying her.
Later, when she was in Shangchuan, she learned that his kindness towards her was only because of her sister.
She was even more furious at that time, resenting her sister for never refusing her requests to go out with the Prince of Qin so that she could be with Xu Cheng, and even actively creating opportunities for her to spend time with the Prince of Qin. She resented her sister for making her misunderstand that the Prince of Qin had some feelings for her, which led her to arrogantly chase after him from the capital to Shangchuan, only to be ruthlessly humiliated and kicked out in front of everyone.
All of this was brought to her by her older sister. If it weren't for her, how could all these things have happened?
But now that she thinks about it carefully, the so-called scene of her sister meeting with Xu Cheng that she saw back then was actually just Xu Cheng talking to her sister and leaving in a hurry after seeing her coming from afar.
The only time she actually saw the two of them embracing was from behind. She was too embarrassed to approach, but judged that it was her sister by her clothes and figure. She glanced at them briefly and left.
Therefore, she was convinced that her sister and Xu Cheng had a relationship, and even deliberately said in front of her that if her parents had not agreed to the marriage with the Prince of Qin, she could have lived happily ever after with Young Master Xu and would not have to be in such a predicament.
My sister blushed and told me not to talk nonsense, saying that she and Young Master Xu were completely innocent and nothing had happened between them.
But how could she believe it when she saw it with her own eyes? She just assumed that the other person was unwilling to admit it.
Therefore, when she accidentally saw the letter Xu Cheng had written to her in her sister's room, promising to elope together, she immediately believed it and never doubted it.
But what if, as Wei Hong said, Xu Cheng was the late emperor's man?
The late emperor wanted to bribe one or two servants in the Ji family to deliberately lead her to see the scene of her sister meeting Xu Cheng, and to deliberately let her find that letter in her room when her sister was not there. Wouldn't that have been an easy thing to do?
If the letters are fake, and the secret meeting is fake, then...
The older sister always agreed to take her along... wasn't it just because of her requests?
Was she deliberately creating opportunities for her, and genuinely wanting to help her succeed?
Ji Yunwan stood there stunned for a long time before slowly shaking her head.
"No...impossible...impossible, impossible!"
Her already hoarse voice cracked instantly as she looked up at Wei Hong with bloodshot eyes.
"You're lying to me! You're lying to me! She and Xu Cheng were having an affair! She wanted to abandon me and elope with the Ji family! She deserved to die! I didn't kill the wrong person!"
Wei Hong looked at her near-collapse expression without the slightest emotion, and had someone bring her the two statements on the table.
The man presented the confession to Ji Yunwan and said, "His Majesty learned of this past event from a eunuch who served the deposed emperor. This eunuch had served the late emperor before and was his confidant. He knew everything the late emperor had done during his lifetime. Unable to withstand the torture, he revealed everything he knew, including the matter of Xu Cheng, who was ordered by the late emperor to deliberately mislead you, Miss Ji, into misunderstanding Miss Ji."
"Xu Cheng was later brought back from his post by His Majesty's men. He confronted the eunuch and confessed to what he had done back then."
"But His Majesty did not know that the Yan Emperor would send you back, Second Miss. After investigating the truth, he has already dealt with the two of them. Otherwise, he could have let them tell you in person."
"But it doesn't matter. Although the person is gone, their testimony remains. If you carefully compare it with your own experience, you should be able to tell whether it's true or false."
The two testimonies were recorded in great detail, and Ji Yunwan could naturally distinguish between the true and false statements.
She only glanced at it a few times before her hands began to tremble uncontrollably. Then, she suddenly tore the confession to shreds, shouting as she did so, "Fake! Fake! It's all fake! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!"
She had completely lost her mind, ignoring Wei Hong sitting there, and just kept tearing apart the two statements. Finally, she grabbed the shredded paper from the floor and stuffed it into her mouth, muttering incoherently, "Fake, fake..."
Wei Hong watched her coldly for a while, then waved his hand, ordering someone to take her away.
Perhaps because of the atmosphere just now, he felt a bit stifled in the hall, so he got up and walked outside, where he found Yao Youqing taking the child for a walk in the garden.
Wei Qi'an is almost a year old now. He is being held by his wet nurse and is following Yao Youqing. He is looking around curiously with his big, bright eyes. When he sees Yao Youqing coming over, he makes a few babbling sounds and reaches out his hands to be held.
When Wei Hong saw the mother and son, the gloom in his heart finally dissipated a lot. He went over and took Wei Qi'an from the wet nurse's arms, rubbing his forehead against the little face.
"Have you been a good girl/girl? Have you been quiet and not causing trouble for your mother?"
“No,” Yao Youqing said with a smile, “Chen’er is very well-behaved.”
Wei Hong smiled, kissed the child, and handed him to the wet nurse, saying, "Take the Crown Prince around for a walk. I have some things to say to the Empress."
In order to consolidate Yao Youqing's position, he made his only child with her the crown prince as soon as he ascended the throne, making Wei Qi'an the youngest crown prince since the founding of the Great Liang Dynasty.
Although the young prince was still young and confused, when he saw his wet nurse carrying him back, he knew that he was going to leave his mother and go somewhere else. He immediately protested, twisting his body and struggling, about to cry.
Wei Hong stepped forward, waved his hand in front of his eyes, and then conjured a cloth tiger the size of a thumb out of thin air.
Upon seeing the cloth tiger that suddenly appeared, the child swallowed back the howl that was about to come out and giggled instead.
This was a skill that Wei Hong had learned by imitating Yao Youqing when he didn't like hearing her praise street performers. Now it was perfect for coaxing children, and it always made Wei Qi'an forget what he originally wanted to do. It never failed.
Taking advantage of this moment, the wet nurse hurriedly took the little prince and the cloth tiger away, along with a large group of servants. Wei Hong and Yao Youqing were left with only a few people.
He didn't like having too many people around him when he was alone with Yao Youqing, and he hasn't changed this habit to this day. The only palace servants he had left stayed far behind him and didn't get close.
A gentle spring breeze blew as the two strolled hand in hand along the lake. Wei Hong then recounted to her everything that had happened in the palace.
Yao Youqing knew that Ji Yunwan had been sent back by Liancheng, and Wei Hong had not kept it from her.
She knew he had just visited her, but she hadn't expected it to involve so many past secrets.
Wei Hong already knew these secrets, but since they weren't relevant to her, he hadn't told her. He only explained them to her today because he had met Ji Yunwan and was afraid she would misunderstand.
Wei Hong sighed softly at the end, saying, "If I had known earlier that Miss Ji had someone she liked, I wouldn't have proposed marriage. If I hadn't proposed, perhaps none of this would have happened, and she wouldn't have been killed by her most beloved younger sister."