The Mute Wife Who Brings Prosperity-Chapter 690 - 652: The Last Thread of Dignity (First Update)
"Old woman," those three words struck directly at Gu Yu’s tail, and she immediately flared up in anger, "You little wench, dare you say another word!"
"Enough!"
At this moment, a cold and stern shout came from above Zhao Xi.
Xiu Dong immediately shut her mouth.
Gu Yu, though unwilling, also fell silent.
Even with suspicions, Zhao Xi couldn’t directly convict her, only saying, "Aunt is the steward of the Eastern Palace, Wan Qiu and Zhi Xia are both inner court ladies, some matters are not for me to interfere with lightly, the investigation of the real culprit will be left to Aunt!"
Gu Yu was secretly delighted, wasn’t it easy if it’s left to her? She could randomly find a scapegoat and sooner or later let this murder case be buried deep.
Xiu Dong, seeing Gu Yu’s reaction, felt a hidden resentment yet also found it secretly satisfying.
These two murder cases had already been handed over to Eunuch Sanbao by His Highness in advance. If Gu Yu dared to find a scapegoat, the evidence from both sides would counter. She would be digging her own grave, and with His Highness’s temperament, it would be strange if she got away unscathed!
Zhao Xi was silent for a while, then said to everyone, "You all may leave."
Gu Yu kneeled, "Rest assured, Your Highness, this servant will find the real culprit as soon as possible, to give an account to Miss Wan Qiu’s spirit in heaven."
Eunuch Sanbao watched Gu Yu’s departing back, his eyes gradually turning cold. Once he found the evidence, he must make His Highness tear this venomous and heartless woman to pieces!
After Gu Yu left, Zhao Xi turned to Nian Chun and Xiu Dong, "Until the truth comes to light, you two shouldn’t move. Don’t go out of the inner courtyard if there’s nothing to do, so as to avoid being implicated. I will arrange for someone to guard outside the courtyard."
Even with such a major incident happening, His Highness still remembered to take care of their two low-status female officials.
Nian Chun and Xiu Dong felt a warmth in their hearts, quickly knelt to express thanks, then stood up and left Chengming Hall.
Thus, only Zhao Xi, Song Yuanbao, and Eunuch Sanbao remained in the hall.
Zhao Xi pinched the bridge of his nose and said to Song Yuanbao, "Too many things happened today, you should return first, I want to be alone for a while."
Song Yuanbao looked at him worriedly, "Your Highness..."
"I am fine."
Seeing this, Song Yuanbao sighed silently. Wan Qiu was the first woman of the Crown Prince, yet she perished after just one night in such a humiliating way. Zhao Xi, no matter how strong, was merely a sixteen-year-old youth, encountering such an event must have dealt him a heavy blow.
At such a time, indeed, he should be left with some quiet space.
Song Yuanbao did not persist in staying, whispering to Eunuch Sanbao, "Take good care of His Highness, I will leave first. If anything happens, send me a message by carrier pigeon, I will come as soon as possible."
Eunuch Sanbao nodded, "This servant will see the young master off."
"No need." Song Yuanbao looked at Zhao Xi with a complex expression, "You stay with him, I can leave the palace myself."
——
After Song Yuanbao left, Zhao Xi didn’t keep Eunuch Sanbao in Chengming Hall either, instructing him to quickly investigate the case.
Eunuch Sanbao had no choice but to head to the secret dungeon of the Eastern Palace, where the few old eunuchs who were knocked out and tied up by Song Yuanbao during the day were all imprisoned.
Seeing Eunuch Sanbao, each of them quickly perked up, claiming they were wronged and were acting under someone else’s orders.
Eunuch Sanbao stood in the passageway, looking at them with cold eyes, "Who ordered you?"
"Zhi Xia."
One old eunuch exclaimed excitedly, "It was she who sent us, saying a new palace maid had committed an offense, orders from above were to humiliate her to death, and we were told not to hold back. Eunuch Sanbao, we were just following orders, otherwise, how could we possibly bully a little palace maid for no reason?"
"Is that so?" Eunuch Sanbao sneered, "What’s your relationship with Zhi Xia, and why would you listen to her orders?"
The old eunuch shrank his neck and fell silent.
Eunuch Sanbao swung his horsetail whisk and said to the prison guard behind him, "Take him!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two strong prison guards stepped forward. One opened the cell door, while the other grabbed the speaking old eunuch by the collar and took him out with a few simple moves.
The old eunuch was terrified, shouting, "Let go of me, what are you going to do?"
Eunuch Sanbao said expressionlessly, "Since you don’t want to tell the truth, you don’t need to talk anymore in the future. Take him down and cut off his tongue."
The tone was light, yet it made the few people in the cell break out in a cold sweat.
The two prison guards moved quickly, dragging the old eunuch to the place of torture. One pried open his mouth, and the other brought down the knife.
In the blink of an eye, the old eunuch’s tongue was half gone, and he could only scream "ah ah ah" in pain, his cries echoing eerily through the dark dungeon, sending chills down the spine.
The remaining four old eunuchs huddled in a corner, some already beginning to tremble.
Eunuch Sanbao didn’t even move a brow from start to finish. When the tortured eunuch fainted from the pain, he smiled slightly, "Next."
While saying this, he pointed with the horsetail whisk to one of them, "You?"
"No no no..." That old eunuch’s knees went weak, and he directly knelt down, "Eunuch Sanbao, please spare me!"
"Or is it you?" Eunuch Sanbao pointed the horsetail whisk at another with a mole on his face, whose face turned pale, lips trembling unable to speak.
"Then it’s you!" Eunuch Sanbao pointed again at the first one, "Tell us, who instructed you? If you speak well, we’ll set you free to enjoy a peaceful old age. If not, it won’t be as simple as cutting out a tongue."
The old eunuch was still kneeling, his body trembling, "I, I was indeed instructed by Miss Zhi Xia..."
Eunuch Sanbao didn’t let him finish, clearly out of patience, he nodded coldly for the two previous prison guards to come over and drag the kneeling old eunuch out.
"If you don’t want to speak, then forget it," Eunuch Sanbao said nonchalantly: "Scorch his tongue with a branding iron."
That eunuch was so frightened he almost fainted, wailing, "Eunuch Sanbao, please, I beg you, spare us!"
Eunuch Sanbao ignored him, his gaze landed on the three remaining eunuchs in the cell, lingering especially on the one with a mole.
"I remember you," Eunuch Sanbao said: "When I first entered the palace, I was under your care quite a bit!"
The eunuch with the mole immediately went limp upon hearing this, kneeling with a thud, "I, I know my mistake, I hope Eunuch Sanbao will be magnanimous, don’t hold it against me, I am willing to serve you tirelessly henceforth." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
"I spit on you!" Eunuch Sanbao stepped forward and spat heavily.
When he was young, he entered the palace and was assigned to the Imperial Household where he became this Eunuch’s underling, never expecting him to be a beast who even preyed upon children. He almost fell victim to him, but fortunately, he met his current godfather, Mr. Cui, the Chief Eunuch beside the Emperor. If not for his godfather’s intervention, he would have surely perished under this pervert’s torment.
So speaking of being tormented by these beasts, Eunuch Sanbao was someone who felt it most deeply.
Just now in Chengming Hall, he only managed to keep a straight face without revealing his feelings.
Thinking of Miss Wan Qiu, a young girl dying at the hands of these perverts, anger welled up in Eunuch Sanbao, rising straight to the top of his head.
"Ah—ah ah ah—" At the entrance of the cell, the eunuch with the scorched tongue screamed in heart-wrenching agony.
The remaining three were even more terrified, yet each of them kept their mouths tightly shut, refusing to speak no matter what.
Eunuch Sanbao, having lost his patience, said, "If you don’t want to confess, that’s fine; take them away for processing. From now on, there’s no need for them to speak again, lest they be annoying."
"Ancestor, ancestor, spare us!" The eunuch with the mole prostrated himself on the ground, "It’s not that we don’t want to speak, but... we cannot."
"Why can’t you speak?" Eunuch Sanbao frowned.
"Because... because..."
He seemed to struggle to speak, his voice growing quieter, almost inaudible.
Behind him, a younger eunuch said, "Because someone stole our treasures from the Cleansing Room and threatened that if we dared to utter a word, they would feed the treasures to the dogs."
The eunuch speaking was younger, likely experiencing such a situation for the first time, and as he spoke, he began to sob, feeling aggrieved.
Eunuch Sanbao was taken aback.
Even though eunuchs have their hierarchies, in the eyes of many, no matter how high you rise, you are ultimately just a rootless eunuch. When the masters are pleased, they might spare you some food; when displeased, they kick you like a dog.
If not forced by circumstances, who wouldn’t want to be a normal man, marrying and raising children outside the palace, living a normal life, working from dawn till dusk? Once entered the palace and into the Cleansing Room, upon coming out, you are only half a man. The other half is stored in a special place, with dedicated people guarding it.
That was the most valued possession for eunuchs, besides their lives.
It was their last shred of dignity as humans.
Being a eunuch himself, Eunuch Sanbao knew what it meant for their treasures to be used as a means of humiliation.
To think of using such a method to threaten a group of eunuchs into harming a young girl, the mastermind behind this was truly insane!
