The Imperial Palace.
All night long, Wei Yi couldn’t sleep, his heart restless and uneasy.
He had paced back and forth in the hall countless times!
Eunuch Liu Ze stood beside him, watching anxiously, and spoke up to advise: “Your Majesty, you haven’t rested all night. Please rest for a while.”
“I’m worried about Shu’er.”
“The Imperial Physician already said Minister Ji is fine. Your Majesty need not worry.”
“She still hasn’t woken up. How can I feel at ease?”
Liu Ze didn’t know what to say!
At this moment, a young eunuch hurried in from outside, bowing to report: “Your Majesty.”
Wei Yi immediately asked: “How is it? How is Shu’er?”
“Reporting to Your Majesty, Minister Ji has awakened.”
“Really?”
“Minister Ji has no serious problems.”
He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“You may withdraw.”
“Yes.”
The young eunuch withdrew.
Liu Ze quickly said: “Your Majesty, now that Minister Ji is fine, you should still…” Rest for a while.
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted.
“I’m not tired.” He walked behind the desk to sit down, exhaled deeply, and rested briefly with his hand supporting his forehead.
Liu Ze had been by his side for half a year. As a servant, he knew what was in the Emperor’s heart.
He would want neither empire nor beauty.
Only that Minister Ji!
But disaster comes from the mouth—though he understood in his heart, he never spoke it openly.
Seeing the Emperor resting briefly, he quietly withdrew.
The entire hall fell silent!
Wei Yi simply couldn’t close his eyes. His heart was in chaos, as if many matters had collided together.
He sighed deeply!
But suddenly he remembered what Mujin had said last night.
“Can Your Majesty truly let go of the dozens of lives from Duke Yuguo’s household? That Prince personally killed your father. He is your enemy. You should kill him.”
“Can Your Majesty truly let go of the dozens of lives from Duke Yuguo’s household? That Prince personally killed your father. He is your enemy. You should kill him.”
…
The voice kept echoing in his mind.
Growing clearer and clearer!
Finally stirring up a splitting headache.
“Ugh!”
He held his head in both hands, his face full of pain.
Despite this, that voice still wouldn’t dissipate.
With a great sweep of his hand, he knocked everything on the desk to the floor.
Clattering loudly!
As he stood up, he also overturned the desk before him.
His entire body crashed into the screen behind him, falling to sit on the ground.
Hearing the sound, Liu Ze, who had just left, immediately came in. Seeing the scene before him, he was stunned and immediately rushed to Wei Yi’s side.
“Your Majesty? Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”
Wei Yi held his head in both hands, his ten fingers fiercely gripping his own hair.
That kind of pain penetrated to the marrow.
“Your Majesty?”
“Get away!” Wei Yi shoved Liu Ze aside, sweating profusely from the pain.
Until he fainted.
Liu Ze shouted loudly: “Quick, quick, fetch the Imperial Physician.”
…
On the other side.
Mujin was escorted to the Ministry of Justice hall for interrogation.
She had long since accepted death as inevitable, not the slightest fear in her empty gaze.
Kneeling on the ground, awaiting judgment!
The Minister of Justice frowned, slapping the table as he demanded: “This official asks you, were the three murder cases in the capital your doing?”
Straight to the point!
But Mujin acted as if she hadn’t heard, keeping her mouth shut without answering.
Meanwhile, her fingers continuously twisted the hair draped over her chest.
“This official is asking you a question!”
Hehe!
Mujin laughed once, raised her eyes, and asked: “How do you determine I’m the murderer? Who saw it? Or did I confess myself?”
Won’t shed tears until seeing the coffin!
The Minister of Justice had seen too many people like this. He immediately gave a look to a bailiff beside him.
The bailiff nodded, went out briefly, and returned carrying a bundle.
Then—
He heavily threw it before Mujin.
The bundle spread open, revealing two sets of clothes, several pieces of pigskin and some unknown ointments, as well as various scattered items.
The bailiff used his staff to lift up one of the garments.
Displaying it before everyone.
Then the Minister of Justice pointed to the items on the ground and told Mujin: “These things were all searched out from where you lived. Those pieces of skin are the tools you used to commit your crimes.” He also pointed to the garment the bailiff had lifted with his blade, saying, “Look again at this garment—is it missing a button?”
Indeed, one was missing.
“You never expected that when you killed Xing Xiyang, a button from this garment fell off and landed right in his shoe. Moreover, your accomplices have all confessed. Combined with what you did to Minister Ji last night, this official can determine your crimes.”
“Haha.” Mujin’s unfathomably deep eyes darkened as she coldly uttered: “A bunch of useless things.”
“What did you say?”
“I said…” Her smile was extremely eerie. “You’re all a bunch of useless things.”
The Minister of Justice’s face turned livid with anger.
But the woman kneeling below laughed even more brilliantly.
“Now with ironclad evidence, you still speak arrogantly. This official will ask you one last time—do you confess, or not?”
Mujin didn’t even think, tilting her head as she said: “I confess!”
She admitted it!
“Then what was your motive for killing?”
“For fun.”
“Tell the truth.”
“The truth is…” she said, “I just thought it was fun. I take pleasure in killing people. I wanted to see how clever your Minister Ji really is, to see if she could find me. But the facts prove she’s just like you all—equally useless.”
“You…” Though the Minister of Justice didn’t believe her, he had no choice. Restraining his fury, he asked: “If that’s the case, then clearly explain your entire criminal process.”
“Clearly?” she said. “Hasn’t your Minister Ji already explained everything clearly? How I killed people, the times of the killings—didn’t she say it all? I don’t know what else Your Excellency… wants to hear from me?”
Indeed, Ji Yunshu had already explained the details of the cases.
But—
“The cases of Jiao Shiniang and Xing Xiyang have been explained clearly enough, but what about Zhao Zhiwen? How did you murder him? Where exactly did he go after leaving the Wenlai Pavilion that night? What happened between the xu hour and zi hour? Tell the truth!”
Mujin raised an eyebrow, lifting her chin: “Zhao Zhiwen’s death has nothing to do with me! Don’t try to pin it on me. I don’t acknowledge this baseless charge!”
“You still try to argue?”
“I’m already a person about to die. What wouldn’t I dare admit? What I killed, I absolutely won’t deny. But what I didn’t kill, don’t try to pin on me.”
Huh?
The Minister of Justice was puzzled!
Logically, now that Mujin had confessed to her crimes, why wouldn’t she admit to killing Zhao Zhiwen?
Mujin suddenly reminded him: “Your Excellency should go ask Minister Ji. Perhaps by now… she already knows who killed Zhao Zhiwen.”
“What do you mean?”
She made several “tsk tsk tsk” sounds with her mouth, tilting her head back to look at the ceiling of the Ministry of Justice hall.
Laughing eerily.
She began to sing that tune.
“The eastern house has ghosts, entering at zi hour. The western house has ghosts, leaving at mao hour. At the first watch, candles fall; at the second watch, buried in earth; at the third watch, still wandering in water…”
It echoed throughout.