Chapter 380

Chapter 380: Suicide

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

When the old emperor learned that Shen Rui had fled, the anger in his heart immediately surged.

At this moment, he was already sure that Shen Rui had lied to him!

This kid ran away because he had a guilty conscience!

The old emperor did not expect to be tricked by his favorite son when he was old.

He was furious. He raised his hand and swept the teacup and memorial in front of him to the ground.

“Outrageous!”

Everyone in the study hurriedly knelt down.

“Please calm down, Your Majesty.”

Seeing that the old emperor’s face was red with anger and his breathing was a little rapid, Wei Huai’en knew that his old illness must have acted up. He quickly took out a pill and fed him.

After taking the medicine, the old emperor’s breathing stabilized slightly.

However, his expression was still extremely bad.

“Call Noble Consort Shu over. I want to ask her in person how she raised her son!”

Wei Huai’en immediately arranged for someone to summon Noble Consort Shu from the Startling Palace.

Unexpectedly, the young eunuch returned quickly.

The young eunuch knelt on the ground. “Your Majesty, Noble Consort Shu is here.”

The old emperor sneered. “She’s quite fast. Tell her to get in here!”

A moment later, Noble Consort Shu slowly walked into the study.

She was different from her usual brash and unrestrained self. Today, she was dressed exceptionally simply. She was wearing a plain-colored dress and only had two simple silver hairpins in her bun. She did not wear any makeup or jewelry.

She bowed to the emperor.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

When she straightened up, everyone realized that there were already some fine lines at the corners of her eyes.

Usually, she would put on makeup to hide her true age. Now that she had washed away the makeup, everyone realized that she had actually become old. The old emperor’s anger subconsciously dissipated when he saw her like this.

But he still had to ask what needed to be asked.

“How much do you Imow about Shen Rui and the Ninth Prince of the Chen

Nation secretly colluding?”

Noble Consort Shu said, “Can I talk to you alone?”

The old emperor looked at her steadily for a moment. Finally, he waved his hand, indicating that the others should leave.

He wanted to see what other tricks this woman could play.

After everyone left and only the old emperor and Noble Consort Shu were left in the study, Noble Consort Shu slowly spoke.

“The person who secretly colluded with the Ninth Prince of the Chen Nation was me. Rui’er was just sending a message to the Ninth Prince of the Chen Nation for me.

“I hate Duke Lang for harming my cousin.”

“I cooperated with the Ninth Prince of the Chen Nation and asked him to kill Duke Lang on the way.”

“Everything was done by me alone. It has nothing to do with anyone else.” The old emperor laughed in anger.

“Do you think I’m a fool? You’re a woman from the harem. On what basis does the Ninth Prince of the Chen Nation have to cooperate with you?”

Noble Consort Shu said, “I promised to help him kill Tang Guixi so he would help me get rid of Duke Lang. A life for a life. It’s very fair.”

The old emperor was furious at her unrepentant appearance. He grabbed the incense burner beside him and threw it at her.

Noble Consort Shu dodged to the side.

The incense burner was on the ground. It clanged open, scattering incense ash and spices.

The old emperor’s hand trembled as he pointed at her. “How dare you dodge?!” As Noble Consort Shu looked up, her expression was surprisingly calm.

“Your Majesty, you need to end this matter. I’m willing to bear all the blame. You can kill or torture me as you please. I just hope you can be magnanimous and let Rui’er live.”

The old emperor scolded rudely, “Who do you think you are? You can’t even protect yourself, yet you still want to plead for mercy for others?!”

Noble Consort Shut s eyes turned red.

She had been doted on by the emperor for years. It would be a lie to say that she had no feelings for him.

However, what had happened recently had worn away the feelings in Noble Consort Shu’s heart bit by bit.

She was forced to recognize that the emperor actually did not have any real feelings for her.

Now he was scolding her for nothing.

Perhaps in his heart, she had always been just a little thing to play with in his spare time.

Noble Consort Shu took a deep breath and tried her best to maintain her composure.

“Your Majesty, you can scold me as you please. I’m willing to accept it, but please don’t forget what happened in the Fengyi Palace twenty years ago…” The emperor’s expression suddenly changed. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that as long as you can spare Rui’er’s life, I can take on both cases from twenty years ago. In any case, there’s only death left and right.

Multiple charges don’t make much difference to me.”

The emperor narrowed his eyes. “Are you threatening me?”

“I wouldn’t dare. I just want to help Your Majesty resolve the hidden danger.

Please give me this chance, Your Majesty.”

As the emperor looked at her steadily, his eyes were already filled with killing intent.

He had thought that this woman was very stupid. He did not expect her to bite back at him.

There was a long pause before the emperor spoke.

“As long as Shen Rui can take the initiative to come back and apologize, I can consider punishing him lightly.”

Noble Consort Shu knelt on the ground. “Thank you, Your Highness!”

The Eagle Guards were ordered to pursue the Sixth Prince, Shen Rui.

However, when they found Shen Rui, they realized that he was already dead.

After Xiao Juan found out about this, he immediately rushed to the scene.

In a small wooden house by the river, cobwebs had formed in the corners because no one had lived there for a long time. There were several holes in the roof. The doors and windows were on the verge of collapse as if they would fall at any moment.

Shen Rui was hanged in this room.

When Xiao Juan arrived, Shen Rui’s corpse had already been placed on the ground, but the rope that was used was still on the beam.

Meng Xizhou said, “When we found this place, he was already dead. His will was still on the table. There were no signs of a struggle at the scene. The preliminary conclusion was that it was suicide.” The suicide note was still untouched on the table.

Xiao Juan walked over to take a look.

The handwriting on the will was indeed Shen Rui’s. In the will, he admitted all his crimes and said that he was too ashamed to face his father. He could only choose to die to apologize.

Xiao Juan looked at the ground and suddenly asked.

“Had someone cleared the scene?”

It was obvious that no one had lived in this room for a long time. Logically speaking, the ground should be covered in dust, but now, the ground was clean.

Meng Xizhou answered truthfully, “The ground was so clean when we came in.”

By now Lo Pingsha had completed the preliminary autopsy.

He spoke seriously.

“The cause of death was asphyxiation. There were no signs of a struggle before he died, and there were no other injuries on his body. So far, it does look like a suicide.”

Xiao Juan thought for a moment and asked, “Could he have been drugged and then stuffed into a noose to hang?”

Lo Pingsha said, “We have to take him back for a deeper autopsy to see if he

was drugged.”

The Eagle Guards searched the entire wooden house from the inside out, but they found no other clues.

The group could only return to the Imperial Capital with Shen Rui’s corpse..