Chapter 81

81 Look me in the eyes

The maid’s eyes widened and she clenched her fingers so hard that her nails started to dig into her palms. It was over she thought in her head, the queen knew everything, if she was to confess then she might as well drag her and Xiao Min’s family together with them.

The maid was worried more about her family than her life, at that moment she decided to pretend naive, even if the queen was to kill her if she didn’t confess before dying then no matter what the queen do in the future she wouldn’t be able to do anything about the blame that would be placed on top of her head.

Maybe if she was to sacrifice her life as well then concubine Ji and the Emperor would surely punish the Queen for killing two innocent women.

” This one does not know what the queen is talking about,” the maid said having determined what she needed to do now. ” This one has never done anything against her conscience.”

” Oh, you are one with a very clean conscience huh?” Came a sneering voice from the top of her head as a sharp blade was placed on the edge of her neck, it didn’t dig into her skin but it sure made her terrified. Even though she was determined to die at the moment, when the blade was placed against her neck, the maid didn’t dare to even breathe. She just hoped that the queen would kill her in one swift move like Xiao Min and end her life such that she would not suffer.

” Then get on your feet and repeat the same words while looking me in the eyes, don’t you know? The one with clear conscience speaks while looking others in the eyes?” The queen said to her from above, but the maid didn’t dare to raise her head, she was afraid if she was to look the Queen in the eyes then she would blurt out everything. ” Your majesty, I cannot—”

” If you don’t stand up then I will have no choice but to painfully kill you,” Liu Hui Ying glanced at the maid who was still on the ground with a calm look in her eyes. ” Do you know the most painful way for a person to die, is being skinned alive or being buried six feet under when they are still breathing? If you don’t get up then I will do both of those to you, I will first skin you alive till your bottom and then bury you in the ground leaving you alone to die, but if you think that I will let you die that easily then you are wrong. I will take you out of the pit and then wake you up and feed you a decent meal before digging the pit even deeper and then burying you again, I will continue doing it till you confess what you are hiding in your heart.”

Liu Hui Ying’s words were so terrifying that even Zhai Tianyu felt a chill rise in his heart, he has never seen a woman with such ferociousness and anger.

She was too wild and she looked rather untamed with that sword in her hand, he wanted to tell her that she needed to stop but then Liu Hui Ying turned her head to look him in the eyes and spoke as if she was reading his mind, ” If you care about your beloved Concubine then I hope you will let me interrogate this maid.”

.....

” Is that a threat my queen?” He asked with narrowed eyes as he looked at Liu Hui Ying who smiled and said, ” No it’s a fact, if you stop me today your majesty then the culprit who wants your dear Concubine dead will escape and then what will you do? Blame it on the wrong and innocent person again?”

She was obviously reminding him of the time when he had her locked up with a wine jar.

Zhai Tianyu didn’t like her questioning him again and again but when he heard that it was Ji Yu’s safety on the line, he was willing to see what the queen was trying to do, after all, it was just two maids, they were easily replaceable.

” This one didn’t..this one has never harmed the concubine.” The maid continued to cry as if she was being wronged making everyone feel sorry for her. They found it quite a pity that a good woman like her was being bullied by the queen like this.

” Psst,” Yu Lingyun nudged Zhai Heng as he whispered, ” Why isn’t his majesty saying anything? Doesn’t he find that maid pitiful?”

” The Queen has questioned the intentions of the maid, making it sound like she was trying to harm Ji Yu, of course, his majesty will listen to what the queen has to say for herself.” Zhai Heng stared at the sight that was happening in front of him, he didn’t know why but it was getting harder and harder for him to look away from Liu Hui Ying, was it because she was being so bold and daring that he was worried that she will attack his brother?

If so why did he not feel the disgust as he did earlier?

” But what if the queen is lying?”

Zhai Heng paused and frowned slightly when a glimmer of worry flashed in his heart. ” If so then the Queen better pray that his majesty would be willing to forgive her for being so casual about someone’s life and death is something that even the majesty cannot tolerate.”

” Again, did I not say that you need to speak what you want after getting on your feet and looking me in the eyes?” Liu Hui Ying repeated as she pushed the blade against the neck of the maid. ” You better get up before I am nice because I have more than one way to prove that you were involved in some sort of scheme, maybe if you listen to me I will be willing to pardon your pitiful life.”