Chapter 9: When a Black Belly Collides with Another Black Belly!

  The imperial court has issued an edict of pardon?

  The whole scene was in an uproar, and all eyes turned to Xia Chuyi.

  The first person to make a move was actually Fan Zhongliang, Fan's father.

  "How dare you! In front of Your Highness, what nonsense are you spouting?"

  The imperial court is strict and severe, and the current emperor also upholds the principle of "using heavy punishment in times of chaos". Those who commit crimes are punished heavily, and it's common to sentence them to death. If an official commits a dereliction of duty, they will inevitably be implicated and lose their official position. Losing one's official hat and being flogged are minor punishments, but losing one's life is also not uncommon. Fan Zongliang glared at his daughter with a warning look, smoothed out his official robes, and waddled forward on his stout legs to perform a kneeling bow to Zhao Zhu, saying: "Your Excellency, this woman is the humble daughter of a low-ranking official, foolish and unruly since childhood, speaking without decorum..."

  Zhao Zun coldly raised his hand, stopping him from continuing to speak, and asked Fan Shi with an unchanged expression.

  "What evidence do you have?"

  Fan's glance at his father, his voice much weaker, "Your Highness, this woman has an unknown origin, and is notoriously cunning and ruthless. Yesterday, when the civilian woman quarreled with her, she saw with her own eyes that there was a tattoo of a criminal punishment on her forehead. She must be a fugitive felon, please investigate clearly."

  Her shoulders shook slightly, and Xia Qi's head, which had been lowered, drooped even further.

  Zhao Zun looked up at her forehead, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

  "Come forward."

  Her heart skipped a beat, Xia Qi thought she was done for, her gaze swept over the crowd and landed on the man sitting high above. Unbeknownst to her if it was due to her guilty conscience, although she couldn't see his face clearly, she could distinctly feel the chill of disdain in his line of sight.

  Had he recognized her long ago?

  It shouldn't be like this! On that day, the sky was dark and gloomy, and she looked disheveled...

  To match the idiot's storyline at home, she pouted her mouth, opened her arms and hugged the idiot's neck, rubbing her nose and tears on his shoulder, choking with sobs.

  "Dummy, I'm going home, it's no fun in the city, no fun..."

  Fan's face was triumphant as he thought to himself, "This little wretch is still pretending, but no matter how much she pretends, it's absolutely impossible for the King of Jin not to pursue this matter under these circumstances."

  "Your Highness, the woman is telling the truth. Just part this cheap person's hair and take a look."

  "Come in!"

  Zhao Zun coldly swept over and said, "Part her hair."

  Fan Shi couldn't wait and took a step forward, before Jin Wei Jun could grab Xia Chu Qi's shoulder, she brushed open her bangs.

  "Ah——" She gasped.

  On Xia Zhi's forehead on the seventh day of summer, there was no expected tattoo, only a lump of black stuff.

  "Oh, what a big birthmark!"

  "It turned out to be a birthmark after all, and that Mrs. Fan... can she read?"

  "What a good little girl, with a decent complexion, yet ruined by that birthmark..."

  Fan's eyes stared blankly at Xia Chuqi's forehead, muttering loudly, "No, no way, how is that possible? I clearly saw it..."

  On the seventh day of summer, who would let them continue to stare? She was like a city that had been wronged, turning her head and leaning on the fool's shoulder, "crying" so hard that it was heart-wrenching, crying so much that the people around her couldn't help but sigh with sympathy. But she was shaking her shoulders, holding back laughter...

  Of course, the "cheap" word pierced by the needle is not deep in the body, but it's not easy to get rid of it completely. In modern times, even with laser treatment, it takes countless sessions. It's even more impossible with traditional Chinese medicine, and it's not something that can be done overnight. Moreover, if the medicine is not used properly, there is a high possibility of leaving scars behind. How dare she try it casually?

  So she found a compromise solution.

  It's hard to say whether it's simple or complicated.

  In her previous life's modern times, the wax used for film and television makeup was not a rare item. Many girls who loved beauty made their own wax to cover their eyebrows and scars in order to save money. However, things happened too suddenly, and she didn't have time to make wax that matched her skin tone. Black had the best covering effect, so she used local materials, letting Fool help her find soapberry and plant dyes like persimmon leaves and wintergreen leaves, adding a handful of pot bottom ash, then soaking in salt to fix the color, and finally making black wax. After evenly applying and absorbing it, at first glance, it looked like a black birthmark.

  But this thing can't stand scrutiny, although she secretly fixed Fan's family once, she still has to continue pretending to be stupid.

  "Get out of here! You're making a scene."

  Fan Congliang severely scolded his daughter, but when facing Zhao Zhuo, he put on a flattering and fawning expression, "Your Highness, my daughter is really foolish and disobedient, delaying your journey. When I get back, I will definitely punish her severely."

  He wanted to find an excuse for Fan Shi to step down, but unexpectedly Zhao Zhu asked seriously.

  "Lord Fan, how do you plan to punish him?"

  Fan Congliang's heart skipped a beat as soon as he heard the news. According to the "Great Yan Law", those who framed good people should be punished in return. He gritted his teeth, wanting to give an explanation to Prince Jin and also considering the eyes of all the citizens in the city, he hastily made a gesture to Master Shi.

  "Your Highness, I will immediately take this guilty woman back to the county prison and heavily punish her according to the law."

  Punish crime? Xia Qiqi sneered coldly in her heart.

  The county government office was opened by his Fan family, and that big prison is not equal to their home guest room?

  Two bailiffs came over in tacit understanding and took hold of Fan's family members, preparing to drag them away.

  Unexpectedly, Zhao Zun said calmly, "Wait—"

  Fan Congliang's back broke out in cold sweat, "Your Highness? Could it be that you suspect this official will cover up for the guilty woman?"

  "Lord Fan is worrying too much. I know that you, sir, are a just and impartial person who does not bend the law for personal relationships. However, although Lady Fan's crime cannot be forgiven, the unborn child in her womb is truly innocent."

  No one had expected that the King of Jin would plead for Lady Fan, and Xia Chuyi was so angry that her teeth itched. She and everyone else present couldn't understand why a man known as "Cold-faced Yan Wang" would be so kind as to consider the fetus in a pregnant woman's belly and spare Lady Fan...

  "Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness..."

  Fan Congliang was delighted, his old face flushed with pleasure, and this bow was made with a willing heart.

  "No need for excessive courtesy! Take him away, give him fifty slaps on the mouth and twenty strokes of the cane to serve as a warning!"

  Whoa, an instant change, petrifying a crowd of people.

  Mr. Fan and his daughter were suddenly as cold as a winter's day, unable to speak a word.

  The King of Jin is really ruthless!

  It seems that he gave Fan Cong Liang a great face, but in fact, he played a dumb trick on him and had no choice but to swallow his anger. However, Xia Chu Qi discovered that this was consistent with the sulky nature of Hong Kui Ling. She had long found out that under his serious and stern exterior, there was a "bad" aura that could be said to be unmatched by anyone else.

  Despicable person, indeed despicable!

  Fan Zongliang's face was covered in cold sweat, but he still had to fight for his daughter.

  "Your Highness, according to the Grand Harmony Code, if punishment is meted out before trial, it would be most irregular."

  Zhao Zilong's sudden arrival was accompanied by an aura of a born king, which made people dare not raise their heads to look at him directly.

  "This king is just and fair, does Lord Fan have an opinion?"

  "Your subordinate, your subordinate dares not!" These few words were especially difficult for Fan Zongliang to say.

  Fan was dragged away, crying and shouting. The first slap to the mouth knocked out two teeth, and the mournful cry was very frightening. However, the onlookers no longer made a sound. On the post road, except for the sound of the wind blowing the flags, only Fan's wailing cries and the dull thud of the clubs hitting flesh could be heard.

  It's hard to imagine how so many ordinary people can keep quiet at the same time.

  It was quiet on the scene, really quiet. The silence made Fan's wailing even more piercing to the ear.

  Bloody, violent and gruesome!

  The cruelty of King Jin's tyranny has once again been confirmed under his calm and arrogant appearance.

  A pregnant woman can't afford to take twenty slaps, Xia Qi has lost the heart to pay attention. She just had a sudden illusion that some princes were actually killing chickens to scare monkeys when she first saw the cruelty of ancient punishments.

  And she was that monkey.

  Every time she glanced at him tentatively, his indifferent gaze never looked at her.

  Or rather, he didn't recognize her from head to toe at all.

  "The King of Jin has ascended to the throne!"

  Zheng Er Bao's sharp and fine voice shouted, the Golden Guard Army, which had been stationary for a long time, set off again. The troops marched by in formation from afar, the magnificent scene of their grand momentum made Xia Chu Qi so tense that his back was drenched with cold sweat.

  At last, that cold and stern figure disappeared into the distance on horseback amidst the flow of soldiers.

  He didn't recognize her...

  This matter made Xia Chuyi let out a sigh of relief.

  Finally escaped by the skin of one's teeth.

  She was in a good mood, dragging the absent-minded fool along, as the crowd on the side of the post road either chased after or watched or went about their business, slowly dispersing. Just as they were preparing to return to the city's butcher shop to buy two taels of meat and celebrate the new birth, a sudden sentence was heard in her ear.

  "Miss, His Highness requests your presence!"

  As if struck by a deafening thunderclap, her back stiffened.

  Despicable person, teasing her again?!