Chapter 381: Can’t Retract

　　Si Ye was confused when he heard their words. Rong Zhen didn’t go missing? She was hidden by the Empress? But judging from her previous appearance, it completely didn’t seem like it! Besides, if she really wanted to do it, why would Si Meng mysteriously die?

　　He suppressed his pain and didn’t bother to wipe the blood on his face as he miserably begged. “Your Majesty, even though I don’t know who told you this, it must be fake! Previously, the Fourth Princess went missing with Si Meng, and he quickly passed away after a while. The Empress was very worried about the Fourth Princess’s safety, so she looked for me. I… I secretly sent someone to check the entire Imperial City, but I still couldn’t find her whereabouts…”

　　“Rong Zhen said all of this personally. Could it be that she was lying?”

　　Emperor Jiawen’s cold sentence immediately made Si Ye swallow his remaining words.

　　Si Ye widened his eyes in shock and couldn’t recover his senses for a long time. Rong Zhen… said it personally?! Did they find Rong Zhen already?

　　Looking at Si Ye’s expression, Emperor Jiawen thought to himself: It seems like he really didn’t know any of this. If not, his acting skills are too good.

　　Si Ye had followed him for many years, so Emperor Jiawen did understand him quite a bit. If Si Ye really was involved in this incident, he wouldn’t give his current reaction.

　　Emperor Jiawen felt slightly better.

　　As the head of the four aristocratic families and the Si family head, Si Ye’s status held some weight. Unless absolutely necessary, Emperor Jiawen was also reluctant to touch him. If not, the entire Imperial City would suffer in the aftermath.

　　This was also the reason why he still chose to deal with the incident discreetly, even after so many things had happened.

　　“Si Ye, the Empress has already admitted that she killed Si Meng and sent Rong Zhen to Heptagon Alley and that she had planned to set the Chu family up. What else do you have to say about this?”

　　Si Ye was dazed. The Empress killed Si Meng? How could that be? All these years, the Empress trusted and depended on Si Meng greatly. What’s good for her if she killed him? Besides, why must she send Rong Zhen to Heptagon Alley? Hasn’t that place been isolated for years?

　　Facing Emperor Jiawen’s stern interrogation, Si Ye’s heart was in turmoil. He couldn’t help but look at the Empress by the side. “…Her Majesty, is what His Majesty said true?”

　　The Empress was expressionless as she stiffly nodded. Now, I just don’t want to implicate the Si family. So even if I didn’t do all of that, I have to admit to it! Besides, with that copper vat in Heptagon Alley, what does all this count for? Emperor Jiawen has most probably already killed me thousands of times in his heart.

　　Si Ye was stunned. He almost instinctively asked, “Why?”

　　The Empress looked down as if she didn’t want to continue talking.

　　Emperor Jiawen scolded, “Why aren’t you saying anything now? You did all of that, yet you’re not willing to talk now? Tell Si Ye what good things you have done at Heptagon Alley!”

　　Si Ye had never seen Emperor Jiawen so furious, and he couldn’t help but feel terrified. Previously, Emperor Jiawen had been holding it in when he talked about Si Meng and Rong Zhen. Why did he suddenly have such a huge reaction when he talked about Heptagon Alley? It seems like… the Heptagon Alley incident is even more unbearable for Emperor Jiawen when compared to Si Meng’s presence and the Empress hiding Rong Zhen.

　　The Empress’s white and cracked lips moved. “…Your Majesty, I did all of this on my own, and it has nothing to do with my brother and the entire Si family. If we continue blowing this matter up, it will be increasingly troublesome… I hope you can give me a quick ending, so we can stop all of this.”

　　Emperor Jiawen chuckled. “You finally know that you’re in trouble? When you did this earlier, did you think that today would come? It’s not impossible if you want to end this now. You just have to clearly say if you prepared the copper vat for Rong Jin and what the reason for doing so was!”

　　Si Ye was confused when he heard their words. What copper vat? How did Rong Jin get involved in this?

　　The Empress bit her lips tightly.

　　Actually, Emperor Jiawen had already asked her this question countless times. However, she didn’t admit to it the whole time.

　　She knew clearer than anyone how much Emperor Jiawen hated that copper vat. So, once she admitted to it, Rong Jin would never be able to make a comeback.

　　Thinking of this, her heart was finally drowned by the loss of hope. The next moment, she suddenly tried to smash against the wall beside her.

　　Emperor Jiawen stood up in anger. “Stop her!”

　　When the Empress rushed over, Si Ye had already stood up and blocked her.

　　The Empress crashed into Si Ye’s arms.

　　Dong!

　　Si Ye moaned deeply as a sweet yet fishy taste enveloped his lips. The Empress really wants to die! She used all her strength!

　　“Jing’er! What are you doing?” Si Ye was frustrated and anxious as he directly called out the Empress’s name.

　　“Brother, kill me! Kill me quick!” The Empress grabbed his hand and begged anxiously and bitterly. Once I die, everything will end.

　　However, how could Si Ye bear to do it? “What exactly happened to you?”

　　Emperor Jiawen watched on coldly from the side. “Empress, do you think that I can’t do anything about you if you keep quiet?”

　　Then, he suddenly raised his voice and shouted, “Someone, serve her with ink and brush!”

　　Everything that was previously thrown onto the floor couldn’t be used anymore. However, the thing the Imperial Study didn’t lack the most was this.

　　Eunuch Min hurriedly entered from outside, silently went to the other side to take the new ink and brushes for Emperor Jiawen, and ground it, pretending as if he did not see the unkempt Si Ye and Empress on the floor.

　　Emperor Jiawen picked up the brush and nonchalantly glanced at the Empress. “I think you can’t continue to be the Empress. As for Rong Jin… With such a mother, what kind of son can you bring up? He’s incapable; I should’ve removed him a long time ago!”

　　The Empress suddenly realized that Emperor Jiawen wanted to remove the Crown Prince from his position in addition to removing her as the Empress.

　　Under her panic, she couldn’t help but scream, “Your Majesty, you can’t do this! Rong Jin has just gotten engaged to Situ Xingchen! If you remove him from his position as the Crown Prince now, how can you explain to Country Xing Luo?”

　　“No wonder… No wonder!” Emperor Jiawen paused in his actions and sneered. It was no wonder they were so fearless. It was because they had already thought of how to escape from punishment since the start! Rong Jin smoothly fought for his marriage agreement with Situ Xingchen for this day!

　　Emperor Jiawen hated himself for being so blind and letting this heartless mother-son duo lie to him for so long. “Okay! I want to see if Country Xing Luo will want to continue Situ Xingchen and Rong Jin’s marriage agreement after they know about this!”

　　…

　　Country Xing Luo.

　　Situ Xingchen returned to the palace at top speed and spoke up about everything that had happened.

　　However, Country Xing Luo’s Emperor Xiankang, Situ Yan, kept quiet for a long time before shaking his head. “Xingchen, you can’t retract this marriage agreement.”