"Do you have a hunch of the person pulling the strings behind the curtain?" Xu Jun asked with indifference while brushing the fallen strands of hair away from her face.
"Why ask when you already know?" Jufen coldly responded. With clouded eyes, her mind was in the working process of a plan.
He did not answer and only proceeded to run his hand through her satin-like hair. Seeing his lack of response, Jufen closed her eyes.
"I appreciate," she started awkwardly, "your honesty. For trusting that I wouldn't act recklessly right now."
"Knowing you, you're just crafty and probably planning something right now, hm?" the young man hooked his lips.
"En. While I'm stuck here, can you do me a favor?" she returned his smile with a similar one.
He slightly raised his eyebrows and tilted his head, "Now, why would I do that?"
Her smile faltered but she quickly recovered with a charming one. Large round eyes curtained by long dark lashes, she sweetly asked, "Please, Jun-gege?"
Xu Jun narrowed his eyes at her before lightly scratching her nose, "This cunning flower."
Knowing that she poked a special spot, she curved her eyes into crescents and stuck out her tongue.
"Stick it out again and I pull it like I did last time," he teased with a wolfish grin.
Immediately, her smile dropped and she tightly shut her mouth. Her cheeks grew warm and she turned her head away from him.
For the next few days, Xu Jun did not question her requests and investigated cases for her. She listed names of officials, regional magistrates, and city lords. Each were to have their records be searched and brought in. She had done dirty work for Ye Feng at one point so she knew the records of each official like the back of her hand.
"It took a while to find the evidences for Zhao Bai Lan's case. The security was quite tight, however, we discovered that the mastermind was Gu Meiyue. She had bribed a group of men with ten cases of gold. Greed filled their heads so they agreed to her conditions. As for the hidden codes and bracelet, I assumed that she infiltrated with your items under your nose," Xu Jun reported as he handed over the evidence.
"You don't seem surprised," he commented when he observed Jufen's empty gaze on the book report before throwing it aside.
"I would be dumb to not notice. She has long wished for my fall," she stated as a matter of fact. However, this move of Meiyue was unforeseen for Jufen. She did not predict that Bai Lan would be harmed because of enmity between Meiyue and her.
Jufen was able to sit up and lean on her sides now. Flipping through the records of the people she named, she curled her pink lips wickedly with a glint in her eyes.
"So what do you plan to do?" Xu Jun swung the teacup held by the tips of his fingers in a circular motion. While resting his cheek on his palm, he stared at her with expectancy.
She glanced at him with sly eyes before looking back down at the records in her hand. In a warm soothing tone, she brutally answered, "Tie and drag the two of them into the mud."
Obviously, she doesn't mean literally. Although it would be quite a sight, that was not her ultimate goal.
"An eye for eye and a leg for a leg; except, you're also after their heads," Xu Jun chuckled proudly at her before attempting to steal a kiss.
"Control yourself, Xu Jun. I'm still injured and this is not the time to fool around," she flat out rejected.
Xu Jun was not upset, in fact, his eyes sparkled as if he knew something that she didn't. Seeing the familiar gaze, Jufen sharpened her eyes into slits as she sent him a narrowed look. He only widened his devilish grin and shrugged his shoulders.
"We're going into the palace's court in three days. I'm sure everyone would be surprised to see the Honorable Xia Wangfei alive."
There was only a handful amount of people that knew Jufen was alive. Not even the Chen family knew that she returned.
The element of surprise is the best attack. Though Ye Feng had already guessed that she had escaped, he would not expect her to return the favor ten times harder.
"En. I'll make my appearance there. Make sure to bring in the people and evidence. This is only the first move. Since Ye Feng wants to play, we'll show him how it's done."
The corner of her lip pulled and she serenely rested her eyes while leaning against the bed frame.
Xu Jun deeply chuckled and leaned back as well, "In this game of chess, who would win?"
Three hectic days passed and Xia couple suddenly appeared in morning court. Seeing Chen Jufen alive and well, a discussion immediately kickstarted among the officials. Even the servants that usually minded their own business couldn't help but to briefly glance at Jufen.
"Little sister..." Chen Mingxi whispered in astonishment. He had not slept a wink since her kidnapping. He had to balance between his missing little sister, his injured beloved, and his imprisoned father. Within seven days, he seemed to age a decade older. The dark bags under his eyes, the permanent frown on his lips and the dull tone of his once bright skin. However, Jufen did not pay much attention to him as she was focused on the bigger problem.
The Emperor's face was gray and he raised his hand to silence everyone. Staring at Chen Jufen who was in the middle, he felt inwardly conflicted. He would've never imagined or guessed that Chen Qui was responsible for such immoral acts. However, all the evidence pointed at him so he has no choice but to believe it.
"Xia Duke, what is the meaning of this?" his loud, commanding voice boomed. Clearly, he was not in a good mood.
Not affected at all, Xu Jun calmly answered, "To clear Prime Minister Chen's name."
One of the middle ranked official couldn't help but sneer, "What's there to clear? The evidence is right there. You cannot save Chen Qui now,"
Fearlessly staring straight ahead, Jufen taunted, "Official Ping, you sure are brave. Let's see how much courage you have left after this."
"You— Utterly disgraceful! When was a woman allowed to speak in the courts?" Official Ping grunted in disdain.
"Be careful of your choice of words. My wife is not only the Prime Minister's daughter—which is higher than your position— she's also the Xia Duchess of First Rank, Official Wife of the Military Xu family. Who are you to speak with your pathetic third rank?" Xu Jun gave a frightful smile that did not reach his eyes.
The enraged officials instantly shut their mouths and embarrassingly looked down at their feet. The eerie feeling that Xu Jun gave in the large courtroom was dense and suffocating. It was colder than the seasonal winter in the North.
"You say you're here to clear Chen Qui's criminal charges?" the Emperor asked in neutral tone.
"To answer Your Majesty, yes. Jufen asks that Your Majesty please forgive this one for being blunt and do not be offended by this one's words."
Nodding his head half-heartedly, he waved his hand to give her permission. Much to everyone's surprise, large stacks of book reports were brought in. Certain officials began to tremble at the familiar sight of the worn-out books.
'Where did she get that?'
"You dare! How could you bring such thing into the court and in front of His Majesty's eyes?" Official Lee nervously pointed at her.
Jufen paused and very slowly turned towards him with a raised eyebrow, "Official Lee, what is this unsightly 'thing' that you call of?"
Under her uncanny gaze, he began to feel uncomfortable. It was as if he was placed under a spell and he randomly stuttered with a blank mind, "Those...those are adulterous books—"
Jufen had never laughed so hard before. Her melodic laugh echoed against the imperial court walls. While it had pleased many people, it had haunted the targeted officials.
"Pornagraphics? You mean the hidden records of officials, magistrate, and city lords? I suppose it is quite disturbing so I can understand. Certainly, you must want to hide them from everyone's eyes."
Her voice that was practically dripping with sweet honey contrasted with her empty and cold eyes. Her smile was like a blossoming flower— a poisonous one. The officials began to shrink in an unknown fear.
Jufen took out a blue book from her sleeve, "Jufen will simplify the charges Father was accused of: bribery from landlords, thievery of citizen's taxes, previously providing information to the Kujus, stolen treasuries from imported goods, and abusing authority power for personal gains. Jufen requests that Your Majesty take a look at these records of your ministers and then give your final decree. Jufen hopes that wrong could be differentiated from right."
Her bold words brought great tension in the imperial courts. Even the Emperor lightly shifted his eyebrows but he did not make a comment yet.
Closing the book, she walked over to the basket of records and leisurely pulled out a brown-covered book. Opening it to the first few pages, she read aloud in a clear voice, "Official Cai, third ranked from the left court, accepted a bribe of a chest of rare imported spices of two summers ago. Requested from Western regional landlord to win over the case of murdering a group of innocent men on the streets while he was drunk, claiming that they had plotted an assassination. Last spring, Official Cai had accepted another bribe from the Chengdu's landowner to overlook their tax collection for the year with two gold mines in the South. This year, Official Cai..."
As Jufen went on, Official Cai's face grew paler while the Emperor grew darker.