— Part 1
They needed as many witnesses as possible to prove that the princess had indeed committed suicide, so it would hard for the Han Emperor to kill every witness --- especially, when they were another kingdom's folks.
With the old physician's previous judgmental behavior, if they had the same conclusions, it would solidify the credibility of the results.
The onlookers would trust her more.
The crowds sighed at how kindhearted the woman was.
She was being ridiculed, but she was magnanimous enough to invite the other person to join her.
Despite the embarrassment, the old man accepted Yao Ling's offer.
Otherwise, he would look petty if he refused, besides, he also felt curious about the princess' condition and wanted to see the woman's skill.
He still didn't believe in Yao Ling's medical skills.
No one commented when the old man came inside the room.
What was the use of mocking him? He already put away his pride and it was good enough.
They only wanted to see the result.
Yao Ying laughed to himself, he indeed had a formidable wife.
The old man was quite surprised by Yao Ling's skills and he had to admit that he was being unreasonable before.
He only judged her based on her gender because of his own arrogance.
Even though she was young, her skills were on par with him --- there was a probability that it was a little bit better than him.
The old man followed along Yao Ling's movements carefully while giving a pointer once in a while.
In the end, he agreed with Yao Ling's investigation result: The princess was indeed dead and it was a suicide case.
When he turned his gaze to the side, the old man was surprised by what he saw.
He didn't pay attention to the room's condition before because he kept concentrating himself in the investigation.
His gaze never stranded from the princess' corpse.
The old man saw a blood letter on the table and it was opened --- it seemed like the princess had deliberately done this, so the person who found her could see it.
After reading the content, he felt his knees weakened and he wanted to slap himself for joining in with the fun! This was Han Kingdom's secret ah~ His whole body was trembling in fear.
Yao Ling looked up and asked him in confusion, "Da Ren, what's wrong? Why is your whole body shaking?"
"It's... its'..." The old man stuttered while pointing at the blood letter.
Yao Ling gasped in surprise. "It's... it's a blood letter!" She was satisfied when the old man finally saw the blood letter.
Yao Ling closed the inner chamber's curtains. She quickly called General Hu in and told him the result.
She didn't say it out loud but the crowds were able to hear the result as well.
They were curious... Why did the princess commit suicide? If she wanted to kill herself just to avoid this marriage, it should happen before she set out.
Then, were there any other reasons?
Then, she hurriedly gave General Hu the blood letter.
They had planned to announce what was written inside loud and clear to as many people as possible.
They wanted people to hear the reasons of Han Xiang's suicide --- first, it would clear up the possibility that she was killed.
Secondly, it would also reveal that this matter didn't have any connections with Qin Kingdom or Shu Kingdom, so they could avoid war --- just in case, people with bad intentions would use this matter for their own gains.
The most important thing was to let the world know... what kind of man the Han Emperor was.
What kind of bad deeds that he had done... and how he could pretend to be a kind Monarch despite all of that.
They wanted to tear down his mask as a way to get revenge for Han Xiang.
In Xiao Fang's letter, Han Xiang gave her permission and wrote that she didn't care if her reputation would be ruined when the truth came out.
After all, she had already dead by then. No one would care about her tainted body.
Han Xiang still remembered to give Xiao Fang an advice not to reveal her real identity in front of the Han Emperor.
Even though he was the one who had told her about it, she was certain that the Han Emperor still felt unsure about it.
In her words, she said, only one her was enough... She didn't want Xiao Fang to become another victim.
After all, that man was a beast in human clothing. Who knew what he would do if he found out that Xiao Fang was his real daughter?
General Hu read the letter in a low voice, but the ones who were the closest to them and the ones who had heightened senses due to their martial arts skills, were able to hear his mumble clearly.
'General Hu, I'm sorry... I know that you have protected me from the bandits, but in the end, I killed myself.
Please let the people know by putting this blood letter on the announcement board. I want the world to know the truth --- the reasons of my suicide.'
The ones who couldn't hear asked the people who seemed to be able to hear.
"It's really a suicide..."
"That man is indeed a general. It seems like he also doesn't understand the reasons ah~"
"Of course, ah~ If he knew beforehand, he would certainly save the princess. After all, it was his job to protect her."
"That's true... It seems like he will be heavily punished back at his kingdom..."
"I wonder the reasons why she killed herself. She will live a glorious live at Qin Kingdom, right? No one would dare bully a princess from another kingdom to avoid war, right?"
"How do you know that? The life of the royals seem to be not as good as it looks like..."
"If it's really good, why should a princess kill herself ah?"
Yao Ling was satisfied after listening to the crowds' words.
It went just like they way they had planned.
They started to feel suspicious with everything and it would increase their appetite to listen the reasons.
One of Mi Hui's people had been planted to spice things up.
"General, the princess had written that the blood letter should be put on announcement board later. Why don't you tell what's inside loud and clear? After all, sooner or later, people will read the whole letter ah~"
"True ah~"
"We want to know..."
"What kind of grievance that the princess had?"
"True ah!"
The crowds suddenly became quiet after talking loudly at the same time.
They were surprised by the reactions of Yao Ling, General Hu, and the old physician.
Their face were ghastly pale and their whole bodies were trembling in fear.
It evoked more curiosity from the mass.
They talked among themselves. "Is it really that serious?"
"What are you talking about? For a princess to kill herself, of course, it's a serious matter!"
"Why do they look so scared?"
"It makes me feel more curious!"
Yao Ling mumbled quietly, but it made the crowds gasp in surprise.
She only said a few words, but it made the crowds become wilder at guessing.
"Huh? The Han Emperor?" One of the onlookers said in a loud voice.
He didn't deliberately spread the news, but he was too surprised ah~.
"Why did the princess kill herself because of him?"
"I heard that he is a doting father and kind Monarch... so what actually happened to drive the princess to do this?"
"No one would lie when writing blood letter ah~ so, it should be true..."
"The marriage? Maybe she already had a sweetheart?"
Some people tried to guess and make their own assumptions, but they knew the answers were written on that blood letter.
Although it was probably the royals' secret, they were too curious to stop asking about it.
"Gu Niang ah~ is it really written by the princess?" One of the onlookers asked Yao Ling.
— Part 2
Yao Ling was going to answer when her words were stopped by the old man's behavior.
Without waiting for her, he quickly dashed inside the room and checked on the princess' body himself.
He hoped that it was a fake blood letter ah~ He was a coward and he didn't want to be implicated with this matter!
However, his hope was crushed when he saw the wound on Han Xiang's index finger.
He even went as far by matching the pattern with the blood letter and the result was undeniable. "It's... it's real... It's really written by the princess."
The crowds went silent once again, knowing that it seemed to be very dire.
After all, the old man looked so scared that he almost peed on himself.
Even if they left, it was already too late. they were too curious and already involved after witnessing the body.
They might as well knew the truth and chose what they should do later.
Yao Ling gave a signal to General Hu with her eyes, telling him that it was time to read the blood letter loud and clear.
They knew that this matter wouldn't be able to bring down the Han Emperor, because it wasn't easy to change a Monarch --- especially, because he indeed was good at ruling the kingdom.
His problem was for having a messy inner courtyard.
But after all, it was also the Emperor's private matter and the commoners or officials couldn't do much about it.
At least, with this matter, they wanted people the open their eyes and maybe... the officials would make a petition for the Han Emperor to pay attention to his moral characters.
They didn't believe that he would be able to block the mouths of the commoners ah~ Unless, the Han Emperor wanted to kill all of them.
General Hu cleared his throat and said, "I was also just like all of you --- before handling this mission, I have never once met a princess in a close proximity. At first, I misjudged the princess as someone that would be pampered and selfish. However, once I read this blood letter just now, I felt appalled. I never knew that the princess had gone through a lot in her life. I hope all of you will listen loud and clear, before I post this on the announcement boards and at the same time, I will make several copies and send it to the other two kingdoms."
"Why do you want to tell the other two kingdoms, General?" One of the onlookers asked in confusion.
A commoner wouldn't understand that this matter could become complicated.
In their eyes, it was only a suicide. What the worst that could happen ah~?
Someone answered from the crowds, "Of course to avoid war ah~ Another kingdom princess is dead in our kingdom. What do you think the other kingdom would think?"
Someone gasped. "They will think that she's killed by our kingdom ah~ It can become a reason for war!"
"True... true... if the other kingdom knows that it's a suicide case, then it won't implicate our kingdom..."
"Yes ah~ our kingdom doesn't do anything towards the princess... we have to make this loud and clear..."
General Hu nodded and he said with a magnanimous expression, "Yes... This is also the reason that I want to read this blood letter. I don't want to incite war."
Yao Ling almost... rolled her eyes because she never thought that the man was quite opportunist.
But, this was also fine, what he said would naturally clean up the mess and they didn't have to explain why they needed to spread the blood letter that involving the Han Emperor.
After all, it was a taboo thing to do.
However, would General Hu be able to live peacefully back at Han Kingdom?
Oh well... she would look at his merit, if he's good enough, she would probably ask Yao Ying to snatch him and make him their subordinate.
They didn't allow Xiao Fang to appear around this time, after all, her family was targeted by the Han Emperor.
If she made a ruckus around this time, it would implicate her family.
After reading her own letter, Han Xiang told her in detailed that the Han Emperor had started to make a move on Xiao Fang's family for a long time.
He wasn't satisfied with the Left Prime Minister's good reputation that had surpassed him, making him feel jealous.
The Han Emperor talked about it once in his drunken state while raping Han Xiang and it was embedded in Han Xiang's memories.
However, she couldn't tell Xiao Fang about it because she kept being monitored when Xiao Fang went into the palace to meet her.
She could only watch silently in despair.
Xiao Fang started to realize why lately her family started to nag her not to go inside the palace and meet Han Xiang anymore --- however, she stubbornly went against their wishes.
Not only that, her father and brother were busy handling a lot of things until they became thinner and they were rarely at home.
She asked them the reasons for a few times, but they only answered with a smile and told her not to worry about anything.
Was it because they already saw the Han Emperor's ambition? She didn't know whether she had to laugh or cry of how overprotective they were.
She was indeed lucky for meeting them as her family, otherwise, she would live a life worse than death --- just like Han Xiang.
After going back to the Han Kingdom, she needed to know their plan and tell them that she had known the truth.
Xiao Fang lost in thought while her gaze was looking at the commotion in front of Han Xiang's room.
She could only watch from afar while her best friend's body was shown to the world.
She bit her lower lips tightly until it bleed... 'I will get revenge for you, Han Xiang... Please rest in peace!'
Back to the crowd, they looked at General Hu in admiration.
Despite risking his life, he wanted to tell the whole truth to them.
If they knew the real reason, they would certainly vomit blood ah~
"Read it now!" They exclaimed.
"Yes... yes... we want to know!"
"What the Han Emperor did to the princess?"
"Yes... he must have been forcing the princess to get married!"
They only wanted the juicy gossips, but they didn't know that what they heard would make them feel disgusted.
They would spread the words to get justice for the pitiful princess...
In contrary of Yao Ling's expectation, they would even make Han Xiang become so popular that they would build her statue at the Han Kingdom.
— Part 3
General Hu nodded and started to recite the blood letter slowly so everyone could listen to every words clearly.
'I want the world to know that I kill myself because of my father ---
The Han Emperor... or should I say... My step-father?'
The crowd gasped in surprised when they heard that.
It was a royal's secret ah~ Did the Shu woman make the Han Emperor put on a green hat?! This was an intriguing news!
'I never know about this fact. Until one day... he came into my room late at night when he was drunk...
He talked gibberish at first, but it started to become clearer. I am not his real daughter! Someone swapped me with the real daughter.
However, I didn't blame the one who swapped us for being selfish... because the Han Emperor is truly a beast... I agree with my supposed-to-be mother, the Ce Fei... to leave him!'
"It's not the case of betrayal... instead, it's a switched at birth case ah~"
"Wow... with this amount of hatred, I wonder what kind of life that the princess had lived?"
"Why is it so complicated?"
"Oh my God! What kind of beast is he? I'm so curious!"
"The princess even agreed with the Ce Fei's decision to run away?"
"It seems the Emperor's inner courtyard is quite messed up ah~"
General Hu listened to the people's words while continued reading the letter.
'He didn't actually knew whether I was really the real daughter or not, but accidentally stumbled upon the fact from an unknown source, and yet... he believed it.
I had a father-daughter relationship for more than a decade, but not once... not once... he gave me his fatherly love...
Do all of you know... what I had gone through? I was abused even by the eunuchs and maidservants, showing how low my standing in palace was.
At that time, he still didn't know that I wasn't his real daughter...
What more if he knew? The rumor about me being an abandoned daughter is true!
After knowing that I was a fake, he gave me poison... that would make me lose my mind and even succumb to desire... He... he raped me!'
Han Xiang dropped the bomb with her blunt words and it made the crowds gaped at the news.
The crowds couldn't believe what they had heard.
Even if she wasn't her real daughter... but she was already living as one for such a long time ah~. The Han Emperor wasn't even sure whether it was true or not.
Han Xiang tried to divert the attention of other people from Xiao Fang, so she decided not to tell them that she was a hundred percent sure that she wasn't the real daughter.
After listening to this part, they were chilled to the bone by the realization of how cruel the Han Emperor was.
"How could he do that?"
"It's so disgusting!"
"If he made a mistake, he could commit incest ah~"
"How could such a man could become an Emperor?"
"Luckily, our Shu Emperor isn't like that ah~"
Yao Ying secretly nodded his head, when people started to blame the Han Emperor.
'Do you know how many times I want to kill myself? He still needed to maintain his so-called good image in front of his retainers and civilians, so he would never let me go. The cycle always happened --- probably a thousand of times.
Raped, pregnant, aborted the baby. It happened until I lost count of them.
Death is even better than living in this hell...
He even planned to clean up a few of his loyal retainers... Left Prime Minister, General Wang, General Wu, Lin Wang, and many more. They threatened his fame, thus, he targeted them.
He didn't know that I heard him talking to someone about it... when he stayed inside my room.
I couldn't move but my mind was still clear!'
"Oh my God! He even forced her to abort the babies!"
"It would certainly ruin the young princess' future!"
"She just reached a marriageable age... so how long the Han Emperor had raped her?"
"So scary..."
The crowds were flabbergasted.
The princess even leaked her kingdom's private turmoil in details. Despite only briefly mentioned, they understood about it clearly how important this information was.
Why didn't she feel afraid that it would implicate her own kingdom ah? This could become a reason for revolting by the people that were named inside the letter.
If they knew the Han Emperor was targeting them, wouldn't they retaliate?
Yao Ling praised inwardly how clever Han Xiang was.
In one letter, she was able to ruin the Emperor's reputation along with making a dent in his relationship with those officials.
Her suicide was the real proof that what she had written was indeed the truth.
If this fell into the hand of the Emperor directly, the rumor would be easily refuted or even erased entirely.
Too bad... this news was spread through the people first and his reputation would already become worse.
This rumor started in the Shu Kingdom and by the time it reached the Han Emperor's ears, everything would be too late.
This was a small revenge but it should be effective to make him angry...
'I was only someone who was abandoned by him, so why should I care about him and his country? I didn't even know where I came from...
Maybe I wasn't even a Han people, to begin with.
If he gave me a little bit of love, everything wouldn't lead to this step...
Being married to the Qin Emperor was the greatest thing that had ever happened in my life...
However, my body was no longer pure.
How could I face my new husband? Would he believe me if I said that I was tainted by my own father? I didn't think so! Every Monarch has his own's pride, so how would he react when he found out that I am not a virgin anymore?
I couldn't trust men ever again since my supposed-to-be own father could also do that to me...
I chose to kill myself rather than face the embarrassment...
Who knew what kind of life waiting for me at the Qin Kingdom? That's why I chose to free myself from the shackle called life...'
The blood letter stopped there.
The women already cried when they listened to what the princess had written.
She must have been living a life full of despair to choose such an ending!
She must have been so broken that she wasn't able to trust men anymore!
An ordinary man would hate to have a non-virgin bride, what more an Emperor?
Xiao Fang was satisfied when she saw that everyone was condemning the Han Emperor.
The rumor was spreading faster than usual and in a few shichen, everyone at Lin Zhou and nearby cities had already known about this matter.
They shared the story of how pitiful the princess was and condemned the Han Emperor without restraint.
They were brave enough to do that because the Han Emperor could do nothing to them.
After all, they were from different kingdom.
Lin Jian copied the letter and posted it in the announcement boards on several cities inside the three kingdoms.
Not only that, Yao Ling also used her connection with Hei Yue to spread it through his channel of information.
Hei Yue didn't hesitate to help because this matter was in line with A Thousand Words' purpose --- a peaceful era between the three kingdoms.
After all, he owed Yao Ling a lot.
This would make the Han Emperor busy enough for the next few days.
He must be feeling embarrassed because it was known to the whole three kingdoms.
What could he do to them all? Nothing!
With this, the trio had successfully finished their Mi Hui's mission.
Despite the princess killed herself to end the marriage, they managed to gain advantages in this mission.
After news reached Wang Luo Hai's ears, he nodded in satisfaction and he gave them his permission to roam around for a little while.
The couple didn't specify what would they do in the Han Kingdom but he trusted their judgment.