Free Web NovelChapter 22: Kidnapped
There was a sting on Ru Yi’s cheek—cold, sharp, and painful enough to pull her back to consciousness.
Dripping water could be heard in the distance as her eyes fluttered open, only to be met with pitch black darkness.
Muffled voices filtered through but she couldn’t make out anything until the black cloth over her head was removed.
"Look who finally decided to join us." It was Shen Yexue, face twisted in anger and malice. "Want us to throw you a welcome party?"
Ru Yi ignored Shen Yexue’s obvious anger, tugging her arms instead and realized she was tied to a chair in what seemed to be a storage room. Even her legs were tied before her.
"Where am I?" Ru Yi asked, then looked at Shen Yexue and the storm brewing in her reddish brown eyes. "Did the crown prince ask you to—"
Ru Yi backtracked. She wouldn’t be tied up if Zhao had asked for them to break her out of the cell. This could only mean one thing...
"Did you kidnap me?"
Shen Yexue looked at her in obvious disgust. "You’re really fitting for that bastard, no wonder you fell for each other."
Without warning, Shen Yexue grabbed the back of Ru Yi’s head and pulled at her hair.
"Is that why you killed the princess? Because you didn’t want her to marry Zhao Chen?" she pulled tighter when Ru Yi didn’t give her an immediate response. "You think what you have with that idiot is worth more than a person’s life?"
Ru Yi tried to hold back the tears gathering in his eyes. It felt like her scalp was burning, and she had only the triplet to blame.
"I didn’t kill Princess Lin Yuexin," she managed to say through gritted teeth. "I would never harm someone—"
Shen Yexue released her hair right before slapping her across the cheek. Again. "Don’t sit there and lie to my face!"
The force of it threw Ru Yi’s face to the side. She lost feeling for a couple seconds.
"Are you still going to sit there and lie?"
Ru Yi managed to raise her head.
Shen Yexue had already changed out of the clothes she’d worn for the ball. In its place was a plain black robe, no doubt to conceal her form and identity so she could kidnap Ru Yi.
But they’d been three in her cell, Ru Yi was sure of it.
Ru Yi turned to the side and spat out the blood that had gathered in her mouth. It looked like her teeth had torn the inside of her cheek.
"I have no reason to lie to you," she said slowly, "especially when you’re hellbent on what you think is the truth."
Shen Yexue raised her hand to hit her again but the sound of a door groaning open made her stop mid-movement.
Ru Yi watched through hooded eyes as Shen Qingyue and Shen Lieyin walked in through the door, their eyes going briefly to her before they turned to Shen Yexue.
"Has she said anything of importance?" Shen Qingyue asked Yexue who rolled her eyes in response.
"She claims to be innocent but I call that bullshit. She’s the only one with a motive to kill the princess." Shen Yexue raged on. "This was her way of stopping the wedding." ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
"We can’t be really sure about that," Shen Qingyue reasoned.
"What’s there not to be sure about?" Shen Yexue was already so close to snapping. "She couldn’t bear to see the princess marry the idiot she so dearly loves."
Shen Yexue turned to Ru Yi. "I found a royal pass in the sleeve of her robe. By the look of it, she planned to run from the palace after killing Lin Yuexin. Which is not also surprising because I caught her trying to run away before."
With a sigh, Shen Qingyue turned. "Were you going to run away with Zhao Chen? Did he give you the pass?"
Ru Yi shook her head. "Princess Lin Yuexin gave it to me."
"Liar!" Shen Yexue was about to smack her in the face when Shen Lieyin, who’d been quiet the entire time, held her back.
"Keep your feelings aside for one second so the girl can talk. I know you loved the princess dearly, but if you want to avenge her then we must find out the truth." Shen Lieyin sighed. "Let’s just wrap this up nicely, it’s already past my bedtime."
Shen Qingyue’s expression was puzzling. "I’m assuming she gave you the pass to make sure she married the crown prince."
"She gave me the pass because I asked."
The triplets all turned to her at the same time. "What?"
"Believe it or not, but Princess Lin Yuexin never really cared about the crown prince." All she’d wanted was for peace to reign, and look where that got her.
Ru Yi started to tear up again, and it wasn’t from the sting on her face.
"What really happened between the two of you?" Shen Qingyue asked before reaching into the sleeves of her robe and bringing out the love letter she’d confiscated earlier. "From what you wrote it seemed like you were also in love with her."
Shen Yexue grew red in the face when she saw the letter her sister was holding. She glared at Ru Yi but didn’t say a word.
If her sisters find out she’d written a love letter to the princess, they’d never let her live it down.
Ru Yi looked at Shen Yexue. "I am in love with the prince—" she sighed, "I was in love with Princess Lin Yuexin."
Shen Yexue was about to charge forward again when Shen Lieyin pulled her back.
"Then why did you kill her?" Shen Qingyue asked. "Did she turn down your proposal?"
"I keep telling you...I didn’t kill her! And the longer you keep me here, the easier it’ll be for the actual culprit to get away with their crime." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Shen Qingyue frowned.
In all the years he’d known the little maid Zhao Chen had fallen in love with, she’d never seen Ru Yi act out like this.
Didn’t even expect that she’d speak up for herself.
In fact, she thought Ru Yi timid and stupid. Which was why this turn of events was surprising to say the least.
"How about I just torture her until she tells the truth." Shen Lieyin pulled out a small knife from her robe. "Let’s make this interesting."
Shen Qingyue sighed, "Put that thing away. Drawing blood is not the answer to everything."
Then—
Shen Qingyue bent down in front of Ru Yi, keeping them at the same eye level. "How about you tell me everything that happened tonight?"
