Chapter 103 | My Fashion Gacha System Made Me a Cultivation Genius

During the days of reeling in the net, “Su Jinyu” barely closed her eyes.

She had already gathered enough leverage in her hands.

She had long kept the letters exchanged between Su Qing'er and Xie Tianci. Although those words were not enough to directly convict her of a crime, they were enough to let the Emperor see that this Noble Consort of his had been involved with another man before entering the palace.

But even weightier was the whereabouts of the First Prince's Consort of the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty.

Shen Sui had confirmed the woman's whereabouts in the capital for her. She was not in the palace, nor was she near Su Qing'er's chambers, but was hidden in an inconspicuous residence in the south of the city.

Without making a scene, “Su Jinyu” delivered the portrait along with Cui Qingzhi's testimony to the Chief Enshriner's desk.

She arranged to meet the Chief Enshriner in the name of her maternal uncle, Shen Zhiyuan, without alerting anyone.

After reviewing the evidence, the Chief Enshriner remained silent for a long time before asking her what she wanted to do. Su Jinyu only spoke four words: “Please apprehend her, Senior.”

The Chief Enshriner did not ask any further questions. He left the imperial palace that very night and apprehended the woman in that residence in the south of the city.

She did not even resist. Like someone who had already anticipated this day, she stood quietly in place and let the Chief Enshriner's spiritual energy lock wrap around her wrists.

“Su Jinyu” stood outside the courtyard and waited for a moment. Through the half-open door, she caught a glimpse of the woman's profile as she was led out. Her face was exactly the same as the one in the portrait, and the azure jade pendant at her waist gleamed coldly under the moonlight.

During the morning court session the next day, “Su Jinyu” changed into plain clothes and waited outside the palace gates, carrying the stack of letters and Cui Qingzhi's testimony in her arms.

Halfway through the morning court session, she had a palace attendant submit her name plaque, requesting an audience as the legitimate daughter of the Minister's manor to report an urgent matter regarding a spy from the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty.

The Emperor granted her entry into the hall. When Su Jinyu stepped into the main hall, the eyes of the entire civil and military court fell upon her.

She knelt in the center of the hall, presenting the letters and testimony together. Her voice was not loud, yet it was clearly audible in the spacious hall: “Your subject's daughter has discovered that Noble Consort Su of the imperial palace has secretly colluded with the First Prince's Consort of the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty. They used strange arts to maintain the Emperor's favor, intending to dismantle Marquis Weiyuan's Manor from within to clear the obstacles for the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty's border offensive. These are the letters exchanged between the Su family's daughter and Heir Xie before she entered the palace, and this is the identifying token of the First Prince's Consort of the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty. The Chief Enshriner has already apprehended her, and she is currently held outside the hall awaiting trial.”

Seated upon the throne, the Emperor did not speak immediately, but his expression had already changed.

He took the stack of letters and flipped through a few pages. When he reached the third page, his fingers paused on the edge of the paper. He then placed the letters back onto the tray, remained silent for a moment, and spoke in a voice slightly lower than usual: “Bring the person in.”

The female cultivator still did not resist when she was escorted into the hall.

She stood in the hall with a calm expression, as if she had already prepared all her words, or perhaps because she simply disdained bowing her head to a mortal emperor.

Yet all the evidence was already laid out on the imperial desk—the jade pendant, the portrait, the letters, and the testimony.

After listening to the Chief Enshriner's account, the Emperor placed the stack of papers in his hand onto the desk. His movements of stacking them were neither rushed nor slow, and his voice echoed through the spacious hall: “Noble Consort Su is to be immediately remanded to the Court of Judicial Review. Once verified, she shall be dealt with according to the law.”

Su Qing'er did not even struggle when she was dragged away. She merely turned her head to cast a glance at “Su Jinyu.” Across the hall filled with civil and military officials and palace attendants, that glance was very brief.

Then, her figure was swallowed by the daylight outside the hall doors, like a severed thread falling away from the entire tapestry, leaving an unfinished loose end hanging in the air.

“Su Jinyu” remained kneeling in the hall without standing up. The sunlight streaming in from outside the hall doors fell upon her shoulders and the floor, stretching her shadow on the ground very long.

After “Su Jinyu” withdrew from the hall, the news quickly spread throughout the capital.

The Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty reacted faster than expected. Within three days, they dispatched envoys to the capital and submitted a state letter. Their words were polite but their stance was clear—the First Prince's Consort was a wife of the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty's royal family. If the Chiyan Imperial Dynasty insisted on detaining her, it might damage the diplomatic relations between the two nations. They were willing to redeem her with gold, silver, and warhorses.

The Emperor did not reply immediately. He left the state letter on his imperial desk and sent word to Su Jinyu: “You were the one who discovered her. What is your opinion?”

Standing outside the imperial study, “Su Jinyu” listened to the message and replied with only one sentence: “Let them redeem her, but let me meet her first.”

The First Prince's Consort was detained in a secluded courtyard within the imperial palace. Bound by the Chief Enshriner's spiritual energy lock, she was unable to employ any techniques.

When “Su Jinyu” stepped into the courtyard, the First Prince's Consort was sitting by the window, sipping tea.

She did not look like a detainee at all; her expression was calm, and her posture relaxed.

“Su Jinyu” sat down across from her and got straight to the point: “Did you do all this simply because you are the First Prince's Consort of the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty?”

She did not believe it—she did not believe that a woman with such obvious pride written between her brows would willingly live as a mere dependent of a man, serving him and paving the way for him. If she had misjudged her, then let it be.

The First Prince's Consort glanced at her, set down her teacup, and said flatly, “He and I made a deal. I helped him do what needed to be done, and he should give me what he promised.”

“Su Jinyu” waited quietly for her to continue.

Looking at her, the First Prince's Consort felt for the first time that a mortal's eyes could hold such weight, giving her an urge to unburden herself.

“My name is Wei Lingling, and I am a cultivator. Years ago, I fell in love with the First Prince of the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty. I willingly entered the mortal world and accompanied him for over a decade. When he later took concubines, fathered children, and neglected me, I endured it all. A cultivator falling in love naturally damages their cultivation, and I accepted that. But later, he asked me to kill Shen Sui, and I refused.

“Cultivators have the rules of cultivators; I cannot directly spill mortal blood. So, he came up with this method—having me plant an insider by the Emperor of the Chiyan Imperial Dynasty's side to whisper in his ear and dismantle the Shen family from within. I did it for him, on the condition of a divorce agreement. Once the matter was settled, he would let me go.”

The First Prince's Consort paused here, lifting her teacup to take another sip. The tea had already gone cold, but she did not mind. Setting it down, she raised her eyes to look at Su Jinyu. “The old emperor of the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty is dying, and the throne is vacant.

“What the court fears most is the Shen family. The old emperor personally said that whoever could resolve the Shen family issue would be passed the throne. The First Prince wants that chair. From beginning to end, I was nothing more than a chess piece on his board.”

“Su Jinyu” did not reply immediately. She ran the First Prince's Consort's words and all her prior information through her mind, confirming that there were no logical loopholes.

Wei Lingling was not the mastermind, but merely a cultivator who wanted to extricate herself but had been trapped for over a decade.

She did not want much—only a divorce agreement, a token to sever her karmic ties.

“Su Jinyu” stood up, took a step toward the door, then stopped and cast a sideways glance at her. “The people of the Taiyuan Imperial Dynasty will come to collect you in a few days. I wish you a successful divorce.”

Wei Lingling looked at her in shock, and only after a long pause did she speak: “How interesting... I never expected such words to come from a woman's mouth.”