A Vicious Female Supporting Character Is Meant to Become The Female Lead’s Wife (Futa) - Chapter 1

“Damn… What a gruesome way to die.”

One of the Court of Judicial Review’s constables, clutching his saber at the back of the group, craned his neck to take a look. The moment he met the corpse’s bulging eyes and saw its bluish-purple lips and tongue, he hastily recoiled.

The deceased was Wang Huai, an insignificant secretary in the Ministry of Rites. The Court of Judicial Review’s officers did not want the extra trouble. Seeing no signs of a struggle at the scene and a ligature mark around his neck, they immediately declared it a suicide by hanging and prepared to close the case.

Five people stood inside the sweltering side chamber.

At their head was a young woman wearing the teal official robes of a sixth-rank Investigating Censor, her sleeves rolled up. Behind her were one judicial assessor and three constables from the Court of Judicial Review. Repulsed by the foul air surrounding the corpse, all four crowded around the doorway, impatiently shifting their weight from one foot to the other.

They were seasoned old hands at the Court of Judicial Review, so naturally, they looked down on Song Qingji from the bottom of their hearts.

For one thing, she was young. For another, the civil officials from the Censorate usually did nothing but write memorials denouncing people. Now that she had come to a murder scene to tell them how to do their jobs, she was only creating more trouble.

Besides, solving suspicious deaths required experience and seniority. What could a pair of pampered aristocratic siblings possibly know about examining corpses?

“Lord Song, there isn’t even a single extra footprint in this room.” Zhao De, the judicial assessor from the Court of Judicial Review, tucked his hands into his sleeves and spoke perfunctorily. “In this humble official’s opinion, Lord Wang most likely had dirty hands and feared being investigated, so he hanged himself to end it all.”

After speaking, Zhao De poked his head out and glanced at the gloomy sky, grumbling inwardly. This damned weather looked like it was about to unleash a torrential downpour. The fighting cock he had spent ten taels of silver on yesterday was still tied beneath a tree in his courtyard. If it got soaked and fell ill, his entire month’s salary would have gone down the drain.

“Do not jump to conclusions before the matter has been thoroughly investigated,” Song Qingji replied evenly without turning around.

Zhao De choked on his words and rolled his eyes, but ultimately did not dare talk back.

Song Qingji might currently be nothing more than a petty sixth-rank official, but her surname was Song. For three generations, members of the Song family had served as imperial tutors. Their lineage was exceedingly illustrious, and their reputation as a noble scholarly clan was unmatched.

More importantly, Lord Song had learned to read at the age of three and was a prodigy whom even the emperor had personally praised. If they truly angered her, the remonstrating officials of the Censorate could drown the Court of Judicial Review’s threshold in their spit by tomorrow.

Song Qingji ignored the undercurrents behind her.

Wearing leather gloves, she pressed her fingertips slowly down the corpse’s neck, inch by inch.

Before transmigrating into this book, she had wielded a scalpel. The living could fabricate schemes, but corpses would never lie to her.

There were two ligature marks around Wang Huai’s neck, one deep and the other shallow. The directions in which force had been applied were completely wrong. She pried open the dead man’s hand and found an unnatural bluish tint around the roots of his fingernails.

This was not a hanging.

He had been poisoned with datura from the Western Regions, then suspended from the roof beam after his death to create a false scene.

And in the entire capital, that particular poison could only be found in the storehouse of Grand Princess Jiang Yan.

At the imperial court the following morning, Jiang Yan sat just below the emperor, preparing to install one of the corrupt officials under her command in the position left vacant by Wang Huai.

Not a single civil or military official in the entire court dared so much as let out a fart.

Until Song Qingji stepped forward from the very last row.

She passed through the ranks of her colleagues, all of whom had their heads lowered, and stopped in the center of the great hall.

“This subject, Investigating Censor Song Qingji, has a memorial to submit.”

Beside the imperial throne, Grand Princess Jiang Yan idly toyed with her nail guard without even raising her eyelids.

“Whom does Censor Song wish to impeach?”

“Your Highness.”

All the assembled officials were horrified.

Jiang Yan’s hand paused. At last, she deigned to lower her eyes toward the young woman standing ramrod straight below the steps.

“Wang Huai did not commit suicide. He was poisoned.” Song Qingji handed her report to the eunuch beside her. “The cause of death was datura poison. This subject examined the Imperial Household Department’s records. That poison was bestowed upon the Grand Princess’s residence only last month.”

The great hall fell utterly silent.

Everyone believed this petty sixth-rank official had gone insane.

Jiang Yan let out a cold laugh. She rose and descended the steps at an unhurried pace, stopping directly before Song Qingji.

“You have quite the nerve,” Jiang Yan said. “A petty sixth-rank official like you dares investigate a case against this princess right here in court? Do you even know how the word death is written?”

With someone like Song Qingji, Jiang Yan would not have been surprised if she turned up dead outside the Court of Judicial Review one day.

Song Qingji raised her head and regarded the arrogant, domineering woman before her.

The book had said that when Jiang Yan eventually fell from power, it was because all the vile deeds she had committed while treating human lives as worthless were exposed. In the end, she was sentenced to death by a thousand cuts.

Song Qingji pursed her lips, her voice gentle.

“This subject does not fear death, but Wang Huai should not have died. He still has a blind mother at home. If he is branded as a criminal who committed suicide out of guilt, his mother will not receive a single coin of compensation. She will not survive this winter.”

Jiang Yan scoffed. “What does that have to do with this princess?”

“That is why this subject stepped forward.” Song Qingji met Jiang Yan’s gaze. “If Your Highness wants power, there are plenty of honorable paths you can take. Any path paved with human lives can only lead to a dead end. This subject exposed the truth today not merely for Wang Huai and his family.”

Song Qingji paused and lowered her voice until only the two of them could hear.

“I also wished to advise Your Highness not to leave yourself with no path of retreat.”

Jiang Yan froze for a moment.

She had met people who called her a she-devil and people who dropped to their knees to beg for mercy. But she had never met anyone like Song Qingji.

She was clearly accusing Jiang Yan of murder, yet her eyes contained an aggravating trace of pity and concern.

Pity?

What gave a petty sixth-rank official the right to think she could pity her?

Jiang Yan felt insulted, and anger surged within her. Just then, a fit of hoarse coughing came from the dragon throne.

The old emperor leaned against a bolster. He was so ill that even sitting upright was difficult, yet his downward gaze remained like a pair of hooks dipped in poison.

The former crown prince had only recently been deposed, and the adult princes below were eyeing the position of heir apparent like starving wolves.

As the old emperor watched the two women confronting each other below, a flash of morbid amusement appeared in his clouded eyes.

Jiang Yan was a blade he had personally raised to keep the princes in check. She was vicious enough and ruthless enough to slaughter her own brothers without hesitation. He delighted in watching that blade churn the imperial court into a bloody mess, allowing him to keep everyone’s fate firmly within his grasp.

He did not care in the slightest whether Wang Huai lived or died.

But he also knew that when a blade grew too sharp, it occasionally needed to be placed inside a sheath.

This daughter of the Song family was a ready-made sheath.

“That is enough,” the old emperor said. “He was merely a secretary in the Ministry of Rites. He is dead, and so be it. He is not worth crossing swords over in the imperial court.”

He looked down at Song Qingji from his lofty position.

“Girl from the Song family, you claim he was poisoned and that the Court of Judicial Review reached the wrong conclusion. Very well. We shall hand this case over to you. You may deploy the personnel of the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice as you see fit.”

The old emperor then turned his gaze toward Jiang Yan, his lips pulling into a mirthless smile.

“Yan’er, what do you think?”

Jiang Yan slowly straightened.

She stared coldly at the old bastard on the dragon throne, understanding his intentions perfectly. He thought she had been reaching too far lately, so he had deliberately found a reckless fool with no fear of death to rein her in.

“Your daughter has no objections.” Jiang Yan did not spare Song Qingji another proper glance. “Since Lord Song is so fond of meddling, she should investigate the case thoroughly. However, the rains have been heavy in the capital recently. When Lord Song goes out to investigate, she had better be careful of the slippery roads. It would be unfortunate if she accidentally fell and broke her neck.”

Song Qingji stepped back half a pace, lifted the hem of her teal official robe, and knelt in a formal kowtow.

“This humble subject accepts the decree.”

On the surface, the old emperor had granted Song Qingji genuine authority to investigate the case. In reality, he had placed her directly over the flames.

Every civil and military official in the imperial court was already looking at Song Qingji as though she were a dead woman.

The moment the morning court session ended and she stepped beyond the palace gates, the Grand Princess’s assassins could strike at any time.