Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume #1)

167 Law and Punishment

With the help of Ai Hua, the crisis at the teahouse had been averted and Jing Yi was still safe with his mother. The danger that had almost befallen his immortal self in the Nine Heavens because of Qiu Ling's ignorance had also been resolved.
The Heavenly Emperor would have loved to teach that self-proclaimed son-in-law of his a lesson but with him being the dragon king there was no way he could do that. Instead, he directed his anger at the other people involved. Qiu Ling's meddling was one thing and had certainly started everything else but if Shun Tao had reported earlier the rest wouldn't have happened. And even if he had, had that servant girl not gone and blabbered about it in front of unrelated people, things would also have turned out differently. As for Yin Lin Lin ... He didn't even know what excuse to make for her.
He frowned. Ruling over her failure should be easy. If he didn't consider their previous relationship, there was really no doubt about what kind of result she should get. Well, he should still give her late father some face. "Yin Lin Lin. Do you know what you did wrong?"
She pursed her lips. "I didn't know the reincarnated god she spoke of was the crown prince."
Rong Su's brows twitched. He had wanted to give her a chance but she actually dared to react like this! "What kind of excuse is that? You convinced someone to steal the soul-devouring dagger. A weapon that cost hundreds of our people their lives in the last war. Your father among them! You of all people should have known better!"
Yin Lin Lin finally lowered her head. She had nothing to say in her defense. Indeed, she should have known better but she had thought everything would go well. Who could have known that everything would be revealed afterward?
"Furthermore, you once again proclaimed yourself to be the Goddess of Love. Yue Xia already said he would never take you in even as a helper. So stop it already. If I hear one more time that you dared to assume that title you'll be punished for that too. In regards to your latest offense ..." Rong Su tapped his armrest and narrowed his eyes. Her matters were the last he wanted to rule on but this time she had gone too far. He couldn't ignore it any longer. "You didn't commit the crime yourself but you are responsible for the eternal loss of a soul and endangered the life of the crown prince on top. As a consequence, your status as an idle goddess, as well as your right of possession to your palace, will be revoked and you will be reduced to the status of a servant. You will be aiding in the ascension of the new deities for a hundred mortal years. After that period you are to report to the God of Justice, Li Yin, to be judged anew."
Yin Lin Lin wanted to retort but one cold glare from the Heavenly Emperor let her keep quiet.
Rong Su turned to the next culprit. "Servant girl Hong Bao." He stared at her for a moment. The woman in front of him was obviously not a trueborn goddess but an ascended deity. He didn't know when or how she had made her way into the Nine Heavens but she had to have been very young when she did. Everything she did had not been out of bad intentions and wouldn't have happened if Yin Lin Lin hadn't conned her. But she had brought not only a few problems and it might go on like this if he didn't rule harshly over this crime.
"Because of personal interests, you broke into the palace of the God of War, stole the highly dangerous soul-devouring dagger and destroyed a soul with it. Furthermore, you plotted to kill the crown prince. All these crimes are worthy of a death penalty."
Hong Bao stared at the Heavenly Emperor in a daze. She had only thought about how she could help Shun Tao. She had never considered that she herself could get into trouble because of what she did.
"In consideration of the fact that you were able to save the crown prince's life through some stroke of luck and were the deciding factor in bringing this whole problem to light you won't punish as harshly as you deserve.
"You will keep your life but first of all, you will return the soul-devouring dagger to the God of War Qiang Yan. Then you will be allowed one week to settle any matters pertaining to the Nine Heavens. After that, your memories, as well as any abilities cultivated after your ascension, will be taken from you. Finally, someone from the Court of Justice will escort you back to where you came from."
Hong Bao was utterly floored. Banished from the Nine Heavens? Losing her memories? She would ... even forget Shun Tao? Hong Bao turned to the side and looked at him but the Fate's Scribe didn't pay her any attention. She wanted to say something but no sound came out. What was there to say? After one week, they wouldn't be able to see each other anymore. Their beautiful love story ... it had ended before it could even start.
The Heavenly Emperor paid no heed to Hong Bao's grieving expression and turned toward the last culprit. "Fate's Scribe Shun Tao. I am disappointed in your performance this time."
Shun Tao hung his head. He had expected as much. In fact, this evaluation was quite light in comparison to the things he had imagined.
"My son's fate going off track and you not being able to salvage the situation on your own are to be expected if the person responsible for it is Longjun. But you kept quiet for more than a week and even tried to hide the matter. This is not a behavior fit for your station. You were lucky this time that nothing happened to our son and that the Heavenly Empress was able to figure out the reason for the derailing fate in time.
"For the next hundred days, you will stay in your palace and use the time to reflect on your inappropriate behavior as well as write a new fate for Jing He. You are only allowed to leave your palace once a day to come and report on his situation in the mortal realm. After the end of that period, you will be judged by the God of Justice Li Yin according to your achievements."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Rong Su didn't pay him any more attention. He waved at the people in the room and everyone except for Bai Fen and Qiu Ling hurried out of the high hall. Some of them relieved, some in a grave mood.
One of those who were relieved was Shun Tao. He had kept his life and his position, and even his punishment was rather light. At least that was what he thought. Had Shun Tao at least glanced at Jing He's scroll of fate at this moment he might have coughed up blood and hurried right back inside and asked for a harsher punishment because what was going on in the mortal world right now might have even harsher consequences than his reincarnation taking its sweet time to pass the trials.