Chapter 372 Murder

Chen An rode away on horseback, and Xie Jingyu brought the jade deer and entered the palace with Zhao Yuanzheng.

In the Imperial Study, the Emperor is reviewing memorials.

The eunuch went in and reported, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Jingbei wishes to see you, and Director Zhao is also here."

Didn’t Zhao Yuanzheng go to Lin’s house? Why did he come to the imperial study with Xie Jingyu?

"Let them in."

The eunuch stepped back.

Soon Xie Jingyu came in, with two eunuchs behind him carrying the jade deer.

Although Chen Ping was Xie Jingyu's man, he was not allowed to enter the imperial study without the emperor's permission.

Seeing the jade deer, the emperor frowned, "This is my birthday gift to Madam Lin. How did you bring it into the palace?"

The emperor liked this deer very much. He thought that since Lin Qingyin liked deer, Madam Lin should like it too, so he gave it to Madam Lin.

Xie Jingyu said, "The cause of Madam Lin's poisoning has been found out."

Finally found out.

"Who poisoned her?" the emperor asked in a deep voice.

Xie Jingyu said, "The poison is on this jade deer. Its eyes are not carved from jade, but molded from poison."

When Xie Jingyu said this, Zhao Yuan was presenting the poison to the emperor for review.

The emperor's face was very gloomy.

This jade carving was a birthday gift from Prince Qing to him, and he was just offering it as a token of appreciation.

The person they really wanted to murder was not Madam Lin, but him.

Xie Jingyu said, "Madam Lin is in critical condition. If the antidote is not found before sunset tomorrow, she will die within three days."

"This jade carving was presented by Prince Qing. I suspect he intends to regicide. Your Majesty, please immediately send someone to arrest him and bring him to the palace for interrogation, and force him to hand over the antidote."

The emperor said, "Come here!"

"Immediately send the imperial guards to bring Prince Qing into the palace."

The emperor has been on the throne for more than ten years, and the number of times he has dispatched the imperial guards can be counted on one hand. When the imperial guards are suddenly dispatched, everyone who knows the imperial guards will be terrified. The forces in the court are complicated and no one can guarantee that their own family will not be implicated.

I don’t know who has angered the emperor and why he wants to send the imperial guards to arrest people.

The imperial guards left the palace and headed straight for Prince Qing's Mansion, leaving everyone in Prince Qing's Mansion stunned.

The imperial guards surrounded Prince Qing's mansion so tightly that not even a bird could fly out.

Princess Qing was in the outer courtyard and hurried over to ask, "What has happened to Prince Qing's mansion that the Emperor wants to send the Imperial Guards to surround it?"

The leader of the Imperial Guards said, "The jade deer that Prince Qing presented to the Emperor as a birthday gift has been found to be poisonous. Prince Qing is suspected of murdering the Emperor. We are under the Emperor's orders to escort Prince Qing into the palace for questioning."

Prince Qing came over and overheard the Imperial Guards commander's words. He asked anxiously, "How could the birthday gift I presented to the Emperor be poisoned?"

"If Prince Qing has anything to say, please go to the palace and report to the Emperor in person!"

Princess Qing was worried, but Prince Qing comforted her, "Your Majesty is a wise ruler. You will not wrongly accuse me of something I have not done."

Prince Qing calmly followed the commander of the imperial guards into the palace.

After entering the imperial study, Prince Qing hurried in and asked the emperor, "Has the emperor been poisoned?"

The emperor remained silent. Xie Jingyu replied to Prince Qing, "It was Madam Lin and Grand Tutor Lin who were poisoned. The emperor gave this jade deer to Madam Lin a few months ago."

Prince Qing looked relieved, but then his worry returned. "On the way here, I already knew the jade deer had been poisoned. I didn't know it was poisonous, and I presented it to the emperor, implicating Madam Lin and Grand Tutor Lin. I deserve death."

The emperor asked, "Aren't you trying to murder me?"

Prince Qing knelt down and said, "I am a coward. I am not afraid. Even if you lend me some courage, I would not dare to murder the emperor."

At this time, the eunuch came in and said, "Your Majesty, the Empress is here."

The emperor ordered Princess Shouzhen to marry into the Dongliang clan. Princess Shouzhen has been released back to her bedroom, and the emperor has also lifted the house arrest on Queen Song.

The daughter was sent to marry to avoid war between the two countries. This kind of merit is enough to atone for the sin.

The emperor said, "Let the queen come in."

The eunuch left, and soon Queen Song came in.

Queen Song came to discuss Princess Shouzhen's dowry. Seeing Prince Qing kneeling on the ground, Queen Song did not dare to say a word. She bowed and saluted the emperor, then stood aside.

Prince Qing bluntly stated that he dared not murder the emperor. Empress Song said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to say a few words. How could Prince Qing have the courage to murder the emperor? There must be a misunderstanding.

The Emperor rarely kept the birthday gifts presented to him by civil and military officials in his chambers, instead storing them in the treasury. This jade deer couldn't harm him, and Prince Qing had no idea the Emperor would give it to Old Lady Lin. Old Lady Lin loved it so much that she kept it in her inner chambers, leading to her being poisoned.

"I think someone is trying to murder Prince Qing. Where did Prince Qing get this jade deer?"

Prince Qing hesitated.

The emperor shouted angrily, "Speak!"

Prince Qing said, "It was given to me by the Qizhou prefect..."

"I am guilty and should not have accepted bribes."

As expected, what the Prince of Jingbei said was right. Just because the jade deer is poisonous doesn’t mean it was ordered by Prince Qing.

Look, with just a few words, Prince Qing changed the charge of murdering the emperor to accepting bribes.

Although accepting bribes is a serious crime, it is nothing compared to murdering the emperor. Moreover, Prince Qing accepted the bribe in order to present it to the emperor, so the crime is even lighter.

Qizhou is hundreds of miles away from Kyoto. Even if someone is sent to investigate, it will take ten days to go back and forth even if they ride at full speed. With such a long time, he can prepare an antidote.

Prince Qing would never admit to the crime of regicide even if he died. I wonder what method Prince Jingbei has to force Prince Qing to hand over the antidote.

Xie Jingyu said, "This is just one side of Prince Qing's story. Madam Lin's life is hanging by a thread. I ask the Emperor to imprison Prince Qing and send someone to Qizhou to find an antidote."

Queen Song asked, "Does Prince Jingbei believe that Prince Qing is plotting to murder the Emperor?"

Xie Jingyu said, "I dare not. I just think that the Qizhou prefect has no reason to poison Prince Qing in the jade deer. Giving Prince Qing such a priceless item should be a promotion. What good would killing Prince Qing do for him?"

"This jade deer was presented to the Emperor by Prince Qing. Prince Qing is the most suspicious. How can this crime of regicide be tolerated?"

Prince Qing said, "Prince Jingbei suspects me, and I have nothing to say, but I swear to heaven that I have no intention of murdering the emperor."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "Throw him into the prison of the Ministry of Justice..."

Before she could finish her words, Empress Song said, "Your Majesty, the grandson of the old Imperial Censor Pei committed a capital crime, and the Prince of Jingbei requested an imperial decree to have him detained in the Pei residence. Now he suspects Prince Qing and wants to have him imprisoned. Prince Qing dares not complain, and I cannot bear to hear of it any longer."

The Emperor frowned, "What does the Queen mean...?"

Queen Song said, "Imprison Prince Qing to his residence until the case is fully investigated."

The emperor looked at Xie Jingyu, but Xie Jingyu didn't say anything. At this time, a young eunuch came in quickly, "Prince Jingbei, Prince Yong is outside, and he said he has something urgent to talk to you about..."

Xie Jingyu said, "Let him in."

The young eunuch left and Prince Yong walked in.

Xie Jingyu asked, "What do you want from me?"

Prince Yong said, "Just now, Prince Yuzhang and Prince Song started fighting in Deyue Tower. Your guard Chen An went to break up the fight, but Prince Song accidentally broke the medicine bottle in his hand, and the pills inside flew out.

The Prince of Song and the Prince of Yuzhang were fighting over the pill, and the Prince of Yuzhang accidentally knocked the pill into the Prince of Song's mouth, and he couldn't get it out..."

Xie Jingyu was startled at first, then his voice rose, "Are you saying that the pill in Chen An's hand was eaten by the Prince of Song?"

Prince Yong nodded.

"It's over. There's no antidote. The Duke of Song is doomed..."

Hearing Xie Jingyu's tone of despair, Zhao Yuanzheng's mouth and eyes twitched.

Could he say that Prince Jingbei's acting skills were not very good? He was a calm person and it was not appropriate for him to say such exaggerated words.

But it doesn’t matter if the acting is bad, what matters is that it works.

Queen Song's heart skipped a beat. "Is that a poison?!"

Xie Jingyu said, "It's the poison from the jade deer. I kept some and wanted to find a few more doctors to see if they could make an antidote..."

Xie Jingyu looked at Zhao Yuanzheng and asked, "What will happen if I eat the whole thing?"

Prince Yong spoke first, "When I arrived, Prince Song had already vomited blood and fainted..."

Zhao Yuanzheng said, "Madam Lin has only smelled the poison for a month or two, but it's still so serious. If she swallowed a whole pill, without an antidote, she might not survive until noon tomorrow."

Prince Qing and Queen Song's faces were greener than the other.

They would not hand over the antidote to save the lives of Old Madam Lin and Old Tutor Lin.

But could they not save the Duke of Song’s only child?

This is by no means an accident!

What a great Prince of Jingbei!

What a good trick to remove the firewood from under the cauldron!