Chapter 66 The Unexpected Truth

Inside the tent, Yinzhen and his brothers looked at each other in disbelief.

Meanwhile, in order to redeem himself, Fucha Mukeden was very efficient and quickly presented the "truth" to Kangxi.

As he reviewed the testimonies of each participant, Kangxi's hands trembled slightly. He looked at Mukden with barely concealed anger and said in a low voice, "Mukden, is this your level of competence? What I want is not these things that are laid out on the table, but the truth! Mukden, if you cannot find the truth, you can forget about the peacock feather on your head."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. I will certainly investigate thoroughly." Fucha Mukeden quickly kowtowed, knowing that the Emperor was not satisfied. But with only one day left, he couldn't possibly find nothing; he had to present some information. Even if he himself didn't quite believe it, he still had to let the Emperor see his efforts and dedication.

Of course, in order to keep his position, he would definitely have to investigate thoroughly afterwards. Under the stern gaze of Emperor Kangxi, Fucha Mukedeng, who had barely escaped, left the imperial tent in a sorry state, leading his men to dig three feet into the ground to uncover the truth.

Kangxi threw the evidence in his hand onto the table. If Mukden didn't believe in "coincidences," he naturally wouldn't either.

According to these testimonies, the contest was initiated on a whim by Nasutu of the Khorchin. Because Yinzhi's reputation as the "Number One Warrior" had spread throughout the grasslands in recent days, many unconvinced young Mongolian warriors challenged him, and Nasutu was just one of them.

The horse racing event in the woods was also randomly selected. Because there were too many people challenging Yinzhi, and pure wrestling was too boring, it was Yinzhi himself who suggested randomly selecting an event for the competition.

Emperor Kangxi checked all the items in detail, and they were all in Yinzhi's handwriting. The previous competitions had all drawn different items from this list, and this competition, "Horse Racing in the Forest," was also drawn by Yinzhi himself.

He had written the rules himself beforehand, and the supplies were prepared by his personal guards. According to Nasutu, Yinzhi was the first to find the flag and rush out of the forest. Halfway there, for some unknown reason, the horse suddenly went berserk and carried Yinzhi as they desperately charged out.

Before anyone could stop him, Yinzhi had already fallen off his horse and was unconscious on the ground.

Looking at the imperial physician's examination results, it was found that Yinzhi had been drinking heavily before the competition. It was very likely that he was intoxicated and lost control of the horse. After falling, he consciously protected his head, but due to multiple impacts, he still fell into a coma.

As for the horse that Yinzhi was riding at the time, it was his beloved horse and was always looked after by his own men. After testing, there were no traces of Chinese medicine on the horse, but there was a splinter deeply embedded in its hoof, which was most likely the cause of the horse's madness.

It appeared to be an accident, but even after Mukeden investigated further, he confirmed that Yinzhi had indeed been drinking, and it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. Mongols are known for their love of alcohol, and as a rising star recently, Yinzhi, who was popular among the Mongols, actually drank with his Mongols every day.

All things considered, Yinzhi's fall from his horse seemed to be caused by a combination of his recklessness and carelessness, plus an unexpected accident that no one could have foreseen. There were coincidences everywhere, and no one seemed to have done anything to cause it.

But this was hard for Kangxi to believe, and he wouldn't believe it anyway. Having ruled for many years, Kangxi never believed in accidents; any accident that could be profitable inevitably involved someone else.

Emperor Kangxi was so suspicious that even though Yinzhen was merely a catalyst for Longkodo's defeat, he couldn't shake his suspicions even though Yinzhen gained nothing from the situation and was even alienated by his court officials as a result. He repeatedly sent different people to investigate before he could feel at ease.

This time, the "accident" injured his eldest son, who was riding high at the time. How could he not have suspicions?

Moreover... according to the imperial physician, Yinzhi injured his spine this time and will need to rest for at least three years without engaging in any martial arts or riding a horse... how is this any different from crippling Yinzhi?

The fact that Prince Zhi, renowned for his martial prowess, could no longer practice martial arts must be a devastating blow to Yinzhi. Whether it was to provide an explanation for the comatose Yinzhi or to safeguard imperial power, Kangxi was determined to find the culprit!

...

Under Kangxi's intimidation and insistence, Fucha Mukedeng, who had dug deep into the ground, finally found a clue. Following the clue, he stumbled upon an unexpected person.

"Your Majesty, these are the latest interrogation results." Mukeden approached Kangxi with a stack of testimonies, his face grave. The two days and one night of relentless searching had only left him feeling exhausted, but this result weighed heavily on his mind.

Kangxi gestured for Liang Jiugong to take it. Looking at Mukden's expression, he had a vague feeling of unease. Without looking at the testimony beside him, he looked at the kneeling Mukden and said coldly, "What have you found? Just say it."

"Yes." Mukden forced a response, trying to maintain his composure and reporting with a straight face, "Your Majesty, through our investigation, we discovered that the flags used in this competition were prepared in advance, not made on the spot. So, following this lead, we found a person... Nara Yuetuo."

“Nara Yuetuo?” Kangxi frowned slightly, feeling that the name was not very familiar.

The understanding Steward Liang stepped forward and whispered, "Nara Yuetuo is the nephew of Consort Hui's maternal family. He is currently serving as a third-class bodyguard for Prince Zhi."

Kangxi nodded, vaguely recalling that Consort Hui, of the Nara clan, had once mentioned placing her good-for-nothing nephew by Yinzhi's side to find a way out.

"Yes, Eunuch Liang is right. When I led my men to find Nara Yuetuo, perhaps knowing that the matter had been exposed, Yuetuo confessed on the spot..."

At this point, Mukden paused, unsure of what to say next.

Seeing this, Kangxi naturally knew there must be something going on. He was mentally prepared and wanted to see which capable person could even bribe the Nara clan.

"Go on."

"Yes." Mukeden, having no other choice, truthfully replied, "Nara Yuetuo instructed that in order to maintain Prince Zhi's title of 'First Warrior' and avoid defeat in the competition, he devised a plan to change the competition items to random selection. Since the challenges were initiated by others, no one objected to this requirement."

"But in reality, these projects are all controllable and not very difficult. However, the rules are quite complicated, and each draw is done according to their arrangements. Prince Zhi... was already familiar with the content and requirements of the projects before the competition, which gave him a natural advantage, so he never lost."

"This time, the forest horse race was also prepared in advance. Whether it's the Crown Prince of Khorchin or anyone else, they will only draw this one event. The flags were prepared in advance, and the location was known to Prince Zhi in advance."

"Because there were successful precedents, Prince Zhi and the others hadn't paid much attention beforehand. Not only had they drunk with the Mongol tribesmen, but Prince Zhi had also drunk quite a bit in his tent the night before... They never expected the horses to suddenly step on a splinter, and on top of that, Prince Zhi had drunk too much..."

"Absurd! Absurd!" Kangxi overturned the table, and the testimony flew through the air. Liang Jiugong, who was standing to the side, was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground and shouted, "Your Majesty, please calm down!"

"Calm down? How can I calm down?" Kangxi paced back and forth in his tent, his anger blazing. He suspected everyone except Yinzhi. Who could have imagined, who could have imagined...

"Mukden, investigate again! Investigate again for me! That Nara Yuetuo, pry open his mouth! I need to know everything! Investigate again!"