Shen Wan was led away by Xie Jingyan and walked forward.

She had visited Changchun Palace before Consort Chen's incident, but she was too young then to remember it.

In his previous life, after Xie Jingyin ascended the throne, Changchun Palace was no longer a forbidden area. Its painted walls and carved beams were a far cry from the desolate scene before him.

Shen Wan could only see the scene before her eyes, while Xie Jingyan's mind was filled with scenes from the past, and he could still vaguely hear the laughter of him and his mother.

Her eyes immediately turned red.

Shen Wan wanted to say a few words of comfort to him, but she really didn't know where to begin. All she could do was hold his hand and quietly stay with him.

After burning the paper at the foot of the steps outside the Changchun Palace sleeping quarters, Xie Jingyan walked towards the pavilion beside the lotus pond.

Chen Feng had already placed the Green Jade Zither he brought there.

When Eunuch Yuan arrived outside Changchun Palace, he heard familiar zither music coming from inside. For a moment, Eunuch Yuan felt as if he had returned to the past.

Even after six or seven years, he still couldn't believe that Consort Chen would betray the Emperor.

The Emperor doted on Consort Chen, granting her every wish. He also placed great hopes on Prince Ling, grooming him as the heir apparent from his early education and personally teaching him the art of rulership. Prince Ling was intelligent and quick to learn. Even after being demoted to guard the imperial mausoleum for four years, he remained the most outstanding among all the princes, able to see through all kinds of schemes and plots with ease.

What did Consort Chen gain by betraying the Emperor?

He died tragically in the cold palace, the entire Yan family was executed, and Prince Ling was demoted to guard the imperial tombs, suffering all kinds of hardships.

Consort Chen has always been intelligent; how could she possibly do something so disastrous?

Not daring to disturb Xie Jingyan's longing for Consort Chen, Eunuch Yuan stood far away and waited until the music stopped before approaching.

Xie Jingyan stood up, stepped out of the pavilion, and said to Shen Wan, who was standing outside the pavilion, "Let's go."

Xie Jingyan led Shen Wan forward, and Eunuch Yuan stepped aside to make way for them without saying a word.

Eunuch Yuan followed behind Xie Jingyan and Shen Wan, Yinshuang followed behind Eunuch Yuan, and Chen Feng walked at the very back.

As she was about to exit through the side door, something caught her eye. She glanced at the bushes and saw a glimmer of gold peeking through the vines.

As she walked over, Yinshuang glanced in that direction and saw a gold hairpin lying quietly among the grass.

Yinshuang didn't think much of it and pointed there, "I wonder who dropped a gold hairpin there."

Shen Wan stopped and looked over. Yin Shuang had already quickly gone over and picked up the gold hairpin.

It was a gold hairpin inlaid with rubies, exquisitely crafted, clearly not something an ordinary person could possess.

But this is Changchun Palace, a forbidden area of ​​the imperial palace. How could someone have entered and dropped such a valuable hairpin here?

Shen Wan's intuition told her that this was unusual.

Shen Wan looked at Xie Jingyan, whose brows were furrowed. He ordered, "Investigate whose hairpin this is."

Shen Wan noticed that Eunuch Yuan's expression was a bit strange, and she asked, "Does Eunuch Yuan know whose gold hairpin this is?"

Eunuch Yuan looked around before replying, "It belongs to Princess Cheng."

Shen Wan was surprised.

How could it be Princess Cheng's?

Why would Princess Cheng go into an abandoned palace for no reason?

Considering that the well where Princess Cheng fell was not far from the side gate of Changchun Palace, Shen Wan suspected that Princess Cheng's death was related to her entering Changchun Palace.

While Shen Wan was still pondering this matter, Xie Jingyan asked Eunuch Yuan, "Does Eunuch Yuan know something?"

Knowing that Xie Jingyan had entered the palace to pay respects to Consort Chen at Changchun Palace, Eunuch Yuan came to find him not to stop him from burning paper money, since he had already burned all the paper money he had come from the Imperial Study. He had something to tell Xie Jingyan.

Eunuch Yuan was cautious by nature. After looking around, he whispered, "The one who killed Princess Cheng was Prince Cheng."

These words were like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating a raging storm.

Not only was Shen Wan shocked, but Xie Jingyan was also quite taken aback by these words.

They knew that someone in the palace harbored malicious intentions towards the Crown Prince, and they also knew that the Crown Princess had been murdered when she fell into the water. But how could the Crown Prince be the one who wanted to kill the Crown Princess?

If Prince Cheng wanted to kill Princess Cheng, he would have had plenty of opportunities in his own palace, so why would he do it in the palace?

It can't be...

What was King Cheng doing that was discovered by his wife, forcing him to kill her to silence her?

Once the thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed.

Since Eunuch Yuan has spoken, let's start from the beginning. "A few days ago, the Prince told the Emperor that there was an iron mine in Wangzhou, the fiefdom of Prince Cheng, and that it had been mined for two years. This old servant has been suspicious of Prince Cheng ever since. Yesterday, this old servant was ordered by the Emperor to go and do some business with Consort Wang. When I passed by the Imperial Garden, I saw Prince Cheng coming this way. I found it strange, so I sent Xiao Xizi to follow him and see what Prince Cheng was doing..."

Although Prince Cheng was the emperor's full brother, the inner palace was not a place where Prince Cheng could move around freely, especially since he was all alone.

When someone becomes suspicious of another person, or when the other person does something slightly unusual, they want to find out the truth.

Xiao Xizi quietly followed, not daring to get too close, since Prince Cheng was skilled in martial arts. Then Xiao Xizi watched Prince Cheng enter Changchun Palace.

Xiao Xizi hid outside Changchun Palace, hesitating whether to go in and take a look. Just as he was hesitating, Princess Cheng came over. Xiao Xizi peeked out and then quickly hid back inside.

After hiding outside the side door for a while and feeding on several mosquitoes, Xiao Xizi was so curious about what Prince Cheng and Princess Cheng were doing in Changchun Palace. He wanted to go in and see what was going on. But just as he tiptoed to the side door and was about to push it open, he saw Princess Cheng running towards him through the crack in the door. Xiao Xizi was so scared that he almost lost his mind. He panicked and hid in the bamboo forest outside the door. To make matters worse, he saw a snake and almost wet his pants.

Xiao Xizi watched helplessly as Prince Cheng dragged Princess Cheng out and threw her into the well.

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