Chapter 245: Heaven Shock

The person who walked in was Cheng Maoming, the commander of Jinlin Guard.

Chen Mu's mouth could not be pried open, and the disguise master had not been found yet. Although the streets were not as crowded with police officers as before, the situation was actually tighter in reality. There were Jinlin Guards in plain clothes everywhere watching out for unusual situations.

There was quite a bit of commotion at Wuweizhai, so Jinlin Guard reported it to Cheng Maoming who happened to be coming over here.

"The prince is here too?" Cheng Maoming spotted Qi Shuo at a glance among the crowd.

Qi Shuo felt relieved when he saw Cheng Maoming.

With the Jinlin Guards keeping the situation under control, at least it won't get any worse.

In fact, the people drinking in the lobby were either rich or noble, and they were all quite tactful. Only two of them who were drunk wanted to leave, while the others waited tactfully.

If the one who had the accident upstairs was really the prince, then those who wanted to leave would be asking for trouble.

"Why did you kick someone—" The person who was kicked struggled to get up, but was hurriedly stopped by his companions, "Stop it, Jinlin Guards!"

The three words "Jinlin Guard" were like a sobering drug, which immediately restored most of the man's sanity. He shrank behind his companions and dared not say a word.

Cheng Maoming approached Qi Shuo and asked in a low voice, "Does the prince know what happened?"

My subordinates reported that something seemed to have happened to the prince, so it would be prudent to ask more questions.

"Someone on the second floor has been calling Your Highness." Qi Shuo didn't say it too confidently.

Cheng Maoming's heart trembled, he nodded and quickly went upstairs.

At this moment, a mournful cry came from the elegant room: "Your Highness, Your Highness, please wake up!"

These shouts made people's scalps tingle, and even the guards guarding the stairs couldn't help but go to see what was going on.

Cheng Maoming strode over and took a clear look at the situation inside the room. He was immediately shocked.

The prince lay in Wen Feng's arms, his face purple and blue, blood coming out of his mouth and nose, it was obvious that he had died!

The prince is dead?

Cheng Maoming's head was buzzing and he was completely unable to think.

"Doctor, doctor, please think of a solution quickly! He is the prince, he is the prince!" Han Baocheng grabbed the doctor's clothes and looked like he had completely lost his mind.

The others were not in much better condition, either begging the doctor for help or staring blankly in tears. When the doctor learned the identity of the deceased, his bones went weak with fear, and he trembled and was unable to speak.

The guards raised their swords, sometimes pointing them at Han Baocheng and others, sometimes at the outside. Their expressions were tense as if bowstrings were stretched to their limit. A slight movement could cause them to lose their sanity and swing their swords to chop people.

Cheng Maoming felt a light pat on his shoulder. He turned around suddenly and saw that it was Qi Shuo who had come up at some point, and then he suddenly relaxed.

Qi Shuo sighed inwardly when he saw the Crown Prince's appearance, and softly reminded him, "Grand Commander, you'd better report this to your superiors as soon as possible. The Crown Prince has died suddenly, and the suspect might be among those people in the restaurant. The longer we delay, the more detrimental it will be to the investigation."

Cheng Maoming came to his senses: "Your Highness is right."

He immediately ordered his subordinates to call more people, and he himself took a guard from the Eastern Palace and hurried into the palace to meet the emperor.

Reporting the prince's death to the emperor was undoubtedly a thankless task, but Cheng Maoming had to do it.

It's his fault. If he doesn't do anything, he will be even more unlucky later.

Emperor Tai'an was taking a nap when he heard that Cheng Maoming, the commander of the Jinlin Guard, wanted to see him urgently. His eyelids suddenly twitched.

It's only been peaceful for a few days, and something's happening again?

Before this thought passed, Emperor Tai'an met Cheng Maoming in the Yangxin Palace.

"What's the matter, Mr. Cheng?" As soon as Emperor Tai'an saw Cheng Maoming's pale face, he knew that his guess was correct.

Cheng Maoming subconsciously glanced at the Eastern Palace guard kneeling beside him.

Emperor Tai'an followed his gaze and his heartbeat suddenly stopped. Inexplicable panic swept over this cunning emperor at that moment, causing his face to change.

Cheng Maoming lowered his forehead to the ground, not daring to look at Emperor Tai'an's reaction, and wept sadly, "Your Majesty, something has happened to the Crown Prince—"

"What happened to the prince?" Emperor Tai'an stood up unconsciously.

"When I rushed over, the Crown Prince was already dying, so I rushed to the palace immediately. I didn't have time to ask about the specific situation..."

Emperor Tai'an's body swayed, his eyes fixed on the guard: "Are you the guard accompanying the Crown Prince?"

The guard trembled and said yes.

"Tell me, what happened to the prince?" Emperor Tai'an asked in a hoarse voice, completely disregarding maintaining his imperial composure.

"The doctor said... Your Highness was poisoned..." The guard buried his head and said tremblingly.

"Poisoned?" Emperor Tai'an's face turned pale, his eyes filled with disbelief. "How could the Crown Prince be poisoned?"

Cheng Maoming said with a stiff upper lip, "Your Majesty, the accident happened at a restaurant called Wuweizhai."

Upon hearing that the Crown Prince had an accident outside the palace, Emperor Tai'an grabbed the teacup on the dragon table and threw it at the guard: "Tell me everything you know, or I will kill your entire clan!"

The guard was hit on the head by a teacup, blood streaming down his forehead, but he didn't even dare to wipe it. His voice trembled as he spoke, "After paying his respects to Concubine Jing, His Highness returned to the Eastern Palace. Since today was a day off, he sent someone to tell Yang Xiuzhuan and others to arrange a small gathering at Wuweizhai... We stayed outside the elegant room, and all the drinks and food brought in by the waiters were tasted. Only after confirming that they were all okay would our own people bring them in. Then we suddenly heard a cry for help from inside, and when we rushed in, we found His Highness slumped in someone's arms, gasping for breath. Soon, he lost consciousness..."

As he listened to the guard's story, Emperor Tai'an's expression became increasingly grim, and his heart seemed to be immersed in an icy cave.

His fourth son, the crown prince of the Great Zhou... is dead?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Isn’t he the Son of Heaven, protected by dragon energy and blessed with great fortune? Why did this happen?

A surge of resentment rushed up, causing Emperor Tai'an to cough.

"Your Majesty..." Liu Chuan's voice trembled as he gently patted Emperor Tai'an on the back.

The eunuch who had accompanied Emperor Tai'an for many years was now filled with fear.

The Crown Prince's death was already a devastating event, but what was even more terrifying was that there were no other princes...

This thought flashed through his mind, and Liu Chuan didn't dare to think about it at all. He focused all his attention on Emperor Tai'an.

After a burst of rapid coughing, Emperor Tai'an looked suddenly older: "Cheng Maoming."

"I am here."

"I will hand this matter over to the Jinlin Guard and the Ministry of Justice, and they must investigate it thoroughly." Emperor Tai'an gritted his teeth as he said this.

He wanted to cut the person who harmed the prince into pieces and kill all nine generations of his clan!

"I obey your command." Cheng Maoming bowed and retreated, taking the East Palace guard with him.

Emperor Tai'an sat quietly, motionless.

Liu Chuan mustered up the courage to offer words of comfort several times, but he couldn't open his mouth.

Wuweizhai was soon surrounded by officials from all over the place, and not even a fly could fly out.

People from Jinlin Guards and the Ministry of Justice arrived. The first people they questioned were naturally the guards who followed the prince and Han Baocheng and his men. As for the other drinkers and people in the restaurant, they were all taken under control, except Qi Shuo and Lin Hao.

Cheng Maoming took the initiative to invite Qi Shuo and the other two to sit in on the trial. The Minister of Justice was not surprised by Cheng Maoming's move, as he thought of the efforts made by Prince Jing in tracking down the real murderer of Princess Yu Liu.

The elegant room in the restaurant became a temporary interrogation room and the interrogation officially began.