Chapter 64: Analysis

The mastermind behind the scenes——

The Queen tightened her grip on the thin, soft paper. Her gaze grew colder, but her expression brightened, as if she had finally found the opportunity to make a decisive move after suppressing her hesitation for so long.

"Alright, I've been worried lately. The Prince of Changhua and the Crown Prince both sacrificed their lives for the country. If their souls knew the current plight of the Prince's Mansion and the fate of Lingling County Lady, they would undoubtedly be disturbed. Now that Lingling County Lady knows who is behind this, feel free to expose it. No matter who it is, as long as the evidence is solid, I will uphold justice for your Prince Changhua Mansion!"

As soon as these words were spoken, their stance was revealed. Princess Gao and Li Gaosheng's faces suddenly changed drastically. Xiao Fuyu, who was naive, subconsciously raised his hand, grabbed the prince's sleeve, and pulled it pleadingly.

The prince tightened his jaw and pulled his sleeve out of her hand: "Changyi, why are you so anxious? Lingling County is mainly exposing the evil people. Could it be that -"

He stared at her, and a few words came out of his lips: "Are you and your mother evil people?"

Xiao Fuyu was struck by lightning, he stood there blankly, unable to utter a word.

The Queen naturally ignored everyone else and just raised her hand to signal Qian Deng to stand up and explain the case in detail.

"The day before yesterday in Xuanhui Palace, Her Majesty the Empress ordered Lingling to join forces with the Dali Temple to thoroughly investigate the strange happenings at the Changhua Palace. Cui Shaoqing and I immediately investigated the whereabouts of everyone in the palace and retrieved the Guozhou case files. Now we have irrefutable evidence proving that Princess Gaoguo's residence is the mastermind behind the series of tragedies occurring at the Changhua Palace, and is also the mastermind behind colluding with Li Zhanshi to sabotage today's prayers!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the ladies and royal relatives around were shocked.

Mrs. Cui felt her heart pounding. She covered her chest in surprise and anticipation, staring at Qiandeng and her son. She didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse that they openly targeted Princess Gao's Mansion.

Seeing the spearhead pointed directly at her, Princess Gaoguo laughed in anger: "Humph, the fires in the Changhua Palace have repeatedly killed people, and everyone knows that it is the Lingling County Princess's fate of killing her husband. The Lingling County Princess has repeatedly tried to pin this on me, but I'm afraid no one will believe her!"

Qian Deng disdained to pay any attention to her and reported to the Queen in a categorical manner, "There is solid evidence in Lingling proving that Princess Gao's Mansion bribed Yang Huaijiang to steal the imperial gifts from our mansion, intending to bring Lingling and the Changhua Palace to ruin. The facts are clear, the evidence is irrefutable, and we have both witnesses and evidence."

The Queen said in a deep voice, "Princess Lingling, the Grand Princess of Gao State is the Saint's aunt and the late Emperor's sister. Do you know what kind of punishment you will face if your investigation is wrong?"

"Yes, Lingling understands." Qiandeng agreed without any doubt. "All the clues are in hand. Your Majesty, please allow Lingling to report in detail and explain the whole story clearly."

"Well, in that case, today, in front of all the gods and Buddhas in Jianfu Temple, I, the Queen Mother, the Crown Prince, and all the ladies and relatives in the court, will wait for you to reveal the real culprit!"

The news of the series of fires in the Changhua Palace had reached not only the noble ladies of the capital, but even the imperial concubines within the palace. Their backs straightened unconsciously as they leaned against the cushions. The ladies of the noble families stood in awe, listening intently, waiting for Qiandeng to speak.

"Before revealing this case, I would like to ask Prince Guang to do me a small favor." Unexpectedly, Qian Deng did not talk about the affairs of the mansion first, but turned to the side of the Queen Mother and spoke to Prince Guang's youngest son Li Zi.

Li Zi was curiously sticking his head out to listen to her talk. When he saw her turning towards him, he nodded and ran to her side.

Qian Deng pointed at the small embroidered ball tied around his waist and said, "I want to borrow this embroidered ball, young master."

Li Zi immediately took off the small embroidered ball and handed it to her: "This was originally given to me by the county lady, there's no need to ask for a loan."

Qiandeng nodded at him, holding the hydrangea in her palm, and explained, "Please look, everyone. This is the hydrangea I gave to the young prince two days ago. It has twelve golden bells hanging on it for children to play with. But yesterday, the prince asked me why two of the twelve golden bells had faded."

As she spoke, she took off the faded white bell and showed it to everyone. After everyone saw that the bell was white, she borrowed the incense burner held by the concubine's attendant, threw the bell into it, covered it with charcoal fire, and placed it in the open space in the courtyard.

Then she spoke of the case that had occurred in the palace: "In the past few days, two young men in my palace have died. One was Shi Jingning, the Minister of Cuisine in the Guanglu Temple; the other was Yang Huaijiang, who came to the capital from Guozhou with my aunt to handle the funeral. Actually, he is my cousin. Princess Gao recommended Yang Huaijiang to the Inner Palace Bureau, and he was hastily chosen as one of my potential husbands. Another candidate from my backyard, Xue Xiyang, the Minister of Music, encountered Yang Huaijiang while he was copying music scores in a brothel the night before Yang Huaijiang entered my backyard. He was visiting a prostitute."

All the ladies present looked unhappy.

After all, the eldest princess of Gao State actually recommended such a person of bad conduct to enter the palace and become a candidate for the county lady's husband. Her intentions were really bad.

Princess Gao immediately argued, "He's from Guozhou and has just arrived in the capital. How could I know his details? I'm just trying to bring him together out of kindness, considering he's your cousin. Princess Lingling doesn't need to assume that of me!"

Qian Deng didn't say much to her, but Cui Fufeng, as the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, immediately ordered someone to retrieve the case file from the Changhua Palace, and then came out to provide testimony: "Grand Secretary of Music Xue Xiyang testified to the Dali Temple that he saw someone from the Prince's Palace hand a box to Yang Huaijiang, promising to help him become the County Master's husband. At the time, Xue Lecheng didn't know what the deal with Yang Huaijiang was, but just the day before, he saw the box being handed to the female historian of Princess Gao's Palace. Then, in Xuanhui Hall, the female historian of Princess Gao's palace opened the box and falsely accused the County Master. Inside was the imperial gift that was stolen from the Changhua Palace: the Nine-Tree Golden Flower Step-Shake."

Most people were present at the commotion in Xuanhui Hall at the time, and witnessed the female historian slandering the Princess of Lingling County. Although it didn't explain what conditions Princess Gaoguo had offered in exchange for recommending Yang Huaijiang, everyone knew it.

"I'm sure you all share my thoughts. The key to this case is how Yang Huaijiang stole the imperially bestowed Nine Golden Flowers," Qian Deng said loudly. "I'll explain the events of that day in detail. Three months ago, the rebels rebelled. The women in my mansion hid all the imperial gifts in the cellar of the warehouse. Later, it was burned and flooded, and everything was buried beneath the ruins of the warehouse.

"After Yang Huaijiang entered the palace, he insisted on giving me a set of nine-tree silver flower hairpins. They were almost identical to the gold flower hairpins bestowed by the emperor, except for the material. Of course, I couldn't accept jewelry from outsiders, so I flatly refused. Later, I learned that the silver flower hairpins were from a brothel and had been drugged, with the intention of doing something bad to me.

"While we were cleaning out the storehouse, Yang Huaijiang brought in a food box under the pretext of delivering snacks for his aunt. When he left, ridiculed, he even took off his outer clothes and patted his underwear. Everyone saw that he had absolutely no hard objects with him, let alone a complete set of Nine Trees of Golden Flowers.

"However, after he left, we discovered an empty velvet bag suitable for the Nine-Branch Flower Tree in the food box he had given us. And I also found the set of silver flowers he had forced upon me amidst a pile of muddy silver jewelry. Naturally, I thought Yang Huaijiang had deliberately placed the silver flower tree there, intending to make me touch the drugged jewelry. So I immediately removed it and asked my aunt, Lady Dingxiang, to return it. Later, we searched the warehouse and cellar and discovered that among the imperial gifts, the only one missing was the set of Nine-Branch Golden Flowers. When it reappeared, it was already in the hands of the female historian of Princess Gao's residence."

Princess Gao snorted coldly, "Since the disappearance of the item is so strange, how can Princess Lingling insist that it was Yang Huaijiang who stole it and even insist on pinning the blame on the Princess Gao's Mansion?"

"It's indeed strange. When the storehouse was counted that day, all procedures were under surveillance, with countless eyes watching closely. How could Yang Huaijiang have stolen the imperial golden flower under such strict supervision?" Qian Deng said, picking up the copper chopsticks used to remove ash, walked to the incense burner where the bell had been placed, and removed the red-hot charcoal inside. "Originally, I had no clue what was going on, but coincidentally, when the young master visited the palace that day, I gave him the hydrangea I had played with as a child. I also used the hand that had just touched the set of Nine Trees of Silver Flowers to pluck the golden bell on it—"

She pushed aside the red-hot charcoal, picked out the bell she had thrown in from the middle, and displayed it in front of everyone.

The red-hot bell was held between the copper chopsticks and gradually cooled down. The red color quenched by the fire gradually faded, and it radiated a bright golden glow in the sunlight after the snow.