71. Accomplices appear

Qu Zijin nodded slightly: "I believe that all personnel responsible for the imperial wine need to be thoroughly investigated. In addition..."

He paused, then said, "As for Lord Xie, the Marquis of Beiding's residence sent a letter saying that everything has been settled. However, the imperial physician said that he probably won't recover in the future."

Wei Xiuming sighed deeply: "It is I who have implicated him."

After a moment of silence, he asked again, "How is Princess Fukang?"

"The Princess of Fukang was frightened, and the Lady of the Marquis said she kept talking in her sleep..." Qu Zijin suddenly stopped, "Your Majesty, I request to personally oversee this case."

Why?

“Because…” Qu Zijin lowered his eyes, concealing the turbulent emotions within them, “Since that person dared to commit violence in the palace, he must have been targeting His Majesty. I… cannot tolerate it.”

"...Really?" Wei Xiuming didn't believe it.

Qu Zijin is indeed bad at lying; his technique is very clumsy.

So much so that Wei Xiuming could tell at a glance that he was actually trying to find all the people involved and avenge Jin Lanyue.

But there's nothing wrong with putting him in charge.

Wei Xiuming was about to agree when a servant came to report that Consort Xian had arrived with the little princess and the little prince.

Wei Xiuming didn't want to see them, but he thought that the two children must have been quite frightened today, and that they would be even more scared if he didn't see them.

In addition, Consort Xian...

Wei Xiuming and Qu Zijin exchanged a glance, seeing the same thought in each other's eyes.

"Let them in," he ordered.

Soon, the door was opened.

"Father!" The little princess ran over first, crying as she threw herself into Wei Xiuming's arms. "It's all my fault... If I hadn't insisted on playing hide-and-seek, Little Moon wouldn't have..."

Wei Xiuming hugged his daughter tightly, gently stroking her back with his large hand: "This is not your fault."

He looked up at the young prince standing to the side: "Jiayou too, come here."

With red-rimmed eyes, the young prince walked heavily to Wei Xiuming and suddenly knelt down: "Father... Your son... It's all my fault, it's my fault that she was harmed..."

Before she could finish speaking, large tears fell to the ground.

Wei Xiuming reached out and pulled his son into his arms as well: "Silly child, what your mother did has nothing to do with you."

"But..." the little prince's voice choked with emotion, "If it weren't for me always playing with Little Moon, Mother Consort wouldn't have..."

"Nonsense!" Wei Xiuming cupped his son's face in his hands. "I ask you, do you know what your mother has done?"

The young prince shook his head frantically, tears streaming down his face: "Your subject truly did not know! If your subject had known... if your subject had known that Mother Consort would harm Little Moon..."

He couldn't continue, and buried his face in Wei Xiuming's lap, sobbing uncontrollably.

Wei Xiuming comforted the two children, but his gaze went past them to Consort Xian: "Why is Consort Xian here?"

Consort Xian's face turned pale, and she twisted the handkerchief in her hand tightly: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty is worried about the children... And given what happened today, Your Majesty also bears responsibility..."

Her performance confirmed some of their suspicions.

“Yes, you also bear some responsibility,” Wei Xiuming sneered. “Guards, escort the princess and prince back to rest.”

Palace servants stepped forward and took the little princess and the little prince away.

The little princess instinctively turned to look at her mother, wondering what had happened and feeling somewhat worried.

Consort Xian forced a smile, her eyes filled with tenderness and longing, and shook her head at her.

The little princess was relieved.

After the palace maids left with the two children and the gate closed again, Consort Xian knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I am guilty."