Chapter 898 Schemes

Inside the Liangyi Hall, Eunuch Yu and his men rearranged the tables and desks. The Crown Prince and Prince Qin's entourage, along with the ministers of the Six Ministries, all sat down. Everyone listened quietly as Yu Dingxing recounted how he had braved the wind and snow to leave the city over the past two days, finding that sparsely populated village in the freezing mountains, and how he had interrogated the villagers day and night, all in an effort to uncover the truth, capture the traitor, and eliminate a hidden danger for the court.

Finally, Yu Dingxing said in a deep voice, "Not a single person in that village knew Jiang Yan's true identity."

"oh?"

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly: "You don't know a single person?"

"Yes. It's because the Jiang family father and son left their original home when Luoyang fell, migrating here with a large number of refugees. They didn't go into the city, but found this sparsely populated mountain village outside the city as their home and settled down."

"I see."

"The villagers only knew that Jiang Yu was a fake monk who was half-cultivating, and Jiang Yan was a horse trader. No one knew his true origins."

At this point, Yu Dingxing emphasized, "Your Majesty, I feared that these people might try to escape punishment and protect traitors, so I separated them all and interrogated them day and night for several days. However, their answers were all the same. Therefore—"

"So, they must really be unaware."

After saying this, Yuwen Yuan sighed deeply and said, "No wonder you couldn't discover this person's true identity when you went outside the city to search for those patients."

Yu Dingxing lowered his head and said, "It was my oversight."

Yuwen Yuan waved his hand: "Since this person has concealed his identity from even his own village, he obviously knows that his identity will attract the court's pursuit and could lead to his death, so naturally he will not easily tell outsiders."

Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi's eyes flickered, while the Crown Prince sitting opposite her immediately frowned slightly.

But neither of them changed much, and no one noticed them. Yuwen Ye said in a deep voice, "This Jiang Yan is indeed very cautious."

Yuwen Yuan turned to look at him: "Hmm?"

Yuwen Ye immediately said, "Your Majesty, I only remembered the past two days when I recalled the events of the past. I recalled that Jiang Yu had brought his son Jiang Yan to the Dharma assembly held by Your Majesty at Dayan Temple. Not only did he go, but he also participated in the inner altar Dharma assembly personally presided over by Your Majesty."

Yuwen Yuan's eyes widened suddenly.

If Pei Xingyuan was implicated by the assassins at Tangquan Palace, and Pei Xingyuan not only associated with the people of Wanggang Village but was also a close confidant of the Prince of Qin, then the finger was already subtly pointing at Yuwen Ye. If he spoke up at this time and admitted that he had seen Jiang Yu at the Dharma Assembly, it would be tantamount to inviting trouble upon himself.

This is extremely dangerous.

However, the moment he uttered those words, the danger also implicated another person.

That is, the prince who held the inner altar ceremony!

As expected, after glancing at Yuwen Ye with surprise, Yuwen Yuan immediately turned to look at Yuwen Qian on the other side, saying with a complicated expression, "Qian'er, your inner altar ceremony—"

His Highness the Crown Prince appeared calm, but his voice was slightly hoarse as he spoke. He said, "The Dharma assemblies I held at Dayan Temple, whether the inner or outer altar assemblies, were open to all, regardless of status or position."

Yuwen Yuan said, "So, Jiang Yu really did go?"

"Indeed, such a person exists."

"oh……"

Seeing Yuwen Yuan deep in thought, Yu Mingyue suddenly said, "Father, I have a bold conjecture."

Yuwen Yuan looked up at her and said, "Go on."

"Your subject suspects that Jiang Xing not only concealed his identity from the people in his village, but even his father probably didn't know what he was doing in Wanggang Village?"

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

“Jiang Yu is indeed a practitioner. I used to live at the foot of Banyan Temple Mountain and saw him more than once. It is true that he was forced to move here with the refugees because of the fall of the Eastern Capital. He likes Buddhism and participated in the inner altar ceremony held by His Highness the Crown Prince.”

"Indeed, all of these make sense."

“Your subject remembers that he took his son with him to Dayan Temple to attend the Dharma assembly, but he went into Dayan Temple while his son did not, and stayed outside the temple. At that time, Xiao Yuansui of Wanggang Village had already submitted to Liang Shide and was hostile to us. If we really discovered Jiang Yan’s true identity, this person would definitely not be able to escape.”

"good."

"Logically speaking, as a father, Jiang Yu should have done everything he could to protect his son. How could he let his son risk his life to accompany him to the inner altar ceremony?"

"..."

"There's probably only one reason he would do this: even he doesn't know what his son is doing!"

After speaking, she turned to look at the Minister of Justice, who was sitting to the side and seemed somewhat uneasy: "Lord Yan, have you gotten any results from your interrogation of Jiang Yu?"

Yan Shaoxuan's eyes flickered as he glanced subtly at Princess Qin before saying, "Your Highness, regarding Jiang Yu, I had him interrogated for several days. He has consistently maintained that his son is involved in horse trading and has not engaged in any banditry. Previously, I thought he was just being stubborn and hiding something, but now it seems—"

Just then, Shang Ruyi sighed softly, handing the baby, Yuanzi, who was squirming and struggling in her swaddling clothes, to the wet nurse behind her, and said, "Parents who love their children plan far ahead for them. If they plan so far ahead, how could they not plan for life and death?"

These words seemed to have struck a chord with Yuwen Yuan.

He sighed deeply and said, "The Princess Consort of Qin is right. If even the father doesn't know, then—"

At this point, some people in the hall changed their expressions, especially Crown Princess Yu Mingyue.

In fact, this was exactly the result she wanted. Her original plan was to use Yu Dingxing's interrogation of the people in that village to reduce Yu Dingxing's crime of negligence by using the fact that the Jiang family father and son had concealed their identities and deceived everyone. Then, she would find a way to use this reason to exonerate Jiang Yu and Su Qinglan, who were imprisoned. If they were also deceived, they would naturally be innocent.

In order to save their lives, Jiang Yan and Liang Youying will definitely not return to walk into the trap. As long as these two "suspects" are exonerated, the case will be unable to proceed.

Naturally, the Lou family father and daughter were no longer able to show their faces in front of the emperor.

However, she did not expect that the one who said the most crucial words would be Princess Consort Shang Ruyi of Qin. Although she had helped her, it also served as a wake-up call for Yu Mingyue.

Princess Qin wouldn't help them for no reason!

Just then, the little dumpling, who had just been handed to the wet nurse, suddenly opened its mouth and burst into tears!