Chapter 64: Protecting the Shortcomings Could it be that something unexpected happened, dragging Xie Jing into this?

"This is the most exquisite tribute offered this year," Xie Jing said. "There are only three copies in the entire capital. Would you like to try it, Prince?"

Yu Qing took a sip of the fragrant green tea and said, "Yes."

She prefers wine tasting to tea. But Qingjia used to like green tea, and after trying so many at Wenhuayuan, she's gradually learned to distinguish the best teas.

King Jing had many valuables. Among the calligraphy and paintings he had brought to decorate the Beichensi, several were masterpieces.

It was unclear whether it was a reward from the national treasury or a gift from someone else, but he didn't keep it in his own house, but just left it here so lavishly. Yu Qing suspected that he didn't know the value of it.

Today, he brought a sword, which was rare.

When asked why he carried a sword, he replied that when he left home this morning he felt his attire was suitable for carrying a sword.

She couldn't count how many times he had left her speechless.

The cuffs of Xie Jing's coat were slightly gathered, which was indeed different from his usual flowing style. His waist was also stiff, and his broad shoulders and narrow waist made him look like a pine tree. At first glance, it looked like that.

However, Yu Qing already knew his background. Sure enough, he only kept the sword for an hour or two, and took it off after noon. Yu Qing thought it was probably because he felt it was too heavy.

She casually picked up Xie Jing's sword and said, "Is this your new decoration?"

The previous decoration was thrown into the carriage by Xie Jing when he was assassinated.

Xie Jing said: "...Yes."

Yu Qingqi asked, "You really don't know any sword techniques? You must have learned some moves."

Xie Jing groaned.

Under Yu Qing's repeated questioning, he reluctantly said, "A little bit, not much."

Yu Qing said: "Can you dance a few moves for me to see?"

Xie Jing flatly refused: "No."

Guidance from a top expert is something you only have to encounter. For most people, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to be moved to tears by a few words of advice from the Prince of Xuanbei. Yu Qing said, "Alright, if you miss this opportunity, you'll never get it again."

Xie Jing frowned, feeling a little aggrieved. "But I don't want to show off my skills before an expert. It would be a joke. I'm sure I can't dance as well as you."

"Why would I laugh at you?" Yu Qing said, "Besides, you've never seen me dance with a sword."

Xie Jing remained silent, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Okay, then I will make the sword flower."

Yu Qing: “…”

If she hadn't just promised Xie Jing not to make fun of him, she would have almost laughed, thinking that Xie Jing was really funny. He had spent all this time learning sword skills just for the sake of appearance.

She raised her chin and let him try.

Xie Jing drew his sword from its sheath and performed a few sword flowers carefully, smoothly, skillfully and gracefully. When he sheathed the sword, he put his hand behind his back, showing that he had indeed put a lot of effort into practicing.

Then he looked at Yu Qing eagerly, and that look made Yu Qing feel that if she said "no", it would easily hurt him, a bit like a snowball lying on her lap and begging her to hold him.

"...It's pretty good," Yu Qing commented, then thought for a moment, "If you want it to look even better, you can do this—"

She drew out her sword, the blade shining like snow, and replicated Xie Jing's movements step by step. Every sword flower was exactly the same, without any unnecessary moves, but it was clearly more agile and flexible, and the sword was like a dragon and a snake. Finally, she also retracted the blade behind her like Xie Jing.

"Can you tell the difference?" she asked.

Xie Jing didn't blink, first nodded, then shook his head.

"..." Yu Qing danced again and patiently explained to him, "Remember to keep your shoulders pressed down, otherwise they will occasionally lift up; use your waist more when turning; don't always stare at the sword; loosen your wrists..."

After the demonstration, Xie Jing still looked like he was sleepwalking, staring at her blankly with flickering eyes.

Yu Qing: “?”

Xie Jing said, "...I haven't learned it yet. Can you teach me again?"

Yu Qing was helpless, thinking that he really had no talent for martial arts.

"Take the sword," she said, "and follow me..."

She was interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps outside.

"Commander, Your Highness, someone from the palace has sent a message," the guard said, "The Emperor urgently summons His Highness Prince Jing to the palace. His carriage has stopped at the gate of the government office!"

Yu Qing paused and turned to look at Xie Jing, who was also a little confused.

"Do you know the reason?" Yu Qing asked the guard.

The guard said, "I don't know. They just said they want King Jing to see them immediately."

Xie Jing sheathed his sword and said, "Okay, I'll go there."

·

In Yu Qing's experience, when the emperor hurriedly summoned someone, it was likely something bad. She couldn't help but frown as she watched Xie Jing follow the eunuchs into the carriage.

Xie Jing opened the carriage curtain and said, "Your Highness, go back and wait. There's no need to follow."

The carriage disappeared at the end of the road. Yu Qing pondered for a moment, still feeling a little uneasy, so he said to his men, "Something happened in the palace. Let's go and take a look."

The Xuanlin Guard patrol routes span the entire capital, allowing them to quickly detect any disturbance. After inquiring, a guard soon returned with the answer: "Just now, another carriage went to the Chen family, and they also invited people into the palace. At the palace gate, I heard the eunuch say that His Majesty is waiting in the Central Palace."

The Central Palace...Chen Family...

The Chen family had always harbored ulterior motives towards Xie Jing, and Yu Qing had seen it all. Could it be that some disturbance had occurred, dragging Xie Jing into it?

Yu Qing said: "Get my token and prepare the car."

·

Xie Jing entered the palace gate without stopping for a moment, walking quickly down the long street, and whispered to the palace servant who came to greet him, "What's the matter?"

"Last night, the Empress fainted, and the Imperial Physician was summoned. We initially thought it was the Third Prince's excessive worry," the palace attendant explained. "But she woke up an hour ago and started acting crazy and making a scene, alarming His Majesty. She even mentioned that you were involved in the Third Prince's death..."

Xie Jing understood.

"Really?" He rolled his eyes in his mind.

He knew the Queen would continue to struggle, but he hadn't expected her to be so vulnerable to the blow and collapse. She hadn't gone crazy earlier or later, but now, interrupting his sword practice.

·

Yu Qing was initially unsure whether the Emperor would approve her entry into the palace at this time. When she sent the guards to pass on the message, she happened to run into Prince Rui, who was also anxious to enter the palace. Prince Rui seemed a little surprised to see her and said, "Prince...never mind. Since you're here, come with me."

She took the carriage of Prince Rui and arrived at the central palace smoothly. While she was still outside the palace, she could hear the noise inside, vaguely mixed with the hysterical voice of a woman.

The eunuch announced that Prince Rui and the Crown Prince had arrived. The emperor was very angry and didn't bother to say anything. He just waved his hand and let them in.

When Yu Qing went in to take a look, he saw that there were quite a lot of people there, and it was a mess. It didn't make any difference whether there was one more or one less person.

The Chen family, the imperial physician, the palace maids, and the eunuchs all knelt on the ground. The one closest to the emperor was Xie Jing.

"...I did enter the palace that day, but my father summoned me," he said softly, innocently. "Later, in the Imperial Garden, I happened to run into Concubine Rong. I went to sit in her palace for a while, and then left the palace..."

"You are lying!" the Queen cried. "This boy is full of nonsense. He must not be allowed to stay, Your Majesty! You must understand!"

Xie Jing was startled by her yelling.

The emperor also shouted angrily: "Hold her down first and stop her from screaming. This is giving me a headache!"

The maidservant on the other side kowtowed, "Your Majesty, what the Queen said is true. All the palace maids can testify that day. His Royal Highness Prince Jing wore a mask, entered the main hall, and threatened us with words..."

"Mask?" Xie Jing asked blankly, "...Then how can you be sure it's me?"

maid:"……"

Another maid sent by Concubine Rong to testify said, "Your Majesty, after His Royal Highness Prince Jing left Yongning Palace that day, it was this servant who escorted him to the palace gate."

The Golden Feather Guards also testified that the person who patrolled the palace that day was Deputy Envoy Duan Zhirui, who bluntly stated that no masked man had ever approached the palace, otherwise the guards would have stepped forward to question him.

Seeing this, the palace maids all kowtowed and claimed that it was true. However, to conceal the truth, the Empress had specially dispatched some guards that day, leaving only the personal attendants. Therefore, even if the stories were consistent, they were unconvincing. Perhaps they were a conspiracy within the palace.

The emperor then asked Xie Jing, "What do you have to say about the Third Prince? Did you go to Yongping Lane that day?"

"Your Majesty, that evening, when the palace servants went to Yongping Lane to deliver food, the Ninth Prince was indeed present..." Chen Wenhua said hurriedly.

Xie Jing: "Your son..."

"Your Majesty," Yu Qing said, "Please listen to what I have to say."

The emperor turned around and said, "Speak."

Yu Qing said, "On the day the Third Prince passed away, His Royal Highness Prince Jing and I were both at the Northern Palace. At 12:00 PM, the Xuanlin Guard changed shifts, and His Royal Highness Prince Jing followed them on patrol. Finally, the guards escorted His Royal Highness Prince Jing directly back to the palace."

Xie Jing was stunned, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. Yu Qing looked at him calmly.

The emperor exhaled slowly.

The Empress had never lost her composure like this in decades. Even though her accusations sounded like madness, the Emperor summoned everyone to confront her. Now, after hearing all the testimonies, it seemed absurd. Entering the Imperial Palace in broad daylight wearing a mask? Going to Yongping Lane in the evening to poison the Emperor's brother?

He ordered the queen to be taken back to the bedroom first, and the rest of the palace maids were to be dealt with.

Xie Jing whispered, "Father..."

The emperor said, "Alright, you've been frightened too, get up first."

At this time, Prince Rui, who was standing beside Yu Qing, took another step forward and said, "Father."

"Although what you just said is unbelievable, every word the Queen accused Ting Ye of is true. Why did she arrest him alone? Ultimately, it's all about Ting Ye."

Yu Qing's eyes immediately became stern, and he looked at King Rui coldly.

Why did he suddenly come out and not let Xie Jing leave? What did he mean?

From what he said, does he also want to throw dirty water on Xie Jing?

Prince Rui said, "Father, do you remember that he was assassinated on his way back to the capital? I have been investigating this matter for a long time, but I have not reported it to you because... it implicates the Empress. I am afraid there may be some mistake, so I dare not jump to conclusions. In fact, the evidence has been collected."

The emperor's expression changed, and everyone present fell silent.

Yu Qing silently withdrew his sharp gaze.

"You... speak more carefully!"

The emperor was truly overwhelmed by the ups and downs of the past half day. He clutched his forehead. Prince Rui said, "Your Majesty is tired. Please support me. Your Majesty, please calm down first. I will explain everything to you."

·

The Queen assassinating the Prince is such a scandal in the royal family that ordinary ministers cannot bear to hear it and should avoid it.

But Yu Qing happened to be a witness to Xie Jing's assassination, so she was also left behind to confirm the truthfulness of what King Rui said.

When the group was returning, they temporarily changed their route. King Rui suspected that someone in the team was secretly passing on information, otherwise the assassin would not have been able to accurately kill Xie Jing. Therefore, he started by checking the people on the list, and indeed there was something unusual.

The accompanying Minister Li, who had been insisting on riding with Xie Jing, displayed an odd demeanor. It was later confirmed that he had been a guest of the Chen family and had a close relationship with Chen Zhenghua. He had visited the Chen residence both before and after his return from Beijing, and had received a sum of money from an unidentified source. Later, Prince Rui secretly searched Minister Li's study and discovered evidence of correspondence between him and the Chen family, including that involving the Ninth Prince.

There was also the accompanying eunuch, who had served in the imperial palace before and knew how to train birds. He kept carrier pigeons and hawks in his house outside the palace to use for sending messages.

After receiving the secret order, the two men leaked the news about Xie Jing to the Queen and the Chen family. Along the way, they followed the instructions, informed the killer of his whereabouts, and revealed his whereabouts.

"They were upset after failing to track him down, and later came up with a new plan," King Rui said. "As far as I know, they haven't given up on pursuing Ting Ye for some time."

Xie Jing said aggrievedly: "...Why on earth did they want to kill me?"

Prince Rui said to the emperor, "We need to conduct a trial before we can reach a conclusion."

The emperor ordered a search of the Chen family's home and arrested Chen and his associates, as well as the queen's trusted palace maids, for trial. The guards acted decisively and quickly presented the letters and confessions one by one.

They got evidence of the correspondence between Chen Wenhua and the Queen at the Chen family, and conspired to first use Prince Jing and then support the criminal Xie Tingxuan.

The palace maid was tortured into confessing and revealing the old truth. It turned out that the queen was jealous of the concubine and could not tolerate the birth of a bastard's son, so she bribed the Imperial Observatory to send the ninth prince to the National Temple and ordered people to kill him secretly. Unexpectedly, he was blessed by gods and Buddhas and survived.

The Chen family cried and protested their innocence, saying that although they knew that Prince Jing had returned to the palace, they did not participate in the assassination. It was all done at the Queen's order and they knew nothing about it.

As for the Third Prince's accident, it was also the Queen's handiwork. She had originally intended to fake his death to coerce Xie Jing, but she accidentally killed her son, which is why she's gone insane now...

The matter was a foregone conclusion. The Queen had committed countless sins during her decades on the throne. Ever since the Crown Prince lost power, her temperament had become increasingly extreme and vicious, and she would do anything to achieve her goals, even to the point of being completely insane.

Towards evening, one of the emperor's arms suddenly became uncontrollable. Perhaps it was due to anger that caused blood circulation to stagnate and the stroke symptoms to recur.

There was chaos again. A group of imperial doctors were urgently summoned to the imperial court. Some were decocting medicine, while others were performing acupuncture, and they were unable to report to the emperor.

The rest of the cases that have not been examined will be examined overnight and discussed later.

Even though Yu Qing was knowledgeable and experienced, this was the first time he had witnessed such a big show in more than 20 years. A group of people were crying and biting each other, which was really amazing.

The Prince of Xuanbei usually didn't join in the fun, but this time he listened patiently and didn't leave early.

She thought again, how did Qingjia survive in this cannibalistic place in the palace? How had the empress, who was so vicious, bullied her in the past? Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a pang of pain.

She didn't leave with the others until the emperor fell ill and was taken back to his bedroom to rest.

·

Xie Jing, Prince Rui and others stayed with the emperor for a while. When he was able to leave, it was already dark. He walked silently along the palace wall to the side door, but when he looked up, he was stunned.

Yu Qing, who should have left the palace half an hour ago, hadn't left yet.

She was leaning against the palace gate with her arms folded. The lights outside the gate made her shadow very long, extending in front of Xie Jing.

When she saw Xie Jing, she raised her eyebrows.

"Is it over?" Yu Qing asked casually.

Xie Jing: “…Yeah.”

"Let's go," Yu Qing said, "It's getting dark, let's take His Highness back home."

Her face remained stern, but her tone was gentle. Xie Jing looked at her intently, then followed her steps closely.