Inside the ancestral hall, candlelight shone everywhere, and rows of leaping flames clearly illuminated every corner.
Chen Shuyu, who was sitting on the ground muttering to herself, suddenly stood up when she saw Lu Chengyuan enter. She pointed at him and said frantically, "It's him, it's him, it's not me, it's not me, it has nothing to do with me, it's not me."
I didn't hurt anyone, I didn't hurt anyone.
As he spoke, he huddled in a corner, trembling, looking completely insane.
Lu Chengyuan glanced at the person not far away, whose eyes were glazed over, whose hair was a mess, and whose face was covered in tears and snot, and only frowned slightly.
His gaze fell on the trembling old woman beside him, and he said irritably, "What exactly happened? How could she suddenly go mad for no reason?"
The old woman was so frightened that she immediately knelt on the ground, trembling as she said, "This old servant doesn't know, Your Highness, this old servant really, really doesn't know."
When the old servant went out to get up in the middle of the night, he returned to find that the lady had gone mad, that's how she's become.
She kept saying, "First, the late Madam is back," and kept repeating that she hadn't harmed anyone.
This old servant doesn't know what happened either.
The servant next to him handed over what he had found on the ground. “My lord, this is the memorial tablet of the late madam. I don’t know why it’s broken.”
"Husband, the wife may have accidentally broken the memorial tablet and was frightened."
Lu Chengyuan took the broken memorial tablet, frowned slightly, and said coldly, "How did this memorial tablet break like this?"
The servant hesitated for a while before saying, "Perhaps, perhaps the lady came out to get up in the middle of the night and accidentally bumped into the table, causing the memorial tablet to fall and break."
Just now, several memorial tablets were scattered on the ground.
Lu Chengyuan stared at the broken memorial tablet in his hand for a long time before looking up and staring intently at Chen Shuyu, trying to discern some clues from her face.
Unexpectedly, Chen Shuyu was startled by his gaze, and shrank into the corner, pointing at Lu Chengyuan and shouting, "It was him, it was them, it was them who hurt you, Li Qingmeng, no, it wasn't me."
Don't look for me, don't look for me.
Upon hearing this, Lu Chengyuan's expression suddenly hardened. He immediately strode forward, grabbed Chen Shuyu by the collar, and said in a cold voice, "What did you say? Say it again."
Chen Shuyu was so frightened that her face turned pale, her head lolled to the side, and she fainted completely.
Lu Chengyuan stared intently at the person in front of him, threw him to the ground, and coldly looked at the crowd in the ancestral hall, "Men, take all these useless things out and feed them to the dogs."
As soon as he finished speaking, a squad of guards rushed in from outside.
Seeing this, the old nanny knelt down and begged for mercy. Just as she was about to recount the hardships she had endured serving Chen Shuyu for so many years, the guards did not give her the chance. They knocked her unconscious and swiftly left with her.
After everyone in the ancestral hall was cleared out, Lu Chengyuan coldly glanced at the person on the ground who was completely unconscious. "Keep a close eye on this woman. Without my orders, no one is allowed to enter or leave the ancestral hall."
Also, thoroughly investigate what exactly happened today.
After saying that, he left the ancestral hall directly.
But Chen Shuyu's words kept flashing through his mind.
Back then, only he and that other person knew how Li Qingmeng died, but today, Chen Shuyu actually pointed at him and said it was them.
He didn't know if this person really knew something or was just making baseless accusations. No, he couldn't wait any longer; he had to speed things up and deal with the people in the palace quickly.
This woman cannot be kept alive, but she cannot die for the time being.
He had to keep a close eye on this woman, at least to prevent any information that could be detrimental to him from leaking out before his plan was completed.
*
Jiang Yimian and Lu Cijian left the Marquis's residence quietly when the old nanny returned.
Seeing the brightly lit scene inside the Marquis's mansion not far away, they all frowned.
Jiang Yimian looked curiously at the person beside her and asked, "Are there any imperial concubines with the surname Zhang in the palace now?"
Although she hadn't been to the palace many times, she was fairly familiar with the situation there because of her frequent interactions with Xie Yu.
Currently, there are only three imperial concubines in the harem, and none of them are called Imperial Concubine Zhang.
It is unknown who this Consort Zhang, whom Chen Shuyu mentioned, actually is.
She doesn't even know if this Consort Zhang is a real person.
Lu Cijian remained silent, staring at the Marquis's residence illuminated by candlelight, lost in thought.
The young man appeared calm, but sadness occasionally flickered in his eyes, and he was enveloped in intense grief and indignation, as if he were suppressing something.
Jiang Yimian simply held his hand silently and didn't ask any further questions.
Although the other party had remained extremely calm throughout the journey, as if he didn't care about anything, it was impossible for him not to be moved when he heard firsthand that his own mother had been murdered by his own father in collusion with outsiders.
Even she found it unbelievable, let alone Lu Cijian.
The large hand covering her palm tightened instinctively.
Lu Cijian remained silent for a while before saying, "There is indeed no Consort Zhang in the harem now."
However, the current Empress Dowager served as Consort Zhang for a period of time during the late Emperor's reign.
That was back when the late Empress was still alive. He didn't know much about the late Emperor. The reason he knew that the Empress Dowager was Consort Zhang was because of Xie Jingxuan.
When Xie Jingxuan's birth mother passed away, he was sent to be raised by Consort Zhang.
Although Consort Zhang was favored by the emperor at that time, she had no children. It was said that this was because she had previously given birth to a stillborn child, which damaged her health.
Later, the late Empress passed away, and Consort Zhang became Empress. Then, Xie Jingxuan ascended the throne, and Empress Zhang naturally became Empress Dowager.
Over the years, no one has ever known that the Empress Dowager and Lu Chengyuan had a relationship.
No one could possibly guess that his mother died because of these two completely unrelated people.
He found it all rather ridiculous and couldn't understand why Lu Chengyuan would lay a hand on his mother. Was it because he discovered their relationship, or something else?
He couldn't believe that his gentle and intelligent mother, whom he remembered, would be unable to keep such a secret that would lead to the extermination of nine generations of their family once she knew about their relationship.
He clearly remembered that his mother had said she would take him away from the capital once he recovered from his illness.
But later, he was the only one who left the capital.
Jiang Yimian was so shocked that she stood there for a while before saying, "You mean the Consort Zhang that Chen Shuyu mentioned is the current Empress Dowager?"
She never imagined that the person who killed Li Qingmeng with Lu Chengyuan was the Empress Dowager.
Many people in the capital didn't have a very good opinion of the Empress Dowager, but they weren't exactly bad either.
After all, she is the current Empress Dowager.
Everyone says that the current Empress Dowager is a virtuous and kind empress dowager, but unfortunately she has no children. If it weren't for the fact that she had raised Xie Jingxuan for a period of time and was lucky enough to become empress, she would probably have been buried with the late emperor long ago.
Lu Cijian simply nodded, a hint of surprise and confusion in his eyes. He had never imagined that Lu Chengyuan was connected to the Empress Dowager.
Things were much more complicated and difficult to handle than he had imagined.
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