Jiang Chuan continued, "Before Wu Chuan sealed the courtyard yesterday, these two had already sent the message out of the Prince An's residence. The Third Prince and the Crown Prince both received the message one after the other. The Third Prince then passed the message to Consort De. Then the Second Prince and Consort Xian also found out."
Lu Xiaoyun looked at Jiang Chuan.
Jiang Chuan felt a pang of pain in his heart, and concealing the tears in his eyes, he said, "Besides our people, there are also the Second Prince's people in Consort De's Zichen Palace."
"Yes, have them deliver it. Tell Wu Chuan to leave two openings so they can easily pass messages."
Jiang Chuan responded with a "yes," and then said, "These past few days, His Majesty has been unwell, and the affairs of state have been handed over to the Crown Prince and the Third Prince. The two disagree on many matters and often bring these disputes to His Majesty's attention. The most pressing issue is how to deal with Li Quan and Lian Yongyuan."
Lu Xiaoyun listened quietly as Jiang finished speaking.
"The Crown Prince's opinion is that the two of them dared to hire someone to assassinate His Highness Prince An, a crime deserving of death, and even the extermination of their entire family would not be excessive. However, the Third Prince's opinion is that there is insufficient evidence in this matter. Everyone knows that Li Quan's纨绔 (wan ku, a spoiled and dissolute young man) grandson has no martial arts skills and could not possibly assassinate Your Highness."
"Moreover, the letters of conspiracy found in Li Quan's residence are not enough to prove that the two of them were responsible for this matter. The Third Prince said that this matter should not be handled so hastily, and only when there are both witnesses and physical evidence can a conviction be made."
"The two took the matter to the Emperor, who then ordered Lord Wang to produce concrete evidence. At least one witness was required; a single letter was not enough."
Lu Xiaoyun asked, "Isn't the other assassin hired by Li Quan and his group still being held at the villa?"
Jiang replied, "Yes, Feng Yan was originally going to go to the manor to retrieve the people as instructed by the Prince yesterday, and then take all the things he found about the Fengyue Gang to Lord Wang to solidify the crimes of Li Quan and Lian Yongyuan. But, alas, this happened."
Lu Xiaoyun's face was grim. Consort Duan was truly more trouble than she was worth.
"Let Wu Chuan handle it. Hand over the people and the evidence to Wang Zhemao today and tell him to close the case as soon as possible."
The New Year is approaching, and his father and brothers should be returning soon. Before they arrive, he needs to take care of Li Quan and the others.
Jiang Chuan hesitated for a long time before saying, "Your Highness, Wu Chuan has been kneeling outside all night, and he is still kneeling."
Lu Xiaoyun paused slightly as she washed her face, her voice rising a little: "In this freezing weather, he knelt outside all night? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Jiang Chuan lowered his head. If it were before, the prince would have noticed that someone was outside long ago, but now…
Jiang Chuan's eyes reddened again, and he didn't dare to look up at Lu Xiaoyun: "He didn't want me to disturb Your Highness's rest."
Lu Xiaoyun threw the towel into the basin, her face darkening: "Nonsense! There are already two sick people in the house, does he think there's not enough trouble already! He's just making things worse, let him in!"
Outside, Wu Chuan, who had been kneeling in the cold wind all night, heard this and tried to stand up. However, after being frozen all night, his whole body was numb and his limbs were not under his control. His body was almost uncontrollably swaying forward.
Lu Xiaoyun looked coldly at Wu Chuan, who had collapsed in a disheveled state, and said to Jiang Chuan, "Help him into the house."
Jiang Chuan pursed his lips and went to help Wu Chuan, but Wu Chuan pushed away Jiang Chuan's outstretched hand and crawled into the house on his knees.
Lu Xiaoyun didn't say anything, but gestured for Jiang Chuan to pour a cup of hot tea.
This time, Wu Chuan did not refuse. He took the tea and drank it all in one gulp. Jiang Chuan poured him another cup. After drinking three cups of hot tea, his stomach, which had been frozen all night, gradually warmed up.
The room was heated by an underfloor heating system, and my frozen body slowly warmed up.
Lu Xiaoyun looked at Wu Chuan calmly, and the oppressive aura on her face made Wu Chuan kneel even lower.
He kowtowed and begged for forgiveness: "Master, it was my incompetence that led me to ask the Princess to save the Commander, which almost cost the Princess her life. Please punish me, Master!"
Lu Xiaoyun said coldly, "So, you knelt outside all night!"
Wu Chuan knelt on the ground, not daring to utter a single word.
Lu Xiaoyun took a step and walked outside. No wonder he was the deputy commander; compared to Feng Yan, he was ultimately inferior.
"Master!" Wu Chuan exclaimed in surprise. Why was his master ignoring him? Did he no longer want him?
Jiang Chuan walked up to Wu Chuan, shook his head and sighed, then was about to follow Lu Xiaoyun.
Wu Chuan grabbed Jiang Chuan: "Jiang Chuan, what about our master?"
Jiang Chuan watched the prince walk forward with his hands behind his back and advised, "You, you, the prince is not blaming you for not going to the princess to save Feng Yan, but you should have gone to the prince to save him immediately before Consort Duan was about to torture Feng Yan."
"But you and Xi Yi did just that, watching as Consort Duan beat Feng Yan unconscious before you remembered to go to the Princess for help."
"You knew perfectly well that the Princess Consort was disliked by Consort Duan, so you should have stopped Consort Duan from torturing the Princess Consort on the spot! You actually just watched as the Princess Consort was beaten with ten blows. If it weren't for the Prince's timely arrival, the Prince's mansion would be holding a funeral by now."
“But,” Wu Chuan said, puzzled, “the master doesn’t like the princess in the first place. She used such despicable means to get the position of princess, forcing the master to marry her. Wouldn’t it be better to get rid of her through Consort Duan?”
Jiang Chuan pointed at Wu Chuan, his temples throbbing with anger: "If Your Highness truly disliked the Princess Consort, would you dine with her every day? Would you have the Imperial Physician Jiang, the head of the Imperial Hospital, personally examine her? Would you have taken her to Ganlu Temple the day before yesterday?"
“You saw yesterday that the Prince personally carried the Princess into Feixue Garden. When have you ever seen the Prince show such concern for a woman? Even before, the Prince never treated Miss Yong’an like this.”
"Furthermore, even if we take a step back and assume that the Prince didn't fall for the Princess, she is still the eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. They've only been married for a few days, and she's already been beaten to death by her mother-in-law. What will the Duke of Zhenguo and General Lu think of our Prince? Does the Prince of An's mansion still have any reputation left?"
Wu Chuan seemed to understand something, yet also seemed not to understand: "But when did Master fall for the Princess? What did the Princess do to change Master's opinion of her?"
Jiang Chuan was speechless. He didn't know either; it was just inexplicable that the two of them had become friends.
"In short, this is probably the mistress of the Prince An's mansion. Be more careful in the future, and don't make any more foolish mistakes."
Wu Chuan was still a little confused: "Oh."
Jiang Chuan wished he could crack open Wu Chuan's head and see if his brain was made of mush.
"Furthermore, using Consort Duan to get rid of the Princess Consort, Wu Chuan, Wu Chuan, how many heads do you have? Consort Duan is still the Prince's birth mother, no matter what. By doing this, aren't you putting the Prince in a position of being unfilial and unrighteous? As a subordinate, you are sowing discord between your master and his birth mother. I think you are incredibly stupid."
Wu Chuan then realized he had really messed up and slapped himself twice across the face.
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