Chapter 45 His Crimes
Ashen settled the maid in a secluded house. Ning Qi got off the carriage with Qian Yu's help. The disguise pill on her face had lost its effect, restoring her original appearance.
She met the plain-looking maid. "What do you need me for?"
She couldn't think of a reason why she was so eager to see her.
The maid knelt down with a thud, pleading, "Please, clear our aunt's name!"
Ning Qi was taken aback, "This..."
The maid raised her head, her eyes flashing with determination. "If you want to find something to use against Prince Jing, I have it. I only ask that you clear our aunt's name!"
"What exactly happened?" Ning Xi asked, her eyes wide.
The maid said, "A while ago, the eldest young lady was accidentally bitten by a demonic insect and became infected with the Corpse Demon. Everyone said that my aunt was trying to harm the eldest young lady for the sake of the second young lady's marriage. But even if our aunt had great abilities, she couldn't possibly make something that would harm people! Our aunt is just all bark and no bite. She has argued with the eldest young lady a few times. That time when we went to admire the flowers, she originally wanted to make up with her. She never thought of harming anyone."
Ning Qi frowned. She had felt the arrival of this demonic insect was suspicious at the time, and now it seemed there was indeed more to it than met the eye. "So?"
"Actually, the demonic insect was brought by the master! He and Prince Jing intended to murder the eldest prince, but they accidentally released the demonic insect, which happened to run into the garden and bite the eldest young lady. Fearing that the matter would be exposed, the master abandoned the eldest young lady and secretly sent her to the outskirts. Later, somehow the emperor found out about the corpse demon, and he pinned all the blame on the concubine, ordering her to be executed. The concubine died just like that, without any explanation." The maid couldn't help but wipe away her tears.
"Do you have any evidence?" Ning Xi asked.
The maid nodded and took out a stack of papers from her bosom.
Before she could speak, she heard the sound of wind breaking and the candlelight flickered. Qianyu reacted quickly and protected Ningqi, while Ashen stood in front of the maid.
"Ah!" Ah Shen cried out in pain as an arrow pierced his upper arm.
"An assassin!" Qianyu shouted, and the servants guarding outside immediately scattered to search for the person who fired the crossbow bolt.
Ning Xi looked at A Shen's bleeding wound and ordered, "Quickly go to the palace and fetch the imperial physician."
"I'm fine." Ah Shen's lips were pale. "I just didn't notice someone was following us."
Qianyu tore off a piece of her sleeve to stop the bleeding.
The maid seemed completely unafraid, only saying bitterly, "It must be someone sent by the master. He wants to kill me, but I'm not afraid of death! I just want the world to give Auntie justice, so that the Second Miss will no longer be pointed at and insulted at will."
She handed the stack of papers to Ning Xi, saying, "These are the correspondence between Master and Prince Jing, detailing the process of formulating their plan. Please help me."
Ning Qi glanced at the letters by candlelight. The contents were indeed as the maid had said: the two of them were plotting to get rid of the eldest prince and seize the position of crown prince.
If these allegations are true, and Prince Jing did indeed conspire with powerful officials to murder his elder brother, the emperor would at best strip him of his title and exile him, and at worst execute him.
This is incredibly useful. Ning Qi held the papers tightly and assured the maid, "Once I verify the handwriting to confirm the authenticity of this information, I will definitely help you."
"Thank you, Princess!" The maid knelt down in gratitude.
“But with the Minister of State in downfall, your young lady has no one to rely on anymore. Why would you give me something like this?” Ning Xi asked.
"Our young lady only wants to avenge her mother," the maid said, tears welling in her eyes.
"I understand." Ning Qi was somewhat moved. "I will help you."
The maid kowtowed repeatedly, thanking him profusely, and couldn't be pulled up.
The guards outside had already found the assassin, tied him up, and brought him before Ning Qi; his face was unfamiliar.
"Who sent you?" Ning Qi asked.
The assassin refused to speak and attempted to bite his tongue to commit suicide. His attendant quickly stuffed a piece of wood into his mouth.
Ning Qi sneered, "If you won't tell me, then go tell me in front of the emperor."
The assassin struggled desperately and was taken away by the servants.
It was almost time to leave, so Ning Qi got into the carriage, instructed Ashen and Qianyu to handle things here well, especially to protect the maids, and then returned to the Jing Prince's Mansion.
She returned to the courtyard wearing a veil, changed her clothes with Zhizhi, and asked, "Has my brother woken up?"
The branches shook their heads.
While Ning Qi was inside, she searched for Ning Xuanzhou's handwriting and soon found his poem on the table in the outer room.
She made a rough comparison by the moonlight; the content was sour, but the handwriting was indeed very similar.
She tucked the page into her bosom, then looked back at Ning Xuanzhou's bedroom, desperately wanting to enter the secret room.
Zhizhi reminded her, "Princess, it's almost dawn, it's really not wise to alert the enemy."
Ning Qi could only nod and lie back down on the bed.
Because she was preoccupied with other things, she barely slept. She opened her eyes at dawn and told Ning Xuanzhou during breakfast that she had to go back to the sect because Master Jingyan was not happy about her absence.
Ning Xuanzhou immediately showed delight: "You should go quickly, cultivation is the most important thing."
"Okay." Ning Qi nodded. "Zhizhi will stay here and take care of my brother for now. I'll be right back."
Ning Xuanzhou's smile faded. "I have plenty of servants here, why would I need to trouble your personal maid?"
"Brother, this is just a token of my appreciation."
Ning Xuanzhou looked troubled. His sister had been staying with him for four or five days, and now that she was finally leaving, she was leaving a maid behind.
He gradually realized something was amiss. Why did it feel like she was spying on him? But what was her purpose?
Ning Xuanzhou couldn't figure it out and ultimately concluded that it was just his own illusion.
Ning Qi entered the palace and was led into the study by the chief eunuch. Consort Qin was grinding ink for the emperor and talking about Prince Jing.
The emperor rubbed his temples, and upon seeing Ning Qi, he immediately smiled. "Little Qi, what brings you here?"
Ning Qi glanced at Consort Qin, "Father, I have something I'd like to discuss with you privately."
The emperor told Consort Qin to go back first. She complied on the surface, but when she turned her back, she glanced at Ning Qi with an unhappy expression.
Ning Qi bowed calmly and greeted her.
After she left, Ning Qi immediately handed the evidence in her hand to the emperor. "Father, a maid from the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat found me and gave me these. I saw that the contents were of great importance and I must tell you."
The emperor took the letters, and his expression grew increasingly grim as he read them.
Ning Xi stood aside, feeling uneasy. After all, she had exposed her own brother's crimes. It was possible that the emperor might suspect her of sowing discord among the princes.
"How dare he!" The emperor slammed the letter heavily on the table. "He actually dared to plot against his own brother! Summon him here!"
Ning Qi patted the emperor on the back, "Please calm down. Perhaps there's more to the story. My brother is usually unassuming and doesn't seem like the kind of person who would harm our elder brother."
"This handwriting is unmistakably his!" the emperor exclaimed. "You can know a person's face but not their heart. I couldn't even see that my own son harbored such wolfish ambitions!"
Ning Qi comforted him for a while, then said, "How about I leave first? I'm worried about my second brother..."
The Emperor nodded. "You may leave now. You did the right thing with Xiaoqi. Don't feel guilty."
"Okay." Ning Qi left the palace along the path before Ning Xuanzhou arrived.
When he returned to the Prince Jing's residence, he heard that the emperor had summoned him and he left overjoyed.
Ning Qi lowered her eyes, feeling no guilt. Although this person treated her well, it was only because of her identity. She was cruelly tortured and killed by him when she was a cat, and Xiao Sui is still missing.
She went straight to his bedroom.
——
As Prince Jing walked along the palace path, he asked the eunuch leading him, "Eunuch Su, do you know why my father has summoned me?"
"How could we servants possibly know the Emperor's intentions?" the eunuch replied.
Seeing that he couldn't get any information from her, Ning Xuanzhou stopped talking until he was led into the study.
Because he couldn't see, his other senses became heightened, and he keenly sensed the oppressive atmosphere in the air, inwardly cursing something bad.
He knelt down and bowed respectfully.
There was no sound from behind the table for a long time, and his anxiety grew. He didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
After a long while, he heard the sound of a table being slammed, followed by papers fluttering down and hitting him on the head.
It didn't hurt, but it felt like a slap across his face.
He grabbed the papers, but couldn't see what was on them. The unknown fear made his voice tremble as he asked, "Father, what are these?"
"These are evidence that you colluded with the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat to murder your brother!"
Ning Xuanzhou turned pale with fright and said with trembling lips, "Your subject did not, someone must be framing your subject!"
"Consort Qin, read it to him," the Emperor said.
Ning Xuanzhou then realized that his mother was also in the room, and immediately cried out, "Mother, I didn't! You have to believe me!"
Consort Qin also looked utterly despondent. She had been summoned back to the study earlier than Ning Xuanzhou and had already seen those contents.
She picked up the papers from the ground and read them aloud, word by word.
Ning Xuanzhou's face grew paler and paler, but he still vehemently denied it, "Father, it wasn't written by your son! Someone wants to harm your son!"
"You bastard!" A hard lump slammed down on Ning Xuanzhou's head, and he immediately felt a warm flow running down his head.
Consort Qin cried and said, "Your Majesty, he was just confused for a moment. Please, for the sake of his blindness, spare him!"
The emperor snorted coldly, and silence returned to the room.
Ning Xuanzhou was sweating profusely, unable to understand who had framed him.
Could it be that the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, seeing that he was no longer of any use, turned around and handed these things over to the Emperor?
No, that wouldn't do him any good. So who else could it be?
"He may be spared the death penalty, but he cannot escape punishment." The emperor said slowly, "Issue the order to strip Ning Xuanzhou of his title of Prince Jing, revoke his rank and emoluments, demote him to the status of a prince, and send him to the Northern Desert immediately, never to return to the capital for the rest of his life."
“Father!” Ning Xuanzhou exclaimed in disbelief.
"Your Majesty, the journey to the Northern Desert is long and arduous, a harsh and desolate place. Zhou'er is weak; how can she endure it?" Consort Qin said, weeping.
"My mind is made up." The Emperor looked at her. "Consort Qin, you have failed to discipline your son properly. From this day forward, you shall be banished to the Cold Palace."
Before the two could say anything more, they were forcibly dragged out by the eunuchs.
"Zhou'er." Consort Qin desperately held onto Ning Xuanzhou, knowing that this parting would be forever. "Take care of yourself. Mother will avenge you."
Ning Xuanzhou grabbed her, "Do you know who wants to harm the child?"
Consort Qin revealed a ruthless look, "It must be Princess Hexi. She just came by, and the Emperor immediately summoned my son and me."
"She told me I was going to the Huaguang Sect," Ning Xuanzhou said blankly. "Why would she want to harm me?!"
Consort Qin shook her head, wanting to say something more, but was pulled away by the eunuchs, her gaze still fixed on her son.
"Let's go." The eunuch pulled Ning Xuanzhou along. "I'll take some men with you to return to your residence to inventory your belongings."
——
Following her memory, Ning Qi twisted the porcelain in Ning Xuanzhou's bedroom, and a door quickly opened. Zhizhi went in with her.
Before them was a long staircase. The two went downstairs and walked for a while in the dark passageway. The space opened up, and there seemed to be movement inside.
Ning Qi unconsciously quickened her pace and soon saw a room with no furnishings except for a wooden bed.
After the sound of chains scraping against each other, a haggard-looking girl propped herself up from behind the bed. At first, she was terrified, then her face was filled with shock as she rushed to her side, crying, "Miss, please save me."
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Author's note: This only makes the crime worse!
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