Chapter 197 He Died
After Zeng Gonggong finished speaking, he flicked the whisk draped over his arm, almost feeding Qi Huan, who was still reluctant to leave, a mouthful of ash.
Qi Huan knew he was like a tiger fallen into the plains, bullied by dogs. He glared at Eunuch Zeng before angrily turning away.
Grandpa Zeng looked away, not taking it to heart.
While trying to please everyone might not lead to any mistakes, it won't make much progress either. A fence-sitter is worthless; a wise bird chooses its tree to perch on. Even though he's just a servant now, he knows this principle.
In the imperial study, the morning sunlight streamed through the carved window onto the large imperial desk piled high with memorials. The emperor and the crown prince sat facing each other, their expressions remarkably identical.
That is calm, silence.
At this moment, two memorials lay quietly on the desk. One was from the Crown Prince, its cover exquisite and dignified; the other was from the Commander of the Qilin Guard, simple and solemn.
The Emperor had already read the letter written by the Crown Prince last night.
The letter sent by the Commander of the Qilin Guard was only delivered to the Emperor's desk before the morning court session, and he only just opened it to read it.
The two memorials addressed the same issue, but yielded completely opposite results.
The Qilin Guard is nominally under the temporary command of the Crown Prince, but their master is still the Emperor, a fact that no one dares to question.
Therefore, before each day's rest period, the commander of the Qilin Guard would report back to the emperor on the matters investigated by the Qilin Guard during that period.
The same applies to this matter.
They obeyed the crown prince, but they also had the obligation to report to the emperor separately.
There's no need to go back eighteen years. Even before that, the emperor was very satisfied with his son. His appearance, demeanor, literary and military talents, temperament, and character made him an impeccable candidate for crown prince.
However, in the past six months, he has had many other considerations.
Does the State of Qi, or rather, does it really need such a perfect crown prince?
Is it truly perfect, or is it just a facade, a facade masking a deceitful act?
The emperor is old, but the lion is not dead, and the cubs have grown up.
The Crown Prince's report on the poisoning of the medicinal wine was written as an accident, but the Qilin Guard uncovered a person no one could have predicted—
Prince Duan, who rarely leaves his home and has not been seen in public for a long time.
The emperor and Prince Duan had a good relationship when they were young, but as they grew older, the relationship between the emperor and his subjects and brothers was no longer what it used to be. In fact, after Prince Duan lost his wife and was injured, the emperor completely let down his guard against him.
A prince in name only, without any real power, whose fiefdom is thousands of miles away. To put it nicely, he is living a life of luxury in the capital; to put it bluntly, he is being confined in the capital.
No matter what, it won't cause much trouble.
However, he secretly raised a large number of alchemists. One of them was not satisfied with the treatment he received at the Prince Duan's mansion. He secretly sold pills to the Zou family, claiming that they could cure all diseases by adding them to medicinal wine. This led to the current situation by a twist of fate.
The emperor couldn't help but think even deeper.
These two different memorials raise questions: Did the Crown Prince know the truth but couldn't bear to destroy the ethereal bond of kinship within the imperial family, or were he and Prince Duan in cahoots, conspiring against each other?
Were the Zou family and the Imperial Concubine simply foolishly manipulated, or were they also involved?
And the Bai family and the Empress...
And what about Qi Yuxuan, who was poisoned at the banquet? She has the Eldest Princess behind her. Is she also involved in this matter?
Even the newly appointed Prime Minister Dai's family used to be related to the Xiao family, but after the engagement was broken off, his youngest daughter became very close to Qi Yuxuan. It's hard to say whether she has secretly switched sides and joined the Crown Prince's faction...
Once the emperor starts thinking, he can't stop being suspicious. At this point, he sees everyone except himself as highly suspicious.
Especially the crown prince, who is of paramount importance in this matter.
"Father, I am guilty, please punish me—"
With a hoarse voice, Qi Jun stood up, took two steps back, lifted his robe, and knelt down steadily.
The air around him seemed to grow even heavier because of his movement.
The emperor's scrutinizing gaze fell upon him. "The Qilin Guard also handed this over to you."
"yes……"
Qi Yuxuan couldn't hear the conversation taking place in the Imperial Study, but she unexpectedly received a new message.
Madam Xiao, who lived far away in Jiangnan, has passed away.
The Xiao family immediately hung up white banners, and the entire house was filled with a deathly atmosphere that could be felt even across the street.
This happened much earlier than in my previous life.
Madam Xiao's death in her previous life was a happy one; she passed away peacefully in her sleep. Although the Xiao family was grieving, they did not become despondent.
Because the Xiao family at that time was the maternal family of Crown Princess Xiao Yuyao, and Xiao Su was the prime minister, with Xiao Yuyao influencing the crown prince, and the situation in the court was indeed unstable, the emperor immediately decided to exempt the Xiao family from mourning, only allowing them to observe a period of mourning for twenty-eight days instead of a month.
At that time, Xiao Yuxuan wanted to go home to visit, but was driven out by the Xiao family.
The reason was that the Xiao family felt it was unlucky for a married woman to return home for a funeral, and they scolded her for deliberately bringing bad luck to the Xiao family.
But she clearly saw the Crown Princess's carriage come to a steady stop in front of the Xiao family's house, and the Xiao family members all greeted her with smiles, as if they were welcoming some kind of god of wealth, while they avoided her, their good-for-nothing daughter, like the plague.
Xie Tingzhou stood far away in the deep alley diagonally opposite the Xiao family's residence. He saw Xiao Yuxuan, dressed in plain clothes with red eyes, return in a daze. Instead of offering any words of comfort, he coldly said that she had only herself to blame.
At the time, she thought Xie Tingzhou was heartless and didn't care about her sincerity at all, and even made things worse for her. Now it seems that Xie Tingzhou was not sharp and mean at all, but was clearly incisive and honest.
Having snapped out of his reverie, Ren Shun, who had been sent out to gather information, also returned.
"master."
The lean figure knelt down on one knee, and Qi Yuxuan didn't tell him to get up; he obediently remained kneeling as well.
"We've found out about the Xiao family."
Qi Yuxuan hummed in agreement and beckoned for Bi Sui, who was standing by the door, to bring in freshly washed grapes.
It wasn't grape season yet, and this plate of grapes was sent to the palace by express courier from the northwest for the nobles to enjoy. The emperor immediately rewarded the meritorious officials, and the Princess's residence received half a basket of them.
However, the eldest princess was getting old, and the imperial physician said she should eat less sweets in order to avoid arrogance and impetuosity, so most of them ended up going to Qi Yuxuan.
"Shortly after receiving the news from the capital, Madam Xiao died of a sudden heart attack."
A plate of round, white grapes, each no bigger than her little finger, was placed on a plate. She picked one up with a delicate silver skewer and put it in her mouth. The fresh, sweet and sour juice burst forth, and she let out a happy sigh.
"What news?"
"Xiao Yuyao's status as an illegitimate daughter, Xiao Su's mistress... However, what hurt her the most was that you broke away from the clan and changed your surname without permission, and were even adopted as a goddaughter by the Eldest Princess and given the title of Princess."
As Ren Shun spoke, he secretly glanced at Qi Yuxuan, who was eating grapes on the couch.
The little girl ate with her eyes crinkling, as if she wasn't listening to what he was saying at all, or as if the person who had died wasn't her own grandmother.
Do you know why I asked you to find out about this?
She propped her chin up and very stingily picked out the smallest grape from the plate, tossing it to Ren Shun.
"..."
Ren Shun didn't want to catch it, but thinking about Qi Yuxuan's possible reaction if he didn't, he still reached out and grabbed the grape before it fell onto the carpet, popped it into his mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it.
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