Chapter 75 I already find you annoying enough to fight, and you still come knocking on my door to ask for trouble…
After returning to the city, Xu Jinyu told Qi Jingxuan and the others that she had found out about the mole in her own organization, but she did not explain the details. She only said that she had asked everyone she could, but Xu Che did not know the real mastermind behind it and could not come forward to testify.
Qi Jingxuan was naturally somewhat disappointed, but he also knew that since Xu Jinyu said that, it must mean that he really couldn't get anything more out of her, otherwise he wouldn't have needed to hide it.
As for why Xu Che did it, he did not ask.
Having grown up in the royal family, he had witnessed countless power struggles and intrigues. Those aristocratic families, though outwardly glamorous, undoubtedly harbored many sordid secrets. For Xu Jinyu, these were family scandals, and there was no need to expose them to the world.
"But this means the trail has gone cold again."
He said this to Shen Yan on the way out of the palace.
They've investigated everything they could these days, but as expected, everything points to the Sixth Prince, Qi Jinghong, and they can't find anything about the Prince of Ning.
The silk shop was run by someone surnamed Chu, but the actual owner was related to the He family by marriage, meaning the real backer was the He family. The He family was Qi Jinghong's maternal grandparents' family, so if you really investigated this matter thoroughly, you could only ask Qi Jinghong. But clearly, Qi Jinghong was just pushed out to take the blame.
Consort Hui died in the palace, and the He family kept their mouths shut, so apart from the division of the clan, no other useful information could be found.
As for the palace banquet, Qi Jingxuan had inquired about it. Both the Crown Prince and Prince Ning had left the banquet that day, but the Crown Prince only went for a short while before returning, while Prince Ning said that he had drunk a few extra cups of wine and had left to rest for a while.
When Prince Ning left his seat, three women also left. One was the wife of Zhuang Cheng, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review; another was the wife of Fan Yongxian, the Minister of War; and the third was the daughter of Duan Yue, the Vice Minister of Revenue.
Duan Yue's daughter is only ten years old, so she can be eliminated immediately. The remaining two are difficult to choose between.
Both Zhuang Cheng and Fan Yongxian married their second wives after their first wives died. Their current wives are in their twenties and thirties, respectively, and neither can be ruled out based on age alone.
But regardless of which one it is, the reason why Prince Ning wanted to kill Qi Jingxuan because of a handkerchief is very clear.
Both of them are important officials in the court. If Prince Ning intends to compete for the position of crown prince, he will definitely have to win them over.
No normal man in the world would enjoy being cuckolded. If his affair with his wife were discovered, he would be furious. Even if he couldn't do anything to the two princes, he would certainly never again pledge allegiance to the emperor.
Therefore, for his own future and the throne of the crown prince, that person decided to eliminate Qi Jingxuan, this potential threat. Even if he didn't see who was behind the artificial hill, even if he might never remember it, this threat had to be eradicated.
Unfortunately, when Prince Ning left his seat, the sixth prince, Qi Jinghong, also left and did not return for a long time.
Qi Jingxuan had someone investigate why Qi Jinghong left the banquet, and it turned out that he simply felt the banquet was stifling and boring and wanted to go out for some fresh air.
When he found out, he cursed Qi Jinghong at home for a long time, thinking that the man was as stupid as a pig and only caused trouble for others. While cursing, he suddenly remembered that he had also found the banquet extremely boring, so he drank some wine and left. If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't have stumbled upon the incident in the Imperial Garden, and none of what followed would have happened.
Qi Jingxuan regretted his actions, but it was too late to say anything now. He could only try to find a way to seize Ning Wang's weakness and make it difficult for him to recover.
After all the investigation, the only usable clue left was the palace banquet, but that alone couldn't definitively prove Prince Ning's guilt. Although he knew in his heart that it was Prince Ning, he needed evidence to convince the emperor and officials. He couldn't very well tell them it was because Prince Ning had left the banquet with those two women.
Seeing that the clues were going cold one by one, and having no other choice, he took the opportunity of visiting Consort Shu in the palace with Shen Yan to sound out the emperor and find out if Lin Si had told him anything back then.
But the emperor's answer was the same as always: Lin Si died suddenly, and no useful information could be obtained from him.
Qi Jingxuan was very disappointed, feeling that the emperor was not completely unaware of the matter, but had deliberately kept it a secret to avoid conflict between him and Prince Ning.
Shen Yan was also somewhat worried, not because she was anxious about not being able to find any clues, but because they had been investigating for nearly two months, and no matter how careful they were, it was impossible to keep it completely secret.
The silk shop and the He family might remain unnoticed if they were careful, but for the palace to find out exactly who left the banquet that day and when, it would require extensive questioning, and it's impossible for everyone to keep their mouths shut. Therefore... Prince Ning must have already noticed.
They are currently in the open, while Prince Ning is in the shadows, a situation that is very unfavorable to them.
The two walked out with troubled expressions, and just as they were about to exit the palace gate, they encountered a group of people coming from the opposite direction. Looking up, they saw that it was none other than the culprit who had been causing them so much trouble—Prince Ning.
Neither of them expected to run into each other here. Qi Jingxuan immediately darkened his face, looking as if he wanted to devour the other person alive.
Prince Ning quickly regained his senses, walked over slowly, and wore his usual smile, looking very gentle.
Those who don't know his true nature might find him kind and gentle, but Qi Jingxuan only finds him disgusting at this moment.
"Did Seventh Brother go to the palace today to visit Father Emperor and Consort Shu?"
Prince Ning asked with a smile.
Qi Jingxuan was already annoyed, and seeing him only made him angrier. He immediately snorted coldly, "None of your business."
These words were so impolite that they startled the group of attendants following Prince Ning.
Although Prince Ping was known for his bad temper, often wearing a sour face, and frequently fighting with other princes, their prince had no prior grudge against him. While they hadn't had much of a relationship, they had never spoken ill of each other. What on earth had Prince Ping done today?
When their master is insulted, it is inappropriate for his subordinates to stand idly by. Immediately, someone stepped forward and said, "Our lord has offered kind words of greeting; why does Your Highness dare to humiliate him?"
Qi Jingxuan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye: "What business is it of yours, you eunuch, what we're talking about?"
Then she looked at Prince Ning: "Don't you speak yourself? You only know how to make others speak for you, always putting on this air of a celestial being, as if you're not of this world. What's wrong? Can't you argue? Can't you curse? Or have you gotten so used to wearing this fake face that you've forgotten how to be a normal person?"
Prince Ning's brows furrowed slightly, but a faint smile remained on his lips.
He waved for his servants to leave, then stepped forward to Qi Jingxuan and said, "I wonder what has upset you, Seventh Brother, that makes you so agitated. As your elder brother, if venting your anger on me can make you feel better, then I won't mind."
"only……"
He lowered his voice, speaking in a volume only the two of them could hear, and said, "No matter how angry you are, you can't do anything to me. You can only bark like a mad dog."
This clearly shows that she already knows what Qi Jingxuan is doing, and she is fearless.
Prince Ning thought these words would enrage Qi Jingxuan and cause him to hurl insults at him. To his surprise, Qi Jingxuan didn't; instead, he grinned and smiled.
"Do you know that mad dogs not only bark, they also bite!"
After saying that, he threw a punch at the corner of Prince Ning's smiling mouth.
Prince Ning was caught off guard and punched in the face, staggering back two steps and falling to the ground.
That wasn't all. Qi Jingxuan pounced on him, straddling him and giving him a good beating, saying as he did so, "I was already annoyed by you, and you just came to ask for a beating, so I'll grant your wish!"
"You hypocritical bastard, you've never felt the blows of my fists since you were a kid, so you think I'm easy to bully? Today I'll show you what I'm made of!"
No one expected that Qi Jingxuan would actually attack Prince Ning in front of the palace gate. For a moment, neither side's attendants reacted in time and failed to pull them apart immediately.
By the time they came to their senses and stepped forward to stop him, Prince Ning had already been hit by a barrage of punches, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.
Qi Jingxuan knew there were many people around and he couldn't fight for long, so he went all out from the start, holding nothing back, determined to make this bastard suffer. When the others pulled him away, he seized the opportunity to kick Prince Ning twice, one in his shin and the other in his groin, making the usually elegant and talented young Prince Ning scream in agony, his cries carrying far like a pig being slaughtered.
After the crowd separated the two, he was unharmed except for some disheveled hair, while Prince Ning had black eyes and his head was beaten into a pig's head, making him unrecognizable.
Seeing this, everyone rushed Prince Ning to the hospital and tried to stop Qi Jingxuan from leaving.
But Qi Jingxuan was not someone they could stop. He glared at everyone and then left with a bewildered Shen Yan.
After leaving the palace gates and boarding the carriage, Shen Yan finally came to her senses: "You...you hit him."
"Hmm," Qi Jingxuan said nonchalantly, tilting his head back. "I did hit him, and I hit him with all my might!"
He sounded a little annoyed as he spoke: "There were too many people around, and I was pulled away too quickly, otherwise I would have beaten him until he begged for mercy on his knees!"
He had been fighting since he was a child and was very experienced. Although he was not good at any particular boxing style, he knew how to hit people in the most painful way.
Prince Ning was different. He claimed to have practiced martial arts since childhood, but he had only learned some empty techniques. He had never been on the battlefield or fought anyone. When the time came, he could only instinctively protect his head and was completely overwhelmed.
Shen Yan asked with some worry, "Will the palace... punish you?"
Qi Jingxuan scoffed, "Let him punish me then. I've already been demoted to a prince, so no matter how much I'm punished, my father won't demote me further. At most, he'll just cut my salary or something. I'll just consider it money spent to beat him up. It doesn't matter, I have plenty of money anyway."
When Shen Yan heard him say that, she felt relieved. But then she remembered how Ning Wang had been beaten earlier and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Seeing her happy, Qi Jingxuan was also happy, his previous displeasure vanished, and he felt that the beating he had received today was well worth it. He would beat up Prince Ning every time he saw him in the future. However, he was now on guard, and it wouldn't be so easy for him to succeed.
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