Chapter 374 Eye Contact
With the Duke of Song taking the blame, Shen Wan was not so worried about the poison from Old Madam Lin and Old Tutor Lin, but only when she heard that the antidote had been found did she feel truly relieved.
However, Chen Wan did not expect that in order to exonerate himself, Prince Qing would push his own manager to take the blame, and even revealed that there was a secret passage in Prince Qing's mansion.
That’s absolutely amazing.
This scapegoat is found in a reasonable and blatant way, and people are fooled as if they were fools.
As the steward of Prince Qing's Mansion, he is deeply trusted by Prince Qing and has the opportunity to access Prince Qing's treasures and tamper with them.
but!
The steward of Prince Qing's Mansion knew very well that Prince Qing had presented the jade deer to the Emperor, which was a capital crime punishable by confiscation of property. Instead of quickly packing up and running for his life, the steward stayed in Prince Qing's Mansion, continuing to work like a slave for Prince Qing, waiting to lose his head along with Prince Qing. Was he stupid?
If the steward really hated King Qing and wanted to kill him immediately, why didn't he just poison him directly instead of using such a gentle method?
However, the steward was caught after absconding with the money. He confessed that he had chiseled off the eyeballs of a jade deer and replaced them with poison. Prince Qing forced him to tell him where the antidote was. The steward regretted leaving too late and blamed the commander of the imperial guards for not searching Prince Qing's mansion directly, otherwise the antidote would have been found long ago. After saying this, he bit his tongue and committed suicide.
Prince Qing was so angry that he ordered the imperial guards to search his palace, and then they found the antidote in the corner of the desk drawer in his study.
One packet of antidote is more than enough to save all the poisoned people.
The antidote was found last night, and this morning Prince Qing was escorted by the imperial guards into the palace to attend the morning court.
Prince Qing knelt on the ground and apologized to the emperor, saying that he should not have accepted bribes and was not strict with his subordinates, which almost implicated the emperor and caused the deaths of Madam Lin and the old tutor Lin. He asked the emperor to punish him.
He was charged with many crimes, but none of them were serious. There were few court ministers who did not accept bribes, and the emperor usually turned a blind eye. If he really wanted to punish someone, accepting bribes was a serious crime.
As for not being strict with subordinates, that is even more insignificant.
Several ministers stood up to speak for Prince Qing, and the steward of Prince Qing's mansion confessed his guilt and accepted the punishment. The emperor had no choice but to give Prince Qing a lighter punishment. He did not demote the prince's title, but demoted Prince Qing's current official position by two levels and fined him one year's salary.
The Qizhou prefect who bribed Prince Qing was demoted one level and given thirty strokes of the cane. In addition, when the steward of Prince Qing's mansion escaped, the money he carried with him was confiscated.
A total of 36,000 taels of silver, and some valuable jewelry.
In order to save the life of the Prince of Song, Prince Qing suffered heavy losses this time.
However, for Shen Wan, the most important thing was to save the lives of Old Madam Lin and Old Tutor Lin. If Xie Jingyu had not acted ruthlessly and Prince Yuzhang had not cooperated with him, Old Madam Lin's life would have been in danger.
After Shen Wan finished washing up, Xie Jingyu came back from morning exercise, and Shen Wan thanked him, "Thank you very much."
Xie Jingyu raised his eyebrows, "Are you so distant with your husband?"
Chen Wan said, "Let's put it this way. I still have to thank you."
Xie Jingyu put his arm around Chen Wan's waist and whispered in her ear, "Isn't just thank you enough?"
A mellow voice penetrated into her ears.
Shen Wan hit his chest, "What do you want? Don't go too far."
Unfortunately, she couldn't give him what he wanted for the time being.
Xie Jingyu pinched Shen Wan's nose and said, "Remember it first and ask for it later."
"Today, you will come with me to the palace."
Shen Wan looked at him, "What are you doing in the palace?"
Xie Jingyu said, "The poison of Madam Lin and Old Tutor Lin has been cured, but Prince Yuzhang is still being punished. Only by going to the palace to ask for a reward will Prince Teng release him."
Indeed, Prince Yuzhang made a great contribution. If the poison had not been able to fly into the mouth of the Prince of Song and had not successfully dragged the Prince of Song into the water, Prince Qing would not have handed over the antidote.
But what Chen Wan couldn't understand was, "Why do you want me to go to the palace to ask for a reward for Prince Yuzhang? Why do you want me to go?"
It’s not that she doesn’t want to go, but Xie Jingyu is going alone, going and coming back quickly, taking her with him, isn’t that asking for trouble?
If he had such a great reputation, he wouldn't have to bring her along.
Xie Jingyu said, "The emperor will only eat the vegetables you pick. Going to the palace more often to eat with the emperor is also a favor to Zhao Yuanzheng."
...owing favors everywhere.
But why is this way of repaying a favor so strange?
Prince Yuzhang came to his aid and went to the palace to ask for a reward from the emperor. Zhao Yuanzheng also came to his aid, and they asked the emperor to eat more vegetables.
The maid brought in breakfast, and Shen Wan sat down to eat with Xie Jingyu.
Since she was going to have lunch with the emperor, there was no need to go to the palace too early. Xie Jingyu didn't want his wife to play chess with the emperor while he was spending a hard time helping the emperor review memorials.
The two of them entered the palace almost at mealtime.
As the two of them walked outside the imperial study, the eunuchs from the imperial kitchen lined up to serve their meals and filed in one after another.
Seeing Xie Jingyu and Shen Wan coming in, the emperor was happy, but not too happy. He glared at Xie Jingyu and said, "Didn't you know to bring Wan'er into the palace earlier?"
Xie Jingyu, “…”
A certain gentleman was almost losing his temper after being glared at.
Shen Wan looked at Xie Jingyu. He was scolded as soon as he arrived. Could he still ask for a reward for Prince Yuzhang?
Still in the same position as before, Shen Wan sat next to the emperor, and a certain gentleman sat as far away from the emperor as possible.
Just like last time, Chen Wan picked up a piece of meat and a piece of vegetables for the emperor with chopsticks. After eating a whole meal of vegetables, the emperor felt that the vegetables were not so difficult to swallow. What's more, since it was picked by his daughter, he had to eat it all.
But Xie Jingyu just ate without saying a word. Shen Wan kept winking at him, but Xie Jingyu pretended not to see.
The emperor couldn't stand it any longer and said, "Wan'er is winking at you, but you don't even respond."
Xie Jingyu, “…”
Shen Wan, “…”
Shen Wan’s face was burning.
Xie Jingyu felt a little disappointed.
Eunuch An was about to faint from laughing.
Xie Jingyu looked at Chen Wan and said, "If you want to ask for Tianxiang Tower as a reward on behalf of Prince Yuzhang, you should talk to the emperor yourself. I dare not."
Shen Wan, “……!!!”
Is this not daring?
You've finished talking, okay?
This bastard!
She clearly accompanied him into the palace to ask for a reward, so how could it be that he accompanied her to help Prince Yuzhang ask for a reward?
The emperor picked up some food for Chen Wan and asked, "Did you come to the palace today to ask for a reward for Prince Yuzhang?"
Chen Wan wasn't so stupid as to say that, so she hurriedly said, "By the way, Zhao Yuanzheng said that the emperor needs to eat more vegetables, so my husband asked me to come to the palace more often to accompany the emperor for meals. The Prince of Yuzhang helped find the assassin's hiding place. Although the assassin escaped, the Prince of Yuzhang was meritorious, so I want to ask for a reward for him..."
But she didn't expect that Xie Jingyu wanted Tianxiang Tower for Prince Yuzhang.
Although she had never been to Tianxiang Tower, since it was known as the number one brothel in Kyoto, it must be extraordinary.
The house deeds and land deeds alone are worth tens of thousands of taels.
Isn’t this a big ask?
Chen Wan secretly glared at Xie Jingyu, but the emperor saw through Xie Jingyu's thoughts at a glance.
The emperor didn't say anything, but told Eunuch An, "Go to Prince Teng's mansion and announce the reward."
Shen Wan, “…???”
Is the emperor so easy to talk to?
Shen Wan's eyes widened.
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