Chapter 64 He wanted to stage another fake death.
"Yes." The steward nodded. "This old servant just received the news from the Prince's side!"
The butler glanced at Shen Qingci cautiously: "The sudden fire in the prison is very strange. The prince said that even if Miss goes there, she won't be able to find out anything about the prison. She just needs to stay here and wait for news."
"He will come over as soon as the fire is out."
Shen Qingci suppressed her surprise and doubt and nodded: "Okay, I understand. Don't worry, I won't run around."
She turned and went back into the house, but her brow remained furrowed.
"How could the Imperial Prison catch fire? That place is where the court's most serious criminals are imprisoned!" Wanqing muttered to herself, "This servant has never heard of the Imperial Prison catching fire!"
Wan Qing's eyes widened suddenly, and she turned to look at Shen Qingci: "Could it be... the Regent?"
Wanqing looked around and lowered her voice: "Could it be that the Prince found out about Huo Yunzhan's faked death, remembered his marriage to you, Miss, and what Huo Yunzhan had done to you before, and felt that Huo Yunzhan's continued existence was a potential threat, so he simply..."
"Burn them to death in a fire?"
Shen Qingci's eyelashes trembled. What Wan Qing said was indeed very likely.
but……
For some reason, she felt that Chu Jichen wouldn't do that.
When she faked a miscarriage at Putuo Temple and was taken away by Chu Jichen, she had already told him everything about Huo Yunzhan faking his death.
Chu Jichen was able to plant spies in the Yongning Marquis's residence and frequently come and go as if it were his own territory. If he really wanted Huo Yunzhan's life, it would be too easy for him, and there would be no need for him to go through such a roundabout way.
However, he did not directly attack Huo Yunzhan, probably still out of consideration for her.
She had once told Chu Jichen that she suspected the Shen family's affairs were related to the Huo family.
She still wanted to investigate the matter herself. If the Shen family was in trouble and the Huo family was indeed involved, then she wanted to take revenge herself.
Huo Yunting is already gone. If Huo Yunzhan dies too, it won't be easy for her to investigate.
"It shouldn't be a prince."
Wanqing turned her head and looked at Shen Qingci with a puzzled expression: "If it's not the prince, then who is it?"
Shen Qingci pursed her lips: "It's just that the prison is on fire, and we don't know how bad the fire is or what Huo Yunzhan's condition is. There's also another possibility: the fire was set by the Huo family or by someone from Prime Minister Liu's faction."
"The purpose is to create chaos, and then take the opportunity to rescue Huo Yunzhan!"
Wan Qing frowned: "That's possible, but... Huo Yunzhan is a criminal! Even if we rescue him, it won't make a difference! The fact that he made His Majesty fall into a coma is still there, isn't it?"
"Even if the fire is extinguished, won't he still have to be locked up back in the Heavenly Prison?"
Shen Qingci's eyes were dark and brooding. A very bold conjecture welled up in her mind. She shook her head slightly and said in a cold voice, "No, Huo Yunzhan is not a criminal."
"The one who did all this and was thrown into the imperial prison was Marquis Yongning, Huo Yunting! Not General Huo Yunzhan, who was conscripted to the west!"
"Huh?" Wanqing was bewildered.
"Isn't it... that everyone's the same person now?"
Huo Yunting, isn't he just Huo Yunzhan in disguise?
Weren't those things done by Huo Yunzhan, who was impersonating Huo Yunting?
What's the difference?
Shen Qingci naturally noticed the doubt in Wanqing's eyes. She remained silent for a moment before shaking her head: "It's nothing. I was just guessing. It might not really be as I think. Let's wait and see what happens."
ha?
Wanqing looked at Shen Qingci with a confused and bewildered expression. What guess?
But since Shen Qingci said it was just her guess and might not actually be true, Wanqing didn't ask any further questions.
After waiting for about an hour, Chu Jichen arrived.
Shen Qingci immediately went to greet him: "Your Highness, how is it? How did the prison catch fire? How is Huo Yunzhan?"
Chu Jichen gripped the armrests of the wheelchair tightly. Huo Yunzhan…
Is Shen Qingci still so concerned about Huo Yunzhan?
Chu Jichen lowered his eyes, his gaze dark and brooding: "The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. It should be arson. The fire spread extremely quickly and was very fierce. It took nearly an hour and a half to put it out. Moreover, there was a strong smell of tung oil in the prison."
"Huo Yunzhan..."
Chu Jichen pursed his lips: "Almost everyone in the Heavenly Prison was burned to death, but because they were burned, their bodies were almost unrecognizable. My men counted the number of corpses, and the number matches the number of people in the Heavenly Prison at the time of the incident."
"Furthermore, a male corpse was indeed found at the location of the cell where Huo Yunzhan was imprisoned, and his physique matched that of Huo Yunzhan."
"Huo Yunzhan is dead?" Wanqing, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
Chu Jichen's gaze couldn't help but fall on Shen Qingci's face. Seeing Shen Qingci's brows furrow slightly and her eyes showing obvious fluctuations, he gripped the armrest of the wheelchair even tighter: "A message has already been sent to the Yongning Marquis's residence, asking the people from the Yongning Marquis's residence to identify the body."
Shen Qingci's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she only instructed Wanqing: "Arrange for people to keep a close eye on the Yongning Marquis's residence. Have someone follow everyone who has been coming in and out recently."
After Wan Qing left, Shen Qingci whispered, "I suspect that Huo Yunzhan or the Liu family set the fire."
"It is highly likely that Huo Yunzhan staged his death."
Shen Qingci's eyes were dark and gloomy: "If he just faked his death, that would be fine. What I'm afraid of is that after he arranged for this Marquis of Yongning to fake his death, he secretly went to the border to plan another play, pretending that Huo Yunzhan did not die and that his previous death in battle was just a conspiracy by the enemy or someone else."
"Then, he returned as Huo Yunzhan!"
The more Shen Qingci thought about it, the more likely it seemed, and her gaze grew increasingly cold and sharp.
"The fact that I drugged Huo Yunzhan before, and that the Marquis of Yongning is now impotent, and that the Marquis of Yongning's family is very likely to be childless, is known to almost everyone in the capital."
"In addition, the fact that Marquis Yongning wanted to offer me to His Majesty for wealth and honor was also made a big fuss by me. Marquis Yongning's reputation can almost be said to be... completely ruined."
"Huo Yunzhan faked his death and assumed the identity of the Marquis of Yongning in order to get Liu Ruolan to give birth to his child as soon as possible, so that he could curry favor with Prime Minister Liu and rise to prominence."
"But now, he probably can't achieve that goal. The identity of Marquis of Yongning has become a burden for him."
"On the contrary, Huo Yunzhan's status as the General Who Conquers the West made him a hero. He can fake his death once, and he can do it again."
Shen Qingci frowned, feeling that Huo Yunzhan was utterly disgusting!
“If the identity of Marquis Yongning is destroyed and he returns as Huo Yunzhan, things will be very unfavorable for us.”
Huo Yunzhan is, after all, still her husband on the surface.
She is merely a widow, not divorced.
If Huo Yunzhan hadn't died, she wouldn't have been able to remain a widow, and she would still be Huo Yunzhan's wife.
She had no choice but to remarry Chu Jichen!
We must not let his plot succeed!
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