Chapter 662 Incident
Everyone looked at the two bloody bodies on the ground, then looked up at Tang Ning.
Anyone could see that there was something wrong with Cai'an and Yun'er, and Princess Xiangning also forced them to reveal the clues.
But now he's dead...
Madam Cui had bet a huge sum on Xiao Yan and his wife, and ever since she gave away the iron mine, she, her son, and her father and brothers from her natal family had been tied to Xiao Yan and his wife, and the Qian family behind Qian Qiyue was Xiao Yan's helper.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that something was wrong with what happened today. Tang Ning could have helped Qian Qiyue "exonerate herself", but now everything is ruined.
Seeing Liu Tongen so brazenly silencing someone in public, Madam Cui couldn't help but sneer:
"Commander Liu has indeed not carried out any duties for His Majesty in years. No wonder the army that marched south to suppress the rebellion didn't dare let you lead them. Otherwise, with a figurehead like you who can't even hold a knife steady, you'd probably end up killing your own men before you even injure the enemy. His Majesty was wise not to let you go."
Liu Tong'en remained calm despite the ridicule: "I have committed a crime by mistake. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
"Was it an accident or a silencing?" Tang Ning asked coldly.
Liu Tongen frowned: "Princess Xiangning, please don't wrongly accuse me. I was just afraid that someone would hurt the Empress Dowager, so I made a mistake to protect her..."
Tang Ning said bluntly: "Your mistake was to kill the witness directly. The prince's death was quite suspicious. Cai An was obviously in collusion with others and must know the truth. But you killed her with a knife, which is equivalent to cutting off the clue to find out the truth for the prince."
"Your Highness, your words are too harsh." Nanny Ran supported the Queen Mother and said, "Your Highness, Commander Liu is also loyal and protective of the Master..."
"So in Madam Ran's eyes, the Crown Prince's cause of death was even worse than a commander of the Imperial Guards who killed a witness with an unsteady knife?"
"That's not what I meant. Cai'an died to prove her will. Before she died, she also said that she was wronged."
"joke!"
Tang Ning just thought it was ridiculous and suddenly interrupted Nanny Ran with a look of mockery in her eyes.
"Sister Qian has been crying out for injustice, but has the Empress Dowager given her a chance to defend herself? Miss Fu told the Empress Dowager about what happened in the apron, but did she listen to a word she said? The Empress Dowager has determined that Sister Qian murdered the Crown Prince, and she's determined to punish her without questioning the cause or whether she's right or wrong."
"How come when it comes to the people in Shoukang Palace, they are willing to ignore the numerous doubts and believe Cai'an's excuses even though they know she lied before?"
Her words were sarcastic and sharp.
"The Empress Dowager said before that she loved the Crown Prince and wanted to punish Sister Qian for his death. But now, when it comes to Liu Tong'en and that palace maid, she has forgotten this grandparent-grandchild relationship. Or does the Empress Dowager's love for the Crown Prince vary depending on who she's dealing with?"
"How dare you!" the Queen Mother shouted hoarsely.
Tang Ning did not retreat at all. She could see that the Queen Mother had made up her mind to kill Qian Qiyue in Shoukang Palace today, so that the Qian family would be accused of murdering the prince, and she even wanted to put the blame of the prince's death on Qian Qiyue.
The Crown Prince's death was a setup. The Empress Dowager knew it, Emperor An knew it, and even if Concubine Xian was unaware, she was probably being used and implicated in it.
The Empress Dowager did not want to give Qian Qiyue a chance to turn things around, even if she was so blatant in silencing the palace maids. She would rather give people something to talk about than give Qian Qiyue a chance to turn things around.
If that's the case, then why should she be so cautious? !
Tang Ning scowled at the Queen Mother, his eyes frosty as he raised his lips.
"I remember a few months ago, a maid in the Empress Dowager's palace conspired with Cui Lin to murder someone for a few cents. She was later found dead in the Imperial Garden, silenced. Doesn't this incident sound familiar to you?"
"I don't know if it's the bad feng shui of Shoukang Palace, or if the Empress Dowager is too harsh on you, but that's why these people in your palace are willing to betray you time and again for a little gold and silver, and even have the audacity to come up with such shameless schemes."
The palace was extremely quiet. Not only Concubine Zhao and the others, but even Concubine Xian and Princess Huan, who had been making things difficult for them, could not help but gasp.
Is Song Tangning crazy?
How dare she speak like that?!
The Queen Mother's chest heaved, and her face flushed with anger as she pressed down on Nanny Ran's arm: "You...you bastard, how dare you speak to me like that?!"
Tang Ning's eyes were cold. "I am simply curious as to why such treacherous individuals keep appearing in the Empress Dowager's palace. Furthermore, since the Empress Dowager loves the Crown Prince so much and wants to seek justice for him, why did she let Commander Liu go?"
"He murdered the witness in public, cutting off the clues to the Crown Prince's vindication. How can we know if he had planned this in advance, just like the person who murdered my brother and then silenced him on Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"The Empress Dowager did not protect your sister-in-law, Madam Xuan, back then, and allowed the Xuan family to let her die of illness. Even if you are so selfless, you shouldn't protect Liu Tong'en today. Or is Liu Tong'en more important to you than the Xuan family? For the sake of the Crown Prince's death, it doesn't matter."
“You…you…”
The Queen Mother's chest heaved with anger, and her previously radiant face was now filled with anxiety and rage.
Her eyes were wide open with anger, and her face was flushed, as if she was furious at Tang Ning's pointed words. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.
The noise scared everyone.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what's wrong with you?"
Nanny Ran quickly supported the empress dowager.
The Queen Mother seemed to have lost all her strength, with blood on her lips.
"Mother!"
Emperor An's voice was heard outside the palace, and in a moment he was seen walking hurriedly past the others and coming to the Queen Mother.
Seeing the Empress Dowager vomiting blood and looking so weak, Emperor An was furious: "What's going on? Wasn't the Empress Dowager healthy? How could she suddenly become like this?!"
The virtuous concubine added fuel to the fire: "Your Majesty, it was Princess Xiangning, the daughter of the Qian family, who plotted to murder the Crown Prince. Princess Xiangning, in order to protect her, insulted and humiliated the Empress Dowager, causing her to become so angry that she vomited blood."
Emperor An suddenly turned his head and glared at Tang Ning: "Song Tang Ning, you are so brave!"
Tang Ning looked at the pale-faced empress dowager slumped in Nanny Ran's arms, then at the extremely furious Emperor An, and the other people around him who were in chaos.
The doubt that had been flickering through my mind when I'd seen the Empress Dowager plotting Qian Qiyue's death suddenly surfaced. Qian Qiyue wasn't even a part of the Empress Dowager's recruitment drive, so why was she ultimately implicated in every subsequent move? Did the Empress Dowager premeditate, or was she acting on impulse? Or was targeting Qian Qiyue a secondary consideration?
Seeing the Queen Mother fall down, Tang Ning's face suddenly changed as if she understood something. She said decisively: "This servant did not mean to offend, I just want to find out the truth about the Crown Prince's death..."
“Queen Mother!!”
Before she could finish her words, Nanny Ran screamed in panic, and it turned out that the Queen Mother had vomited blood again.
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