Chapter 63
After the King of Chu was defeated, the Chu clan was escorted back to the capital and imprisoned separately in the Tianlao. With the exception of Chu Canglang and his wife, who were first detained and imprisoned together thanks to Wei Zhen's care, and the King of Chu, the main culprit, who was imprisoned alone, the rest of the clan was imprisoned separately, according to gender.
The King of Chu and his family were imprisoned as serious criminals in the depths of the sky prison, where it was dark and damp, without a trace of sunlight.
In such an environment, not to mention Chu Canglang, even the King of Chu could not withstand the invasion of the dampness and looked increasingly old.
The same thing happened to Chu Xinxiu. Not long after he was imprisoned, he suffered a mental and physical collapse under continuous interrogation and torture. He began to have a low-grade fever and fell into a coma, with only occasional lucid moments.
The King of Chu watched helplessly as his beloved child suffered through the bars, unable to do anything. This pained him greatly. He repeatedly appealed to the jailer for help, but the jailer remained indifferent, seeing that Chu Xinxiu was still breathing.
Until this day, Chu Xinxiu was delirious with a high fever. In desperation, the King of Chu once again begged the jailer, even kneeling and kowtowing, just asking the jailer to ask a doctor to come and see Chu Xinxiu.
At this time, he was just a father who was worried about his children.
Usually the jailers ignored him, but this time a jailer stopped in front of the cell and promised to call a doctor for Chu Xinxiu.
Soon, a doctor was brought in to treat Chu Xinxiu, and the jailer stood before the King of Chu again.
"I promised you I'd find a doctor. Accordingly, you must answer any questions I ask you truthfully."
The King of Chu smiled bitterly: "I have said everything I need to say in the past few days. Do you have any questions?"
"Is your daughter Chu Miaomiao still alive?"
As soon as Chu Miaomiao was mentioned, the King of Chu's kindness immediately disappeared and his face became ferocious.
"That evil creature!" the King of Chu cursed angrily, "He was burned to death in Pingzhou."
"Are you sure it was she who died?"
"She wasn't imprisoned with us. All I know is that there was a fire that night and she burned to death. I don't know the details."
"You haven't even seen her body?"
"No." The King of Chu gritted his teeth. "For such an evil creature, burning him to death is not enough!"
The jailer ignored him and continued to ask, "So you're not sure if the dead person is Chu Miaomiao?"
"I told you! She was held in solitary confinement. We couldn't even see her. We only heard about her being burned to death." The King of Chu jumped up, grabbed the jailer by the collar, and roared, "Don't you understand what I'm saying?"
"So no one knows whether she is dead or not."
The jailer's calmness surprised the King of Chu. He also calmed down and realized something was wrong.
"You mean, she's not dead?"
The jailer did not answer, shook off the King of Chu's hand, and left with the doctor.
Chu Miaomiao might still be alive! That evil creature is still alive!
The King of Chu regained consciousness from his shock and immediately burst into laughter, his expression seemingly insane. Soon, he stopped laughing, his eyes widened, veins bulging, and a surging hatred shone through his eyes. He gnashed his teeth and looked like he wanted to eat Chu Miaomiao alive.
How can that evildoer who killed the whole family deserve to be alive!
She must die! She must die!
The prison was silent, and the noise from the King of Chu's side naturally reached the rest of the Chu family. The concubine, worried about her child, called out to the King of Chu, but the princess leaned against the wall, unmoved. Chu Canglang was so excited that he clutched his chest and stammered.
"What that person just now meant was that Miaomiao is not dead?"
When the King of Chu was first imprisoned, the news of Chu Miaomiao's death also came. At that time, Chu Canglang was so shocked that he almost fainted.
That was his biological sister whom he had raised since childhood. How could he not be heartbroken and sad?
Now that he heard that Chu Miaomiao might still be alive, how could he not be excited and happy.
In contrast, the princess was calm to the point of being heartless: "We are all going to die anyway, so what's the difference between living and dying?"
The princess' words extinguished the light in Chu Canglang's eyes, and a gray look crept onto his thin face again.
Miaomiao, I really hope you are still alive.
Tears rolled down his eyes and Chu Canglang sobbed continuously.
Compared with other members of the Chu family who were in prison, Chu Miaomiao was living a "fairy life" in Prince Yu's Mansion.
Princess Yu was afraid that she would be worried and depressed, so she would bring exquisite snacks to talk to her from time to time. Wei Xun would sometimes send her fashionable storybooks to cheer her up. Even Wei Zhi, the youngest in the Prince Yu's mansion, would sneak into her yard to play for a while when he wanted to be lazy.
Wei Zhi thought he was hiding here and no one knew about it, but in fact, everyone turned a blind eye. Wei Yan also told him that if Wei Zhi came again, he could be beaten to recite an article or practice boxing at any time, in short, he should not just play around.
It's not easy for the children of Prince Yu.
Chu Miaomiao watched as Wei Zhi's round face gradually thinned into an oval face. He also grew from a rare white ball into a handsome and adorable little boy.
In Prince Yu's Mansion, Chu Miaomiao spent a plain but wonderful time, which often made her feel dazed and forget her own predicament, as if this was her life, and the desire for life was once again ignited in her heart.
Although she told Wei Zhen that she would believe him, deep down, she didn't think Wei Zhen could really succeed.
But when she saw Wei Zhi holding up a small branch to demonstrate the newly learned sword style to her, Chu Miaomiao's desire to survive reached its peak. For the first time, she had great expectations for Wei Zhen - please, Wei Zhen, please make sure you succeed!
Wei Zhen certainly would not disappoint Chu Miaomiao's expectations. Although his own situation was not good, he still did not give up trying to persuade the saint for Chu Miaomiao.
Ever since Wei Zhen's argument with the sage, the sage's attitude toward him had become noticeably colder. Although Wei Zhen continued to attend the sage's side and conduct government affairs as usual, he soon found a new companion: King Huai.
Wei Zhen turned away, not wanting to look at King Huai's fake smile, but met the sage's playful gaze, which seemed to say, "Do you still think you are the best choice?
The sage used King Huai to warn him that there were more than one person who could be the crown prince, not to mention that the sage already had an unborn biological son.
Even Jiang Wei Qiu was a little nervous about the current situation, but Wei Zhen still insisted on his own opinion and refused to give in.
Jiang Weiqiu clutched his head, feeling a headache. Occasionally, he would muster the courage to express his dissatisfaction with Wei Zhen: "Is it too late for me to choose sides now? After all, King Huai doesn't look like someone who would be bewitched by a woman."
At this time, Wei Zhen would glance at him and say coldly, "He wasn't bewitched by women. So is the evidence Xu Zizheng has fabricated?"
Speaking of Xu Zizheng, he had been leading his men to the fiefdom of King Huai in Wuzhou for nearly half a month, and there was no news of his return to the capital. Jiang Weiqiu was worried, "There's been no news of Old Xu for so many days, is there something wrong with him?"
"No news is the best news." Wei Zhen said calmly.
"But King Huai has been quiet for the past few days. I wonder what he's up to."
"What bad things can they hold back?" Wei Zhen stopped writing and carefully reviewed the petition for Chu Miaomiao's death. "What else can they do except think of ways to punish me?"
Wei Zhen looked up and saw Jiang Weiqiu standing by the door, enjoying the rain, looking relaxed. Wei Zhen glanced at the pile of documents on the desk, then looked at Jiang Weiqiu, his brows slightly furrowed.
Why is he the one working hard at paperwork, while Jiang Weiqiu is the one leisurely enjoying the rain?
Wei Zhen was about to speak when he heard a commotion outside. The sound of footsteps was unison, like an army. The two exchanged glances, and then the household official rushed in, looking panicked. "Your Highness, the Saint has sent the Imperial Guards to surround the Eastern Palace."
Then, the chief eunuch who served the Saint came over and said, "The Saint has spoken."
Wei Zhen and others did not dare to hesitate and immediately knelt down to listen to the order.
"The King of Chu has rebelled. Although the Crown Prince has been instrumental in suppressing the rebellion, he is suspected of shielding a criminal. Currently, there are constant remonstrations and widespread public opinion. To reassure the people and uphold justice, I hereby order the Crown Prince to relinquish all official duties and be confined to the Eastern Palace, awaiting further action."
After everyone received the order, the palace guards had already formed their battle formations and surrounded the East Palace tightly.
Jiang Weiqiu laughed dryly and pointed at himself: "It's the prince who's under house arrest. Can I leave?"
This man was the second son of the Minister of the Central Secretariat, and the chief steward would not offend him easily. He laughed and said, "Of course. But from now on, no one is allowed to enter or leave the Eastern Palace."
"Yes, thank you for your advice, sir."
Before leaving, Jiang Weiqiu looked at Wei Zhen with sympathy: "You really should go see the master."
Wei Zhen was also annoyed: "Go away. Get away."
After Jiang Weiqiu and the eunuch who announced the decree left, the Eastern Palace fell into silence. After Wei Zhen ordered the palace servants to discipline the palace maids, he locked himself in his study, reclining on the couch and closing his eyes in deep thought.
What did the sage mean by this? The sage knew best what "suspected of shielding a criminal" meant. Chu Miaomiao's current location was clearly within his grasp. If the sage truly wanted to punish him for Miaomiao's crimes, why would he even mention "suspicion"? Sheltering a traitor meant imprisonment.
"Continuous remonstrations" indicate that the Censorate was exerting its influence. The Censorate's knowledge of this matter must have been closely linked to King Huai. If he were King Huai, and he coveted the crown prince's position, he would have needed solid evidence to remove the crown prince from the throne.
evidence.
Wei Zhen let out a long breath. The excessive pressure and excessive thinking made his eyebrows ache slightly.
King Huai had been silent for a while, presumably because he was searching for evidence. So, what would he do? How could he find out if Chu Miaomiao was dead or not?
"I'll ask the people closest to her, her relatives—"
Wei Zhen suddenly opened his eyes, sat up from the couch, and clenched his fists.
King Huai likely sent someone to the prison to meet with the King of Chu and his men to inquire about the situation. He only informed them of Chu Miaomiao's death but did not allow them to see the body. In fact, due to his hasty actions, he did not have time to prepare the body, so the burial was only an empty coffin with some clothes and jewelry.
If King Huai had simply gone to the King of Chu to verify the situation, there would have been room for negotiation. However, if he had sent people to Pingzhou and found the cenotaph, things would have become very difficult. How would he explain it then?
Wei Zhen pursed his lips tightly. He was usually calm and composed, but now he was in a panic.
He is now confined to the East Palace and unable to deliver messages. What should he do?
what to do!
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