Chapter 64
The sky was gloomy and the rain was getting heavier, falling densely on the ground.
At the same time, Wei Zhen was not the only one who received the emperor's will, but also the officials of the Dali Temple who were responsible for investigating this incident.
The case was supervised by the saint himself. The Dali Temple Minister did not dare to delay and quickly identified the people involved in the case. Several people gathered together to discuss and soon came up with the direction of the investigation and took immediate action.
The two Shaoqings each brought people to interrogate the King of Chu and several censors who impeached the prince in order to find evidence.
Everyone took the order and left.
Jiang Wei Qiu returned home and the more he thought about what happened today, the more he felt that something was strange.
The sage certainly knew Chu Miaomiao was alive and currently in Prince Yu's mansion. But why did the imperial edict mention "suspected of harboring a criminal" instead of simply convicting the crown prince and imprisoning him, and then arresting Chu Miaomiao? Was it to avoid implicating Prince Yu?
Like Wei Zhen, Jiang Weiqiu carefully pondered the sage's will. It could be said that Jiang Weiqiu was worthy of being the Crown Prince's tutor; their thoughts were surprisingly consistent, and both cast doubtful glances at King Huai.
This is bad.
Jiang Weiqiu was certainly involved in Chu Miaomiao's fake death, and he naturally knew that the coffin buried in Pingzhou was an empty one. If King Huai really went to Pingzhou to dig up the grave, then their lie would be difficult to cover up.
The prince's situation will then be even more difficult.
Thinking of this, Jiang Wei Qiu paced back and forth in the room, his brain working rapidly.
First of all, we need to confirm whether King Huai has sent anyone to the prison to sound out the King of Chu.
Second, we need to know whether Prince Huai’s palace has sent anyone out of the city during this period.
Third, if someone from Prince Huai's palace leaves the city, it is too late to chase them now. We have to find a way to intercept them. How to intercept them?
Jiang Wei Qiu fell into impatience and anxiety, and punched the table. The severe pain made him regain some composure.
Now the prince is under house arrest and Xu Zizhen has not returned to the capital yet. He is the only one who can save the situation.
We must not panic and must not lose our composure.
Jiang Wei Qiu took several deep breaths and made up his mind.
First, confirm. If it is true as he speculated, and King Huai really sent people to Pingzhou, then consider how to intercept them.
After making the decision, Jiang Weiqiu called his confidants and gave them a few instructions, then ordered them to prepare the carriage. He had to go out now.
The sky was dark, as if night had fallen.
Chen Shaoqing from the Dali Temple braved the rain to go to the Tianlao to interrogate the King of Chu.
The King of Chu, who had been interrogated repeatedly since being imprisoned, was now thin and old with white hair. He had been interrogated this time because he thought he was conspiring to rebel, but when he heard the question about whether Chu Miaomiao was dead, his originally dim and turbid eyes suddenly lit up.
"That evil creature must not be dead!"
Chen Shaoqing's expression remained unchanged as he continued to ask, "What evidence do you have?"
The King of Chu was stunned. Evidence?
"They say she's dead, but I haven't even seen her body. Isn't that enough? It's obvious someone tampered with the information and concealed the fact that she's still alive!"
After recalling the situation at that time, the King of Chu thought of a key person.
"It's the Crown Prince! The Crown Prince had Chu Miaomiao taken away and imprisoned her in solitary confinement a long time ago. Until the night of the fire in Prince Chu's mansion, I received the news that she had burned to death the next day. During this time, I never saw her again!"
Chen Shaoqing slammed the table and said sternly, "Don't accuse the Crown Prince of this so casually! I'll ask again, do you have any evidence to support your claims?"
evidence.
Of course the King of Chu didn't.
However, in order to drag the evil creature Chu Miaomiao into hell, the King of Chu can be said to have "done his best".
He started by talking about Chu Miaomiao forcing the prince to marry him, and then combined it with the content of Chu Canglang's family letter about Chu Miaomiao and the prince, in order to deepen the image of the prince's deep love for Chu Miaomiao.
As long as people were left with the impression that the Crown Prince was partial to Chu Miaomiao and perverted the law, the court would search for Chu Miaomiao's whereabouts. The court would not allow such a traitor to live and cause future trouble.
If she survived by chance, she would surely die without the prince's protection; if she really died, her grave would be dug up, her coffin opened, and she would not be able to rest in peace even after death!
Although sheltering a criminal is against the law, Chen Shaoqing was still shocked that someone would go to such great lengths to kill his own flesh and blood.
After this, Chen Shaoqing interrogated other members of the Chu family, and their statements were basically consistent with that of the King of Chu.
Ever since the Crown Prince defeated the Chu King's army and took control of the Chu King's Palace, the Chu family has never seen Chu Miaomiao again. All they know about her comes from Wei Zhen, including the news of her death.
No matter how you look at it, it seems that the prince has a lot of room to maneuver, but there is no concrete evidence to support all of this, and it is just an inference at the moment.
After recording the confession, Chen Shaoqing led his men out of the prison and hurried to the Dali Temple.
Jiang Weiqiu's close associate happened to pass by Chen Shaoqing outside the prison and recognized them as people from the Dali Temple. After a moment's thought, he immediately decided to return to the mansion to reunite with Jiang Weiqiu.
The sky was gloomy, with strong winds and heavy rain. In such bad weather, many people chose to stay at home. As a result, there were few people on the streets, and the only sound was the patter of heavy rain hitting the ground.
"Ding, ding, ding."
The sound of horse hooves was rapid and the wheels were turning rapidly. The Jiang Mansion's carriage sped across the wide street and headed straight for the city gate.
“Ouch—”
After arriving at the city gate, the coachman stopped the horse. Before the carriage was stable, Jiang Wei Qiu had already jumped off and rushed to the front of the soldiers guarding the city.
The officer guarding the city was also a man of insight. Seeing Jiang Weiqiu dressed in fine clothes and a jade crown, he guessed that he was no ordinary person. So he didn't shout at him to leave, but instead asked, "Who are you, sir? What's the matter?"
Jiang Weiqiu revealed his identity: "The Crown Prince's tutor."
The soldiers guarding the city saluted hurriedly: "Hello, sir."
"Let me ask you, have you seen anyone from Prince Huai's Mansion leave the city recently?"
The general frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Many people come in and out of this city gate every day. If they don't deliberately reveal their identities, it would be difficult for us to remember them."
"Yeah."
Just when Jiang Weiqiu was disappointed and about to leave, he heard another voice.
"People from Prince Huai's Palace have left the city before," a young soldier said hurriedly, as if remembering something. "About half a month ago, a group of people rushed to the city gate, flashing badges and saying they were at Prince Huai's Palace on important business and asked us to let them pass."
After being reminded of this, everyone else also had an impression and agreed.
"How many people are there?"
"It seems like five."
"Do you know which direction they went?"
Everyone shook their heads, and another person said, "Those guys were very arrogant. They showed their badges and rode away on horseback. One of our brothers was almost run over by their horses."
Jiang Wei Qiu secretly groaned in his heart. Things were now heading in the worst direction.
"Thank you very much."
After leaving some money as a thank you, Jiang Weiqiu left. He was not in a hurry on the way back, especially since the horse was going against the wind, which slowed down its speed.
Jiang Weiqiu closed his eyes and pondered in the carriage. The sound of rain in his ears soothed his anxiety and helped him regain his calm. At the same time, an idea came to his mind.
He opened the car door and ordered the coachman, "Go to Prince Yu's Mansion."
Wei Yan was obviously surprised when she learned that Jiang Weiqiu had come to see her. Because of Jiang Yingyue, she was relatively familiar with the Jiang family, but she probably wasn't familiar enough to be so close to him that he would come on a rainy night, right?
But Jiang Weiqiu suddenly came to see her now, so he must have something to ask her for help. But what could she help with?
Wei Xun, full of doubts, went to the hall in the front yard and saw Jiang Wei Qiu, who was feeling uneasy.
How strange.
Jiang Weiqiu, who always smiled and looked heartless, actually had a sad face and was fidgeting.
For Jiang Weiqiu to come to her in this state, either something had happened to the Crown Prince or Jiang Yingyue. Wei Yan was well aware of Jiang Yingyue's schedule; she was currently busy preparing for the White Deer Academy's 30th anniversary celebrations. So the most likely scenario was that something had happened to the Crown Prince.
"Is something wrong with the Crown Prince?" Wei Zhen asked directly, "What do you need me to do?"
Hearing Wei Yan say this, Jiang Wei Qiu was surprised at first, and then very excited. It really is easy to communicate with smart people!
Since Wei Yan was so direct, Jiang Weiqiu didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his purpose: "Princess, I have something I would like to trouble Young Master Cheng for help."
Wei Yu immediately ordered someone to invite Cheng Zi over and had ginger soup prepared and sent over. Jiang Weiqiu didn't hesitate to thank him and started drinking. Just as he finished the hot ginger soup, Cheng Zi arrived.
After dismissing the servants and closing the door to block out the wind and rain outside, only Jiang Weiqiu and the other two were left in the room.
Jiang Wei Qiu told Wei Yan and the others about the current situation and plan, and then cast a sincere look at Cheng Zi.
"There's only one road leading to Beijing from Pingzhou, the one through Xishan. If they dig up graves, they'll likely take the coffin as evidence. That coffin is their symbol. We must intercept and kill them immediately. Don't let them enter Beijing alive!"
Jiang Weiqiu's eyes were blazing with anticipation, and his tone became increasingly sincere: "Young Master Cheng, the key to whether the prince can escape this disaster lies in you."
Cheng Zi looked at Wei Yan and saw her serious expression. He then met Jiang Weiqiu's gaze and said, "Leave it to me."
"I'm not sure when they'll be back, so I'll have to trouble you to keep a close eye on them these next few days."
As for an ambush, Cheng Zi said there was no problem.
The wind was blowing hard, the rain was pouring down, and the road was muddy and difficult to travel. Although we were almost reaching the capital, we were afraid that it would be dangerous to continue moving forward in such bad weather.
Anyway, the capital is not far away, so there is no need to rush this night. Safety is more important.
Xu Zi, wearing a straw raincoat, was trotting along beside the carriage, calling out in the rain, "Village Head!"
The window was pushed open from the inside, revealing an old and kind face.
"What happened to Master Xu?"
"It's raining so hard it's hard to travel. It's dangerous to continue on our journey." Xu Zizheng said loudly, "I see some houses ahead. Let's stay here for the night and continue on to the capital tomorrow!"
The old man nodded and shouted, "Okay, let's do as you say."
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