After the Emperor ordered the three departments to jointly investigate the case during the court meeting, he also specifically appointed Rui’an King as the chief judge. When Rui’an King left the palace, news of him taking over the investigation of Princess Qingping’s assassination case spread throughout the Imperial Palace.
Xie Lin was shocked. How long has it been since his father last received such heavy responsibility from His Majesty? The Rui’an King Residence had always been careful not to make mistakes, and his father was more than content to just get by without making any significant achievements or blunders. Over time, Xie Lin came to think that his father’s attitude wasn’t bad, he, too, would be content just to get by in the future. As long as they could continue to maintain Rui’an King Residence, everything would be fine. After all, it was quite simple that way.
As for honors like the Dragon Medal or whatnot, his father never aspired to them, and neither did he. Therefore, he never tried to curry favor with the Crown Prince or any of the Princes over the years, simply intent on scraping by.
But what is happening now? Why did His Majesty suddenly entrust him with such a huge responsibility?
In Xie Lin’s view, wasn’t Princess Qingping’s assassination a big deal? His Majesty had reprimanded the Dali Temple for its oversight during the court meeting and ordered the three departments to join forces. Now His Majesty has also ordered his father to take charge. The significance of this was almost equivalent to the Imperial Assassination.
He thought of how Princess Qingping was so favored by His Majesty, but then, no matter how much Her Highness is favored, with the three departments conducting the investigation, why would they need his father?
Baffled, he went to his mother, "Queen Mother, have you heard? His Majesty has appointed Father to preside over the assassination case of Princess Qingping."
Queen Rui’an was watering the flowers, and she nodded, "I just heard."
She turned to look at Xie Lin, "This matter is quite sudden. If His Majesty had intended this, he would have announced it at the court meeting this morning. The fact that he didn’t mention it at the meeting, but summoned your father to the palace after the meeting, suggests that he had made this decision on the spur of the moment. We’ll have to wait until your father returns to see what he says."
Xie Lin nodded.
Queen Rui’an put down her watering can, "After the civil examination results are released, I plan to settle your marriage. Apart from Miss Qin Luan, which lady..."
"Queen Mother, please spare me! Besides Qin Luan, I don’t want to marry anyone else right now." Xie Lin turned to leave, regretting having come to ask his mother.
He walked away quickly, disappearing from sight in no time.
Queen Rui’an was almost left fuming and grumbled to her wet nurse, "Look at him, one cannot even discuss his marriage. Qin Luan is already in the Eastern palace, even if she were not, she is still the daughter of a convicted official. How could he marry her?"
The wet nurse comforted her, "The young master is young, there’s no hurry. Young Master Zhou Gu of the Duke Residence, who is about the same age as our young master, had his marriage arranged a while ago, but what does that matter? He’s already broken off his engagement. Give our young master a couple more years to mature, and he will naturally let go of Qin Luan. At that time, you can arrange a marriage with a lady of your choice. He might not resist it as much. After all, youthful infatuations take time to move on from."
Rui’an Queen sighed, "You do have a point."
Mention of Zhou Gu naturally turned her thoughts to Su Rong. Queen Rui’an wiped her hands with a handkerchief and sat down, "Su Rong does resemble Princess Zhenmin from back in the days."
The wet-nurse agreed and suggested, "Perhaps Your Highness can send someone to investigate. Maybe there’s a connection?"
Queen Rui’an shook her head, "There is no need for me to investigate. Those who have met her might have already done so. Especially, as that even the Duke who doesn’t take care of matters took notice of her after meeting her once, how could others not? There are many in the Capital who knew Princess Zhenmin. When it comes to speed none can burst past the princes. Even if they were too young to remember what Princess Zhenmin looked like, their servants would inform them."
The wet nurse agreed upon giving it a thought.
Rui’an Queen added, "Let’s wait and see. We will find out eventually."
Crown Prince Yan Huisheng also received the news and immediately thought that the old Duke must have informed his father about Su Rong’s background. His father probably knew that the assassination case of Princess Qingping was actually aimed at Su Rong, and that’s why he appointed Rui’an King to preside over the case.
He thought to himself that the old Duke certainly understood his father well. In this way, he can save a lot of effort and be cautious about conducting a thorough investigation within the palace.
He immediately called over his secret guards and ordered, "Cooperate with Rui’an King in secret."
The secret guards complied and immediately withdrew all the men who had been in the Eastern Palace investigating the case.
Yan Huisheng thought for a moment and instructed, "Also, send a message to Lady Su Qi to tell her that she doesn’t need to do anything for the time being. She has already done enough since she came to the Capital. She can wait quietly. Going too far is as bad as not going far enough."
The secret guards complied once again.
When Su Rong received Yan Huisheng’s message, she had just woken up and was sitting at the table, lazily waiting for her lunch to be served from the kitchen.
She did not expect that the old Duke would take the opportunity of this morning’s court meeting to tell the Emperor about her identity. She substituted herself into the old Duke’s position, thought from his perspective for a moment, and quickly figured out his intention.
The old Duke was helping her, indirectly helping Yan Huisheng in the process.
If the Emperor knew her identity, he would certainly not allow anyone to kill her under his feet, here in the Capital City. Especially influences infiltrated from Nanchu, he was so powerful, he wouldn’t even tolerate the crown prince, let alone allow people from Nanchu to cause chaos?
Besides, whether he knew or didn’t know about the relationship between the Crown Prince and her, it didn’t prevent him from knowing that the person who wanted to kill him definitely wasn’t the Crown Prince. If the Nanchu Queen could find the Empress, she could also find others. The Empress stopped because of the Crown Prince, but what about the others? This was instead an opportunity for Yan Huisheng.
Su Rong thought about this, sighed lightly, worthy of the old duke, known for his long-term planning and good judgement, didn’t act without a plan. Once he acted, he instantly elevated the power dynamics she had stirred up in the court to a new peak.
The Crown Prince was right, now she really didn’t have to do anything.
Rui’an King went to the Dali Temple, finished reviewing the documents, questioned everyone, and then sent someone to summon Li Shu from the Jingzhao Prefecture for questioning. After Li Shu confessed, Rui’an King felt that something was wrong and asked the Dali Temple’s Official, "Where is that young man named Fen Ling?"
The officer of Dali Temple quickly replied, "He said investigating the case was terribly boring, he left early today."
Rui’an King asked, "Where did he go?"
Dali Temple’s Official replied immediately, "He should have gone to the Shen Residence. It is said that his sister, that is, Lady Su Qi, is staying there."
Rui’an King nodded.
The Dali Temple’s Official asked, "Your Highness, if I were to question him, should I send someone to summon him?"
"No need, I will first go to the Princess Residence. If need be, I will personally go to the Shen Residence and question him," Rui’an King said and waved his hand.
Dali Temple’s Official asked, "Should I accompany you, Your Highness?"
Rui’an King shook his head, "I can go alone, you should carefully investigate the people on duty that day. The poison could not have flown in by itself. You must have overlooked something, that’s why you couldn’t find any loopholes."
Dali Temple’s Official complied.
Then Rui’an King set off for the Princess Residence.
Upon hearing that Rui’an King personally brought people to investigate her assassination attempt, Princess Qingping had several thoughts. She called for someone and instructed, "Go quickly and call my son-in-law back."
The person went immediately.
While waiting for her son-in-law with a pot of tea for Rui’an King, she sat in the room, contemplating whether to be honest about the fact that the arrow was aimed at Su Rong or to stick to her original statement when she had an audience with the Emperor.
If she were to tell the truth, it would overturn her prior statement. It would be deceiving the Emperor. However, if she were not to say it, it would be difficult to further investigate the case, and she still wanted to capture the true culprit.
Having received the message, her son-in-law understood why Princess Qingping urgently called him back. Unable to leave immediately, he instructed in a lowered voice, "I can’t go back now. Tell the Princess that since Rui’an King personally investigates, the Emperor orders him to be in charge of the case, intending to get to the bottom. Let the Princess tell the truth."
Having got the message, the person immediately returned.
Rui’an King had been kept waiting for three cups of tea before Princess Qingping arrived, fashionably late.
Princess Qingping pretended to look unwell, "Your Highness, I ask for your forgiveness. I caught a chill yesterday, and I’m not feeling well today. I’ve kept you waiting."
Rui’an King quickly replied, "Not long at all. My timing was inconvenient. I’m here to ask the Princess a few questions regarding her assassination attempt. After I ask, I will leave."
Princess Qingping nodded and recounted the events of that day, this time without any omissions.
Rui’an King listened and thought that was precisely where things started going awry. He didn’t believe the official of Dali Temple hadn’t noticed, but that old fox, to avoid getting himself into trouble, didn’t dare question Princess Qingping for inconsistency. After all, when she had an audience with the Emperor about being attacked, she claimed the arrow was targeted at her. If she were to change her statement, it would constitute deceiving the Emperor. He would rather face the Emperor’s reprimand than invite trouble to himself.
Princess Qingping was not going to admit to deceiving the Emperor, "I was terribly frightened at the time and it took me two days to recover from the shock. It was only after the matter had been over for some time and a careful recollection that I remembered the entire incident. Your Highness, since you are entrusted by my brother with this heavy responsibility, make sure to fully investigate this matter. No matter what the truth behind the arrow is, the fact remains someone tried to assassinate me by shooting an arrow at my coach."
Rui’an King nodded, "Please rest assured, Princess."
He stood up, "Princess, please rest. I will do my best to ensure that His Majesty’s trust is not misplaced."
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