Princess Zhenmin grew up with the Emperor, and he was well aware that Zhenmin was a true lady of the court. She was skilled in embroidery, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, skilled in literature, but not skilled in martial arts. At most, she’d followed female tutors and learned some exercises to keep her body fit. She was not adept at fighting or killing.
However, Su Rong was different. Su Rong was not only skilled in martial arts but also in medicine. If she was taught by Xie Yuan, then she must have dipped into literature and scholarship as well.
Last night, four waves of assassins attacked. If it were an ordinary girl, she would have been scared to tears by now, and would probably need calming soups to suppress her shock. But Su Rong was different. She, covered in blood, returned safely to Capital City, scaring the soldiers guarding the city witless.
He wanted to meet Su Rong, but he managed to suppress the urge. "How is Zhou Gu?" he asked.
"His fever has subsided. He hadn’t woken up when I left for court," Yan Huisheng reported.
The Emperor nodded. If it were in the past, he would have scolded Yan Huisheng for rushing to the Duke Residence in the middle of the night, but he waived that now. "It’s good that his fever has broken. And Guixue? Didn’t she return to the city with her?"
Yan Huisheng shook his head. "She rode back to Capital City on the horse of Second Young Master Ye, who is currently at Buddha Temple."
In the midst of this conversation, Eunuch Yu returned with the records. "Your Majesty, I found it. It’s...it’s from Imperial Concubine. You gifted it to her three years ago."
The Emperor had experienced Lipin’s incident and was not as angered as before. "Have you checked the records of lost items?"
Eunuch Yu shook his head. "Not yet. There aren’t many items lost in the palace over the past three years. I’ll check now."
The Emperor stopped him. "Go and bring Xianfei here first."
Eunuch Yu agreed and quickly left.
Not long after, Imperial Concubine had been brought to the Imperial Study Room by Eunuch Yu. She greeted the Emperor. She was the mother of the Crown Prince. In recent years, although the Emperor suppressed the Crown Prince and favored the older and second Princes, she and De Fei were well-treated in the palace and in front of the Emperor. Even the Empress couldn’t curry favor with the Emperor because of the Crown Prince, and let the other two take precedence. They were as respected as Zhen Guifei, but since Zhen Guifei had no children, these two ladies had been living very luxuriously.
Xian Fei kneeled and greeted, "Your Majesty," and then glanced at Yan Huisheng, "Crown Prince."
Yan Huisheng returned the greeting. "Imperial Concubine."
The Emperor casually remarked "Get up," and then asked her while holding the flower ornament, "Tell me, do you recognize this item?"
Xianfei looked at the ornament in the Emperor’s hand, nodded, and asked, puzzled: "Why is the ornament that you gifted to me back in Your hands?"
The Emperor looked stern. "You tell me why? It’s what I gifted to you, it naturally should be in your hands, how can it be in mine?"
Xianfei’s face showed a slight change, and seeing the look on the Emperor’s face, she panicked a bit and shook her head. "I don’t know. This ornament... where did You get it?"
"You don’t know?" The Emperor narrowed his eyes. "I gifted it to you, how could you not know?"
Xianfei was inwardly cursing. "Your Majesty, there are many items that You gifted to me. When I wear them for a while, I have them stored in my private vault. I vaguely remember... this ornament, I seem to have had it placed in my private storage. How... did it end up in Your hands?"
The Emperor narrowed his eyes on her. "Are you sure?"
"I’m sure." Xianfei nodded.
The Emperor ordered Eunuch Yu. "You lead someone to Xianfei Palace and examine everyone there. Present the ornament and see if their testimonies align with hers. If they align, check who handled this ornament."
Eunuch Yu agreed.
Xianfei’s face turned pale. "Your Majesty, where did this ornament come from?"
The Emperor didn’t answer.
Xianfei looked at Crown Prince suddenly, besides the Emperor, Yan Huisheng was the only other person in the room. She immediately asked: "Crown Prince, is it you? Are you trying to harm..."
Yan Huisheng lowered his brow, his tone cold. "Be careful what you say, Imperial Concubine. In my father’s palace, I know my place."
The implicit meaning of his words was that if I wanted to cause harm, I wouldn’t do it with a lady’s hair ornament.
Xianfei was silenced immediately. Without evidence, she couldn’t make accusations. She had only spoken up in a moment of panic. But her instinct told her that Yan Huisheng might be related to this matter.
"Guards, take the Imperial Concubine away and keep her under surveillance. Without my permission, no one should visit her." The Emperor gave the order.
Xianfei’s face drained of color. "Your Majesty!"
The Emperor didn’t bother to talk more, just waved his hand.
Xianfei called out a few times, but seeing the Emperor unmoved, she had no choice but to be half led, half dragged away. Like Lipin, she was taken away for solitary confinement.
After Xianfei was taken away, the Emperor asked Yan Huisheng, "What do you make of this situation?"
Yan Huisheng replied evenly, "Like the case with Lipin, we should rely on the facts. Your Majesty should let Rui’an King investigate this case as well!"
The Emperor drew a deep breath. A series of incidents involving the palace concubines, implicating the fourth prince and the crown prince, had led to the search for that comb. The Imperial Guard, the surviving witnesses, had already checked in secret. Zhou Gu couldn’t fake it. Today, only the people from the Eastern Palace had uncovered this ornament.
Despite his disdain, the Emperor had to admit his doubts about Yan Huisheng’s honesty. But he knew deep down Huisheng would not stoop so low as to use an ornament to harm Xianfei and the Crown Prince.
He called to someone outside, "Summon Rui’an King for me."
Someone responded and immediately left.
After leaving the Duke Residence the day before, Rui’an King planned to personally visit the Buddha Temple to see Su Rong. But before he left, he heard that there was a lead from Lipin’s family regarding Feng Si. He had to go and interrogate the people at Lipin’s family first, which led into the night.
During the night, Zhou Gu ran a high fever, which gave rise to a great stir in the Duke Residence. Naturally, Rui’an King also heard about it. He also heard that Su Rong had returned to the capital. So, he decided not to go to Buddha Temple personally but to send Xie Lin instead. However, he was not comfortable sending his son off in the middle of the night, so he decided to wait until dawn before sending him off.
Due to Rui’an King being in charge of the investigation, he was immediately informed that Su Rong was invited back to the capital by the Duke Residence in the middle of the night, that she was assailed by several assassins, and that the Crown Prince had sent people out of the capital to dispose of the bodies and so on.
He almost gasped, thinking that the situation was rapidly escalating.
He had an inkling the Emperor would call on him again and he supposed this case would also be assigned to him. After all, this was also a major case targeting Su Rong, related to the other two cases in his hands.
Indeed, the Emperor summoned him first thing in the morning.
Rui’an King had no choice but to drop his current affairs and hastily enter the palace.
After seeing the Emperor, the Emperor indeed assigned the case of Su Rong being assassinated to him. Rui’an King was well-prepared and instead of feeling burdened by the additional case, he readily accepted it.
Seeing the King’s agreement to accept the case, the Emperor brought up Xianfei, which alarmed Rui’an King. He regretted agreeing so quickly and was astounded that Xianfei had also been implicated.
The Emperor said, "I trust you; I’ll leave this case to you."
Rui’an King sighed inwardly, regretting that he had agreed too hastily. But since he had already agreed , there was no way he could take it back now. Gritting his teeth, he nodded, "My lord, I will definitely find the truth."
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