Shen Wan was somewhat unable to understand Cheng Wang's actions.
The palace maid had no grudge against the Crown Prince. Her poisoning of the Crown Prince must have been at someone's behest. To avenge the Crown Prince, we must follow the clues and find the person behind it and bring them to justice.
When King Cheng interrogated the palace maids, there were only two possible outcomes.
First, the palace maid was stubborn and didn't confess, so King Cheng wanted to keep her alive to slowly extract a confession. He couldn't possibly kill her, thus cutting off this hard-won clue.
Secondly, since the palace maid has confessed, her life should be spared, otherwise, once she dies, there will be no way to verify the truth.
Regardless of the outcome, King Cheng should not have taken the life of the palace maid at Huguo Temple.
unless--
A thought flashed through Shen Wan's mind, and she said incredulously, "Could it be that Prince Cheng intends to protect the person who poisoned him?"
Shen Wan thought this was highly unlikely.
King Cheng had only one son, the Crown Prince, who was born weak and frail, which was already heartbreaking enough. To make matters worse, he was constantly poisoned. Even if a father didn't love his son, he would never allow others to bully his son like this.
Xie Jingyan said thoughtfully, "It's also possible that Prince Cheng doesn't want to make a scene and wants to handle it privately."
However, this is also considered covering up.
To plot against the Crown Prince of Cheng is a capital offense punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family.
With irrefutable evidence, the Emperor will punish whoever it is without mercy.
The fact that Prince Cheng handled the matter privately is clearly an act of cover-up. What else can be said? It can only be said that Prince Cheng's son is incredibly unlucky to have such a father.
Soon Shen Wan learned that it wasn't just the Crown Prince who was in trouble, but also the Empress Dowager.
The next day, Shen Wan and Xie Jingyan had just finished breakfast and put down their chopsticks when Dong'er came in and said, "Your Highness and Your Highness, the Empress Dowager has fallen ill..."
Shen Wan sighed inwardly.
The Empress Dowager's greatest hope was that Crown Prince Seong's frail illness could be cured. However, the one who poisoned Crown Prince Seong and caused his prolonged illness was the palace maid she had sent. Someone actually reached out to her and tried to harm Crown Prince Seong. How could the Empress Dowager not be angry when she found out?
The Empress Dowager definitely wanted to find out who instructed the palace maid to poison the palace maid, but Prince Cheng killed the palace maid instead. It's unknown whether the Empress Dowager asked Prince Cheng why he killed the palace maid...
Shen Wan was curious, and then she heard Dong'er say, "Yesterday evening, the Empress Dowager summoned Prince Cheng to the palace and asked the palace maids if they could confess who instructed them to poison him. Prince Cheng said that no one instructed the palace maids. The palace maids couldn't bear to see the Empress Dowager worrying about Prince Cheng's illness every day, nor could they bear to see Prince Cheng searching for famous doctors to treat his son and neglecting matters of state. So they wanted to poison Prince Cheng's son to make them suffer a short pain rather than a long one..."
"King Cheng was so angry that he snapped the palace maid's neck on the spot."
Shen Wan's lips and eyes twitched as she listened.
The palace maid was extremely loyal to the Empress Dowager and King Cheng, so she poisoned the Empress Dowager's most beloved grandson and King Cheng's only son over the years.
Having such a loyal maid is truly a blessing for the Empress Dowager.
Not only did King Cheng protect the person behind it all, but he also pinned the blame on the Empress Dowager. The fact that a palace maid in her own palace was bribed to poison her grandson, causing his prolonged illness, was enough to make the Empress Dowager feel guilty. In the end, the palace maid even used the pretense of doing what was best for the Empress Dowager to harm King Cheng's heir. The Empress Dowager couldn't even find anyone to avenge her grandson, and could only keep her regret and self-blame to herself.
Shen Wan was genuinely curious: who was it that harmed the Crown Prince of Cheng, and why did the Prince of Cheng not only protect her but also disregard the Empress Dowager's health?
Does King Cheng have some fatal weakness that someone has in his hands?
If King Cheng went to such lengths, why bother secretly poisoning his son? Why not just let King Cheng poison his own son? Why go through all that trouble?
Shen Wan's curiosity was like a cat's scratching at her heart. After Dong'er finished her report, she withdrew.
As Dong'er withdrew, Chun'er entered and said, "Your Highness, the Empress has summoned Princess Huai'an to the palace."
Shen Wan frowned.
What did Empress Song want with her sister-in-law in the palace?
Shen Wan's intuition told her that nothing good was coming.
Shen Wan immediately sent a maid to the main kitchen to tell Chef Li to make some of his signature desserts and have Haitang send them back to the Marquis's residence after lunch, while also inquiring about the matter. As a result, less than half an hour later, Princess Huai'an arrived at the Ling Prince's residence.
Upon hearing that Princess Huai'an was coming, Shen Wan got up and went out. She saw Princess Huai'an walking towards her with her maidservants from afar at the courtyard gate.
Shen Wan greeted her with a smile, "What brings you here, sister-in-law?"
Princess Huai'an said gently, "I haven't been able to visit you these past few days while you were resting during your pregnancy, but I came over today as soon as I had some free time."
Shen Wan invited Princess Huai'an to the flower hall for a talk.
After the two sat down, Shen Wan asked, "How has the old lady been lately?"
Princess Huai'an shook her head. "It's not good. Shen Ying was demoted from the principal wife of Prince Jin to a concubine, and the child in her womb was changed from a legitimate child to a illegitimate child. This was a huge blow to the old lady, and she has been so ill these past few days that she can't even get out of bed."
Shen Wan didn't feel sorry for the old lady; what she was worried about was, "Has the old lady made things difficult for you again?"
Princess Huai'an shook her head. Zisu, the maid behind her, pouted. Shen Wan then asked Zisu, "You tell me."
Zisu couldn't hold back any longer. When Shen Wan asked, Zisu said, "The old lady blamed the princess, angry that the princess shouldn't have told the emperor that the Prince Jin's concubine had made Princess Ling faint because of the salt administration in Liangjiang..."
I've never seen such a clueless old lady. The one asking the question is the Emperor. If her Prince tells a lie, that's a crime of deceiving the Emperor. The Consort of Prince Jin is practically pointing her finger at her Princess and cursing her. Yet the old lady still has the nerve to blame the Princess for not helping to cover it up. Her Princess didn't kick him while he was down because of the young master and didn't want to cause him any trouble!
Not to mention Zisu was angry, Shen Wan was also furious. These people always blame others for their mistakes; expecting them to reflect on their actions was out of the question.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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