Chapter 72 Death of the First Prince Jiang Chen
Jiang Xue was a little dazed at first, but when Jing Ye murmured "Who can tell?", a sense of familiarity came over her.
She has seen Xiao Qi's shadow in Jing Ye more than once.
However, Jing Ye's words dispelled her doubts. Yes, Xiao Qi had been dead for three years, and the grass on his grave was probably two meters high.
"Is it because they are cousins?" Jiang Xue looked around and said, "I often feel that the prince and Xiao Qi are very similar."
Jing Ye's eyebrows twitched slightly when he heard that, and after a moment, he sneered again.
"I have more brains than him."
Jiang Xue asked: "Since the prince despises him, why does he care so much about whether his grievances are redressed?"
"Maybe it's because I'm just like him, a wild child that no one wants." Jing Ye picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. "Maybe it's because he's so stupid and pathetic, and I just happen to be kind."
Jiang Xue was speechless.
"I have heard a little about your life story, but Xiao Qi - he is the noble grandson of the emperor and the eldest son of Prince An. How could he share the same fate with you? It would be better for you not to find such an excuse."
Jing Ye laughed. He seemed to be laughing at Xiao Qi, and also seemed to be laughing at Jiang Xue.
"It turns out that Princess Changle knows nothing about her lover's background, tsk tsk tsk."
Jiang Xue's hand in his sleeve suddenly tightened. He had repeatedly mentioned that he and Xiao Qi shared the same suffering. What was so pitiful about Xiao Qi?
She said slowly, "I'd like to hear the details."
"The princess must have investigated me - you must know that my background is a secret of the royal family, right?" Jing Ye chuckled and said, "But if it is a secret, how could it be so easy for people to find out. On the contrary, Xiao Qi's background is a real secret that is unknown to the public."
"When Princess An married into the palace, she became pregnant the next month, but gave birth to a healthy baby before the due date. What do you think Prince An would think? How would he treat this child?"
Jiang Xue was surprised and said, "Confusing the royal bloodline? How dare his mother commit such a serious crime——"
"If it was just a confusion, Xiao Qi wouldn't have gotten the position of Crown Prince for nothing."
"What?" Jiang Xue exclaimed softly. Not a confusion? In other words, although Xiao Qi is not of Prince An's bloodline, he is still... of the royal family? !
"When Princess An was still unmarried, she and the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace were childhood sweethearts and they had a very close relationship." Jing Ye spoke lightly, as if the matter was not worth mentioning.
"Crown Prince? The former crown prince of Gan Kingdom, the grandfather of the current little emperor - wasn't he very close to the crown princess, and died of depression because of the crown princess's difficult childbirth?"
"Dead from depression? Hahaha," Jing Ye laughed, "The filth of the royal family of the Qian Dynasty was really well buried."
"There's no such thing as deep affection. He just couldn't forget their childhood sweethearts. After the Crown Princess gave birth to the late Emperor, he ordered the midwife to force his wife to death. He really died of depression - it's just that he died of depression after Princess An died young."
Jiang Xue's brows twitched slightly. No wonder it was said that the brother in distress that Jing Ye helped to ascend the throne, that is, the former emperor Xiao Ling, lost his father at a young age and was not liked by the former crown prince. It turned out that the root cause was here.
"That is to say, Xiao Qi is actually——"
"That's right. He is also the descendant of the former prince and a half-brother of Xiao Ling." Jing Ye said in a deep voice.
Jiang Xue rubbed her forehead with her hand, feeling a little dizzy.
Why had Xiao Qi never said a word to her about these things before?
She suddenly remembered that when she was a child, she saw Xiao Qi alone in a daze many times, and she would go over to him and ask him in a considerate manner: "A Qi, are you missing home? Are you missing your father and mother?"
Xiao Qi just remained silent, with emotions in his eyes that she couldn't understand.
At that time, she always comforted him, "It's okay, this will be your home in the future. My father, mother, and two brothers will give you half, and let them become your family members too."
Xiao Qi would ask her with a burning gaze: "Are you serious?"
Thinking of this, Jiang Xue couldn't help but lower her head to hide the tears from her eyes.
But Xiao Qi killed her family and gave half of her family to him.
"What about what the prince said, that Xiao Qi died at the hands of Prince An?" Jiang Xue asked softly.
"Your Highness, are you really ready to listen?" Jing Ye sneered and looked tentatively at Jiang Xue who lowered her head.
Did she... cry? For whom?
For Xiao Qi...
Jiang Xue took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, nodded firmly, and said, "Please give me some advice, Your Majesty."
"When I met Xiao Qi, he didn't have much time left. He was struggling in Qingzhou but was unwilling to return to Kyoto."
"If what he said is correct, Princess Changle's brother must have died at the hands of a spy from the country."
Jing Ye remained calm, but Jiang Xue suddenly raised her head.
That palace maid...originally came from her Changle Palace.
A eunuch, smart but cautious, he was sold to the palace because his family was poor.
Little Jiang Xue felt sorry for his miserable life and took him to work by her side. He was as cautious and prudent as Xiao Chun, and for some reason, he was very familiar with Jiang Xue's preferences, so Jiang Xue liked him very much.
Jiang Yu and Jiang Chen both praised him for his efficiency.
When Jiang Xue was sixteen years old, it was near the Lantern Festival. Jiang Chen was usually too busy in the court to leave, but as it was the New Year holiday, he asked her to learn calligraphy when he had some free time. Suddenly, she received a message from the palace maid who served Xiao Qi, saying that Xiao Qi asked her to go out of the palace to watch the lantern festival.
She was concerned about the appointment with Xiao Qi, so she sent the eunuch to give Jiang Chen the plum wine she had brewed herself as an apology.
Unexpectedly, after she secretly left the palace, she waited at the agreed place for most of the night, but did not see Xiao Qi.
Just wait for Jiang Yu to come hurriedly on horseback.
Jiang Yu looked anxious and said that his eldest brother suddenly fell into a coma and all the imperial doctors were helpless.
He Zhilin's grandfather, He Yuanzheng at the time, was called to the emperor for questioning.
Jiang Xueru was struck by lightning, but everything was clearly fine when she left the palace.
On the way back to the palace, she cried and told Jiang Yu everything that happened that day. She said she arranged for the palace maids to deliver plum wine, and she didn't know whether the eldest brother drank the wine she brewed. She said she didn't know why Aqi asked her to watch the lantern festival, but he didn't show up.
The more Jiang Yu listened, the heavier his expression became. When he arrived at the palace gate, he said to Jiang Xue, "Promise my brother that you won't tell anyone about these things, especially my father, the emperor, and my mother."
Jiang Xue was ignorant and didn't know why. She just thought that her brother was afraid of implicating her and Aqi, so she nodded and agreed.
Back in the palace, He Yuanzheng was also in Jiang Chen's bedroom. Jiang Yu comforted the emperor and empress to return to the palace to rest, and then dismissed everyone.
He asked Jiang Xue to tell He Yuanzheng what happened. He Yuanzheng said, "But the eldest prince's pulse doesn't sound like he's been poisoned."
Poisoned? Jiang Xue was stunned.
Then she went crazy and rushed to Jiang Chen's desk to look for the bottle of plum wine.
Later, He Yuanzheng finally found out the poison, but said there was no antidote.
It can only slowly drain a person's energy, blood, and life until they are completely exhausted.
Jiang Yu didn't know what he said to He Yuanzheng. He Yuanzheng looked at the brother and sister and nodded with a complicated expression.
Later, Jiang Yu and Jiang Xue went to Changle Palace, but the eunuch had already committed suicide.
A letter was found in his palace.
A letter from the State of Gan, printed with the seal of Prince An, instructing him to poison Jiang Chen.
The letter mentioned that the prince would provide assistance.
Jiang Xue is crazy.
Jiang Yu stopped him firmly and said that there might be another hidden story behind this matter.
Jiang Yu thought it over again and again, and went to see the emperor alone the next day and told him all the clues.
Jiang Xue didn't know why her father was unwilling to investigate further and even didn't punish the culprit Xiao Qi. Instead, he let him live in Qianning Residence.
So, as soon as the seventh day after Jiang Chen's death, she broke into Qianning's house with a dagger, intending to kill Xiao Qi with one blow.
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