Chapter 27 Why did the apology lead to a quarrel?
Xie Xuanlan brought two prisoners in shackles to the palace, one was Yu Wenzhong and the other was Du Ming, a guard of the imperial army.
Xie Xuanlan's eyes met with King Jin's in the air, and he saw Cong Ying frowning. He snorted and turned his face away with a noble and cold look.
He pushed Yu Wenzhong on the back with his toes: "Don't play dumb, confess first."
Yu Wenzhong was drenched in cold sweat. Under the piercing gazes of the crowd, he stumbled over his confession:
"The Hanlin Academy is divided into the Secular School and the Clean Stream School. I was ordered by Princess Chun'an to infiltrate the Secular School to monitor their words and movements. But once, while delivering a message to the Princess's residence, I was caught red-handed by Minister Duan. Fearing death, I... secretly turned against them."
Minister Duan jumped up and said, "You are slandering me! What does the Hanlin Academy have to do with what happened today? I think you are still trying to make trouble!"
Xie Xuanlan sneered, "Minister Duan, this room is full of distinguished guests. It's not your turn to speak first, is it? Keep going."
Yu Wenzhong swallowed his saliva. "Minister Duan has evidence of my dealings with the Princess's residence, proving I was working for the Princess. So, he asked me to do this tampering with the documents. This way, whether I can be traced or not, the blame will ultimately be on the Princess."
So even if Ying revealed part of the truth, Princess Chun'an still couldn't escape and could only avoid talking about Yu Wenzhong.
Emperor Feng Qi asked him from the upper seat, "What about Lu Mu? Did you kill him too?"
Yu Wenzhong said, "I killed him together with Du Ming, the palace guard. I was responsible for tricking Lu Mu back to the guardhouse and fabricating evidence that he committed suicide out of fear of punishment, while Du Ming was responsible for strangling him... I was afraid that my actions would make too much noise, and I was also afraid that I would be pushed out as the scapegoat later."
Emperor Feng Qi sneered: "Why are the Palace Guards getting involved?"
Xie Xuanlan nodded and said, "It was my fault that I failed in my duty and allowed my subordinates to be instigated."
Emperor Feng Qi didn't ask who instigated this. Instead, he looked at Prime Minister Xie meaningfully and said with emotion, "A mere Jiang Congjing has implicated so many people. If we investigate further, I'm afraid few of them will be innocent. Prime Minister, what do you think?"
Since Xie Xuanlan brought Du Ming into the palace, Prime Minister Xie had remained silent. When he spoke this time, his previous words were no longer as eloquent as before: "The main culprit in this case is the scoundrel's trickery. Fortunately, it has not caused any adverse effects. I believe that we should be humble and examine the serious ones and let the minor ones go. The princess and I are willing to take the responsibility for our failure to oversee this."
Emperor Fengqi nodded: "What the Prime Minister said makes sense."
The two men reached a consensus, so there was no need to further discuss the case.
Xue Huanjin passed on the imperial edict. Emperor Fengqi rubbed his forehead and spoke slowly, "Yu Wenzhong and Du Ming are the main culprits. They will be executed in the autumn. The Minister of Rites and the Imperial Concubine's Commander were instigators. Their official titles will be stripped and they will be demoted to commoners. The Ministry of Justice will work with the Dali Temple to provide concrete evidence. As for the Prime Minister and Chun'an... each of them will submit a report of negligence and be fined six months' salary. Is this fair?"
Cong Ying listened quietly to the fair decision of fifty lashes for each party.
When Emperor Feng Qi saw her, he remembered that Jiang Congjing was still imprisoned in the Dali Temple. "Release the Jiang family member, Jiang Shi. Your family has been innocently implicated in this matter. Do you want some compensation?"
Cong Ying stepped forward and knelt, replying, "Your Majesty, my family is fortunate to be safe and sound, and I dare not covet any more rewards. Although my brother was framed, he also had his share of insanity. Long before this incident, my uncle had expressed his desire to take him out of the spotlight."
"You are so smart, and your uncle is also a wise man."
Emperor Feng Qi really didn't have a good impression of the Jiang family, so he agreed to Cong Ying's request: "Find Jiang Shanggu a distant outer palace so that they can hide out."
Cong Ying knelt down to express her gratitude.
"Everyone, please leave," Emperor Feng Qi pressed his forehead tiredly, "Chun'an stay."
＊
Xie Xuanlan was talking with Prime Minister Xie under the red steps outside the Chuigong Hall. Cong Ying saw them from afar and waited for him by the corridor leading out of the palace.
The first thing that arrived was the sedan chair of Prince Jin.
Prince Jin raised the curtain and looked at her: "The palace gates will be locked soon. He can stay in the palace. What will you do?"
Cong Ying was still a little hesitant: "Then I'll wait a moment."
"It seems the Fourth Lady still has some doubts." Prince Jin extended his hand to her, "Come up, I will explain it to you."
A team of imperial guards came here on patrol, and Cong Ying had to board a sedan chair to hide. When the leader of the imperial guards saw that it was the King of Jin, he greeted him and went around the sedan chair to go somewhere else.
Sitting upright in the sedan chair, Cong Ying thanked the King of Jin. The King of Jin stared at her for a moment and said with a smile, "I thought you would be curious why Yu Wenzhong didn't mention me."
Cong Ying said, "I believe Your Highness is innocent in this matter. Yu Wenzhong doesn't want to create any more trouble. After all, the more people he involves, the more serious the charges will be."
The King of Jin nodded and said, "I really didn't do anything. I just warned him not to do anything during the Spring Examination when I met him a few years ago."
Cong Ying frowned in surprise: "Your Highness knew at that time that he was going to..."
King Jin smiled and said, "Are you curious? You can keep asking and I will tell you the answer."
The look he gave her was almost gentle and affectionate, but Cong Ying felt a chill slowly creeping up her spine.
I heard the Prince of Jin had been in a coma for nearly three months. At that time, Prime Minister Xie and Minister Duan might not have even considered disrupting the Spring Examination. How could the Prince of Jin have known about it? Was he just too clever, foresighted, or was there something else going on?
Cong Ying said, "No, the rest has nothing to do with me, so I won't ask."
The Prince of Jin said, "Just now in the palace, Princess Chun'an's innocence had nothing to do with you, yet you still tried to defend her. I assumed you were someone who would speak out when you were wronged and investigate any doubts. But do you realize that if you had said anything, your Lord might not have been grateful, and Prime Minister Xie would have certainly regarded you as a thorn in his side?"
Cong Ying slowly lowered her eyelashes: "Thank you, Your Highness."
"Thank me for what?"
"Although I do not regret speaking up for your lord, I am still grateful for your protection."
The Prince of Jin had intended to seriously scare her, but after hearing these soothing words, his anger subsided and he sighed, "You..."
Same temper as in previous life.
There had also been cases of cheating in the Spring Examination in the previous life. Although the details were different, the protagonists were still the same people.
However, the Jiang and Xie families had already been engaged at that time, and due to her status, Ah Ying did not participate in the investigation of the case in a high-profile manner. She just wrote down the doubts she found in a letter and sent it anonymously to the princess's mansion, hoping to clear Princess Chun'an's name.
Princess Chun'an had just been betrayed by Yu Wenzhong, and was in a state of panic. Of course, she would not believe such a letter of unknown origin. However, this letter was almost delivered to Prime Minister Xie by a spy from the princess's mansion. Fortunately, Xie Xuanlan was discussing matters in the study at that time. He felt that the handwriting was familiar, so he subconsciously intercepted and hid it.
At that time, he and Ah Ying had not yet reached a rapport, and being young and impetuous, he had a quarrel with her, saying many hurtful things. After that, Ah Ying never again took the initiative to inquire about state affairs.
Now that he thinks about it, he really owes Ying too much.
“Oh no!”
Cong Ying parted the curtain of the sedan chair and looked towards the Chuigong Hall. Within a few words, both Prime Minister Xie and Xie Xuanlan had vanished. A look of dejection crossed Cong Ying's face. "Third Young Master Xie is missing."
The King of Jin felt as if his heart had been soaked by the early spring rain, a sour, tender feeling that weighed heavily on his chest. He asked Cong Ying, "Why are you so anxious to see him?"
Cong Ying said, "Today, Third Young Master Xie brought Yu Wenzhong and Du Ming to the palace to recant their confessions, which slapped Prime Minister Xie in the face. If it weren't for him, Prime Minister Xie would have won a great victory. I'm a little worried that he will be beaten when he returns home..."
The voice gradually became lower and lower, and finally turned into a helpless sigh.
What's the use of worrying? She can't help him in any way, and he may not be happy to see her.
"As Your Highness said, the words I said in the Imperial Examination Hall were extremely hurtful. Perhaps Third Young Master Xie was angry about it and did something so disobedient to Prime Minister Xie."
The King of Jin consoled her, saying, "It's not your fault."
He explained, "The Imperial Guard is Xie San's subordinate. Even Prime Minister Xie cannot interfere. Even if you weren't there, he would still ask Prime Minister Xie for an explanation."
Seeing that Cong Ying was still worried, the King of Jin said, "He will not return home tonight, nor will he be beaten. I know where he is."
＊
At this hour, the only place in Yunjing that was still brightly lit and bustling with noise was Qie Le Fang.
Brothels and teahouses are connected to each other, and wine shops are connected to each other. Looking down from the highest Zhaixing Tower, the dancers' skirts are like blooming lotus flowers, and the spectators are like swimming fish.
Cong Ying finally squeezed through the crowd and followed the waiter's instructions to find the canal.
But the small pleasure boat by the canal was empty, and there was no "very handsome young man in red" as she had described to the waiter.
"Did he leave?" Cong Ying looked at the lake blankly.
Suddenly, something hit the back of his head. With a cry of "Ouch", he saw the candied fruit fallen at his feet, then turned around and looked up at the top of the banyan tree.
Xie Xuanlan was resting his legs on the tree trunk gracefully and comfortably, totally oblivious to the fact that the newly sprouted banyan tree was being destroyed by him.
He lowered his eyes and glanced at Cong Ying: "Little ungrateful bastard, are you coming to Qie Le Fang to drink too?"
Cong Ying looked up at him and said, "I came here specifically to see you."
Xie Xuanlan raised his eyebrows unexpectedly, and jumped down from the tree easily and neatly. Although he still looked impatient, he took three or two steps and came in front of Cong Ying.
He looked her up and down and said, "You've already said everything, why are you still looking for me?"
Cong Ying: "Why did Third Master Xie bring Yu Wenzhong and Du Ming to Chuigong Palace today to prove Princess Chun'an's innocence?"
Xie Xuanlan said: "I am trying to drag my father into this. It has nothing to do with your lord, and even less with you."
Cong Ying stared at him steadily, her eyes filled with worry and guilt, and she clearly didn't believe him.
Xie Xuanlan sneered, pointed at the canal and said to her, "Mrs. Jiang Si, you're like a tortoise hiding in the canal. When others try to be nice to you, you think they're going to pluck you out and make soup. Even someone like you dares to go to the Chuigong Palace to petition. Am I supposed to be pushed aside by you and hide in my shell?"
Hearing his vicious metaphor, Cong Ying frowned, and the guilt in her heart disappeared.
She retorted sarcastically, "Then Third Young Master Xie is like the toad in the canal, always making a noise when it's his turn and when it's not."
After saying that, I felt regretful. Didn’t she come to apologize? Why were they arguing?
Unexpectedly, Xie San didn't take it as an offense. He folded his arms and looked at her with a smile: "Really? Then we are quite a match."
From Ying: "..."
Seeing her speechless, Xie Xuanlan seemed to have won the game. He smiled and patted her shoulder: "Come on, drink with me. This is just an apology."
On the Star-Picking Tower, Prince Jin watched this scene from afar.
He stood too high, and the hustle and bustle under his feet was like a wisp of misty dust. Power, youth, and happiness were all illusions in his dreams.
In fact, he has never forgotten the pain of his previous life. Although he has entered the dream, he is still unable to truly confuse reality and illusion.
——Until he got in the carriage to the palace and held Ah Ying's hand. Her hand was warm and soft, and her pulse was beating clearly. At that moment, he felt that his light soul had finally fallen into this world and was placed in the body of Prince Jin.
She is alive, and as long as she lives well, this place is his refuge.
"Let's go back home."
Prince Jin finally turned and walked into the dark night.
It's time to plan carefully for what happens next.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com