Chapter 483: Deliberate
Prince Cheng was brought in by two eunuchs and knelt on the ground.
After Xiao Jingfan heard the whole story, he asked Doctor Li who was standing by, "Has Prince Cheng ever bit anyone in the Imperial Hospital?"
"No," said Doctor Li. "His Royal Highness Prince Cheng has always been very... quiet and reserved. Aside from calling everyone 'beautiful,' he has no tendency to hurt anyone. That he would come out and injure the Empress this time is truly... unexpected."
Hearing this, Xiao Jingfan glanced at the Queen. Seeing that she looked normal, he pointed at Prince Cheng, who was staring at the Queen, and asked Zhou Yuande, "Who did he meet today?"
"In reply to your Majesty, I have just sent someone to the Imperial Hospital to investigate," Zhou Yuande said. "The palace servants who serve His Royal Highness Prince Cheng stated that in addition to the imperial physician and the pharmacy staff, His Royal Highness Prince Cheng also met with a maid named Caizhu from Qiushuizhai."
[Isn't Qiu Shui Zhai the territory of Concubine Zhu? I remember Cai Zhu was her chief maid. Is this matter related to Concubine Zhu?]
Chu Liuzheng smelled a conspiracy, opened the system and started looking!
Xiao Jingfan said: "Bring the person here."
"Yes." Xiao Anzi took the order and went to invite someone.
While waiting for someone, Xiao Jingfan looked at the queen, and his first words made everyone in the hall wish they were deafened.
"Does the Queen have any history with Prince Cheng?"
Empress Zhong: "...What do you mean by this, Your Majesty?"
"I'm very curious," Xiao Jingfan pointed at Prince Cheng, who was kneeling there obediently, staring at the Queen without any other reaction. "Why did Prince Cheng bite you instead of others?"
"I want to know, too." Queen Zhong gave a wry smile. "I believe I have no grudge against Prince Cheng. Why did you come and hurt me?"
[Of course it's because Prince Cheng has a love-hate relationship with you.]
Prince Cheng believed the Queen was deeply in love with him and never doubted her messages. Unexpectedly, the Queen was also hedging her bets, with him merely a backup option. After all, in the eyes of the Queen and Duke Zhong, how could a romantic relationship compare to the true power of the Queen?
Prince Cheng has always been resentful about this, and blamed the Queen for not being able to sit on the throne. Even when he was mad, he still remembered it. As soon as he saw the purse Caizhu was wearing, he grabbed it and rushed out. He was so fast that I thought Prince Cheng was not crazy at all.
Chu Liuzheng flipped through the system.
[Tsk tsk, if things succeed, it's because of your own ability, you're awesome, but if things don't work out, you blame the woman. Such a fragile ability~ Please use your brain, I've always been aiming for the position of Queen, okay? If you can't give it to me, I'll naturally find someone who can.]
[By the way, is the tyrant blind? Princess Cheng and the Queen look so much alike, it's no exaggeration to say they're sisters. Has the tyrant never had any doubts?]
Xiao Jingfan, who had no doubts at all: "..."
He is not bored and doesn't care about the affairs of state, but instead makes himself look like a cuckold.
Besides, he had only met Princess Cheng twice before Prince Cheng went to his fiefdom. He couldn't just stare at his brother's wife like a pervert, could he?
However, now that he knew this, he recalled the appearance of Princess Cheng and glanced at the Queen. He thought to himself, Princess Cheng is as thin as a skeleton. How does she look like the Queen?
[Wow! I thought Princess Cheng was wasting away for him, but it turns out she knows about Prince Cheng and the Queen's past, and knows they look alike, so she deliberately slimmed herself down before meeting the Emperor!]
[In order to save his own life, he considered everything so thoroughly. He is indeed a ruthless person who dared to burn the imperial edict!]
Chu Liuzheng sighed in admiration and looked upon Princess Cheng's broad-minded heart with admiration.
If she were Princess Cheng, and knew that the man she had borne children with married her because she looked like another woman, she would not only dismember Prince Cheng, but at least scatter her ashes.
*
"Your servant Caizhu pays homage to His Majesty." Caizhu knelt down. "May Your Majesty be well."
Xiao Jingfan asked, "Have you met Prince Cheng today?"
Caizhu said, "In reply to your Majesty, I went to the Imperial Hospital to get medicine. I saw His Royal Highness Prince Cheng sitting in the courtyard, so I went in to pay my respects according to etiquette."
The palace rules state that if one encounters a noble person and turns a blind eye, it is considered extremely disrespectful and the person shall be punished by being sent to the Ministry of Punishment.
Although Prince Cheng was crazy, the emperor did not deprive him of his royal title, so it was not surprising for Caizhu to pay her respects.
Xiao Jingfan asked, "Besides greetings, did you do anything else?"
Caizhu thought about it and looked hesitant.
Zhou Yuande said sharply, "You must not hide anything in front of His Majesty."
"I dare not," Caizhu said hurriedly, "After paying my respects, I was about to leave when His Highness Prince Cheng suddenly snatched my purse."
Queen Zhong asked, "What kind of purse?"
Caizhu answered truthfully, "It is azure blue, with a pair of gourds embroidered on the front."
Hearing this, Chu Liuzheng stole a glance at the Queen's reaction.
During the purest days of love, Prince Cheng personally embroidered a gourd-shaped purse for the empress, filling it with small notes of love. On her first day in the palace, the empress threw it into the brazier and burned it, leaving not even a speck of ashes.
Xiao Jingfan suddenly felt as if his head was green with anger, but strangely, he wasn't angry at all. Could he possibly get used to this kind of thing?
No, I'm still angry.
Queen Qi and Duke Zhong's Mansion placed their bets on both sides.
A cold light flashed in the emperor's deep eyes, "Wait for me!"
The Queen, who was being closely watched by Chu Liuzheng, didn't react, at least not on the surface. After asking that question, she served herself some tea and didn't speak again.
Caizhu confessed everything, and Zhou Yuande was about to take her away when Chu Liuzheng, who had found some interesting gossip, suddenly asked, "Did you embroider that gourd purse yourself?"
Caizhu was stunned, looked at Chu Liuzheng, and shook her head, "No."
Chu Liuzheng asked, "How did that come about?"
"Yes..." Caizhu pursed her lips, her voice a little softer than before, "It was given to me by the Concubine Shu."
Chu Liuzheng asked again, "Why did the Concubine Shu give you a purse?"
Caizhu replied, "A few days ago, I accompanied my master to Zhaoyang Palace to pay my respects to the Empress Shufei. The Empress saw that the purse I was wearing was torn, so she gave me a new one."
[Tsk tsk, the Empress gave birth to a prince, and Concubine Shu couldn't sit still. This purse she gave me as a reward, aside from the better stitching and embroidery, the color scheme and pattern are exactly the same as the one Prince Cheng made back then. No wonder Prince Cheng got so worked up when he saw it.]
Is it wrong to reward a purse? Absolutely. Would the Queen dare to say so? No.
[This is the true way of killing without shedding blood. The Queen can only swallow this loss in silence.]
Chu Liuzheng didn't ask any more questions. Instead, the queen, who had been silent for a long time, looked at her. The gilded armor scraped across the hem of her skirt, leaving a mark.
Upon hearing that the empress had been attacked, the emperor came in person, and Shufei and Chun Zhaoyi, who were temporarily in charge of the six palaces, came together, but they only saw the ceremonial procession going away.
For attacking and injuring the Queen, Prince Cheng was punished with twenty lashes. His blood fell on the snow, like newly opened plum blossoms.
Prince Cheng could not bear the torture and fainted. He was carried back to the Imperial Hospital covered in blood.
When everyone thought that the emperor would compensate the queen, he didn't even give her a box of ointment. He even asked Concubine Shu to hold the phoenix seal and asked the empress dowager to take care of the little prince temporarily.
There were rumors in the harem that Prince Cheng had an old relationship with the Queen. The Emperor knew about it and hated it very much.
(End of this chapter)
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