Jing Shuo was able to control Zheng Yutong because he knew she had accomplices tonight.
Therefore, by involving Yue Jiang, she will surely be able to find out Zheng Yutong's secrets and uncover the mistakes of Changshou Palace. Now she knows that the palace maid who knew the truth is dead.
Jing Shuo felt a sense of panic, as if the situation was slipping out of his control.
“Zheng Yutong, when did I force you into the room? Didn’t you take the initiative to undress me first and ask me to let you go?”
“Grandmother, did you hear that? Once she falls into the hands of the Second Prince, what other choice does Yu Tong have but to sacrifice herself?”
At this point, Zheng Yutong felt comfortable pretending to be a complete victim. Even if she admitted to some details about Jing Shuo, she could make Jing Shuo feel guilty.
Jing Huaixu finally pieced things together and gained some understanding, then glared at Jing Shuo.
"Enough. You didn't intentionally bully Zheng Yutong, but you wanted to teach the Zhao family girl a lesson. Am I right? Tonight, the Zhao family girl's clothes are very similar to Zheng Yutong's."
Jing Shuo's thoughts were guessed, and he hesitated, stammering, "I...I didn't..."
"You still dare to deny it? Madam Zhao has brought her daughter to me to complain. Madam Zhao said that her daughter doesn't know how to speak, which angered you. You then chased after the Zhao family's daughter to vent your anger."
Before the Liushang Pavilion was destroyed by fire, Madam Zhao brought her daughter to Jing Huaixu to kowtow and apologize.
It is said that Zhao Nianfu accidentally offended Jing Shuo, making him think that he was being slighted. Madam Zhao pleaded with Jing Huaixu for mercy on behalf of her daughter.
At the time, Jing Huaixu was concerned about arranging the marriage between Zhao Nianfu and Jing Shuo, so he comforted Zhao's mother and daughter and told them to leave the palace first.
Soon after, he sent people to look for Jing Shuo. At the same time, news spread that a fire had broken out at Liushang Pavilion, and that he had captured his two sons and found them having an affair in the back hall.
Although Jing Shuo was muddle-headed, he didn't really believe that Zheng Yutong hadn't plotted against the Crown Prince tonight.
"Father, the fire has been investigated. It was caused by the wind direction tonight. Some palace servants did not keep a close watch on the lanterns, which led to the fire in the poorly managed rear hall. The fire has now been completely extinguished."
While everyone in the hall remained silent, Jing Yan returned after putting out the fire and reported the cause of the fire.
Jing Huaixu trusted Jing Yan and waved his hand to indicate that he understood.
There were still people to interrogate, so he continued to interrogate Cheng Suyun on the other side and Jing Lu, who had just recovered, with a stern face.
"Jinglu, why aren't you properly releasing the lanterns? Why are you following Cheng Suyun?"
Jing Lu was extremely weak and tearful: "I released a lantern for my cousin Yu Tong, but she disappeared. My cousin Su Yun said she saw where Yu Tong went and took me to find her."
"I...I don't know how I did that to my cousin Suyun. Father, please punish me."
"How can I blame you? Cheng Suyun almost ruined you," Empress Dowager Zheng said, wiping away tears with heartache.
Jing Huaixu dotes on Jing Lu and still treats him like a child who hasn't grown up. When this happened, he still didn't understand the situation, which made Jing Huaixu feel extremely sorry for him.
He turned to Cheng Suyun and demanded, "Did you administer the potent drug to the Third Prince? What are you after?"
Cheng Suyun actually planned to make her marriage with Jinglu a real one first, but she used some drugs on him to prevent him from changing his mind halfway through.
Tonight, all she wanted was to become Jing Lu's woman, then stay home and wait to get pregnant, or perhaps have sex with Jing Lu and he would have to take responsibility for her.
Little did she expect that a fire would disrupt her plans before she was arrested.
Cheng Suyun didn't have the chance to argue like Zheng Yutong, so she could only keep kowtowing and begging for mercy.
"Your Majesty, Great-Grandmother, considering that I am now the Third Prince's woman and may already be carrying his child, I beg you to grant me marriage to the Third Prince."
“Delusion! You are a vicious man, how could you be worthy of my Lu’er? This cloak is all you’ve got!” Consort Zheng stood up and threw the cloak that the palace servants had gathered from the back hall in front of everyone.
“This cloak belongs to Lu’er. He told me before the New Year that he had lost it. I just asked the palace servants around Lu’er, and it turns out that he saw you alone in the snow on New Year’s Day, and out of pity, he gave it to you.”
"To prevent you from being misunderstood, Lu'er told you to throw it away later, but you kept it. Do you dare say you didn't have bad intentions from the beginning?"
Consort Zheng's son was almost ruined by Cheng Suyun, and she is now furious, wishing she could tear Cheng Suyun apart.
Seeing that her son's missing cloak had reappeared that very night, she suspected that Cheng Suyun was responsible.
In a fit of anger, the incident occurred tonight. Consort Zheng interrogated Jing Lu's personal attendant and learned the whole story.
“Your Majesty, if you do not believe me, you can ask the palace servants who were on duty at Delin Palace on New Year’s Day, as well as the guards who are guarding the palace gates today, to hear if Princess Cheng has taken a bundle.”
"No need to investigate, Your Majesty," Empress Dowager Cheng, who had been silent all night, finally spoke just as Jing Huaixu was about to speak.
Empress Dowager Zheng was taken aback: "What do you mean? Since you believe it, then investigate the evidence thoroughly. Do you think you can fool me with a few perfunctory words?"
Empress Dowager Cheng said indifferently, "Sister Zheng, if you really want to find out the truth, then send Yutong and Suyun to Dali Temple prison together."
"Investigate Suyun's intentions tonight, and also investigate whether Yutong was intentionally harmed by Shuo'er first, or whether it is related to those two palace maids. After all, the matter of the Crown Prince's offspring is not a trivial matter."
"Your Highness, is what I'm saying true?"
Empress Dowager Zheng was startled. Empress Dowager Cheng had such a plan, wanting to pin the crime of plotting to harm the imperial heir on Zheng Yutong.
Jingyan knew that Empress Dowager Cheng's method was not to seek justice for Yuejiang, but to make Empress Dowager Zheng back down and turn the big incident into a small one, and the small one into nothing.
Although two important palace maids died, Zheng Yutong is still alive, and it is still possible to find out who the two palace maids had contact with before.
In any case, Cheng Suyun's ambition to curry favor with the powerful is nothing compared to Zheng Yutong's potential to murder the imperial heir.
If it is discovered that Zheng Yutong was not the ultimate instigator, Empress Dowager Zheng may be implicated.
“Father, I think Grandmother Cheng’s reminder is right,” Jing Yan said. Regardless of whether Empress Dowager Zheng was innocent or not, his top priority was to eliminate the danger for Yue Jiang.
Empress Dowager Zheng firmly believed in her innocence, but Zheng Yutong was not so sure, and she could not withstand the torture.
I am not close to the Crown Prince. What if the Crown Prince gets jealous of my kindness towards Lu'er and uses this opportunity to frame Lu'er? That won't do.
"Your Majesty, I guarantee that Yu Tong would never harm the imperial heir," Empress Dowager Zheng ultimately couldn't believe that Zheng Yu Tong hadn't done anything wrong, fearing it would lead to more trouble.
Empress Dowager Cheng persisted: "Your Majesty, if I have not considered this thoroughly, why not lock up Shuo'er and Lu'er together in the Dali Temple and see who among them is conspiring with whom and what they are up to, given their apparent tacit understanding tonight?"
Empress Dowager Zheng laughed in exasperation: "What thoughtfulness? Even if they made a thousand mistakes, what wrong did Lu'er do? He was poisoned by Cheng Suyun's potent drug, it was still him..."
“These three are completely wrong, while Lu’er is the most innocent. How can you say he has no suspicion at all?” Empress Dowager Cheng said with a clear mind.
“Yes, I was wrong,” Jing Lu roared.
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