Hongyu hurriedly got off the car and squeezed to the front of the crowd, where she saw a baby lying on a cart.
The embroidered quilt looked strangely familiar; it was the very one she had personally wrapped for Kang'er.
People are saying that Kang'er died of poisoning?
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she ran unsteadily toward the carriage, exhausted.
"Madam Yu, the officials will be here soon, please don't worry."
"Quickly help Madam Yu back into her sedan chair."
The two nannies helped Hongyu away, preventing her from getting close to the carriage, because Kang'er was inside.
Kang'er's face was purple, and there was white foam around his mouth. His two chubby little hands were raised above his head, but they hung in mid-air because there was an arrow supporting the cart behind him.
Those who witnessed this couldn't help but sigh, "How pitiful, how could someone so young be shot to death?"
"Yes! He should have been a young master from a wealthy family, but he went to the gates of hell at a young age."
"ah……"
Hongyu roared and broke free from the two nannies' support, lunging towards the carriage.
It really was Kang'er.
She held Kang'er in her arms, tears streaming down her face. To save her own life, she had offended Prince Yan and then supported Song Hua to become emperor, likely making too many enemies. Therefore, she had entrusted Kang'er to Chen Yu to raise. But how could Kang'er have been poisoned?
She was filled with remorse and hugged Kang'er tightly. She felt something sticky on her hands. She turned Kang'er over and saw an arrow in his back.
It seems that Kang'er has been hit by a poisoned arrow.
"Disperse! Disperse! This is an official case; get out of here immediately!"
Gu Erlang arrived with a group of constables. When he saw Hongyu holding the child with tears streaming down her face, he leaned over and whispered, "Madam Yu, put Young Master Kang'er in the carriage. We'll take him back to the yamen to examine the body so we can find the real culprit as soon as possible and avenge Young Master Kang'er."
The real culprit?
Hongyu snapped out of her daze, put Kang'er in the carriage, and hurriedly left.
She led her troops to Shen Yu's residence and ordered them to break down the door.
"Mu Chenyu! Get out here! Get out here!"
After a while, there was no movement in the yard and no light in the house.
Hongyu was furious and shouted, "Go in and arrest them! Tie up all the men, women, and children and take them to Chengyuan. I want to interrogate them myself!"
The guards rushed into the house and searched it, but there was no one there.
Actually, right after Hongyu left, Cuiwei returned. She was being chased and poisoned by an arrow, while Kang'er had already died from the poison.
But for some reason, the horse didn't turn towards Qinghe County, but instead headed straight for the capital like a madman, so she jumped off the carriage.
Fearing that bringing back Kang'er's body would implicate Chen Yu, she left Kang'er's body in the carriage.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yu hurriedly led her family away, fearing that Hong Yu would harm innocent people without distinguishing right from wrong.
Unable to find anyone, Hongyu became even more furious. She ordered someone to throw torches into the house and left in a huff.
------
The next day.
The Emperor personally went to the yamen to hear Kang'er's case.
The constable knelt in the courtroom and reported: "Last night, while I was on guard duty at the west gate, I saw a carriage approaching from afar, but I didn't see the driver. When the carriage got closer, I saw an infant lying on it, its body propped up by an arrow. I immediately reported it to the authorities."
Later, Constable Gu asked me to lead the carriage to the yamen (government office). However, when we arrived, the horse wouldn't go in; instead, it broke free of its reins and galloped eastward, only stopping at the gate of Prime Minister Kong's residence. The yamen officials caught up and, together with me, dragged the horse back to the yamen.
Hongyu staggered into the hall and knelt down with a thud. She hadn't slept all night; her eyes were red and swollen, her voice was hoarse, and tears streamed down her face as soon as she opened her mouth to speak.
"Your Majesty, Kang'er... died of poisoning. We don't know who was so vicious as to shoot a child who was less than two months old."
The Emperor nodded. He had already heard from Master Gu that Kang'er had indeed died from a poisoned arrow, the same kind of poison that had afflicted the Sixth Prince. The Sixth Prince had been assassinated at the Lu Prince's residence, and the culprit had escaped. It seemed that as long as the murderer of Kang'er was found, the Sixth Prince's case could be solved.
The Emperor waved for the guards to leave, then turned to Hongyu and asked, "Zhang Hongyu, I ask you, have you made any enemies?"
Oh!
Hongyu sneered inwardly. Outsiders were unaware of her framing of the Qiu family and her secret plot to support Songhua in seizing the throne. The only one eager to take revenge on her was Prince Yan.
However, she secretly handed Kang'er over to Chen Yu, without the King of Yan's knowledge!
She thought about it all night but still couldn't figure it out. Faced with the Emperor's question, she could only shake her head repeatedly and sob, "Hongyu was born a maid and has always been cautious in her actions. How could she have enemies?"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I have no enmity with Hongyu."
Hongyu opened her mouth in surprise and turned to look. Yan Wang had already come to her side.
Yan Wang stood in the hall without kneeling. In his heart, Song Hua's reign as emperor was illegitimate and improper.
After the death of the sixth prince, the seventh prince, Prince Jin, should have succeeded to the throne. How could it have been the son of Prince Xiang?
Even more suspicious is the fact that Songhua was given the title of Prince Pu, which differs from the title of Prince Jin by only two strokes. This must have been premeditated.
Before the late emperor passed away, Consort Kong was by his bedside. He and Prince Li both suspected that the Kong family had killed the sixth prince. Later, they took advantage of the late emperor's critical illness to modify the will, which allowed Songhua to inherit the throne.
He not only suspected the Kong family, but also suspected that Hongyu was involved. This was because Prime Minister Kong cared deeply for Hongyu and even helped her settle the case of the passenger ship fire.
Therefore, he hated Hongyu and her son.
The moment he learned that Kang'er had been kidnapped, he began to plot a grand scheme.
Although he suspected that Hongyu wanted to curry favor with Songhua, he did not believe that Hongyu would drown her own flesh and blood.
Therefore, he ordered someone to sneak into Chenyu's courtyard. When they found that Cuiwei was not there, they concluded that Cuiwei had run away with Kang'er.
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