Chapter 63: Breaking the Cocoon 6 "The prince is so handsome."...
When Zhu Song opened the door and saw that it was Wen Fengxuan, he was stunned for a moment, then he remembered what Meng Xiaohe saw last night and quickly pulled the man in. After closing the door, he winked at him frantically.
Wen Fengxuan was very good at reading expressions and instantly understood what Zhu Song meant. He nodded slightly at him.
Zhu Song was very confident in Wen Fengxuan and politely invited him to sit inside. "I wonder what brings you here so late at night, Your Highness?"
Wen Fengxuan also said politely: "Please sit down, sir."
Zhu Song then sat down as instructed. Wen Fengxuan continued, "Sir Zhu, please forgive me for disturbing you so late at night."
Zhu Chan said, "Your Highness is very polite. Feel free to speak your mind."
Wen Fengxuan said, "Then I'll get straight to the point." He stood up and bowed to Zhu Song. "Thank you for your consideration today."
Zhu Song was so frightened that he almost jumped up. He quickly stood up and moved aside, helping Wen Fengxuan to his feet. "Your Highness, please forgive me. I simply felt that something was amiss. As the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, it is my duty to investigate the truth."
The two men sat down face to face again, Wen Fengxuan's expression unpleasant. "I came here tonight for this very matter. Lord Zhu, I never intended to do anything to my eldest brother. Jiang Shen's actions today were clearly an attempt to frame me. My father was seriously ill and ordered my eldest brother to be regent. I knew this wouldn't please him, so I feigned illness and retreated to the Eastern Palace, not interfering in the affairs of the court. I honestly don't know what exactly caused their dissatisfaction."
Wen Fengxuan lowered his eyes as he spoke, his tone dejected. Zhu Song wanted to comfort him, but he didn't say anything. He just asked, "So where did Xie Ningyuan go today?"
Wen Fengxuan suppressed his dejection and replied, "I was just about to tell you about this. Today, as usual, I went hunting in the woods. Since I've never learned horseback archery, I was just riding around. I saw a little white rabbit peeking out of a hole. I wanted to catch it, so I dismounted and walked over. Just then, a sika deer came by. Xie Ningyuan shot it, but the deer didn't die immediately and ran away. Xie Ningyuan then chased the deer."
Xie Ningyuan told me what happened next. He said he chased the sika deer for about two miles before it collapsed and died. When he dismounted to retrieve the deer, he heard a woman screaming for help. He looked up and saw a little girl in pink fleeing through the woods. Worried, he chased after her.
The little girl ran very fast, and he chased her all the way to the narrow forest. The little girl disappeared, but more than a dozen men in black fell from the sky and surrounded him.
Xie Ningyuan fought with them, but those people did not want to take his life, they just wanted to trap him.
After about an hour, the men in black suddenly withdrew, and he was able to escape and hurried back.
Zhu Song frowned upon hearing this, "These experiences are exactly the same as what the virtuous king said."
Wen Fengxuan was also surprised, and then quickly explained, "Master Zhu, Xie Ningyuan would not lie to me."
Zhu Song said nothing more, "Your Highness, there is no point in saying more. Go back now and ask Xie Ningyuan to draw the girl you saw."
Wen Fengxuan said: "He didn't see his face, only his back."
Zhu Song said: "I want your back too."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Wen Fengxuan stood up, "I'll trouble you with this matter, sir."
Zhu Song said: "I am only responsible for finding out the truth."
Wen Fengxuan nodded, turned and left.
Zhu Song sent Wen Fengxuan out the door, and breathed a sigh of relief after closing it. When he turned around and came back, the people hiding in the house had come out and were staring at him.
Zhu Song was even shocked, "It's so scary."
Meng Xiaohe patted her chest and said thankfully, "Thank goodness, thank goodness."
Zhu Jingchen couldn't believe it, "There's really nothing going on between you and the Crown Prince?"
Zhu Lingye, now cleared of his grievances, said arrogantly, "I've already told you, big brother doesn't like the prince's looks. He won't understand."
Zhu Song was happy in his heart, but his face was full of helplessness. "Okay, now is not the time to talk about this."
Gu Huaiyu raised his hand to stop him, "On the contrary, now is the time to say this. You have no feelings for the prince, so why are you helping him?"
Zhu Song still said, "I just want the truth."
No one believed what he said. They all stared at him. Zhu Song compromised and sighed, "Okay, okay, I'm on the side of the prince."
Gu Huaiyu couldn't believe it. "Why? His Majesty has no intention of passing the throne to him. You are jumping into the fire pit."
Zhu Song asked, "Is the virtuous prince really that good? He's been regent for a while now, right? Do you think he's really suitable?"
Everyone was silent. Gu Huaiyu said, "The Crown Prince is even less suitable. He has not been nurtured since childhood and is frail and sickly. He might not even live past the age of twenty-five. If he dies, Daliang will be in chaos."
Zhu Song replied seriously for the first time, "The Crown Prince has experienced hardships since childhood, and his mind is firm and kind-hearted. When he was in Jizhou, he once said, 'As a member of the royal family, I am supported by the people, so I should do my best for them.' This kind of awareness cannot be cultivated. I was impressed by him then. He is not as ignorant as the rumors say. Even though he was bullied in the cold palace, he still has a deep understanding of the world. When investigating Yi Kangning, Ling Ye and I were trapped in the wild tribe and our lives were in danger. It was he who saved us and we were able to escape. He is not only talented but also brave, resourceful and decisive.
In contrast, I find it hard to identify with the wise king."
Talking about the past, Zhu Lingye also said seriously: "Yes, that time with the Savage Tribe, if it weren't for the Crown Prince, we would never have been able to come back."
Zhu Lingwang put down his pen, lowered his eyes and sighed, "Alright, although the prince is cruel, I have to admit that my elder brother was assassinated after returning from Jizhou. If it weren't for the prince's rescue, my elder brother would have died. But he is too cruel, don't be fooled by his beauty."
Meng Xiaohe's eyes immediately turned red. "How many things have you guys hidden from me?"
Zhu Song didn't say anything. Zhu Lingye looked at Zhu Song, then at Zhu Lingwang. Zhu Lingwang said, "Anyway, this is the only one I have."
Zhu Lingye also quickly said, "That's all I know."
Meng Xiaohe looked at Zhu Song, "What about you?"
Zhu Song blinked guiltily, "Isn't this enough?"
Meng Xiaohe was so angry that she almost fainted in Zhu Jingchen's arms. Zhu Jingchen quickly comforted her, "Don't be sad, at least everything is fine now."
Meng Xiaohe glared at him, pushed him away and sat up, "Don't do such dangerous things in the future."
Zhu Song was the first to agree, "I know, I know, don't worry."
Zhu Lingye also responded: "I know that too."
Zhu Lingwang said: "I usually don't have this kind of thing."
Zhu Jingshen brought the topic back to the topic, "The prince is good in every way, but he has an unfortunate fate."
This blessing also has something to say, "The Crown Prince is only eighteen years old now, and he still has seven years to go before he turns twenty-five. Even if something happens by then, it would be a good thing to have the youngest son ascend the throne."
Everyone was silent. This was too bold a statement. Although it was indeed a good thing, if it could be accomplished, several families would surely rise to prominence.
But Meng Xiaohe worried, "What if I don't give birth to a son?"
Everyone looked at Zhu Song again. Zhu Song was a little irritated by the look and answered stubbornly, "Then... then we can take in more concubines or something. There is always a way."
Meng Xiaohe sighed: "It seems that you really have nothing to do with the prince."
Zhu Song looked at her and felt helpless as she seemed very disappointed.
Meng Xiaohe then sighed, "The prince is so handsome."
Zhu Song quickly stopped her, "Okay, now is not the time to talk about this."
□□ Xing also sighed: "She is so beautiful. I have never seen her up close before. She is even more beautiful than Brother Gu."
Gu Huaiyu glared at him, and □□xing said to make amends, "It's just a little bit."
Mu Liuguang echoed, "A little bit at a time."
Zhu Song was speechless. "That's enough. Now is not the time to talk about this."
Gu Huaiyu brought the topic back to the topic, "Now that everyone is on the Crown Prince's side, should we go and pay our respects to him?"
Zhu Song said, "No need. We have already helped him. He will know it without him saying anything."
□□Xing nodded, "That's right."
Zhu Jingshen sighed deeply. It seemed that he couldn't pull himself back. Zhu Jingchen heard him sigh and looked sideways at him. "Second brother, you don't have any other intentions, do you?"
Everyone looked over, and Zhu Jingshen quickly waved his hand, "That's not what I meant. We're all in the same boat now."
Zhu Jingchen said, "That's about right."
Zhu Jingshen changed the subject, "It's indeed inappropriate to go to see the Crown Prince now. It would be easy for the virtuous king to find fault with us."
Zhu Song nodded in agreement and said, "Now let's talk about how to resolve the matter of the assassination of the virtuous king."
Qu Zhoubai said: "Yes, I will return to the capital tomorrow. If this matter is reported to the emperor, with the emperor's methods, the prince will definitely not escape."
Everyone was silent. They all knew Emperor Liang's methods. They had to resolve the matter before returning to the capital, but now there were less than three hours left until dawn.
Zhu Jing pondered for a moment and said, "Now that we can confirm that this matter has nothing to do with the Crown Prince and was staged by the Virtuous Prince himself, it's impossible for the Virtuous Prince to use his own people. The Jiang family must be behind this."
Zhu Song nodded and said, "Find that little girl. As long as she is from the Jiang family, it will be easy."
Gu Huaiyu shook his head. "I paid special attention to the people brought by the Jiang family, and there was no little girl."
Silence again.
After a long while, Qu Zhoubai said, "There's only a silhouette of her from behind. If she's not a little girl, could it be a little boy pretending to be her?"
Gu Huaiyu still shook his head, "There is no little boy either."
That means the Jiang family has no children. Zhu Song suddenly had an idea, "Could it be that the adults are in disguise?"
It would be too risky to let a child go on such an important matter. Just in case, an adult must go.
Gu Huaiyu looked at him, "What do you mean?"
"dwarf."
"Go check."
"yes."
With a direction in hand, the search was quick. It took only a cup of tea for the news to come back.
The Jiang family has a servant named Zhang Shao, who is twenty-seven years old but looks like a five-year-old child.
Zhu Song slammed the table and stood up, "I'll bring people to arrest him right away."
Zhu Jingshen stopped him, "A Song, don't be impatient."
Zhu Song asked him, "Second Uncle, why did you stop me?"
Zhu Jingshen analyzed, "Since the Emperor ordered this, revealing the truth will only make him dissatisfied with you. It will be difficult for you to stay by the side of the virtuous prince in the future. If you lose your influence in front of the virtuous prince, it will be a hundred harms and no benefit to the crown prince."
After hearing his words, Zhu Song calmed down, "Then..."
"Let's do this..."
The plan was set and the night talk ended.
Zhu Song yawned and lay down on the bed, ready to go to sleep, when the knock on the door sounded again. Zhu Song opened his eyes tiredly and complained softly, "Who on earth is it that's not sleeping at this time of night?"
Even though he thought so, Zhu Song still hurried to open the door. Outside the door was a young maid, "Master Zhu, someone asked me to give this to you."
Zhu Song looked at the wooden box in her hand and asked, "Who is it?"
The young maid shook her head. "I don't know him, but he looks very majestic."
Zhu Song didn't ask any more questions, took it and let her go.
Zhu Song closed the door and returned to his room. He opened the wooden box. Inside was a rolled-up piece of paper. When Zhu Song opened it, he saw the back of a little girl in pink clothes. It looked a bit awkward.
There was also a small folded note in the wooden box. Zhu Song opened it and saw only a simple sentence on it: "Sir, I heard you."
Zhu Song laughed as he looked at the note. The words on it were not crooked but they were definitely not pretty. The handwriting was childish, as if it was written by a child who was just learning to read.
So this is what the profound Crown Prince looks like.
Zhu Song folded the note and placed it on his chest, stretched tiredly, and lay down on the bed to sleep.
Zhu Song was woken up early the next morning. This kind of large gathering is always like this. There are so many people, and there is noise during the day and at night. There are very few moments of peace.
Zhu Song had something important to do today, so he got up immediately without lingering in bed. After a quick wash, he went to find Jiang Shen.
Jiang Shen was catching up on his sleep at the time, so the guard pretended to stop him and let Zhu Song in.
"Master Jiang." "Master Jiang."
Jiang Shen had just fallen asleep and was very tired. Zhu Song couldn't wake him up no matter how hard he tried. In the end, he had no choice but to tap him on the head.
The man woke up as soon as he heard the sound. He was about to get angry, but when he saw it was Zhu Song, he calmed down again, "Master Zhu, what's the matter so early in the morning?"
Zhu Song asked, "Master Jiang thoroughly investigated the case last night. Did he come up with any results?"
Jiang Shen yawned, "No."
Zhu Song looked worried. "We have to return to the capital today. Let's go see the prince and report the situation to him so that he can make the final decision."
Jiang Shen thought his words were a little strange, but also made sense, so he stood up and went to see the virtuous king with Zhu Song.
The two men came too early, and the wise king had not yet woken up. He waited in the corridor for a while before he saw anyone.
The virtuous prince lay on the chaise longue, his brows tinged with fatigue. "Sit down and talk."
The two men sat down as instructed. Zhu Song looked at Jiang Shen, who then looked at him. Finally, Zhu Song spoke again, "Your Highness, yesterday, Lord Jiang and I thoroughly searched the palace and found no suspects. Today is the day we're scheduled to return. Huangshan is heavily guarded. If we find a way out, the assassin will surely take the opportunity to escape. It's likely he'll be nowhere to be found that day. Furthermore, since the assassin is targeting Your Highness, if he strikes again, Your Highness will be in great danger."
The virtuous king frowned, "But the date we have set cannot be changed. We have many affairs to attend to at court and cannot delay."
Jiang Shen looked at the virtuous king, as if he wanted to say something, but perhaps because Zhu Song was present, he did not say anything.
At this moment, the guard came in and announced, "Your Highness, Lord Gu requests an audience."
The virtuous king said, "Please come in."
"yes."
Soon, Gu Huaiyu came in. He was a little surprised to see Zhu Song. "You are here. No wonder I couldn't find you." Then he bowed to the virtuous king and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."
The wise king asked, "No need to be polite, sit down and talk."
Gu Huaiyu said, "Thank you, Your Highness. I'm here to learn about the progress of the assassination case."
The wise king asked, “Oh?”
Gu Huaiyu replied, "I believe that the girl Your Highness saw must be part of the bandits."
The wise king nodded, "Of course."
Gu Huaiyu said, "Such a meticulous plan couldn't possibly use a child as bait, so I assume it must be an adult, disguised as a child."
The virtuous king and Jiang Shen exchanged a glance, and the virtuous king said, "Continue."
Gu Huaiyu said, "Then we just need to find out who the dwarf is hiding in the palace, and we will be able to follow the clues and find the mastermind behind this."
The wise king disagreed, "But if they really use a little girl, wouldn't our actions be completely counterproductive?"
Gu Huaiyu said, "I checked yesterday. There were no girls in the palace, and there were very few boys either. They were all grandchildren of important officials. They couldn't possibly be assassins. I couldn't sleep last night and studied hard all night. I feel that only a dwarf could solve this case."
Zhu Song agreed and said, "I think I saw a short dwarf somewhere, but I've been so busy these past few days that I can't quite remember."
"Hiss, ouch." The virtuous prince suddenly clutched his chest and cried out in pain. Jiang Shen jumped up immediately upon seeing this. "Master Zhu, Master Gu, you two take care of His Highness first. I'll go get the imperial physician."
Jiang Shen ran away. Zhu Song and Gu Huaiyu looked at each other, and then stepped forward together to show concern for the wise king.
The virtuous prince was in a very bad condition. He kept crying out in pain but couldn't explain why. Jiang Shen, who had gone to find the imperial physician, had not returned yet. Zhu Song and Gu Huaiyu tried to leave but were forcibly stopped by the virtuous prince.
Jiang Shen was gone for an hour before he came back hurriedly with the imperial physician.
After the imperial physician's diagnosis, he only said vaguely, "Your Highness is probably frightened and has palpitations. He will be fine after some rest."
Zhu Song said, "In that case, we won't disturb His Majesty's rest."
The wise king nodded, and Zhu Song and Gu Huaiyu left the door one after another.
After the two men left, the virtuous king dismissed his attendants. Jiang Shen said anxiously, "Zhang Shao is missing."
The wise king immediately sat up and asked, "What?"
Jiang Shen recounted what had just happened truthfully.
When Gu Huaiyu guessed the dwarf, the virtuous king winked at Jiang Shen, who hurriedly called Zhang Shao into the woods, intending to kill him. However, they hadn't expected that the East and West camps would join forces to clear the forest and hunt the white tiger. With so many people and so fast movements, they were dispersed as soon as they entered the forest.
The wise king frowned, "Where did the white tiger come from?"
Jiang Shen shook his head, "I just heard people shouting, I didn't see the real tiger."
The virtuous king said, "Go and call □□ Xing and Mu Liuguang over."
Jiang Shen was extremely anxious. "Your Highness, Zhu Song is already ours now. Let's just tell him our plan."
The virtuous prince said calmly, "Absolutely not. Zhu Song hates evil and has a clear distinction between good and evil. If it weren't for my father's trick, he wouldn't have taken sides. If we told him we wanted to frame the crown prince, he would definitely not agree. Most of the young men from the noble families of this generation are on good terms with him. It's not worth taking the risk for this."
Jiang Shen didn't say anything more, "Okay, then I'll go call □□ Xing and Mu Liuguang over."
Zhu Song and Gu Huaiyu returned to their room. Qu Zhoubai was waiting for them inside, smiling broadly, "It's done."
Zhu Song asked, "Has he been caught?"
Qu Zhoubai nodded and said, "He suffered some minor skin injuries and is currently receiving treatment at Wutong Garden."
Gu Huaiyu asked, "Wutong Garden is full of women, why did you take them there?"
Qu Zhoubai said, "Uncle Zhu came up with this idea. The women are great. They gathered around Zhang Shao and studied him, as if they were looking at something new. They even asked about his ancestors for eight generations. Now everyone in the court knows that there is a dwarf in the Jiang family. It will be difficult for the Jiang family to take action."
Zhu Song sat down and said, "Now we just have to wait for the wise king's move."
Gu Huaiyu also sat down and said while making tea, "He's too slow. If he really wants to investigate, the daylily will be cold by the time he reacts."
Zhu Song smiled and said to him, "Weren't you very optimistic about him before?"
Gu Huaiyu poured him a cup of tea and said, "It's a different time now."
Qu Zhoubai also smiled and said, "So do you like the prince now?"
Gu Huaiyu rolled his eyes at him and didn't pour him any tea. Qu Zhoubai didn't get angry and poured himself some tea. "It smells so good. You're worthy of being the last disciple of the Tea Saint."
"Even drinking tea can't stop you from talking, right?"
"It's blocked, it's blocked." Qu Zhoubai laughed.
After a while, Qu Zhoubai said again: "If the virtuous king knew that Feixing and Liuguang had captured a tiger disguised as a human, he would probably faint from anger."
Zhu Song said, "This matter hasn't even been approved. It's good that the virtuous king doesn't scold us."
Gu Huaiyu said, "The virtuous king advocates harmony. He is always polite in everything and never curses."
After they chatted for a few more words, the virtuous king's attendant came over and said, "Master Zhu, Master Gu, the prince invites you over."
Qu Zhoubai waved his hand and said, "Go quickly."
The two came to the Xian Wang's room. The Xian Wang was lying on the couch, his hand on his temples, his face was very bad. Seeing the two coming over, he said, "You are here, please sit down."
The two of them bowed and sat down.
"Jiang Shen, please speak." The wise king closed his eyes helplessly.
Jiang Shen coughed lightly, his expression becoming somewhat grim. "We've investigated the assassination of the prince. It was all a misunderstanding."
Zhu Song and Gu Huaiyu both exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?"
Jiang Shen sighed sincerely, "Oh, this is really something. Yesterday, the prince took his guards out hunting, and the guard saw a sika deer and got angry. He chased the deer and shot three arrows at it. One of the arrows almost hit the prince, and he got scared and disguised himself as an assassin and injured the prince."
Zhu Song and Gu Huaiyu were shocked on the surface, their mouths wide open, "Is there such a thing?"
Jiang Shen said, "The guards saw that the truth could no longer be concealed, so they confessed their crimes and told the truth. They were executed on the spot."
The virtuous king then spoke, "Now that the matter is clear, after the awards are given, return to the capital as soon as possible."
Zhu Song and Gu Huaiyu stood up and replied, "Yes."
The matter was successfully resolved, and Jiang Shen also smiled, "Congratulations to Master Zhu for winning first place."
Zhu Song also smiled and said, "Thank you, Lord Jiang."
"Your Excellency is so kind, let's go together."
"Walk."
The princes and ministers were already waiting, and the news of the fake assassin had already spread. Now everyone was free and smiling.
The ceremonial officer announced the final winner, and the wise king personally gave the South China Sea Mermaid Pearl to Zhu Song. From then on, this year's autumn hunt ended and everyone returned to the capital.
Zhu Song had just put the South China Sea Mermaid Pearl away when Zhu Lingye came over and said, "Brother, please put it on me."
Zhu Song rejected him without hesitation, "No."
"Ah?" Zhu Lingye moved his shoulders, trying to convince Zhu Song, "My shoulders really hurt."
"Then let's go see a doctor." Zhu Song said, then he kicked the horse's belly and left. Zhu Lingye quickly chased after him, "Brother...Brother...Brother!"
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