Chapter 50 Shocking Case
Ji Changqing has never attended any banquet since returning to Beijing to take up his post.
So when Wei told Marquis Rongchang that Madam Ji had accepted the invitation and replied that Ji Changqing would come to the banquet, he thought that Ji Changqing knew the situation and was ready to stand on the side of the prince.
After hearing what the fat servant said, he realized how wrong he was.
Ji Changqing didn't want to support the prince at all, he clearly wanted to depose him!
"Who gave you the courage to lie and frame the Crown Prince?"
Marquis Rongchang shouted sternly.
"Do you know what the crime of slandering the crown prince is?"
Wuhua, dressed as a servant, said, "I have witnesses and physical evidence, and every word I say is true! You accuse me of framing the prince without any evidence. That's slander!"
Marquis Rongchang looked at Ji Changqing and sneered, "Is this how Prime Minister Ji handles cases? He first sends people to frame someone, then sends out the Imperial Guards to search? No wonder he can raid anyone's house he wants!"
Ji Changqing said calmly, "If the Marquis is innocent, why rush to kill to silence him? We'll know who's right and who's wrong once the Jingzhao Yin arrives and investigates."
"I killed someone to silence him?"
Marquis Rongchang flatly denied it.
He knew he had overreacted a bit, but it wasn't hard to find an excuse.
"I didn't say a word, didn't give a single order, and he acted on his own. Who knows who he is? Who would be so foolish as to kill someone in front of the Royal Guards? This is clearly a frame-up!"
"My son died in mysterious circumstances, and the Crown Prince's nephew was brutally framed. I'd like to ask you, Prime Minister, what deep hatred do you have against our Han family that warrants such vengeance?!"
Just as he finished speaking, a gentle voice rang out, "I'm wondering the same thing. When did I offend the Prime Minister to deserve such framing?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the prince walking across the ice with the light behind him.
After walking not far from Han Ruixuan's body, he stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Ji Changqing quietly.
No one could imagine that with his gentle and handsome features, he would whip and abuse children.
The prince was slandered, right?
Some people couldn't help but think.
Maybe some prince framed him deliberately in order to bring him down.
Hua Ling, curled up in Wuhua's arms, quietly asked, "What is a frame-up?"
Wuhua replied, "It's about fabricating charges to frame someone. The prince said that what we said was false and that we were deliberately framing him."
“It’s not fake!”
Hua Ling mustered up her courage, turned around, pointed at the prince, and said, "It was you who brought me here, locked me up in a dark room, and said that if I didn't behave, you would break my neck and throw me into the lake to feed the fish."
"The last time you came over, you tied me to a stool and told me to serve you. A tiger came outside and scared you away."
"Just now you came again, wanting to whip me. You did something bad yourself, and you slandered others for slandering you. How could you be so mean!"
The guests were stunned.
What?
Throw it into the lake to feed the fish?
Could the three children's skulls strung on Han Ruixuan's hands and feet be related to the prince?
Oh my god!
How come this melon gets bigger the more I eat it... It's so big that I can't eat it anymore.
The prince glanced at Hua Ling and sneered, "The Prime Minister is truly unscrupulous in his efforts to frame me. He even instigated such a young child to lie, and he's not afraid of retribution."
Ji Changqing ignored him and asked Hua Ling, "Where are you being held?"
"Over there!" Hua Ling pointed in the direction of the guest house.
Ji Changqing immediately ordered the commander of the Imperial Guards to send people to seal off the guest house.
The commander of the Imperial Guard secretly groaned in his heart. His Majesty asked them to obey Ji Changqing's orders in order to protect Ji Changqing from being assassinated, but not to deal with the prince.
What if the prince is safe and sound and holds a grudge against them? What should they do?
But now that I’m here…
He gritted his teeth and arranged the staff.
Marquis Rongchang sneered, "Prime Minister Ji hasn't even gotten rid of the suspicion of framing someone, yet he's letting the Imperial Guards seal off the Marquis's mansion. How can that be justified?"
"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. Ji is involved in this matter, so it is indeed inappropriate for me to be involved. However, the Royal Guards are His Majesty's men, not Ji's. If Your Majesty doesn't trust Ji, then you should trust His Majesty."
Ji Changqing replied.
"The Royal Guards are only sealing off the scene. Your Majesty, there's no need to get so excited. Otherwise, others might think you're guilty."
"you!"
Marquis Rongchang was so stunned that he couldn't utter a word.
The Jingzhao Yin finally arrived with his yamen runners.
When he received the report, Jingzhao Yin was drowsy. After hearing the details of the case, his sleepiness disappeared instantly.
The eldest son of Marquis Rongchang drowned in a lake while entertaining guests at his own mansion. When he was fished out, he was found with three children's skulls stuck to his body?
What a shocking case!
He hurriedly called for people to come over, but he never imagined that when he arrived at the scene, he found that the matter was related to the case of a child who disappeared after being adopted from the orphanage, and also involved the prince!
Is this the end of his career?!
He encountered such a deadly case.
"I'm afraid the Crown Prince's matter needs to be handled by His Majesty. I have no right to judge..."
He said while wiping the sweat off his face.
Ji Changqing said calmly, "I have already sent someone to report this to His Majesty. Sir Qin should first investigate the case of Prince Han's drowning."
"Okay." Jingzhao Yin said hurriedly.
He looked at the Marquis of Rongchang: "My Lord, are you going to perform the autopsy on the Crown Prince in the mansion or..."
"Is that even a question?"
Marquis Rongchang said coldly.
"Do you still want so many of us to go back to Jingzhao Prefecture with you and cause trouble?"
"Your Excellency is right."
The Jingzhao Yin took a look at the scene and had a temporary shed built by the lake, which was surrounded by cloth. He also ordered people to bring the lanterns from the Nine-Curve Bridge to illuminate the shed.
When the coroner was performing an autopsy in the shed, the shadows cast on the cloth looked like a shadow play, which frightened the guests.
Some of the timid ones hid behind others and dared not open their eyes to look.
However, the more shocking thing is yet to come.
After Ji Changqing reminded Jingzhao Yin that there might be skeletons in the lake, Jingzhao Yin ordered people to expand the area of the ice cave and sent several skilled divers to search the lake for corpses.
The sailors dived, surfaced, dived again, and surfaced again.
Every time he surfaced, he would bring back one or two skulls or a few other bones, and place them in different categories not far from the entrance of the ice cave.
One skull, two skulls, three skulls… One leg bone, two leg bones, three leg bones… One rib, two ribs, three ribs…
Slowly piled up into hills one after another.
The cold wind was like a knife, stabbing people's faces wantonly, but no one felt any pain.
Their brains are numb.
So many bones!
They are all children's bones!
How many children died?
When a relatively intact but torn body of a child was dragged up, someone cried out "Wow" and burst into tears.
"Could our daughter be here? She got lost while watching the lanterns during the Lantern Festival last year and we haven't been able to find her since. Woo woo..."
"My nephew also disappeared last year. He went to the temple to burn incense, and disappeared the moment he turned around. Could he be here too?"
"ah!--"
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