Chapter 53 Whose child are you?
The emperor frowned: "What child lantern?"
"There are several lamps in the prince's own bedroom. When they are lit, it looks like there is a skull hidden in the lampshade. He said it was made of clay and is called a child's lamp."
The Crown Princess replied.
"Every time I see those lights, I feel creepy, as if there are real skulls inside."
"After hearing tonight about the discovery of a large number of children's corpses in the Rongchang Marquis's mansion, I thought of my own experience and these lanterns. I suspected that the Crown Prince was indeed involved, so I came to see my father."
When the Crown Prince heard the Crown Princess mention the children's lanterns, he felt something was wrong. He had forgotten about these lanterns and had not had time to have them removed.
But interrupting the Crown Princess would only increase suspicion, so he let her speak.
"Those lanterns were given to me by my cousin Xuan," he told the emperor. "I haven't opened them to examine them, but he said they were made of clay."
As soon as these words were spoken, Marquis Rongchang looked straight over.
The prince looked at him without flinching. He was silent for a moment, then looked away with an extremely ugly expression.
The emperor ordered the eunuchs to go to the East Palace to fetch the lamps, and ordered people to remove the lampshades and examine them carefully.
"These are human bones."
He said with a cold face.
"What else do you have to say?"
The prince lowered his eyes and said, "I didn't realize these were human bones."
Rongchang Hou knelt on the ground with a thud and said sadly, "Your Majesty, Xuan'er grew up under your care. He has no ambitions and only knows how to eat, drink and have fun. He only knows how to throw money at people, but he would never take human life lightly."
"Although he gave this lamp to the prince, I don't know who gave it to him. That person must have deliberately used him to harm the prince and then killed him so that there would be no evidence."
"Your Majesty, please give Xuan'er justice!"
Ji Changqing suddenly spoke up, "Children adopted from the Charity Orphanage have been disappearing frequently over the past two years. Prince Han started raising the white tiger two years ago, and since then, he's forbidden anyone in the mansion from eating the fish from the lake. Don't you think that's too much of a coincidence, Lord?"
Rongchang Hou said coldly, "Master Ji, what you said can also be said in reverse. After my son stopped people from eating fish, someone threw the dead child into the lake to deliberately frame him."
The two men each insisted on their own opinions and refused to give in to each other. The more Jingzhao Yin listened, the more headache he got.
If we keep arguing like this until dawn, there will be no result, right?
Just then, the sound of a child sobbing was heard from the study.
Ji Changqing squatted down, stroked the back of the little girl's head, and asked gently, "What's wrong?"
"I'm so scared." Hua Ling raised her head and looked in the direction of the prince. "The last time he saw me, he said that if I didn't obey, he would twist my head off and throw it into the lake to feed the fish. When the fish had eaten all my flesh, they would pick up my skull and use it as a lantern."
"I thought he was just trying to scare me, but it turns out it's all true, wuwuwu..."
"Don't be afraid." Ji Changqing comforted him, "His Majesty will protect you. You may not know this, but the Salesian Home was founded after His Majesty ascended the throne. He said he would protect all the children in the world."
Hua Ling stopped crying and stared at the emperor in a daze: "Really?"
She had been lowering her head before, and the emperor had not seen her appearance. Now that he suddenly saw her face, his pupils suddenly shrank and he immediately stood up from his chair.
Hua Ling was so scared that she shrank into Ji Changqing's arms.
The emperor said in a deep voice: "Raise your head."
Ji Changqing coaxed, "Don't be afraid, His Majesty just wants to get to know you."
Hua Ling raised her head timidly and stared at the emperor blankly.
The queen finally saw her appearance clearly and immediately dug her fingernails into her palms.
"Whose child are you?"
After staring at Hua Ling for more than ten breaths, the emperor asked.
Hua Ling was bewildered: "I am my parents' child."
"Who are your parents?"
Hua Ling said the names of her parents.
The emperor asked several more questions before the solemn expression on his face faded and he sat back in his chair.
"Your Majesty," Ji Changqing said, rubbing Hua Ling's head. "After something happened to this child's family, she and her brother were adopted by the orphanage. To help her brother remove his scars, she agreed to be adopted. But they deliberately set her up and abducted her to the Rongchang Marquis's residence. If Baihu hadn't interrupted her first meeting with the Crown Prince, she'd probably be..."
The Queen angrily cried, "How much benefit was promised to Lord Ji that you resorted to such unscrupulous means to slander the Crown Prince? Have you forgotten who promoted you from the provincial level to the imperial court? It was His Majesty!"
The emperor has always been very suspicious and hates his subjects being disloyal the most.
After Prime Minister Ding retired and returned to his hometown, he ignored so many old ministers and insisted on promoting Ji Changqing. This was because he valued the fact that Ji Changqing had served in local positions since he entered the officialdom, had outstanding political achievements, and had no connection with anyone in the court.
If they knew that Ji Changqing had ulterior motives, they would definitely no longer trust him. Apart from Ji Changqing, there was no one else in the Ji family who had any future. As long as he lost the emperor's favor, he would be like a drowned dog and could be beaten at will.
However, her attempts to sow discord had no effect. The emperor summoned the commander of the imperial guards and ordered him to lead a search of the Eastern Palace and the Rongchang Marquis' Mansion.
After the commander of the Imperial Guards left, he instructed the palace servants, "Take the Crown Prince to Fanghua Palace. He is not allowed to contact anyone until the murder case at Rongchang Marquis' Mansion is fully investigated."
The queen almost collapsed.
"Your Majesty! You can't question the Crown Prince just because of a child's nonsense. He is the heir apparent and his reputation cannot be tarnished!"
The emperor looked at her calmly and said, "If the Queen is worried that the Crown Prince will be lonely, she can live in Fanghua Palace to accompany him."
The queen fell silent.
After arranging everything, the emperor asked Hua Ling, "Do you want to stay in the palace?"
Hua Ling hugged Ji Changqing's legs and shook her head.
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
Ji Changqing bowed and said, "I will take my leave."
He carried Hua Ling out of the palace.
Feng Qingsui and Wuhua had almost finished burning the charcoal in the cart, but Ji Changqing still hadn't left the palace. They were hesitating whether to go back home to get some charcoal when they heard the palace gate open.
She quickly made a pot of tea.
As soon as Ji Changqing got in the car, he took the sleeping child from his arms and said, "Second Master, have a cup of hot tea first."
Ji Changqing glanced at her.
This person is particularly diligent when asking for help from others.
Feng Qingsui waited patiently until he had drunk two cups of tea before asking, "How is it?"
Ji Changqing briefly recounted the events of the Qinzheng Palace. Feng Qingsui was puzzled, "How did the Crown Princess know about the Rongchang Marquisate so quickly?"
"I had someone tell her about it."
Feng Qingsui suddenly realized: "So that carrier pigeon was delivering a message to the palace."
He asked curiously, "Why did you ask Hua Ling to trim his eyebrows?"
Ji Changqing chuckled: "Do you know how Concubine Wu entered the palace?"
Feng Qingsui shook his head.
She only knew that Concubine Wu was of commoner origin, and knew nothing else.
"Concubine Wu was a peasant girl whom Your Majesty met while leading his ministers to the mountains to collect herbs for the Queen Mother during the Dragon Boat Festival. Your Majesty only met her once before bringing her back to the palace and making her a consort."
"Later, new concubines entered the palace, and their appearance was somewhat similar to Concubine Wu."
"Everyone thinks His Majesty likes this look, but they don't know that Concubine Wu and these concubines all look like his beloved from his youth."
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