Chapter 49 The process of [abnormal] transformation...
There's a secret! Whether it concerns Princess Rongyang or the Crown Prince of Yu, it's all good for her.
Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you deal with those two.
How did he know that the two were having an incestuous relationship?
Zhao Xian was full of doubts. Had she missed some details? But they had been together the whole time, and no one had ever mentioned Princess Rongyang.
Someone must have sent you a message.
Jiang Liangxu didn't deliberately keep them in suspense, and nodded: "What Madam said is correct."
Who could be delivering a message to him? She was standing right next to him; how could she not know if someone was delivering a message?
What did she miss?
Even after getting off the carriage, Zhao Xian was still thinking about the person who delivered the message.
Suddenly, looking at the small steps placed beside the carriage shaft for her to get down, Zhao Xian suddenly remembered that when they were going down from the viewing platform, it was the Imperial Guards who helped carry Jiang Liangxu's wheelchair down.
She was walking a little behind him at that time, and since they were going down the stairs, she couldn't get too close, lest she lose her balance and fall.
Zhao Xian grabbed Jiang Liangxu's sleeve and whispered, "The Imperial Guards who helped carry you down?"
"Congratulations, Madam, you got it right." Jiang Liangxu's voice carried a coaxing tone. "The reward will be redeemed at Haitang Residence."
-Inside the Royal Palace-
As the Imperial Guards rushed out to capture the assassin, they unexpectedly spotted Princess Rongyang, dressed furtively, halfway through their pursuit.
The Imperial Guard leader immediately understood what was going on. He sent someone to report to the Emperor, left some Imperial Guards to watch over Princess Rongyang, and took the rest of the guards to continue pursuing the person who had stabbed Lord Tao.
Yu the Great's heir was captured shortly after fleeing the palace and taken to the Hall of Diligent Governance.
Inside the bright and spacious palace, the crown prince of King Yu was disheveled and being escorted by the imperial guards, simply because he had been trying to resist.
Princess Rongyang knelt in the center of the hall. Her clothes were on, but upon closer inspection, they were not neat. Her clothes were turned inside out, her lipstick was messy, her hair ornaments were loose, and a few strands of hair were hanging down.
King Yu strode in, with the eunuchs chasing after him, shouting.
Upon hearing the sound, the Crown Prince of Yu began to tremble all over, stopped struggling, and didn't even dare to turn around.
"Bastard." The moment King Yu spoke, he kicked his son, knocking him to the ground.
Faced with this sudden turn of events, the two imperial guards who were holding the crown prince of Yu exchanged a glance and stepped aside.
"Where's your dagger? Who stole it? You can't even keep an eye on your own things, you're useless."
King Yu cursed loudly; his voice was already booming, and his furious shouts could be heard clearly even outside the palace.
"His Majesty has arrived."
The eunuch outside the palace announced the news loudly.
Princess Rongyang seemed to come alive instantly, turning around with anticipation in her eyes.
King Yu stopped scolding his son, and instead turned to the Emperor who had just entered, saying, "Brother, this little brat must have been set up. The dagger was lost sometime ago and picked up by a villain to injure Lord Tao."
Princess Rongyang craned her neck, but only saw the Emperor and his ministers enter; the Empress Dowager was nowhere to be seen.
Panic flickered in her eyes.
The Emperor did not respond to King Yu's words, but went straight to the throne and sat down before speaking: "King Yu, let's hear what Imperial Censor Tao has to say first."
The eunuchs carried Lord Tao in, followed by the imperial physician and two other ministers: the Minister of Works and the Vice Minister of the Chancellery.
King Yu immediately sensed something was wrong. "Imperial Censor Tao, there must be some misunderstanding. Do you really think the person who hurt you was Jun'er?"
The dagger was still stuck in Lord Tao's body; he was carried in lying on his stomach.
When asked by King Yu, Lord Tao pointed at the Crown Prince of Yu, his eyes filled with excitement: "Your Majesty, the one who injured this old minister with a dagger was none other than the Crown Prince of Yu. It was all because... all because... all because this old minister caught him having an affair with Princess Rongyang. They were afraid that the matter would be exposed and wanted to kill this old minister to silence him."
Lord Tao spoke fluently and directly at this moment, without any hesitation or feigned coughing as before.
"Your Majesty, this old minister believes that the Crown Prince of Yu and Princess Rongyang are involved in incest. They disregard propriety and morality, and are simply violating human ethics and damaging the royal reputation."
Princess Rongyang was ashen-faced. The Empress Dowager had not come. Who could save her?
King Yu was still not convinced. "Your Majesty, there must be some misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding? Tell me, is it a misunderstanding based on their appearance?" The Emperor's eyes swept over the two people involved. He did not show any anger, but everyone present dared not breathe.
King Yu immediately knelt down, saying, "Your Majesty, I dare not. Please calm your anger."
"But Jun'er and Rongyang are cousins. Could someone have drugged them and deliberately plotted against them?"
-Jiang Family Residence, Begonia House-
The Empress Dowager's birthday banquet lasted from day to night, which was quite tiring.
Especially today, Zhao Xian had to flatter him and said so much, which was both tiring and exhausting for her.
After washing up, she lay down on the bed. "That secret is about the Crown Prince of Yu?"
No matter how tired or sleepy I am, I still have to listen to the gossip.
Jiang Liangxu finished before him and was already sitting on the edge of the bed. He waited for Zhao Xian to go in before lying down on the outer side. "Yes. It was no accident that the Crown Prince of Yu became like that."
Zhao Xian, both sleepy and gossipy, asked, "Tell me quickly, how did he gradually become like this?"
People don't develop psychological or physiological abnormalities without a reason; it always happens gradually.
Judging from how much King Yu dotes on his son, it's likely that all those bad habits were caused by his spoiling.
"This story begins with the wet nurse of Yu the Great's heir. When Yu the Great was five or six years old, the wet nurse tricked him into getting into Yu the Great's bed."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xian instantly woke up and even sat up. "This, this, this... what happened next?"
"King Yu had many concubines and maids in his harem, and the number of maids he had affairs with was countless."
His preferences were clear, and everyone in Chu Huai City knew it. Too many women entered the Yu King's mansion, and the wet nurse was forgotten without even attracting the Yu King's attention.
There are many such people in the Yuwang Mansion, but the Crown Prince's wet nurse is an ambitious person, and she is not content with that.
King Yu only had one son. He didn't care about the wet nurse, with whom he had a casual relationship, but he was extremely attentive to his son.
The wet nurse, recognizing this, began to exploit the crown prince of Yu the Great.
Zhao Xian became agitated upon hearing this: "How did she use him? Did she hit him?"
The child is still so young.
"He's the heir of the royal family, how could she dare lay a hand on him? She was just deliberately scaring him so he wouldn't be able to leave her, making him insist on having his wet nurse by his side. After achieving her goal, the wet nurse would often use excuses like the heir having nightmares or feeling unwell to summon the prince..."
As Jiang Liangxu spoke, he raised his hand and touched his nose, "The wet nurse would then take the opportunity to deliberately seduce or drug the prince, and have sex with him in the prince's room..."
Zhao Xian: "..." Is this really that explosive?
Wait a minute, when Yu the Great's heir was five or six years old, his wet nurse climbed into his bed. So how old was the young heir?
Didn't the ancients have a saying that children under seven shouldn't sit together at the same table?
Zhao Xian thought this way and asked this question.
A hint of helplessness flashed in Jiang Liangxu's eyes: "This refers to families that value rules and regulations."
There are many people in this world who don't respect rules.
Zhao Xian lay back down. "The wet nurse has to go to the young prince's room every time—um—his father, hasn't the young prince ever noticed?"
This must have left a huge psychological scar.
"I don't know, the person who leaked the information didn't mention it. But when the Crown Prince of Yu was fifteen, he was taken in by his wet nurse... cough cough." Jiang Liangxu himself didn't think much of the messages that were being sent back; it was just intelligence gathering. He had seen even more shocking things, but it still felt strange to say them out loud.
Zhao Xian: "...So, his perverted tastes were caused by his wet nurse?"
Jiang Liangxu turned his head slightly to look at Zhao Xian, and said in a slightly heavier tone, "When the Crown Prince of Yu was seventeen, he accidentally strangled his wet nurse to death and became somewhat deranged. Only then did the King of Yu learn of their private affair. To protect his son, he sent someone to send the Crown Prince of Yu back to Jin'an."
The sudden change left Zhao Xian somewhat bewildered. No, how could someone just die?
Jiang Liangxu continued, "After a year of avoiding trouble, the Crown Prince of Yu left Jin'an and returned to Chu Huai City."
Actually, we met when he left. I had just been transferred back to Jin'an and we met at the city gate.
When the lady saw him, she praised the feng shui of Jin'an for its nurturing environment, saying that the young man was so tender that you could squeeze water out of him.
Was the lady implying then that I was getting old?
His face suddenly loomed closer, his eyes gentle yet seemingly smiling, awaiting her answer.
Zhao Xianxin suddenly skipped a beat, then jumped wildly, pulling the blanket over half her face. "Lord Jiang, get this straight, I'm not her, and I don't remember any of those things."
It would be a lie to say I don't remember; the original owner of this body really did recall those memories, and they were vivid, seemingly related to Jiang Liangxu.
Eight years ago, Jiang Liangxu was transferred to Jin'an at the age of twenty-eight. Compared to other teenagers who were only seventeen or eighteen, he was indeed older.
He was so angry about this that he insisted on having the original owner tailor brightly colored clothes for him.
Zhao Xian changed the subject, saying, "Those women in Chu Huai City, none of them were killed by his own hands?"
I don't believe someone with a criminal record like that hasn't taken other people's lives.
Does a woman who commits suicide by running her head against a wall after being abused count?
"brute."
-Imperial Palace, Geunjeongjeon Hall-
The imperial physician took the pulses of both the Crown Prince and Princess Rongyang, then rose and reported, "Your Majesty, I found no traces of poisoning in either the Crown Prince or the Princess."
Several imperial physicians made the same diagnosis.
Anyone with eyes could see that neither of them had been drugged; whoever was drugged would remain so calm.
King Yu was used to cleaning up messes, but he forgot that this was the imperial palace, and the emperor was sitting on the throne. The imperial physicians dared not lie to him.
"A decree is hereby issued to strip the title of Princess Rongyang and reclaim her fiefdom, and she shall not be allowed to use any royal princess rights in the future. The title of 'Heir Apparent' of the Prince of Yu is also stripped, and he shall not be allowed to inherit the title."
Upon hearing that her title of princess was to be revoked, Princess Rongyang panicked instantly. "Uncle, please forgive me. It was Xiao Qijun who forced me. Uncle, you should know that he forced me."
King Yu immediately defended his son: "Rongyang, don't talk nonsense. You are the older cousin, and you are eight years older than Jun'er. How could he possibly control you? It must be you who seduced and corrupted him."
"Uncle, stop slandering me! I forced him? He drugged me when I was seventeen! He's a pervert! He doesn't like daughters from normal families, he only loves married women!" Princess Rongyang was desperate to clear her name and didn't care about anything else, blurting everything out: "When you were in bed together, did you know what he said? His wet nurse mocked him for not being as good as you, and in a fit of anger, he strangled her to death. He said he regretted it, regretted being too scared to check the corpse... Ah—"
Suddenly, King Yu kicked Princess Rongyang, sending her crashing to the ground.
He scolded, "Shut up, Rongyang, how dare you slander your cousin?"
The Emperor's expression changed slightly: "King Yu."
Princess Rongyang's lips were bleeding. She turned her head and glared fiercely at Prince Yu. "Slander? Does Your Highness know that what he cares about most are those women in your harem? But he doesn't dare to do it. He can only go outside and seduce married women. He has even caused several deaths. Didn't you help him deal with all of this?"
Princess Rongyang practically roared these words.
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