The emperor was thinking about the second prince wholeheartedly, but the second prince could not understand. When he heard his father's cold words, he just felt that his father did not like him.
Now that he had just lost his mother, his father not only did not come to comfort him, but also spoke to him so harshly. He felt like he had been abandoned by everyone.
His extreme sadness gave him fearless courage. For the first time, he did not curl up and listen to the lecture listlessly as usual, but raised his head and faced the emperor's cold face.
Although his body was trembling slightly with fear, he still gritted his teeth and looked at the emperor stubbornly. Tears fell unconsciously from his eyes, but he seemed unaware and said in a sad tone:
"Are you still my father? From childhood to adulthood, you only have my elder brother in your eyes. Now that my mother is gone, you still scold me as usual. Woo woo woo..."
Having said this, his courage suddenly disappeared, and he was turned into deep helplessness and sadness. Tears flowed down his face and he couldn't help crying.
The emperor had never been accused to his face, especially when he was doing it for the other person's good. He should have been angry, but seeing the sad and helpless look of Chenghui, who was only eight years old, he softened his heart in the end.
At this moment, the Queen suddenly stepped forward and took Chenghui into her arms, saying softly, "Chenghui, be good, don't cry. How could your father not have you in his eyes? You are his own flesh and blood, he must love you. Your father said that just to prevent you from being too sad and crying yourself sick."
Cheng Hui was suddenly embraced by the Queen. He was a little uncomfortable at first, but he was helpless at the moment and needed a warm embrace the most.
Therefore, after the first few seconds of stiffness, he quickly adapted and buried his tear-stained face tightly in the queen's arms.
The queen didn't seem to mind at all that Chenghui's tears and snot covered her body. She hugged Chenghui tightly, giving him the warmth he needed most at the moment.
After saying this, the Queen turned to look at the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. I know that what you said is for his own good, but Chenghui is still young and cannot understand your good intentions. He will understand them naturally when he grows up."
The emperor had already softened his heart when he saw Chenghui's pitiful and helpless look, and now that the queen had spoken, he naturally would not continue to argue with Chenghui, so he shut up and said nothing.
For a moment, the only sounds in the hall were the queen's gentle voice comforting Chenghui and Chenghui's low sobs.
Seeing this scene, Ning Yuxi, who was pretending to be invisible, raised her eyebrows slightly. When did the queen become so patient with other people's children?
Although she was a very virtuous queen in the past and cared about the children born to concubines, she only gave them instructions verbally and never gave them such considerate and gentle comfort.
And according to her observations over the past few years, the emperor has some mysophobia. Now the second prince is burying his head in the queen's arms with tears and snot, but the queen doesn't feel uncomfortable at all.
Is she narrow-minded?
Just as Ning Yuxi was reflecting on herself, an idea suddenly popped into her mind.
Could it be that the Queen is doing this because she wants to raise the second prince?
The more I think about it, the more likely it seems. The queen's eldest prince is gone, and she herself gave birth to a stillbirth due to complications, making it impossible for her to get pregnant again. So she will have no princes.
In order to secure her position as Empress, she had to adopt a child from another concubine and raise him under her lap. It is not difficult to guess why it was the Second Prince.
However, since the eldest prince is dead, the second prince is the eldest son. The second prince's biological mother, Concubine Xin, was only a noble lady and she is also dead. So if the prince is registered in her name, he is also the legitimate son.
The appearance of such a legitimate eldest son is much better than anything else.
Her third and fifth princes, Jingpin's fourth prince, and Lanpin's sixth prince were all able to raise their own children because of their status, so the queen could not legitimately take them in to raise them.
Thinking of this, Ning Yuxi raised her eyes to look at the queen who was looking at the second prince with a loving face. If it was really as she guessed, then it must be said that the queen's mind was very strong. Not long after losing her sons, she thought of these things again.
Thinking of this, Ning Yuxi's heart couldn't help but skip a beat. Was the Queen responsible for Concubine Xin's death?
In order to take the second prince for himself, he killed the mother and took the son?!
The more Ning Yuxi thought about it, the more frightened she became.
Just now, she felt that Fang Cui was caught too smoothly. Although everything was reasonable and well-founded, with cause and effect, she just felt that it was too smooth.
Moreover, wasn't it a bit too bold for a servant to want to kill his master just because he was beaten with a stick? She said that the ancient hierarchy was very strict and the lives of servants were in the hands of their masters.
Although the maids in the palace are different and do not sell their bodies and can be sent out of the palace when they reach a certain age, the master-servant relationship is deeply imprinted in their hearts.
This is one aspect. On the other hand, after she poisoned the herbs, she did not destroy the remaining poison as soon as possible, but kept it in her room. This is also very suspicious.
If it is difficult to deal with, then such a small packet of powder can be destroyed. There are candles in the room, so you can just light a fire.
She knew to destroy the poisoned herbs, but didn't know to destroy the poison in her own room first?
These are the reasons why Ning Yuxi made such speculations, and obviously, not only Ning Yuxi saw these, but the emperor also had doubts.
On the evening of the second day, at Shengchen Palace.
The emperor sat at the head of the table and looked at Song Qu, who came in with a bow, and asked in a deep voice, "How is the investigation going?"
Although the palace maid's motives and process were explained clearly yesterday, and the explanations were reasonable and well-founded, he still had many doubts.
But with so many people present yesterday, and Concubine Xin had just passed away due to illness, it was obviously not a good time to handle her funeral.
On the surface, he ordered people to take Fang Cui away and execute her, but in fact he hid her secretly and asked Song Qu to investigate the matter and interrogate Fang Cui.
Song Qu must have come in with some results at this moment.
Gu Qilan put down his pen and waited for Song Qu's answer.
Song Qu bowed and said hesitantly, "Your Majesty, do you think that what Fang Cui said yesterday was true?"
Hearing this, Gu Qilan frowned slightly and looked at Song Qu.
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