The envoys from Xiaoliang wanted to befriend Wei An in order to get money from him, but Wei An, the second son of the Duke of Wei, had no money at all; it was all spent on feeding stray cats and dogs. Having failed to get their money, the envoys from Xiaoliang began to hurl insults at him.
Wei An was also a spoiled rich kid, and he refused to listen to insults. The two sides started fighting, but it seemed that Wei An, who only had a servant to help him, was beaten more severely.
As for why the old man insisted that Wei An killed A Feng, it was because Wei An suffered a loss and made a threat, saying that he would find someone to kill them all to vent his anger.
Given the Honglu Temple Vice Minister's understanding of these spoiled brats in the capital, Wei An was probably just talking casually.
However, just in case, he went to the Wei residence after hearing that Ah Feng was missing. After some investigation and questioning, he did not believe that Wei An had killed Ah Feng and then destroyed the body to cover up the crime.
However, the old man refused to believe it, saying that they were protecting each other, and insisted on going to the emperor to seek justice, and that's how it ended up like this.
After the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial finished speaking, the Emperor rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. However, glancing at Chuanwen beside him out of the corner of his eye, he thought to himself, "Having a child in the family is like having a treasure."
The messenger didn't disappoint the emperor either; he was just browsing the plot and watching the drama unfold. [It turns out Ah Feng wasn't killed, but trapped in the palace...]
The emperor frowned upon hearing this. "How did he end up in the palace? Who's trapped him? And why would anyone trap him?"
However, I still comforted the old man and asked him who Ah Feng had been in contact with recently, and whether there was anything unusual about Ah Feng before he disappeared.
The old man replied almost without thinking that Ah Feng had been with them recently and hadn't had any contact with anyone else, and that he had been perfectly normal before he disappeared.
As he spoke, the old man began to cry again, “Poor Ah Feng, you loved the prosperity of the Great Jin Dynasty, but you will never see it again! You didn’t get to eat many of the cloud cakes you loved, and you will never be able to eat them again! Ah Feng, you died far from home, your death was so tragic!”
The emperor and several officials were all speechless. The Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial quickly advised them that it was unseemly for people to be crying and shouting in the palace.
While the other person was crying their eyes out, Chuanwen suppressed a smile that seemed to be playing on his lips. [Cloud cake? Ah Feng is enjoying it immensely! And it was a gift from a beautiful woman!]
The palace! Beautiful women!
The two words immediately sent a shiver down the spines of the officials, and even the emperor's face darkened. Whether it was a concubine or a maid, having a man stay overnight outside the palace sounded anything but good!
However, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies glanced at the old man who was still crying, and thought about how Ah Feng was living a life of luxury with beautiful women by his side. He also thought about how he had been anxiously searching for someone these past two days, and how the other envoys from the Little Liang Kingdom were constantly in tears. He felt a pang of heartache.
[Holy crap! Even if negotiations broke down, this is a terrible thing to do—placing a snake in a well!]
Before Chuanwen could even get goosebumps, he murmured in confusion, "Huh? Why would I be afraid of snakes? I've sliced up at least a hundred or so snakes; they should be afraid of me!"
The group was astonished at who was so ruthless as to play with snakes, but they were even more surprised after hearing Chuanwen's inner thoughts: cut... sliced? It couldn't be the kind of thing they thought, where the snake was torn to pieces, could it?
They couldn't help but glance at Chuanwen out of the corner of their eyes; a slight smile still lingered on Chuanwen's face.
It was a soft, pink, cute, and delicate face, yet it sent a chill down their spines for no apparent reason. Was this girl really that ruthless?
Chuanwen seemed to sense the unusual silence in the room. He pulled himself out of his gossip-loving state and observed everyone's expressions. "What's wrong? Even though the old man's crying was awful, there's no need to make it so obvious, especially with him right here!"
The group of people who were criticized by Chuanwen for being impolite twitched at the corners of their mouths. They really didn't want to be disliked by Chuanwen, who secretly gave them all sorts of nicknames, for being impolite!
The emperor, in particular, was cursing in his heart. When you were thinking that I was bald, why didn't you think about manners?
However, Ah Feng has already been bitten twice. Although the snake wasn't venomous, given Ah Feng's nerves, I doubt he can withstand more bites...
Chuanwen blinked innocently, then sighed regretfully, "[Poor thing, about to scare himself to death. Alas, it's a pity I can't say where Ah Feng is, otherwise I could have saved a life...]"
The crowd's convulsions turned into anxiety: "No, please tell us! We're listening!"
The Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial was clenching his toes; if he hadn't restrained himself, he would have shaken Chuanwen to make him speak. He was still counting on securing his position as Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial; if Ah Feng really died, the Emperor wouldn't even let him be promoted to Minister, let alone Vice Minister!
[From now on, another wronged soul will be added to the dry well in the cold palace. Alas~]
While Chuanwen was still lamenting, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial nudged the weeping old man and said, "I know where Afeng is!"
The old man still thought the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial was fooling him, until the group rushed into the Cold Palace and screams rang out. Only then did the old man stop sobbing in shock and shout, "Ah Feng! Where are you! Ah Feng!"
Following the sound, they found a woman sitting on the steps in a desolate courtyard overgrown with weeds, her face contorted with laughter, while screams came from a dry well nearby!
The emperor quickly ordered his guards to rescue the woman. When she saw the emperor arrive, she was initially incredulous, but once she realized it, she lunged at him, startling the emperor so much that he took several steps back. The woman was then stopped by Yin Shuang with his sword.
With the gleaming sword before her, the woman dared not advance any further. Now much calmer, she knelt down with a thud, tears welling in her eyes, "Your Majesty! I am innocent! Please release me from the Cold Palace! This place is truly unbearable; I can't take it anymore. I'm going to go mad if I stay here any longer..."
The woman sobbed and cried, and only then did everyone realize that she was Hu Nuan'er!
Unlike her previous flamboyant style, she now wears fewer ornaments in her hair and her clothes are simpler rather than more elaborate.
Upon seeing Hu Nuan'er, Hu Tong and the Third Prince were reminded of the palace coup. They remembered that the Hu family was originally supposed to be imprisoned, but Consort Shu pleaded for Hu Nuan'er, allowing her to enter the Cold Palace with Consort Shu.
It seems Hu Nuan'er doesn't want to live a life of seclusion and Buddhism. But that's not hard to understand; no young woman of sixteen or seventeen would want to spend her whole life in the cold palace.
But it's better for a woman to remain in the cold palace than to be imprisoned and exiled. The Empress was merciful; even the concubines in the cold palace were not mistreated, except for the lack of personal freedom.
Moreover, Consort Shu had been in the palace for so many years and had a fairly good relationship with the Emperor. Even though she requested to be sent to the Cold Palace, the Emperor still took care of her because she was unaware of the palace coup and was grieving the loss of her son.
If you don't yearn for the outside world, you can live quite comfortably in the cold palace.
etc!
The emperor and the officials who came with him all looked at the dry well, where several guards were pulling out the screaming people inside.
The envoy from Xiao Liang Kingdom and Hu Nuan'er should be completely unrelated people, so how did they end up together?
At this moment, Ah Feng was also pulled up. As he fell to the ground, the bulging things in his arms fell out, including several wine glasses and cloth.
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