Chapter 3010 Feng Shu's Relics
Zhu Chengjin said coldly: "Isn't this clear enough?"
“…”
Nan Yan looked at him and sneered, "Indeed, this ambiguous result is enough to deceive people. After all, everyone knows that the year before, in the year of Ren Zi, the Emperor had just returned to Emperor Gao's side."
“…”
"Perhaps everyone would think so, and you're sure I would think so too—for all those years, the Emperor Gao didn't know my father's whereabouts, and didn't take any action against him while he was hiding in the Western Regions. Why, the year after the Emperor returned to his side, did he 'know all the details' and even send troops to eliminate him?"
“…”
"It's human nature to exaggerate. Furthermore, you used those words to deceive me, and it was easy for me to fall into your trap."
“…”
"It was the Emperor. After returning, he told the Emperor Gao about my father's whereabouts."
“…”
"So, my father was killed by him."
Zhu Chengjin looked at him coldly: "Besides this, do you have any other explanation?"
Nan Yan said: "Actually, I didn't have any other explanation. I almost believed it, but unfortunately, unfortunately -"
"Why?"
"But it happened that Duke Cheng, Wu Yingqiu, who had followed Emperor Gao in his campaigns,
When mentioning Wu Yingqiu, Zhu Chengjin gritted his teeth. Nan Yan naturally knew that he was filled with resentment at Wu Yingqiu's betrayal, but he didn't stop and continued, "He loved painting. In his later years, he painted a scene of a negotiation he had participated in with Emperor Gao and hung it on the golden tower in the Golden Tower Villa."
“…”
"And that painting, which is rare, has my father's appearance."
"So what?"
"It just so happened that when King Arislan of Nanli from the Neng Kingdom came to the Yan Kingdom and pretended to be friendly with the Emperor, he gave the Emperor a woman, who was later canonized as Concubine Li. Her name was Feng Shu, and she was from the Western Regions. She accidentally saw a copy of the painting in my collection and recognized the Marquis of Bowang in it."
Zhu Chengjin narrowed his eyes slightly and said nothing.
Nan Yan glanced at him and said, "You are not surprised."
“…”
"It seems that you really know every move of mine clearly."
When Zhu Chengjin heard this, he just frowned slightly.
There was no rebuttal.
After all, he had revealed too much information from the very beginning. To refute it at this time would seem like a joke.
Nan Yan sneered and said, "Then you should know that Feng Shu once saw that painting in my residence before she was demoted, and she recognized the Marquis of Bowang in it. She told me that she had seen that man when she was a child wandering around the Western Regions."
“…”
"That makes it interesting."
“…”
"Did she meet the Marquis of Bowang before or after the year of Guichou?"
“…”
"If it was before that, it would only prove that Marquis Bowang, my father, might have died in the year of Guichou. Of course, there's still no concrete evidence, because a few words on an imperial edict don't represent the facts. Anyone who's been in officialdom knows this very well."
“…”
"But if she met my father after the year of Guichou—"
Nan Yan stared coldly into Zhu Chengjin's eyes and said word by word, "That proves that the words in the imperial edict were just a cover-up, and that your words were all lies to deceive me."
Zhu Chengjin's face also darkened at this time.
He looked at Nan Yan and said slowly, "So, did you get the result?"
“…”
"Since Feng Shu is only a concubine, far below your rank of Imperial Concubine, if you ask her, she will naturally answer you."
“…”
"What was the result?"
Nan Yan narrowed her eyes slightly and sneered at him: "You are so confident, as if you know the result will be what you want."
"So what was the result?"
Nan Yan looked at him coldly for a moment, then said, "Unfortunately, when I first learned about this, I didn't pay attention to the timing. So, I only knew that Marquis Bowang had been exiled to the Western Regions, but I didn't inquire about it in detail. By the time I learned about it from you and went to ask her about it, she had already lost her mind in the cold palace."
“…”
"Although she is mentally ill, she still has moments of clarity. I will ask her to recall how many years ago she met Marquis Bowang."
“…”
"It's a pity that she didn't tell me in person."
"oh,"
Zhu Chengjin asked: "Why?"
Nan Yan sneered, "At this time, are you still trying to hide it? You even knew that after I returned to the capital and left the cold palace, I went to the cabinet treasury to look for clues. How could you not know that Feng Shu died in the cold palace, and that she committed suicide by hanging."
Zhu Chengjin didn't show any surprise at all.
He just said calmly: "And then?"
Nan Yan said, "And then? Then, of course, I was very disappointed, because she didn't have the chance to tell me the answer before she died. But unexpectedly, when the maid in the cold palace sorted out her belongings and handed them to me, I actually found a clue among her belongings."
"Oh? What's the clue?"
"It's a piece of rag with some bloody marks on it where she bit her fingertips, like this—"
As she spoke, she stretched out her finger and began to scratch on the floor. After she drew four vertical lines, a horizontal line passed through. When Nan Yan finished, she looked up at Zhu Chengjin and said, "She is counting."
“…”
"That is to say, after she returned, she did listen to me and recalled when she met Marquis Bowang and how many years had passed between them."
Zhu Chengjin said coldly: "Then, how many lines did she draw?"
Nan Yan looked up at him and said, "She drew twenty-four bars in total."
“…”
"I still remember that the year she died was the Bing Zi year. Calculating back twenty-four years, it was the Guichou year. This means that it's possible that the year she met Marquis Bowang, he had already been killed by the men sent to the Western Regions by Emperor Gao."
Zhu Chengjin said: "Since we already have such evidence, what are you still doubting?"
Nan Yan smiled and said, "Yes, what am I still doubting?"
“…”
"I guess I just think it's a little strange. The last four stripes on the rag are completely inconsistent with the previous ones, both in terms of strength and direction!"
“…”
"It looks like someone took her finger and added it after she died."
Zhu Chengjin's face darkened.
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