Chapter 915 Something's fishy
"The person you've loved your whole life died right in front of Uncle Wang. Uncle Wang must be heartbroken!" Xie Shang said sarcastically. "Uncle Wang and Chang Mingxiu put on quite a show!"
Xie Kang was stunned. Seeing that Yue Anxin had also chased after them off the boat, he quickly reacted, a cold smile flashing in his eyes. "Isn't all of this forced by His Majesty? On the surface, he pretended to be nonchalant, but secretly he sent someone to notify Yue Anxin to catch them in the act of adultery, trying to provoke the indigenous tribes of the Northwest. His Majesty wanted to force the Yue people to take action, but did he consider whether the Great Zhou could be their match now? His Majesty sent Peng Fei to garrison the Northwest. His Majesty should know his own limitations!"
Xie Shang did not deny it. Hearing Xie Kang's scolding, he clenched his fists. "Uncle Kang is not what I see on the surface!"
Xie Kang smiled slightly and said, "The Emperor discovered the affair between Consort Chang and me, yet he generously allowed her to leave the palace. Ostensibly, it was house arrest, but wasn't his real intention to let me meet with her? The Emperor then sent a message to Yue Anxin in the Northwest, bringing her to Shengjing, secretly causing unrest in the Kang Prince's residence."
Xie Kang didn't say that Xie Shang was the most insidious, even his father, the emperor, was not as cunning as him.
Xie Shang sneered, "Uncle Wang isn't putting on an act anymore?"
"What do I have to pretend for? Isn't everything under the Emperor's control? You've placed the Empress Dowager and your mother under house arrest in the Hengyang Palace, with people keeping a close watch on them. Your mother has lived a miserable life, hasn't she? She was used by the late Emperor to enter the palace and become Empress, just to control the Duke of Cheng. Now she's under house arrest by her own son." Of course, these words were told to him by Chang Mingxiu, and he said them deliberately to provoke him.
"To please a woman, he imprisoned his own mother. If my brother knew this, he would surely be very disappointed in His Majesty!" Xie Kang sneered.
His mother was also imprisoned by Xie Shang, that unfilial son. He tried to rescue her but failed. Xie Shang was prepared for this, and all of this was instigated by Jiang Fenghua.
If Jiang Fenghua heard what he said, she would definitely be speechless that she had been blamed for nothing again.
Xie Shang's eyes grew increasingly fierce. He knew Xie Kang was saying this on purpose, thinking that he wouldn't kill them now.
The Great Zhou is beset by internal and external troubles. He doesn't really want to touch them now, not because he's afraid to.
His emotions suddenly calmed down, his eyes turned cold, and he became calm and composed. "If Uncle Wang misses the Empress Dowager, I have someone bring her to Shengjing for a short stay. It just so happens that Aunt Kang is also in Shengjing. How should she show her respect to the Empress Dowager?"
Xie Kang was stunned. Yue Anxin was not a daughter-in-law who knew how to be respectful and filial. If she appeared in front of the Empress Dowager, she would only cause trouble for the Empress Dowager.
Xie Kang was also aware of Xie Shang's entanglements with several women, and his harem was not as peaceful as it appeared on the surface.
He said, "Empress Jiang, who seems to be very righteous, is probably the one who's causing all the trouble! Uncle Wang just wants to remind the Emperor not to be fooled by a woman."
Xie Kang continued, "The late Emperor must have taught the current Emperor that an emperor is not allowed to have feelings for women. Women who marry into the royal family are all just pawns. This was true for your mother, for Consort Su, and for Empress Jiang..."
At this moment, Jiang Fenghua also got off the boat and was helped onto the carriage. Unaware that the two uncles and nephews were arguing behind her, she sneezed several times and was unaware that she had once again been unfairly blamed.
Hongxiu held Jiang Fenghua's arm and asked with concern, "Has Your Highness caught a cold?"
Jiang Fenghua said, "I am not cold."
She looked towards the boat. What were Xie Shang and Prince Kang talking about? Why hadn't they disembarked yet?
Just before she left, she suddenly added that there was something fishy about Chang Mingxiu's death. The guards went down to rescue her in time. They didn't take long to retrieve Chang Mingxiu's body. If she had choked on water, they could have saved her if they had rescued her immediately!
She carefully recalled Consort Chang's complexion; it was bluish-purple, as if she had been poisoned.
She had been thinking too much, perhaps because she was suspicious, and she asked Aoxue, "Don't you think there's anything unusual about the way Consort Chang died?"
Ao Xue said directly, "It seems like poisoning. I can't be sure what kind of poison it is without examining it closely."
Jiang Fenghua boldly speculated, "What if she wants to slip away unnoticed?"
Ao Xue suddenly realized, "There is a kind of medicine that can immediately stop breathing after taking it, making one appear to be dead. Does Your Majesty mean that Consort Chang's drowning in the lake was fake?"
Jiang Fenghua had this suspicion. Putting aside whether Consort Chang could swim or not, when she was pulled out of the lake, she looked like she had been dead for a long time.
Aoxue looked at the carriage of the Fourth Prince's residence. She was about to chase after it to take a look when Jiang Fenghua said, "The Emperor didn't allow us to check, so there's no need for us to cause any trouble."
Hongxiu said softly, "If Princess Kang catches up, will she discover that Consort Chang faked her death?"
Jiang Fenghua said, "Xie Yang will handle it himself, we don't need to worry about it."
She didn't want to get involved in things that didn't concern her. Just now, she saw a hint of pity in Xie Shang's eyes. He was pitying Xie Yang, after all, he was his own brother.
Regardless of the reason for Xie Yang's rebellion in his previous life, Xie Shang did not punish him in the end. He was only placed under house arrest. Xie Shang's status remained that of a prince, and his treatment in the Fourth Prince's Mansion did not change. Xie Shang still valued brotherhood.
On the other side, Princess Kang caught up with the carriage of the Fourth Prince's residence and said coldly, "Was she really the Fourth Prince's wet nurse? Since the Fourth Prince cared so much about his wet nurse, why did he kill her with his own hands?"
Yue Anxin still found it strange. She had long heard that Xie Kang had a woman in Shengjing City, but she had never had any evidence. Today, she caught him in the act for the first time and he died. It was the Fourth Prince who personally pushed him into the lake and drowned him.
She just couldn't figure it out.
Xie Yang's eyes were red. "Wasn't she forced to her death by Aunt Kang? Aunt Wang couldn't tolerate her, so her death was the only way Aunt Kang could satisfy her."
Yue Anxin was so angry that her chest ached. "How did I force her? You people of Great Zhou really know how to turn the tables and are completely unreasonable."
Xie Yang was indeed being unreasonable. Simply put, Xie Kang's failure to marry Chang Mingxiu had nothing to do with the Yuezhi.
His mother's lack of happiness is none of Princess Kang's business.
Xie Yang seemed to have come prepared, having already arranged manpower and carriages to transport the people away.
Yue Anxin was left standing there, bewildered in the wind, gasping for breath. Pointing to her own nose, she said, "She and Xie Kang pushed me into the water. I haven't even gone after her yet. What does her death have to do with me?"
Xie Minmin and Xie Yun stayed by their mother's side. They also felt that what happened tonight was indeed a bit strange. They came after receiving news that their father was boating on the lake with a woman, and they actually saw it when they arrived.
She asked, "Who delivered the message to Mother?"
Yue Anxin shook her head, "How should I know? Your father and I are not done with this. I will not let him off the hook, even if he dies, until he explains himself clearly."
Xie Yun looked at Jiang Fenghua with a gloomy expression. "I suspect that it was Empress Jiang who leaked the information to Mother. Father has come to Shengjing so many times just to see his old lover. Jiang Fenghua must have known about it all along."
Yue Anxin's mind was completely blank. She also looked in Jiang Fenghua's direction, "What evidence does Yun'er have for saying this?"
Xie Yun shook his head, "We haven't found her yet. I'll inform my mother when I find her." He was only somewhat interested in Jiang Fenghua.
If Jiang Fenghua knew Xie Yun's thoughts and baseless inferences, she would be furious.
She knew Xie Yun wasn't very useful when he disguised himself as Young Master Yun and stirred up trouble between the Southern Kingdom and the vassal states.
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