Chapter 79: Above the Palace
The prince knocked on the palace gate in the middle of the night to ask for an audience, so something big must have happened.
The emperor went to the Purple Palace first, and the empress hurriedly washed and came over soon after.
Seeing that Qian Deng was following behind the prince, both of them had solemn expressions, they knew that something big must have happened. The emperor and empress immediately dismissed their attendants and asked what had happened.
The prince recounted the events of the night in detail, and Qiandeng presented the box of letters: "The Princess of Changyi has now fled, fearing her crime. These are the letters we found in the demolished secret room, which were not completely burned."
Seeing that the box contained half-broken letters buried in the paper ashes, the Queen naturally did not reach in to search. She placed the entire box on the table and then raised her hand to take the top letter -
It was at the very bottom of the incense burner, so it must have been thrown in first. The gold-stamped peony envelope used exclusively by Princess Gao was incredibly thick, and in his haste, Xiao Fuyu only had time to tear it in two before throwing it into the fire.
Because the other letters above trapped it underneath, the secret room collapsed immediately. Although the letters were burned and curled up to gray and black, more than half of them remained.
The Queen flipped the envelope over and looked at it, raising her eyebrows slightly. "A letter from the Grand Princess of Gao to the Princess of Changyi?"
It turned out that the first thing Xiao Fuyu wanted to burn was the suicide note left by his mother.
The emperor gestured for the envelope to be opened. When the queen shook off the ashes on the envelope, she glanced at Qian Deng who was kneeling below and saw a small crystal tank on her knees. A pair of small red fish were swimming slowly in it, which was very pleasing to the eye.
"Where did this fish tank come from?"
Qiandeng replied, "These two little fish were kept in a secret room in the Princess's mansion. They looked rather strange, so Lingling brought them along, thinking that perhaps someone in the court might know their origins."
The queen nodded, walked to the emperor's side, opened the letter and read it with him. Both of their faces changed drastically.
The Queen stared at the two little red fish, her voice icy, "Your Majesty, I beg you to publish this letter in the court tomorrow, so that everyone in the world will know the true meaning of it!"
The emperor saw her hands trembling slightly as she held the letter, and knew she was filled with resentment. Reflecting on the letter's contents, he sighed, took her hand, and pulled her to sit beside him. "The Grand Princess was, after all, my aunt, and now she's deceased. In my opinion, it would be best to deal with her privately..."
"Your Majesty treats her as your aunt, and the Crown Prince treats her as his great-aunt. You know how sinister she is. Not only did she disrupt the government and murder the nation's leader, she also instructed Xiao Fuyu to use witchcraft to harm me. Such a heinous act, how can it be forgiven!"
The emperor and empress supported each other all the way from the Qiandi Palace, and went through many years of ups and downs together. The emperor had only one adult child, the prince, so the relationship between the two was naturally extraordinary.
Looking at the Crown Prince standing before him, then at the furious Empress, the Emperor briefly considered before finalizing his decision on Princess Gao. "The Empress is right. There are still some people in the court who cling to the legacy of the Gao Kingdom, and some who exploit its influence. If I cover this up, how can I eradicate the remaining evil in the court and punish those ignorant individuals?"
"Your Majesty is wise!" The Queen bowed, her voice trembling slightly.
The emperor supported her and looked up at the sky outside the palace. It was already dawn.
Qian Deng looked at the Queen's expression and knew that this pair of little red fish must be very important, so he carried the crystal jar to the table, kowtowed and left.
The Queen stopped her and turned to look at the Emperor: "Your Majesty, Lingling has made great contributions to this case and knows the inside story. Perhaps you can let her expose this matter in the court today."
The emperor agreed, stood up first, and the four of them went to Xuanzheng Hall together.
The bells and drums rang out, and the doors of the streets and alleys in Chang'an began to open.
Court officials, either riding horses or in sedan chairs, came out from thousands of households in Chang'an and gathered in front of the Hanyuan Hall of the Daming Palace.
As the sky was getting light, civil and military officials were divided into east and west lines and walked forward along the Dragon Head Road. Eunuchs holding lanterns on both sides led the team like two winding bright fire dragons, leading the team through the Hanyuan Hall and to the Xuanzheng Gate.
It was already dawn at this time, and all officials organized their ranks. Civil officials passed through the Rihua Gate, and military officials passed through the Yuehua Gate. Finally, the two groups entered the Xuan Zheng Hall in a line, one on the left and one on the right, and waited in full order.
Amid the sound of bells and chimes, the emperor ascended the throne and the prince took his seat under the steps.
A gauze curtain hung diagonally behind the throne, through which the luster of brocade and pearls could be faintly seen. All the officials knew that the Queen was also here today.
The emperor and empress loved each other and relied on each other. Occasionally, when there were important events in the court, the empress would come to listen to the government affairs.
The court officials exchanged a knowing look. It seemed that something big was going to happen at today's court meeting.
Behind the gauze curtain, Qiandeng stood beside the empress, gazing at the assembled officials in the palace, all of them pillars of the court. The first of these civil officials was Cui Fufeng's father, the Imperial Court Attendant Cui Qisi.
Having never experienced such a situation before, she couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
The back of her hand felt slightly warm. It was the Queen who raised her hand and patted her gently, signaling her not to be nervous.
All government affairs were discussed in the palace. Local conditions, court promotions, and border defenses were all settled. After the Imperial Secretary reported that government affairs had been handled, the emperor finally spoke: "Last night, there was an unexpected incident at Princess Gao's residence. Are you all aware of this?"
Naturally, no one expected that today's court event was related to the late Princess Gao, and everyone looked surprised.
"Princess Lingling," the emperor asked, looking behind the gauze curtain. "This case is related to your Changhua Palace. Could you please explain it in detail?"
Qian Deng calmed himself, approached the gauze curtain, and said in a clear voice, "Yes. This case occurred on February 22nd, by the Qujiang Lake. After the Grand Princess of Gao fell into the water and passed away, only I and a group of husband candidates from the palace were there. The maids in the princess's palace also confirmed that before the Grand Princess's accident, Princess Gao had met privately with one of my husband candidates.
"The Supreme Court Minister Cui Fufeng was entrusted by the imperial court to conduct a thorough investigation of everyone in my Changhua Palace. Three judicial officials also intervened in the investigation. Ultimately, because all clues led to the Huihe prince Mingjiu, the imperial court expelled him from Chang'an to preserve the reputation of both nations, closing the case."
Although the case was tried privately by the Three Judicial Departments that day, most people in the court knew about it, so it was not surprising.
"But Prince Mingjiu became my enemy because of this. He took advantage of me to rob me while I was offering sacrifices to my ancestors' tombs and secretly sneaked into the Changhua Palace to clear his name.
"The Princess of Changyi learned of this, so she secretly sent people to infiltrate my mansion, intending to assassinate and capture Prince Mingjiu. She also went to the Eastern Palace, using the Crown Prince's trust to trick him into coming, hoping to accuse me of treason.
"But Prince Mingjiu had previously infiltrated the princess's residence and cut off a horse's head to scare the Grand Princess. At that time, he had seen a suicide note under the princess's pillow. This led Cui Shaoqing to conclude that there must be something behind the princess's death. Using this as evidence, we finally managed to wheedle the truth out of Princess Changyi. She then escaped through a secret chamber and is now missing."
These words were clear and concise, and everyone immediately understood the general idea from her brief narration.
When Minister Cui heard that his son had played a significant role in this, he naturally wanted to inquire about the details: "Excuse me, Princess Lingling, as you just said, there was a suicide note under the Grand Princess's pillow before her accident. Isn't that a bit strange?"
Seeing Cui Fufeng's father speak, Qiandeng saluted him through the curtains. "This is indeed strange, but it's not Prince Mingjiu's fabrication. After Princess Changyi fled, the soldiers opened the study and found some letters, including the suicide note."
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