Chapter 349: Prince Huai's Current Situation
"Don't worry, I know what's going on."
Zhao Zhixiong looked ashamed.
He had already rehearsed in his mind many times how to explain his daughter's injustice to Emperor Yongping.
Neither Matthew Li nor Princess Ning, father and daughter, can escape.
After the morning court session the next day, Chu Chengyi, Yu Jinming and Su Pengxin all learned about Zhao Zhixiong's complaint.
Emperor Yongping handed the matter over to the Dali Temple for investigation.
As early as after Zhao Tian's death, Chu Chengyi had informed Emperor Yongping that she had left a letter and left the palace.
As for her death and the cause of death, he certainly would not mention it to Emperor Yongping. He only said that he had sent people to look for her secretly.
The concubine of the Eastern Palace left a letter and left the palace, but it was a shame for the royal family, so Emperor Yongping naturally would not reveal it.
Zhao Zhixiong also knew that revealing that Zhao Tian died in Prince Ning's Mansion at that time would be disadvantageous to both him and the Eastern Palace, so he cooperated with the Eastern Palace and never mentioned it.
Three days later, Princess Ning was found to be involved in the Yuzhou case.
Although she did not admit that she killed Zhao Tian, she could not prove that Zhao Tian did not die in Prince Ning's Mansion.
Coupled with the witnesses and testimony provided by Zhao Zhixiong, Princess Ning was eventually divorced by the royal family and awarded a three-foot white silk.
On the day Princess Ning was executed, Matthew Li and all the male members of the family were taken to Caishikou and beheaded.
The remaining female members of the Ma family were exiled.
As for Prince Ning, he had already been captured and was not involved this time.
From then on, there was no more Ma Mansion in the capital.
It took Zhao Zhixiong nearly a year to finally avenge his daughter.
While I felt relieved, I was also very grateful to Chu Chengyi.
It was his daughter who had wronged Chu Chengyi, but Chu Chengyi had not made her affairs public, thus saving enough face for the Zhao family.
Moreover, when Emperor Yongping wanted to punish him, he pleaded for him and spared him punishment.
From then on, he no longer dared to think about sending the daughter of the Zhao family into the East Palace, but wholeheartedly supported Chu Chengyi.
The head of Ning Wang Mansion was gone, and Concubine Zhou was no longer trusted by the royal family because of Zhou Hongjing's incident, so the "Queen" appointed another concubine to take charge of the affairs of Ning Wang Mansion.
As for Prince Ning's two legitimate sons, Chu Yanjie and Chu Yanbin.
A man was given a fake identity and sent to a border town to join the army, starting as an ordinary soldier.
The other was given a fake identity and sent to the Imperial Academy to study.
The reason why Emperor Yongping gave them fake identities was because he was concerned about the key to the Zhang family's treasure and was afraid that they would be abducted like Prince Ning.
More importantly, they can no longer use their status as the emperor's grandsons to gain convenience.
The remaining grandchildren of Prince Ning's Palace who were of marriageable age remained in the Southern Study.
This can be regarded as Emperor Yongping's long-term plan for the Ning Prince's Mansion.
Prince Ning cannot be saved, and the Ning Palace must have a crown prince to inherit the throne. If the legitimate son is not possible, there are still so many illegitimate sons. Educating them separately is his plan for selecting a crown prince.
Although Emperor Yongping did not intentionally conceal these things, he never mentioned them to anyone, including Chu Chengyi and Chu Qinshu.
Of course, if Chu Qinshu wanted to know, it didn’t matter whether he mentioned it or not.
He did this for another purpose, which was to prevent them from bringing harm to other imperial grandchildren in the palace or harming other imperial grandchildren.
It can also be regarded as a gesture to protect Chu Yansui.
Ever since Chu Chengyi took Chu Yansui to the Canshi, he never mentioned Chu Yanjie again.
It seemed that this incident had no impact on him and he would not pursue it.
On the surface, this matter has been settled.
On this day, Emperor Yongping was reviewing memorials as usual, but he received a secret letter from Long Wei.
"Is it true?"
After reading the secret letter, Emperor Yongping was a little bit unconvinced.
"In reply to the emperor, the Dragon Guards searched for two months before finding any clues, and then watched for a few days, and confirmed that it was the Tenth Young Master."
The Tenth Prince that Chu Wei mentioned was none other than Prince Huai Chu Chengshuo, who had been demoted to a commoner.
Since he had been demoted to a commoner, it was inappropriate to call him the Tenth Prince or Prince Huai, so Chu Wei and his subordinates, the Dragon Guards, called him the Tenth Young Master.
"All the servants he brought with him are missing? What about his concubine Jiang?"
Emperor Yongping frowned, not believing that Chu Chengshuo would have such a miserable life in Ninggu Pagoda.
He actually became a savage in the mountains, and all alone?
"In reply to the emperor, the Tenth Young Master lived a good life when he first went to Ninggu Pagoda, but later he asked his servants to plunder the people's surplus food..."
Chu Wei paused here, not knowing whether to continue.
Emperor Yongping glanced at him and knew that what was to come might not be good words, but he was Chu Chengshuo's father after all, so he couldn't just exile him and ignore him.
He still motioned Chu Wei to continue.
"The actions of those servants caused more than a dozen villagers to suffer. Later, someone burned down the courtyard where he lived. The servants either fled or were burned to death. The Tenth Prince and his concubine also disappeared that night."
Chu Wei paused again when he said this.
"What happened next? How did you find him in the mountains?"
Emperor Yongping asked.
"The people I sent out have been investigating there for a long time. They happened to meet the Tenth Young Master in the mountains. As for his concubine, there has been no news."
After Chu Wei finished speaking, he stopped talking and waited for Emperor Yongping's next instructions.
"Are you sure it was the people who burned his yard?"
Emperor Yongping asked again.
"In reply to the emperor, it was definitely burned by the common people, but I'm not sure which village it was burned by. There are more than a dozen villages under the 'care' of the Tenth Young Master. These ten or so villages are about 70 to 80 miles away from his residence, and are deep in the mountains."
These were all found out by Long Wei when he went to Ninggu Pagoda. As for whether they are true or not, there is no evidence to prove them.
"Did Jiang disappear, escape, or burn to death?"
Emperor Yongping blamed Jiang Ruoqing for this matter.
After all, when Chu Chengshuo was exiled, Jiang Ruoqing was still planning to enter the Ning Palace, which shows that she had no feelings for Chu Chengshuo.
If she couldn't stand the bitter cold of Ninggu Pagoda, it was not impossible for her to fake her death and escape by pretending to have lost the water.
"I'll have to let them continue investigating this."
Long Wei had previously spent all his efforts on searching for Chu Chengshuo. As for Jiang Ruoqing and those servants whose lives or deaths were uncertain, they did not spend too much time on them.
"Well, let's continue investigating. We need to find out the cause of the fire in his yard and whether Jiang is dead or alive. We need to find Jiang alive or dead."
Emperor Yongping did not think of anyone else regarding Chu Chengshuo's affairs.
Of course, he could also find Chu Qinshu and find out everything through video.
However, he felt more and more guilty towards the Eastern Palace because of his protection of Prince Ning and the incident with Chu Yanjie.
Therefore, he was too embarrassed to ask Chu Qinshu to find out about Prince Ning or Chu Chengshuo.
"Yes, I will obey your orders."
Chu Wei was about to leave, but stopped again. What should he do with the Tenth Young Master? Should he ask or not?
"What else?"
Emperor Yongping didn't know whether he had forgotten about Chu Chengshuo or really didn't want to care about him anymore, and he didn't even remember to ask the Dragon Guards to take care of Chu Chengshuo.
"I have nothing to do. I will go down and ask someone to investigate."
After Chu Wei left, Emperor Yongping destroyed the secret letter.
He didn't want anyone to know that he still cared about Chu Chengshuo.
Chu Chengyi and Chu Qinshu, who were watching all this through the video, were not affected by his performance.
Parents who love their children will plan long-term for them.
How Emperor Yongping treated Chu Chengshuo, Prince Ning, Chu Yanjie and Chu Yanbin can all be explained by a father's care for his son and a grandfather's love for his grandson.
However, Chu Chengyi will personally avenge the damage these people have done to the Eastern Palace.
"Shu'er, do you think Daddy is too cruel?"
Chu Chengyi recalled the Chu Chengshuo he saw in the video.
He looked as demented as a child and as dirty as a beggar. Would that scare his well-behaved daughter?
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