Chapter 115 Only the dead don’t lie

I heard a woman crying last night. It turned out to be Chuntao. I was wondering who it was."

"That's right, it's making so much noise that I can't sleep."

Chang Liangdi listened calmly without making any comment.

When Concubine Xu heard that Chuntao had died, she thought of Xiao Fuzi who had come out of Xiyun Pavilion early in the morning. Xiao Fuzi was still imprisoned. If it weren't for Chuntao, she would have forgotten about it.

Shen Mingzhu glanced at the corpse covered by white cloth at a distance. She raised her handkerchief and said sadly, "Sister, Chuntao has been in Xiyun Pavilion since early. You were promoted to Liang Di, and there were not enough people to serve you, so I let Chuntao go back. Chuntao was fine yesterday, but she died suddenly?"

Shen Chuwei has been salting fish for more than ten years. Has he ever seen a dead person?

After she got up, Xiao Guizi and Xiao Anzi covered the body with cloth.

She didn't know the exact cause of death.

Shen Chuwei said calmly, "I don't know why Chuntao, who works for Shen Liangyuan, is crying and wants to go back to Xiyun Pavilion?"

Shen Mingzhu said with a sad face: "You have to ask my sister. I was doing good things, but I didn't expect Chuntao to end up like this. If I had known, I would not have let her go back yesterday."

Concubine Xu had never gotten along with Di Shen since she was a child, and she found everything she said unpleasant.

"Shen Liangyuan, what you mean is that Chuntao was killed by someone in Xiyun Pavilion?"

When Shen Mingzhu saw Concubine Xu had also arrived, she tried to stay away from her and stood next to Chang Liangdi.

"Concubine Xu, I didn't say that. I'm just curious about how a healthy person could just disappear like that."

After Shen Mingzhu finished speaking, she looked at Shen Chuwei again, questioning in her tone, "Could it be that my sister said something to Chuntao that caused her to be upset?"

Shen Chuwei said, "I haven't even seen Chuntao, so how can I talk to her?"

"How could Chuntao die suddenly? She was fine when I saw her yesterday. If someone hadn't said something, she wouldn't have committed suicide." Shen Mingzhu said this and sighed with regret.

At this time, Liu Xi's shrill voice came from the door: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived."

Xiao Jinyan walked in with grand steps wearing a black court robe.

Shen Chuwei and the others bowed to His Highness, "May Your Highness be blessed with good health."

Xiao Jinyan glanced at everyone and said, "Get up."

He glanced at Chun Tao, who was covered with a white cloth not far away, and told Wei Chi, "Go check the cause of death."

"Yes, sir." Wei Chi obeyed and strode towards the corpse.

Xiao Jinyan looked at Shen Chuwei again, "What's going on?"

Shen Chuwei explained the whole story one by one, "Your Highness, this is what happened."

"Your Highness, Chuntao was originally a maid in Xiyun Pavilion, and later came to work for me. Because my sister was promoted to Liang Di, I was afraid that there would not be enough people to serve her, so I sent Chuntao back. Yesterday, Chuntao left Lanyue Palace happily, but she was gone after one night."

Shen Mingzhu wanted to put the blame of Chuntao's death on Shen Chuwei, so that His Highness would know that she was a vicious person. How could she still gain His Highness' favor?

Xiao Jinyan glanced at Shen Mingzhu coldly, and immediately saw through her hypocritical intentions. He also guessed that it was her who was behind it. Just when he was worried that he had no chance, she came rushing to him.

"It's impossible for Chuntao to go back to Xiyun Pavilion after she leaves. Shen Liangdi's promotion to Liangdi didn't happen in the past two days. Why did you suddenly think of letting Chuntao return to Xiyun Pavilion?"

"Your Highness, Shen Liangdi and I are sisters. I was under house arrest a few days ago, and I was not feeling well, so I just remembered it. I didn't expect this would be the result. On weekdays, Chuntao is also a nimble maid, otherwise I would not have thought of letting Chuntao go back to continue serving her sister." Shen Mingzhu said this with deep emotion, and tears were almost coming out.

Xiao Jinyan listened to Shen Mingzhu's hypocritical words and didn't even want to look at her. He looked at Wei Chi not far away, waiting for his autopsy results.

Seeing that His Highness was silent, Chang Liang Di thought that he must be trying to protect Shen Chu Wei. She stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, Chun Tao's death is strange. There must be something behind it. Your Highness must find out."

Xiao Jinyan said coldly: "I will investigate thoroughly. If I find out who is behind this, I will punish them severely!"

Shen Mingzhu felt guilty and subconsciously clenched the handkerchief in her hand.

After Wei Chi finished the examination, he strode over and reported, "Your Highness, Chun Tao died of poisoning an hour ago. There are no obvious wounds on her body."

Shen Chuwei felt something was a little strange when she heard this, so she turned and walked towards the corpse to take a look.

Xiao Jinyan saw her and called her, "What are you doing?"

Shen Chuwei did not hide it, "I want to go and take a look."

"What's there to see about a dead person?" Xiao Jinyan was afraid that Shen Chuwei would have a nightmare at night after seeing it. After all, dead people can look in all kinds of ways.

Shen Chuwei said seriously: "I want to ask her how she is doing in Lanyue Palace."

"Sister, are you okay? Chuntao is already dead and can't answer your questions." Shen Mingzhu looked worried on the surface, but she was sneering in her heart. A dead person can't answer your questions. Chuntao died in Xiyun Pavilion, and you can't escape responsibility.

Shen Chuwei said: "Only the dead don't lie."

Xiao Jinyan stood up and said to Shen Chuwei, "I will go with you to take a look."

Shen Chuwei curved his eyebrows and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

The two men walked towards the body side by side.

Shen Mingzhu couldn't help but complain in her heart, "Is there something wrong with your Highness' brain? He actually believed what Shen Chuwei said that the dead wouldn't lie? I want to see how the dead can speak."

Chang Liangdi clutched her handkerchief and looked at the backs of the two people in front of her, feeling unwilling.

Shen Chuwei came to the corpse. She grabbed Xiao Jinyan's sleeve with one hand, afraid of suddenly seeing the horrific death.

Xiao Jinyan lowered his eyes to glance at the hand that was tightly grasping his sleeve, then moved his gaze upwards to that delicate little face, "If you're scared, don't look at it."

"Your Highness, I'll just take a look." Shen Chuwei was already prepared, and said to Wei Chi: "Open it."

Wei Chi squatted in front of the body and lifted the white cloth with one hand.

Shen Chu took a quick look and found that the death by taking poison was not that horrible, but it still made her feel a little uneasy.

"alright."

Upon hearing this, Wei Chi immediately covered it with a white cloth.

Xiao Jinyan lowered his eyes and asked, "Did you see anything?"

Shen Chuwei said: "Your Highness, Chuntao used to be much rounder than Chunxi. Now she is much thinner than before. One can tell at a glance that it is caused by long-term lack of food. In addition, her face is yellowish-gray. The yellow face is caused by malnutrition. It shows that she has not lived well during this period. She is not well fed and clothed. The one in the picture is the red top of the crane."

Crane-topped red is a high-grade poison that a maidservant cannot buy even if she has money.

"Sister, don't say such nonsense. I never treated Chuntao badly when she was in Lanyue Palace. She said she wanted to lose weight in order to become thinner."

Shen Mingzhu looked at the prince after she finished speaking, "Your Highness, everything I said is true. I dare not deceive Your Highness."