Chapter 157 New Clues
It turned out that Pei Zhuo had sent someone to investigate, but they were extorted. The person said the matter was of great importance and asked him to give 30,000 taels of silver so that the mother and son could meet.
Pei Zhuo was a fool; he actually agreed.
Unexpectedly, Du Zhengming discovered this and gave the jailer a beating.
Seeing how naive Pei Zhuo was, Du Zhengming reminded Wan Shi of something, but Wan Shi thought it was Du Zhengming who had instructed her.
Du Zhengming did not dwell on the matter too much, but continued the interrogation.
You know your son's situation much better than I do.
Currently, in your Xingguogong Mansion, the heir apparent and the Duke are away, while you are in prison.
When the second and third wives come to visit, can your son handle them?
Without your protection, those siblings would have been torn to shreds sooner or later.
Wan remained silent.
Du Zhengming thought for a moment and asked, "Does Madam have something she finds difficult to say?"
Wan simply closed his eyes, like an old monk in deep meditation, and never opened them again.
Du Zhengming had no choice but to stand up and leave the interrogation room.
"Have all of Wan's personal maids and servants been brought here?" Du Zhengming asked.
"Your Excellency, they are all being held in the Earth-level prison."
"Let's go and interrogate these people."
When Du Zhengming arrived at the Earth-level prison, the people there were terrified by the prison guards.
The jailers did not beat or scold them; they only tortured people in the opposite cell and made them watch.
A group of women confined to their homes had never seen such bloody methods before.
Looking at the person who was fine at first, in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he had become bloody and almost unrecognizable.
The group's psychological defenses were quickly shattered.
When Du Zhengming arrived, several people were terrified and rushed to confess.
Du Zhengming discovered a problem from their various testimonies.
Lady Wan and Princess Lanling were very close friends.
After Princess Lanling passed away, the Duke of Xing married Lady Wan in less than six months.
At the time, everyone said that the two of them had been having an affair for a long time, in addition to the Wan family's actions against Pei Yanchi later.
Everyone was talking about Duke Xing and his wife.
However, Du Zhengming recently heard from a nanny that many years ago she had personally witnessed Wan Shi putting something into Princess Lanling's tea.
Du Zhengming then reviewed the other testimonies, one of which stated that Wan's confidant was a man named Wan Qing.
It was part of her dowry that she brought from the Wan family, and now she's working as a manager outside.
All of the Wan family's confidential matters were relayed by Granny Wan, and Wan Qing carried them out.
Granny Wan did not give a statement.
Du Zhengming frowned: "Why is there no statement from Granny Wan?"
The temple keeper walked over, poured himself a glass of water, and took a couple of sips.
"Is that old woman you're talking about, Shaoqing?"
He was incredibly stubborn; he'd rather die by banging his head against a wall than utter a sound. He's lying in the cell next door.
"Don't let her die, she's an important witness."
"I know. Just from the fact that she banged her head against the wall without saying a word, I knew she was an important person."
"I have to go to the palace. You continue the interrogation, but make sure no one dies."
Du Zhengming finished tidying up his statement and got up to leave.
Upon arriving at the palace, they found the atmosphere in the East Palace to be extremely oppressive.
The Crown Prince covered his head, Xiao Ling frowned, and Xie Yunman also looked distressed.
"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Du Zhengming asked after paying his respects.
No one spoke up until Xie Yunman finally said, "The Empress Dowager is seriously ill."
Du Zhengming frowned deeply: "What illness does the Empress Dowager have?"
"I'm getting old, and these past few days, because of His Majesty and Yongning's affairs, I've been having nightmares frequently, and my health has been deteriorating."
Du Zhengming asked, "Is there any movement from Consort Shu's side?"
“We’ve been monitoring them for twelve hours straight, but haven’t seen anything happen,” Xiao Ling replied.
Du Zhengming then asked, "What's the situation with the group of palace servants you investigated?"
"They all had single-line contact with their superiors, but in the end, the person on the key lead bit his tongue and committed suicide."
The identity of the ultimate superior was not revealed.
Xie Yunman was still the one answering.
"Didn't you find anything at all?" Du Zhengming asked, his face filled with disbelief.
"We didn't find the mastermind behind it, but we did find out that it was the person who served tea to His Majesty who poisoned him."
Yongning's poison was administered by a palace maid in the imperial kitchen, who claimed that Consort Xin had ordered it.
However, nothing could be found with Consort Xin, who kept crying out that she was innocent.
However, the Empress found a lot of gold and silver in the palace maid's residence. The gold and silver were not engraved with any patterns, and their origin was unknown.
The Empress has sent people to investigate the palace maid's family, but there's still no news.
Du Zhengming then asked, "Is the palace maid who poisoned the palace still alive?"
“Still alive, having survived many of the tortures in the Yeting Court, it’s practically the same as being dead,” Xiao Ling said.
"You can stay up so long, are you Deadpool?" Du Zhengming asked.
"It looks like it."
Xie Yunman tapped her hand on the table next to her, thinking as she tapped.
The Crown Prince asked Du Zhengming, "Do you have any news here?"
"Yes, this is the testimony of someone close to the Wan family."
Their testimonies suggest that the death of Princess Lanling seems to be inextricably linked to this Lady Wan.
The crown prince carefully examined the confession in his hand, growing angrier with each reading. He slammed his hand on the table and said angrily:
"This Wan family member deserves to die."
After reading it, Xiao Ling asked, "Didn't the Wan family say anything?"
"Mrs. Wan seemed to have some concerns, as if someone had some kind of leverage over her."
Xie Yunman's fingers suddenly stopped, and she abruptly looked up at Du Zhengming and said:
"If it's true that the Wan family killed Princess Lanling back then, then who instructed her?"
Could it be Consort Shu?
The Crown Prince shook his head: "When Aunt Lanling died, the imperial physicians all said she died of illness."
If Consort Shu were to take action, it would surely be with swift and decisive measures, preventing my aunt from remaining bedridden for two years before passing away.
This method sounds like the work of the person who poisoned the Emperor.
Xiao Ling sighed: "Should we tell Yan Chi about this?"
The Crown Prince thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see how his talks with Ye Jing go."
If everything goes well on his end, I'll send a message to him next time and see if he and the Duke of Xing can provide any clues.
Xie Yunman suddenly laughed: "Hasn't our clue arrived?"
It seems that this Wan family member is a key figure.
After saying that, he looked at Du Zhengming and asked, "If I'm not mistaken, you already know her weakness?"
Du Zhengming nodded: "I mentioned her two children before; she has a lot of emotional fluctuations."
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince immediately said, "Then let her two children go and see her."
“And there’s the Wan family,” Xiao Ling said.
“Wan family?” Du Zhengming frowned.
"Yanchi once said that he felt there seemed to be something wrong with the Wan family."
Du Zhengming frowned as he looked at the Crown Prince: "The Wan family is the Marquis of Wuwei's residence. Without His Majesty's decree, this..."
"I will go to discuss this with His Majesty. You wait here."
After finishing his statement, the crown prince took the confession and other documents and went to see the emperor.
The three of them sat down and continued to talk about what to do next.
Soon the crown prince returned, bringing with him the emperor's decree:
Wan is suspected of murdering Princess Lanling, and all relevant personnel from the Duke of Xing's mansion have been arrested and imprisoned.
The Changping Earl's Mansion is also a suspect, and it is agreed that all members of the Changping Earl's Mansion should be summoned to the Dali Temple for questioning.
Du Zhengming received the imperial decree and was preparing to take his leave of the Crown Prince.
Suddenly, someone entered and announced, "Your Highness, Princess Yongning requests that Du Shaoqing come to see her."
The Crown Prince frowned upon hearing this: "Yongning? She's still not fully recovered. Why is she looking for Du Shaoqing at this time?"
The young eunuch lowered his head and continued to report:
"Regarding the princess's poisoning, Her Highness has new clues she wishes to share with Du Shaoqing."
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