Chapter 756 Right Palace Gatekeeper
"so……"
A voice rang out again in the long-silent hall; it was Tushe'er's. But even she, after uttering those two words, dared not continue. Fear and disbelief filled everyone's eyes.
Because none of them believed that anyone would dare to kill someone in the Thousand Autumns Palace!
Therefore, Jianchun could only have been killed near Chengqing Gate, which is why she tore off a clump of pine branches before she died.
But in this way—
No one dared to say anything, and several pairs of eyes turned to Shang Ruyi, seemingly waiting for her to make a judgment, although they had already decided what the outcome would be in their hearts. On the contrary, Shang Ruyi kept frowning and remained silent for a long time before looking up at Wo Xue and saying with a solemn expression, "You were gone for so long just now, you must have found out more than just this much information."
Upon hearing this, Tushe'er and Changwan looked at Woxue again.
Sure enough, a troubled expression appeared on Wo Xue's pretty face again, but she didn't remain silent for long. She bit her lower lip and said, "This servant just went to Chengqing Gate and asked a few patrolling guards. Because Chengqing Gate is under the jurisdiction of Chengqing Palace, the guards patrolling there are the Right Palace Gate General's men. That is to say..."
"...!"
Shang Ruyi immediately took a deep breath.
The Right Palace Gatekeeper, also known as the Crown Prince's Right Palace Guard.
This official position was decided before Yuwen Qian was made crown prince after his great victory in Taiyuan and his return to Chang'an. It is clear that Yuwen Yuan had already decided on the candidate for crown prince at that time. The right palace gate guard who was to guard the crown prince's palace was none other than Shang Ruyi's elder brother, Shang Shoufei!
In other words—
This time, Chang Wan couldn't help herself either, gritting her teeth and muttering, "Damn it."
Shang Ruyi glanced at her, then looked at Wo Xue, who was frowning and had clearly gone through some internal struggle before returning to Qianqiu Palace, and fell silent.
Although the matter is somewhat complicated, it is not difficult to clarify—Jian Chun grabbed a pine branch before she died, which means that she either died in Qianqiu Palace or Chengqing Gate. If she died in Qianqiu Palace, then the blame would fall on him, or even Yuwen Ye; if she died in Chengqing Gate, then that is under the jurisdiction of the East Palace Gate Guard, and regardless of who did it, the responsibility would fall on Shang Shoufei.
As for Shang Shoufei, no matter how much Shang Ruyi didn't want to be associated with him, they were still siblings!
Furthermore, the death of the palace maid Jianchun is related to the fact that the concubine of the Prince of Qin in Jinyu Garden poisoned the Princess of Qin.
In other words, no matter how you look at it, the root of the problem lies with the Princess Consort of Qin!
Chang Wan's use of "damn it" was too mild.
Tushe'er thought for a long time, unable to swallow her anger, and unwilling to watch them head down a dead end, she couldn't help but whisper, "Although Chengqing Gate is under the jurisdiction of the Right Palace Gate Guard, that area is also within the boundaries of Chengqian Hall. That—"
Chang Wan frowned and said softly, "Then we absolutely mustn't touch it."
Chengqing Gate is related to Shang Shoufei. If things get out of hand and the emperor finds out, Yuwen Yuan might as well refuse Shang Ruyi's request and kill Shang Shoufei—or perhaps that would be the best solution at the moment.
Chengqian Hall is related to the Crown Prince.
In other words, the Crown Prince was connected to the palace maid named Jianchun, and Jianchun was involved in poisoning the Princess of Qin.
Regardless of the merits of this case, this matter alone is something the emperor absolutely cannot allow to happen, or even escalate, because it is not merely a matter of jealousy and scheming between two women, but also concerns the harmony between the princes and the palace scandal of brothers fighting each other.
Therefore, whoever implicates the Crown Prince will be guilty of an even greater crime!
At this moment, Wo Xue said softly, "Besides those, I also asked about something else."
Shang Ruyi looked up at her and said as calmly as possible, "Anything else?"
Wo Xue said, "The body of Jian Chun was discovered by two palace maids who worked in Baifu Palace. They were responsible for cleaning up the leftover fruits and vegetables after the banquet. I heard that they were slacking off and secretly dumping those things into that dry well every two days."
"Returning every two days?"
Upon hearing this, Shang Ruyi frowned again.
However, from the time I discovered that there was something wrong with the hawthorn cake that Chu Ruoyan sent, to the time I couldn't find Jianchun at Jinyuyuan, it has been four days. If Jianchun was killed on the day the incident occurred, then the person who poured the things into the dry well should have been able to find her body the next day!
Shang Ruyi said, "You mean—"
Wo Xue said, "This servant can tell that Jian Chun did not die just these past two days. She must have been killed and her body hidden in some inconspicuous place. It was only yesterday or today that it was thrown into that dry well and then discovered immediately."
Shang Ruyi pondered for a moment and said, "So, the person who ordered her and then killed her deliberately left two days of silence to see my reaction?"
If the Princess of Qin was poisoned, or if she wasn't poisoned but discovered something amiss and started arguing with Lady Chu, then where and how Jian Chun's body was found would be irrelevant.
However, after waiting for two days, there was still no movement from Qianqiu Palace and Jinyu Garden. The other party realized that their first step of the plan had failed, so they took out Jianchun's body again and deliberately placed it in a place that seemed to be hidden but could be discovered immediately. In this way, the "clues" on her body were naturally discovered.
Aunt Hui just deliberately said in front of Wo Xue that she would judge Jian Chun's death as an accidental fall into the well, which was to provoke Wo Xue so that she would do something, or make her rush back to report to Shang Ruyi, so that Shang Ruyi would take some action. In this way, the matter would be blown up, and the final result would come back to Qianqiu Palace, and Yuwen Ye could really be blamed for not managing his household properly!
The person behind this is meticulous and has connections everywhere!
Although Aunt Hui is an extremely meticulous person, judging from her previous methods, she clearly couldn't have gone this far with such malice.
Currently, it seems that the person who can do all this is—
Shang Ruyi's face immediately darkened.
Tushe'er asked worriedly, "Your Highness, what should we do next?"
"..."
Shang Ruyi remained silent for a long time before saying, "There are still some things I need to think through before I speak. She'er, keep an eye on things outside. If Aunt Hui makes any moves, report to me immediately."
"yes."
"Wo Xue Chang Wan, you two can go down first."
"yes."
After dismissing the three of them, Shang Ruyi didn't say anything more. She just sat quietly on the couch, listening to the wind outside occasionally rustling through the pine branches. As the rustling of the pine trees grew longer and longer, time seemed to drag on and on.
During this long wait, she finally heard familiar footsteps.
Shang Ruyi looked up and finally saw Yuwen Ye, who had returned from outside with a solemn expression. As soon as he entered the main hall, he said in a deep voice, "I heard that Jian Chun's body was found at Baifu Hall?"
It seems that he also has people reporting the situation in the palace at any time.
Shang Ruyi nodded, took his hand and sat down, and then told him everything that had happened during the day.
Perhaps when Yuwen Ye learned that Jian Chun's body had been found, he had already sketched out some possibilities in his mind, so his expression was not greatly shaken. However, when he actually heard Shang Ruyi talk about the clues that Wo Xue had found, his brows furrowed slightly.
After hearing this, he almost immediately said, "It has nothing to do with the Crown Prince."
Shang Ruyi glanced at him.
His tone was the same as when he was certain Chu Ruoyan hadn't poisoned her; it was as if he could arrive at the conclusion without even thinking or judging. However, Shang Ruyi was also aware of Chu Ruoyan's situation, but the Crown Prince…
Shang Ruyi said, "The Crown Prince—"
Yuwen Ye glanced at her with a complicated expression. Whether it was Shang Ruyi's imagination or not, a hint of anger seemed to flash deep in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant: "He wouldn't use such methods on you—on us."
"..."
Shang Ruyi remained silent for a while, then simply nodded.
Although Yuwen Qian won a great victory in the Battle of Taiyuan, which showed the Crown Prince, who once "mistakenly wore a monk's robe as a battle robe", he was decisive on the battlefield. However, no matter how decisive he was, no matter how far his open and covert struggle with Yuwen Ye had progressed, apart from the underhanded methods used by Yu Mingyue, he never seemed to have used any of those low-class tricks.
Even during the battle of Fufeng, he not only gave them sachets to protect against the plague in advance, but also personally delivered a specially made veil to Shang Ruyi.
Such a person would certainly not use those methods to deal with a pregnant woman.
After a long silence, Yuwen Ye murmured again, "Right Palace Gate General..."
Shang Ruyi said, "You think there's something wrong with Shang Shoufei, right?"
In fact, during the time she was waiting for Yuwen Ye to return, she had been thinking about this matter constantly. Before, she hadn't had time to think about it, but now that Jian Chun was very likely to have died near Chengqing Gate, she couldn't help but think of Shang Shoufei. You see, the Right Palace Gate General was the Crown Prince's Right Supervisor of the Palace Guard, responsible for protecting the Eastern Palace. By holding this position, he had essentially aligned himself with the Crown Prince.
However, his surname is Shang, and he is the elder brother of Princess Shang Ruyi of Qin!
To accept this official position, in military parlance, is to defect to the enemy!
Now, the matter has involved him again—
After pondering for a while, Yuwen Ye finally said, "Actually, I've been investigating something these past few days, and I only found out about it after going to the Ministry of Personnel today."
Ministry of Personnel?
Shang Ruyi was somewhat surprised upon hearing this and looked at him: "What did you investigate at the Ministry of Personnel?"
Yuwen Ye took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Although Shang Shoufei met the Emperor in the name of your elder brother, it was the Duke of Wushan who recommended him for the position of Right Palace Gate General."
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