Chapter 403: The Queen's Self-Torture
"No."
The queen refused without a second thought.
"You've never been involved in government affairs, so how can you handle this? If your brother, the Crown Prince, needs to avoid suspicion because he's our mother's son, then why don't you do the same?"
"Mother, Cha Yao's crazy words are known throughout the city. I don't want you to be misunderstood by the people. I want to investigate further and clear your name.
As for avoiding suspicion, there is a difference between my son and the Crown Prince. Jingzhe is the Crown Prince's man, and my son and Jingzhe do not have much friendship. I only seek the truth."
Seeing his clear eyes and firm tone, the Queen couldn't tell for a moment whether he was siding with Shi Yu or really believed that she was being slandered and wanted to protect her reputation.
Qingwu said, "Qingwu thinks Zhian's actions are quite responsible. He has enjoyed the royal honor for many years, and it is indeed time for him to do something."
Xiao Zhian nodded in agreement, "Please grant me your blessing, Mother."
"Do you have to take over this case?" The Queen looked at Xiao Zhian.
Xiao Zhian nodded heavily, "My son also wants to train himself, and there is no one more suitable than my son."
The queen was annoyed and said, you are not suitable at all.
But Zhi'an still has a child's heart. If she controls him too strictly and Shi Yu and Qing Wu always follow his will, the child will inevitably lean towards one side and develop a rift with her as his mother.
Without the prince by her side, even if she had power, it would be unfair for her to compete with Shi Yu. She had suffered this kind of pain in her previous life.
In this life, she wants to win the support of the people. Zhi'an must not only be alive, but also be of the same mind as her and her son.
After thinking about it, the queen finally agreed, but she let the Minister of Justice be the main person in charge and Xiao Zhian as the assistant.
Although it was just assistance, Xiao Zhian felt that he had achieved his goal. The seriousness on his face faded away and he returned to his usual coquettish look.
"Mother, please wait. I will not let you down."
After a pause, he continued, "I heard that my sister-in-law is pregnant, and my mother gave her a lot of gifts.
As my son's uncle, I should also give some gifts to my sister-in-law's unborn nephew. Mother, please give me some advice on what to give."
The queen smiled gently, "He's still a child after all. Look how happy you are. How did you know it was my nephew?"
Naturally, she didn't want to reward Wei Qingyan, but she was the mother-in-law, and she had to do some face-saving work.
What's more, she had previously thought that the butcher knife had already caught Wei Qingyan, and she was willing to lower herself to mend the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Some dramas must always go on.
Until Wei Qingyan fell into her hands!
She was furious when she thought about how the Wei envoy had recently been asking her to fulfill her promise and to take away a lot of benefits from Feng Zhao.
Xiao Zhian said, "It's okay to be a niece, but Zhian also likes the first grandchild of our Fengzhao royal family."
He remembered hearing people say during his time in the Wei Dynasty that the Lan family was very prone to twins. His sister-in-law's mother was pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl, twice, so maybe his sister-in-law was pregnant with twins too.
According to folk sayings, pregnancy is usually kept secret for the first three months, but they are royal family, so pregnancy is a major event that everyone celebrates.
Especially since the Crown Prince was about to ascend the throne and his sister-in-law was pregnant, it gave reassurance to the ministers and people who supported him. However, this was not necessarily what the Queen Mother had hoped for.
Therefore, Xiao Zhian did not say much.
"This is your first time becoming an uncle, so you should show some appreciation. However, the baby is still a few months away, so there's no rush. You can pick out some goodies for your sister-in-law first."
She was determined to get Wei Qingyan, so how could she let her give birth to a child and cause more trouble?
The Queen thought maliciously in her heart, but with a smile on her face, she called an old maid and said to her, "Help the Second Prince to check."
Xiao Zhian thanked the queen and left happily with the old nanny.
The Queen looked at his lively back and said to Qing Wu, "I know that you don't like my ruling, so you are close to the Crown Prince and want to support him to drive me out of this position.
But Zhi'an is also your nephew. Your emperor brother once cherished him so much and let him maintain his good nature. Why do you want to drag him into these disputes?
You only have these two nephews. If Zhian doesn't interfere in state affairs, when the crown prince succeeds to the throne in the future, Zhian will be an idle prince who doesn't care about anything. Isn't this a good thing for their brothers?
Qingwu, please don't let the conflict between you and me cause your brother the emperor's two children to kill each other..."
"Problem." Qingwu sneered and interrupted the queen. Then she waved her round fan, turned around and left the palace without even looking at the queen.
Only a fool would believe Lin Wanzhi's nonsense. If Lin Wanzhi really cares about Zhi'an, she should do less immoral things.
She shouldn't have even given birth to Zhi'an. Since she had him, she should have treated Shi Yu well. It was Lin Wanzhi who caused them to kill each other. She was the real trouble.
Qingwu spat without caring about her image. It was not vulgar, but charming instead.
The queen's eyes were filled with gloom. "Go and check if anyone has said anything to the Second Prince."
She didn't believe that Zhi'an would suddenly get involved in these things without anyone's instigation.
After a while, the secret guard came back and said, "General Lin's men entered the palace to see the Second Prince today."
Everyone knew that General Lin treated his nephew, the Second Prince, very well. Whenever he got something good, he would often send it to the Second Prince. Therefore, it was common for people from the Lin Mansion to enter the palace, and they did not care.
The queen's eyes grew even darker. "Whoever knocks on the palace gates, don't let anyone in. Then send a message to Rong'an County Master..."
Xiao Zhian didn't know that the Queen had stopped the Lin family from looking for him. He happily searched the Queen's private storehouse and went to the Prince's Mansion with boxes of all sizes.
He pointed to the boxes and cages on the ground and said to Wei Qingyan, "Sister-in-law, these are for you. I'll give my nephew some later."
Wei Qingyan saw that he was walking freely, and his injuries should be almost healed. He smiled and said, "Thank you, Zhi'an."
Xiao Zhian subconsciously wanted to look at her abdomen, but felt that it was not good, so he scratched his head and turned to Shi Yu, "Brother Crown Prince, the Queen Mother agreed to let me assist the Ministry of Justice in handling that case. Brother Crown Prince, do you have any instructions?"
His uncle suddenly sent someone to tell him to take over the case. He guessed that this was what the prince meant, so he asked directly.
Shi Yu nodded and dismissed the servants, "Zhi'an, we want to talk to you about something."
Seeing his serious expression, Xiao Zhian looked at Wei Qingyan, who also had a solemn expression. He felt a sudden panic in his heart and quickly straightened his expression, "Okay."
A quarter of an hour later.
Xiao Zhian looked at Shi Yu with a pale face, "Is the real culprit behind the living burial case really the Queen Mother?"
Shi Yu nodded.
"Wang Zhi was also killed by the Queen Mother?"
"yes."
Wei Qingyan continued, "Wang Zhi's soul is trapped in the Lin family's ancestral land. Because he and Shen Hongxing and others had their hair taken away to enter the formation, they are not on the birthday list.
But they were indeed killed by the Queen, and your uncle's birthday was also on the list.
Your uncle's injury was also caused by the Queen, with the intention of arresting me. Even Lin Jinzhi's elopement and the seizure of the Lin family's military power were all caused by her."
After learning Zhi'an's fate from the mad doctor, they decided to tell Zhi'an the true identity of the queen.
Stopping the queen from doing evil is also a merit, and perhaps it can change Xiao Zhian's fate.
Of course, they would not tell Xiao Zhian that this was done to change his fate and relieve him of any psychological burden.
If Xiao Zhian knew what the Queen had done but chose to stand on the Queen's side, then there would be no need to change Xiao Zhian's fate.
But based on their understanding of Zhi'an, Zhi'an should not help the evil.
“Zhi’an, I know that it is really hard for you to accept this, but countless people have died because of the queen.
If she is not stopped in time, more people will die at her hands in the future, do you understand?"
Xiao Zhian understood.
He thought about many things, especially the subtle changes between his uncle and his mother. His pale lips moved for a long time before he uttered, "Did those things I dreamed of happen in my past life?"
Wei Qingyan nodded.
"The Queen Mother really killed so many people, and also killed my uncle."
Xiao Zhian slowly hugged his head, "But my mother is different from the one in my dream. Why did my mother... harm so many people?
My mother always said that I was a child and that she couldn't bear to see me suffer. When she knew what happened to me at Princess Yu's farm, she hugged me and cried for a long time, saying that I was pitiful.
But Wang Zhi is more pitiful than me. He also has a mother, and his mother loves him very much.
So after Wang Zhi died, she chose to commit suicide. Their lives were enough to make her cry, why did the Queen Mother want to harm them..."
His voice became smaller and smaller, and finally turned into silence, and he cried silently.
Wei Qingyan and Shi Yu waited quietly, waiting for him to digest those things.
Of course, they temporarily concealed Shi Yu's and Xiao Zhian's life experiences so that Xiao Zhian wouldn't be unable to bear it.
They were also afraid that without the blood relationship, Xiao Zhian would choose the Queen over Shi Yu. They were not afraid of what Xiao Zhian could do, but Xiao Zhian himself might bring about his own destruction.
They both truly treated Zhian as their younger brother, and neither of them wanted to see that scene happen.
Little did they know that while the three of them were silent, chaos was breaking out in the palace.
The queen was poisoned and fell into a coma!
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