Chapter 450 The Truth Comes Out (First Update)
Princess Rui was unaware of what had happened at the Eastern Palace or why the Empress had summoned her.
Moreover, she was summoned to the East Palace, not the Empress's Kunning Palace.
It just so happened that Prince Rui was not at home, and Princess Rui had no one to make a decision, so she had to go by herself in the carriage sent by Eunuch Su.
When Princess Rui arrived at the East Palace, Empress Xiao followed the clues between Prince Ning and Wen Linlang and eventually found out the cause of Wen Yang's death.
Wen Yang handled the matter very cleanly, and even Empress Xiao could not find any flaws.
But sometimes, the biggest flaw is the absence of any flaws.
Princess Rui was a prince's wife, so Empress Xiao wouldn't torture her, especially since she was pregnant. Empress Xiao went straight to the point and asked her about the Crown Princess and Prince Ning.
Princess Rui was completely bewildered: "Big brother? What does she have to do with you? The man behind the rockery is her brother from her maternal family, Wen Yang."
A woman's intuition can sometimes be frighteningly accurate. Even though Empress Xiao hadn't explicitly stated what was going on between the two, Princess Rui instinctively connected it to the scene behind the artificial hill.
It feels like the empress refers to something shameful or unspeakable.
Empress Xiao looked at her with a dignified and gentle expression: "Qianqian, tell me the whole story from beginning to end."
Before Princess Rui could speak, Empress Xiao added, "Including your friend."
Princess Rui: "..."
As expected of the Empress, her skill is evident from the first move.
Princess Rui dared not conceal the truth and recounted the commotion she had overheard behind the artificial hill: "...At first, I thought it was the hostage from Chen Kingdom because I saw injuries on his face. My elder brother said not to act rashly and to go find evidence. Later, the evidence was found, and it was discovered that the hostage from Chen Kingdom was innocent. The person who had secretly met with the Crown Princess was Wen Yang. Wen Yang extorted money from the Crown Princess and also behaved improperly towards Chun Ying, so he knocked Chun Ying unconscious."
Chunying already explained this matter.
It was Prince Ning who knocked her unconscious.
The testimonies match.
Chunying didn't lie, and neither did Princess Rui. Princess Rui simply didn't know the whole truth.
"Mother, could it be that on that day..." After Princess Rui finished speaking, a bold guess suddenly welled up in her heart.
Empress Xiao smiled faintly and said unhurriedly, "You're about to give birth, aren't you? Don't overwork yourself. I like you and the third prince very much. Come visit Kunning Palace more often when you have time."
This signifies extending an olive branch to Prince Rui and his wife.
In terms of ability, Prince Rui and his wife were not that capable. In terms of maternal lineage, Du Qianqian's maternal grandfather was the Duke of Luo. Even though her mother was only the Duke's illegitimate daughter, there was still a connection between them.
Furthermore, what Empress Xiao couldn't understand was that the young couple seemed to have good luck, having inadvertently averted a bridge collapse and also inadvertently gained face in front of the Liang Kingdom's envoys.
If Prince Ning were to really get into trouble, Prince Rui and his wife, who were on good terms with him, would inevitably be implicated. At this time, Empress Xiao's intervention to protect the two of them was like sending charcoal in snowy weather.
It all depends on whether Prince Rui and his wife are willing to side with Empress Xiao.
Empress Xiao investigated until midnight before obtaining all the evidence, after which she got up and went to Huaqing Palace.
Consort Zhuang received the news later than Empress Xiao; she encountered Empress Xiao as soon as she arrived at Huaqing Palace.
"Empress..." Consort Zhuang intended to ask Empress Xiao what had happened to the Crown Prince and Prince Ning.
Before she could finish speaking, Empress Xiao raised her hand and slapped her across the face!
Consort Zhuang was stunned on the spot!
The two consorts have always been at odds. Although Empress Xiao is the Empress, Consort Zhuang, backed by Empress Dowager Zhuang, is not to be outdone in the harem.
Neither side could gain the upper hand.
This was the first time Empress Xiao had shown such disrespect to Consort Zhuang.
The palace servants nearby were all terrified and knelt down in unison.
Consort Zhuang covered her swollen cheek and looked at Empress Xiao with shock and anger.
Empress Xiao gave her a cold glance, showing no fear or lingering apprehension whatsoever: "What a fine son you've raised!"
Having said that, he left Consort Zhuang behind and entered Huaqing Palace with a flick of his sleeve.
Empress Xiao handed over all the witnesses and evidence to the Emperor. The witness was Chunying: "...This matter is of great importance, and it is not just my side of the story. Your Majesty may also ask Princess Rui and the Sixth Prince of Chen. They are also very important witnesses."
The emperor had not expected that this matter would involve such a large number of people, including the sixth prince of the Chen Kingdom.
The emperor would naturally ask.
As for Princess Rui, the Emperor didn't call her by that name anymore; he called her Prince Rui.
The prince of Chen confessed to drugging the Prince of Ning and the Crown Princess, but this time it was he who drugged them, unlike the previous times.
“He was the one who sent someone to kill me first. I only retaliated slightly and didn’t do anything to him…” Yuan Tang muttered.
The emperor was so angry with Yuan Tang that he rolled his eyes.
Prince Ning's head was slammed into the wall, and this is still considered not having done anything to him?
Zhao State has Xiao Ji, and Chen State has Yuan Tang; both are shameless to the extreme!
Prince Rui was also aware of what happened behind the artificial hill. He recounted in detail how Princess Rui mistook Yuan Tang for someone else at the palace gate and told him about her suspicions, as well as the matter with Prince Ning.
The main problem was that the emperor was also cunning; he didn't mention Prince Ning at all, and Prince Rui only thought that the emperor was suspicious of Wen Yang's death.
Prince Rui had deep feelings for Prince Ning, and if he had known it was Prince Ning, he probably would never have spoken up.
The emperor then interrogated Chunying.
Based on the testimonies of several people and the silver given to Chunying by Prince Ning and Yuan Tang, Prince Ning is undoubtedly guilty of illicit murder.
The emperor was heartbroken and found it hard to accept the fact that his eldest son was so ruthless.
He then summoned Princess Ning, hoping to obtain some other clues from her.
The emperor himself couldn't say what he was expecting.
However, he also understood that the charges against Prince Ning were basically established.
"Do you know..." The emperor had just begun to speak when Prince Ning, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, "She doesn't know, she knows nothing."
The emperor gave his son a dismissive sidelong glance.
Empress Xiao and Consort Zhuang and others went to the side hall, leaving only him, Prince Ning, and Princess Ning in the study.
After being mute all night, is he finally willing to speak?
Prince Ning knelt on the ground, his eyes lowered, and said, "Father, if you wish to ask anything, please ask your son. Chu Yue is unaware of the matter."
Princess Ning did not look at him; her posture, kneeling beside him, was upright and thin.
The emperor gave the two of them a deep look.
"Your Majesty, Consort Zhuang and Empress Xiao are at odds," Eunuch Wei hurried inside and whispered to the Emperor.
The emperor frowned and said to Princess Ning, "You may go back."
"Yes." Princess Ning stood up and stood respectfully to the side, only turning to leave after the emperor left the study.
"Suxin." Prince Ning called out to her, opened his mouth, and said, "That umbrella from back then... you had someone deliver it to me? Why didn't you deliver it to me yourself?"
Princess Ning, with her back to Prince Ning, did not turn around. She smiled in the moonlight: "Your Highness, you don't even dare to call that person by name?"
Prince Ning choked.
Princess Ning finally turned to look at him, a self-deprecating smile playing on her lips, and said, "Do you think Your Highness will take a liking to me just because I delivered it myself?"
Her face paled in comparison to that of the most beautiful woman, Wen Linlang.
She appeared in Prince Ning's sight quite often, but Prince Ning never noticed her. Prince Ning only remembered that Wen Linlang brought her an umbrella, but did Prince Ning know that she had been sheltering from the rain with him in a pavilion before bringing the umbrella?
She was accompanied by her maid.
Prince Ning glanced at her maid but didn't even look at her.
Prince Ning stared at Princess Ning's departing figure, unable to find his voice for a long time.
He asked himself, if she had personally brought him the umbrella that day, would he have fallen for her?
The answer is no.
He wasn't as philandering as the fourth prince, but women of average looks were indeed hard to catch his eye. It was Grand Tutor Zhuang's idea to propose to Princess Ning back then. He believed that a wife should be virtuous, and Grand Tutor Zhuang thought that Chu Yue, who was of average appearance, was much better than those pretty but useless daughters of noble families in the capital.
Wen Linlang is also excellent, but firstly, she is still young; secondly, her family background is not good enough; and thirdly, and most importantly, she is engaged to Xiao Heng.
Grand Tutor Zhuang would never allow him to make a foolish mistake like the Crown Prince.
Marrying a woman who has been engaged to someone else is probably just a way of saying he's not far enough away from the throne.
He respected Chu Yue because she was his first wife, and this was something he should and had to do.
However, when he was drugged and lying on the bed in the inn, all he could think about was Chu Yue. So much so that when Wen Linlang mistook him for Xiao Heng and said to him, "Let's live a good life together from now on," he mistakenly thought that Chu Yue had said it to him.
So he hugged "her" tightly and said to her, "Okay."
...
In the middle of the night, Yuan Tang came again and provided the emperor with a bombshell—the incident involving Xiao Liulang was orchestrated by Prince Ning, who hired members of the Double Blade Sect to assassinate Xiao Liulang.
"Why did he harm Xiao Liulang?" the emperor asked, puzzled.
Yuan Tang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten who Xiao Liulang looks like? He's probably worried that the Crown Princess might fall in love with someone who resembles the young marquis again, so he's eliminating his rival first."
The emperor hadn't considered why Prince Ning hadn't acted sooner, and that the delay was too much for him to think about.
If Prince Ning was tempted to kill Xiao Liulang simply because he resembled Xiao Heng, then what about the real Xiao Heng?
The emperor subconsciously thought of the great fire four years ago, and a chill ran through his eyes...
(End of this chapter)
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