Chapter 560 Divine Valor! (First Update)
After Princess Ning'an left the courtyard, Xiao Heng pushed open the window, which was barely noticeable unless you looked closely, with only a small crack.
He watched her figure disappear through the palace gate and whispered, "Thank you, Auntie."
After leaving Renshou Palace, Princess Ning'an did not immediately return to Bixia Palace, but instead went to the Imperial Study.
"Ning'an is here. Come and sit down." The emperor put down the memorial in his hand. He had been on leave for many days and had accumulated a lot of official business. In addition, the reward for Ning'an and the murder case at Xianleju had left him quite overwhelmed.
Princess Ning'an came to the emperor's side.
Eunuch Wei brought over a small stool and placed it beside the emperor.
Ning An sat down gracefully, looking at the emperor with gentle eyes: "Have I disturbed my imperial brother?"
The emperor smiled and said, "No, please sit down. I told you you can come whenever you want, and you will never disturb me."
Princess Ning'an recalled: "I remember my elder brother often said the same thing when I was a child. He was a prince and had a lot of studies. Every time I went to see him, he was always studying."
The emperor lamented, "I am not favored by my father. If I do not strive to make an impression on him through my studies, I fear he will forget that I am his son."
Princess Ning'an turned to look at him, her eyes full of admiration: "But in the end, it was still my brother who stabilized the throne."
"That's all thanks to the Empress Dowager." The Emperor felt a pang of emotion when he mentioned the Empress Dowager Zhuang. "You probably don't know what happened between the Empress Dowager and me during the years you were away."
Although the emperor hated Consort Jing, he still cared for Ning'an. He didn't tell Ning'an about Consort Jing's crimes of instigating him and Empress Dowager Zhuang. But now that it was brought up suddenly, he couldn't help but tell her.
"...I was drugged and became estranged from the Empress Dowager. I did too many things that I was sorry for her. Now, looking back, the Empress Dowager personally put me on the throne, and yet I treated her like this. She must be extremely sad."
Princess Ning'an said softly, "Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, Your Majesty need not blame yourself for what happened before."
The emperor said with shame, "I have always blamed the Empress Dowager for controlling the government, but if it weren't for that, I'm afraid this country would have fallen into the hands of Consort Jing and the remnants of the previous dynasty long ago."
Princess Ning'an lowered her head.
The Emperor said earnestly, "Ning'an, that woman is not worthy to be your mother. You can only have your mother in your heart. She is the one who truly loves and protects you."
Princess Ning'an smiled and said, "Ning'an knows. Ning'an will be filial to the Empress Dowager, and Ning'an will also be filial to the Emperor."
The emperor smiled with satisfaction.
Princess Ning'an's eyes flickered, and she said, "By the way, Your Majesty, I just saw Lord Xiao in Mother's palace."
The emperor thought for a moment: "Sixth Prince?"
There weren't many men who could enter Empress Dowager Zhuang's bedroom, and among them, only Xiao Liulang was surnamed Xiao.
Princess Ning'an nodded: "Yes, Mother calls him Sixth Brother. It seems that Lord Xiao also came about the case of the Ministry of Justice, but I didn't hear what he said clearly."
The emperor seemed to remember something and exclaimed, "Indeed, that's true. He just came to the Imperial Study and said that the suspect from Xianleju had woken up."
"Is he really awake?" Princess Ning'an asked.
"Hmm?" The emperor looked at Princess Ning'an with a strange expression.
"This matter concerns the reputation of the royal family, so I'm particularly concerned. Have I overstepped my bounds?"
The emperor smiled and said, "How could that be?"
"That's good." Ning An smiled with relief. "I saw in the file that she was drugged with a drug called 'Seven-Day Intoxication,' which is said to cause a seven-day coma."
Upon hearing this, the emperor smiled and said, "With the little miracle doctor here, none of this is difficult."
Princess Ning'an glanced at the memorials on the table and asked in a relaxed tone, "Did she confess?"
The emperor said, "The interrogation is still ongoing."
Princess Ning'an gently touched the tip of her nose with her handkerchief: "Brother, would you like someone to take a look?"
The emperor pondered for a moment: "Very well."
The emperor sent Eunuch He this time.
He Gonggong never revealed his identity to Consort Jing, but the Emperor made no attempt to hide it from Princess Ning'an. This was not only because Princess Ning'an had suffered hardships on the frontier, but also because it deepened his trust and affection for her.
Eunuch He returned quickly; Princess Ning'an was still in the Imperial Study.
He reported: "Your Majesty, the suspect named Hua Xiyao has indeed woken up. Minister Xing interrogated her personally, but she refused to say anything, nor did she eat or drink, and seems to be planning to starve herself to death."
"Does Xianleju know she's awake?"
The one asking the question was Princess Ning'an.
She seemed particularly interested in this case.
However, considering that she was also the emperor's sister and one of the suspects behind the murder in this case, her attention seemed quite reasonable.
If Princess Xinyang were here, she would probably be even more concerned about the progress of the case than she is.
Thinking this to himself, Eunuch He respectfully answered her question: "I know. Ever since the case of Xianleju became the talk of the town, it has become difficult for the Ministry of Justice to keep its actions secret. There are always people trying to find out something from the Ministry of Justice. Xianleju is no exception. A maid from Xianleju even brought some snacks to visit the suspect."
Princess Ning'an asked, "What's your name?"
Eunuch He glanced at Princess Ning'an with suspicion, but then noticed that the Emperor's face showed no sign of change. Since the Emperor was happy to indulge Princess Ning'an, Eunuch He couldn't very well refuse to give the princess face.
Eunuch He said, "I think her name is Ling'er? Or Ling'er? Something like that."
Ling'er is Hua Xiyao's personal maid.
Princess Ning'an asked again, "What did they say?"
Eunuch He said, "This servant is not clear about that. The maid requested to speak a few words with Hua Xiyao alone, and Minister Xing agreed."
...
At the end of the Ministry of Justice prison is a separate cell, quite different from ordinary cells. It is more like a private room, with an extra iron door and two strong and powerful yamen runners guarding it.
Burning braziers hung on the walls on both sides of the corridor, and the leaping flames illuminated the expressionless faces of the yamen runners, adding an extra layer of solemnity and aloofness.
The cell door was locked, and everything seemed peaceful, but little did people know that the suspects had already turned the cell upside down.
Hua Xiyao was tied to a chair, her hands and feet bound by ropes.
Xiao Heng was not lying.
Hua Xiyao did indeed wake up, and the maid Ling'er from Xianleju did indeed come by.
He delivered a bowl of "last meal" to Hua Xiyao.
Hua Xiyao sneered: "You think that by simply bribing a maid to impersonate the young master and poison me, I would suspect the young master? How naive!"
Xiao Heng remained noncommittal, looking at her and saying, "You have unwavering faith in your young master. I wonder if your young master has the same faith in you?"
Hua Xiyao laughed so hard her body trembled slightly: "Lord Xiao, Scholar Xiao, I don't even know how to address you. Do you really think the young master will fall for it? You underestimate him! You're too arrogant! From the moment you used Bai Kun's identity to write the confession, the young master already knew you were setting a trap for her! Because there isn't a single person named Bai Kun under his command! Your tricks can only fool the people of the capital, but as long as I don't reveal the young master's identity, you can't convict him!"
Xiao Heng's expression did not change in the slightest because of her words: "Bai Kun is fake, but you, Hua Xiyao, are real."
Hua Xiyao's smile vanished, and she said coldly, "So what? I won't confess! Nor will I implicate the young master!"
Xiao Heng retorted, "Does it matter whether you plead guilty or not? There can be one Bai Kun in this world, and there can be another."
Hua Xiyao frowned: "What do you mean?"
Xiao Heng stopped there, dusted off his wide sleeves, pressed the mechanism beside him, and the stone door slowly opened.
He took out a confession from his pocket: "Someone, this is Hua Xiyao's confession."
Hua Xiyao's expression changed: "You!"
Xiao Heng said calmly, "It's handwritten."
Hua Xiyao trembled with anger: "You're framing me again! Can't you come up with something new, Lord Xiao? Is this all the tricks you have left?"
"It doesn't matter if the methods are old-fashioned or not, as long as they are practical." Xiao Heng handed the confession to the yamen runner beside him. "Send it to His Majesty in the palace and tell him that Hua Xiyao has confessed."
Hua Xiyao angrily retorted, "Despicable! If you have the guts, kill me! Otherwise, once His Majesty interrogates me, I'll say that you wrote that confession!"
“How about we make a bet? You won’t live to see His Majesty interrogate you…” Xiao Heng raised an eyebrow at her, his gaze growing cold. “I’m not the murderer.”
The yamen runner was a confidant of Minister Xing, and after receiving instructions from Xiao Heng, he immediately went to the palace.
The yamen runners didn't have tokens to enter the palace; they had to report to the emperor and get his permission before he could let them in.
The constable bowed and said, "Please trouble you two to inform His Majesty that I have come to deliver a confession. The prisoner from Xianleju has confessed!"
This case has caused quite a stir. Xiao Heng and Minister Xing have entered the palace several times. Even a fool could see how much importance His Majesty attaches to the case.
The imperial guards guarding the city dared not delay and hurriedly sent one of their men to the imperial study to inform the emperor.
The eunuch from the Imperial Study then relayed the message to Eunuch Wei.
Eunuch Wei bowed and entered the imperial study, reporting, "Your Majesty, the prisoners at Xianleju have confessed."
The emperor was very excited: "Really?"
Eunuch Wei said, "Yes, the Ministry of Justice sent the confession to the palace gate. They said it was written in Hua Xiyao's own handwriting."
Princess Ning'an: "It can't be fake, can it?"
Eunuch Wei said, "We can't fake it! When the courtesan of Xianleju faked her death, Hua Xiyao was a suspect and gave a statement to the Ministry of Justice. There's her handwriting on it!"
Princess Ning'an clenched her handkerchief tightly.
The emperor was extremely excited: "What are you standing there for! Speak up now!"
Eunuch Wei was also quite excited, and said with a smile, "Yes! This servant will go personally!"
Princess Ning'an's eyes flickered slightly. She put down the tea she had half-finished and said to the emperor, "Since Your Majesty has important matters to attend to, I shall take my leave."
The emperor patted her hand and said affectionately, "You don't need to leave. Listen to the case together."
Princess Ning'an's eyelashes trembled slightly: "This... isn't quite right."
The emperor said, “What’s wrong with that? You are my sister, the princess of Zhao. Since this case is related to the princess of Zhao, you are entitled to listen. If Xinyang were here, she wouldn’t leave even if I chased her away.”
Xinyang was a person who wore her methods and ambitions on her sleeve. She would interfere in politics whenever she wanted, but fortunately, she had no interest in politics. After interfering in politics a few times, she found it meaningless and went home to take care of her son.
There was a distance between the Imperial Study and the palace gate. Eunuch Wei was not fast, and if they had taken the back path, they could have "intercepted" the confession before Eunuch Wei.
Princess Ning'an wiped the thin layer of sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, glanced at the darkening sky, and said, "At this hour, Xian'er should be looking for me."
"He's not a three-year-old child. Does he need to look for his mother at night?" The emperor didn't particularly like that young remnant of the previous dynasty, but for Princess Ning'an's sake, he didn't show his dislike for Huangfu Xian too obviously. "I'll go see Xian'er with you in a little while. You can ride in my imperial carriage; it'll be quick!"
How could he let Ning An walk back alone in such cold weather?
Princess Ning'an began frequently switching between her left and right hands when drinking water from the cup.
Are you that thirsty?
"A little."
After drinking three large cups, Princess Ning'an said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, I would like to..."
Before he could finish saying "I need to use the restroom," Eunuch Wei, beaming with delight, led the person in: "Your Majesty! The person has arrived!"
The emperor said sternly, "Come in!"
Eunuch Wei led the yamen runners into the house.
The bailiff presented the confession with both hands.
Eunuch Wei reached out to take it.
"I'll do it." Princess Ning'an stood up, walked around the desk, and took the letter from the yamen runner.
The capital city was still cold in the first month of the lunar calendar. Two charcoal braziers were lit in the imperial study, one of which was not far from the emperor.
As Princess Ning'an approached the emperor with her confession, she suddenly tripped, cried out in alarm, and fell forward!
The confession in her hand flew out and landed squarely in the brazier!
Between the confession and Princess Ning'an, the emperor would naturally choose to protect Ning'an; how could he bear to let Ning'an get injured?
The emperor stood up abruptly, his strong right arm catching Ning An.
The moment Ning An was caught, she let out a long sigh of relief. She nestled in the emperor's arms, slightly out of breath, and said guiltily, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I lost the confession."
The emperor raised an eyebrow and smiled at her: "Look!"
Ning An turned his head and was instantly struck by lightning!
The emperor's left hand accurately grasped the confession!
Emperor: Thanks to my frequent playing of leaf cards with my mother, I can easily grab cards with my left hand!
(End of this chapter)
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