Chapter 381 Preparations for the Funeral
Xiao Xixi took out the bag of mutton jerky from her bag.
This mutton is air-dried and is very chewy.
Xiao Xixi asked while chewing mutton jerky and driving the mule cart.
"You are still alive and well, why do all those people say you are dead?"
Luo Qinghan sat upright in the dilapidated mule cart and explained with a cold expression.
"It should be Qiu Yuan who deliberately spread the rumor. He wanted to create the illusion that I was dead, so that he could frame Qiu Lei and kill him with justification.
In fact, according to Qiu Yuan’s plan, he should kill me first and then put the blame on Qiu Lei.
Unfortunately, I was lucky enough to escape the disaster, but my plans were disrupted.
He had no choice but to spread rumors, making everyone think I was dead, and at the same time sent people to hunt me down, hoping to silence me."
Xiao Xixi: "Tell me, what is Qiu Yuan trying to achieve? He works so hard every day, either trying to kill this or that. He probably can't even get a good night's sleep at night. Doesn't he feel tired?"
Luo Qinghan: "This is the charm of power. It can make people forget their fatigue, abandon their dignity, and give up their humanity."
"You must never become a person like Qiu Yuan in the future. Living like that is too boring!"
Her tone sounded like she was educating her own children not to learn bad things from others.
Luo Qinghan responded softly: "Well, I won't be as stupid as him."
While they were traveling slowly, the news of the prince's murder had already been sent to Shengjing by express delivery over a distance of 800 miles.
When the emperor learned about this, he was furious and ordered on the spot that Prince Chenliu be punished!
No matter who assassinated the prince, since the prince died in Chenliu County, it was the fault of the King of Chenliu!
But then the second message was sent to Shengjing -
The person who murdered the prince was Qiu Lei, the second son of Chenliu Palace!
Qiu Lei even placed Prince Chenliu and his two brothers under house arrest, intending to kill the crown prince and then launch a rebellion.
At the critical moment, Qiu Yuan launched a mutiny and killed Qiu Lei with his own hands, thus stopping the rebellion.
Qiu Yuan's act of sacrificing his own relatives for the sake of justice really shocked many people.
Even the emperor was a little surprised.
Originally according to the law, Qiu Lei murdered the prince and started a rebellion, so his entire family must be executed.
However, Qiu Yuan's act of sacrificing his own relatives for the sake of justice won him the favor of many civil servants in the court.
Many civil officials submitted memorials to intercede for Qiu Yuan.
"Your Majesty, if Qiu Yuan had not sacrificed his own family for the sake of justice and personally killed the rebels, the entire Chenliu County would have fallen into the control of the rebels. We are far away from Chenliu County, and it would cost a lot of money and manpower to send troops to suppress them. Now that Qiu Yuan has killed the rebels and expressed his submission to the court, this is equivalent to saving the court a big trouble. We should adopt a conciliatory policy towards him."
"Although Qiu Lei's crime of treason is unforgivable, Qiu Yuan is also a victim, and he was implicated by Qiu Lei. Now that he is willing to sacrifice his own family for the greater good, it means that he is still very loyal to the court and Your Majesty. If Your Majesty can recruit him, he will definitely be more loyal to Your Majesty, and this move will also show your benevolence to the world!"
"The Prince of Chenliu is seriously ill and can no longer take charge. Qiu Lei almost rebelled. The people of Chenliu County must be in a panic. If we attack the Prince of Chenliu's Palace at this time, it is likely to cause more trouble in Chenliu County. I think the most urgent task now is to stabilize the situation in Chenliu County. Other matters can be settled slowly later."
…
The emperor just listened to the previous words, but when he heard the last words, his heart was finally touched.
Compared with those false reputations, he cared more about the situation in Chenliu County.
Especially since Prince Chenliu holds the military power of 50,000 Chixiao troops, he should not be underestimated.
As for the death of the prince, it seemed shocking at first glance, but if you think about it carefully, the impact of this matter is not as great as expected.
After all, the emperor has many sons, and the prince is just one of them.
Even if this prince is gone, there will still be other princes.
Of course, no one dared to say these words directly, at most they could only think about them in their hearts.
After talking about Qiu Yuan's situation, the ministers all tried to comfort the emperor and asked him to mourn.
The emperor looked very sad, his eyes were red, and his whole body showed deep fatigue.
He waved his hands, indicating that he wanted to be alone.
The ministers took their leave.
The emperor stayed alone in the imperial study for a long time, and then ordered the summons of the young prince Nie Changping.
He asked Nie Changping to go to Chenliu County with the imperial edict, to find the prince's body and find out the truth about the prince's murder.
Nie Changping took the order and left.
He has different ideas from the emperor.
He felt that the prince would not die so easily.
In fact, even if the emperor did not summon him, he would volunteer to go to Chenliu County. Unless he saw the prince's body with his own eyes, he would not accept this reality.
Nie Changping, accompanied by a hundred guards, set out lightly and headed straight for Chenliu County at night.
Although the prince's body has not been brought back yet, preparations for his funeral have already begun in the palace.
No matter what everyone thinks in their hearts, they all look sad on the surface.
Queen Qin was the first to hang up a white flag and ordered the imperial kitchen that everyone in the palace had to eat vegetarian food for the next three months.
The concubines could no longer wear brightly colored clothes, and they all changed into plain dresses.
The princes began to move around frequently and took the initiative to show their goodwill to Queen Qin.
Now that the crown prince is dead, Queen Qin has no other children. If she wants to be promoted to queen mother safely, she has to choose one of the existing princes to support.
This is a great opportunity for the princes, and no one wants to miss it.
Queen Qin still had a cold look on her face and was not close to anyone, but the Qin family had already begun to contact other princes in private.
The dozen or so concubines in the Eastern Palace all cried their hearts out.
Concubine Bai, who was the weakest, fainted several times from crying.
According to ancestral rules, when the crown prince died, his concubines had to be buried with him.
But because the prince's body had not been found yet, the emperor had not officially issued an order for them to be buried alive with him. But everyone knew that being buried alive was only a matter of time, and these young and beautiful concubines would eventually die.
…
Luo Qinghan could probably guess what the current situation in the palace was.
As soon as he died, all those evil spirits came out.
Especially his brothers, they are probably going to fight to the death for the position of crown prince.
Luo Qinghan didn't care about these things. What bothered him now was something else.
The several necessary roads leading to Chenbao County were all blocked by the Chixiao Army. They strictly checked passers-by and arrested anyone suspicious immediately.
Luo Qinghan and Xiao Xixi had no pass or documents, so they would be exposed if they were found out.
They have to find a way to get by.
…
(End of this chapter)
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