Xu Xingfeng turned his head and was immediately shocked. He hadn't expected that the Emperor would send someone to bring them into the palace.
"This old servant greets Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!" A beautifully dressed old woman, accompanied by a stunningly beautiful young woman, knelt in the Imperial Study and bowed to the Emperor.
"Who are you?" Lai Fu asked sternly from the side.
"This old servant is the madam of Yichun Pavilion, Mama Liu. This is our Yichun Pavilion's Miss Liu Xing." The beautiful old lady spoke respectfully, her voice trembling slightly.
Although she knew the person who came to see her was not an ordinary person, she really didn't expect it to be the Emperor.
"What was Miss Liu Xing doing on the night of October 28th?" Lai Fu knew what the emperor wanted to ask, so he spoke directly. After all, the people below were from a brothel and of low status, so there was no need for the emperor to speak for them personally.
“This, this old servant…” Mama Liu was about to answer when Laifu stopped her, “Let Miss Liu Xing answer.”
Liu's mother was so frightened that she dared not speak. Liu Xing glanced quickly at Xu Xingfeng kneeling beside her, and seemed to understand something. She lowered her head and answered.
“That night, I was receiving guests,” Liu Xing stammered.
"Do you still recognize that guest?" Laifu continued to ask.
“I recognize him.” Liu Xing nodded quickly. “He’s the young master beside me.” Liu Xing pointed to Xu Xingfeng beside her.
"So he stayed in your room all night?"
"Yes." Liu Xing replied without hesitation.
"So you spent the whole night with him?" Laifu asked again, using a different phrasing.
This time, Liu Xing didn't answer as quickly as before, but hesitated slightly before nodding, "Yes."
“Miss Liu Xing, lying before the Emperor is a crime of deceiving the Emperor.” Lai Fu also noticed Liu Xing’s unusual behavior and became serious, his tone sharp.
"This servant wouldn't dare, this servant wouldn't dare." Liu Xing quickly knelt down and kowtowed. "This servant didn't lie. That night, this young master stayed with this servant all night."
Xu Xingfeng and Xu Ding breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief upon hearing Liu Xing's words.
Lai Fu glanced at the Emperor, and seeing the Emperor nod, he gestured to the eunuch who had just led Liu Mama and Liu Xing to take them away again.
After everyone left, the Emperor slowly spoke, "Xu Xingfeng, do you know why I asked you about your whereabouts that night?"
"Your humble servant was unaware," Xu Xingfeng replied respectfully.
"Someone told me that you were the murderer who broke into the Crown Prince's residence and killed someone that night." After saying this, the Emperor glanced indifferently at the person on the ground.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent! Please investigate thoroughly. How could I have done such a cruel thing? I absolutely did not do it," Xu Xingfeng replied in a panic.
"Your Majesty, as you just heard, I spent the entire night with Miss Liu Xing. How could I possibly do such a thing? Besides, the Crown Prince and I are cousins and have always had a very good relationship. I have absolutely no reason to do such a thing," Xu Xingfeng explained repeatedly.
Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince quickly spoke up for Xu Xingfeng.
"Father, I have always had a good relationship with Xingfeng. How could it have been him that night?"
The Emperor gave the Crown Prince a stern look, and the Crown Prince immediately shut his mouth.
“That night, when my men were inspecting the scene at the Crown Prince’s residence, they found a jade pendant with the character ‘峰’ engraved on it. Someone recognized it as yours.”
Lai Fu quickly took out the jade pendant, walked to Xu Xingfeng's side, and handed the jade pendant to Xu Xingfeng.
Upon hearing this, Xu Xingfeng was shocked. When he saw the jade pendant that Laifu handed him, his face turned even paler. "Your Majesty, I am innocent! This jade pendant is indeed mine, but it was stolen by the thief when the Xu family was robbed. I have not been able to find it since."
"Your Majesty, this is a complete frame-up! That night, I was at Yichun Tower the whole time. How could I have gone to the Crown Prince's residence and left behind my personal jade pendant?" Xu Xingfeng cried out, accusing himself of being wronged.
"Your Highness, do you remember what you said before about sprinkling powder on the murderer?" The Emperor turned to look at the Crown Prince.
"Your subject remembers." The Crown Prince nodded, wondering why the Emperor had suddenly brought this up.
"Yesterday, after Xu Xingfeng entered the palace, I released those butterflies, and almost all of them flew onto Xu Xingfeng," the Emperor said calmly.
These words were like a stone dropped into a calm lake, startling everyone so much that they forgot all about etiquette and looked up at the Emperor.
Butterflies? Those silvery butterflies from yesterday?
Xu Xingfeng and Xu Ding's expressions changed drastically. The reason for the appearance of the butterflies yesterday was actually that.
"Your Majesty, yesterday, I was carrying a sachet. Perhaps those butterflies flew onto me because of the sachet I was carrying," Xu Xingfeng quickly made an excuse for himself.
Xu Ding quickly spoke up, "Your Majesty, Feng'er has always been calm and obedient, and has a very good relationship with His Highness the Crown Prince. How could he do such a thing? That's absolutely impossible."
The jade pendant incident could be explained as having been lost, but this damn powder and butterfly are simply inexplicable.
This is much more powerful than the jade pendant worn close to the body. Xu Ding was full of doubts. That night, his son had important things to do and could not possibly be at the Crown Prince's residence. Moreover, what benefit would it bring them to go to the Crown Prince's residence to kill someone?
Who would do something so thankless and potentially risky, that could get them beheaded?
"Father, how... how is this possible?" The Crown Prince was also shocked. How could those butterflies have flown onto Xu Xingfeng?
“Ordinary sachets won’t attract those butterflies at all; only when you have that medicinal powder on your body will they be attracted,” Lai Fu explained dutifully, standing there.
Xu Xingfeng looked at the Crown Prince in disbelief, only to see the Crown Prince nod solemnly, "That's true."
“Your Majesty, this is impossible. That night, Feng’er stayed at Yichun Tower the whole time. How could he suddenly appear at the Crown Prince’s residence?” Xu Ding panicked and explained repeatedly, “Your Majesty, someone must have sprinkled the powder on Feng’er’s clothes when he wasn’t paying attention.”
"Your Majesty, please understand, I am not that kind of person." Xu Xingfeng began to kowtow repeatedly.
Xu Ding also tried his best to explain, "Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly. Feng'er is definitely not that kind of person."
The Emperor remained silent, while the Crown Prince, standing to the side, was even more anxious than the Xu father and son.
He still needs them to support his troops. Xu Xingfeng is Xu Ding's most valued and beloved son. If something happens to Xu Xingfeng and he doesn't try to help him, what if Xu Ding says something he shouldn't in his desperation? Then he'll be finished. Xu Ding still has a lot of dirt on him.
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