"Uncle, please rise quickly." The Crown Prince hurriedly raised his hand to help Xu Ding up, and Xu Xingfeng also stood up.
"Your Highness, this old minister will keep it brief." Xu Ding bowed to the Crown Prince.
"Uncle, please speak." The Crown Prince sat down and gestured for Xu Ding and Xu Xingfeng to sit down as well.
"Your Highness, what exactly is going on with this powder and the butterflies?" Of all the things in this matter, Xu Ding was most puzzled by the powder.
“Uncle, that night, the assassin broke into my mansion. When he got close to me, I took advantage of his inattention and sprinkled a kind of powder on him. This powder is colorless and odorless, but a kind of silver butterfly is attracted to the smell of this powder. I also told Father about this, in order to find the real murderer.”
The Crown Prince explained the matter carefully, and Xu Ding and Xu Xingfeng finally understood.
"But why would His Majesty suddenly suspect Feng'er?" Xu Ding asked, puzzled.
"I have investigated this matter thoroughly. It was because the investigators found Xingfeng's substitute jade pendant at the scene that Father Emperor wanted to try it out. Unexpectedly, those butterflies actually flew onto Xingfeng's body." As the Crown Prince spoke, he glanced at Xu Xingfeng again. He really did not resemble the person from that night at all.
“Your Highness, Feng’er’s personal jade pendant was lost when it was stolen from the Xu residence. This matter has absolutely nothing to do with Feng’er. This is a blatant frame-up.” Xu Ding said again to clarify for Xu Xingfeng.
“Uncle, I naturally believe you in this matter. I know what kind of person Xingfeng is. From the beginning, I knew that someone wanted to harm Xingfeng.” The Crown Prince nodded. The Xu family father and son were his supporters, and they had no reason to do such a thing.
"As long as the Crown Prince trusts us, that's good." Xu Ding nodded with relief. His biggest worry was that the Crown Prince would start to suspect them. As long as the Crown Prince trusted them, that was all that mattered.
"But how should we resolve this matter? All the evidence we've uncovered proves that Xingfeng was the one from that night, and even Father is starting to suspect him." The Crown Prince frowned. This matter was too thorny; there was too little evidence favorable to Xu Xingfeng.
"Yes, that damned thief is truly despicable. Your Highness, that assassin actually had my personal jade pendant. This is simply unbelievable. Therefore, I suspect that this assassin might be in cahoots with the people who stole from the Xu residence before. They did this to try and shift the blame onto me, aiming to create a rift between us."
Xu Xingfeng guessed that he had had this idea ever since he learned that his personal jade pendant had appeared in the Crown Prince's residence.
“I think so too, but those petty thieves are acting suspiciously, and we haven’t found anything about them yet.” The Crown Prince shared the same thought.
"Yes, I have arranged for many talented people to investigate this matter, but those petty thieves are too cunning and have left no clues."
Mentioning the theft at the Xu residence, Xu Ding felt like vomiting blood. So many good things had vanished overnight. Xu Ding still felt terrible just thinking about it; those were all the treasures he had saved up for most of his life.
"Regarding the jade pendant and the powder, we can say for now that someone is trying to harm you. The only one who can prove Xingfeng's innocence is that Miss Liu Xing. You must protect her well," the Crown Prince instructed.
"Your Highness, rest assured, this old minister has arranged for experts to protect her safety and will absolutely not allow the enemy to succeed." Xu Ding stroked his beard and nodded somewhat solemnly.
Xu Xingfeng glanced at his father, feeling a little puzzled as to why his father hadn't told the Crown Prince that he had killed Liu Xing. However, he didn't say anything, only nodding in agreement.
"By the way, Your Highness, do you know why the Prince of Nanqing said those things in the Imperial Study today? Surprisingly, he didn't take advantage of their misfortune." He Liufeng's unusual lack of hostility towards them made Xu Ding even more uneasy.
"I am also puzzled by this matter. Logically speaking, my uncle should not have said that at the time."
"Your Highness, do you think it's possible that the Prince of Nanqing was behind this?" Xu Ding speculated.
"Impossible. Even if my uncle dislikes me, he would never actually try to kill me. The person that night could not have been my uncle, nor could he have been one of his men. Besides, I haven't done anything to offend my uncle recently." The Crown Prince shook his head.
"Your Highness, who else knows about the powder?" Generally speaking, not many people should know about this kind of powder. Perhaps we can find some clues by starting from this aspect.
"Besides myself, the only people who know about this are my father and those around him, my uncle, and Qu Qingxi."
"How did the Prince and Princess of Nanqing know about this?" Xu Ding asked, somewhat surprised.
"Ahem, for some reason, I suspected that the assassin that night was very likely Qu Qingxi, so I summoned both my uncle and Qu Qingxi to the palace and used butterflies, but the butterflies didn't land on them." The Crown Prince coughed twice and explained casually. Now that he thought about it, the Crown Prince felt that he had been out of his mind. How could he have thought that the person that night was Qu Qingxi?
However, in order to avoid giving Xu Ding and Xu Xingfeng a bad impression of Ren Nuanyun, the Crown Prince did not say that it was Ren Nuanyun who told him about this, and it was Ren Nuanyun who insisted that Qu Qingxi was the person from that night.
"I see. In that case, it's very likely that Prince Nanqing was the one who put the powder on Feng'er." The only people who know about this are the Emperor and Prince Nanqing. The Emperor wouldn't harm them, so the only person who could have done it is He Liufeng.
"But if the powder was made by someone sent by the Prince of Nanqing, then the Prince of Nanqing must be trying to frame me. But when he was in the Imperial Study, did he take advantage of me?" Xu Xingfeng, who was quiet to the side, was even more puzzled.
The room fell silent as soon as Xu Xingfeng said this. Yes, why was that?
Xu Ding felt as if he had entered a fog, and the further he walked, the more confused he became.
But if the powder wasn't given by the Prince of Nanqing, could it be... could it be the Emperor?
Xu Ding considered this possibility and immediately rejected it. Impossible. How could the Emperor do such a thing?
Others may not know, but Xu Ding is very clear in his heart that although the emperor seems to treat the crown prince badly, he actually favors the crown prince the most. Even for that position, the emperor's only choice is the crown prince.
Xu Ding discovered this matter long ago, so he chose to support the Crown Prince. Only those who couldn't see the truth were deceived by the Emperor, who thought that the Emperor didn't favor the Crown Prince at all.
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