Chapter 102: Open the coffin and examine the body
At this time, Prince Jing's mind was in a mess, and he could only say something bland to perfunctorily deal with Xia Zhengqi.
Shock, fear, and anger, three emotions were fighting in his mind.
Shocked that he could hear his niece's voice; afraid that the murder 18 years ago was exposed; angry that Yang used a silver needle to harm his eldest son.
In the end, the three emotions fought, and the anger prevailed.
He really wanted to verify the true cause of death of his eldest son.
"As long as you want, you can naturally find out the truth!" Xia Zhengqi looked at Prince Jing meaningfully.
Prince Jing nodded heavily: "Okay, Your Majesty, please help me find out the truth!"
Xia Zhengqi immediately called Debao and whispered a few instructions.
The next day, Xia Zhengqi left the morning court, held Xia Miaoyuan in his arms, and went to the Ci Ling Pagoda with Prince Jing.
In Daxia, children under the age of 12 were considered to have died prematurely, and children who died prematurely could not enter the ancestral tomb.
The royal family built a Ci Ling Pagoda specifically to bury the children of the Xia family who died prematurely. Xia Chengguang's small coffin was placed in the Ci Ling Pagoda.
Xia Zhengqi and Prince Jing first lit two incense sticks for Xia Chengguang.
Then, Xia Zhengqi ordered people to open Xia Chengguang's coffin.
They were accompanied by two coroners from the Ministry of Justice, both of whom were experienced in autopsies.
Before opening the coffin, Prince Jing hesitated for a moment: "Why not just forget it? Chengguang has been sleeping for 18 years, and they still have to disturb him for an autopsy..."
"It's too late for you to regret now. This matter is not only related to your family affairs, but also to the century-old reputation of a family of miracle doctors." Xia Zhengqi looked at Prince Jing with burning eyes.
Seeing that Xia Zhengqi was so determined, Prince Jing dared not say anything.
Xia Zhengqi held his daughter and stood outside the hall with Prince Jing waiting for news.
Inside the tower, the coroner opened the coffin and uncovered the Hundred Blessings Quilt covering Xia Chengguang's body.
Xia Chengguang's body had been severely decayed and was almost reduced to bones.
The coroner carefully untied his brocade clothes and examined the body carefully.
After a while, the coroner came over and reported: "Your Majesty, I found silver needles on the young prince's body!"
Xia Zhengqi and Prince Jing heard it and immediately handed Xia Miaoyuan to the nanny and walked to the inner hall.
[Hey! I want to see it too, why did you leave me behind! ] Xia Miaoyuan twisted in dissatisfaction in the nanny's arms.
Xia Zhengqi and Prince Jing stood in front of the coffin and looked inside. They saw a small corpse lying in the coffin. Because the body had been severely decomposed, several shiny silver needles had pierced the body and exposed a part of it.
Although Xia Zhengqi had heard his daughter talk about the real cause of Xia Chengguang's death before, he still felt a surge of hot anger in his heart when he saw this tragic scene with his own eyes today.
He always loved children, and he was extremely distressed that a one-year-old child was killed so cruelly.
He shouted: "Check carefully for me to see how many needles there are!"
An hour later, the coroner reported: 19 silver needles were found in the body, each one and a half inches long, and three of them pierced the pericardium.
Xia Zhengqi clenched his fist and smashed it hard against the stone wall: "Too vicious!"
Prince Jing could no longer control himself, shaking violently, paralyzed on the ground and cried: "Chengguang, Daddy is derelict, I am not worthy of being a father!"
After crying for a long time, Prince Jing suddenly stopped crying, wiped his tears with a gloomy face, stood up and ran out.
Xia Zhengqi and others were all shocked.
"Quick, stop Prince Jing!" Xia Zhengqi shouted hurriedly after coming to his senses.
But, it was too late.
Prince Jing ran to the outside of Ci Ling Pagoda in one breath, untied a horse from the carriage, rode out, and disappeared in a blink of an eye.
"Oh no, go chase Prince Jing!" Xia Zhengqi ordered in a panic.
Several eunuchs got on the carriage to chase him, but it was impossible to catch up.
Seeing this, Xia Zhengqi hurriedly jumped on his own carriage and asked the driver to rush to Prince Jing's mansion.
[Oh no, Uncle Prince Jing is not going to go home and kill someone, right?]
Xia Miaoyuan sat in Xia Zhengqi's arms and muttered to himself.
What does "kill someone" mean?
Xia Zhengqi looked puzzled.
Ci Ling Pagoda is located in the outskirts of the city, more than 20 miles away from Prince Jing's Mansion. The carriage is heavy and can't be faster than riding a horse.
When Xia Zhengqi's carriage arrived at Prince Jing's Mansion, Prince Jing had been home for half an hour.
"Where is Prince Jing? Take me to find him!" Xia Zhengqi no longer cared about etiquette and grabbed a servant and asked.
"In the inner courtyard." The servant answered tremblingly.
Xia Zhengqi stuffed Xia Miaoyuan into Debao's arms, picked up his robe, and ran to the inner courtyard.
[Wait for me, Daddy! ]
She wanted to watch the emperor's uncle kill someone!
Today must be a melon that only comes once in a century. She wants to eat it, and she wants to eat it on the spot.
"Hurry... hurry..." Xia Miaoyuan squeezed out two words to Debao.
Debao immediately understood what the little princess meant and ran with her in his arms.
When Xia Zhengqi rushed to the inner courtyard, he immediately felt that the atmosphere was unusual.
He saw that the door of the inner courtyard was tightly closed, and more than a dozen maids, servants, and servants stood at the gate with strange expressions.
"Hurry up and open the far door!" Xia Zhengqi shouted.
A man who looked like a housekeeper said coldly: "The prince has ordered that no one is allowed to..."
Halfway through his words, the housekeeper turned his head and saw that the person who came was Emperor Mingxi. He was immediately frightened and knelt on the ground: "Open, open, open, this old slave will open the door immediately!"
More than a dozen servants were also frightened and knelt down to salute.
Xia Zhengqi didn't bother to argue with them. After the housekeeper opened the door, he immediately broke in.
The door of the main house was tightly closed, and two guards of King Jing were guarding outside the door.
The wailing of women came from the main house.
"It's not me! It's really not me! Spare my life, Prince!"
"Stop hitting me, it hurts too much! Spare my life! Help! Someone come!"
[Wow, the emperor's uncle really went home to kill someone. The knife is good, for a vicious woman like Yang Peixin, he should have killed her hard.]
At this time, Debao had also come to the inner courtyard with Xia Miaoyuan in his arms. Xia Miaoyuan listened attentively to the sounds in the house, with an excited expression on his face.
With a "pop", Xia Zhengqi pushed the door open.
The people standing at the gate of the courtyard immediately stretched their necks and looked inside curiously.
In the flower hall, a throne was placed in the middle, and Princess Yang of Jing was trapped firmly on the chair.
Yang's body was covered with blood and whip marks, and her clothes were torn.
Prince Jing stood in front of Yang with a horse whip in his hand.
He was shaking all over with anger, and his face had turned a scary color like pig liver.
"Prince Jing, stop it!" Xia Zhengqi stepped forward and snatched the whip from Prince Jing's hand.
[Daddy, are you here just to spoil the fun? I still want to see my uncle kill people.] Xia Miaoyuan pouted in dissatisfaction.
"She is the princess of Daxia after all, a lady of the court. No matter what mistakes she made, she shouldn't be tortured by you like this!" Xia Zhengqi said sternly.
Prince Jing fell down on the chair and shouted, "I don't care, I just want this vicious woman to tell the truth!"
Seeing Emperor Mingxi speak out to defend herself, Yang thought that her savior had come, and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is wise, please do justice for me! Chengguang's death really had nothing to do with me!"
"I am innocent, I didn't do anything!"
"I have worked diligently in the palace for nearly 20 years, raising children, serving the prince, and managing the affairs of the inner and outer courts. I have worked so hard, but you, the prince, have wronged me so much..."
Yang cried and complained, which was very touching. Even the uninformed eunuch Debao had tears in his eyes when he heard it.
Xia Miaoyuan was disgusted by Yang's performance.
[Pooh! You are such a shameless woman. In order to kill Xia Chengguang, who was only one year old, you searched everywhere for ways to secretly kill people. Now you pretend to be an innocent little white lotus! 】