After Xie Xin finished speaking with Yun Chuwei, he planned to personally lead the team to search the hunting grounds.
As they were leaving, they happened to run into Consort Xi, who was walking in their direction.
Consort Xi had changed her clothes and combed her hair again; there was no trace of her having been attacked by assassins.
Xie Xin and Yun Chuwei stopped in their tracks and bowed to Consort Xi.
Consort Xi glanced at the two of them and raised a charming smile.
"Fifth Princess and Miss Yun, there's no need for such formalities. You two are both very favored by His Majesty, so why would you need to bow to a mere concubine like me?"
Yun Chuwei remained silent, but Xie Xin spoke up: "After all, Consort Xi is an elder, so we should naturally pay our respects to you!"
Consort Xi's smile deepened: "If I remember correctly, the Fifth Princess was in charge of guarding the hunt this time, right? Now that such a thing has happened, I'm afraid the Fifth Princess can't escape the blame."
Xie Xin narrowed her eyes slightly and said slowly, "This princess will naturally investigate everything and give Father Emperor an explanation!"
Consort Xi nodded slightly, then said meaningfully, "There are some things that the princess may not be able to handle. Why not go to my nephew? I believe he will do his best to help the princess!"
Upon hearing this, both Yun Chuwei and Xie Xin's eyes flashed with a chill.
"I need not trouble Consort Xi with my affairs. Consort Xi, please take good care of Father Emperor!" Xie Xin's voice was also tinged with frost.
Upon hearing this, Consort Xi chuckled twice, sounding like she was mocking her.
However, she didn't say anything more and stepped into the main tent.
Xie Xin couldn't help but spit at Consort Xi's retreating figure.
"What the hell! She wants me to go find her nephew? I bet the Zhao family doesn't even have a bronze mirror anymore, they don't even have urine left!"
Yun Chuwei couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, there's no need to stoop to her level. Let's go search the mountains!"
Xie Xin snorted before leaving with Yun Chuwei.
-
The two split up and continued searching until dusk before making their discovery.
After capturing the two men in black, they discovered the hiding place of one of them.
There was a big tree by the river, and a hole had been dug in it.
The tree hole didn't look deep, but it turned out to be a door disguised as a tree trunk.
Open the door in the tree hollow, and you'll find a tunnel leading down to a natural stone chamber.
There are traces of human habitation there.
Moreover, it is clear that more than one person lives there.
There are more than a dozen cotton quilts alone.
Xie Xin frowned as she looked at the quilts.
She began, “These assassins must have been hiding here before we took over the guards of the enclosure.”
They didn't search carefully enough, so they didn't find the assassins.
It's understandable, really. If this hadn't happened, who would have thought that a team of assassins was hiding here?
Yun Chuwei looked around and frowned slightly.
"How did these people know in advance that His Majesty would be hunting?"
Xie Xin pursed her lips; this was also something she couldn't understand.
This hunt was, in a sense, a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Few people knew about it before Xie Xin took over the guarding of the training ground.
How could these people have known in advance?
"You're saying this hunt was suggested by Consort Xi?" Xie Xin asked thoughtfully. "If the assassins really did move in here beforehand, then... the suspicion of a leak would point to Consort Xi, wouldn't it?"
However, Xie Xin did not believe that Consort Xi would leak the secret.
It seems that Consort Xi's collusion with the former Crown Prince has brought her no benefit.
"Do you think it's possible?" Xie Xin asked.
Yun Chu pursed her lips slightly, then slowly shook her head.
Currently, the most favored concubines and princes around His Majesty are Consort Xi and Xie Yang.
For Consort Xi, sending a message to Xie Sheng to ambush and assassinate the Emperor was utterly meaningless.
What Consort Xi needs to do now is to continue to whisper sweet nothings in His Majesty's ear and persuade him to make Xie Yang the Crown Prince, rather than getting rid of His Majesty.
"If you also think it can't be Consort Xi, should we still report the truth?" Xie Xin asked.
Yun Chuwei nodded: "Of course we must report the truth! Moreover, according to normal thinking, we should point the finger at Consort Xi!"
Xie Xin looked puzzled.
Yun Chuwei's expression turned serious: "The hunting notice was only issued after you took over the hunting grounds guards. In other words, before you took over the guards, very few people knew about the hunt!"
Yun Chuwei paused for a moment, then continued, "If it's not you, not me, not Consort Xi, then who else could it be?"
Xie Xin's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this: "You mean... that's impossible!"
If we exclude everyone else, then only one person remains: the Heavenly Emperor!
Yun Chuwei chuckled softly, "I wouldn't be surprised if our sir did something!"
Xie Xin fell silent.
Then, she said seriously, "Pretend you don't know anything about this. I'll go and report it; you can just listen in!"
Yun Chuwei nodded.
-
Soon, Xie Xin presented the results of the search to Emperor Tianqi.
Finally, Xie Xin stated his conclusion: "Father, since you assigned the guard duties to me, I have immediately led troops to take over the guard of the hunting grounds. I am certain that no assassins were allowed in, so those assassins must have been lying in ambush in the hunting grounds beforehand."
Xie Xin paused, then continued, "This hunt was a last-minute decision by His Majesty. May I ask, before His Majesty informed me of this, who else knew about it?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Tianqi looked at Consort Xi beside him.
Consort Xi's face turned deathly pale. She never expected that things would turn around and involve her.
She knelt down before Emperor Tianqi with a thud and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I am innocent! It was indeed my suggestion to go hunting, but I only wanted to cheer you up. I never revealed this to anyone! I beg Your Majesty to investigate!"
Emperor Tianqi kept a somber expression and did not look at Consort Xi.
Instead, he looked at Yun Chuwei and said, "Chuwei, what do you think should be done about this?"
Yun Chuwei considered for a moment, then slowly said, "Perhaps there are traitors among Consort Xi's entourage. Why don't we have the Fifth Princess interrogate those around Consort Xi?"
Emperor Tianqi's face remained gloomy as he said to Xie Xin, "Then let's do as Chu Wei says!"
Xie Xin immediately agreed and soon arrested all the people around Consort Xi and took them away for interrogation.
Meanwhile, the Zhao family members were also interrogated as usual.
Just as Yun Chuwei had predicted, these people were recruited very quickly.
Soon, the confessions of those people were delivered to Emperor Tianqi.
The head maidservant of Consort Xi said that after His Majesty agreed to the hunt, Consort Xi immediately informed the Zhao family.
The route from Consort Xi writing the letter to delivering the message was clearly laid out.
The Zhao family's steward stated that after receiving Consort Xi's message, he relayed the news out of the Zhao residence as instructed by the mistress.
As for where it was to be sent, the housekeeper said he didn't know.
After reading the confession, Emperor Tianqi threw it directly at Consort Xi.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
