From the interrogation just now, it was known that before Beauty Li’s death, Consort Qi had intended to have her accompany her to dine with the Emperor, but unfortunately the Imperial Noble Consort did not allow it. So Consort Qi had Beauty Li disguise herself as her maid to go along.
However, halfway there, Consort Qi claimed abdominal pain and returned to Yanhe Palace, leaving Beauty Li alone at the Front Palace Hall. This was the root cause that led to her later miserable death in the side chamber of the Front Palace Garden.
The Imperial Noble Consort’s suspicion was not wrong—Consort Qi indeed had the greatest suspicion. It was she who went to great lengths to bring Beauty Li to the front palace and left her there alone.
Setting aside the incriminating evidence later found on Qian Yu, just speaking of the reason Beauty Li appeared in the front palace, it could not be separated from Consort Qi.
If an ordinary person were investigating the case, they would definitely follow the lead of Consort Qi and investigate further—what was her true relationship with Beauty Li? Did the two have any conflicts? Did she have a motive to kill Beauty Li? Did she conspire with Qian Yu to murder Beauty Li?
But when Liu Chaoming’s interrogation reached this point, he suddenly turned his blade and began punishing the palace maids and eunuchs of Yanhe Palace and Chonghua Palace. There were two reasons for this.
First, if Beauty Li’s death was truly related to Consort Qi, this would be a matter of the inner palace and should not be inquired into by him, the Left Censor-in-Chief. Moreover, in terms of status, Consort Qi carried imperial offspring and was sovereign, while Liu Chaoming was a subject.
Second, Beauty Li’s rank was lowly, and her death was actually insignificant. The reason this matter had become so big was because it had become entangled with Qian Yu and the young prince.
So thinking more carefully from here, if today’s events were a setup, if Qian Yu was truly wronged, then this person who arranged the scheme—he had the means to kill Beauty Li and frame Qian Yu, had the means to make the young prince suffer a frightful illness under strict guard. Then he must certainly be someone in a high position within these layers of palace walls, intimately connected with imperial power.
Just as Eunuch Zhang had said, tonight, aside from His Majesty, all the most precious personages in the entire Great Sui were at the Front Palace Hall. Therefore, this person who arranged the scheme was very likely present in this great hall.
Or to put it more precisely, this person who arranged the scheme was one or several among these various princes.
So who exactly was it?
Su Jin raised her eyes to look. Following Zhu Minda were Zhu Nanxian; following the Seventh Prince were the Fourth Prince and Twelfth Prince; following the Fourteenth Prince were the Third Prince, Ninth Prince, and Tenth Prince.
But was this division of factions as clear as what she saw before her eyes?
Or was it intricate and complex within, impossible to investigate deeply?
Presumably, Liu Chaoming had seen through this point, which was why he hastily punished a whole group of unimportant people and no longer pursued the investigation.
Su Jin recalled that before entering the Front Palace Hall, Liu Chaoming had said to her—Minister of Revenue Qian Zhihuan belonged to the Seventh Prince, Qian Yu was his legitimate son, yet he served as Vice Commander in the Crown Prince’s Feathered Forest Guard. Would Zhu Minda and Zhu Zhaowei feel at ease with this person?
Indeed, the Crown Prince and Seventh Prince were as incompatible as fire and water. There was no reason for the father to serve the Seventh Prince while the son served the Crown Prince.
Therefore, if one did not think about who arranged the scheme, just looking at this situation, Qian Yu was already a discarded chess piece. As long as he remained in the Feathered Forest Guard for one day, Zhu Minda could not feel at ease with the Feathered Forest Guard for one day, so he wanted to eliminate him. And for Zhu Zhaowei, with Qian Yu in the Feathered Forest Guard, Minister of Revenue Qian Zhihuan could not wholeheartedly belong to him, so he also did not wish to protect Qian Yu.
Today at the Front Palace Hall, there were three factions, led respectively by the Crown Prince, the Seventh Prince, and the Imperial Noble Consort.
By killing Qian Yu, both the Crown Prince and Seventh Prince would be satisfied.
As for the Imperial Noble Consort, she was merely watching the excitement and wanted to seize the opportunity to grasp Consort Qi’s weakness and punish her. Liu Chaoming pinned the crime of instigation on Consort Qi and handed her over to the Imperial Noble Consort for punishment, so she would inevitably be satisfied as well.
This was the way of being a chess piece—one must deeply understand what the chess players think, must be clear about one’s own situation. Most importantly, even as a chess piece, one must have the heart of a chess player. One must understand what chips one has at hand, and thus make a move that satisfies everyone.
And tonight, Liu Chaoming had precisely used the few chips in his hand—he killed Qian Yu and pushed Consort Qi to the Imperial Noble Consort. With great fanfare, he beat to death with rods and punished a group of people who were in fact unimportant, bringing Beauty Li’s case to a conclusion that seemed complete but was actually muddled with a final stroke, yet leaving others no way to pursue further investigation.
Such skillful handling—one degree less would lack sophistication, one degree more would provoke everyone’s anger.
Su Jin silently watched this play that came to nothing with some enlightenment. She suddenly felt that this deep palace hall in the snowy night was like a great ship sinking into the deep sea—the sea tides churned the sails, the keel completely shattered. She was already deeply trapped in the whirlpool.
Before long, the Director of the Imperial Medical Academy entered the hall and said: “Reporting to the Crown Prince and the Imperial Noble Consort, the items the young prince touched today, the utensils he used, and the meal remnants have all been examined. No pestilence or evil that could cause frightful illness was found.” He paused, then said hesitantly: “Therefore, this humble subject believes that the young prince’s frightful illness was probably indeed caused by violent terror.”
For a moment, the hall was silent.
After a while, a very deep and pleasant voice said: “How could it be caused by terror? The covered walkway and the side chamber are three zhang apart. Lin’er is only a two-year-old child. Even if he saw Beauty Li being harmed with his own eyes, he would not necessarily understand what happened.”
Su Jin looked in the direction of the voice. The speaker was the Tenth Prince, Zhu Yiheng.
The ancients used “face like Song Yu, appearance comparable to Pan An” to describe a man’s beautiful countenance.
And the Tenth Prince Zhu Yiheng before her eyes truly deserved these eight characters.
His person was like a jade tree of fragrant orchids, his voice like gold and stone striking the ground. Not a single flaw could be found in his features—he was truly like a rare precious jade.
Looking at him, Su Jin suddenly remembered that the person who had proposed having Liu Chaoming judge the case was precisely this Zhu Yiheng.
Upon hearing Zhu Yiheng’s words, Zhu Minda also thought it made sense and said coldly: “Examine again! Re-examine everything Lin’er touched today, didn’t touch, used, and didn’t use, inside and out!”
There was already anger in his words. The Director of the Imperial Medical Academy hastily kowtowed to beg forgiveness and withdrew submissively.
At this time, Zhu Zhaowei said warmly: “What Tenth Brother says is quite right. Lin’er is only a two-year-old child—what does he understand? Usually, doesn’t he only know to follow the words of his Imperial Brother and Imperial Sister-in-law? It’s truly strange. Imperial Sister-in-law only left for two hours—how did Lin’er fall ill?” Then he bowed toward the upper left: “I wonder what matter the Imperial Noble Consort had that she would summon Imperial Sister-in-law away with an urgent edict at such a critical moment?”
The Imperial Noble Consort’s almond eyes narrowed as she said angrily: “What, does Seventh Brother suspect this palace?”
Upon hearing Zhu Zhaowei’s words, Zhu Mixiao immediately became furious: “Zhu Zhaowei! By killing Qian Yu you gain Qian Zhihuan. You benefited the most from today’s events. Stop pretending to be uninvolved!”
Third Prince Zhu Jiyou originally did not understand, but hearing Zhu Mixiao speak, he also joined in the commotion: “Fourteenth Brother is right. Zhu Zhaowei, have you done few bad things? This prince thinks that the several people who died today cannot be separated from your group! Perhaps it was… perhaps it was the vengeful spirit of your deceased mother consort!”
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Zhaowei’s originally gentle expression immediately became cold and icy.
Before he could speak, Fourth Prince Zhu Yushen said: “Third Brother, the dead are to be respected greatly. Consort Cen is an elder to us all. These words you speak are truly greatly disrespectful.”
Zhu Mixiao snorted coldly: “Then how do you explain Beauty Li’s inexplicable death by hanging? Are you all fools? Do you truly believe it was Qian Yu acting alone? Who would believe that?!”
Ninth Prince Zhu Yutang said timidly: “For—forget it, shall we? Hasn’t Lord Liu already closed this case? It was done by Qian Yu, and it has… nothing to do with any of us.”
But Twelfth Prince Zhu Qiyue laughed coldly: “How to explain it? Fourteenth Brother, these words really hit the mark. Then why don’t you first explain why Imperial Sister-in-law was not by Lin’er’s side guarding him today and was summoned away by an inexplicable urgent edict!”
The group of princes quarreled endlessly. Zhu Minda was too lazy to manage them and only watched coldly. Instead, Shen Jing came forward and made a graceful bow to the Imperial Noble Consort at the head, then said to everyone: “Actually, the reason the Imperial Noble Consort urgently summoned this subject was precisely for the matter Father Emperor summoned us to discuss today—Thirteenth Prince’s marriage.”
Upon hearing these words, Zhu Nanxian’s lashes moved slightly, but he lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Zhu Qiyue raised an eyebrow and glanced at Zhu Nanxian, curling the corner of his mouth as if joking: “His marriage has been delayed not just for a day or two. Even if it needs to be discussed, it doesn’t matter if it waits a little while.”
The Imperial Noble Consort seemed too lazy to waste more words with these juniors and said indifferently: “That is because this palace recently learned that Thirteenth Prince has long since set his heart on someone. So I summoned Shen Jing over to inquire clearly, wanting to bring it up with His Majesty at dinner today. After all, Thirteenth Prince is not young anymore, and he is a legitimate prince. With the position of principal consort still undecided, it would be good to first take a secondary consort.”
Upon hearing this, Zhu Qiyue became even more curious: “Long since set his heart on someone? Who is it?”
The Imperial Noble Consort glanced at a close maid beside her. The maid acknowledged and stepped forward, curtsying before everyone: “In response to Your Highnesses, it is like this. Some time ago, the Imperial Noble Consort was reviewing the records of receipts and disbursements from the Court of Imperial Clan. In the ‘lost and found’ column, she discovered that over a year ago, someone had retrieved from the Yunji River a woman’s jade pendant that was entangled with a jade pendant worn by the Thirteenth Prince. Later, when they asked the Thirteenth Prince about it, His Highness said…”
She paused and glanced at the Imperial Noble Consort. She seemed somewhat hesitant about whether she should say what came next. Seeing the Imperial Noble Consort nod, she continued: “His Highness said that the woman’s jade pendant was also his—he had specially commissioned someone to make it to give to the person of his heart.”
Over a year ago, Yunji River.
Just hearing these two key words, Su Jin felt deeply uneasy.
She had originally possessed a jade pendant. Because it was the only item her grandfather had left her, she always wore it close to her body. It was not until over a year ago, when she was pursued and fell into Yunji River, that this jade pendant was lost.
Su Jin had wanted to go back and look for it, but feared arousing suspicion, so she had to give up.
But at this moment, hearing what this palace maid said, could it be…
Zhu Qiyue extended his palm and pushed Thirteenth Prince, saying cheerfully: “Well now, Thirteenth Brother, you and I have been friends for many years and I have kept nothing from you, yet you wanted to hide this matter from me. What jade pendant—quickly take it out and let this prince have a look.”
Zhu Nanxian’s brow furrowed slightly, then immediately smoothed out. Without much expression, he said: “This prince did not bring it.”
The Imperial Noble Consort said matter-of-factly: “In any case, we must wait for the Imperial Medical Academy to investigate Lin’er’s cause of illness. Thirteenth Prince, you are a legitimate prince. It is natural and proper for you to take consorts and concubines. There is nothing shameful about this matter. Just say who that woman is, and this palace will make the decision for you.” Then she looked toward Zhu Nanxian, as if remembering something: “This palace recalls that on that jade pendant, there seemed to be carved the character ‘Rain’?”