The sun shone brightly, flowers bloomed in profusion, and the chirping of birds and insects intertwined to create a melody unique to summer.
Despite the beautiful scenery, those present felt a chill, staring at the person planted upside down in the large vat with a sense of dread.
Emperor Jingming’s expression was cold as he said word by word: “Get the person out.”
Several eunuchs immediately stepped forward, working together to remove the person from the water vat and place them on the ground.
The person was soaking wet, quickly creating a puddle on the ground.
Looking at that pale face, someone exclaimed: “Isn’t this Eunuch Deng?”
Yu Jin stepped forward, bent down to examine, and then nodded slightly to Emperor Jingming: “This person has facial injuries. Although the blood traces are no longer visible due to being submerged in water, there are blood stains on the hem of his clothes and shoes, which is why Erniu was able to track him…”
“So, is this the person who harmed the princesses?” Emperor Jingming asked gravely.
Yu Jin replied: “This is the person who left blood traces by Bibo Lake.”
This watertight answer surprised Emperor Jingming and made him somewhat appreciative, thinking that this son of his was indeed reliable and thorough when facing issues, which was quite rare.
Emperor Jingming’s impression of Yu Jin improved further. He then turned to ask the two eunuchs who had first arrived at the lakeside: “You saw the culprit’s back, can you confirm if it’s this person?”
Being directly questioned by the Emperor, the two eunuchs became extremely nervous.
The Empress, standing beside Emperor Jingming, said gently: “His Majesty is asking, just answer truthfully.”
One of the eunuchs gathered his courage and said: “This servant only saw the back view, I can only roughly recognize the body shape—”
Emperor Jingming nodded slightly, and immediately two palace servants lifted the eunuch lying on the ground, making him face away from the two eunuchs.
“Well?” seeing that the two eunuchs had been staring for a while without speaking, the Empress asked.
This time, she was determined to find out the cunning mastermind behind this, and no one would be able to get away with it.
One eunuch replied: “It looks similar… At that time, this servant only caught a glimpse, that person was of medium build, rather thin, similar to this person…”
The other eunuch nodded in agreement.
Emperor Jingming’s expression turned cold.
Erniu had tracked the scent here, and the body shape matched. If it wasn’t this person who harmed Fuqing and the Fourteenth Princess, who else could it be?
“Who is this Eunuch Deng?” Emperor Jingming asked with a dark face.
Pan Hai quickly replied: “Reporting to Your Majesty, Xiao Deng is in charge of tea at Chunhua Palace.”
Emperor Jingming’s gaze fell heavily on Consort Ning.
For Pan Hai to remember him meant that this person was somewhat of a manager. And could someone who had become a manager in Chunhua Palace have no connection to Consort Ning?
Consort Ning was extremely annoyed by Emperor Jingming’s look.
With her temperament, she would have started arguing with the Emperor on any other occasion, but now was not the time to indulge her nature.
Consort Ning curtsied to Emperor Jingming, her face tense as she said: “It’s true that Xiao Deng is from Chunhua Palace, but I know nothing about what happened today. I request Your Majesty to investigate this thoroughly.”
“Of course, I will investigate thoroughly!” Emperor Jingming said icily.
Time and again, until the death of the Fourteenth Princess, had finally enraged this good-tempered emperor.
This time, he couldn’t let it go easily, even if it was Consort Ning—
Emperor Jingming looked at Consort Ning, his expression gloomy.
No matter who it was, he wouldn’t let them off lightly!
Consort Ning bit her lip.
She truly felt that trouble had come out of nowhere. Xiao Deng had always seemed honest and dutiful, how could something like this happen?
Seeing Yu Jin examining Eunuch Deng’s body, Emperor Jingming instructed Pan Hai: “Go and inquire.”
Pan Hai quickly gathered everyone from Chunhua Palace and began questioning them.
The palace had a clear hierarchy, especially among the servants. Those lower-level servants had fixed times and places for their duties, with no opportunity to move about freely.
However, eunuchs like Eunuch Deng, who had certain authority, had much more freedom. They could find a suitable excuse to go out once without attracting much attention.
Pan Hai quickly found out the time when Eunuch Deng had gone out, which coincided with the time when the two princesses had met with trouble.
At this point, it was confirmed beyond doubt that Eunuch Deng was the culprit.
Yu Jin’s voice rang out: “The possibility of this person committing suicide is quite high.”
“How can you be certain?” Emperor Jingming asked with a grim face.
Yu Jin pointed to Eunuch Deng’s mouth and nose, explaining: “I examined his mouth and nose, and there’s mushroom-like foam around them. Dr. Zhen told me that this indicates he was still breathing when his head was submerged in the water vat.”
“Couldn’t someone have pushed him in?” the Empress couldn’t help but ask.
Instinctively, she didn’t believe it was Consort Ning’s doing, but if the trial ended with Xiao Deng, the blame could only fall on Consort Ning’s head.
No one would believe that a small eunuch would harm a princess for personal reasons.
In such a situation, it would naturally be seen as the master’s instruction.
If Eunuch Deng had been murdered, they could have followed the clues to investigate deeper.
“I also observed his head and body. Apart from some facial injuries, there are no obvious external wounds elsewhere, nor any signs of struggle. This suggests he wasn’t attacked by external force.”
Concerning herself, Consort Ning’s mind worked quickly. She blurted out: “Couldn’t he have been drugged into unconsciousness before being thrown into the water vat? This way, he would have sunk into the vat alive, without external injuries or signs of struggle.”
The Empress’s gaze towards Consort Ning immediately became subtle.
This was exactly how Fuqing had been pushed into Bibo Lake—
Yu Jin nodded: “We can’t rule out this possibility. This would require an imperial physician specializing in poisons to examine. However, I’m more inclined to believe it was suicide.”
“Why?” Emperor Jingming asked eagerly.
Meeting the curious gazes of many, Yu Jin calmly said: “In most cases, it’s unlikely for an adult male to be instantly drugged into unconsciousness without any struggle.”
Although lacking in certain aspects, a eunuch’s physical strength was still not comparable to most women’s.
“Imperial Physician Chen—” Emperor Jingming called out.
An old imperial physician reluctantly walked over, taking out silver needles and other instruments from his medicine box to begin examining the body, while inwardly resolving to find an opportunity to retire to his hometown.
Carefully serving the nobles wasn’t enough, now he had to examine corpses. Life was becoming unbearable.
After a good while, Imperial Physician Chen bowed to Emperor Jingming: “Reporting to Your Majesty, there are no obvious signs of poisoning in this person.”
There were countless poisons in the world, and perhaps there existed some that could kill without leaving any trace. In that case, he would be helpless.
By this point, it was almost certain that Eunuch Deng had committed suicide.
Pan Hai walked out of the room where he had been conducting inquiries and bowed to Emperor Jingming: “Your Majesty, we’ve uncovered two matters.”
“Speak!”
Pan Hai glanced at Consort Ning, then lowered his gaze and said: “Four years ago, there was a conflict between Consort Ning and Beauty Chen—”
Consort Ning’s face changed slightly, and she said angrily: “A mere Beauty who is already dead, would I seek revenge on her daughter for such an insignificant matter from the past? Even if it were revenge, what does it have to do with Princess Fuqing? I’m not that foolish!”
“What’s the second matter?” Emperor Jingming didn’t comment on Consort Ning’s words and continued to ask Pan Hai.
Pan Hai hesitated for a moment, then said: “The second matter concerns Consort Xian.”