The Empress Dowager seemed to anticipate Emperor Jingming’s confusion and smiled faintly. “Someone who just returned told me they saw Prince Xiang at the palace gate.”
Emperor Jingming suddenly understood. Occasionally, people from Cining Palace would leave the palace to donate money for incense and oil to the imperial temples on behalf of the Empress Dowager. Today, they happened to encounter Prince Xiang.
The Empress Dowager advised earnestly, “Young people are bound to make mistakes, especially when drunk. Your Majesty shouldn’t hold it against Prince Xiang.”
Emperor Jingming stared at the wrinkles at the corners of the Empress Dowager’s eyes, opening and closing his mouth, unsure of what to say.
Rongyang’s death was still being kept from the Empress Dowager. If he were to reveal the Eighth Brother’s murder of Cui Mingyue, Rongyang’s death might be impossible to conceal any longer.
As Emperor Jingming was thinking this, he heard the Empress Dowager sigh, “Thinking about Prince Xiang reminds me of Mingyue. If only Mingyue had known her place, she would have become my granddaughter-in-law, and by now, I would even have a great-grandchild…”
“Yes—” Emperor Jingming laughed dryly, his heart pounding.
The Empress Dowager stopped rotating her prayer beads, her expression turning somewhat melancholic. “I wonder how Rongyang is doing now. She’s been reduced to a commoner, and her daughter has gone missing. It must be difficult for her.”
Emperor Jingming grew even more nervous, not daring to make a sound.
Seeing Emperor Jingming’s silence, the Empress Dowager laughed self-deprecatingly. “I shouldn’t trouble Your Majesty with this. A prince who breaks the law should be punished like a commoner. Rongyang made a mistake and deserves her punishment. It’s just that I raised her, and having not seen her for so long, I miss her somewhat…”
Emperor Jingming’s palms began to sweat.
He truly respected the Empress Dowager and couldn’t bear to imagine how she might be affected if she learned of Rongyang’s death. For someone of the Empress Dowager’s age, such a shock could potentially lead to a severe illness—
The more Emperor Jingming thought about it, the more determined he became to continue concealing the truth from the Empress Dowager.
“Alright, I’m getting old and just rambling. Your Majesty should go attend to your duties.”
Emperor Jingming stood up almost eagerly. “Then your son will take his leave. I’ll come visit Mother Empress again soon.”
The Empress Dowager nodded slowly. After Emperor Jingming left, she reached for the teacup on the small table, lifted the lid, and slowly blew on the tea leaves floating on the surface.
Though it wasn’t yet Qingming Festival, Cining Palace had already switched to new tea.
Pre-Qingming tea, as precious as gold—naturally, everything that entered Cining Palace was of the highest quality.
The Empress Dowager’s face remained expressionless as she looked at the tea leaves standing upright in the cup, their stems and leaves visible. She gripped the teacup a little tighter.
As Emperor Jingming walked swiftly back from Cining Palace, it was as if a fierce tiger was chasing him. Just as he was about to reach the Imperial Study, he heard the barking of dogs and meowing of cats, followed by the shrill cries of eunuchs.
Emperor Jingming paused, frowning.
He was already in a bad mood, and now something else had happened in the short time he’d been away.
Seeing Emperor Jingming’s displeased expression, Pan Hai rushed towards the Imperial Study, cursing, “Xiao Lezi, are you trying to get yourself killed?”
When he reached the entrance of the Imperial Study and saw the scene inside, the Chief Eunuch’s imposing manner suddenly vanished, leaving him gaping in astonishment.
Emperor Jingming pushed past Pan Hai and finally saw what was happening inside a fat cat was struggling among the pile of memorials on the dragon desk, occasionally knocking a document to the floor. Each time this happened, Xiao Lezi would cry out in alarm and rush to rescue the fallen memorial. Not far away, a large dog was impatiently wagging its tail, appearing completely uninvolved.
Emperor Jingming was furious. “What is going on here?” he demanded.
Xiao Lezi froze, quickly kowtowing to Emperor Jingming while clutching the memorials.
Pan Hai kicked Xiao Lezi, angrily saying, “His Majesty is asking you!”
Xiao Lezi, face ashen, replied, “Not long after Your Majesty left, Jixiang and General Xiaotian started fighting. This slave couldn’t stop them—”
“Useless!” the usually good-tempered Emperor Jingming scolded. He looked at the white cat, then at the large dog, unsure which one to reprimand first.
Before Emperor Jingming could speak, Jixiang bounded over, looking up at his master and meowing incessantly.
Emperor Jingming’s smile became stiff, and his anger towards his fat cat instantly dissipated.
Jixiang, who never paid attention to him, was calling out to him!
After the excitement passed, Emperor Jingming no longer had the heart to scold Erniu. He rubbed his brow and said, “First, take Erniu and Jixiang out.”
With the cat and dog removed, the chaotic Imperial Study finally returned to order.
Emperor Jingming looked at Zhen Shicheng.
Zhen Shicheng was a small old man who even meticulously groomed his beard. He particularly disliked such cat and dog brawls. Seeing that the Emperor had finally returned, he quickly bowed and said, “Your Majesty, the case of Miss Cui’s disappearance has been resolved. If there are no other instructions, this humble official will take his leave.”
Emperor Jingming ignored Zhen Shicheng’s words and asked in a deep tone, “Minister Zhen, how do you think Prince Xiang should be punished?”
Zhen Shicheng: “…” He was only interested in solving cases and had no desire to get involved in the princes’ disputes.
The jade pendant found in the well that confirmed the identity of the remains had aroused his suspicions.
Only undergarments remained on the skeleton; all other clothes and ornaments had been removed. While it was possible to forget to remove earrings, forgetting to take away a jade pendant seemed illogical.
Zhen Shicheng speculated that there was an eight or nine out of ten chance that the jade pendant had been quietly thrown into the well by someone who had witnessed the scene, intending for the truth to come to light one day.
Thinking about Erniu, who had made the great contribution of discovering the remains today, it wasn’t hard to guess who that person might be.
Of course, these were just speculations, and they were beneficial to solving the case. Zhen Shicheng wouldn’t be foolish enough to investigate further.
“This humble official dares not comment. Prince Xiang is a prince, and his wrongdoings should be judged by Your Majesty and the Imperial Clan Court,” Zhen Shicheng calmly deflected the question.
He wanted to continue sitting in the position of Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture for a long time to come and wouldn’t say anything he shouldn’t.
Emperor Jingming then looked at Yu Jin and the others. Everyone who felt his gaze immediately lowered their eyes, trying to minimize their presence.
Standing beside the messy dragon desk, Emperor Jingming fell into deep thought.
When Rongyang’s plot to harm the Seventh Prince’s wife’s mother was exposed, he demoted Rongyang to a commoner, citing that princes who break the law should be punished like commoners. Now that the Eighth Prince had committed a similar crime, and against Rongyang’s daughter no less, if he were to let it go lightly today, how could he face the Empress Dowager if she were to find out one day?
Thinking of this, Emperor Jingming’s eyes grew cold. He said hoarsely, “Pan Hai—”
Pan Hai’s heart tightened, and he quickly responded, “This slave is here.”
“Relay my imperial decree: Prince Xiang first misbehaved while drunk at the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet, and then was found to have plotted against his cousin. He lacks virtue and is guilty. The evidence is conclusive. From this day forward, his title of Prince is revoked, and he is to be relocated to live in Guiyuan…”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s expressions changed. Prince Lu even gasped and covered his mouth.
Had he heard correctly? Eighth Brother wasn’t even a prince anymore?
This was an utter surprise!
Hearing the commotion, Emperor Jingming’s icy gaze fell on Prince Lu. “What? Do you have any objections?”
Prince Lu quickly lowered his head. “Father Emperor, please forgive me. I was just shocked to hear about Eighth Brother’s punishment. We will certainly take this as a warning and not anger Father Emperor in the future!”
The other princes: “…” Fifth Brother was outdoing himself today.