bookrandom Chapter 150 The Cause of Empress Cha's Death
Chapter 150 The Cause of Empress Cha's Death
Seeing that her expression was off again, Granny Chen scolded the palace maid, "Alright, Her Highness knows, you may leave. Her Highness has been overworked these past few days, let her rest well!"
"Yes!" The palace maid bowed and withdrew.
"Granny, do you think it was really Prince Cheng who ordered Hua Xin to attack the Prime Minister's wife?" Consort Lan asked anxiously.
“Your Majesty, even if it is true, who can prove it? Without evidence, even appealing to the Emperor won’t help. Just like yesterday, when all the guests were drugged, His Majesty personally came to investigate, but because there was no evidence, he didn’t hold Hua Xin and Prince Cheng and his wife accountable,” Chen Mama argued logically.
Consort Lan knew that what she said made sense, but the thought of Nangong Shi dying like this made her feel uneasy.
Because of her fear, she wanted to kill Prince Cheng even more!
But she was also very clear-headed. Her relationship with Prince Seung was deteriorating, especially after all that had happened recently. Prince Seung had put up deep defenses.
Take yesterday's poisoning attempt on the prison food, for example; it failed, didn't it?
It's safe to say that getting rid of Prince Cheng now is extremely difficult!
Now that she had no other choice, she could only wait for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess to return to the palace before making any further plans...
This time, she was determined to devise a foolproof plan to make Yu Chi Ling, that bastard, disappear from this world completely!
……
General's Mansion.
News of the Prime Minister's funeral also reached Ye Gengxin's ears.
Ye Gengxin was feeding medicine to the 'weak' Ninth Aunt when he heard Hao Fulai report the news. He thought he had misheard and exclaimed in surprise, "Wasn't yesterday the Prime Minister's wife's birthday? How could she be dead in just one day?"
Hao Fu said, "I heard that the Prime Minister's wife suddenly fell ill after the birthday banquet, and she even fell ill in front of all the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital. All the imperial physicians examined the Prime Minister's wife, but none of them could tell the cause of her illness."
Ye Gengxin sneered, "He's probably done too many bad things and got punished by heaven!"
He still vividly remembered how Nangong acted as matchmaker for the Gu family!
If his second son hadn't remarried Xin'er, and had actually let Gu Shiya into his general's mansion as his daughter-in-law, and then used Gu Shiya to place things from Beilin Kingdom in the general's mansion, everyone in his general's mansion would have been beheaded by now!
The Nangong family and the Gu family are in cahoots, so her death is nothing to regret!
"Ninth Aunt, drink it while it's hot. Once you're feeling better, we'll go to the prison to see the Prince and Shu'er." He continued to feed Ninth Aunt the medicine.
"...Hmm." Ninth Aunt was so guilty that she didn't dare to look at him. Fortunately, she was acting 'weak', so it wasn't easy for her to be discovered.
……
The Prime Minister's residence still held a very grand funeral for Lady Nangong.
And it lasted for three whole days.
Surprisingly, few people came to mourn the death of the Prime Minister's wife. It's unclear whether some word had leaked out, or if the mass poisoning that day had frightened the noblewomen and young ladies.
In any case, the Prime Minister's residence, a prestigious family, was unusually deserted.
Although Ye Shishu and Yuchi Ling were in the imperial prison, they still received this information through the people of Jinfu Palace.
Having heard no one else in the Prime Minister's household had died suddenly, the couple knew without asking that a 'master' must have taken care of Nangong's funeral arrangements. These days, the funerals held by the Prime Minister's household either involved a different person in the coffin or contained nothing at all.
After spending four days in the imperial prison, Yuchi Sheng suddenly sent Qi Sui to deliver an imperial edict, ordering them to go to the imperial study.
In the Imperial Study, besides Yuchi Sheng, Consort Lan was also present.
Yu Chi Sheng asked sternly, "Prince Cheng, have you reflected on your actions?"
Yu Chi Ling lowered his eyes and said to Consort Lan, "It was my fault. I should not have disrespected my elders and talked back to my mother. Please forgive me."
Consort Lan almost ground her back teeth to powder.
She originally thought that Yuchi Sheng was going to severely punish Prince Cheng by throwing him into the prison, but she didn't expect that not only would Prince Cheng not be severely punished, but he would be released after only a few days!
Seeing that she did not respond, Yu Chisheng frowned and said to her, "Ling'er has already reflected on her actions, what else do you have to complain about? The Heavenly Prison is not a place for ordinary people. The fact that Ling'er and her husband have been able to reflect on their actions in the Heavenly Prison for so many days is enough to show that they are sincere!"
Consort Lan forced a smile of relief and walked up to Yuchi Ling, giving him a slight helping hand. "Ling'er, don't blame your mother for being heartless. I'm strict with you for your own good."
"Yes." Yu Chi Ling looked like he had been instructed, and even his tone was unusually submissive.
Seeing that he was unusually patient in listening to her, Consort Lan continued, "I know that Hua Xin has been kind to you. But Hua Xiang Pavilion is a martial arts sect with a mixed reputation. You are a prince with a noble status, and you cannot associate with them too much anymore, understand?"
"Yes," Yu Chi Ling replied obediently once again.
His nonchalant attitude made Consort Lan somewhat uncomfortable. She had been preparing many reprimands, but now she couldn't utter a single word.
Yu Chisheng rose from the dragon throne, walked to the mother and son, and said gently, "Alright, there's no problem between a mother and son. In the future, both of you should restrain your tempers and not act like enemies at the drop of a hat. Wouldn't that make us a laughing stock in front of outsiders?"
What could Consort Lan say?
She could only feign illness, saying, "Your Majesty, I have been feeling quite tired lately, so I will return to my palace now."
Yu Chisheng nodded, not forgetting to offer words of concern and advice, "If you feel unwell, summon the imperial physician immediately. Don't neglect your health."
"Yes, the concubine is retiring."
After Consort Lan left.
Yu Chisheng raised his hand and patted his son's shoulder, then glanced at his daughter-in-law who was standing quietly beside him.
"You haven't been back to the manor for several days, you should go back soon."
"Yes, I will retire."
"Daughter-in-law takes her leave." Ye Shishu obediently followed suit and said goodbye.
Not long after the young couple left, Wu Yue, who had been away for several days, returned.
And he brought back news that greatly shocked Yu Chi Sheng—
"Your Majesty, I have searched through the roster of the Phoenix Palace from back then. Although the origins of most of them are unknown, I have verified that none of the remaining half are still alive! I have not found out the cause of their deaths, but I have found out that they all died in the same year they left the palace, and in the same month!"
If one or two people die in the same year and month, it can be considered a coincidence.
However, among all the palace staff in Fengqi Palace, excluding those whose addresses are unknown, there were more than twenty people who were investigated. All of them died in the same year and month, which could not be a coincidence!
"Damn it! Who did this?" Yu Chisheng was shocked and then flew into a rage.
"Your Majesty, I have something to say, but I'm not sure if I should," Wu Yue asked cautiously.
"speak!"
“If we follow the pattern of those palace servants dying mysteriously in the same year and month, perhaps the Empress’s death…” Wu Yue didn’t dare to finish his sentence.
But who wouldn't understand?
Yu Chisheng's face turned bloodless, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
Qi Sui quickly helped him back to the dragon throne and poured him a cup of tea.
Yu Chisheng's face turned from white to green, his eyes sharper than swords, and he suddenly shouted, "Wu Yue! Do as I command! Not only find out the cause of death of those palace servants, but also the cause of death of the Empress!"
Wu Yue looked up at him, troubled, "Your Majesty, investigating the cause of death of palace servants is easy, but what about the cause of death of the Empress..."
Exhumation and autopsy...
This is no small matter!
Yu Chi Sheng closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. After calming down a bit, he opened his eyes again and said in a deep voice, "Summon Prince Cheng! Have him come with me to the imperial mausoleum! I want to open the coffin and examine the body!"