But he wasn’t that foolish to kill the Crown Prince at this ti.
It was known that having lost the Bai Family army, according to common sense, he should’ve been fortifying his power by other ans. Killing the Crown Prince would naturally be a masterstroke, but to do so at this critical juncture would be like setting himself on fire. If he were to target the Crown Prince, it would be at a later opportunity, certainly not by killing him right now.
However, the words Zheng Boshe spoke now, though not directing the spearhead at him, had nevertheless started to make everyone doubt.
He, too, was questioning who exactly had taken the Crown Prince’s life.
Zheng Boshe was right.
The Crown Prince was not fond of hunting, so why would he go hunting alone in the deep mountains? Surely, there was so trickery afoot.
And the only possibility...
Xiao Jinsen clenched his teeth.
At that mont, he was almost certain it must have been Xiao Jinxing’s doing.
Xiao Jinxing wanted to fra the death of the Crown Prince on him.
As expected.
He should not have underestimated Xiao Jinxing.
However.
How exactly did Xiao Jinxing manage to kill the Crown Prince so effortlessly?
He had harbored murderous intents multiple tis, yet he dared not act rashly.
Xiao Jinxing, however, executed his plan so decisively, avoiding the attention of everyone.
Xiao Jinsen did not dare to speak out.
Nor did he dare to accuse Xiao Jinxing.
Once an accusation is made without evidence, it would only put him in a position of being unkind and unjust, attracting even more suspicion.
In the sowhat silent great hall.
As Xiao Zhanping remained silent, no one else dared to speak.
Outside the palace, the Empress suddenly burst in.
Disregarding all manners of etiquette.
From the mont she saw the Crown Prince’s corpse yesterday, the Empress had completely broken down.
Even though the Crown Prince was diocre and unaccomplished, he was her only son. With her son’s death, she had no more reasons to live.
In this life, she had nothing left.
She was utterly devastated.
And she stayed by the Crown Prince’s side from the beginning to the end.
Her sudden appearance now was sowhat surprising.
Yet the Empress Yu Qingyuan, likewise, no longer possessed her forr deanor. At this mont, she appeared disheveled and frail.
She stumbled and rushed straight into the great hall.
The great hall of the ancestors was decidedly not a place where even the Empress could co and go as she pleased.
The Empress’s behavior was definitely not normal, but considering her grief of losing her son, Xiao Zhanping refrained from rebuking her.
"Your Majesty." As Yu Qingyuan entered the great hall, she knelt straight on the ground, "You must seek justice for your concubine, you must seek justice for our son."
After speaking, she then cried and wailed, disregarding her image and etiquette.
Xiao Zhanping, looking at Yu Qingyuan’s state, felt a pang of distress in his heart.
Although there had been mutual suspicion and scheming between them, at the mont of their son’s death, he still felt a tinge of pity.
His wariness towards the Empress was no longer as intense.
Instead, he felt a surge of emotion.
He said, "Empress, rise. I, of course, will uphold justice for our son..."
"It was the Prince of Chu!" Yu Qingyuan stood up from the ground, stood in the great hall, and directly pointed at Xiao Jinsen.
Xiao Jinsen’s face darkened slightly.
Xiao Zhanping’s brows furrowed.
"Your Majesty, it was Xiao Jinsen who killed our Yan’er, it was he who killed the Crown Prince!" Yu Qingyuan’s emotions were extrely agitated.
Thinking of her child’s death, she wished nothing more than to tear the murderer of her son into ten thousand pieces.
"Empress..."
"I have evidence!" Yu Qingyuan said fiercely.
Xiao Zhanping tensed up imdiately.
"This is the Jade Pendant that Xiao Jinsen has always carried with him; if I’m not mistaken, this is the one that you, Your Majesty, personally bestowed to the Prince of Chu when he was ten years old. He has always carried it with him and never once taken it off!" Yu Qingyuan suddenly produced a Jade Pendant.
Xiao Jinsen’s face turned pale in an instant.
It was only after returning to the Imperial Palace that he realized his Jade Pendant was missing.
He had no clue where he might have lost it, naturally feeling uneasy. Being in the Imperial Palace, in front of his father and ministers, he naturally did not have the leisure to secretly send soone to search for it, and now it was in the hands of the Empress...
As expected, he had been frad by Xiao Jinxing.
Frad for the murder of the Crown Prince.
"What is the aning of this?!" Xiao Zhanping’s expression turned grave.
With the Crown Prince’s mishap, he naturally had so thoughts of his own.
The likelihood of Xiao Jinsen killing the Crown Prince was the greatest.
He was furious.
Even if he had granted Xiao Jinsen imnse power, even if he was dissatisfied with the Crown Prince, even if he had been seeking opportunities to diminish the Empress’s power, he never authorized him to kill the Crown Prince. With audacity beyond asure, he dared to kill the Crown Prince, dared to engage in fratricide!
"Since the Crown Prince’s incident, I have been constantly sending guards to the area of the incident to search for evidence repeatedly. I do not believe the Crown Prince could have had an accident while hunting, so I have been looking for clues to the incident. This Jade Pendant, which was found lying on the ground, right near the site of the Crown Prince’s demise!" The Empress spoke agitatedly; she glared at Xiao Jinsen fiercely, her eyes swollen from crying all night, and now she broke into mad wails, "Xiao Jinsen, the Crown Prince was after all your older brother, how can you be so cruel and ruthless, how could you?!"
Xiao Jinsen was accused by Yu Qingyuan.
He hurriedly knelt on the ground, "This son has never committed the act of fratricide. I implore Father, Mother, to discern the truth."
"If it weren’t you, then how did your Jade Pendant end up at the site of the Crown Prince’s mishap?!" Yu Qingyuan questioned.
"This son does not know. I was hunting all day yesterday and did not notice the loss of my Jade Pendant, I beseech Father for discernnt!" Xiao Jinsen argued strenuously for himself. "The Empress must not, simply because my Jade Pendant was found on the ground, conclude that I am the murderer. This can only prove that I had been present at the site of the incident. While hunting, to catch more prey, I could have gone anywhere in the woods, not just where the incident occurred. Everywhere bears the traces of my presence. That I inadvertently dropped my Jade Pendant should certainly not indicate anything, I earnestly request Mother not to lose her sense of proportion in her grief."
Xiao Jinsen was making a forceful defense for himself!
User Comments
0 comments from readers