“Whoever did it will be asked to apologize to Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s Mansion after finding out the truth!” The emperor said with a gloomy face.
“What if … she accidentally slipped when she went down the mountain?” The minister of the Ministry of Justice was not sure about the emperor’s intention, so he asked again.
“The one who wanted to lure her down the mountain at that time was not in good faith originally. It had rained a few days ago, so the road on the mountain was slippery. Besides, that happened at night, so it was easy to have an accident but hard to find out the truth.” The emperor said coldly.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will arrange it right away!” Minister Li had already understood what the Emperor meant. He could only secretly investigate the matter of the Changxing Grass without telling anyone. There were many things related to it, and it might even cause a stir in the imperial court. Therefore, he could not tell anyone about it, and could only look into the case in other aspects.
According to the emperor’s intention, of course, it was not an accident. Someone must come out to take responsibility. Be it the Princess of Duke Yong’s Mansion or the First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion, there must be someone who was ill-disposed and had deliberately led Fifth Miss Shao down the mountain at that time in order to cause an accident to Fifth Miss Shao.
Such a motive is execrable!
Since this plot had not succeeded in the end, and Fifth Miss Shao had already woken up in a relatively well condition, that person would have no need to pay with her life.
But a girl from an aristocratic family would really ruin her whole life if she indeed had such a terrible reputation of once killing people.
When he came out of the imperial study, Minister Li frowned so tightly that his brows could almost kill a fly!
He had to investigate the case but not in an obvious way. Even so, the undercover investigation still needed to give some results. Unluckily, it also related to Duke Xing’s Mansion and Duke Yong’s Mansion, which were both noble families. As an old saying goes, a centipede does not topple over even dead. Although Duke Yong’s Mansion had declined and couldn’t be compared with Duke Xing’s Mansion, it was still an aristocratic family with some foundations.
Minister Li thought about it as he walked out. However, when he turned a corner, he almost bumped into someone. When he saw the handsome and sickly face in front of him, he hurriedly took two steps back and supported himself with a tree to prevent himself from falling.
The man in front of him was not the one who could be bumped into casually. Even if Minister Li didn’t bump into him, something might happen to him, not to mention that Minister Li bumped forward with such great strength.
“Minister Li, why are you in such a hurry?” Chu Liuchen said gently. His eyes were as clear and elegant as water. His black hair was tied up with a white jade crown, which made him look more vigorous and handsome.
“Your Highness Prince Chen, I just came back from Emperor’s study!” Minister Li secretly wiped his sweat and said. He considered himself lucky that he was smart enough to withdraw his foot quickly.
“Is it because of the matter in Yuhui Nunnery?” The smile on Chu Liuchen’s face disappeared, and he asked directly.
“This… Actually, it is this case!” Minister Li hesitated for a moment and said. Since this matter had to be investigated, he was not afraid of being questioned on the surface.
“Did someone want to secretly hurt my cousin?” Chu Liuchen raised his eyebrows and asked.
“Cousin?” Minister Li did not remember who the cousin that Chu Liuchen was talking about was and looked at Chu Liuchen in surprise.
Perhaps noticing Minister Li’s doubt, Chu Liuchen deliberately explained, “She is the granddaughter of Rui’an Great Elder Princess, and also the Fifth Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion. She is my cousin and was familiar with me in the past. Has she been secretly hurt?”
“Is he referring to Fifth Miss Shao?” Minister Li thought that they should not have any contact with each other. As soon as Fifth Miss Shao had returned to her ancestral family, she had been sent to the mountain for quiet practice in the Yuhui Nunnery, and this prince had been lying in bed in the hospital.
Of course, this was just what he thought in his heart. He would not be so tactless as to inquire about it so clearly.
“I am still investigating this matter…”
“Minister Li, please take care of my cousin. When I went to Jiangzhou that day, I was grateful for her hospitality. Later, at the gate of the palace, I almost lost my life because the horse went mad. Although she has just returned to her ancestral family, it can be said that we have a good relationship.” Chu Liuchen sighed with emotion, and then added gently, “If there is any conclusion, I hope that Minister Li can inform me.”
“Sure, sure!” Minister Li nodded repeatedly.
Chu Liuchen coughed in a low voice and said with a sick face, “I’m going to visit Imperial Grandmother, so I cannot chat with Minister Li anymore!”
“Prince, please!” Minister Li hurriedly stepped aside and bowed to Chu Liuchen. Then he watched Chu Liuchen leave slowly.
Looking at Chu Liuchen’s back and thinking about it for a while, Minister Li’s face suddenly changed. He turned back and hurried to the emperor’s study.
When he arrived at the imperial study, he asked the little eunuch at the door to enter and report. After a while, the chief eunuch, Dekang, came out and laughed when he saw Minister Li, “Minister Li, why do you come back? Do you find something important? Please come in. Emperor is waiting for you inside!”
Of course, Minister Li didn’t really need to answer Derong’s question. It was just a joke. If it was like in the past, Minister Li would definitely joke with Derong, because the emperor’s trusted eunuch couldn’t be offended. It would be a great blessing if someone could get along well with him.
But now, Minister Li was not in the mood at all. He cupped his hands and bowed to Derong as a salutation. Then, he picked up the hem of his robe and hurried in.
De Rong followed him into the imperial study. Although the smile on his face didn’t change, there was a trace of darkness in his eyes.
When he entered the room, he saw Minister Li kneeling in front of the Emperor again. He carefully stood beside the Emperor and poured a cup of tea for him. Then, he stepped aside and stood respectfully with lower hands and shoulders.
“Why do you come back after leaving, Minister Li?” The Emperor put down the brush pen with red ink in his hand and asked in surprise.
Minister Li had just left for a short period of time. He should not have gone far, but why did he come back? Did he have a new clue about the case just now? Of course, from the emperor’s perspective, the so-called new clue meant that this matter was not just a fight between women.
“Emperor… do you still remember what happened to Prince Chen at the gate of the palace that day?” Minister Li’s face was pale and his back was sweating.
This was no longer a simple matter of the Changxing grass!
“At the gate of the palace, the matter that Prince Chen almost lost his life?” The emperor squinted and asked after thinking for a while.
“Yes, the matter at that time, caused by a horse in Prince Zhou’s Mansion. First, it bumped into a Miss, and then the Miss was rescued by Prince Chen, but finally, Prince Chen got hurt and he almost…” Minister Li gritted his teeth and reported to the emperor all the things that he had thought of before in the sequence.
By the time he finished his words, the clothes on his back were drenched in sweat!
The fight between the princes had always been something that could not be involved. However, he must say it since he had thought of it, otherwise, it would be his fault again.
“Do you mean that the horse might go mad because of the Changxing grass?” The Emperor immediately understood what he meant, and his face grew darker with rage.
“I think… it was very likely… but it might not be done by Prince Zhou’s subordinates… Maybe someone wanted to deal with Prince Chen by Prince Zhou’s hands…” Sweat dripping from his face, Minister Li dared not to continue his words in the end.
“Depraved son!” The Emperor slammed his hand heavily on the desk. Derong lowered his head even more and did not dare to move.
The other eunuchs were even more like quails, who lowered their heads almost to the ground. No one wanted to listen more about such kind of thing, because they would lose their lives if they knew too much!
The fight involving the Emperor was never a secret that others could casually listen to.
“Em… Emperor…”
“Go to investigate that coachman and all the people around him that had contacted him or had the possibility to do so. Also, check whether the people on your list had been in touched with him!” The Emperor said angrily.
“Yes, I’ll check it right away!” Minister Li kowtowed to the Emperor, stood up in a hurry, and stepped back. When he reached the threshold, he turned around and went out.
He stood outside the door for a while. After calming down, he shook his head bitterly. As the minister of the Ministry of Justice, he had coped with many cases, but such a case was the last one he wanted to handle because he might accidentally cause big trouble. However, as the Emperor’s subordinate, he should be loyal. He would do whatever the Emperor ordered him to do.
After thinking about this, Minister Li turned around and strode out. This time, he had no intention of stopping and hurried to the gate of the palace, as if there were some fierce floods and savage beasts chasing him.
Shao Wanru was lying on the couch. Her hair had just been washed, and now casually laid on her shoulder. Yujie had dried it up for her just now, and now it was still a little wet, so she didn’t want to tie it up immediately. There were no outsiders here, so she just leaned against the bed and listened to the words from the old maid of Duke Xing’s Mansion who stood outside the screen.
The screen was placed in front of her bed, which just blocked her.
The old maid sent by Duke Xing’s Mansion was eloquent. She first said how Old Madam missed her for a while and how Madam of Duke Xing felt sorry for her. Then she also mentioned that although First Miss had met the unreasonable Princess of Duke Yong’s Mansion, she still cared about her condition of the injury. First Miss was afraid that there was something wrong with her injury, so she specially sent the old maid to ask about it.
After saying these, she finally came to the purpose of her visit, “Fifth Miss, if you are getting well, Old Madam wants you to return to the mansion to recuperate and has invited several famous doctors waiting for you in the mansion. We can’t let you have any sequelae!”
After the old maid finished her words, she carefully listened to the sound inside and wondered how seriously Fifth Miss had been injured. She actually came to fish for information, but she could not see anything because of the screen. She could only judge the condition of Fifth Miss according to a little sound!
“Is there… a place for me to live in the mansion?” The voice inside was very weak, and it seemed that she could not finish a sentence within one breath, which meant that she was really not in good condition.
“Fifth Miss, don’t worry. The courtyard has already been well prepared with everything inside. You can move in immediately when you go back!”
The old maid strained her ears to listen to Shao Wanru’s words. After hearing it clearly, she answered with a smile.
Indeed, the courtyard had been ready. Since First Miss came back, Madam had asked all the people in the mansion to help and it only took one night for them to finish the decoration in the courtyard. Of course, there were no extremely fancy things in it, because Madam completely had no intention to put any good things in her courtyard!