vrcanaries Chapter 329 Secret Hatred
Chapter 329 Secret Hatred
Lu Xuan was pushed back into the small Buddhist temple by Jiang Xing.
A Xuan could appear in public later, but he didn't want to be discovered by his royal brother alone so soon.
Otherwise, today would be full of troubles. If Axuan was ill, he felt that he would go crazy.
After a while, the emperor arrived first, followed by people from the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Rites.
Seeing the empty bedroom, the emperor was surprised for a moment, but soon staggered to the empress dowager's tent.
Tears were already flowing before the person arrived.
"Mother, your son hasn't arrived yet. I haven't even had the chance to see you for the last time. Why are you gone, mother?"
He opened his arms and hugged the empress dowager's head, and sad sobs escaped from his body.
"Mother, I have already found someone who can cure your serious illness. Why did you leave before the person arrived..."
He cried emotionally, and every word he said was heartfelt.
Jiang Xing felt a pain in his chest and tried hard to suppress the moisture that was about to burst out of his eyes.
Ever since the emperor came in, he had been watching his every move.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and at this moment he was carefully staring at the emperor's hand, trying to see what the hand that was reaching towards his mother's head was trying to do.
However, until the people from the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Rites pulled the emperor away, his fingers did not touch the empress dowager's temple.
Jiang Xing was a little skeptical.
He didn't know?
When this result came out, my heart subconsciously trembled.
But how is it possible?
Could this person be testing him?
Jiang Xing immediately went before the emperor and bowed. "Brother, there's something fishy about Mother's death. When I first came to see her at the Cining Palace, some palace maids were acting suspiciously and interfering with her. Later, when I wanted to speak to her alone, I was surprised to find four palace maids dead outside the palace. Two of them were from the Cining Palace, and two were reportedly from the Eastern Palace to report the news!"
He carefully observed the emperor's expression. "Just now, I was heartbroken by the death of my mother, and asked the palace maids if there had been any conspiracy or rebellion. The maids then told me that they were not originally serving my mother, but had been transferred here in the past two days. Aunt Yinpei and Zhou Lu, who had previously served my mother, both died in their own rooms."
"This is all too bizarre, so I'm telling you, my Royal Brother. Please investigate thoroughly!"
The emperor's sorrow gradually subsided. His eyes flickered for a moment, then fell on Jiang Xing, "Yunce, don't be too sad. I have already investigated everything you said."
As he spoke, he called He Yuanguang over, and he seemed to have lost his spirit due to grief.
"Tell Prince Jin what exactly is going on."
He Yuanguang immediately bowed to Jiang Xing and said, "Your Highness, you didn't come to the palace yesterday. The Emperor was furious about the Empress Dowager's sudden illness and had already investigated the matter."
"Yin Pei and Zhou Lu served the Queen Mother for many years, yet they deceived her and were disloyal and unrighteous. Because the Queen Mother had reprimanded them once before, they harbored evil intentions and secretly drugged the Queen Mother's tea. This continued devastation over time, causing the Queen Mother to become physically ill and unable to speak, completely losing her ability to communicate."
"Yesterday morning, the Emperor added more palace servants to the palace, just to prevent any evildoers from getting close to the Empress Dowager. Unexpectedly, perhaps these two knew they were facing imminent doom and death, and just now, upon learning of the Empress Dowager's passing, they committed suicide out of fear of punishment!"
"For this, the Emperor is also very angry, and has ordered the corpses of the two to be whipped 100 times to serve as a warning to others!"
Jiang Xing almost lost his balance.
Aunt Yinpei and Zhou Lu were both close confidants of the Queen Mother, and they had taken good care of him during his childhood in the palace. How could they possibly be the murderers who killed the Queen Mother?!
It’s more like saying that he was dragged out to take the blame!
Thinking that his mother was dead and they couldn't even let her closest relatives go, the hatred in Jiang Xing's heart was like spreading thorns, entangled in his heart and made him bloody and flesh.
"Royal brother." He interrupted He Yuanguang, "If it is really Yin Pei and Zhou Lu, do they have a confession? In any case, I will have to interrogate them carefully again! I can't let them die so easily!"
He Yuanguang reacted faster and quickly reported, "Those two men committed heinous crimes. The Emperor was furious at the time. However, considering the Empress Dowager's kindness and the fact that the two men were recovering from illness, he didn't want the Empress Dowager to know about the incident. So, he gave each of them twenty lashes of the cane to vent his anger."
"It's just that... the confession that the prince gave, the two of them committed suicide too quickly out of fear of punishment, and we didn't have time to detain them, so naturally there is no..."
The wide cuffs covered Jiang Xing's fists, which were clenched so tightly that veins were bulging.
It was obvious that they were worried that Yin Pei and Zhou Lu would know the truth, so they killed them to silence them!
But he told the story so realistically that he had to respond in unison.
But he clapped his hands together and said, "Very good!"
"Such a wicked slave should be severely punished!"
Jiang Xing's vicious look made the emperor and He Yuanguang feel relieved.
Then he continued, "If that's the case, then how can whipping the corpse be enough? My royal brother, there's no need to have the corpse whipped. Just give the body to me. I will chop the bodies of those two into pieces and leave them forever without a chance of rebirth!"
The emperor saw that Jiang Xing was full of anger, and since the two men were already dead, they couldn't cause any trouble. So he waved his hand and said disgustedly: "Then take it. Such a wicked person should be severely punished!"
Jiang Xing felt relieved.
Both of them were the ones who raised him. How could he bear to let them die in disgrace and have their bodies suffer?
I just hope that after bringing them back, I can bury them properly.
The emperor sat beside the couch in a trance, watching the eunuchs change clothes and apply makeup to the empress dowager's body, and finally take it out of the bedroom and put it into the coffin.
Jiang Xing walked to his side and casually mentioned, "Two of the Queen Mother's maids died outside just now, and there were also two eunuchs from the Eastern Palace who came to inform me of the news. I also suspect that these four people have ulterior motives..."
The emperor sighed and interrupted him with a raised hand. "Yunce, a lot has happened today. You haven't been back in so many years, and you haven't been to the palace much. I'm sorry for you. Yan'er is weak and fainted today, so those two eunuchs must have wanted to inform you or the Queen Mother. But they didn't expect that they would encounter an accident and be trampled to death."
"I just happened to receive the news at that time, so I went to see him. Fortunately, Yan'er was fine..."
The emperor seemed exhausted by these trivial matters. He stood up weakly and looked around the empress dowager's bedroom with a look of infinite nostalgia.
"I didn't expect that my mother would pass away so soon. They say that illness is like a mountain falling. I couldn't understand it before, but now that my mother is gone, I no longer have a mother..."
As he spoke, he began to sob again.
"My royal brother, I am deeply saddened. You are different from useless people like me. Daliang still needs you."
Jiang Xing lowered his eyes and pretended to grieve with him to hide the deep hatred in his eyes.
Then, he casually added, "To be honest, my Royal Highness, today, I have questioned all the palace servants in the palace, and they have all admitted that they harbored evil intentions towards the Empress Dowager and have done many things to harm her. One of them even dared to disrespect her right in front of me. I am furious and have already ordered those slaves to be imprisoned."
"Two of them died outside this chamber at the very moment of Queen Mother's death. We don't know why. But it doesn't matter what the reason is. I have already ordered that they all be buried with Queen Mother!"
Jiang Xing gritted his teeth, but the emperor's sobs suddenly stopped.