Chapter 429 - 429The Fourth Princess and Fourth Prince also looked anxious. They never thought that this would turn out like this, they knew that the crown prince was lying in order to protect Wei Yuanwei, but they couldn"t just jump out and say that this painting was actually the empress"s, could they?
"How could it be so coincidental? "The fourth princess took out a map of the east slope and searched for one, but the crown prince said it was his!" The emperor rubbed his forehead with a headache. His voice was no longer as angry as before, but more and more chaotic and exhausted.
"This son also feels that it was too strange for the Fourth Princess to take out the map of the eastern slopes. Could it be that the Fourth Princess knew of Wei Yuanwei"s existence and purposely brought this painting to the Imperial Palace for Wei Yuanwei to appraise? In the end, Dongpo Tu was gone, and kept insisting that it was Wei Yuanwei who stole it, and even wanted to search the crown prince"s palace! " Zhong Lixian started to admire Wei Yuanwei more as she spoke. Originally, he had no strength to argue with them, but Wei Yuanwei had forcefully shown them a path of light.
"This subject suspects that the fourth prince and the fourth princess have long known that the map of the east slope is in my palace, so they"re using this opportunity to swindle the real deal into their hands!" After Zhong Lixian said this, she actually charged the Fourth Prince and Fourth Princess with a crime.
The fourth prince and the fourth princess immediately became anxious, "Father, mother, you are wrongly accused. This son has never known that the truth is in the hands of the crown prince, but how could I have the guts to do that? The crown prince obviously wants to divert his attention and place the blame on me, ah?"
The 4th Prince and his wife knelt down with an anxious look on their faces.
When Wei Yuanwei heard this, she could not help but sigh secretly in her heart. If Zhong Lixian was not his enemy, then …
Then if she and Zhong Lixian were to be partners, then they would definitely be the partners of the world, with no exceptions.
"Yin"er, do you really want to hurt the mother"s heart for this woman? Do you want to take the blame for this woman as well? You are the crown prince! " The empress looked as if she was heartbroken, but the last sentence she said was undoubtedly not to remind Zhong Lixian to threaten her.
As matters stood, if Zhong Lixian gave up on Wei Yuanwei, it would be equivalent to sending Wei Yuanwei to her death, and would also be equivalent to directly going against Mu Jin!
He had clearly calculated this debt. He would rather lose his position as the crown prince than lose his powerful ally, Mu Jin.
Whether he could conquer the Southern Yue and step into the borders of Southern Yue, all would depend on Mu Jin!
"Imperial Mother, your son doesn"t want to hurt your mother"s heart. However, the map of the East Slope really does belong to your son!"
On the other side, the Fourth Princess had killed Dongpo Tu because she wanted him to, but the Crown Prince had already decided that the map belonged to his palace.
"Okay, then I ask you, where did you put this map of the east slope? If it was distributed in the secret pa.s.sage, I am afraid the palace maids would not find it so easily. " The Queen saw that Zhong Lixian was stubborn and unrepentant, and his heart was as cold as ash towards Zhong Lixian.
She had originally wanted to use Zhong Lixian to protect her position in the harem, but now it seemed that Zhong Lixian was going to make her her enemy.
When Zhong Lixian heard her expression, she hesitated, but Wei Yuanwei was also shocked.
This painting must have been secretly placed in the crown prince"s palace by the empress. Naturally, only the people who secretly placed the painting in the palace and the people who went to search for it would know of it.
"Yin"er, where did you put it?" Seeing Zhong Lixian"s hesitant face, the Emperor could not help but frown.
At this time, the atmosphere had become extremely tense, and the Fourth Prince and Fourth Princess were looking at Zhong Lixian with pride in their eyes.
If Zhong Lixian could not say it, or perhaps it was wrong, then Zhong Lixian would be an accomplice. At that time, not to mention Wei Yuanwei, even Zhong Lixian would have to be punished!
Heavens, this next scene was getting more and more interesting. The crown prince had always been highly regarded and affirmed by the emperor. If he were to commit such a huge mistake, would the emperor cripple the crown prince in his anger?
Zhong Lixian only hesitated for a moment before retracting her gaze once again. Her long and narrow almond-shaped eyes were deep, like a bottomless pit that people could not see, "This son thinks that in case someone has ulterior motives, it would be better to let the people who went searching for us write down the map of the eastern slope there. This son will also write it down on paper, and at that time, we will present it to royal father as a form of fairness!"
The emperor had no objections to this, so he let the palace maid go in to prepare.
On the other hand, the Queen looked at Zhong Lixian with slight doubt.
Very quickly, the people of the palace presented the answers written by Zhong Lixian and the person leading the search. In front of everyone"s eyes, most probably no one would dare make any small movements, and the first to know the answer was also the Emperor.
Wei Yuanwei looked at Zhong Lixian, but Zhong Lixian"s eyes were still staring straight at the piece of paper in the emperor"s hands.
The Queen looked at Zhong Lixian coldly, then glanced at Eunuch Li, not knowing where the map of the east slope was placed.
Who knew if Zhong Lixian had really guessed it.
When the emperor opened the notes one by one and the answer was about to be revealed, everyone held their breath, the atmosphere was stifling to the point of being unbearable.
If the place Zhong Lixian wrote down was not the same as the place written down by the people looking for him, then it was very likely that Zhong Lixian would not be able to keep her position as the crown prince.
Because who knew how many princes were eyeing Zhong Lixian"s position as the crown prince with covetous eyes? All of them were using 120% of their total attention to grab onto Zhong Lixian"s weakness!
Although she was confident that Zhong Lixian did not know where the Eastern Slope PaG.o.da was, she was worried that he would discover it when Zhong Lixian and the others returned to the crown prince palace.
After the Emperor finished reading the answers on the two pieces of paper, he said with a foggy expression, "That"s right. The answer to the crown prince"s question is the same as the answer of the person who went to search for him!"
Everyone was astonished when they heard that, especially the Fourth Marquis and the fourth w.a.n.gfei.
After that, the empress took the two pieces of paper from the emperor"s hands. When she saw the words" the same palace ", a sinister light flashed in her eyes.
When Eunuch Li heard the Emperor"s answer, his legs trembled uncontrollably, and a layer of fine sweat appeared on his forehead.
He"d already done two good deeds in a row, so the empress probably wouldn"t give him a third chance in the future.
The fourth prince and the fourth w.a.n.gfei were stunned. The fourth prince nudged the fourth w.a.n.gfei, and the fourth w.a.n.gfei immediately stood up and said, "Royal father, you can"t just think that the map of the East Slope belongs to you based on the words of the crown prince, right? And chenqie"s map of the eastern slope has indeed disappeared! "
Wei Yuanwei did not expect Zhong Lixian to actually guess correctly, but if Zhong Lixian was not completely sure about this matter, she would not continue walking forward.