Chapter 1245 - 1245 Chaos Everywhere
Chapter 1245 Chaos Everywhere
The strong old maid was indeed Nanny Xiu. She was the old maid of Marquis Xing’s Mansion and Shao Jing’s trusted servant. Shao Jing had done her a favor. When her only son fought with others outside and had difficulty walking, it was Shao Jing who helped her treat his son’s legs. After her son died, she served Shao Jing wholeheartedly.
After Infanta Qinghua faked her death, Nanny Xiu served her and took her to the residence of E’niang.
E’niang had left the mansion and become Shao Jing’s mistress. She lived in an inconspicuous house in the capital city. Every time Shao Jing came by, he was very careful. He came there in different carriages and even changed his clothes. This was also the reason why Madam Jiang had never found out about it.
Shao Jing was very cautious. It was not only about his mistress but also about Infanta Qinghua.
As a former servant girl of Infanta Qinghua, E’niang actually meant to help guard and serve her. Infanta Qingua had been locked up for more than ten years and had never been very clear-minded. When she pretended to be dead, she had been like this, which lasted for so many years. It was rare for her to be clear-headed. Even if she was clear-headed, she couldn’t remember many things. Most of the time, she would do whatever E’niang said.
She had always known E’niang, so she didn’t make a scene.
Everyone around knew that this family was low-key. The man was businessmen and rarely stayed in the capital city. They didn’t care about Shao Jing’s absence, and Infanta Qinghua was quiet. Of course, no one would find that there was an abnormal woman in this family.
The news that Infanta Qinghua was still alive spread out.
The whole capital city had almost gone crazy at the news that Infanta Qinghua had not died for so many years. Moreover, she had been imprisoned for a long time. Sure enough, Shao Jing should be cut into pieces. He had killed his elder brother and imprisoned his elder sister-in-law. How could such a vicious person be Marquis Xing for so many years?
People had thought that Princess Chen had caused a lot of trouble when she returned to Marquis Xing’s Mansion. Some people were on Shao Jing’s side and thought that Princess Chen might not be a good person. But now, no one stood up to defend Shao Jing.
When Rui’an Great Elder Princess got the news, she held Infanta Qinghua in her arms and cried so hard that she fainted. If it weren’t for her granddaughter, Infanta Qinghua would have been locked up until she died or lost her value and got killed by Shao Jing. Rui’an Great Elder Princess was such a strong person, but she cried so hard.
The rumors among the outsiders first targeted Marquis Xing’s Mansion and then Prince Cheng. Many people said that Shao Jing had a good relations.h.i.+p with Prince Cheng, and he used to go in and out of Prince Cheng’s Mansion to talk about the Buddhist scriptures with Prince Cheng.
The relations.h.i.+p between Shao Jing and Prince Cheng had always been normal in the eyes of outsiders.
Old Madam claimed that she believed in Buddhism and asked her servants to go up the mountain to ask for some Buddhist scriptures from time to time. She said that she wanted to copy them by herself. It was not a big deal for Shao Jing to ask Prince Cheng for a few unique Buddhist scriptures. Shao Jing had always been smiling and looked like a kind person. Combined with Old Madam’s instructions, even if he occasionally went to Prince Cheng, it would not be a big deal.
Since Shao Jing had borrowed some scriptures from Prince Cheng, he had to return them. After several visits, they got familiar with each other. At that time, Prince Cheng, who was ambitious, devoted himself to cultivation and kept a distance from other officials. So it would not arouse suspicion if Shao Jing visited him a few more times.
But things were different now. The ambition of Prince Cheng became more and more obvious as the truth was gradually revealed. Now many people secretly suspected Prince Cheng and felt that he was not as unworldly as he looked. Since Prince Cheng had the intention, what about Shao Jing? Did he visit Prince Cheng just to borrow the Buddhist scriptures for Old Madam?
Old Madam of Marquis Xing’s Mansion was not a good person either. Did she really know nothing about her second son’s behavior? Even if she didn’t see with her own eyes that Shao Jing killed his brother, what about what had happened to Infanta Qinghua in Marquis Xing’s Mansion? It was said that although Old Madam did not manage the inner court, she had always been in charge of everything behind the scenes. How could she know nothing about what had happened in the mansion?
She knew it, but she still watched her second son do it. How could she claim to believe in Buddha?
Since she was not a real believer, Shao Jing must have had a close relations.h.i.+p with Prince Cheng in the name of Old Madam’s fake belief.
In this case, did it mean that Prince Cheng was behind Shao Jing?
There were some things that people thought were impossible at first, but the more they thought about it, the more they felt that it was possible. There were certain things that Shao Jing couldn’t achieve. After all, he didn’t have enough power.
What had happened to Madam Jiang this time was an example. Madam Jiang stood in Shao Jing’s way and prevented him from marrying his mistress. Then, she exposed that he had killed his brother and sister-in-law. That was why Shao Jing killed Madam Jiang.
Shao Jing wasn’t powerful enough to kill Madam Jiang in the Ministry of Justice. So what about Prince Cheng behind him? Prince Cheng could definitely make that happen.
When one thing was straightened out, others would be easy to understand. Prince Cheng’s man killed Madam Jiang. Only the officials of the Ministry of Justice would know when there would be no one watching Madam Jiang and manage to take advantage of it. The dead junior official was investigated. At that time, no one would see him, so he must have done it.
Later, the blame was s.h.i.+fted onto Commandery Prince Qing, which led to the fire in Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion. Prince Cheng took advantage of the chaos to bring the dead junior official to Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion and then a.s.sa.s.sinated Commandery Prince Qing. These things were just a cover-up, which was used to attract everyone’s attention to Commandery Prince Qing.
Prince Cheng tried to put all the blame on Commandery Prince Qing. For this reason, Commandery Prince Qing entered the Imperial Palace and complained tearfully to the Emperor that he knew nothing about it and didn’t know why the junior official in the Buddha Hall was there. It was the place where Consort Dowager Qing prayed and there were usually no other people. Only an old maid was taking care of that place. Before the officials of the Ministry of Justice found out about it, Consort Dowager Qing had been to the Buddha Hall and found nothing.
Although Commandery Prince Qing didn’t directly point out that Prince Cheng was the culprit, coupled with various rumors, he also pointed out that Shao Jie’er, the daughter of Shao Jing, had returned to her home with a guilty conscience after the incident. The answer was almost at hand.
Prince Cheng took action, and Shao Jie’er was the insider so that the dead junior official could enter Commandery Prince Qing secretly.
Chu Qing cried so hard and felt so aggrieved. He only said that if he was plotted against like this, he might as well continue to live an idle life with no t.i.tle when his mother devoted herself to Buddhism so that he would not be plotted against all the time. Since he came out of the Yuhui Nunnery, he had been in a state of panic.
In front of all the civil and military officials in the imperial court, Chu Qing choked with sobs and knelt in the throne hall.
Many old ministers were sad. After all, he was the son of the deceased emperor. Now he had fallen into such a situation, which was really heartbreaking. Many old ministers secretly looked at Prince Chen, who was standing on the cla.s.s-ranking platform. He was the most orthodox descendant of the deceased emperor and had been raised by the Emperor. The old ministers admired him the most.
In the past, when Prince Chen was in poor health, they didn’t think too much about it. They just wanted Prince Chen to be safe and sound. As for other things, they didn’t dare to think about them. Even if Prince Chen ascended the throne, he probably wouldn’t live long. He was worse off than the other Kings, who were at least healthy.
At present, Prince Chen was in good health and had a sense of propriety. Prince Yue and Prince Zhou, whom the old ministers were originally optimistic about, were unreliable. Although some things were hidden, many people were well-informed and knew that Prince Yue and Prince Zhou had fought for a woman several times. This woman finally became the woman of the Emperor, so the royal family was terribly disgraced.
The only good thing was that this woman was dead.
On the surface, the two princes were not as orthodox as Prince Chen, and in private, they had such a character. Many people secretly thought that the healthy Prince Chen was the most suitable one.
At this time, Commandery Prince Qing was in trouble, so many people secretly looked at Chu Liuchen.
Chu Liuchen stood still in front of the platform with calm eyes and didn’t say a word. He listened quietly to Chu Qing’s crying without any emotion in his deep eyes.
He was still calm at this time, but the Emperor was furious and immediately summoned Prince Cheng, who had rarely been to court, to the main hall.
When he arrived at the main hall, Prime Minister Zhang and Prime Minister Wen kept interrogating Prince Cheng. Although Prince Cheng had been prepared for it, he was almost stunned by the questions. In the end, his answer was a little reluctant. The Emperor was furious and scolded Prince Cheng loudly. He threw several memorials down and hit Prince Cheng on the head, smas.h.i.+ng it as well.
Then, the Emperor demoted the t.i.tle of Prince Cheng to Commandery Prince Cheng, which was the same as Chu Qing’s. His charge was that he was close to Shao Jing, and the two of them actually had a good personal relations.h.i.+p. Birds of a feather flocked together. It was not a good thing to have a good personal relations.h.i.+p with such a vicious person. Moreover, Prince Cheng did not care about his juniors, which referred to the contradiction between him and Chu Qing.
Prince Cheng was also blamed that he was disrespectful to his elders. It was said that when the Empress Dowager was sick, Prince Cheng was still in contact with Shao Jing and had the leisure to travel with him.
There was no direct evidence to accuse Prince Cheng, but with so many crimes added up, it was enough to make the Emperor lower the t.i.tle of Prince Cheng. Especially when the Empress Dowager was ill, Prince Cheng was still so leisurely while the Emperor had to visit the Empress Dowager every day. However, Prince Cheng was not filial and let the Empress Dowager down, who had raised him.
All kinds of crimes made Prince Cheng furious. He wanted to visit the Empress Dowager every day, but he had to get the Emperor’s permission. Moreover, he was in the name of pure cultivation, so how could he go to greet the Empress Dowager every day?
Since he was to be condemned, there would certainly be charges.
However, Prince Cheng did not dare to make trouble. If he did, he would not be able to handle this matter. If he was not careful, he might really get himself into trouble. As for the affairs of Marquis Xing’s Mansion, whoever got involved would be in trouble. Prince Cheng would not lose the greater for the less.
Although the Emperor had no evidence to prove that he did it, he had no evidence to prove it was definitely not him who did it.
Now that Prince Cheng had become Commandery Prince Cheng, his t.i.tle had been removed, his salary had been deducted, and he was not allowed to go anywhere else apart from his mansion. It was equivalent to being grounded. He glared at Chu Qing, who was crying there, with anger and gritted his teeth. It was not the right time yet, so he had to take it.
Shao Jing was in the prison of the Ministry of Justice, so he also knew that Infanta Qinghua had been discovered. After looking up at the sky and laughing three times, he didn’t say anything more. Even if the people of the Ministry of Justice tortured him again, he didn’t utter a word and only wanted to die. He didn’t say a word about Infanta Qinghua.