Chapter 613 The Incident Becomes Significant…
Qin Yuru and Shao Yanru were led to the parking lot at the same time. The two old maids leading the way stepped aside after bowing to them. When Shao Yanru was about to get in the carriage with the help of Shuqi, Qin Yuru suddenly rushed from behind and grabbed Shao Yanru’s clothes.
Shao Yanru was knocked off balance and fell to the ground. Shuqi failed to pull her in time and fell heavily on the ground together.
“Shao Yanru, the first beauty in the capital city? Look at you. Do you really think that you are the first n.o.ble lady in the capital city?” Qin Yuru raised her head and said with a sneer, “You, who set me up again and again, are so vicious. I would like to see if there’s anyone who will still consider you a talented and pretty lady after I tear off your mask. Bah!”
After that, she turned around and got in her carriage. The coachman waved his whip and the carriage left.
Struggling to help Shao Yanru up, Shuqi got so angry that she glared at Qin Yuru’s carriage with her face turning livid.
“Let’s go!” Shao Yanru held Shuqi’s hand and said harshly.
She got in the carriage with Shuqi’s help.
Seeing the two carriages leave one after the other, the two old maids leading the way went back to report.
“They are the Changxing Gra.s.s that can drive horses crazy?” In the imperial study, the Emperor stared at several stalks of gra.s.s on his desk with a gloomy and cold face and said. The gra.s.sroots obviously had been smashed. Although they had been cleaned, there was a little mud on them. Meanwhile, on the other side, there was a box containing a few stalks of gra.s.s.
They were well-preserved and not damaged at all. It was obvious that they had been kept properly!
Despite the different conditions of the gra.s.s on the desk and the gra.s.s in the box, it could still be seen that they were of the same kind.
“Your Majesty, they are indeed the same kind of gra.s.s, Changxing Gra.s.s. I’ve found out that this kind of gra.s.s comes from the Xu State which is located at the junction in the south with mephitis all year round. It’s difficult for non-local people to penetrate deeply into the country. This kind of Changxing Gra.s.s grows in the area with dense mephitis, which makes it even difficult for local people to collect them.”
Li Shuiqing, the minister of Ministry of Justice, reported all the information he had found to the Emperor.
After falling silent for a moment, the Emperor stared at the few stalks of crushed gra.s.s with a frown. He had thought it just a matter within the inner courtyard. Unexpectedly, it had something to do with the imperial government.
Of course, he knew that an accident occurred at the foot of the Yuhui Nunnery. When he went to the Empress Dowager’s palace, the Empress Dowager had mentioned it to him because it was related to the granddaughter of Rui’an Great Elder Princess. The Empress Dowager suggested that she had chosen the girl as Chu Liuchen’s wife.
It would be announced at an appropriate time!
Now that the girl had an accident and Chu Liuchen might get involved in it, the Empress Dowager told the Emperor about it.
At that time, he didn’t pay much attention to it, because no matter it was an accident or a trap, it had nothing to do with him. Since the Ministry of Justice had intervened in it, he would leave it to them and told them to give Chu Liuchen a satisfactory result.
However, the Emperor did not expect to discover a few stalks of Changxing Gra.s.s. He had never heard of this kind of gra.s.s before. But after hearing what the minister of the Ministry of Justice said, he realized that there was this kind of Changxing Gra.s.s in his treasury.
In this case, it was not a simple matter! It was said Great Elder Princess had also found a few of them. Nevertheless, she didn’t recognize them, so she had not found out that it was this kind of gra.s.s that made the horse rush down the cliff wildly. Otherwise, she would cause trouble by making the incident significant at the imperial court.
She might even make it known to the entire country.
“Think of a way to get the few stalks of gra.s.s in Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s hands.” The Emperor said with a frown. These stalks of gra.s.s couldn’t be in Great Elder Princess’s hands, otherwise, they would cause trouble.
“I got it. Before I entered the imperial palace, I’ve sent someone from the Ministry of Justice to meet Rui’an Great Elder Princess and get the gra.s.s found at the scene.” Minister Li said. He had thought about this before he came here and knew that he couldn’t let Rui’an Great Elder Princess know it and make it significant.
The Emperor nodded approvingly and looked towards the few Changxing Gra.s.s in the box again. They were stored in the warehouse, but there were a few more of them when they were registered and put in storage. That was to say, someone had secretly taken away some of the Changxing Gra.s.s.
These Changxing Gra.s.s were sent to the capital with the tributes from the Xu State and then put in storage. No one paid attention to these gra.s.ses, and they had been in the warehouse for many years, during which numerous people had access to them. Some of those people had been transferred, while some stayed in the warehouse. Although people couldn’t enter the warehouse easily, it was difficult to find out who had taken the gra.s.s away.
“Your Majesty, I’ve made a list which shows those who are most likely to get access to the Changxin Gra.s.s and those who know their existence. please take a look!” Minister Li said, drew a list from his sleeve, and presented it to the Emperor.
Derong came down and took it, and then presented it to the Emperor. The Emperor checked the names on it carefully one by one with a frown. In fact, he couldn’t tell who was most likely to take the gra.s.s away.
The names on it didn’t belong to the first-cla.s.s or second-cla.s.s ministers but belonged to their subordinates. But in fact, it was easy to understand. Even if they really wanted to take the gra.s.s away, they would not do it by themselves and the best way was to instruct someone else to do it.
In this way, even if it was exposed, they wouldn’t get involved in it.
They, who were smart enough to be the first-cla.s.s or second-cla.s.s officials, would never put themselves in such a dangerous situation easily.
“Check on them one by one. Avoid alarming others as much as possible!” After reading the list, the Emperor put it down and said harshly. How could he not get furious at the fact that someone secretly took away a tribute from another country under his nose without being discovered in so many years?
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Minister Li said with a nod, but then asked hesitantly, “How should we handle the accident?”
“Keep the Changxing Gra.s.s a secret…” Speaking of this, the Emperor paused and hesitated. If the Changxing Gra.s.s was kept a secret, what happened could just be an accident. Thinking of Chu Liuchen’s character, the Emperor felt a headache.
He reached out to rub his forehead. If he really gave such an order, he couldn’t give Chu Liuchen a proper explanation. He could tell from the Empress Dowager’s words that Chu Liuchen had some affection for Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s granddaughter, and it was the first time in so many years that he had ever seen Chu Liuchen cared about a girl so much.
If Chu Liuchen was not satisfied with the explanation, he wouldn’t accept it.
“Your Majesty, I heard that it has also given rise to much discussion outside.” Derong lowered his voice to remind the Emperor. As the Emperor’s trusted person, he certainly knew what the Emperor was thinking. Seeing the Emperor’s worried look, he deliberately mentioned the rumors outside, some of which were heard from the imperial physicians returning to the imperial palace.
“What did they say?” The Emperor asked.
“Minister Li, please report it!” Derong looked at the minister of the Ministry of Justice with a smile, stretched his hand at him, and said. He just intended to remind the Emperor and would certainly leave the official report to Li Shuiqing, the minister of Ministry of Justice.
As a eunuch, he should aware of his duty. This was the main reason why Derong could be promoted to his current position from a eunuch holding writing brushes.
If a eunuch wasn’t aware of his ident.i.ty and meddled in the affairs of the imperial court, even if the officials did not dare to criticize him, the Emperor would not tolerate him.
“Your Majesty, there are two rumors now. One is related to Duke Yong’s Mansion. Before the Fifth Miss Shao returned to Duke Xing’s Mansion, the eldest daughter of Ningyuan Army General’s Mansion, the current Young Madam of Duke Yong, was her Big Sister. At that time Young Madam of Duke Yong and Madam Di, the wife of Ningyuan Army General, set up the Fifth Miss Shao several times. They even use a dirty trick to drug the Fifth Miss Shao and attempted to sell her to a brothel!”
“They have always borne grudges against each other. Besides, this time it was the Qin’s Mansion that said Old Madam Qin was seriously sick and coaxed the Fifth Miss Shao to come down the mountain. So some people say that it was Young Madam of Duke Yong who set up the Fifth Miss Shao! Meanwhile, there is another rumor that it was the second branch of Duke Xing’s Mansion who did it. It is said that the second branch of Duke Xing’s Mansion is afraid that the daughter and son of the eldest branch will prevent them from inheriting the t.i.tle, so they set up a trap for the Fifth Miss Shao this time. The old maid sent by the Qin’s Mansion has obviously contacted someone from Duke Xing’s Mansion!”
Minister Li reported all the information he got to the Emperor.
Both of the two mansions had grudges against the Fifth Miss Shao. On the surface, the old maid sent to lure the Fifth Miss Shao to come down the mountain was from the Qin’s Mansion but after the interrogation, it was discovered that she had contacted someone from Duke Xing’s Mansion. However, she couldn’t tell who was the one she contacted and only said that she had contacted an old maid and a maid with no special characteristic.
There were numerous servants in Duke Xing’s Mansion. Apart from the servants in the mansion, there were plenty of servants in other villas and farms. Besides, there were some servants who had been freed and were no longer servants. If the old maid didn’t name any special characteristics, the Ministry of Justice could find nothing.
“Your Majesty, the imperial physicians said that they saw a farce before returning to the Imperial Palace. In Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s Mansion, Young Madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion beat the First Miss Shao and said that the First Miss Shao asked the adopted daughter of her mansion to coax her to ask the Fifth Miss Shao to come down the mountain!”
Derong interrupted with a smile. These words could be considered gossip. None of the imperial physicians, Rui’an Great Elder Princess, Young Madam of Duke Yong’s Mansion, and the First Miss of Duke Xing was a member of the imperial court. He didn’t cross the line by mentioning it.
“Did they have a fight in Great Elder Princess’s Mansion?” The Emperor said with displeasure.
“Yes, I heard that it was a big fight. They probably couldn’t show up in public these days, and even woke up the unconscious Fifth Miss Shao. They must have made big noises!” Derong said with a smile.
It was really disgraceful for two Misses from aristocratic families to have such a big fight. Not only did the Emperor disdained them, but even Minister Li of Ministry of Justice thought them rude. It was said that the First Miss Shao was both talented and beautiful. Now it seemed that she just had an undeserved reputation and was quite scheming.
Minister Li, who had worked in the Ministry of Justice for a long time, had handled plenty of appalling cases and seen numerous vicious people. If what Young Madam of Duke Yong said was true, the First Miss Shao was not only scheming but also very vicious.
“Start with the two of them and keep your hands off the Changxing Gra.s.s!” The Emperor made a decision and gave an order.
“If any of them is found out to be the one behind the accident…” The minister of Ministry of Justice asked uneasily. He meant that not only the two Misses but also their families and power behind them would get involved in it.