Chapter 1236 - 1236 Is Someone Hidden There?
Chapter 1236 Is Someone Hidden There?
“Your Highness Prince Chen and Princess Chen!” Shao Jing strode over. He bowed to them, reached out to point at the upper floor, and said, “Your Highness, do you want to go up there? I’ll ask someone to clean it up first.”
Chu Liuchen didn’t say anything. He glanced at the upper floor lazily and waved his hand, signaling Shao Jing to rise.
Shao Wanru looked at Shao Jing calmly for a while and said, “We shouldn’t trouble you, Second Uncle. I just felt strange when I walked here and found that the door is locked!”
“This place is filled with sundries, which are aged ones. If you want them, I’ll ask some servants to sort them out and send them to Prince Chen’s Mansion. Some of them belong to Eldest Brother, and I don’t usually use them,” Shao Jing said gently.
“Thank you, Second Uncle!” Shao Wanru nodded.
Shao Jing pointed to the main room and said with a kind smile. “Your Highness, why don’t you take a seat? I’ll ask someone to sort things out right away.” He was indicating that the two should leave soon.
“There’s no need for such a hurry. We need to enter the Palace, so we don’t have time to get those things now!” Shao Wanru said slowly.
It was reasonable for her to be a little domineering in her words and deeds after what had happened before. After all, it was related to her biological parents. At this time, it would not be appropriate for her to pressure Shao Jing to sort out some previous belongings of her father in a hurry.
After saying goodbye to Shao Jing, Shao Wanru and Chu Liuchen got on the carriage of Prince Chen’s Mansion. Sitting in the carriage, Shao Wanru still frowned slightly because she felt that there was something wrong with the pavilion.
Shao Jing was too nice to her. If it were in the past, his att.i.tude would be very normal. Shao Jing always gave people an amiable smile. But today was different. Shao Jing had fought with the guards of Prince Chen’s Mansion before, but now he was so kind to her. For some reason, Shao Wanru felt a strange sense of discord.
“Is Shao Jing afraid? Or is he feeling guilty?”
Sensing her silence, Chu Liuchen asked, “Do you want to visit that pavilion?” He looked at her with his beautiful eyes, which were clear and gentle.
“I do want to visit it. I always feel…” Shao Wanru couldn’t explain it clearly at the moment. It was a kind of feeling, but in fact, she had no evidence. “I just feel that something is wrong. Could there be… someone hiding inside?”
In fact, her guess was groundless. After saying that, Shao Wanru also felt that it was ridiculous. How could such a thing happen? But she had that feeling.
Afraid that Chu Liuchen would make fun of her, she lowered her head and pulled the round fan in her hand with mixed feelings.
“I’ll take you to visit it tonight.” Chu Liuchen lowered his head with a smile and did not ask her why she thought so, nor did he ask her for evidence. He made it sound as if he was going to take her to his own pavilion.
Shao Wanru instantly looked up and said in surprise, “Can… can we?” If she didn’t get to do so, she would be worried. She just wanted to go there and check the pavilion out.
“Of course. Shao Jing will be taken away in the afternoon, and some of the information you found will be sent to the Ministry of Justice. It won’t be easy for Shao Jing to come back so soon,” Chu Liuchen said slowly.
Shao Wanru looked at Chu Liuchen with her bright eyes. She put down the round fan in her hand, grabbed his sleeve, and said in a trembling voice, “Is… is it done?”
“Yes!” Chu Liuchen looked at her with a smile and saw a trace of tears at the corner of her eyes.
Shao Wanru bit her lip and said, “Thank you!” She wanted to say a lot of things, but she only said these two words in the end.
“If you want to thank me, you should grow up soon, Zhuozhuo!” Chu Liuchen squinted at her, reached out to hold her in his arms, and sighed inexplicably.
Shao Wanru felt that she had understood his meaning immediately. She pinched his waist angrily and buried her head in his arms with a faint fragrance of medicine.
She had thought that he would not say those words so easily, but he did.
“Mingqiu Nun and Doctor Qi found that Doctor Qiu could make the medicine that could be used to fake one’s death. Shao Yanru escaped from the Palace with this medicine. When my mother died, did she also take this medicine? Doctor Qiu remained silent before, but the day before yesterday, he said that he and Shao Jing had known each other for a long time. They got to know each other not in the capital city but at the border.”
Shao Wanru blinked her long eyelashes, looking a little tired. She pursed her lips tightly and suppressed the hatred in her heart. “It was Shao Jing who asked him to come to the capital city. He said that he came here through Gu Xishu, but it was just an excuse. In fact, his main purpose was to enter Marquis Xing’s Mansion. More than a decade ago, he also gave Shao Jing a dose of the Fake Dead Medicine.”
Her words were a little confusing, and she became emotional. She held Chu Liuchen’s robe tightly. When talking about the past, she almost couldn’t breathe.
“My father is really dead. He was shot by an arrow…” Shao Wanru tried her best to keep calm, but her heart ached as if it had been stabbed by a sword. She didn’t want to recall those unbearable things in her two lives.
Her father, the First Young Master of Duke Xing’s Mansion, died to save Qin Huaiyong, but what if someone else wanted to deal with him at that time? No matter how hard he tried to dodge, he would die, right?
There might be someone who wanted to help Qin Huaiyong, but there must be someone who wanted to kill her father. This person was no one else but Shao Jing.
Qin Huaiyong should have known something, so he didn’t think that Shao Wanru was the daughter of his lifesaver and didn’t care about her. He merely raised her as his daughter on the surface, that was why his att.i.tude toward her was so strange.
She really didn’t want to tear open those old scars, but she had to.
She bit her lip and her tears fell. Feeling that his chest was wet, Chu Liuchen held her tighter and reached out to pat her on the back gently with a sense of tenderness and care.
He didn’t ask or say anything else. He just wanted to protect her.
In fact, he should thank her for slowly pulling him out of the abyss. She was the only one in his heart.
His parents had never been nice to him. She was the only one he had.
He hugged her tightly. After a long while, he comforted her softly, “It’s okay. Everything will be fine.”
Everything would be fine, and those people that had hurt them would disappear.
In fact, the Empress Dowager was still in Huaguang Temple and did not go down the mountain. Because she went there secretly, she claimed to be still in the Palace.
The carriage went all the way to the mountain road of Huaguang Temple. After getting out of the carriage with Shao Wanru, Chu Liuchen went straight to the courtyard where the Empress Dowager temporarily stayed.
The Empress Dowager had recovered a lot. When she heard that Chu Liuchen and Shao Wanru had come over, she hurriedly asked her servants to invite them over. Looking at this pair of good-looking young people, the Empress Dowager felt happy from the bottom of her heart.
She put down the prayer beads in her hand and asked her servants to serve them tea with a smile.
Chu Liuchen took a sip of tea and said with a smile, “Imperial Grandmother, are you feeling better?”
The Empress Dowager said with a smile, “I’m fine. I’m just recuperating!” She looked up at Shao Wanru and saw that although there was a smile on her face, her eyes were red. She had heard about what had happened to Madam Jiang. She thought that Shao Wanru had gone to Marquis Xing’s Mansion to attend Madam Jiang’s funeral, so she felt that this girl was a good person. Rui’an had told her several times that Madam Jiang didn’t treat Shao Wanru well at all. The Empress Dowager didn’t know why Shao Wanru would be so kind that she would be sad for this woman.
“After the matter of Marquis Xing’s Mansion is settled, don’t go back there often. Your second uncle is so stupid that he even wants to bring a mistress into the mansion.”
Empress Dowager held Shao Wanru’s tender hand and comforted her softly.
Chu Liuchen looked up with his cold smiling face and said sarcastically, “You’re wrong, Imperial Grandmother. Marquis Xing is smart and scheming. He has been trying to eliminate the first branch step by step for so many years before he can benefit from it.”
The Empress Dowager did not quite understand, but she got the scheming part from what she heard. She asked in shock, “What happened?”
“Shao Jing sneaked out of the capital city when the former heir of Duke Xing went to the border under an anonymous name and joined the army. When he left the capital city, it happened that the Heir of Duke Xing was killed. Someone can testify that,” Chu Liuchen said.
Yan Xi had asked his father to write a letter to confirm this matter. Now the letter was kept by Shao Wanru.
Yan Xi specially came to Prince Chen’s Mansion and promised Chu Liuchen that his father could testify in person if necessary.
The Empress Dowager finally understood what Chu Liuchen meant. It was not a trivial matter. She straightened up and said hurriedly, “The… the Heir of Duke Xing was killed by Shao Jing?”
“Yes!” Chu Liuchen nodded. Shao Wanru lowered her head, bit her lip, and suppressed the sadness in her heart.
“Then… then what are you waiting for? Have your Uncle the Emperor catch him! Is he still a human being? How could he do such a cruel thing to his own brother just for the t.i.tle of n.o.bility?” The Empress Dowager looked angry. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that Shao Jing was despicable. In the past, she had thought that Marquis Xing had a good character and would smile at everyone. He seemed to be a good-tempered person, but it turned out that he was so insidious.
“I have sent his mistress to the Ministry of Justice. The officials will call for him later.” Chu Liuchen said lightly, “His mistress was the servant girl of Infanta Qinghua, who seemed to have died inexplicably back then. That woman claimed to be the daughter of the former imperial censor, but she’s a fake. Shao Jing made it up in order to have her enter the mansion.”
“What… what?” Empress Dowager almost couldn’t believe her ears. “This… this man is too vicious. Even the worst punishment won’t be enough to deal with him! You have to tell your Uncle the Emperor that he has to demote this man!”
“Don’t worry, Imperial Grandmother. The Ministry of Justice will investigate it properly and find out the truth!” Chu Liuchen said with a smile, “Please take care. I’ll talk to Uncle the Emperor. Before the truth comes out, don’t tell anyone about this, not a single person.”
“Don’t worry, Chen. I know what to do.” Empress Dowager patted her chest.
However, Chu Liuchen and Shao Wanru saw a figure behind a gauze curtain. There was more than one layer of gauze curtain, and there were many layers of it. If they hadn’t paid attention to it, they wouldn’t have noticed it. The figure was hiding there and didn’t move at all.