Chapter 950 Appeal to the Imperial Court
As usual, Duke Yong went to the back door of Prince Zhou’s Mansion. He didn’t enter the mansion. He asked his servant to knock on the door and his coachman to go inside. It had been a long time before the coachman came out.
Later, Duke Yong turned to Prince Xin’s Mansion. This time, he entered the mansion through the front door and asked his servant to send an invitation letter. But Chu Liuxin didn’t meet him. Then Duke Yong’s carriage headed for Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion.
Chu Qing was stunned for a while when his servant reported to him, and then he was overjoyed and immediately asked the servant to lead Duke Yong in.
In the capital city, few n.o.bles were close to Chu Qing. Duke Yong was one n.o.ble without too much power, but Chu Qing would seize the chance to get acquainted with him.
Duke Yong came in, bowed to Chu Qing, and just went straight to the point. “I need your help for something important, Commandery Prince Qing!”
“What’s the matter?” Chu Qing asked in surprise. He didn’t understand why Duke Yong, who had never been to his mansion before, would ask him for help. “I don’t mind interfering if it is something trivial and simple.”
“Commandery Prince Qing, please help my son regain the t.i.tle of Heir of Duke Yong!” Duke Yong stood up with tears in his eyes and said in a trembling voice, “I have gone to different mansions and asked several princes to help me submit memorials to His Majesty for that!”
Chu Qing didn’t know how Di Yan lost the t.i.tle, but it sounded not simple. He comforted Duke Yong gently and asked, “Take it easy, Duke Yong! What did the other brothers say?”
“They said...” Duke Yong hesitated and couldn’t speak a word again. He looked sullen. Chu Qing thought, “It seems that my brothers just ignored him!”
A smile was on Chu Qing’s face, but a hint of sarcasm was in his eyes. “No wonder he turned to me! He wouldn’t have done that if they were willing to help! He came to beg me after he was refused!
“What a selfish guy! Never flatter me until he is in trouble!”
“Why don’t you go back and wait for the news, Duke Yong? If my brothers submit a memorial to Father, I will stand on your side!” said Chu Qing.
What he said actually didn’t make a difference.
“Echo with a few words if some of them submit a memorial, and keep silent if they don’t!” No matter which situation it would be, nothing would harm Chu Qing.
“Commandery Prince Qing...” Duke Yong wanted to say something more. But he was rudely interrupted by Chu Qing. “Duke Yong, you’d better go back first. I know what to do! Now I have something else to do, and I won’t keep you here!”
Since Duke Yong had never come and complimented Chu Qing until the former was in trouble and in need of help, Chu Qing was extremely dissatisfied with Duke Yong! Moreover, Duke Yong was in big trouble. Chu Qing might have agreed to help him if it were just something small! Anyway, Duke Yong had some good old friends, though he himself was useless.
As a n.o.ble, Chu Qing would sometimes feel sad about the loss of another n.o.ble family. “But it is reasonable for me to make a name for myself by taking advantage of the affairs of Duke Yong’s Mansion. However, the problem is that Duke Yong’s trouble is not something that can be handled easily!” As Chu Qing thought so, he decided not to intervene.
“None of my brothers intends to involve themselves in that mess, so what makes him think I will? I am not stupid!”
“Thank you, Commandery Prince Qing!” Duke Yong with red-rimmed eyes was led to the gate of the mansion. He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and then went to his carriage.
He got on the carriage and directly went back to Duke Yong’s Mansion.
A fire suddenly broke out and caused a casualty during the day? After the Emperor was informed of the news in the Imperial Study, he asked to meet Qin Huaiyong at once!
“A fire usually breaks out at night! How could the fire break out during the day and even burn a madam with Royal Mandate to death?”
“Minister Qin, what happened? Did anyone intend to murder your wife?” the Emperor asked directly when he met Qin Huaiyong.
Qin Huaiyong knelt down and burst into tears. He couldn’t say a word.
Qin Huaiyong’s behavior told the Emperor that there must be something wrong. He asked again with his expression changing slightly, “Is there something fishy?”
“Your Majesty...” Qin Huaiyong said and cried again.
“General Qin, take your time and tell us everything! His Majesty will uphold justice for you!” An elegant, gentle and reliable voice came. Qin Huaiyong wiped his tears and looked up, only to find that Prince Chen was also in the Imperial Study.
“Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Highness! I have something to say, but I don’t know where to start... Your Majesty, I feel wronged... I regret...” Qin Huaiyong cried.
Qin Huaiyong pounded his chest hard with a bitter face, which even made banging sounds. He indeed hit his chest with force!
“You regret it? Was it you who did that to your wife?” the Emperor asked in shock.
The Emperor would punish Qin Huaiyong if he was indeed the murderer. Even though Qin Huaiyong was leaving for Xu State, the Emperor couldn’t tolerate his crime.
“General Qin, you’d better make it clear. Uncle the Emperor will make a judgment for you!” said Chu Liuchen lazily.
Though his voice was usually gentle and pleasant, Qin Huaiyong did not dare to underestimate him. Having socialized with Prince Chen for years since they met in Jiangzhou, Qin Huaiyong understood that Prince Chen was definitely not as gentle and kind as he looked.
“He covers his true colors with elegance and gentleness!
“Prince Chen must be a viper, who is good at concealing his true colors!”
Qin Huaiyong did not dare to regard King Chen’s gentleness as a friendly gesture.
“Thank you, Your Highness!” Qin Huaiyong thanked Chu Liuchen and then kowtowed to the Emperor again. “Your Majesty, I regret marrying Madam Di. I want to break off all bonds with Duke Yong’s Mansion!”
“Why? Did it have anything to do with Duke Yong’s Mansion?” the Emperor asked with confusion and put down the memorial book in his hand.
“Your Majesty! Qin Yuru is not my daughter! I was raising the daughter of Madam Di and her adulterer these years. Qin Yuru went back home and was informed that she was not my biological daughter, so she... she murdered her biological mother with the fire!”
After Qin Huaiyong related everything in detail, he pounded his chest so hard that blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth, showing how hateful he was now!
“What? Your daughter... the daughter who you have been raising... is not your biological daughter?” The Emperor froze and thought for a while. Then he subconsciously looked at Chu Liuchen. He remembered that Fifth Miss Shao from Marquis Xing’s Mansion used to be raised by Qin Huaiyong as a daughter for many years too.
“It is not my wife, Uncle the Emperor. It’s the one who always had conflicts with my wife before! She used to frame my wife with her mother Madam Di. The First Miss of Duke Xing’s Mansion, Qin Yuru attended the relatives recognizing ceremony in Marquis Xing’s Mansion and Uncle Cheng’s engagement banquet!” Chu Liuchen explained.
Then he glanced at Qin Huaiyong with some other meanings in his eyes.
In fact, the Emperor knew all these things, but they didn’t impress him because they came one by one. After Chu Liuchen put them into a series, he immediately frowned tightly and remembered, “Prince Cheng was about to get married at that time, which was a load off my mind. But later it was ruined by a shameless woman!
“Even Princess Chen was almost set up by that woman!” At that time, Shao Wanru was a n.o.body to the Emperor, so he didn’t pay attention to it. Now, when he heard it again, he couldn’t help snorting and said, “You must be partial to your daughter, Ningyuan Army General. If she were born into an ordinary family, she might not have survived!”
A vicious and shameless woman like her from an ordinary family would have been strangled to death so that she would not frame people.
“Your Majesty, she is not my daughter. I was cheated to raise her as my daughter!” Qin Huaiyong felt ashamed and guilty. He really hated himself for being stupid. “If I had known that Madam Di cheated on me, I would not have been partial to Qin Yuru so that I would not have been estranged from Princess Chen!”
“So she is another man’s daughter?” the Emperor repeated. Then he remembered what Qin Huaiyong had said before and asked, “How did you know that after you have been cheated for so many years?”
“A servant girl in my mansion told me. Today, Qin Yuru went back home to see Madam Di. When they were talking in the room, the servant girl happened to hear their conversation. She heard Madam Di admit that Qin Yuru was not my daughter. Instead...”
Speaking of this, Qin Huaiyong covered his face and cried again, “Your Majesty, please uphold justice for me!”
He didn’t want to conceal it or lose out because of it. Since Madam Di dared to do it, he dared to say it out! As a general, he didn’t care about dignity anymore. Once thinking that Madam Di had cheated on him in the past years, Qin Huaiyong wished to chop her into pieces!
“I wouldn’t let her live if Qin Yuru hadn’t killed her this time!”
“Your Majesty, I’ve doted on Qin Yuru since she was born, but I didn’t expect that... she would be Grand Prince’s fourth son’s daughter. After she knew her true ident.i.ty, she asked Madam Di to give her some evidence. I believe she wanted to kill Madam Di with the fire before she left. The servant girl keeping an eye on Qin Yuru had to keep herself out of Qin Yuru’s notice from time to time, so she didn’t notice Qin Yuru’s criminal movement! When Qin Yuru arrived at the back door, the fire had broken out!”
Qin Huaiyong was not afraid of taking him down even though Grand Prince was a royal. “Since I have disregarded my dignity, I must disgrace Grand Prince’s Mansion too.” As long as he thought of how much he suffered from what he had done for Qin Yuru over the years, he wanted to kill that adulterous couple and Qin Yuru!
“The fourth son of Grand Prince?” The Emperor didn’t remember there was such a person. Honestly, such a playboy like him could never impress the Emperor.
“He is a playboy, Uncle the Emperor. He usually competes for women or has a fight with others of his kind and sometimes takes advantage of the t.i.tle of Grand Prince to bully others. He has never done anything good except fooling around with women. He has lots of b.a.s.t.a.r.dy sons and daughters in the mansion and some outside!” Chu Liuchen explained lightly.
The Emperor flew into a rage when he heard that. He slammed his hand on the table and ordered in a sharp voice, “Summon Grand Prince!”
The Emperor hated people like Chu Huairan most!