coobybook Chapter 112 The End of the Sinner
Chapter 112 The End of the Sinner
After Zhao Fangyu washed up, Lan Ye helped him wrap himself in a quilt like a cocoon.
"Miss, don't think too much. Now that you have escaped from that cannibalistic place, you will have good days ahead." Lan Ye tucked the corner of the quilt for Zhao Fangyu. Seeing that Zhao Fangyu was still a little dazed, she lit a stove of benzoin for her.
She mixed the benzoin herself, and there was still a lot of the plus version left from the one she gave to the second prince, so she kept it all.
The scent of benzoin drifted over little by little, and Zhao Fangyu gradually fell asleep. His dream was full of blood and Zhang Yingying's hoarse cries.
She couldn't remember what she was shouting. She woke up in a cold sweat, washed up, and then went to see Meng Yanzhen.
Meng Yanzhen was sitting in the hall, rolling up a silk fan. When she saw Zhao Fangyu coming, she asked her to sit down, dismissed everyone, and told her in detail the news in the palace in the past few days.
"After you were taken away, Lan Ye led people to check around the Sutra Library, and they actually found something unusual."
"The Sutra Library burned quickly because someone poured tung oil on it from outside. Finally, the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs found out that the Sutra Library was burned because tung oil was poured on the inside and outside of the Sutra Library. It was not because of the fallen candlesticks as everyone had speculated."
"The maid who followed you at the beginning is also dead. The murderer killed her first, then set fire to the palace, and then jumped out of the window. He also poured tung oil outside, and the two rooms burned together, so it could burn so fast."
Zhao Fangyu nodded. It was common for a powerless palace maid to die when the eldest prince took action. The only thing Zhao Fangyu didn't expect was that the case was solved so quickly.
Meng Yanzhen turned the Canzi fan in one direction and continued, "The Jinyiwei helped, and Lord Pei Yan Pei examined the body of the palace maid."
Zhao Fangyu remained expressionless upon hearing this, but was in his heart surprised that Pei Yan could actually perform an autopsy.
However, Zhao Fangyu was grateful that Pei Yan was willing to help her in this way.
"There are rumors among the Jinyiwei that you and Pei Yan are in love."
Zhao Fangyu was caught off guard and choked on his own saliva.
She didn't expect that there would actually be people who believed such outrageous rumors!
Meng Yanzhen's delicate eyebrows showed no emotion. She looked at Zhao Fangyu quietly, from her hair to the collar of her neck, and then took a sip of water.
In fact, the rumor was even worse than what Meng Yan said. It was said that Pei Yan used to keep strangers away, but this time he was busy running around for Zhao Fangyu, and the two of them might have something going on.
This is the news that Yanyun Palace has inquired about. In private, there are probably even more unpleasant rumors.
A hint of darkness flashed across Zhao Fangyu's eyes. She told Meng Yanzhen about how Jiang Qianchi threatened her in the imperial prison. As Meng Yanzhen listened, the same chillness appeared in his eyes.
"Jiang Qianchi, the commander of the Southern Pacification Division. You don't have to worry about this matter. I'll send a message to my uncle and aunt, and he will have to bear the consequences."
Zhao Fangyu nodded. Now that the Sutra Hall was gone, her identity as a female official was meaningless. It was confirmed that someone had murdered her, but the blame could not be placed on her. She could just treat the days ahead as a holiday.
Zhao Fangyu asked Lan Ye to get a small stove and made himself a bowl of bayberry water to drink.
Meng Yanzhen was also greedy, but she was in poor health now, so she had to be very careful with what she put in her mouth, so she held back.
"Cousin, do you want something sour?"
Meng Yanzhen nodded: "I don't mind eating anything, I want to eat sweet, salty, sour and spicy."
Zhao Fangyu nodded, and since he had nothing to do, he asked someone to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to buy some green plums and longans to make sauce for Meng Yanzhen.
Everyone saw the things with their own eyes. They washed them many times and boiled them into jam bit by bit. They waited for the imperial physician to come and check on Meng Yanzhen's pulse before they dared to give them to Meng Yanzhen.
The peaceful days had only lasted a few days when news came from the previous dynasty that the eldest prince had secretly embezzled a huge amount of disaster relief funds and frequently renovated palaces in various places, using inferior materials as substitutes for good ones, and even dismantled the best wood, bricks and stones and sold them to other countries, embezzling project funds.
The most important thing is that the second prince revealed that the eldest prince had stationed troops in the back of the city...
Before the emperor could punish the eldest prince, Zhao Minshan wrote to the emperor, accusing him of murdering the daughter of a minister. Together with the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Jiang Qianchi, he attempted to have the daughter of a minister killed unjustly.
Everything the eldest prince had done was dug up in the news, and everyone blamed him for what he did. The excuse they used to imprison Zhao Fangyu was to slander a talented person like Zhang Yingying in an attempt to cut off the literary world of Daliang. Now Zhang Yingying's behavior was strange and she was possessed by evil spirits, and she had been imprisoned in the imperial prison for a long time. The eldest prince's decision to imprison the daughter of a minister in the imperial prison without the permission of the emperor was the worst mistake of all.
After Zhao Minshan returned home, he informed the eldest lady that the eldest prince had been demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in a remote courtyard in the harem.
The eldest lady held the tea in her hand and said nothing, while Chunshao behind her massaged her shoulders and neck.
"Such a big thing happened at home, call Jin'er back tomorrow."
Chunshao nodded her head. Zhao Minshan glanced at the two of them but said nothing. Without waiting for the eldest lady to invite him to stay for dinner, Zhao Minshan snorted and turned to go to Aunt Song's yard.
The next day, the eldest lady was having breakfast when Zhao Fangjin entered the room.
"The commander of the Southern Pacification Division wants to force Yu'er to have an affair with Pei Yan and slander the Zhao family for plotting against the royal family. This person has evil intentions and must not be allowed to stay."
Zhao Fangjin nodded, and when she got home she would tell her husband and find a way to report him.
"You must not interfere in this matter. The eldest prince is your majesty's son after all. Now that the evidence is irrefutable, your majesty will certainly punish him severely. But over time, he may be grateful for the child's kindness. So you don't need to interfere and don't do anything like kicking a fallen dog."
Zhao Fangjin nodded. The actions of the royal family were in the eyes of the world. The evidence of the eldest prince's crimes was in front of the world. The emperor had to punish him severely no matter what. However, the eldest prince was the emperor's first child, so the affection for him was naturally different from that for other children. The only thing to worry about was that he would be punished in his old age...
Regardless of whether the eldest prince is in power or not, the emperor will never forget every minister who has taken advantage of the situation today.
"The Jinyiwei is directly under His Majesty. The commander of the Southern Pacification Division openly stands on the side of the Crown Prince. He won't live long. You guys try to push Pei Yan."
Zhao Fangjin looked a little unhappy, but thinking that Pei Yan had helped Zhao Fangyu a lot in the palace, and that he was in power, he also agreed to treat Fangyu well out of the Zhao family's help to him.
The Song family's roots are in the Ministry of Personnel, but the Ministry of Personnel's connections are incomparable, and the connection between the eldest prince and the Embroidered Uniform Guard just happened to hit the doorstep of the Ministry of Personnel.
The Song family was trying to protect themselves, while others were trying to guess their superiors' intentions and charge forward on their behalf.
In less than three days, Jinyiwei Jiang Qianchi was executed. Officials from both the north and south came to watch the execution as a warning to others.
Zhao Fangyu had a good period of time. He drank the medicine prescribed by the imperial physician, and when he had free time, he played with Lan Ye and others in the Yanyun Palace. In a trance, he felt as if he had returned home.
Half a month passed like this, and someone from the Shangyi Bureau came.
The person who came was Liu Siji, who stood respectfully in front of the palace gate. Behind him were two rows of maids, holding light orchid-patterned palace dresses in their hands, and bowed to Meng Yanzhen.