socalfunplaces Page 554
Page 554
However, after a prince had sex with a palace maid, he could then arrange for her to be transferred to his own palace, and then have sex with her legitimately.
What's more, this palace maid was pregnant.
Huaiqing had a vague feeling that the man might not be from the palace.
If one were to consider that He'er was the Empress's person, then that man might be related to the Empress Dowager, and Huaiqing had a bad feeling.
She now hopes to find out which palace maid tore up the medicine dispensing record and then find out who was behind it, so that the case can be closed.
The man who had an affair with Huang Xiaorou can be investigated or not.
However, Huaiqing was very rational.
She knew that nothing in the palace was simple. Whether the case of Consort Fu was aimed at the Crown Prince or at framing the Empress, she could not get away with it so easily.
Although Lin'an was always provoking her and easy to fool, the people behind the Consort Fu case were not to be trifled with.
In the afternoon.
The palace maids on the list gradually reached the end of their terms; some were from the Empress's palace, and one was from Consort Chen's palace.
Just then, Rong Momo rushed in from the door, panting, and said breathlessly, "Your Highness Huaiqing, Your Highness Lin'an, there's news about the man Huang Xiaorou was having an affair with!"
Huaiqing's face turned cold, and her heart skipped a beat. Just as she had expected!
Just at this crucial moment, before she could uncover the palace maid who tore up the medicine dispensing record, news of that man emerged.
Almost at the same time, Chu Caiwei also slowly walked in, munching on a candied hawthorn.
"Your Highnesses, is there something you need from me? Do you have anything good to eat?"
Huaiqing glanced at Lin'an subconsciously, only to see Lin'an holding up two fingers, looking completely bewildered, his mind clearly not working properly.
"We have leads in both directions, but which one should we investigate first? This is really a headache!"
This question is so difficult, Li Chang'an didn't teach her!
Chapter 338 A Solid-Hearted Person, a Pretty Girl's Self-Destruction!
"Caiwei, I need your help with something."
Before Lin'an could even speak, Huaiqing had already decided on the direction of the investigation: first, investigate the palace maids in front of him.
Rong Momo stammered, "Your Highness... Huang Xiaorou's affair with the man..."
"Shut up! Investigate these palace maids first!"
Huaiqing's words were harsh, and Rong Mama shrank back in fright, glancing at Lin'an for help.
Lin'an was preoccupied with what Li Chang'an had taught her and didn't notice Rong Momo's gaze.
"We must investigate every clue one by one. We cannot let any of them go unnoticed, such as the torn-up records of the Imperial Pharmacy or Huang Xiaorou's affair with a man."
"Even if we listen to Huaiqing and investigate the palace maids first, we can't let go of Huang Xiaorou's clues. Rong Mama, you should wait for now."
After Lin'an finished speaking, he felt that he had been very fair and had finally sorted out his thoughts.
Then, before Huaiqing could speak, she said to Chu Caiwei, "Caiwei, this is what happened. Listen to me, don't listen to Huaiqing..."
Lin'an chattered on and on about the case, and Huaiqing did not refute it. Although Lin'an's account was somewhat disorganized, it was generally correct.
Chu Caiwei swallowed a candied hawthorn. "Your Highness Lin'an, I didn't remember anything you said. Now you want me to use my Qi Observation Technique to check on the palace maids, right?"
Lin'an was stunned. She had finally managed to gather her thoughts and say so much, but Chu Caiwei hadn't remembered a thing!
A sense of frustration welled up inside her, but she quickly realized that it wasn't that she couldn't explain it clearly; it must be that Chu Caiwei was too stupid!
Yes, that must be the case!
Huaiqing nodded slowly and said, "That's right. We need to ask these palace maids some questions. You just need to determine whether they are lying."
Chu Caiwei nodded readily, "That's simple, I understand."
Next, Huaiqing and Lin'an began to question the palace maids on the list. They said that their masters were feeling unwell and they had come to get some medicine.
The symptoms and the names of the medicines were described very accurately, and Chu Caiwei did not find anyone lying.
When it was Lang'er's turn at Jingxiu Palace, Huaiqing immediately took notice, for she was a maidservant in Consort Chen's palace.
Huaiqing asked, "Did you go to the Imperial Pharmacy a few days ago?"
Lang'er knelt on the ground and nodded nervously, "Yes, after the Crown Prince's accident, Her Majesty has been crying all day long, is in low spirits, and has suffered from headaches. This servant went to get some medicine to refresh her mind."
Huaiqing turned his gaze to Chu Caiwei, who said confidently, "No problem, her breathing is very steady, she's not lying."
But at this moment, Lin'an tilted her head and said, "Huh? I've been going to Jingxiu Palace every day these past few days."
"My mother is very sad, but I haven't heard that she has a headache, and I haven't seen her take any medicine during her meals."
Huaiqing felt a chill run down his spine and instantly seized upon this flaw; Lin'an was truly naive.
Lang'er's expression tightened, and she immediately said, "Her Highness didn't want to worry, so she only took the medicine after His Highness left."
Lin'an couldn't help but show sorrow in her eyes, "Mother... Mother has really suffered, I will definitely find out the truth!"
Huaiqing, however, kept a close eye on Lang'er's every move. She held great prestige in the palace and was very familiar with the habits of these palace maids.
Just now, when Lin'an was speaking, Lang'er was obviously very nervous, her eyes were flashing and her fists were clenched, which was definitely a sign that she was lying.
"Lang'er, did you tear up the medicine dispensing record from the Imperial Pharmacy?" Huaiqing asked sternly.
"No, no! What, what record... I don't know anything about it." Lang'er tried to appear calm, but she still stammered.
Lin'an immediately retorted angrily, "Huaiqing, what are you thinking! How could Lang'er lie! Could it be that Mother Consort is framing her own son?!"
Huaiqing remained silent, but her mind was rapidly processing the information. If Consort Chen had orchestrated this, then her targets would likely be the Empress Dowager and Wei Yuan.
Although the fourth prince is not the crown prince, he always has a chance to turn things around because of the empress and Wei Yuan.
If it was Consort Chen who orchestrated this, pinning the blame on the Empress, and it was eventually discovered that the Empress had framed the Crown Prince, then the Empress's position would certainly be in jeopardy.
She did not answer Lin An, but looked at Chu Caiwei.
Chu Caiwei shook her head again, "His breathing is very steady, he's not lying."
Huaiqing's intuition and experience told him that there must be something wrong with Lang'er, but Chu Caiwei couldn't see it.
"Detain all these palace maids separately, and I will interrogate them one by one!" Huaiqing ordered.
Lin'an said with dissatisfaction, "Huaiqing and Caiwei have both observed them. What problems could these people have? This clue can be ruled out. The records were not torn up by these people."
"Granny Rong, who exactly is that man who had an affair with Huang Xiaorou?!"
When Rong Momo saw Lin An asking a question, she immediately knelt down and said, "Your Highness, a palace maid heard Huang Xiaorou mutter to herself that the man's surname seemed to be Shangguan... but she didn't hear the specific name clearly."
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
The two princesses simultaneously let out a cold laugh, then stared at each other with sharp, confrontational eyes.
"Huaiqing, the one with the surname Shangguan, who frequently visits the palace, is probably only that one!"
Huaiqing sneered because the truth of the case had finally come to light, pointing directly at the Emperor's brother-in-law, the Empress's younger brother.
That dissolute young master used to frequently enter and leave the palace, but the empress later forbade him from entering anymore.
The emperor's brother-in-law had an affair with a palace maid, which Consort Chen seized upon. She then devised a series of schemes, even using her own son as a pawn, to completely overthrow the empress and then ascend to the throne herself.
This must be Consort Chen's conspiracy!
Because Rong Momo's information about the Emperor's brother-in-law came at just the right time, it was clearly guiding the investigation.
The fundamental reason why Huaiqing made this judgment was his deep understanding of the Empress's temperament. The Empress was a kind-hearted person and would not do something like framing the Crown Prince with a life.
She took her position as empress very lightly and never even considered having her son try to take the crown prince's place.
Consort Chen was completely different. She was the one who reported the Empress's affair with Wei Yuan back then, so Huaiqing had reason to suspect that all of this was Consort Chen's doing.
"Lin'an, it's hard to say what the truth is right now. Once I've finished interrogating these palace maids, the truth will naturally come to light!"
Lin'an retorted indignantly, "Huaiqing, you really won't admit it until you see the coffin! The clues about the Imperial Uncle are so obvious, yet you still want to protect him!"
"If you want to investigate these palace maids, then go ahead and do it yourself! I'm going to arrest your uncle, and then let's see how you deny it!"
After Lin'an finished speaking, she swayed her waist and left with Lü Qing. Emperor Yuanjing had already said that the night watchmen could be called in to help at any time, so it would not be difficult to arrest the emperor's brother-in-law now.
"Your Highnesses... this, this, this!" The old eunuch was overwhelmed and didn't know which princess to speak to for a moment.
He was overseeing the investigation for the emperor, but now that the two princesses were being investigated separately, it had created a huge problem for him.
After much deliberation, the old eunuch still felt that the matter of the emperor's brother-in-law having an affair with a palace maid was even more serious. So he arranged for a young eunuch to accompany Huaiqing while he himself left the palace with Lin'an.
Huaiqing separated seven or eight palace maids and imprisoned them in several rooms of the Crab Pavilion. Then, he took Chu Caiwei and went to Lang'er's room.
"Someone, search me!"
Several palace maids quickly searched Lang'er's entire body, but found no magical artifacts to conceal her aura.
When Lang'er realized that Huaiqing was coming for her, she was so frightened that her face turned ashen and she trembled like a leaf.
"Your Highness, everything I said is true. I did not tear up the records of the Imperial Pharmacy!"
Huaiqing looked at Chu Caiwei and asked, "Caiwei, besides magical artifacts that conceal one's aura, what other methods are there to deceive the Qi Observation Technique?"
Chu Caiwei tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, "High-level sorcerers can do that too. Didn't Li Chang'an encounter one in Yunzhou? However, the spell to conceal his aura was broken by Li Chang'an!"