Chapter 293 Find out the truth
After the prince went back, the people who were sent out to investigate the incident of Qianhuan falling into the water came back to report.
"Master, I have already found out that Princess Jingrou fell into the water and was related to both the Ninth Princess and the Crown Princess. A little maidservant beside Princess Jingrou could not stand our torture and confessed everything. Princess Jingrou liked Commander Qian, and Commander Qian saved Princess Jingrou several times. Princess Jingrou was jealous and unhappy, so she wanted to teach Princess Jingrou a lesson. The Crown Princess had also come to the palace several times before to instigate Princess Jingrou with Commander Qian's affairs. After all, the drowning incident might have been the Crown Princess's idea."
The spy continued to report, "But the Ninth Princess was not aware of Li Mu's appearance in Ziyang Lake. From what I have seen, the Ninth Princess was probably just being used by the Crown Princess. Before the Ninth Princess' birthday, Li Mu had contact with Bizhu, the Crown Princess's personal maid. She must have been arranged by the Crown Princess, and the biggest culprit in this matter should also be the Crown Princess."
"The testimony of the little palace maid can only prove that this was ordered by the Ninth Princess. Do you have any evidence to incriminate the Crown Princess?"
As soon as the prince asked this, the spy who came to report felt a little guilty, "This... I don't have any solid evidence. The only person around the Crown Princess who knows about this is Bizhu. Our people also looked for Bizhu, but that girl is very stubborn. Even if she was abandoned by the Crown Princess, she refused to tell the truth. Not to mention Li Mu, it's impossible for him to offend the Crown Prince's Mansion for this matter."
"I understand, you go down first."
"Yes, I am resigning."
As soon as the spy left, Chi Ying couldn't help but ask, "Master, now there is only a little maid who can identify the Ninth Princess, but the Crown Princess, the culprit, cannot be convicted at all. Do we still have to go to the Emperor to expose the princess's crimes?"
The prince was silent for a moment, then said, "The queen has always doted on the ninth princess. Even if I go to expose her, with the queen here, the emperor will at most just pretend and punish the princess by confining her to her house. The ninth princess has always been simple-minded. In this matter, she was just used as a pawn by Zhao Yanran. Instead of exposing her in front of the emperor, I might as well go to the palace and give her a good beating myself."
"Well, the master is more thoughtful. What about the Crown Princess? Are we just going to let her go?"
"If she dares to hurt Qianhuan, I will never let her off easily. However, we have neither witnesses nor physical evidence. It is impossible to convict the Crown Princess based on a few words."
"Master, you are absolutely right. The Crown Princess has Prime Minister Zhao and the Crown Prince as her backers. Even if we have solid evidence, we may not be able to get the Emperor to really punish her."
"Then let her jump around for a while. If she dares to do anything again, I will make her pay the price."
At this moment, the spy who had previously investigated Qianhuan's trip to Dongling Country to seek medicine and was assassinated on the way back came to the study to report the news.
"My Lord, we have found out what you asked us to investigate. There were two groups of assassins who went to assassinate Princess Jingrou. One group was sent by the King of Canglang Country, and the other group was assassins. According to Commander Qian's description, I have found out that those people were sent from Prime Minister Zhao's residence. The bodies of those assassins in Zhao's residence have been destroyed by people sent by the Crown Princess, so there is no evidence."
The prince gnashed his teeth and said, "It's the Crown Princess again."
Chi Ying also said with some concern, "Master, the Crown Princess seems to have always been very hostile to Miss Qianhuan, and has tried to kill Miss Qianhuan several times. Miss Qianhuan almost fell off her horse before, which was also related to the Crown Princess. This time, she blatantly hired someone to destroy Miss Qianhuan's innocence. Her mind is really too vicious. Now, even those assassins were sent by her to assassinate Miss Qianhuan. I am really worried. If the Crown Prince ascends the throne in the future and the Crown Princess becomes the Queen, she will have more power in her hands. Will she become more aggressive against our future Crown Prince's Consort?"
"I originally wanted to spare her for the sake of the Crown Prince, but since she doesn't want to be a good Crown Princess and Queen, I will grant her wish."
"Chiying, haven't our people already found out that the Crown Prince's concubine Qi Jiaqing has been colluding with the Fourth Prince? Find a way to send the evidence we have collected of the Crown Prince forming a clique to Qi Jiaqing. I'm sure she will hand it over to the Fourth Prince."
"Yes, my subordinate will do it now."
Chi Ying never expected that his grandfather could be so domineering in order to protect his wife. His grandfather has always maintained a neutral attitude towards the issue of establishing a crown prince. As for who will be the emperor, his grandfather has never cared at all. It all depends on the emperor.
Now, Crown Princess Zhao Yanran has tried to harm Miss Qianhuan several times, and her master couldn't help but take action against the Crown Prince. This Crown Princess really shouldn't offend their future Crown Prince's Consort. I'm afraid Zhao Yanran will not be able to become the Queen in the future.
Qi Jiaqing is the half-sister of Qi Beiming, the king of Canglang Kingdom. Qi Beiming promised Qi Jiaqing that as long as Qi Jiaqing helped him become the king, he would bring Qi Jiaqing back to the country and make her the eldest princess after he conquered Dayuan in the future.
Qi Jiaqing lurked in the Prince's Mansion to help the Fourth Prince collect evidence of the Prince's crimes, which led to the Fourth Prince sending his private soldiers to help Qi Beiming seize the throne. She had been looking for opportunities to collect evidence of the Prince's factional activities, but to no avail.
Now that someone actually brought what she wanted to her doorstep, how could Qi Jiaqing not be happy?
But Qi Jiaqing still asked her maid, "Niya, do you know who sent this thing?"
"Princess, this thing was shot in by an arrow. I don't know who the arrow is. Princess, do you want me to send someone to investigate?"
Qi Jiaqing waved her hand, "Forget it, there's no need to investigate. No matter who the other party is, as long as they bring what this princess wants, they are friends, not enemies. In this abyss, there are many people who don't want the prince to ascend the throne. We don't need to investigate further. Go find someone to arrange it. I want to meet the fourth prince in private."
"Yes, I will arrange it immediately."
Soon Qi Jiaqing found an opportunity to meet the Fourth Prince. The Fourth Prince was ecstatic when he got the things. That was great. He finally found the evidence to bring down the Crown Prince. As long as the Crown Prince was gone as an obstacle, he would be the prince with the best chance to ascend to the throne.
Qi Jiaqing said, "Fourth Prince, you sent troops to help my brother seize the throne. Now I have given you what you wanted, and we will not owe each other anything in the future. As for whether you can use this thing to overthrow the crown prince, it depends on your own luck. However, if the crown prince loses power, I hope you can find a way to get me out of it."
The fourth prince happily assured, "Princess, don't worry. As long as you overthrow the crown prince, I will definitely find a way to protect you."
"In this case, I would like to thank you in advance, Fourth Prince, and I wish you all your wishes come true."