Chapter 324 Finding the truth
After the Qian family was taken away, Qianhuan asked the prince with some confusion, "Zi Yu, why did Madam Qian lose her composure just now? Is it really because she felt friendly towards me?"
"In the early years, Dayuan and Canglang Kingdom were always at war. At that time, General Qian was the main general to resist foreign invaders. Canglang Kingdom regarded General Qian as a thorn in their side. In order to get rid of General Qian, once when Madam Qian went out to burn incense, Canglang Kingdom sent assassins to capture the pregnant Madam Qian alive so as to threaten General Qian. The maids and servants covered Madam Qian and she escaped alone. However, during the escape, Madam Qian had a miscarriage and gave birth to a baby girl. The assassins chased Madam Qian closely, and Madam Qian hid her newborn daughter under a big tree and led the assassins away alone. When General Qian's men found Madam Qian and went back to look for the child together, the child was gone. It is said that Madam Qian was so anxious at the time that she has been blaming herself all these years."
"Mrs. Qian was so out of control just now. Maybe she saw that you were about the same age as her lost child and mistakenly thought you were her lost daughter."
Qianhuan was filled with emotion for a moment, "So that's how it is. Madam Qian is really pitiful. The pain of losing a child is not something that ordinary people can endure."
"Well, ever since her child was lost, Madam Qian has been staying in the Buddhist temple and not caring about worldly affairs."
"Then they didn't send anyone to look for the child?"
"We have looked for her, but there has been no news. In the past, many people deliberately brought abandoned baby girls to the door to claim her as their relative, hoping to extort money, but they were all discovered by Madam Qian. Now that more than ten years have passed, it is probably even more difficult to find her."
In the prison, Madam Qian said nothing. Qian Bolin knew what his mother was thinking. He comforted her softly across the cell, "Mother, don't worry. If we can get out alive this time, I will send more people to secretly look for my sister and bring her back."
Madam Qian nodded weakly, "Yes, I understand. I just felt very close to that girl when I saw her just now, so I asked a few more questions. You don't have to worry about me."
The crisis of the Qian family has only been temporarily resolved. If they want to be completely rescued, the Prince and Qianhuan must find evidence to prove that the letter was framed by others. If they rely entirely on the Dali Temple, they may not be able to find out the truth in five months, let alone five days.
In order to investigate the case, the Prince and Qianhuan also went to the prison to visit General Qian. Qianhuan knew that they were injured, so she brought them some medicine and some clothes to change.
The prince asked General Qian, "General Qian, I must find the culprit within five days so that you can be completely rescued. General, do you still remember whether anyone had entered or left your study before the treasonous letter was found?"
General Qian Da fell into reminiscence, "I usually go in and out of my study by myself. Lin Er would occasionally come to the study to discuss things with me. It seems that no one else has ever been in there."
The prince asked again, "Please think about it carefully. Are you sure no one else came in or out?"
General Qian thought about it again, and suddenly an idea flashed in his mind, "I remember that Aunt Tong brought her personal maid to the study to bring me chicken soup. At that time, the maid accidentally spilled the chicken soup on the documents in front of the desk. Aunt Tong scolded her and asked the girl to clean up the desk for me. Could it be that the prince thinks that Aunt Tong and her personal maid are also suspicious?"
"Anyone who has entered or left your study is a suspect."
General Qian shook his head and said, "It can't be her. Aunt Tong is also from my Qian family. It won't do her any good to frame us. She will also be beheaded by the emperor."
"But I heard that Aunt Tong and her personal maid were rescued by the Fourth Prince's wife the day before the execution, and Miss Qian even returned to her parents' home a few days before the incident at the Qian family. General Qian, don't forget that Miss Qian is now married to the Fourth Prince. She is his woman, and her heart may not be with the Qian family."
General Qian still had an expression of disbelief on his face. "Although Yuying is married, I am still her biological father, and the Qian family is also her natal family. If the Qian family collapses, she will have no one to rely on. I believe she will not do such a stupid thing."
The Crown Prince knew that General Qian would definitely not want to believe that his own daughter would frame him in this way, but as a member of the royal family, the Crown Prince was accustomed to all kinds of intrigues and schemes. He was not as optimistic as General Qian. Now that he knew that Aunt Tong had entered the study, he would definitely not let go of this clue.
After leaving the prison, the prince ordered his men to sneak into the Fourth Prince's residence at night and capture Aunt Tong's personal maid.
At the Fourth Prince's Mansion, the Fourth Prince knew that the Qian family had been pardoned and the case was to be retried. He gnashed his teeth in anger, "It seemed like it was going to succeed, but I didn't expect that at this critical juncture, it would all be messed up by that woman."
The Fourth Prince's wife echoed, "That woman is indeed nosy, so the Crown Princess and Princess Ningjia don't like her. Unfortunately, she has the protection of the Crown Prince, so we can't do anything to her."
The fourth prince had a sinister look on his face. "Humph, what a nobody, the prince! When I sit on the throne, I will definitely deal with those who are hindering my ascension to the throne. The most important thing right now is to prevent them from catching us and finding evidence."
The Fourth Prince's wife said, "My husband, don't worry. My mother will never betray us. If they can't find evidence, the people of the Qian family will still die."
"Your mother won't betray you, but the maidservants around her may not be the same."
Since Aunt Tong was taken out of prison by the Fourth Prince's wife, she has been temporarily living in the Fourth Prince's mansion. Her biggest concern right now is to hope that her daughter will get pregnant with the Fourth Prince's child as soon as possible, so that her position as princess will be more secure.
So Aunt Tong sent her maid Xiaolian out every day to collect folk remedies for conceiving a child, and when she came back she would make some medicine and send it to the Fourth Prince's wife to drink.
Aunt Tong prepared another bowl of medicine according to the folk recipe, "Xiao Lian, quickly send this fertility soup to the princess. Drink it while it's hot for better results."
Xiaolian was about to leave with the tray, but Aunt Tong said, "Xiaolian, you must watch the princess finish drinking before coming back. That girl is afraid of bitterness. If you don't watch her finish drinking, I will be worried."
Xiaolian smiled and responded, "Yes, Auntie, I know."
Xiaolian walked to the Fourth Emperor's Concubine's door and found that no one was guarding outside today. It seemed that the servants had been sent away. She was about to knock on the door gently when she heard the Fourth Emperor's Concubine's voice from inside, "My husband, do you mean to kill Xiaolian at night?"
Xiaolian was so shocked that she froze in place, and quickly put down her hand that was knocking on the door. She leaned her ear against the door and heard the Fourth Prince's gloomy voice again, "Well, only the dead will not reveal secrets. The prince's people will find out about your mother sooner or later. Keeping that girl will always be a disaster."
When Xiaolian heard that the Fourth Prince and his wife were planning to deal with her, she was so frightened that her face turned pale and she almost dropped her hand holding the tray.
Fortunately, the maid was smart. She turned around and left in a hurry, found a deserted place, poured all the medicine under the tree, and then pretended nothing had happened and went back to Aunt Tong.
Aunt Tong saw her coming back and asked, "Did the princess finish drinking the medicine?"
"Well, Auntie, I've finished drinking it. The princess also wants to get pregnant quickly."
"That's good. I was worried that she would get mad and refuse to drink."
Xiaolian deliberately said, "Auntie, I heard that there is a local doctor in the east of the city who is very powerful. Many people went to him to ask for the fertility soup and drank it at home. After that, they became pregnant within a few months."
Aunt Tong was pleasantly surprised when she heard this. She immediately stood up and wanted to go out to find the local doctor. "Xiao Lian, is it really as effective as you said? Then let's go find that local doctor right away."
Xiaolian said, "Auntie, of course it's true, but I haven't found out the exact location of the local doctor's house yet. Why don't you rest in the mansion today and let me go and ask around. Once I find the doctor's house, you can go there. Otherwise, you will be exhausted if you come back empty-handed."
Aunt Tong sat down again and nodded repeatedly, "Well, you are right. How about this, I will give you twenty taels of silver first. If you find the location, you can buy the fertility soup today. If you can't find it, I will accompany you to look for it tomorrow."
Xiaolian was originally worried about being penniless after leaving the house, but now she could get twenty taels of silver from her aunt. Naturally, she was very happy and nodded in agreement.
Xiaolian took the silver and hurriedly left the Fourth Prince's Mansion, then ran away.