Xiao Yichen nodded, turned his gaze away from Ji Lingxue's dejected eyes and said, "We have to investigate it carefully."
Yiyun smiled and bowed, "Then I will thank the prince on behalf of Xue Ji."
Yiyun's understanding attitude made Ji Lingxue very unhappy. What a pretentious woman. Maybe Ji Yuqing's death was related to her, but she pretended to be a good person in front of her.
Feeling unhappy, Ji Lingxue stared at Yiyun's back with cold eyes.
Xiao Yichen said, "Come here, first lock Xue Ji up in the dungeon of the palace and try her tomorrow." After saying that, he turned around and walked out.
Ji Lingxue curled up the corner of her mouth into a bitter smile, this result was expected.
Yiyun turned around and looked at Ji Lingxue worriedly and said, "Don't worry, Xue Ji, I will keep an eye on the prince and handle this matter properly. I will never wrongly accuse anyone."
Ji Lingxue stared into Yiyun's eyes and said, "Yiyun... Ji Yuqing's death has nothing to do with you, her yard is only separated from yours by a wall?"
Yiyun looked at Ji Lingxue with a puzzled expression, "Xue Ji, I'm pleading for you out of kindness, how can you doubt me like this? You're really ungrateful." After saying that, she pouted and left.
Ji Lingxue turned around and watched Yiyun's back, adding: "Yiyun, you are also suspected."
Yiyun paused, turned to look at Ji Lingxue, moved her lips, but turned away without saying anything.
Ji Lingxue was taken to the dungeon by the guards from the palace. It was her first time to be here. In the empty cell, even the sound of footsteps echoed.
Looking around, this dungeon was a bit dark, but the ground and walls were clean. Ji Lingxue turned her head and asked the guard beside her, "Has anyone been imprisoned in this dungeon?"
The guard said, "It has been locked up. Anyone who came in has never left again."
Ji Lingxue: “…”
The guards took Ji Lingxue to the innermost cell, which was also the cleanest one. The cell was fully equipped with bedding and quilts, and there was an iron window through which the moonlight could be seen.
After the guards left, Ji Lingxue curled up in the quilt with her arms folded. She thought about it over and over again, and recalled her in and out of Ji Yuqing's room and her conversations with her. She really couldn't figure out why the person behind the scenes killed Ji Yuqing. Was it just to frame her
What a big move. She had already been demoted from the palace to a concubine. Was this still an eyesore to some people
A cold wind blew, and a humming sound came from the dungeon, which sounded creepy.
"Master!" An Ge's voice rang out in the darkness, with a guilty tone in her voice.
Ji Lingxue's eyes lit up and said, "An Ge, you're here just in time. I'm going to Ji Yuqing's room. Are you following me in secret?"
An Ge was dressed in black and hidden in the darkness, even his breathing was very quiet, "No, I was called by the prince for questioning at that time, and the princess was still sleeping when I left, but I didn't expect..." I didn't expect that you would lose your patience and run to find Ji Yuqing, things would be troublesome.
Ji Lingxue said "oh" but didn't blame An Ge for leaving her post suddenly. The situation was not favorable for her. "What did the prince ask you to do?"
An Ge said, "The prince asked about some matters concerning the princess."
Ji Lingxue chuckled and said, "I'm not a princess anymore, so don't call me that anymore."
An Ge said seriously, "In my heart, you are the only one who deserves the position of princess."
Ji Lingxue smiled bitterly, raised her head and looked up at the iron window above her head and said with a smile: "I am the only princess who has been so glorious and yet trapped in a dungeon."
An Ge lowered his eyes and said, "Don't worry, Princess. I will investigate it thoroughly. This method is obviously someone's attempt to frame you."
Ji Lingxue chuckled. After An Ge left, the dungeon returned to silence. Ji Lingxue leaned against the cold wall, counting, and fell asleep unknowingly.
Just when Ji Lingxue was sleeping soundly, a tall figure stood outside the iron gate and stared at the sleeping Ji Lingxue for a long time.
At dawn, the guards guarding the cell came in and shouted, "Your Majesty!"
Xiao Yichen nodded and said, "Take good care of Xue Ji and don't let her go hungry." Then he turned and left.
The guard touched his head and said to himself in disbelief: "Why did the prince stand outside the cell all night?" As he said that, his gaze turned to Ji Lingxue in the cell. Ji Lingxue was curled up in the quilt with her eyes closed.
The guard shook his head and went back to his post.
The news of Ji Yuqing's death soon reached the Ji Mansion. Early in the morning, Feng Shi dressed in white and knocked on the door of Prince Chen's Mansion. "My daughter, you died so tragically. My daughter, your best years were buried in the palace, but you left me to die in your prime... Woo woo..."
The two guards guarding the gate of the palace were very upset, but they didn't know what to say. Feng had been married to Ji Baichuan for many years and only gave birth to this one daughter. Everyone knew that she doted on her daughter. Now she had lost her daughter in her old age, which was really pitiful.
Feng's ghostly howling immediately alarmed the passers-by, and many people stopped to point and talk.
The old housekeeper stood in front of Feng with a frown on his face and said, "Mother-in-law, the prince invites you in."
Feng wiped her tears and followed the housekeeper into the living room of the palace with sobs. In the living room, Xiao Yichen was sitting in the main seat wearing the prince's robes. Seeing Feng, he nodded and said, "I am also helpless about Yuqing's death. Please accept my condolences, mother-in-law."
Feng didn't dare to be too presumptuous in front of Xiao Yichen, and asked with courage: "May I ask Your Majesty, how did my... my daughter... die?"
As soon as Xiao Yichen raised his hand, the housekeeper immediately handed the body list written by the coroner to Feng. Feng picked up the body list with her eyes dazzled. She didn't recognize any of the words on it, but she couldn't lower her face to ask, so she pretended to look carefully and started crying again: "My daughter, my poor daughter, how could you die so tragically, who killed you, tell mother in your dream, so that mother can avenge you..."
Xiao Yichen raised his hand and rubbed his forehead and said, "Mother-in-law, please accept my condolences. I will get to the bottom of Yuqing's death and give you and the Ji family an explanation."
Feng slapped the body list on the table and said, "Is it Ji Lingxue... is it her who killed my daughter?"
Xiao Yichen said sternly: "No, they are sisters, they love each other, how could they kill each other?"
Feng was so scared after being scolded that she stopped crying and looked at Xiao Yichen innocently with tearful eyes. Ji Lingxue and Ji Yuqing were incompatible to begin with, so how could they love each other? Xiao Yichen was protecting Ji Lingxue, what could she say
Feng rolled her eyes and said, "Your Highness is right. Although Ling Xue and Yu Qing have had some minor quarrels, they are on good terms. I haven't seen Ling Xue for a while. I wonder if Your Highness can let me meet Ling Xue?"
Xiao Yichen said with a serious face: "Xue Ji has been feeling unwell recently and is not convenient to see guests."
Xue Ji? She heard that Xiao Yichen demoted Ji Lingxue to a concubine. She didn't believe it at first, but she didn't expect it to be true.
But now that she heard the news that Ji Lingxue was expelled from the marriage, she was not so happy. She would do anything to save Ji Yuqing's life.
Feng nodded, "I want to see Yuqing."
Xiao Yichen nodded and told the butler to lead the way. As soon as Feng left, a guard hurriedly ran towards the living room. Xiao Yichen stood up when he saw him. He recognized that this guard was the one guarding the dungeon.
Xiao Yichen asked: "What happened?"
The guard gasped and said, "My Lord, something's wrong. Princess... Oh, no, something's happened to Xue Ji."
Xiao Yichen frowned. It was because he was worried that someone would do something bad to Ji Lingxue that he imprisoned her in the dungeon and sent numerous guards to protect her safety.
The guard said: "Xue Ji seems to be ill. She has not taken a single drop of water since last night and is lying motionless on the bed..."
The guard hadn't finished his words when he felt a gust of wind passing in front of him and Xiao Yichen's figure shrank from where he stood.
The guard blinked his eyes. The prince is so fast!
In the dungeon, there was the occasional sound of water dripping. Ji Lingxue lay quietly on the bed, motionless and pale. Xiao Yichen stood in front of her, his fingers trembling slightly, and his feet seemed to be rooted and he dared not move forward. He was so scared, so scared that his hands would touch a cold corpse.
He had long been accustomed to the warmth in his palms when he held Ji Lingxue in his arms, and to her smiling and contented look in his arms. He was not used to her lying there with a pale face, and even he, with his profound internal strength, could not hear her breathing or heartbeat.
It seemed like a very long time had passed, so long that Xiao Yichen felt his breath was getting colder and colder, almost turning into a block of ice.
Time seemed to pass in just a moment, a blink of an eye, a smooth breath, and the heartbeat slowed down by two beats.
Xiao Yichen took stiff steps forward. It was only three or four steps away, but he took ten steps. Finally, his courage and strength returned, and his hand trembled as he reached out to Ji Lingxue's upturned nose.
No breathing, why no breathing? How could this happen? He had been watching over her all night, and no one had ever approached her
An idea suddenly occurred to him. He held Ji Lingxue in his arms and shook her body desperately: "Ji Lingxue, wake up. Why don't you tell me? Did you take poison?"
His voice was hoarse and weak, God knows how terrified and shocked he was. How could he forget that Ji Lingxue was good at using poison.
"Are you using this method to prove that you didn't kill Ji Yuqing? I don't need you to use your life to prove it. I've already said that there are other reasons for my neglect of you, and everything will be fine soon. Why don't you believe me?"
He desperately shook Ji Lingxue, who was weak and soft in his arms, trying to wake her up in this way, but damn it, why didn't she react at all
"Ji Lingxue, how can you die first without my permission?" Xiao Yichen's eyes turned red when he said this.
Xiao Yichen picked up Ji Lingxue and walked out of the dungeon quickly, while ordering the guards to invite Bai Mo.
The Prince Chen's Mansion was unusually quiet. The guards and maids who were doing their work were very careful not to make any noise, for fear of disturbing Bai Mo, who was taking Ji Lingxue's pulse in the main courtyard.
Xiao Yichen frowned and didn't look at Bai Mo, who was sitting on the edge of the bed with his hand on Ji Lingxue's pulse, with his head down and silent. From his cold face, he seemed to know the answer.
"Bai Mo..."
Bai Mo looked up at Xiao Yichen and shook his head, saying, "This poison is quite strange. The person who took it has no breathing or heartbeat, just like sleeping. What kind of poison is it?"
Xiao Yichen: "I asked you to come and save people. How would I know if you ask me?"
Bai Mo scratched his head, "This is difficult. According to my many years of medical experience, I have never seen such a poison. Judging from the time she took it, it must have been more than six hours..." He turned around and patted Xiao Yichen's shoulder, "Your Majesty, please prepare for your funeral..."
(End of this chapter)