After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the case of Feng Liao's assassination reached a stalemate and could no longer be tried.
No matter how much punishment Yuan Cheng received, he insisted that the letter had nothing to do with him, and was secretly replaced by others.
He also insisted that the time for the sneak change was after he was arrested. Because on the morning of his arrest, he had secretly taken out the land deed in the handle of the knife to look at it.
His confession locked the suspect in the exchange of letters on Feng Liao—because for a long time after he was arrested, both the knife and the man were in Feng Liao's hands!
According to his confession, only Feng Liao had this motivation and opportunity to exchange letters. And because he has been unable to tell who is instigating him, the case is even more confusing.
The officials who tried the case checked the land deeds and land deeds he said were left in the government office, and found no problems.
They also investigated Yuan Cheng's identity repeatedly, and found that Yuan Cheng's real identity was somewhat sensitive, but found no evidence to overturn his testimony.
According to the investigation: Yuan Cheng's family was originally a businessman, but he himself studied since he was a child. He originally wanted to obtain a fame and change his family's family.
When he was twelve or thirteen years old, his father and brother were involved in a dispute for the prince's succession. Because of a hugely influential case of counterfeiting military supplies, all his family property was confiscated and confiscated, and both his father and brother were convicted and executed.
Although Yuan Cheng himself did not take responsibility for the crime, his path to fame and fame was completely cut off—if he wanted to take part in the imperial examination, his net worth was the first prerequisite, otherwise he would not even be able to enter the examination room.
In addition to this case, the Yuan family was torn apart, and the branch of Yuan Cheng's father became a sinner in the clan and was expelled from the clan.
Yuan Cheng couldn't stay in his hometown, so he left his hometown with his mother.
After his mother passed away, he wandered to Lunan and became a bandit on Wuhu Peak.
The land property he hid in the handle of the knife was originally a little private house that his mother secretly saved before the family collapsed.
But after his family fell, these properties were invaded by slaves, making their mother and son impoverished.
In his anti-poem, "I'm down and out, I don't feel sad, I have no parents, I don't have money" is actually half-truth and half-false.
After Yuan Cheng became a bandit, he took back those properties one after another. And those "white-eyed wolves who took advantage of the fire" were naturally killed by him.
The trial of the case came to an impasse, but rumors of the case spread quietly in the capital.
Slowly, various versions of the gossip spread.
Someone said: It must be Prince Ying Fengshi who bought the murderer to assassinate his own brother.
Think about it, the emperor simply raised King Heng as his own son. With Heng Jun Wang here, which round will he get the Prince of England as the heir? The Prince of England must get rid of his younger brother quickly.
Some people also said: The so-called assassination case was just a good show directed and acted by Feng Liao himself, and the person who paid for the murder was actually himself.
It was precisely because he was the one who paid for the murder, so he had already taken precautions, so he was unharmed in the assassination. Then, he used a forged letter to frame his brother as the mastermind behind the scenes, and put his brother to death.
Unexpectedly, the leader of the bandits who sent people to assassinate him was a tough one, and he refused to be his accomplice, even to death. King Hengjun had exhausted all his tricks, but because he failed to beat him up, he ended up in such an embarrassing situation today.
As for the reason for these dirty things... it's just that the emperor has no heir.
Think about it, if the emperor wants to choose an heir, he must choose his nephew! But the old Prince Ying, just those three sons.
The eldest son is a concubine, and has always been indifferent to the world. If King Hengjun can pour a basin of terrible sewage on Prince Ying, the position of heir will naturally be his!
All kinds of rumors, with their noses and eyes, are very unfavorable to Feng Shi and Feng Liao.
Only Feng Kuan, the eldest son of the Prince of England, stayed out of the matter, still making friends every day, eating wine and watching theaters, very aloof.
In such an environment, suspicion also quickly emerged and grew stronger between Feng Liao and Feng Shi.
One night, after Feng Liao came back from Prince Ying's mansion, she said to Yong Ruo very sadly: "There is only a little face left between him and his brother now."
He regrets it a little.
"Ruoruo, when I was in Lunan back then, if I figured it out and killed that Yuan Cheng and destroyed that letter without hesitation, would I still be in the situation I am in today's indisputable situation?" He asked Yongruo with a sigh.
Yong Ruo comforted him: "Destroying the witnesses and material evidence in the case will harm the justice of the law, and you will bear a great responsibility. If the prince has the world in mind, it is best not to do such a thing, lest the habit will become natural and behave in a human way." I don't have any scruples anymore. Although some things are more straightforward to solve by tricks, the righteous way is the king's way after all. The prince has done nothing wrong, so don't regret it!"
Feng Liao was silent for a while, then shook her head with some self-mockery: "You're right! I seem to be thinking too much about tricks recently... So what should we do now?"
Yong Ruo smiled slightly: "Wait!"
"Waiting for what?"
"Wait for the emperor to make a decision. Under the current situation, the emperor may make a decision soon. As long as the emperor makes a decision, no matter who wins or loses, he will know what to do in the future. You and your second brother It’s not too bad now. Whether it’s you or him, it’s too late to back off.”
Yong Ruo thought to himself: There is actually a great benefit in leaving Yuan Cheng and that letter behind and allowing things to develop into what they are today.
That is: you can force the emperor to make an early decision, and save Feng Liao from many hardships.
Whether it's the prince who seizes the heir, or the kings vying for the position of the emperor's heir, what's terrible is that it's dangerous, and what's even more terrible is that it's protracted and stalemate.
Because people's psychological endurance is limited.
Suffering day after day, blows, plots, suspicions and fears can easily change a person's xinxing.
Many of the original precious qualities in this person will be lost unconsciously. Looking back suddenly, I realized that I was no longer the original person.
Yong Ruo didn't want Feng Liao to deplete many of the incomparably precious qualities in him that she valued most during the long struggle to win the heir.
At the same time, she must push Feng Liao to that position before next spring, before Feng Liao reveals her true purpose of not marrying a regular wife, and she herself reveals her true nature of jealousy. Otherwise, she and Feng Liao would probably have no chance of winning.
Today's emperor ascended to the throne after a fierce battle for succession.
He should be very aware of the danger and cruelty of that battle.
He loves Feng Liao so much, shouldn't he be willing to let Feng Liao experience such danger and cruelty
Moreover, the more intense the fight and the longer the fight, the greater the possibility of losing control. He shouldn't want the heirs of the old British prince to be lost again, right
Therefore, under the current situation, Yong Ruo believed that cutting the mess quickly would be the emperor's most likely countermeasure.
———
While Yongruo was pondering the emperor's mind, Emperor Chengtai and Empress Wei summoned Concubine Shen in the palace.
The place where they were summoned was the Imperial Garden and Fengxuan where the emperor summoned Yongruo last time.
The eunuchs and maids who served all retreated far away. The emperor's confidantes guarded outside the house in case anyone eavesdropped. In the room, there were only three people, the emperor, the empress and Concubine Shen.
After Concubine Shen saluted, Emperor Chengtai did not hurry to wake her up, but said with a sneer: "The sixth younger siblings are well taken care of! I haven't seen you for so many years, and they still look as good as they did back then! You must be living a very smooth life, right?"
Because of the difference between men and women, it was not common for the emperor to summon the family members of the clan in person. Emperor Chengtai didn't want to see Concubine Shen, and naturally he was even more reluctant to see her.
After all, the last time the two met was when Feng Liao was seriously ill. After that, although Concubine Shen would also enter the palace to congratulate her during festivals, it was empress Wei who could be seen.
Concubine Shen knelt obediently, not daring to speak.
Empress Wei pulled Emperor Chengtai's sleeve, and Emperor Chengtai snorted dissatisfiedly, and then said lightly: "Let's get flat!"
"What do you think about the rumors between Feng Liao and Feng Shi?" Emperor Chengtai didn't bother to talk nonsense with Concubine Shen, so he went straight to the point.
Concubine Shen, who had just stood up, knelt down again: "My Majesty, I think that both of them have been wronged. Feng Liao was taught by the Emperor and the Empress, and she has always been good-natured and kind-hearted; It’s a little bit more, but I have always been friendly to my brothers and behaved well, how could I do such a thing?”
"Then who do you think did those things?"
Concubine Shen hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said, "It should be Prince Pingjun Fengkuan."
Emperor Chengtai sneered again: "Why did he do such a thing? To avenge his biological mother and younger brother?"
Concubine Shen was irrefutable, a layer of white sweat covered her body, kowtowed and said: "It was my fault back then, if the emperor wanted to punish this concubine, I would have nothing to say. It's just the purpose of Prince Ping, I'm afraid it's not just For revenge, I also want to be..."
Words like "becoming the heir of the emperor" are too taboo after all. Even if she felt that she had already given up, she couldn't easily say it in front of Emperor Chengtai.
Emperor Chengtai sneered: "No matter what you say, I will not take the life of King Pingjun. Although he is a concubine, he is the flesh and blood of the sixth brother after all. Except for the few you gave birth to, the flesh and blood of the sixth brother There is only one single seedling left."
Concubine Shen became a little anxious: "Your Majesty must not pass over to King Jiping!"
Emperor Chengtai looked at her for a long time, and then said sarcastically: "Yes! You can't succeed King Ping, otherwise the two lines of Feng Shi and Feng Liao will not be able to escape the fate of failure in the future. I can only follow Feng Shi and Feng Liao. Aren't you proud of Feng Liao's choice of one to adopt?"
Concubine Shen couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, bowed and said, "I don't dare."
Emperor Chengtai said coldly: "Don't dare? Hehe, why don't you dare
"Back then, you dared to give Pingjun Wang's birth mother a miscarriage drug, causing Zhou's side concubine to have a miscarriage and die of blood collapse; you also dared to give the sixth brother's side concubine, wife and concubines the poison of "Purple Jue", so that none of them Pregnant, resulting in weak heirs of the six disciples...
"If the sixth brother hadn't begged me to forgive you before he died, and I was thinking of a few children who are still young and need someone to teach and take care of them, how could I allow you to live to this day?"
Concubine Shen knelt on the ground, speechless, her clothes were drenched with sweat.
The old British prince and the emperor had already found out the truth about what happened back then, and she was not allowed to quibble.
The old Prince Ying fell out with her because of these two incidents.
It's just that the situation at that time was too dangerous to allow the backyard to catch fire. Under various concerns, this matter was concealed, and Concubine Shen continued to be her princess.
But after that, the old British prince never set foot in her house again.
Concubine Shen knew very well that when the emperor ascended the throne and stabilized the situation, she would not be spared lightly.
Under such circumstances, she had no chance and did not dare to make any more shady tricks, so she had to abandon all dignity and pride, stay humble, and play the family card with a couple of children, finally coaxing the old British prince to soften his heart.
Later, Concubine Shen took advantage of the old Prince Ying's drunkenness, and shamelessly climbed into his bed like those shameless lowly girls. That's how Feng Liao came into being.
After having this child, the Old Ying Prince really softened his heart towards her, and before he died, he personally begged the Emperor to spare Concubine Shen.
But the origin of this child made Concubine Shen feel humiliated when she thought about it, so she always had a deep knot with Feng Liao in her heart.
After the emperor ascended the throne, he summoned Concubine Shen like today, and made it clear that she was staying in Prince Ying's mansion only to take care of a few children. No matter who the sixth brother's flesh and blood is, if there is even a little bit of damage, she will be the only one to ask.
From then on, Concubine Shen's way of protecting herself was to protect her children from growing up safely.
Although she held a grudge against Prince Ping, she never dared to do anything else. For her own children, she is even more concerned.
However, she still has a bit of sincere maternal love for Feng Shi and Princess Xing'an.
But for Feng Liao, who kept reminding her of such a humiliating experience, in her heart, there was nothing but boredom and burden, and she only kept strict control.
Feng Liao naturally felt Taifei Shen's attitude.
On the one hand, he received extraordinary care and a very orthodox education from the emperor and empress, and on the other hand, he was at a loss as to what to do with Concubine Shen.
Gradually, Feng Liao became a very contradictory "devil king".
Emperor Chengtai looked at Concubine Shen who was kneeling on the ground, and said after a while, "I have decided to marry Ji Fengliao, and you don't like him much anyway. But now, the rift between their brothers has been established, how do you make up for it?"
Concubine Shen said very bachelorly: "But according to the emperor's order."