Emperor Yuanyou was very angry.
He used to like his cousin Qi Jin very much. Even though Qi Jin had some hypocrisy that was common among civil servants, Emperor Yuanyou only got annoyed with it occasionally. Otherwise, he still admired his cousin's talents in both literature and martial arts.
Three days ago, Chen Jingzong met him alone and told him about his suspicions about Qi Jin and the two witnesses he had spent three years to find.
Emperor Yuanyou was unwilling to believe it, but Chen Jingzong had no motive to frame Qi Jin for such a serious crime. Moreover, the matter involved the deaths of more than 5,000 soldiers of the Jinwu Vanguard. Faced with Chen Jingzong's firm words, Emperor Yuanyou had to get to the bottom of it.
The only concern is my mother.
Chen Jingzong said that if he could not get Qi Jin to admit it himself, he would be willing to be punished.
Emperor Yuanyou went to find his mother.
To Emperor Yuanyou's surprise, his mother was not angry about Chen Jingzong's suspicion, but asked them to make the arrangements with a serious look and she would cooperate.
So tonight, Chen Jingzong took the unconscious Qi Jin to the cold palace, and arranged a dog to bark in the distance to pretend that they were in a village outside the city, in order to lower Qi Jin's guard.
"You murdered your comrades for your own selfish desires. Now that the truth has been revealed, you still want to be transferred to the frontier. You are unworthy!"
Emperor Yuanyou walked up to Qi Jin and kicked him in the chest.
He wanted to curse even more harshly, but unfortunately the young emperor had never had the opportunity to hone his eloquence since childhood, so he could only kick Qi Jin with all his strength to vent his anger: "If I use you to guard the border, you will dare to collude with the border countries and sell me out!"
Qi Jin fell to the ground, glanced at his aunt standing behind Emperor Yuanyou, sneered, and stopped talking.
If it was only Chen Jingzong, he would try to find a way to survive, but when he found out that his aunt and Emperor Yuanyou were there, Qi Jin knew that he had no way to survive.
In this case, there is no point in saying more.
Apart from a faint glance at Empress Dowager Qi, Qi Jin didn't even glance at Emperor Yuanyou, let alone bow to Chen Jingzong again.
Empress Dowager Qi was hurt by her nephew's look, just like when she learned that her son was unwilling to have dinner with her.
She was strict, and indeed she was ruthless enough to stop her nephew from loving her daughter in order to secure her son's position as crown prince. But she still cared about her nephew and tried to make up for it in other ways.
I didn't expect that my nephew would be so paranoid that he would rather collaborate with the enemy to get rid of Chen Jingzong, and so cold-blooded that he would rather sacrifice more than 5,000 of his comrades to conceal his motives.
What made Empress Dowager Qi even more sad was that her nephew could beg Chen Jingzong in a humble manner, and immediately accept his fate when he saw her, as if he was sure that she, his aunt, hated him to the core and would never plead for him.
Empress Dowager Qi certainly would not do that, but that was because she could not tolerate the evil committed by her nephew, not because she was indifferent to her nephew.
Did her nephew hate her and become upset when she forced him to give up his daughter
If she had not interfered back then, would her nephew not have taken this path, and would more than 5,000 people have not died in vain
Empress Dowager Qi did not say a word until Qi Jin was taken away by the guards.
"Mother, let's go back to the Qianqing Palace first."
When Emperor Yuanyou saw that his mother's face looked unhappy, he did not rush to say anything, but stepped forward and held her arm.
Two sedan chairs were prepared outside, but Emperor Yuanyou did not use them. He took Chen Jingzong and followed beside his mother's sedan chair.
He did not regret thoroughly investigating Qi Jin, but he was worried that this move would hurt his mother's feelings. If his mother had opposed Chen Jingzong's plan from the beginning, Emperor Yuanyou would have despised her selfishness. However, his mother was selfless, and the more Emperor Yuanyou admired her, the softer his heart would be.
Empress Dowager Qi remained silent along the way.
Back at the Qianqing Palace, Empress Dowager Qi's expression was no longer so ugly. Without waiting for her son to speak, she said bluntly, "Collaborating with the enemy is a serious crime. Qi Jin's crime is unforgivable. As for the Marquis' Mansion, the Emperor has asked the Imperial Guards to investigate. If it is proven that no one in the Marquis' Mansion cooperated with him in his evil deeds, please, for my sake, punish only Qi Jin. The rest of the Marquis' Mansion should be stripped of their titles, demoted to commoners, and sent back to their hometowns."
Emperor Yuanyou said earnestly, "Why do you say that, mother? I believe that my uncle has nothing to do with this matter. Demoting him one level of title is enough to explain to the world."
Empress Dowager Qi shook her head and said, "It's too light. Just do as I say. If you favor your maternal relatives, how can you deter the princes and relatives from doing evil in the future?"
Emperor Yuanyou lowered his eyes.
Chen Jingzong stood aside respectfully.
Queen Mother Qi looked over, with a complex look in her eyes that could not be resolved in a short time, and also admiration: "Back then, I married Huayang to you more because I appreciated your father's talents. Today, I am finally sure that you are completely worthy of Huayang."
Chen Jingzong knelt down and bowed his head, saying, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. I was naughty when I was young. I never followed my father to study poetry and books, nor did I have the gentlemanly demeanor of my two brothers. I only had martial arts skills and a heart to serve the country. Please understand, Your Majesty. I keep staring at Qi Jin, not because I have any dissatisfaction with you or the Marquis' Mansion. It's just that more than 5,000 men of the Jinwu Vanguard died unjustly in Qi Jin's calculations against me, and I was also implicated. If I can't give them justice, I will have a guilty conscience for the rest of my life."
Empress Dowager Qi: "If you are involved in karma, shouldn't I also blame myself for bringing you and Huayang together?"
Chen Jingzong kowtowed and apologized.
Empress Dowager Qi smiled bitterly: "Get up, I don't mean to blame you, I just want you to stop worrying. All the evil is caused by Qi Jin alone. It has nothing to do with me, and it has nothing to do with you."
Emperor Yuanyou: "What your mother said is absolutely right. There are many people in the world who want something but cannot get it. Because they cannot achieve their wish, they want to harm those who have achieved it. Then those failed candidates will kill all the successful candidates. A gentleman should cultivate his character and not reflect on himself. Qi Jin can do such a thing, which only shows that he is a vicious villain with a good appearance."
Empress Dowager Qi nodded. She was indeed a little cruel to her nephew back then, but it was ultimately his nephew's own choice that led to his current situation.
"Leave this case to the Royal Guards. I will not be involved in it any more. I just want to tell you one thing."
Chen Jingzong and Emperor Yuanyou looked at Empress Dowager Qi at the same time.
Empress Dowager Qi: "Qi Jin's motive for murdering the prince consort is only that he resented the prince consort for stealing his limelight in the martial arts competition. Don't involve Hua Yang, and don't let her know that Qi Jin has been coveting her."
Chen Jingzong immediately said, "I think so too. The princess is kind-hearted. I am afraid she will get stuck in a rut and take the blame for the deaths of the Jinwu vanguard soldiers on herself."
Emperor Yuanyou was furious again: "What does this have to do with you, sister? Do you want to be remembered by someone like Qi Jin?"
Chen Jingzong: "Of course not, I'm just afraid that the news will leak out and people will say that the princess is a beauty who brings disaster."
Emperor Yuanyou gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely tell the Jinyiwei clearly that when interrogating the Qi family, anyone who dares to mention my sister will be immediately... "
He looked at his mother and swallowed the last few words.
Empress Dowager Qi pretended not to hear and said to Chen Jingzong, "It's getting late. You should go back first. Huayang may still be waiting."
Chen Jingzong accepted the order and left.
With no outsiders around, Emperor Yuanyou knelt beside Empress Dowager Qi and asked in a low voice: "Mother, will you blame me?"
Empress Dowager Qi touched her son's head, then stroked the boy's face, which was gradually losing its youthfulness. Her eyes were filled with sadness. "You can distinguish between loyalty and treachery, which is what a wise ruler does. I am very proud of you. The little kid has finally grown up. I am just sad for losing a nephew I once thought was very good, and I feel bad that your uncle and grandmother raised him for more than 20 years in vain."
Emperor Yuanyou held his mother's hand and said, "Don't worry, mother. My sister and I will be filial to you. You don't need a nephew like that."
.
The Princess's Mansion.
Huayang was indeed still awake.
This was the second time Chen Jingzong went out to do business at night.
It was pitch black outside, and darkness is inherently intimidating. How could something that had to be done in the dark not be a little dangerous
On that rainy night in summer, Huayang waited until Chen Jingzong, who was soaked to the skin, came back before she went to sleep. She will wait again this time.
It's almost three o'clock in the morning. The last time Chen Jingzong came back, he didn't come so late.
Huayang turned over in bed again.
Finally, there was the sound of the main room door being pushed open outside, followed by the sound of footsteps.
Huayang's heart beat faster. Even though she knew it was impossible for an assassin to break in, she still couldn't control her nervousness at this moment.
"It's me." As soon as Chen Jingzong entered the inner room, he spoke to prove his identity.
Huayang breathed a sigh of relief, sat up and said, "Light the lamp." She couldn't fall asleep for a while.
Chen Jingzong lit the lamp.
He did not come back in the evening. Huayang thought he would change into black clothes outside, but he did not expect him to be wearing the scarlet commander's official uniform.
Seeing her staring at her clothes, Chen Jingzong thought for a moment and said, "Shall I wipe them first?"
Huayang: "Is it done?"
Chen Jingzong nodded.
Huayang relaxed even more: "Then you wipe it."
After that, she lay down again with her back facing him.
Chen Jingzong smiled. They had been married for so long and had even bathed in hot springs together, but the princess was still so reserved. Or maybe she was just pretending. But he loved her pretentiousness.
After wiping it carefully, Chen Jingzong changed into a clean undershirt and went to the bed.
Before he could hold it over, Huayang frowned: "What's that smell?"
She had smelled alcohol and sweat before, but this strange smell tonight was very unfamiliar.
Chen Jingzong sniffed and explained, "Tung oil. I'm going to trick someone tonight. If he doesn't tell the truth, I'm going to burn him. I've already poured the tung oil on him."
Huayang sat up suddenly!
Murder, what Chen Jingzong was going to do was actually kill people!
If he dares to kill others, others can kill him back!
Huayang's gaze fell on him.
Chen Jingzong held the person in his arms, hugged her and said, "I'm fine. I didn't set the fire. The man confessed everything."
Huayang frowned: "What's going on?"
Chen Jingzong looked at her and started by telling her how he had defeated Qi Jin in a martial arts demonstration, then told her about the time when they went to the Marquis' Mansion to celebrate his birthday and Qi Jin had spoken rudely to him in the bathroom, and finally told her that Qi Jin from Wuduo Mountain had colluded with the enemy and intended to kill someone with a borrowed knife.
The motive he gave to Qi Jin was that Qi Jin was jealous of him.
"There are two witnesses, and he confessed it himself. Your Majesty and the Emperor heard it clearly, and have already sent the man to the Imperial Guard."
Huayang was stunned in his arms.
Chen Jingzong spoke briefly and quickly, as if he was afraid that she would not believe him, so as soon as Hua Yang had any doubts, she immediately got solid evidence.
The most important thing is that Qi Jin admitted it himself!
Therefore, the person who actually killed Chen Jingzong in the previous life was her cousin Qi Jin, whom she had known since childhood!
Just because of a martial arts competition, Qi Jin could be so cruel!
How could he have the nerve to go to the Chen family to pay his respects and to ask her to mourn more when Chen Jingzong's coffin was carried back to the capital!
Huayang felt hatred and pain. He hated Qi Jin, felt pain for Chen Jingzong in front of him, and also felt pain for the Chen family's fourth son who would never come back from his previous life.
Chen Jingzong's cuffs were soon wet by the eldest princess' tears, and no matter how he coaxed her, she showed no intention of stopping.
Chen Jingzong said helplessly: "Are you feeling sorry for him, or..."
Huayang slapped his hand on his mouth and cursed: "Shut up!"
He can be frivolous about other things but not this one. Qi Jin cannot atone for his sin even if he dies, so how can he make her cry!
After the fight, Huayang buried her head in his chest and continued crying.
Chen Jingzong: …
Half of his undershirt was soon wet, and it felt cold and sticky, not at all comfortable.
Chen Jingzong took off his shirt decisively.
Huayang leaned forward again, his face pressed against his strong and muscular chest.
Huayang: …
Chen Jingzong suggested: "Why don't you cry on my head? It's a good opportunity to help me wash my hair and get rid of the tung oil smell."
Huayang: …
Chen Jingzong held up her wet face and said, "Okay, it's all over. Thanks to you, I wasn't tricked by him. It's not worth crying."
Without waiting for Huayang to speak, he kissed her tightly.
Huayang hugged his neck tightly and didn't want to be separated from him again that night.
(End of this chapter)