When Huan Xuan rushed to the Linde Hall, the prince had already arrived. He stood beside the emperor with his head bowed, his eyes slightly red.
In addition, there were a number of other officials including the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, the Chief Censor, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and the Minister of the Zongzheng Temple.
The body of Chen Wang Huanjiong was placed in a coffin, which was covered with a layer of yellow brocade with the "Sutra of the Past Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva" embroidered in Sanskrit on the side.
The emperor sat beside his son's coffin in a daze. He was wearing a casual round-necked robe, his eyelids drooped, and he had a few more white hairs on his temples. He looked more and more like an ordinary old man.
He had always disliked the fifth son, disliking him for being arrogant and extravagant, fat and stupid, and bringing shame to the royal family.
But it is always sad for the elderly to send off the young, and it has nothing to do with which child it is.
Four years ago, he sent his eldest son away, then ordered the death of his fourth son with his own hands, and now it was the fifth son's turn. Huan Jiong's death brought back memories of four years ago. The deaths of his sons weighed down on him like a mountain, making it hard for him to breathe. He had never felt so old and decadent.
Huan Xuan glanced at the coffin, gathered his composure, and walked up to the emperor and saluted: "Your son greets you, Father."
The emperor looked at his elegant third son, a hint of relief in his eyes. He looked very much like Ye'er, and was just as smart and capable. He also had the coldness and decisiveness that Ye'er lacked, which was really a great comfort to him.
"Sanlang, your fifth brother..." The emperor choked up a little and waved towards the coffin: "Here is your fifth brother."
Huan Xuan said yes and slowly uncovered the brocade cloth covering the coffin.
Although he was mentally prepared, he was still shocked when he saw the corpse.
The contents of the coffin could no longer be called a corpse. They were just some scattered bones wrapped in brocade clothes, with bloodstains visible on the bones.
He and King Chen had never been close, but no one would feel good to see his blood-related brother meet such a miserable end.
Huan Xuan looked away and covered the face with the brocade cloth again.
"How could this be?" he said with a sullen face.
The emperor glanced at the Shaoqing of the Great Temple and said, "Huaqing, you go ahead."
Hua Shaoqing said, "Your Highness, the body of His Royal Highness Prince Chen was found in the forest fifty miles east of the city. The first person to see it was a woodcutter who reported it to the authorities. The Imperial Guards happened to be searching nearby and identified the body from the remains of clothing and the jade pendant as the missing His Royal Highness Prince Chen."
Huan Xuan asked: "Could it be someone else's corpse?"
Hua Shaoqing said: "The coroner has examined it. His Royal Highness Prince Chen had broken his left arm when he was young. This body also shows signs of early healing of the broken bone."
"Do you have any clues?" Huan Xuan asked.
The eyes of the Dali Temple's Shaoqing flashed, and he glanced at the emperor and said, "A woman's skeleton was found nearby, and her flesh and blood had been eaten by wild beasts. The woman's clothes were intact, and she was half a mile away from the two corpses..."
Huan Xuan understood what he meant after a brief thought—the King of Chen did not take the woman to the mountains for a tryst, and when they were having sex in the wild, they encountered wild beasts and had no time to escape, so they were both bitten to death and eaten.
Huan Xuan frowned and said nothing. The whole thing was really strange. This kind of absurd thing was indeed something Huan Jiong could do, but there were forests everywhere. There was a dense forest on the back mountain of the Taoist temple he visited. Why would he go to the deep mountains instead of near by
As he was thinking, the emperor pinched his brows and said, "Now that things have come to this, I called you brothers here to discuss the funeral rites for Prince Chen..."
The body was unrecognizable and it was a sudden death, and it had been exposed in the wilderness for many days. Many sacrificial rituals were difficult to perform, so the ritual officials, led by the Vice Minister of Rites, began to discuss the funeral rites.
These matters were both trivial and troublesome, and it took several hours to come up with a plan.
Huan Xuan's thoughts drifted away. He knew the meaning of the music, that his father was not going to investigate the real cause of King Chen's death openly. After all, it involved a royal scandal, and it was not appropriate to go to the Grand Temple or the Ministry of Justice. Most likely, the personal guards would track down the suspect in secret.
He just didn't understand. Since the murderer was able to get the prince out of the city and kill him, he must be a meticulous and skilled person. Why did he dump the body in the mountains and forests on the outskirts of the city? Although it was deep in the mountains and old forests, there were hunters and woodcutters within a radius of dozens of miles. The body was not buried and would be discovered within a few days.
Why not just bury it deep underground, or tie it to stones and sink it into the river, so that there will be no evidence and no one can find out.
One or a group of meticulous people could create a false impression full of mistakes and omissions, which must be intentional.
They want to be discovered, to arouse suspicion...
How could Prince Chen, a wealthy and idle man with no real power and almost a laughing stock in Chang'an, be involved in such a thing
Huan Xuan stared at the Buddhist brocade on the coffin, as if he wanted to see through him and see the person inside. His brother, who had no redeeming qualities, might have a side that others didn't know about.
Just as he was thinking, he heard a woman crying outside the palace, followed by the helpless voice of a eunuch: "Madam Shufei, His Majesty is discussing matters with his ministers, you cannot go in..."
The Linde Hall was the inner hall of the former dynasty, separated from the harem by only an alley, but it was a long way from the Ningshu Hall of Concubine Shu to here, and there were guards all the way. Everyone was surprised when they heard the sound, and they didn't know how a concubine like her could break through the siege and run to the former dynasty.
The emperor pinched his brows tiredly and said to the eunuch, "Let her in."
As soon as they saw her, they understood that she was wearing a eunuch's clothes and her shoes did not fit her feet. The sound of her kicking and stomping echoed in the silent hall, and people's hearts trembled when they heard it.
Concubine Shu is in her forties, and because she is kind-hearted and takes good care of herself, she still has some charm. She is only in her early thirties. But at this moment, her hair is disheveled and her eyes are puffy, which is very different from her usual gentle and virtuous appearance.
She walked forward and knelt down in front of the emperor with a plop: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. Please let me take a look at my Wulang..."
The emperor glanced at her, then reluctantly looked away: "Wu Lang's remains... I've already said that if you take them, it will only add to the grief."
Concubine Shu kowtowed again, her forehead hitting the golden brick, and the "dong dong" sound echoed in the empty hall.
The emperor said to the eunuch, "Let Concubine Shu take care of Prince Chen."
When Concubine Shu heard that the emperor had agreed, she rushed to the coffin without waiting for the eunuch to come forward, uncovered the brocade covering the outside, took a single glance inside, uttered a howl like a wounded beast, then her body went limp and she fainted on the ground.
All the ministers felt a little sympathetic. The emperor asked the palace maids and eunuchs to help Concubine Shu to the side hall and ordered someone to call for a medical officer.
The emperor had just experienced the grief of losing his son, and seeing the miserable appearance of Concubine Shu, he felt distracted. He rubbed his forehead and said to the Minister of Rites, "Qing Guo, go back and draft a set of rules and present them to me tomorrow. I am a little tired, so let's stop here for today."
After all the ministers left, the emperor said to the crown prince, "It's getting late. Erlang should go back to the East Palace. Don't let the crown princess worry."
Then he said to Huan Xuan, "If there is nothing else to do in Sanlang's residence, you can stay here to accompany your father and your fifth brother."
The prince frowned slightly and bowed, saying, "I will stay here to accompany my fifth brother. As for A'ruan, please send someone back to the East Palace to let him know."
Then he said to the emperor with concern, "Fifth brother, I and Sanlang will accompany you here. Father, please go back to the bedroom and rest early."
The emperor did not force him, but nodded slightly and said to Huan Xuan, "Sanlang, help me go back to the bedroom to rest."
Huan Xuan agreed, excused himself to the prince, and supported his father as they walked out of the palace.
The two of them walked to the bedroom, and the emperor dismissed the palace servants and then asked Huan Xuan, "What do you think about Wu Lang's matter?"
Huan Xuan said thoughtfully, "My son feels that this matter is strange and there seems to be something behind it."
The emperor nodded and said, "I also think it's strange, but I don't know whether I should investigate further."
His eye sockets were red, his eyes were bloodshot, and his eyeballs were as turbid as an old man on his deathbed.
Huan Xuan pursed his lips, not knowing what to say.
The emperor sighed deeply: "I have ordered the Imperial Guards to continue the investigation, but I don't know if this is the right thing to do."
Huan Xuan was silent for a while: "Father, please accept my condolences."
The emperor patted him on the shoulder and walked silently into the depths of the heavy curtains, like a wounded beast dragging its injured leg slowly back to its cave.
…
That night, Huan Xuan stayed in the west hall of the Linde Hall.
The bright moonlight shone through the window lattice. It was almost midnight. The sound of gentle and distant chanting of scriptures came from the direction of the main hall. Huan Xuan lay on the bed without any sleepiness. The past words and deeds of King Chen kept emerging in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this fifth brother might not be as simple as he seemed.
It's just that everyone was blinded by his stupid and absurd appearance, like a blind spot.
Everyone? Huan Xuan's heart skipped a beat. He was not close to his brothers. Even though he was about the same age as Huan Jiong, he just buried his head in his books in Chongwen Hall and didn't even talk to him. However, the other brothers might not be so distant from each other.
As far as he knew, his eldest brother would occasionally show concern for this hated brother. For a while, he even went to Prince Chen's mansion every now and then to find prescriptions for adjusting his physical condition and to supervise his schoolwork. Everyone felt that what he did was in vain and that Prince Chen was a useless person. Could it be that something had happened to him
The eldest brother and the prince are brothers who can talk about anything. He is never on guard with people close to him. Could he have mentioned this to the prince inadvertently
Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a eunuch outside saying in a panic: "Your Highness, Prince of Qi, Your Highness, Prince of Qi..."
Huan Xuan sat up: "What happened?"
"Your Highness, something has happened in Ningshu Palace. Your Highness, please go over there." said the eunuch.
Huan Xuan's heart trembled, Ningshu Palace was the residence of Concubine Shu.
He immediately stood up, put on his coat and walked out of the hall. He was startled when he saw the eunuch's appearance. The man was not a eunuch of Ningshu Hall, nor was he the emperor's man, but a eunuch beside the queen.
The prince who was staying in the east hall also stood up and nodded to Huan Xuan with a serious expression. The two of them walked out of the palace gate side by side.
Huan Xuan glanced at his brother by the lantern under the corridor, only to see that his eyelids were slightly swollen. He asked, "Second brother, are you not asleep?"
The prince said, "How can I sleep well knowing that my fifth brother has suffered such a fate?"
After a pause, he said, "Third brother must not be asleep either?"
Huan Xuan said "hmm".
The prince sighed, "Fifth brother is too confused... It's my fault as an elder brother. If I had cared for him more and restrained him, perhaps this wouldn't have happened..."
Huan Xuan said: "The dead are gone, second brother, don't blame yourself too much."
The prince glanced at his brother out of the corner of his eye and saw that his handsome face was like an ice sculpture, with no expression at all.
"I hope you won't be too upset," said the prince.
Huan Xuan just said "hmm".
The prince asked the eunuch who led the way: "What happened in Ningshu Palace?"
The eunuch hesitated and said, "Your Highness, it was Concubine Shu... Concubine Shu committed suicide at night. The palace servants came to report to the Empress. The Empress rushed to her palace and called the doctor to check. The result was... Alas, I don't know what to say. Your Highnesses, please go over quickly."
The prince pondered and asked, "What about your majesty?"
The eunuch said, "I have sent someone to report it, but the emperor had another attack of wind at night and is resting. I can only trouble you two princes to go there first."
The prince said nothing more, and the two of them quietly quickened their pace and boarded the sedan chair.
When they arrived in front of Ningshu Palace, the palace maids and eunuchs were standing outside the corridor with their heads down. If you looked carefully, you could see that many of them had tears on their faces and were shivering like quails.
The sound of a woman crying, cursing and pounding could be faintly heard in the hall.
The prince and Huan Xuan looked at each other and walked quickly into the hall.
Although they had a rough idea of what had happened, the scene they saw in Ningshu Palace still surprised them.
The door curtain was lifted, and the cold wind made the candlelight in the hall sway. In the swaying light and shadow, Concubine Shu was seen lying on the ground beside the couch, motionless. Her slightly bulging eyeballs looked like lead beads, her face was blue-gray, and her lips were dark purple. It was obvious that she had been dead for some time.
Lin Fengyu from the Shang Pharmacy stood against the wall with his hands behind his back, his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, not daring to make a sound.
The queen stood in front of him, whipping Concubine Shu with a cane while cursing in hatred: "Bitch! Vicious woman! How dare you harm my Ye'er! I want you to go to the Avici Hell and never be able to be reborn..."
She had obviously used all her strength, and the cane whipped her flesh with a "whoosh" sound that was frightening.
But Concubine Shu was unconscious. Her head and face were hit several times, and there were bruises on her face and neck. However, there was a calm smile at the corner of her mouth, which seemed to be relieved, but also seemed to be mocking.
The prince hurried forward, grabbed the queen's arm, and took the cane from her hand: "Mother, what happened? If you have something to say, please talk to me."
The queen screamed, "This bitch and her son poisoned my Ye'er!"
Then he tried to grab the cane: "If you were my son, don't stop me. I'm going to cut her into pieces!"
The prince was horrified: "Mother, it was Concubine Xian and her son who killed my brother..."
"We were all deceived by this vicious woman!" The Queen interrupted him at the top of her lungs, "It was them and their son who killed your eldest brother! It was this vicious woman and her vile son! If you don't believe me, ask him!"
She pointed at Lin Fengyu.
Huan Xuan had been standing quietly by the side, and only then did he ask the medical officer, "What exactly is going on?"
Lin Fengyu had always been the empress's diagnoser and had gained her trust. He was also very frightened at this moment, and said in a trembling voice: "Your Highness, the Concubine suddenly died tonight. I was ordered to come and investigate, and found that she died of poison. The symptoms were exactly the same as those of the late Crown Prince... I found the remaining half bottle of poison she had taken in the box beside the bed. It was the strange poison from the South China Sea..."
Only a few Fengyu in Shang Pharmacy knew the truth about the sudden death of the late crown prince. Lin Fengyu was one of them. Because he was an expert in pharmacology, the remaining poison was copied from Concubine Xian and given to him for research. No one in Shang Pharmacy knew this poison better than him, so he easily recognized that it was the same poison.
Huan Xuan asked again: "When my elder brother was poisoned, the poison did not take effect immediately, so why did Concubine Shu die immediately?"
Lin Fengyu replied, "Your Highness, this medicine is not colorless and tasteless. The dosage was too large when the poison was administered and it was easy to taste. Therefore, the prince took less poison, and Concubine Shu wanted to commit suicide, so she must have swallowed a lot of pills, so the poison took effect quickly."
Huan Xuan nodded and said, "Thank you. Feng Yu will wait outside the palace for a while. When His Majesty comes, he will summon Feng Yu to question him."
Lin Fengyu looked at Huan Xuan gratefully and said, "Thank you, Your Highness the Prince of Qi."
He bowed to the Queen and the Crown Prince and hurriedly retreated out of the hall.
The Queen was unable to get the cane back but still refused to give up. She pounced on Concubine Shu's body, tearing her hair and scratching her face with her hands, but she could not vent her hatred.
Because of her anger, she was extremely strong, and the prince did not dare to use force, so he could not stop her. During the struggle, her left sleeve was torn by the prince with a "rip".
Huan Xuan inadvertently saw a white scar on her left wrist, and his heart moved slightly.
The prince couldn't control his mother, so he had to ask his brother for help: "Sanlang, you also come and persuade my mother..."
Huan Xuan hesitated for a moment, then walked forward, knelt down and said, "Mother..."
The queen's body trembled and her hands paused. She seemed to realize the presence of her son just then and slowly turned her head.
"Mother's condolences." Huan Xuan said.
He suddenly remembered that this was the first time he had seen his mother since his elder brother's funeral. She was about the same age as Concubine Shu, but her hair had turned gray prematurely, and there were fine lines around her eyes and forehead. The two deep nasolabial folds around her mouth made this strong and stubborn face look even more stern.
At this moment, her hair was disheveled and her face was covered with tears, but her eyes were particularly bright with madness and hatred.
The queen stared at his face for a moment, then suddenly frowned and hissed like a venomous snake: "You are the evil star who brings disaster to your mother and brother, why didn't you die?"
She stood up and raised her hand, as if she wanted to hit Sanzi, but when she saw his face, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Huan Xuan's face seemed frozen, his eyes were empty, without a trace of light, nor any sadness or pain. He just said calmly: "I also want to know why I wasn't the one who died."
The queen was stunned, and suddenly her legs went limp and she fell to the ground, holding her face and crying bitterly: "Get out! Don't let me touch you, I don't want to touch you again in this life! Get out!"
As soon as the words fell, an angry shout came from outside the heavy curtain: "Enough!"
The emperor walked in quickly, looking at the shocking corpse of Concubine Shu, his wife who was sitting on the ground and almost insane, and his third son who was kneeling on the ground with an expressionless face. He couldn't help but burst into tears: "Injustice! Injustice!"
Huan Xuan pursed his lips, kowtowed three times to the queen silently, and then bowed to his father: "Son, take your leave."
The emperor was speechless, stroked his face, and just waved his hand: "Go and have a rest."
Huan Xuan retreated outside the hall and got off his sedan chair. The eunuch asked him where he was going, but he was unable to answer for a long time.
He didn't want to go back to Linde Hall, so he said, "Send me to Chengtian Gate."
The carriage of the prince's mansion drove out of the palace gate. The moonlight had faded a little, and the eastern sky was leaden gray. That color reminded him of Concubine Shu's lifeless eyes.
He pinched his brows, lowered the curtains, and leaned against the carriage tiredly.
The eunuch asked cautiously outside the carriage: "Your Highness, are you going back to the palace?"
"Go to Shanchiyuan." Huan Xuan blurted out without any hesitation.
Because for him, there is only one warm place in the world.