The next day, Pei Che no longer worried about Jiang Miao going with him, because neither of them could go.
“… Specially summon the Prince of Zhongguo, Pei Che, and his wife, Jiang Miao, to the palace for an audience. This is my decree!” A white-faced, beardless, plump and gentle-looking eunuch came early in the morning with a group of people, carrying the imperial edict to announce the summons.
"Minister, accept the order!" Pei Che and Jiang Miao looked at each other, each of them full of questions.
"Sir Pei, please come with your wife to the palace as soon as possible. The emperor is waiting for you in the palace." The eunuch smiled, making it difficult for people to have any bad feelings towards him.
Jiang Miao smiled at him and asked tentatively, "Eunuch, I wonder what the emperor wants to talk to us about? Please give us a warning, so that we don't rush into the palace and make the emperor unhappy."
The eunuch covered his mouth and said happily: "Madam, you are too polite, but I am just a messenger for His Majesty, how can I know what His Majesty thinks..."
Jiang Miao quietly handed over a purse, and the man shook it in his hand, then changed the subject: "But we see that His Majesty is in a good mood, so I guess this is a good thing, right?"
"Thank you, eunuch. Please wait a moment. The prince and I will change clothes and then go with you." Jiang Miao smiled, and under the pretext of changing clothes, he pulled Pei Che and walked into the yard.
"Why would that person suddenly let us into the palace?" Jiang Miao was still a little nervous. Although the eunuch said that the emperor was in a good mood, it didn't mean it was a good thing. Ever since he knew about the dispute between the royal family and the Duke's Mansion, Jiang Miao knew that the emperor would never let those good things happen to them.
Pei Che shook his head: "I don't know either. This imperial decree came so suddenly that it must have been intended to catch us off guard."
Jiang Miao was a little annoyed: "Why is it so troublesome? What should we do later?"
"Just adapt to the situation." Pei Che couldn't think of a response plan for a moment. After all, he didn't know what the emperor wanted them to do, so he had to say this.
The two changed into formal attire for entering the palace for an audience, followed the eunuch, and got into the carriage. Jiang Miao felt uncomfortable all over. The formal attire was heavy and he rarely wore it. Wearing it now was as uncomfortable as being tortured. Pei Che could only let him hold on for a while, and then reached out and slightly exerted force on his waist to help him hold on.
The people were in different moods, and they didn't talk along the way, and soon arrived at the palace. Speaking of which, this was Jiang Miao's first time to enter the palace, but because of his uneasiness, he couldn't muster the energy to appreciate this most luxurious residence in the world.
"Your Highness, your servants Pei Che and Jiang Miao pay their respects to His Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"
Before Jiang Miao could even look at the emperor, Pei Che led him to salute. The emperor might be in a good mood today, and he didn't have any embarrassment in etiquette. As soon as they saluted, they started shouting.
Jiang Miao was really curious. He thought that it would be a shame if he didn't take a look since he had finally come to the palace. So he secretly looked up at the emperor sitting in front of him. This glance made him a little disappointed. The middle-aged man in a bright yellow robe looked ordinary. If he took off the clothes, who would dare to say that he was the emperor? There was no trace of the legendary kingly aura.
When Jiang Miao was peeking at Emperor Liang Ping, Emperor Liang Ping was also looking at him. Although he had seen a portrait of this person before when investigating him, the difference between the portrait and the real person was quite large. After seeing enough, he turned his gaze to Pei Che, and saw him standing there calmly, without any fear or uneasiness, which made him feel a little bored.
"Pei Che, do you know why I called you here today?" Emperor Liang Ping lowered his voice and pretended to be majestic, which scared Jiang Miao. Now he really looked like an emperor.
Pei Che cupped his hands and said, "I am ignorant and cannot understand the emperor's intention. I hope the emperor will explain it clearly."
"Explicit instructions?" Emperor Liang Ping snorted coldly and suddenly raised his voice, "Do you still need my explicit instructions? You dare to investigate the affairs of the imperial palace, what else can you not dare to do?"
Pei Che understood that it must have been Commander Guan who revealed this to His Majesty. However, he had no intention of hiding this matter.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. I had no choice but to do this matter. I did not intend to investigate. However, the hatred between my parents is irreconcilable. If I have clues but do not investigate thoroughly, I am afraid that after a hundred years, I will not be able to face my parents in the underworld." Pei Che bowed, his attitude humble but firm.
"How dare you! You mean to say that it was the palace guards who killed your parents? The implication is that someone in the palace murdered the pillars of the court? If I remember correctly, your parents have been dead for ten years. It's too late to overturn the verdict now, isn't it? Or, are you using this as an excuse to plot something?" Emperor Liang Ping didn't expect that he would dare to say this directly, and he was immediately very angry.
Jiang Miao's heart skipped a beat. Oh no! Was Pei Che being accused of treason? He wanted to argue, but Pei Che looked at him and told him to calm down first. Jiang Miao had no choice but to hold back.
"I dare not!" Pei Che raised his head and looked at Emperor Liang Ping without fear. "If I wanted to plot something, I should have investigated the deployment of the imperial guards, patrol schedules and other information. I would never investigate the missing people ten years ago, let alone entrust the sons and nephews of Your Majesty to investigate on my behalf. As for the murder of my parents, my grandparents were old and sick at the time, and I was a weak orphan. I had no idea in my mind, so I hastily decided the case as an accident."
"Now that I have found a clue by chance, I have to trace the source, and finally found it step by step in the palace. I did not intend to offend the majesty of heaven. As for what Your Majesty said, whether it was someone in the palace who did it, I dare not say for the time being. If Your Majesty had not summoned me today, I should have been confronting the mastermind behind it."
Emperor Liang Ping sneered, "Who is the mastermind behind this?" He had sent someone to follow Su Jin and found that he was indeed looking for Pei Che, so he was furious. There were many people who knew the inside story of all the things that happened back then, so when Pei Shijie and his wife died, there were countless people who suspected that he was the one who did it. Some people even secretly reported to his father, claiming that he murdered the nobles in the court for his own personal grudges and that his methods were cruel and unworthy of the great responsibility.
He was shocked by this incident at the time. Although he disliked Pei Shijie and was even more hostile to him because the woman he loved married him, he would never attack them.
In order to clear his father's suspicion of him, he took the initiative to leave the court temporarily and let others investigate. In the end, they gave up because they could not find anything. Although he later won the throne, the experience of being suspected and speculated by others during this period left a deep impression on him. And he knew that those people just kept silent, but in fact they still believed that he sent people to secretly attack in order to cut off his fourth brother's arm!
This time Pei Che wanted to bring up the old matter again, and Emperor Liang Ping could not help but be furious. He was just waiting for Pei Che to speak wildly so that he could punish him and let those who still had doubts in their hearts see the consequences of making something out of nothing!
"I suspect that the mastermind behind this is His Royal Highness Prince An!"
"How dare you slander..."
His Royal Highness Prince An
Pei Che repeated it. Emperor Liang Ping looked at him for a long time and suddenly laughed. After laughing enough, he said, "I heard that you were sick last time and took a long leave. If you are not fully recovered, I will allow you to go home and recuperate for a few more days."
Does this mean that Pei Che's brain is broken? Jiang Miao thought uncertainly.
"First, please forgive me, Your Majesty. Actually, the reason I took leave was not because I was sick, but to investigate the truth. After putting together all the clues I have found in the past few days, I came up with this guess. Originally, I was planning to go to Prince An's mansion to confront him today." Pei Che said seriously. He understood what Emperor Liang Ping meant, because in the eyes of the people in the court, his father was on Prince An's side. Anyone could attack him, except Prince An.
Emperor Liang Ping looked at Pei Che and found that he was the kind of person who could remain calm even when faced with a huge crisis. It was difficult to tell the truth from the falsehood of the words coming out of his mouth, so he decided to ask someone else.
"Is what he said really true?"
Jiang Miao was suddenly asked, and he reflexively looked at Pei Che. Pei Che nodded at him, indicating that he should tell the truth. He immediately replied: "Yes, we had selected all the people and were ready to go, but we didn't go when the imperial edict came."
"So, was everything he said before true?" Emperor Liang Ping continued to ask.
Jiang Miao nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, yes, yes! It's all true. We don't dare to lie to you. In fact, we started investigating when we came back from Cangzhou."
"Oh?" Emperor Liang Ping narrowed his eyes. "So you suspected that Prince An was responsible for this from a long time ago?"
"Ah?" Jiang Miao blinked. "How could that be? We suspected it yesterday... No, we suspected it not long ago."
"Who did you suspect before this?" Emperor Liang Ping smiled, his eyes moving back and forth between the two of them, "Did you ever suspect... that I was the one who did this?"
This is a life-threatening question! Jiang Miao saw the clue from his eyes. If he said yes, the old emperor would probably get mad. He couldn't help but look at Pei Che again. When Pei Che stepped out and was about to tell the truth, Jiang Miao shouted.
"of course not!"
This voice attracted the attention of the other two. Emperor Liang Ping sneered, obviously not believing what he said.
"In fact—"
"In fact, you are the first person we exclude!" Jiang Miao quickly interrupted Pei Che and nodded vigorously to make him more persuasive. This was bullying Emperor Liang Ping for not being able to read minds. In fact, before yesterday, he was Pei Che's main suspect.
Emperor Liang Ping found these words interesting. He wanted to hear how this person would make them up.
"Then tell me, why did you exclude me?"
"Uh..." At this moment, Jiang Miao's mind turned at the fastest speed in his life, "Of course it's because you... you granted us the marriage."
"A granted marriage?" Emperor Liang Ping was stunned, wondering why he suddenly brought up this.
"Yes, Your Majesty, you are very kind and loving. You know that we are in love with each other, and you can't bear to let us be affected by worldly rumors. You specially granted us a marriage contract so that we can live together. With such a great kindness, how could we doubt Your Majesty?"
Emperor Liang Ping never expected that a mouthful of dog food would suddenly be stuffed into his mouth, and he didn't know what to say for a moment. Pei Che knew exactly the purpose of his marriage, and it was great that she didn't curse him behind his back, so how could she be grateful
Seeing that Emperor Liang Ping's eyes were becoming more and more suspicious, Jiang Miao could only continue to speak: "Moreover, for so many years, everyone in the Duke Zhong's Mansion has been safe and sound, and the two brothers A Che and Mu'er have grown up healthily. If you did this, wouldn't you want to cut the grass and root it out? Moreover, A Che has not only grown up, but also become an official. If you were the mastermind, why would you transfer him back to the capital? Wouldn't this give him a chance to take revenge?"
"What you said does make sense." Emperor Liang Ping snorted coldly. It was such a simple truth, but it was hateful that those people could not understand it. Over the years, except for feeling a little guilty about the marriage, he had never made things difficult for the people in the Duke Zhong's Mansion.
"Then tell me, how did you find out that this matter was related to Prince An?"
Jiang Miao was a little embarrassed: "Your Majesty, this is a long story."
Emperor Liang Ping looked at the few memorials in front of him and thought he could take a break from his busy schedule, so he said leisurely, "Then tell me slowly."
“…Yes.” Jiang Miao was helpless, but life was so frustrating, what else could he do
(End of this chapter)