Chapter 404: Chapter 306: The Forbidden Palace
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Pei Zhan bowed and then said, "This matter must start before the Crown Prince’s coming-of-age ceremony, with an incident that occurred outside the drill ground—"
"Hold on!" the Emperor suddenly interrupted him, pondering, "Does this matter involve such deep implications?"
Pei Zhan carefully chose his words: "Indeed, at first I did not expect the outcome to reach such a state."
The Emperor nodded slightly and instructed the eunuch, "Invite the Empress to join us for this discussion."
"I am already here."
Just as the Emperor spoke, the Empress’s gentle yet authoritative voice came from the doorway. Everyone turned slightly, seeing her enter with just a palace maid, appearing as simple as usual. After greeting, "Your Majesty," she addressed Pei Zhan and the others, "I heard that you entered the palace so early, and I guessed there might be something urgent. It seems I was right."
Pei Zhan nodded, "Reporting to the Empress, I was about to report to His Majesty the cause of Princess Rong’s death." With the Emperor’s nod of approval, he continued, "During the drill on the Crown Prince’s coming-of-age ceremony, an accident occurred. Zhe Yu, who was the commander, was suddenly injured and had to leave the field. Subsequently, Zhang Huan’s son, Zhang Shicheng, was accused of altering the substitute roster and was dismissed. Zhe Yu, afterward, was severely injured and nearly died on the spot. On that day, my wife, Fu Zhen, happened to be in the crowd watching the drill and discovered that Zhe Yu had been sabotaged. This means the so-called accident was, in fact, a premeditated scheme."
"Who was behind it?"
"It was Assistant Minister of Rites Xu Yin."
The Emperor’s expression remained unchanged: "Why do you accuse him? Do you have any evidence?"
Liang Chen clasped his hands, "Zhe Yu is currently at my manor. If Your Majesty wishes to interrogate him, I can summon him immediately."
"There’s no need for now," the Emperor said. "Continue speaking. Xu Yin, as the Assistant Minister of Rites, is a high-ranking official, while Zhe Yu holds a lower position. There should be no conflict between the two. Why would Xu Yin sabotage Zhe Yu?"
"Because Xu Yin wanted to take the opportunity to frame the Zhang Family and stir internal conflict within Prince Rong’s Mansion."
"This explanation still runs counter to Xu Yin’s status," the Emperor said slowly. "Why would he, as the son-in-law of Prince Rong’s Mansion, stir up such discord? A chaotic Prince Rong’s Mansion does not benefit him."
"Your Majesty is correct. However, if we view Xu Yin as merely using Prince Rong’s Mansion as a stepping stone for power consolidation, it might make sense."
The Emperor said, "You mean that Xu Yin, who has a good reputation outwardly, is actually two-faced? But even so, Xu Yin has no reason to specifically target Prince Rong’s Mansion. Moreover, without family backing, acting alone, how could he contend with Prince Rong’s Mansion? Would he not fear exposing his flaws, giving Prince Rong cause to retaliate against him?"
"At first, discovering that the person sabotaging Zhe Yu was Xu Yin left me puzzled too, but later I unexpectedly found a dagger. By tracing the origins of this dagger, I not only uncovered a bizarre murder conspiracy involving Prince Rong and the Princely Heir but also found Xu Yin embroiled in it. Prince Rong and Xu Yin have leverage over each other; therefore, Xu Yin acts with impunity."
"A murder conspiracy?" the Emperor put down the folded fan he held. "What do you mean by that?"
"It begins with an ordinary night six years ago."
Pei Zhan narrated up to this point and presented a drawing of the dagger’s exact likeness: "To comply with palace regulations and not bring a weapon before Your Majesty, I sketched the dagger’s image."
"Earlier, I consulted Grand Preceptor Gu, who identified its origin from the markings on the dagger. He confirmed it to be from Dayue Country’s Prince Yi Mansion. It was supposedly presented as tribute to a previous dynasty’s monarch, as Grand Preceptor Gu mentioned that the treasury still holds a batch of daggers very similar to this one.
"And this very dagger was found at the scene of the Baiyu Lane massacre six years ago that night."
"The Baiyu Lane massacre!"
The Emperor examined the drawing closely and asked, "What kind of massacre was it? Could there be records in the Supreme Court?"
"No. It’s a massacre almost unknown to anyone."
"Then how did you come to know about it?"
"My mother-in-law happened to be a witness to the incident!"
The Empress and the Emperor trembled in unison, exchanging a glance before turning to Pei Zhan, "Your mother-in-law, I remember, is the daughter of Ning Pochi!"
"Exactly! On the night of the incident, my mother-in-law happened to secretly witness the entire sequence of events!"
The Empress, who had been sitting composedly by the side, suddenly could not contain herself: "Describe the process of the case! What exactly did Prince Rong and the others do?..."