Chapter 598: Even Your Majesty Must Endure It
Rong Qiu was from the fourth branch of the Rong family. Having lost his father early—a concubine-born son who struggled to make ends meet in the Rong household—he understood the value of diligence and ambition from a young age. His entry into the Golden Guard had little to do with Noble Consort Rong; it was entirely due to his own relentless martial training. Only after her son became a Golden Guard did his mother finally stop having her expenses withheld by her elder sister-in-law, no longer worrying over a single lamp or a quilt to ward off the cold.
Madam Rong of the fourth branch had only Rong Qiu to rely on. If Rong Qiu died, her world would collapse.
Upon learning that Noble Consort Rong had dispatched Rong Qiu, Shen Xihe immediately sent someone to the Rong residence to fetch Madam Rong and inform her that Rong Qiu was already dead—killed while carrying out tasks for Noble Consort Rong.
Although this dynasty was lenient toward women, rejecting the previous era's customs of obeying fathers before marriage, husbands after marriage, and sons after widowhood—allowing widows to remarry, establish independent households, engage in trade, and even serve as female officials if literate or as constables if martially skilled—many women from great families still tied their entire existence to men. For Madam Rong, her newlywed son, who had not yet fathered children, was her everything, her entire world. Now, that world had crumbled.
"Your Majesty... this subject's wife holds evidence of Noble Consort Rong's crimes—" Madam Rong screamed hoarsely.
With so many witnesses present, even the head of the Rong family dared not intervene. The Youning Emperor's gaze swept over Noble Consort Rong. "Let her in."
Over the years, as Rong Qiu began to distinguish himself and leveraged his Golden Guard status to move freely within the palace, he gradually gained Noble Consort Rong's trust. Many of her affairs were handled by him.
Rong Qiu and Noble Consort Rong were not closely related as aunt and nephew. The neglect and hardships he endured in childhood had sharpened his sense of crisis. He knew clearly that if anything went wrong, Noble Consort Rong would abandon him without hesitation. Thus, he had devised ways to leave some evidence with his mother, ensuring that if anything befell him, she would have means to protect herself.
Madam Rong no longer needed self-preservation—she had nothing left to live for—but she was determined to make those responsible for her son's death pay.
She submitted considerable evidence, though none was sufficient to condemn Noble Consort Rong to death. Rong Qiu had only begun to rise to prominence in recent years, while Noble Consort Rong had long been firmly entrenched in the palace. The most severe charge was Noble Consort Rong's plot to harm the Crown Princess.
Noble Consort Rong had ordered Rong Qiu to find a civet cat identical to the Crown Princess's. The Rong family still had several similar ones that had not yet been disposed of. This particular civet cat had been secured months earlier, its claws soaked in drugs for a long time, leading to Ziyu's accident.
The Rong family still retained unfinished, highly similar civet cats resembling Duanming. The one pinned down by Duanming was identical to it, and the drugs on its claws matched those found on Ziyu's wounds. By this time, Sui Axi had been summoned by Shen Xihe. He used acupuncture to briefly revive Ziyu, who immediately testified: "This maid encountered the Crown Princess's civet cat and, fearing the Crown Princess might be searching for it, intended to bring it back. Little did I know it had been swapped. Caught off guard, I was scratched by it. What happened afterward, this maid knows nothing of.""Her Ladyship the Consort has gone to great lengths to deal with me." Shen Xihe smiled faintly, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, this civet cat was prepared for me by Her Ladyship the Consort, but somehow it escaped and happened to be spotted by Ziyu. Upon learning this, Her Ladyship sent Guard Rong to retrieve it. Unexpectedly, Guard Rong encountered the fleeing assassin in the kitchen. They fought, and Guard Rong was killed by the assassin."
It sounded plausible. Xiao Huayong coughed lightly a few times to suppress his laughter.
Killing Rong Qiu was meant to provoke Madame Rong into exposing Noble Consort Rong and to confirm Noble Consort Rong's malicious intent toward Shen Xihe. However, no one could know that Rong Qiu had been killed in retaliation. Rong Qiu was one of His Majesty's Golden Guards; even if he committed a crime, only His Majesty had the authority to punish him.
Hence, Shen Xihe used incense as a lure, prompting His Majesty to fabricate an assassin to clear her name. Simultaneously, she exploited the chaos caused by the assassin to cover her tracks and shift the blame for Rong Qiu's death onto the assassin.
Now the assassin had vanished. His Majesty knew the truth but could do nothing. Would he step forward and admit that the assassin was his own agent and couldn't possibly have killed Rong Qiu?
Of course not. In this game, even His Majesty had to swallow his bitterness in silence!
Xiao Huayong excelled at grand, far-reaching schemes, while Shen Xihe specialized in meticulous, watertight plots.
The truth seemed to be exactly as Shen Xihe had stated. Everyone tried to find a flaw, but there was none to be found.
"As for the Female Historian in Her Ladyship's palace, she likely offered herself willingly to repay Master Fazhao," Shen Xihe added. "Otherwise, how could Master Fazhao have committed suicide?"
Fazhao didn't kill himself out of remorse or enlightenment. Shen Xihe had Mo Yuan deliver a message: he would implicate his master and get him expelled from Xiangguo Temple.
A monk who conspired with Noble Consort Rong to tarnish the purity of those around her—how could Shen Xihe let him live?
Fazhao had no reverence for Buddhism, but he was grateful to his master.
"No, it's not like that..." Noble Consort Rong shook her head weakly. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. She wanted to refute, but faced with overwhelming evidence, even if she admitted she had intended to first send Ziyu to Fazhao, then use the incident to lure Zhenzhu, ordering Rong Qiu to capture Zhenzhu and kill a eunuch in her palace to frame Zhenzhu—
Her original plan was merely to sever Shen Xihe's support and prevent her from grasping palace authority.
Given Shen Xihe's intelligence, her plan might fail at the beginning or the end. Regardless, as long as Shen Xihe made a move, she could adapt. It shouldn't have been easy to implicate herself. Who could have predicted that heaven would forsake her today? The assassin disrupted everything.
"Your Majesty, if what the Crown Princess says is true and the assassin remains at large, I urge you to order another search of Xiangguo Temple to ensure Your Majesty's safety," Xiao Changmin added.
As if Xiao Changmin needed to remind him? The Embroidered Uniform Envoys hadn't all returned yet. The Pingyao Marquis and the Zhenbei Marquis hadn't stayed to watch the drama—they left the searched items and people behind and continued the hunt.The moment the assassin was discovered, Xiangguo Temple was immediately placed under lockdown. It was impossible for anyone to have escaped the temple grounds. Yet, despite searching every corner of Xiangguo Temple, not a single trace of the assassin was found. Some even suspected the assassin was among them, having simply changed disguises, leaving them clueless as to who it might be.
Only the Youning Emperor knew this was not the case—the person was already dead.
As for why the body had not been found, he had no idea how Shen Xihe had made a corpse vanish into thin air.
The Youning Emperor spoke expressionlessly: "Noble Consort Rong, guilty of vile schemes and malicious deeds, conspired to seize Palace authority by plotting against the Crown Princess. The evidence is irrefutable…"
Noble Consort Rong was demoted to Rong Zhaoyi. This was done out of consideration for Xiao Changqing and Xiao Changying, to avoid causing undue embarrassment to two imperial princes. Simultaneously, she was confined to Hanzhang Palace, forbidden from taking a single step beyond its gates for the rest of her life.
(End of Chapter)
OpenNovel