Chapter 357: Who Was the Perpetrator
The old man used all his strength until Xie Ping stopped struggling, then finally released his grip.
He bent down to check for breath beneath Xie Ping's nose—there was none. Only then did he exhale heavily in relief.
But he didn't stop there. Immediately, he placed the corpse into the vegetable basket, piled cabbages on top, and pushed the cart away exactly as he had come.
The old man's figure drew no attention in the night as he reached the moat behind the mountain. After removing the cabbages, he gave a forceful push—the body tumbled down and was swiftly carried away by the current, vanishing from sight.
"Linglong!"
The old man covered his face, weeping bitterly.
"Grandfather has finally avenged you, my Linglong..."
He sobbed uncontrollably, consumed by agony.
He had only had a son at forty, and his wife passed away shortly after the child's birth. He raised the boy single-handedly, through all the hardships, eventually arranging his marriage. But just after the wedding, his son fell from a mountain and died. Fortunately, his daughter-in-law was pregnant. The old man knelt outside her door for three days before she agreed to keep the child. After giving birth, she remarried.
He raised his only granddaughter with the same devotion, enduring every difficulty as he had with his son.
His granddaughter was promising—she secured a good position at the imperial mausoleum, earning a monthly stipend of eight hundred coins. She even arranged for him to deliver vegetables there, gradually improving their lives.
His only worry was that Linglong tended tigers at the mausoleum; he feared the beasts might turn on her.
He never imagined she would be murdered.
He still remembered that day when he went to the mausoleum looking for Linglong. A palace maid who knew her well told him Linglong had been taken to the capital by the Crown Prince to live in luxury.
Linglong had always been sensible—if she had truly gone to the capital, she would have sent word.
A bad feeling settled in his heart. He traveled to the capital, pulling strings to have a message delivered to Consort Wu at the Eastern Palace, but received no response.
Disheartened, he returned to the mausoleum to question the maid again, only to witness a body being fished out of the moat.
The face was unrecognizable, but he knew the shoes—they were the layered-soled ones he had personally made for his granddaughter...
His Linglong had been killed by vile people!
"Linglong, Grandfather can finally join you..."
After weeping bitterly, the old man took the pair of layered-soled shoes from the vegetable basket, clutched them to his chest, and leaped into the river.
With a splash, all traces of him vanished into the dark waters.
The night grew deeper.
The Crown Prince remained lost in his grief.
Until a palace maid rushed in anxiously: "Your Highness, something terrible has happened—Consort Wu is missing!"
The Crown Prince wiped his tears and stood. "What do you mean, missing?"
The maid trembled as she replied, "Consort Wu instructed me to light the fire while she went to select fresh vegetables for Your Highness, but she never returned... I've sent people to search, but she's nowhere to be found in the entire mausoleum."
"Search! Keep searching!"
The Crown Prince's voice was hoarse from shouting.
But after several days of searching, there was still no sign of her—she had simply vanished.
Just as she had once appeared suddenly by his side, now she had disappeared just as abruptly, taking the child in her womb with her...
In such a short time, he had lost far too much.The Empress was gone.
Consort Fang and her child were gone.
Linglong and her child were gone too...
What did he have left?
After the Empress was buried, the capital returned to tranquility.
Jue Ge'er was now six months old, able to crawl a little, and would giggle with laughter at the slightest tease, becoming the family's joy.
Changsheng officially began her studies at the Imperial College, with Miss Qiu, the second daughter of the Minister of War, as her study companion.
Girls only attended school for half a day—mornings at the Imperial College and afternoons spent learning painting at home, accompanied by Xie Xian.
Yu Ge'er was becoming increasingly diligent. He studied hard every day with Meng Shen and often received praise from Teacher Wang at the Imperial College.
Yun Chu heard that Gong Xi Prince Chu Mo, who had been imprisoned in the dungeon, had somehow gone mad during the Empress's burial, babbling incoherently all day long in his cell.
Chu Yi suspected Chu Mo was feigning madness and specifically invited several imperial physicians to examine him. The results proved that Chu Mo was truly insane.
Judging by the severity of his madness, it seemed even worse than that of the mad aunt.
"Could someone as cunning as Chu Mo have gone mad from shock on his own?" Yun Chu looked at the man beside her. "Who could have done this?"
Chu Yi replied calmly, "I've investigated. Chu Rui once visited the dungeon."
"Chu Rui?"
Yun Chu was surprised.
That sickly prince, who had once relied on women's heart's blood to sustain his life, had grown even weaker after saving the Emperor. How could he have gone to the dungeon?
Was Chu Mo's madness caused by Chu Rui?
What was his purpose?
"Does he want to restore the former Crown Prince's reign?"
Yun Chu tentatively asked.
Chu Yi shook his head. "It's unclear for now. I've had people watching him all along, and there's been nothing unusual in any aspect."
As the couple spoke, Cheng Zongguan entered with his head bowed to report: "Your Highness, Princess Consort, Prince Zhuang's residence has sent a wedding invitation."
Chu Yi took the invitation.
Yun Chu glanced at it.
Chu Rui was getting married, to the eldest daughter of the Su family from Anding.
If she remembered correctly, the Su family from Anding should be the maternal family of the current Emperor's birth mother.
The Su family lived far from the capital and had built their wealth through business. Although they worked hard to educate their children, over the years, only one had passed the imperial examinations at the provincial level, not even qualifying for court attendance.
Though the Emperor wished to promote them, the Su family was simply too incompetent to be elevated.
If Chu Rui intended to contend for the throne, he should marry a daughter from a prominent family, not the daughter of a merchant household.
"His Majesty arranging such a marriage for him must be for surveillance," Chu Yi said calmly. "He saved His Majesty and received rewards, but he was never truly trusted. From now on, his bedmate will be His Majesty's best spy."
Yun Chu nodded.
After Gong Xi Prince's downfall, Xie Shi'an had disappeared for a time.
She had sent people to investigate and found that Xie Shi'an had secretly returned alone to his hometown in Jizhou.
The Xie clan members in Jizhou had long ago seized the farmland and manors that Xie Jingyu had acquired. After Xie Shi'an returned, using some unknown method, he made the clan members obediently return all the properties and manors.
She had used Xie Shi'an's hand to eliminate Gong Xi Prince.
With some of Gong Xi Prince's followers still at large, Xie Shi'an probably wouldn't dare return to the capital.
But she didn't believe someone like Xie Shi'an would be content to stay in a village in Jizhou.
As she pondered, a servant entered to report: "Princess Consort, Xie Yuanshi requests an audience."
Yun Chu took a sip of tea. "Bring her in."Yuan Shi had never actively committed any evil deeds herself, but numerous incidents within the Xie family had unfolded right before her eyes. Those she was unaware of were one matter, but even when she knew about them, she would turn a blind eye.
Now, Yuan Shi bears all the sins of the Xie family, a bitter fruit she herself had sown.
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