At night.
Xiao Jingheng was reviewing memorials in Chaoyang Palace when Jiang Deshun untimely barged in, interrupting him,
"Your Majesty, Tianji Office has sent back news. As Your Majesty guessed, those two palace maids from Mechanical Wonders Workshop were indeed killed to keep their mouths shut not long after leaving the palace. It was the medical officer who deliberately sprinkled substances on their wounds while treating them, causing their wounds to fester and leading to their deaths. And this medical officer... had dealings with the attendants of Prince Qi's Mansion before."
"Prince Qi?" Xiao Jingheng's brows furrowed, somewhat puzzled, "What does he have to do with Chengjing's death? Why would he go and silence the palace maids from Mechanical Wonders Workshop?"
Having served in the imperial court for a long time, Jiang Deshun had the sharpest eyes for affairs. Since he learned of the letter submitted by Tianji Office, he had already made guesses, suspecting that there were likely some unspeakable secrets between Prince Qi and Concubine Hui.
But he absolutely could not speak of this secret from his mouth, otherwise it would be a slap in the emperor's face.
So he could only pretend he knew nothing and let Xiao Jingheng figure it out himself.
"Your servant does not know about this matter. People from the Secret Agency are also waiting outside to report this to Your Majesty."
The Secret Agency was Xiao Jingheng's secret organization, similar in nature to Tianji Office, except the former were the emperor's henchmen, while the latter was supposed to belong to the Empress Dowager.
Xiao Jingheng harbored suspicions towards Prince Qi this time, not only having Tianji Office secretly keep an eye on Prince Qi's Mansion, but the Secret Agency was also doing the same thing as Tianji Office.
When the people from the Secret Agency came and reported the same thing as Tianji Office,
it confirmed Prince Qi's silencing of people.
As people came in to report, Xiao Jingheng kept fiddling with the ring on his thumb, finding it increasingly strange the more he thought about it.
The palace maids being silenced meant Chengjing's death was no accident.
But the person who silenced them was Prince Qi, who had always been outside the palace. What could Chengjing's being alive interfere with him?
Could it be...
Xiao Jingheng's eyes suddenly fixed as he grimly ordered Jiang Deshun,
"Go and bring me the records of princes entering and leaving the Inner Palace."
Jiang Deshun worked efficiently. In less than a quarter hour he presented the records before Xiao Jingheng.
Xiao Jingheng quickly flipped through the records until he finally stopped at the year Qiyuan 5.
The records detailed:
[Qiyuan 5, 9th month, 16th day, the Emperor's birthday grand celebration, Prince Qi summoned to enter the palace to celebrate. Entered the palace at 1 quarter past noon, left the palace at 3 quarters past xinshi.]
[Qiyuan 5, 11th month, 3rd day, the Emperor summoned Prince Qi to dine and drink in the palace. Entered the palace at 2 quarters past shenshi, stayed overnight at Penglai Island with Prince An, left the palace at 1 quarter past chenshi the next day.]
The remainder of the 11th month, the 9th and 18th, recorded that Xiao Jingheng summoned Prince Qi and Prince An to drink in the palace, and permitted them to stay overnight at Penglai Island in the center of the imperial lake when they were drunk late into the night, leaving the palace the next day after sobering up.
During this period was when the incident with Chuyu happened and Zhaohua entered the Cold Palace.
Xiao Jingheng was distressed then, drinking every day, so he summoned Prince Qi and Prince An several times.
And Chengjing's birthday was on the 15th day of the 8th month in Qiyuan 6.
Concubine Hui gave birth after a full pregnancy, so she must have conceived Chengjing in the 11th month of Qiyuan 5...
The records were detailed and thorough. The 11th month of Qiyuan 5 was also when Prince Qi entered the palace most frequently and even often stayed overnight.
At this point, Xiao Jingheng was even more suspicious, and his face was also unconsciously covered in an iron blue.
He ordered Jiang Deshun to immediately summon Prince An into the palace for questioning in the middle of the night.
When Xiao Jingyan arrived, it was already past zishi.
Bleary-eyed, he lazily paid respects to Xiao Jingheng, then yawned and said:
"Imperial Brother has summoned me to enter the palace so late into the night, could it be that there is some urgent matter?"
Since it concerned Xiao Jingheng's imperial authority, to avoid speculation, he of course could not directly ask.
So he spoke circumspectly, smiling at Xiao Jingyan: "We were thinking Penglai Island has gone a long time without repairs, so it's about time to dispatch people to work on it. Since We ascended the throne, only you and Prince Qi have stayed there, so We wanted to ask your opinion on refurbishing the place."
"Huh?" Xiao Jingyan scratched the back of his head in puzzlement. "Imperial Brother urgently summoned me into the palace in the dead of night, just to ask me this?"
Xiao Jingheng said: "You know I can never keep things bottled up. If I don't finish something today, I won't even be able to sleep well. Just do your Imperial Brother a favor."
Xiao Jingheng knew Xiao Jingyan did not have much expertise in this area. On the contrary, Prince Qi was quite knowledgeable, given that he had Prince Qi's Mansion renovated every three years, extravagantly furnished.
And just as Xiao Jingheng expected, Xiao Jingyan shifted the topic to Prince Qi.
"Imperial Brother should not be asking me about this, but should ask Second Brother instead. After Imperial Brother ascended the throne, Imperial Brother had people manage the renovations of my mansion, and I have always been unrestrained, as long as there is a bed to sleep on I'm fine, I never paid attention to these things."
Following his words, Xiao Jingheng casually asked:
"Oh? Then were you and your Second Brother comfortable staying at Penglai Island?"
"Comfortable, of course comfortable." Xiao Jingyan joked, "Every time we brothers stayed overnight in the palace, wasn't it because we all got drunk? Imperial Brother knows me, I can't hold my liquor. Once I got to Penglai Island I'd fall straight asleep, sometimes even sleeping on the ground. As for comfortable or not, Imperial Brother should ask Second Brother."
"Then after you fell asleep, what about your Second Brother?"
"Second Brother is elegant and can hold his liquor. Every time after drinking with Imperial Brother, Second Brother was still in high spirits. He would often take a lone boat on the lake, appreciating the moon's reflection to form a party of three. Sometimes when I woke up thirsty late into the night, I saw Second Brother's room was still empty, and I truly admire Second Brother's capacity for liquor."
Hearing Xiao Jingyan say this,
Xiao Jingheng only felt like he had been slapped hard across the face, his cheeks burning painfully.
His hands under the desk were clenched tightly into fists, and the veins on the back of his hands were frighteningly taut.
Prince Qi stayed with Xiao Jingyan on Penglai Island. In the dead of night he did not sleep, but insisted on boating alone on the lake.
So in such an unaccompanied moment, what exactly was he doing?
"Your Majesty! This is terrible, Your Majesty!"
Just as Xiao Jingheng was secretly furious, Xiao Yinzi came crashing in a daze,
stumbling to his knees before Xiao Jingheng.
He was so out of breath that he didn't even pause to catch it before reporting:
"Concubine Hui... she is bleeding profusely!"
