sbdcsierra Chapter 818 Justice
Chapter 818 Justice
Lu Yangyang was not surprised by this answer.
Even Consort Yu was not surprised.
If we're talking about who the Tenth Prince has blocked, and who would be so desperate to kill him, the most likely candidate right now is the Third Prince.
In the past two years, the Third Prince has been enjoying great popularity, to the point that half of the ministers in the court have recommended him as the Crown Prince.
Ever since the deposed Crown Prince Zong Que crippled his legs, the hearts of people in the court had begun to waver and take sides. Among His Majesty's sons, apart from Zong Que, the Third Prince was also outstanding in terms of maternal background and talent.
Otherwise, the First Prince wouldn't have suffered a psychological imbalance in his early years, wanting to manipulate the Third Prince as well. The First Prince is His Majesty's eldest son and should have been the most favored, but his life was full of hardship. He suffered from a hidden illness in his childhood, making him virtually invisible in the palace. How could he accept watching his younger brothers become more and more outstanding?
Of the princes who had grown up and were eligible to enter the court, the Fourth Prince had been neglected by the Emperor since childhood. His visibility in the palace was even lower than that of the First Prince. If it weren't for Zong Que raising him from a young age, he would likely have been worn down and died before reaching adulthood. Therefore, the Fourth Prince left the palace at a young age to train in the army, and in all these years, he had only returned to the capital once or twice. In the court, let alone connections, probably very few people even remembered that such a prince existed.
The Fifth Prince is not very talented, but Consort Yang's family was once very wealthy, so he has some resources. Unfortunately, he only had a few days to spare before he encountered the case of the Jiangnan Saltworks. The Yang family fell from grace, and the Fifth Prince naturally lost all hope. Now he continues to be a supporter of the Third Prince.
The remaining princes were either mediocre in talent or came from ordinary families; in short, almost none of them could compare to the Third Prince.
However, the Tenth Prince, who was previously inconspicuous but has only begun to grow in the last two years, is a breath of fresh air among them.
It wasn't that the Tenth Prince was exceptionally talented, but rather that he was not only intelligent and studious, but also very kind and benevolent. Even before leaving the palace and entering court, his amiable nature was already well-known. Furthermore, the Shen family was a powerful and influential clan with many members holding official positions. Initially, they might not have had any designs on him, but as the Tenth Prince grew up, the Shen family inevitably developed expectations. After all, His Majesty was currently in his prime, and princes were still being born in the palace. In other words, if His Majesty could live another ten or twenty years, wouldn't the Tenth Prince's age be just right?
Thus, the Tenth Prince naturally became the next thorn in their side.
Even so, he was only fifteen years old, still young, and had not yet been able to truly compete with the Third Prince. Therefore, even though this answer was not surprising, it was indeed chilling.
Surprisingly, Consort Xu was able to directly identify Consort Xiao.
Consort Yang had been summoned by Consort Xiao today, never expecting that something would actually happen. Her eyelids twitched violently, and even though it was inappropriate, she still shouted out, "This is utter nonsense! Consort Xiao has always been diligent in managing the harem; how can you be allowed to make such unfounded accusations!"
Consort Yang was somewhat guilty, but also somewhat disbelieving. Over the years, not many princes in the palace had died young, and Consort Xiao had managed the harem for more than ten years. If she really wanted to deal with the Tenth Prince, wouldn't she have had many more opportunities in the past? Why wait until the Tenth Prince has grown up before resorting to such despicable tricks?
However, from the moment Consort Xu decided to speak, she already knew that she had no way out. If she confessed honestly in front of the Emperor and dragged the culprit down with her, perhaps His Majesty would take pity on her and protect her son. She could also use this opportunity to ask Consort Yu for a guarantee.
At this moment, Consort Xu calmed down completely. "Your Majesty, I have no other choice but to lie. It was Granny Zhuang, who was by Consort Xiao's side, who instructed me that if I could do this for her, she would plead with Your Majesty to let the young prince return to my side to be raised. I was blinded by greed and thought that it would only cause the tenth prince to have a frequent headache, so I agreed."
"That old nanny Zhuang told me that most of the concubines in the Cold Palace of the previous dynasty went mad like this... because a needle would prick their brain, causing unbearable headaches from time to time. If they drank alcohol, it would exacerbate the pain, driving them insane and causing them to do irrational things. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, His Majesty rewarded the Tenth Prince with wine, and the Tenth Prince was happy and drank quite a bit. I knew my opportunity had come, so I found a moment to tell him that the young prince had caught a cold a few days ago and was pitifully confined to the palace. I asked him to visit him later, and he immediately agreed. Every time he went to Guanju Palace, he would play with the young prince for quite a while. That was enough time for him to have a headache and go crazy after drinking. There were many people taking care of the young prince, so nothing would really happen to him. But since the incident happened in Guanju Palace, it would definitely implicate Consort Duan. I never expected, I really never expected that the Tenth Prince would die suddenly..."
Hearing this, Consort Yu could no longer pretend. She scrambled to her feet, strode over to her, clenched her fists, and glared at her with bloodshot eyes: "You idiot, you idiot, how could you, how could you just kill my Ming'er like this—"
Consort Yu couldn't bear to think that her kind and sensible son had been taken advantage of, his kindness exploited, and that he had been plotted against step by step to be killed.
She thought she had long since seen through people's hearts after living in the palace, but today she realized that you never truly know the pain until the knife is plunged into your own flesh. How could people's hearts be so wicked? How could they be?
Tears streamed down her face, and her clenched fists loosened weakly. She wanted to tear this foolish and selfish woman before her to pieces, but what good would that do? Her Ming'er was dead, just like that—
Consort Xu, her eyes also blurred with tears, looked pleadingly at Consort Yu: "In the hidden compartment under my pillow, there's a box containing evidence of my affair with Granny Zhuang. Sister, I'll atone for my sins. In this life, the next, and the life after that, I'll do anything, just please don't implicate the young prince. He's so young, he doesn't know anything..."
Lu Yangyang quickly gave Ying Xun a wink, and Ying Xun immediately sent someone in to retrieve the evidence.
But Consort Yu couldn't utter a single word. She wanted to tell Consort Xu, "The young prince is still so young, he doesn't know anything. But for the sake of such a child who knows nothing, you selfishly killed my son. He didn't know anything, but my son is already dead..."
But when faced with such a selfish person, every word she uttered was not aimed at the other person's heart, but at her own.
She staggered and turned around, tears streaming down her face as she looked at the Emperor. "Your Majesty, my Shen family has always been loyal. My son is dead. Even if I had coveted the Eastern Palace, I have nothing left now. I only beg Your Majesty to give justice to the unjustly deceased Tenth Prince."