The Phoenix is Back - Chapter 122
Chapter 122 Crown Prince Is Dead
Zongde Palace.
The Emperor raised his hand and waved away the attendants in the hall. He stared down at Chu Xizhi coldly and said, “Xizhi, you are my favourite son! Sooner or later, this treasure will be handed over to you, but you … can’t you wait so long!”
“Father Emperor, the Crown Prince’s poisoning has nothing to do with my son. Father Emperor, please take a good look.” Chu Xizhi knelt on the ground and shouted.
“Your front foot appeared at the back door of the Crown Prince’s Mansion, and the news of the Crown Prince being poisoned came out from your back foot. Could it be that all of this was just a coincidence?” The Emperor stared coldly at Chu Xizhi, his eyes flashing as he tried his best to suppress the anger in his chest.
“Father, this son was lured to the Crown Prince’s Mansion. Today, someone attacked this son. This son chased that person to the Crown Prince’s Mansion, but I never thought that such a thing would happen. This son is truly wronged!” Chu Xizhi bowed and saluted.
The Emperor smiled coldly, “That person?”
“Your son didn’t notice for a moment and let him escape.”
“Run away! Heh!” The Emperor sneered a few times. He turned around and sat down in front of the couch. He raised his hand and gently picked up the teacup on the small table. His eyes suddenly turned cold. At the same time, the teacup in his hand suddenly smashed towards Chu Xizhi. “Do you think I’m old fool? With your martial arts skills, who can escape from your pursuit bit by bit? Not to mention, those guards beside you are all fools!”
Bright red blood oozed out from Chu Xizhi’s smooth forehead.
Chu Xizhi knelt on the ground motionlessly, only raising his eyes to face the Emperor’s furious gaze. “Father, as you said, your doting on your son is well known. Your son really has no reason to attack the Crown Prince!” Moreover, even if this son really wanted to attack the Crown Prince, it was impossible for him to personally attack him and let others catch him. Royal Father, it is clear that someone is deliberately trying to frame this son! Father Emperor, please investigate! ”
“Nonsense!” The Emperor slammed the table and suddenly stood up. His body trembled slightly from Chu Xizhi’s words. His sharp eyes swept towards Chu Xizhi, who was kneeling on the ground, like unsheathed swords.
“Your Majesty, please calm down.” Eunuch Zhang, who was the only one allowed to stay, hurriedly stroked the Emperor’s back to help him breathe a sigh of relief.
“Your Majesty, Lord Imperial History King of Zuodu, Lord Zhou of the Ministry of Rites, Lord Xu of the Ministry of Household Registry, Scholar Ji and Elder Zhang are here to meet Your Majesty.” A little eunuch walked in and bowed his head.
“What are they doing here!” The Emperor’s eyebrows furrowed slightly as his cold eyes slowly swept past Chu Xizhi. Finally, he turned to look at Zhang Gonggong, who was standing beside him, and said, “Go out and take a look.”
“Yes.” Eunuch Zhang answered and went out. A moment later, he walked in again and bowed to the Emperor. He whispered in the Emperor’s ear, “Your Majesty, a few adults came to His Highness King Yan to plead for mercy.”
The Emperor’s expression changed abruptly, and his sharp gaze swept towards Chu Xizhi. Suddenly, anger surged in his chest like ten thousand horses. He did his best to hold his breath, and only then did his mood gradually calm down.
However, after calling him to Chong’an Hall for a moment, these people immediately rushed over to protect their master! These people still didn’t place him in the eyes of the emperor!
“Good! Good!” The Emperor looked at Chu Xizhi and lifted his voice to say good-bye. Finally, he looked at Chu Xizhi with a gloomy expression and said, “Since they have all come to Chong’an Hall to plead for your mercy, then you should go out and kneel with them!”
“Royal Father!”
“What? Do you want to resist the decree?”
“I don’t dare.” Chu Xizhi fell to the ground in fear.
Prince Yan’s Mansion.
Xiao Xiwei anxiously walked around the room. Ever since she knew that Chu Xizhi had been brought into the Chongde Palace, there had been no news of him for two hours.
“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. Brother Huang was confident in this matter. Otherwise, with Brother Huang’s kung fu, how could the Imperial Army catch you? Don’t worry.” Chu Muzhi said to Xiao Xiwei as he sat on the chair and fiddled with the fruit on the fruit plate.
Xiao Xiwei rolled his eyes at Chu Mu. Before he could say anything, the door suddenly opened and Zi Yan suddenly walked in.
“Princess.”
Xiao Xiwei supported Zi Yan, who was about to bow, “How is it? Any news?”
“The Emperor punished His Highness and a few other lords who pleaded for mercy. They knelt in front of Zongde Hall.” Zi Yan said.
“What … Then, the Consort? Does the Consort know about this?” Xiao Xi grabbed Zi Yan’s hand and said anxiously.
“Imperial Concubine Niang Niang has also gone, but the Emperor has already set off for the Eastern Palace.” Zi Yan said.
After hearing Zi Yan’s words, Xiao Xiwei finally couldn’t help but turn around and look at Chu Muzhi. “What exactly are you planning? Did you do the thing that the Crown Prince was poisoned? If it was you who did it, why did you deliberately let others find out?”
At this moment, her mind seemed to be in a mess, wet and chaotic.
“Sister-in-law, haven’t you always been the calmest?” Chu Muzhi looked at Xiao Xiwei and pursed his lips as he smiled. He tossed the fruit in his hand into the air and caught it steadily.
Could it be that Royal Brother wanted him to go to Prince Yan’s Mansion to stabilize his little Sister-in-law? Little Sister-in-law was originally such a calm and intelligent person, but when she encountered the matter of Royal Brother, she was unable to remain calm.
“Your Highness Prince Qin, since when are you still playing tricks on me?” Zi Yan couldn’t bear to watch any longer and couldn’t help but ask.
After hearing Zi Yan’s words, Chu Muzhi covered his mouth and chuckled. “The poison in the Crown Prince is actually a chronic poison. All we did was’accidentally ‘stimulate the poison in his body. As for why Royal Brother was deliberately caught … Royal Sister-in-law, do you know that the Crown Prince Zheng Lin has already returned to the capital?”
“What?” Xiao Xiwei couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.
The news that Zheng Lin wanted to escape back to the capital had already spread back to the capital. The capital was heavily guarded, so how could he easily sneak in unless …
“You brought him to the capital.”
“Naturally.”
Seeing Chu Muzhi’s calm and composed appearance, Xiao Xiwei’s suspense gradually calmed down. She recalled what had happened today, and her confused thoughts gradually became clear.
The Crown Prince was suddenly poisoned, Xi Zhi was deliberately captured by the Imperial Army and punished, and Zheng Lin also returned to the capital at this time … All of these things were linked together, so the trap Xi Zhi set up gradually became clearer.
“Looks like Sister-in-law has already thought of it.” Chu Muzhi laughed.
Xiao Xi smiled and calmly sat down on a chair and poured himself a cup of tea. “Presumably, Zheng Lin also saw that he was taken away by the Imperial Army.”
Chu Xizhi deliberately luring the matter of the Crown Prince being poisoned onto his body was nothing more than asking the Emperor to punish him. However, there was no evidence to prove that the Crown Prince’s poisoning was related to Chu Xizhi. Just the Imperial Army bumping into Chu Xizhi at the entrance of the Crown Prince’s Mansion was not enough to convict him. At most, they could scold him. Moreover, the chronic poison the Crown Prince had been infected with was probably planted by the Emperor himself. The Crown Prince must have been banned. The items were prepared by the Emperor’s people. Even if others wanted to poison him, they would not have the chance. However, what Chu Xizhi wanted was more than a few scolds. If he wanted the Crown Prince to believe that the Emperor had secretly chosen Chu Yanzhi to support Chu Xizhi on the surface, then he would have to be punished in public. That was why several ministers of the King Yan Party came forward to plead for mercy for him.
“Imperial Sister-in-law is indeed Zhuge. She even guessed this.” Chu Muzhi looked at Xiao Xiwei with admiration and said, “That’s right, Brother Huang originally planned to sneak Zheng Lin into the Crown Prince’s Mansion. I didn’t expect …”
“Unexpectedly, he was discovered by the Imperial Army around the Crown Prince’s Mansion. He suspected that the Crown Prince was poisoned by him and was brought into the palace.” Xiao Xi answered Chu Muzhi with a smile.
Chu Muzhi nodded.
Since Chu Xizhi wanted to sneak into the Crown Prince’s Mansion with Zheng Lin, how could he poison the Crown Prince? Therefore, Zheng Lin didn’t need to think about it to know that someone was trying to frame Chu Xi with the Crown Prince’s poisoning. Of course, the prerequisite for Zheng Lin to believe this was that Chu Yanzhi didn’t show any mercy when he attacked the Zheng Clan in the northwest, and even secretly killed them. However, Xiao Xiwei believed that most of these so-called’killers’ were secretly ordered by Chu Xizhi, because Chu Yan’s position was unstable and there were still many places where the Crown Prince could be used as a party.
“Where is Zheng Lin now?” Xiao Xiwei said.
“Imperial Sister-in-law, don’t worry. I have already settled him down according to Imperial Brother’s instructions. I will arrange for him to meet Lu Haichuan as soon as the time comes.” Chu Muzhi said.
“Duke Lu’s heir, Lu Haichuan?” Xiao Xi frowned slightly.
Didn’t Lu Haichuan get sick to the point of dying? Otherwise, why would Lu Haiyang think that he would marry Xichun in advance on the pretext that he was happy?
‘”Sister-in-law, you also know that Lu Haichuan is from the Crown Prince, but Lu Haiyang is from Chu Yanzhi. If Lu Haichuan doesn’t die, how can the Duke’s Mansion fall into Lu Haiyang’s hands?” Chu Muzhi said.
“In other words, Lu Haichuan is fine.” Xiao Xi stared at Chu Muzhi with a cold expression.
Chu Mu was stunned, “Yes, that’s right … Sister-in-law, why, why are you asking?”
“Since you can cure Lu Haichuan, why didn’t you act earlier?” Xiao Xiwei said sternly.
If Lu Haichuan recovered, Xichun would not have to marry Lu Haiyang.
“Sister-in-law … the poison in Lu Haichuan needs to be removed slowly. Besides, the time has not come before …”
“Have you ever thought about Xichun?”
Chu Mu was stunned. After being stunned for a moment, he said in a low voice, “Sister-in-law, Xi Chun hasn’t gotten married yet. Besides, Lu Haiyang married her to rope Xiang Mingxuan in. He won’t do anything to Xi Chun.”
Even though Xiao Xiwei knew that what Chu Muzhi said was the truth, he still felt very uncomfortable after hearing it.
What if …
The ending of the last spring was like a taut string in her mind, she was always afraid that she would hear some bad news.
“Your Highness, it’s getting dark now. I wonder how long the Emperor will punish our prince to kneel?” Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Zi Yan hurriedly interrupted.
When Xiao Xiwei mentioned Chu Xizhi, she unconsciously knitted her brows and looked out of the room.
It has been almost three hours now, I wonder how he is now?
Chu Muzhi shook his head with a bitter face. “The Crown Prince’s sudden poisonous hair has disrupted Father Emperor’s steps. Furthermore … Father Emperor has not returned from the Eastern Palace. I presume that the situation in the Eastern Palace is not good. I suspect that Royal Brother will not be able to return tonight …”
Xiao Xiwei’s eyes sank. “Zi Yan, immediately send someone to the Eastern Palace to investigate. As soon as there’s news, immediately report it to me.”
In her previous life, she remembered that the Crown Prince had committed suicide after failing to seek rebellion, but now, seeing this situation, she was afraid …
“Yes.” Zi Yan replied and hurriedly retreated.
Xiao Xiwei raised his eyes and walked to the door. Looking at the gradually gloomy sky, he suddenly said, “What do you think the Crown Prince will do if he dies?”
Chu Muzhi frowned and sighed softly, “I presume that the person from the Chongde Palace will be furious …”
Chu Yanzhi had yet to return from the northwest. Once the Crown Prince died, the most powerful prince in the capital was only the Seventh Emperor Brother. There was no need to think about how furious that person would be.
This night, the Yan Palace was brightly lit.
At this time, news finally came from the Eastern Palace that the Crown Prince had died.
