Chapter 1097 - Chapter 1097 Loosen Reins the Better to Tighten them, Lay a Trap with Fresh Bait
Chapter 1097 Loosen Reins the Better to Tighten them, Lay a Trap with Fresh Bait
While Chu Liuchen was spurring the flying horse on his way to the capital city, even at night, Shao Wanru welcomed the imperial physician.
The imperial physician took a female physician with him. After feeling Shao Wanru’s pulse, the female physician came in to change the fresh dressing for Shao Wanru’s wound. After that, she left.
Rui’an Great Elder Princess sat outside with a severe face, and the female physician came forward to salute her.
“How is Princess Chen?” Rui’an Great Elder Princess asked coldly, looking nervous.
“Your Grace, Princess Chen should take good care of herself,” the female physician replied respectfully.
“How is she?” Rui’an Great Elder Princess asked again.
“Princess Chen is seriously injured.” The female physician had to admit that although she was mentally prepared, she was greatly shocked when seeing Princess Chen’s haggard look. Princess Chen was nearly killed. Fortunately, it was close, but she didn’t die!
Thinking of the position of that wound, the female physician still had a lingering fear.
Because of Princess Chen, everyone in the Palace was very scared and jittery. If something terrible happened to her, it was unknown how a reign of terror would overwhelm all the people related to the Palace. Even so, everyone in the Palace felt in danger for fear that they would be surveyed and severely punished. Even the imperial physicians were implicated. They hadn’t come back after being taken away.
At this time, everyone was cautious with their words and actions. Any slight mishap might bring them a fatal disaster.
“How is the medicine for her?” Rui’an Great Elder Princess took on a ghastly expression. It was widely known that she doted on her granddaughter, who was lost and eventually returned to her. Sure enough, she would look distressed.
“The medicine for her is of high quality.” The female physician hurriedly replied.
Rui’an Great Elder Princess stopped asking and waved her hand to let her withdraw.
The female physician carefully retreated to the door and left the Prince Chen’s Mansion with the imperial physician who brought her there. When they returned to the Palace, they met the Emperor first.
The female physician certainly did not dare to lie and told him the whole truth. After hearing their report, the Emperor asked them to leave and was immersed in thought.
Princess Chen was indeed injured. In particular, she was severely hurt and almost lost her life. This demonstrated that this matter had nothing to do with Chu Liuchen.
Others might not know Chu Liuchen’s feelings for this young Princess Chen, but the Emperor was very clear about it. Because of Princess Chen, Chu Liuchen no longer lived in self-abandon, and his health gradually improved. In the past, no matter how the others asked him to take care of himself, he would never listen and let his health worsen.
From this point, it could be seen that Chu Liuchen liked Shao Wanru, so he would never hurt Shao Wanru. Besides, she was so badly injured that she was almost killed.
Chu Liuchen cared about Shao Wanru’s well-being more than his own life.
When the Emperor thought of this, his last doubt about Chu Liuchen was cleared up. It couldn’t be Chu Liuchen.
The Emperor only knew that Chu Liuchen couldn’t hurt Shao Wanru but had never imagined Shao Wanru taking the initiative to stab herself with the sword. She did that on purpose to dispel the Emperor’s suspicion of Chu Liuchen.
Chu Liuchen wouldn’t harm her, but it didn’t mean she wouldn’t hurt herself. Besides, she was proficient in medical skills and knew how to stab herself appropriately. Her wound looked fatal, but she had strategically avoided touching the most dangerous part of her body.
The Emperor did not expect the seemingly weak Princess Chen would be so decisive and cruel to herself.
Lots of women in the Palace were used to intriguing each other. Many were extremely cruel and merciless to others and were even capable of the most heinous acts. However, that was how they treated others. How could any of them be so decisive and cruel to themselves?
In addition, Shao Wanru’s appearance was as fragile as Chu Liuchen, which was deceptive. No one had thought that Shao Wanru had cut herself with a sword.
As long as the Emperor didn’t doubt Shao Wanru, he wouldn’t suspect that Chu Liuchen sent those people with military crossbows.
In the next few days, both the imperial city and the imperial Palace were under martial law. Any suspicious person would be immediately arrested and interrogated.
There emerged many suspects. When the Ministry of Justice handed over the outcome of many trials to the Emperor, the Emperor was so pissed off that he pounded the table angrily. “The remnant evildoers of the previous dynasty! How are they still alive?!”
“Your Majesty, it has something to do with the leftover evils of the previous dynasty. I heard some of them had lived near the Prince Chen’s Mansion but disappeared later!” The minister of the Ministry of Justice reported.
The people sent by him caught a lot of people, most of whom were people of goodwill. Only a few of them were very suspicious, but it was not easy to let them confess. Only one or two of them couldn’t hold on and revealed a few things but not many. They were only responsible for a small amount of work, so they didn’t know much.
“Search through the entire capital city. Execute the whole family of anyone involved with the leftover evils of the previous dynasty,” the Emperor ordered with hatred.
After the previous dynasty, so many years had passed, but evil remnants were secretly stirring up trouble. Now, they were audacious enough to create a nuisance in his Palace.
“Your Majesty, I think the leftover evils of the previous dynasty did it to alienate you from the princes. The Empress Dowager’s birthday is coming soon, and the princes should still be released,” Prime Minister Wen suggested.
Prime Minister Zhang looked at Prime Minister Wen. He narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, and nodded in agreement. “Your Majesty, since Prince Yue and Prince Zhou are above suspicion, let them out first. They can’t still be locked up on Empress Dowager’s birthday.”
“Your Majesty, I will find out what these leftover evils of the previous dynasty have done. I will never give them any chance to make more trouble,” the minister of Ministry of Justice promised.
The Emperor fell silent. After a while, he said, “But the truth of this matter hasn’t yet been found!”
“Your Majesty, although this matter has not been investigated clearly, it is definitely related to the leftover evils of the previous dynasty. If the two princes are always locked up like this, it will harm their reputations. In the future…” Prime Minister Zhang paused, but everyone in the Imperial Study understood his meaning.
If there were no accidents, one of them would inherit the throne. At this time, regardless of the truth, they were locked up, which would become a black mark against the future emperor. Since they had discovered that the previous dynasty’s evil remnants were involved, they might as well shift all the blame to them to put an end to this matter.
Prime Minister Wen echoed, “Your Majesty, you’d better release the two princes first. The day after tomorrow is the Empress Dowager’s birthday. If you release them at this time, it will show the deep affection between the royal family members and that the two princes are innocent. As for the investigation into other things, it can be done secretly!”
It was inconvenient for Prime Minister Zhang to mention some things, but not for Prime Minister Wen. Prime Minister Zhang’s daughter was going to marry Prince Yue as his legal wife, which made him no outsider in this matter. Thus, he couldn’t talk about this matter at will.
But Prime Minister Wen was different. He wasn’t directly relevant to the two princes, so he could offer unbiased opinions.
Hearing what they all said, the Emperor nodded and said, “Let go of Prince Yue and Prince Zhou first. Although their punishment is lifted, they are not allowed to enter the Palace and should read more books in their mansions.”
The Emperor would withdraw the guards at the gate of their mansions but didn’t intend to let them go out. Though they were released from supervision, they should take the initiative to stay in their places. In this way, it would do less harm to their public reputations.
Prime Minister Zhang and Prime Minister Wen nodded, feeling it was appropriate to deal with this matter in this way.
“Anyone? Come here and give out my order to withdraw the guards before the Phoenix Palace!” The Emperor ordered again. Since Prince Zhou was no longer suspected, he shouldn’t keep the Empress under surveillance.
A eunuch answered and left.
Shao Wanru recovered a bit fast. The wound was on her left arm, so she only needed to take care of her left arm and ensure it stayed still.
However, she looked ghastly pale after losing too much blood and was as white as a sheet. She leaned against the bed and asked several maids to take out the table screen she had prepared. She kept the maple leaf painting under lock long ago. The birthday gift she chose to present to the Empress Dowager was this table screen.
“My Lady, are we really going to hang this decorative border on it?” Yujie looked at the trimming in her hand, tried it, and turned back to ask.
This frill was unsuitable no matter how she looked at it. With large and long fringes, it looked wonderful, but when it was added to this elegant table screen, they were unpleasant to the eye.
“Use this one!” Shao Wanru said with a nod. She had thought about it for the past two days and finally decided to use the border recommended by Nanny Wei.
“My Lady, you said that it would be best to use the one we chose first. But why do you change your idea? This one looks disgraceful at first glance!” Qu Le also advised.
Shao Wanru raised her long eyelashes and said softly with a smile, “I kept a low profile back then because the situation was inappropriate. But things have changed. Even if my table screen isn’t decent enough, the Empress Dowager won’t be angry with me. If such a table screen is presented, the Empress Dowager will be suspicious!”
“Why?” Yujie asked in confusion and looked at the long tassels in her hand.
“How will you view such an incongruous gift?” Shao Wanru asked, smiling.
“I think you do it on purpose. Am I right, My Lady?” Qu Le hesitated for a moment and said. It must be her deliberate plan, for no rational person would make this table screen so intolerable to the eye.
“I haven’t recovered yet, and I was seriously wounded,” Shao Wanru said meaningfully.
Yujie rolled her eyes and said, “My Lady, you are still sick, and the table screen from you looks so unpleasant to the eye. The Empress Dowager will suspect that someone has sabotaged this gift on purpose. Even if she doesn’t mention it at that time, she will know it in her heart!”
“My Lady, do you want the Empress Dowager to ask about it?” Qu Le’s eyes lit up, and she felt that she had guessed it right.
Shao Wanru shook her head and said, “No!”
“No?” The two servant girls were stunned. Both Yujie and Qu Le thought so. Why would she bother to do it if it were not for this reason?
“His Highness will be returning to the capital city soon. Even if His Highness wants to investigate the assassination, he won’t be allowed to. His Majesty won’t let him interfere in it. At most, he will let him sit in on some trials and discussions. But the matter of the table screen is different. It will be less significant than the survey of assassination and will not connected to political reasons. If His Highness insists on interfering, the Emperor will surely allow it.”
When Shao Wanru thought that Chu Liuchen would return to the capital city soon, she couldn’t help smiling tenderly. Although he hadn’t been away for a long time, she often thought of him and hoped he would return to the capital city as soon as possible. Thinking that she could see Chu Liuchen soon, Shao Wanru couldn’t help blushing slightly. Her pale face with a touch of redness appeared surprisingly tender and sweet.
Of course, those who knew she made the severe wound with a sword wouldn’t think so. Her two servant girls viewed their master differently. Princess Chen’s delicate appearance with tenderness and charm was only a false impression that she wanted to give to others. As a matter of fact, Princess Chen was incredibly tough. How could she be as weak and powerless as ordinary women? Of course, she showed a different side to Prince Chen.
Seeing the smile on Shao Wanru’s face, the two servant girls couldn’t help smiling. Prince Chen would arrive in the capital city. Finally, Princess Chen had someone to rely on, and she would never stab herself with a sword in the future. Seeing their master cut herself, the few servant girls nearly fainted out of fear. After all, none of them expected Princess Chen to do that, which was not what they had planned…