Chapter 95: Time To Raise The Knife
Dou Yun knew a great deal about the matters at Prince Duan’s Mansion. Upon hearing Hua Lin’s name at this moment, he could even guess why Yue Tang was able to come back from the dead after surviving that ordeal.
When Yue Tang helped them up, his eyes were already red: “It was we two who failed the Prince!”
Yue Tang said, “Why say such things?”
Beside them, Gao An had already arranged for people to bring in chairs. Dou Yun did not sit, only gazing at Yue Tang and saying, “Please inform us, Princess, how will the Chu Family proceed from here?”
Yue Tang exchanged a glance with Yan Bei and said, “Everything is prepared, just waiting to bring the case before the Imperial Court.”
The human witnesses and physical evidence were all provided by the Du Family. Now Dou Yun and Guo Yin had come forward on their own, eliminating her last remaining concern. Naturally, it was time to settle accounts with the Chu Family next.
The Chu Family’s crimes were heinous; no one could be left alive. Going through the trouble of bringing the case before the Imperial Court was simply because having the Imperial Court issue the decree to kill them was the most legitimate and trouble-free way to uproot the Chu Family, which had been entrenched in the Capital City for decades.
“In that case, Princess, you already know the Chu Family’s crimes like the back of your hand. But does the Princess know how the Chu Family was able to orchestrate such a massive conspiracy?”
This question struck right at Yue Tang’s heart. She asked, “Do you know?”
Dou Yun shook his head: “I do not know either.
“At the time, the two of us privately believed the Du Family was the primary suspect, because they ultimately took over the Imperial City Department. But because we could not obtain solid proof of their murder, and the Du Family had no means to enter the Palace to assassinate the Prince, we could not confirm them as the culprits. Moreover, we two felt we were powerless to confront the Du Family, so we chose to endure in silence.
“Now that the truth is revealed, since the Du Family was being used by the Chu Family, the Chu Family’s purpose in setting up the scheme must have been for the Imperial City Department.
“But even though the Chu Family is powerful with many followers, they could not orchestrate schemes to kill both the Prince and the Princess at the same time. So I cannot understand the Chu Family’s true purpose.”
At this point, he held up the box he had brought with both hands. “After Chu Xin was captured, I realized that the recent events must have been orchestrated by the Princess behind the scenes. After thinking it over, I felt it was time to inform the Princess of the clues I had detected.”
He opened the box and took out two letters from it. “These two letters were both left to me by the Prince during his lifetime. The Princess should recognize this handwriting?”
Upon hearing it concerned Prince Duan, Yue Tang focused her gaze. Looking closely at the handwriting, her expression changed.
“It is indeed Father’s handwriting! What does this letter say?”
“It is a handwritten note left by the Prince before the incident, entrusting me to remain diligently in my position at the Imperial City Department. The letter said that during his time in the Palace, no matter what happened, I should not panic. Unless he personally ordered it, I should not act rashly.
“At the end, it also instructed me to keep a close watch on the Chu Family’s movements during that period.”
Seeing that she upheld propriety and did not take the initiative to read the letter, Dou Yun drew out the letter paper himself. “At the time, I only thought it ordinary. The Emperor was gravely ill then, and the Second Prince and Princess’s birthdays were imminent. Although the Emperor had not spoken, everyone in the Imperial Court had already speculated that the birthday banquet on the day of your and the Second Prince’s birthdays would be when the Crown Prince was named.
“In that situation, the Emperor could not afford the slightest mishap. It was reasonable for the Prince to remind me along the way that if the Emperor suddenly met with misfortune, someone in the Imperial Court might act restlessly, to prevent me from acting impulsively and falling into others’ traps.
“And the Chu Family was at odds with the Shen Family. At that time, Empress Shen had suddenly been elevated, so the Chu Family was surely dissatisfied and might seek to cause trouble.
“But unexpectedly, nothing happened to the Shen Family. Then at noon came the news that the First Prince and Second Prince had met with danger, followed by the Emperor vomiting blood, and the Imperial Physicians on high alert.
“Because of this letter, I still focused solely on watching Chu Ying closely, but I found he had no unusual movements at all. During those few days, very few people even visited the Chu Family’s gate.”
Yue Tang was silent for a moment, then said gravely, “Of course he had no movements, because at that time, the Chu Family’s target was not the Shen Family at all, but me. And Chu Ying had already fully delegated the murder of me to Du Minghuan. At that time, they were reaping the rewards.”
“Exactly.” Dou Yun nodded. “But at the time, I did not understand why the Prince wanted me to watch the Chu Family. Only now that the Chu Family has been exposed does it all make sense. It turns out the Chu Family did have a conspiracy; it was just that they had already set up their scheme in advance by then!”
Yue Tang quickly read through the contents of the letter: “Did Father leave any other instructions?”
Dou Yun paused, then looked toward Guo Yin beside him.
Guo Yin hurriedly said, “The Prince did not instruct me on anything. In the months before that, the Prince kept a close eye on yamen affairs, especially the departments under me and old Dou. The Prince would often personally inspect, and even spot-check subordinates; he was extremely strict.
“During that period, I was also diligently training troops and had no time to spare. Probably because of that, the Prince did not give me any special instructions.”
Yue Tang then asked Dou Yun, “What about the other letter? What does it say?”
“The other one is actually just a note.” Hearing this, Dou Yun opened the other envelope as well. “After the First Prince left the Capital City for Jiangling to receive the Second Prince, the Prince also once ordered me to handle a matter.
“That day, the Prince had someone deliver this note to me while I was patrolling the city, telling me to immediately drive a carriage to the north Palace Gate and wait.
“This subordinate did as ordered, and then two palace matrons came out from the Palace. They gave me two large bundles of things.”
“Receiving things from palace matrons at the rear Palace Gate?” Yue Tang interrupted him.
Prince Duan had moved freely in the Palace for many years, but Yue Tang had never heard of him having any connections to the inner Palace. Receiving things from palace matrons at the rear Palace Gate could not possibly have been something the Former Emperor knew about.
“Exactly.” Dou Yun’s voice slowed. “Not only that, I recognized one of them as formerly belonging to the First Prince, and the other belonging to Consort An. There was quite a bit of property in those bundles, and probably some scrolls as well, but I only glanced at them and did not dare look closely. After receiving them, I took them straight to Prince Duan’s Mansion and handed them to the Prince.”
Whether the First Prince or Consort An, both were now outside the current power struggles.
But it had only been three years, and no one had forgotten that Prince Duan had stood with Empress Mu and the Second Prince from beginning to end. No matter which consort or prince, Prince Duan should not have had private interactions with them.
Yet at this moment, Dou Yun said that after the First Prince left the Capital City, Prince Duan had actually arranged for him to receive things from Consort An and her son at the rear gate of the Imperial Palace!
Two large bundles of property and scrolls certainly could not have been the palace servants’ own.
With the First Prince not in the Palace, the only one who could send people after them was Consort An.
She actually dared to hand them over to Prince Duan, and even trusted the person he sent. Did that not mean that Consort An and her son had actually been in contact with Prince Duan all along? And with sufficiently deep friendship?
Yue Tang gathered her thoughts. “Is everything you said true?”
Dou Yun straightened his body: “I swear, if there is a single false word, may my entire Dou Family meet a bad end!
“In fact, I also found it strange, so I kept this letter. I only spoke of it after the Princess returned.” Dou Yun clutched his left shoulder, which was soaked through with blood, and continued, “Princess, I just feel that the Prince’s proposal for the First Prince to go to Jiangling to receive the Second Prince’s return to the Capital City probably had deeper meaning.
“At the very least, I believe the First Prince knew about this in advance.
“Do you think the First Prince going to Jiangling might have been something the Prince arranged with him?”
Yue Tang’s eyes flickered slightly. After a moment, she said, “Did Father have any other interactions with Consort An and her son before this?”
“This is the only instance I know of.”
Yue Tang stared at the lamplight, lost in thought.
Consort An was the orphaned daughter of a fallen official family. Her father had only her as a daughter. Because of distant kinship with the Former Emperor’s birth mother’s family, Consort An had met the Emperor in her youth. Before her father’s death, not knowing who else to entrust his daughter to, he thought of the Former Emperor.
The old father figured that since the Former Emperor had many consorts, one more would not matter, so as long as the Former Emperor provided for her food and clothing, a peaceful life would suffice.
At the time, it was arranged by the old Empress Dowager to bring Consort An into the Palace. Empress Mu’s first pregnancy ended in miscarriage in her abdomen, and she rested for two years. During that time, Consort An became pregnant with the First Prince.
Consort An was spoiled and jealous, often clashing with Empress Dowager Shen, who was then still a consort. Both had been scolded by Empress Mu more than once.
Fortunately, though spoiled, she did not stir up trouble. As long as no one infringed on the First Prince, even if someone overstepped, she would not pursue it deeply.
Yue Tang had personally heard her curse Prince Duan as an old fool behind his back. Why she cursed him, Yue Tang did not know, but how did a rear palace consort who cursed Prince Duan in private later come to trust this “old fool” so much?
Moreover, back then, Prince Duan had reported the First Prince for catching birds in the palace where Empress Mu had lived before her death, and had him sent to guard the Imperial Mausoleum for three months. With Consort An’s protective nature, how could she be willing to have any connection with Prince Duan?
After the First Prince left the Capital City to receive his younger brother, why did Consort An transfer those important things to him?
Consort An’s maternal home had no one left. Where did those bundles of property ultimately go?
It could not be that Prince Duan needed her support, could it?
“How is Consort An now?”
It was Huo Yun who suddenly spoke, breaking the room’s silence.
Yue Tang came back to herself and looked toward Yan Bei.
Yan Bei said, “After the Former Emperor passed away, she was already dead. Someone saw that before her death, Empress Dowager Shen’s palace servants had gone to her palace. Later, people from her palace revealed that there was blood at the corners of her mouth when she died, so she was probably poisoned by Empress Dowager Shen.”
After entering the court back then, he had examined the corpses of the Former Emperor and Prince Duan, so he had naturally also inquired about the birth mother of the related First Prince.
Since they had been adversaries before, once the man was gone, the one who naturally rose to power would begin eliminating rivals. Empress Dowager Shen’s actions were not strange at all.
With both Consort An and her son dead, and no one left to speak for them, no one would pursue Empress Dowager Shen’s actions.
A trace of discomfort flashed through Yue Tang’s heart.
Though Consort An had a bad temper, she had never harmed anyone. Perhaps because she knew she had no support outside the Palace, though she vied for supremacy with the Shen woman, she never challenged the Empress. Because of this, when Empress Mu was alive, she also cared for the First Prince. Even when he erred, after punishment, she would still reason with him.
The First Prince, raised by Consort An, in Yue Tang’s view, had never committed any major faults. In her lonely and bored childhood days, the First Prince had dispelled much of it for her. Her habit of loving to drink was something she had picked up together with this cousin.
For their mother and son to end up like this, even though Yue Tang now had a heart of stone, she still felt a stifling pain in her chest.
After a silence, she asked Dou Yun, “When you handed the property to Father, did he say anything?”
“He said nothing, just told me to leave it and sent me away.”
Yue Tang clutched the two letters, feeling as if a stone weighed on her heart.
Nothing had been left behind. If Dou Yun had not happened to be the right person for it, probably not even this clue would have remained in his hands.
The lamp wick crackled like a stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring ripples.
She looked at Dou Yun: “Thank you for telling me these two things. And thank you even more for retrieving this golden seal for me.”
“It is this subordinate’s duty.” Dou Yun bowed deeply, then said gravely: “I have been pondering that the Prince would never commit suicide, and the Former Emperor would not issue a decree to kill before his son’s fate was decided. It is almost certain the Prince died by murder.
“This person, I once suspected the Chu Family. But the Chu Family is not powerful enough to assassinate his own brother in the Former Emperor’s palace. Now that their assassination conspiracy against the Princess has surfaced, it seems to further prove they could not have been involved in the Prince’s death.
“It can only be said that the murderer is someone else.
“What I have said, I only hope it can be of some use to the Princess.
“We two even more hope the Princess can soon return to Prince Duan’s Mansion and restore the mansion’s former glory!”
At this point, he moved to kneel again.
Yue Tang supported his arm: “Since you have always been loyal to Prince Duan’s Mansion, this sincerity is enough. Why the extra formalities?”
She gazed at Hua Lin, who was already hurrying over from outside the door, folded the letter paper, and said slowly: “First let Hua Lin examine your wound. We can talk about other things after the injury is treated.”
“Where is the person?”
By the time the words were said, Hua Lin had already come in carrying the medical kit. Seeing Dou Yun, he pulled a long face: “It’s you!”
Dou Yun had seen Hua Lin at the Prince’s Mansion before and now understood his attitude. Feeling somewhat ashamed, he stood and said, “It’s just a minor injury; no need to trouble Divine Physician Hua. I can apply some medicine when I get back.”
Yue Tang pressed his shoulder, making him sit: “Since you have come before me, you must acknowledge yourself as my person. And as my person, you should follow my arrangements.”
Dou Yun, a tall and sturdy man, could not move under her slender hand.
He was secretly shocked, realizing at this moment that this golden branch, living alone outside for those years, had indeed not been idle.
So how could he muster any defiance?
He could only sit obediently and let Hua Lin huff and puff as he tugged at his collar.
Yue Tang went behind the screen and stood under the corridor, watching the rain threads that had begun to fall unnoticed in the deep blue night sky outside the door.
Yan Bei came behind her and removed his outer robe, draping it over her: “I’ll have Jiang Shao investigate the past interactions between your father and Consort An and her son. Nowadays, no one pays attention to that mother and son pair, and the Palace people have let their guard down; there might be some clues.”
Yue Tang shook her head: “No need.
“Handle the important matters first.
“Dou Yun and the others have already come. After Du Minghuan steps down, someone in the Imperial City Department has already held the line. The final obstacle to revenge against the Chu Family has been removed.
“Dawn is approaching; it’s time for me to raise the knife aimed at the Chu Family.”
