Chapter 335.2: Entrap
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The Emperor asked suspiciously, "You could have returned it earlier or later, why did you choose to return it now?"
Old Chief gave an awkward laugh and said, "To tell the truth... This official forgot about it myself. This official only remembered such an old account when he heard that Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing has returned to the palace recently."
It was true that Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing had given him the money.
And he had indeed promised to return double the amount. However, Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing didn’t agree at the time and simply asked for a couplet in return, which he agreed to.
But so many years had passed, even if he insisted on his story of promising to pay back the money, she probably couldn't remember it clearly anymore.
But even if she did remember, people's memories could be faulty.
He could just firmly stick to his story!
Fortunately, neither Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing nor the Emperor clung to the details of the silver, but talked about the brocade box again.
The Emperor said, "You’re saying you put silver in it, but after Marquis Xuanping brought it over today, the content turned into a flying dart, which almost hurt Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing."
"What?!" Old Chief was stunned and alarmed. He fell to his knees and said, "Your Majesty, please see clearly! This official did put silver taels in it! This official doesn't know why it turned into a hidden weapon! This official swear to the heavens!"
Marquis Xuanping gritted his teeth.
Act!
Just keep acting!
Imperial Consort Zhuang smiled and said, "Chief Huo is so sure that he didn't do it. But apart from him, the only one who had contact with the box was Marquis Xuanping."
"Imperial Consort Zhuang!" Empress Xiao’s stern voice shouted at her to stop.
Imperial Consort Zhuang smiled, "This consort has no intention of defaming Marquis Xuanping. This consort is just analyzing the facts."
Marquis Xuanping said, "This official didn't open the box privately after receiving it yesterday. This official kept it on me and put it in my room after returning home. The only people who can enter my room are me and my guard, Chang Jing. Chang Jing didn't touch the box either."
Chang Jing wasn't interested in this kind of thing.
He couldn’t be bothered to look at it even if you showed it to him.
Empress Xiao stood up and walked to her brother's side, saluting the Emperor and saying, "Your Majesty, Marquis Xuanping is loyal to you and has great respect for Imperial Concubine Mother Jing. He would never harm her! Especially... in front of so many people, using something he personally handed over, isn't that foolish?"
Imperial Consort Zhuang smiled faintly and said, "Perhaps someone took advantage of this idea and turned the impossible into possible, so as to escape suspicion."
Empress Xiao's eyes cooled, "This Empress is talking to His Majesty, how can a mere imperial consort like you interrupt?"
Normally, Empress Xiao wouldn't use her status to suppress Imperial Consort Zhuang, as she had the backing of the Empress Dowager and also held significant power. She only spoke like that out of frustration today.
Imperial Consort Zhuang snorted coldly.
The Emperor looked at Marquis Xuanping and asked, "Could it be that someone have sneaked into your room?"
Marquis Xuanping met the Emperor's sharp gaze frankly and said, "Your Majesty, this official dare not say that the entire Marquis Xuanping Estate is impregnable, but my room is guarded by Chang Jing, and this official also slept in it. With our skills, no one could have tampered with it under our noses."
The Emperor thought for a moment and asked, "Chang Jing, you mean the assassin you brought back from the Hidden Night Sect?"
Marquis Xuanping replied, "Yes."
Hidden Night Sect was a force outside of the six states and not affiliated with any country, with its headquarters situated on an island.
All of the assassins from Hidden Night Sect were top-notch experts.
Moreover, Marquis Xuanping was right—— he himself was also one of the top experts.
Old Chief murmured, "What if someone did it while you guys were sleeping?"
Marquis Xuanping looked at him and said with a smile, "Do you know that there are not more than five people in the State of Zhao who can defeat Chang Jing? One is the Supreme Commander, Tang Yueshan; second is Old Marquis Gu of the Marquis Ding'an Estate; and the other three are the Dragon Shadow Guards, the death warriors left by the late Emperor to His Majesty. This official is saying three because he has only seen three, this official doesn’t know if there are more."
Old Chief said seriously, "So there are still people who can commit the crime!"
Marquis Xuanping replied calmly, "Tang Yueshan went to suppress bandits with Ning Wang in the beginning of this month and has not returned yet. He is not in the capital, so how could he commit the crime in my estate?"
Old Chief asked, "Then… What about Old Marquis Gu?"
Marquis Xuanping narrowed his eyes and said, "Are you, surnamed Huo, really that stupid or pretending to be?"
Old Marquis was the Emperor's confidant. The entire nation might know nothing about this matter, but how could this old man Huo Xian, who had the Emperor's trust, not know?
Was he someone to harm Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing?
Did he even know about the existence of this box?
Empress Xiao knew that Old Marquis had been secretly training the army for the Emperor, and she also believed that Old Marquis had nothing to do with this matter.
Imperial Consort Zhuang was a person of Empress Dowager, but Empress Dowager was well-informed. How could she not know that Old Marquis and the Emperor were only superficially at odds?
She sneered, "So it's not this one or that one. Could it be the late Emperor's Dragon Shadow Guards? Marquis Xuanping, why don't you say that the Emperor wants to harm his own imperial concubine mother?"
Imperial Consort Zhuang didn’t know that the Emperor had given the Dragon Shadow Guards to Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing.
Therefore, even if it was the Dragon Shadow Guard's doing, it wasn’t because the Emperor wanted to harm Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, but because Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing wanted to harm herself.
But why would Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing harm herself? Was it to frame Marquis Xuanping or Old Chief?
The Emperor thought that apart from Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's simple and kind-hearted nature, she had no reason to do this. Marquis Xuanping and Old Chief were both his confidants. For what reason would Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing break his arms?
The Emperor looked at Marquis Xuanping coldly and said, "You shall investigate this matter and make sure to find out the truth! If you cannot find out, Zhen will consider it your doing!"
Marquis Xuan Ping: "…"
After leaving the palace, Marquis Xuanping almost couldn't resist pressing Old Chief to the ground and scrubbing the floor with him. "Surnamed Huo, you've made progress. You have even implicated this Marquis!"
Old Chief denied, "Marquis Xuanping, I really don't know why the silver turned into a dart!"
As the number green tea bitch of the State of Zhao, Old Chief's acting skills were top-notch.
Marquis Xuanping gritted his teeth and said, "Since you were once Ah Heng's master, this Marquis won't kill you for now. But once this Marquis finds evidence, even if His Majesty doesn’t kill you, this Marquis will personally end you!"
Old Chief cupped his hands and said, "Farewell, Marquis!"
"Humph!" Marquis Xuanping left with a flick of his sleeves!
Only after he was far away did Old Chief breathe a sigh of relief.
He went to his carriage and climbed onto the footstool.
Inside the carriage, Gu Changqing and Gu Jiao had been waiting for a long time.
"Chief Huo, how did it go?" Gu Changqing asked.
Old Chief smiled and said, "Smoothly! And it was a bit unexpected. I found out that Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing knows martial arts."
In fact, he didn't see Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing catch the dart with her bare hands himself. He asked what happened and Eunuch Wei told him everything on the way out.
He originally expected the death warrior of the late Emperor to take action.
This just showed that in a life and death situation, one couldn’t care less about hiding one's abilities.
Gu Jiao made a sound and said, "Her pulse is so weak, she doesn't seem like someone who practices martial arts."
Gu Changqing thought for a moment and said, "Maybe she took some medicine to change the condition of her pulse."
"Yeah, it's possible." Gu Jiao nodded. Her eyes suddenly became bright, "Can we...?"
"You can’t!" Old Chief ruthlessly took away her sack.
"Does the Emperor suspect her?" Gu Changqing asked.
Old Chief took a sip of tea and said with an evil smile, "Not yet, but the seed of suspicion has been planted. As long as we entrap her a few more times, the seed will sprout and grow into a flower of estrangement in the Emperor's heart!"
Gu Changqing: Uh… But your expression… You really look like a treacherous official right now...
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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