Chapter 1208 - Chapter 1208 Impeaching Princess Chen
Chapter 1208 Impeaching Princess Chen
The junior official of the Ministry of Justice disappeared in an alley. At that time, a carriage entered that area, and then it stopped at the back gate of Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion. Also, someone else was seen in the alley.
That night, Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion was on fire, and some men in black invaded it. Many people saw that Commandery Prince Qing was injured. Early in the morning, Chu Qing knelt in the hall and cried to the Emperor.
He said that he didn’t know who he had offended, and that person had sent so many people to assassinate him. Chu Qing ask the Emperor to uphold justice for him.
The Emperor was furious and asked the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court to investigate the case together. Prime Minister Zhang and Prime Minister Wen were also reprimanded. The officials of the six ministries looked timid like a group of quails, for fear that the Emperor would call their names.
Standing in front of the stairs, Chu Liuyue also frowned. This matter happened so suddenly. He wasn’t aware of it before. He couldn’t help guessing who did it. He looked sideways at Chu Liuzhou and thought that it might be Chu Liuzhou who had done such a reckless thing.
Then, he looked at Chu Liuchen. He was so ruthless, so it was possible that it was Chu Liuchen who had done it.
As for Chu Liuxin, he probably didn’t do it, but it was not absolutely impossible. Consort Ming was not a good person either.
Of course, the most suspicious person was Prince Cheng. Chu Liuyue had found some clues and thought it would likely be Prince Cheng who had done it.
Many people had the same idea. For so many years, no one doubted Prince Cheng. They thought that Prince Cheng was really a man of few desires. But now many people had discovered something and felt Prince Cheng was the most suspicious one.
After all the civil and military officials in the imperial court were scolded, the Emperor ordered the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court to solve the case as soon as possible. After that, he mentioned Madam Jiang, which was not trivial. As the Madam of Marquis Xing, she died inexplicably in the Ministry of Justice. It was hard for the officials of the Ministry of Justice to absolve themselves of the blame.
Starting from the minister of the Ministry of Justice, the Emperor deducted their salaries one by one and asked them to find out the truth in a short time whether Madam Jiang committed suicide out of desperation or someone else did it secretly.
The Emperor did not mention that the Ministry of Justice had lost a junior official.
In fact, everyone thought that it was better to report that Madam Jiang had committed suicide. The duty of the Ministry of Justice had always been maintaining justice. Now a perfectly healthy person went in but was dead, which would cause panic in the capital city.
The high-ranking officials thought that it was good for all of them to conceal the matter about the junior official and report that he couldn’t stand the stimulation and committed suicide.
Many people secretly breathed a sigh of relief when the Emperor did not mention the matter of the junior official. They thought that at least the Emperor agreed with them. It was impossible to really hide it from him.
“Your Majesty, although Madam Jiang, the Madam of Marquis Xing, had misbehaved, she didn’t deserve to die. She committed suicide because of Princess Chen. Princess Chen can’t escape the responsibility. Please punish Princess Chen.” Someone stepped out of the official’s platform, knelt in front of the Emperor, and presented a memorial to the throne. “I propose impeaching Princess Chen.”
As soon as he stood out, another imperial censor immediately came out and took out a memorial. “I also propose impeaching Princess Chen!”
With those two people taking the lead, some others continued to stand out from the platform, presenting memorials.
The eunuch stepped forward, took them one by one, and presented them to the Emperor.
Although these memorials used different phrases, there was only one meaning in them. Princess Chen was vicious. She clearly knew that the death of Secondary Consort Shao would greatly stimulate Madam Jiang, but she still provoked her. As a result, Madam Jiang talked nonsense like crazy and finally died in the Ministry of Justice because she couldn’t stand the blow for a while.
What everyone wrote in their memorial carefully avoided Prince Chen, Chu Liuchen. He was now standing on the steps, and no one dared to provoke him. They only mentioned Princess Chen and did not mention that Prince Chen had sent his men to inform the Ministry of Justice, which caused Madam Jiang to be taken away.
“Princess Chen?” The Emperor had a gloomy face.
“Your Excellency, do you mean that what Madam Jiang said before must be false? Is it false that Marquis Xing murdered his brother and sister-in-law? Do you dare to vouch for Marquis Xing?” Chu Liuchen said lazily and walked to the front of the main hall. He had a bright smile on his face, but his eyes were full of mockery.
The main hall instantly fell silent.
Some people knew that Madam Jiang said that Shao Jing killed his brother and sister-in-law, but some people didn’t.
Some of the insiders deliberately hid these words, but some didn’t take them seriously. The others didn’t understand the meaning of Chu Liuchen’s words. But whether those people understood it or not, they knew that if they spoke so rashly at this time, it would inevitably make Prince Chen angry. This man was not easy to deal with.
Chu Liuchen raised his eyes and said with a casual smile, “Why is it that you don’t know about it?” He slowly glanced at the faces of all the important officials and said, “Don’t you know? Since you don’t know it, how dare you submit a memorial? Did you do it due to some hearsay or groundless rumors? And yet you’re officials.”
These words were a blow to everyone, especially those who had submitted memorials.
Although they were not high-ranking officials, since they dared to submit a memorial to the throne to accuse Princess Chen, they knew that it would alert Prince Chen and they were ready to be criticized by him. But they didn’t expect Chu Liuchen to make the Emperor suspect that they were not capable of acting as officials.
An official surnamed Shi raised his head angrily. “Your Highness, that’s what Madam Jiang said because she wanted to drag Marquis Xing down with her.”
“Madam Jiang hated Marquis Xing so much?” Chu Liuchen raised his eyebrows and interrupted Lord Shi, making him continue the topic.
“The death of Secondary Consort Shao greatly irritated Madam Jiang. When she heard that Marquis Xing was going to bring a mistress’s daughter into the mansion, she was so furious that she wanted to drag Marquis Xing down with her.” Lord Shi had to lead the conversation for Chu Liuchen.
“Madam Jiang hated Marquis Xing so much and wished him dead. In order to kill him, she even made up such a story. It can be seen that she hated him to the core. In this case, doesn’t Marquis Xing also hate Madam Jiang very much? From this point of view, shouldn’t Marquis Xing be more eager to see Madam Jiang die? So… Madam Jiang is indeed dead!”
Chu Liuchen’s expression was quite gentle, but his eyes were cold. He fixed his eyes on Lord Shi and said, “Of course, if what she said is true, Madam Jiang deserved to die. Since you have reported it to His Majesty, it can be seen that you should have a deep understanding of it. Lord Shi, tell me, is what she said true or not? If it’s true, Marquis Xing won’t be exonerated no matter what. What will you do by then?”
Even if what Madam Jiang said was false, her behavior showed that she and Shao Jing were incompatible like water and fire. If Madam Jiang wanted Shao Jing dead, it must be the same the other way around. He must take the initiative to gain the upper hand.
If it was true, then there would be a bigger problem. Shao Jing had killed his brother and sister-in-law and robbed them of their title of nobility. He had committed a serious crime. This matter had been discovered by Madam Jiang and had been leaked out. Shao Jing would definitely not let her go.
In any case, the death of Madam Jiang might have something to do with Shao Jing.
The main hall was completely silent. Lord Shi’s face was completely red. He was unable to utter a single word after being reprimanded. He was extremely embarrassed.
Chu Liuchen turned around, bowed to the Emperor, and said, “Uncle the Emperor, please investigate this matter and uphold justice for the former Heir of Duke Xing and Infanta Qinghua. Madam Jiang’s death is deeply suspicious and unusual. After that, Commandery Prince Qing’s Mansion was set on fire. Is there any connection between these two incidents? Or is it impossible for these two incidents to be connected?”
Was there a connection between these two incidents? Everyone was shocked at first, and then many people’s faces changed. If these two incidents were really related, what did it mean?
Did it mean that the Princes couldn’t help but want to take action?
The Emperor frowned tightly. In fact, he didn’t want to investigate too much into Madam Jiang’s matter. It was better to take it as a suicide. Chu Qing’s matter couldn’t be hidden anymore. It was a big deal. It was very troublesome to handle if Madam Jiang’s case continue to stir up.
If it were any other son of his who mentioned this, the Emperor would definitely rebuke him. But since it was Chu Liuchen who mentioned it, the Emperor just frowned and said, “Prince Chen’s words make sense. Since the case of Madam Jiang can’t be verified at the moment, the Ministry of Justice shall summon Shao Jing over and ask him about it.”
This meant that he agreed with Chu Liuchen. Shao Jing must be investigated.
Prime Minister Wen’s gaze fell on Chu Liuchen, and his eyes moved slightly. He stood in front of Chu Liuchen and saw it clearly. The Emperor’s previous intention was clearly that he didn’t want to interfere in Madam Jiang’s matter anymore. He wanted to minimize the trouble into a minor one.
Prime Minister Wen had been an official for many years and had a close relationship with the Emperor. He knew the Emperor very well. Since the Emperor had made up his mind, he would not change it. However, because the person in front of him was Prince Chen, the Emperor easily changed his mind and brushed the matter off. Prime Minister Wen wondered if the Emperor treated Prince Chen better than his own son.
“They’re the royal family, and he wouldn’t adore Prince Chen for no reason. Could it be that…” Prime Minister Wen secretly glanced at Chu Liuchen’s face and had some speculation in his heart.
Before he was sure, he would not act rashly.
Prime Minister Zhang glanced at Chu Liuchen, stood up, and said, “Your Majesty, we’ve basically found out the truth about Madam Jiang. It has nothing to do with Marquis Xing. It’s mainly because Madam Jiang took things too hard that she ran into the wall. Princess Chen is not in the wrong in this matter, and Marquis Xing’s Mansion didn’t tell her what she couldn’t say. Even if she said something to provoke Madam Jiang, it should not be a big deal!”
Prime Minister Zhang’s words sounded fair. He didn’t blame Shao Jing or Shao Wanru. It was all Madam Jiang’s fault that she took things too hard. It had nothing to do with anyone else.
Compared with those who proposed impeaching Princess Chen before, his words were much gentler, as if he was really impartial.
“Prime Minister Zhang, you are wrong. This matter is related to the former Heir of Duke Xing and Infanta Qinghua. Since Madam Jiang mentioned it and then died an unnatural death, this matter has become even more suspicious. If Marquis Xing is really innocent, he is naturally not afraid of investigation. However, the Ministry of Justice may need more guards. If something happens to Marquis Xing again, things will get troublesome. At that time, I may be wronged,” said Chu Liuchen lazily with a hint of evilness.
Even though Prime Minister Zhang was sophisticated, he was a little angry at this time. Prince Chen’s words really made people hard to perfer.
These words were so tricky that Prime Minister Zhang couldn’t answer for a while. He could only turn to the Emperor and let him make a decision. Prime Minister Zhang knew that if he talked more at this time, it might arouse the Emperor’s suspicion. “Prince Chen is too difficult to deal with.”