Concubine Shu's starry eyes were filled with tears. She chose her words carefully and replied, "I hit it off with the Fifth Princess at first sight. It's just that she's a child who has been motherless since childhood. And I lost my own child early on. So, I cherish her very much! Last night, I dreamed that the Fifth Princess was covered in blood. After waking up in a fright, I rushed out to look for her. Who would have thought that I actually saw someone stabbing her with a knife! There was a long gash on her back, and the blood was flowing non - stop. I threw myself forward and tried my best to protect her, but instead, that person grabbed my neck. In the end, I could only watch helplessly as the Fifth Princess was dragged to the lake by him. It was not until the imperial guards came after hearing the news that the murderer threw the Fifth Princess down and fled..." Concubine Shu cried so pitifully that she pulled down her collar. Everyone gasped in shock. There were indeed blue bruises on her snow - white neck!
How much strength must have been used to leave such marks!
Hearing Concubine Shu's description of the Fifth Princess's serious injuries, everyone felt a pang of heartache.
The servants from the Imperial Household Department were deeply worried. Last time, Aunt Minfang was brutally killed by having her neck broken. The neck of her corpse was as terrifying as Concubine Shu's today!
The emperor was also greatly shocked when he saw the bruises on her neck. He never thought that in the inner palace, there would actually be someone carrying a weapon to hurt others! Not only did this person disrespect the hierarchy and hurt the princess, but they even dared to be so cruel to his concubine! The emperor's face contorted as he hissed, "Who on earth is so bold and reckless?"
Concubine Shu looked up at the emperor pitifully, two lines of clear tears streaming down her cheeks. She choked with sobs, "Your Majesty! That person is none other than the Tenth Prince, Murong Yunqian!"
Murong Yunqian!
Everyone's hearts skipped a beat. Yesterday, the Fifth Princess still claimed to have evidence proving that Queen Zhao had harmed Concubine Chen. Was it possible that the Tenth Prince couldn't hold back and came to kill her to cover up the evidence in the middle of the night?
Everyone had their own speculations in mind, but no one dared to speak. They carefully observed the emperor's expression.
The emperor's face was as dark as water. He was also secretly wondering in his heart. Could it really be the Zhao family behind all this, indulging the Tenth Prince, Murong Yunqian, to act like this?
Cheng Hao had learned from Wei Dongling's act of showing weakness and playing the victim to a great extent. At this moment, he struggled forward and cried, "Your Majesty! Please seek justice for the Fifth Princess! The Fifth Princess has been lonely and dependent on others since childhood. We thought that when she returned home, she would enjoy endless glory and wealth. But unexpectedly, there are people in this deep palace who can't tolerate her and have repeatedly tried to kill her! If we had known that the Fifth Princess would suffer so much inhuman torture after returning home, I would rather she didn't seek any wealth! At least, being dependent on others could have saved her life, Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I can't live without the Fifth Princess. Wuwuwu... If anything happens to her, how can I go on living? Wuwuwu..." Well, you can guess all you want! The Fifth Princess's life and death are still unknown. We must quickly bring the murderer to justice! Otherwise, wouldn't everyone have suffered all this in vain?
Seeing Cheng Hao, a tough - looking man, crying like this, everyone couldn't help but feel heart - broken. Plum Blossom cried the loudest, "Fifth Princess, wuwuwu... Slave was wrong, wuwuwu... As long as you come back safely, slave won't force you to copy books anymore, wuwuwu..." At first, she was a bit inexplicably unhappy with the Fifth Princess, but when the princess stepped out to save them under the moonlight, Plum Blossom instantly became a fan, almost forgetting who her real master was.
Concubine Shu seized the opportunity and stepped forward sobbingly, "Your Majesty! I swear every word I said is true! It was him! It was the Tenth Prince who did it, Your Majesty! The Fifth Princess has been without her mother's protection since childhood and has been bullied a lot while living outside. If anything happens to her this time, she will be so pitiful. Wuwuwu..."
Several people were crying in a mess.
Surrounded by their cries, the emperor's head was buzzing. His face showed displeasure as he ordered his servants, "Go and bring the Tenth Prince here!"
The servants took the order and left.
The chief eunuch of the Inner Court Department speculated based on the fighting marks and shoe prints found at the scene and then reported to the emperor. The emperor's forehead was throbbing with anger as he ordered the Inner Court Department, "Daring to secretly raise assassins in the palace. Who on earth is so bold and reckless? You must go immediately. Even if you have to turn the entire inner palace upside down, you must find that assassin for me!"
"Yes!"
Soon, Murong Yunqian came, neatly dressed. Seeing the emperor's unhappy face, he stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
The emperor's face was as dark as water as he looked at Murong Yunqian kneeling on the ground and coldly asked, "Your elder sister, Murong Wanlin, was assassinated last night and is still missing. Was this your doing?"
Murong Yunqian asked in surprise, "What happened to elder sister's assassination? I have no idea! I've been resting in my palace and haven't taken a single step out of the door!"
Seeing that he refused to admit it, Concubine Shu stepped forward angrily and said, "As a prince, you dare to do it but not admit it?"
Murong Yunqian frowned and said, "Concubine Shu, why do you say such things? If I had done something, I would surely admit it. But for something that never happened, how can you casually put the blame on me?"
Concubine Shu sneered coldly, "You have a wound on your left side waist. It was last night when you were choking my neck and trying to kill me. Princess Wanlin was so eager to save me that she stabbed you with the hairpin on her head. Do you dare to show it to the emperor?"
Everyone gasped in shock when they heard this. They still had a vivid memory of the Tenth Prince biting a palace maid to death two years ago. If he had really had another bout of madness, beating concubines and kicking princesses, then this prince would truly be a hopeless and crazy person!
The emperor's face became even more gloomy. The Tenth Prince was not yet an adult. Could it be that Queen Zhao had taught him all these things?
Everyone's gazes were fixed on Murong Yunqian. He looked up at the emperor and said seriously, "Reporting to Father Emperor! I do have a wound on my side waist, but it was definitely not caused by a hairpin stabbing! Please Father Emperor investigate clearly!" As he spoke, he immediately undressed on the spot and quickly lifted his clothes to expose the skin on his side waist.
A group of female attendants blushed and quickly turned around to avoid looking.
The emperor led the people from the Inner Court Department over to take a look. His face became even more unpleasant. Seeing this, Cheng Hao propped himself up and struggled to get up. He hurriedly squeezed in to take a look, and his face was instantly filled with confusion.
There was actually a large scabbed burn on Murong Yunqian's side waist.
The emperor asked in confusion, "What happened to your waist?"
Murong Yunqian replied, "Reporting to Father Emperor, last night I was practicing calligraphy in the study. The palace maid who came to clean found some manuscripts left by the Fourth Brother from a high place. I asked someone to burn them. Unexpectedly, the palace maid who was burning the letters was careless and accidentally set her skirt on fire. I was so eager to save her that I rushed forward to put out the fire. As a result, I wasn't careful enough. Not only was my clothes burned, but the skin on my side waist was also burned by the copper basin like this."
Everyone looked at the large scabbed burn wound on his side waist and had their own speculations in mind.