At this moment, Xiao Jingcheng had already forgotten that his sexual orientation had just been slandered. Unconsciously, the scenes of his time with King Mu, Xiao Tianchi, flashed through his mind.
He had to admit that his uncle had indeed been extremely kind to him. When teaching him, his uncle was very dedicated and never held back.
He still remembered that when he was six years old, he was punished for failing to meet his mother's requirements. Hiding in a corner, he cried secretly and was discovered by his uncle.
His uncle neither summoned the palace servants nor scolded him for being a boy who shouldn't cry. After wiping away his tears, his uncle quietly took him out of the palace to play, trying to cheer him up. Then he sent him back to the palace and lied to his mother that he had been at his uncle's mansion learning from him.
His mother had always been very strict with him. Every now and then, she would summon his teachers and, behind a screen, inquire about his studies. Inevitably, she would also have some contact with his uncle.
Could it be...
Xiao Jingcheng shivered all over and immediately pushed the thought out of his mind.
Others could suspect his mother, but he couldn't!
His mother was cold - tempered, extremely strict, and ambitious. She was by no means the kind of person who would betray his father and have an affair. It must be someone deliberately spreading rumors behind the scenes to slander the reputation of the Queen. Just like Bu Hua deliberately made the common people think that he, the crown prince, was overbearing and unfit to be the heir!
What a vicious move! What sinister intentions!
Previously, he had only suspected. Bu Hua's reaction after finding the body on the riverbank completely confirmed his suspicion.
— Bu Hua had long harbored ulterior motives!
He just didn't know which of the three was the mastermind behind him.
"Speaking of His Highness King Mu, it's really a pity," one of them said. "If he hadn't taken an arrow for His Majesty in that decisive battle back then, with King Mu's ability and prestige, it should have been him on the throne."
"Now that the crown prince is dead, doesn't it mean that a new crown prince will have to be selected in the palace?"
"Of course. A country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and the position of the crown prince won't be vacant for long. Just wait. As soon as the mourning period for the crown prince is over, there will be major changes in the palace."
"Who do you think is most likely to take that position?"
"I don't know about that. But for now, the popularity of His Highness King Xuan should be the highest. After all, His Majesty dotes on the imperial concubine so much, and His Highness King Xuan is also a handsome young man. Now that he is engaged to the daughter of Lord Ye, the imperial censor, he still has a great advantage in the struggle for the crown prince."
Ye Wanmian was stunned.
Xiao Yixuan was engaged?
And it was to the daughter of the Ye family, Ye Wanxing?!
"Who can be sure about the matter of establishing a crown prince? Similar things have happened in previous dynasties. In the end, it was a prince that no one expected who ascended to the throne."
"You're right. Forget it. Let's not talk about it. These things have nothing to do with us little soldiers. The most important thing now is to guard the body of the crown prince well."
After chatting for a while, as if confirming that there was nothing unusual here, they were about to leave.
The sound of their footsteps faded away, and the sight once again plunged into darkness.
After a long time, Ye Wanmian removed her hand and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air from her chest.
She crawled out from under the bed and only then noticed that the yellow dog was motionless. She lifted the white cloth and found that the yellow dog was still lying on the ground, its ears and tail drooping. It exuded an aura of "I'm not happy" all over.
What was wrong with it again?
Ye Wanmian lowered her voice. "Dahuang, they've left. Come out quickly."
The yellow dog looked up at her and slowly crawled out from under the bed.
Having discovered such a big secret, Ye Wanmian knew this was not a place to stay long. She took the yellow dog and was about to leave.
Before leaving, she turned back and looked at the body covered with the white cloth. Her expression was rather complicated. Then she withdrew her gaze, didn't stay any longer, and carefully left along the original path.
After the two soldiers patrolled the morgue, they returned to guard outside the door.
Although it was summer, the air around the morgue was tinged with a hint of coolness. Especially when the wind blew on their faces, it made them involuntarily shiver.
It wasn't completely quiet around. Birds flew in from somewhere and landed on the branches of the big tree near the morgue, making "coo - coo - coo" sounds.
Suddenly, there came a series of fierce barking sounds in the distance. The barking combined with the bird calls made the two guards at the door's hearts skip a beat.
"What's going on? Why are the dogs over there barking non - stop?" one of them said.
The other swallowed hard. "Who knows?"
"You stay here and guard. I'll go over and check it out." The other drew out his saber from his waist, tightened his grip on the hilt, and headed in the direction of the barking.
After he left, there was only one person left outside the door.
The white lantern above his head swayed gently with the wind. The man quietly swallowed hard. Suddenly, there came a clear sound from inside the morgue, as if something had fallen to the ground, which scared the man badly.
After all, he was a soldier of the Pei family army who had seen the world. He was only startled for a moment, then he drew out his saber and stepped into the morgue, heading towards the place where the sound came from.
However, neither of them knew that two black shadows had quietly slipped out of the morgue during this time and disappeared into the darkness again.
After patrolling the morgue, the guard found that the commotion just now had come from one of the rooms where the bodies were stored. The shelf in the room had been knocked down, and there were several dog paw prints on the ground.
Remembering the dog that had flashed by outside the door before, he cursed angrily, "Bad luck." He helped the things up and returned to the outside of the door.
After a while, the fierce barking in the distance stopped, and the other guard also came back. He immediately asked, "What's the situation over there?"
The other spat and said, "A few dogs were chasing a rat. What about you? There was no commotion in the morgue, right?"
The guard who stayed said angrily, "It seems that the dog that left just now came back again. It knocked over a shelf and left a lot of footprints on the ground."
"I remember that the body of His Highness the crown prince was also found by a group of dogs."
"The body was so badly decomposed that it naturally attracted these stray dogs in the town. However, there are really a lot of stray dogs roaming freely in Dongli Town. They're almost as numerous as a small troop."
"Should we drive the dog inside out? His Highness the crown prince's body is stored inside."
"The bed is so high that the dog can't jump up. Let's not look for trouble."
The two guards stood one on the left and one on the right, guarding the morgue. The surroundings became quiet again.
At this time, with the help of the stray dogs in the town, Ye Wanmian managed to avoid all the guards and smoothly returned home in Qingyu Alley with the yellow dog.
She bolted the door and let out a long breath.
Going to the morgue and confirming her suspicion, Ye Wanmian didn't feel relaxed at all. She always felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on her chest.
She had proven that it wasn't the crown prince. Then what?
Should she go and find King Mu, King Xuan, and the others to tell them this news?