The Duke's Pampered Darling is So Scheming

Chapter 471: Chapter 471: Autopsy

Chengxin Lake.

Xiao Lansi’s carriage only stopped at the entrance for a moment. She sent over some clothes and food. The guards on duty inspected the items repeatedly before taking them inside.

As for Xiao Lansi herself, she was naturally not allowed to set foot inside.

She knew her place and didn’t linger. After a short while, she returned to the palace in her carriage.

However, in the eyes of outsiders, this gesture was a sign of her unwavering loyalty to her half-brother.

To dare associate with Xiao Chengxuan at such a critical time clearly showed she had resolved to stand on the same side as them.

...

”They’re the only backers she has in the palace. What else can she do?”

As soon as Princess Qingyang heard the news, she immediately went to the Ye Mansion to share it with Ye Chutang.

She was paying extremely close attention to any movement from that group.

”Right now, she has no other choice but to cling to this last remaining lifeline.”

Ye Chutang, however, didn’t think so.

”Consort Ru and Xiao Chengxuan aren’t her birth mother or biological brother. From what I know, she only stayed in Yaohua Palace for a few short years. It hardly seems like they have a deep and meaningful bond.”

For a deeply unfavored princess to establish a foothold in the palace without her mother’s protection was no simple feat.

The fact that she managed to latch onto Consort Ru and her son back then proves she’s not nearly as innocent or naive as she appears.

Especially now, with that mother and son facing imminent disaster, she hasn’t flown the coop. Instead, she’s still running errands for them.

Princess Qingyang mused, ”Perhaps... it’s affection?”

She laughed as soon as the words left her mouth.

The imperial family is the most heartless of all.

In that man-eating palace, who isn’t full of schemes?

But she truly couldn’t figure out Xiao Lansi’s motive for acting this way.

”She doesn’t actually think Xiao Chengxuan has a chance to make a comeback, does she?”

Ye Chutang sorted through the medicinal herbs in her hand. ”Until the final day comes, no one knows who will have the last laugh.”

Xiao Chengxuan has met with disaster, but the power backing him is immense. It’s impossible for him to fall so easily.

Even if he doesn’t want to fight for the throne, the various entangled factions behind him would never agree.

They all prosper or fall together.

Seeing her fiddling with the herbs, Princess Qingyang shrugged out of boredom. ”Isn’t that the truth? If you hadn’t intervened in time to stabilize His Majesty’s condition, things would have descended into chaos long ago!”

But even so, the situation in the imperial court was far from optimistic.

Emperor Muwu’s health really is failing. Ye Chutang might be able to save him once, but can she save him a second or third time?

The people below have probably been eyeing that position greedily for a long time.

In the future, if something were to happen to Emperor Muwu... a fierce struggle would be inevitable.

Ye Chutang’s expression was calm, as if she wasn’t concerned about any of this.

Seeing that she didn’t seem interested in the topic, Princess Qingyang decided not to press on with the conversation.

Unexpectedly, Ye Chutang suddenly asked a different question.

”Commandery Princess, are you familiar with Prince Jing?”

”Who? Prince Jing?”

Princess Qingyang froze, not quite processing the question for a moment.

”I saw him a few times at palace banquets in the past, but he rarely leaves his residence these days, so I haven’t seen him much. Why the sudden question about him?”

Ye Chutang said, ”I think I saw someone from Prince Jing Mansion on the street today, buying mountain goods from a stall.”

Princess Qingyang quickly understood. ”Oh, you’re talking about that. It’s actually not that unusual. His mansion is often short on this and that, and his illness requires these things to be properly managed, so they have no choice but to go out and look for them themselves.”

’It seems it wasn’t just the common folk; even people of high status like her had heard about this.’

From what Princess Qingyang was saying, Prince Jing Mansion had been in this state for quite some time.

’But...’

”He’s a prince, after all. How could things have gotten this bad?”

Thinking Ye Chutang was feeling sorry for him, Princess Qingyang sighed. ”A crippled prince with no maternal family to back him—what can he do?”

Ye Chutang had heard a little about this Prince Jing’s background.

It was said that his birth mother was merely a noble lady of common standing, who had been especially favored for a time due to her beauty. Soon after giving birth to the Fourth Prince, she succumbed to a difficult childbirth, her vitality and blood depleted.

Before the Fourth Prince was granted his own mansion, he had suffered no shortage of hardships in the palace.

Of course, his life after leaving the palace wasn’t much better. He was considered the most down-and-out of all the princes.

Besides having no family background or connections, he had another fatal flaw—at the age of thirteen, he accidentally fell from a horse and broke his leg.

A prince like that, with no power, no influence, and not even a healthy body, would be seen as nothing but a burden to anyone.

Who would want to be associated with someone like that?

Ye Chutang mused for a moment. ”In that case, this Prince Jing has truly lived an austere life.”

”Actually, it’s not all bad.” Princess Qingyang propped her chin on one hand. ”At the very least, he doesn’t have to get embroiled in all those conflicts or worry about his life day in and day out. You’ve never met him, so you might not know, but he has a gentle temperament. Perhaps because of his experiences growing up, he’s very even-tempered. Even when palace servants make mistakes, he never criticizes or pursues the matter, always preferring to quell the trouble.”

Princess Qingyang had never been interested in such a pushover; they weren’t even considered friends.

But for someone like him, being content in his own little corner might not be a bad thing.

A faint smile touched Ye Chutang’s lips. ”That’s true.”

...

Dingbei Marquis Mansion.

The candlelight flickered. The study was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

A sliver of watery moonlight crept silently along the window lattice, flowing over a tall, straight figure before coming to a silent rest, nearly melting into his snow-white robes.

A low, clear voice spoke coolly, ”Is that all?”

Xi Su knelt on one knee, his head bowed. ”Reporting to my lord, this subordinate has personally examined Xu Jie’s body. The wounds on it are almost completely identical to what is described in this case file.”

Shen Yanchuan casually flipped through the thin booklet in his hand.

The Three Judicial Departments had just concluded Xu Jie’s autopsy half an hour ago, and in the blink of an eye, the resulting file had appeared here.

Shen Yanchuan didn’t need to look closely to guess what was written inside.

It was just the same old tricks those people always played, even the wording was identical—nothing more than that Xu Jie had suffered a mental breakdown after the case came to light, couldn’t withstand repeated interrogations, and finally collapsed and died suddenly in his cell.

But while this report might fool the average person, to Shen Yanchuan, it was nothing short of a joke.

”Almost?”

Xi Su said, ”Besides the injuries from normal interrogation and torture, an inch-long iron nail had been driven into each of Xu Jie’s ears.”